This is the second time I have written this, so if you got something before and no news was on it, that is why. We aren't sure what happened, but here goes again.
It is hard to believe we only have three weeks left. We have been trying to "clean" this apartment to leave it somewhat nice for the new couple. And no, a couple has not been called as yet, we we are hoping before we leave, someone will have been. So we are going to Plan B. The Volz's (couple in Vlore) have volunteered to come to Tirana Monday through Wednesday and take care of FHE and Institute on Wednesday. Then they will return to Vlore and take care of their commitments at their Center the rest of the week. This is wonderful of them to do this and will greatly bless the lives of our YA's. The Willis', another couple in Tirana, know of our situation and are willing to help out where needed. We haven't talked to them as yet, but will do so soon. It is going to be hard to leave and not have someone here full time to take over, but we have enough faith to know the Lord is mindful of our needs and things will work out. There are missionaries that used to be in our district we need to go and see before leaving, and the Lamis' also. We are all having withdrawals not being together, so we need to go and say goodbye.
We have had six YA's called to go on missions this month. Four are going to England, one to America, and we don't know where the other one from Durres is going as yet. Both Jona (Yona) and Erblina will be coming to the Provo MTC in November, then Jona will go to England and Erblina will go to Minnesota. We are excited about them because if they can come a few days early, we can pick them up and take them around SLC and to the temple before they have to go to the MTC. They are excited as well, as we have been very close to both of them. At Church today two more YA's told us they wanted to start working on their papers. As one, Ola, was just baptized five months ago, she will have to wait a few months, but Jola (Yola) can start on her's right now. Sidi is also working on his papers, and come October he will have been a member a year and can go. What blessings these YA's will be as returned missionaries, they will have a strong testimony, a greater knowledge of the gospel and really learn how the Church functions. They will be a great strength to the rest of the YA's when they return.
I have been playing the piano in the 2nd Branch for a few months now, and sometimes I even play it in 4th Branch. Today was one of those days. It doesn't matter how the notes are written, the members sing the way they learned the song, even though it is wrong. It is like I am playing a solo at the end, because they are finished with the song and there are still notes to be played. Before I am finished they just start singing the next verse. It is a lesson in futility to try and change anything. But I am stubborn enough that I still play as it is written.
We had a swimming party with the YA's yesterday and we were preparing ourselves for the bathing suits the girls wear. They do not sell one piece suits here, or if they do, we have never seen any. The girls do not understand "modest" and even though we have taught dress standards many times, they continue to dress the same way. Hopefully some day, "modest" will catch on and they will understand the need to look better. We had 18 boys show and only one girl; the girl did not go into the water, so our fears were unnecessary.
It is going to be hard to leave our YA's as we have grown to love them so. We have bought 5 x 7 pictures of Christ and framed them and will put our testimony on the back as a little gift of our love for them. We are having a gathering on August 19 to say goodbye and give them some last thoughts from us. They are so used to having couples come and go, they will be able to move on, and so will we, but it will be hard to say goodbye. Living in an apartment is wonderful for missions, but we do miss our yard, garden, patio (not the myrtle) and flowers. Of course, we miss our family most of all and will be happy to be home with all of them. We will be content to let our grandchildren serve their missions, and give them love and support as they serve. We are proud of Sami and her desire to serve, and know there will be many more following. Thank you family for all your love and support.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Frankfurt, Temple, Asplunds, Sunday dinner
June has come and gone and our heads are spinning from how fast it went. It was a very full month with the highlight being able to go to the Frankfurt Temple. The Church has a Temple Patron Fund which basically allows those attending for the first time in nations where temples are not easy to get to, to attend the temple free of charge. They make whatever contribution they can, and the fund covers the rest. This is a great blessing in the lives of struggling nations where attendance at a temple would be an impossibility otherwise. We took ten new endowees and five returns, plus two children. Nineteen in all including us. It was a wonderful experience and will be one of the highlights of our mission. Getting Albanians anywhere is always interesting, but taking them into airports, changing planes, and all that goes with it, was quite stress related. One sister, Prendë, just could not understand that her luggage would be with her when we landed in Frankfurt. She wanted to go back up in the plane and find her luggage. We had to physically pull her along so she wouldn't miss the connection. The Rome airport is a nightmare. We know the Lord was blessing us because we made it from point A to point B. There will be many stories to tell about this. The real blessings came at the Temple.
