7-25-10

Hi Mom,

It sounds like you had a nice week. So many good people. It sounds like they had a lot of fun too. Dad really does work so hard for others to have a good time. That's a good trait. Elder King is good at that as well. I wish I could have been there to see everyone. How is grandma doing?

To answer your questions, I'm not exactly sure why it was a hard week. I would say that what makes a hard week is when I am not as happy as usual and when the work doesn't feel successful. Also, it was hard to be completely obedient to all the rules and schedule with Elder Kankanyan, which was hard. Exact obedience gives a lightness and easiness of burdens that makes it easy to carry stress and hardships. His mission has finished already and I am with Elder Grigoryan now. Something that I learned from him, however, was to be more bold and clear with people, as well as to be persistent. It's easy for me to give up on somebody or to back off quickly trying not to intrude, when I think it is sometimes it can be better to continue to show interest in them and show that I care. I like what Kendall said about how important it is for people to know that you care. It's almost impossible to be able to help them without that trust. I hope I can better gain that trust with people.

Our two most progressed investigators decided they needed a break, which is sad. I hope that they can realize what they are missing. We have a few other potential investigators, however, and I hope we can start helping them. There's a girl that was coming to our english class a while ago that Elder Jonas and I gave one or two lessons, but then she disappeared. However, she passed us on the street the other day and said hi and then gave us a call on Sunday and said she wants to come to english again, as well as to church. That's a good sign that she did that all by herself. We'll see what happens.

I can't believe a year has already passed. I know it's all going to come to an end so fast. I just hope I can make the best use out of this precious time. There are just so many lessons to be learned. I had a pretty funny experience on my year mark. Elder Grigoryan and I were waiting at a bus stop to go to our Branch President's house and paint a little. As the marshutni pulled up, I told Elder Grigoryan it had arrived and went to open the door for him. As I turned around, I couldn't see him in the crowd of people. He was gone! He had gotten onto the wrong bus and was quick about it. Once I realized I was alone, it was pretty awkward. It's been quite a while:) The situation wasn't that bad for me, I just had to give the new mission president a call and he drove over to pick me up. I can only imagine what he was thinking as he pulled up and I am standing on the corner alone in my preperation day clothes to paint in. (I had to give a good first impression). He took it well, though, and didn't make me feel any worse than I did already. Poor Elder Grigoryan, though. He had no idea what had happened to me or what direction my marshutni could have taken me. I'm sure the lady next to him was a little confused as he exclaimed, "Where's my companion? I lost my companion!" The woman was kind enough to get off the bus with him and send him on the right transport to get to the Branch President's house. Fortunately, we didn't have to search long before we got a call telling us that Elder Grigoryan had managed to make his way to our destination. It was an interesting experience.

Well, things are going well. I got the stake packet, but haven't received your package yet. I hope it comes soon. There were some nice notes. Have a great week. I miss you.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright