First things first.

When I was in 1st grade, my teacher told us about the Utah "Big One". The earthquake that was doomed to hit and destroy the whole world (or so my young mind thought). Since that day, I've been terrified of earthquakes. Just the other day, we were out to lunch as a district and were talking about how if there was ever an earthquake, everyone would probably die because the construction is so sketchy. ...Well... This morning, I was eating breakfast and there was an earthquake!! Are you kidding me!? It was a baby earthquake, only a 4.3... but still, our apartment was rocking and the cupboards were rattling and then there were 4 more! Man alive.... I thought I was going to die. Either by cement blocks landing on my head or from a heart attack. Either or, death. Bah. Anyways, after the adrenaline stopped surging, it was pretty funny :)

I haven't talked much about Albania so let me share some of the fun and crazy (mainly crazy) Albanian things that I've noticed up to date.

First. There is an electric current in our apartment water. So when there's a cut on your finger, good luck washing your hands. Ouch. And when someone is touching the water, if you touch them, they're vibrating haha

Food is ridiculously cheap here. It's kind of a problem. And there are fresh bakeries everywhere. Not cheapo, bad bakeries. Legit, good bakeries. Let me give you an example of how cheap they are. Motra Heathcote and I bought a giant loaf of fresh baked bread, a good chunk of pretzel bread and two giant, eclairs for... wait for it.... 2 dollars. Literally 2 dollars. Bah! You can buy a full sized meal at a restaurant for 3 dollars, easy. I'm gonna get fat here haha It's all so good! Pretzel bread (or bread with salt how they call it) is so good, I'm addicted. I can't even handle how good it is. It's stupid how good it is. The amazing kind of stupid.

Shaking and nodding your head is backwards here. You shake your head for yes and nod your head for no. It throws me off every time! Especially when street contacting... "wait, you want to hear about the gospel and how it can change your life for the better?! ...oh, you meant no..." haha :)

There is no concept of lines. You crowd around what you want and whoever is the pushiest gets served next. Drives me nuts. My type A personality lights itself on fire and runs around screaming and flailing it's arms, I hate it haha

The xhaxhi's here (old men, said ja-jee) are the sweetest men ever (or at least most of them). And they always dress so nice in their hat, their button up shirts and slacks. While we're walking, I'll just smile at them and ask them how they are and they'll stop, look at us, get the biggest smile, shake our hands, tell us we're just absolutely wonderful and lovely, usually compliment us on how nice we dress, wish us something (it's a thing here, wishing someone stuff, you conjugate the verb different and everything) and then say goodbye with a firm handshake and walk away. Makes my day every time! :D

I think the traffic has rules, but I'm not sure, I haven't figured them out yet. AKA, it's madness here. 

My only experience of public transportation has been jumping onto moving buses.

Carpet does not exist. What is carpet? Tile. All is tile. Except the occasional rug.

When we get home at the end of the day, I smell like I've been chain smoking. That's fun :) Don't worry, I'll probably get lung cancer from second hand smoke, no big deal haha

Albanians are incredibly hospitable. When you go to their home, they always give you food. They don't offer it, they give it to you. Usually it's candy and a drink but the older generation practically gives you a meal and then commands you to eat haha Even when we tract into people that aren't interested in our message, so many times they'll still give us candy and send us on our way. Stranger danger rules have officially been thrown out the window here.

Okay, my email is getting way too long. Time to wrap it up. Sorry folks. 

One last thing.

I love the branch here. They are so rockin'. Especially the youth. They have my heart wrapped around their fingers. I LOVE the youth here. There is a fantastic group of young women that I absolutely adore more than words. So many members here have the most moving stories of how they've come to be members of the church. Many of them joined before the Book of Mormon was even translated into Albanian which I think is the most amazing example of faith. The history and hardships of this country and what so many of the members have been through here astounds me. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be here and for a brief moment, be a part of their lives. Serving as a missionary has been incredibly difficult, but it is so rewarding. The first week I got here, I never thought that I would ever say it, but I love serving. I love being a part of this great work. I love this people. Someday I'll love this language ;) he he.... The gospel is true, if you haven't figured that out yet, it's okay. Just ask God, He'll tell you :)

Much love!!

Motra Missy

Garbage river

Add  The statue in Tirana where the mission was dedicated. caption

One of the beachs in Durrës where we eat suflaqes.

The view from my apartment.

Surviving Albania!

So, Albania is still crazy Albania. PS- I'm in Durrës. It's palm tree weather here, wasn't expecting that! Everyone said it was cold in Albania, they are full of lies, it's 60 degrees.

