February 20, 2012

Hey everyone!

It was great to hear from you all and hear that you are all doing so great! This last week was another great one here in Armenia. It was definitely a busy week, which made it go by really fast. But I had a
lot of really great experiences this last week that I'm excited to share with you. So first, Charentsavan. I went back to Charentsavan after district meeting with Elder Morris. To answer your question mom, Elder Cook actually got transferred this last transfer and is now training in a different area. But it was so much fun to go back to my training area and see so many old friends. Everybody was asking if I
was back to stay, which made it pretty disappointing when I had to tell them no haha. But Elder Morris was kind enough to let me chose some of the members that we went and visited with. We were able to
meet with Silva and with Larisa. It was SO good to see them and to see that they are still strong and coming to church. It was funny cause it honestly felt like I had never left but at the same time it was really interesting being there cause this time I actually understood what was being said and could really respond to them haha. It was such a good feeling. Branch President was pretty sick and so we went to his house to talk about the branch and so that I could see him and that was really great too. Armenian people are super funny when they get sick. First of all, they think all sicknesses come from "getting cold". There is actually a word for it but that is what it literally translates to. But if ever you aren't feeling well, that is what they diagnose it as haha. But we were sitting there and talking with each other and I looked over on his desk and there was some drinking alcohol. I just thought in my head that, "why does he have that?!" And then he unknowingly answered my question. He started like rubbing it all over his face and neck and up his nose haha. It was so weird. I wanted to tell him to stop rubbing alcohol on his body haha. But as Elder Morris and I were leaving, he turned to me and was just like, "that is the Word of Wisdom at it's finest" haha. I guess that is what it is supposed to be used for but I would never in a million years consider rubbing that on my body. Gotta love Armenians haha. Also, I'm not sure if you remember a picture that I sent home a while ago when I was back in Charentsavan. But it was of me and these two little kids. Well apparently one of the little boys, Haik, has been calling the elders in Charentsavan Elder Fairclough for the past 4 months haha. I was so surprised cause normally Armenians can't pronounce Fairclough, let alone remember it haha. But we went and saw them and he was so happy. He spent the whole lesson trying to play with his toys with me haha. Made it a little hard to follow the lesson but it was pretty funny. I had Elder Morris take a picture of me and him with his camera and he said he'd forward me the picture next week. So I'll send it on home next week. But overall, it was really great to be able to go back to Charentsavan and see everyone. I also had to go down to a city called Artashat and do another baptismal interview for a little kid. This time it was a little boy named Gevorg and he is about 9 years old. He was such a funny little
kid. A little crazy and hyper, but I'm not sure what else to expect from a 9 year old kid haha. I just pictured him as Eddie and talked to him the same way I would with Eddie. It was a really cool experience though. For part of the interview the Sister missionaries who taught him were in the room and that is when he was really hyper and not focusing very well. But when I had them all leave so that I could pray about it I felt like I should have the little kid come back in and that I should talk to just him. As I sat down with just him, it was a completely different feel. He sat there perfectly quiet and we just talked about the Holy Ghost and listening to the Branch President and being a good example for the other little kids. And then at the end I asked him to go outside of the room so that I could pray again, and he just looked at me and asked if he could stay and pray with me. So, we prayed together haha. Before he was being resilient to kneel down and pray but this time he got down on his knees before I did haha. It was really cool to try to picture him as a future Priesthood holder. He is going to be baptized this Friday and Elder Rackham and I are hoping to make our way down there. If we do, I'll be sure to send some pictures! As for our investigators, we didn't have a whole lot of time to get
meetings in with our investigators but we were able to make a lot of progress with Aram. Out of the blue this last week he called us and said he wanted to meet, which usually we have to pursue him pretty hard. But he has been calling us all week and has been showing a lot more interest than he had been. I'm not sure what the change was but I am really thankful for it. He came to church yesterday and was able to stay for all of our meetings. I will be sure to let you all know how he comes along this next week. Other than that, right now we are in the stages of finding new investigators. I feel really good about this next week though and am ready and excited to get to work with it! I'll
be sure to let you know how this next week turns out! Lastly, we were able to go to a training meeting for all the new missionaries this last week and they had the trainers come as well. It was really great to be in a small group and receive some counsel from President and Sister Carter, as well as the assistants. I was able to learn a lot of things that I think are really going to help Elder Rackham and I get the work going in this area. I wanted to share one of the things that was said that really stuck out to me. Elder Steglich was actually teaching something and he was talking about the love that Heavenly Father has for each of us, He also has for every single Armenian. Which is really simple and seems obvious, but as I thought more and more about it, it became really profound. I just thought about how blessed I have been in my life. I am so thankful to have this church in my life and for such a wonderful family. Because of these huge blessings in my life, I've been able to feel God's love for me. I know that God and Jesus Christ love me because I have felt their love in my life and am reminded of it on a daily basis. But they love every one of these Armenians with the same love that he has for me. They want these people to enjoy the same blessings that I have enjoyed and that is why I am here. There are a lot of things I can't do, but I can promise anyone that God exists and that He loves us. As we went out on the street after the meeting, I found that I was talking to people with a totally different perspective. Like I said, it was really simple, but I found a lot of direction and guidance with it.
Well, it's about that time. I hope you are all doing well and know how very much I love you all. Have a great week and I can't wait to hear from you next week!

Love,
Elder Fairclough