All is going well. I don't really have time to write, so I will keep it short. Ok, I guess I have a little more time than I was planning on. First of all, I want to say thanks to Heather for her email, since I can't email her anymore. I hope she is still reading the website then. I have to say, I wasn't exactly sad to hear about Neil. That means I don't have to worry right now about what I said couldn't happen. But, you're right, if it should work out, it will and it is more important to focus on school right now, I think. It is good to find out about all those other things before it is too late.
Mom, thanks for writing me. (Right - Саргсян working on our phone line) I'm starting to get a little annoyed that Lizzy and Sara aren't writing me. If they aren't going to write me an email every week, than they have to at least write me a letter and send it off through pouch. At least once a week. Seriously. They have no excuse for not writing me. If I have time in the midst of everything I do, they can surely write me. Becky too. I have no idea if she is even living. Other people can write me through email, I just can only respond to them through you.
So, here's something I would like to see. If anyone has some good ideas for ward activities that are fun and not very expensive, I would love to hear it. We are working on trying to get the branch to be more like a family so when people actually get baptized, they will stay active and feel loved and like they are a part of something. That isn't always the easiest, but if there were some ideas for things we could do, Enrichment meeting ideas, branch parties, youth night, etc. Pretty much everything. That would be a lot of help to us here, or at least a lot of help to me. Just keep in mind, we don't have a lot of money to work with so if it involves buying a lot of things, it probably won't work. So, I hope there is something from everyone's own experiences or maybe something they have always wanted to do. That would be great.
So, here's something I would like to see. If anyone has some good ideas for ward activities that are fun and not very expensive, I would love to hear it. We are working on trying to get the branch to be more like a family so when people actually get baptized, they will stay active and feel loved and like they are a part of something. That isn't always the easiest, but if there were some ideas for things we could do, Enrichment meeting ideas, branch parties, youth night, etc. Pretty much everything. That would be a lot of help to us here, or at least a lot of help to me. Just keep in mind, we don't have a lot of money to work with so if it involves buying a lot of things, it probably won't work. So, I hope there is something from everyone's own experiences or maybe something they have always wanted to do. That would be great.
So, what can I say. The last week has been a little interesting, like usual. Last Wednesday I scared a man on the street. We asked him what is important to him in his life. He went off about how much he hates democracy and how life was better before when the communists were here because even though they were still thieves, at least they were civil thieves, etc. Well, after all this, he wanted to know where we were from. When I told him I'm an American, he made a funny noise and stepped back. Honestly, maybe he thought I was a spy sent to find people who are unhappy with the present government or something, but Sister Саргсян (Sargsyan) was able to calm him down and we ended up giving him a Book of Mormon.
We had our zone conference on Friday. That was really long, but was probably longer for the Gunnells because they don't know Russian and even though I was sitting next to them, I didn't translate. It is really difficult to get anything out of things when I have to translate. It is hard enough to remember when it is all in Russian and even harder when I have to concentrate my energies on translating into English. I don't mind translating for Sister Саргсян, as long as they don't use obscure analogies with words that I have no use for so I don't know.
Then on Monday we traveled to Самара (Samara) again to interview with President. (Left - also working some more on the phone lines) He is a really good man. He cares a lot about us and wants us to be successful, return with honor and with stronger faith. We have a lot of new rules and he wanted to see if we agree with them. The interviews took all day with our zone, it was really annoying because we couldn't do anything else but sit and wait for our turn. We could read and stuff, but that was about it. Oh well, I really like having interviews with President. He always compliments me on my Russian and then I feel better about myself. Plus, if I really need some advice on how to work better, he always has an idea handy.
Then on Monday we traveled to Самара (Samara) again to interview with President. (Left - also working some more on the phone lines) He is a really good man. He cares a lot about us and wants us to be successful, return with honor and with stronger faith. We have a lot of new rules and he wanted to see if we agree with them. The interviews took all day with our zone, it was really annoying because we couldn't do anything else but sit and wait for our turn. We could read and stuff, but that was about it. Oh well, I really like having interviews with President. He always compliments me on my Russian and then I feel better about myself. Plus, if I really need some advice on how to work better, he always has an idea handy.
Well, I can't really think of anything else to write but I don't know how much longer I will be able to use gmail, so once again, it would probably be best to start sending to myldsmail, too. That way if next week I can't, I can still read and respond. Thanks for all your support and prayers. I learned one thing recently, prayers work miracles. It's just bad that I had to feel the influence of the adversary to come to that realization. Every now and then, my companion has some bad spells where she starts feeling down and saying that she shouldn't be on a mission and that she wants to go home. I love her a lot, but sometimes I am amazed that she is 24 years old and still acts like that. Last night she had a temper tantrum and ended up throwing her clock on the floor and breaking it. I really did not feel the spirit. It was rather frightening. It wasn't her fault. It came from the influence of a blind member who joined the church because she thought the church would help her go to America for an operation, that hasn't happened, of course. She seems to think, though, that we are only here to help her. She called last night to ask us to help her today. We told her we couldn't because we have too much to do now on P-Days (as it is we didn't get it all done today). Well, she terrorized Sister Саргсян. 
She is very manipulative and I do not feel good when I am talking to her.
(Above - Me pretending to listen while Саргсян talking on the phone) After the tantrum, I called her to tell her we couldn't and I felt an evil influence. She wouldn't accept that we are trying to be 100% obedient and that to do that, we couldn't help her today. I told her we could help her another day, but she said she didn't need it another day. She thinks that she can snap her finger and we will come running and she expects us to change our plans to help her. Honestly, she is not our responsibility, we were just helping her because we are here to serve, but once someone is baptized, it is the responsibility of the members of the branch to help them so we can concentrate our energies on our investigators. We still end up doing a lot that the members should do, but what can you do? Anyway, finally she threatened me. She threatened Sister Саргсян, too, by the way. We have helped her numerous times, but not once has she ever shown gratitude. She thinks we owe her something. Anyway, that's enough of that. After that, I ended up singing for Sister Саргсян so she could pray. What a night, but really, at least I got her to pray.
She is very manipulative and I do not feel good when I am talking to her.(Above - Me pretending to listen while Саргсян talking on the phone) After the tantrum, I called her to tell her we couldn't and I felt an evil influence. She wouldn't accept that we are trying to be 100% obedient and that to do that, we couldn't help her today. I told her we could help her another day, but she said she didn't need it another day. She thinks that she can snap her finger and we will come running and she expects us to change our plans to help her. Honestly, she is not our responsibility, we were just helping her because we are here to serve, but once someone is baptized, it is the responsibility of the members of the branch to help them so we can concentrate our energies on our investigators. We still end up doing a lot that the members should do, but what can you do? Anyway, finally she threatened me. She threatened Sister Саргсян, too, by the way. We have helped her numerous times, but not once has she ever shown gratitude. She thinks we owe her something. Anyway, that's enough of that. After that, I ended up singing for Sister Саргсян so she could pray. What a night, but really, at least I got her to pray.
That's about it for now. I think I'll take some time to write Jordan (don't worry, I got permission from the President to write him).
Love,
Сестра Атвуд
Сестра Атвуд
No comments:
Post a Comment