Elder Bruce Wainwright Armenia

Final Post

2011-07-18T07:11:00.001-07:00

Dear family and friends,

Well, time is up. It's been an amazing and humbling two years. I will be ever indebted to the Lord for all the ways he has blessed me, led me, and taught me. As much as we try and give to God, he always gives us more in return. I'm so grateful for this life that he has blessed me with, and I hope that I can use it in such a way that I will be ready to live in his presence and with all of you. I'm grateful for good examples in this life. They make life a lot easier and strengthen our hope. I'm grateful to have been able to serve the Lord amongst the humble people of Armenia. I have a lot of hope for the people here. I know that happiness and success in life only come from following Jesus Christ. He is our Savior and will show us the way. Any other way leads to misery and captivity. I'm so grateful that we have living prophets who are called of God and will help us find our way in the darkness of these days. God's works are so amazing and I hope I can continue to be a part of that as I stay worthy of the Spirit throughout my life.

I will never forget the people I was able to serve and to serve with. I wish all of you peace and happiness. I'm excited to be back with you, but I will also miss this work. Take care.

Love,

7-4-11

2011-07-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

The work is going alright. I went on exchanges this week and I think it went well. We're still trying to find people who are ready to progress, but our teaching pool is getting larger.

The sisters had an wonderful baptism before they left. The man, Harut, is a wonderful, humble man who knows the bible very well. He has great faith and has learned much through revelation already. I think he really wanted to be baptized in a river and God wanted to give him that, because that's what happened. We got up early to fill the baptismal font and halfway through I realized the water was pretty dirty. So we drained it and started again. When it was about a foot high again the water stopped. Water is very rarely on 100% of the time here. The meeting was about to start and President Carter had even came up from Yerevan to see the Sisters' last baptism. President Carter suggested to drive to Gyumri, but Harut said "I know where some water is." We went to the stream and there was just about enough water to make it happen. The service was very nice and everything worked out. It seemed like that was how God wanted it to be.

Well, I don't know of anything I need. We're going to visit a nearby town for Prep-Day today. I'm so excited to see all the family. I miss you so much. It doesn't even seem real yet. I hope you know how much I love you and am grateful for all you and Dad, and everyone has done for me in my life. Take care.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

The next two weeks are going to fly by. Elder Lowe and I are going up to Alaverdi again to see how the members are doing. A few of them have been making it to church lately. I also have to go to Yerevan for some District Leader Training. The work is going pretty well. We had to drop a few investigators, but we started teaching two old investigators. One is a really good kid named Herbert. He's seventeen, so we need to get permission from his parents (he's living with a member grandmother who actually just went through the temple). It sounded like the six that went to the temple had a great experience. I'm way excited to be able to go again. It has been so long. How blessed we are to have a temple five minutes away, let alone thirteen in one state. We have another investigator woman that the sisters were teaching before they left that should have a baptismal interview right after I leave.

I feel a little bad for Elder Smith right now. All the missionaries around him are going home. The two sisters that were here went home together three weeks ago, and now Elder Lowe and I are leaving. He's a great missionary and super hard worker. I hope I have been a good companion and trainer for him. I haven't even had to push him because he does it all by himself. Both missionaries I trained were like that. They made me want to be better. I think that's what a true friend should do, is help you be the best you.

Well, I'm excited to see everyone. I'm sad to leave as well. I hope I can remember all that I have learned here. I'm really going to miss the people I've been able to work with. I trust the hands that they're being left in.
Love Elder Bruce Wainwright

6-27-11

2011-06-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

This week went by pretty well. I realized I really don't have that much time left. I set some goals for things I want to accomplish before I leave, which should help me be able to keep sprinting to the end, like Dad was talking about. I hope I have given all that I could have. There is still so much to learn and so much to work on. This life really does seem so short and precious. There's also a lot weighing on it.

We found some good people to work with this week. Sadly, the kid that had set a baptismal date dissappeared soon after so we haven't been able to meet with him. We found a couple new people to meet with, however, and I'm excited to work with them. One is a man who lived in America for 30 years, but is now here and married and has a kid. His mother recently passed away and he had some other bad experiences that kind of made him wake up and want to be a better man. He's a great man and a good father. I hope he will be ready to act so that we can help him. We're also going to start teaching the father of a girl who just got back from a mission in Ukraine. He's a really nice man and I'm excited to work with him.

We had some good laughs at Aram and Susanna's house this week. They're a great couple. Elder Smith seems to be getting more comfortable and is doing amazing with the language. Oh yeah, six people are going to the temple this week! A family is getting sealed! I am so happy for them. There's not very many of those. This is the second for Vanadzor.Things are slowly but surely going forward.

The last picture is of my bibles. I've been studying Acts this week in three translations of Armenian alongside the English copy. It's helping with my Armenian and it helps me understand the verses better as well. Elder Scott encouraged the saints here to study the scriptures in multiple languages. The Joseph Smith Translation is still by far the best help, though.
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Well, that's that. Sounds like things are going well. Even though I can't believe it I'll be back so soon. I love you all so much. Thank you for your faithful writing, mom. Take care.

Much love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

6-20-11

2011-06-21T21:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day Dad,

Thank you for your letter. I like your analogy of the marathon. I'll try and sprint to the end. It's really easy because of my companion. He's doing so well and helps me want to be better. Both missionaries that I've trained have been like that.

I hope you had a nice Father's Day. You deserve it. I feel like you have been a very successful father. I know you're not perfect, but you are a great example to me in so many ways. Our lesson in priesthood this week was on honesty, and I know that I can look up to you as an honest man in all your dealings. They were talking about how in these days and in this country it's practically impossible to not lie or cheat. I know you have always tried to do your best, simply because you love people and you want to serve them. Some other things that I have learned from you are how to work hard, how to have fun while doing that, how to take care of others and help them have fun, how to be aware of opportunities to serve, and many other things. We have been greatly blessed with the family we have and I am so grateful to how you and mom have raised me and helped me overcome my weaknesses and challenges, and encouraged me to be better.

I am eternally grateful for the experiences I have had on this mission and I hope that I have been able to serve to my full potential. I love these people and pray that God continues to bless and lead them. I'm grateful for our Heavenly Father and family as well. He blesses me with more than I deserve. I hope I can faithfully follow my Savior as you and Mom are trying to do. I love you so much Dad and can't wait to see you again. Thank you for your great advice, love, and support.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

6-12-11

2011-06-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

This week went well. We didn't find any new investigators for the second week, now, which is not good. We tried to meet with a nice kid who speaks english and invited us to help him with an English club. He has lived in America for two years and seems like a good kid. He said he'd be interested to learn about our church and our purpose here, so we're trying to meet up with him, even though it hasn't worked out so far. We're also trying to work with two part member families which would be so wonderful if they worked out.

Elder Smith is doing great. His understanding and speaking abilities are improving, which will make life a lot easier for him. He wants to be able to teach people the gospel so bad. I hope we can find some good people to work with.

Elder Lowe and I went up to Alaverdi this week with the Branch President and Relief Society President. It was really good that they came with us. It felt like the absence of missionaries and the distance to the church was already starting to have an effect upon the members there. This will be a test of their faith for sure, because of the distance they have to travel to come to church and the cost. Elder Lowe and I love the people there so much.

It has been raining here like crazy. There have been about three days with no rain. We're surrounded by mountains, so it will be sunny one moment and pouring rain another. I heard Utah has a ton of snow that is going to start melting soon. Hopefully there's not too many floods and such.
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Well I love you Mom and Dad. I love this work and can't believe how little time I have left. I hope I can continue to learn much in the next 6 weeks while helping as many people as I can.

Love you.
Elder Bruce Wainwright

6-6-11

2011-06-06T17:22:00.000-07:00

Elder Smith and I had a pretty good week. We didn't get done all that we wanted to. A lot of our plans didn't work out how we wanted them to. It's hard for us to teach in unity right now if we aren't able to specifically plan up for our meetings, since Elder Smith is still so new. Maybe I just need to stop talking. It's hard. Especially because I'm not sure if our investigators are progressing or not right now. We might have to leave them and continue finding people who are ready to act. Samvel came to church and sat next to his member friend, but he doesn't like to read by himself, so he can't really get a testimony.

Sister Hallowell's grandfather passed away this week. That was hard since she leaves in less than a month. If I remember right, Grandpa passed away right after Crystal got back. The sisters are always such amazing missionaries.

We started teaching some interesting people this week. Their names are Vartan and Berta. I like them a lot, but I don't think we're going to be able to meet with them very much. They have some confusing ideas, and don't seem very open minded, even though the seem to be looking for truth. They kind of feel like all churches have the truth. It was also sad that Berta (female) said she felt like church was weak or a thing for children. We get what we want I guess. Vartan is a little different, but is a talented man. He played us some songs on the piano and sang and I really liked it.

We've been checking up on everyone on the branch list that aren't coming this week, and I think we had one success. We met with a lady named Ofik. She had gotten offended from someone and that's why she hadn't come for so long. It's sad that the actions of one person, whether or not they are right, can make someone decide to seperate themselves from God and lose their blessings. I hope she can forgive and come back. She would be losing so many blessings. Staying on the right path is so worth it, but seems so hard.

Anyway, that was the week. We're going to work a lot through the members this week. We're actually going to plan a fireside where we can teach the members what their role is in the work. Then there will be another fireside they can invite friends and family to. Elder Lowe and I are going to go up to Alaverdi this week also, to encourage them to come to church. That'll be nice. I hope all is well. Thanks for the BYU email, I'll have to sign up for classes next monday. Love you all so much.

Love, Elder Bruce Wainwright

5-29-11

2011-06-06T17:20:00.000-07:00

Well, training is going pretty well. It's somewhat stressful, but I'm glad that I am training right now. Elder Smith is a great missionary. He's from South Jordan. He's a very hard worker and doesn't ever want to stop studying or working. I hope I can help him have a good start to his mission. I forget how hard it is to not be able to understand people. He wants to know the language so bad, even though he's doing very well. We're starting to warm up to each other and have more fun together and trust for each other. We found some new investigators that seem like good people this week. One is an older woman who has attended a pentacostal church (which is very popular in Armenia right now right behind Jehovah's Witnesses and the Armenian church of course) for a few years but didn't like some things she was seeing. She lived alone, but has taken in a man who is a little emotionally different but has a pure spirit and is a pretty good musician. There nice people and I'm excited to work with them. Our branch president was really kind to them. I love our Branch President. I've gained a lot of respect for him. He has a daughter serving in Ukraine right now.

Well, I hope everything's good. President Carter invited us to his house for Preperation Day today, so our district and another district is going to have root beer floats and maybe play some games. I like how President Carter leads us. He's a great leader and I've learned so much from him. Tell the Farnsworths that I'll be praying for them. I love you dad.

With much love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright
Hey Mom,
Thanks for being so wonderful. You should have Hykoohee email me. I would be interested to talk to her about a lot of things, especially what she thinks of America. People here idolize America and many think of it as paradise and the answer to all their problems. What they don't realize is that we have actually come to bring the answer to all problems to Armenia. We had an interesting conversation with a pretty devout member of the Armenian church, in english, where he starting asking why we came to preach to christians and to really think about what we believe. Elder Smith handled it very well and bore a strong testimony, even though the man didn't want to listen. He was pretty excited afterwards. And then, this was pretty random, a man named Bob Stone from Michigan or somewhere came and said hi (in english). He was an interesting man. He also didn't want to listen but he said he had only talked to nice missionaries, which was a nice compliment. We obviously wanted to know what he was doing way out here in Armenia, and he appearantly was just living here because it was cheap. I think he was waiting for stock to go up, or something. He was a funny guy, but I imagine he's got to be somewhat lonely. That's the second interesting man I've met lately who is not married and doesn't seem like that's very high on the priority list.

That's about how our week went. I hope all is well with you. That's wonderful that Matt got to go through the temple. I'm way excited for him and his mission. I love you all. Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

5-23-11

2011-06-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

Well, my trainee is here. We're in the same area, and the zone leaders are now the two district leaders that were serving under me. Funny, huh. And now I am one of their district leaders. Elder Smith is his name. My trainee. He is a great missionary. He has a lot of excitement and is very diligent. He is diligent both in the language and with the work. He really wants to love the people and make a difference. I think he'll grow up to be a fine missionary. He's going to be speaking the language very well very soon if he keeps working at it like he is. I liked your advice to make sure to have time to laugh and enjoy ourselves. I'll try and do that. I think it can take people a while sometimes to understand my sense of humor. I think we're going to do good work together, though. He's willing to put himself out and teach, even when it's hard. Understanding is still pretty hard, but it'll come. I forget how hard it was to strain to differentiate words from each other, let alone understand what they're asking or saying. It really does take the Holy Ghost for us to be able to understand each other.

This is interesting, there have been three branches (or six I guess) that have been merged together in the last month or so. Alaverdi is now part of Vanadzor. I think it's going to be a big faith tester for the members, but I hope it will help them grow stronger and try even harder. If they come, it has to be on their own bill, which won't be easy. President Schwitzer and the Eastern Europe Area Presidency have counseled to focus on centers of strength. That's one of the main reasons why they did it. President Carter is trying to lay the foundations for a stake in Armenia. There's a long way to go, but I can see how it will help.

Anyway, better go. It's been great. I'll have to tell you how things are going next week. Love you so much.
With much love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

5-1-11

2011-05-09T00:39:00.000-07:00

We met some really nice people this week. One of them is Karen who is an intelligent less-active man that we visited. Elder Crawford said Karen is his favorite less-active member in Armenia. He's a quiet man who likes to think and talk about people and try to solve the problems of the world. He's a little sick, but is starting to exercise and is trying to prepare to receive a calling. We want to try and do some service for him this week. I like him a lot.

We also met with two sisters who are preparing for baptism. They are wonderful women. Both are very happy and very pleasant. They are so willing to change. Elder Crawford taught about the Word of Wisdom last lesson and they had quit drinking coffee before we met again, because "if a prophet asked [them] to do it, then [they] better do it." One of the sisters had met with missionaries before, but didn't feel right about it and she said this last time that she realized God wanted her to wait for her sister who is less spiritual and who was here for a month or two from Russia. Elder Crawford is really excited for them, and I am too.

We decided to do a deep cleaning in our house today. It needs it pretty bad. We got a good start already this morning. This apartment has been a Zone Leader apartment for at least three years, so that means a lot of missionaries have gone home from here and over the years the things they've left behind have been gathering. It's a nice apartment, but it will be much nicer when it is de-junked. It will be nice.
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Well, that's what's happening here. I'm way excited to be able to talk to you next week. I love you so much. Thank you for everything and for being so great. Tell Gary to take care of himself. I don't like scary dogs either. Now I know why Ionut is so afraid of dogs. Wild dogs running around on the streets are not the same as well taken care of dogs. Love you.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

4-25-11

2011-04-25T17:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom and Dad and family,

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I had a very nice Easter. Church was very spiritual for me. During personal study, I read from Jesus the Christ about Christ's death and resurrection, which helped me be prepared to remember Him throughout the day. There were nice talks in church and good lessons. What was most memerable, however, was the Easter fireside we had afterword. Right after church, we all had an easter meal together while we got ready for the fireside. It was a simple fireside, but powerful. We watched the Lamb of God video in Russian and then read portions of The Living Christ with five songs in between by our choir and missionaries. Sister Blunck and the sisters made it all happen. I was honored to conduct it and thoroughly enjoyed it but sort of messed up the last phrase, but it was very nice. The Alaverdi Branch came down to Vanadzor (which is where I have been since right after new years) to participate, so there was plenty of people. Elder Blunck invited the Vanadzor Orchestra director, Rudolf Grigorich, to come and he came. He also tuned our piano, which I found out takes about four hours! And I thought the violin was hard to tune. Speaking of, I don't even get to really use the piano because Elder Crawford and I finally got put together, so I will be going to the other Vanadzor area. He goes home in less than a month and I only have three months! That's crazy. I'm excited to serve with him. I'll miss Elder Peterson and our investigators. Ohan should be baptized soon. His interview is in two weeks. I didn't think he'd make it, but I think he will. Gevorg finally came to church. We haven't seen him for two weeks because of work. He has changed so much as well, I hope he can keep going. We found a cool family who live below our new apartment. They all have diabetes and Arakel, the dad, hasn't left the house in three years, but he got really excited when we started teaching him about Christ. We went over to wish them Happy Easter and he wants us to come back. Our land lady feeds us cake every time we go over. It's so hard to refuse Armenians. You almost have to be rude to say no. Elder Peterson and I are working on how to say no to cake:)
I love you so much. I hope you have a great week.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

4-18-11

2011-04-18T16:33:00.000-07:00

Hi Mom,
Elder Peterson and I have had a pretty good week. We moved into a new apartment for its location and it's really nice. It's the nicest one I've been in, except for a few days at one in Yerevan. I'll probably stay here until the end of my mission.

We had to do some translating today for our Branch President and Senior elder Elder Blunck (He's from Santa Clara by the way), so we don't have much time. I love our Branch President. He is trying so hard to do things the right way and to help this branch go forward. He is far from perfect, as we all are, but I can see how the Lord is working through him to help this branch go forward. I love that the church is living and growing and changing all the time. We should be as well. Elder Peterson and I have some good things to work on this week, which should be good, having more efficient meetings, opening our mouths and testifying more, eating less sweets and things like that. As of right now I don't know if anyone is super close to being baptized. A less active mother of a large family of 7 kids came back to church, which was wonderful. The branch president is teaching her how the welfare system is supposed to work, and I think it will help her. Taking care of the poor in the Lord's way takes a lot of work. It's not just as simple as giving them what they need, but trying to help them become independent so they can continue to help others. Actually, I feel like that same principle applies to the gospel and our spiritual welfare. Anyway, I have gained a lot of respect for our Branch President and am grateful to be serving with him. Elder Peterson and I decided to make him some cookies and bring them to his house. When we went, his sister-in-law was there and we were able to help invite her to church. That was a nice little blessing, even though she didn't make it. Hopefully we can give her and her family another opportunity soon and invite them better.

Well, I love you. Thank you so much for caring for me and always writing. Thank you for your good examples and good advice. I hope that you have a great week. Tell dad and the family that I love them so much.

Much love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

4-11-11

2011-04-11T18:07:00.001-07:00

Dear Mom,
Thank you for the nice letter. I love hearing your thoughts. I can also always feel your love in your letters. Thank you for the pictures of all the kids, too. It looks like it probably is a little chaotic. I'm sure they will love those memories of times they were together, though. I'm grateful I was able to have close contact with all of our cousins. They are some of my best friends. I agree with you in that I have at least four good examples of good parents in our immediate family, besides both grandparents and everyone else in our family.
Conference was amazing, as always. I feel like there is so much more to the talks than I was actually understanding, but I learned a lot and feel like I have found some things to work on. I actually like Elder Christofferson's talk on chastisement (if I am remembering correctly). He said that we should be looking for correction. I like that way of thinking. I think repentance should be like that, us asking for help to overcome something we don't understand or are having a hard time with. I don't know what my favorite talk would be. I also loved Elder Scott's like dad did. I think dad is a good example of a lot of the things he was talking about. Elder Scott sure loved his wife. I like how he said he will be even more in love after this time they have been seperated. Some of the focuses I saw in conference were the closeness of the second coming and need to prepare and share, the family of course, and caring for the poor. In my mind, I see caring for the poor as similar to sharing the gospel. In sharing the gospel, we teach people how to improve their relationship with heavenly father so that they can follow him for themselves and then take care of other people, but they rely on the faith of others in the beginning. In caring for the poor, we share with them something that we have (time, talents, physical labor, money) and help them learn to take care of themselves so that they can take care of their family and others as well. It's like "one eternal round." Things seem so clear while listening to the prophets.
We're moving into a smaller, but nicer apartment this week. It's closer to our area but still in the city part, so that should be nice. Elder Peterson is amazing. He's doing very well with the language. I'm trying to continue to focus on improving my language as well. It's easy to get laxed with an alright ability. I would describe Elder Peterson in one word with "bubbly." He has a kind lighthearted personality and is a hard worker. Good man. We're working on getting on time and having shorter meetings. It's hard, but I think it will make a big difference. We're also working on opening our mouths more and testifying to people more. I realized a big part of that is just being friendly so that people have an opportunity to talk to us.
We haven't seen Gevorg all week. I'm worried about him. He had grown so much. I hope we don't lose him like this. Ohan isn't doing well either. Davit came to church and seems to be doing well, but he needs to get more into the Book of Mormon. We're working with our other investigators this week as well and we started teaching a family of old investigators. It's hard to tell how things are really going this week, it was a busy week.
I'll try to get a Khorovatz recipe. It's like smoked barbeque over some coals (the best smoke comes from dried grape vines), and it's very tasty. They marinate it not in juice like we do, but in chopped onion, garlic, greens (like parsley and sillantro), thyme, and other things. Maybe just a little vinegar. That's just what I observed, but I'll ask. My favorite Armenian food is the shaurma. I think it's actually a turkish or persian food originally, but they're very good. They cook usually pork and cut it into small pieces and then wrap greens, onion, tomatoe, cucumber, or pickled things with just some mayonaise and ketchup into lavash, which is like a tortilla. I love them. The best I've had are at a place here in Vanadzor and a place in Gyumri. It's like the only fast food here. I'll have to learn how to make them before I go.
Well I must be going. Love you all so much. Take care.
Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

3-28-11

2011-04-01T10:37:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom,
Gevorg and Ohan are doing well. I wouldn't say there has been a ton of progress since last week, but we are trying to help them to have more spiritual experiences while reading, praying, and at church. That's something that doesn't come easy I've realized. You have to work for it and also know what you are looking for. I think a big focus of the selections from Preach My Gospel that we have been learning is how to help people have spiritual experiences. Davit wasn't able to come to church this week, but he wants to quit smoking and is coming to a lot of our meetings with us. I love his happy personality, despite the hard life he has lived. Or maybe it is partly because of that.
That's sad that Brother Payne passed away. He was a great home teacher and a wonderful man. I miss listening to and playing good music. I wish I could have had my violin here with me. I'm sure it would have been handy. One of the senior couples began learning the violin before he came, so he bought a violin here and tries to play a few minutes every night. I agree that music is a wonderful way to connect to the soul. Tell Christy shnorhavor with her marraige. Or as the Armenians would say: Bari bacht (Good luck!).
Elder Frye and I had a fun week this week. He's doing very good. We had a little companion exchange, and I think that was good for him. Elder Crawford and I have to travel so much! I don't know if there has been a week where we haven't either gone to Gyumri or Yerevan. I love Elder Crawford so much. He's a good example. He has a very fun personality and he is willing to be obedient and to work very hard. He is also a thinker and is always analyzing and trying to do things better. He's not a bad rhymer and rapper as well. I basically have two companions right now, which I kind of like.
We had an interesting experience at Armine's house this week. We are trying to work with her husband, but he drinks a bit and isn't sure what he believes about this life and God. We tried to have a family home evening with them, but he was drunk and it didn't work out. He wanted to dance with us, but we decided we'd better try another time. (That should explain the picture with the man hugging Elder Frye). Suren's a good guy. I hope he can overcome his problems soon. His family wants to help him so bad.
Well, that's all I have to say, except that you are so amazing. Thank you so much for praying for me and doing so much and for having done so much for me. I hope I can better realize how blessed I am. Say hi to all the kids for me. much love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

3-13-11

2011-03-16T02:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom and Dad,

I liked what you learned from your lessons, Mom. I just started reading Jesus the Christ again during our lunches (I only ever got a few chapters into it). It's amazing how much James E. Talmage knows. Hopefully it will help me better relate to the scriptures and better understand Christ's teachings. I already feel like I can relate a lot better to the scriptures, especially the New Testament, from being a missionary. We're basically continuing the same work that they started. Our Zone Conference this week was all about the Book of Mormon and how we can use it more and better. I feel like that was something we needed to focus on and I'm excited to see the results. I personally want to strengthen my own testimony of the book, its importance, and its reality.

I've been a little sick this week, so we didn't have a ton of meetings, but there was still some good things that happened. Gevorg, our investigator quit smoking. On Sunday, he said he had quit for four days and was pretty excited. I could see a difference in him and in the light in his eyes. If he can keep reading and praying, I think he'll be ready for baptism. We also met with Kristine again. She still hasn't set a date to be baptized, but she seems to be doing well. We felt like we might be able to do a better job at helping her resolve her concerns.

Not much else happened. We might be moving apartments soon, so it's closer to our area. The one we want is pretty nice inside. Oh this Sunday was really nice. The deaf man, who just got baptized, gave a talk in sacrament with his family and it was really spiritual. I think that's one of the first times that big of a family has spoken like that. We also have an open house at the church this weekend, which should go well. I like this branch a lot, and my respect for the Branch President is always growing.

I miss you all and hope that everything is good and well. Happy Saint Patrick's Day this week.

With much love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

3-7-11

2011-03-09T19:36:00.000-08:00

3-7-11 Dear Mom,
I don't need better boots. I have yak traks that you put on the bottom, but it's just not worth it always. The snow has kept on coming, but it melts pretty fast and should all be gone soon anyway. I've enjoyed it though. Sounds like Bryce will still have some opportunity to enjoy the cold as well.

I can't wait to get back and be able to go hiking with everyone. Dad has really taught us how to have good fun together. I was thinking about families lately. Armenians are interesting to me because families are very important to them, but they don't seem to be able to know how to show their love towards each other. Teaching with love seems like such an important principle in successful families. I think the teaching in families is decreasing. Maybe that's why they had the talk about courageous parents in the last conference.

Gevorg has a date for the 19th of March, but we'll probably change it at least one week back. Kristine didn't come to church, but I think she'll figure things out. This week I went to Gyumri for exchanges with the District leader. It was nice to be able to see some of the changes that have happened in the last year and to see Sako again and some other wonderful people. Sako is married and his wife and mother have been baptized. He's the one Elder King and I taught. He seemed to have grown a lot, but he's going to Russia for a year or so to work alone. I hope it's not too hard on him. He said he'll still be sending tithing home and studying. He's a good guy. The Elders there needed a boost and I feel like it helped them.

I'm sorry this isn't as long of a letter. My stomach is really rumbly today, so maybe that has something to do with it. It was a good week, though, and I'm excited for next week. The time is flying so fast for me. I feel like I am becoming a better missionary all the time, and hopefully a better person too. I love you all so much. It's so comforting to not even have to doubt wether or not you love me. Take care.
Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

2--28-11

2011-02-28T18:03:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-21T21:41:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-18T02:16:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

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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1-23-11

2011-01-24T18:27:00.000-08:00

Hi Mom and Dad,

I didn't do my ecclesiastical endorsement because I don't think I need another one. I'm trying to finish the scholarship applications though, so I might have to be brief.

A zone leader mostly has the responsibility of being an example. We keep track of key indicators that help us know what are things we can discuss or help with. It doesn't interfere very much with the work. We have only two districts of two (Gyumri District) and four companionships (from Alaverdi and Vanadzor) with one of those being sisters. We have meetings with the other Zone Leaders and discuss the work and we attend District Meetings. It's pretty simple and I feel like our biggest responsibility is to be an example of living the gospel, being obedient and effective. I felt really good about the work this week. We are building our relationships with those we are serving and we found four new people to teach. Two are younger men, so I'm excited to work with them. As far as helping my companion, we are just trying to plan out our lessons well and I am trying to teach him principles occasionally. It's a frustrating thing to not be able to communicate with others. Elder Frye's always progressing though.

Armenians are always talking about dreams they see with Christ or some other profound experience. I think they might be a visionary people. Anyway, one of the ladies we found this week said she has always considered herself an athiest, but has had a few dreams lately that have caused her to really want to attend some church. She must have been ready to find us, because she committed herself to come with us to church and we thought it'd be good if we agreed. She came and loved it. I hope we can help her come to know her Heavenly Father and his plans for her and her family. We met some other nice people as well. One of them is this woman I'm sending a picture of and her somewhat handicapped son. I'm not sure what's the matter with him, but he just has some problems. They invited us over, though, and loved having us there. It was a nice week.

Well, I hope all is well and that the college stuff works out. Good luck with everything you are working on. I hope you are all happy and healthy.

Much love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

1-16-11

2011-01-18T18:30:00.000-08:00

This week has been a little hard to get meetings with people, but it is getting better. My companion is new here and is still struggling with the language, so we're slowly building up our teaching pool. We're also trying to define the areas for the two elder companionships and sisters. It should get easier from here on out, though. My favorite part of this work is the relationships we get to build up with the investigators we teach and the members we help. I love the time I get to spend with these people that I care about and that the Lord loves so much.

1-10-11

2011-01-10T15:39:00.000-08:00

Well, my time in Alaverdi has already passed. I am now serving in Vanadzor as a Zone Leader. It's kind of different than normal, though, because I am now finishing the training of Elder Larson's companion while being Zone Leader with Elder Crawford. Elder Larson is now with my companion. I don't know if that even makes sense to you. My companion's name is Elder Frye. He's a great guy. He's struggling a little with the language, but it will come. I only now realized how amazing Elder Kurth was really doing with Armenian. I really didn't have to do much to help him, but now I hope I can help Elder Frye. I also have gone from the newest branch in Armenia to one of the most developed. I'm sure I will be able to love the people here like I was able to in Alaverdi. I really am grateful that God has blessed me to feel love for these people. I'm excited to get into the work here, and I hope Alaverdi continues to go forward. I hope I can learn how to be a good Zone Leader. I still have questions about what a District Leader is supposed to do. Although, I do feel like it is giving me an opportunity to serve others, develop greater love, and to learn (as it says in the white handbook). I feel like I'm growing a lot, and I hope that my feelings prove to be true.

Before I left Alaverdi, we had a great meeting with a 20 year old guy named Hamo who is our investigator. We are amazed by him. He wants to start a business effort in Alaverdi, he walks to church with us, he quit smoking without us asking him to, he is reading from the Book of Mormon and I believe he will be baptized in the near future. He's a nice kid and I hope he can continue being the great man that he is.
---

Well, Christmas and New Years wasn't the same without you. I hope we can be together next year. I haven't done any college applications for grants, scholarships, or anything. If you, Brandon, Mark, or Crystal have any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated. I think the deadline for those is Feb 1. Time is flying. Love you all.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

New Pictures

2011-01-04T10:39:00.001-08:00

12-19-10

2010-12-20T07:04:00.000-08:00

Elder Kurth is doing great. We're starting to be able to teach better together, and there are a lot of people here that we might be able to start working with. We just had our District Conference (like stake conference) and I was able to see the World Wide Training. It was very interesting. I hope I can better support our branch president here. Elder Kurth and I should be the counselors for the Branch President and I hope we can start helping him fulfill his responsibilities for the branch. I also got to see Sako, who I baptized, from Gyumri. Since I left, his Mom has been baptized, he got married, and his wife is now baptized. I'm so happy for him and I hope he can continue to prepare to be a leader in the church.

A cool verse that I found was in 2 Ne 9: 13-14.
O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect.
14 Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness

I like the word enjoyment that is used in verse 14. We really get to choose what state we are in. If we make bad choices, we are imprisoned by our guilt and it is very unpleasant, but making good choices fills our lives with peace and joy. I know that those feelings of guilt can also be cleaned away as we are spiritually healed of our wounds through Christ's atonement and His doctrine.

12-12-10

2010-12-17T19:10:00.000-08:00

My companion, Elder Kurth, is doing great. He's very smart and will know more words than me in not too long. We're working on helping him communicate his thoughts and feelings. He has a clean heart and wants to be an obedient, good missionary. I think we are going to have a great time together. I love having companions that I feel comfortable with and so far it has seldom been different. The members love him as well. They love him even more that he is struggling to understand them. I'm afraid his struggling is going to be a lot less than mine was.

---
I felt like the Lord really led us to Vahe and Suzie this week. This week, our leaders clarified to us the rule that we need to have an adult of the opposite sex present at every meeting. I knew we were going to need some special help to be obedient to that rule and still be able to visit everyone we needed to. We decided to have a special fast in order to get some help to find males to meet with at every meeting. That same Sunday, Aleks came to visit Ofik from Gyumri and wanted to come to church. Also, he invited Vahe to come with him. They both participated well in church and both seem interested in learning more. Since they both live ouside of the area, I don't know if we'll see any imediate results, but I know God blessed us and will continue to do so as we strive to be obedient, especially because he knows how bad it is needed here.

That was probably my highlight of the week. Melan and Gago came to church after not coming for two weeks, which is good. I hope they don't give up. We hope to help them strengthen their faith so they can overcome their obstacles.

District meeting went well, I thought. We learned about faith from one of the sisters and then talked about some of the culture and beliefs of Armenians for the new elders. The new elders all three bore testimonies about missionary work, the restoration, and the atonement. It was nice. This week we'll focus on obedience and do some language training. I hope it goes well. The Brethren also want us to incorporate role playing into our studies and training, so I'll be trying to incorporate some of that as well. I think I'll enjoy being district leader.
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Well, we have to go get haircuts, bye a shower part, sing with some kids, and hopefully eat out, so I'll talk to you later. Love you so much.

Love,
Elder Bruce Allen Wainwright

12/5/10

2010-12-17T19:06:00.000-08:00

Elder Carlson went home this week. It was hard for him. He loves these people so much. I stayed in Yerevan with the zone leaders until my trainee came in on Saturday. His name is Elder Kurth. He's tall and skinny with blond hair and glasses, looking somewhat similar to Elder King. He's a great man. He's doing so well with the language. He listens well and picks things up really fast. Elder Kurth is very humble and friendly and is a hard worker even though he learns easily. He's the youngest of nine kids! I think we'll have a great companionship and it will be very easy to train him. I bet I have a lot I can learn from him. The members seem to love him as well and realize how blessed he is with the language.

We don't have anyone who seems like they will be ready for baptism soon, but we have seen a cool miracle already. Our leaders clarified a rule that it seems like has been hard to keep or has been forgotten about. It says that there needs to be a responsible adult of the opposite sex present at our meetings, which can be hard when there are few to no priesthood holders in the branch. I realized that there will be times when that will be particular hard up here in Alaverdi and hard for the members to accept (if we tell them we can't come in). Elder Kurth and I decided to fast about finding new males to meet with and being able to meet with those already in the branch. Then, two younger men who are relatives of the members and somewhat familiar with the church came to church on Sunday. I don't know how long they'll be around, but they were both great men and I hope we can meet with them some this week.

I'm a little nervous for my first district meeting. It's a little stressful to try and decide what to talk about, especially having two smart zone leaders in the district, but I'm excited to be able to serve the missionaries and grow while doing it.

I'm glad that you had a great thanksgiving. That's funny that Matt made you cry. They do have similarities. I'm glad he's doing well.

We put up the Christmas decorations this morning. They're nice. We also made some homemade peanut butter. While I was in Yerevan I bought some snickers so I could put it into my companion's stocking for Christmas like I did for Elder Larson last year.

Give Seth a kiss for me. I love you. Hope everything's going well.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

11-29-10

2010-11-30T23:21:00.000-08:00

Elder Carlson is going this week already. It went fast. I learned a lot with him. He's a great man. We've had great lessons together as well. We meet with seven people on our full days, which is great. There's still crazy gossip problems here, that I don't think will go for a long time, but I feel like things will and are improving. I love the people, especially sister Ofik and her family. She loves the missionaries so much and always says funny things that sound obsurd in English like, "I'll die for your body" or for your "spirit," and "my precious!" She's a great woman and a good example. She's the R. S. President. We're trying to teach her daughter in law, but her son is pretty inactive and is stubborn. Great people though. We are trying really hard to help the branch focus on each other's good sides and not the bad. I hope we can help them change that.

President Carter knows I was supposed to be sent here. He even said why during our zone conference. He said I am a peacemaker. I admire his faith. He won't do anything unless he knows for sure that it's the Lord's will. I hope to be able to strengthen my spiritual sensitivity. I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost.

I have to go, but I love you. Have a great week.

Much love,

Elder Bruce Wainwright

Thanksgiving

2010-11-22T13:23:00.000-08:00

I'm so glad to be able to serve with Elder Carlson. He is a great example. He doesn't want to go home because of how much he has put his heart into this work. We felt like we needed to start commending the members for their strengths, so on Sunday Elder Carlson said something good about every one of the members in his talk. It brought in the Spirit pretty fast. I know that every child of God's is prescious to him and he wants us all to be able to recieve exaltation and all that he has. It's so worth it.

I just wanted to take a second and thank everyone who has been a part of my life for being who they are. I have been blessed with great friends and with an amazing family and extended family. Grandma's, Grandpa's, cousins, aunts, uncles, and many others. I'm sure many people don't realize how big of a difference they've made in my life. We need each other so bad. I wonder how great of a place the City of Enoch must have been. It's so wonderful that every one of us has our own individualities. I'm a blessed man.

With love and gratitude,
Your son Elder Bruce Wainwright

11-15-10

2010-11-15T14:39:00.000-08:00

Dear Mom,
To answer some of your questions, persecution has kind of been put into many Armenians. Armenians are very proud of their church since that's about all they have. The government doesn't like us too much, so they put up signs saying "One Nation," and then talk about how the Jehovah's Witnesses, us, and others are breaking down the country and families. Many people are either afraid of us, or just don't like us, at least by name. The one's who believe those things are usually not the ones that we want to teach, but a lot of people are afraid of what others will think. Armenians are talkers and everyone knows each others stories. That's probably why a lot of husbands don't let wives come to church as well. Fear of man. It's pretty sad.

So, I had some major changes happen this week, and I'm so excited. I got transferred to Alaverdi, the furthest north branch and the newest (2 or 3 years). I also got sent to serve with Elder Carlson for the last three weeks of his mission, which will be amazing. He was our assistant before he trained for the second time. He is a great man and an amazing missionary. I was wondering if I would ever be able to serve with him, and I feel blessed to be able to. He'll help me be a great servant and tool for the Lord. He's also excited to be able to serve with me too, which is nice. The branch is a little crazy. There's quite a bit of pride and contention, which sadly puts a bad name on the church pretty fast in a small place like this. We live in a canyon in a village called Sarahart (being interpreted it means flat mountain, like a bluff). Alaverdi is at the bottom of the valley and is slightly bigger. We usually ride a lift thing to get between the two. It's going to be hard work, but I'm excited to try and help. I feel silly for thinking our last branch was in a bad condition. We have some good people we're teaching, most of them are relatives of the members. We're working hard together, and it feels so good. It's going to be an adventure. I will also become the district leader and be training when Elder Carlson leaves, which I don't really want to think about too much. I'm excited for it, though. This will be a good place to train.

Sunday was a little sad. The members are new and know that the branch is perfect, but it's as if they can all see the slivers in their neighbors eyes and forget to pull out the mote that is in their own. I don't mean to sound negative, because there are some great people, but they need to humble themselves before they can really help each other. Every principle of the Gospel is so necessary. I hope they can learn. Elder Carlson said he has already seen improvement. He and I have an easy time teaching together. I feel like our desires are very similar. I'm sad we'll only be together for three weeks, but it'll be great. He doesn't want to go.
---

Well, I'm pretty happy right now. I love you.

Love,
Your son Elder Bruce Wainwright

11/7/10

2010-11-08T15:56:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed this week, even if the work was a little slower than normal. I think God was trying to help me remember how blessed I am and how important this life and mission is for me. I was reading from the book Our Search for Happiness and Elder Ballard quoted the scripture in Matt 6:18-21 (I believe) that says not to treasure up things of the world, but things in heaven that will last. Then, it says "where your treasure is, there will your heart be." That led me to remember how many treasures I have in this life and that I need better treasure them up and care about them. I feel like it has been a little hard for me to bear a strong testimony to these people about the Gospel, lately, because I can forget how precious it really is. I know that without Jesus Christ and this Gospel, I am nothing and all that I do will bring me no good. However, through Christ all things will come together for my good. All the happiness and peace in my life comes because of a man who loves me more than I will ever deserve, even Jesus Christ. He loves me, which helps me want to love Him and my fellow man. I was grateful for this nice reminder and am so grateful for God's persistence in trying to help me.

None of our investigators made it to church yesterday, which was sad. We still fill like they're able to progress, however. We need help from Heavenly Father. Gayane, a less active we visited, did come, however, and was warmly welcomed. Bryce asked how the members are with missionary work, and that's hard to know, but I feel like they do pretty well. They still are new themselves and have things to learn, but for the most part they are excited to be able to share with friends they care about. It is hard because of persecution from the Armenian church, but they still do pretty good. Armenians, in many ways, are very selfless and I admire that. It does seem hard for them to share with their family members, especially wives with husbands.
Love,
Your son Elder Bruce Wainwright

11-3-10

2010-11-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom,

Thanks for the letter, it sounds like you had a great week. How did Bryce send you salmon? We actually had salmon this week too. Elder Thylin is from Sweden, so of course he loves fish. In their schools, you can't pass a grade if you don't pass your swimming class. I guess a lot of them end up working on boats for at least some of their lives.

This week was pretty slow for work with our investigators, so we started focusing on some of the members again. There were a few houses we wanted to get into, so we decided to cook a bunch of cookies and drop them off. It was really nice, and we were invited into all of their houses. We have a few part member families in our area that we would like to work with. I feel like both families are necessary for the gospel, and the Gospel is necessary for families. I know the support that our families give makes a huge difference.

It got cold pretty fast. We're thinking about wearing coats already if it stays this cold. What's it like there?

Today we went to the zoo, which was fun. I love animals and nature so much. I miss camping. At the zoo I got to hold a snake, which was pretty neat. Animals are so beautiful and can be quite powerful.

I realized my chess skills are getting pretty good. I'll have to play Ionut again when we get back. Elder Thylin and I have been playing that lately on our down time.

Love,
Your son Elder Bruce Wainwright

10-24-10

2010-10-26T11:08:00.000-07:00

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.
---
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

10-17-10

2010-10-18T23:18:00.000-07:00

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

10-10-10

2010-10-11T20:49:00.001-07:00

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.

10-3-10

2010-10-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

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

9-27-10 Weekly Summary

2010-09-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

Weekly summary:
This week went by fast, but it was nice. We met a great new investigator, named Artur. Out of curiosity, Artur decided to enter the church and talked to the District President for a little bit about some questions he had. We planned up with him and met twice with him. He's a skinny guy, gray hair, but has two boys who are 10 and 15. He made it to church, even though I only called a half an hour before-hand to remind him, which is a pretty good sign. He said his wife doesn't care for him meeting with us, since she's a devout Armenian Apastolic member, but he doesn't seem to let that disturb him from coming. He's a smart man, and I hope he can use his curiosity to sincerely pray about this. Not much has changed with our other investigators, but they have potential. Something we're focusing on this week is figuring out what has happened with all the priesthood holders in our branch: deceased, moved, ready to come back, or apostate. We've had some pretty good service opportunities this week. Last monday, our relief society president, Mariam, was doing some remodeling and we were able to help Yasha, our Iranian friend, carry up a bunch of sand bags for the wall. My companion and I haven't done any crazy workouts lately, so we were pretty dead afterwards (as in for two days). It's been a while since I've lifted cement bags. It's all good now, and I got some weights from Elder King (he leaves in a month already), so we can be better prepared for next time. We also got to move a piano down three flights of stairs which was an adventure. I love that kind of service. It was a nice week.

9-19-10

2010-09-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

Weekly summary...
This week was good, even though we had very few meetings. We have been trying to remake contact with our investigators and clear up with them why exactly we are visiting and what our plan is. That is something Pres. Carter does very well. He makes it very clear both why we are here and exactly what will be required of the person we are teaching. He is a man full of love, both for the Lord and for everyone around him. I'm so glad we get opportunities to work side by side with him. We're trying to work with an investigator that he was able to give a Book of Mormon to. It didn't work out the other day, so he walked with us to grab an ice cream while we talked. He's a great leader.

We had four people come to church yesterday, which has not happened for a while. Ashot, the interesting Hindu/Yoga man came for sacrament. A lady who we met this week and are teaching english to came with her daughter. Also, Alik came for most of the meetings and had no problem participating. It was a nice Sunday. It is so nice to have a full Branch Presidency. The councilors are also the clerk and Branch Mission Leader, but it still works. As I said in Bryce's letter, we're supposed to find a man to fill in Elder Thylin's place as Elder's Quorum President. I really think God will provide us with one soon. We are trying to pray every day to find men who can lead the church here. It's a lot of work, but I can see improvements even in the little time I've been here. I was actually thinking about Zion's Camp lately, and how that was simply one of those necessary adventures that you were talking about in order for those men to grow and earn trust in the Lord, even though they didn't get to fight. 8 or 9 of the men in the camp were called to be apostles and all seventy men in the Quorum of Seventy were part of the camp as well. It's amazing how God works with his imperfect children.

9-13-10

2010-09-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom,
Sorry I wasn't very clear in my last letter. We didn't go to Russia. And the temple is actually in Kiev, Ukraine. The sessions were transmitted to our branches through satellite since the saints here will now be attending that temple. Before they had to go to Sweden. Romanian saints will also be attending the Kiev temple as well. The only ones who went were about twenty youth who performed in the cultural event. One of the girls, Zara, who is from our branch had to stay longer for some reason, but was able to do baptisms for the dead there after it was opened. She and another girl should be getting their mission calls back very soon. What I said about President Monson was just from what I noticed in the broadcasts. I also talked about the power that comes from the temple, and I could feel that, even though we weren't actually there. I can't wait to get home and be able to continue to learn and grow while visiting the temple often. Most of the saints here have only been once, if at all.
This week was a little different. Elder Grigoryan had a hard time getting over his sickness and had a fever on and off for five days. The transfer was supposed to happen on Friday so we arranged for his parents to come pick him up. However, when President Carter went to pick up the new missionaries, they didn't show and they found out there were flight problems, so the transfer was delayed until today. So I have been serving with Elder King and Lusk in their area, which has been great except that I haven't seen my investigators for about a week now. I hope it doesn't put too much of a damper on the work. It was great with Elder Lusk and King, though. Their new apartment is beautiful and probably one of the best in the mission. We even dedicated it this morning.
To answer your other question, yes, we are also learning the new focused corriculum. Actually, missionaries in the whole world should be learning it. Bryce said he already flew to Jeauneu (however you spell that) to receive the training. I like it a lot. They did it by filming missionaries in California who learned the principles and applied it. They want us to basically be better teachers and more Christlike. To love people and really try to help them instead of just reciting to them everything we know. I'm excited to begin applying it. I've been thinking about that lately and really want to become a better, more reliable and helpful friend. It makes all the difference.
I'm excited about my new companion. His name is Elder Thylin (Tihl-in). He is from Sweden. He speaks great english, fairly tall, darker skin, and Armenian's love him. He's had it pretty rough I hear, both on his mission and at home, but he tries very hard to love people and wants them to love him. He's a pretty happy guy in general. I think we'll have a good companionship. He also likes to work hard and wants to serve well. I'll let you know how it goes.
Some more nice things about President Carter is his devotion to the work and the Lord. At least for now, he is trying to get into the middle of everything and even tries to go to meetings with missionaries. He is always ready to sacrifice his time for others. He won't make a decision until he knows it is the Lord's will, for example with transfers and callings, etc. He is a man full of love and has given me many special compliments that I don't know I deserved. I'm honored to have such a humble, obedient, and honest man as a Mission President, as well as his humble and loving wife. They are a great couple.
Well that was my week. The interview didn't work out with Yasha. The interview is for us to make sure we will not be doing anything to endanger the life of anyone. They pretty much have to have citizenship in a Christian country and plan not to return to Iran. We have a few other Iranian friends who are also beginning to ask questions. Just so you know, the underground Christians I was talking about in Iran were not members of this church, but still Christian.
I'm sorry you got sick and were stressed about your lesson. I feel the same way sometimes, that I could have given a lot better of a lesson. I think that's true, but I also think the imperfect ones are alright as well. As long as we learn from them. I miss you and love you. I try and think of you too, and remember how blessed of a man I am. It's interesting that our difficulties are necessary for our growth. Brigham Young said that Joseph Smith would not have been able to become as perfect of a man as he did if he had not had so much persecution, trials, and infirmities as he did in his life. I hope that I can make the best out of my trials, even though I don't feel like I have had a ton of very hard things to do. Maybe I just need to open my eyes a little more to see the opportunites God gives me to grow. I love you. I'm doing alright.
Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright
P.S.- Thanks for the story from Lisa's friend. It was great

8-29-10

2010-08-30T07:32:00.001-07:00

Mom,

First I'll answer your questions. I always forget to plan for preparation day, so we usually do what someone else is doing. Last week we went and saw Edgmiatsin which is like Armenia's religious center, even though I'm not sure why. Visiting historic or religious sites are my favorite activities. It helps me understand them a little better. We also got to see a baptism, which was quite interesting. They speak in old Armenian when they are doing their services, which Armenians can't even understand. Elder King is actually studying that old Armenian and has a Bible of it. The week before that we helped Elder King and Lusk move. Sometimes we just hang out with missionaries in the mission office and watch a movie, or sometimes we also play sports like basketball, bowling, or tennis. There are still a lot of places I would like to visit, though, so I should do more of that. I'll think about things for Christmas. Something I can think would be useful is baking powder and a little bit of vanilla flavoring. Unless I can find their vanilla here. And if you send something, you should always remember pictures and letters:)

That's cool that there's a foreign exchange student with Janice. Haikuhii is definitely an Armenian name. Her city is probably pretty small. The closest branch we have to her is probably Ashtarak (about 20 min north of Yerevan), then Gyumri. You should tell her "barev" for me. How long will she be there?

Do you remember Yervand, the amazing blind member who lives in Gyumri? Well, I heard his mother just got baptized last week. She wanted Elder King and I to come, but we couldn't make it of course. That's so wonderful. She's a great women and in some ways reminds me of you, Mom. This week we were also able to give Alik, the member's husband, a baptismal date. I think he just needed a reason to get baptized, and when he came to the Branch Activity at Sevan, he realized what he was missing with his family. He's a smart guy, and very polite. We also started meeting with an amazing Persian man, Yasha, and his Armenian wife, Araks. They're newlyweds and both have great personalities. I think Yasha already practically accepts Christianity, and I feel like we might be able to help him. He already calls us his friends. I have some other friends, too, that we're meeting with that I hope I can learn from as well as help them. I've been thinking about being a good friend, lately, and that is really one of my great goals. God and Christ are my best friends that I can always trust and always turn too. I also want to become that sort of friend. Someone who everyone feels comfortable being with, and wants to be a better person because of that friend.

Tell Aaron congratulations. I am happy for him. Give Genevieve a hug for me. Have a good week.

Love,
Your son Elder Bruce Wainwright

8-22-10

2010-08-23T08:29:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom and Dad,

Thanks for sending of the letter, Mom. I figured you were probably working on it. Thanks for telling me about Logan, that's great. You should tell him hi for me if you ever get a chance. He's a good kid. There are so many good people in this world. It seems like it is so easy to miss some of the great opportunities in this life, or even the whole purpose. I feel so bad for people who don't know why they are here, or feel like God doesn't care about them. Like the sons of Mosiah said in Mosiah 28:3 I can't think of anyone not making it to the Celestial Kingdom. It seems like it is so easy for man to not find the truth in this life because they are blinded by the slights of men. How wonderful it is to have the fullness of our Savior's teachings today. All that we need to receive the greatest of God's gifts we have, we just have to live up to that responsibility.

That's interesting about the different addictions that you were reading about. I've been thinking about that too. I agree, that eating can become an addiction. In my Health class, they talked about how eating food actually causes a drug to be released to signify pleasure. Laughing can do the same thing, as well as like you said, pornography, actual drugs, and other things. I think simple habits like biting nails, etc. can also become addictions. What I was thinking about, was that as we try to gain self-control or overcome those addictions that we have, that it can help us to gain self-discipline and spiritual strength. All laws, including temperal laws like the Word of Wisdom, not only benefit our physical well being, but our spiritual as well. I also know that I can gain more spiritual strength from diligent obedience, like with reading scriptures, being punctual, studying well, and many other things. Diligence is so important, and I realized it is something that is hard for me. I do great at trying new things, but keeping it up is the hard part. I've been trying to work on that, and I feel like it has helped me with my language, teaching, and happiness. Thanks for the insight.

We met with Alek again, and I think he really would like to be baptized. He's a nice guy, and pretty smart too. He's an engineer for Yerevan TV. They have a good family. We've also been meeting with two interesting homeless guys and we have some other potentials as well. I'll let you know if anything happens with them.

Guess what... Adam left! I don't know if it's permanent, but he has a three month visa for Denmark. I'll miss him. He should stayed pretty involved in the church, though, so hopefully it will be an opportunity for him to see the church how it's supposed to be run. We're still learning here.

I like President Carter and his wife a lot. I think he wants to do things exactly as it says in Preach My Gospel. I think why Elder Christensen said it is good is so that we can re-focus in a way and have a new start. So that we can focus more on exact obedience. President Carter is strict, but in a very loving way that takes away any pressure. He is a wonderful servant of the Lord. I wish I could talk more, but I have to go. I love you all so much. Have a great week. Tell Janet thanks for the letter. She's a great woman.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

8-16-10

2010-08-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the letters, Mom and Dad. It sounds like it was another exciting week for you. I had a good week as well. Elder Grigoryan and I have been trying to work hard. I also feel like I have progressed a little this week, spiritually and with the language, which is nice. I bought a grammer book about common mistakes and it has been helping me. Also, my studies have been going well. I feel like I was able to undergo some changes this week, which were inspired by our Zone Conference with President Carter that I think will help me do better as well. The focus of the Conference was on Chapter 8: Using time Wisely through goal setting and planning. There are key indicators that we report in order to be accountable for our work, and he wanted us to stop reporting on our street conversations and our member meetings. Our mission is the highest baptizing mission in East Europe, but our numbers in general have been decreasing in the last six months. We will now be focusing on having members present in our meetings and on helping investigators attend Sacrament meeting. It's a simple change, but I already noticed how it has changed my focus and I feel like I will be able to help more people come unto Christ. Something interesting that Pres. Eyring said to Pres. Carter was, "Hurry while they are still humble." This work is so important and I know that now is the time for Armenians to accept the gospel. It is because of the earthquake and how Jon Huntsman was inspired to help Armenia that we are even here. I was thinking about how soon Christ is coming and how it is likely that Armenia will play a big role in Muslims beginning to receive the gospel. There are already a few saints here that are Persians. A lot of them come to our English classes and are interested in Christianity. I don't doubt that God is preparing them to here about Christ's Gospel.

Elder Lusk, who is my new district leader and from my MTC group, wants us to build our relationships with the Branch. Elder Grigoryan and I decided to bake some cookies and give them to some of our investigators and less actives. It was very nice and I think they appreciated it a lot. We are also going to try and write notes to those we can't see very often or just want them to know we care about them. It feels so good, and I'm sad I haven't done this kind of thing more often. Today we also were able to help Elder King and Santo clean out the apartment they moved out of from the Shengavit area. I have been thinking about charity and selflessness lately, and I would really like to gain those traits. I've been reading from the teachings of the Prophets: Joseph Smith Manual and it is so evident from his letters, words, and actions that he genuinely selflessly cared for others and wanted to do all in his power to help them. He is such a hero and example. I hope I can really learn what I need to do to follow and become like the Savior in my mission. I get so excited when I am learning and progressing. I gave the lesson for our big Sunday School class and we reviewed what they had learned from the old Testament so far and we had a really nice discussion on sacrifice and why the Savior had to die for us. I hope it helped them. The church is new here, but it is still progressing. It's only going to get harder for them. I hope they can stay on the narrow path, like on angels landing, and make it to the end without falling.

I love you. I am so grateful for our family. I can't wait to be able to come and spend precious time together and continue to learn together. I really want to be able to always humble myself enough to be taught and to help God teach others. It's not easy. Thank you for all that you do for me. I am a blessed man. I know that God loves us and wants us to make it back to Him. It's been nice. I hope is well.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

Happy Birthday, Dad

2010-08-09T08:44:00.000-07:00

(I thought I'd put this in, too, because he tells about some of the wonderful things about his dad that are so true. I know the family will enjoy hearing this.)

Hey Dad,

I just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday. I hope your hike goes well. You'll have to tell me how it goes. Which hike did you decide to do? That's good that Bryce gets to go on hikes a lot. I hope it's a nice day, and that you don't get too sore.

I am so grateful to be your son. I have learned so much from you throughout the years, and I'm sure I will only continue to do so. I owe so much of who I am to both you and Mom. You are a wonderful friend to others and make people feel good when they are with you. As Mom was talking about, you also have a wonderful desire to help those around you have a good time, like when you prepare camping trips, bring kayaks to activities, cut lots of wood for fires and many other things. You are always willing to serve others and can see where there is a need. I am trying to do the same thing, and know that I am the most happy when those around me are happy. I hope that I can in some way glorify you by my actions in this life, as Christ glorified the Father by completing his will. You mean so much to me Dad, and I can't wait to get back and go on a hike together or on a nice bikeride. I noticed that in the Family: A Proclomation to the World it says that a successful family is built on love, patience, and some other godly traits, but the last thing on the list was "wholesome recreational activities." I like that and think that is so important. I feel like you have provided our family with many wonderful "wholesome recreational activities." I hope you have a wonderful birthday, Dad. I love you and look up to you. Thank you for all that you sacrifice for me and for your great love.

Much love,
Your son Elder Bruce Wainwright

8-8-10

2010-08-09T08:42:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,

Thank you for sharing about your wonderful Stake Conference experience. I love learning from the general authorities. Their lives really are special witnesses of Jesus Christ and His Gospel, and they really help me understand what on earth we're doing here, on Earth. It sounded like a very neat experience. I learned a lot, just from what you wrote. I also wanted to thank you for the talk on cd you sent my by Cleon Skalson about the Importance of the Atonement. I listened to it during lunches this week, and it was great. It helped me better understand the role of the Savior, Heavenly Father, and my own role as well. What an amazing plan, which is purely based on love. I liked his insights on element as well, which reminded me of the String Theory. I really believe that both of those are true. All matter and intelligence functions how it does, because we have a Savior and Father in Heaven who love us and want us to be happy. I really enjoyed the talk.

As far as why last week didn't go very well, I can't remember for sure but it was probably a few things. It is hard when meetings fall through and people don't keep their commitments, but I also think I need to better learn how to forget myself in the work. I try pretty hard, but it's still easy to not want to talk to people on the streets or to be focused on myself. Maybe it's also because we haven't had a lot of meetings lately. I decided, however, that I need to keep working hard on my goals, like you said, and in general, as well as try to serve others as much as possible. Work is such a great principle.

We had a cool experience on the streets this week. We had some extra time at night, so we decided to go buy something tasty from a nearby bakery while trying to talk to people. It felt good, so we decided to do it. On the way, a young man walked up to us and asked us how he could get a Book of Mormon from us. We usually don't give them out unless they really want one, so I said, "Well this book is really important to me, so if you let us tell you why it's so important to us then we'll let you have this one." He was a nice kid and seemed sincerely interested in what we believe. We gave him the book and planned up with him to meet the next day. He came, but the sad thing is that he said he was leaving the next day to Europe for his work for a while. We taught him a first lesson and told him to pray about it. I'm not sure what will come out of it, but it was a nice experience and I hope it helped. Something else that I am excited about is that Alex, the member's husband that came with us to lake Sevan told his wife he wants to become a member. That will be so wonderful for their family. He's quite busy with his work, but I think it will work out. I'll have to let you know what happens.

We have a Zone Conference tomorrow. That should help us get to know President Carter better. I already love and respect him a lot. He is trying very hard to help us be better missionaries. I'm glad. I have room for improvement. I really want to be able to become a useful tool for Heavenly Father, not only in this mission, but throughout my whole life and especially as a father some day. One of the first things President Carter told us is that in the Mission President's manual, it says that of all the responsibilities of a mission president, the most important is his family. Also, in Preach My Gospel, there's a quote in Chapter 8 or 1 that says the most important work that we will ever do will be within the walls of our own home. I'm very grateful for all that you and everyone in our family does and have done for me. I hope that I can somehow repay that. Something else that I learned from Elder Skalson's talk was that Heavenly Father receives his Glory when his creations are obedient to him. There is a scripture about that in second Nephi as well, but I can't remember the reference. He said that a Bishop becomes a great Bishop when the members are doing their hometeaching and fulfilling their responsibilities. God also received his glory when Christ fulfilled his will and he is glorified when we, his creations, are obedient to his commandments. That also means that all I do reflects how great of parents you have been for me as well. I love you. Thanks for your advice and love. Have a great week.

Elder Wainwright

8-2-10

2010-08-02T03:22:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom,

Thank you for the letter and for the updates. I'm way excited for Mark and Emily. Maia looks like a pretty baby. I like her red hair. I can't wait to see her in a year. Julia and Liam are growing up. I'm excited for them to have a new sister. I'm excited for Joshua and their family as well. Do they know if it's a boy or not? I'll have to ask him, I didn't even know Valerie was for sure pregnant either. So what was exactly wrong with Gary? Some kind of Allergy? That's wonderful they were able to help him.

Hey, before I forget, Elder Grigoryan wanted me to say "I'm thankful that you have good boy . . . uh, son." He's a great man, and we're having a good time together. He likes your music that you sent a lot, but not as much as I do. Thank you for the package. It came last week, as well as a nice letter from Grandma Snow and from Megan Gale. I'm sure taken care of as far as prayers and care go from home. Tell Megan thank you for me. She is a great woman. Tell her I will buy a big container of peanut butter from her. That will be great. I'll write a note to Grandma.

It was a pretty good week for me. At the beginning it was hard for me to feel like I was really helping anyone, but think I just needed to keep on working hard and trying to do better. I needed to get my heart more into the work, which has a lot to do with charity I believe. I am trying to be more diligent again with all the little things: my studies, talking to people on the streets, serving my companion, thinking of others, memorizing words, and other things. There's a quote in Preach My Gospel that says "the secret to missionary work is work," and I agree. That's probably the secret to a lot of things, and I know the Savior and our Heavenly Father are both hard workers. Dad is also a good example to me of hard work. If I simply continue to work hard, things will work out.

On Thursday, we got to go with our Branch to Lake Sevan, which was pretty fun. It was a little awkward not being able to swim, but it was a good bonding experience with the members. We had a good experience from our fast this Sunday as well. We decided to fast on inspiration for our investigators and to be able to find new investigators if that was needed. I had written to call up an old investigator, and she said she was still reading from the Book of Mormon and would like to come to church. It's been a while since an investigator has been able to come to church, but she made it and I think she had a good experience. I felt like that was a blessing from our fast, and we also should have two investigators come to our family home evening activity tonight. I like all these people, and I am excited to try to help them.

I love you. Everything's going pretty well. Tell Gary good luck starting school. I really liked school a lot. I hope he does too. Thanks for the music and great pictures, and the other things as well. They were all needed. I got a nice bible last week as well, and I like having it. I think I might buy another one with a different translation as well. Well, talk to you later. Hajogh.

Metz Sirov,
Elder Bruce Allen Wainwright

7-25-10

2010-07-26T10:35:00.000-07:00

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

7-19-10

2010-07-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom,

Thanks for the letter and pictures. The fish look good. That's sad Dad forgot one. Dad's a funny guy. I'm glad. In many ways, I hope I am like Dad when I grow up. I would also like to become like my Heavenly Father in many ways during this life as well. There are also many traits that you have, Mom, that I'm sure our Heavenly Mother has as well. I owe a lot of what I am to you two. During my mission, I haven't been able to depend on you as much, though, and I do feel like I am getting to know my Heavenly Father better. What's sad is how fast we can lose what we gain. It seems to me like I can learn a lesson, and if I don't continually feed that knowledge or trait, or whatever it is that I will quickly lose it. It's a good thing that God has patience with us and that Christ loves us so much that he is willing to comfort and take away the pains of our mistakes. I feel like something I need to work on right now is my studying so that I can get more out of it. There's just never enough time to study in the morning.

This week has been hard, but good. Elder Kankanyan is trying very hard, but it's not easy work. I have been trying to serve him and help him as much as I can. I feel like I'm learning a lot from him. However, I'm not sure if my language is improving, even though it should be. I'll have to focus a little more.

I wasn't able to tell you, but last Sunday was Water Day. It's like one big water fight for the whole city. Luckily, we didn't get too wet, but most people did. While we were walking that day, I heard a loud pop and looked over to see an older man inches away from being plopped on the head by a sack full of water thrown from an apartment window. Almost everyone on the streets were soaked. It's a funny holiday.

The work is going pretty well. Anahit said she wants to take a break for a while, but I think she'll be back. We also started teaching a neighbor family, Gayane's husband Khachik (which being interpreted means "little cross") who is the painter, as well as a fortune teller named Anahit who is a great lady. Anahit came to church with a couple others even though she had a daughter who was not doing well with diabetes (which they just call "sugar" here"). They're all good people, and I hope we can help them.

My birthday was pretty normal. On tuesday was when I mostly celebrated it. After District Meeting Elder King had made some cheese cake which we ate and then our district all said reasons why they loved me. We call it the love circle, and President Carter suggested that we do that for everyone. It was pretty special. I have some great friends. It feels so good to know that other people love you and know that you love them. President Carter also gave me a tie as well, which was pretty nice. I like President Carter a lot. He's pretty short, but has a big heart. He is also going to focus on the missionaries a lot, which is good. I have a lot to learn about being a good missionary still. He's going to even come to our house for planning sessions and maybe go out to meetings with us, which is much different than it has been. I hope that means that Armenia is getting more self-reliant and independent. His wife also seems to be a very strong and caring woman. I'm excited to get to know them better and learn from them.

Well, I didn't get anything for my birthday yet, but I decided I want to get a nice Armenian bible. I only have a not-so-good translation of the New Testament, so that will be very nice. I love studying from the Bible, recently, but it's very hard in Armenian. Even Armenians have a hard time reading it because of the weird spelling and things. It's also interesting that there are quite a few accepted translations in Armenian with some pretty different phrasing whereas we mostly use just one in English. That makes things a little more interesting, but the need for revelation all the greater. We've also been buying Russian milk, which is quite tasty. I don't think I'll get a blender unless I see a really good deal. Also, I know at least the packet thing got here, which I'll read later, and I think the package might be here too. I better go, but thanks for everything. I felt your love this week and miss you all. I can't wait to see you again. I am having a great time as I'm sure you know. Have a great week.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

7-11-10

2010-07-12T22:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom and Dad,
Thank you so much for your Birthday letters. I feel your love and know that you love me and care for me. I have nothing to worry about. I also know that the Savior loves me. I wish I could talk to you, but I have to go. It's been a good week with Elder Kankanyan. He is very smart and has good skills, and I am learning from him. One of the reasons why he is serving is for a little spiritual boost, so I hope I can help and am helping him. We have a lot of potential investigators, so we'll see what happens. We got to play tennis, just the two of us and it was so fun. That made my week. It's a great sport. Thank you so much for all you do. Almost all that I am I owe to you all. I have a lot to learn and I am excited to do so. I can't believe a year has almost past. In a way it feels like I've been here my whole life, but I also feel like I am just getting started. Time is so short. Procrastination can be so dangerous. I know that God loves me and loves you. I hope you feel my love as well this week. Love you.
Elder Bruce Wainwright

4 July 2010

2010-07-05T20:43:00.001-07:00

Thank you for your love in your letter Mom. I feel so close to you when I read your letters and I was expecting that today. It has been a stressful week for me, but I have also gained a lot. I can't remember if I told you I was going to change companions or not, but I got a new mini-missionary, Elder Kankanyan, for a few weeks. He is a good man, even though he has been having a hard time lately. He is 30 years old and was baptised two and a half years ago even though his mother was baptized many years ago. He has served as a missionary for a total of six months in Gyumri, Vanadzor, and Georgia. He is a very smart man, which he actually says is one of his weaknesses. He is also a very strong and good servant, and I have already begun to learn from him and grow while serving with him.

We've had some interesting meetings this week with interesting people, which I like so much. One was with a member and her non-member husband who is a great abstract painter and an engineer. He is a very smart man and believes that pure intelligence is really what saves us and makes us become pure and like God. He obviously doesn't understand the role of the Savior very well, but besides that he has gained a lot of knowledge just from his artwork and other studies. He told of an experience he had where he died for a few moments and his spirit went to the spirit world. He said the first sensation he had was a sort of nakedness and a need to find the place where he belonged. I have heard that God loves us and is preparing a place for us where we will be the most happy and comfortable, whether that is hell and the emptiness or whatever will be in the Telestial Kingdom, or eternal progression with our families in the Celestial Kingdom. I really like people that think about this life, the earth, the universe and what on earth we are doing here. They are such important questions and it seems to me like it is easy for us to simply live and eat without trying to understand why we are even doing that. This life is so interesting to me. We also met with a less active woman who also happens to be a painter as well as a psychologist. She is also very smart and has interesting ideas about life as well. She also guessed that I had Irish blood in me and guessed all three areas that Elder Kankanyan's family comes from. She's a good lady and is also pretty in touch with the spirit.

Our investigators are doing alright. Not much change, though. We are trying really hard to help Anahit overcome her challenges and make it to church. I think that's one reason why Elder Kankanyan is here. This next week should be a good one. Talking on the streets is still hard for us, especially since he is from the city. It will be good though.

President Dunn is gone. He is such a great man and example to me. I love him very much and will miss him. President and Sister Carter are here now, and we will have a get to know you meeting on Wednesday. I'm sure they will be great leaders as well. I've heard good things about them.

I do try my hardest, Mom, to be safe with my food. With apricots and things like that we have to bleach them. It's amazing how even the not as ripe apricots have great flavor. I also had my first watermelon on Saturday that we bought, which wasn't anything better than normal, but was still very wonderful. My eye is fine as well. It wasn't big. I'm not exactly sure why it happened or if there was something I was supposed to learn from it. It does make me think about making sure I am always willing and ready to listen to the Spirit who can protect me from danger. Thanks for filling me in on Sam. I haven't heard from him, which is understandable. It's so good to receive letters, but it's hard to write them. Especially in the MTC. He'll be a great missionary. What's new with Cody and Josh?

I'm glad you had a great weekend. I'm way excited for Emily. I agree with you about America and I know it's a blessed land. Soon other lands will be blessed as well as they near God and accept the Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ. I'm pretty grateful to be able to serve this mission for the Lord, and I hope I can continue to be cleansed and purified. I have so many weaknesses, but they can all be overcome only because I have a Savior who loves me and wants me to be happy. Thank you for my life, Mom, and for all you do for me. I know God is blessing you. Have a nice week. Tell everyone I love and miss them.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

Combined letters to us and Bryce

2010-06-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

Hey Bryce,

Good luck with your transfers. Elder Grigoryan is a great guy. He has funny opinions and tries not to be Armenian, but I like him a lot and we work well together. I actually heard he might be leaving soon and I might have another mini. We'll see. I don't really worry too much because things change all the time here. It was hard to get good meetings planned up and things since our area was split up and our investigators haven't been able to meet lately. Do you meet with members a lot? We try not to spend too much time with them, but it seems like at least right now that's a big bulk of our meetings. One of the hardest things about being senior companion is not forgetting everything. I forget everything. I need to write things down better, but even that doesn't always help. I can see how organization is a godly trait and how it helps us accomplish more in our life. Things are going well. Actually, I have to tell you a funny story. We were playing frisbee at a park for an activity/finding hour with a heavy not-so-good frisbee. I wasn't paying attention and it smacked my eye and cut my eyebrow a little. It wasn't bad, but I still went to get two stitches put in so that it would heal good. Then I got a phone call to day from the police and they came over to fill out a report. I guess I might not have made it clear it was an accident or something so they might have thought someone tried to hurt me. It was only a little awkward, but I feel bad for Satenik, the young girl who threw it, because she has to go in and fill out a report too. She felt bad enough in the first place. Anyway, funny experience. Keep being such a great guy, Bryce. I like your pictures. Alaska looks pretty. Talk to you later.
~Bruce
Hey Mom,

The Busselburgs sound like good people. I don't think I know them. Tell them hi for me, though. I hope everything's going well and that it's not too hot. It has been staying pretty nice here. Probably around the nineties. The apricots and tomatoes are ripening too, and they're very good. There's lots of cherries, apricots, strawberries, and watermelon right now and they should get cheap soon, so that will be way nice.

It has been a good week with Elder Grigoryan. He's funny and a very hard worker. He's also been a mini-missionary a lot, so he knows the drill. For some reason he likes South America a lot, especially Argentina. He also likes EFY music a lot as well and plays his favorite songs as soon as we get home. He's a great guy.

It's been a little hard to get in a lot of meetings this week, but not bad. We picked up three new investigators to teach this week as well, which will be nice. One is a lady that sells flowers by the church. I'm sure she has seen us a lot, but she just stopped us one day and wanted to find out about us. She came to church and is already sure she wants to be a member. She said she felt so good and had a nice experience. She's a great woman and I hope we can continue to help her. When she found out the Shulz's are leaving on Tuesday she cried. They live right by her and she said how she will miss seeing them, even if they haven't been able to talk much. Our examples really do make a difference. It's interesting how important relationships are in this life. One of the hardest things in this life is to have that tie be cut off. That is what sin does to us with God. It cuts us off from his presence. The Holy Ghost is so important and is such a wonderful blessing to us. I wonder why friends and good relationships are so important? I would guess that it is because we all need someone to love and someone to love us. Heaven would not be heaven alone. God is love and he loves us. We love him because he first loved us. I hope that I can increase my love for him and for his children. All of the Book of Mormon missionaries are great examples of that love. The sons of Mosiah trembled at the thought of someone receiving the same condemnation that they were under. Nephi (the brother of Lehi) was saddened because of the peoples' bad choices, as was Alma the younger. I also need to have that same kind of care for others, both my friends and my enemies. I know that God loves me, and I have felt that as I have tried to come nearer to him. It has been a good week, and I am interested to see what will happen this week. Elder Grigoryan might leave already, like I said in Bryce's letter.

I cut my eyebrow a little while playing frisbee the other day. The hospital we go to is pretty nice. It seems quite like an American hospital. I would be afraid to go to any other one, though. This one is where all the rich people go I believe. I actually heard that someone rated Armenia's health care as third best in the world or something, but I don't know how. They must have only gone to this one hospital.

Well thanks for everything Mom. I know you love me and care about me. Thanks for your Old Testament insights. I'm still trying to get more familiar with the New Testament right now. It's a great book and there are some great words in there. I'm glad you and Dad get to read some good books together. I want to study from good books so bad right now. We have so many resources for these last days, it's amazing. I know that there is no other time in history that the restoration could have happened. It's so nice to be able to participate in God's marvelous work and wonder. Have a great week, Mom.

Love,
Your son Elder Bruce Wainwright

6-20-10

2010-06-22T22:09:00.000-07:00

Hi Mom,

Thanks for the great letter and for telling me about everyone. It sounds like it was a good week. It's been a pretty good week for me too. There's been a lot of changes.

I feel quite taken care of and it's kind of silly, but my luggage and everything reminds me of all your love and care for me. I have been enjoying cooking lately while Elder Jonas and I have been trying to eat healthy. We usually just experiment with what we have and it's usually simple, but it's been good.

As far as our investigators go, I'm not sure how well they are doing. I haven't seen Mher yet and Hasmik wasn't able to meet with us either. Anahit, the young english teacher, seems to be doing well, though. We met with Anahit and Geghetsik ( which being interpreted is actually "beautiful" ) on Thursday and talked about the Word of Wisdom. Speaking of, I forgot to check up on how she is doing with coffee. She seems to be progressing the most out of our investigators right now, even though we only meet once a week and she still can't come to church. I think something will work out, though, as long as she really wants it. We also started meeting with another girl this week from our english class. She believes in God but has had a hard time understanding why her father had to die. I hope we can keep on helping all of them. If not, we'll have to keep trying to find others.

I generally like change, but I really enjoyed my time with Elder Jonas. He is a great missionary and a great friend. I'll miss him. As I wrote to Bryce, this will be my first time being senior companion. That'd be neat if we both became senior companion at the same time. My companion's name is Elder Armen Grigoryan. He's a great guy and a good missionary. He's a good example for his family and for everyone. He has a problem with his legs, and uses "sticks," like crutches but they don't go under your shoulder, to get around. I almost forget sometimes because he never complains and he does so well. I think he's excited to serve with me and I think it's going to be very good. It will hopefully help my Armenian out as well.

I'm excited to see how much we can help the branch with four missionaries. I think it will make a difference. It takes a lot of responsibility off of me as well. I'm excited to be able to explore more of the center area as well, since our area was cut in half. I just hope I don't walk Elder Grigoryan around too much.

I think things are going well, but I still want to do better. The need to grow closer to the Savior is always present. I really like Sundays and the opportunity to worship my God, remember my Savior, and learn from my neighbors. I am also so grateful for the temple and I want to better understand the covenants I have made with Heavenly Father. I know that there is only one way to peace and happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come, and that is through the Gospel and atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am so blessed to have the fullness of his gospel. I hope that I can continue to better understand and live it so that I can help some of God's precious children. I think Armenia will be a strong nation for the Lord as soon as they can overcome their fear and pride. They are a very caring people. I love you Mom. I am grateful for our family. Tell Dad I love him and happy father's day again.

Love,
Your son Elder Bruce Wainwright

6-13-10

2010-06-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom, Thanks for the letter and tell LaDawn thanks as well. Every day of our life really is a gift, and I know there are specific things we can learn as well. As I have been re-reading the New Testament, I am noticing that I am learning a lot more. I'm sure there are many reasons, but I think one reason is that I can relate a lot better to the writers and their words mean more to me because of my daily experiences.

As you know, the highlight of my week was hearing from Elder Scott, Elder Rasband and his wife, Elder Powell (Pres. of Eastern Europe Area), and Elder Minasyan (the new seventy from Armenia). On Thursday, Elder Jonas and I did a fireside for the Branch to help them prepare, which went well but was hard to get organized. Then the Georgian Elders came down Friday night since we were meeting with Elder Scott Saturday morning. At the beginning of our meeting, we all shook Elder Scott's and the others' hands. Then, for three hours we got to here from President and Sister Dunn for the last time and then from all of the above visitors finishing off with Elder Scott. There was only about forty or fifty of us in the room. What a humble servant of God. One of the things I liked was his formula he gave about success in answer to a question by Elder King. He said that SUCCESS = [(obedience) (faith in works) (studying) (any other works we have control over)/ fear]. The more fear we have, the less success we have and vice versa. He also added an exponential to the equation of the power of God. As little as we do, if it is all we can, it will be made up by the exponential power of the power of God. That was a pretty cool analogy to hear from a Nuclear Physicist. It was a great experience and he shared many spiritual experiences as well. Elder Rasband talked about the role he played in the bringing of the gospel to the country of Armenia and the miracles he saw. Elder Minasyan was among the first five members converted in 93' by some senior couples working at the concrete factory Jon Huntsman and Elder Rasband set up here after the earthquake. Even the most terrible of things can and are used for our own benefit. It was a great meeting and I know that Elder Scott is Christ's chosen apostle on the earth today in this, the restored church of Jesus Christ.

There were about 650 saints from Armenia and Georgia at our meeting in the Marriot Hotel, which was almost as many members as was our goal. That shows to prove how miracles and things we see don't create faith, though. People could see Christ himself and still not recognize him if they didn't already have a testimony that he was the Savior. It was a nice meeting, though. Three of our investigators made it. Mher, though, said people at his house didn't want him to come, so I don't know what's going to happen. We were pretty sad about that. He is such a good guy. In both of our meetings with Elder Scott, he made sure to take time at the end where he said he was "no longer talking as Elder Scott, but as an apostle of the Lord." He then testified of how he knows that the Savior lives; not because he read about it, or because one of the other apostles has said so, but because he knows Him. We are so blessed to have living apostles who are continuously in contact with the Lord. I know that their job is only possible because of the technology that we have today. Poor Peter and the others who were desperately trying to keep the church in line in all the different areas. This really is the last dispensation.

Well, I hope everything is going well. Like I told Bryce, we're probably going to have some changes this week. I should be in the same branch though. I love Armenia. It's a great place, despite the people that think we're here to tear down the Armenian church. They are such a giving people. I hope they can find some of the many blessings from this life that I have only begun to understand. It really is a great life. I love my Savior and I want to better follow Him and learn of His life. I love you so much, Mom, and our family. My life wouldn't be the same without you. Have a nice week. With much love, Your son Elder Bruce Wainwright

Hi Dad,
Thank you for your letter. I wanted to wish you a Happy Father's day, even though it's a little early. I hope you know how grateful I am to be your son. You have done a wonderful job at being a father, despite the challenges. I have always felt fortunate to have a dad who loves to have fun, as well as work hard. I have so many good memories of family outings and working hard together that not many people get to experience, especially these days. I know I don't fully appreciate all the blessings I have, including the closeness of our family. I know that has come as a result of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that you and Mom are trying to emulate the Savior in your life. Thank you so much for your love and care that you have learned to show through your actions. You have taught me to work hard, to laugh, to take care of the needy, to serve selflessly, to appreciate nature, to always be obedient, and to respect my mother and others, as well as many other things. I'm glad that you're happy right now. I miss you too, Dad. I know that you love me and that you love your Savior. Thank you for your example that I will always have to look up to. I am grateful to be in our family. You are also a wonderful grandfather as well. I hope that you will be provided for with work and with all your wants. I love you so much, Dad. I also love this people that I am able to serve and I love the Savior that they worship. I know that you have some of the traits that our Father in Heaven has, and that he wants us to be happy. Well I have to go. I hope you have a nice week, Dad, and get to do what you want to for Father's Day. Love,Your son Elder Bruce Wainwright
P.S. Yes, it is very green. I love driving through the mountains here with the green grass and trees. As for now it is still quite green and the vegetables and fruits are starting to ripen.

6-6-10

2010-06-07T06:45:00.000-07:00

Hi Mom,

Thanks for the nice big letter. Sorry I have to answer it with a short one. We went to visit a monestary or one of their old churches called Geghard and another place called Garni that looks like a greek parthenon or something. It was nice. Elder Jonas had to get a hair cut too, so that he looks spiffy for when Elder Scott comes! So that's why I don't have much time to write. I'm really excited for this week, though. We're trying to plan up a fireside for Thursday as well to help bring the branch together a little and to prepare them for Sunday.

This week felt a little different than normal. For one thing, a lot of our investigators haven't been able to meet very often, so we did a lot of finding hours and calling on the branch list. It's too bad that it hasn't worked out with Mher. I like him so much and I hope we can keep on meeting with him. We fasted with Anahit, Adam's friend who is an english teacher, so that she would be able to work out her problem and find a way to make it to church. She is changing and wants to become a part of this church, before she has even made it to a sacrament meeting. We also gave Hasmik a baptismal date this week, so she should be getting baptized in about a month. She too has changed quite a bit and seems so happy. It seemed like we talked to quite a few people from other faiths this week. Today and earlier this week we talked to some Jehovah's witnesses, and the other day we sat down with some nice kids from an evangelist church called Kianki khosk ( The Word of Life). They were pretty nice conversations, but I don't think they helped either of us very much. It's funny because they seem to want to know what we believe, but as soon as I say something that is different than what they know they become defensive and start trying to prove their point. I know that facts, as good as they might be, will not convert somebody or help them come closer to Christ. It's like how Laman and Lemual saw angels many times, but were never truly converted. They saw proof and miracles that proved God's greatness and existence, but they still did not know who their God and Heavenly Father really was and what he expected of them and how much he really loved them. I am so grateful to know for myself, through living the Gospel of Jesus Christ and through the confirmations of the Holy Ghost that this church is true. Because of the things I have felt, I know that this church is Christ's church and that He is my Savior. I can't say otherwise. I am learning so many things, and I hope to be able to put God before everything else like you were talking about, Mom. This life is such a wonderful growing experience, and I hope I can make the best use out of it. I also know there are many joys that God has in store for us as well, and that we can't make it alone. We need others and we need to help others. Thanks for your love. I hope you have a great week mom. That'd be so cool to have the Elders stay with you. I hope it works. Tell Crystal Happy Birthday and that I'll send her a note next week. I love you all.

Sincerely,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

May 30

2010-05-31T09:36:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom,

Thank you for the wonderful letter. I have felt so good while reading letters today. Life is so good. This life is quite hard and has so much potential for good. I don't know why, but I have been pretty blessed in my life. I hope that I can make good use out of the blessings God has given me. I also know that what little difficulties I have had are all used for my good as I have turned to the Lord, my Savior. Now, the trick is just to be able to remember that when it gets hard again. Those oppositions are needed for us, though, if we want to improve and progress. A baby can't learn to walk without falling a couple times. . . or many times. Our trials are proof that God loves us as strange as that sounds. What a wonderful life and opportunity.

Something I miss so bad is a good old gallon of 1% Milk. Or even 2%. Elder Jonas and I have been having cereal recently for breakfast mixed with oatmeal to make it a little healthier, but the milk. . . just isn't the same. The Russian kind isn't bad, but that costs 800 dram or just over $2 per liter, but we found a tolerable armenian kind for half as much. It's a nice thick 3.5% and it's got a pretty strong flavor that tastes a little of the trash that the cows eat. I think my taste buds are getting pretty dull:)

We've got some great investigators right now. Their mostly pretty young. The one that is progressing the best is Hasmik, who is about 22 and was a referral from a less active named Rima. It's so cool to see how happy she gets after our meetings. Rima has also changed quite a bit as well. I believe that this is a blessing that Rima has received from reading the Book of Mormon. President Dunn promised everyone who would read it before the year that their lives would change in a few specific ways. I know that the Book of Mormon has great converting power. I also know that having supporting friends is so important as well.

We also got a referral from America for the first time! I guess they called from here, though. The sisters are going to go take them a Book of Mormon.

