# 54

Dear President,

We were able to meet with a lot of people this week (new and less active members and investigators). 

We met with the single mother in Vanadzor who has been very busy lately. We read from the Book of Mormon with her and went over the qualifications for baptism with her. She seems eager and wants to be baptized, but it has just been so hard to meet with her because of her busy schedule. We've dropped by a few times and have been able to see her, but have not been able to schedule a time for her baptismal interview. We will keep trying. 

We also met with the taxi driver's wife. Her health is doing better and she was able to find time to have a lesson with us. She has been taught everything, but we're still just trying to help her strengthen her faith and love for the Savior so that she can make the necessary steps toward baptism (like get a marriage license). She has quit coffee though, which is excellent!

A member in our ward also has two friends that we have been meeting with. They have met with missionaries in the past, and they know much about the church. We are just unsure if they have pure desires in being baptized or if there are other motives. They have both been taught about the Restoration and a tripod. 

The grandmother we are teaching has been having a hard time remembering the things we teach and her son isn't the most supportive of us coming, so we may need to give her back to the Lord for a little bit, but we will visit her again this week to see how she is doing.

We are also meeting with a man who works in Yerevan during the week, but is home on the weekends. It has been hard to meet with him, but he has stopped by the church for lessons and knows quite a few of the members. Since he spends most of his time in Yerevan, we may pass him off to the missionaries there, though we have decided for sure yet. 

We also picked up a new investigator this week (the Gyumri Branch President's mother-in-law), who seems very well prepared to learn about the gospel. We are going to meet with her and set a baptismal date soon.

We also meet with our new members in Alaverdi this week. They are doing very well. It seems like every time we see the kids, they just jump up and down and start listing off the 10 commandments or the Word of Wisdom...it makes me happy! We had a great lesson with them about Lehi's drem and holding to the rod. We tied that in with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

We also met with our investigator there that needs to receive a marriage license. She and her family are not ready at this time to get a marriage license, so we may need to hand her back to the Lord.

We had a great opportunity this week to help clean up one of the parks in Vanadzor and we had more community members join and help than members that showed up! The church's efforts are really being made known in the area.

I want to thank you for calling me to let me that I will be transferred this week. I had the opporunity to give a talk in church on Sunday and it really made me reflect on the what I have learned since serving in Vanadzor and throughout my mission. I recognize that in Arabkir I learned to love God and to trust Him that miracles will occur and to have faith in His plan for me. And since being in Vanazdor I have learned to follow God's will (no matter how hard it is), to use Christ's atonement and become changed through Him. I've learned that when we follow God's will we keep our eye single to His glory and as we help others, we will become changed along the way. I love Alma 5:14: "And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?" I know that as I work hard and focus on God's glory in bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man, that He will change me into who He needs me to be.

I am grateful for the opportunity I've had to serve in Vanadzor and I am looking forward to serving in my new area.

Thank you for your hard work and for your prayers and love.

I love you!

Sister Morreall

Dear Family,

Transfers are this week! I have no idea where I'm going!! Stay tuned for next week's letter!!

Also Elder Bednar is coming to my mission the end of May. I'll keep you updated on that!

Love you all!!

Misa :)

# 53

Dear President, 

I hope you had a great Easter yesterday! We had a good week, despite the fact that many of our investigators seem to be struggling in progressing right now. We had many lessons which focused on them and why they need to be keeping commitments. Hopefully next week a lot more of them (we hope all of them) will be progressing. 

We went to Alavaerdi this week and still were unable to meet with the young woman there, but we were able to meet with her mother, who we picked up as an investigator and gave a baptismal date.

We met with the children in Alaverdi as well and reviewed the 10 commandments with them. 

We also met with the newly baptized members there. We retaught the Plan of Salvation and talked about temples as well. They all seemed really excited and even started making plans for going to the temple together. They also hold family prayers together and read together from the Book of Mormon. It made my heart so happy to hear that!

