The Road to Elbasan, New Mission President

Last Sunday Glen and I were to assigned to speak in Elbasan.  To get to Elbasan from Tirana we have to drive over the mountain.  It winds back and forth all the way up and down.  Of course in  Albania there is not much to protect you from going over the edge and it is a sheer drop-off.  Riding on the passenger side, I can hardly stand to look down.  The road is very narrow and cars  travel at top speed going around the bends.  Glen went to pass a truck when a dog darted out in front of us.  He slammed on the brakes and the dog ran back which was a good thing because we couldn't get back to the right side of the road, we had to go forward to pass the truck.  We made it without having a head-on, but it was scary.  Of course, Glen thrives on roads like this.  It was much, much worse than driving on the road to Hana.  I never thought I would be excited to be back on the roads in Tirana, but I was that day.  My heart started beating normally again.  On our way home, Glen stopped to take a picture of the valley below and met a women from Bulgaria.  She saw his name tag and of course a conversation ensued.  As he was explaining about our church, and living prophets again on the earth, she wanted to know if they had been reborn.  Glen said no, then she asked how we knew he was a real prophet.  Unfortunately we didn't have any pass along cards with us, but as Glen was looking through his scriptures for a card, she got excited thinking they had gold on them.  Anyway she and her husband drove off, but we hope someday they will see the missionaries and talk to them.

We were asked to speak on the topics forgiveness and choose not to be offended.  Albanians get very offended and need this talk every week.  There is a branch is Fier which used to be the strongest branch is Albania.  The RS Pres. and YW Pres. got into an argument and the branch took sides.  Then a new branch president was called, but because he was missing part of his arm, the members decided he wasn't whole, so he couldn't be called of God to preside over the branch.  An apostacy took place and the branch went inactive.  There are only between five and 15 members that are active or semi-active to this day.  They even had a piece of property to build a chapel on.  So sad.  I took my thoughts from Elder Bednar's conference talk in 2006 where he addressed this very subject.  It is hard to understand how people can be willing to give up their eternal salvation for such little things. 

Yesterday we met our new mission president.  Both he and his wife are wonderful.  They are like a breath of fresh air.  Elder Ford was an Area Authority, lives in England and has a law practice.  They are only in their fifties, which makes us feel really old, but they are very sharp and fun.  They both have a great sense of humor and are going to be a real blessing to this mission.  They met with our zone yesterday, and today met with the outer zone.  The missionaries were a little apprehensive at changing mission presidents, but I think they are very pleased with the Fords.  We lose 13 missionaries on the 12th of July.  This is a big group and most of our leadership, so the others will have to work very hard to fill in the blanks.  Pres. Ford is actually going to interview the couples, so we are really looking forward to our interview.

Since our last post where we were told we could not have a new center, things have changed.  Now we are to try and find someplace, not very expensive, that could be used as a center.  So we are looking again.  It seems two other places in Europe need a stand alone center, and if they are looking at doing it for them, then they will have to do it for us also.  Kind of sad, if you ask me, but we will take what we can get.  This has been a very frustrating four months for us.  We feel we have been hitting brick walls everywhere we go.  We can understand why couples struggle with going on missions.  We don't expect things to be perfect, nothing is, but we do expect a little cooperation with meeting our needs.  There are so many different departments in the Church, and so much protection over each department, they have forgotten how to work together for the common good of the Church.  We are all members and we all want to see the gospel move forward, that means we all need to work together for this to happen.  Someone forgot to tell that to Germany.  Anyway, we are pleased with their decision and now need to find the right place.

 

T

A picture of a shepherd watching his flock up on a hillside in Kruje (crewee).  We were visiting the ruins of a castle and stopped to eat at the restaurant in the white building. 

Us and the Prestons overlooking Tirana where Elder Oaks came in 1993 to dedicate Albania for preaching the gospel.  Sister Preston just had an emergency appendectomy at the Greek hospital and is doing good.  We are all a little anxious about the doctors and hospitals here, so this is good news.

The chapel in Elbasan  which was built out of the city and no one can get there unless they are bussed.  The Albanian way of life needs to be studied before chapels are built.  People don't have cars, and regular buses don't run here, so they hire mini buses to take the members.  I am not sure who pays for the buses.

This is in Kruje again.  A favorite pass time for men is to sit and play games (dominoes).  They have no jobs, and this occupies their time. 

