Missy and Dogs: April 7, 2014

Yup. I'm still in Tirana (that's a good thing. If I wasn't... that'd probably be a bad thing). I still miss my Durrës people. But that's okay, because I already love Tirana :) Actually, I'm not sure if I love Tirana or just love my companion to death! Sis. White, golly gee, this girl is awesome! I have a feeling this is going to be a fantastic transfer. We have so much in common, similar work ethic, etc... and she is so stinkin' fun. It's almost too good to be true, I hope this isn't the calm before the storm and something crazy happens down the road because I'm seriously having the best time out here with her. She's basically a combination of Aunt Debbie and Jessy. So basically, she's awesome.

We got the newbie missionaries last week. Poor guys. Deer. In. The. Headlights. Did I look like that? Probably. Eesh. My heart goes out them! Those first few weeks were rough rough rough! I'm so glad I'm out of that. It's true, a mission does get better. Thank goodness. Because sometimes it can be really really lame and really really hard and stupid and all you want to do is go home. Good thing it's totally worth it.

Today for pday we went to a place called the Stephen's Center. It has American food... and there were Americans inside! What the what? Wow! They looked so, so... American... American's body language stands out like a sore thumb. No wonder we stand out. Clothes, body language, facial structure. People say I look Albanian though so that's cool I guess. I hope. I dunno. Oh ya! I had a burger! It was okay haha but it was still a burger.

General Conference was great... to watch it touch the lives of Albanians haha in other words, I didn't get much. But that's alright. The spirit was still there. And I can read it later.

Thought for the day...

A quote from Elder Holland.

"... beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now. Don't give up when the pressure mounts... Face your doubts. Master your fears. 'Cast not away therefore your confidence.' Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you."

There are so many times that we get an answer that something is correct and true from the spirit and we let life get in the way, we let doubts get in the way, we don't hold onto the answer we got and when the rains come down (because they always come down), our foundation washes away. We could avoid so much heartache and so much sorrow if we would just trust in the Lord and His answers to us. He shouldn't have to tell us 500 times that something is right before we act on it.

Life is beautiful. Let us trust in the Lord and it will be even more beautiful.

Much love,

Motra Russell