Yo! Ç'bëni familja? This week has been great, like seriously, better than last week! Haha, and I wanted to tell you all about some of our investigators that are pretty funny!
First off, my Marrëdhënie with my companion has gotten more like were brothers than two missionaries! It's something I have been specifically praying for this week, and we really are having more fun together. I've loosened up a lot this week especially! He's seen some more of my weird side this week! Ha! It's so much working together when you get along well, and you enjoy being with each other! Also, Elder Jaunay likes singing. Ya know that song from Tarzan, "Son of Man" by Phil Collins? That song's got a special connotation with Elder Jaunay now, because we listened to that a whole bunch one week! Ha!
In fact, yesterday, we were doing some contacting in this one area, and it was just so much fun, because we are growing and learning together, and we had a common goal. This is only his second transfer, so he also is still learning, which makes it fun to do this work, because we're both kind of new still! It was awesome, though. We were walking down the sidewalk, and there was this guy that had a 7-month old German Shepherd, and me missing my doggies, this was guy was practically asking for us to talk to him. So we did. And it turns out he's met with the missionaries before and has been to church, and knows some people in the ward! Ha! I really hope we can meet with Him. How is that not a miracle that we met with this man randomly who has been to church and I think he even has a Book or Mormon! But yeah, that was sweet! I've started doing something different this week. In my planner, under the key indicators section, I put a daily goal for how many pass-a-long cards I will give out, and it's really helped me to open my mouth and just talk to people wherever we are and wherever we are going. I feel so much better when I've taken every opportunity to talk to someone, and not just wasted my time.
So I had a cool experience yesterday. Earlier yesterday, Elder Jaunay and I were studying the Plan of Salvation and planning how we will teach it, and some of the most important parts of each principle. We talked about how cool it is that we can tell this to our investigators, and I did actually say something close to this when we were in a lesson with an investigator. We taught about how we we all lived together in Heaven before this life, and then I started talking about how we all listened to the plan of salvation before we came here, and I said something like this, "We were all together in heaven before, and we listened to Heavenly Father and he said something like this, 'You're all going to go down to earth, and have a lot of experiences, some will be difficult, but if you do the right things, you'll be able to make it back here.'" Prior to this, some of the boys that were nearby were kind of being rowdy, but as we talked about this part, it was so quiet, and I felt like the veil was being lifted in part. I know for me, I felt the Spirit working through me, and I have a little stronger conviction, understanding, and gratitude for the Plan of Salvation. In fact, I was just emailing my mission President, and I talked about how happy I am right now. I am grateful, because I know I am in the best place I could possibly be right now. I know that I am in the right place, and I also know that I have a Savior, and I believe that all things that I have to do are possible for me because of Jesus Christ. I have a duty, a calling from God, and I have no doubt that I can accomplish all that He has for me, because it is part of His plan, and I have a Savior who will help me all along the way. What a blessing this is :)
Sorry if I'm a little bit scrambled with my email today! I've got a lot of things I want to share, and I'm trying to make it flow well! Ha!
Oh yeah, so our investigators, first, Adriatik. Adriatik is this 65-year old guy that probably needs an iron lung. People here smoke a lot, and he must have really done it a lot, because his lungs are just awful! When he talks though, he kind of sounds like that one guy from Pirates of the Caribbean 3 when they're in that council with all those Pirate Leaders and that one asian guy is like, "And so we go to war." That was Adriatik. I don't know how he got the part in that movie, or how they made him look Asian, but that's him. Jk. But Adriatik came to church last week after the sister missionaries in Durres invited him with a text, and I guess he just walked there, which is pretty impressive, because it's kind of a long way! He came to our English class, and he actually knows English really well! We were talking about the names of fruits and vegetables in English, and we said that "Kastravec" means "cucumber," and Adriatik leans over to me and in his Asian-pirate voice says, "Cool as a cucumber!" And I was like, "Yep! Cool as a cucumber!" Haha! After English Course, we taught him a lesson, which I'm not sure if it was the right thing to do, because I think he might have been a little tired, and now we haven't met with him, and that was Thursday. I hope we can meet with him! He actually seems pretty sane for a 65-year old, and had really good answers when we asked him questions in his lesson!
One of our other investigators is named Kopi, and he's cool! He's probably like Dad's age, and he likes joking around with us! It's sad though, because he doesn't have a very good relationship with his family, and because of his wife's health, they are seperated. We joke around that we're going to help him find a new wife sometimes! Kopi is interesting though, the first time we met him, Elder Jaunay was sending someone a text on our phone, and were standing outside the little building where they have institute and seminary, and Kopi walks right up to Elder Jaunay and says he's a member of our church! Well we go talk to him, and turns out he's not actually a member! Haha, I don't know if he was just joshing us, or if he was confused, but he's not a member! But he has met with missionaries before, and has a Book of Mormon! We've tried a couple of times to meet with him, but it's rough. One time we met with him, and we wanted to teach about the Restoration, but after we talked about how the gospel blesses families, which is in the beginning of the Restoration lesson, he says he's gotta go, so we say a prayer and he leaves! So we hope that we can meet with him again.
Aden is a 13-year old boy here that comes to our English Course. He's super cool! He loves clash of clans, and he also plays goalie in futbol! We've got a nice relationship. He's come consistently to English Course for like two weeks now, and he even asked, I think, if he could come to church with us! And he came yesterday! Haha, I felt bad for him though! He speaks pretty good English, and in the middle of Sacrament meeting, he leans over to me and says, "I want to sleep." Hahaha! And I was like, "Të kuptoj," which literally means, "I understand you." Haha, yeah! Right now, I think Aden comes to church and English course because we're just buddies, but I really hope that he will develop a desire to take the lessons.
