Sending Sunshine from Mary

Barev im sireliner!

It sounds like we are experiencing opposite ends of winter this year! The last week has been so warm! Almost springlike.  The sun has been out, the snow has been melting.  I kept thinking it was just the warm before the storm, but we've yet to have the storm come.  As much as I love the snow, I am not at all jealous of the weather you've been having.

We had a great week.  The Lord was just so good to us, like always.  It's funny though, I don't feel like I have much to tell-nothing out of the ordinary apparantly, but just wonderful missionary work.  I do want to share an insight I gained during a lesson.  As we were talking with the woman we were teaching, I mentioned how kind hearted Armenian people are and how we just love them, she agreed and then shared the following "These people have seen some of everything:  wars, earthquakes, poverty, etc.  They haven't had it easy.  But because of that, they understand so much better the sweetness of life."  I just loved it! Usually all we hear is how hard it is (and it is hard, I know), so it was so neat to hear such a good perspective.  And I agree.  Experiencing those hard and challenging things should help us to appreciated so much more the sweetness of life, of the gifts we have been given.  We are truly so blessed!  From a different perspective, we also met a man who wouldn't accept that we are supposed to be happy in this life.  He just kept saying that life on earth, anywhere, is like hell.  Sad.  I would truly say he is miserable.  To compare the two people is like night and day-and it just reminded me of how important our attitude is, our perspective makes all the difference.  If we look for the miserable and terrible things in life, we will surely find them, but the opposite is also true:  if we look for the sweet and good things in life we will surely find them.  The Lord doesn't expect us to be miserable, He wants us to find joy and He constantly extends the invitation.  Just today I read His words today from 3 Nephi 8

I know it is in accepting this invitation and in coming to Him that we find the joy He has promised, even the joy of our Father.  The Lord loves us! How could He ever wish that we only experience misery? "13 O all ye that are ^aspared because ye were more ^brighteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may ^cheal you?

 14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will ^acome unto me ye shall have ^beternal life. Behold, mine ^carm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.  I know it is in accepting this invitation and in coming to Him that we find the joy He has promised, even the joy of our Father.  The Lord loves us! How could He ever wish that we only experience misery?

Food for thought, for the week.  Will you all read 3 Nephi 5:13 and think about what it means to you?  What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and what changes do we each need to make in order to call ourselves His disciples? 

I love you family! You are the best! Thank you for all you do!  I'm always praying for you! I hope your week is wonderful!

Metz sirov, 

Quyr Broadbent

Mary - Jan 21, 2013

Barev my family jan!

I am absolutely positive that both Callee and Chad did fantastic! I can just imagine it....Especially knowing the two of them!  Send them my love and let them know that I know they are going to be the best missionaries in their missions.  I'll be praying for Brian and Becky-I know the Lord is guiding them and that all will be well!  

We had a great training meeting Saturday with all of the missionaries in Armenia.  I was reminded once again how there is so much more to do-to become.  There is lots of room for improvement!  Always, right?

Just as there is always room for improvement-there is always room for more in the Kingdom.  There can never be too many apart of what we have.  And the Lord expects us to bring His children back to Him. 

Tereza's baptism was wonderful! We had so much support from the branch!  And had a couple of our investigators come-they all loved it!  She was afraid of the actual going under the water part, and thought it would be difficult because of an operation she had years ago that still causes her pain in her legs, but after the baptism we were talking about how she felt during the moment and she said that as soon as she got in the water she didn't have any pain and she knew it would be alright.  And it was!  It was just wonderful!  I am so grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord!  I'm sure if you asked some, they would say it was the warmth of the water that helped the pain in her legs, but we all know better-that truly the Lord's hand is apart of everything! Then on Sunday, despite that she had come down with a pretty bad cold and had a fever, she came and was so happy after she received the Holy Ghost.  Just glowing!  There is nothing better than seeing the happiness the gospel brings to people's lives-especially the lives of people you love.  

Speaking of the happiness the gospel brings, the happiness that righteous living brings, I found a couple of scriptures in my studies that talk about that, one in Helaman 13, and another in 2 Nephi 2.  Truly righteous living brings happiness.  Then I think of our Father in Heaven and I just have to imagine the joy He experiences, since He is perfectly righteous.  It's pretty neat to think that we all have the potential to experience that same joy-and he promises us time and time again that if we will walk His path and endure to the end we will be able to take part of the "fullness of joy".  Wow! I understand that we still experience disappointment and sorrow, because of our own choices and the choices of others, but what a wonderful gift we are promised!  Also a little quote from our sireli Pres. Uchtdorf "Discipleship is the pursuit of holiness and happiness.  It is the path to our best and happiest self."  

