# 68

Letter from Mission Pres:

Great letter! Thank you for your thoughts. We are trying to get info. on an addiction recovery program. We will let you know when we hear.

How is the new companion?

Thank you for all your help once again this past week. We will leave you alone for a few days. Until Friday!

We love you. See you soon.

Dear President,

We survived transfers! We all made it out alive with only minor bumps and bruises :) The new missionaries are all fantastic and ready to work. It was sad to see Sister W go. Her example of charity, humility and finding happiness in the work will remain impressed on my heart and mind throughout this next transfer. But I can already tell that it is going to be a great transfer with Sister B. She is so full of life and love! She is very enthusiastic and looking forward to helping each of the sisters find happiness and joy in the work. She is getting along well inthe area and has been able to meet quite a few people already.

We set a few goals for the transfer: (1) Finding a family and working with them to the end goal - baptism (2) Unity within the companionship, assistants and sisters (3) Being a solid rock and friend for each of the sisters.

Our new baptizee was confirmed yesterday at church and her husband cam eto church with her to see it! We had a lesson with them about temples and going to the temple one dayto be sealed together and the husband expressed his interest in being baptized. So we gave him a date (Aug 30) and have now begun working with him as well. It is hard for him to move though because he uses cane. We can talk him and his wife to church, but we don't want him to always really on us (and his wife can get their on her own). If he reads the Book of Mormon and prays, but isn't always able to make it to church would he still be considered a progressing investigator and can be baptized?

I also ask that question for an older grandmother who wants to get baptized with her 8 year old grandson. She can't make it to church, but can read the Book of Mormon and pray. 

Our 13 year old investigator came back from the Youth Conference (which she really enjoyed) and actually came up to us and asked to be baptized this Saturday! She already asked one of the ward members to baptize her. We have this Saturday as her date, and her mother is aware, but we are going to finalize the plans and finish her lessons this week so that she can be baptized. We are hoping that she will be the example for her mother, who will follow soon after and be baptized. 

We also have been meeting with the mother and son that we met on the street. They are very smart and ask a lot of questions. It seems that they expect answers right away instead of relying on the Spirit or taking the time to read first. But they are coming along. They pray and they read the Book of Mormon. They also came to church for the first time this past week. The son seems more interested than the mom, so we are hoping to pass him off to the elders this week.

We haven't met with the lady whose daughters just got back from Georgia yet. We've been trying, but she has had family in town keeping her busy. We are hoping to see her tonight and rekindle her desire for baptism.

We are also meeting with a Russian lady in Yeghvard (village) who seems very interested in the gospel. She had a dream of someone dressed in white. We talked to her about the Restoration and gave her a Russian Book of Mormon, which she will hopefully begin reading. Her biggest difficulty may be coming to church because she lives further away, but we are going to help her set that as a goal. 

It was great to see you and Sister C this week! Thank you for all that you do. I love you both so much! See you Friday!

Love,

Sister Morreall

Dear Family,

 I am in my same area (Ajapnyak) and Sister B(from the group I was supposed to go with in the MTC before I got moved up) is now my companion. We had been connected on facebook before the mission and she wrote me and sent me cupcakes in the MTC, so I am super excited to be serving with her. She reminds me so much of Kendal! I am in my last transfer now, so it will be fun to serve with her until October. We had interviews with the new missionaries this week, assigned them to trainers, had loads of new trainee/trainer meetings and saw the departing missionaries off. It feels good to be back to work with my new companion. We also had a baptism too and I met a lady from Egypt on the street!! That was way cool!! And Alaverdi (I worked in that area when I served in Vanadzor) was opened up to missionaries, which I am super excited about. Things are going well here. I hope you all are doing great as well!!

I love and miss you all so much!!

Love,

Misa :)

Random: I got epilated this week!!! Basically one of our members was like "sisters you need to pluck your arm hairs because it looks pretty" and she took this machine (it looks like a razor) and rubbed it on my arm...well it's really a bunch of tweezers and it took all my arm hair out!! Crazy!! It killed. 

