# 22

Dear Family,

This week was TRANSFER WEEK! It was crazy. We got a call from President Carlson on Tuesday and were told that transfers would be on Thursday. It was very sad to see Elder Woolley, Sister Broadbent and Sister Bobsien (Sister Jack's trainer) leave. I have learned so much from all of them, especially Elder Woolley and Sister Broadbent since they were in my district. But it was also exciting to hear where everyone was going to be serving. Sister Clove left Arabkir and is now the new Sister Training Leader. (Which means she gets to go to Georgia and meet the Georgian sisters I came with from the MTC!! I am excited for her.) 

I am staying in Arabkir (the area with the Mission Office and Mission Home) with Sister McDonald. She just turned 20, and so she was affected by the age change too. She's from Draper, UT and is an awesome missionary. She came the group before me, so we're both still pretty new in country, although she speaks a lot better than I do...so I'm sure that will help me! It's a nice trade off...she helps me with the language...I show her around the area. Sister McDonald is very good at explaining things simply and knows the scriptures very well, so I am going to try and learn as much as I can from her this transfer! 

                                                                     With Sister McDonald.

Elder Kopsa and Elder Marco are my zone/district leaders. Sister Henriquez and Sister Clove are the Sister Training Leaders and Elders Conway and Smith are still the Assistants...and that is my new district! I really feel so blessed to be in a mission with such amazing missionaries. And of course the investigators, members and Armenian people in general are amazing.

We have been continuing to teach Marine, Lala and Karine the new member lessons which is going quite well. We also picked up 8 new investigators this week. Julia, called us and asked if we could be teaching so she could learn more about the church. The 7 others are a family that we met in Canaker (a village in our area). It's a household of all women who are interested in learning about religion. We are excited to start working with them.

We also decided that for this transfer one of our goals was going to be working a lot with less active members. We met with Julia (the Relief Society 2nd counselor) and her son, Roman (who is less active). We are going to try working with Julia to help reactivate them.

Things are going well here on the mission and I have seen the blessings that have come from staying focused and relying on the Savior when times are hard. I hope all is well back home. Has Trev taken the ACT/SAT yet? And gotten his license? How are the Yankees doing? This is random, but I can totally see Trevor serving in Russia...I hope he does! As for Asia...I can see like France or someplace in Europe. I hope all of you have a fun trip to Virginia this week. Please send pictures to me next week!!! I would really love to see all of your faces :) I love and miss you all!

Love you,

Misa :)

# 21

Dear family,

This week was another great week in Armenia! On Monday, Sister Clove, the Reeses (office couple), Elders Woolley and Kopsa and I went to Khor Virap. It is the church where they threw Grigor Lusavorich (the man that brought Christianity into Armenia) into a pit for 13 years. The story is that the king was upset at him for bringing Christianity to the country so he threw him into the pit, but some servants felt sorry for Grigor and so they fed him every day. The king later committed horrible crimes and became stricken with disease. It was only after he released Grigor from the pit that he was healed. After visiting Khor Virap, we went to Vahagony (where the embassy families live) and said goodbye to the Filipinos because they are returning home to the Philippines. 

                                                                                   Khor Virap

On Tuesday during District Meeting, we focused on using the scriptures more effectively as we teach. I've decided to study that this week because the scriptures can teach better and explain principles better than I can! That is for sure. There is a power that comes from reading the scriptures that touches the hearts of people, so I have been trying to use them more in my lessons. After District Meeting, the sisters all had exchanges (switched partners).  I went with Sister Henriquez (Sister Training Leader) to Ajapnyak. I loved it! We met with Hasmik, an investigator who is so ready to be baptized...she just needs to talk to her husband about it. We taught her about obedience. We also met with Mariam and Arayik, a couple who have been investigating the gospel for a while. We watched the restoration video with them and answered any questions they had. We also met with Araksya, a 15 year old member and brought her a Preach My Gospel to start reading from to start preparing for a mission. Lastly, we met with Suzanna, an elderly investigator, and taught her the tripod (reading the Book of Mormon, praying, and coming to church). We brought Leanna (a member who served a mission in Salt Lake City) with us. The lesson went really well!

