24 February 2014

Alo Barev Dzez! Vontz ek??? Aisinkin (In other words), "Hello! How are you?"

I swear, it is so wierd to me that nobody back at home speaks
Armenian. I mean, seriously. You're here in Armenia, and EVERYBODY
speaks Armenian, obviously, but only a tiny handful speaks English. So
it's funny because whenever we need to change our lesson really fast,
we just speak in English and say, "Hey, I think we should actually
change our lesson to this..." So even though you it was right there in
perfect hearing, they didn't understand a thing. You've gotta be
careful sometimes though with that (with speaking in English) because
sometimes they think you're talking about them. Could make for an
awkward situation... So we generally just speak in Armenian. =D

Anyways, I have been going crazy with learning Armenian words! It has
been insane! As a mission, we're doing this competition type thing
where we have to learn 10 words every day for the whole month of
February (in addition to some days in March). It all comes down to
learning and retaining 300 words, overall. The prize is that we all
get to go out to dinner in a nice restaurant, for free, in Yerevan.
Um, heck yeah!!

We're getting pretty close to the end. This is the most intense time
of the competition. If the whole zone (which areas consist of Hrazdan,
Artashat, Center, and Charents Shavon) doesn't get 96% or better as a
whole on their words, then no nice restaurant! It's intense. =)

We were in sacrament meeting, and I was translating for Elder and
Sister L in sacrament meeting (my first time translating in sacrament
meeting). The elders looked at me and gestured something along the
lines of, "You're translating today in sacrament meeting for Elder and
Sister Larsen." I was freaking out!! Translating is HARD! I was like,
"Noooo!!" They just laughed and gave me the headset that I had to
speak in. They would. Haha They're like my 2nd trainers.

But it actually went really great!! The Lord definitely helped me with
that. I was like, "Wow! I can translate sacrament meeting!!"

So a MIRACLE happened yesterday!! Man, the Lord really knows what he's
doing.  Well this week at church, one of our member's (a youth)
brought her mom to church. This family is from up in Vanadzor but they
have been living in Artashat for the past few years. The mom, the
daughter and the grandma had been taught everything up in Vanadzor,
but only the daughter and the grandma were baptized. The mother
couldn't give up coffee or something like that.

Anyways, we had a super great sacrament meeting. It was so spiritual
and so good. I was definitely so uplifted. Anyways, sometime during,
or a little bit after, the Mom went out of the meeting. President H,
the stake president was there, and he was talking to her. She was
crying because she felt the spirit so strong. Anyways, President H
comes and gets us and says, "N is here, and she has agreed to become
an investigator." We were like, "Wait, WHAT!"

So we go into the room she was in, and she's just so full of the
spirit. The spirit is just pounding on her. Anyways, we go in and
verify what President H just said. And she said that she does want to
become an investigator. She says that she knows it's right. So we get
the full story about what's just happened. So, in Vanadzor, she said
she just didn't feel anything when she went to church. It was kind of
vochinch, or whatnot. But our meeting in Artashat...was different. She
was just overcome by the spirit and it changed everything.

We sat with her in there for the last two hours of church, and helped
her understand what she was feeling. Gave her a baptismal date, and
helped to assuage her fears. She is scared about the thought of
getting baptized. It's all a lot for her right now. When we were
giving her her baptismal date, she was kind of evading the thought of
getting baptized on the 22nd. She didn't think that she would make it.
She seems to have a lot of guilt from past sins. Anyways, as we
continued to talk to her she said, "...Okay, I know that I would make
my date." And she kind of laughed a little bit. It was so great! The
spirit changes the hearts of the people. It was a MIRACLE! We are so
happy.

She's going up to visit her family up in Vanadzor for a few days
though. We are praying that she doesn't shy away from her experience.
She can do it!

Okay I'm out of time but I'm gonna quickly explain the pictures! The
first one, that's me when our rickety stool decided to collapse when I
was on it! (Splashing mint tea on my legs in the process.)

And the second, well, everyone who has lived in Armenia knows what
THAT license plate means. That's a cheetos car. (Cheetos is our code
word). In other words, that's a mafia car. Crazy!!

