# 17

This week on Monday, for Prep-day we went to Grand Candy, an Armenian candy store and had a fun time trying different candies and ice creams here. The ice cream here is so much creamier and better than in America! We then met with Shohik, Knarik, and Anahit (members). The Reeses came with us. We got to know them and shared a message on family with them. We also had a fun time because she showed us traditional Armenian dances and sang for us.

During District Meeting on Tuesday, we discussed the importance of improvement and progression. I really feel that our mission is so great at setting goals and re-setting goals and improving ourselves so that we can reach our potential. I think missionaries in our mission come and contribute a lot and leave the mission and the missionaries better than they were before, and they go home better people as well. 

Our meetings fell through on Tuesday, so we ended up OYMing on the streets. We ran into Hasmik (member) on the streets and she invited us over. Her daughter-in-law is a non-member, so we were able to teach about families and the temple. I think it was a blessing in a way that our meetings fell through and we were about to meet with Ayda (the daughter-in-law). We are going to try and start meeting with her regularly. On our way home, we met Armen and Anush, a couple who have talked with the missionaries before. They are very interested in what we have to say and were very friendly. We are going to try meeting with them as well.

On Wednesday, we went with Elder Woolley and Elder Kopsa to Grigor's (member) house to do service and help him pick his apricots in his garden. He gave us a ton to take home too, so we froze seven ziploc bags for smoothies and even had some left over to make dried apricots! Armenian style of course...sun dried with a little bit of sugar. On the bus to Grigor's house, a lady leaned over to me and asked if I worked for the CIA haha. She thinks all Americans in Armenia are spies hahaha. After helping Grigor, we met with Marine and challenged her to read more in the Book of Mormon. Our lesson with her went well. She works odd jobs to make ends meet and so it is hard for her to find time to read though. We are working on reading with her. We also met with Ellen and Emalia (members). Ellen is 19 and has plans on serving a mission. We brought her a Preach My Gospel and White Handbook and talked to her about preparing for a mission. She has two less active sisters that were present, so we involved them and talked to them about missionary work and how it blesses families. 

On Thursday, Sister Clove and I planned for the week. It was her one year anniversary in Armenia, so I made her breakfast and we celebrated. Then we met with Alvina (less active). We talked to her about hope and faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. She has been coming to church more often, but she has been struggling with finding inner peace. We talked to her about how Christ's atonement is for everyone and that through it, we will find peace. We then met with Rita (investigator) and her family. We taught the tripod - Book of Mormon, Prayer, and coming to church. Rita prayed at the close of the meeting and we left them with Books of Mormon and invited them to church. 

Thursday night was when we had an incident with some boys on the street, I probably won't ever say what happened, but we are safe and that's all that matters :)  ** Mom's note**  WHAT?!

On Friday, we met with Bishop Melcumyan to discuss our investigators. Then we met with Ashken (investigator) and taught her the Law of Chastity and the 10 Commandments. We then met with Lala (investigator) and taught her the 10 Commandments and the Law of Chastity as well. They both are progressing very well and committed to keeping the Law of Chastity and should be able to be baptized this month. We also met with Alisa (new investigator). We invited Ellen to the meeting so she can start better preparing for a mission. She was great! We established expectations and did How To Begin Teachings and Ellen bore her testimony on the Book of Mormon and the church. The Spirit was so strong! 

We also got a call from Marine and she said that her landlord raised the rent and she was getting kicked out of her house in three days. We brought her some brownies and told her we would fast for her and keep her in our prayers. On the way home...I got pooped on by a bird...sorry, not very spiritually uplifting, I know. But that was the first time that's ever happened to me and it was gross.

On Saturday, we went with the Nork elders and met with Gayane (investigator) for a pass-off lesson. She has had a very hard life and so we taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how we can use the atonement in our lives. We can repent of our sins, forgive others and learn to follow Christ as we follow in His footsteps and come unto Him. Gayane has a light about her. Even though she has gone through many difficulties, she sees the light in others and I think that's why others can see the light in her...she has a lot of faith. We also met with Lala again and brought Anahit (member). We taught her about tithing and how it is a commandment that we obey because we love our Heavenly Father. Anahit bore her testimony on the importance of tithing and the blessings it brings and Lala committed to pay tithes after being baptized and confirmed. Later, we met with the Bishop and his wife, Luda, and talked to them about families and the temple. We invited them to bring their daughter-in-law and their grandsons to church and we are going to begin working with them and their family.