The branch here is great, I really love the people and they have a good number of fantastic youth which is so excellent! I feel like I'm already so close to so many of them, that's been a blessing. Thinking about the people that I love gets me through the tough days. Which let me assure you, there are many tough days. Man oh man, I'm glad I have the Atonement to pull strength from because otherwise I would home right now sitting on my comfy couch or walking down a clean street, talking to people in a language that I understand.

I made a street contact and got a number! What!? Okay, she spoke english. haha.

Oh, a quick story! So, we were trackting (spelling?) in sketchville (let's be honest, it's all sketchville haha) and we found an amazing women! She was so kind and asked us to come back to talk more about the Book of Mormon, we didn't even have to ask her. I am so excited about her! She kept laughing everytime she asked me a question that I didn't understand... because it happened a lot haha she thought it was hilarious when I tried to speak Albanian, she said I was cute. Hey, I'll take it. If I can get into people's hearts by sounding like a 3 year old, I'll do it.

Being here on a mission has been incredibly difficult for me. More so than I ever anticipated. I was struggling to point of trying to convince myself by the minute not to come home. I don't think I've ever felt so empty and so surrounded by darkness. But I can testify of the reality of the Atonement and the priesthood. It has gotten me through every minute of every day here and I am grateful beyond words. Turn to the Savior, He died so you could overcome every challenge you face. I know this is true. I feel it every day.

I love you all!

Motra Missy

In Albania!!

Yup. I'm here, alive and well and safe :)

Albania is unlike anything I have ever experienced. There has definitely been some culture shock. And not knowing the language is super rough. But I keep telling myself that this is where the Lord wants me and it's got to be for a reason. So I bite my lip and keep on smiling and pray that I'll know the language soon :)

I just want to say that the Lord knows us and He knows our path. And though our path may be a rough one, He is with us and He loves us. Trust Him and your life will be blessed for the better. Even if the path to better is a rough one.

Love you all,

Motra Missy

January 2, 2014

Dear Missionary Family,

Your daughter, Sister Melissa Russell, arrived safe and sound at the Mission Home last evening.  She will be serving in the Durrës Branch.  This will be in the District of Tirana.  Her companion will be Sister Melissa Heathcote.

Sister Ford and I are so pleased to have Sister Russell as one of our missionaries and look forward to getting to know her well. We know that she will be able to contribute much to the missionary effort of teaching the people of Albania about Jesus Christ.

Missionaries absolutely love to receive mail and can be contacted either by email or by sending letters through the post office to:

Sister Melissa Russell

Albania Tirana Mission
PO Box 2984
Rruga Qemal Stafa, Vila 1
Perballe Postas Nr. 22
Tirana, Albania

Sincerely Andrew Michael Ford

President Albania, Tirana Mission

Sister Heathcote

Pres and Sister Ford

December 26, 2013

I never thought that I'd be able to spend Christmas with family on my mission... But! Yesterday, the best day ever, I got to spend a big majority of it with my little brother. Yesterday was truly amazing. I really hope that all of had a great and very memorable Christmas, I know it was for me.

I'll just give some details about the day. We got to have... wait for it... Elder Bednar!!! Obobo, so amazing. He passed out 200 cell phones (there were also cell phones at all the other international MTC's) and anyone who had a question could anonymously text in their question to him and he spent the hour just answering questions. It was amazing. There were so many things that he said that answered questions I've had for a long time. I can't even describe how strong the spirit was testifying that he is an apostle of the Lord. It was a very amazing experience.

We also had a talent show, that was ridiculously sweet. So many talented people! My favorite was the magician, I'm basically a 6 year old when it comes to magic tricks, I love them.

They had Ray Smith (a professor at BYU and apparently amazing musician) come with a jazz band and we got to listen to an hour of jazz Christmas music. My heart melted in happiness. I love jazz. They were all so talented, it was incredible. 

For Christmas lunch , I got to sit by my brother :D Julianne and my Mama both sent me awesome decorations to eat with and so our dinner was beautiful and so many people got to share it with us. Red table clothes, candy, electric candles, etc.... I felt very spoiled and very blessed.

And lastly, we got to watch the 2012 Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas performance AND they gave us kettle popcorn!! wow! Can I just say, it is an incredibly beautiful performance, I adored it. Even though Christmas is over, you should still watch it :) 

Overall, Christmas was amazing. I wish I had more time to elaborate and write about it, but I don't very much time today, we have to pack ... he he he ... so if I was so shortly describe my Christmas, it was amazing. I haven't felt that close to the Savior on Christmas for a very long time if ever at all. The spirit was astounding and the love I felt in my heart was so beautiful and so fulfilling. I love our Savior, what a beautiful day to celebrate Him.