Anyways, love you all!!
Sister Fielding

10 February 2014

Hello family!! 

So this week has been an eventful one!!! Guess WHAT? I'm still in Artashat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wooooo!!! I'm here for the next three months! So great. =D Plus, I have the BEST companion. Sister Ten. came down from Vanadzor! We're actually friends on facebook. So you can see who she is!!!!!!!!! She's half Armenian and half Ecuadorian, but she was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. SO COOL! She is wild and fun, and so great. I can definitely see her Armenian roots in her. Haha Her dad though is from Syria. SO crazy! The funny thing is that we met over Facebook before she went into the MTC. We were both freaking out together over facebook chat about going to Armenia. Then, after she left, I followed her blog when she took off. SO funny.

Anyways, so we've been getting Sister Ten. all used to Artashat lately. She LOVES the people here already, and she says that Artashat is way different from Vanadzor. (Artashat is cooler, of course! Haha)

There was so much anticipation leading up to transfers. Man, we were trying SO hard to not think about it. But it was killing us not knowing. We went and visited our bishop and his family on Tuesday night. When we were leaving, the phone went off with President's special ringtone. Man, intense! We found out that Sis. H was going to Ajopniak in Yerevan, which means that she became a sister training leader. This is her last transfer, and she's leaving earlier so that she can go back to BYU this semester. So she was put in a trio with Sis. W. and Sis. K. 

This week overall has just been filled with people packing and unpacking, seeing tons of members--saying goodbye to Sis H and then introducing Sis. Ten. It's been good.

Last Monday, we went to Khor Virap, which is a church where the founder of the Armenian Apostolic church lived in for 13 years. He was exiled there by the king. The place  was super pretty. Sorry, the computer is being difficult or else I would send pictures of the actual church.

Funny story, by the way, we went to this member's house over in Vostan village, and the mom answered the door. Anyways, they live in this TINY place. It's probably about 10 feet long and 5 feet wide. Well, with it being that small, both of the beds take up most of the space. Well. there was like this lump in the bed, and I was looking at it. And I was like, "What is that?" And, without thinking about it, I just go over and just poke it! Anyways, S, the Mom's 16 year-old pops up from under the blankets! Haha I felt so bad. 

Anyways, gotta go! Love ya!

Sister Fielding

1. Mount Ararat!

2. This is me about to go into the pit that Grigor L'Sovorich was in for 13 years. (Grigor L'Sovorich was the founder of the Armenian Apostolic church.) It took me FOREVER to actually get on the ladder. Heights are just not my forte.

I was going to send this last week, but I timed out and so I didn't get the chance to send it. So here's another lesson from last week. Hah

The stuff between the quotation marks is what I originally wrote.

"My boots have officially died. On the hunt for other boots!

You can kinda see Mount Ararat in the background here. plus there's me in Artashat!"

2 February 2014

So much try to write about!!

So this week is TRANSFERS!!! Aaahhh!!! Intense. I've been here in Artashat for three months, and I could very well be here for the next three. I have no idea where I'm going. We'll find out tomorrow!

H didn't meet his baptismal date for yesterday, but that's okay. He has been delving into deep doctrine, and so we felt like he wasn't quite ready. He agreed with us that he needed more time. We know that he will, for sure, be baptized though!

Yesterday, I had such an enlightening day. It was so great because I studied about fasting. When thinking about fasting, I realized that a lot of people fast for things that they need, or they just think about how hungry they are. But yesterday, I was thinking about that one talk (can't remember which one) which talks about how when we pray, we don't just pray when we really need something. We pray about everything--things we're grateful for, guidance, and also for special blessings. As I was studying, I read Alma 45:1 where it talks about the people and how they were so grateful that they fasted and prayed. So I realized that fasting is so much bigger than we think! We don't just fast for special blessings; we fast for gratitude, and for guidance! It was so enlightening, because I realized that fasting was almost like a day-long prayer to my Heavenly Father. Thus, making the fasting experience so much more meaningful. It was really so great. =)

Plus, all the snow is melting and it's been raining so it's been unbelievably muddy and wet here.So sometime this past week, I was walking down the sidewalk. There was some snow and wet leaves, but it was all good. We were avoiding the deep mud on the road. Anyways, I step onto the wet leaves, and I suddenly slip and end up on my back! Hah Don't worry nothing was hurt. I DID get mud all down my skirt and a little bit on my coat. Yep, I had the mortifying experience of walking all the way back through town with mud all over me. Hah Yep. It's cool.