Missionary work is hard.  Perhaps not so much physically, rather spiritually and emotionally.  I know this is the Lord's work and I know He is helping; giving everything He can to help this work to go forward.  I am beyond grateful to be where I am, to be with the people I am with, to be in such a wonderful country, and to be serving the Lord.  Though it may be hard, it is so worth it and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

I love you family!  I am constantly praying for you!  Thank you for all you do! 

Love you!  Keep your smiles on!

Metz Sirov

Quyr Broadbent

A view - brrr!!

Cold in Armenia too!

Barev im sireliner!

From the sounds of your weather, it sounds like you were all in Armenia!  We had a big storm this last week-over night and through the day, we got over a foot of snow.  A couple of days later, the cold set in-I'm told it was about -20 c (about 0 f, if I've calculated right) and on top of that we had a bone chilling wind! Brr!  But it was a good week, all in all! Busy, as we continue to move forward the with Lord's Work.  

It is so exciting to hear about all the people getting mission calls and getting ready to leave! I am SO excited for Callee!  Hard to believe that she leaves so soon! Just this morning, Sis. Nelsen was talking about being at the Brigham Temple dedication, I remembered how you talked about it in your email-it just feels like yesterday! And yet, here we are, Callee getting all set to leave! So exciting! Will you send me her MTC and Mission Address?  

I don't feel like I have a lot to say today.  Tereza will be getting baptized Friday-she has come so far and is so excited for her baptism! As are we!  Yesterday at church, our Sunday School teacher wasn't there,  and I volunteered to teach the lesson.  At the end, I thought about the miracle of the gift of tongues.  6 months ago, I would never have been able to stand up and fluently teach a lesson, saying all that I wanted to say, how I wanted to say it.  I never pictured it coming! And yet it was just so comfortable-so natural.  Now I'm not sure I'll be able to teach in English....  Truly amazing though!  The Lord is just so good to us!

I am so grateful to be here, to be serving these people.  This morning as I was studying from Mark 8, I realized how true it is that as we lose ourselves, we truly find ourselves.  As I thought about 34-37 I thought about how if we give up ourselves in humility and submissiveness then we gain so much more.  It's in giving up ourselves and taking the Lord's yoke upon us that we truly find life, for we come to understand better the purpose of life and we come to learn of the things that truly matter.  I may not be able to say that I have given everything for the Lord quite yet, but I hope and pray that I am doing the things that will keep me on that path.

I love you all family! I am constantly praying for you! I hope this week goes well, and that it is at least a little warmer that last week!

Love you!

Metz Sirov,

Quyr Broadbent

Mary and Sister Nelson and an Armenian Snowman

Mary's latest Jan 7, 2012

Hello my dear family!!!

It sounds like you had a great start to the new year!  How neat to be able to listen to Colter-I also don't know him well, but so cool to hear of his strength and testimony!  The gospel truly is the only foundation that will keep us strong! 

Merry Christmas from Armenia!  We ended our New Years week by celebrating Christmas-since here they celebrate it on Jan 6. New Years here is so wonderful! For the last week nearly every store has been closed, and people just go all over visiting their friends and family.  Let me paint a picture of what it typically looks like when you go into an Armenian's home in the week following New Years.  You walk in the door (normal everywhere, I know :) ), everyone greats you, says something about the New Year and they invite you to come into their main room.  When you walk in, there is a table in the center of the room, filled (and I mean filled) with food and decorations (more filled than our typical Thanksgiving dinner...), there are always new plates out for the guests, and there is an array of typical Armenian food (mmmm, yum).  As you sit, the host encourages you to dig in, and if you don't start taking something, they just put some of everything on your plate (and a lot of everything at that).  If by chance your plate start to looks a little empty, the host will again invite you to take more or will again place more on your plate.  Everyone, even in the most humble of circumstances has a table set something similar to this.  And everywhere you go, whether a new acquaintance or someone you know well, they treat you like family and they give you the best they have.  It is so humbling to be among these people! To learn from them and to feel of the immense love they have-I just love them so much!

