Armenian Time

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

10-24-10

Dear Mom,

Thank you for the nice letter. I really appreciate it. It's so nice to know I have a family out somewhere who loves and cares so much for me. I can really see how that is a need of all mankind. Without love and respect for others, there is no reason to be good, or try hard, and as you said, the gospel is the source of all hope. I agree with that. I am quite blessed in many ways.
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This week has been pretty normal. We didn't have as many meetings as usual, but I think everything is still good with our investigators. Hasmik said she wants to make it to church from now on, even though she works. We need to get her some friends in the branch to support her. I'm not sure what will happen with Artur, however. He didn't want to set a specific time to meet, so I told him to call us when he's ready. I hope he doesn't give up. Yasha left. I'll have to keep in touch with him.

I love Elder Thylin and am grateful to be able to serve with him. I am learning a lot while with him. We have a good companionship. We roasted some peanuts and are going to make some home made peanut butter this week. I hope it works well. We watched Johny Lingo with some of the youth for an activity this week, and that was fun. We also started meeting with a less active man, Karen, who was active and already seems to be doing better. Good family. Struggle financially though, as do many people here.
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So why do Sara and Julia like to cut their hair so much? They're funny. I hope you have a nice break. You deserve it. I love you. Thanks Mom, and Dad, for all you do and for supporting me in all my dreams and desires throughout my life. I really appreciate it.

Much love,
Your son Elder Bruce Wainwright

Monday, October 18, 2010

10-17-10

Today was pretty fun. We went up to Garni and Geghard again. That's the greek looking temple. Not everyone had seen them. I really like learning about history a lot, and trying to figure out what life was like for other people, and what things were important for them, etc. There are so many things to learn about.

I'm glad you got to go see the kids this weekend. I can't wait to see Jennevieve. She seems pretty cute.

Well, this week went well. We're pretty busy right now. I feel like I've been blessed, actually, with always having people to meet with. We found an apartment to move into right across from the church, which will be nice. I think I'll leave when the move happens. I really like this branch and area a lot. All of our investigators have been great people here. I miss Adam. He got a job for some Armenian screenwriting company and is now in France, but is trying to stay active. He's a great man, I hope things go well with him. He wanted to go pretty bad. We're teaching some great people right now. I love them all. Yasha and Araks are a great couple. We said bye to Yasha since he's leaving for a bit and will soon be in America with his dad, preparing for Araks to come. Araks should be baptized in about a month since she's leaving too, and Yasha said he'll get baptized in America. We had a nice lesson with them at President Carter's house, and I think it left a good impression. They want to be married in the temple. It's so great. They have already started changing and becoming even more wonderful and seeing the change in their own lives. That's the best part of this work. We also had a nice lesson with Artur, trying to explain to him how he needed to put his trust in God to find the answers to his many questions. He pretty much just wanted to get our opinion, or our church's take on the Bible. That helped me realize how important it is for me to not teach people my opinion, but the words that are put into my heart by the Spirit. I'm trying to be able to trust less in my knowledge, but rather in the promptings of the Spirit. Araks, Yasha, and Hasmik all came with us to see a nice baptism as well.

It's been raining a lot here, how about there? Well, that's about it. Halloween is coming up soon. We're going to plan up an activity for the branch. Thanks for your great love and care. It means a lot. Have a great week.

Much love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

Monday, October 11, 2010

10-10-10

General Conference was so great. I loved it a lot. We watched the Sunday Session with the Senior couples and President Carter, which was nice. The spiritual boost of simply listening did me a lot of good. I also feel like I learned a lot and have some things to work on. One theme that I felt like was important for me was the importance and role of the Spirit. President Monson's talk on agency was really good. I feel so close to a lot of the brethren, especially Elder Scott. I don't have my notes, so I don't remember a lot of specifics right now, but one of the talks I want to remember is the one on pride by Elder Holland if I'm not mistaken. He said there's no one who has escaped pride and few that overcome it. It's amazing how many sins and mistakes stem from pride. He said that we can overcome our pride by being humble and serving and loving others. There was another talk about not taking for granted the blessings we have and being more grateful. I know that those things will help me stay more pure and be able to help more people. I want to be a friend to others to whom they can trust and turn to for help. I also learned a lot from Elder Christofferson's talk about consecration. We should be more willing to give up of our given blessings from the Lord.

