Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Dec 5 NDODHI!!!!
Hey Familja! Sorry, I don't have a whole lot of time, but my week was top fare!
We found this awesome place to serve this week! It's this place that serves old people that live on their own, and it gives them tea and lunch! We got to go there and help out, and I'm super excited to keep going back and seeing what kind of people we'll be able to influence there! We also set up a Christmas tree there!
We've been working super hard this week with Less Actives! We met with four families on Saturday, and unfortunately, only one lady came, but we're working! So remember how last week I told you about that "almost miracle?" Well we found that house this week! We met with a member, and he gave us the number of another member, and we went to where he told us, and we went to the wrong building, but we met with this guy who was super awesome, and has 3 daughters, and he's a good guy! Which is awesome! It's a treasure to find genuinely good people! And then we asked this lady where the Bako family lived, and we we're on the fourth floor, and she's like, "oh yeah, let's go!" And we went down the building, and out, and found his building! Then we were taking some pictures of the 696 on the wall, and this guy walks by, and we say hi and find out he is Haxhi Bako!!!!! WHAT!?!?!? That's like 6 miracles by now or something! So we went up to his room, and met with him, got his number, gave a lesson, and now we're gonna go back there! It was incredible. We couldn't believe it. Almost. Miracles happen. By the way, "ndodhi" means "it happened."
I love my mission so much. I am being sanctified and purified. I love my Savior. I am being changed, and I love the process of coming closer to Christ. He is my Savior, and my Redeemer. I am His servant, and I will profess His name as long as I live and into the eternities. I am coming to know Him more and more every day. We have a commitment from President Weidmann and it says, "I will with all my heart dedicate my life to the Savior. He can then sanctify me and purify me so that I can know Him and see Him." President Weidmann was inspired when he made that. It's real. I love my savior. :) I love you all!
Elder Shnajder
We found this awesome place to serve this week! It's this place that serves old people that live on their own, and it gives them tea and lunch! We got to go there and help out, and I'm super excited to keep going back and seeing what kind of people we'll be able to influence there! We also set up a Christmas tree there!
We've been working super hard this week with Less Actives! We met with four families on Saturday, and unfortunately, only one lady came, but we're working! So remember how last week I told you about that "almost miracle?" Well we found that house this week! We met with a member, and he gave us the number of another member, and we went to where he told us, and we went to the wrong building, but we met with this guy who was super awesome, and has 3 daughters, and he's a good guy! Which is awesome! It's a treasure to find genuinely good people! And then we asked this lady where the Bako family lived, and we we're on the fourth floor, and she's like, "oh yeah, let's go!" And we went down the building, and out, and found his building! Then we were taking some pictures of the 696 on the wall, and this guy walks by, and we say hi and find out he is Haxhi Bako!!!!! WHAT!?!?!? That's like 6 miracles by now or something! So we went up to his room, and met with him, got his number, gave a lesson, and now we're gonna go back there! It was incredible. We couldn't believe it. Almost. Miracles happen. By the way, "ndodhi" means "it happened."
I love my mission so much. I am being sanctified and purified. I love my Savior. I am being changed, and I love the process of coming closer to Christ. He is my Savior, and my Redeemer. I am His servant, and I will profess His name as long as I live and into the eternities. I am coming to know Him more and more every day. We have a commitment from President Weidmann and it says, "I will with all my heart dedicate my life to the Savior. He can then sanctify me and purify me so that I can know Him and see Him." President Weidmann was inspired when he made that. It's real. I love my savior. :) I love you all!
Elder Shnajder
Nov 28 So That's What Miracles Feel Like...
Oh Familja Ime! Ç'bëni!? Më ka marrë malli për ju të gjithë! Ditë Falëndërimi ishte një kenaqësi! Ok, that's enough. I said, "Oh my family! What's up!? I miss you! Thanksgiving was a pleasure!" I got a good email this week! Siguroni vetët tuaj!
E Hënë- So Elder Jaunay and I have a bad habit of not being very well planned for P-day. At 6 p.m. every p-day, we resume our normal proselyting work, and recently, we've been a little rough at that! But last week we were blessed, and got to go to the home of a less active! And we played Uno and had a surprise very Albanian dinner, and by that I mean we had kos, which is yogurt, but more sour, some cabbage salad that was swimming in this oil/water mixture, french fries, which Shqiptar have at dinner like all the time, pastiçëri which is like this pasta thing with cheese that's kind of like lasagna, but not with the red sauce like lasagna, and qofte which is sausage! Whew. It was good. I actually didn't have any kos. It's too sour for me. We're looking forward to meeting with them some more! They're an awesome family :)
E Martë- We had district meeting, and filmed part of a skit we were making for our Thanksgiving party! It was about some of the funny stuff that has happened in our district, because we're all really new in Shqiperia still! We have 2 sisters and us in our district, and about 3 weeks ago, there used to be 3 sisters here. One was the trainer, and 2 brand new missionaries like me. Haha but 3 weeks ago, the trainer just got transfered because another sister finished her mission! The 2 brand new sisters were left to train each other! Ha! And then my trainer, Elder Jaunay is in his second transfer, making our district the most "new" district in the mission! Haha, so a lot of funny things can happen because of that! Also, I was studying family history and temples and I had this really cool thought. I wrote this in my planner, "This work isn't only for one person that will be baptized, but for her ancestors, her children, until eternity. Wow." It's true. Think about what kind of possibilities are opened up for work in the temple if one person is baptized. Hundreds or thousands of people now have a greater likelihood of receiving the restored gospel, or of receiving the essential ordinances needed to enter the Celestial Kingdom. How incredible is that!? It was a cool thought to have. It encouraged me to talk to more people and work harder, because there's a whole lot of people on the other side hoping that I will talk to their descendants. I know it. Also, that night, we went and watched the Restoration film with Aden's family, and it was sweet! His dad seems really interested, but his mom isn't too keen of the idea of having more lessons. We're hoping to teach the Plan of Salvation, and that his dad will be touched with the hope we can have in the Resurrection. Right now, he can't see out of his right eye, and he can't see very well out his left, so I was thinking it would be so cool to teach that his body will be restored to perfection in the life following. I'll let ya know what goes on with them this week!
E Mërkurë- We worked on our stinkin' video all day! Then we had dinner with Familja Pina, the first counselor in the bishopric here! They're so awesome! He loves joking around, and he even knows english! One thing you should know about Shqiptar is that they love teasing and joking around! Brother Pina is exactly like that. Awesome family. That morning during study however, I had a great study! I was in Alma 37:36-44. It was incredible, because, I have wanted to improve my prayers, and read the Book of Mormon more lately so that I can be inspired, and use the daily inspiration I receive from the Spirit in my missionary work! It talks about how the Book of Mormon is like the Liahona, because it simply and clearly leads to "eternal bliss." That's why i want to read the Book of Mormon every chance I get! I love the Book of Mormon. I told Claire before, that when I read the Book of Mormon in Shqip, it's like I'm reading it for the first time, because some words have different connotations for me than the translation from English, so I get a different insight on like the entire Book of Mormon! It's so cool. If you know another language, or even if you don't, try reading the Book of Mormon in another language, and I bet the same thing will happen!
E Enjtë (Ditë Falëndërimi "Falëminderit Day")- It was Elder Jaunay's first Thanksgiving! Ha! It was great! We ate a kind of classic Thanksgiving meal with turkey and mashed potatoes and peas, and stuffing, and corn, and carrots! It was awesome! And the whole mission was there, including Elder Gardiner my MTC companion, who I had really missed! It was great though! We watched our skit, and people liked it, and we also got to hear the departing testimonies of some missionaries, and we had a little presentation about the Christmas initiative! Have you heard about that yet? It's like last year's "Because He Lives" thing. This year is "Light the World." Here's the URL: https://www.mormon.org/christmas/light-the-world?play=hero I'm way excited for it! It's got an activity we can to each day leading up to Christmas to encourage us to share our light! I would challenge each of you also to watch that video, and listen to the feelings you have, and decide how you will share your light this year. I'm excited for it :) also, I got my package! Ah man, and I'm loving the Sour Patch Kids and fruit roll ups right now! I'm saving the other stuff for later! I read all your letters also, and they made me smile, laugh, cry, and love you all even more! Tell Grandma, especially, that I loved her letter, and I cried a little bit, and I will try to write her a letter also! I love you Grandma!
E Premtë/E Shtunë- There was a baptism in Durres of a girl from Shkoder which is about 45 minutes from Durrës, and it was incredible. It was the first one I've seen in my mission, and it was so cool to see one again after teaching about it. She came out of the water, and after a second, she was just incredibly happy! The Spirit was palpable in that room, and it was so cool to see the "end" result of missionary work!
E Dielë- So we've been doing more work with Less-Active members lately, because in Durrës, we have maybe 300+ members in the directory, and only about 70 are active! We're trying to get 800 as a stake before Christmas. We were searching for a family, and a cool thing happened. This is the message I sent to President Weidmann today: This week was great! We've been working hard to meet with some more families that are less active. We searched for maybe 4 hours for this one family, and we had an interesting experience at the end of our searching. We said a prayer, and immediately after, we asked a woman if she knew where their apartment building was, and she said, "That's my apartment building." My jaw dropped, and I felt like I was floating. It was incredible. The only thing is that it wasn't actually her building. She thought we said building 996, but we said 696. I was a little bit crushed. I felt so incredible the moment she said it was her building, and I almost couldn't believe what had happened, because it truly was a miracle. I felt a confirmation that miracles are real. They can happen. With the prayer of faith, miracles can happen. I felt it was true. I believed it. However, when she told us that it wasn't actually the correct building, I had this thought, "If it had been the correct building, you would have believed." And it was true. If it had been building 696, I would have definitely believed in miracles. It was not building 696, but I still felt a confirmation from the Spirit that miracles happen. For me, it was still worth it. I believe in miracles. I will exercise faith in my Heavenly Father, and I have faith that I will see more miracles in this work as I do so.\ I can testify that God will teach us the things He wants us to learn if we allow it, and seek to learn from all situations. Even though we searched for 4 hours, it wasn't fruitless.
Today was actually really different from most P-days! We woke up at 6 this morning and ran to the sea shore, and then waited to watch the sunrise! Which we didn't actually end up seeing. But it was raining lightly, and we were running in the rain and there was nobody outside, and it was still dark, and it was so beautiful! Haha but after that, we went and got Byrek and a croissant for breakfast, and it was so good. Anyways, fam. I love you all so much! I told Dad before that I feel like the things that should be happening to me as a missionary, and as a maturing adult are happening! I'm understanding people better, I feel like I'm growing closer to the Savior little by little, and I feel like I'm doing the Lord's work, and I love it :) Be sure to take pictures of you all! Also, how are Sister Kirby, Taya, and Sidney? Will you say hi to them for me, and let I'm know I miss 'em? Love you!
Elder Shnajdër
E Hënë- So Elder Jaunay and I have a bad habit of not being very well planned for P-day. At 6 p.m. every p-day, we resume our normal proselyting work, and recently, we've been a little rough at that! But last week we were blessed, and got to go to the home of a less active! And we played Uno and had a surprise very Albanian dinner, and by that I mean we had kos, which is yogurt, but more sour, some cabbage salad that was swimming in this oil/water mixture, french fries, which Shqiptar have at dinner like all the time, pastiçëri which is like this pasta thing with cheese that's kind of like lasagna, but not with the red sauce like lasagna, and qofte which is sausage! Whew. It was good. I actually didn't have any kos. It's too sour for me. We're looking forward to meeting with them some more! They're an awesome family :)
E Martë- We had district meeting, and filmed part of a skit we were making for our Thanksgiving party! It was about some of the funny stuff that has happened in our district, because we're all really new in Shqiperia still! We have 2 sisters and us in our district, and about 3 weeks ago, there used to be 3 sisters here. One was the trainer, and 2 brand new missionaries like me. Haha but 3 weeks ago, the trainer just got transfered because another sister finished her mission! The 2 brand new sisters were left to train each other! Ha! And then my trainer, Elder Jaunay is in his second transfer, making our district the most "new" district in the mission! Haha, so a lot of funny things can happen because of that! Also, I was studying family history and temples and I had this really cool thought. I wrote this in my planner, "This work isn't only for one person that will be baptized, but for her ancestors, her children, until eternity. Wow." It's true. Think about what kind of possibilities are opened up for work in the temple if one person is baptized. Hundreds or thousands of people now have a greater likelihood of receiving the restored gospel, or of receiving the essential ordinances needed to enter the Celestial Kingdom. How incredible is that!? It was a cool thought to have. It encouraged me to talk to more people and work harder, because there's a whole lot of people on the other side hoping that I will talk to their descendants. I know it. Also, that night, we went and watched the Restoration film with Aden's family, and it was sweet! His dad seems really interested, but his mom isn't too keen of the idea of having more lessons. We're hoping to teach the Plan of Salvation, and that his dad will be touched with the hope we can have in the Resurrection. Right now, he can't see out of his right eye, and he can't see very well out his left, so I was thinking it would be so cool to teach that his body will be restored to perfection in the life following. I'll let ya know what goes on with them this week!