Also, it was water day on Sunday! The national water fight day haha. So we got dumped on by a ton of people...missionaries are easy targets haha but it was fun!!

# 67

Dear President,

This week has been quite the busy week!

We had our exchange with the Center sisters, which went very well. Sister B is a fantastic missionary! She is very well balanced in teaching and is implementing the commitments given by President B. She is so loving and the people in this area already love and respect her so much. She will be a solid strong Sister Training Leader and I am looking forward to serving with her.

On the Center exchange, I was able to see Sister T after the Center District Meeting and she talked to me about something that has been bothering her. She said she would talk to you about it, but I thought I'd tell you too in case she doesn't write. One of the members in Vandzor has been in good contact with Sister T's family for her whole mission and this past week Sister T received a call from that member who had her father on the line (via skype). Sister T said she was completely shocked and had no idea the member was going to call her with her dad on the line to talk to her. She said she didn't know what to do and she talked to her dad for a few minutes and then told both her dad and the member it wasn't allowed and that she needed to go. She feels really bad about what happened, but doesn't know how to prevent it from happening again. I told her that she was right and did the bst she could in the situation and to tell the member that it can't happen again, so hopefully that won't be a problem again. 

We been able to meet with quite a few of our investigators this week! One of our investigators passed her interview and will be getting baptized this Tuesday and 12 and she is so excited! She is already inviting people and cannot wait to be baptized. 

Our other investigator whose daughters are back from Georgia was very close to baptism, but we found out she had a Word of Wisdom relapse, so we will be working with her on overcoming coffee. 

Our 13 year old investigator came to church with her mom this week and will be going to the Youth Conference. She is very excited and said she wants to keep meeting afterwards to be baptized!

We also have been meeting with the mother and son who we met on the street. They are very prepared to hear the gospel. The son doesn't smoke or drink and has a nice job that allows him to come to church on Sundays. Our only concern with them right now is that they tend to get off topic easily during the lessons. So we are coming up with ways to help them stay focussed and get back on topic. We gave them a Book of Mormon and have been reading and are very open and willing to pray. 

We are also working with a less active family, which Elder S taught and baptized when he was here. The daughters are making great progress in becoming reactivated. The father is leaving for Afghanistan soon, so Elder S was worried about that. Would it be okay if we called him every few weeks just to update him on their progress?

When I was on exchanges with Malatia, I met that man who is interested in helping people with addictions. He called this week and we met with him in a park. He said that after talking to us on the phone about the addiction recovery program, he had a dream with a tree and fruit on the tree. He said Christ was there and beckoning him to come partake of the fruit on the tree. He asked us if that had any significance. We talked to him about Lehi's dream and gave him a Book of Mormon to read it. We then passed him to the Malatia elders for them to teach him. Do you know if they need to go through the Stake President about an addication recovery program?

Sister W and I feel very good about the changes you made to transfers. One thing I thought I'd mention to you is that when you mentioned Sister B opening Hrazdan the first time, it really resonated with me. I know that she or Sister S would do well either way, but I just can't stop thinking about Sister B in Hrazdan. That's my only thought about transfers though!

This week I was able to experience the atonement in a different way. Throughout my studies this week, I've felt like what I've studied for my investigators has been exactly what I needed to hear. It has been such a tender mercy. I was thinking a lot about my imperfections this week and how often I need to be reminded that there's One that made up for all of my imperfections. I know that the Savior's grace has helped me above and beyond what I could ever imagine in my life. I like the quote "We who are so forgetful and even rebellious are never forgotten by Him!" I know that He loves me despite my imperfections and my mistakes. I'm grateful for the opportunity to become better and work harder every day. I'm grateful for the examples that you and Sister C are to me. I love you both so much!

Love,

Sister Morreall

# 66

Dear President,

We had a good week this week! We were able to visit a lot of our investigators with our members and had some good lessons.

