January 9, 2017

"Thank you, but it's too cold to learn English."

Wooooooo doggy! How's my family!? How is Idaho? Is the weather still crazy there? I remember that you had like a crazy storm warning or something there for Christmas, right? If it is, I'm not too surprised! It snowed here on Thursday, and there is still snow on the ground here! It hasn't snowed for 7 years in Durres, and when it did it was only there for like a day, and then it melted! It's mostly gone, there's just a good amount of ice now.

Anyways, this week was a good'n!

Monday- We had another Family Home Evening with the Farrici family, which are part less active. It's been awesome getting to know them. They live pretty far from the church, so it's a pretty long walk, and I think that's one of the main reasons they don't come, but they also had a concern with the bishop. If someone is less active here in Albania, the problem often is either something with leadership or financial problems. It's sad. Satan takes advantage of the fact that the economy is bad here, and uses it to lead people away. And of course he uses pride as well, which is almost always the problem with leadership. The Farrici Family is awesome though. They have strong testimonies, are really sweet, and always accept us when we call to set up an appointment!

Tuesday- We had District Meeting, where we talked about inviting to people to be baptized in the first lesson, and I'll talk more about that later. We also met with the Rristo family. He was the Branch President, but went inactive after he was released. They've got a few problems, but mostly it is pride. Apparently this has happened a couple times before. Leaders will get released and then after will fall inactive. It stinks man! Haha, sorry, this is kind of a dark start to an email. It gets better!

Wednesday- Albanians really don't like the cold. It "stops" a lot of people from coming to church and lessons, and a lot of people are also inside. We did however teach Andon Shkodra on Wednesday so at least we had one lesson! I did have a cool personal revelation however. President Weidmann has challenged us to read the BoM in one month focusing on Teaching Repentance and the Atonement! As I was reading Lehi's dream I felt that I needed to use the Book of Mormon more to help others come unto Christ. In Lehi's dream, it leads straight to the Tree of Life. It wasn't the persuasions of Lehi, or how well he could teach, but it depended on how tightly they held to the Rod of Iron or "Shufra e Hekurit" in Albanian. The Book of Mormon really is the most true of any book on Earth. I've read the Book of Mormon more in these last 3 and a half months than I ever have, and I'm coming to understand and to feel the power it contains. They are fewer better uses of your time than to read the Book of Mormon.

Thursday- We met with Tiku again, but this guy had to work a 17-hour day so we shared D&C 121:7-9 and told him about how he has a Heavenly Father, and that his trials will only be a moment, and that we, his friends, stand by him. Tiku rocks. I think he'll be baptized. He just works a ton. Then that night we had a dinner with the Kurti Family, and we ate like gluttons. Literally, it was like a full plate of food, I had maybe 4 or 5 pieces of pizza, bacclava, and before that I ate 5 fish sticks and peas and corn at our house. It was rough. But it was great! The people here are really friendly and nice! I was able to carry a conversation with Brother Kurti throughout the night, which is just another testament to me for how the Lord has shaped me since I've been here.

Friday- We had Zone Training where they taught about extending the baptismal invitation in the first lesson. Before, I did not feel confident that extending an invitation to be baptized was the right thing to do in most cases. I feel now that is in most cases, one of the best things I can do to accomplish my purpose as a missionary to invite others to come unto Christ by being baptized. What Conrad said in his email was awesome. I feel more now that Baptism should be at the forefront of nearly every lesson I have with the people I teach. I know that the blessings of Baptism are for every single child of God. I have faith that when we teach with the Spirit, openly, and direct for baptism as early as possible, they will understand why we are here, and they will be more likely to progress. I was really excited after that training to go and teach and find people! Afterwards, we had a lesson with Martin, the bodybuilder. He has had a baptismal date before, but didn't progress. We talked about it, and after some discussion, he didn't show desire to learn or be baptized, so we decided to drop him as an investigator. He still came to church, and will probably come to English Course, though!

Saturday- So in the morning, we had a lesson fall through, so we went and handed out English Course fliers! We went down by the city center, and then as we were making our way back, instead of taking the main boulevard, we went to this other road, because it seemed like it had more younger people! Haha! So we're going down this road, and near the intersection we were going to take, Elder Cox says to this one lady, "Free English Course!" And she says, "I already speak English perfectly!" So I started talking to her in English, and I tell her I'm from America, and then she asks which state, and I tell her Idaho! Then she gets excited and says, "Idaho Falls!?" "Yeah!" And then she tells me of this one family that is with a protestant church there or something, and i don't know them, but then she said that her daughter is in school, EITC, in Idaho Falls, Irla Doçi. HA! So I tell her that I've been emailing Irla, and that my mom is in Irla's class! So we took pictures, and then she sent them to Irla it looks like! So I gave her a pass along card with our number, and she said that in May when Irla returns to Durres, she'll give us a call. I asked for her number, but she didn't give it to me. I think she was thinking I needed it to receive the picture, but she said she'd just send it to Irla! So right now we don't have her number, but MOMMA! Can you ask Irla for her mom's number? I'll definitely call her and try to set up an appointment when we can meet again. This doesn't seem like a coincidence to me anymore. We've gotta do something about this. Woot! This is so exciting! So later that day, we get a call from the Assistants to the President, and they tell us that we won't have a car anymore! So we drive up to Rrogozhine and give the car to some other Elders, and then they drive us back! Also, I gave Sindi Tahiri a blessing because she was sick this week! It was my first blessing I'd ever given in Albania. It was dang cool.

Sunday- We taught this man that has a problem with smoking, a member, about the temple, and gave him a picture of the Rome temple, and helped him to set a commitment to prepare himself for the temple. We haven't taught about the temple a whole lot since I've been here, so it was so cool to talk about the peace I feel inside the temple, and to promise blessings that are eternal. It was also really cool to promise that he can become worthy with the Lord's help to enter the temple one day. I know the power of the Atonement is real and applicable for each of us. I love this work. I love how I am growing. I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God, and that this gospel is for every single inhabitant in Earth. I know that the Elect are in Albania, and I'm trying to find them. Grandma, I love you! And I love you all also! :)

Elder Shnajdër