Hey everyone! Can't believe another week has already gone by. How is everyone doing? I hope all is well. It was great to read your emails! It has been another great week here in Armenia. The work is going really well here. I don't even know where to start haha.Some way good news... we picked up another family this week! Haha I figured that would be a good place to start. Their names are Julietta, Suran, and Narine. It was way cool too. Some of our meetings feel through the other day and we were trying to make some calls and try to get a meeting with someone. And out of no where Elder Steglich decided to call Julietta. She had walked in on one of our meetings with Silva a while back but we were never able to really pick her up as an investigator. But she invited us over that night when Elder Steglich called. When we went to meet with her that night, her daughter and her husband were there. We didn't really know how things were going to work out but it turns out that they are a really great family! haha. They all accepted baptismal dates too. It was such a great meeting. We haven't been able to meet with them again but I'll be sure to keep you updated on them.
We also did a pretty cool activity this week to try to pick up some more investigators. We had kind of like a movie night thing. We pretty much only invited the members of our branch who we thought might have referrals and the really strong ones who can stay under control haha. It was a really cool experience though. We watched The Testaments and had our branch president give a spiritual thought and all that good stuff. We watched it in Russian though cause they haven't translated it into Armenian yet. But Lusine brought her neighbor and we are hoping we can pick him up as an investigator this next week!
Other than that everything is going well as far as investigators goes. We are in the early stages with the people we picked up last week and this week, so nothing really new on that front. For the most part, they all have baptismal dates for September so hopefully things can work out in the next couple of weeks!
I went on exchanges this week to Erebuni with Elder Seegmiller. Erebuni is part of Yerevan and it was my first time actually doing missionary work there. Let me just say, it is a whole different world from Charentsavan haha. It was a way cool experience though. Especially cause Elder Seegmiller just got into country 2 weeks ago. It was so cool being able to work with him for a couple of days. I was somewhat nervous for the exchange because of the language, but at the same time I was really excited to go out and see how much I actually knew. We stopped by their place to drop my stuff off first and we talked a little bit about how things were going and about the area and everything. We talked about the language a bit and how it was coming a long and he just told me that he feels completely lost. I was just like I know exactly how you feel haha. But we both decided that we were going to rely on the Lord with everything for the next 2 days and just do our best. We had some amazing experiences together though. First, we met with one of their investigators named Kamo. It was really interesting leading out on all the lessons and what not. But we decided that Elder Seegmiller would say as much as he could about each point of the lesson and then I would teach everything he did. I wasn't sure if I would be able to know how to say everything I needed to but I just went with it. And prayed a whole bunch haha. But we started the lesson and it went really well. I was amazed at how much I could understand and how much I could say. It was so cool. Like half way through the lesson I realized that I was able to teach it all and that I was understanding the things he was saying. There were obviously things I still didn't understand but I'd ask questions or ask him to say it another way and then I could understand. It was so cool! haha. Then after the lesson we went street contacting. As we were walking we said hi to this group of men and they didn't seem too interested in talking to us so I was going to keep walking but Elder Seegmiller walked over to them. We started talking to them and I was telling them who we are and why we're here and all that good stuff, and then one of the guys was just like come and eat food with me. I was kind of skeptical at first but then I was just like whatever. So we went with this guy and he brought us to his place and we started talking to him and then his daughter brought out all this food haha. Armenian hospitality is amazing. Nothing like it in the entire world haha. So we started eating and talking to them and taught them why we are here in Armenia and what our purpose is as missionaries and then I invited them to be baptized. And they accepted! haha. It was pretty cool. And then we went on after that and ended up talking to some lady on the street. She was saying how hard this life is and we just bore testimony about the Book of Mormon and how it will help her and she seemed pretty interested. At some point in the conversation she asked where the church was and was just like yeah I'd like to meet with you two, just come to this spot another day and we can meet. So we went on our way and kept talking to people and didn't really think too much about it. Elder Seegmiller called me yesterday and told me that that lady came to church and brought a friend yesterday. haha. I was so happy for them. Overall, the exchange was exactly what I needed. It gave me a chance to actually do what I was saying, to trust in the Lord and rely on Him, and He really did take care of us. What a blessing and testimony builder! I feel so much better about the language and where I'm at. Its good to know that if I was the more experienced missionary that we could survive and get some good work done in the process haha. I was really impressed with Elder Seegmiller too. He is such a hard worker. I did my best to speak comfort to him about the language while I was with him haha. Hopefully it helped him out a little bit.
Everything else is going really well here! I'm so happy to be here and serving these people. I'm so blessed and so thankful for these amazing experiences. I love being a missionary! My testimony and surety of this church's truthfulness grows everyday. I hope you all are doing well and having great experiences in your lives as well. I love you all very much and pray for you every night. I hope you all are enjoying life! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Fairclough
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
August 22, 2011
My dearest family,
How is everyone doing this fine week? It was so great to read all of your emails! You all sound so good, which definitely makes me very happy. I'm not really sure where to even start this letter cause so much has happened this past week haha.
