Armenia Happenings #11

ARMENIA HAPPENINGS#11
New Years Day was a P-day for the missionaries and they decided to do it at our apartment. I don’t think it was Rog’s choice for what to do on that day, but I enjoyed it because I like movies. All the elders from our district came over, bringing their surround sound, and we watched five movies. I made a batch of chili (Armenian style as it wasn’t the same as what I do at home, but close), which they seemed to enjoy and we had some left-over fudge from Christmas, as well as ice cream, so they didn’t starve.
It’s interesting here that they start their Christmas celebration on the 31st of December and continue on until about the 10th. The banks close and not a lot of other stores are open. I’m hoping that next week we’ll be able to buy bread again. We were invited out to Marietta’s for a feast to help her celebrate the New Year. She loaded us up with food and then we went over to Lala’s for, would you believe, another bunch of food. Whether they can afford it or not, they seem to like to share what they have with whoever comes by. We stopped by to see if Tamara was home and were invited in for more food. I think they put out food on the 1st and it stays out until the end of the celebration. They had a turkey, some fish, some chicken and lots of other things. I don’t think Jana would handle this very well.
I also managed to trip and fall on the way back to the apartment. What a klutz! Other than a skinned knee and skinned knuckles and some loss of pride, I’m fine. My walking friends will appreciate that I didn’t do another wrist fracture. The worst thing was my coat. If you fall in Ararat, the sidewalk isn’t exactly clean, so my black wool coat now is a mottled black and gray (dust). Hopefully, by tomorrow it will shake off. My reason for telling you about this wasn’t because I was looking for sympathy, but to relate it to a gospel principle. I had all the elders (Kyle, Reece and Peterson), who quickly came to my rescue, picking me up and helping me brush off my coat. In the gospel, we have the Savior. When we make mistakes or fall off the path, the Savior (if we let him) will help us, pick us up and set us a right again. How grateful I am for the atonement and the blessing of having a Savior who will lift my burdens, sorrows, mistakes and anything else that is troubling to me, so that I may have peace. But, I do have to turn to him and ask.
Monday (December 4th) we managed to just stay inside and study, read, and study some more. It rained and rained and rained and the great big puddles or small ponds are back. What were lots of holes in the road are now water filled and getting around is more of a challenge. It’s nice to be able to stay inside where it’s warm on days such as this.