# 31

Dear President,

 Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with A last night. Sister M and I have been praying for guidance to know how to act and what will be the right decision for him now and for his future. 

This week on Monday we held FHE for investigators, new members and single members of our ward. Our ward mission leader presented a lesson, and we had quite a few people show up. It went very well. 

On Tuesday, we met with T and reviewed the baptismal questions with her. I think it helped her to really focus on why she is wanted to get baptized and how serious of a covenant baptism is. We then met with R and unfortunately, she just had not been acting and we had to hand her back over to the Lord for a little bit. We will continue to invite her to activities, but as far as lessons, she will need to show that she is going to act and follow through on commitments. After R, we met with L (new member) and read from the Book of Mormon with her. We have been continually asking her about what she is learning and reading from the Book of Mormon, because we get the feeling that she hasn't been reading lately. We are trying to stress the importance of reading daily from the Book of Mormon with her. We will check on her progress next time we meet with her. 

On Wednesday, we met with K (new member). She has a young family (but unfortunately her husband is not interested in the gospel), so we decided we would read and discuss The Family: A Proclamation to the World with her. She really enjoyed it and was actively involved in discussions on her role as a mother. After, we met with a new investigator, A, and taught her a 1st. She has many questions, but she accepted everything well. We also met with M and A (it was M's last day here). We taught M and A a 3rd and invited them to be baptized. They both were hesitant, but A continued to keep meeting with us. After, we met with T and talked about tithing, but she had to leave and so we weren't able to teach much. 

On Thursday, we continued our lesson with T and talked about the importance of tithing and the use of sacred church funds. We also talked about fasting and fast offerings. She agreed to pay tithing and donate fast offerings after she is baptized. We then met with M (new member) and read from the Book of Mormon with her. She is so knowledgeable. I am continually impressed with how well she connects things and understands the doctrine of the scriptures! We then met with A, a new investigator, who has been coming to church. We taught her a 1st and gave her a baptismal date. It is hard for her though because of her health and her family is not all for her becoming a member...we will probably focus our next lesson on the gospel of Christ and the blessings that come by making and keeping covenants with Heavenly Father. Later, we had ward council. I am happy that ward council is becoming a regular scheduled meeting here now! (It took a while for that.)

On Friday, there was a Relief Society activity which our investigator T and two new members (M and K) went to. They thoroughly enjoyed learning to make desserts and the thoughts on motherhood. After the activity, we taught T about the Plan of Salvation. I think that she really enjoyed that lesson. She has a daughter who is very sick right now, from what I understand she is near death, so I think she found a lot of comfort from the Plan of Salvation lesson. We also met with A, after receiving a text that he sent us saying that he had decided that he wanted to be baptized. I know you have already heard about it, but that was a powerful meeting. One that I will not ever forget. 

On Saturday, we met with A again and taught him about the 10 commandments and keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. He is progressing really well. Every time we leave him with a commitment, he follows through. He also has many questions about the Book of Mormon, which have lead to some pretty great discussions. (Right before the meeting with you on Sunday, he told us he admired King Benjamin's teachings to his people.) After that meeting, we then met with T and taught her the Word of Wisdom and Chastity. She doesn't have a problem with the Word of Wisdom, but she will need to be interviewed by you regarding the Law of Chastity. Is Thursday in the afternoon still okay with you? 

On Sunday, we were disappointed that T was not able to make it to church and that A showed up late.  We met with A after church however and taught him the Word of Wisdom and Chasity. He has smoked and drank in the past, but he told us that he would stop. We will follow up with him on that in our meeting tonight. We then met with M (new member) and read from the Book of Mormon with her. 

Thank you again for your attention to A's situation. I understand that his situation is very unique and as a companionship we are continuing to pray for guidance and direction from the Lord. 

Because of our lessons with A, I wanted to understand a little bit more of what he has learned or understands about Abraham, so I felt prompted to read the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price. That is one of my favorite books of scripture now! I especially have felt my testimony of the Plan of Salvation grow. I am really glad that I have been able to better focus my studies on my investigators and am still learning to better apply what I learn. Also, as I have been focusing on one chapter of the Book of Mormon a day, I have been able to use some of the scriptures from that specific chapter in lessons. 

I really feel that this transfer I am learning so much more that Heavenly Father needs me to learn. I know that He is guiding my studies. I am so grateful for his influence in my life. I am grateful for the many blessings he is giving me, my companion,and our investigators. A few weeks ago, I thought that none of our investigators were going to progress or make it to baptism. Recently, I have seen the Lord's hand in their lives and have seen them move closer to baptism. It is such a blessing.

Thank you for your time this week. I love you and Sister C!

Love,

Sister Morreall

Dear Family,

Have an awesome Halloween!! I love and miss you all! I am sending a letter this week! 

Love,

Misa

Fun/cool things:

They have baby mannequins here. Yup.

Morreall in Russian means "sea"

Armenians eat raw hot dogs/ other meat on bread...it's not fun to swallow.

A lot of the times when we talk about Adam and Eve with Armenians they say that the story goes that Eve took a nibble of the fruit and Adam at the rest of it hahahaha I think that's super funny. 

# 30

Dear President,

We have had another blessed week this week. I know that Heavenly Father is preparing people to hear the gospel and that He is sending angels to help us find and teach them! We picked up two new investigators this week who seem promising. We also have set baptismal dates with two of our investigators, who are very excited about the gospel and have been keeping commitments. 

We have also been having a lot of support from the ward. Many members have come with us to lessons, and our ward mission leader has been on the ball. We met with him this week and have planned a Family Home Evening for investigators, new baptizees and single members, which will take place tonight. 