On Sunday, Alvina, Gayana and Anahit came to church. We are going to be meeting with them this week. Our Stake President, President Hovik, came and taught for Sunday School. He is so nice! He knows a little bit of English and every time he sees either me or Sister Clove he comes up to us and says "Ah, it is good to see you my pretty daughter." Haha. We love him! President Malm, from the Area Presidency also came and spoke to us about D&C 123:17. That scripture keeps coming up! After church, we OYMed on the way to our investigator's home and we smiled and said "barev dzez" to Nina on the street. She told us that lately she had been feeling like she needed to go to church, but that her husband was very abusive and would not let her. She told us that while she was out walking, she had been praying in her heart for someone to stop and say hello so that she could know that God was listening to her. Not long after, we ran into her! We told her that God knows her individually and that he is happy that she wants to learn more about Him. We are hoping to follow up with her this week to see if we can meet with her. We also met with Ruzan (new investigator) and her three daughters. We taught them about the Plan of Salvation and taught them how to pray. Later at night, Marine called and told us that her landlord changed her mind and that Marine will be able to continue living in Arabkir and can continue meeting with us! What a miracle! Fasting and praying works! I have a huge testimony on fasting and prayer

This week has been a great week! I am still working on memorizing all of my How to Begin Teachings and now all the 10 Commandments by heart. In my personal study, I have been reading in the war chapters in Alma - those are some of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon! I have been trying to set goals for myself to become the type of person that Moroni was. Imagine if the devil had no power over anyone on the earth today! It would be a Heaven on Earth. I want to marry a man like Moroni someday...because that's how I want my life to be like and my home to be like for my future family...a Heaven on Earth.

How is the family doing? I love and miss you all!

Sister Morreall

** Mom's note"

Captain Moroni:  http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/48.11-17?lang=eng#10

# 16

Family,

This week I felt like I struggled with the language, but it was still a good week!

On Monday, Sister Clove and I met with Lala and read the Book of Mormon with her. She left for Georgia this week to go to her mother's funeral though, so we will be continuing to meet with her when she gets back. She has a baptismal date of July 20th.

We also bought a new fan because President Carter felt super bad that our old one cut me up haha. Armenian's are funny though...they carry everything in plastic bags. So when we bought a rotating fan that was already put together in the store, the bag boy stuck a plastic bag over the top so it wouldn't be as "amot" or shameful to carry outside haha.

On Tuesday, we had companion exchanges. Sister Haynie came to Arabkir with me. She is from Seattle, WA and is super nice! We had a fun time getting to know each other. We met with Marine at the church and brought her to a baptism. The members and other missionaries asked her when she is getting baptized and she said "I don't know yet, but you're all invited!" She is really excited to be baptized. 

Sister Haynie is next to Misa in black shirt. 

You know how I told you I was struggling with the language? Elder Smith randomly told me "You speak really good Armenian, you know that right?" Tender mercy of the day since Wednesday was super hard for me.

We also met with Rita, our new investigator, on Wednesday. She has a daughter, a daughter-in-law and a grandson who live with her. We taught the Restoration to her and invited her to pray. She was unwilling to pray because she was a bit embarrassed, but we are going to continue working on prayer with her. We also invited her to church.

On Wednesday, we brought Cedrak (member) to a meeting with Marine. We talked to her about the 10 commandments and set a baptismal date of July 20th with her!

That night, we also met with Asia, a member, and shared a scriptural thought about scripture reading with her. She asked us to come back on Friday and help her beat wool for her mattress.

I also met my new Mission President, President Carlson!! He and his wife are so nice! I had an interview with him and he said some really nice things to me that touched me. I told him how I met his niece in Palmyra the weekend before I went to the MTC! Small world!