One day this week we had planned  to meet with a less active and then go to a member family right afterwards. When we got to the less active's home, she and her parents weren't home, so we took a bus to the member family's house, but got a call saying they couldn't meet. We then headed to our backup, but accidently took the wrong bus. When we got off, we ran into a lady on the street and helped her carry her groceries to her house. We sat down and started talking to her about the church and why we were here as missionaries.  Her son (who is about 28) came home from work and sat down and listened too. He is so prepared to hear the gospel! He has a good 8-5 job working for the National Statistics service here in Armenia and has weekends off to come to church. He also is learning English and already knows it pretty well. He's really smart and graduated with honors and has written a few books. He also reads the Bible every year and offered to pray at the end of our meeting with him. Both him and his mom were pretty interested to hear about the church, so we are planning to contact them again this week to set up a time to meet with them.

Another girl actually came up to us on the street this week and said that she had always seen the elders around who always said "hello" to her and she was curious about what we were doing here in Armenia. We had a good conversation with her about the church and are planning to meet with her too.

The Addiction Recovery Program man called this week and actually is interested in learning from the missionaries now! We are going to set up an appointment with him in the park and either pass him to the elders or find out which area missionaries he should meet with. He is really enthusiastic about helping out.

Our 13 year old investigator met with us this week and we were able to teach her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We're still waiting to be able to meet with her mother so we can invite her to be baptized. But she has been reading from the Children's Book of Mormon and reacheed pretty far in only a few days. We're going to give here a Book of Mormon when she finishes this one. She also came to the assistants' baptism this week with one of our members! She really liked it and I think she's a lot less nervous about the thought of baptism. We also heard that she went to the Arabkir ward this week for church with her member friend.

Our investigator (whose daughters came back from Georgia) was supposed to get baptized this week. She ended up working Friday-Saturday and was unable to make her date. We are sure that she wants to still be baptized, but think that she is a little nervous with the commitment. So we are planning to stob by today and talk about the Holy Ghost and the feelings we get from the Holy Ghost. It never leads us astray and will guide and help us in all decisions in our life. We're not going to stress that she gets baptized this week (although we would like her too), but we're going to let her decide when her knew date will be.

We also have been meeting with our other investigator who is close to baptism. It has always been hard for her to come to chruch, since her family comes to town on Sundays, but she's come the last few weeks. We offered to go with her to church this week, but she called and said that she wasn't feeling well. We may need to move her date back one week for her to be baptized, but other than that I think she is all set for baptism. She already invited her husband and family to come when she gets baptized! She's very enthusiastic about it.

I learned a lot from President Bennett's meeting this week. About the type of missionary (and person) that I am and how I want to be better. Sister Stauffer told me a quote she heard once: "Be extraordinary at the ordinary." I feel like right now I'm just ordinary at the ordinary in regards to missionary work. I know I do some things better than other things, but I've forgotten some things or have been lacking in areas. I've made some personal goals to step it up a notch. As I thought about what I could do to improve, I had a good self-examination and good talk with the Lord. I apologize for not stepping it up sooner and tightening up the screws, but I'm going to make that a goal this week. 

I had a good study during some meal time this week about desire. It stemmed from 1 Ne 11 when Nephi desires to see the vision that his father saw. I learned that desire is not enough. The first thing Nephi did and other prophets (such as Moses, Noah, Enos and Alma) was pray. Once that had a sincere desire for good, they took it to Heavenly Father. They knew they couldn't do it alone and they relied on his strength and help, but they also acted according to the deisres that they had as well so that they quailified for the Lord's help. I think it's interesting though that in order to fulfill and act on desires, we need to have a personal relationship with the Lord. I think most of the missionaries or people in general who don't understand their purpose or don't understand how they can bring it about, just don't have a solid relationship with Heavenly Father and the Lord. Because of the lack in relatiosnhip or trust, they aren't motivated to do anything (because there's no belief that anything will come out of it), and there is no action taken. 

