11-16-09

Hey Mom,
Thanks for all your letters! I liked your movie insights. [cw: from movie "Living Hope" about Dr. Slamon who did cancer research] It's so wonderful to learn from the good examples of other people. I miss watching good movies and things for that reason, because of what you can learn from them. Guess what, I hear we get to watch movies for New Years:) Everyone is drunk, pretty much, and so there's not much point in going out. Elder King and I want to see if we can watch the old Star Wars movies. We'll see how that goes. They don't have much of a Christmas here, it's mostly New Years. It's like a week of cooking frenzy. They get a ton of food ready, and at midnight they start cooking. They have a table full of food the whole week, and they go around visiting friends and eating food. The first day sounds great, but I hear the food gets old by the end of the week. At the end is Christmas, and no one has anymore money, so they don't really give gifts. That's too bad. It'll be interresting to see. It's actually coming pretty quick, that's strange.
I wanted to tell you a little about the food we eat. There's a lot of simple flour bread. It's way good, but I actually really miss wheat bread. Eggs are cheap, so we eat a lot of those, and vegetables are too. Everything has to be in season, though, so soon there will be no more vegetables. Peppers already cost like four times as much as normal, which is about quarter per kilo. I miss milk too, only every once in a while does it come here from Russia. They have really good cow bobs wrapped in lavash, which is like a huge tortilla. those are good, it's just ground beef with veggies. They're also way proud of their barbecue which is always smoked. I've had smoked pork once and it was amazing. For breakfast, I've also had a lot of oatmeal and mint tea. Besides that, they make little cole slaws, soups, and great potatoes cooked in fat. They always make you eat something when you go to their house, and tea is the cure to everything. They're funny people.
I am so glad I am starting to understand more. I've still got so far to go, but I don't feel as helpless anymore. We've started reading from the Book of Mormon together for a chapter or two without stopping to learn words, and it has been very nice. I already read so much better than before.
Besides that, I'm doing alright. Our teaching pool is still pretty small, but I got my first baptismal date this week! Sako, the preacher, has committed to be baptized, and the great thing is that his goal is marraige and recieving the priesthood. He doesn't fully understand everything, but he has learned so many precious truths from his personal study. He's really a great guy, especially as far as Armenian men go. He tried to stop smoking, but got the shakes and now he's sick. He's really got it rough right now, he almost wanted to give up his life of spirituality, but I think he'll be alright.
It rained again yesterday, which is great. It's super muddy though. What a dusty place. It's sad, there used to be lots of forests, but they have all been cut down for the old factories and things. There are actually not a lot of running factories anymore, which is too bad. It'd put a lot of people to work. Anyway, I kind of hope it snows soon. It'll be great to see everything so white. I got an amazing warm jacket from an old elder that goes to my knees. I'll be so warm this winter. Plus, I'm going to have a member make me a sweater and scarf or something.
Well, that's whats going on with me right now. A mission is not an easy thing, but I'm grateful to be here. I keep getting little flashes of memories from home, or something that would be fun to do. I'm guessing that's what home-sickness is, but it's not too bad. It actually reminds me of working long days, I would get these great ideas of fun things to do. Anyway, better go. I wanted to write more letters, but I might have to wait a week.
I got your little dear elder message, it just came through this email, actually. I don't know how or even if the pouch works anymore. I heard it didn't. Anyway, I love you so much Mom, Dad, and everyone else. I'm doing great, but I miss everyone. Have a great week.
Love,
Bruce