E Mërkurë- We worked on our stinkin' video all day! Then we had dinner with Familja Pina, the first counselor in the bishopric here! They're so awesome! He loves joking around, and he even knows english! One thing you should know about Shqiptar is that they love teasing and joking around! Brother Pina is exactly like that. Awesome family. That morning during study however, I had a great study! I was in Alma 37:36-44. It was incredible, because, I have wanted to improve my prayers, and read the Book of Mormon more lately so that I can be inspired, and use the daily inspiration I receive from the Spirit in my missionary work! It talks about how the Book of Mormon is like the Liahona, because it simply and clearly leads to "eternal bliss." That's why i want to read the Book of Mormon every chance I get! I love the Book of Mormon. I told Claire before, that when I read the Book of Mormon in Shqip, it's like I'm reading it for the first time, because some words have different connotations for me than the translation from English, so I get a different insight on like the entire Book of Mormon! It's so cool. If you know another language, or even if you don't, try reading the Book of Mormon in another language, and I bet the same thing will happen!
E Enjtë (Ditë Falëndërimi "Falëminderit Day")- It was Elder Jaunay's first Thanksgiving! Ha! It was great! We ate a kind of classic Thanksgiving meal with turkey and mashed potatoes and peas, and stuffing, and corn, and carrots! It was awesome! And the whole mission was there, including Elder Gardiner my MTC companion, who I had really missed! It was great though! We watched our skit, and people liked it, and we also got to hear the departing testimonies of some missionaries, and we had a little presentation about the Christmas initiative! Have you heard about that yet? It's like last year's "Because He Lives" thing. This year is "Light the World." Here's the URL: https://www.mormon.org/christmas/light-the-world?play=hero I'm way excited for it! It's got an activity we can to each day leading up to Christmas to encourage us to share our light! I would challenge each of you also to watch that video, and listen to the feelings you have, and decide how you will share your light this year. I'm excited for it :) also, I got my package! Ah man, and I'm loving the Sour Patch Kids and fruit roll ups right now! I'm saving the other stuff for later! I read all your letters also, and they made me smile, laugh, cry, and love you all even more! Tell Grandma, especially, that I loved her letter, and I cried a little bit, and I will try to write her a letter also! I love you Grandma!
E Premtë/E Shtunë- There was a baptism in Durres of a girl from Shkoder which is about 45 minutes from Durrës, and it was incredible. It was the first one I've seen in my mission, and it was so cool to see one again after teaching about it. She came out of the water, and after a second, she was just incredibly happy! The Spirit was palpable in that room, and it was so cool to see the "end" result of missionary work!
E Dielë- So we've been doing more work with Less-Active members lately, because in Durrës, we have maybe 300+ members in the directory, and only about 70 are active! We're trying to get 800 as a stake before Christmas. We were searching for a family, and a cool thing happened. This is the message I sent to President Weidmann today: This week was great! We've been working hard to meet with some more families that are less active. We searched for maybe 4 hours for this one family, and we had an interesting experience at the end of our searching. We said a prayer, and immediately after, we asked a woman if she knew where their apartment building was, and she said, "That's my apartment building." My jaw dropped, and I felt like I was floating. It was incredible. The only thing is that it wasn't actually her building. She thought we said building 996, but we said 696. I was a little bit crushed. I felt so incredible the moment she said it was her building, and I almost couldn't believe what had happened, because it truly was a miracle. I felt a confirmation that miracles are real. They can happen. With the prayer of faith, miracles can happen. I felt it was true. I believed it. However, when she told us that it wasn't actually the correct building, I had this thought, "If it had been the correct building, you would have believed." And it was true. If it had been building 696, I would have definitely believed in miracles. It was not building 696, but I still felt a confirmation from the Spirit that miracles happen. For me, it was still worth it. I believe in miracles. I will exercise faith in my Heavenly Father, and I have faith that I will see more miracles in this work as I do so.\ I can testify that God will teach us the things He wants us to learn if we allow it, and seek to learn from all situations. Even though we searched for 4 hours, it wasn't fruitless.