Finally, Armand. Armand is a miracle. Armand had met with Elder Jaunay and his companion in the last transfer, and a couple of weeks ago, I got to meet with him the first time! He is so cool! I've talked about him a little bit right? Well he's 30 years old, married, and has like a 1-year old daughter named Aurora. Armand is kind of like an Italian gangster! He works at a call center and speaks Italian, and he talks like one a little bit too! In Abanian, when someone is like a homie, we say that they are, "nish." I forgot what it actually means, but basically it means, "you're a homie." When we first met with Armand, he didn't seem to be understanding very well what we were teaching, but Armand seems to have a real desire to keep going. Armand now can name the 5 parts of Gospel of Jesus Christ, and is progressing! He came to church with us, and even came to Halloween also. It is incredible to see Armand progress. This last week, we taught a lesson about Baptism and Confirmation, and I felt so joyful for Armand. I hope literally with all my heart that Armand will read the Book or Mormon, and that he will be converted to this gospel. I am starting to understand how one can feel so much love for those they teach. Armand is so precious, I hope and pray that he will hold on to this gospel.
Speaking of prayer, I have changed the way I pray this week. When I pray now, I feel connected to Heavenly Father, and I try to speak as if I was speaking to Him as if I was looking at him. The power of prayer and the feelings that can come during prayers are powerful.
Anyways though, this week was awesome. I love this work. I love the Plan of Salvation, and my part in the Plan of Salvation! Haha by the way, we had a Halloween Party for the ward on Saturday, and it was kind of awful! We were in charge of having games for the people to play, but sometimes Shqiptar are like people in Nacho Libre. The kind of just sit down and stare at you blankly. Haha not really, but it was rough. Also, the boys here are crazy. Our district all agreed that if we would have had that party in our home wards in Utah or Idaho or California, or New Zealand, it would have been a "huge embarrassing failure." (Tommy Boy) We didn't actually say that, but for real, it was rough. But! The ward loved it! Haha. They celebrate Halloween here, kind of. I'm not sure what they're going to do today, but people dressed up on Saturday, and we had a type of trick-or-treating activity! It's fun. By the way, on October 19th, they celebrated this holiday for Mother Teresa! Apparently she was Albanian! Huh! Anyways, I love you all! I am loving my life here, and learning so much :) Don't forget to send me pictures, please! I love seeing pictures of whatever you all are doing! Love ya!
Elder Shnajdër
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
Marrëdhënie
Here's your cool Shqip word for the week! Ok, so in Albanian, we have past participles that we use for certain things. "Marrëdhënie" is the word for relationship. The past participle for "to receive" is "marrë" and the past participle for "to give" is "dhënë". So in Albania, the word for relationship literally means, more or less "a giving and receiving". Think about that! You can pretty much apply that to any of your relationships you have right now, whether it be a marriage, a friendship, with a boss, with a coworker, or most importantly with Heavenly Father. We have a relationship with Heavenly Father. It's easy to think about and to name things that Heavenly Father gives us. They are infinite. It's easy to think about, but not easy to list them all. But what about what we give to our Heavenly Father? We cannot repay Him for everything he has done for us, and we know that after we have spent all our days in His service, we would still be "unprofitable servants." But we know that still, our Heavenly Father wants a "marrëdhënie" with us. Think about that a bit :) I don't have a lot of time, so I'll keep going with the rest of my email, but yeah! Isn't Shqip the coolest!?
So before I forget, I have some songs that ya'll need to look up!
First, "Seeking what's good" -EJ Molitalo It's by this polynesian singer, and he rocks. I know Conrad will like it for sure. and "Nevoj për ju" -Filio Isofaj It's in Shqip, but it's got a cool beat! And then another song by some polynesian singers called "I will lead you" -Sammy J, Aotea Beazley, Niu Ta'Ala It's so pretty. Their voices are insane. My companion listens to a lot of poly music, because that's popular in New Zealand, and I really like some of it! Ok, Lauren, Daniel, and everyone else! I say Lauren and Daniel, because I know Lauren likes Christian Rock type music, and Dan likes One Republic! There is a band called Stars Go Dim, and I'm pretty sure it's actually One Republic with a different name. From what I've seen, all their songs are gospel related, but they're incredible! Dan, look up "Walking Like Giants" and check out their other songs! They're so good.
This week was awesome! We had a dinner with a member family, and one of her daughters just returned from BYU-I! Her last name is Arseda Cenollari. She's super cool! Keep an eye out for her when she returns, Conrad! She's cool! Also, I had an exchange this week with Elder Benson who is another "fringo fare." Fringo fare is a nickname we use for missionaries are completely new. It was just me and him in Durres and it was so much fun! Also, we went to a colloseum today, and it was stinking incredible. It felt crazy just to be there!! I felt like I could almost hear these people from thousands of years ago like screaming and watching me battle someone. Wow, it was so cool. Also, we met someone named Floriani this week! Remember female bruce wayne? He's a referral from her, and he's so cool! On a side note, Albainan babies and children are super cute. He's got a baby, and he's a super hard worker, really good guy, and we've got a lesson with him soon, so I better go! Also, I was a little bit sick this week, and we had to stay inside for a day so i could sleep and get over it, and the sister missionaries in our area were talking with one of our investigators named Armand, and he asked the sisters if they could all say a prayer together for me! Wow! That was so cool! And they did! I'm better now, and I gotta go, but i love you all! Be sure to follow the instructions for sending packages if you haven't already. Make sure you don't set the value too high, or I might not receive it. USB, sour patch kids, tortilla chips, gardettos, goldfish, jelly beans, and letters from friends and family is all I desire! Momma, and Conrad HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I hope Conrad will get his video, and Mom, I was a little bit mixed up with being sick, but I will take a video for you too! IO love you all!
