2--28-11

Elder Frye and I were finally able to have some good time in our area, and I feel like it did us good. I love Elder Frye and I feel like we are both growing together. He had to go on exchanges with Elder Peterson who is less than a week in country and I feel like it helped them grow. E. Frye's Armenian has grown a lot, even though he still struggles. He's starting to get a flow of progress. It's hard for me to give him opportunities to talk and teach, but it is getting better. He'll usually start off the meeting and say as much as he can, then I'll back him up. We had a good meeting with Kristine at the Blunck's apartment so that she wouldn't be distracted by her daughter. It was very powerful. I don't think she's going to get baptized yet, but she know's what she needs to do to prepare. We kind of need to leave her alone for a little while and that will hopefully help her be prepared to progress soon. There's a lot of reasons, but she just needs to strengthen her faith. We gave Gevorg a baptismal date. That was exciting. It's been a while since anyone has accepted one. Also, Armine's husband asked me to sit down and talk to him while Armine(from the picture) was cutting my companion's hair. We had a good talk. Just a few weeks ago he didn't even want us to come. He's a nice guy, but drinks a lot. His family wants him to be converted so bad. We also started meeting with one of their family friends. We have a lot of work to do and I hope it goes well.

Otherwise, things have been going well. I've only slipped on the ice like seven, eight, or nine times. Elder Frye hasn't fallen so far. I had a pretty good one that reminded me of the Patrick McMannis short story "How to Go Splat." I went to step off the sidewalk and somehow managed to get my feet above my head while pushing off the ground with my hand not holding a Book of Mormon so I wouldn't hit hard. I'm sure it looked quite nice, I just forget to yell something clever like: Geronimo!

This week, Elder Crawford and I decided we need to do companionship exchanges with Gyumri because they've been having a rough time finding new people to meet with. The work, and maybe the branch too, seems to be a little dead and might have some problems, which have been wearing on the missionaries, so we're hoping this will help them. We have some great missionaries here, and I like the new ones a lot.

2-21-11

It really is hard to know how to best help people. God is the best example, though. Being a missionary and teacher for others and especially being a leader, I have been thinking about how we can best influence others for good and lead them. The best help I've found so far is from something that Joseph Smith said. Someone was asking how he governed all the members specifically with welfare I believe, and he said I teach them correct princeples and they govern themselves. The teaching method that the brethren teach us is to: explain, demonstrate, practice, evaluate, and re-practice. In order to demonstrate it, we need to ourselves be living what we preach. As far as I can tell, that's the best way I know to lead. I feel like you and Dad have done a wonderful job at leading and teaching Bryce and I. I don't really know how you raised the other kids, but I feel prepared to make wise decisions on my own.

I've been out of my area a lot this week, so it's been a little crazy, but I got to see some people in Center and in Alaverdi, which I loved. It's nice to remember everyone I have worked with and to see that many of them are still working with the missionaries and trying to progress. It's not an easy work, but the results are worth everything. God has so much love for us. I am trying to gain that love for others. He is quite a patient God as well.

I'm sorry, but I have to go. I would love to talk to you more. Someday. Here's a picture of Armine and her two girls. They're amazing members. Armine calls all the missionaries her boys. She feeds us a ton every time we go over and knit me a nice beenie. Elder Thylin came through with his dad before he leaves to Sweden. I served in Center with him if you don't remember. Great guy.
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I love you so much. Have a nice week. Love, Elder Bruce Wainwright

2-14-11

2-14-11 The work was a little slow this week. We haven't been able to have consistent contact with our investigators. We're working with a woman named Kristine and her aunt that she lives with. Her daughter has some health problems and it is hard for Kristine. She seems to have a hard time trusting God, and her life revolves around her daughter. It can make it hard to teach her. She's a wonderful woman and she knows the church is true, but seems to not be ready to put her trust in God by getting baptized and fully giving up her will for God's. It's hard to know how to help her. We want to help her build her faith, but we can only do so much. I guess it's like what Joseph Smith said about leadership, we have to teach correct principles and let them govern themselves. We haven't been able to meet with Garnik, the taxi driver again, but we gave him the last conference edition so he can read it in his car. He's a nice guy, I hope we can help him. We also had a marshutni driver ( those van-like buses) that invited us to his house. He said he already had a Joseph Smith pamphlet. It might not work out with him, however.

Tell everyone hello. I miss you all and can't wait to sit and talk about good things. I love you so much.

Love,  Elder Bruce Wainwright

2-6-11

Yes, I feel like we are still being blessed in the work. I am really trying to do a better job at helping people "come unto Christ" and encourage them to really change their lives. That's why we're here. This is the only way back to Heavenly Father and to recieve peace and happiness. I'm trying to strengthen my understanding and testimony of the Atonement of Christ so that I can better help people. I read an article from the December Ensign about teaching children the Gospel. There were some good points in there and I feel like in a way that's what I'm doing now and what i will have to do in the future. I feel like I am really learning how to make a difference in the lives of others, or at least I would like to do that. It's not easy, especially to do it well. I want to try and learn from the example of Christ and his other servants in the scriptures and that we have today. Anyway, those are just some of the things I've been thinking about lately.

This week I had an interesting experience. When Elder Crawford and I were driving back from a Gyumri meeting, our taxi broke down and we had to wait an hour for someone to bring a car part. I started reading from the Plan of Salvation pamphlet to try and make use of the time, but started falling asleep. Our nice taxi driver, Garnik, got in the car and I woke up. I asked if he had one of the pamphlets from the missionaries. He didn't, so I offered to read it to him and he agreed. We had a nice discussion as we read it. He said he had invited Elder Cheney to his house, but it didn't work out. We planned up and were able to go to his house and have a nice meeting with his family. I felt like God gave us that opportunity to share some of our message with him and I hope we can help him and his family change their lives and come unto Christ.

This week Elder Blunck, the senior missionary in Vanadzor, has come to a few meetings with us this week. He is an amazing guy and has so much energy. He's pretty sparatic sometimes and loves to make people laugh. I really enjoyed spending time with him. I think there's a lot I can learn from him. It's been a good week overall, and I feel quite happy.
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