Today was actually really different from most P-days! We woke up at 6 this morning and ran to the sea shore, and then waited to watch the sunrise! Which we didn't actually end up seeing. But it was raining lightly, and we were running in the rain and there was nobody outside, and it was still dark, and it was so beautiful! Haha but after that, we went and got Byrek and a croissant for breakfast, and it was so good. Anyways, fam. I love you all so much! I told Dad before that I feel like the things that should be happening to me as a missionary, and as a maturing adult are happening! I'm understanding people better, I feel like I'm growing closer to the Savior little by little, and I feel like I'm doing the Lord's work, and I love it :) Be sure to take pictures of you all! Also, how are Sister Kirby, Taya, and Sidney? Will you say hi to them for me, and let I'm know I miss 'em? Love you!
Elder Shnajdër
November 21 Falëminderit që Ti Ekziston
Hahahaha! Guess what! (I wish I knew how to say "guess what" in Shqip.) We met with Armand! He's that one guy that I said kind of disappeared! We met with him Saturday morning! Woot! I'll talk more about that in a bit. Just a li'le bi' na'! Mbaj kuajt e tua!
E Hënë- We had another lesson with Elona, the wife of Festim, and it went super great! She's doing incredible. She's super funny, and likes joking around with us which is great, because it shows that we've got a relationship more than just missionaries that are teaching her, but she's like a sister for us! She's actually only 23, so it really feels like she's my sister! Festim is super hilarious too. He's got a pretty high voice, and he laughs a lot and loves joking around too, so it's super fun to see them interact, and just to hang out at their house. Also, he's got such strong incredible devotion, and it's inspiring to be in lessons with him. So normally, we do weekly planning on Thursday, and normally missionaries would finish on Thursday, but we haven't been so good at that lately, and so we finished up Monday, and at the end, we do a companionship inventory, which is kind of like a DTR for companions, and you also share your personal goals, ask for help from your companion, and tell him of his strengths, and what you appreciate about him. So we did that, and it was something. We've been together now for like 6 weeks or 7 maybe! Ha! Wow. Kallon kohë! But Elder Jaunay was close to crying in the companionship inventory! He really does love me so much, and I feel it. I love him so much too. He's a party to be around, and a pleasure to teach and work with! He helps me out so much, and is so loving, and so fun to work with. Such a great example, has a powerful rooted testimony in Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. He's definitely a brother. Gosh, I don't want to separate from him! :(
E Martë-"Happy Burfday Son!" It was a good birthday! We had district meeting, and my district bought me a cake, and it was incredible! Ah! I always think about how different my mission is from Conrad's, because I'm eating really well here! To be honest, I've probably never ate as well, before in my life, because we have a ton of member dinners, and the food here when we eat out is so good and so cheap! Whew! But yeah, we ate cake, and then we all went and each had two suflaces each! They're so good. I don't know if i'll be able to recreate a suflace when i get back, but I'll make some byrek! We had bryek with apple last week. "It was heavenly!" -(does somebody say that in Spongebob? I feel like somebody said something like that in Spongebob.) It was a good day though! We taught English Course, and apparently, English isn't very hard for Albanians to learn! Ha! We also taught Elona again, and we taught Word of Wisdom, and The Law of Chastity. Oh man. Ready for an awkward Law of Chastity story? HAHA! Ok, so first off, the lesson went great, and I really felt that we were directed by the spirit! To be serious before I tell the funny part, I'm actually really thankful for the Law of Chastity. It is so beautiful, and so is the Word of Wisdom. Studying those, you can just feel that the church is true, because we embrace such great values! I love it. Haha, so we taught it well, and Elder Jaunay was testifying of how he has been blessed from his parents living the law of Chastity, and we had just finished talking about staying completely faithful to your spouse. Elder Jaunay says something like, "I have been blessed because my Dad and your Mom--" and then stops, and we all bust out laughing for like maybe three or four minutes until we refocus again! Ha! It's really easy to mix up the possessive pronouns in Shqip like "my, your, our" and stuff. Haha, but yeah, basically, we were feeling the Spirit, and then the next second, we're like dying laughing! Ha! Oh man. I gotta write that one down.
E Mërkurë- We helped a less-active boy with his English homework, and during that, I was getting a little bit annoyed, because I didn't feel like we were using our time well, but I said I prayer in my heart, and my attitude changed, and I focused on Mateu (the less active) and we are able to have a lesson, that I hope helped him! The power of constant prayer is real. Later that day, we taught another less active man named Gezim, which means Joy! He was pretty upset that day, I think because he lost his cell phone, but we had a good lesson with him, and I really felt directed by the Spirit. We had planned something, but we changed what we taught, because it didn't feel right for me, and as I did so, I felt a concern for Gezim and for his happiness. I wanted him to experience the happiness I have felt from coming to church, reading the scriptures, and praying. It was quite an experience. The Spirit is real. It can and will change you and the people you teach.
