Christmas in Armenia #3 and #4

Christmas Day the Senior Missionaries went to the Mission Home for Dinner, Music and Cookie House Building!  We were pretty serious with the constructing of our houses.

Elder Jones' had a "Mickey Mouse" motif

Elder and Sister VanDyke played their Psaltery or  Lap Harps.  It was awesome.

We then went to a wonderful Baptism service where three Men were baptized.  What a wonderful experience.  A Christmas these three men, their families and missionaries will never forget.

Oh My!  Where was my camera for this most memorable experience??!!!

THEN, it was our Branch Christmas Activity.

"The Walk Through Bethlehem" 

A really nice spiritual Christmas party that the Sister Missionaries produced.
This is Sis C. playing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives"  It was fun to accompany her on this challenging arrangement.

The Young Missionaries got to Skype their parents, so there was a lot of joy and happiness filling the Mission Office yesterday.
Elder A.

Elder D.

When we finally got home about 8:00 we Skyped with the kids.  We did group Skyping and were able to connect simultaneously to Arizona, California, and Nevada.   We saw Grandkids on scooters, Fairy dolls, new pajamas and more!  Life as a Senior Mission is sweet.

Two of the gifts we received were so special.  We got a Christmas card signed by the First Presidency of the Church.
AND
President & Sister Carter gave us an Armenian Triple Combination with Masis and Sas (Mt Ararat) engraved with our name on the front.

After a long day  - "Sleep in Heavenly Peace"

Today we spoke in Church.  I must have done pretty good, because they applauded afterwards.
  (Not kidding)

Christmas in Armenia #1 and #2

Because the Church (the Orthodox church) in Armenia still uses the old Julian Calendar, Christmas is celebrated on January 6th. The Christmas holiday season starts on New Year's Eve (December 31st) and continues until the old Julian calendar's New Year's Eve on January 13th.
At the beginning of December, a big Christmas Tree is put up in Republic Square in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.

Sister Peterson & I went to Mama Mia's Pizza and found these two!



Some people do celebrate December 25th. But the biggest celebration and when most people exchange gifts is New Years.  In Armenian Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Shenorhavor Dzenount'
(which means 'Congratulations for the Holy Birth'). I like that saying.

We started our celebrating with a Young Single Adult Party on Dec. 23rd, where I helped with some of the music. It was fun to hear some of the traditional Armenian songs.  

Party #2 - Zone Conference Christmas Celebration!

We had food, fun, games, a program and a walk with Christ through the scriptures.

This was the Senior Missionaries attempt at singing, "Silent Night' in Armenian

Our mission will be reading a new unmarked Book of Mormon from January - March.  As we read we will be marking any verses that have references pertaining to the Savior.
Susan Easton Black did some research and determined that there is an average of every 1.7 verses, that are references to Christ. Also there are 101 different names for the Savior in the Book of Mormon.
I am looking forward to this wonderful experience!


 

 

Sunday Fun in Ashtarat & Shengavit...

We went to the Ashtarat Branch's Childrens Sacrament Meeting Program on December 12th.  It was great.  The children did great on their singing and the children's talks were all done without any notes!  This is the Branch President Sargis and Elder VanDyke who is a Counselor.  The three boys on the right are Sargis and Margarit's.  They are full of vim and vigor!

Later that evening we were invited to Sargis' home in Shengavit for his birthday party.  We had a lot of good food and good company.  

We giggled while the boys and Elder J. played catch/volleyball with a balloon.

Sister Ferguson & Sister Deaver joined in the fun!

Happy Birthday to Sargis!

Armenian Mothers worry and take care of their children no matter how old they get.  One Sister told me that even though her son is married, has children and lives in Russia, she still worries everyday. "Is he warm enough?  Did he wear his coat?  Does he have enough to eat?" 

So as I am getting ready to go, Sargis' Mom (who is probably younger than me) comes and adjusts my coat and snuggles my scarf around me.  Cute huh?

Where We Walk!

A picture is worth a 1000 words!  Well this is our back yard, actually the front yard looks a lot the same.  No, we do not live in Ghetto.  I'm not sure where the Ghetto is here.

 This is the main electrical line into the apartment complex. 

We walk up and down these stairs everyday.

Whew! We made it home and we didn't get electrocuted!

You won't see these things in Downtown Moapa!

I'm glad we don't live in these buildings. I'm not sure if they are a work in progress or they ran out of money or ???

Check out this workmanship!

A couple of Sunday's ago, I spent 11 hours with three Armenians, District YW President, YM President and Primary President. We drove in a small Taxi for a total of 7 hours squished together to Alaverdi. I was in the middle in the back seat.

By the time we got home I felt like I had been beat up. A small taxi, no shocks, windy narrow road, smashed body, with Armenian music playing loudly on the CD player with a little Shakira and Michael Jackson mixed in.

Now don't start feeling sorry for me, I actually had a great time.Vasgan kept us laughing with his stories and jokes.  Armanush has a delightful personality and Susanna is great. They all spoke varying degrees of English and kept translating for me.