I have a question about one of our investigators though. In her past, she hasn't shown much faith or been very interested in religion. As we have been meeting with her, she has become very interested in the church and has expressed desire to be baptized. Of course, we were very excited at this! We soon learned however, that she has been having financial problems. She went to our Bishop, who gave her 40,000 dram...from church funds. We were very disappointed in this and I am beginning to question her motives behind being baptized. How do we go about talking to our Bishop about not giving out money? And can we honestly know if our investigators is serious about being baptized for the right reasons? This is something I have been pondering. 

I am really grateful for the advice and the challenge you have given me to leave the end of the day for contemplation and thinking about investigators. I am finding that it helps me to better plan lessons that fit their needs. I haven't had any big impressions yet, but I know that I have been able to think more clearly as we plan our lessons, which has already been a great blessing. 

As far as my goal of really searching the scriptures and digging deeper into them, I have to say I really feel the Lord has been giving me subtle and not so subtle hints that I need to better study and apply what I am learning. Did you know that in the "Effective Study" section of Preach My Gospel it says "apply what you learn" about 10 times. I am embarrassed to say that I could have been applying things a lot better a long time ago, and I don't know why I wasn't already. I have been working out my repentance with the Heavenly Father. I have really been striving to better improve in knowledge of the scriptures so that I can become a more effective teacher and missionary. I have always believed that diligence, hard work and goals are three things that help people to progress and to become who they want to become. I hope you don't mind, but I thought about what you said about reading 1 chapter from the Book of Mormon every morning, thinking about it during the day, and then rereading it at night...I have set that as a new goal for me, to help me become better acquainted with the scriptures, my Heavenly Father and my Savior. I know that They both know me personally and perfectly, and I want to better come to know Them. I have found that by reading 1 chapter in the morning and at night, the scriptures are a lot more meaningful and applicable to me and my investigators, and I am remembering more specific verses that I can go to in lessons. It is giving the Spirit a lot more to work with when He teaches.

Also, I want to thank you for meeting with our investigators this week. We hope that they will continue to progress. Thank you for your advice, your love and the light you have brought to the mission. Have a great week! 

Sister Morreall

Dear Family,

I hope you are all having a great week! Does Trev have his license yet? What are you all going to be for Halloween? I will write a letter to you this week! Love you all!

Love,

Misa 

Fun facts:

In the Armenians Bible, it says that the flaming bush that Moses say was a raspberry bush.

I get asked at least three times a day if I have a boyfriend...they want me to marry an Armenian boy.

Armenian women always wear tights in the winter. They think they will catch a cold if they don't.

# 29

Dear Family, 

This week has been another good one! 

We have picked up another investigator who walked into the church wanting to know more. She has a baptismal date. We have also been working a lot with less-active members. We have found a few new investigators that way. (Members and less-active members are key!) We also had a cool experience with prayer this week. My companion and I prayed about where to go walking. We met someone on the street from another country in the region, who is interested in our faith. We are now meeting with this person and their family member to teach them the gospel. I can't really give any information about them, but if they accept the gospel and are baptized, it will be big! I am really loving this area. I am a little biased though, since I was trained here and have been here for almost 5 months. 

Thank you for all of the prayers. The language is still coming along. 

I have a funny story for you. We were at a member's house for family home evening. We were teaching the Plan of Salvation and the 6 year old son started explaining why we came here to earth. When he started talking about how we all came here to get bodies, he started climbing all over me and pointed to my face and said "nayi ays misa" which means "look at this flesh"...but it's funny because "Misa" in Armenian means meat/flesh...so he was also saying look at this Misa! Hahaha.

Did everyone enjoy Conference? I did! We went to Ajapniak and watched it as a district (with the Assistants, Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders). Fun fact: When Elder Nelson was talking about primary kids singing "I Am A Child of God"...that was here in Armenia.

I hope you all are doing well. I enjoy the emails every week!

Love, 

Misa

Fun fact: I rode in a marshutani (van) with 26 people this week. That is my new record...not that I am counting or anything.

Pics- While helping someone pick apples in their orchard I decided to recreate the scene of Eve eating the fruit. 

# 28

President C,

As a companionship, we have been greatly blessed this week. Out of the four less actives we have been working with, three came to church. We also met a member on the street this week, who hadn’t been to church in years, by just stopping to talk to her. She joined the church here in Armenia, but then moved to Russia and lost contact with the church, when she came back to Armenia she couldn’t find it. She had been looking for the church here for 14 years, and has now finally found it again. She came to church this Sunday. We also picked up six new investigators, five in one day! We received three as referrals (one from Stake President H, two from less active members), two we met on the street, and one walked into the office and asked to learn about what we believe! I know that Heavenly Father really is helping us to find those who are prepared to hear the message of the gospel. It is interesting to me too, because this week on the prayer list we wrote “Find the elect and have the help of angels.” We really did have the help of angels. One of our investigators even told us that she had a dream where two angels appeared to her. I know this might sound strange, but I have even felt at times that angels were near or helping me at times during the week. Several people this week have come up to us and told us that there is something different about us, that we have light in our eyes.

As a result, I have studied that a lot this week. Especially since we always say that we want our “eye single to the glory of God.” The eye is the window to the soul. It allows us to know and see evidence of things for ourselves. Our eyes distinguish light from dark. So for me, to have our eyes focused on the glory of God to me means that we can become like Him through studying the scriptures (one of the many evidences of Him) and doing His will (the only intelligent thing to do -  as it says in the 4th Missionary). After all, He is the most intelligent being, He sees all, and is the source of all knowledge, truth and light. His glory is to “bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” This is what I need to strive to be doing as well. I know that as I do so, He will open my eyes to understanding so that I can become more like Him and we will be filled with His light.

Sister M and I will continue to work and follow the promptings of the Spirit with our new investigators, along with the less-active members in our ward.

Have a wonderful week!

Sister Morreall