We have just returned from almost finalizing arrangements for our center. YES, WE HAVE FOUND A CENTER!!! We are so excited and happy. Of course, Germany has yet to stamp their endorsement, but according to Pres. Ford, all the stars are aligned in our favor. So by the end of this week, all news should be good - we hope. You can tell there is still a little uncertainty, but we feel very good about it.
It has been quite some time since I have written in the blog. This past month has just sailed by, and now we are in the throws of planning our Thanksgiving feast. Pres. Ford has asked me to organize it, but if they had their way, they would go to a restaurant. Can you imagine taking 50 people to an Albanian restaurant for Thanksgiving dinner, when all but three are Americans. That would be sinful. Yesterday at dinner, I asked the missionaries if they thought 75 lbs. of turkey would be enough for them and 50 lbs. of potatoes. You can't believe how much they can eat. I made two large lasagnas, three loaves of garlic bread, peas and carrots, Greek salad and for dessert, banana and coconut cream pies. They cleaned the lot. Two ate so much they could hardly breathe. But it was fun. We feed four elders and two sisters every Fast Sunday.
The YA's had a Halloween party which was very successful. We had between 60 - 70 people there. There were prizes for the best costumes, they did karaoke , made a pinata and filled it with candy, and, of course, ate all the food prepared. Then danced afterward. They really get into Halloween. We even carved pumpkins and used them for some of the decorations. We also had District Conference that weekend so it was a very busy weekend. Elder Wright, an Area Seventy, came and gave some great talks. He is a close friend to Pres. Ford as they are both from England. We took him to see a couple of the places for a Center and he was very favorable to us having a stand alone Center. The Church really doesn't like stand alone Centers, and will only approve five of them for next year. Elder Wright told us ours would be one of them.
Two of our best friends in the YA's have left for jobs outside of Albania. Neti Lapi and Besmir Gjoni. Neti is trying to earn enough monies to help him on his mission, but Besmir is trying to earn enough monies to support himself and help his family. That is one of the greatest resources here for families in Albania. Their children go to other countries to earn monies and send them back to help the families. With all the problems in Europe, this may become a problem, because the job market is drying up. We see so many people just walking the streets, sitting in cafe's drinking coffee and smoking, and wondering where they get their money. We have learned it is from children working outside of Albania.
A few months ago I wrote about Bro. Lami being baptized and doing so well. Things have changed and he has gone back to drinking and abusing his family. Yesterday after church, Glen gave Sister Lami a blessing to give her strength to know what to do. Bro. Lami gets very violent and has physically abused the two older girls and Sister Lami. After dinner yesterday we got a call from Sister Lami asking for help, so Glen and the four Elders jumped in the car and drove out to their home. The police had been and taken Bro. Lami, so they had to go back down to the police department and fill out the forms. The Branch President met them there. He works for the police department and hoped they would keep him overnight (which they didn't). We will probably have to find a place for them to live here in town if Sister Lami decides to leave him. This has just broken our hearts because he was doing so good. Earlier in the week, we had given a lesson to Leta and her kids on families and temple marriage. She wanted to know if they could be sealed together without Tajipi. They all have a desire, but of course it won't happen now unless some miraculous changes take place. (This next is from Glen). It was a hoot listening to the Elders talk about what they were going to do if Tayipi was still there and was still in a drunken and violent condition. (I think they have watched too many movies.) Then, when the call came to the Elders that the police had arrived, their plans ran wild. We were going to arrive with our dark suits on. I would put on my sun glasses, and we would drive rapidly down the Lami's lane, slam on the brakes, jump out of the car and tell the police we were CIA and that we would take care of things now and that the police could go home. The elders were laughing so hard they could barely breath. WAY too many movies!!
Things like this always put a damper on our lives, but we know this is the Lord's work and He is very aware of the righteousness of His people. We love the gospel and are so grateful for our testimonies and the strength we feel from serving in the Lord's vineyard.