Vasgun, Branch Pres, Susanna, Armanush

We went to visit the Alaverdi branch and do a little training. The Primary President in Alaverdi is 24 and has never been to Primary, nor has seen Primary taught and has not been a member that long. She is doing her best and appreciated our help. They had ?? seven kids from age 3 to 11. I taught them a little lesson and we did some singing, while Susanna trained the President.

View from back of Church.

While we were driving, I noticed what I would call a “classic car”.  It reminded me of the old blue Ford that that my parents had when I was a kid.  As we got closer I thought they had some sort of rug over the back seat.  When we got closer a cow head popped up.  THEY HAD A COW IN THE BACK SEAT OF THEIR CAR! When we got right up next to it there were actually TWO COWS in the back seat.  I was laughing hysterically and Vasgan was trying to take a picture and then someone said, "Only in Armenia do you see cows in the back of your car." 

The cow picture didn't work :( :(

On our way home just outside of Alaverdi the police pulled us over because Vasgun, in the passenger seat didn’t have his seat belt on.  The driver had to pay a 2000 drams bribe (around $6).  No ticket was written.  After that we drove about 10 minutes and he got pulled over again, this time for driving across the white line.  (NO ONE ever drives on the correct side of the road.)  I think he had to pay about 10,000 drams this time.  No tickets were written you just pay the bribes.  Armenian has a openly corrupt government run by (well, I dare not say or I might get arrested.)

It has been VERY busy at the office.  We had four missionaries leave last Saturday and eight missionaries arrive!  I have grown very attached to these missionaries and I shed a few tears when they left. Great great individuals....

In Moapa you won't see us in Hats, Gloves, Scarves, Boots, Coats etc.  It isn't super cold yet, but we walk back and forth and around and up and down so we bundle!

Trust me this list of things you won't see could go on and on and on.  Couches on tops of cars, watermelons in cars, actually everything piled in cars, unwrapped bread on the street in mesh sacks, trash burning on the sidewalks, fish flopping around on fish market store.  Fish eggs and limes for sale, displayed on the top of the ice cream freezer. on and on and on..... 

It all keeps life interesting and fun!



A Sunday Experience...

Because of an earlier meeting with an US Embassy official we took a taxi to Charentsavan for church. It is a smaller city of about 15-20,000 people about a half hour away, but it was the closest Sacrament meeting we could attend that started later, as we had missed ours.

Attending Sacrament Meeting there was very nice, in fact wonderful for me. There are a lot of younger members there and they are full of enthusiasm with probably 10 children attending.

The four Elders seem happy we were there and the members adored us. They were a little noisy before the meeting started but once it started everything settled down and by the time we got to the Sacrament, everyone was very quiet and it was very spiritual for me. They had 40+ people there and even had to open the overflow in their small chapel.

The Branch President is in a wheelchair yet has a powerful voice and it appeared that they really respected him. He gave a talk and didn’t use any notes and is a very dynamic speaker.

His Mother introduced herself and kissed and hugged me a hundred times. I would love to know more about her, as her hands are very rough and calloused, yet she looks happy and is a very pretty lady.

Early on in the meeting an older sister started to walk up to the Branch President and he and Elder R. kind of motioned for her to sit down. She ignored them and went on up during one of the talks and must have said she was leaving, waved to everyone, then walked out.

They had several Priesthood holders which is great. Most of the women wore jeans.

Elder L. was translating for us and after the meeting when the Branch President's mother started talking about the Elders, through her expressions it appeared she was saying how much she loved the missionaries, but Elder L. was saying things like, she hates the missionaries, in fact despises them. I finally said you aren’t telling the truth are you and he kind of smiled and said, well no. He really has a dry sense of humor, it was quite fun.  She loves loves the missionaries.

After a young girl, probably about age 10-12 gave a really good talk and afterwards the Branch Pres’s Mother was throwing her kisses and shouted out “Apreck” (wonderful). Then the ward choir sang, eight people, four missionaries and four members. This same young girl sang in it and she has a wonderful voice. The choir was, well enthusiastic. In fact all of their songs were sung FAST. I couldn’t even sing a word or two before they were on to the next line.

We had two taxi drivers. George was going off shift but he rode with the other driver to show him where to go. Going down hills they coast, then turn on the engine just when you think we are going to stop. George was telling us about this shiny black rock that we saw along the road called obsidian.

"Obsidian is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed as an extrusive igneous rock. It is produced when felsic lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly without crystal growth. Obsidian is commonly found within the margins of rhyolitic lava flows known as obsidian flows, where the chemical composition (high silica content) induces a high viscosity and polymerization degree of the lava. The inhibition of atomic diffusion through this highly viscous and polymerized lava explains the lack of crystal growth. Because of this lack of crystal structure, obsidian blade edges can reach almost molecular thinness, leading to its ancient use as projectile points and blades, and its modern use as surgical scalpel blades."

