winter time

Dear Family and Friends, 

  Its certainly not the extent of winter that it will eventually become in Armenia, but it did get cold overnight. im continuing to hold out, wearing long sleeves until its cold enough to put a suit and a winter coat on. idk how bad it will get here since we're so far south, it wont be the north with 2 constant feet of snow and zero temps. but it will get cold its looking like. anyway

   this week was a hectic one, we had zone meeting in yerevan tues, wed i was in yerevan on exchanges with our assistants, then thursday pres carlson came to artashat and did interviews. saturday we were in yerevan at that giant flea market all day. i didnt take any money on purpose, and i was glad i did cause theres awesome stuff. but im amassing a list for the end of my mish that will only cost a few thousand dollars.... 

 other than that not too much happened. the investigators we have arent progressing, they dont understand the importance so they dont show at meetings a lot, but you cant explain the importance if you cant meet. its a frustrating process. we found two new people to teach, a nice older couple, and their neighbor seems interested too, but they only want to listen, they dont want to go to church. we'll keep working with them for a bit though. thats kinda been the theme for the first half of this transfer- good people with potential to be solid members, but they just require a lot of work and you can see it from the start. and thats fine, but they're all busy. 

 Pres Carlson has started asking the missionaries to all join him in kneeling prayer at 10 every night, and especially to pray that we will find new people to teach- its been the main struggle of our mission, and while every number is a soul and child of God, it is kinda a numbers game. the more new investigators, the higher the chance some of them will make it to baptism. so as a district we're working hard to make sure we do everything to actually make those prayers happen- talking to everyone has been a struggle, and asking for referrals. PMG says it like 15 times (i counted, to prove it in district meeting) to ask EVERYONE for referrals- then when you get one, ask for another haha. but its just so clear that this work has to move through friends, members or non, because its so much easier to start off through someone you know than to meet 2 crazy americans on the street that are shivering and dont speak well. the armenians have a connection with each other that ill never be able to describe and will never see between americans. its amazing to watch it work in meetings. and sometimes it means theyre too close and get in fights. but thats exciting too. 

 anyway thats all, the works moving a little slow but im still progressing as a person and appreciating every day i get to be here. love you all