Elder Shnajdër
So before I forget, I have some songs that ya'll need to look up!
First, "Seeking what's good" -EJ Molitalo It's by this polynesian singer, and he rocks. I know Conrad will like it for sure. and "Nevoj për ju" -Filio Isofaj It's in Shqip, but it's got a cool beat! And then another song by some polynesian singers called "I will lead you" -Sammy J, Aotea Beazley, Niu Ta'Ala It's so pretty. Their voices are insane. My companion listens to a lot of poly music, because that's popular in New Zealand, and I really like some of it! Ok, Lauren, Daniel, and everyone else! I say Lauren and Daniel, because I know Lauren likes Christian Rock type music, and Dan likes One Republic! There is a band called Stars Go Dim, and I'm pretty sure it's actually One Republic with a different name. From what I've seen, all their songs are gospel related, but they're incredible! Dan, look up "Walking Like Giants" and check out their other songs! They're so good.
This week was awesome! We had a dinner with a member family, and one of her daughters just returned from BYU-I! Her last name is Arseda Cenollari. She's super cool! Keep an eye out for her when she returns, Conrad! She's cool! Also, I had an exchange this week with Elder Benson who is another "fringo fare." Fringo fare is a nickname we use for missionaries are completely new. It was just me and him in Durres and it was so much fun! Also, we went to a colloseum today, and it was stinking incredible. It felt crazy just to be there!! I felt like I could almost hear these people from thousands of years ago like screaming and watching me battle someone. Wow, it was so cool. Also, we met someone named Floriani this week! Remember female bruce wayne? He's a referral from her, and he's so cool! On a side note, Albainan babies and children are super cute. He's got a baby, and he's a super hard worker, really good guy, and we've got a lesson with him soon, so I better go! Also, I was a little bit sick this week, and we had to stay inside for a day so i could sleep and get over it, and the sister missionaries in our area were talking with one of our investigators named Armand, and he asked the sisters if they could all say a prayer together for me! Wow! That was so cool! And they did! I'm better now, and I gotta go, but i love you all! Be sure to follow the instructions for sending packages if you haven't already. Make sure you don't set the value too high, or I might not receive it. USB, sour patch kids, tortilla chips, gardettos, goldfish, jelly beans, and letters from friends and family is all I desire! Momma, and Conrad HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I hope Conrad will get his video, and Mom, I was a little bit mixed up with being sick, but I will take a video for you too! IO love you all!
Elder Shnajdër
Saturday, October 22, 2016
The Female Version of Bruce Wayne lives in Durres, and She's Like the Best Member Missionary Ever
Ç'bëni!!!! Si keni qenë? Me punë? Me shkoll? A jeni të lodhura?
Anyways, this week was awesome!! I'm gonna talk first about some of the stuff I've left out lately! I can't remember if I said this already, but there is this place here called "The Pelican", and it is like this gourmet ice cream and sweets place. Holy cow, it is heavenly. It's super crazy here! We live about a ten minute walk from this Pelican place, and right outside our apartment is this farmer's market where people are selling olives, all kinds of fruits and vegetables, and everything, and then we walk down to the Pelican, and they're playing American music, and they have like the best ice cream I've ever tasted, and these super crazy delicious delectable yummy cakes and baked goods that look like they came right out of Food Network. I'll try to remember to take some pictures next time. You wouldn't believe it. It's so good! And, it's not even that expensive!
In fact, nothing in Shqipëri is expensive. Today, we went to a bakery, bought a loaf of white bread, 6 hot dog buns that were freshly made that day, and are good size, and a croissant with chocolate inside, and it was less than $1.40!!! It's stinkin' cheap here!!!! If anybody starts struggling financially, make your way over to Albania, and you'll be a king.
However, there are a lot of poor people, and practically everybody either doesn't have work, or they do, and work a lot! It's crazy. These people here are stinkin' hard workers. There's some recent converts that we teach here, named Sindi and Çeleste (I've told you about them, they're incredible), and their Dad works all the time. Whenever we go over there, even if it's like 8 p.m., he is still working on something. It really is inspiring, and yet it makes my heart ache. Sindi and Çeleste live there, and their mom, and I believe they have two step sisters that live in their same house, and then their step sisters have at least one child also. The mom The only people that have beds are Sindi and Celeste. This week, their power was out for two days for some reason, and might still be now. I think it had something to do with the electric company owner. I know they need like $350 dollars to get the power back on, which is a lot here. The mom was saying that the dad works all the time, yet they have no money. She also told me she sleeps on the floor with her grandson. Oh my goodness, they are such amazing people. It is so much fun going over there! They kind of live in a village type set up, because all these boys from all around play together, and it is so cute to see all of them! They had these little tiny guns each with a single plastic bullet that they were playing with, and they were having so much fun with them! It's so fun to go over there, because they family knows us really well, and all the boys like to come up and talk to us! Yesterday, as we were leaving, I shook the hand of this little boy and we were just joking around, and I just shook his hand really hard, and he laughed super loud, and thought it was so funny! Ah man, they're so cool! On a sidenote, they have some pens here that are "Schneider" brand! Ha!
