Week 30  Georgian Easter 

Well this week was pretty interesting. Monday we went out with M and Y during Pday to shop with them and to eat Korean food. Although the one day we wanted to go it was closed, so we  went to Chinese instead and it still was pretty good. Tuesday was a hard day for me and my companion. We were both pretty depressed that day, both for personal reasons. That day I prayed pretty hard, a type of prayer I haven't done since the first week in the MTC. That prayer showed me the immediate goodness of God, because right after I prayed I felt so much better. I felt a little more motivated and the feeling I had almost went away. That night when we were coming home from meeting we saw 2 corgis in a car. I know everyone is going to laugh at this, but for me it felt like it was God trying to make me smile. I haven't seen a corgi since before I left home. The timing was kinda perfect because if I wasn't in that very spot I wouldn't have seen them. So for future reference: when life gets you down, God will send corgis. We had exchanges this week and sister Myers showed me some places we could go knocking at and we met a former investigator. We were supposed to have a district blitz (crazy finding time all together), but it was canceled since there wasn't a lot of people on the streets. It was Easter weekend for Georgia and everyone heads down to the სოფელი (village) to celebrate with their family. So the weekend we barely saw anyone. That night we had a small concert from M and some of her friends. They shared some traditional music from their country and it was so cool, and some of the instruments were so different and unexpected. Very beautiful though! Saturday we had a whiteboard activity with all the missionaries. We took different shifts so we were with the Varketili Elders. There weren't a lot of people out, mostly just tourists since this is the time to come visit Georgia. I met someone that actually used to live in San Francisco and they knew where Livermore was and had been. Such a small world! Sunday was Easter so we didn't have a lot of people at church. That was basically the week. Before I finish I wanted to share some Georgian Easter traditions. Here when they dye eggs its not with different colors, just red representing Christ's blood. They use the roots of this plant to do it and the color is a really dark red. Then during the entire week they eat something called პასკა (paska). It is like cake but more bready. I had some, it's pretty good, kinda dry but still good. Today we are going to some Georgian museums with all the missionaries so that will be fun. Our Pday was switched because a lot of historical places are closed on Monday so once in a while they will switch Pday to Tuesday so we can go see some things. I am excited!

Well that was the week, Until next time!

-და ჯენსენი

Week 29  American Easter

So this week started out with a blast. All the sisters went to მცხეტა together. მცხეტა is a small town out of Tbilisi. Super cute and super cool. We went to this old falling apart church that over looks the town and then went down to this green field area. We even went to the church that supposedly has a piece of the apostle Andrew's foot. There are two places in the world that state that have the bones of an apostle, in Italy in the Vatican and this church in Georgia. I have been to both! This week wasn't the most exciting after that besides the weekend. A lot of rain and a lot of finding. We did meet with our investigator M and Y a few times. They are so awesome and I love visiting them. We actually are going shopping with them today for Pday, and as M says we are having a family outing. Saturday was awesome and so crazy. So we had a branch activity for Easter and then right afterwards a baptism. M came to both! Also some people that speak her language were there so she was able to talk to them and not just the people that speak English. Which is great! For that activity we had to boil 30 eggs and let me tell you the amount of boiled eggs at the activity was insane. Once that was over we had a baptism for my favorite kid in the entire world. I will call him Sh. He is fifteen and he is like the Georgian version of Joseph smith. He is so adorable and he goes to church by himself. His family is taking lessons, but Sh was more ready. So he got baptized and M was there to see it. I was sitting next to her after he got baptized just watching the video of Christ being baptized and she started to cry. She said that she wished everyone could be baptized and she couldn't explain in words how she feels about it. She is so ready! Later when I was talking to her she started to cry cause she was so sad that her people couldn't have the true religion, because of her government. I know that she has a testimony and it is so strong. She just needs a few more lessons and she will be ready. I just want her to have the gift of the holy ghost because it is something that would bless her life 10 fold. Saturday was American Easter so we had a small program for church. The missionaries sang in sacrament. M came! Afterwards the missionaries all went to one of the american family houses for an Easter dinner. All the american embassy families were there. Everything tasted so american and it was sooooo good! Afterwards I called the fam on my phone cause I couldn't get to a computer, so the day was pretty awesome. This week we have nothing too special planned, but this weekend is Georgian Easter so I am excited to see what that is like. 

