Armenia Adventures #7

Armenia Experiences #7
Sunday, we had our last session of District Conference. Our translators weren’t working, so we couldn’t understand the Armenians, but did enjoy the English speakers.
President Dunn talked about getting ready today for the temple that is coming to Kiev. He talked about the difference between symptoms and disease. Disease is like a cold and symptoms are sneezing and coughing. He said that sometimes members suffer from not being fully converted; and we need to do things to treat that problem. We can strengthen ourselves by studying scriptures, praying, serving others. All help us to be better converted. When we’re fully converted our behavior will change. One symptom of not being fully converted is that we don’t reach out or we may talk about others. He said we should realize that everyone is a child of God and it will offend God if we do anything to offend his children and gossip causes great harm. He said, treat the disease, follow your leaders. He said we will do this if we are truly converted. He admonished us to look for good in others, forgive each other (we will do this if our testimony is strong and we’re truly converted); The Lord intended for life to be hard; Mosiah 24 treats this subject. Liken the scriptures to yourself. The Lord promised people he would ease their burden, but he didn’t do it immediately. He told them they must be cheerful, faithful, prayerful, and patient. Our burdens may be heavy but the Lord has promised he will make them lighter.
Sister Dunn talked about the Holy Ghost and how it is a guide to let us know when we are doing right, but also lets us know when we aren’t doing things right. She cautioned to use wisdom in what we study and to study the Book of Mormon.
Sister Schwitzer talked about no matter when you come into the church, the rewards are the same. She referred us to Matthew 20.
Elder Schwitzer talked about why he loves Jesus Christ so much and all that he has done for us. He talked about his career as an emergency room doctor and how he came to know that there is life after death and how Jesus Christ made it possible for us to receive a perfect body and never die again. He referred us to Moses 6: 51, 52, and 53 where he teaches Adam why he needs to be baptized and Adam gets a testimony. He asked the rhetorical question, “Why wouldn’t Adam shout to God when he knew he wouldn’t be dead forever: wouldn’t he say, “Thank you, I believe, I want this”. Luke 22:41-43 we learn that Christ suffered for us and how he was comforted by an angel and wondering if that angel might not be Adam.
It was a wonderful conference, but nice to be back to our humble abode…except there was a lot of water on the bathroom floor…aargh!
Well, we were home a short while and then returned to Yerevan. We were able to Skype a little with JaneAnne (who should have been in bed…it was way late), but nice to see her “yawning face”. We maybe will be able to get internet, but if we don’t it probably will be Christmas before we can see and talk with you Skypers again.
Monday evening, we tried another Armenian restaurant called the Oregano and enjoyed some other Armenian foods…pretty good. We went with the Schultz’s (the CES couple here). They accompanied us as we tried another new thing…riding on the metro as we journeyed to the Mission Home for a senior couple’s fireside with Elder and Sister Schwitzer. We walked down some flights of stairs and then for only 50 dram (about 14 cents) hopped onto an escalator going down steeply at a pretty fast pace and for about 80 ft. For someone who doesn’t like heights, I had to look behind instead of forward to not go weak in the knees. The metro was pretty fast and the stop has a zillion little shops set up selling everything you can imagine, all underground. We then had about a 15 minute walk to the Mission Home, but was good exercise and not too bad as it was downhill all the way. Sister Schwitzer talked a lot about faith and how through experiences she had had, her faith became even stronger. I guess there was a period in her life when she lost a grandchild, her daughter-in-law was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, her husband had prostate cancer and her missionary son suffered brain trauma; all events as they worked through them helped increase her faith. Elder Schwitzer willingly answered all our questions; it was a great evening.
After a short night, we gathered again at the Mission Office for Zone Conference. The senior couples were in charge of putting on a “holiday feast” for all the missionaries in attendance at noon. We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls and corn, followed by pumpkin pie. Other than extra rolls and one pot too many of mashed potatoes, we came out pretty close to even. Sister Dunn had previously cooked, sliced and frozen about 6-14 lb. turkeys. The missionaries were all grateful. My assignment had been to supervise the potato cooking and mashing and coordinate the serving of the rest of the dinner. Apparently, the Armenians do their mashed potatoes much like the way Mike did them one time before receiving proper instruction about how to prepare them. So I made sure the water was all drained off and that lots of butter and some milk were added to make them fluffy mounds of ymmm. It was a tasty feast.
This week also included another visit to Marietta to chop wood and rake leaves. She fed us some other food that I can only describe, as I don’t know what it is called. She wrapped lavash around what appeared to be a slice of hotdog and then fried them in a little oil. Another dish was a combination of onions, eggplant and tomatoes which was good (and no ill effects, either). She served another tomato dish that had spices and egg in it and a drink that they called cranberry juice, but other than color I couldn’t taste much in common…but it was good.
We also went with the Elders for a Super Seminary Saturday. Kids come from all the branches to participate in games and scripture chase and food and dance (except there wasn’t much music because the one with the assignment to bring music didn’t come…I suspect sort of typical for this age group).
Sunday was rather interesting and the things which came out. The Branch President came into Relief Society and announced that if any of the women had problems, they should come to me first. With no translators (other than the missionary elders) that should be interesting. I alerted the missionaries that they might have some additional duties. Another rather bizarre incident, but maybe normal for Armenia…I just don’t know…also occurred. One of the sisters had felt ill during Gospel Doctrine Class (held her head in terrible pain and indicated that it was her blood pressure). After a little while she felt some better and the meeting went on. But then, it was almost time for Relief Society to start and in walks a woman dressed in a white lab coat, somewhat physician like and carrying a rather large hypodermic needle. The next thing I notice is that the sister who had been ill, dropped her drawers, and the needle is being injected into her bottom. Shortly after that, the nurse (I guess that was what she was) comes back into the room with another needle, and another sister starts to do the same thing. I suggested that she go around the corner into another room where she had more privacy. They said it was for high blood pressure. I think mine, at this point, is now going up…but it’s just getting started. The meeting is then somewhat occupied by a report from my counselor, Aida. During the week, her daughter, a 17 year old, was kidnapped and taken away. In this culture, a young man may express a desire to marry a girl, but if she rejects him or the family doesn’t approve, he may decide to kidnap her and rape her. If that occurs, she generally will have to marry him as in their culture, if she is no longer a virgin, no one else would marry her. Aida spent a lot of time trying to find her daughter and told the boy’s relatives, “She’s not of age; she’s not finished with school, etc. etc., but to no avail. She couldn’t even at first talk with her daughter, but finally was able to communicate with her and her daughter told her to not try any more, she was not coming back. I’m sure Aida has agonized over this but has strong faith that eventually everything will come out all right.
I should comment that today was fast and testimony meeting and for sure there are no travelogues here. There isn’t the money to travel, so they share simple, but heartfelt testimonies about Jesus Christ and what their membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints means to them. It was really nice to see Rafik at our meeting. The missionary who was instrumental in sharing the gospel with him, Sister Fager, was on a farewell tour with her parents and came to our meeting. She was a loved missionary and everyone was happy to see her. It was nice to have a chapel full of people.