November 18, 2013

Hello everyone!!

I'm here! In Armenia!! =D It is SO exciting!

I'm with Sister H. I'm not allowed to say the full name, sorry! =) She
has been out for about 12 months, and is super upbeat and
hard-working.

Plus, I am in Artashat!!! We are white-washing this area, which means
that all of the missionaries here for this transfer are new to the
area. So this area is just as new to Sis. H and our two Elders as it
is to me. Hah

The Armenian people here are so funny! Whenever we say hello to people
on the street, they would stop us and ask us how we know them. Hah So
we would just tell them that we didn't know them either. We were just
saying hi.

Oh and there was this super funny thing that happened. There were
these two old ladies that we said hello to. One of them started
talking to us, and so we walked up to them. One of them was super
sad--like nearly tearing up, and she said, "The sisters from before
walked by us...and they didn't even say hello!" Her friend next to her
turns to her exasperated and says, "Ay kezi ban!! (Which means, 'oh my
goodness'). Maybe they were busy!!" The first huffed, "Well, even if
they're busy doesn't mean they can't say hello!" We said sorry to the
sad one, and told them to have a good day, and walked off. Bahaha It
was so funny! Sister H and I were busting up about it later.

It is super exciting to be here in this area, because it's the area
that Camielle was in for about 6 months or something. I can tell you
what, her influence has been so strong here! There are tons of people
who recognize us as missionaries. They either bring up missionaries
from this past transfer, or "Camielle." They LOVE it that I'm related
to her. Haha

One of the members was telling us his conversion story, and he brought
up Camielle, and how she and her companion helped him to come to the
gospel. Hah He was so surprised when I told him that I was related to
her. Then there was one of our neighbors that wanted me to tell her
shame on her for not calling him. (It was super funny.) Haha

By the way, something SUPER exciting has happened!! =D On Friday
afternoon, we were coming back from visiting a former investigator and
walking down the street. Naturally, we were greeting everyone that was
in the neighborhood. At one point, there were a bunch of old men
sitting on a bench next to a house. So we said hi. They asked us about
the Book that Sister H. had (the Book of Mormon). So we started to
tell them about it.

I then had a feeling that I should ask one of the older guys wanted to
learn more about it. Ironically, he said no, but there had been
another man listening in next to us. He piped up, and said that he
would like to learn more about it. So he invited us into his house. We
met his wife, his parents, and two other members of his family. They
were so happy to meet with us. We told them a little bit about why we
were there, and what our message was, and we set up an appointment to
meet with them the next day.

So, the next day (Sunday) we returned to their house and taught them
about the restoration of the gospel. They were SO involved and super
into it. At the end, it's like they all got it. We testified of the
Book of Mormon and about how it's helped us in our lives. They were
all asking for a copy so that they could read it for themselves. It
was SO exciting!! =D They seem very religious, but not tied to another
church right now.

Tomorrow we're going to share a message about the Book of Mormon, and
maybe watch the Restoration movie. It's gonna be so great!! =D We are
both so excited.

Well, I gotta go, but I love you! I'll send pictures later! =D