Spiritual thought: I thought I would focus my spiritual thought on Christ since it is so fitting. He is risen! Because of him we have a hope for the future and someone to lean on. We focus a lot on Christ when we talk to M, just because sometimes it is hard to see a bright future for her (in a temporal sense). But it is so great to talk to her about Christ and how he is our hope in life. He is our light, that can never be dimmed. I am glad I have that knowledge and now have the opportunity to share it.

Well that was the week, til next week!

Week 28  Carbon Monoxide Problem

This week went by faster than the last, literally I feel like yesterday I was emailing. So the week started out with seeing M. We wanted to be on a lesson with her with sister K. All of it was in Parsi so we both had no idea what was being said. That night we gave her a baptismal date and she was so adorable. She was like "really? I can do that?" M is so awesome. She kept repeating the date after that over and over again smiling. Tuesday and Wednesday was when all the missionaries watched general conference. My brain was dead after watching so many talks back to back. General conference was so uplifting and really inspiring. Wednesday our C.O (Carbon monoxide) alarm went off.  Yeah...so our water heater was letting small amount of it out. It was a fun morning especially because it went off when I was in the shower. I had to get out and get changed as fast as I could to leave the apartment. The alarm stopped going off the moment the water heater wasn't being used...so we just stopped using it for a few days. We also started the summer schedule, so everything is 30 minutes forward. We wake up at 7 and need to be in bed by 11. I feel like I am sleeping in everyday, although I'm actually waking up on time. Thursday we went finding in Vake (ვაკე). We tried to speak as much as we could in Georgian that day and I felt my Georgian sky rocket. I talked to this one lady on the bus and I was able to answer back a lot of the times and understand a lot more of what she was saying than I have in the pass. After that we saw M and Y, and I switch back to English and even a little bit of Japanese. Man that was rough. I kept wanting to saying Georgian phrases, but they don't know Georgian, so I just had to keep trying to think in English. Friday we had to clean the church since we couldn't on Saturday. Saturday was the day we talked to our landlord about how to figure out when she would replace our water heater. The president of the Avlabari Branch is actually an engineer so the landlord talked to him over the phone. We found out the water heater we had (the one that was having CO problem) was actually illegal in Georgia...fun stuff my friends. Saturday was general conference for all the members in Georgia. Saturday's general conference was offered in English, Russian, and Parsi. M came! She loved it. That day Sister Arutynova was in Russian broadcast, I in English, and M in Parsi. Talk about knowing people all around the world! That day we had a water heater changed, so that was important. Then we left to go have a meeting with M and her family along with the Delisis Elders. Her husband was leaving to go back to his country (they don't live together) and we wanted to say our goodbyes. This meeting was so fun and she fed us this amazing rice dish, so delicious! We took a "family" photo all together before leaving. M always says she has 5 children, " Y, Arutynova, Jensen, Anderson, and Layton (all missionaries last names) are my children, we are family. "Not separate" She is so cute!  Than Sunday happened and oh my gosh was it exhausting. This day was when general conference was offered in Georgian, and I watched the whole thing in Georgian. my brain has never been so fried in my entire life. I tried focusing but they were speaking so fast, even for the older missionaries it was hard. I wrote down a million words to look up later, but a lot of them don't exist. I passed out for lunch hour, cause I literally couldn't think anymore. That was the week, today we are going with all the sister to a small town called მცხეტა. Super excited!