Well, for starters, we have had one extra missionary with us this past week. We've been working in a threesome with Elder Strader. He is going to be companions with an Elder that is coming back out this next week. He was supposed to have a mini missionary, which is just a native Armenian member who is preparing for a mission. So they basically get a full missionary experience for a week or two. Long story short, things didn't work out with that so he's been with us since Tuesday. Its been way good though. He is a way funny Elder and he's brought some variety and life into our companionship haha. That's for sure. We've had some way good experiences with the work though. Coming into this week we hadn't found any investigators in the past two weeks so we were really trying to buckle down and find some solid investigators. We had been pretty frustrated about not finding the past two weeks but we just decided to have faith, turn it over to the Lord, and trust that things were going to happen. And they did! We ended up finding 5 new investigators haha. It was way good. Some of them are going to be pretty tough to work with but it usually is a bumpy ride. We picked up a woman called Ofik. She's Rusanna and Knarik's grandma. To be totally honest Elder Steglich and I both thought she was a member haha. She comes every week and nobody ever said she wasn't a member. But she started asking a little about baptism this past week and we found out she wasn't baptized yet so we immediately tried to start working with her. Problem with her is she is very stubborn. She has some problem with one of her legs and she is always in some pain because of it but she just doesn't believe she can enter the water. So, we decided to have a meeting with our Branch President who is in a wheelchair and have him share how he was baptized. His story is so inspiring. It's truly amazing. I'll have to tell you about it some other time. But he just talked about how he knew he needed to be baptized and that no one could convince him not to. He found the missionaries shortly after his car accident and he still had some open wounds and was paralyzed but he was still determined. He shared how they had to wrap up his wounds and then it took like 4 or more missionaries to baptize him. They had to carry him in and everything. It was so amazing when he was sharing this and I was just thinking to myself, "She has to be feeling this." Like it made me want to get up and baptize all of Armenia it was so inspiring haha. And when he was done with the story the first thing she said was, "I can't be baptized. My foot is bad." We were all just looked at each other and had to laugh. It's like she totally ignored the fact that he is in a wheelchair haha. Anyways, way funny lady. I kind of have a soft spot for her. She is the one that reminds me of Grandpa Jack a little bit haha. So we are going to keep trying to pound it into her brain that she isn't too old and that God will help her. We'll see where it goes haha. Then we picked up a guy off the street and when we went to meet with him at his work, we ended up picking up the guy he was working with! haha. That happened a lot this week actually. When we were teaching Ofik and Rusanna one of Ofik's best friends walked in and we ended up picking her up too. It has just shown me even more how much this is the Lord's work. When we are obedient, diligent, and faithful the Lord will bless you. I know this to be true. I've seen it time and time again throughout my mission so far. Of course things never just go smoothly but as you just do your part and turn the rest over to the Lord, He will always take care of you. I know that he knows each and every one of us, personally. And that He knows exactly what each of us need. I actually had an experience this pat week that displayed this very very clear to me. The past two or so weeks I have just been super stressed. I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere with language. I felt like I wasn't understanding anything and everytime I went to speak things just wouldn't come out right. Like I would conjugate every verb and put things in the right order in my head and then I felt like it just never came out right. And I was just getting so frustrated at myself. I don't think I've ever been that stressed and frustrated with myself in my life. I just have always felt like I've had somewhat of a handle on things in my life but it just seemed like even though I was busting my butt with the language, things just weren't getting any better. And one day last week was especially bad. And I just came home so mad haha. I can laugh about it now. Thankfully haha. But Elder Steglich sat me down and just made me talk. And he made me realize how far I really have come these past few weeks. Of course I didn't want to talk about it but as we did I started to feel better. And then he gave me a blessing. And I knew just because I received a blessing things wouldn't just instantaneously get better. But I felt such peace about everything. And I knew that Heavenly Father knew how I was feeling. I know that He was just waiting for me to come to Him. As it is with most things in our lives. I was just expecting to have this great imrpovement because I was working hard, but I needed to turn and come to Him. I could just imagine Him at the end of a hallway with arms wideopen, just waiting for me. I decided from that point on to turn everything over to Him. It was truly amazing the difference I saw, even the very next day. I am starting to understand people more now, obviously not fully, but a TON more. And I can't necessarily speak a ton better, but I'm so much more patient with myself. It has been a huge learning experience for me. Things are going really great. I still have my frustrations, but I just think back to that experience and then I just turn it over to the Lord and trust that everyhing will work out. And it always does. I'm so thankful for Heavenly Father and our Savior. For the help that they give us in our lives. In my frustration I had looked over all the blessings and help I actually had been receiving with the language. But in reality, if you take a step back and look at the big picture, you'll see that Heavenly Father is and has been there for you every step of the way. I am so grateful for Elder Steglich and for him helping me to realize that and for the help that he gave me. I hope you all can take time this next week and just count the blessings and tender mercies of the Lord in your life. It truly is a humbling experience to do so!
