Hey Everyone!
The past 2 weeks have seriously been so awesome. We started to video chat with real Armenians and it has been THE COOLEST experience. I already feel so much love for the people. One of the men we talked to was completely blind and he was able to recite every scripture we shared from memory. Super cool. I still don't know what they are saying most of the time, but I feel like my language has really improved the past couple of weeks. I know that as I focus on my love for the people, everything else will fall into place. Last week I was able to sing for the special musical number in sacrament meeting and that was awesome! Something not as cool happened last week though. We were playing sand volleyball early in the morning and it was really cold outside. I didn't want to wear shoes because I feel like I don't play as well with them on. Anyways, in that short time my feet got really cold and they started burning like crazy once we got back to the dorm. It was so bad that I ended up going to the nurse here. She said that everything will heal okay but my feet were still super swollen and blistered all over. For a while I couldn't even fit in my shoes so I have just been wearing slippers for the past week haha! I have no idea how it happened, but I guess we just need extra trials sometimes. Not my best move. Anyways, everything else is going really well. We should get our travel plans this week! I am super pumped!
Some Highlights:
• Elder Quentin L. Cook's devotional
• New missionary orientation
• Pretty Utah mountains
• Sister Mittens & Elder Van Gijsel's vlog (linked below)
SPIRITUAL THOUGHT
A mission is awesome because you really try and forget about yourself, but it is also a great time to develop attributes that will lead to a better life after the mission. One of the biggest things I am trying to do is really pinpoint how we can have lasting joy in our lives. I am learning that there is a big difference between short term happiness and joy. I'm not always happy when my alarm goes off early in the morning, but I have joy when I look back and see how productive my day was. I'm not always happy when I say no to sugar, but I have joy when I wake up everyday feeling healthy. I'm not always happy to language study for 10 hours a day, but I am overwhelmed with joy when the person sitting across from me says "you have helped me". Following temporary pleasure is not the same as having lasting joy. The standards of the church are designed for this exact purpose. I know life is best when we are following all of God's commandments. I know that if we do the little things everyday that might seem hard, we will have an amazing life!
Elder Brennan Charles Larsen
NOV05 ARM-YER
2005 N 900 E Unit 95
Provo UT 84602
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