So guess what? I leave at 430 am this TUESDAY! Less than a week! Bah! So crazy! ..... I don't speak Albanian at all, that'll be fun haha I just can't believe that in a week I'll be settled in and doing missionary work on the other side of the world.

Some details that you may be wondering (or maybe not you, but someone, whatever). Mail in Albanian is tough, it only goes to the mission home and unless I'm in Tirana (which is a big chance, I find out soon!) I only get it every 3 months :/ So, conclusion. Email rocks. We get extra email time to make up for the lack of mail. So if you want to contact me, it's probably best to email me. 

Oh and Jessy, if I'm in Tirana, I get to hold monkeys ;) .... and there's a random guy who walks around with his pet bear... ?? Ya, I have no idea. And if you drink the tap water, you get brain damage.... no big deal hahaha  

Uh, what else... I dunno.... I was talking to an Albanian elder who's here in the MTC and this was our conversation....

Me: "Ç'kemi!" (how's it going?)

Him: "Mirë, si je?" (good, how are you?)

Me: "Shumë mirë!" (super good)

Him: "Ça po bën?" (what are you doing?)

Me: "Po shkruar te klassë" (going to class)

Him: "lkajsdfëiawëoejrbnvlëakjoicmawoeirml.ym,csklpojwert" (l;aksdfl;kajdsfoiawelrkja;lkjdofjasdf)

Me: ".................................................

...............uuuhhhh...........

So, uh, I don't really speak Albanian.

..........................................."

hahahaha, I am probably going to die in Albania hahahaha So uh, pray for me. Good thing the Lord trusts that I can do this, that means that I can do this! ... eventually! haha ... after some long, confusing days I know I will get this very difficult language down! haha (sorry about all the "haha"'s, I just think this all is so funny!

Anyway, I gotta go pack and stuff.... But! Remember, the Lord loves you. On an individual basis. Don't ever forget that. He is there for you if you let Him. And if you put your trust in Him, you will have the power to do all things that He asks of you.

Motra Russell

Some of my sisters :)

Some people from my zone and some people from my brother's district at Christmas lunch :)

My district sisters!

Motra Defriez and me

December 19, 2013

So yesterday was basically the best day ever. Why? Because my brother came into the MTC!!!!!!! YAY!! I got to host him to his classroom and everything! And sit by him at dinner! And I knock and ditched him a Christmas present to his classroom today (don't worry, I made sure I wasn't interrupting anything haha) and man, I am going to make sure he's so taken care of here! He'll probably get sick of his sister stalking him but whatever, I don't care, he'll thank me later ;)

Hosting in general was so fun, I loved it! (Oh ya, I got to host the new missionaries! Didn't see my family though, oh well) It was nutso. Since next week is Christmas, we got double the missionaries coming in. We got almost 800 missionaries. Wow. So awesome. I love missionaries :)

One of our main teachers left for home this week for Christmas which made us all so sad because we love him and it's our consecration week which is a pretty big thing to miss (not to mention we leave for Albania in what, 2 weeks maybe less, crazy). But when came back from Devotional Tuesday night, there were Christmas presents from him on our desks and a big note on the board telling us how much he loves us and whatnot. It was the sweetest thing! I love our teachers, they really take care of us.

We got to clean the temple this morning for service. It was a really cool experience. I learned some things from it that I really appreciate and am now going to share with you :)

First.... we've been to the temple a few times for our sunday walk and it's still beautiful as ever and I love it. When we went in today, they told us that there was major construction being done. As in they basically ripped out the whole basement and dug a massive pit through the concrete foundation and then pounded steel poles into the ground deep enough to get into the bedrock and make the building more earthquake proof. Did you have any idea that that kind of massive construction was going on inside the temple? Because I sure didn't. I had no idea the temple was being ripped apart on the inside. Everything looked so normal and beautiful on the outside. 

It made me think about how many people look so fine and so happy on the outside when their inside is being ripped apart. We may never know that our neighbor or coworker, etc... is going through an incredibly difficult time and their very soul is being shaken. How important it is for us to love everyone and be charitable to everyone because we may miss every sign that would tell us how much they need our love.

The second thing... we got to change into white scrubs with our tennis shoes and clean one of the floors. It was actually really fun :) Afterwards, they took us on a little tour of the temple and we got to see the places people don't normally get to see. We also got to go and just sit in the Celestial room. Even though we were dirty and in scrubs and gross tennis shoes and the whole building was taped off and under construction, the spirit was the same. It was so strong, so peaceful, so fulfilling and so different than any other room in the temple. It made me think about how even though we may feel that our life is being ripped apart, if we center our lives and our focus on the Savior, we can still have peace. I can testify of that. Despite all my trials, I was able to find peace and comfort in my Savior and it saved me. I love my Savior, I love our relationship and how despite all my weaknesses and imperfections, He still is my Advocate, my Brother and my dear, kind Savior and Friend.