We've also been trying to meet with the taxi driver's wife lately, but she has been pretty busy. Most people were busy this week because of the Easter holiday. We did have one investigator come to Sacrament meeting though, which was very nice. We are planning on meeting with all of the people who were busy this week.

We also have been meeting with our member's daughter who is in town for a bit. We had a great lesson with them on the Plan of Salvation and today we are planning on teaching the Restoration with the father. He seems eager to learn about that and wanted to be a part of it. We are excited to see how it will turn out. 

We have also been meeting with a lot of new members and less actives lately. One Easter we had the opportunity to go to a member's house (whose son and daughter-in-law are not members, but the grandkids are) for a meeting. Her son was leaving for Russia that night to work for six months. The senior couple here shared the "Because of Him" video on Christ's atonement and then the 10 y.o. grand daughter read from 3 Ne 11 (where Christ appears to the Nephites after His resurrection). I think the father really felt the Spirit in his heart. He asked for our phone numbers and he even picked up my Book of Mormon and started flipping through it...so of course we gave him a copy. We also pulled up the nearest church to him in Russia. I saw him put the Book of Mormon in his bag for Russia before we left. That was such a sweet meeting. To be able to spend Easter with a family whose father's heart was opened to the gospel was such a tender experience that I will remember forever. 

Exchanges this week were a great learning experience for me. I've never felt so unified with a sister on an exchange before, so it was pretty easy to focus on our purpose and the people. I learned a lot from Sister W, like how to follow the Spirit and really focus on teaching the people and not the lessons. She is great at that. I have listed those as goals for myself for the upcoming week.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

I love you!

Sister Morreall

Dear Family,

I hope you all had a great Easter with the family!! Also, did you all see in General Conference the Armenian Preach My Gospel that made an appearance during one of the talks? 

Last Monday we had the opportunity as a district to go to an Armenian play of a Tumanyan fairytale. It was super cool! 

This week we had exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders in their area for the third time in my misson...I must be a problem sister or something haha. I loved being back there though because the Bishop there always jokes around with me and he's super funny. Also, I saw the Stake President who I absolutely LOVEEEEE. It was so good to see him again, I rarely get to see him since I'm up in the North.

I hope you are having a fun time with the family there!! 

Misa :)

Fun/cool facts:

Armenians buy wreaths of palm leaves (or weeping willow leaves cause they're cheaper) and hang them in their houses on Easter until the next year when they buy a new one. Then they bury the old one. It is supposed to bring them good luck for the next year.

They break hard boiled eggs by hitting them together...which ever one has the bigger crack loses...so the kids in the village play against each other to see who wins. 

They say this on Easter instead of hello: "Christ resurrected from death". The response back is "Blessed is Christ's resurrection".

They eat rice with sweet raisins cooked in it. The rice represents worldly people and the raisins represent Saints. Take the bitter and the sweet.

# 52

Dear President,

I will be joining you and Sister Carlson in my studies about Christ's love and love this week. 

This was quite the eventful week for us!

We went around with the senior couple here and distributed invitations to General Conference to the members in our area. We had a decent turn out on both days. While we were going around inviting our members, we talked to this lady who had just moved into the area. We only had time to talk to her for a little bit, but we gave her our contact info and invited her to General Conference and she actually called us and came! Our members made fast friends with her and started talking to her about what we believe...she didn't understand everything they were talking to her about, but then she said "Well, I guess I need to take lessons from the missionaries to find out more!" We were more than happy to hear that and will be meeting with her this week :)

As you are well aware, we've been having a few incidents with some boys on the street. I am in agreeance with what you said about making friends instead of involving the police first. Our bishop is aware of the situation and calls us regularly to check on our safety. Several ward members have also volunteered to walk with us (especially at night) for our protection (which also works out well with what President Bennett said about finding on the street with a member). The senior couple and elders of course are always a phone call away as well. We haven't had any problems since we've been out with members lately.