E Enjtë- Oh man. We had an incredible dinner appointment with a family on Thursday. It was with the Cani (pronounced "Tsahnee") Family, and we had homemade byrek and groshë! I'm telling you, it's so good here. The mom works hard, and she has three kids, one of which is a missionary in Kosovo right now, and another 19-year old girl, who is waiting for a mission call, and a 13-year old boy who is really cool! We got there, and she opens her mouth to show us that she doesn't have any teeth now! She had them last week, but she just doesn't have any now! I don't know if she'll get dentures or what, but she seemed to be pretty bummed about that. We shared Alma 26:27 which says, "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." I had studied that chapter a day earlier, or maybe that morning, and wrote down the reference that we could share it with members who are feeling depressed, and it seemed to be the perfect scripture for that day for Motra (Sister) Cani. Elder Jaunay also gave her a photo of Elder Cani, because they had met up at a training, and it was touching to see how joyful she got when she saw that picture. Thinking about it now makes me miss ya, Momma! But we shared this scripture, and I asked how the Lord has comforted them before when they have felt this way. Motra Cani answered and I don't remember everything she said, but I remember that she quoted Ether 12:27, and 1 Nephi 3:7, and talked about how the Lord can make our weaknesses into strengths, and how He can remind us that He has prepared a way that we might accomplish every commandment. It was incredible for me to see how well she knew her scriptures, because she hasn't been in Seminary, or a mission, but she knew those scriptures word for word, and they meant something to her. I'm sure that she knows those scriptures and has that testimony through a constant, diligent study of the scriptures. It was really incredible for me to see her faith.
E Premtë- We had an exchange with the Zone Leaders, and it went really well! We learned a few things that we want to change in our work, and I actually did pretty well without Elder Jaunay in Durres! He went and served in Tirane, and I stayed in Durres and served with one Zone Leader. I'm finding that my relationships with people in the ward here are really blossoming, which I'm really grateful for! I am hoping more that I can stay here for another transfer, because I've become good friends with some people here.
E Shtunë- Oh Armand!!! Hahahaha! Alright, so like I said earlier, Armand met with us again! It's been two weeks since we've had a lesson with him, and we didn't really know what happened, he just stopped answering his phone, but we had a lesson Saturday morning! I wish you all could meet him, because it's hard to describe him what he's like in person, but it was so great to meet with him again! He always wears this white shirt, and ah, what a bro. Haha, but we watched the Restoration film with him, and he's kind of got a short attention span, and about 12 minutes in, (we were in another room in the institute building) the sister missionaries entered into the main room, which we weren't in, and we heard them enter, and in the middle of the Restoration film, Armand just stands up and walks out and is like, "Hi Sisters." Hahahaha! Elder Anderson was cracking up, because Armand just left in the middle of the film! Haha, but he came back, we finished it, and he seems to understand the events in the life of Joseph Smith much better than before! He told us the answer that Joseph Smith received from Heavenly Father, and he talked about the Gold Plates, and about the Book of Mormon a bit! Whew. It was great to hear that, because before, Armand didn't seem to understand things very well, but he does understand! Whew. Also, we had another lesson with Elona, and she's really progressing towards her baptism! Which is December 3rd! Whew! We're so excited for her. Also, remember Aden? That boy we've been teaching from our English Course? Well his family has a store right outside our house, and we're friends with them, which is a really important part of the story, and we talked with them the other day, and told them we wanted to meet with them, and we had dinner at their house and taught the Restoration and gave them copies of the Book of Mormon! AUGH! It was so great. And his dad even said the closing prayer. They said we're welcome to come back anytime, which is just the coolest thing ever. We're praying real hard for them. They are so loving and so kind, and I'm so thankful we have a good relationship with them, because especially with Aden, when we teach our friends, it just feels normal, because your desire for them to be blessed by the gospel is rooted in your friendship! It was great. Also, I've changed my personal study a bit. I want my desire to share the gospel to grow always, so I've been trying to be inspired more and simply to read more when I have time!
E Dielë- We met with a member that's been a member for a long time, and we found a bunch of info for some less actives, which means we've got some work to do, and a whole lot of cookies to make!