On Thursday, we had a zone meeting with them and got to know them. President Carlson shared the scripture D&C 123:7 about doing all things in our power cheerfully. I feel like that is going to be my mission motto...I heard it a ton in the MTC and I just really love it. He also told us that at the Mission President Seminar, he met with Elder Nelson (apostle) who told him that our group of missionaries is the most dedicated and focused he has seen.  Whoa, that's a lot to live up to! Also, could you email me or dear elder me the Missionary Broadcast? I watched it...in Armenian and didn't catch everything.

After the Zone Meeting on Thursday, we planned and set up our ward activity. We had a family history activity and discussed the doctrine behind family history and showed the ward members how to begin their family history work. Leana brought her friend, Neli, and we plan on meeting with her this week.

On Friday, we did service for Asia and beat all of her wool for her mattress. What an exercise! We also met with Jenia, a member. We gave a spiritual thought on charity.

We visited Ashken on Saturday. Her mother (a member) was present for the meeting. We taught her the 10 commandments and the Word of Wisdom. Elder Arshakyan had talked to her about the Word of Wisdom before, so when we got there she told us that she already stopped drinking coffee! We were elated. She has not talked to her husband about her baptism yet though. She is scheduled to be baptized on July 27th. 

We also visited Teresa, a possible new investigator, but her son is against us teaching her. We are going to try and find a place where we can meet to teach her because he does not want her to meet at the church either.

We also stopped by Merujan and Alvina's (less-active) to remind them to come to church and we shared a spiritual thought about families with them.

On Sunday, Rita showed up to church and so did Merujan and Alvina. We also met with Ruzan, a new investigator. She has three young daughters and lives with her mother-in-law, brother-in-law and husband. She used to be very religious, but when she got married and had kids she had stopped going to church. We talked to her about families and invited her to church next week.

Another tender mercy - Elder Woolley told me that I speak like I've been in the country for four months. I thought he was joking at first. I still don't think it's true, but I am seeing how the Lord is blessing me and helping me while I am here. I am so grateful for that.

Yesterday was also water day! It's an Armenian holiday and it's basically like one big water fight. Everywhere you go, people spray you with water. It was super nice in the hot sun. As missionaries...we got sprayed a lot haha.

This week during personal study I have been studying "chosen" or "elect" people and the meaning and responsibilities that go along with that. I loved reading in the Bible Dictionary about the election of grace, or the righteous circumstances that people have been born into. I knew from a young age that I was blessed to be born into my family and learn the gospel at an early age. I think I am just beginning to understand how to use this to benefit others. I also learned that as we are faithful and obedient throughout this life, regardless of having the election of grace, we will be able to be exalted and have our calling and election made sure. I love that! One other think I have been studying is the responsibilities of the different tribes of Israel. I haven't studied every tribe yet, but I am going to continue that this week. 

Trev, I can't believe the Lieters named their baby after you! That is awesome! How was your birthday?!? Mom told me a little bit. And no, they don't call me a greenie here. I am super excited for you to have Mr. Norris. And I loved what you said about superheros in your letter...it touched my heart :) Asia, did you and Trev ever go see Taylor Swift? I heard you two are going to OneRepublic for your birthdays this week. Mom, how was Baltimore? Dad, what did you think of the Missionary Broadcast? How was Dave Matthew's Band and Lake Placid? I miss you all so much!

My thumb is still hurting from the MTC, I don't know what it is, but I get by. 

This past week...a random guy who knew English chased us down the street wanting to kiss us haha. He kept yelling "Come on, a kiss for Christianity!!!!" Just thought you would think that was funny haha.

I love you all and I love hearing from you! Have a great week :)

Love, Misa

# 15

Dear family, 

This past week, Sister Clove and I saw many miracles happen with our investigators. Probably our most incredible week so far!

 

On Monday, Sisters Clove, Broadbent, Henriquez, McDonald and I visited Garney and Gayhart. Garney is an old pagan temple built to worship an Armenian pagan god that is kind of like Zeus. Gayhart is one of the oldest Christian churches in Armenia, built from the inside of a cave on the side of the mountain.  (Some of these pics were included in last post.)   It is super old and they still do animal sacrifices and baptisms there.

