Barev Dzez and Gaumarjos!
ძვირფასებო!
What an eventful week this was! We had two long time friends of
the Church attend church for both hours this week, which was a very happy thing
to see.
Visiting Davit Gareji on Monday with the Elders was also a
wonderful experience. As Elder Crapo and I were walking around, we talked about
how amazing it is that the Georgians turned all the amazing nature around them
into places of worship. How often in Western culture did they say, "let's
build a church out of this mountain." Never, as far as I know. They've
done it here and it's truly beautiful. Our little cut through Azerbaijan was
also very nice.
On our drive, we saw something that looked like a nuclear power plant. Maybe it was one.
Going to
Davit Gareji requires taking a road that dips into the border of Azerbaijan a
bit, so we had to get out and snap a picture.
Davit
Gareji -- church built into a mountain
Old
Georgian writing at Davit Gareji
The meeting in Armenia was wonderful. It was a beautiful drive
there and back. I got some very effective Gospel study in during the travel
time. Of course the highlight was seeing all the missionaries in Armenia again.
I think it was very good to get all the trainees together to compare notes. I
feel that's is always good to check-in with one's peers to see what each other
can improve upon. In this aspect, it was a very positive experience. This is a
brand new thing that President Picard has started doing, so a few of the Georgian
missionaries were bitter that I got to go to Armenia already. It's a very weird
experience to go into a country where I knew slightly more of the language than
my companion, yet neither of us could understand what people said nor read any
signs. And not having a usable phone and currency was also wired. Not that we
needed it, but you just feel more stranded than normal. Ya know?
Elder
Hunt and I at Armenia monuments and rocks
Elder
Hunt, our driver, Sister Wall, Sister Chisolm, Elder Fisher
It was
great to see the missionaries I had spent 9 weeks with in the MTC
We had a
great meeting with our mission president.
Now for some political
news. Since nobody in the world knows what Georgia is, politics here usually
don't play a big role on the world stage. As a result, sometimes the major
issues sound like something out of a satire. For example, this week we were at
our friend's TV station(we were translating some scripts for him because its
good service and good language study). One of his editors, one of his
journalists, and his lawyer were discussing news in Georgian. I kept hearing
the word shmaksi. I could not figure out what was going on. As it turns out
they were discussing this new law that is trying to get passed. This law would
require all taxi drivers (services similar to Uber or Lyft included) to paint
their cars white. As a result, a new service called Shmaxi (შმaxi) has popped
up with one of the political parties backing them. I love this country more
every day.
There was a baptism
this weekend, which was a truly wonderful experience. The man that was baptized
has been learning about the church for about 3 years now. He has known it's all
true for a while but has been waiting for his family to be a little more okay
with it. They still aren't super supportive, but he decided that it is best for
him because it's true. There were several speakers but no English translator,
so I was finally able to try and determine what was being said. I really love
hearing the testimonies of members here that truly believe and know that this
church is true and that the doctrines we teach are pure. It's also great to see
fruits of previous missionaries' labors be harvested. All in all, the week was
a joyous one.
One last
photo of a great meal I had with Elder Hunt. Khachapuri, (probably
chicken) hearts, Ostri (a type of stew meat with an awesome sauce), Kababs
wrapped in lavash, and the classic cucumber and tomato salad.
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