Momma, I think any candy like airheads, sour patch kids, jelly beans, blowpops, hubba bubba would make these kids happy! I can't think of anything I need besides letters, twizzlers, sour patch kids, Jelly Beans, and On the Border chips and salsa! I love you all! Thank you all for your emails! I'm out of time, but I read them, and I love you all! Thank you for inspiring me, and Daniel, you made me cry. I can tell you've already grown so much. Crap man, I miss ya, but I love you! You inspire me! :)\
Elder Shnajdër
E Hënë- We had another lesson with Elona, the wife of Festim, and it went super great! She's doing incredible. She's super funny, and likes joking around with us which is great, because it shows that we've got a relationship more than just missionaries that are teaching her, but she's like a sister for us! She's actually only 23, so it really feels like she's my sister! Festim is super hilarious too. He's got a pretty high voice, and he laughs a lot and loves joking around too, so it's super fun to see them interact, and just to hang out at their house. Also, he's got such strong incredible devotion, and it's inspiring to be in lessons with him. So normally, we do weekly planning on Thursday, and normally missionaries would finish on Thursday, but we haven't been so good at that lately, and so we finished up Monday, and at the end, we do a companionship inventory, which is kind of like a DTR for companions, and you also share your personal goals, ask for help from your companion, and tell him of his strengths, and what you appreciate about him. So we did that, and it was something. We've been together now for like 6 weeks or 7 maybe! Ha! Wow. Kallon kohë! But Elder Jaunay was close to crying in the companionship inventory! He really does love me so much, and I feel it. I love him so much too. He's a party to be around, and a pleasure to teach and work with! He helps me out so much, and is so loving, and so fun to work with. Such a great example, has a powerful rooted testimony in Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon. He's definitely a brother. Gosh, I don't want to separate from him! :(
E Martë-"Happy Burfday Son!" It was a good birthday! We had district meeting, and my district bought me a cake, and it was incredible! Ah! I always think about how different my mission is from Conrad's, because I'm eating really well here! To be honest, I've probably never ate as well, before in my life, because we have a ton of member dinners, and the food here when we eat out is so good and so cheap! Whew! But yeah, we ate cake, and then we all went and each had two suflaces each! They're so good. I don't know if i'll be able to recreate a suflace when i get back, but I'll make some byrek! We had bryek with apple last week. "It was heavenly!" -(does somebody say that in Spongebob? I feel like somebody said something like that in Spongebob.) It was a good day though! We taught English Course, and apparently, English isn't very hard for Albanians to learn! Ha! We also taught Elona again, and we taught Word of Wisdom, and The Law of Chastity. Oh man. Ready for an awkward Law of Chastity story? HAHA! Ok, so first off, the lesson went great, and I really felt that we were directed by the spirit! To be serious before I tell the funny part, I'm actually really thankful for the Law of Chastity. It is so beautiful, and so is the Word of Wisdom. Studying those, you can just feel that the church is true, because we embrace such great values! I love it. Haha, so we taught it well, and Elder Jaunay was testifying of how he has been blessed from his parents living the law of Chastity, and we had just finished talking about staying completely faithful to your spouse. Elder Jaunay says something like, "I have been blessed because my Dad and your Mom--" and then stops, and we all bust out laughing for like maybe three or four minutes until we refocus again! Ha! It's really easy to mix up the possessive pronouns in Shqip like "my, your, our" and stuff. Haha, but yeah, basically, we were feeling the Spirit, and then the next second, we're like dying laughing! Ha! Oh man. I gotta write that one down.
E Mërkurë- We helped a less-active boy with his English homework, and during that, I was getting a little bit annoyed, because I didn't feel like we were using our time well, but I said I prayer in my heart, and my attitude changed, and I focused on Mateu (the less active) and we are able to have a lesson, that I hope helped him! The power of constant prayer is real. Later that day, we taught another less active man named Gezim, which means Joy! He was pretty upset that day, I think because he lost his cell phone, but we had a good lesson with him, and I really felt directed by the Spirit. We had planned something, but we changed what we taught, because it didn't feel right for me, and as I did so, I felt a concern for Gezim and for his happiness. I wanted him to experience the happiness I have felt from coming to church, reading the scriptures, and praying. It was quite an experience. The Spirit is real. It can and will change you and the people you teach.
