January 2, 2017

Na, Na, Na, Na na naaaaa.....

Gezuar per shume vjet! Happy New Years, fam! How was it? What did you all do? Watching Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Star Wars 7 and part of Lord of the Rings 3 was awesome! But I'll talk about that later!

This Tuesday was a good day! We met with these two teenagers named Jurgen and Devitt. It was interesting meeting Jurgen the first time. The first time, he and his friend, Amarildo came up to me while we were doing street contacting, and his friend Amarildo asks, "How innocent can one person be?" I was a little taken back, and my first thought was that they were just trying to tease me, so I didn't really pay attention to it, but they stayed and asked it again, so I talked to them a little bit, and they actually weren't just being doofuses! So we got their numbers, and we met with Jurgen this week! It was incredible! We met, gave them some copies of the Book of Mormon, and they said they'll meet with us again! Jurgen said something about some bad stuff happening at his house, and he said he wants to learn more about Jesus Christ, if I remember right. It was sweet! I can testify, that if you're trying your best to do your duty, the Lord will help you to fulfill your purpose, and accomplish your goals. We weren't all that successful with people we talked to ourselves, but had we not been where we were that day, we may not have met with Jurgen for a long time. The Lord is here in the work, and He is guiding His missionaries. It is in His way, and in His timing.
We also met with a man named Armando this week. He's homeless, but it was a good first lesson. It was rough after the second lesson though. The second lesson, he talked a lot about money, and he was a little bit upset that the church here doesn't give homeless people food and things like that like some other churches do. Then after the second lesson, he sent us a message that said that he was at the institute center and asked us if we could give him 20 bucks so he could go to Tirane. Obviously we told him we couldn't. After that, we didn't really complain a whole lot for anything. We used to complain because the heater in our living room doesn't work, but now, we are more thankful that we have a living room and a bed and a fridge with food. Meeting someone who is homeless puts things into perspective.
On Thursday, we had a training from President Weidmann for all the District Leaders. He gave us a commitment there to invite all investigators to be baptized in the first lesson, and he asked us how we are at doing this, and why we don't do it sometimes. I said that sometimes I feel like I will scare off people if I invite them to be baptized in the first lesson. He was a little bit taken back when I said this. He explained that really, we don't have anything to lose if we do this, and that Baptism is not a bad thing. I just feel sometimes like with the way the lesson is going, sometimes it would be better to wait. Do you all have any counsel for that? Especially Conrad and Dad?
We also met with the Bishop this week to talk about Home Teaching. This week in District Meeting, we talked about how every member needs a friend, an assignment, and nourishment by the Word of God. Home teaching is an incredible way to accomplish these three things, and it's not happening so much here. I don't know why we didn't capitalize on this before, but Elder Cox pointed it out, so we'll be working on that this week.
Haha so New Years! We had to be in at 4 o'clock, and we were! We just had like literally 5 seconds before it became 4:01! It was great! My companion had not seen Star Wars 7 yet, so we tried to watch that, but it wasn't working with the USB or with the DVD we bought. Crud. So we watched Secret Life of Walter Mitty first, and then we called President, not thinking that he would let us go to the institute center and let us use the computer there to redownload it, but he did! So we went there, undercover, and we watched it, and it was awesome! It was scary though! I felt like Jason Bourne when we were outside past 4 o'clock, because it's pretty dangerous with the fireworks here, but we were fine. The fireworks were incredible though. I'll send pictures and videos next week.
Check out 1 Ne. 7:12. I read that yesterday, and had a thought that I need to keep in mind the miracles the Lord has done. I am learning Albanian and preaching the gospel in a nation I had hardly heard about 1 year ago. I also had the thought that everything is according to the will of the Lord. It may be according to His will that we try to figure somethings out on our own. For example, I would love to be the best street contacter I can be right now, but I know I'll learn a whole lot in the process of seeking to improve.
Also, real quick!
Mom, Thank you so much for your email :) Say hi to Grandma for me. I hope she's alright! I'm always so proud of you, momma!
Conrad, Where are the pictures man!? Also, remember these quotes, "Jimmy! JIMMY!!! JIVBEEF!!!" "'Why the long faces guys?' 'I was born this way.'"
Claire, Yeah! When is Matthew coming!? Durres is such an amazing place to vizit they totally should at least for a day!
I love you all! I know the Lord lives and has conquered death and sin and has set an example for us to follow and find peace! :)Elder Schneider