Armenia Adventures #8

Armenian Adventures #8
Today was our first attempt to go out and meet and/or try to find the less active members of our branch. It was really helpful that we had our translator, Artur Minasyan, with us. He could ask all the right questions and we had a wonderful time. As we were looking for the first person on our list, Artur asked a man hanging out his window while smoking a cigarette, for some information. The man almost immediately came down to help and the next thing we knew, we were in his apartment, being served apricot nectar and a lot of fruit. He was interesting to talk to and somehow was able to get a hold of another woman who came over and indicated that if we came to her office, she would be able to help us find out about anyone in this area. He and his wife were very friendly. He is crane operator who makes only about $250 a month but is one of 10 siblings and he indicated they help him out some. He indicated he would like to have us over for barbecue, so will have to see if that pans out. He said he felt a connection with us (patting his heart) so that was good. I didn’t even get his name, but in this small town, maybe our paths will cross again.
We next visited with Sonia. Apparently, she had a son die and no one from the church came to pay respects, so she was very offended, and hasn’t been back to church since then. Artur was shocked that such a thing would occur and so were we. There must be more to this story. At any rate, Sonia said she was willing to have us visit her again and would let the branch president and visiting teachers come as well, so there’s hope she’ll come back and join us.
We met with one other family and found out that Tamara (the mother) is a sister to Lala (I’ve talked about her previously) and she and her husband, who is not a member, have three children living at home, an 18 year old, Heghine, and twin 13 year old boys, Hrach and Rubik. The father and boys had been a bit sick, but were now recovering. Tamara said she had been reading in the bible last evening, prayed for understanding about what she had read and asking what she should do. She said that our coming was the answer to her prayers…that she should go to church. We hope to see them there this Sunday. We learned, too, that Lala’s married daughter, Hermine, lives across the street. We tried to visit with her but she wouldn’t come to the door. A couple of girls who were sisters we met in the stairwell by Hermine’s apartment, tried to call her to let us in. They said that probably her husband wouldn’t allow her to talk with us. Maybe we’ll try another day.