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.
---
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
Friday, December 17, 2010
12/5/10
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)