7-25-10

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

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