Claire's Mission in Armenia: "Spring in the City"
Dearest dear ones of my heart,
This week was wonderful. I am loving the city so very very much and loving Sister Bobzien even more. She is amazing. We are already such good friends and it makes working as companions that much more joyful. So the work is hard here. Rumors fly and people that were once golden and full of promise hear some bad words about us from their neighbor and decide stop trusting the feelings that they felt with us and leave the path to true joy and salvation behind.True sadness. Well We keep pressing forward and keep smiling and wearing lots of colors and brushing my hair everyday and things like that. This week has really been full of miracles. It is amazing the people that we have met so far in our dear little Malatia. One is the cutest little family in our branch. Mom and dad both RMs and the cutest little kids named Arame and Manana (means Manna in armenian). We went there for FHE last week and taught about having a foundation in Christ and then played Jenga. It was so fun to be in a home where there was so much love and devotion to the Gospel.
Also this week we met with Anna, a woman who used to live in Fresno and was initially only interested in us taking her back to the US but after the first lesson she has accepted to be baptized and has invited two of her friends and her brother to start learning with us. The joy of the Gospel is such a tangible feeling, that just begs to be shared and that joy truly increases as we share it. Narek and Marine are a 9 year old boy and his mom who we are teaching. They are the cutest and just love church and the Book of Mormon and Marine told us that Narek had asked her all days when we were going to come and he started waiting outside for us 2hours before our appointment. haha.too cute. We also had an interesting lesson in a park (There are tons of parks here where old men play chess and backgammon, and there are lots of benches) with a 25 year old boy who was a contact of the elders before us and when he came to meet with us he brought both of us roses... kind of awkward, but he was nice and non creepy, so we said come to church, and we can introduce you to the elders there.haha.
The weather has really been a gift. I hear they had snow in Gyumri just 2 days ago and as much as I loved that little town I am so happy to be basking in the sun now. We walk and walk and walk some more helping ladies carry bags home only to see that their home is really a distillery, goodness the smell! they tried to send us home with a pop bottle filled with wine, but we left before they could... Some people are nice, some ignore us and a very few say mean things to us, like yelling at us that we have no right preaching to the world's first Christians. But we just try our best and keep our heads held high and don't let the meanies ruin our days.
Its interesting, we have been meeting with several people that have a really hard time accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture,one man actually said," I have the Bible, I have enough, I don't want anymore." dangerous words my friend. The Lord offers us more of His word, wouldn't any follower of Christ want that? I know I would.
I just love Sister Bobzien, she is amazing.So funny and an amazing cook- we had curry this week :) - and she is so committed to this work. We are working together so well, its like a 24 hour 7 days a week sleepover with a dear friend! love it!!
Easter was yesterday and a very happy Easter to you all!!! Its a pretty big holiday here, it starts on Saturday at 5 and lasts until Sunday at 5. lots of bells ringing and people saying Shnorhavor! Which means congratulations/happy easters/ anything else nice or exciting. It was a great opportunity to talk to people about the Savior. Sis B and I realized that we both own the same dress, just in different colors, so we wore them and matched. see picture. Also I translated all of Sacrament meeting into Armenian for our senior couple! It was so hard, but amazing to realize how much I really understand. What a gift from the Lord, He has truly blessed me in innumberable ways. Well dearest and nearest and farest and loveliest loved ones, Have a lovely week. We are off to Edgmiatsin- Holy capital of Armenian church- to jet around and see what there is to see, pictures to come!!!
Sincerely,
Sister Claire Margaret Haynie
ps. I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with Grammy's brown sugar and chocolate chips she sent. PURE JOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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This week was wonderful. I am loving the city so very very much and loving Sister Bobzien even more. She is amazing. We are already such good friends and it makes working as companions that much more joyful. So the work is hard here. Rumors fly and people that were once golden and full of promise hear some bad words about us from their neighbor and decide stop trusting the feelings that they felt with us and leave the path to true joy and salvation behind.True sadness. Well We keep pressing forward and keep smiling and wearing lots of colors and brushing my hair everyday and things like that. This week has really been full of miracles. It is amazing the people that we have met so far in our dear little Malatia. One is the cutest little family in our branch. Mom and dad both RMs and the cutest little kids named Arame and Manana (means Manna in armenian). We went there for FHE last week and taught about having a foundation in Christ and then played Jenga. It was so fun to be in a home where there was so much love and devotion to the Gospel.
Also this week we met with Anna, a woman who used to live in Fresno and was initially only interested in us taking her back to the US but after the first lesson she has accepted to be baptized and has invited two of her friends and her brother to start learning with us. The joy of the Gospel is such a tangible feeling, that just begs to be shared and that joy truly increases as we share it. Narek and Marine are a 9 year old boy and his mom who we are teaching. They are the cutest and just love church and the Book of Mormon and Marine told us that Narek had asked her all days when we were going to come and he started waiting outside for us 2hours before our appointment. haha.too cute. We also had an interesting lesson in a park (There are tons of parks here where old men play chess and backgammon, and there are lots of benches) with a 25 year old boy who was a contact of the elders before us and when he came to meet with us he brought both of us roses... kind of awkward, but he was nice and non creepy, so we said come to church, and we can introduce you to the elders there.haha.
The weather has really been a gift. I hear they had snow in Gyumri just 2 days ago and as much as I loved that little town I am so happy to be basking in the sun now. We walk and walk and walk some more helping ladies carry bags home only to see that their home is really a distillery, goodness the smell! they tried to send us home with a pop bottle filled with wine, but we left before they could... Some people are nice, some ignore us and a very few say mean things to us, like yelling at us that we have no right preaching to the world's first Christians. But we just try our best and keep our heads held high and don't let the meanies ruin our days.
Its interesting, we have been meeting with several people that have a really hard time accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture,one man actually said," I have the Bible, I have enough, I don't want anymore." dangerous words my friend. The Lord offers us more of His word, wouldn't any follower of Christ want that? I know I would.
I just love Sister Bobzien, she is amazing.So funny and an amazing cook- we had curry this week :) - and she is so committed to this work. We are working together so well, its like a 24 hour 7 days a week sleepover with a dear friend! love it!!
Easter was yesterday and a very happy Easter to you all!!! Its a pretty big holiday here, it starts on Saturday at 5 and lasts until Sunday at 5. lots of bells ringing and people saying Shnorhavor! Which means congratulations/happy easters/ anything else nice or exciting. It was a great opportunity to talk to people about the Savior. Sis B and I realized that we both own the same dress, just in different colors, so we wore them and matched. see picture. Also I translated all of Sacrament meeting into Armenian for our senior couple! It was so hard, but amazing to realize how much I really understand. What a gift from the Lord, He has truly blessed me in innumberable ways. Well dearest and nearest and farest and loveliest loved ones, Have a lovely week. We are off to Edgmiatsin- Holy capital of Armenian church- to jet around and see what there is to see, pictures to come!!!
Sincerely,
Sister Claire Margaret Haynie
ps. I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with Grammy's brown sugar and chocolate chips she sent. PURE JOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3 attachments
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