E Enjtë- Oh man. We had an incredible dinner appointment with a family on Thursday. It was with the Cani (pronounced "Tsahnee") Family, and we had homemade byrek and groshë! I'm telling you, it's so good here. The mom works hard, and she has three kids, one of which is a missionary in Kosovo right now, and another 19-year old girl, who is waiting for a mission call, and a 13-year old boy who is really cool! We got there, and she opens her mouth to show us that she doesn't have any teeth now! She had them last week, but she just doesn't have any now! I don't know if she'll get dentures or what, but she seemed to be pretty bummed about that. We shared Alma 26:27 which says, "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." I had studied that chapter a day earlier, or maybe that morning, and wrote down the reference that we could share it with members who are feeling depressed, and it seemed to be the perfect scripture for that day for Motra (Sister) Cani. Elder Jaunay also gave her a photo of Elder Cani, because they had met up at a training, and it was touching to see how joyful she got when she saw that picture. Thinking about it now makes me miss ya, Momma! But we shared this scripture, and I asked how the Lord has comforted them before when they have felt this way. Motra Cani answered and I don't remember everything she said, but I remember that she quoted Ether 12:27, and 1 Nephi 3:7, and talked about how the Lord can make our weaknesses into strengths, and how He can remind us that He has prepared a way that we might accomplish every commandment. It was incredible for me to see how well she knew her scriptures, because she hasn't been in Seminary, or a mission, but she knew those scriptures word for word, and they meant something to her. I'm sure that she knows those scriptures and has that testimony through a constant, diligent study of the scriptures. It was really incredible for me to see her faith.
E Premtë- We had an exchange with the Zone Leaders, and it went really well! We learned a few things that we want to change in our work, and I actually did pretty well without Elder Jaunay in Durres! He went and served in Tirane, and I stayed in Durres and served with one Zone Leader. I'm finding that my relationships with people in the ward here are really blossoming, which I'm really grateful for! I am hoping more that I can stay here for another transfer, because I've become good friends with some people here.
E Shtunë- Oh Armand!!! Hahahaha! Alright, so like I said earlier, Armand met with us again! It's been two weeks since we've had a lesson with him, and we didn't really know what happened, he just stopped answering his phone, but we had a lesson Saturday morning! I wish you all could meet him, because it's hard to describe him what he's like in person, but it was so great to meet with him again! He always wears this white shirt, and ah, what a bro. Haha, but we watched the Restoration film with him, and he's kind of got a short attention span, and about 12 minutes in, (we were in another room in the institute building) the sister missionaries entered into the main room, which we weren't in, and we heard them enter, and in the middle of the Restoration film, Armand just stands up and walks out and is like, "Hi Sisters." Hahahaha! Elder Anderson was cracking up, because Armand just left in the middle of the film! Haha, but he came back, we finished it, and he seems to understand the events in the life of Joseph Smith much better than before! He told us the answer that Joseph Smith received from Heavenly Father, and he talked about the Gold Plates, and about the Book of Mormon a bit! Whew. It was great to hear that, because before, Armand didn't seem to understand things very well, but he does understand! Whew. Also, we had another lesson with Elona, and she's really progressing towards her baptism! Which is December 3rd! Whew! We're so excited for her. Also, remember Aden? That boy we've been teaching from our English Course? Well his family has a store right outside our house, and we're friends with them, which is a really important part of the story, and we talked with them the other day, and told them we wanted to meet with them, and we had dinner at their house and taught the Restoration and gave them copies of the Book of Mormon! AUGH! It was so great. And his dad even said the closing prayer. They said we're welcome to come back anytime, which is just the coolest thing ever. We're praying real hard for them. They are so loving and so kind, and I'm so thankful we have a good relationship with them, because especially with Aden, when we teach our friends, it just feels normal, because your desire for them to be blessed by the gospel is rooted in your friendship! It was great. Also, I've changed my personal study a bit. I want my desire to share the gospel to grow always, so I've been trying to be inspired more and simply to read more when I have time!
E Dielë- We met with a member that's been a member for a long time, and we found a bunch of info for some less actives, which means we've got some work to do, and a whole lot of cookies to make!
Momma, I think any candy like airheads, sour patch kids, jelly beans, blowpops, hubba bubba would make these kids happy! I can't think of anything I need besides letters, twizzlers, sour patch kids, Jelly Beans, and On the Border chips and salsa! I love you all! Thank you all for your emails! I'm out of time, but I read them, and I love you all! Thank you for inspiring me, and Daniel, you made me cry. I can tell you've already grown so much. Crap man, I miss ya, but I love you! You inspire me! :)\
Elder Shnajdër
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