By the way, did I mention before that we're getting a ton of member dinners? It rocks! I need to take more pictures of those too! The members are so cool here. People here love talking. It's kind of a shame, because sometimes we'll be at a dinner appointment for like an hour and a half or more. Whenever we have a dinner appointment, we always teach a lesson, and try to center it around asking for referrals, because a referral from a member is like Christmas! It's the best way to do missionary work. We figure that we should have about as many member referrals as... as... as there are stray dogs in the streets or as many people that smoke in Albania! No kidding, there are so many stray dogs here. They're so sweet though! I don't do it often, but sometimes, I'll pet one, and give it a little hug. This one time, one almost bit my hand. You should have seen it. It was all foamy and cross-eyed, and I was like, "Hey Elder Jaunay! I think this dog wants a pass-a-long card," so I tried to give him a pass-a-long card, but he tried to bite me, so we left. Just kidding about all of that. I hope I scared Jessie and Mom with that. There actually are a TON of stray dogs though! Where was I... Oh yeah! Referrals! If everyone thing went right, and we all had the same understanding, we should be getting more referrals. However, it seems like a lot of the members here have fears about talking to their friends about what they believe. Do you have any advice for that? Or what you do to share the gospel in your life, and what you did on your mission when members were afraid to share the gospel? By the way, Motra Xheka, the female Bruce Wayne is awesome! She's shared the gospel with several friends, who have gotten baptized, and she gave us a referral this week that we plan to meet up with! She's incredible. Other than the fact that she is an incredible member missionary, and has shared the gospel with so many of her friends, she's in her 30's, owns her own construction company, has incredibly strong testimony, and fights crime in Goth-- Durr-- ... Durrthem at night! She's so cool.
Something that's surprised me since being here is that we spend a lot of time studying and in our appartment. Each day, we're supposed to have 1 hour personal, 2 hours companion study, because there is a program new missionaries do called The First 12 Weeks, and we also have 1 hour language study, and then sometimes we take 2 hours for lunch, since ordinarily we don't take a lot of time for dinner. I was expecting more that we would be working like all day every day, but it's a lot of time indoors. We're being obedient though! We still do work hard, also! Also, guess what, I haven't gone door-to-door tracting once yet! Apparently, it doesn't have a lot of success ordinarily, but I still want to try it! The language is also coming really well! This week we started speaking only in Shqip, and I plan on doing that for the rest of the transfer, and then by then, I hope to have a pretty good grasp that I can just go the rest of the mission! I can tell ya right now that speaking English when I get back is going to be rough. I've decided to do this because I want to be consecrated. I want to learn this language and immerse myself in it so I can start being myself here with this people! When you can't speak the language to these people as well as you'd like, it can be difficult to express yourself in the way you want, but I want to be able to talk, teach, and interact with these people like I would with you all, which is why I'm speaking only in Shqip!
Anyways, to close, I want to tell you about a man named Anesti that we met this week! We were out contacting people, and Elder Jaunay and I had just finished talking to someone, and we walked by Anesti, and I looked at him, and got the feeling like, "He's different." And I later found out that Elder Jaunay got a feeling that he was ready for the gospel. Well, it turns out those feelings were both real. We stopped and talked to Anesti, and while I couldn't understand a whole lot, we had a lesson, set up a time to meet with him, and left! We met with him on Friday, and taught the first lesson, and invited him to be baptized! And he accepted for November 12th! Then the next day, we taught Plan of Salvation, and invited him to church! And he came! AND we had a lesson later that day and taught him the end part of the Plan of Salvation, and Gospel of Jesus Christ. This guy is incredible. He has a little bit difficulty reading, not just reading the Book of Mormon, but reading in general. I don't think he's been to very much school, but I believe that the feeling I had when we contacted him was real. I cannot deny that. Everything is happening miraculously. It's incredible.
I want to take a moment now, to testify for how my testimony of the Savior has grown this week. As I said earlier, I've been speaking only in Shqip this week. As a result of that, the language has come to me much better. I know that it is because of the Enabling Power of the Atonement and the Gift of Tongues. I had an experience this week that touched me. It was very brief, and in fact only a feeling, but it was profound. We were talking to this man that was sitting outside his barbershop, and we shared a scripture, maybe, or were about to ask if he knew anybody that would be interested in our message, and I was testifying of the Savior, and he kind of interrupted me, and said something about... in fact, Idk what he said, but he pointed to his heart, and his head, and then to his lips, and I understood that to mean that he was saying something about how sometimes it's only our lips that say things, and I tried to tell him that my testimony of the Savior is from my heart, but we started talking about something else. As I told him that my testimony of the Savior is from my heart, I felt a love for my Savior and a confirmation that I know he is real in my heart. I am so thankful for his enabling power in my life. One other quick experience. As I reflected on this experience later this week, I had just looked at some photos of Conrad and Dan, and I was thinking about them, and about how awesome it will be when we get to be back together again! Then later that day, I was thinking about the Savior, and it was incredible, because I had the same feeling in my heart as I did when I was thinking about the Savior as when I was thinking about Conrad and Dan. The feeling being that I can't wait until we are reunited, and about how much joy I will feel. That was a testimony for me that the Savior truly is my brother. I love my Savior, and I know He lives, and has an un-ending, brotherly, perfect love for us.
I hope you all have an awesome week! I have some requests! How do you make Salsa? I would like a recipe for that, and other easy, simple recipes for dinners we could make here! Also, a recipe for cookies. Also, if you all could take pictures of whatever is going on in your life, and send them to me, that would rock! I love seeing them! Oh, and momma, for my birthday package, my main desires would be sour patch kids, goldfish, On the Border chips and salsa if possible, letters from the family and friends and whoever else is in town, and... Jelly Belly Jelly Beans! And anything else that would either make me laugh, or that you think I would like! OH! And twizzlers! Honestly, if you sent me like stinkin' a bunch of that stuff, that would rock. I would have a lot of fun with that :)
I hope you liked the email! I'm so sorry, I'm out of time, but I'll try to email individually next week! Love you all!
-Elder Shnajdër
Anyways, this week was awesome!! I'm gonna talk first about some of the stuff I've left out lately! I can't remember if I said this already, but there is this place here called "The Pelican", and it is like this gourmet ice cream and sweets place. Holy cow, it is heavenly. It's super crazy here! We live about a ten minute walk from this Pelican place, and right outside our apartment is this farmer's market where people are selling olives, all kinds of fruits and vegetables, and everything, and then we walk down to the Pelican, and they're playing American music, and they have like the best ice cream I've ever tasted, and these super crazy delicious delectable yummy cakes and baked goods that look like they came right out of Food Network. I'll try to remember to take some pictures next time. You wouldn't believe it. It's so good! And, it's not even that expensive!
In fact, nothing in Shqipëri is expensive. Today, we went to a bakery, bought a loaf of white bread, 6 hot dog buns that were freshly made that day, and are good size, and a croissant with chocolate inside, and it was less than $1.40!!! It's stinkin' cheap here!!!! If anybody starts struggling financially, make your way over to Albania, and you'll be a king.
However, there are a lot of poor people, and practically everybody either doesn't have work, or they do, and work a lot! It's crazy. These people here are stinkin' hard workers. There's some recent converts that we teach here, named Sindi and Çeleste (I've told you about them, they're incredible), and their Dad works all the time. Whenever we go over there, even if it's like 8 p.m., he is still working on something. It really is inspiring, and yet it makes my heart ache. Sindi and Çeleste live there, and their mom, and I believe they have two step sisters that live in their same house, and then their step sisters have at least one child also. The mom The only people that have beds are Sindi and Celeste. This week, their power was out for two days for some reason, and might still be now. I think it had something to do with the electric company owner. I know they need like $350 dollars to get the power back on, which is a lot here. The mom was saying that the dad works all the time, yet they have no money. She also told me she sleeps on the floor with her grandson. Oh my goodness, they are such amazing people. It is so much fun going over there! They kind of live in a village type set up, because all these boys from all around play together, and it is so cute to see all of them! They had these little tiny guns each with a single plastic bullet that they were playing with, and they were having so much fun with them! It's so fun to go over there, because they family knows us really well, and all the boys like to come up and talk to us! Yesterday, as we were leaving, I shook the hand of this little boy and we were just joking around, and I just shook his hand really hard, and he laughed super loud, and thought it was so funny! Ah man, they're so cool! On a sidenote, they have some pens here that are "Schneider" brand! Ha!
By the way, did I mention before that we're getting a ton of member dinners? It rocks! I need to take more pictures of those too! The members are so cool here. People here love talking. It's kind of a shame, because sometimes we'll be at a dinner appointment for like an hour and a half or more. Whenever we have a dinner appointment, we always teach a lesson, and try to center it around asking for referrals, because a referral from a member is like Christmas! It's the best way to do missionary work. We figure that we should have about as many member referrals as... as... as there are stray dogs in the streets or as many people that smoke in Albania! No kidding, there are so many stray dogs here. They're so sweet though! I don't do it often, but sometimes, I'll pet one, and give it a little hug. This one time, one almost bit my hand. You should have seen it. It was all foamy and cross-eyed, and I was like, "Hey Elder Jaunay! I think this dog wants a pass-a-long card," so I tried to give him a pass-a-long card, but he tried to bite me, so we left. Just kidding about all of that. I hope I scared Jessie and Mom with that. There actually are a TON of stray dogs though! Where was I... Oh yeah! Referrals! If everyone thing went right, and we all had the same understanding, we should be getting more referrals. However, it seems like a lot of the members here have fears about talking to their friends about what they believe. Do you have any advice for that? Or what you do to share the gospel in your life, and what you did on your mission when members were afraid to share the gospel? By the way, Motra Xheka, the female Bruce Wayne is awesome! She's shared the gospel with several friends, who have gotten baptized, and she gave us a referral this week that we plan to meet up with! She's incredible. Other than the fact that she is an incredible member missionary, and has shared the gospel with so many of her friends, she's in her 30's, owns her own construction company, has incredibly strong testimony, and fights crime in Goth-- Durr-- ... Durrthem at night! She's so cool.
Something that's surprised me since being here is that we spend a lot of time studying and in our appartment. Each day, we're supposed to have 1 hour personal, 2 hours companion study, because there is a program new missionaries do called The First 12 Weeks, and we also have 1 hour language study, and then sometimes we take 2 hours for lunch, since ordinarily we don't take a lot of time for dinner. I was expecting more that we would be working like all day every day, but it's a lot of time indoors. We're being obedient though! We still do work hard, also! Also, guess what, I haven't gone door-to-door tracting once yet! Apparently, it doesn't have a lot of success ordinarily, but I still want to try it! The language is also coming really well! This week we started speaking only in Shqip, and I plan on doing that for the rest of the transfer, and then by then, I hope to have a pretty good grasp that I can just go the rest of the mission! I can tell ya right now that speaking English when I get back is going to be rough. I've decided to do this because I want to be consecrated. I want to learn this language and immerse myself in it so I can start being myself here with this people! When you can't speak the language to these people as well as you'd like, it can be difficult to express yourself in the way you want, but I want to be able to talk, teach, and interact with these people like I would with you all, which is why I'm speaking only in Shqip!