It was nice to have Yasha and Araks there. I called Artur earlier in the week, and he has come a few times. He even came to the conference, but he still is not in the mode of listening to the spirit. I hope we can do our part right of leading him through the Priesthood line, as Elder Oaks talked about, so that he can receive answers from God through the individual line. He wants immediate answers, as we all often do.

Elder King was transfered to small Ararat, down south, for his last month. It's been great to be in his district for this time. We had an interesting experience together this week before he left. I left my bag unwatched for a few minutes, which was a bad idea, and when I came back the camera that I was pretty sure was there was no longer present. I was pretty sure it was stolen, and by who it was done. It was a silly mistake and I was sad about all the pictures that I would not be able to take home. I confirmed that it was taken, and as we were coming back to the church I fortunately saw the kid. I asked him straight up to give it to me, and he finally gave in and left to get it. However, he began to run, so Elder King and I chased him down a block or so, until he gave it up. I feel bad for the kid, because he said he did it so he could sell money. He almost felt the right to steal, and I don't even know if he felt bad for it. It's sad, but I'll have to be more careful. It can be hard to trust people these days.

The work has been going well, though. We have been reading the Book of Mormon a lot with our investigators, and that has been really nice. That book really has a great power.

Monday, October 4, 2010

10-3-10

Hey Mom,

Thanks for the pictures. It looks like it was a great weekend. That's too bad you didn't have the best experience with listening, but the talks sound great. It seems to make sense to me that at least one of the things they were talking about was slowing down. As technology increases, it seems like we as people are beginning to do a lot more of nothing, if that makes sense. It's like in Wall-e how the people are so busy doing nothing that they don't even know what's happening around them. I think that's so important, to slow down and think. I was actually thinking about that yesterday. I realized how important it is to stop, reflect, and think about the experiences we have each day. Writing in my journal really helps me to both think about the experiences I have as well as remember them later. I was thinking how I can do that periodically during my nightly prayers, once a week on Sundays, Once a month on fast sunday, and at least yearly as well during new years or something. If I can consistently do that, it will be easier to be more productive and to not let precious time slip by unused.
Not many people came to church this week. Hopefully it was just because of the rain, even though that's a lame excuse. Our new branch president, Pres. Tsaturyan, is doing a great job. He's about thirty, unmarried, bald, and super nice. This week he began assigning members to clean the church on Saturdays, which will be wonderful. Only two showed up, but that's a start.

Elder King and I had exchanges this week, which was fun. They were really short, but we visited Artur and his family and I thought it went really well. Artur's wife is a devout Armenian Apostalic church member, and didn't like us being there too much, but she at least relaxed by the end and didn't object to us praying with them before we left. I like Artur a lot. He's a painter and is just trying to figure out what this life is about. When I tried to plan up with him again, I felt like that might be all we can meet with them, but I'm hoping we can still teach him. We finally planned up to meet with Pres. Carter and Yasha to have an interview, so after that we should be able to continue to teach him. He's going back to America soon, but I hope we can help him get a firm foundation, as well as his wife. They're a great couple. I had a nice talk with our Relief Society President during their meeting as well. Our finding of new people has slowed down, but we plan to start focusing on the members again, especially part member families. I always say, "the fun never ends," and it really doesn't. With myself and with others, there will always be work to do and something to learn.

I talked to Adam. He's in France for work. I hope he comes back, but I don't think he will. He found a church to visit there, but it's far away so I hope it works out well.

Today we're going to an Exotarium to see exotic animals. It should be fun.

I love you all so much and miss you. talk to you later.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright