10-17-10

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

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

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

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

Much love,
Elder Bruce Wainwright

10-10-10

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

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

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

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