September 12, 2011

Hey everyone!

It was great to read all of your emails today. You all sound like you are doing so well and loving life! Things are going really great here. It was a very busy week and a lot of change happened. I'm not even sure where to start!


So, Elder Steglich and I went down to Yerevan for P-day last week. We had planned everything out, we were going to do a little mini split with the AP's (Assistants to the President) and then stay the night at their place so that we could get to Zone Leader Council on time. So we did our email down there and then we went to this pizza place and ate a TON of pizza haha. Then we went to a tie shop and I bought some really cool ties. It's funny, ties have turned into the equivalent of a pair of nikes for me haha. I've only bought a few but I've traded a ton. I've got quite the collection now haha. Anyways, so then we met up with the AP's and did our little exchange thing and like 30 minutes later we get a call from President Carter. News of the week: I'm still in Charentsavan but I am no longer companions with Elder Steglich. I was shocked. It was funny cause we had just been talking to each other earlier that we should just spend the rest of our missions together as companions. Haha so life goes. But Elder Steglich is now an Assistant to the President and my new companion is Elder Cook. We are both Zone Leaders, so nothing really changed with me. Things are going really good though. Elder Cook is a great guy. Very goal oriented and a very hard worker. We get along well though. Not quite as well as Elder Steglich and I did, but I'm not sure I'll have another companionship like that. But we report our numbers for the day to the AP's every night so I talk to him just about every night. Plus, he told me he is going to come on an exchange here to Charentsavan with me in a couple weeks. We're both pretty excited about that. The change has been different but good at the same time. I really feel like I'm supposed to be with Elder Cook and here in Charentsavan right now. That is what I love about missions. No matter what, you know that you are where the Lord needs you to be.
This was kind of a slow week for the work here. We didn't get any work done Monday cause we had to come back here so that Elder Steglich could pack. And then Tuesday we were in Yerevan for zone leader council and Thursday we were in Yerevan again for zone conference. So, needless to say, it was just a crazy week. haha. Zone conference went really well though. President Carter and Sister Carter just got back from a Mission President's seminar thing so they had a ton of great things to share with us and a lot of good counsel to give. This next week is going to be a really great week! Our investigators are doing pretty good. Allah is doing really well. We had been teaching her at her place and she seemed to be accepting things well but sometimes she would just look at us with this blank stare. She reads in Russian but she is Armenian and speaks well so we were just kind of confused why she didn't understand. So we talked to our Branch President and he told us to meet with her at the church with him. So we met with her at the church yesterday with our Branch President and it was amazing. Whenever she got the blank stare on her face our Branch President would translate into Russian. I now know what I look like when people say something to me and I don't have a clue what they are saying...hahaha. It was a really cool experience though cause we had been trying so hard to get her to pray and she was just having a really hard time with it. But our Branch President explained everything to her in Russian and she finally agreed to say the closing prayer. She said it in Russian, so we didn't understand anything, but the Spirit was way strong and when she said amen and we all opened our eyes we noticed that she was just crying. It was so cool! I love experiences like that when you absolutely know that they are feeling the Spirit. Then theres Yervand. He is doing great! I'm not sure if I told you about him last week or not but he is the guy who can barely walk and has to use a crutch to get around. It is really sad because he lives alone and is farely new to Charentsavan so he only has like one friend. But he is just a really humble guy who just wants to know more and do what is right. I really enjoy teaching him. We always ask him if there is anything we can help him with and his response the other day was, "yeah, I'm not sure if you can help me with this or not, but I really want to quit smoking. Can you help me with that?" We both just got a big smile on our faces cause we hadn't gotten to the Word of Wisdom yet. He's such a great guy! Other than that things are going about as usual with everyone else. We weren't able to see them all this week unfortunately. That family that Elder Steglich and I found can't meet for a little bit cause the baby that was just born last week is apparently pretty sick. So we are just hoping that all is well with them and doing what we can in the meantime. But the work is going well here. We didn't find any new investigators this week but we both have a good feeling about this next week. I'm excited to get to work!
Elder Cook and I had an interesting experience last night. We were doing some street contacting and we came across and big group of like 13 or 14 year olds. It is really interesting, here in Armenia there are two types of males; 1. they are just punks and just mess with you or are just rude, or 2. They are super nice and just want to talk, even if they aren't interested. Well we found out really quickly that they were the first type haha. But they were asking a lot of questions and so we answering them and trying to testify. And this one kid, the ring leader haha, was just saying ridiculous stuff. He was telling us to say the 10 commandment and just kept trying us. And then I noticed that a member of our Branch Presidency had walked up and was watching. He has only come twice since I've been here and I know that he smokes. I'm not sure if he has been released or not but he is inactive. But when I saw him I was pretty happy cause I thought he was going to tell the kids off and tell them to go away. And when he finally walked up he came up to me and asked me if I knew who he was and I said yeah. And he was just like do you know what I am? And I was like a counselor in our Branch Presidency and he just shook his head. And then the kids where all like wait you're Mormon? and he walked over to them and whispered something to them and they all started laughing. And we just turned around and walked away. I was so mad. But it was a really good learning experience for me. He was baptized less than a year ago and it just helped me to see how big of a change it is to join our church. My respect for the faithful members of our Branch grew tenfold becuase they withstand ridicule and what not because they know that this is true. It also helped me to see the importance of making sure that investigators become fully converted. It is hard being a member of this church. But how could we expect it not to be? We are a part of the only true church on this earth, Christ's church. We can't expect it to be a walk in the park. Like the scripture says in Helaman 5:12, the storms will come but if our foundations are built upon Christ, our Redeemer, we will be able to withhold anything that comes our way. I know this to be true. President Carter started out zone conference by having us sing "Come, Come Ye Saints" and he emphasized the line where it says "Why should we mourn or think our lot is hard? Tis not so, all is well" and he went on to talk about the trials the pioneers faced as they crossed the plains. It is easy to think that things are hard. That it is hard being a member of this church and to just wonder why it seems like things aren't working out or why the world is against you. But I am so thankful for what the Lord has given me. For the immense blessings that I have received. My lot is not hard. Sometimes it just takes counting the many blessings that we do enjoy, seeing the things others go through and the way they handle, and just thinking back to our Savior and all that he did for us. I know that this church is true and that we can overcome anything that we may be facing as we put our trust in the Lord and have faith.
I love you all so very much! Thank you for your support and for all that you do for me. You're the best! I hope you all have a great week and I can't wait to here how you are all doing next week!


Love,


Elder Fairclough