Anyways, to close, I want to tell you about a man named Anesti that we met this week! We were out contacting people, and Elder Jaunay and I had just finished talking to someone, and we walked by Anesti, and I looked at him, and got the feeling like, "He's different." And I later found out that Elder Jaunay got a feeling that he was ready for the gospel. Well, it turns out those feelings were both real. We stopped and talked to Anesti, and while I couldn't understand a whole lot, we had a lesson, set up a time to meet with him, and left! We met with him on Friday, and taught the first lesson, and invited him to be baptized! And he accepted for November 12th! Then the next day, we taught Plan of Salvation, and invited him to church! And he came! AND we had a lesson later that day and taught him the end part of the Plan of Salvation, and Gospel of Jesus Christ. This guy is incredible. He has a little bit difficulty reading, not just reading the Book of Mormon, but reading in general. I don't think he's been to very much school, but I believe that the feeling I had when we contacted him was real. I cannot deny that. Everything is happening miraculously. It's incredible.
I want to take a moment now, to testify for how my testimony of the Savior has grown this week. As I said earlier, I've been speaking only in Shqip this week. As a result of that, the language has come to me much better. I know that it is because of the Enabling Power of the Atonement and the Gift of Tongues. I had an experience this week that touched me. It was very brief, and in fact only a feeling, but it was profound. We were talking to this man that was sitting outside his barbershop, and we shared a scripture, maybe, or were about to ask if he knew anybody that would be interested in our message, and I was testifying of the Savior, and he kind of interrupted me, and said something about... in fact, Idk what he said, but he pointed to his heart, and his head, and then to his lips, and I understood that to mean that he was saying something about how sometimes it's only our lips that say things, and I tried to tell him that my testimony of the Savior is from my heart, but we started talking about something else. As I told him that my testimony of the Savior is from my heart, I felt a love for my Savior and a confirmation that I know he is real in my heart. I am so thankful for his enabling power in my life. One other quick experience. As I reflected on this experience later this week, I had just looked at some photos of Conrad and Dan, and I was thinking about them, and about how awesome it will be when we get to be back together again! Then later that day, I was thinking about the Savior, and it was incredible, because I had the same feeling in my heart as I did when I was thinking about the Savior as when I was thinking about Conrad and Dan. The feeling being that I can't wait until we are reunited, and about how much joy I will feel. That was a testimony for me that the Savior truly is my brother. I love my Savior, and I know He lives, and has an un-ending, brotherly, perfect love for us.
I hope you all have an awesome week! I have some requests! How do you make Salsa? I would like a recipe for that, and other easy, simple recipes for dinners we could make here! Also, a recipe for cookies. Also, if you all could take pictures of whatever is going on in your life, and send them to me, that would rock! I love seeing them! Oh, and momma, for my birthday package, my main desires would be sour patch kids, goldfish, On the Border chips and salsa if possible, letters from the family and friends and whoever else is in town, and... Jelly Belly Jelly Beans! And anything else that would either make me laugh, or that you think I would like! OH! And twizzlers! Honestly, if you sent me like stinkin' a bunch of that stuff, that would rock. I would have a lot of fun with that :)
I hope you liked the email! I'm so sorry, I'm out of time, but I'll try to email individually next week! Love you all!
-Elder Shnajdër
Friday, October 14, 2016
October 10, 2016
Yo what's up family, and Gehrig, Casey, Lauren, Ammon, and Claire?
This week was better than last week! I'm getting a little bit better at talking to people and a little bit better with the small talk and stuff! Last week I was scared out of my pants, kind of, to talk to people and contact. For a few reasons. Obviously, I'm still learning Shqip, so I don't know completely if something I say makes sense, because not everything translates exactly, and still I understand maybe like 15%-20% of what some people say. Sometimes it's less, sometimes it's more! Haha but I'm getting a little better at talking to people, and street contacting and finding people. One morning, I talked to this lady by myself that was selling tortillas, and it was sweet! Because Elder Jaunay is great at talking to people, and usually if I want to talk, I kind of just have to jump in, which isn't a problem, because that's how Shqiptar are. They like to talk a lot, which sometimes is ok! And then on Tuesday, I got this guys number all by myself! Haha, it kind of feels like I'm a kid again, because I get so excited when I do things "all by myself!" (Brian Regan) Also on Tuesday, we got like 4 referrals from people on the street, which rocked. Also, I'm getting a little better at understanding people on the phone! I had a full phone call all by myself this week also! Woot! Way fun. Haha, Dad, I konw you in particular will like this. I was talking to this one guy on the sidewalk, and I was trying real hard to understand him, and it wasn't going so well, but he said something and that started laughing, and so I just started laughing too, and I remember kind of making this Fletch-face that he makes when he's impersonating someone. My eyes just got all big, and I just laughed and smiled kinda cheesily, but I had, and still have no idea what he said! Haha, but ya know what? S'ka problem! I find that when I laugh off my mistakes, and smile more, the work is way more fun, and I don't get down on myself.
So remember Familja Dalipaj from last week? Well Renato, the 20-year old son came to conference on Sunday! It was way cool to see him on Sunday! We are hoping to start teaching just him and his brother, because their parents really like talking about politics and about how hard life is. I don't mean to sound insensitive at all, but they probably would literally talk for an entire hour if we let them, and we are there to teach about Christ. We have tried to tell them that the gospel can bless us temporally and eternally, but they don't seem to understand that. My point is that we are going to start teaching their two sons who are reading the book of mormon and making some progress! I'm excited for them. Also, we have an English course here that we teach! That's pretty cool! It's a super great way of finding people too!
