May 23, 2011

Hey everyone! How is everyone doing? Things are going great here in Armenia! So this is going to be a long email, just a warning haha. There's a lot to fill you in on. So we arrived in Yerevan at about 4:30 am. It was way cool. President Carter, Sister Carter, and the 3 AP's picked us up from the airport. From there we went to the mission home and President Carter let us catch up on some sleep. That was way nice. When we woke up we each had our personal interviews where President and Sister Carter got to know us. We then just did a little bit of training with President Carter and the AP's on the expectations of the mission. Sister Carter made authentic Armenian food for lunch, it was pretty good. Its definitely going to take some getting used to haha. After that we went to the Genocide Memorial site in the city. It was way sad and kinda gave us some insight to why it weighs so heavily on all of them. We then went to the Mother Armenia statue where the mission was dedicated. A huge statue of Stalin used to stand in its place but when they became a democratic republic they took it down and put the Mother Armenia statue up. Its kind of like there Statue of Liberty. We read the dedicatory prayer that Elder Oaks and Elder Nelson gave. It was really great and spiritual. I'm so lucky to be able to serve here. After that we went to this huge Armenian Apostolic Church in downtown Yerevan. It reminded me of all the churches we go to on all our big family trips haha. We then went to a really nice restaurant in downtown Yerevan called Old Yerevan. Thats the picture that President Carter sent you guys. It was pretty good. haha. They played Armenian music there as we ate which was way sweet. After that we went and got donuts at this place called Yum-Yums, this was your kind of place dad haha. Then we went back to the mission home and went to bed. It was really an amazing day. One that I will never forget, thats for sure. The city is pretty nice. They've done a lot to make the city really nice so that when tourists come they'll want to come back and what not. The AP's just kept telling us that the rest of Armenian is nothing like that haha. We found out who are trainers are and what areas we would be serving in on Thursday afternoon. I was so excited haha. The anticipation was killing me all day Wednesday and Thursday morning. So, my trainer is Elder Steglich. He is from Hurrican(?)(down by St. George), Utah. He's really an amazing elder. He's only been in country for 5 months. President Carter told me that he thinks he is the youngest trainer ever in this mission. Pretty crazy huh? I can't tell a difference haha. He speaks really well and has been helping me a ton. We are serving in a tiny city called Charentsavan. Its a really small area. We can walk it all in about 2 hours. Its basically just a bunch of old soviet housing buildings and a few small stores. I love it here though. Its definitely been tough so far but I really like it here. Its about 30ish minutes from Yerevan. We only had one appointment for Thursday and no investigators haha. Elder Steglich and his previous companion had 4 or 5 baptisms right before I came haha. So we've basically had to start from scratch. The branch president here is great. He's paralyzed from the waste down so hes in a wheelchair. He's super devoted though. He's up at the church everyday for several hours. Elder Steglich and I have to take him home from the church just about every night. Our branch has very very very little priesthood. There are 4 priesthood holders that come to church and are active and that is including the branch president. Its very different from our wards back home. This is one of the branches that lost a ton of members when President Carter cut the welfare program here in Armenia. Its really good that he did cause he weeded out the people who weren't coming for the right reasons. This branch has struggled a bit since then though so we are working on strengthening that aspect of it. So, like I said we had 0 investigators that we were in contact with so we focused the first couple days on finding. Since there were so many recent converts we focused on teaching them. You have to reteach all the lessons after they are baptized. It was great practice for me because they are a little more patient and helpful haha. We made a goal to ask each of them for referrals as well in hopes to pick up some new investigators. We also met with one of the strongest families in the branch and asked them for a referral at the end. Elder Steglich had me prepare the spiritual thought and share it by myself. It went pretty well haha. They were way patient and helpful which made it easier. I talked for a couple minutes about the Atonement. They didn't have any referrals but said they'd think about it. Well, fast forward to Sunday and we still didn't have any investigators. Sunday was definitely interesting, but also my favorite day here so far. About 70 people showed up for sacrament meeting but about 50 of them left afterward... haha yeah we are going to work on that. I had to bless the sacrament and bare my testimony. I was nervous for both but they went pretty well. Elder Steglich said I didn't make any mistakes with my testimony which I was pretty pleased with haha. It was a really great experience though. Elder Steglich and his previous companion had picked up two 16 year olds the previous week but they didnt have a phone and Elder Steglich didn't have an address. So, we were hoping they would show up. One of the boys showed up, the other broke his wrist so he couldn't make it. But we set up an appointment with them for Sunday night. Then a girl about my age who is a nonmember came to church with someone she is living with for now. We met with her last night too. The meeting with the girl went really well and she seemed like she was really receptive and willing to listen. We have another appointment with her on Wednesday. Then the meeting with the two boys went really well also. We met at the church and watched the Restoration video. The branch president was there which was nice. In the middle of the video another teenage boy walked in and started watching with us haha. We committed the two boys to be baptized at the end of next month if they find this church to be true! Hopefully things work out. We meet with them on Tuesday. We had the other boy stay behind and we talked with him for a minute and tried to find out why he was there and kind of told him about our church. He said he wants to meet with us too. We are meeting with him Tuesday night. Haha I thought that was pretty sweet. After church we met with a recent convert and she told us about a friend she has and how she bore her testimony to her and that she is going to see if she wants to meet with us. So by the end of the day we had 4 investigators and potentially 5. Pretty cool huh? We were both way excited. I love it here so far. Its way challenging but I'm trying to just look at the bright points. I don't really understand anyone. I can pick out words I know but I can't connect it all in time. They all talk fast and with accents. I'm working hard and trying though. I'm progressing everyday though. I can understand a little more everyday, not a lot but still I'll take what I can get haha. Speaking it is coming along as well. President Carter told us all that even though we are new, we need to take half the lesson and say what we can. Then our trainers will come in as a second witness to what we've said and clear up anything that wasn't completely covered. Its worked really well for us so far. I can't wait until I can understand whats being said and be able to speak back! haha. We had one of our Priesthood holders come to a meeting with a recent convert who is a girl. They guy is in his 70s or something and Elder Steglich said hes kinda losing it in his head but we needed a priesthood holder and hes all we had haha. Apparently at the end of our lesson he told us all that he has the healing powers of Jesus, he just doesn't use it... haha. Man I wish I could have understood that one. But I know it will come in time though. For now I'm just staying patient, working hard, and trying to recognize the things I am improving on. I've been so blessed with a great trainer and with a great area. I'm so thankful to be here in Armenia and serving the Lord. These people are great and I am so glad that I can serve them and help them come closer to Christ. Thank you all for your support and love. You're all in my prayers. I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fairclough