Plus, it was so cool because there were SO many people at church yesterday! Blew my mind! There seriously were like 80 people there when there's normally 40.

One of our new converts surprised us by showing us these puppies! They were SO cute! This random dog just had puppies in this abandoned house. In this picture, they're like a day old. It was funny, because when I saw them, I went right into puppy mode to try to help the puppies get taken care of. Hah kinda funny. They were so tiny!

Love you all!!

Sis. F

27 Jan 2014

Alooooo!!

This week has FLOWN! SO busy!

Last Monday, we had a district activity where we went up to Yerevan. It was SO fun! We went to this big Armenian church called Grigor L'sovorich. It's SO pretty. We had to take off our name tags and everything before we went in there though to be respectful and everything. I have lots more pictures, but I'll be sharing those when I get home.

Afterwards, we went to this really nice restaurant called pandok. SO yummy. I didn't realize that my dish had garlic in it until later though. It was SO funny. We were in the taxi after everything and our taxi driver said, "I smell...garlic." Haha At first I was like, "Wait, what?" And then I realized that it was coming from me! Hah Gotta love garlic breath. So grose. Haha

After we left pandok, we went to this really cool art museum. It's called the cascades. You go up these escalators and there were all sorts of glass-work/sculptures. SO cool. Below is a picture of a lion made out of tires! SO cool.

At the very top of the museum there was all sorts of "lights" types of art. There was this room full of all sorts of crystals hanging from the ceiling. SO cool. And so pretty! I've got a picture of that too.

Later on during the week, we had Sister splits!! (LOVE those things.) For our mission, we have them every six weeks. What they are is one sister from each companionship gets to go to another area to learn from another sister. This was the first time that I got to go somewhere!

I got to to go Malatia with Sis. N. It was SO great! I don't know why, but I'd had this image of Malatia being a place with super mean people and crazy members. I don't know, that was my impression. But when I went there, it really was such a great place. Sis. N and I went and taught the first lesson about Joseph Smith, and it was super great. The spirit was so strong, and the investigator was really interested.

Then later we went to a recent converts house. They were so sweet! It was a mom with her three teenage daughters and son. The mom was a bit distracted though. I guess that the Elders had had an investigator that they knew was interested in that mom. Then later, he just dropped off the face of the earth. So Sis. N tried to see what was going on. Anyways, this recent convert (she's a super open person) told us the whole story. It was like an intense drama story. Haha Roughly, he started investigating the church, he met her and liked her. Then he started to start staying close to the church because of her. When their relationship went south, he stopped meeting with the Elders. Sounded messy. It was intense to hear. Hah

We met up with H again this week. He was a bit offended by what we had read from Malachi about "trying God" to see if he will bless us. He put it along the lines of tempting God. It was intense. We brought a senior missionary couple again which helped us a TON. Man, I LOVE senior missionary couples.

Love, SIs F

9 December 2013

No time!! Yikes!! Lo siento. I have so much to write about, and NO time to write it. Ha

So this week has been SO GREAT!!

About a week or so ago, we were on our way to go to an appointment, or we were just walking, (I can't remember which) and we saw this man in his driveway. We came up to him and started talking to him. We left him a Restoration pamphlet with our names on it. He had talked with sisters before who had already given him our number, but he had never met with them before. Well this week he called us up and would be interested in meeting with us.

So we met with him, his brother, and their mother the next day (Friday). The lesson was SO good. It was so great because he's super smart. He had read the whole pamphlet and came with question after question. Hah We had to tell him that we would explain some things later. He is just so amazing. We are pretty sure that he has a photographic memory, because of how well he remembers SO many things. He has read the entire bible, and knows it SUPER well.