I am getting so excited for Elder Scott to come. I don't know if I told you, but the missionaries get three hours to meet with him, then he's meeting with the leaders, and then we have our conference. Hopefully it will be a life changing experience for myself as well as for Armenia. We've been calling through our branch list to try and invite as many people as we can. It's pretty sad how many people have left the church without even having a reason. It will be such a great experience. Elder Rasband is also coming with Elder Powell, the East Europe Area President. I'll have to tell you how it goes.

I'm praying for you, and so are a lot of the members and investigators here. Thank you for all of your prayers and love. Have a great week.

Love,
Your son Elder Bruce Wainwright

5-17-12010

2010-05-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom,

Thanks for sharing your inspirations. I also need to learn more about the way of our God. That's pretty cool the things that you have learned. I wish I had more time to read. I think I'll have to start doing some reading during my lunches if I can. I think it's so necessary to be able to trust our God, and that's why we know that he is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, so that we can trust him and completely rely on him. That's nice that you and dad got to talk for three hours. I love discussing things with Elder Jonas and others during studies and lunches as well.

Guess what, you know how I mumble or talk in my sleep sometimes? Well now I do it in Armenian. Elder Jonas said I was teaching something once and another time having a conversation with myself, and Elder Larson and I would practically have conversations with each other in Armenian. At least my roommates won't know what I'm saying when I get home. Elder Jonas and I have started quizing each other on our words that we learn, which has helped me a lot, both with diligence and with remembering the words.

Man it's pretty hot already. It started getting hot this week. Today is our first day in short sleeves, which seems awkward. It's not awful, but there's just no air conditioning, so we'll see how it is in a month or so.I think the weather doesn't get much over 100 deg. ever, but there's no air conditioning so it might still be pretty rough. It's nice and green, though, which is so wonderful.

The work feels really good right now. Sunday was a little stressful, but I think the branch is still progressing. Elder Jonas and I got to give on the spot talks again, but it seemed to flow very well. I talked on Faith, Elder Jonas on the Atonement, Grigor (1st counselor) on Challenges, and President Hunanyan talked on being like a family and being one. Anush just got back from a mission in Ukraine and she is pretty intense. She really wants to help the branch and it seems like she was a pretty good missionary. She keeps telling us ways we can improve, which is good. Tomorrow I am actually talking about hard work and how it can be enjoyable and even fun. I really felt like you and Dad taught us that lesson pretty well. I also know that our motives for working hard make all the difference. When I was working hard at work so I could go home or get money (in other words selfish motivation), it was not enjoyable and I didn't have fun. On the other hand, when I was working hard for Dad or to make someone else's job easier, it was much more enjoyable and many times we had fun while working hard. We really do gain more to our lives as we give more of it up as the Savior taught his disciples (Matt 10:39), and we can enjoy the hard things in life.

Adam blessed the Sacrament this week which was really nice. He also might be getting a district calling, which would really help him continue progressing I think. We also got to help a member plant this week, which was nice too.

Well, I hope all is well. Thanks for the email addresses. I hope you have a wonderful birthday this week, Mom. Shnorhavor! I hope it has been a great year to add onto all of the many others. It has been a wonderful year for me. Wow, I can't even believe how long I've been away. It feels like I'm just getting started. Have a great week, Mom. Thanks for always thinking about me and for the care in all that you do.

With much love,
Your son Elder Bruce Wainwright

5-2-10

2010-05-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom,

Thanks for your letter. The Book of Mormon is a wonderful scripture, I agree. It's been a while since I've studied from the Bible, but I am starting again. I know that God the Creator in the Old Testament is the same Jesus, even Christ our Savior who is living today. As you learn about how God worked in older days, it should still help you better understand how he works today, since he is the same always and cannot change. I want to learn more about my Savior as well, so that I can better understand how truly indebted I am to Him and how great his love is for others. What a great brother we have. I hope I can become a little more like Him today and every day.

I don't have a lot of time if we want to go bowling with everyone else. Something I really enjoyed doing this week, though, was helping Ashot who is on cruthches move. A great guy from our branch came and helped us move his things down the seven flights. He didn't have much. He did, however, have some furniture that we were able to pick up and take to his new tiny apartment. It was pretty rough taking up all his things up five flights of stairs by ourselves, but we were exhausted and felt great afterwards. It reminded me of being able to help others move in and out of our ward and what a great feeling it is to serve others. I'm so grateful for my healthy body that helps me experience so many things. I hope I can always treasure and take care of this gift God has given me.

Thanks for telling me about your hummingbird experience. Nature is so beautiful and that sounds like a nice miracle. I'm sorry I can't write much, but I love you and am excited to talk next week. I hope it works out well.

Hey Dad,

Thanks for your wonderful letter and good thoughts. It sounds like things have been pretty busy there. I am also more happy as I am working as well. It also helps to be able to associate with good people. One of the things that I am still struggling with is talking to people on the streets. The standard is to get 12 gospel conversations. It's hard to figure out what I can do better, because sometimes we will talk to many people and sometimes, like this week, we struggle to get one good conversation. The times that I have felt the best, though, is when I am focused on my purpose and am trying to make people smile or say something uplifting. In all my work and in my life I have the example of the Savior, though, and the answer lies in following Him.

People have a very hard time telling the difference between us and Jehovah's Witnesses. I feel bad for Jehovah's Witnesses, because they are usually despised here. There are even posters up all over in the city telling people to beware of them and to keep the nation as one. I used to be afraid of looking like them, but I don't care as much any more. It's pretty funny how people can be talking to us and very interested, until we mention that we're not from their church and they might stop right there and walk away. They don't like the word "Mormon" either, but at least it's not as bad as Jehovah's Witnesses.

Despite that negativity, there are so many people in need of this Gospel and the peace and happiness it brings. We don't have any real amazing investigators that we're teaching right now, but we're still staying pretty busy. We really want to help strengthen the branch if we can at all. A neat experience that we had was with one of our great members, Taguhi (that means "Queen" which is a pretty typical Armenian name), who has been pretty less active since her daughter went to America and her son has gone a little wayward. She came to the Armenia South District Conference, which went very well, and was quite changed by the talk of President Dunn. He talked about spiritual maturity and how we can check our own by answering the question: "How do I respond when told 'no?'" I think it hit her pretty hard and she wants to find the old Taguhi that she used to be. What a wonderful Savior we have that is already waiting to give us a second chance. It was pretty cool to see that change in her.

It has gotten pretty green here, which I am so grateful for. I was afraid I would always have an image of a brown and dirty country, but the hills and trees are all green and beautiful. We'll have to go see some of the old churches in the hills while it's all green. It sounds like you all had a colder winter than we did.

That's so cool Bishop Decker did the Ironman! I wish I could have seen it. Have you been mountain biking lately, or hiking? Those are some of my best memories. I'm so glad the Earth is beautiful and that God wants us to enjoy it.

Well, I'll talk to you on Sunday Dad.
Sincerely,
Your son Elder Wainwright

4-25-10

2010-04-26T07:25:00.001-07:00

Hey Mom,

Thanks for the pictures, thoughts, and updates. It's been a pretty good week for me, but we don't have a lot of investigators to teach right now. One neat guy that we're teaching, however, is Ashot. I might have told you about him with the crutches. He's a very nice and smart guy, but has a hard life. On his crutches he has to climb seven flights of stairs, since there's no lift! He already seems a lot happier and cherishes the things we teach him.

We did exchanges for two days with the zone leaders and I went to the Shengavit area in Yerevan. It was a little more relaxed and seemed less of a big city. Although, there is a store called Yerevan City, that is pretty massive for Armenia. It's about like an average Albertson's. It's funny, though, because even with it being much bigger there was still nothing that you can't get at any other store. So I guess it's like a couple stores combined. I'm going to have such a hard time making decisions when I get home:)

This week was the memorial of the Armenian Genecide. Elder Jonas and I were able to go to the memorial, and it was pretty interesting. There were thousands of Armenians walking up there to put down a flower. We walked about a mile or two actually. And that was about it. There didn't seem to be much feeling behind it for being such a big commotion. It was interesting. Come to think about it, though, that's what their church is kind of like too. They go to the church, buy a candle and burn it, maybe say a prayer and chat a little before they leave. As far as I know there's rarely even any sermons. It's kind of sad how empty it all is, but with their words they are so passionate about their religion. President Dunn mentioned how that is all they have to hang on to. It's a pretty beat up little nation. I respect them a lot, though.

Elder Piercy (one of our Zone Leaders) was talking about building our relationship with God and he said how we need to first get to know his Son, Jesus Christ, which we do by studying his words and works, and then following in His footsteps. That made sense to me and I know that's how we can strengthen our relationship with the Lord. I'm grateful for Elder Jonas' example for me. He is a great missionary and tries very hard to be a good friend. We are enjoying our companionship.

Thanks for all your love and care. I have so little to worry about. Thanks for always taking such good care of me. Elder Jonas and I were thinking about how giving and unselfish mothers are, especially since he was a little sick this week. I hope you learn great things this week.

Love,
Your son Elder Wainwright

4-18-10

2010-04-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

4-18-10
Hey Mom,

Thank you so much for the letter. I am so glad that we can communicate like this every week. It would be so hard if it was by mail, and I think it would be quite distracting too (always wanting to check the mail). Your letters are wonderful, you don't need to change them. I think why it might be harder for me is just because the work is becoming more a part of me and it's harder to remember or think about other things. That's a good thing I hope. Although, it helps me to be able to talk about what things are happening and to try and write the things I am learning and thinking about. The letters that I receive from you and others help me out as well. It helps me remember the great relationships that we have. Everything here seems more temporal in a way, especially because I never know when I'll leave the area. A good piece of advice that is given in Preach My Gospel is to stay in touch with those that we teach. I hope I can do a good job at that. I know that the relationships we build with others are very important and should be lasting. I wrote a note to Sako the other day and gave it to Elder Larson. I hope he can hang in there. I here that he still hasn't quite smoking from when he started again, and I know that will tear at his testimony if he can't overcome it soon. I'm so grateful for Christ's Gospel, and I know that every question of the soul and of life can be found therein.

Adam did get baptized this week, and it went very well. There was also an amazing blind girl baptized by Elder Jonas for the Queers (the Sisters) and a couple baptized at the same meeting. Our investigator, Anahit, who is an english teacher came, which was so good for both herself and for Adam since none of Adam's family came. Adam looked so good after he got the Holy Ghost on Sunday. He'll be great. He speaks great English and I like his small British accent. He actually already helped voice-over a seminary video into Armenian as well. He makes friends very easy.

This week we had a mission conference, which went very well. They had me translate the opening of the meeting for the few Armenians that come, which was a good experience. I'm for sure not ready to translate for anyone's talks or anything, but that's actually one of the goals that I have. I hope someday I can do a good job at clearly translating information, feelings, and thoughts for others. I am very grateful for the gift of toungues, and I know that it is necessary to have that. There are still so many words and things I have to learn.

Something that I gained from the conference was a strong desire to become a more refined person. President Dunn showed us a talk that he shows to all missionaries going home, since he's leaving in July. It was a talk by Elder Callister to BYU and it was pretty amazing. He talked about what you were talking about with learning. He encouraged us to learn from the best books, to listen to the best of music ( music that listening to it makes us want to be a better person), to use the best of language, and to take care of ourselves; to treat ourselves like sons and daughters of our God. It was a very inspiring talk for me and it helped me remember the potential that I have and that others have. I've been trying to be a better friend to everyone, and it helps me to remember what potential they all have. Every person is great in the eyes of God and I really believe that. Not one soul is more precious than another. It's pretty great that God lets us choose what kind of a person we'll become, though. I hope I can achieve at least some of the potential that God has for me. Elder King is a great example to me of someone who has really tried and is still trying to refine and develop himself.

Something I learned from Elder Jonas this week was to trust in the Spirit, and then I got to try it out. Five minutes before church started President Hunanyan (BP) asked Elder Jonas and I to speak. I didn't know what to say exactly but I just tried to "treasure up the words of life" in my heart so that it could be given to me "in the very moment" and I felt really good about it. Not only is it harder to remember things when stressed, but I also know that God is bound to keep his promises if we do our part. I have had such great companions so far and am learning so much from them.

Thanks for your wonderful letter mom. I'm so glad that you are able to learn in the moment of your trials. That's probably one of the hardest things for us to do in this life. It's too bad it's so easy for us to forget, as Elder Jonas says. I do know that all trials are for our benefit as well as consequences. We really do learn precept by precept, and I hope I can continue to do so.

Could you tell Matt that I love him and am praying for him. I'm sure this is not an easy trial. I do know that all unfair things in life are made fair through the Atonement, though.

Have a great week.

Love,
Your son Elder Wainwright

4-11-10

2010-04-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

4-11-10
Hey Mom,
How are you doing? It sounds like things are going pretty well. I'm glad you are still learning and growing, that's so great. I am too. It's funny how we learn things and maybe it doesn't stick, or we just forgot and we have to relearn it again. I am so grateful for this life. I hope I can remember this in the hard times, but I know that God loves me and I am so grateful for this life.

Hey, you're in trouble. You never answered me whether or not Emily was actually pregnant, but now I'm assuming she is. That's so wonderful. I'm way excited for them.

Conference was so wonderful. What wise men. I love how each of them has their own individual experiences in order to learn the gospel principles. One of the focuses of conference seemed to be on the family and its eternal and earthly importance. I feel like I learned a lot about that, and it helped me appreciate even more the wonderful family we've been blessed with. I don't even know how blessed I am, because some things are just a part of me. I know that all of our actions make a difference for those around us, even if we don't think they do. Armenians are really quite family centered, even if they could learn some good parenting skills in many cases.

Even though a lot of the conference was talking about helping the rising generation and things, I felt like it applied to this work quite a bit. Our investigators and those we're helping are almost like little kids we we're trying to teach how to make it through life. This week I have prayed for and have felt the blessings of the gift of discernment to know the needs of others. However, I also need to make sure that I not only discern their needs, but also their strengths so that I can praise and encourage. I really want to be better at lifting others and sharing the love of Christ with them.

Every talk was wonderful. I'm so grateful for our loving prophet, President Monson. I like his personality. It helps me know that God also has his own personality, as well as does the beauty of the Earth and the strong feelings I get while developing my own.

I'm so grateful for this chance I have to serve, learn, and grow. I hope that I cherish my trials so that I can learn from them what I need to. I also have so many reasons to trust and have faith in the Lord. That faith can help me overcome any fears that I have.

I hope it's because my heart is being put deeper in the work, but I noticed that it's getting harder to write people. I'm so grateful for all of your letters, though. The tie that we have from our relationships and friendships are very real and important. I know that the love that comes in our families is very special as well. That was pretty neat when someone said that a mother's love for her children is the closest to God's love that we can get. I know you have felt that kind of love, Mom.

Oh yeah, I really liked Elder Scott's talk on Christ's atonement as well. I have been thinking about that a lot lately, and I am going to try and continue learning through making a study plan like he said. I love that there is always more to learn. That gives me hope for the future and makes me want to keep growing through eternity. Elder King is in my district now ( he's an office elder right now). Elder King has really helped me build my desires to learn and grow. I'm glad I get to associate with him again, because I forgot how much I love him and have learned from him.

So Adam passed his interview and the Branch President will baptize him. What great men. I'm way happy for Adam. His life will have so much more purpose.

Well, I love you. Thanks for listening. We didn't get to see the Priesthood Session of conference yet, so I'm excited to learn more and listen to Dad's favorite part. I feel so good right now and never want to lose that feeling. I wish you luck with all of your endeavors and goals. I'll talk to you next week.
Love,
Your son Elder Wainwright

Happy Easter

2010-04-05T05:02:00.000-07:00

4-4-10
Hey Mom,

Thank you for being able to share your thoughts and feelings with us. I really appreciate that and I try pretty hard to be able to do that through my letters. There's no way I can really explain all that I go through or learn though. Every day is different and a new learning experience. In some ways it's so easy, and in other ways it's some of the most difficult things I've done. There are so many things that I don't fully understand as well, like Bryce said.

I'm way excited to hear from the words of the prophets in order to help me grow and know how I can do better. That will happen this weekend. We'll probably watch the normal sessions right in a row for the convenience of the Armenians. It should be wonderful.

Something that I really admire about Armenians is their willingness to give, despite their own difficulties. Not only are they always willing to feed their guests with what little they have, but they also will often pay transportation for their friends and give something to the needy. I don't think there are any homeless people, because their families all take care of each other. It's pretty respectable. A lady was walking and asking for money the other day and as a man passed he stopped, grabbed a coin and went back to give it to her as if he almost forgot to do so. I want to be unselfish like that as well.

One of my goals while I am serving my mission is also to improve my relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Sometimes I feel so close to them and know that they love me, but I also need to work on listening for His answers as well. I think the reason why we were separated from his presence was so that we could have true free agency, but we sure can choose to get to know him better. Elder Jonas is a very good example to me of that. I feel like he really knows how to pray to God and hear his answers. He has already helped me strengthen my faith in expecting an answer from God. Sometimes I'm probably pretty selfish in my prayers in that I talk a lot but don't even listen for an answer. I do know what it feels like when he does answer, though, and I think I am getting better. I hope that you can also get to know him better as well.

It's been a good week of work for me. I'm loving talking to people on the streets. Adam is still going forward. His family doesn't know he's getting baptized, however, so I hope that doesn't hurt his progression. We also met this really interesting kid who showed up to church. He's had a very sad life and has a pretty bad problem where his blood and fluids all go down to his legs. He seems pretty humbled and I know the gospel would change his life, so I hope it works out with him.

Easter was pretty nice. They play a little game with cracking eggs like they do in Romania, I think. They say "Christ was resurrected from death" and then answer with "Blessed be Christ's Resurrection." Like you said about knowing the name of who we receive blessings from, but it being an anonymous person happens here a lot, I think. EVERYone praises God and Christ, but we're finding that they really don't know the true nature of God and that he really does care about them. To me that is such a worthy goal. If all I can do is help someone get to know the God that I know, I will feel content from this work. I really do know that God loves me and has blessed me far more than I am worthy of. Every experience in this life is an opportunity to learn, grow, and become more like our loving Father. It really is. I know I can trust God too, and that if I am doing my part there is nothing I can fear. I love learning with Elder Jonas and I really feel like we are growing together. I hope you have a wonderful week. I miss you and love you.

Sincerely,
Your son Elder Wainwright
4-4-10
Hey Dad,

Thanks for your letter. I'm glad to hear that conference went good, I can't wait to hear it next week. The broadcast is sent out here all through the night, so they record it as they receive it so that we can watch it the next week with the branches. Normally there are returned missionaries and a few Armenians in America that translate it at the conference center, but this year they did the translating all through the night as they received it with native translators. That will be so much better for them. We'll watch it in English in another room though on dvd's. I'm way excited. It's so comforting to have living prophets in these days, who help us better know God and prepare for the future. I teach so much that I cherish every opportunity I have to learn from others. For example, we were waiting for an investigator at the institute building and when she came we didn't want to leave because Elder Shulz ( the senior couple in our branch in charge of institute) was teaching such a good lesson. I find so much joy in learning new knowledge and skills, like a new phrase in Armenian, a gospel principle that makes sense, how to make a great pizza, how to unicycle, and so many other things. I hope that I can keep progressing and becoming a better person throughout my life. I am also so grateful for this opportunity to serve and get to know the people here in Armenia. Probably one of my favorite parts of this work is being able to see people change. That's what's so great to me about the Savior's Atonement, is the opportunity it gives us not only to find peace and happiness, but to become better people as well. Thanks for your great example Dad. I hope that everything is going well and that you also have peace and happiness. Talk to you later.

Love,
Your son Elder Wainwright

3-21-10

2010-03-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom,

Thank you for the wonderful letter. I loved all of your thoughts and I really appreciate that you put those things in your letters. It makes them mean a lot to me.

I'm excited for Josh and Grant. I hope they both have wonderful experiences. I hope Matt is doing alright as well. You'll have to let me know how he's doing. Do you actually have his email? That has to be a hard challenge for him. I wonder how Kyle is adjusting being back as well.

I like my new area a lot and the branch too. The branch here is less developed as in Gyumri, though. The people here are quite different than in Gyumri. One down side is that they aren't as interested in talking to us and are generally more apposed to us being here, but a plus is that there are more people who are educated and some sort of job. For example, I can't remember if I told you, but Adam our new investigator is a script-writer for tv, and I think he sells ad spaces for magazines or something when he can't do the other. He's a way good kid, and already wants to serve a mission before he gets married. We also got another older man and a women to teach this week. Something that has been hard for me this week, though, is talking to people on the streets. It's not easy, and I think I started having some fears in the back of my mind, like peopling thinking we're Jehovah's Witnesses or making them uncomfortable. It was good to realize I had those fears, so that I can exercise my faith and overcome them. I never want to be afraid to do the Lord's will, and I know don't have to if I am being obedient. The Holy Ghost is also an amazing gift, and I want to be able to better recognize its promptings. Something I'm trying to work on is being positive and going out of my comfort zone like you were talking about. I've already seen that it's a lot better and I have learned a lot.

The branch has very few priesthood, which is sad. It's got a lot of work, but I'm excited. The city is very beautiful as well. There is an opera house here, and we might be able to go see one if there's something good showing. That'd be pretty cool. There's one metro in Yerevan that just goes in a straight line. I like riding that, but we don't ride it often. I don't know what else to say about it. I like it better than I thought I would, though, which is nice.