I have some really exciting news! Yesterday we had a District Conference down in Yerevan for all the Church members here in Armenia. Elder Lawrence of the Seventy who is in our Area Authority Presidency came and announced that the two districts here in Armenia are being combined to make one strong district. All in preparation for there to be a stake here in Armenia! How awesome is that?! They had told me when I got here that I would probably be here when a stake was performed but I didn't think the ball would get rolling so soon. We still have a lot of work to do before there is a stake here. We have enough members here to be a stake but we need a lot more priesthood. So we are just making a big push for priesthood holders. Once the Church here in Armenia can show that they are ready to be a stake and once there are enough priesthood holders, they'll organize a stake. Nobody knows how long it will take but they really focused on everyone pulling together to make this happen sooner rather than later. They also talked about how once there is a stake here, then there is a good chance of getting a temple here as well! It was so cool to hear and the Spirit was so strong. It was so amazing to see all these amazing church members here in Armenia gathered together. I'm so thankful to be a part of this work here in Armenia. It truly is exciting times here. There is a lot of work to be done but I'm so thankful to be a part of it. I know that this Church is true. I know that this is Christ's Church on the Earth again today. I'm so grateful to be a member of this great truth and to be able to take part in bringing this joy to others!
I love you all and hope you all have an amazing week! Know that I love you all and that you are all in my prayers! Can't wait to hear from you guys next week!
Love,
Elder Fairclough
How is everyone doing this fine week? It was so great to read all of your emails! You all sound so good, which definitely makes me very happy. I'm not really sure where to even start this letter cause so much has happened this past week haha.
Well, for starters, we have had one extra missionary with us this past week. We've been working in a threesome with Elder Strader. He is going to be companions with an Elder that is coming back out this next week. He was supposed to have a mini missionary, which is just a native Armenian member who is preparing for a mission. So they basically get a full missionary experience for a week or two. Long story short, things didn't work out with that so he's been with us since Tuesday. Its been way good though. He is a way funny Elder and he's brought some variety and life into our companionship haha. That's for sure. We've had some way good experiences with the work though. Coming into this week we hadn't found any investigators in the past two weeks so we were really trying to buckle down and find some solid investigators. We had been pretty frustrated about not finding the past two weeks but we just decided to have faith, turn it over to the Lord, and trust that things were going to happen. And they did! We ended up finding 5 new investigators haha. It was way good. Some of them are going to be pretty tough to work with but it usually is a bumpy ride. We picked up a woman called Ofik. She's Rusanna and Knarik's grandma. To be totally honest Elder Steglich and I both thought she was a member haha. She comes every week and nobody ever said she wasn't a member. But she started asking a little about baptism this past week and we found out she wasn't baptized yet so we immediately tried to start working with her. Problem with her is she is very stubborn. She has some problem with one of her legs and she is always in some pain because of it but she just doesn't believe she can enter the water. So, we decided to have a meeting with our Branch President who is in a wheelchair and have him share how he was baptized. His story is so inspiring. It's truly amazing. I'll have to tell you about it some other time. But he just talked about how he knew he needed to be baptized and that no one could convince him not to. He found the missionaries shortly after his car accident and he still had some open wounds and was paralyzed but he was still determined. He shared how they had to wrap up his wounds and then it took like 4 or more missionaries to baptize him. They had to carry him in and everything. It was so amazing when he was sharing this and I was just thinking to myself, "She has to be feeling this." Like it made me want to get up and baptize all of Armenia it was so inspiring haha. And when he was done with the story the first thing she said was, "I can't be baptized. My foot is bad." We were all just looked at each other and had to laugh. It's like she totally ignored the fact that he is in a wheelchair haha. Anyways, way funny lady. I kind of have a soft spot for her. She is the one that reminds me of Grandpa Jack a little bit haha. So we are going to keep trying to pound it into her brain that she isn't too old and that God will help her. We'll see where it goes haha. Then we picked up a guy off the street and when we went to meet with him at his work, we ended up picking up the guy he was working with! haha. That happened a lot this week actually. When we were teaching Ofik and Rusanna one of Ofik's best friends walked in and we ended up picking her up too. It has just shown me even more how much this is the Lord's work. When we are obedient, diligent, and faithful the Lord will bless you. I know this to be true. I've seen it time and time again throughout my mission so far. Of course things never just go smoothly but as you just do your part and turn the rest over to the Lord, He will always take care of you. I know that he knows each and every one of us, personally. And that He knows exactly what each of us need. I actually had an experience this pat week that displayed this very very clear to me. The past two or so weeks I have just been super stressed. I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere with language. I felt like I wasn't understanding anything and everytime I went to speak things just wouldn't come out right. Like I would conjugate every verb and put things in the right order in my head and then I felt like it just never came out right. And I was just getting so frustrated at myself. I don't think I've ever been that stressed and frustrated with myself in my life. I just have always felt like I've had somewhat of a handle on things in my life but it just seemed like even though I was busting my butt with the language, things just weren't getting any better. And one day last week was especially bad. And I just came home so mad haha. I can laugh about it now. Thankfully haha. But Elder Steglich sat me down and just made me talk. And he made me realize how far I really have come these past few weeks. Of course I didn't want to talk about it but as we did I started to feel better. And then he gave me a blessing. And I knew just because I received a blessing things wouldn't just instantaneously get better. But I felt such peace about everything. And I knew that Heavenly Father knew how I was feeling. I know that He was just waiting for me to come to Him. As it is with most things in our lives. I was just expecting to have this great imrpovement because I was working hard, but I needed to turn and come to Him. I could just