So this week, it rained pretty hard a couple days! It was awesome. I love it when it rains! It's so nice. We had one lesson with Sindi and Çeleste and one of their friends name Xhesi (pronounced Jessie) and I told her that my sister is named Jessie! But yeah, we were teaching, and they are pretty poor. They have a house that they sleep in and live in most of the time (I'm actually not sure how nice it is), but we teach them in this little room with a tin roof, and it started raining, and we were like candle-lit, and it was like dripping water, and we were teaching the Restoration, and I was saying the First Vision, and AUGH! It was just so cool. This sounds like a classic missionary story, and that's exactly what it is! And it was so much fun! Xhesi was actually invited by Sindi and Çeleste, and Elder Jaunay and I invited her to be baptized in the first lesson. Right now she's pretty quiet, and it's a little bit difficult to tell if she has a sincere desire to follow these things, but we are definitely hoping for that. Anyways, though, it was way fun! Also, we had like 5 dinners at members houses this week! It was stinkin' awesome!! Haha so in Albania, or at least in Durres, they have like 2-3 course dinners, but they aren't exactly like a 3-course meal you'd think of from a fancy restaurant. First they'll have the entree, and I usually ate that up pretty quick, because I was hungry, but then if you finish, they offer you more, and you may or may not want some, and you may or may not tell them that, but for me, I would usually get more. But this is where they trick you, because you think, oh yeah, I got room in my stomach! Bring it on, and so you have seconds, but then round 2 comes on! Fruit! I think like every family this week after we had entree brought out various fruits that we would eat after we had the entree! It was sweet! But often, you just don't have room. That's why you gotta eat strategically. Haha and occasionally they'll have some kind of dessert also! I'm getting fed like a king here :) And also, it's super stinkin cheap for groceries and everything. You can buy an entire loaf of good bread that is similar to GH bread for like less than a dollar. Groceries are super cheep too. And there is this sweets place here called the Pelican, and they have like gourmet ice cream and little cakes and stuff, and it's cheap, and delicious. But anyways, back to the members, I had an idea earlier this week. I'm in Albania, and right now there are around 600 active members in the entire country. Therefore, if the members and missionaries were both on the same page and had the same vision to work together, we should be getting member referrals like nothing. We've kind of made it a goal to turn that around here, because member referral lessons with the members are the best way to teach investigators. That's also the reason we've been doing a little bit more contacting and that kind of thing this week. We actually don't go door-to-door tracting. I've heard it's because that's what Jehovah's Witness do and the people don't have a great relationship with them, but I'm not sure if that's the only reason. But that is ok! I am in fact enjoying contacting a lot more than last week! This week was awesome with me for that, and I was actually excited this week to go contacting!
I made a goal this week to be more friendly with people. I don't want to be exactly like Elder Jaunay, but I love his example of how friendly he is with so many people, and I want to develop that in the way i interact with people. I had a really cool personal revelation come to me this week. We were listening to a talk Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave in the General Women's session, and he said this, "Faith is not to change God's will, but to empower us to act on God's will." I loved that, because occasionally I'll just pray straight up that I can be happy and have success, but I don't always consider that it is through and because of my trials that I am able to really find eternal happiness. Everything in this work is with God's timing. Including the amount of success we have in a day. Maybe it is not God's will for us to get a thousand referrals, but maybe that is because in this trial, we are able to learn something that will prepare us later in our missions, or lives to be able to serve Him more effectively. Maybe if I pray for happiness and strength, and I don't feel happy or strong that day, Heavenly Father may be withholding blessings for a time, because it is preparation for me to receive eternal blessings, or eternal happiness, and eternal strength. It was incredible. I've changed the way I pray now. Instead of asking straight up for me to be happy and to have strength, I pray for those things if it be His will. Incredibly powerful for me this week.
Fam, I'm gonna each email you individually because you all sent very helpful emails, and I want to address you directly. Well... Almost everyone... (*cough, cough* Daniel) But s'ka gjë! I know Dan is busy gettin' swoll, and building chicken coops, so I understand! :) But seriously, I love you Dan :)
I love you all! I'll probably send a package home, so let me know if you want anything from here! Love you!
-Elder Shnajder
This week was better than last week! I'm getting a little bit better at talking to people and a little bit better with the small talk and stuff! Last week I was scared out of my pants, kind of, to talk to people and contact. For a few reasons. Obviously, I'm still learning Shqip, so I don't know completely if something I say makes sense, because not everything translates exactly, and still I understand maybe like 15%-20% of what some people say. Sometimes it's less, sometimes it's more! Haha but I'm getting a little better at talking to people, and street contacting and finding people. One morning, I talked to this lady by myself that was selling tortillas, and it was sweet! Because Elder Jaunay is great at talking to people, and usually if I want to talk, I kind of just have to jump in, which isn't a problem, because that's how Shqiptar are. They like to talk a lot, which sometimes is ok! And then on Tuesday, I got this guys number all by myself! Haha, it kind of feels like I'm a kid again, because I get so excited when I do things "all by myself!" (Brian Regan) Also on Tuesday, we got like 4 referrals from people on the street, which rocked. Also, I'm getting a little better at understanding people on the phone! I had a full phone call all by myself this week also! Woot! Way fun. Haha, Dad, I konw you in particular will like this. I was talking to this one guy on the sidewalk, and I was trying real hard to understand him, and it wasn't going so well, but he said something and that started laughing, and so I just started laughing too, and I remember kind of making this Fletch-face that he makes when he's impersonating someone. My eyes just got all big, and I just laughed and smiled kinda cheesily, but I had, and still have no idea what he said! Haha, but ya know what? S'ka problem! I find that when I laugh off my mistakes, and smile more, the work is way more fun, and I don't get down on myself.
