Hey Everyone!
Sorry that I haven't written in a couple of weeks. Things have been really busy over here! I have been on a couple awesome splits since we last talked. My favorite place I visited was a little village called Tsaghkadzor because it reminds me a lot of Park City! There's a super nice ski resort there and if it wasn't against the white handbook I would definitely be spending a P-Day on the slopes. The language is clicking more and more everyday, allowing me to really express myself and be more bold on the streets. It sure is getting fun! Last week my companion and I met with one of the big leaders of the Armenian Apostolic Church here to discuss service opportunities. I'm not sure how much I can say, but it was a super cool experience. Since life is about balance, now let me tell you about a not so cool experience I had. The other day my companion and I were cleaning our church building. I walked into the bathroom and bent down to open the toilet seat. Little did I know that this decision would deprive me many hours of sleep for days to come. To my surprise, someone had left their foot-long tape worm in the toilet for me, still swimming and all. It was one of the most upsetting moments of my life. You know how people always tell you that missions will help you narrow down your career path? Well I received confirmation in that moment that I am sticking to a business degree because I don't want to get close to anything like that ever again. Anyways, Christmas in Armenia is a little different. The date actually falls on January 6th and from what I have heard, gets a little overshadowed by the excitement of New Years. It will be interesting to see how that works out. Happy holidays everyone!
Some Highlights:
•Splits in Hrazdan & Charensavan
•3-Day split with Elder Stratford
•Spending the day in Yerevan (pictured)
•Visiting Kecharis Monastery (pictured)
SPIRITUAL THOUGHT
Since Christmas is in a few days, I think it would be good to focus the thought this week on Jesus Christ. Most of us have heard that "charity is the pure love of Christ". In other words, charity is perfect love. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. If there is such a thing as perfect love, certainly that's something we should all be striving for. The past couple weeks I decided to read all I could find about charity. My search eventually lead me to the church's proclamation on families. The word love appears five times in the proclamation, and each time it is linked with action words such as “to love and care” or “to love and serve.” This is important because it implies that love is just as much a verb as it is a noun. Love is something we do, something we can choose everyday. If this wasn't the case, God couldn't command us to love one another! I know that Christ's love can change our hearts. I have felt it through His gospel as well as through the actions of others. Charity is the happiest, strongest, most enduring, perfect form of love. It is how Christ loves us, and it is how He hopes we will love one another. Have a merry Christmas!!
Elder Brennan Larsen
Vratsakan # 5
0051 Yerevan
Armenia
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