I'm just so grateful for the relationship that I have with my Father in Heaven and with my Savior. I strive to strengthen and improve it everyday. 

I'm grateful for you and Sister C and for the opportunity to discuss the sisters and transfers yesterday. It is a humbling experience. Thank you for letting me be a part of that. I love you both so much!

Love,

Sister Morreall

# 65

Dear President, 

I hope you had a great week this week up in Georgia! Sister W and I had a great week :)

Our investigator's daughters came back from Georgia early! It was such a huge miracle when she called us! She said she had big news and called to make sure we were going to be at church on Sunday (where else would we be?) When we showed up to church she was there with her two daughters! We went to their house after church and she announced to her daughters that she wants to be baptized! She wants to be baptized this week, but since she works every other Sunday she is going to ask for work off this Sunday so she can get confirmed. If she can't get work off, then the baptism will be next Saturday.

Our other investigator who is also close to baptism came to church this week as well. She had to leave a little early thought because her tooth was lose and was almost going to fall out! (I bet you've never heard that reason before!) But she enjoys church and has been reading from the Book of Mormon and prays pretty frequently. Her date is for the 19th and I think she will be able to reach it! 

We are still trying to work with the little 8 year old and her family, and are just waiting on the father's permission for her to be baptized. 

We are also working with a less active lady and her friend in Yeghvard ( a village in our area). The friend said that she had a dream of a man in white last week and so she's interested in learning about our church. We picked her up as an investigator and will be going back this week.

We are also working with the young girl (13 year old) who wants to go to Youth Conference. We have been able to teach her the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation. We tried extending a baptismal date, but her mom wasn't there at the meeting we ask, so she was a little hesitant. So we are just waiting for our next meeting with her and her mom so we can talk to them both about it. 

We had another miracle this week! We visited a less active family who have 2 teenage girls and we talked to them about the Youth Conference. One of them is old enough to go, so we scheduled her interview with Bishop and told her she had to come to church this week. Well she showed up to church and brought her younger sister! She sat next to me in Sacrament Meeting and when people were bearing their testimonies she turned to me and asked "Does everyone have to do this?" I told her no, only if they felt like they should. She said (patting her heart) "I feel like I should." So she got up and bore her testimony! It was so sweet and tender! She hadn't been to church in over 9 months and said that she wants to come back. It was amazing.

My exchanges with Sister B went well this week. she has a good head on her shoulders. She was very open about things and gets things done. She said planning has been a little hard for her because she is new to the area and Sister B knows it better, but that she really likes meeting with the people. She's very down to earth and not afraid top be bold and loving. She's also doing well on the language and set some goals to have more effective language studies and to show more charity towards others. 

I've never felt so great a love for all of the missionaries in the mission.

While on the exchange with her I met a man on the street who does a 12 step addiction recovery program and helps those struggling with addictions. He was very nice and wanted to know if he could work with the church with this program. (He had heard about the church before and really respects it.) Do you know if we have any program like this going on right now in the church? Is there anyone he can talk to about it? He called a few days ago following up to see if I had found out anything yet.

I want to thank you for your interview with me on Thursday. You always know just what to say. Your question about where I find my emotional strength has stuck with me. I'm still not 100% sure where it comes from all of the time. But I know for sure it has been a special blessing from Heavenly Father given to me in times of need. Times I thought I would cry (or cry more) I didn't. I've just found reassurance in the fact that I know I need to be here and because I know that, anything that happens to me while I'm here or to my family back home while I'm away is just part of what he has in store for me and it will be okay. 

I saw a rainbow this past week, which is always been special for me to see in Armenia (since God made the promise with Noah about never flooding the earth again and the rainbows is a sign of that). I am reminded of the promises the Lord has promised me every time I see a rainbow. It's a very special sign to me.

Thank you for your love and all that you do. I love you and Sister C!

Love,

Sister Morreall