imagine Him at the end of a hallway with arms wideopen, just waiting for me. I decided from that point on to turn everything over to Him. It was truly amazing the difference I saw, even the very next day. I am starting to understand people more now, obviously not fully, but a TON more. And I can't necessarily speak a ton better, but I'm so much more patient with myself. It has been a huge learning experience for me. Things are going really great. I still have my frustrations, but I just think back to that experience and then I just turn it over to the Lord and trust that everyhing will work out. And it always does. I'm so thankful for Heavenly Father and our Savior. For the help that they give us in our lives. In my frustration I had looked over all the blessings and help I actually had been receiving with the language. But in reality, if you take a step back and look at the big picture, you'll see that Heavenly Father is and has been there for you every step of the way. I am so grateful for Elder Steglich and for him helping me to realize that and for the help that he gave me. I hope you all can take time this next week and just count the blessings and tender mercies of the Lord in your life. It truly is a humbling experience to do so!
I have some really exciting news! Yesterday we had a District Conference down in Yerevan for all the Church members here in Armenia. Elder Lawrence of the Seventy who is in our Area Authority Presidency came and announced that the two districts here in Armenia are being combined to make one strong district. All in preparation for there to be a stake here in Armenia! How awesome is that?! They had told me when I got here that I would probably be here when a stake was performed but I didn't think the ball would get rolling so soon. We still have a lot of work to do before there is a stake here. We have enough members here to be a stake but we need a lot more priesthood. So we are just making a big push for priesthood holders. Once the Church here in Armenia can show that they are ready to be a stake and once there are enough priesthood holders, they'll organize a stake. Nobody knows how long it will take but they really focused on everyone pulling together to make this happen sooner rather than later. They also talked about how once there is a stake here, then there is a good chance of getting a temple here as well! It was so cool to hear and the Spirit was so strong. It was so amazing to see all these amazing church members here in Armenia gathered together. I'm so thankful to be a part of this work here in Armenia. It truly is exciting times here. There is a lot of work to be done but I'm so thankful to be a part of it. I know that this Church is true. I know that this is Christ's Church on the Earth again today. I'm so grateful to be a member of this great truth and to be able to take part in bringing this joy to others!
I love you all and hope you all have an amazing week! Know that I love you all and that you are all in my prayers! Can't wait to hear from you guys next week!
Love,
Elder Fairclough
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
August 15, 2011
Hey everyone!
How is everyone doing this week? Thank you all for your emails. Mom and dad, sounds like you had a great trip out to Utah. I hope you both had a great birthday, Rach and Dad! Hopefully you had some good cake as well, cause after all, it's not a birthday without cake haha.
Well, it's been another amazing week here in Charentsavan! Tadevos, Lusine, and Tigran were all baptized on Saturday!!!! It was such an amazing day. Elder Steglich baptized Tadevos and Lusine and I baptized Tigran. It was so amazing to see them all dressed in white. So cool! All three of them were so happy! The Spirit was so strong during the entire service. Honestly, it was one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had. After they were baptized and we had all changed back into our clothing, the three of them had the opportunity to bear their testimonies. WOW. I'm not sure I can say much else. It was incredible how strong each of their testimonies were. Tigran, who is 14, just bore an amazing testimony about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Then Tadevos and Lusine both shared an experience that we had with them the first time we taught them. In the first actual lesson we had with them, we talked a little bit about the priesthood and how it was restored to the earth during the Restoration. They asked a little bit more about the priesthood and somehow priesthood blessings came up in the conversation. Immediately after we explained what a priesthood blessing was, Lusine asked if we'd give Tadevos a blessing. Tadevos was sick and was having really bad chest pains. So we explained that these blessings work according to faith and they just kept saying we believe, we have the faith. So I anointed him and Elder Steglich gave him a blessing. Then the next time we went back the chest pains and everything had gone away. It really strengthened my testimony of the power of the priesthood. Well, Tadevos shared how this experiences strengthened his faith and got him to the point where he could be taught and how now he has a new determination to keep every commandment! It was so cool to hear him say all of this. Then Lusine shared the same experience and she just cried the whole time. She talked about how she knows this is Christ's church because we were able to help Tadevos by giving him a priesthood blessing. It was so amazing to hear there testimonies and just how powerful they already were! I know that they are going to be great members of this church. I don't worry about them. It was so easy to see how prepared they were. The Lord truly prepared them for this. They are going to be great leaders here in Armenia. That is somethig that Elder Steglich and I have felt since the first meeting we had with them. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to help be a part of their conversion. Elder Steglich and I can't wait to start meeting with them and getting them pointed towards the temple. They've already told us they are going in a year! haha. We can't wait to keep working with them and make sure it happens! Yesterday, they all received the Holy Ghost. It was so good. I confirmed Tigran and I was SO nervous. Its pretty nervewracking giving an actual blessing in Armenian. I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to say the things that came to me during the blessing. It worked out well though. I'm sure I didn't speak correctly by any means but it still went well. And then during priesthood Tadevos and Tigran received the priesthood! It was so great! First, Tadevos received the priesthood and then he helped participate in giving Tigran the priesthood. After he received the priesthood and Branch President said he could step in he was like "Already" and then he just had a huge smile on his face haha. I feel like that is going to be exactly how things are going to be with Tadevos in this church. He is going to get put right to work I'm sure haha. But they are both going to pass the sacrament next week! I can't wait. I'll let you all know how it goes! Overall, it was an amazing weekend. I don't think I've ever been as happy as I was Saturday. It truly was one of the best days of my life. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for this family!