Yesterday we ate dinner with the Shulz's who work in the institute building below our church and that was way nice. The new couple the Pincock's were also there. We had roast beef, Deseret instant potatoes, green beens, fruit salad, and cheese cake! It felt like we were in America again, but they assured us that that's not always how they eat. They're both great couples, as well as the Blunks who are from Santa Clara. They probably are related to the McDermitt's or whoever it was in the neighboring ward. Speaking of the McDermitts, I never got the package that Summer sent. I hope it didn't get lost. That's too bad, though.

So after all that hassle with the water in Gyumri, pretty much the same thing is happening again here. I hope they figure it out. There's not really much we can do about it. It's pretty funny though. Renting is a rough thing, especially in apartments.

Well I'm doing good. I love all the things that I learning and how much I am growing. I hope that I can become the son and servant that God wants me to become. I know he loves me and is watching out for me and leading me. I also know that the Savior atoned for me so that I would be able to learn all the things I have learned, and have an opportunity to become like Him. I'm so excited to hear from God's prophets in a couple weeks. I'm so glad I was born at this time. I'm glad I can serve these people as well, and I hope I can think of some better ways I can do that. Dad has always been a great example to me of selfless service and being aware of opportunities to serve. I'll have to keep my eye out. Have a great week. I love you all.

Sincerely,
Elder Wainwright

3-15-10 Yerevan

2010-03-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

Wow Mom,

Thank you for your wonderful letter. I really appreciate hearing from your testimony, lessons, and experiences from the week. It's like a little mana to keep me going. Our district meetings are like that too. I'm glad that Dad has some work. I prayed that he would. This week I am trying to strengthen my faith in God and make sure my prayers are sincere, as in listening for the promptings of the Spirit as well. I've already started to notice a difference. When Elder Schwietzer from the 70 came, he told us that two things we should gain from this mission is spiritual sanctification and an ability to recognize the promptings of the Spirit. I know that if I do those things that I will be able to continue to serve the Lord for the rest of my life, which is what I really want.

Something that is really hard for me is trying to communitcate that thought with others. People seem to have a hard time believing that is my only motive for being here. I'm not saying that my motives for doing things are always pure, but I know that's why I'm here. I want others to experience the same blessings, knowledge, peace, satisfaction, hope, and joy that I have experienced from this gospel. I know the Savior atoned for me so that I could have an opportunity to become like God. I hope I can help a few people realize those same things.

So my mission has just changed quite a bit again. Wednesday morning the Assistants called me and told me I was going to the Center Area in Yeravan on Thursday morning. It was a quick change, but I already feel comfortable and have almost forgotten about Gyumri. I really loved my time there and the things I learned. Elder Larson and I had a wonderful companionship, and I got to teach some wonderful people. Narine and her Sister-in-law Yerazik both have baptismal dates and should be baptized soon. They're wonderful ladies and I hope the best for them. Yervand's mother should be getting a baptismal date soon too. She is also a wonderful woman and mother. She actually felt like a mother to me as well ( that's a good thing:). The branch there is a way good branch.

I already feel comfortable in Yerevan, even though it is completely different than Gyumri. Not only is the area different, but the people as well. I'm right in the middle of Yerevan and it is a very pretty city. I love the buildings and things. The people are a little harder to talk to here, but it should get better soon. Elder Jonas and I really want to talk not only to a lot of people, but those who God has prepared us to talk to. That's our goal anyway. It can be pretty uncomfortable sometimes, but we're trying.

Elder Jonas is an amazing missionary and a way good guy. We both feel comfortable with each other and are trying to work hard together. We also already teach pretty well together, even though we teach pretty differently.

Well I have to go soon. There are some cool people here that I already love as well. The Branch President, for example, is an amazing man. We also have a sweet 19 year old named Adam that we're teaching. I'm excited for these changes.

Yes, I'm trying to be obedient and bleach my eggs and vegetables. The blossoms just came out, so we should be getting some amazing fruits and vegetables soon. I got here just after the season, so I have only heard about them.

I love you Mom and Dad. Thanks for all you do. Have a great week. Good luck with work and the house. I know God is guiding you.
Love,
Your son Elder Wainwright

3-8-10

2010-03-08T14:44:00.001-08:00

Hey Mom,

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a pretty busy week. That's weird that Dad isn't the Bishop anymore. It seems like a good time to be released though. That will be a good Bishopric. Who's the new Young Men's presidency? Oh, and do you know who Keaton Bale married? Maybe I know her. Are Josh and Cody already gone? That's crazy and way cool. We really are blessed to be a part of this special work. How's Eric doing? I hope he's happy. He's a really good kid.

Hey, Shnorhavor! Congratulations! Today is kind of like mother's day. I actually think it is just women's day, though. They actually cellebrate it for a month as far as I know. It should be like that in America, right?

That's too bad no one has come to look at the house. I'll keep praying for you. That's awesome you got a fund for our missions. I wish so badly I could have contributed more. I hate being a burden. Money is such a stressful part of this life, it's really kind of sad. I know God doesn't want us to focus on that, but he did tell us to earn our food by the sweat of our brows. I hope that I can always be a hard worker like Dad and like I should be. I really enjoy working hard, and like I said to Brandon, I think, that is really the secret to this work. It says in Preach My Gospel that we know how successful we are by the level of our commitment. Brother Schroeder from the MTC told us to never draw any lines in our lives and to be willing to do whatever the Lord asks us to do. I feel like you and Dad understand that concept and I hope that I can learn to be able to have that kind of confidence in the Lord. That was actually what the Assistants to the President talked about in our last Zone Conference; Confidence in the Lord. I feel like that's how we can overcome pride and the pride cycle, is by putting our confidence in the Lord and not in ourselves.

The house should look good with the tile, you'll have to send me a picture. If you put pictures on your picasa, I should be able to see them. I'll try to put on a few of my apartment that I took this week if I have time. It sounds like soon they might not let us even do things like that on the internet, but I hope not. I like being able to show you a little bit of what it's like here, although it doesn't do it justice and I can't take nearly as many pictures as I would like.

We've been riding the train to Artik lately, which is pretty fun. It's about a 45 min ride. I think they converted the coal train into electric. All the cars here are basically bio fuel and use natural gas. It's a lot cheaper for them too.

I have also always been amazed at both Abraham and Isaac and don't fully understand how that worked. I'm glad your finding some good things from the Old Testament. I think it would have been hard for them to have strong faith in Christ's sacrifice when it hadn't even happened yet. Maybe that's why they needed a more physical sacrifice, so they could relate better or something.

I hope you're doing well. I also hope you know how much I love you, dad, and the rest of our family. I love so much reading from your letters. They give me strength. It's helped me realize how precious you all are and how blessed I am. I love my God and Savior as well, and am blessed to have this opportunity to not only help others recognize them, but my relationship with them is also growing a lot. I love my companions, district, and this branch and city. I hope you have a good week, Mom.

Love,
Elder Wainwright

2-22-10

2010-02-22T08:18:00.000-08:00

Hey Mom,

This is my new account: bruce.wainwright@myldsmail.net

Thank you for your nice letters. Don't feel bad about last week. I did miss it though. I'm glad you got to go see Kyle's report. I can't believe he's back already. I meant to write him more, but never got to it. I guess you guys are the most important that I write to, though. I wish I could have been there. From the little I've heard I can see how much he has changed and learned from his service. I know I also will not be the same after this, and am excited to continue to grow and learn. That's so cool, those stories about his priesthood blessings. I know that it is a sacred blessing for me to be able to hold God's Priesthood, and I hope that I always treat it with respect.

I'm really sorry, but I actually have to go soon. We had some problems with our house this morning and got a late start. Water is slowly leaking into the store below us and we have tried a couple of times to figure out where it's coming from, but still haven't figured it out. I've already learned a lot of practical things from my mission, besides the spiritual things, which will be useful as well for the future:)

I've noticed lately that my heart is becoming more involved in the work. I am constantly thinking of the people we are teaching and trying to think of how I can help them. I really want to become the servant and son that God wants me to be, and I hope I can make the best out of the time Heavenly Father gives me.

Thanks for updating me on the house and things. I'm praying for you, and I know you can trust God. I don't know of anyone here that doesn't have financial difficulties.

I love you mom and hope that you can feel that love. I know that God loves me, and I am trying to show my gratitude and love to Him.

Love,
Your son Elder Wainwright
Hey Dad,

Our multitude meeting went about how I expected. There was about six middle aged guys who showed us this apartment they have that we might be able to use if we start a group up there. A couple of them seemed interested, though, which is pretty cool. We'll see if anything happens. Floriano sounds pretty cool. We've got some cool people like that here, that do some amazing work.

I hope everything goes well this week. I really ran out of time this week. I'm grateful for all you and Mom do, and am grateful for all of your love. I love the Savior and am grateful for the life I have been given. I hope I can continue to overcome my imperfections and become a happier better me. I love you Dad.

Love,
Elder Wainwright

2-15-09

2010-02-15T17:45:00.000-08:00

2-15-09
Hey,

I missed getting a letter from you this week. I hope everything's going alright. I'm sure you have been very busy and exhausted lately. How are things?

Everything's good with me. We've been working hard this week and gave some of our investigators baptismal dates, which was nice. Suren, the guy I talked about in Mark's letter, is doing great. He's already decided he needs to quite smoking and is starting. One of the things that impresses me about him is that he knows the difference between worshipping God only through our words and worshipping through our hearts. We can draw near to God on the outside and do crosses and go to church, but still have pride and other sins in our hearts and not really love God, which is the first and great commandment.

I don't know if I told you about Narine and her sister-in-law that we are teaching, but they are doing good too, except they got sick and weren't able to come to church. We're going to give them a priesthood blessing today. I've given so many people blessings already, and seen some neat miracles. I'm honored to be able to hold the Priesthood power of God, and I know that we really do have God's authority in our church. Elder Richard G. Scott is coming to Armenia in June, I probably said that, but I am way excited. It will be such a blessing to hear the words of humble Elder Scott who is called to bring the gospel to the world. I also can't wait for the next general conference. I guess I should probably keep learning more from our last conference, though. I was reading from Elder Holland's talk on Safety for the Soul this morning. I know that if I stop progressing, I will be digressing, and that is how the elect will be deceived. I really believe that we can learn from every experience we have in this life, and if we are willing to listen God is always talking to us.

I'm excited to go back to Artik and see how many people we can meet with. The work is not going super fast out there, but I feel like it has some good potential. We also might have a huge group meeting according to a guy we talked to on the street. We'll see. It was pretty sad, though, Armine who is the member that lives out there sort of had a melt down the other day. She has had it pretty rough, and she is having a hard time being able to come to church. She does so much good, I know she will be blessed if she just hangs in.

Hey, I wanted to thank you for the chocolate chips, peanut butter, hot chocolate and things. We have been having a ton of delicious pancakes lately with chocolate chips. One bag is almost used, and I'm going to make chocolate chip cookies with the other one. I think the peanut butter is so wonderful just because it's simple and just feels good for the body. Our diet is pretty different here. I'm trying to sneak in more vegetables into our meals. Elder Larson doesn't really like vegetables, which is so hard for me to understand. We eat tons of bread, though, eggs, chicken, and baked goods. I love their lavash լավաշ (wow, I just figured out how to type in Armenian!) which is like a tortilla, but huge and fresh and good, and their cowbob քյաբաբ (like a ground beef shishkabob) and sharma շարմա (a delicious wrap with fried pork, potatoes, and veges). Ես կկարոտեմ հայկական սնունդը: I'll miss armenian food.

Alright, well let me know how you are doing. I love you all and miss you. Have a great week and don't be too stressed.

Մեծ սիրով,

Երեց Վեյնռայթ

February 8, 2010

2010-02-08T14:05:00.000-08:00

2/8/10
Hey Mom and Dad,
Thanks for your letters. It was actually lucky I saw it because it was sent to my gmail account. I'm guessing that was an accident. It was a way good week. My fast went well, splits were good, and the Church we went to was way cool.

I know God will answer our prayers. This week Sako was also in some big trouble with his debts and actually had some things taken so he'd pay it. We committed him to fast and promised him God would help him overcome this challenge, whether he needs to go to Russia to work or some other means. He said how fasting had helped others he was fasting for, but never himself. At the end of fast Sunday, however, he called and excitedly explained how the church he had worked for in Russia had sent him money that covered half the debt. It was a miracle. He doesn't want to test God, but we joked that he just needs to fast one more time. I really marvel at his faith and knowledge and I was so grateful to see that blessing.

One of our investigators, Narine, finally came to church yesterday and we started teaching her sister-in-law that came to stay with her. That was a miracle as well. They're both awesome women and are accepting our message very well.

Yesterday we also had our first "test run" sacrament meeting at night. About five less actives and non-members came, which was wonderful, and the Spirit was very strong. The awesome thing is that Yervand's mom, our amazing blind member' mother, was able to come and can finally get baptized even though she's already read the Book of Mormon 3 or 4 times as well as Preach My Gospel. I'm way excited for them. I think the meeting will be a big blessing for this branch.

Then, to top of the day something else neat happened. We got home about ten minutes early and knew we hadn't talked to anyone on the streets the whole day. As we were walking up the stairs, I again thought we should go out and talk to someone, even if it was just the group of kids smoking on the corner. So we went, and it actually turned out really good. Elder Larson distracted most of them while I talked about serious things with the kid that was actually interested. He invited us over, so we'll have to go try and find his house. I felt so blessed for listening to the Holy Ghost. I hope I can always be ready and willing to follow the guidance of Heavenly Father.

I went on splits this week with our Zone Leader, Elder Stephenson, in Vanadzor. He's a very obedient missionary, very humble, and pretty bold with his teaching, so it went really well and I learned a lot. It seems easier to talk about the gospel with people on the streets now. I really learned a lot from the splits and it was really fun. Vanadzor is about the size of Gyumri or St. George and I like the people there as well. They have a good branch too and the Blunks are way cool. They did come here, but I didn't mention anything about the McDermitts. They're not related are they? It was good, though, except for one kid who is really bad and can not listen. He also kind of beats his mother and grandma. I hope he ends up alright, I know there's still good in him.

One cool thing I learned from Preach My Gospel this week was about patience. Patience was defined as the ability to accept God's will in His time, not ours. I really like that definition. It reminds me of a miracle that my MTC Branch President told me about. In order to really have patience, I think we actually have to have faith and trust God that He will do what's best in the time that is best. We can't have faith without having to believe or trust in something that we can't see. Anyway, so you shouldn't have to fear waiting for a while. Faith overcomes all fear.

The church we went to was a reddish color and was way pretty. I don't think anyone goes there, but there was some cool ruins left over around it. There was also a very pretty frozen river and small waterfall closeby. It was way fun. Sister Fisher is leaving and my Sister from the MTC is coming up this week, so we'll have some changes this week. We've got a good district (us four and the senior couple).

Thanks for telling me about everyone's testimonies, Dad. I'll have to read that chapter in Alma.

Mom, when did you hurt your knee? I never heard. And I feel your pain with the crutches, they really are no fun. I liked all the things you learned about Noah this week. It's way cool to try and find some of the "hidden treasures" in the scriptures. I know that the scriptures contain all the guidance we need in this life, and I am so grateful for prophets who keep us on the right track and who are worthy leaders. I love this country and am so grateful for the opportunity to serve these people and bring them some of the happiness and peace I've experienced because of my Savior. Without Him, I am nothing.
Much love,

Your son Elder Wainwright

Mets sirov

2010-02-01T05:26:00.000-08:00

2/1/10

Sireli Mayr,

Thanks for the letter and updates. I will for sure pray for Crystal and you guys. I'm sure Heavenly Father will help you know though. I know he leads me every single day as long as I listen. We have had too many coincidences and opportunities to help people to think otherwise. I know that he also lets us choose and learn a lot as well. I can always tell when I've made a bad choice, though. I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

We had one of those experiences this week. We were doing one of our finding hours and found this awesome street, actually I probably already told you about that. At the end of the street we got invited in to talk with some construction workers. Well, one of them was pretty drunk and was telling us how the Book of Mormon wasn't true, but he wanted to meet and find the truth together. He, Bagrat, didn't show up when he said, but we went back to meet with some of the other workers. When we got there, the others weren't there, but Bagrat was. He said he had been randomely called in. He wasn't drunk, was alone, and we had an awesome lesson with him. He almost started crying and really said he wanted to stop drinking and live a good life. I think he's divorced too. We're way excited to help him.

We heard some sad news. Apparently two missionaries died in Romania from a gas leak. We all had to double check our two alarms that we have. I guess one was from Highland and one from Logandale. That's gotta be pretty hard. I hope that doesn't make you worry too much. We're being careful.

I had a pretty embarrassing moment this week. We were leaving Siranush's house yesterday and all of a sudden my foot fell out from under me. Apparently I stepped on a man whole that wasn't on correctly and my right leg fell completely into the whole while my left leg was doing something else. I tried to pull myself out, but couldn't because the lid was holding my leg in, so when Elder Larson and Siranush tried pulling me out I had to explain that it wasn't helping. I'm all good though, besides an injured pride and a sore left cheek. I learned that I need to avoid stepping on dangerous grounds. It's best to not even have an opportunity to fall down a man hole.

Some other good news is that Sister Fisher's older brother made it into the olympics! That's so crazy, she's pretty excited. I think he's doing the downhill race.

It's been a good week. I love President Uchtdorf's talk from conference on the love of God. I just read through it and it makes so much sense. I know that if I don't try and express my love for God and have charity for others, that my works are for nothing as it says in Moroni 6. I love these people and am so grateful to be able to help them in a little way. I'm also grateful for my life and for all that I've been able to experience. I hope I can use my experiences for my benefit and learning and continue to do so throughout my life. Thanks for keeping me in touch with your lives Mom, Dad, and everyone. Hope you have a good week.

Mets sirov (with much love),

Elder Bruce Wainwright

6 Months

2010-01-25T15:01:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the nice letters.
I told Brandon about a film they made here, you should see if you can find it, it seemed like it'd be pretty good. A family here said it was pretty sad, though. It's called "Tango of our Children," or Mer Mankutsian Tango in Armenian.

We've gone through a lot of investigators recently. I think it's good though. We just don't have anyone we are teaching who are really ready for baptism yet. Yesterday, we decided to do a finding hour and walked down some cool streets and through a nice little park before we again got invited into someone's house. It was actually some workers, but it was really nice. They want us to come back again. So far we have been so successful with those little finding hours, that being our fourth time invited into someones house who was at least a little interested. Elder Larson said that has only happened two other times in the whole 8 months he's been here. We are doing way good together and have already built a good relationship. I think we're working harder, but I feel more relaxed. I really love this work and hope I can keep becoming a better person and follower of Christ.

I hope your Old Testemant class goes well. It sounded like you had a really good first lesson. It is really hard to find the precious doctrines in the old testemant because things were so different, but I'm excited to hear what you get out of it. I'm trying to get through the Book of Mormon right now. I'm in Alma 9 I think. I love the Book of Mormon so much, the doctorines and testimonies are so powerful and clear.

That's too bad about Gloria. (That was the boys piano teacher) She was such a wonderful lady. I'm so grateful for all I learned from her and for all of our piano recitals. I love good music so much. It has such a powerful effect. I'm so glad I have been able to learn the piano and violin. I for sure don't want to lose those talents.

Tell Gary and Sheila, I'll keep them in my prayers. I hope they can overcome their challenges. A cool quote that I read from a mission president's talk called "The Fourth Missionary" is that the single purpose of every challenge or opposition that we face is to give us an opportunity to apply the teachings of Christ in our life, or in other words His gospel. I know that's true and that every decision we make in this life is important and can be for our good if we allow it to be.

Thanks for everything Mom. I love you. I hope your work and everything continues to go well. I really like it here. I love my mission already. I can't believe I've already been out for six months since the 22nd. I practically missed it. It's been some pretty good six months though. I wouldn't trade it. Miss you. Have a good week.

Love,

Bruce

1-18-2010

2010-01-18T02:54:00.000-08:00

Hey Mom,

I uploaded some pictures onto your picasa thing. It takes a little while, but that should work good. I hope you like them.

I've had a pretty good week. Elder Larson and I are still working hard and doing good. We've been invited into people's houses as we walk by or talk to them and it's been pretty good. So far we haven't been able to teach those people a lot, but they usually invite us back. These people are so hospitable. They have a thing called Hyurasirution which being interpretted literally means "guest love." They think it's shameful if they don't give you some coffee, sweets, food, or something. They're funny.

We've been going out to a nearby city lately too, and I think it's possible we could start a group out there sometime. That'd be so neat.

It's still very slushy even though it's snowed a couple times. I got a new coat, though, that's even warmer than my other one. It's brown, has a furry inside, and goes to my knees.

I'm way excited for our zone conference tomorrow. We're going to have six of the crazy elders from Georgia sleeping at our house tonight and the next, so that'll be fun.

You should tell Brandon to try posting the pictures and videos on his blog so I can see them. He can use youtube straight onto his blog I think.

I have enjoyed teaching people and sharing my testimony this week. I feel pretty comfortable here. Gyumri is a good city. I hope I can continue to make these people's lives a little bit happier, and help them find their purpose in this gift of a life.

Have a nice week Mom. Tell Dad not to have too much fun and to watch out for those wooden nickels.

Crazy Week

2010-01-11T14:53:00.000-08:00

Hi Mom,

I'm doing fine, just so you know. I have been thinking about you too, though, it seems like it's getting harder to stay in touch. I just feel pretty far away.

I love Elder Larson, though. We are doing way good together, and my faith is growing. He's a good missionary and really wants to do good work. So we are working hard, and I'm glad. Our last week has been sort of crazy though, let me tell you about it.