Cars & Trucks and things that go

We have now adjusted to all the crazy drivers and pedestrians who run in front of the cars anytime they see an opening.  Glen and I usually wait for the light to turn green for us.  We make sure the cars and trucks and motorcycles have stopped before we cross.  Just when we think we are safe and start to cross, along comes a bicycle and almost runs us over.  They just don't understand "right of way" here.  You can't even be nice and allow one driver to go through, because five or six will follow him without stopping.  They are crazy, crazy, crazy drivers, and a little scary, well actually a lot scary.  Now that we have a car and drive in this crazy town, we are always so very grateful to get to our little apartment safely, park the car, and only drive when we have to.  Actually it is easier and safer for us to walk where we have to go in the city, and only use the car for distances. 

We received word, on our anniversary, that Germany is not in favor of us having a bigger Center.  They don't want to put money into Albania, they are too busy with other projects.  We haven't given up, we are just going to wait for our new mission president and see how he feels about it.  Being a general authority, he may have more pull or at least more clout.  Elder Causse who is the first counselor in the Area Presidency and also in the 1st Quorum of Seventy will be here in Tirana on Thursday and wants to speak to the YA's that night.  We are hoping to show him our numbers and space in hopes of getting a little sympathy.  We understand he likes Albania.  Meanwhile we forge ahead with our program.  We have enlisted the help of Pres. Apostoli who is in the district presidency to work with us in finding YA's.  He is the one Glen is supposed to be finding a wife for.  He is a wonderful man, retired, and has lots of time on his hands, so he is excited to work with us.  And the YA's love him.

We had a little retreat last week with our mission president and the other couples in Albania.  Pres. & Sister Neil go home the end of this month and it was good to spend a little time with them.  We went to Durres and stayed in this hotel on a side street that turned the lighting off when the sun came up to save on electricity.  Luckily in our room the outlets still worked.  We went to a museum that had artifacts dating back to 7th Century BC.  Durres is a town right on the coast, and a lot of travel came across the Adriatic Sea in bibical times.  It was quite interesting.  We then walked across the street to an ice cream restaurant and sat on the outside area enjoying the cool breeze from the sea.  Then we walked to the amphi theatre, which is the second largest in the Balkins, and dates back to the Christian era  of  900 AD, where we could picture the gladiators, animals and people sitting and watching things take place.  We also walked underneath to see the places they kept the animals and slaves and whatever else they would send out into the arena.

We spoke in 1st Branch two Sundays ago, this next Sunday we go to Vlore to speak, then on the 4th Sunday we go to Elbasan.  Vlore is down south on the coast,, so we will go the night before and stay then come home after Church.  It is a three hour or so drive.  The summer has hit, very  hot and humid and we aren't to July yet, which gives us something to look forward to!!!!  Our health is good, we enjoy walking the streets of Tirana, and for the most part people are friendly.  We are doing good.

One more thing.  I don't know if we told you about Amarildo.  He comes from an atheist family.  They are not happy with  him joining the church and do not like him reading the B of M at home.  He is a faithful priesthood holder, but can never leave home in a white shirt and tie.  So Glen and I bought  him a white shirt an tie which he will leave at the church.  He wore it Sunday for the first time and was able to participate in passing the Sacrament.  He was so happy.  Little things we take for granted are so wonderful to people here.  It was very humbling to us.  There is another man who was just baptized, and cannot afford to buy a shirt, so we will get him one also.  Blessings, Blessings, Blessings!!!

Pictures

This is up on the top of the hill in the castle ruins overlooking Shkoder.  You can see the mountain range in the back which divides Albania from Montenegro.

This is from the same ruins overlooking the three rivers that flow into the lake on the other side.  The middle of the lake divides Albania from Montenegro.

These are the three members in Shkoder we spoke to in Sacrament meeting.  The bars on the window is where the meeting was held, but the Spirit was strong.  The man in the hat, Brother Zef, is the one going to the temple for the first time.  He is very excited.

This is a cart full of goods attached to a motor scooter.  They go anywhere and park to try to sell their wares.  The group of people in the corner are around another cart willed with used shoes.  You see these quite often.  That is Flat Stanley having his picture taken for Zoey.

This is a picture of Tirana from our balcony.  The colored buildings are on the corner intersection of where we live.  Right down from our balcony you can see the alleyway we walk up to get to our apartment.  Streets are very narrow and very crowded.
(now that I have learned how to do this, I can send some with each blog,  hopefully.)

Mother's Day, Shkoder, other

It is Mother's Day today, so Happy Mother's Day to all of our special persons.  They celebrate Mother's Day in Albania, but it is always on March 8.  I wanted to take flowers to all the mothers in our branch, but it didn't work out.  It is also election day in Albania (yes on a Sunday) which makes things interesting.  Pres. Neil wanted all the missionaries to stay in their apartments after going to church in case there were any problems, like riots in the streets, etc.  So far it seems relatively calm, but there could be some repercussions later in the week when the votes are all counted.  In talking to most people, it will not be a fair election no matter what.  Anyway, so much for Mother's Day.