Funny story for this week. The other day we went to a lesson with this older lady in our branch and she had a friend there visiting her who was a guy. So, we start talking to him and try to see if he is interested in learning about our message and we found out really fast that he was not. haha. Elder Steglich started off by testifying that the same church that Jesus Christ organized is on the earth again, restored by a living prophet. And that this is that true church on the earth. And the guy immediately was just like, you're wrong the Armenian Apostolic Church is the most true church on the earth. He then went on to say how they (Armenia) excepted Christianity first and all this other stuff and then he started talking about how America wasn't even founded until 100s and 1000s of years after they accepted Christianity. Then he asked us when America was even founded. And we just looked at each other. I was trying so hard to sing that little phrase but all I could remember was "Colombus sailed across the blue, in the year _ _ _2" It was horrible. He went on to basically tell us we are a disgrace for not knowing our own history. I was just like alrighty then. I had no idea we were going to have a history pop quiz. But it turned less hostile as we went on, he still didn't want to listen, but we were just having a nice little chat. And then I got asked to say the closing prayer, and I forgot his name! I was like you have got to be kidding me. So I went with what I thought it was, and I was close, but at the same time way off. I said Gohar, which is a girls name, and his name was actually, Garan. After I said that, in the middle of the prayer, he just yells out "What did you call me?!" haha. I just kept going, but I could not think straight at all haha. I was hoping he would just let it go but afterwards, he asked me again. Haha it was horrible. Oh well. I get a good laugh out of it now.
Everything else is going really great here. The dolphin last week was way sweet! I had no idea dolphins were so cool. I attached some pictures from it that were pretty cool. I can only imagine what Sea World is like haha. It was pretty funny though, we were probably the only ones there without a little kid hanging on their arm haha. Felt just a little out of place but it was still way fun! Also, other exciting news, the new missionaries got her this week! Pretty crazy huh?! I'm no longer being trained. I feel like I should be though haha. Its so weird having new missionaries here. That went by way too fast. Its been cool looking back over the last three months and seeing how much I've grown, with my testimony and with the language. I love being a missionary. I have had some of the best experiences of my life these past three months and I know that it will just keep getting better and better. I'm so glad to have the opportunity to serve here in Armenia. I've been so blessed! I'm so thankful that I have the opportunity to serve the Lord and these great people. There is nothing better than missionary work. I hope you are all able to help with the missionaries in your own ward. Whether it be going to a visit with them or giving them a referral. It means the world to them when you do that. I hope you all will pray to know who you can share the gospel with. Pray for missionary experiences and opportunities to share the gospel with those around you. I promise they will come if you do and you will be blessed!
I love you all so very much! I hope all is going well back home and that you all have a great week! I can't wait to hear from you all next Monday!