Also, the 16 y.o. girl (member) who comes with us to meetings had told us before that she had permission to come to our apartment. I want to apologize for not asking you directly about that. We talked to her and she won't be stopping by anymore (and there seems to be no hurt feelings).

We went up to Alaverdi this week and met with our investigators there. We met with young mother again and she seems to be progressing with reading and praying and her understanding of the gospel. The only thing holding her and her family back is receiving a marriage license. She knows that she needs one, so we have been trying not to go back to it over and over again, but instead are trying to teach the principles of faith and obedience better. I received a lot of good insight on that from General Conference this weekend. 

We also met with the friend of the mother and children who were recently baptized. She was pretty busy, so we didn't get much in, but we are still planning to meet with her this week and the elders are too. She will need to be interviewed this week when the elders go up. (They told me sometime later in the week, like Thursday or Friday, but you may want to check with them.) The members do not have skype in their home, but I am sure that the elders could call you from their phone to do the interview if you are unavailable to come. 

We also met with Sister T's family friend in Alaverdi. She is doing very well and is continuing to read the Book of Mormon. We will need to review a few things with her in later visits and will also plan on giving her a baptismal date.

We have not been able to meet with the single mother in Vanadzor lately. She is still taking care of her grandfather. We call her daily to see how she is doing and are still praying that she will be able to meet with us. 

We also met with a member's daughter (who is visiting for a few weeks) and were able to read The Livng Christ and teach and her two young children about the Plan of Salvation. She has studied with Jehovah's Witnesses in the past and knows the Bible very well. We are trying to use both the Book of Mormon and the Bible in lessons to show how they support one another and how the Book of Mormon has all of the complete doctrine. 

We have also met with a father and son this week who are very interested in religion. They ask a lot of good questions (questions of the soul) and we were able to talk to them a little bit about prophets. We hope to teach them about the Restoration next lesson.

The taxi driver's wife has been sick lately, but she came to church with her family! She stayed for the Sunday Morning Session of Conference. We will be meeting with her tonight to follow up on commitments we have given over the week. 

We also met with a few members and new members this week and asked them what their thoughts were on General Conference. (Many of them watched it online in their homes because the senior couple had taught them how to do so). All gave great reports on what they've learned and what they will apply in their lives.

My companion seems to be doing better this week and has been able to participate in the lessons more. She told me that earlier this week she was still feeling sick, but not as bad. But the last couple of days she has been doing well. Today she told me that it doesn't hurt anymore, which is excellent news :)

During General Conference this week, I especially loved Elder Corbridge's talk which focused so much on doctrinal truths. I've been feeling like I need to improve my teaching of the doctrine and wasn't sure where to start first, but found my answer through his talk. I also really loved Elder Uchtdorf's talk about gratitute, especially during hard times. That's a lesson I've learned here on my mission and I really take it to heart. 

Thank you so much for your love and for your support. I love you!

Have a Happy Easter!

Love,

Sister Morreall

Dear Family,

HAPPY EASTER!!! I hope you know how much I love and miss you all! We had a crazy week this week (mostly with boys following us - but luckily Sister H rescued us, one boy calling us repeatedly and one kissing me on the lips during a prayer!!!) But it's all taken care of now. I was mostly happy this week from General Conference and the amazing talks that were given. I seriously learned so so so much. I encourage you all to read Sister Linda S. Reeve's talk together and to read from PMG together as a family (maybe in FHE). We can share together what wer've been learning :) I loved the quote by elder Neil L. Andersen: "Families are the treasure of Heaven." It's true!

I was also super happy this week when three different Armenians randomly asked me "Are you Armenian?" Pres. P of the Stake Presidency here asked me if I was and I told him no and he was like "Well you look like one and you talk like one...why aren't you Armenian?!" Haha made me so happy! 

On the way back from Alaverdi this week we saw a rainbow. At first I thought it was just pretty cause I hadn't seen one in a long time, but then I realized I am here in Armenia...where Noah landed the ark...and God promised he would never flood the earth again by the sign of a rainbow. Which probably first appeared in Armenia. So cool!