Two weeks ago Glen and I went to Shkoder to speak in Sacrament Mtg.  We went a day early to make sure we could find our way.  Shkoder is beautiful.  There is the remains of a 14th Century Castle there with one wall dating back to 400 BC.  It was so beautiful to get on the top of those grounds, they were way up on a  hill, and look over the valley.  You could see three rivers all flowing into the lake, and part way on the lake was Montenegro.  Shkoder is very dominant Catholic and practicing Muslim.  Very  hard for missionary work.  The Sacrament meeting consisted of four elders, three members and us.  There was also an inactive member that came and wanted to participate any way he could.  They finally had to force him to leave.  It was quite interesting.  But the three that were there were wonderful and such a spirit.  One of the members is going with the group to the Frankfurt Temple for the first time this month.  It really was a delightful weekend.

Yesterday was a very interesting day.  Sonja and Marco were married nine months ago civilly, which they have to do, then three months later went to the temple to be sealed.  Well they had never exchanged rings so yesterday they had a ring ceremony in Durres.  Durres is about 30 miles away, but there is a chapel there, and Sonja served her mini mission in Durres.  Pres. & Sister Neil picked us up around 9:00 a.m. we drove to Durres, by 10:00 a.m. and waited for Sonja and Marco to arrive, which they did finally at 11:30.  All the guests were waiting all that time.  Finally they came and Sonja was in a wedding gown and all the trimmings.  The ring ceremony took place in the chapel with Pres. Neil presiding and speaking.  Then there were tables of food and ceremonial dancing in the cultural hall.  There were members and non-members alike, and some of the outfits were quite interesting.  Most of the female population here wear five inch spiked heels and it is fun to see them walk and dance.  We were happy when we got everything cleaned up and were able to leave.  Then I had two piano lessons, and we had a YA baptized at 6:00 p.m.  After we went upstairs to the Center while the YA's played ping pong, worked on the computers and visited.  Finally we closed everything down around 8:00 p.m. and came home.  It was a long day.

Friday our district went out to lunch again and the missionaries took us to another Albanian lunch.  Glen likes it all, I am still a little cautious.  Saturday night Glen took three YA's out to dinner while I was teaching piano, and enjoyed more Albanian food.  Then he taught Neti missionary prep.  We also had our activity on Friday night up at the Monument (which is where Elder Oaks went to dedicate Albania for preaching the gospel in 1993).  The gate was locked so Glen and I had to get down on our stomachs and crawl under the gate.  Everyone else jumped the gate or when through a small opening in the fence.  Then we learned there is a path to take that circumvents the gate.  Boy that was a sight!!  But it was a great night.  We had two non-members join us and the security guard (who said if we would call him he would open the gate) and a couple stopped to talk that have a son going to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.  They have a daughter named Sara!!  So, of course, we had to tell them about our family in Omaha.  Good things always come when we are doing what we should.

Motra (Sister) Hansi, Missionaries, and other

Last Tuesday (April 19) Motra Hansi invited us over to her apartment for dinner.  Now understand Motra Hansi doesn't speak English and the Albanians and missionaries even have a hard time understanding her Shqip (shcheep) which is what you call the Albanian language.  We arrived at her Communist built apartment and in her small living room she had a table set with plates of sweet bread for each of us, two plates of cookies, a dish of candy, and a small glass of juice (which as soon as it was emptied, she would fill again). This was dinner!! Of course, she had her photo album to look at which were of her many trips to the temple in Germany.  One picture was with Earl and Nyla Banner.  Others were of all the missionaries that have been  in her life.  She has been a member for 16 years and is so very faithful.  Her husband is not, but he is totally supportive of her membership and always allows her to bring any members to their home.  Very unusual for Albania.  She is just as funny as they come and always completes her sentences with "amen".  From the very first day in church, we have kind of bonded so it was fun to be in her home.

The young missionaries are very good to us.  They take time to walk us places we don't know how to get to, and, as I said before, every Friday we are allowed to have a district lunch together.  Yesterday we went to a Chinese restaurant which was really good (not the Mandarin, but good and certainly much cheaper).  Now that we are finding our way around a little better, we will be able to branch out to new places.  Every time we have a problem or need a translation, we call the missionaries and they talk to the person we are trying to talk to in Shqip.  We just pass the phone back and forth while the missionaries translate what was said.  It works well.  We haven't been able to get our internet to work for a couple of days, so the girl downstairs who handles this, asked in her limited English if it worked and between us, the missionaries and her, we had a technician here in an  hour.  He not only fixed the computer, but he fixed the TV so we have English channels.  I have died and gone to heaven.  The other night Glen and I were watching a National Geographic show of sorts in French.  Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do!!!

We had an activity last night with the YA's up at the lake in Tirana.  A short walk of two miles carrying all the food.  Two of the young men helped us carry it.  It was fun, we played volleyball, bad mitten, soccer (football) and frisbee.  Then without tables and chairs, we fixed big sandwiches for dinner.  I had a talk with the girls who weren't playing sports and asked them what their interests were that we could do together.  It was a good night.  Then we loaded up and walked back home.  With walking to the restaurant for lunch and the lake, Glen and I walked about 5 or 6 miles yesterday.  We were tired last night.  Today we have our first experience in driving.  Every fourth Sunday, we are on a speaking tour where we go to the different branches to speak in Sacrament meeting.  Tomorrow we speak in Shkoder.  They have maybe between 5 to 10 active members in their branch.  Pres. Neil said we were to borrow the AP's car when we went places like this, so we have their car and are going to drive up there.  If Glen can just find his way out of the city, we will be fine.

Good things are happening, we had the Asplunds here from Frankfurt and were very supportive of us needing a bigger place.  It just has to be presented to the powers that be in Germany and who knows what will happen.  But we will forge ahead and hopefully with our YA Committee, find ways to meet the needs of all of them.  Last night was certainly a step in the right direction getting away from our small Center.  We even had four investigators there which was great.  We know this is the Lords' work and He will help us accomplish all we need to do.

Thoughts and other happenings

It has been over a month since we arrived and it hasn't been all that bad.  There hasn't been the  homesickness this time and I feel it is because we have had other couples to help us and visit with.  There also wasn't the shock of seeing a third world country, because we had that in Malaysia, and we are right downtown in the center of things where we can walk almost anywhere to find what we need.  And needs we have had.  Every time we turn around, we need something for the apartment.  The latest was an office chair for Glen.  Luckily the Wilsons were kind enough to take us shopping and we found one.  We still have frustrations with the Center, but we know in time we will work through those also.  I keep thinking about the Savior and how he taught on the hillside, in the cities, by the seaside in the boat, wherever He went, people gathered and he taught.  So why do I feel we need couches, TV's, a kitchen, bathrooms, a game room, an office, etc.  We just do if we want to provide a "safe place" where the YA's can come and feel the Spirit and be with each other and us. 

I want to tell you about Andy.  Andy is the Branch Pres. of the 2nd Branch.  When he was a young teenager, he had a few missionary lessons.  Then he went to America as an exchange student.  He ended up in a Northern California town, where he played basketball for the high school.  In an English class one day he wrote a paper where he used an LDS phrase.  Well his teacher happened to belong to the Church and showed his paper to the missionaries.  One thing led to another and Andy was baptized, served a mission in San Diego, went to BYU, married a girl from Virginia in the San Diego Temple, and after graduation and an  internship in Washington DC, came back to Albania with his family to help build up the Church.  His family has a successful business which he was able to step into, which didn't hurt.  After district conference a few weeks ago, we saw a Sequoia driving down the street with Utah license plates.  After a double take, we learned about Andy.  Andy has been helping us find properties to have a Center and we have really learned to love him.  He took Glen and I to a great hamburger place on Glen's birthday.  His mother took me to her hair stylist to have my hair cut and stayed with me the whole time. (She is a very busy and successful business woman).  Just kindness itself. 

The first three weeks with the YA's were wonderful, good attendance.  As soon as day-light saving time came, attendance dropped off dramatically.  We get very few girls now.  The boys love to come and play ping pong and eat, but we need to get the girls back. They want to do our next Friday night activity at the lake,, so we will see  how that goes.  Lately the teacher for family night has not showed up, so Glen now has a lesson prepared.  The YA's love him to teach and even  in English without translators.  We are still searching for answers, praying a lot, and relying on the Spirit for inspiration.  We went through lists the other night with the District President of YA's in the four branches.  So, so many are inactive, it just broke our hearts.  Satan is so real and working over time here also. 

Yesterday we went to lunch with our District and had a real Albanian lunch.  We had tasqebab, sallat Greke (Greek salad), Qofte and pillif (rice and sausage).  Some I liked, some I didn't.  Glen liked everything.  They were  just preparing a lamb to roast, and held it up so we could see.  Then walked right by our table with that poor dead lamb.  I don't even like lamb.  But to the Albanians, it is great.  They always put bread on the table but no butter, they use oil and vinegar if needed.  Also this week, we painted our living room and kitchen (all one room).  And I mean "we".  Glen didn't like the dark color of the walls and said he would help.  After 10 hours, it is now much lighter and looks great.  Little miracles. 

This is the second time I have typed this.  I was proofreading the other when the power went out, of course.  Lately the water has also been turning off.  Always something, but we are doing good and the gospel is true.