We met with him the next day and watched the Restoration movie. We taught the tripod (reading the book of mormon, praying, coming to church), and he and his Mom committed to read the Book of Mormon and pray to see if it was true. They also promised to come to church. In those first two lessons, the spirit was SO strong. It was wonderful!!

Then on Sunday, he came to church!! His mom didn't, which we were a little sad about. But it was SO exciting that he came. He stayed for all three hours, and just loved it. He knows people from the ward, and they were all just so amazed at how well he knew the Bible. We can already see that everyone in the ward has accepted him, and welcomed him in. My companion and I are both SO happy!! We are going to try to extend the baptismal committment this week for December 28th. We think he could really make that date.

So that was SUPER exciting. We know that he's going to be so great.

Plus, super great random thing. I found out recently that they have found all 12 tribes of Israel in Armenia. How crazy is that? Our relief society president is from the tribe of Dan  and her husband is from the tribe of Asher (Or vice versa). SO crazy. It's been super cool to hear about those types of things though. We really are gathering the 12 tribes of Israel!! :)

Yesterday was so funny too because it was so random.

So in the second hour of church, the Stake was going to teach the ward. We had, overall, 4 new investigators come to church. So for some reason, the stake leaders had all of the missionaries take our investigators to another class. So Sis. H had to teach a lesson with no warning...for the full hour. So she just taught about the Plan of Salvation. It all turned out to be a great lesson--especially considering that Sis. H had NOTHING planned.

What makes all of this funny is that the RS counselor did the same type of thing! Hah When we finished the opening prayer, she turned to one of our members and asked, "So, can you teach the lesson today?" Bless that member;s heart, because she got up and gave this great lesson on charity. It's amazing what the spirit will do to help teach the people--even if you're not prepared at all.

Another random side note: On Saturday, I wore my white skirt, and my winter green coat, and a winter coat and scarf. It was super funny, because I guess I looked super Christmassy, because everyone was calling me, "Santa's Little Helper". Haha So funny!

Love you all! Choose the right!! =D

Sister Fielding

3 October 2013

Hello everyone!!

This week has been great! We got to sing in the Relief Society broadcast this last weekend, and it was such a great experience. It was the first time I was actually in the conference center, and hey, I was in the choir! It was super crazy to sit where the Mormon Tabernacle choir sits, and see the entire first presidency walk in front to sit down. After the broadcast, it was crazy because there were all sorts of families who were waving to their daughters who were in the choir. A lot of the girls were crying because they would see their families. Some of the Moms out there even had binoculars. Haha NO joke!! It was so funny. 

As we were leaving, the entire general relief society presidency hugged all of us and told us how proud of us they were. It was so genuine and super nice. We saw them every day the week before, because they came to every choir practice--which started at 7:30 am. That's not even counting the fact that they had to travel an hour from Salt Lake to get here. They were so nice!! During one of practices, all of them went through the entire choir--talking to all 364 of us sister missionaries. 

One of the presidency, (she has brown hair to her shoulders but I can't remember her name) met me. When I told her that I was going to Armenia, she was so happy. She had lived in California--near a lot of Armenians and she told me about it. I felt so much love from her when she talked about the Armenian ward she used to know. I knew that she loved me too. You could just feel it. :)

Anyways, I have finally adjusted to the missionary schedule. I now get tired at 9:30 pm and I am so wide awake at 6:15. I feel great! 

My apartment has made it a competition at who could take the fastest showers. I am proud to say that I managed to undress, shower (including washing my hair and my body), and leave the bathroom in just two minutes and fifty seconds. Oh yes, I am proud. Haha 

It's wierd that we're already in our fourth week here at the MTC. The saying is so true when they say that the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. Everyday is so jam packed with everything, but then suddenly three weeks have gone by. SO wierd. 

Although, I am SO glad that we are done with the first week. People aren't kidding when they say that the first week is the hardest. All the missionaries out there should know that after the first week, it only gets better. There is hope!! Haha

It's so much to fun every wednesday to see all of the new missionaries. They always look super unsure and intimidated, and you can always pick them out. Hah But they are super cute. I feel like the English speaking missionaries are here and gone so fast. We meet them one day, and then the next day they're gone. So we make good friends with the 6-9 week missionaries.