On Wednesday, we met with Hasmik again and taught her about tithing and fasting. We later met with Mariam and Arayik again and taught the Plan of Salvation. I loved exchanges. It was a great opportunity to learn from another sister missionary. Sister Henriquez is so bold, but loving. She also teaches very clear and uses the scriptures and True to the Faith well. I am going to try to incorporate that into my missionary work as well. After exchanges, Sister Clove and I met with Marine and reviewed Lehi's dream with her and related it to her baptism. 

                                                         In front of Mt. Ararat.

Thursday was planning day. After we planned for the week, we went to the church and met with Karine for her baptismal interview. While she was in the interview, we played Jenga with her eight year old son, Levon, and Elder Wood (since Elder Zachary was conducting the interview). Afterwards, we met with Lala and taught her the new member lesson about the Plan of Salvation. We were very pleased that she was able to remember it all and talk about the Plan of Salvation in detail. Later in the day we stopped a man on the street and OYMed him. He was wearing an EFY polo! We told him it was a program put on by our church and he stopped and asked about the church. It was so random, but funny to see that!

On Friday, we visited Emma Tatik (grandma), a member in our ward. We shared a spiritual thought about happiness and hope and then asked for referrals. She lives near Arus, so we stopped by Arus to see how she was doing, she has been continuing to read the Book of Mormon, but until she wants coming to church again we can't pick her up again as an investigator. Most of the rest of the day was spent walking and trying to find new investigators.

                                                                   Arus's paintings of Armenian letters. 

Saturday was a busy day! Four people were baptized into our ward! Elder Woolley and Elder Kopsa had two investigators (a couple) named Yura and Ghusher that they baptized. They also baptized Marine and Karine. After Karine was baptized, Levon told us that he wanted to be baptized like his mom! We had asked Karine before if she would let him get baptized, but she said she didn't want to push him unless he wanted to on his own. So we were so happy when he said he wanted to be baptized! What a miracle! Both Karine and Marine gave amazing testimonies afterwards as well. We were so proud of both of them. At the baptismal service, Guyane (a member) brought her two children with her...Aram and Manana. They are so cute! We have visited them before and given them little treats and CTR (choose the right) rings.  When Aram walked in the door and saw me, he ran up to me and gave me a huge hug and kept wanting to hold my hand. It was so sweet and made me miss all of the kids I babysat back home! At the baptism, I also had the opportunity to lead the music and translate for President and Sister Carlson and the Reeses. I've improved a lot since the first time I translated. Heavenly Father really has been working with me. I know that I would not be speaking this language without His help. I thank Him everyday for His tender mercies!

                                                                  Misa with Guyane, Manana and Aram.

On Sunday, Ghusher, Yuram, Marine and Karine were all confirmed. It is always an amazing feeling to know that Heavenly Father's children have started on the right path toward returning to Him. After church, we spent the day walking and trying to find new investigators.

This week has been a great one! How have things been for all of you? Trevor have you gotten your license yet? Asia, are you excited for Virginia? What fun things are all of you going to do while Lisa is in town? I love and miss you!

Love,

Misa :)

# 20

Dear Family,

It was great to hear from you this week! I am glad that Mom is doing much better and that Trevor and Asia enjoyed EFY.

This week has been pretty busy.

Tuesday was Zone Conference. Elder Woolley and Elder Kopsa talked a lot about increasing the faith in the mission, planning and incorporating Preach My Gospel more. As a mission, we are all going to focus on trusting God and showing faith in Him. I've really felt that these past few weeks as I've prayed and learned to trust in God and submit myself to Him and His will. We are going to be reading from PMG everyday for 10 minutes during companionship study. We are working on learning to plan better too. Sister Reese said a quote I liked about planning ahead...she said "It's easy for angels to go before you and bear you up when you tell them where you're going." Hence, the need to plan and organize ourselves so we know where we're going! The elders also had me share a thought on language...I don't know whose idea that was...I just talked about holding ourselves accountable to the Armenian people and stretching ourselves to learn the language. 