Many had prepared family names (thanks to Sister Volz) to take, and these were the main focus during the week. Tears came readily when they walked in the first time and saw the beauty of the temple. The temple workers were wonderful to our little group, and the Temple Presidency couldn't have been more patient and loving. Believe me it is always a worry when you take Albanians anywhere, they are a very different breed. But they were on their best behavior and except for a few mishaps, the week went well. Saturday we had a 2 1/2 sealing session with the temple president, where the family names were sealed. It was a very spiritual sealing and many were overcome with emotion.
The Asplunds, a couple over all the Centers in Europe, came and took us siteseeing Thursday. We played hooky (with permission), and it was a wonderful day. We ate ribs and real salad, saw the Rhine River with little villages along it, even shopped in one of the villages. The countryside was beautiful and it was a day to remember. We will be forever grateful to the Asplunds for their kindness that day and the whole time we have been on our mission. They have always encouraged us to find a new Center and have visited Albania four times, so we feel quite close to them.
Today is Fast Sunday and, as always, we have the missionaries in our district over for dinner. Today was a special occasion because one of the Elders (Anderson) will be leaving for home on Tuesday. We also had Elder Holmes (from Woodruff) who is also leaving Tuesday and his companion. That made eight elders to feed. They know how to eat. We had a 4th of July lunch with homemade ice cream and cookies after. They were all holding their stomachs and moaning. Why they eat so much, I don't know, but they do love home cooked meals.
We just had apartment inspections (which we do quarterly before transfers) and in one of the apartments I asked the elders what color their drapes were supposed to be. They said grey. I said I don't think so. We told them how to wash the curtains and hang them back up in case they felt the need to do so. At 10:00 p.m. that night we got a call, telling us "yep, we were right, the curtains were white". These elders are wonderful and we learn to love them. It is always hard because we lose so many, but there is always room to love those who come to us.
Time is going fast. First we wondered how we were going to fill our time, now we are wondering how we are going to get everything done we want to do. But that is how things go. We are still very grateful for the opportunities we are having and can feel the Lord's hand guiding us as we go. We are not enjoying the weather (today real feel 106), but we love those whom we serve and will have great memories when we get home.
Many had prepared family names (thanks to Sister Volz) to take, and these were the main focus during the week. Tears came readily when they walked in the first time and saw the beauty of the temple. The temple workers were wonderful to our little group, and the Temple Presidency couldn't have been more patient and loving. Believe me it is always a worry when you take Albanians anywhere, they are a very different breed. But they were on their best behavior and except for a few mishaps, the week went well. Saturday we had a 2 1/2 sealing session with the temple president, where the family names were sealed. It was a very spiritual sealing and many were overcome with emotion.
The Asplunds, a couple over all the Centers in Europe, came and took us siteseeing Thursday. We played hooky (with permission), and it was a wonderful day. We ate ribs and real salad, saw the Rhine River with little villages along it, even shopped in one of the villages. The countryside was beautiful and it was a day to remember. We will be forever grateful to the Asplunds for their kindness that day and the whole time we have been on our mission. They have always encouraged us to find a new Center and have visited Albania four times, so we feel quite close to them.
Today is Fast Sunday and, as always, we have the missionaries in our district over for dinner. Today was a special occasion because one of the Elders (Anderson) will be leaving for home on Tuesday. We also had Elder Holmes (from Woodruff) who is also leaving Tuesday and his companion. That made eight elders to feed. They know how to eat. We had a 4th of July lunch with homemade ice cream and cookies after. They were all holding their stomachs and moaning. Why they eat so much, I don't know, but they do love home cooked meals.
We just had apartment inspections (which we do quarterly before transfers) and in one of the apartments I asked the elders what color their drapes were supposed to be. They said grey. I said I don't think so. We told them how to wash the curtains and hang them back up in case they felt the need to do so. At 10:00 p.m. that night we got a call, telling us "yep, we were right, the curtains were white". These elders are wonderful and we learn to love them. It is always hard because we lose so many, but there is always room to love those who come to us.
Time is going fast. First we wondered how we were going to fill our time, now we are wondering how we are going to get everything done we want to do. But that is how things go. We are still very grateful for the opportunities we are having and can feel the Lord's hand guiding us as we go. We are not enjoying the weather (today real feel 106), but we love those whom we serve and will have great memories when we get home.
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