Spiritual though: So one of the talks in general conference I really liked. He talked about the immediate goodness of God. That talk really resonated with me because I have seen that not only before mission, but on my mission, and I have seen that with my investigator. M wanted a Priestood blessing since she has been really stressed in the last couple days. She had a really important interview that could govern the rest of her life. We told her about priesthood blessing and she took the offer. On Saturday she talked about how light she felt after the blessing and how she wasn't as nervous for the interview anymore. Her importance of the interview didn't change and her situation didn't change, but she did. She felt better and I got to see first hand the immediate goodness of God. I know that the immediate goodness of God is real and I know that anyone can feel it just takes a prayer and a plea to our Father in Heaven. 

Til next time!

-და ჯენსენი

Week 27  God's Love

And just like that I am emailing again...pretty crazy. This week went by sooooo fast. This week was so fun and we got to see our investigator M so many times. I love her so much and she is so sweet. We saw her Tuesday with her family and her friends at a restaurant they go to frequently. It is the same restaurant we do another one of our English groups in. It was one of their holidays and we got to celebrate with them a little bit and get to know their family and friends. It was during this time I felt we bonded the most, it really sky rocketed our relationship. She opened up more about her past and even more of her desires on being baptized. She is progressing really fast and if she does become a member she would do a lot of good. She could re translate a lot of the miss translation in Persian BOM and gospel principles book. Heck, she is already making corrections in the gospel principles book! Funny thing is during this visit, I guess some guy that she knows (and I guess knows me) asked if I was single and looking for a husband. She said along the lines, "You are my daughter, I am your mom, they must go through me first!" as well as she told him that I am a missionary and that is against the rules. She was more worried about picking my husband for me. She is so adorable! Thursday we did a whiteboard activity in front of a university which didn't go as well. We just had a group of college students who stood in front of the board and talked to us the entire 2 hours. We couldn't get them to leave. They were just hanging out in front of the university, even though they had no classes, smoking. I inhaled so much smoke that day all of us were pretty messed up after that. Once we were done and putting it away we were trying to find a taxi and this whole group helped us. We had about 15 people trying to find a taxi and one that would fit a giant whiteboard on it. It was actually just really funny to watch. How many people do you need to get a taxi for a whiteboard? I guess 15. That night we went with the "Delisi" Elders to met M and her family since her husband is in town. I love this family! I will probably say that the rest of my life. Saturday we did sports in the rain and we all got soaked. We played soccer....which I sucked at but I participated and that's what counts. Sunday M came to church! Then later that day we went to FHE at on one the american families houses with her and her daughter Y. It was so fun and the wife of the american family served in Japan so her and Y got to speak to each other in Japanese. The rest of the night I talked to Y about anime and kpop groups. I really had to remember a lot of the shows and songs cause it has been a while. I also forgot a ton of my Japanese so I try to switch with her sometimes on certain words...but sometimes they come out as Georgian instead. The struggle is real. So to my dad who thought that it was a waste of my time to watch a lot of those shows and that music, guess what it is helping me on my mission, so ha! Today we, Sister Arutyunova and I are going hiking and then eating at a Korean place, super chill and fun day. And this week we are watching general conference! So stoked! We watch it as missionaries during the week, then on Saturday and Sunday we watch with the members. Translation takes a little bit. 

Spiritual thought: Something I have been noticing is how amazing it feels to feel Gods love towards someone else. Every time we meet M and Y I just can't stop smiling. Literally it makes my day! The love I feel for them goes beyond that of what I am normally used to, it is almost hard to describe in words. All I know is that I hope to feel this more as the mission continues.

Well that was the week. I will include pictures of the adventure we had last week and some from this week. 

Til next time!

