Mary's Mission Feb 25 2013 - Armenian Dreams

Barev marev Family jan!

We had a pretty fantastic week-I don't know what else to say.  President and Sister Carter were here at the beginning of the week and it was so good to be with them-I love them so much!  They are both so kind to me! I don't know how I was so blessed to be sent here, but I am so grateful! (speaking of the mission president-we heard the new one has been called to come here-Pres. and Sis. Carlson from Price-way good)  I feel like the Lord blessed us with lots of neat experiences this week.  We are teaching a woman that has committed to be baptized, but then the last couple of weeks she refused to let us come over and kept saying that she doesn't want it anymore (Satan sure knows how to get to people).  We both felt we just needed to go again, and talk with her about the path that Christ has shown for us to follow.  Near the end of our meeting, she began to tell about a dream she had about seeing paradise.  (Armenians have more dreams that have significance of some kind than anyone I know and they always love to tell us about them.)  After she had finished telling about that dream, I was praying to know how to direct it back to the lesson or to apply that to the lesson when she began into another dream (I just have to say-I'm not sure exactly what it is, but when people tell stories and talk about dreams, it is much harder to understand and takes a ton more effort).  As she started into the second dream, I just kept thinking "how long do we let her keep going?" I kept feeling to just be a little patient.  And then she proceeded to say that in her dream she was sick and had gone to a hospital of sorts, but a hospital that she wasn't familiar with.  The doorway was narrow and there was only one very narrow hallway, lined with doors, that led to a room where a person was sitting.  She walked down the hallway, told the person that she needed to come in and the person asked for her name and then proceeded to search for her name in the book.  After searching the person said that she name wasn't there so she couldn't go in.  She asked them to look again, repeated her name and waited.  Again, the person said she couldn't find her name and told her she needed to leave and come back another time when her name was written in the book.  Goodness! The Lord is so good to us! Just writing about this is giving me the chills! As our investigator finished telling this, I felt so strongly that she needed to know that without baptism by the proper authority, into Christ's church, that her name would never be written in that book; that it will never be written in the records of heaven.  I'm not sure how to describe the moment that the two of us shared, as I testified again about the importance of the gospel and baptism.  Truly incredible! I feel so humbled to be here, to be serving for our Father, and to be bearing the name of Jesus Christ.  Wow! Being a missionary is truly the best!  I don't think I could have ever dreamed just how wonderful it is! Despite that perhaps things don't always work out how we have planned, I know that the Lord knows what He is doing and that if we trust Him and follow Him then all will be right.  He is always with us and loves us SO much!  I just can't describe all of the many times I have felt His love, not only for me, but for these people I am serving with! 

I love you family! Thank you for all you do! 

Metz sirov

Quyr Broadbent

Mary's Mission Feb 18, 2013

Barev im untaniq jan!

It was good to hear that things are going well-and nice to know that the surgery went well.  I was praying it would.  To be honest I don't know what to say today.  I'm hoping a little inspiration will come as I write.  It has been so delightful to welcome the Haglunds and to feel their joy and enthusiasm for the Work.  They are wonderful examples and I am so excited to work with them and get to know them more.  They have already been a wonderful addition to our meetings and they have such an uplifting spirit with them.  It's been kind of fun, too, to see Sister Nelsen step up and try to help them feel comfortable, especially since she, as well as Elder Wood, understand and remember so much better than the rest of us do what it's like to be new, surrounded by new unfamiliar things.Our week went well-we were busy with helping our new senior couple adjust.  The Haglunds-they're from New York, have 6 kids, 5 grandkids, and have a lot of enthusiasm for the work.  They are so determined to learn the language and it's fun to see them put forth their best foot.  We've been able to take them to many of our meetings and they bring such a wonderful spirit with them.  It's been hard to not compare them to the Griffiths-I constantly have to remind myself that they are different people and have different strengths.  They've brought a lot of energy with them and are so excited to be a part of the work.  Truly, nothing is better than being a missionary.

We met a new family this week-the mom is convinced that she knows Sis. Nelsen from Russia; she just loves her.  And while we know that they don't know each other from Russia, we feel that they definitely new each other in heaven-I imagine they were likely very good friends :)  We haven't had many meetings with them, but each time we go it is just heartbreaking to hear the grandmother talk about her dead son and how his death has taken away her faith in God.  The spirit was so strong as we shared a little about the Plan of Salvation, and while she kept saying she couldn't believe it, we could tell the entire family was feeling something.  We're not exactly sure where to go from here, but the Gospel is what they need; as each of us know, there is no peace comparable to the peace that comes from knowing the truths of the Gospel, and no hope comparable to the hope that we find in our Savior.

We've decided, in an effort to be more optimistic, that everytime we have a negative or bad thought about a situation, a person, or something, that we are going to combat it by finding at least 4 positive things.  Will you all do that too?  We constantly read about how the lamanite and nephites always forget the Lord and the goodness He has given them.  I find that I am the same-that while we may have had a wonderful day, by the next day I already forget all the miracles that the Lord performed.  I feel this will help us remember the Lord's hand and mercy in our lives.

I love you family! I am constantly praying for you! And I know that the Lord is truly watching over you! I hope your week goes fantasticly!  Thank you for your prayers, faith, and support! You are truly the best!

Metz sirov,

Quyr Broadbent

"It is so important for us to be on the Lord's side.  But we should never forget that the Lord is also on our side." -Bruce C. Hafen-


I forgot to say, we watched the Restoration film in english the other day and I just have to say, I don't think it is as good as the Armenian.  Maybe I'm partial to the Armenian, but I feel like you are all missing out because only watch the english version.  It just made me laugh that I felt that way, that the Armenian translation is just so good and sounds so much better :)

I love you all!

Mary's Mission Feb 11, 2013

Barev family jan! 

Thank you for the birthday wishes! Our new senior couple will be here on Wednesday, so it should be the best birthday ever, as we get to help them get comfortable! So fun! Pres. and Sis. Carter will be in Turkey for a mission presidents seminar, so Sister Carter called and gave some things she would like us to do to help them get comfortable and trained-a couple of hours later she called back with some clarification stuff and then said she realized it would be my birthday so she asked if it'd be ok that we do all of that on my birthday. Of course! I don't think there could be a better thing to do than to serve!  We're all pretty excited to have them come; it should be great! 

We had a pretty good week-Sister Nelsen got a bit sick, despite my objections, she insisted that we keep going-she is such a trooper for sure! Just wonderful! She also spoke in sacrament meeting and did a wonderful job! Just fantastic! I couldn't be prouder! As I sat and listened I just couldn't take the smile off of my face-I felt like a proud parent watching their child walk for the first time-just so good! I think my favorite thing is that as she makes progress I just find so much joy in it! And then when it's hard for her and she struggles, it's hard for me; it's painful seeing her struggle and despite that I often don't know what to do to help, I also know that it's through the struggle that we learn so much more.  No wonder this life of trials and experiences is so necessary for us to become like our Heavenly Father!  Plus those experiences often help us to appreciate everything else so much more!

el inch asem? It seems every time I sit down to write, I just don't know what to say! I was studying from JSH this last week and was thinking about as Joseph begins to pray, he faces oppostion, and right when he is about to give in to the darkness and despair, the light breaks.  I feel this is a reoccuring thing in our lives. Always a test of faith.  And our faith is like that-we hold on, despite the darkness and despair until the very end, until we feel like we can no longer keep going (often even beyond that point) and then right at that point our Father saves us with His light and power.  Truly, the Lord is so aware of us and of the things that we need.  He answers our sincere and faith filled prayers!  We had a few experiences this week as we would pray about our investigators and the Lord helped us know what to do.  It is also always wonderful to say my personal prayers, to truly commune with the Lord and to give Him time to speak to me about the things that I need to do.  If we listen, He will always speak to us.  Perhaps in different ways, but always, especially as we seek to be worthy of the Spirit.  I know God is our Heavenly Father-He is the literal father of our spirits, He knows us, our circumstances, our names, our needs, our wants, and our hearts.  He wants us to come to know Him, to become like Him and He is constantly extending His arm to us, if we will but reach up and take hold.  What will it take for us to accept the invitation He extends?   

I love you family! You are the best!  I hope you have a fantastic week, a fun filled Valentine's day and that all goes well! I am constantly praying for you! I love you!