Oh! By the way, I met my second cousins' second cousin this week! SO random. I was getting soup or something, and I caught a glimpse of this red head sister missionary's name tag. It said "Sister Tolman." Knowing that we have second cousin Tolman's, I had to talk to her. She is related to Justin Tolman, our cousin. SO crazy!

I'm almost out of time, but I loved hearing that Aaron got his mission call to Paraguay. Woohoo! Congrats cuz!

Oh, and one of our super awesome teachers, Brother Carlson, stopped teaching at the MTC. We were SO sad. He was such a great teacher. But he was replaced by Sister Boyle, who went through the MTC with Camille Tolman--our cousin. So much fun. =)

Well I'm out of time. I love you! Talk to you next week!

Love, Sister Fielding

January 20 2014

This week was so great! We were nice and busy, which felt so good. I feel like I really am hitting my stride, and missionary work feels super natural now. I'm helping more in lessons, and we are loving the work we're doing. Life is good in Artashat. =D

The most exciting thing about this week is that H IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!! He has finally accepted a baptismal date for February 1st. He is so great!! Plus, he has read the entire Book of Mormon, and knows that everything that we have said is true. We are so excited and happy.

So for our last lesson, we brought a senior couple with us, which was SO good. The spirit was so strong in that meeting. Senior couples really do bring so much into our meetings. Their wisdom and strength helps us SO much. When we were in there, I just had a feeling that this was the time. This time, he was going to accept an invitatiom to be baptized. Towards the end, Sister H extended the baptismal invitation, and he accepted! It was such a happy day. He asked us, directly, if he was going to be okay if he was baptized again. We assured him that it would be. This gospel changes lives!! It really does. He is a different person now. He knows that these things are true. It is so great!

The ward is doing well. The biggest factor is that everyone is getting sick! We have like 6-7 people in the hospital right now from our ward, or something like that. One of members had had a stroke this week. In regards to him, he is starting to say more words, and so we are hoping that he makes a good recovery.

By the way, we were visiting with some members, and the teenager got on Facebook. It was fun because she wanted to look us up on there. So there I was, expecting to see my cute little picture that I'd left up there, when I saw Tucker!!! What the???!! I was like, "What the heck is Tucker's picture doing on my profile picture?!?" Haha It was so funny.Ahem, Tucker, is there something you need to confess?? I expect my picture to be replaced... Haha

By the way, I received my Christmas package!! It was so great! I attached a picture. Plus, we got some more things in there. Haha It was so funny! So the Armenian postal service searches every package. So when someone searched my package, they accidentally put someone else's book and letter. I was super confused at why Mom would send a really heavy book. Haha We've got that person's address though, and so we'll send it to them!

Plus, I got five letters this week! SO happy!!

Love you!

March 10, 2014

Hello family and friends!!

It is a great day! I feel so happy and so good! I am just loving life right now.

We have been busy, and it has felt so good!!

We are super excited about N!! (One of our investigators.) She is FINALLY going to be baptized!! If she's not going to be baptized, then she'll be baptized next week (if everything goes as planned). We are so happy because we were able to go with her to get her marriage license with her husband! And she came ON TIME to church and stayed THE WHOLE TIME!! Woohoo!! Not only that, but her sister-in-law (an in-active member) came with her. AND our investigator's Mom came to church too! Chances are looking good that we'll be able to start teaching her.

PLUS, Narine's mom and Nune came to the Woman's day activity. Things are just looking up with that family. The ward has been surprised that they actually have a marriage license now, and that N is going to be baptized. N has been taught by the missionaries for a long time and so I think that the ward kind of lost a bit of faith in her. But NOW she's getting BAPTIZED!!!! YAYYYY! We are so happy.