Love,
Elder Fairclough
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| Tadevos, Lusine, & Tigran's Baptism |
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| Elder Steglich, Lusine, Tigran, Tadevos, & Elder Fairclough |
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| Elder Steglich, Tigran, & Elder Fairclough |
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| Elder Steglich, Tadevos, & Elder Fairclough |
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| Tigran, Lusine, & Tadevos |
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| Dolphin Show in Yerevan |
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| Super Excited to be at dolphin show |
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
August 9, 2011
My dear family,
Hey! I hope everyone is doing well! I'm glad that you all have been able to be with each other this weekend. I hope you all know how very much I love all of you! And I'm so happy to hear that Claire's baby blessing went well. Give her a big hug for me! And send me some pictures of her please! haha. This is going to be a little shorter than most weeks, sorry! We are in Yerevan doing email and we don't have much time. But I'll do my best to fill you all in on everything. haha
Well, everything is going really great here in Armenia! The work is going really well also. I've got some great news... Tadevos, Lusine, and Tigran all passed their baptismal interviews this past week!!!!! Elder Steglich and I were so so happy for them. They are such an amazing family! The plan is for them to be baptized this Saturday so hopefully it all works out that way. If it does, I'll send some pictures next week. And I'll tell you all a little bit more about them all in my email next week. Everything else is going really great! Silva is doing really well too. She is fitting in with the branch great and she is already starting to help us out with the work! haha. She is a such great missionary. We are teaching her sister-in-law and her-daughter-in law now and she is helping us with both of them so much. Its so great to see these people come into the church and have that desire to share the gospel with others. We didn't have a lot of time to do missionary this past week unfortunately so not a whole lot new has happened. We spent a lot of time in Yerevan for training this past week. I'll definitely have a lot more to share next week though.
I'm so thankful to be a missionary for the Lord and to be serving here in Armenia. I love these people so much! I really came to realize that this past Sunday during testimony meeting. It was such a spiritual experience to sit there and listen to their powerful testimonies about this church. I marvel at the changes some of these people have made in their life in order to grow closer to Christ and join his church. I forget sometimes how new the church is here, but despite that so many of their testimonies are solid and steadfast. This past week we had a lot of training, and part of that we were trained on helping investigators become truly converted. How the only way to conversion is through the Holy Ghost. We were taught about helping investigators to have experiences with the Holy Ghost and receiving revelation through the Book of Mormon, praying like Moroni taught, and church attendance. As I thought back over my life, I realized that my testimony has come from these three things. I have a sure testimony of the Book of Mormon is true and that this is Christ's church on the earth today, because I have read the Book of Mormon and I have prayed to know that it is true. We were trained on helping investigators having similar experiences as we have so that they can have that sure testimony as well. After the training I decided to do my best to apply these things in my personal life first, so that I can teach it with more power. I never realized how much I have taken for granted the great gift of the Holy Ghost. I've had some great experiences with revelation this past week. This Sunday was such a spiritual experience for me. Its so easy to get caught up in other things. In church the past couple weeks I had been so focused on writing down words I don't know and trying to understand that I missed out on the spiritual guidance I could have received. That happens so often in life. We get caught up in other things and moving a hundred miles per hour that we miss out on experiences like that. I hope that all of you will try to have similar experiences in your lives this next week. If you're not, take 30 minutes out of your day and read from the Book of Mormon. I know you already have testimonies of this church's truthfulness, but pray the way Moroni directs; with a pure heart, real intent, and having faith in Christ. I promise your testimony will be strengthened and you will feel His love and the Holy Ghost's presence in your life more fully. Do your best to listen to the talks in church with an attitude of what can I improve in my life. And look around for those who may need your help. I'm eternally grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the testimony that I have. I haven't seen God and Jesus Christ as Joseph Smith did, but I know with as much surety as if I have. I know from the Holy Ghost. I hope that you will all have some great experiences with the Holy Ghost this next week. You will never be led astray as you have the Holy Ghost as your guide.
I love you all with all my heart! I'm so thankful for each and every one of you. For your testimonies, examples, support, and love. Know that you are all in my prayers daily. I'm sorry again for the shortness of this email haha. I will have much more to fill you all in on next week. Promise! Have a great week and know that I love you!
Love,
Elder Fairclough
Monday, August 1, 2011
August 1, 2011
Hey everyone!!!
I can't believe another week has rolled by so fast. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying life. Things are going really well here in Charentsavan! Elder Steglich and I had another great week. I've got a lot to say in this email so I'll get straight to it! haha
I have some big news... Silva was baptized this last Saturday!!! haha. It was so great. Elder Steglich baptized her and it was such a great little service. I attached some pictures at the end of the email so I hope it goes through. I've always been so amazed by what great faith Silva has. She bore her testimony after she was baptized and she did such an amazing job. She already has such a strong and powerful testimony. Its so easy to see how prepared she has been. She has accepted everything Elder Steglich and I have taught her with unwavering faith and without any complaints. She just accepts the things we say because she knows we are representatives of Christ and that makes the work so much easier when the investigator has such a willing and open heart. I'm not sure if I've already told you about how we came about to teach Silva but I'm going to tell you again. One morning, after our studies, Elder Steglich and I went to this little bookstore here in Charentsavan to buy some pens and while we were there one of the members from the branch here came in with Silva. On our way out we stopped and shook the members hand and introduced ourselves to Silva and then went on our way cause we had a meeting right after that. Apparently, when we walked out the door Silva turned to the member and said she needed to meet with us and start learning about our church. Just from meeting her quickly she already knew we were representatives of Christ. It just reminds me of D&C 29:7, the elect hear His voice and come. Silva truly is one of His elect. She's shown that through her faith and willingness to follow His word. I'm so thankful for the opportunity I've had to help teach her. I think she has taught us far more than we have taught her haha. I'm so excited for her. She is going to change and affect many lives here in Charentsavan. She has already started doing missionary work and sharing the gospel with those around her! haha.