We taught Karine a lot this week. We taught the Plan of Salvation and we played Jenga to involve her two younger boys, Levon and Tigran. In another lesson, we taught the Gospel of Christ, chastity and temples. We later taught her about tithing. She is reading, praying and came to church on Sunday. We hope that she will be baptized on Saturday.

We also taught Marine this week. We went over the baptismal interview questions with her and then she had her interview. She will be baptized this Saturday. She is so awesome though! She asked us if there is a calling for sisters in the Ward to go around with the missionaries and help teach...uhh yeah! New ward missionary? I think so! She also asked if she could speak in church sometime after her baptism. She has such a strong testimony, it has been great to see her grow. 

We have been teaching Lala the new member lessons and recently talked to her about callings. We are going to work with the Bishop to see if she can receive a calling in the church soon. 

It has been a great week! I hope all has been well at home! Mom, you asked last week about service opportunities...mostly the senior couples work on big projects. But we do service to people on the street a lot. 

Funny/cool things:

There is a man in our ward who always tells us "Sisters, I will marry you off to a man in Armenia!" Haha he's pretty funny.

I had my first kabob!! It was delicious. I don't have the recipe for it though unfortunately.

But I do have a recipe for you to try...

Armenian potato salad:

12 medium sized potatos - peeled, cut into fourths and boiled

4 green onions chopped

parsley chopped fine

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4-1/2 cup olive oil

1/4-1/2 cup lemon juice

1/2 tsp paprika

Let potatos cool, mix all ingredients, enjoy!

I love and miss you all! And I love hearing from you :)

Love, Misa

# 19

Mom, you are strong. I know that Heavenly Father is with you and with our family at this time. A lot of people are praying for you and you have a lot of support and prayers from the missionaries and families here in Armenia. 

                                                                                           with Reuben

                                                                                            with Ani and Asik

I'm so grateful that you're my mommy. You have been such a great example to me. I am the person I am today because of you and Dad. I know I was never the perfect child, but I'm so grateful for the angel parents that I have. I love you.

Things here in Armenia have been pretty much the same. We are still working with Marine and are now working with a new investigator, Karine. They both have huge potential and are progressing well. Lala was also baptized on your birthday, July 23. We are teaching her the new member lessons now. She is doing well. 

How are Dad, Trevor and Asia doing? I sure miss and love all of you. I wish I could be with you all at this time. I know that Heavenly Father is watching over you all though. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that He atoned for our pains and sorrows. I know that the atonement is central to the Plan of Salvation. I know that no matter what happens, we will be a family forever and I am so blessed to be apart of this family. I love you so much!

Misa

# 18

Dear Family,

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY ASIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 15 YEARS OLD!!!! WHOA! AND HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!!!!!!!! (I won't say how old you are.) You two should look up "Happy Birthday Song" by Armen Chick, an Armenian...it's a birthday song they sing in Armenian with random "It's your birthday party" lyrics in English haha.

On Monday of this week we met with Gayane (investigator), who the Nork elders passed us. She has been taught the discussions before in Russia. So we are planning on reteaching and reviewing them with her and setting a baptismal date with her. We then visited with Emma (member), and shared a lesson with her about coming unto Christ. 

On Tuesday, during zone conference I learned so much! The theme was being bolder. in our missionary work. That is something that I have been working on since getting into the mission field. I have been studying having that balance of love and boldness with investigators. I also really loved the stress on the importance of being diligent and obedient. I feel like since I am so new to the country that I cannot afford to waste time and forgo any blessings that would have been given me. Sister Clove and I since day 1 have set goals concerning obedience and diligence and I really have seen the blessings that come from applying and living these principles. We also talked about obedience, diligence, unity and consecration. I have come to love John 21 when Christ asks Peter "Lovest thou me?...Follow thou me." If we truly love the Savior, we will devote all of our time and our soul to Him. Our obedience to Him will bring great light and knowledge to us. Obedience is greater than sacrifice. We discussed the urgency to spread the gospel and we have a new goal of 250 baptisms total by the end of this year. After the zone conference, we were able to go out and OYM.