And one of our member's MOM wants to be baptized!! She seriously has soaked up everything like a sponge! She was the first to meet with missionaries (my second cousin--Sister Tolman--to be exact). She just didn't ever get baptized. (She had bad eyes and so she couldn't read the Book of Mormon, but now she has glasses!!) What's cool is that because she met with the missionaries, she encouraged her daughter and son-in-law and all their kids to go to church. Her daughter and her whole family were baptized. And NOW she's getting baptized!! Yay!  It's so exciting! She asked us, "So, how many weeks do I have to come to church before I can be baptized??" We said that it was five. So she said, "So when can I be baptized?" And we said "April 12th!" Which was quickly changed to April 15th because it's her daughter's birthday. So she said, "Okay! Great!" We are so happy.

Really cool story, by the way. So we were walking here to our internet place, and we say this lady on the street. And so we said hello. Then it was crazy because the spirit just filled me up. We continued to talk to her for a little bit and then we went on our way. As we were walking away, I turned to Sister T and said, "Wow, I felt so good talking to her. The spirit just filled me up. I feel like she has a lot of potential." Sister T said, "I felt the same way." We paused and then Sister T said, "I think we should go back." I said, "I think we should too." So we went back to where we saw her last and got her number. She was happy to see us again and gladly gave us her number. She says that she lives in a faraway gyoo but we don't think that's a problem. That was such a powerful street contact! I haven't had one like that before. She has so much potential to be baptized someday. =D

Also, really crazy story. I felt like we were so protected this week by the Lord. There's this group of kids who are just bad news. They are around 10-11-ish age, and they're boys and girls. Last time that we saw them was probably 2 or so weeks ago. The first time that we ran into them, they were making fun of our Armenian and then they would toss rocks at us--mainly to try to scare us. It wasn't a big deal, and they were just being naughty kids.

Well we were walking to Vostan to go to an appointment, and up ahead we saw the kids! So we sharply turned to go another way, but we still saw them up ahead--waiting for us. Only this time, they were gathering BIG rocks. I would say about 4 inches long, two inches wide, and about an inch thick. They were only gathering them for one reason--to throw them at us. Um...scary!! So we were trying to think fast on what to do in this situation. Just then, these two ladies started walking by--both of them Armenian. One was probably in her 50's and the other in her 30's. Sister T said, "Let's stick with them! Those kids won't throw anything if we're with Armenians." So we quickly got a few feet behind them.

I felt like we had angels walking beside us, because I felt their strength and protection as we walked past those kids. Those kids tried to engage us in conversation again as we walked past (so that they could pull us away from the Armenians) but we held strong and kept walking. Because the Lord sent those Armenians, we were able to be protected from danger. The spirit confirmed to me, when we safely made it to Vostan, that we had just been protected. The Lord truly protects us. Phew. What a relief that we have the Lord on our side. =D

Well, life is so good in Artashat! So grateful we have the special blessing of being a missionary! Yay!

By the way, we finished our crazy word competition this week!! Man! I don't know how but I had 318 words when I was only supposed to learn 280, and so I ended up learning 294. Well...go me! Haha

By the way, family--who's idea was the glitter all over your letters??!!!? (I blame Brittany. Haha) Good thing we have a vacuum!

Love you all!!
Sister Fielding

P.S. WOOOHOOO Tyler!! You're going to Argentina!! YOu ROCK!!

1. "Why did the turkey cross the road??" Haha There were these random turkeys on the side of the road. SO I was like, "Let's take a picture!!!" Hah

2. These are ALL my flashcards for all the words that I CONQUERED!!

1. Me in Yerevan with some famous star's statues from the 60's or something.

2. Look! The house with the green truck in front of it is my first investigator's house. Hah Crazy!

3. Me at the ruins of an ancient city.

March 3, 2014

I'm really sorry that this is so short! I have next to no time.

So N, one of our investigators, can't read at all. We read leaps and bounds faster than her, and we're not even native speakers! She doesn't even recogize all of the letters. We've been working with her for a while. So it's been really cool because we gave her alphabet cards and asked her to practice her alphabet. We told her that the Lord would bless her when she tried hard to learn how to read. We had a really great lesson explaining WHY we were teaching her how to read  which is (a) we love her and (b) so that she could read the Book of Mormon. The spirit was really there. And it was really powerful! Anyways, we came back a few days later, and she has markedly improved!! We are so excited! It was wonderful to see how when you take those steps of faith, the Lord truly blesses you.