On Monday we were thinking a lot about Arus. She has taken all of the discussions from multiple sets of missionaries, but she keeps telling us that she doesn't feel ready even though we know she has a testimony. We invited her to continue reading, praying and coming to church, but we had to drop her because she was not progressing. I felt bad for Hayk because he and his mom were present for the lesson which was at a park. Some boys he knew saw us with him and started teasing him. It's hard being Mormon in Armenia. It's hard being Mormon anywhere. But I was impressed because he just ignored them and contributed to the lesson.

On Tuesday, we met with Lala. We are working with her to continue reading and remind her everyday when we call her. During the lesson, we read from the Book of Mormon with her and finished 1 Nephi. We also talked about the "tripod" (reading the scriptures, coming to church, and praying daily) and how she needs to be doing all three of these things to progress towards baptism. We were able to set a baptismal date with her for July 20th. She is really excited!

We had our district meeting and talked a lot about our purpose as missionaries. Elder Zachary had me teach the Gospel of Christ and how it is applicable to us as missionaries, and how we can use it to benefit our investigators.

(District)

Later, we went to Lilit's baptism (Elder Woolley and Elder Kopsa's investigator). Her husband was able to baptize her, but he had to do it multiple times and her little son kept crying and screaming the whole time. It is interesting to see how Satan tries to stop others from getting baptized. Arus came to the baptism, so we talked with her a little bit there.

We met with Marine on Wednesday. During personal study, I pondered a lot about what Marine needed to hear. I felt like reviewing the Restoration and having her read Joseph Smith's account in Joseph Smith History would really benefit her. As we started our lesson, we asked her to open with prayer and were happy to hear that she asked Heavenly Father to "help with her dream to be baptized." As we began the lesson, we had her read from the beginning of Joseph Smith History in hopes that she could relate to Joseph Smith and his desire to learn about which religion was true during that time of confusion. While reading, she stopped and said "I can relate to Joseph Smith!" We then continued reading and as we got to the part where the prophet tells of his vision, she asked if instead of taking turns reading, she could read this part by herself. We let her do so and halfway through, she got goosebumps and told us that she felt it was true. We pointed out that it was the Holy Ghost testifying to her. We stopped right after the first vision and then she asked if we could come back the next day to continue.

We had our last zone meeting with President and Sister Carter. We prayed for all of our investigators by name as a zone. President Carter's last advice to us was to "carry on" with love and continue in the work. Sister Clove, Elders Woolley and Koopsa and I sang Praise to the Man as the special musical number. I was glad I could participate in the Carters' last meeting somehow. I just love them!

On Thursday, we met with Marine again and continued our discussion on the Restoration. She told us about a dream that she had when she was fourteen years old. (One thing about Armenians is that many of them have very spiritual dreams. In my opinion, I think dreams are how Heavenly Father communicates to them since they were unable to have the truth in their country for such a long time.) In her dream, she saw her grandmother laying in a bed. There was an angel that appeared and walked over to her grandmother and placed his hand on her head. He looked to Marine and told her that her grandmother would die. Marine told him that she did not believe it because her grandma had always been really healthy and was not near death. The angel pointed behind him and the room opened up and showed a fiery pit. He told her that many people who are evil or don't accept God and die will go there. He told Marine that God knew her desires and that she did not want to go there, so throughout her life she would study to find the truth and come close, but that she would have regrets along the way. But that one day, God would send her two messengers with the truth and she would learn and be saved from the fiery pit. Soon after she had her dream, her grandmother passed away and she started studying with the Jehovah's Witnesses. She fell away from them and is now taking the discussions from us. She has come to church once, but can't get work off every Sunday. We are looking to find her a job which allows her to come to church on Sundays. She prays and has been reading from the Book of Mormon. She is really excited and we are planning on setting a baptismal date for her soon.