On Wednesday, we visited Lala (investigator in Abovian) and helped her manage her garden. We then shared a message about the Book of Mormon and left her with a book and a challenge to read. We then met with Lala (investigator preparing for baptism). We reviewed the baptismal questions with her and discussed the details of a baptismal service. She is so excited to take this step in her life! Afterwards, we met with Gayane. The Nork elders came and participated in giving her a priesthood blessing and then we watched "Finding Faith in Christ" with her. We discussed following Christ and having faith in Him. We then visited with Colleen (newly baptized member) and celebrated her birthday with her. We were able to receive referrals from her and the Filipinos and were so pleased to see a picture of missionaries with her family back in the Philippines...the referral we had sent online was contacted and now her family has the opportunity to learn the gospel!

                                                                           Beating wool from a mattress.

On Thursday, we planned for the week and then visited Marine (investigator). We talked to her about priorities and the steps towards baptism. She is still working on finding a job that lets her not work on Sundays. We also talked to her about tithing and fasting and she committed to living the Law of Tithing after baptism. We also met with our Ward Council (for the first time!) and discussed plans for member-missionary work within the ward. There are plans to call a ward mission leader and ward missionaries soon. 

On Friday, we taught Gayane about the Word of Wisdom and following the prophet. She told us she would commit to living the Word of Wisdom. We then met with Lala and read from the Book of Mormon with her. We planned to meet with Ruzan (new investigator), but the meeting fell through and we ended up talking to her mother-in-law, Armik, about families and the temple. We then met with Marine and reviewed all of the commandments with her. She is ready for baptism, the only thing holding her back is finding a job so that she can come to church every week. She is also very interested in serving a mission when she is older. 

On Saturday, we attended the baptism of a family of five with Gayane. She is very interested in being baptized and we plan on talking about that in more detail with her in our next meeting with her. We then attended another baptism with Lala. She was so excited about it, that she had us call the mission president right then and there to schedule her interview! We are so excited for her. After the baptism, we met with Rita (investigator). Her daughter-in-law just had a baby, so we served and helped her around the house. We are going to go back this week and see if we can do anything else to serve and follow up on previous commitments. 

On Sunday, Marine, Lala and Gayane all attended church. We also met with Marine and read the Book of Mormon with her. We also met with Gayane (member) and discussed coming unto Christ with her. We shared D&C 84:88 with her and talked to her about receiving divine guidance and help as we strive to follow the Lord.

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

Have a wonderful week,

Misa

Random facts about Armenia:

They have no word for "please"

My name means "the meat" in Armenian...pretty right? I told one of the members that my last name is a type of mushroom in French and she said "Well aren't you just delicious then?!" Haha

They think that if you take a cold shower with a headache or a "hot head" your heart will stop.

They tell me that Dad looks Armenian from pictures, and so do I...but that I look the most like Mom...tell me how that works?

The Russian Bible has a book of Nathaniel...I never knew that. Did you?

They have different versions of the story of Adam and Eve haha...

Armenia is in the Bible!!! 2 Kings 19:37 and Mt. Ararat in Genesis 8:4. Awesome huh?

Dear family,

This week I have been working on strengthening my testimony and becoming re-converted to Christ and His gospel.

I know that God is my Heavenly Father. I am His daughter. He knows me. my thoughts and my feelings. He loves me. Because He is a kind and loving father, He wants me to become like Him and to live with Him for eternity. I know that He created a plan and provided a way for me to do so. I know that His plan and His way is a tough way, but it is the only way to progress and to return to be with Him. Because I am not perfect, He provided me with a Savior, who is central to God's plan for me. I know that God's son - my older brother- Jesus Christ, is my Savior. He atoned for my sins and He died for me. I know that He also was resurrected, so that I one day will be able to be resurrected and made perfect like Him and my Father in Heaven. I know that Christ lives. I know that I have been given my family, so that I can have joy in this life and in the next. I love you all very much. I know that God has given the world scriptures, the Bible and the Book of Mormon, so that we can learn of, follow, and come closer to Him and His son. I know that there are prophets and apostles today, who receive revelation and continue to guide and direct us with the proper priesthood authority restored to the earth by Joseph Smith. I know and I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior. 

                                                                                                 Water Day.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary and to serve Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love serving in Armenia and I love the people I have met here. I love and miss you all so much!

Have a wonderful week,

Misa