Sarah Sokolowski and her sister, Amanda, are currently serving as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, though they are across the continent from each other.
Sarah is in the California Arcadia Mission, which is in Southern California, while Amanda is in the Florida Orlando Mission, Spanish-speaking.
Sarah graduated from East Union High in 2010, and was also a four-year seminary graduate. After graduation she attended college at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She loves hiking and music, especially playing the oboe, and plans to return to BYU in the fall to continue her major in speech therapy.
Sarah has been serving for over a year, and has learned for herself the maxim, “God never said it would be easy – He just promised it would be worth it.”
Some of her duties as a missionary have included making sandbags and shoveling mud from driveways due to local mudslides, helping the mission nurse care for other missionaries, and teaching people about Jesus Christ.
Amanda also graduated from East Union High and seminary, both in 2012, and afterward attended Brigham Young University, Idaho for a year and a half. She enjoys swimming and hiking, and worked as a lifeguard at BYU-I. Amanda plans to continue studying to become a Pathology Laboratory Technician when she returns to school.
Amanda just finished two months of language and ecclesiastical training in Mexico City, and is now working in the Orlando, Florida area.
“As a missionary, I can answer people’s questions about our Church and share God’s plan of happiness with them,” she said. “Also, for all I have been given by God, I want to give back by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.”
Phillip and Michelle Sokolowski are their parents. They did not expect to have both girls gone at the same time, and they miss them almost as much as does their little dog, Snickers. But in spite of some short-term sacrifices, they are excited that their daughters have these opportunities to serve their fellow man and God, and feel that these experiences will have a positive influence on them for the rest of their lives.