The rest of the work is going really well too. We are spending a little more time trying to find because of the baptisms we've had but we both feel like we are going to find some really good investigators this next week. So keep your fingers crossed! haha. As for Tadevos, Lusine, and Tigran, they are all doing so well! We met with them a lot this last week and they are really progressing. They can't wait to be baptized! Lusine shared the gospel with one of her neighbors this last week. She told them about temples and how her and Tadevos and Tigran are going to go to Kiev as soon as they can and be sealed as a family for eternity. How great is that!!!! haha. We were both way happy when she was telling us about it. And then Lusine wasn't able to come to church yesterday but she called and asked if it was allowed for us to bring the sacrament to her last night so that she could still partake. Haha I'm pretty sure that has never happened in Armenia haha. They are so amazing! I can't wait to work with them some more this week.
Other than that Allah is our only other investigator that is really progressing. She is doing really well also. We focused a lot on the Book of Mormon with her this last week and get her into it. She has started reading so we were way happy about that! She is way excited to be baptized too. haha.
That's about as far as it goes for work right now though.
Yesterday was the craziest day of my mission so far. Yesterday was Vardevar here in Armenia. Its basically water day and its madness. Kids just walk around with buckets of water looking to get people soaked. Its way rough because being white and American we had a huge target on our foreheads haha. People just stand on their balconies and at their windows and just dump buckets of water on people as they walk by below. We were safe on the way to church yesterday because we had to push Branch President. Some kids tried to get us wet but he started yelling at them and telling them to go away. The problem was after church. We were walking down this path back to our place and all of a sudden this pack of just like 12 Armenian kids came around the corner. All armed and ready haha. One of them just yelled "The Americans!" haha. We both just looked at each other and sprinted away. They chased us for a while but we got away thankfully haha. So, we continued our journey home and we were almost there and then out of no where wave of water came out of no where and just splashed us haha. Some kid got us from the 2 floor of a building. I was so mad! haha. And so we started walking again, kinda down in the dumps after getting a little wet. And when we got to our building there were like 5 girls with water bottles standing there. I was like you have got to be kidding me. In the process of sprinting past them I got clipped and my right arm got drenched. We got them back though. Elder Smith's mom had sent him water balloons so we filled them up in our apartment and just nailed them from our window. They had no idea what hit them haha. The worst of it was last night though. Of course all of our meetings fell through, so we didn't have any choice but to walk around and try to talk to people, meanwhile avoiding the crazy little kids. We thought we made it to this safe spot and we were talking to a Grandpa and out of no where we got nailed in the backs. Somebody had gotten us from their car as they drove by haha. This is the best part of the whole day though. Check this out. So we were walking along and we came upon this pack of 4 or 5 kids. We were like oh crap. There was that moment of hesitation where we were trying to figure out what to do or if they were even going to try to get us. And then starting running at us haha. Elder Steglich sprinted forward and I, of course, went to run back the way I came. So, Elder Steglich was home free and I was stuck with all these kids converging on me. I thought I was a goner for sure. I kept trying to juke them out but it was just not working out haha. And then all of a sudden a car started to come down the street, headed in the direction I needed to go. And I was on the right side of the street and the kids were too. So I waited until the car was barely passed me and I took off to get around on the other side of the car. I made it and sprinted alongside the car until I had made it to Elder Steglich. It was the perfect getaway. haha. It seriously was most epic thing of my life haha. So, all in all, it was a crazy day haha. I'm sure all of Charentsavan got a good laugh at seeing the Americans sprinted from packs of little kids all day haha. I hope you were all able to get a picture of what Vardevar is haha.
Other than that, it has been just another week. Things are going really well here. I love being a missionary. There is nothing better than this great work and I am so happy to be a part of it. Thank you all for your support and love. You all bring me so much strength and it truly means a lot! I love you all and hope you all have great weeks! Make sure you treat Dad and Rach extra great! haha. I can't wait to hear from you all next week!
