Ok so first full week in Albania down! So I guess I'll just start with last P-Day. I met Sulejmon for the first time and Ali Yli! So Sulejmon is this super cool guy he is 21 and is really smart he is studying psychology in college and learned English from watching TV and it's like perfect! So he has been meeting with Elders for like almost a year now but just hasn't felt the spirit yet supposedly. He listens super good and acts like a golden investigator most of the time but he is just over thinking it. He is always saying he wants to know for sure before he commits to anything and it's just like YOU ALREADY DO KNOW OR YOU WOULDN'T STILL BE MEETING WITH US! for real though he just needs to add up those flecks of gold and he will see. We tried commiting him to baptism later in the week but he wouldn't do it and we were like let's say a prayer and wait 20 seconds after and see how you feel and he said it and like the spirit was just blasting in my ears but... nothing. He said he felt nothing that filthy liar! It's really frustrating to teach him because he is so awesome! Anyway. Ali Yli is a member who was actually baptized by my teacher Valli Carver (shoutout)! And this guy is awesome!! He's probably mid 40s but he is so cool to talk to! Something really cool about Albanians is they all seem so young at heart! So this guy has helped us with a couple lessons and I just really like talking to him! He taught me how to roll a coin on my knuckles and that kept me entertained through all of conference! When we were at his house he gave us water and I subtly asked my comp if the water was good for me to drink and he was like ya! So I drank it and we were talking about it afterwards and I guess he didn't get that Americans shouldn't drink Albanian water he was just like ya Albanian water doesn't have anything in it so I was like crap I'm going to get sent home cause I drank a whole glass!! So we got home and I drank 3L of water! I thought I was going to explode but I thought if I just got it out quick enough I would be clear! Luckily I didn't get sick but I don't know if that was because the water was ok or me peeing like a million times that night! Something that I love that my companion does is talk to literally everyone anywhere we are going we try to talk to every person we pass and we have definitely seen some fruits from those labors! We also have been doing really good at inviting to baptism on the first lesson and we currently have 8 people with a baptismal date believe it or not! TBH I don't know how many of those are going to make it but I'm trying to have faith! One guy is named Batu and he is actually Turkish and doesn't speak a ton of Albanian (he is studying political science here) and so I actually teach the whole lesson and I do it in English so it's super different but kinda a cool experience for me! He's not so sure about the church he is kinda just looking at it from an intellectual standpoint but he said that he would read the BoM and pray about it so cha ching! So Wednesday we did exchanges and man that was a different experience! I was with my District Leader Elder A and it was just very very different. I guess it just made me very grateful for my companion. One thing we did together that I wasn't sure was worth our time is teach a gjagji. So pretty much everyone in Albania just walks everywhere but especially gjagjis! gjagji = old man. And they just walk around all day everyday and a lot of them are completely nuts! Like you be nice to them but you just don't teach them because they are actually not all there but we did (for some reason) and we pretty much just spent the whole time trying to figure out if this guys son was a member of our church (he wasn't). But it was interesting for sure! While on splits I got to meet Martini! This guy is the coolest person I have met here in Albania! He is 20 but he looks like a man like he is pretty built and is sooo funny! I need to get a picture with him! He has been a convert for 3 months and used to be a super strong catholic and is pretty much like 3/4 mormon 1/4 catholic right now - its hilarious! That's one thing that I have really learned and loved here is that you just can't judge people - like a lot of how the church is here isn't perfect but these people are members of our church and they are making it work how they can and I love it! But this guy Maritini still throws like the lords prayer in with his regular prayer and he wants to go on a mission and he was like ya I want to go talk to people about the Bible! Its awesome! Later in the week I actually went on my first split with a member (most terrifying thing ever) but he was the member I went with so I knew I was alright and he was actually really helpful! We had zone training this week and I got to see Jackson and Henderson again!! It was actually so nice to see them I loved it! Jackson's companion is Sister Coleman and I swear she is like a different version of Aanika like she sorta looks like her and sounds like her and everything its freaky! Also one of the girls in my district, Sister White, sounds EXACTLY like Taylor like if I'm not looking at her its' still kinda weird! Still working out every morning and my companion said there are actually some places where we can get a pull up bar for cheap so I'll probably be snagging one of those soon! Average day... we wake up, exercise ,shower ,get ready, personal study, comp study (2 hours since I'm new), language study, lunch, lessons from then till 9 with about an hour of finding each day! Its a lot of time inside it feels like but this is the schedule we are supposed to follow so Its all good. Also, I made spaghetti and it wasn't half bad! My companion said he has never really had pasta like that before and I was like what!!! Also, on Sunday I made American breakfast and it was awesome! Eggs, bacon and toast! He has never had bacon before! Like you get shot for less in America! Their bacon isn't quite as good but still it was like a little bit of back home eating the "ultimate breakfast" (no chocolate milk though). Saturday and Sunday we watched general conference and I loved it! It was a little hard because for some reason my companion didn't understand how important conference was and thought it was a waste of time and I was like listen I know it's a lot of time and we could be out contacting but we literally preach all day about a living prophet and we get to hear from him today!! And one of the senior couples came and played it in English off their laptop upstairs so that was awesome! I definitely missed home during conference! and they kept talking about Easter!! I kept thinking about being in pajamas on the coach with all you guys and it was pretty sad! I ate my feelings out in chocolate again and justified that I would be doing the same thing if I was home during conference anyways! We had a baptism this week in our ward though which was awesome!! We had some investigators come and the spirit was crazy strong I'm glad they came!! My language is coming along slowly but surely it's tough right now because I just feel like I can't really connect with people with where I am at right now but I have gotten a lot of compliments from other missionaries that I am learning really fast so I know it'll come! Other companionships have to set times where they can only SYL (speak the mission language) but I am stuck doing it all the time and I know it helps. They said that I need to take breaks though because missionaries that only SYL usually break pretty hard so I have been trying to use English a little more when I get the oppurtunity. Today we went to the Treg (market) and there is a big one in the 1st ward area and it was huge! I'm sad my camera was out of batteries but it's just little market shops upon shops upon shops it's like a flea market almost! I got a sweet watch there and a tie. I'll probably go back though, Elder Verushi says everyone goes there at the end of their mission and buys a bunch of crap! I don't know if I ever told yall about dhall but they warned us about it in the MTC -- it's this yogurt drink they have here and I have already had it! its pretty much yogurt that is left out in the sun for a while and then water and salt is added. Its' pretty nasty but my comp likes it some how! I also have had Fanta Exotic though! Oh my... Its soo good! like I can't describe its flavor its just sugary bubbly goodness! Also Musaka is like amazing its pretty much lasagna but instead of pasta for the layers its like essentially mashed potatoes, I know right! How have we not thought of this! Anyway things are good here I love you all and hope you got the chance to watch conference! Especially Holland, Uchtdorf, and Eyring! Their talks were aammmmaazzzzinnggg!
I love you tons mama and am so mega grateful for you! My favorite part of the week is coming to email you!! Have an awesome week send my love!!
Nga Tirana, Biri tend Elder Gajmen!
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| Here are a couple pictures of where we meet for church |
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