We also took one of our investigators to a baptismal service. He really liked it! It was a super spiritual and powerful baptism. =D Sister T sings opera, and so she sang at the baptism. It was beautiful!

Love ya!

Sis. F

February 24, 2014

Alo Barev Dzez! Vontz ek??? Aisinkin (In other words), "Hello! How are you?"

I swear, it is so wierd to me that nobody back at home speaks
Armenian. I mean, seriously. You're here in Armenia, and EVERYBODY
speaks Armenian, obviously, but only a tiny handful speaks English. So
it's funny because whenever we need to change our lesson really fast,
we just speak in English and say, "Hey, I think we should actually
change our lesson to this..." So even though you it was right there in
perfect hearing, they didn't understand a thing. You've gotta be
careful sometimes though with that (with speaking in English) because
sometimes they think you're talking about them. Could make for an
awkward situation... So we generally just speak in Armenian. =D

Anyways, I have been going crazy with learning Armenian words! It has
been insane! As a mission, we're doing this competition type thing
where we have to learn 10 words every day for the whole month of
February (in addition to some days in March). It all comes down to
learning and retaining 300 words, overall. The prize is that we all
get to go out to dinner in a nice restaurant, for free, in Yerevan.
Um, heck yeah!!

We're getting pretty close to the end. This is the most intense time
of the competition. If the whole zone (which areas consist of Hrazdan,
Artashat, Center, and Charents Shavon) doesn't get 96% or better as a
whole on their words, then no nice restaurant! It's intense. =)

We were in sacrament meeting, and I was translating for Elder and
Sister L in sacrament meeting (my first time translating in sacrament
meeting). The elders looked at me and gestured something along the
lines of, "You're translating today in sacrament meeting for Elder and
Sister Larsen." I was freaking out!! Translating is HARD! I was like,
"Noooo!!" They just laughed and gave me the headset that I had to
speak in. They would. Haha They're like my 2nd trainers.

But it actually went really great!! The Lord definitely helped me with
that. I was like, "Wow! I can translate sacrament meeting!!"

So a MIRACLE happened yesterday!! Man, the Lord really knows what he's
doing.  Well this week at church, one of our member's (a youth)
brought her mom to church. This family is from up in Vanadzor but they
have been living in Artashat for the past few years. The mom, the
daughter and the grandma had been taught everything up in Vanadzor,
but only the daughter and the grandma were baptized. The mother
couldn't give up coffee or something like that.

Anyways, we had a super great sacrament meeting. It was so spiritual
and so good. I was definitely so uplifted. Anyways, sometime during,
or a little bit after, the Mom went out of the meeting. President H,
the stake president was there, and he was talking to her. She was
crying because she felt the spirit so strong. Anyways, President H
comes and gets us and says, "N is here, and she has agreed to become
an investigator." We were like, "Wait, WHAT!"

So we go into the room she was in, and she's just so full of the
spirit. The spirit is just pounding on her. Anyways, we go in and
verify what President H just said. And she said that she does want to
become an investigator. She says that she knows it's right. So we get
the full story about what's just happened. So, in Vanadzor, she said
she just didn't feel anything when she went to church. It was kind of
vochinch, or whatnot. But our meeting in Artashat...was different. She
was just overcome by the spirit and it changed everything.

We sat with her in there for the last two hours of church, and helped
her understand what she was feeling. Gave her a baptismal date, and
helped to assuage her fears. She is scared about the thought of
getting baptized. It's all a lot for her right now. When we were
giving her her baptismal date, she was kind of evading the thought of
getting baptized on the 22nd. She didn't think that she would make it.
She seems to have a lot of guilt from past sins. Anyways, as we
continued to talk to her she said, "...Okay, I know that I would make
my date." And she kind of laughed a little bit. It was so great! The
spirit changes the hearts of the people. It was a MIRACLE! We are so
happy.

She's going up to visit her family up in Vanadzor for a few days
though. We are praying that she doesn't shy away from her experience.
She can do it!