The cellebrations weren't as big and bad as I thought, but it did detract from our work. Practically no one works for a week up to two weeks. The bad thing, though, was everything that we forgot. First of all, our gas was off because of our mistake with the bills, which was crazy ( and a little cold). Then, I forgot my keys at another Elders' apartment, we lost our phone or got it stolen, I forgot to leave the door unlocked for the maid leaving our clothes dirty, and we forgot to turn on the bak twice for our shower! It was a crazy week, but we made it through.

These last couple days have been real nice, though. We have really tried to get a lot of gospel conversations - as we call them - on the streets while focusing on bearing our testimonies. It has really helped improve both the conversations we have on the streets and the lessons we're giving.

Two days ago, we were talking to three old guys and they invited us into their home. So far, I have had really good experiences with those, and this one was really nice too. The man and his wife that live there are pentacostals, but he really wanted us to come back. The wife was a little intense and defensive, but it could be really nice. Then, the same thing happened last night. We were talking to some people on a marshutni and a guy invited us to his house. It was way nice, and his family is nice too. It's sad, though, his son has a huge tumor, I guess, on the side of his head that they were wanting us to somehow help with. We can't do anything for that, but I know the gospel would do so much good for them. I'm excited to go back.

Sako wanted me to say hi to you all. He just got the priesthood, I'm really happy for him. He's going through some hard times, though, I hope he can make it. Good man.

Right now I'm preparing a talk on obedience for our zone conf. next week, which is going well. I've also felt really good about my language this week, and I'm trying to work hard. It's hard to memorize ten words a day, but I can try harder. I actually had a funny experience listening to a song. I thought for a second "why is this armenian song in english?" when it really wasn't. I thought that was pretty cool. I've been so blessed with the ability to communicate and learn through the gift of toungues, and I know that at least some of that has come from my father's blessing from dad before I left.

I'm so grateful for the peace and healing I have felt through the atonement of Christ and living His gospel.

Thanks for telling me about Sam's call, that's so awesome! I hope he writes me soon. Tell Josh congratulations too, I'm so excited for both of them. This mission is really such a blessing to me. On page V in PMG, the first presidency says how there is more happiness felt in this work than we have ever felt before. I have already begun to experience that, and I know that the most joy and happiness comes from trying to make others happy. Christ did all that he did because of His unsellfishness and willingness to give up His will for the Father's will. Love for others is such a powerful motivating force, just like Harry Potter's mother:)

Well, I love you Mom. Have a great week. Thanks for your care, love, and prayers. Talk to you next week.

Love,
Elder Wainwright

Happy New Year

2010-01-04T01:26:00.000-08:00

Hi Mom,
I'm glad you had a nice holiday. Ours is still going, but it has been nice. On the sixth will be their Christmas, so I think the partying might die off after that. Every house has a table full of food and drinks, so we eat everywhere we go. The fireworks woke me up on New Years Eve, they were really obnoxious banging fireworks, which made it sound like a battle outside. Our movie day was nice too. We watched Up, Harry Potter, Wolverine, Monsters vs. Aliens, and Angels & Demons. Up is still my favorite.

I'm so happy, it finally snowed again this morning. There's about five inches or so. It's been rainy for a while and all my pants are dirty and my shoes muddy, so it was nice to have a change.

Sako's baptism this week was very nice. A lot of elders were here for our district meeting, which was nice too. It was pretty simple, but the spirit was very strong. We also had a nice little prayer together after we had changed. He's a great guy, I hope he can stay active even though it's difficult to get to church. He has changed so much. It's too bad his mother didn't make it to the baptism though, she's a great woman.

Merujan should be getting baptized soon too. He's so funny, but he has a great testimony. We're also meeting with some really nice older ladies right now. There are two women from little villages that are doing some really good missionary work right now, and they get so excited. It really feels good to try and share your happiness and knowledge with others. In our baptismal covenant we promise to be a living witness or testimony of Christ. It's a wonderful and important role that we all play. I like Pres. Hinkley's quote you sent about how no role is more important than another. That's so true.

It's been a good week. I haven't been able to do much with the pictures, so I'll try and get on that next week. I love you though. Have a wonderful new year. I am so grateful for the life God has given me, and I know I often take my precious time in this life for granted. It really is a gift for us. I am grateful to have such a wonderful Father in Heaven who watches over me, cares for me, and wants me to be happy. I guess how we show are love is by being obedient children and making wise choices. I have been very blessed with wise and loving earthly parents as well. Thank you for all you do and have done, Mom.

Love ya
Elder Wainwright

12-29-09

2009-12-29T14:06:00.000-08:00

Hey Mom,

Thanks for the letter. It was a great Christmas. I'm so glad I got to talk to everyone. I agree with what Bryce said, turns first would probably be the best way for next phone call. I think it'd be nice to plan it out so our time overlaps a touch as well. It was really nice, though, and I really appreciated everything in my Christmas package. I liked the paints, decorations and useful things, and I loved the books and pictures. You'll have to post some every once in a while so I can see them.

Sorry we didn't write yesterday, we didn't know if we were supposted to or not, so they let us write today. I just want to let you know that all is well, and our work is really picking up a lot. Elder Larson and I are doing well. He is a really great guy. We make each other laugh a lot.

Something funny happened this week. We brought the wrong reciept somehow to pay our bills with and so we ended up paying for the old apartment. We were pretty confused for a while, our Land Lord even called us, but we finally got it all figured out. Finances can be a stressful thing for sure.

Guess what? Sako passed his baptismal interview and he asked me to baptize him tomorrow. I'm really happy for him. He keeps saying how he wants to make a 100% covenant with God. He still has a lot to learn, but I'm excited for him to make this step in his life. This will be my first baptism, too.

I'm so glad I got those pictures to you. I'll try and keep it updated for you and see if I can find a better way to get them to you.

I'm glad you got to talk to Bryce. I love him so much. Tell Grandma and Brandon thanks for their wonderful letters. Crystal and Mark both wrote really nice letters as well.

I hope you have a wonderful week with everyone. It sounds like the nieces and nephews are all doing well. I love you all.

Have a great week. Tell Bryce and the family hi for me. Talk to you in a year.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

2009-12-21T02:21:00.001-08:00

Basketball

2009-12-14T09:32:00.000-08:00

Hey Mom and Dad,
I don't have much time today, sorry, we had to change around our Prep Day. We played basketball with some of the other missionaries this morning in an Armenia vs. America basketball game. It was pretty fun. This funny teacher guy got it all set up, and he was so excited. We even both sang our national anthems before. It was great, but pretty tiring. We don't get a lot of exercise. I'd say we only walk about a mile every day. The Marshutni vans are pretty efficient. Elder Gull hurt his arm a little in the game, which was no good. After that we all ate some pizza together with the sisters and Siranush. It was nice. Siranush is so wonderful. She helps so much with the work here, and has been on many mini-missions. She's such a good example for her family.
In this mission, instead of having three-some companionships, they call natives to be mini-missionaries. Right now Sister Fisher has one for three weeks until the new missionaries come. It's a great experience for the youth here. Poor Sister Fisher is pretty sick, though. She has bronchitis I believe.
It snowed again this morning. I love it so much. It melts pretty fast, though. It's pretty slushy, but it might last a while this time. It does get pretty icy, though, like Bryce was talking about. It's sorta muddy.
We fnally found a bike pump, so we had our first Rocket Class! It was so fun! The sisters' two little investigator boys came, as well as Miran - a funny investigator who has been taking english lessons for ten years. Miran is actually about to be baptized. I can't wait til next week. We only launched one this week. Our pump is actually super weak, it doesn't work that great. A lot of things don't work that great here:)
I'm so grateful for the relationships I have with the missionaries, members, and some of our investigators. Our relationships are so important. When they are good, I am so happy, and when they're not, it can be miserable. We had such a nice chat with Gohar, the Queers' ( "queer" is how you say "sister" in Armenian) maid. She's about fifty and is single. She is having a hard time right now, but she know's that because she has the gospel, everything will be fine. I am so blessed to have always been able to feel the blessings of the Atonement, and to know God's plan for me. The spirit is one of my most prized possessions.
Elder King is going to be an office elder. The AP's have been doing all the computer work, so now they'll be more free to teach. They're great missionaries. Elder King has been our District Leader, so tomorrow I should find out who's coming to replace him. That'll be interesting. I'm ready for a change, though, I think. I have learned a lot from Elder King though, I will miss him. We've had some good times together. He's taught me to be more decisive and self-reliant as well. Every companionship is going to change this time, actually.
I like what you and Crystal said about trying to help people see the real meaning of Christmas. They have it here, but I think it gets kind of skipped over almost. Sister Fisher gave a wonderful talk about that on Sunday. Her family always shared their testimonies on Christmas Eve. I like that. I love our Christmases. People really do change during the month. What did you say you were going to do for a senior couple? I didn't understand. I haven't got my package, yet. It might not make it, which would be sad. You really don't have to send me things, just so you know. I have gotten a few letters, though. Some wonderful ones from Janet, and from Megan Gale as well. I really hope I can share my testimony about Christ with people, though. That's why I wanted to come on this mission. It's really hard, though, especially through the language barrier. It's getting better, though. I feel good about this new companionship, I think it'll help. I've been sort of quiet this week, which is sad. I like talking to people.
Hey, you get to call me pretty soon. You can choose when. Two days within new years. I'll get the number to you next week. It's cheapest if you call. That way you can gather together as well. I like the clock on my blog, that's cool. I would suggest calling me between 8 and 11 in the morning maybe on my new years eve. that'd be about 9 to midnight for you. We can talk for 30 - 45 minutes, so it'll be quick.
Well Merry Christmas every one. I love you all. I hope God continues to bless you. Crystal wrote me a wonderful letter that I'll have to answer later. Thanks so much for all your prayers, I know it helps. Have a wonderful day.
Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

P.S. you can keep emailing me Bryce's letters. That's probably easiest for me. Thanks for Kendall's letter. Sounds like he's doing well. Wish Matt a Merry Christmas.

12-7-09

2009-12-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

Hey Mom and Dad,
Sounds like you've had a pretty good week. That's nice you got to see Grandma Snow. It's cool, any older person here you can just call dadik or papik (grandma or grandpa). There seems to be a lot of them. Especially poor old drunk men. They're so sweet though. Last night we gave a nice old man some money to get of the marshutni ( like 25 cents). Wonderful, poor people. Elder King is very compasionate. I need to be a better friend for him and be better at communicating like you said, mom. I'm glad you two have some nice time together, that's important.
That's cool you're almost ready for Christmas. I'd gladly climb on your roof for you:) What wonderful neices and nephews we have. I'm excited for their new years. We'll eat so much! I didn't get your little package yet, but Elder King thinks it'll still come. Speaking of Christmas, I need to get you the number to call for Christmas. I should have it next time. I hope it doesn't cost too much. That'll be nice though, to get to talk to you again. My favorite part about Christmas in America is how much people change. It really is wonderful.
Mom, sounds like you are really loving Sunday school. I like hearing what you are teaching and learning about. Tell Eric I said hi and am thinking about him, as well as everyone else. It'd actually be nice if you could get his email for me. That's cool that Summer came over to hang out with you. She's a great friend. And yes, the Blanc's will be here maybe this month, I believe. There's about 8 senior couples in both Georgia and Armenia. That's a lot. I'm not sure where the Blanc's are going though. Elder King will actually probably leave at the end of the month. That will be really interesting to see what happens.
One of the Area Presidencies came to our mission this week, which was pretty neat. His name is Elder Schwitzer. He is living in Russia and knows a little from being a mission president, which is impressive. He is pretty and a very sweet man. I really liked him. He went on a tour of Armenia and Georgia, so we got to go to two meetings with him. There was a very strong spirit, and he gave both people wonderful blessings. After his talks, I really wanted to deepen my studies of the scriptures and Preach My Gospel. There is precious truths in every part of both of those, and there's so much I have to learn. I could tell he has spent much of his life in the scriptures. I love our Mission President so much as well, he came too. President Dunn loves people so much and is very wise and sociable.
I also got to go to a meeting with Elder Lowe from my group this week when we were in Yerevan, which was hard but way fun. It was a nice mission conference. I got to meet some more of the missionaries here, which was nice.
The language is still moving forward. I'm starting to feel pretty confident, and I even starting translating simple things for the Van Dyke couple.
I'm doing good though. I love you and appreciate your love and letters. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas this year. I miss not seeing the Christmas devotional. Maybe we'll figure something out. Have a nice week.
Love,
Elder Wainwright

Jnl 12/3/09 Thurs
Yesterday was so nice. I felt really comfortable with Elder King, and we had some fun together. I really love Elder King a lot and am grateful for who he is. He loves to learn, grow, and be challenged. He also loves people and is very compassionate as President Dunn said. I like how Elder King studies and uses many resources to help him. He is studying from armenian poetry and from latin right now. He also tries very hard to make me happy. I wonder how happy I seem? I can do better at being happy. Elder King is also very creative and likes being resourceful.

Jnl 12/5/09 Sat
We have been blessed these last couple of days. Well... sorta. We also have been losing things like crazy. I read a nice talk from Pres. Eyring, though, where he said how important it is to somehow remember all that God has done for us. He would write in his journal every night something that had happened that day. I think I can for sure do that. That would be really nice. One example, yesterday Elder King left the phone in a taxi, which often means it's a goner in this society. However, the wonderful taxi driver happened to answer when Jirar called, got it to Jirar, and we happened to meet Jirar on his way to bring us the phone. It was a nice little blessing. Then we sat on the same marshutni as Lilia, the Apostate, which I'm not sure if that was good or bad, but she apeared rather uncomfortable. Then today, Elder King lost his poetry notebook that had a precious letter in it. Fortunately, on our way home we stopped the taxi driver so he could look where it likely fell. I didn't see it, but as I prayed that he would find it, we saw it in the street. It's nice that God wants us to have all we want and need. Little experiences like those are simple, but they build my faith and help me know i'm being watched over by a loving Heavenly Father. I know He will answer all of our worthy prayers.

"God bless us, every one."
- Tiny Tim

Thanksgiving 11-30-09

2009-11-30T16:07:00.000-08:00

Hey,
Sounds like you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm way glad. I was hoping you would. Guess what, we have actually seen "Up." It was way good, I agree. That'd be fun to see.
That's nice you got to see everyone. I'd love to see Matt's speech if I get a chance. That's so wonderful they are praying for us, I know it helps. I feel so blessed.
I'm glad Dad gets to do fun things with Gary, that makes me so happy. We've got such a wonderful family!
Our Thanksgiving was simple, but nice too. Our dinner was actually very interesting, I quite enjoyed it. The sisters wanted to have a "P" day for "Pilgrims." I think sister Fager just wanted to have pickles, though:) So since it was P-day, everything we ate started with a "P," either in Armenian or English. We had pizza (with tons of crazy toppings), peace juice, pickles, pudding, persimmons, and all sorts of "P" things. It was fun, and I was way stuffed, as it should be. While we were eating, we went around and all said what we were thankful for. Some of the things I said were: my wonderful twin brother, a world that is beautiful, relaxing music, friends that help me be better, imagination and creativity, fire and warmth, my mind, all the freedoms from living in America, and then some other silly things. Some of the other things said were: senses of humor, bright colors, sports, good parents, families, and a bunch of things I can't remember. I also said a special prayer to Heavenly Father to thank him for all the wonderful things he's blessed me with. I can't even come close to thanking Him enough, but it helps me recognize how blessed I really am.
Other than that, it was a pretty normal week. Sako's trying to quit smoking again, so we'll have to call him tonight and see how he's doing. He's a great guy. I love his nephew that's staying with him too. Well, I'm off, but I hope everything else is well with you. I agree with Bryce, that Bishops and Branch Presidents have a lot of responsibility that I never realized. I'm so grateful for this church though, and for all the good that can be done. Are you getting ready for Christmas yet? People here are starting to buy little things for their 5 day New Year's feast. That'll be interesting. Well, talk to you later. I love you so much, thanks for everything. I did get that Dear Elder in the mail you sent a while ago. Priority boxes make it pretty well. I also got a nice letter from Janet the other week, and a dear elder from Tasia, so that was nice. See ya later, Love, Elder Bruce Wainwright
Hey Mom,
It's so wonderful how Heavenly Father watches out for us. I really think he knows what he's doing:) It's so wonderful we have the spirit too, I really think we can communicate in a way through our spirits, if you know what I mean.
I've heard there's another couple coming in, I'll have to see if that's the Blaunks. We're really getting a lot here, it's great. The VanDyke couple really want to do a lot for our branch, and I think they will. One thing that I have been surprised by on my mission is how much work it is to keep everything running and functioning. Salvation is not an easy goal, I guess. We really have a good branch though, there's a lot of great people.
I keep forgetting to answer your question about piano. So far, I haven't had to play. I try and practice every once in a while though. We have a pretty self functioning branch and there's at least one pianist. Sister Fager did play once though. She's leaving this Friday, it's crazy. She's a way good missionary.
I've had one haircut here, but I might do my own next time. They have a weird style with a short cut, but longer bangs, and I'm not sure I like it:)
Here's something funny about this week: I told you about our bak, right? Where our water is stored? Every night we have to turn on the heater, so it's hot in the morning. Well, a few times we have forgot to do that, so the water was still cold in the morning. Instead of taking a cold shower, I decided to boil some water and take a sponge bath! It wasn't too bad. We have this little electric water boiler that is way nice for tea and things. It's about three times as fast as boiling water on the stove, so that's nice. It was a good experience. I've been pretty forgetful this week, though, it's not good.
Today we're in Yerevan again, but for the whole day. We get to have a sleepover at Elder White's and Lowe's place, which will be fun. I love Elder Lowe. He was in my MTC group.
Well, I hope everyone is doing all right. I'll talk to you later.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

Thanksgiving

2009-11-23T08:37:00.000-08:00

Hey Mom,
Thanks for the letter and for everything you are thankful for. I feel so grateful, especially being away from home and being able to see how blessed my life has been. I'll do a thankful prayer this week. Besides that, I think we'll have a dinner with the sisters and senior couple on Thursday, like for Halloween. The senior couple are really great. They're trying to learn the language, which is way impressive. They can already say a couple things.

Sako hasn't been baptized. Quiting smoking was harder than he thought, as we expected. I think he'll be able to make it though. These last three days he was working to see if he could get a job. I hope it worked out for him. He's an intense man, but he's way great. He knows so much.

As far as food, there will always be something. Elder King wants to start eating more meat, chili and things. He just got over a little fever. Everyone in Gyumri seems like they're sick. It's kinda sad. We like to play Star Wars Monopoly when we get sick. It is getting pretty cold, though, and it starting snowing today! We're so excited for snow. I just got a nice looking fedora hat, or a full brimmed hat like the ones we have at home. I also got a knee lengthened wool jacket from an elder that left, and it's way warm and way classy. It was actually a little big, so I took in the back, adjusted the buttons, and am still working on fixing the pockets that the elder had ripped up. I love it though. I'll have to get a picture in it. I also have a scarf, gloves, boots, and sweaters, so I should be all set. Tell Megan thanks, for sure. Jonathan also gave me some money as well, and everyone else. I've only spent 15000 dram, or about $45. 1 dollar = 387 dram(Armenian money) right now. I'll probably have someone make me mittens and another sweater or something as well. I don't know about a Santa hat, but we actually did randomly see someone wearing one the other day.

Elder King is from Massachusetts. He's about an inch or two taller than me with blonde hair and glasses. He loves chopping wood, which we have been doing a lot lately. He also has a good imagination and dreams of doing crazy things like living underground in Alaska with elder White, his good friend.

A little about our apartment and things, we heat our apartment with a pedge, or gas heater like our fireplace. We have three big rooms, so we have to close it all off in order to heat it up our room faster. A lot of people do that here, is pretty much live in one room in the winter because it's easier to heat. Water only comes for a couple of hours every day, so we fill up a big tank called a bak (pronounced like J.S. "Bach") that looks like a fish tank and sits above our tub. There's electrical things that go into the water that we turn on every night to heat it for a shower in the morning. Then that water lasts the whole day. It's pretty neat.

Another interesting thing is our transportation. We can either walk, take a taxi (500 - 1000 dram), take a marshutni which we usually do (100 dram), or a big old slow bus (70 dram). Marshutnis are funny. They are like a skinny Astro van with about ten or eleven seats, however, we can fit about twenty people in. It's pretty squished sometimes. It's nice, though, people are really good about letting the elderly sit down. Sometimes it's hard to find something to grab and you get jostled around a little.

Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful thanksgiving. Mine will be fine. Who's all getting together? Thanks for your list of things your grateful for, it was really nice. We've got such a wonderful family. I love you. Have a great week. Let me know if you have any other questions, it's hard to know what you don't know. Talk to you later.

Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright
Jnl 11/16/09 Mon
I am so glad that Zhirar wants to come to church with us. (Elder King has been teaching him English for three or four months. He used to be a runner. He's super nice. A great man, especially for Armenians). He really is our friend and doesn't want to lose this good friendship. He is worried about when elder King will leave. That's one thing that Elder King is really good at, is making people feel special, and being a good friend. Hamlet and Sako both feel very close to Elder King as well. That is something I need to work on, is expressing and showing how much I care about people.

Jnl 11/18/09 Wed
I've decided that one thing I want to work on in my mission is my relationship with God and the Savior. If I can go home knowing that I made those two relationships stronger than before my mission, I will feel content. I want to always be able to trust the Lord, and I want Him to always be able to trust me.
I also hope I can have a positive, productive relationship with every one of my companions as well. We should motivate each other to be better.

