July 14, 2014

Did you already order the plane tickets? I don't know my release date until six months before. We're not supposed to know until then. I don't think that they've even ordered the plane tickets for us, to tell you the truth. 

Yeah, I just asked Sister Reese, and she says that they don't buy the tickets until three months before. But we looked at the estimated date, and we should be leaving on the fourth. In other words, that would be the day when we meet up. So I hope that helps you out! So maybe that's better for you, because then you can try and buy tickets for the 8th or 9th. Just scootch everything down by 2-3 days. :) And hey, truth be told, there's a bunch of really great sites to go to, and people to see. So you might just want five days or something to be in country. I mean, you're only in Armenia once, right?? Gotta make it worth it!! 

And Armenia is pretty cheap to stay in overall. So it would be sweet if we could stay a little bit, and then take off on the 10th. Something like that. Wow, it's gonna be SOOOO fun!! You're gonna be in for a treat! Hmm...how to make this the best time ever??!? You'll be sure to have a bite of Armenian culture, for sure! (Be prepared to be stuffed silly by people. Don't worry, I'll teach you the tactics to intake as little food as possible!)

Yay, I am so excited for both of you to come!! Woohoo!!! It's gonna be SO fun. Armenia is nothing like you expect. And p.s. everybody over here is going to think that you're Russian. So don't be surprised if tons of people start coming up to you, speaking Russian.

That sounds way cool about going to Paris. What an awesome idea!! =D Love that.

Hey, super excited for that package! Not gonna lie, it REALLY stinks that you didn't send those cards. Could you send at least one or two, by chance??!? 

Love you lots, momma!

Sister Fielding

Hi Am,

No we haven't ordered the plane tickets but I was looking at them.  I thought it was so strange how there weren't flights out every day- just on certain days..... so what day of the week do the missionaries get released? Thursdays?

So you are saying that you will most likely be released on April 4th - correct?

If that is true, then you are saying that you  would like to stay 5 days?  Maybe you could sketch out a simple itinerary for us- like what monuments or churches you'd like us to visit and on what days and that way we can plan accordingly. 

Yes we agree, this will be our only chance to ever go to Armenia- so we need to do it "right"!  :)  At least we have an interpreter with us- YOU!  :)  does anyone speak English in Armenia?  I'll have to learn a few phrases of Russian- like- No I'm not Russian, I'm American  (do you know how to say that in Russian?- if so, write it out with correct pronunciation)

At this point we'll plan to fly into Armenia on the 4th and fly out the 9th.... right?  So I'll see if Travelocity says there are flights on those days.

Don't worry, we won't buy any tickets until you get the approval of your mission president.

Love you!!!!!

Mom

ps It sure seems like you are having great success on your mission- it's just one soul at a time :)

Hey,

Yeah, recently they have been sending missionaries home on Saturday at three or four in the morning. Sister L. will be leaving at around that time then. So we will probably be meeting up either on Friday or on Saturday, which is April 3rd and 4th. So yeah, we'll have all of saturday to do stuff. So we might want to take off on the 9th or something. I don't know, around there! 

Yeah, I'll try and set up a bunch of things to go and do, and see. It'll be fun. =D 

Yeah, you're lucky that you have me as your interpreter, because Armenian is like nothing you've ever heard. There aren't really any words that are similar in any way. You have to learn it. Plus the fact that you won't know how to even sound out the Armenian or Russian words around, because they both have different alphabets. So yeah, you're definitely lucky. 

But yes, there are English speakers here. All of the nice hotels, like the Marriott and others, will have English speakers. And the airports have English speakers too. So you don't need to worry about that. And the signs have transliterations for the street names.

Yeah, so I'll teach you a phrase in Armenian. "Menk chuh-gee-denk hi-yer-en yev roos-a-ren. Pro-sta on-gleren. Kuh-nerek." This means, "We don't know Armenian or Russian. Only English. Sorry." They'll understand, roughly. If not, then start speaking to them in English, and they'll figure it out. Haha 

Well it would be better if you could fly out on the 3rd, and then sleep to get out of your jet-lagged mode. (Because there WILL be jet-lag. 11 time zones away can REALLY take it out of ya!) Then we can meet up on Saturday, and we can take Armenia by storm! ;) I don't know. That's roughly what it'll be like. Either that, or we'll meet on Friday and then do what we want from there. Yeah, that's roughly where we're at. Things will become more for sure later.

Yeah, so maybe we'll leave on the 8th, or the 9th. Try for the ninth though. ;)

As to your last comment: we plant seeds or reaping the fruit--the point is that you're working! Your work ethic is your amount of success. Some people might see more baptisms but others might prepare more people. It's all in the Lord's plan. ;)

Love ya mom!! Take care!

Amberlie