The other day we took some food out to Ramazan and Silva who live in the most humblest of circumstances. Ramazan's pension hasn't come for five months and they are really struggling right now. Ramazan is partially crippled, has asthma and terrible headaches. He asked for a blessing from Glen (the Elders had to interpret) and the minute the blessing was over, Ramazan felt peace and started breathing better. Silva was baptized about six months ago and is a faithful member. Ramazan knew the gospel is true but because of his problems cannot come to church very often. Pres. Ford went to see him with the Elders and gave permission for Ramazan to be baptized. They all felt he should not be denied any of the blessings of the gospel. It was the most wonderful experience. It took both Elders to hold and baptize him and he was so happy. They both have such great faith. They love having us come to visit them and always ask how our family is doing. They don't speak a word of English and we don't speak Shqip, but we communicate through love.
We took a trip up through Montenegro into Croatia (Dubrovnik) for an S & I Workshop. We were given special permission by Germany and Pres. Ford to go. It was absolutely beautiful. We went with the Prestons who are the CES couple and had a wonderful time. It is amazing when you get out of Albania how nice and clean other countries are. The horns didn't honk, there was no garbage on the ground, the sea was clean, the colors of the sea were just unique. We also stopped to look at the oldest olive tree in Europe which is over 2000 years old. We know there are some older in Israel, but it was really neat to see this one. When we got to Dubrovnik which is right on the sea, we went to an old walled-in city. You would look down the little alley ways and see steps go up five stories high to each level of living. In 1991 the Serbs in their ships bombed Dubrovnik and destroyed many buildings and rooftops. These have all been repaired in the old city, but in the rest of the town you can still see the destruction. There were 14 S & I teachers at the workshop and all of them YA's. As we listened to them we knew these were the strength of the Church in Albania. Their testimonies are so strong and their willingness to serve is amazing. I wish I had been that strong when I was 18 or so years of age.
The Center will be up and going next week. We get the keys on Monday, then we will start moving the furniture in. We will have our grand opening on Feb. 17, when the YA's will celebrate Valentine's Day. The YA's from the whole district will be invited plus Kosovo, and we will have an Institute Seminar on Saturday with Elder Fingerly and a few others from Germany. It should be a "grand" occasion and we are all looking forward to it.
Just a follow-up on things I wrote in my last Blog. I talked about Fahti and the problems we were having with him. Well there are always two sides to every story, and we found that Fahti was also a victim as well as stocking Majlinda. She had not been completely honest with her accusations. Glen and the Elders were able to teach him about forgiveness and true repentance, and he made some great changes. He was baptized Dec. 24, and has been a wonderful addition to our membership. He asked Glen to confer the Aaronic Priesthood on him Sunday. He bought a suit, white shirts and ties, and comes to church every Sunday dressed to worship. He has been amazing.
All in all things are going good. We are excited about our calling and what lies before us. We have a new YA Council Presidency and committee and they are excited about their callings. The Branch Presidency is doing well also, every time Pres. Beleshi doesn't want to deal with something, he turns it over to Glen. Changes are taking place and we see good things happening in the Branch. Always remember life is good and the gospel is true.