Okay I'm out of time but I'm gonna quickly explain the pictures! The
first one, that's me when our rickety stool decided to collapse when I
was on it! (Splashing mint tea on my legs in the process.)

And the second, well, everyone who has lived in Armenia knows what
THAT license plate means. That's a cheetos car. (Cheetos is our code
word). In other words, that's a mafia car. Crazy!!

Anyways, love you all!!
Sister Fielding

February 17, 2014

Oh my word. I LOVE Sister T. She is the BEST. Seriously. I struck gold by being put with her. I love this companionship so much. We almost have too much fun together

We've been teaching more and more people lately. It's been great! Two of our old investigators, M and A, came back from a village that they were visiting. It was crazy because we were walking down the street, and we were about to pass these two girls. Suddenly, one of them is like, "Hey!!!" (Not really 'hey' per se, but I can't remember exactly what she said in Armenian--same type of idea. And I was all like, "Huh??" And then I looked closer and it was A! So we found out they were back. We scheduled a return appointment with her. 
We met up with them again, but we didn't have very much of a lesson. A friend of theirs was there, and when she found out that we were "Mormons" she was saying stuff like, "Oh, I heard that Mormons are bad." So were like, "Well, what do you mean?? What have you heard." But she didn't say. So we really didn't get much of anything in. But it's okay, we came another day and taught an overview about Joseph Smith and everything.

It's crazy what types of stuff they say about us here. There was this one girl that asked if we really did witchcraft stuff. (Which of course is ridiculous.) Then there are other people who seriously think that we murder people. It's ridiculous. But our rumors aren't as bad as the ones that people spread about the Jehovah Witnesses.

Then with B, (a member's husband), we met with him for the second time, and the lesson was completely different from his first! It was SO GOOD! He was about to start off with all this type of stuff to kind of test us and "bible bash" to an extent. But everything changed when I said, "Sorry, but can we start with a prayer??" And his whole countenance changed. He said, "Of course!! Let's pray." So we prayed. It set the tone to really teach. Next, we said that we wanted to watch a movie with them. He got excited about that, and he started getting the TV and everything ready for it. So we watched it, and you could tell that it really had such an impact. SUCH a miracle!! When we were finished with the movie, he said, "Wow, Joseph Smith was just like me! I have wondered why there were really so many churches too!" So golden. He was SO much more receptable to what we had to say. It was wonderful. =) We were so happy! The spirit was just so strong in that house. He was excited for when we could visit with him again. Plus, we're seeing him again tonight!

In regards to H, he has been dodging us lately. We don't really know why. The Elders are trying to help us to by trying to get in. He has been taught everything. He's read the entire Book of Mormon. He's come to church around 8-9 times. By all accounts, he could be baptized. But now, it's like he's lost all interest. It's intense.

But there was also a really exciting thing that happened! Sister H and I had had a street contact a while back. She just told us that she would call us back when it was comfortable. Usually that means that they're not interested but they're just being polite. But then she actually called us over!! She lives in a village halfway between here and Yerevan. She was super sweet, and her 15 year old was there too. They served us all sorts of fruit. They tried to give us Earl Grey tea, but then Sister T explained the Word of Wisdom super clearly. So that wasn't a problem. But then we went into the first lesson about Joseph Smith. They were very accepting! They were really excited for when we could come back again. So excited to teach their family!

So this week has been a combination of set-backs, meeting more people, and teaching former/current investigators. It's been a busy week! It's been good though. =)

I'm excited to go on splits tomorrow with Sister W! She's one of the Sister training leaders. It's going to be so great! I feel like I'm gonna learn a lot!
By the way, last P-Day, I got into one of my cooking kicks and made teriyaki chicken! It was from a slow-cooker recipe book. It was crazy because I left it to cook, and it COMPLETELY boiled over. I came back and there was a soy sauce lake on the stove. Haha It cleaned up really easily though. And MAN that chicken was straight from a teriyaki restaurant. SO good! I have a before and after picture. 

Then the other picture is me in Artashat. We walk down that street every day. =)

Love you lots
Sister Fielding