So they pull over, run across the freeway type road and pick us up two pieces of it.

What a great day!

Anniversary Outing!

Yesterday, November 20th was our 39th Wedding Anniversary!  Wow! Time has gone by fast.  We celebrated by going to a yummy Chinese Restaurant.  This is our first outing since Elder J. got sick.  He is doing much better, just weak and tires easily.

 I ordered a lemonade to drink.  It is kind of joke now for me to see what I will get each time I order lemonade, because it has never tasted like lemonade yet.  And every time I order one in Armenia, I get something different.  This time it was peach, and very delicious.
Sometimes labeling loses a little in translation. Note: "Fizzy Drink"

Apparently they care about my teeth here, because this is what they gave us after dinner.

Before dinner we did a little shopping!  I got this:

It is made out of the following wood: beech, mahogany, mulberry, walnut, pear tree and apricot tree.
 I love it

I also got these:

Did I tell you how much I love doilies?

This doily took six months for the lady to make. She said it had won exhibition prizes in Russia.  It is a the most beautiful workmanship I have ever seen.  It isn't crochet, it is either like netting or tatting.
 (The kids are pretty cute too!)

This is the lady that made it.

Yes, there are a lot of short people in Armenia.

Just one more view of this gorgeous doily

"And It Came To Pass"

In the scriptures it always says:  "It came to pass," never it came to stay (the same). 
One prayer God never answers is for things to stay the same.

Elizabeth Sherrill

Our lives have been turned upside down these past two weeks.  Things definitely haven't stayed the same.  Elder Jones has been extremely sick, the mission doctor in Germany says he thinks he has had a Viral Intestinal Infection.  He has been treating many patients with similar symptoms throughout Eastern Europe, including some here in Armenia.

What a terrible way to lose 20 lbs in one week!

The doctor here in Armenia told Elder J. that it was like a earthquake going off inside of his body. Amen!

He is a lot better but still not able to go to the office.  He has pretty much existed on Priesthood Blessings, Prayer, and Power Aid.  We are sure that he wouldn't have made it without all three.  Thanks to all, for your prayers and support.  We appreciate it beyond words.

This sweet girl spoke some English and stayed by Elder J's. side, while he got IV's

The Lord knew we needed a bright spot this past week and look what we got. THREE Christmas packages from home.  Thanks, Brooke, Raegan and Pauline.

Raegan made these table runners.

and Pauline made this beautiful, cuddly, Christmas Quilt.  You can't see it, but it has our names and Christmas Greeting on it.

One parting thought from Mother Theresa:  "God said he doesn't give us any challenges beyond our ability to handle it...God must really trust me"

Love Sister J.

Book of Mormon STORY

Yesterday I was asked by one of the Senior Missionaries:

"Any chance that there might be a copy of the Book of Mormon in Bulgarian on your store room shelves? We have an English group attendee that from age 9 to age 20 lived in Varna, Bulgaria with her family. She is Armenian but just returned to live here."

I knew that we had Book of Mormons in several languages, but I was nearly certain that we didn't have any in Bulgarian.  I ALMOST emailed her right back and said,

“We don’t have one but I can order one, and it would probably take a couple of months to get here, are you sure you want me to order it.”

Then I kept having this little feeling to go organize all of the Book of Mormons in all of the languages.



As I did so, there among five shelves and 22 languages, Croatian, Portugese, Spanish, Persian, Arabic, Albanian, Chinese, Danish, Hungarian, Greek, German, Sinhala, Polish, Italian, Turkish, Swedish, Romanian, Latvian, Russian, Armenian and English - - was one Bulgarian Book of Mormon.

Yes, the Lord cares about the “one”.  I know he cares about this Bulgarian woman.



Name the Cost $$$

The price of things are so random here. Without a lot of thought I totally got brave and had my hair colored and styled. This is the result. (JK)

Not bad huh?  COST??  3000 drams or less than $9.00, considering they don't use curling irons just  different sized round brushes and I'm sure the brushes are shared by everyone as a peice of long black hair kept hanging in my eyes.  I also noticed a different stylist putting the blow dryer between her legs when she had to use both hands for styling.  They don't use conditioner or any products on your hair either.  I tried not to notice the gobs of black hair laying all over the floor.  Hey, it was the end of the day! 

Actually my stylist Asa was super nice and knew a little English. She asked how she could learn more English. Well, the government says the Church can't have English classes, so we have English Conversations and I told Asa about them, but she has to work on those days.  I am going to tell the Sister Missionaries to come and I will introduce them to her.

and to her. 

 She was hanging out the beauty shop and said I was nice, so I asked if I could take her picture.

I made my sisters guess what the cost of my coat was, the closest guess would get to pay for it! (hehe)

Yikes! $226  I'm happy to announce that PAULINE is the winner.  She guessed $200.

Now these veggies cost .75

& these veggies cost $2.40 at a different veggie stand.

The coat IS really nice and I didn't bring one from home because I didn't have one at home...and and