After our meeting with Marine, we met with Ashken, Elder Arshakyan's sister. Let me tell you about Elder Arshakyan. Before he was a member of the church, he was at a market looking at books. He saw that a street vendor had a Book of Mormon and that it is "Another Testament of Christ." He bought the book, read it in a week, found the church, walked in and asked to be baptized. Yeah, awesome right? He is a missionary here in Armenia and has been working on his family. Since he has been on a mission, his mom has gotten baptized. He is now working on Ashken, his sister. She is married and has two young sons. We already taught her the Plan of Salvation lesson and how she can be with her family forever. Elder Arshakyan recently had surgery on his leg and has been staying at home with her until he recovers and goes back on his mission. We visited them and taught her the Restoration lesson. It was great to have Elder Arshakyan there to help teach her sister. I think it is a real blessing for him to have that experience and to see her progress. We invited her to begin reading from the Book of Mormon. She invited us back the next day for another lesson.

We also met with Lala again and read with her from the Book of Mormon. We are helping her to set goals to read from it everyday so that she can keep progressing towards baptism. We are also helping her to see how she can use the Book of Mormon to answer questions she may have. We are going to teach her the commandments in our next couple of lessons.

On Friday, we met with Ashken and Elder Arshakyan again. Ashken had read the first few chapters of 1 Nephi. We taught the Gospel of Christ lesson. During the lesson, both she and Elder Arshakyan could feel the Spirit and Elder Arshakyan began crying as he bore his testimony at the end. I think it was a great experience for Ashken to see her brother's love for the gospel and desire for her to be baptized. We invited her to be baptized and set a day for July 27th. She accepted, but is unsure about what her husband will think (since he is very much against religion). We are fasting on Tuesday together with Elder Arshakyan so that Ashken's husband will soften his heart to the gospel.

Afterwards, we met with Gohar, an eleven year old girl. She is the granddaughter of our street contact, Lala. Gohar loves learning about Christ. She read all of the pamphlets we have given her and the Articles of Faith. She came to church last week as well. She told us that while she was sitting in church she was thinking that she wanted to be just like us missionaries. So cute! We taught her the Plan of Salvation and how we can be happy in life. She is such a sweet girl with a sincere desire to learn. She has also been helping me learn the colors haha. (I know, I can teach lessons, but I don't know my colors...) Next lesson, we are going to talk about the Restoration and invite her to begin reading the Book of Mormon.

On Saturday, we met with Marine again. We watched the Restoration video with her and talked to her about commandments. She had many questions about different commandments. We answered many of her questions and talked about how keeping the commandments helps us progress in this life and we receive blessings from Heavenly Father if we are obedient. We are going to begin covering the commandments in our next couple of meetings. Next meeting with her we plan on setting a steady baptism date for her.

We also met with Lala again. We continued reading with her and helped her recognize how the Book of Mormon can help answer her questions. Next lesson we will teach the commandments. 

On Sunday, Nane (a member) brought her daughter-in-law, Anahit, to church. She has come a few times before and is interested in the church. We are going to begin meeting with her this week. Lala also attended church. Ashken, Gohar and Marine were unable to make it. We will follow up with them about that. We watched the Mission Presidents' Seminar in Armenian and we also distributed our flyers for the ward activity on family history this week.

(some ward members)

On Sunday night, we met with Jess, Lance (brothers), Joe, Rebecca (married), and Colleen, recently baptized members of the church. We shared a spiritual thought on enduring to the end with them. 

We also met with Rima to help her continue practicing teaching from Preach My Gospel. She is super sweet and fed us rose petal juice. I didn't know that even existed! It looks better than it tastes if you're wondering.  haha.

So how is everything back home? TREVOR!! HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY! Have a great 17th birthday, kid! Our little firecracker!  I hope you all have a great fourth of July as well. I miss and love you all!

Love you,

Sister Morreall

Funny/crazy things:

They call and hang up fast so you call them back and they don't have to use their minutes.

It's bad luck to shake hands under the doorway.

They have fruit lavash which is like fruit rollups but way healthier and delicious.

When someone dies they leave the body in the house for three days with a bowl of the person's blood underneath their head. The family can't leave the house for forty days and the men don't shave or cut their hair. Before the person is buried, they spin the coffin three times.