Also, two of our elders had birthdays this week, so to make them happy we were looking for cheap gifts and we found get this...eggs on a stick!! Only in Armenia. So we bought two and gave them to the elders haha.

Anyway, have a wonderful Easter! I want to share my testimony that I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that he atoned and died for us and that He lives today! He loves you. Heavenly Father is watching over you all. I love and miss you!

# 51

Dear President,

We had a good week this week! There was an Open Door event at the church this Saturday and a few members brought their friends. We also contacted a few people on the streets who came as well...they actually ended up knowing a lot of our members! We are going to try and meet with them this week and pick them up as investigators. 

I am sure you are aware that my companion has been feeling sick this week. It actually started last week with some pain above her stomach and below her lungs. She said it was very sharp and at first it hurt to breathe. She's been a trooper and coming to lessons, but I can tell that it's still not comfortable for her and she hasn't been participating in lessons as much because of the pain. We stayed inside for a few hours this week and called former investigators because it was hard for her to be outside. She will probably tell you that she is fine, but I know she's been dealing with it for a week now and it may be good for her to see a doctor if it doesn't stop by the end of this week. She will also probably not like me telling you this but I think you should know!

                                                          Skinned knee from playing basketball.

Our investigators have been doing well. We learned this week that the girls in Alaverdi that we have been teaching have moved to Yerevan. We gave their contact information to the Arabkir Sisters, so hopefully they will be in contact with them soon.

With regards to our other investigators, it has been hard to get them to focus on progressing and not just settling where they are at. 

We met with the single mother this week, and scheduled her baptismal interview for next Saturday. She still needs to keep coming to church though. It has been hard for her because she is taking care of her sick grandfather, but we have told her that it's an act of faith to come to church and that the Lord will bless her with strength to continue taking care of him. She has been continuing to read and pray.

We also have finished teaching the taxi driver's wife everything, we are also just trying to help her show her faith and obedience and go and get a marriage license so that she can be baptized. 

That is also our main concern with the young mother in Alaverdi who we visited with you.

I've been studying for them a lot this week and it came down to a few scriptures on being truly converted. In Alma 5:14-15, it says:  "And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty cchange in your hearts? Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?" I think we need to focus on making sure our investigators are truly converted. I have no doubt that all of them have felt the Spirit, I just know that they can not progress or show that they are truly committed without acting and keeping commandments, no matter how hard it may be. But how do we get them to do that? I think the answer is that our investigators need to EXPERIENCE who the Savior is and who Heavenly Father is. As they come to understand their characters, they will naturally grow to love them and therefore keep their commandments. I was reading in John 14 this week and in that chapter Christ teaches us "If ye love me, keep my commandments...He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." My focus this week will be on helping our investigators experience theire Father in Heaven, because He is so personal. I know that in my life the times when I have come to grow and understand who my Savior is who my Father is were when I relied fully on them and put my trust in them. Hopefully, we will be able to extend some better committments to help our investigators experience that more and teach them that they can have a very personal relationship with our Father. This will help them to really love Him and want to keep His commandments. 

To answer your question from your email this week, I think that bringing more people to the Savior starts with our personal committment to serve Him. It's hard to say for everyone because differernt people have different strengths and are at different points in their mission. But I think it comes down to commitment. In the Introduction to the White Handbook, it talks about living the higher law and striving to do so. For myself, I've tried to focus on becoming more Christlike by studying Christlike attributes. Not only has it helped me grow closer to the Savior, but it's helped me change by desire to serve. I am more happy in serving and I want to serve others because it's just apart of me now. I'm sorry if that sounds really corny, but I couldn't think of a better way to say it! Finding more people and teaching them better will come as a natural result this way. 

Thanks so much for your love and concern for me and my family! This is this weeks update: "The MRI results came back and the MRI was stable again which means no progression of any possible cancer (good news); we'll see what Duke recommends on Tuesday."

Thank you so much for you prayers for me and my family as well. I love you and Sister Carlson so much! Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Morreall