Love,
Elder Fairclough
I can't believe another week has rolled by so fast. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying life. Things are going really well here in Charentsavan! Elder Steglich and I had another great week. I've got a lot to say in this email so I'll get straight to it! haha
I have some big news... Silva was baptized this last Saturday!!! haha. It was so great. Elder Steglich baptized her and it was such a great little service. I attached some pictures at the end of the email so I hope it goes through. I've always been so amazed by what great faith Silva has. She bore her testimony after she was baptized and she did such an amazing job. She already has such a strong and powerful testimony. Its so easy to see how prepared she has been. She has accepted everything Elder Steglich and I have taught her with unwavering faith and without any complaints. She just accepts the things we say because she knows we are representatives of Christ and that makes the work so much easier when the investigator has such a willing and open heart. I'm not sure if I've already told you about how we came about to teach Silva but I'm going to tell you again. One morning, after our studies, Elder Steglich and I went to this little bookstore here in Charentsavan to buy some pens and while we were there one of the members from the branch here came in with Silva. On our way out we stopped and shook the members hand and introduced ourselves to Silva and then went on our way cause we had a meeting right after that. Apparently, when we walked out the door Silva turned to the member and said she needed to meet with us and start learning about our church. Just from meeting her quickly she already knew we were representatives of Christ. It just reminds me of D&C 29:7, the elect hear His voice and come. Silva truly is one of His elect. She's shown that through her faith and willingness to follow His word. I'm so thankful for the opportunity I've had to help teach her. I think she has taught us far more than we have taught her haha. I'm so excited for her. She is going to change and affect many lives here in Charentsavan. She has already started doing missionary work and sharing the gospel with those around her! haha.
The rest of the work is going really well too. We are spending a little more time trying to find because of the baptisms we've had but we both feel like we are going to find some really good investigators this next week. So keep your fingers crossed! haha. As for Tadevos, Lusine, and Tigran, they are all doing so well! We met with them a lot this last week and they are really progressing. They can't wait to be baptized! Lusine shared the gospel with one of her neighbors this last week. She told them about temples and how her and Tadevos and Tigran are going to go to Kiev as soon as they can and be sealed as a family for eternity. How great is that!!!! haha. We were both way happy when she was telling us about it. And then Lusine wasn't able to come to church yesterday but she called and asked if it was allowed for us to bring the sacrament to her last night so that she could still partake. Haha I'm pretty sure that has never happened in Armenia haha. They are so amazing! I can't wait to work with them some more this week.
Other than that Allah is our only other investigator that is really progressing. She is doing really well also. We focused a lot on the Book of Mormon with her this last week and get her into it. She has started reading so we were way happy about that! She is way excited to be baptized too. haha.
That's about as far as it goes for work right now though.
Yesterday was the craziest day of my mission so far. Yesterday was Vardevar here in Armenia. Its basically water day and its madness. Kids just walk around with buckets of water looking to get people soaked. Its way rough because being white and American we had a huge target on our foreheads haha. People just stand on their balconies and at their windows and just dump buckets of water on people as they walk by below. We were safe on the way to church yesterday because we had to push Branch President. Some kids tried to get us wet but he started yelling at them and telling them to go away. The problem was after church. We were walking down this path back to our place and all of a sudden this pack of just like 12 Armenian kids came around the corner. All armed and ready haha. One of them just yelled "The Americans!" haha. We both just looked at each other and sprinted away. They chased us for a while but we got away thankfully haha. So, we continued our journey home and we were almost there and then out of no where wave of water came out of no where and just splashed us haha. Some kid got us from the 2 floor of a building. I was so mad! haha. And so we started walking again, kinda down in the dumps after getting a little wet. And when we got to our building there were like 5 girls with water bottles standing there. I was like you have got to be kidding me. In the process of sprinting past them I got clipped and my right arm got drenched. We got them back though. Elder Smith's mom had sent him water balloons so we filled them up in our apartment and just nailed them from our window. They had no idea what hit them haha. The worst of it was last night though. Of course all of our meetings fell through, so we didn't have any choice but to walk around and try to talk to people, meanwhile avoiding the crazy little kids. We thought we made it to this safe spot and we were talking to a Grandpa and out of no where we got nailed in the backs. Somebody had gotten us from their car as they drove by haha. This is the best part of the whole day though. Check this out. So we were walking along and we came upon this pack of 4 or 5 kids. We were like oh crap. There was that moment of hesitation where we were trying to figure out what to do or if they were even going to try to get us. And then starting running at us haha. Elder Steglich sprinted forward and I, of course, went to run back the way I came. So, Elder Steglich was home free and I was stuck with all these kids converging on me. I thought I was a goner for sure. I kept trying to juke them out but it was just not working out haha. And then all of a sudden a car started to come down the street, headed in the direction I needed to go. And I was on the right side of the street and the kids were too. So I waited until the car was barely passed me and I took off to get around on the other side of the car. I made it and sprinted alongside the car until I had made it to Elder Steglich. It was the perfect getaway. haha. It seriously was most epic thing of my life haha. So, all in all, it was a crazy day haha. I'm sure all of Charentsavan got a good laugh at seeing the Americans sprinted from packs of little kids all day haha. I hope you were all able to get a picture of what Vardevar is haha.
Other than that, it has been just another week. Things are going really well here. I love being a missionary. There is nothing better than this great work and I am so happy to be a part of it. Thank you all for your support and love. You all bring me so much strength and it truly means a lot! I love you all and hope you all have great weeks! Make sure you treat Dad and Rach extra great! haha. I can't wait to hear from you all next week!
Love,
Elder Fairclough
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| Elder Steglich, Silva, and Elder Fairclough |
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| Silva, Elder Steglich, and Elder Fairclough |
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