-და ჯენსენი

Week 26  Tacos and Adventures

I am alive! I am all good everyone so no worries. I think it was just a virus running it's course because I am all better. The blood results were normal besides low vitamin D, but that is an easy fix. The week went by pretty fast and it is crazy to think that it is already Monday. Monday was just doctors. Tuesday we had exchanges. Tuesday we had meeting with...lets call her MK. She was a very interesting lady who switched from Georgian to Russian to very little English...I was a little bit more confused that lesson, but it was chill. That night we started exchanges. The STLs this transfer are Sister Van Brocklin and Sister Myers. I was with sister Van Brocklin so it was back to the good old trainee days. Wednesday was the full exchange. We went to a member's house for her birthday with all the sisters to celebrate. It was an actual house so it was super cool to see what Georgian houses look like. After that we went finding before heading to the church for a lesson which sadly fell through. Thursday was interesting. We tried to hit some inactive members but most of them we weren't home. We went finding and met a lady that recognized us on the street. Super friendly and we want to meet with her soon. That night we met with a grandmother of a member. We haven't been able to meet with the member so we met with her relative to understand who the member is and to grow a relationship with the family as well. Super sweet lady and she showed us all her family photos. I tried to really focus during that lesson understand what she was saying, but it was definitely a struggle. Friday we went finding and again tried to hit some inactive members. Game night was so fun as usual. I have learned some pretty fun games, which I am very excited to play with my family when I get back. Pretty complicated ones too but super fun ones. That night when we were coming back home someone that we had met in my training stopped me. She recognized my bag and said that she has been wanting to go to English group. We had lost contact with her in my training so it was so cool to see she remembered me and she was still really interested. Saturday was good. Sister Arutyunova didn't feel well so she took a nap while I did my studies. I spent 4 hours writing my talk for Sunday. After that we went to the church and got ready for sports night. Sports was fun, although when the men start playing soccer it gets pretty dang competitive and intense...that is when I usually step out. Sunday was so interesting. I gave a talk during sacrament...and it went ok. I looked at my papers when I went up and all of a sudden I couldn't read Georgian. I definitely got a little too nervous during it. Also since the speaker before me took a super long time, I had to rush my talk which threw me off a little bit. After church we had a linger longer which was fun. Then the night happened and let me tell this was an adventure. It first started out by all the missionaries going to a members house for dinner. We had tacos and boy did I miss tacos. The member is super cool and is only living in Gerogia for a little bit before returning back to the United States. Once that was done we tried to get home...and this is where the adventure happened. We got lost and I mean we got really lost. Which is funny because this member lives in our area. We just took all the wrong buses. We took one which took us to the middle of no where and actually away from where we wanted to go, but at the time we didn't know that. So we got off that bus to go to another station. Now the bus we got on said it was goes to station square...it did not go to station square. Turns out it starts in station square and ends in წხნეთი...which is outside Tbilisi. We went up into the mountains and the whole time we were just super confused. I kept telling sister Arutyuonva," sister I don't recognize any of this".  At one point it started to snow. We went on weird back roads in this old bus that was probably made in the 70s. But we thought this was probably just a weird back way to get to station square. Wrong. Finally we asked this lady if this was close to station square and she looked dumbfound. She said that station square is in Tbilisi and that this is წხნეთი. We got off in the middle of no where. By then is was past our curfew...we just couldn't believe it and just couldn't stop laughing. We got onto another bus that actually took us home. It was like 10:10 by the time returned home. Very interesting experience and I will send pictures next week of this whole adventure. Overall a pretty fun week.

Spiritual thought: So this week I asked for a priesthood blessing. I haven't had one of those since...probably when I was set apart as a missionary. This priesthood blessing was probably one of the most powerful ones I have ever had besides that of patriarchal blessing. In this priesthood blessing I received many specific answers to my prayers and questions. At point in the blessing I was told something so specific that I almost couldn't believe it. It had to be revelation because without it there was no way this elder could of said it. I almost thought to myself, did I tell him about that? But the only person I slightly mentioned about it to was my companion. My and my companion were pretty dumbfounded afterwards and she asked me if I had told the elder about the situation.... I told her no and we both were just in shock for a bit. Overall priesthood blessings are amazing. They are truly opportunities to hear direct revelation, blessings, and guidance from God. I suggest to anyone that is going through something hard, either it in need of comfort or guidance, to not forget the priesthood blessings are available to you. 

Well that is it, until next week!

-და ჯენსენი