So remember Familja Dalipaj from last week? Well Renato, the 20-year old son came to conference on Sunday! It was way cool to see him on Sunday! We are hoping to start teaching just him and his brother, because their parents really like talking about politics and about how hard life is. I don't mean to sound insensitive at all, but they probably would literally talk for an entire hour if we let them, and we are there to teach about Christ. We have tried to tell them that the gospel can bless us temporally and eternally, but they don't seem to understand that. My point is that we are going to start teaching their two sons who are reading the book of mormon and making some progress! I'm excited for them. Also, we have an English course here that we teach! That's pretty cool! It's a super great way of finding people too!
So this week, it rained pretty hard a couple days! It was awesome. I love it when it rains! It's so nice. We had one lesson with Sindi and Çeleste and one of their friends name Xhesi (pronounced Jessie) and I told her that my sister is named Jessie! But yeah, we were teaching, and they are pretty poor. They have a house that they sleep in and live in most of the time (I'm actually not sure how nice it is), but we teach them in this little room with a tin roof, and it started raining, and we were like candle-lit, and it was like dripping water, and we were teaching the Restoration, and I was saying the First Vision, and AUGH! It was just so cool. This sounds like a classic missionary story, and that's exactly what it is! And it was so much fun! Xhesi was actually invited by Sindi and Çeleste, and Elder Jaunay and I invited her to be baptized in the first lesson. Right now she's pretty quiet, and it's a little bit difficult to tell if she has a sincere desire to follow these things, but we are definitely hoping for that. Anyways, though, it was way fun! Also, we had like 5 dinners at members houses this week! It was stinkin' awesome!! Haha so in Albania, or at least in Durres, they have like 2-3 course dinners, but they aren't exactly like a 3-course meal you'd think of from a fancy restaurant. First they'll have the entree, and I usually ate that up pretty quick, because I was hungry, but then if you finish, they offer you more, and you may or may not want some, and you may or may not tell them that, but for me, I would usually get more. But this is where they trick you, because you think, oh yeah, I got room in my stomach! Bring it on, and so you have seconds, but then round 2 comes on! Fruit! I think like every family this week after we had entree brought out various fruits that we would eat after we had the entree! It was sweet! But often, you just don't have room. That's why you gotta eat strategically. Haha and occasionally they'll have some kind of dessert also! I'm getting fed like a king here :) And also, it's super stinkin cheap for groceries and everything. You can buy an entire loaf of good bread that is similar to GH bread for like less than a dollar. Groceries are super cheep too. And there is this sweets place here called the Pelican, and they have like gourmet ice cream and little cakes and stuff, and it's cheap, and delicious. But anyways, back to the members, I had an idea earlier this week. I'm in Albania, and right now there are around 600 active members in the entire country. Therefore, if the members and missionaries were both on the same page and had the same vision to work together, we should be getting member referrals like nothing. We've kind of made it a goal to turn that around here, because member referral lessons with the members are the best way to teach investigators. That's also the reason we've been doing a little bit more contacting and that kind of thing this week. We actually don't go door-to-door tracting. I've heard it's because that's what Jehovah's Witness do and the people don't have a great relationship with them, but I'm not sure if that's the only reason. But that is ok! I am in fact enjoying contacting a lot more than last week! This week was awesome with me for that, and I was actually excited this week to go contacting!
I made a goal this week to be more friendly with people. I don't want to be exactly like Elder Jaunay, but I love his example of how friendly he is with so many people, and I want to develop that in the way i interact with people. I had a really cool personal revelation come to me this week. We were listening to a talk Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave in the General Women's session, and he said this, "Faith is not to change God's will, but to empower us to act on God's will." I loved that, because occasionally I'll just pray straight up that I can be happy and have success, but I don't always consider that it is through and because of my trials that I am able to really find eternal happiness. Everything in this work is with God's timing. Including the amount of success we have in a day. Maybe it is not God's will for us to get a thousand referrals, but maybe that is because in this trial, we are able to learn something that will prepare us later in our missions, or lives to be able to serve Him more effectively. Maybe if I pray for happiness and strength, and I don't feel happy or strong that day, Heavenly Father may be withholding blessings for a time, because it is preparation for me to receive eternal blessings, or eternal happiness, and eternal strength. It was incredible. I've changed the way I pray now. Instead of asking straight up for me to be happy and to have strength, I pray for those things if it be His will. Incredibly powerful for me this week.
Fam, I'm gonna each email you individually because you all sent very helpful emails, and I want to address you directly. Well... Almost everyone... (*cough, cough* Daniel) But s'ka gjë! I know Dan is busy gettin' swoll, and building chicken coops, so I understand! :) But seriously, I love you Dan :)
I love you all! I'll probably send a package home, so let me know if you want anything from here! Love you!
-Elder Shnajder
Monday, October 3, 2016
October 3, 2016
Also, in that last email with the picture of Elder Harris and I, that was us in this little hotel room next to the mission home, because since we had so many missionaries in our group, President rented a little hotel that actually was a bar on the ground floor, and we stayed in the various rooms, and Elder Harris and I got to stay in this room that had these random shower sandals, and these sharp pipes sticking out of the ground, and some of the light switches didn't work, and the shower was really small, and the toilet pipes leaked..... It was so much fun!
October 3, 2016
So this guy on the plane, I first started talking to him because this toddler next to him was really cute, and I was like, what's his name? (This is in Shqip, by the way.) It turns out it wasn't his child, it was actually the lady's next to him! Well we started talking about his family and whatnot, and we connected really well! Elder Wood and I ended up talking about the Book of Mormon, and we gave him a Book of Mormon with our testimonies! It rocked! It was a big confidence booster for me before we got there. Hopefully something comes of that. He was on his way to visit some friends in Kosovo, because he actually lives in France currently. I left my email though, so we'll see!
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