Metz sirov, 

Quyr Broadbent

Mary's mission Jan 4

իմ սիրելի ընտանիկ (my favorite family)

Վայ, ինչ քան եմ սիրում ձեզ, երևի չգիտեք: Ես ձեզ շատ եմ սիրում, շատ:(Oops, I kind of like you, I do not know I love you very much. - obviously THAT translation came through rather oddly, I'm not sure what she meant to write but this is what the translator says it says! funny!)

Wow family! More snow came your way? That is so crazy! We had a little bit more snow this last week, but once again, it has warmed up quite nicely-I feel like I don't need to be wearing my coat today.  I think because of how the winter going that the summer here will likely be a huge problem-for similar drought reasons as in Utah.  I guess we'll see how everything works out.  How's everything with Beth?  I hope it all goes well!   

We had the most wonderful Zone conference this last week.  We had the privilege of having President Lawrence come and speak to us; he's in the area presidency, he and his wife came and spoke back in February, and he chose to come back for one day to congratulate us on how well we've done and then to teach us some more.  It was truly amazing and inspiring! Not to mention how I always love listening to our dear President and Sister Carter.  How I love them! And love our missionaries! I know everyone always says this about their mission, but our mission is really the best! I am constantly learning from all of our missionaries and I would be more than happy to serve with any of them-they are all just that great! How I've been so blessed to be with all of them, I'm not sure I'll ever know.  President Lawrence talked about keys to a successful mission and also principles of faith.  I'll just share a little bit of what I he said.  In order to have a successful mission we have to: learn the doctrine of the church, of Jesus Christ, since the study of doctrine changes behavior faster than the study of behavior changes behavior; focus on personal sanctification, our purpose and our goals, seek first the Lord's glory; make the spirit apart of everything we do, learn how the spirit works with us; excercise faith in the Lord; and be unfied in all we do. (He talked a little bit about the sons of Helaman and how they were united in purpose and because of that none died, but they were also all wounded.  Truly, unification in all things).  6 principles of faith and goal setting:  pick a righteous desire (one that we can not accomplish ourselves, that has a gap), be believing-believe it can be reached with the Lord's help, plead with the Lord in unceasing prayer, commit fully to the accomplishment of the goal ("if something is impossible but you want it bad enough, it can happen"), expect trials and obstacles but just keep working, and finally we have to expect the Lord to help.  It was pretty fantastic! Towards the end of the meeting, it was neat to feel the promptings of the Spirit, as President Carter announced there were going to be a few testimonies from missionaries.  I felt he would call on me, but as often happens, I pushed the feeling away.  The feeling was pretty persistant, so I accepted it, said a silent pray and told the Lord I was willing to do what He wanted and say what He wanted.  As Pres. stood back up, sure enough, he asked me to bear my testimony.  I'm not sure why the Lord saw fit to let me know a little in advance, maybe so I can learn a little better how the spirit works through me, but I am grateful He showed me.  It's always a privilege and a blessing to share what I know to be true.

With all of those neat things we were taught, we had a pretty great miracle!  On Friday, after we had planned and set some goals, we felt, because we planned to get into a few new homes, that with the help of the Lord we could find 6 new investigators.  As we began our day in prayer and plead with the Lord for His help, we had high hopes of reaching our goal.  After a few hours of being out and having several of our hoped for meetings fall through, we once again turned to the Lord.  I'm not sure what Sister Nelsen was praying for, but I was just pleading with Him for help and guidance-I truly knew we could not do it without His help and at this point I had no idea of how we would have 6 new investigators by the end of the day, but we continued on with our faith in the Lord.  A couple of hours later, we were able to meet with a new family and found 5 of our 6 new investigators.  Truly a miracle, there is no other way to describe it.  As we talked with Elder Hall at the end of the day and described how the day had gone, he pointed out to us that each of the 6 principles of faith that Pres. Lawrence had just taught were apart of our day.  Wow.  Pretty neat to see the hand of the Lord.

Family, I love you! A lot! I know without a doubt that this is the Lord's work-I know it's true! I know the Lord is aware of us, of our needs, our wants, our lives.  He knows us and He wants us to be happy!  I know Jesus Christ is our Savior.  We have chose to take His name upon us and it is such a sacred responsibility! I pray we are living worthy of His name!  

I love you all!  I hope you have a great week!

Metz sirov, 

Quyr Broadbent

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