With that in mind, we had a miracle for a week-there is no other way to explain it!  I wish I could tell every detail about the miracles we had, but I'm afraid it would just take too long to try and tell you, so instead I'll tell you about the neatest experience we had with the Griffiths.  We had gone to stop by an investigator's home, to take treats and wish her a Happy New Year, but we knew she was busy, so we didn't plan on staying.  She ended up not being home when we went, so we headed to our other appointment, also with an investigator.  She also wasn't home, but she said she would be home in about 15 minutes, so we sat outside, waiting for her to arrive.  After 5 or 10 minutes of practicing some Armenian with the Griffiths, this man, along with his two grandsons came and invited us into their home.  I love how these people just open their doors to us! We tried to politely refuse, but he insisted.  Because of the New Year celebrations, their table was filled with food and they insisted on feeding us.  I honestly felt a part of their family as we chatted with each other and as we explained our purpose and why we are here in the first place.  It was truly a miracle-every minute of it. The day following this miracle, Sister Nelsen was able to taste for the first time some of the hardships and persecution that come with being a missionary. We had a couple of rather mean persecutors and then perhaps the saddest of all, the family we found a couple of weeks ago told us they didn't want to listen to us and didn't want us in their home.  It's always so interesting to me how there are such extreme opposites within just a couple of days.  I guess it's just more evidence that this truly is God's work and that Satan wants to do all in his power to ruin it.  

I love you family (and friends)!! Thank you for all you do! I read this verse, Alma 44:4-5, and I thought of you all when I read about the "sacred support" of their wives and children.  I can't help but feel so grateful and happy to have so much support behind me!  Especially when I think of those who leave home without the support of anyone they know.  Thank you for being you!  Thank you for your prayers and support! I appreciate it so much! 

I love you! I hope this week goes well! Be strong and remember who you are and whose you are!

Metz sirov,

Quyr Broadbent

Barev im sireli untanik!

Happy New Year!! I can't believe this year is over!! Wow! Time sure flies! How good the Lord has been to us this year!  We are so blessed!  It was wonderful to talk with you all! To see all of your faces and to feel your love! I couldn't be more grateful to have the technology we have, where I felt like I was merely down the block, instead of clear across the world.  Just great! I am so happy to hear that you finally got some snow!  The snow we had, has mostly melted (again), and it's just cold again.  Perhaps this will be our cycle for the whole winter.  I guess we'll see.  That is so exciting for the Butterfields! I'm sure they will do just great! Send them my love!  It is so exciting to hear about those new, younger missionaries! I know the Lord has prepared a great work for them! It's opened up the way for us to get some sisters into Georgia!  So big!  The Lord's work is so great! 

What a good week-everyone is running around, busily, making preparations for the holidays-we learned from one of our members how to make tolma-a traditional Armenian food (it is my favorite...).  From my observations, the New Year is more just a celebration, a reason to get together with family and friends, to party a bit-not really for resolutions.  It's fun to see everyone so excited about something.  I've been told that tonight there will be a huge explosion of fireworks...I guess we'll see :)

I forgot to tell you, Elder Wood is also in Vanadzor! (Elder Wood is from North Ogden - his father is Weber High's Choral Director) We have some fun little connections in our district!  The picture is from our Christmas party last week, Sis. Nelsen and me.

We went down to Yerevan twice this last week-once for the Christmas party and once for a training meeting with the new missionaries-I feel like I was the one who needed all the training, not the new missionaries!  It is always wonderful to be taught by our leaders! President and Sister Carter are truly wonderful! There was just a thought I want to share, that I feel like is very applicable to all of us.  One idea that was shared was to just stop by our investigators' and members' homes, with a little note, a little treat, or just to say hi, to let them know we are thinking about them constantly.  I'm positive that no matter where we are, there are always people who need a little extra lift, who just need to know we are thinking about them.  Next time you think about someone, will you let them know you thought about them? Whether you call, write a note, stop by, or whatever it is, will you let them know?  

I love you all Family!  I hope you have a fantastic week, and a happy and safe new year!

Love you!

Metz Sirov,

Quyr Broadbent

Pictures from a package Mary sent for Christmas -

Mary & Sister Beal

Mary, Armine, Ani (who just left to serve a mission in England) and Sister Beal

Elder & Sis Griffiths (from North Ogden), Sister Beal, Mary and an investigator

A beautiful fall day - Sister Beal and Mary