I love you all, center your lives in the Savior and it will bless you.

Motra Russell

the sisters from my zone right before the finish missionaries left this week... that was a sad day, full of tears, I sure came to love them. (the white balance was off... just judge the blue grossness)

one of my favorite sisters ever. she was an answer to so many prayers and is no blessing the lives of the people in the Finland.

Elder Eliason drew pictures of our district, I loved it :) guess what one is me! haha

My brother and me!! and his companion! and my fake companion because you need your companion in pictures with the opposite sex and mine was eating food and didn't want to get up so I had another sister substitute haha (long sentence)

December 12, 2013

Nuts! Ah! Scary! Exciting!...... ah!

Okay, enough of that :)

Want to know something about Albanian? There are 12 different ways to say "my". And they don't fluctuation to show emotion, they use verb tenses. For example... if you're surprised, you change how you conjugate the verb. If you're wishing someone.. whether it be a curse or a blessing... you change the conjugation of the verb. If you're telling someone to do something, you change the conjugation of the verb...... my brain falls out of my head basically everyday. Sometimes it gets kicked around, but I usually always get it back in my head ;) Usually haha... It's tough, but it's coming. One of my teachers says I'm exactly where I need to be with the language which was very comforting to say the least. I really do think Albanian is beautiful, I'll excited for when I can actually speak it! 

Another exciting thing, my brother is in the MTC in less than a week!!!!!!! Let's all be excited about this, I get to see my brother :D Speaking of... Aaron, you must find me on Wednesday when you get here (I sit by the window at dinner) because the next day is the start of my consecration week, meaning I can only speak Albanian for a week. I kind of want to talk to you, sooooo... find me when I can speak english and I don't have to have someone translate for me haha

We got to hear from Elder Cook on Tuesday. That was rad! Of all the times to be in the MTC, right now is the best time :) The choir director told us that he's been here for 11 years and he's never seen so many apostles come in such a short period of time (other than the mission president training that happens over the summer). So cool. So so cool. I feel so very blessed to hear from so many amazing men of God and am so excited to hear from more.

I was in the "posh" gym the other day and was watching a general conference as I cardio-ed haha and watched a talk from Elder Holland about the Book of Mormon. I had forgotten about it and had forgotten how incredibly powerful it was. http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/safety-for-the-soul?lang=eng&query=safety+for+the+soul

There it is, you must watch it, really. The spirit is so powerful as it bears testimony of the truthfulness of Elder Holland's words. I truly believe that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it is a life changing tool from God to bless our lives. I have experienced the many blessings from this divine book as I use it daily to receive revelation from God and answers to prayers, receive peace, find comfort and direction in how I should live my life. I can't say enough how true this book is, how divinely inspired it is and how much it will completely change your life if you allow it to. It has changed my life and my relationship with God and Jesus Christ is strong because of this book. I promise you as someone who has experienced its power and a missionary for the Lord that if you are doubting the truthfulness of this book, if you read it and ponder it in your heart and pray with the faith that God will answer your prayer... you will receive an answer and it will change your life. If you know of it's truthfulness but don't read it everyday, cut it out! (I say that with love :D ) Read it everyday, doing so will bless you tremendously. Why would you want to miss out on so many abundant blessings that are at your finger tips? It has blessed my life and I know that it can bless yours.

I love you all dearly.

Motra Missy

I totally forgot about my funny story! 

We were doing door approaches and I was nervous because it was my first time and also to the teacher that intimidates me haha

So I was bearing testimony to him that God loves him and wants to speak to him... and he just starts laughing. SO hard. And I am so confused. He starts repeating what I said as a question and I say yes, He wants to speak to you, I know He does. And he starts laughing even more. By now I'm completely thrown off and he stops the door approach. 

He tells me, Sister Russell, you did very well. Good job.... except... you told me that God wants to sleep with me.

aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh! I about died hahahaha oh my goodness. Embarrassing. I was testifying to him that God wanted to sleep with him hahahahahaha
Anyway, I hope you enjoy how talented I am at Albanian :)

Much love!

It was my companions birthday last week! Yay for being 20!!

Look who I found hanging out in my residence hall :) Basically the best surprise ever, I adore this fine lady. Mallory Goodman

Some more black and white pictures from temple walks :) Don't judge me, I know the filter from my camera blows out the highlights and adds way too much fake grain, but I don't care, it's as good as I get right now haha