The Ghana Miracle

Hey Everyone!

July was a crazy month for us. A lot has been going on and we are definitely keeping our hands full! Most of my time now is spent in meetings with SLC, the Area Presidency in Moscow, or doing administrational work. I am learning so much and just feel blessed to be here. We had a group of missionaries who ended their missions a couple weeks ago, so Elder Van and I spent 3 days straight (on little sleep) working with the US embassy to find them a way out of here. I never thought I would be doing that on my mission haha! Armenia is still in a state of emergency so our missionary force is getting pretty thin. We are now down to 22 missionaries here. Despite the difficulties, we are still working hard to move the work forward. The missionaries are teaching a LOT online and the Facebook page is growing by the day. Everyone is hanging in there and I am so proud of them! 

Some Highlights:

• Lover's Park (pictured below)

• Designing the Visitor's Center

• Receiving a referral from Afghanistan

• Giving the boys haircuts

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT

Recently, I received a message from a boy in Africa. He found my Facebook and wanted to ask me about my mission. We talk every other day and now Gregory has become my little buddy. He is a member, but doesn't have a lot of positive influences around him. He sent me a frantic text the other day, that someone in his village had a bad leg infection and he didn't know what to do. Since he had the priesthood, I was able to walk him through how to give a blessing. Gregory said it was powerful and he was able to bring comfort to the man. It reminded me how personal God knows each one of us. If he is listening to little Gregory in Africa stumble through a prayer, he is listening to you to. All you have to do is reach out (:

Elder Brennan Larsen

Vratsakan # 5

0051 Yerevan

Armenia

Surf's Up

Hey Everyone!

All is well here in Armenia! We're coming up on our 4 month mark in quarantine so that's big time. About a month ago, we created a Facebook page to push our online teaching efforts and it has BLOWN UP. We actually had too many people reaching out to us to learn about the gospel, so we had to stop running advertisements for a little while. I can't think of a better problem to have haha. Now we're giving trainings to missions all around the world about how to grow their online presence. The Lord has really been helping us and it is so cool to see everyone's efforts paying off right before our eyes. I think if we continue to implement the right strategies online, this will change the church in Armenia. I can't wait to see what the future holds. On top of all the office work, Elder Van and I are also transforming our mission office into a visitor's center. We have been in the design process for a couple weeks now and I think we are about ready to begin putting things together. It's going to be awesome! Anyways, we had a monsoon the other day so us 4 elders had no choice but to run outside and go swimming in the street. Elder Mandla is from Australia so we tried surfing using some drift wood. It wasn't quite Hawaii but you gotta work with what you got (:

Some Highlights:

• Witnessing a street crowbar fight

• Designing the new visitor's center

• Buying a Russian gas mask

• Taking the boys through my old football workouts

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT

“The mind in itself and in its own place can make a hell out of heaven or a heaven out of hell.”

I love this quote. It is never sufficient to believe in ourselves only when we feel enthusiastic or life is going well for us. It is never adequate to have FAITH sporadically. Tough times never last, but tough (faithful) people do.

Elder Brennan Larsen

Vratsakan # 5

0051 Yerevan

Armenia

Weed Farming & Exploring Monasteries

Hey Everyone!

Even though Armenia is doing pretty bad with the spread of COVID-19, I've been able to go on a couple of awesome adventures the past few weeks! First, my companion and I went up north to close some more apartments in a city called Gyumri. When we got there, we found out that one of the neighbors received a key for the apartment somehow and was using the empty space to grow marijuana. Thankfully, we were able to get out of that contract pretty quick haha. I think after closing 10 apartments around Armenia, I will be more than prepared if I ever decide to go into real estate one day. Two weeks ago, the missionaries were really starting to get worn out from being inside for so long, so the Picards took our district down south to visit one of the most notorious attractions in Armenia, a monastery called Khor Virap. On the drive back, we drove up to the peak of this beautiful mountain where we could see the borders of Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan! It was absolutely crazy. The best part of the trip was that before we left that morning, I had a spiritual prompting to bring my football. Somehow we found the only grass field I have ever seen in the entire country of Armenia and all of us got to run around for an hour. I WAS SO DANG HAPPY. It's funny how you can be on the border of 4 Middle Eastern countries at the same time and want nothing more than just a grass field to throw the football on. I guess life is about the little things.

Some Highlights:

•Road trip down to Khor Virap

•Teaching a few youth from France

•Launching the church's FB & Instagram page

•Delivering hundreds of welfare packages

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12)

Elder Brennan Larsen

Vratsakan # 5

0051 Yerevan

Armenia

MIDDLE EAST ROAD TRIP

Hey Everyone!

Because of the economic pressure, Armenia was forced to lift their national quarantine about two weeks ago. Since then, the situation here has gotten a lot worse and now there is speculation that they will start to enforce a stay-at-home order again. Either way, us missionaries will probably be hunkered in until July at the earliest. Crazy times! Elder Van Gijsel and I are now the mission secretaries so this week we had to close a lot of the apartments because of how few missionaries are still in the country. It was actually awesome. On Thursday we took a trip with Sister Picard and the APs down to the far south of Armenia, right next to the Turkey and Iran border. The city is called Ararat because of how close it is to the famous Mount Ararat (pictured below). Even though we had to clean cockroaches out of the bathrooms, it was the first time we've done anything outside in two months so I felt on top of the world. It was sweet to see such a beautiful part of the country!

Some Highlights:

•Teaching our Dutch friends

•Making Grandma's crepes

•Playing a lot of guitar jazz music

•Diving into family history work

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT

We will all need healing in our lives. Even the greatest among us, Jesus Christ, experienced betrayal, abandonment, heartbreak, and physical pain as part of His life on Earth. The most important thing to remember is that healing isn't a destination, it's a process. It takes time. In Japan, broken antiques are often repaired with a gold sealant. The flaw is seen as a unique piece of the object's history, adding to its beauty. Think about this the next time you feel broken. Because of the grace of Jesus Christ, eventually those cracks in our lives are going to be filled. It takes time and energy and struggle, but healing teaches us. No matter how bad you may think they are, those cracks are never going to belittle your worth in the eyes of God. In fact, you will reach a point when the blessings of healing will only attribute to your beauty and uniqueness of self. When you feel you are alone, shut down in fear or broken, find the courage to pray. I promise those prayers will be heard and help will come.

Elder Brennan Larsen

Vratsakan # 5

0051 Yerevan

Armenia