Jnl 11/22/09 Sun
I just had a thought yesterday. It seems like so much in my life I want to be somewhere else than where I am. I wonder why that is? It seems like no matter what I'm doing, there could be something even better that I could do. I don't want it to be that way. I want to be content. I want to always be able to make the most out of whatever situation I'm in. I also want to be able to always appreciate who I am with and try to build a good relationship with them. It's so important to cherish the moments we're given by God every day. I know he's watching over us, and every single experience we have in this life can be for our good if we let it. I'm so grateful for the life God has given to me.

A couple of journal entries

2009-11-16T02:07:00.000-08:00

Jnl 11/11/09 Wed.

Wow, these last two days went by so fast. It really feels like our Tuesday District Meeting was this morning. I really liked our last Dist. Meeting, it was interesting. We talked about how the best way to help someone is not necesarily by simply giving them something, but by supporting them in their personal growth and work. It's better to teach a man to fish than to give him one. WE really do treasure the things we work hard for. I believe that's one reason why it's so hard to achieve salvation. I also know that it fills my soul to work hard for something and see it achieved.
We had cereal this morning! Gyumri had Russian milk for the first time in 4 months, at least our store did. It just comes in randomely and the Armenian milk tastes like the trash the cows eat, says Elder King.
The streets are so dusty right now from the dried mud after the rain. I hope it snows soon, but it doesn't seem like it will for a while. It seems like winter is so hard for people here. I don't know how they do it. Armenia is in such a bad condition. It will be wierd to go back to America where life is really so much easier to live. It seems like Armenia needs a revolution or something. They at least need to know that peace will only come through righteous living.

Jnl 11/12/09 Thurs.
What a day. I wish I was as cool as Sako. Satan really doesn't want him to go through with this baptism. He has learned so much lately, and I can see the growth and change. I really do so little in this work, it's interesting. I want to do all I can to help Sako make it through this. He said he wants to meet up sometime and show us Armenia after our missions. He has really come so far. I feel so good right now for being able to help him.

Jnl 11/14/09 Sat.
I need to remember how special a message we have for people. When I have street conversations, I should remember why I'm here and talk to them as a caring friend, and not just do it to accomplish some number or goal.

I'm so glad we are teaching Yervand the guitar (He's a blind man). That will be so great for him. It will add color to his life of darkness.

11-16-09

2009-11-16T00:45:00.001-08:00

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

11-5-09 through 11-9-09

2009-11-09T01:33:00.000-08:00

Jnl 11/5/09
I just got back from splits! I went across to Vanadsor (Von-ah-d-soar) with Elder Lystrup, it was nice. I learned some good things. It feels a lot more like a city than Gyumri, even though there might be less people there than here. It's crazy, people do really talk different here than in the rest of Armenia. It felt a lot easier to understand people in Vanadsor because they use so much less slang. They do say "ah" instead of "eh" everywhere else, which is actually less correct, but it is still easier to understand. I like the feel of that city, though, I'll probably serve there someday. I also got to eat a wonderful chicken sandwich at MaxBurger. I really liked the meeting that I went to with Elder Jonas. I loved how hard he tried to talk to everyone. He seems like a great elder and tool for the Lord.

Jnl 11/7/09
The last couple of days were a little strange for me. I was starting to have little spurts of homesickness, and I just felt a little unsettled or incomplete. I was starting to feel a little helpless, like I couldn't really communicate my feelings and I wasn't helping these people change and accept Christ's gospel. While talking to Elder King, he said that this mission is really for me, and my shortcomings and weaknesses won't damn anyone else. Then, today in our meeting with Surik, I realized what my problem was. I think I was feeling stressed because I was trying to make someone else's decision for them. When I realized that, it made me feel so much better. Obviously, I can't make someone else's decision for them. My responsibility right now is just to help them make those important decisions and changes in their life by being a special witness that Christ lives and His gospel is real and works. My life experiences have proven that to me and now I need to share that with others, so they can learn the same thing for themselves.
I do know that this Gospel is true and real. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who answers my prayers and who wants us all to be happy.

P.S. - We got to go see some fireworks last night at the Celebration of Gyumri Day party, or whatever it was. Almost the whole city was down there. There was actually some cool fireworks. It was nice.

Jnl 11/8/09
Well, I threw up for my first time in Armenia:) That was a rough night. I had a nice thought, though. When I am doing things for the Lord, I really have no need to fear. I really didn't want to throw up, but it wasn't that big of a deal and I really had no reason to fear. It was a stinker virus, though, I had to stay home from church and tried to sleep but wasn't too successful. I did get to play a fun game of Star Wars Monopoly with Elder King, though. That was great. I won:) It was a good game, and we got in some good abacus work. Elder King has been teaching me to count and do math on a homemade abacus. He's funny. I love Elder King, he's a wise and caring guy.
Another cool thing is that when I woke up from my stomach ache, I knew it was going to happen, so I got ready, but nothing happened. It's possible that my reluctance to throw up was keeping my body from doing so. Anyway, I simply offered a little prayer to let my body do what it needed to in order to take care of itself, and right then my throat started watering up and everything came on out. It was nice to have a simple prayer answered and to be reminded that God is aware of my needs (D&C 84:79-83). Love ya, Bruce
11-9-09
Hey,
(In response to me asking him if he could scan in his journal entires so he didn't have to spend the time typing them--I would like I have done previous to last week) His response: "I'm not sure how I would scan my journals in. I think this is probably the simplest way for me. I think Bryce probably has only a half hour or so whereas I have about two hrs, so maybe that's why he can't write much. It does take some time for me, but it's alright. That just means my other letters will be a little skimpier. Sorry I didn't get to write you too much last time. We actually drove down to Yerevan to have dinner with the elders down there. That was nice to meet them. There really seem to be some choice missionaries serving here.
It was nice to see a little of Yerevan. It feels a lot more like America there, but I really like the people up here in Gyumri better. Elder King says they live less in a "lie" here. As in, they don't all have nice clothes and phones, but no happiness in their homes and things, if that makes sense.
Anyway, I'll write up some of my other journal entries. I love you. I hope everything is well at home and you have a nice Sabbath. Talk to you later.
Love,
Bruce
11-9-09
(I sent Bruce a picture Lisa had emailed me where some missionaries drew pictures depicting the plan of salvation on the sidewalk with chalk in Australia (I think), any way it was called sidewalk preaching or something)Bruce's response:
Ha ha, that was an awesome picture. That's so cool. I think one purpose of this mission is to find out what skills and gifts we have, and then use them to help others come closer to Christ and to build God's kingdom on earth.
I have to tell you this, I am so excited. Elder King and I have been trying to think of how we can help the people in Gyumri develop some of their talents and skills, including problem solving skills. English class is a good service and provides a valuable skill for people here, but we have decided to start a class that will help people develop their problem solving skills. This will be done first through the construction of bottle rockets! How cool will that be? I really think it will be good for whoever comes and it will be quite fun. I hope it works out alright. It's already been approved and everything, so we're going to see if we can build a launcher today. I'll bet Bryce isn't building bottle rockets in Alaska:) Anyway, it's going to be great. What if we started a mini Science Olympiad Competition over here? Ha ha, anyway, we'll see how it goes. Thanks for your letters and thoughts. See ya.
Love,
Elder Wainwright

Journal entries 10-20- through 11-1-2009

2009-11-02T01:17:00.000-08:00

Journal entries
Jnl 10/20/09
Today's mission conference was so great. I felt the spirit so strong. I also feel very refreshed, renewed, and ready to work for the next six weeks. I've got plenty to work on too. I'm excited. I have such a great companion to be with.

Jnl 10/21/09
This morning I had a really good personal study. I read something out of Preach My Gospel that really made me think. It said that I should leave my area better than when I found it. I really want to try and do that. It's like when Dad would tell us to leave our campsites looking better and cleaner than when we found it. Sometimes we don't really know who we help or how much we help people with things we do in our lives, but I can always put my confidence in Christ. If I build my foundation on Christ, I cannot fail.

Jnl 10/22/09
Sako (used to be a preacher in Russia) seemed to be doing pretty well today. He understands what he needs to do, I think, and he really likes the Book of Mormon. I feel such a strong spirit with him, and I really want to help him find Christ's true gospel. He already knows so much.
The work was very enjoyable for me today. We had some nice conversations, and everything worked out well. It was very spiritual. I still want to know how I can make my area better than when I found it, though.

Jnl 10/23/09
Today was really nice as well. I feel like I grow and learn a little bit every day. We are starting to get a lot of investigators it seems like. I felt a very strong spirit at old Surik's house today. He seems so prepared to be taught. I hope we can help him come closer to Christ. I was able to understand so much more as I simply focused on him and didn't worry about what I was going to say. Reminds me of D & C 88:85. I know that the promise in there is real, and the spirit will guide me in the right direction if I have charity and am sincere in my teaching.

Jnl 10/26/09
Today was crazy, but I really feel like I learned a lot. Because of today and this week, I have decided I want to try and share my love, excitement, and joy that I get from learning and creating. It really fills my heart to learn new things, and experiment with creating things. I feel like that is actually an important part of this life. We need to learn problem solving skills, for example, in order to govern our families well. I love to learn so much.
I am really excited to work with Elder King. He feels the same way I do. I think we can do much good if we put our heads together.
There is also a lot of hidden treasures in the gospel, similar to this idea, that really make life understandable and worth while. I hope I can gain a strong desire for treasuring up the words of life continually and for studying the words that ancient prophets wrote about Christ and their own life experiences.
Even though we didn't do much missionary work today while sitting waiting for the plumber to come, I feel like I learned a lot.

Jnl 10/28/09
Today was alright. It was really good to help Hasmik today, through the priesthood. I hope all works out well with her and her baby [She was sent home from her mission. Apparently she was pregnant before she left.] I love Sako so much as well. I hope he is able to accept this gospel. I know he has been prepared. I hope i can be prepared myself to be able to help him.
Today Elder King asked me how I want to be remembered in the mission. Really, I don't care. Although, I really would like to be able to make a difference in these people's lives. I want to be strong enough to always be able to make the right choice, independently if needs be. I also really want people to know that I care about them. That is something that I need to work on being able to show and express. I don't want to be lazy either. When there is a lot to do, I need to prioritize and work hard when it's hardest to.
Two other traits that I would like to have is being funny and creative. I love making people laugh, and I know how important that can be in a relationship. God wants us all to be happy. As I have said before, something that fills my soul is learning and creating new things. I would really like to develop those talents, so that I can help be more resourceful and more fully enjoy life. There are so many things that can fill my soul.
I am so grateful for my life, and I want other people to be able to feel grateful for their lives as well.

Jnl 10/30/09
People have life so hard up here. It was so sad yesterday, to help Melsida cut down her trees for firewood. She has to practically starve to support her son in the army. I hope she does alright.
Sako is having such a hard time as well, his debt is stressing him out. He is so close to being ready to be baptized, I can see the Lord has prepared him and I hope he has the courage to take this big step.
Life is just not an easy thing, but it's not supposed to be. I know that's because the gift of eternal life is so precious to Heavenly Father, and He wants us to be prepared to receive that.
The devil is so good at turning something good into a stumbling block as well, and he can really get people confused. I hope I always stay worthy of the Holy Ghost and hang on the the iron rod of the Word of God. That's the only way I'll be able to be safe in this world, and be able to stand still amongst the storms of the last days.
I'm so grateful for a loving Savior and Heavenly Father who have led me to where I am now, despite all of my weaknesses.

Jnl 10/31/09
Happy Halloween! We had a nice pumpkin dinner tonight that the sisters made. No scary stories, though, that's too bad. I did dress up as a vampire, though. It was awesome, and it only took 5 minutes to dress up. I put on my hair cutting cape backwards, ruffled up my hair, made a couple fangs out of Q-tips, and drew a little blood drip from my mouth. Then I snuck out and trick-or-treated Elder King. It was quite fun.

Jnl 11/1/09
Today was a very nice Fast Sunday. Everyone bore really nice testimonies. I really have felt a strong love for these people. I'm so grateful for that. These people live and think quite different than we do, and it could be easy to not like them for their quirks and things, but I have been blessed to have a strong love for them. I know it comes from God. There is so much to love about them as well. Their lives are quite difficult here. It is such a worry and stress just to survive for many of them, yet they are still so willing to give. I just wish they could have something to live for, like some desires or dreams in life. I think some of them do, but most of those have to do with leaving Armenia. I have been so very blessed in my life.

Funny Days

2009-10-26T09:46:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom and Dad,
Yes, I do my emails in an internet cafe. It is actually really nice, with individual stalls and things. I'll figure out something with my journal entries. I might just be only able to give you a few though.
Thanks for all of your letters and updates. Gary is such a good boy. It sounds like he is doing so great. Every time I see a little kid, I think of all my neices and nephews. It will be so great to see them again. It seems like there are some pretty good fathers here. So many men drink, though, it's sad. I think the saddest thing about this place is how many people have nothing to live for. They always say how there's no work, but that's largely because they don't try. Almost everyone gets money from the government, and a lot of them seem to just have no motivation to work. Elder King says one of their greatest aspirations in life is to be a taxi driver. It's pretty strange to me.
This week was really nice, though. We had some very nice meetings with people. Right now we are focusing on two investigators, a few less actives, and helping some of the members. One of our investigators is Sako (saw-k-oh). He used to be a preacher for a church in Russia, but now he is mid-thirties, which means it's about time to get married. He has decided he wants to get married to a mormon girl. He is such a great guy. He can be a little intense, but he's very smart and really nice. He walked about four or five miles to come to church yesterday, because he doesn't have any money right now. I feel the spirit so strong in our meetings. I'm really confident that he will be able to accept this gospel and have a change of heart. It's not going to be easy for him though. But I love teaching him so much.
We also started visiting with an older man named Surik (soo-reek) who had been taught about a year ago. He is so wonderful. He's also very wise and loves the Savior. He really feels stuck in life, it seems like, both physically and spiritually. We have really enjoyed visiting with him, though, and I'm looking forward to meeting with him some more. We're pretty much going to start from the beginning and slowly go through the lessons. I also felt the spirit very strong at his home as well, even as we sat and listened to the news on the radio with him for a couple minutes. It was actually a really nice bonding experience. Elder King said he could have sat there with him all day:)
Elder King and I are really doing well together, and we've been having some fun as well. These last two days were really interesting. On Saturday we played some basketball with Zhirar (ha ha, we actually don't have the "zh" sound in our language, except maybe in the color "beige"). He's our english learning investigator. He is such a nice guy. He's probably about thirty. He gets so excited to learn, and wants to be our friends so bad. He's going to Europe some day, and can't wait to go. Some other guys played were supposed to play with us as well but had to leave, so some little kids played us. It was way fun. It felt good to get some nice exercise. The cool thing, though, was one of the boys' father was there watching, and he was so grateful to us afterwords. That was really nice.
Church was so wonderful yesterday. It was so spiritual and so good for our investigators that were there. Then all our appointments were falling through, except for two, with Surik and a less active named Artur. They were both so wonderful.
Ha ha, then this morning was crazy. We went on a morning run, which was new and really fun. I'm way out of shape though. Then we ate some amazing deep fried potatoe things for breakfast. On our way back, the neighbors keep complaining of a water leak. We're still not exactly sure if it's coming from us, but we tried to fix this drip in our bathroom and it was crazy! The hose came off and our days supply of water began dumping out of the hose. We were going to let it just drain into the tub, but then water started coming up the drain in the floor, so we started freaking out and tried to plug it up and re-attach the hose. We finally got it reduced back to the slow drip and fortunately the neighbors didn't come back up. We quickly wiped down the walls and I changed out of my sopping wet church clothes. It was crazy... But way fun. We're going to let a plumber take care of it now:) Ha ha, I also hid from Elder King under the couch this morning. He was talking about how he used to do that to one of his old companians. It was way fun:) It reminded me of all the times I used to scare you, mom:) Good memories.
Well I better go. I love you. I hope things are all well with you at home. I am really growing to love some of these people here in good old Gyumri. It's a funny place. I understand a little more everyday, so in a month, or year, I should be doing pretty good. It's hard not being able to fully communicate with people, but I'm quite blessed. I love being a missionary. There are so many opportunities to help and serve people. I am also learning so much every day. I love learning new things. There are so many things I want to learn. Even besides the gospel, there's so much.
Well, I took up a lot of time, so I don't think I'll get to write to anyone else. I do love you though. Thank youk for sending me those things from Bryce. I'm glad he's doing well. He's going to be such a great missionary. I am so grateful for all of the many relationships I have with people. I love how every one is different. I'm so glad it's that way. I really want to be able to find out who I am, and who I can become on my mission. I will never have opportunities like I have here. Well, talk to you later.
Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

Elder Wainwright with Pres. & Sister Dunn

2009-10-25T22:04:00.000-07:00

Elder Bruce Wainwright
Armenian Yerevan POUCH Mail
P.O. Box 30150
SLC, UT 84130-0150

11 hours different

2009-10-23T04:27:00.000-07:00

10-19-09
Howdy,
So, I believe our time here is 11 hours ahead of you, which is weird, which means you'll get this late Sunday night. That's funny. I just woke up and you are just going to bed.
They don't let us drive. That's probably a good thing for a couple reasons. For one thing, it would be dangerous. It's funny, a lot of the manholes are just left uncovered, and so it'd be really bad to fall, or drive into one. Also, I think it would be easy for missionaries to get some bad driving habits, like driving on the wrong side of the road, driving very fast on little roads, swerving around people, things like that. It's a funny system they have.
The people here are very interesting. They have a lot of good traits, as well as some not so good traits. It is really easy to make friends with them, for one thing. They like to invite us in and always offer us to eat some crackers, drink tea and things. One sad thing, is that probably 3 in 5 men have drunk in the day and you can smell it in their breath. The women, however, are rarely seen smoking or drinking. They also rarely drive as well. There are a lot of really nice dadiks and papiks (gma's & gpa's). You can just call anyone older woman "Dadik," which is just like saying grandma. A lot of people don't do a whole lot, and so they are not super happy, but they get so excited to see Americans.
Sunday was nice, sacrament meeting was really spiritual for me. I got pretty sleepy later though. Trying to translate everything in my head didn't really help. There are some really strong members, though, and the branch president is a really happy, nice guy. There's not a ton that go to church, though, which is sad. Most of the work we are doing right now is to strengthen less actives. I actually don't think we were able to meet with our three investigators this week. It was a little hectic of a week. We got a new senior couple, who are way awesome and are hard workers and pretty independent. They're finally all settled in, so we should have a more productive week this week. I learned a lot though, and I think I am becoming a little better missionary every day, which I am really just becoming a little better of a person. I know the things I learn here will affect me for the rest of my life. I really want to be able to serve the Lord and give up myself to Him always. Only as I do that am I really happy.
I finally felt like I could start to understand some of what people are saying yesterday! It's really difficult, especially because they talk pretty strange up here in Gyumri. I'm doing better though, and I'm excited to keep learning.
I got a little fever earlier this week, accompanied with an episode of the squirts. I think it was from some delicious strawberries that a family gave us after we helped them pull potatoes. I'm functioning normal now, but I'll have to watch out. It's a great place. We're probably going to visit a church or something today, so I'm excited. Thanks for all of the letters. I love you all so much. I'll talk to you later.
Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

I made it!

2009-10-23T04:13:00.000-07:00

10-12-09
Hey Mom and Dad,
Well, I made it. It was a fun trip. A little exhausting, but I had a few nice conversations with people. I got to sit next to an Armenian family, but only really talked to them in English. My father/trainer/senior companion is way awesome. His name is Elder King. He is very funny and likes to joke around with the Armenians, which is cool. It helps me feel relaxed. He is also incredibly smart, and loves learning from grammar books, etc. It'll be awesome to learn from him, he's very helpful and positive. I'm serving in Gyumri right now with just us two and a sister companionship. The branch has some great members that we got to meet while watching conference. I am already beginning to understand these people, but they do think and act very different than we do. There is still a lot of communist influence in their culture, and many of them actually want to go back because a lot were better off. Gyumri is so amazing. This city I think was hit by the earthquake the worst, so there is a lot of destruction. Almost all the buildings are newish, but the living conditions are very poor. Our apartment is actually quite large, and there is only two of us, so it's really nice. I'm excited to learn to get to know these people better. I can surprisingly understand quite a bit for how little I know. I think. Well, I guess I am starting to be able to catch some of what is going on, and that makes it hard to participate in the lessons. I've met a few investigators already, and they're really nice. A lot of what we are doing right now is trying to strengthen the less actives and work on retention. The baptisms per month were dropped from 40 to 10 ish, so that is interesting. But, that actually helped a little with retention. There were too many new members for the branch presidents to watch over before. About 40 members show up to sacrament and there are hundreds of in actives. So the work will be a little different than normal here. I am so excited though. I am doing great. So far all the food I have eaten is amazing, but there is also some iffy things. It's fun though. The missionaries are all great. The other day we met some Jehovah’s witnesses, which was cool. Their transportations, called a mar-shoot-nee is like a van with seats in it, but sometimes there are at least twenty people inside. It's so awesome :) I don't really know what else to tell you. Today we are going to buy a few things and play around a little bit probably. Elder King loves Chess and this other game Armenians play that's like mancala. Anyway, I am doing so good. I am going to love Gyumri, I think. It's really not that bad of a place. It is very humbling, though, and I hope I can share with people the joy, peace, strength, and all the other blessings that come from this gospel. I love you. Don't have too much fun. I'll talk to you later. I don't think I'll really mail letters, they said that's quite unreliable for me. It's not bad for you, though, if you want. It did sound like we don't have pouch anymore, though, so I'm not sure about the dear elder thing. Email is really the best, though, because it's quick and reliable. Alright, talk to you later.
Love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright