February 24, 2014

So, last week we went to the beach for pday. I brought home some pretty sea glass and rocks that I liked from the beach as my little Durrës beach tokens. I put them on my dresser and went on with the week. Well, the next day I was looking at my mouth guard I wear every night and huh, what's that? It's moving.... it's a bug! BAH! My mouth guard was crawling with bugs. My desk was crawling with bugs. Everything on my desk was crawling with bugs. Let's just say I had a freak out moment. So, in my freak out moment, I, with great zeal, killed all the bugs and sprayed the desk down with strong chemicals just to be sure. Sick. I figured they might have come from my beach stones because I didn't know where they came from. Went on with the week and everything was great. Well, last night I looked at my desk and there were a couple more bugs back. These suckers are tough to see because they're white and really, really small. They look like dust until you see them moving and crawling. After squooshing the little buggers, I went to bed. Looked at the side of the desk and there were a couple on the side of my desk. That was upsetting, don't want those things on my face! So I killed them. And then looked at the wall..... and there were hundreds.... hundreds of bugs... covering the entire wall. And the other wall. And.... my pillow! AAAHHHHHH!!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! 

Ya, I freaked out.

The black mold, the bugs, I was so done with that place. So we beat out our beds, put them in the middle of the room and told our district leader the next day. And now we're living with the other sisters. It might be a little too much fun :) It's basically The Best Two Years sister style. And I'm the awkward greenie that can't speak squat. For example.... The other night I called a sister in the branch and this was our conversation....

Me: "Hola! Si jeni?" (As you can see, I started the conversation out with spanish....)

Sister: ".... *awkward pause* ..... Mirë mbrëma." (Good evening)

Me: (By this point I was laughing so hard that I started the conversation in spanish that I didn't quite hear what she said.... so I responded like this...) "Mirë, falëminderit!" (Good, thank you!.... as you can see, this is definitely not the appropriate response.)

Sister: (In Albania, I'm just translating) "You know you don't have to say that when I say good evening right? ...."

Me: "Uh, ya...... *stifled laughing in the background*...."

So yes, I am definitely the awkward greenie in The Best Two Years. 

We also had a zombie apocalypse. Okay, not literally. But it felt like it. We had a city wide power outage for a few hours. (Not too uncommon actually). But walking around Durrës.... at night... in total dark. It was creepy. And sketchy. And apocalyptic. And there are holes everywhere that you can't see that would be terrible to fall in. Wouldn't recommend it. I had my umbrella in hand like a weapon ready to smack down anything unpleasant that came our way... creepy man or zombie alike. 

So yes, that was the gist of my week. Plus a lot of fresh bread and ice cream. Aaaahhhh :) 

Thought for the day.

I love this scripture. 2 Nephi 32:3 "... feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do."

I so strongly and so fully believe in the power of the scriptures and how reading them every day is so crucial to our spiritual well being. I explain it like this to our 9 year old recent convert. Scriptures are like food. You have to eat every day to be healthy and strong. If you eat once a week you're in trouble. The scriptures are a beautiful way for us to receive revelation from God. They rejuvenate us. They strengthen us. So if you are struggling with reading the words of God, please, evaluate what's stopping you, change it, and move forward with a fresh determination to be better and I promise you that it will bless your life.

Much love!

Motra Missy

A random picture of a sunrise :)

February 17, 2014

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines day! Want to know what I did? I walked around Durrës handing out Law of Chastity pamphlets... haha, kidding ;) We did celebrate by eating a lot of vegetables, it was great :)

I just want to first say that I love the Muslim call to prayer. I think that it's beautiful and I love hearing it as I walk the streets in Durrës. I am definitely in a Muslim land. 

Speaking of Muslim. I think it's hilarious when people tell us they're Muslim... and they are also Christian.... uh... ? I'm confused... Do you know what it means to be Muslim?

Today was beautiful, we went to the beach. Our secret beach that's not really secret but we like to think that it is. It's a hike away and off a dirt road. Doesn't have very much garbage and it's away from the city. It's beautiful. We had a picnic there today and just relaxed in the sun. It was amazing. And perfect weather. Man. 75 on the beach, how much better can it get? ;) (It's February and 75, I'm going to die this summer haha) 

The other day the other sisters told us about a new bakery down the street from our house that's amazing. We went there and bought.... a lot... okay... um... maybe almost one of everything hahaha BUT it only cost $4 AND I walk it off with all the walking and walking and walking and walking and walking ;)

My whole world changed this last week. Want to know why? I discovered the fruit treg. Why did this take me so long? I have no idea. Want a description? Okay. Covered tin area with a sea of fruits and vegetables fresher than fresh. Want a bag of fresh off the tree clementines? So fresh it still has the stem and leaves attached and is perfectly ripe? Well, here's a grocery bag full for $2. 

Drool.

I've never had so much fruit in my diet in my entire life! I'm so proud of myself.

Want to know some incredibly exciting news!?! Albania just got approved for it's first Stake!! Durrës is going to have a ward! This is a big deal, it's the first Stake in the Baltics and it means that we can have a Stake Patriarch and people can get Patriarchal blessings. I don't think I ever appreciated how special those were as much as I do here knowing that members can't get them. So yes, I think it's happening next month. So so so exciting. What a blessing this will be for the members here!

Last story of the day. 

Remember our dear friend who accepted my first baptismal invite? After that lesson, it was pouring and so we gave him an umbrella so he wouldn't be soaked. Well, we stopped by his house Sunday and he told us that he'll never forget us and our kindness for giving him an umbrella when he needed it. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen and gave it to us. He told us that it was his gift to us because the umbrella meant so much to him. I don't think a pen has ever meant so much to me. It was given so sincerely with so much love. It really touched my heart.... How blessed I am.

Here's an excerpt from True to the Faith that I read the other day and loved.

"You should not blame your circumstances, your family, or your friends if you choose to disobey God’s commandments. You are a child of God with great strength. You have the ability to choose righteousness and happiness, regardless of your circumstances."

I know that if we keep the commandments of God, we are happier. It's just a fact of life. I know that they are given to us to bless us and not to restrict us. We are children of God, a divine lineage. We have great power to choose righteousness and happiness despite our circumstances, no matter how hard they may be.

Much love,

Motra Missy

Pictures from the beach and surrounding areas.

February 10, 2014

another week in shqiperi

Ya know what I think is just hilarious? We'll be sitting in a lesson, they're talking about who knows what.... I obviously don't understand (refer to the who knows what comment). Albanian turns to me, "did you understand that?" and I respond with a "uuuh, no." They then proceed to explain to me what was said... in Albanian. Uh... I don't think you understand that the problem is that I don't understand... Albanian. 

Hahahaha, makes me laugh every time :)

We had a baptism last week! Woo! That was exciting and beautiful and full of the spirit. I love the girl, she's enthusiastic and kind and so full of potential. She always so "ooooh motër!" in the funniest way and then winks at me, love her to death :)

We were teaching a recent convert last week. She invited a friend. So we adjusted the lesson to her friend. At the end of the lesson he basically asked us to be baptized. Uh, yes. We can help you with that. It was pretty fantastic. I was kind of on fire the whole day about it.

We played soccer on the beach today with a bunch of other districts. Yes, it's February and we're playing in the sun on the beach. Sorry people living in the cold. Actually, I'm not that sorry, I'll be suffering in the death heat of summer haha

I just realized how crazy unorganized this email is. My apologies. Truly.

Okay, I'm going to end my email on this last story.

Remember the guy I invited to baptism who said yes that I talked about a couple weeks ago? We finally got to go to his home and meet his family yesterday. I wish I could describe the experience. There are a lot of people who are very, very poor here, but I haven' t been into a home like this one before. We turned off the mud road into a mud yard to walk into a cement box that couldn't have been half the size of my kitchen. Cement floor and tin roof. When we sat down, the little girl went out and very proudly with a huge smile on her face brought us out some coke on a tray with a handmade lace cloth. They were so humble and so kind. My heart ached for them. In the middle of the lesson, it started pouring and we had to pause the lesson so they could put plastic over their windows so that their house wouldn't flood like it normally does.

I realize that a lot of people live in these circumstances and a lot of people serve with people who live in these circumstances. But it was my first time being in it. And it really was a reminder to me of how much the Lord loves us each individually. No matter how hard life is, no matter what injustices we are served, the Atonement will make everything right. Christ suffered all so that all could be made right in the end. What a gift that we have to come to earth, to learn, to grow, to receive bodies and an opportunity to practice our agency. And if we choose to turn to the Lord, He will bless us and He will make our burdens light. I love my Savior. And I know He loves that family. Mortality is but a brief moment. Turn to the Lord and you will be able to find happiness.

I love you all. Look for the God's hand in your life, it's there.

Motra Missy

February 3, 2014

Okay, I'm on a terrible keybard where the o and l don't always work, so please forgive the more than likely common misspellings :)

I first want to talk about the pro's and con's of not knowing the language.

Pro- When people are yelling at you, they're easy to ignore, you don't know what they're saying anyways.

Con- When visiting an investigator who serves you food that you have no idea what it even is and it tastes disgusting, you're told to eat more... and more...and more... they talk to your companion and tell you to eat. Definitely a con haha

Pro- It's really easy to make people laugh when you sound like a 5 year old and people can be very patient with you and love you for your efforts.

Con- Some people hate how you sound like a 5 year old and just ignore you haha

Pro- Being so obviously American in how you speak can get you into people's homes to teach them, they like America :)

Con- I don't know what's going on about 80% of the time.

Pro- I'm learning another language, that's pretty cool I think :)

This last week I was pretty sick, that was rough. But! I was still happy and loving the work, that was a blessing. Hurray for the Lord supporting us in trials!

Let's see, oh boy, time blurs, I can't even remember what happened this last week...

We got some new awesome investigators, as in awesome, so golden and so ready for the gospel, I'm so excited to see how they are blessed with the gospel.

Okay, I think I'm just going to accept the fact that I don't have much to say this week haha But know that everyday we strive to live God's commandments and live according to His will, we get so much closer to Him and are blessed with so much happiness. This is my testimony and I see it every single day in my life and in others. No matter how hard life gets, there is always peace and happiness to be found.

Motra Missy

New tags with my Albanian name, woo!

And one of my favorite girls ever :)

More photo's of Durras and stuff

January 27, 2014

Let's start out with some more stuff about Albania :)

-Most of the meat shops I see advertise their meat with adorable pictures of baby animals. It's basically a vegetarian's nightmare. 

-Speaking of advertising.... it's a copyright infringement mess out here. Google images is where it's at.... That's all I have to say about this topic haha

-Addresses do not exist. Okay, lie, they do... kind of. But they're pretty much worthless. Example: "Pl.563, Rr. Mujo Ulqinaku K.3 Door on right". Does that make sense to you? Good. Me either. It basically says, plot 563, the road, the floor and the door is on the right. Good luck finding the apartment building, the numbers usually don't go in order and to find this number, you look for a spray painted number somewhere on the building. A lot aren't numbered at all. If you want anything done, you draw a really good map. Literally.

-The clementines and oranges are fresh and amazing here. So juicy. So heavenly. So fantastic. Fresh plucked off the tree with stem and leaf still attached, doesn't get better than that.

-Motra Heathcote and I were in a bakery and Fresh Prince of Belair (spelling?) came on TV. Happiness. It was utter happiness :)

-If I forget to wear a sweater to church and only have on short sleeves, all the nëna's get mad at me. It's cold or something here, missed that memo.

Let's see, what happened this week....

Today we went hiking. My heart was so happy by this :) The view was gorgeous. Unfortunately my camera died..... But! I got some awesome polaroids, so all is well. There were old bunkers from communist era everywhere, that was pretty cool. Then hiked down to the coast line to enjoy the beach. The water crashing against the rocks was gorgeous. The air was fresh, the beach was clean. It was basically like pressing a restart button. It was so nice. And then some missionaries were hopping around on the rocks... Motra Singer decided to hop on a rock too.. but didn't have the best hopping skills and got stuck on a rock as a giant wave crashed up and soaked her.

(This is where I pause and laugh hahahaha) 

Oh man.

It was like watching a slow motion movie as the wave grew and grew and grew and crept up behind her while she crouched on the rock like a sitting duckling. Nothing I could do except yell brace yourself. Hahaha, poor girl :) Don't worry, she laughed too, I'm not a terrible person.

We started teaching someone rad this last week. On the first lesson, I invited him to be baptized and he said yes without any hesitation. Best. Day. Ever. Man! I was on fire! I am so excited for him! Here's one thing that I've really come to learn about the gospel. There are a lot of happy people out there. A lot of people that have good lives and make good, righteous choices and are overall good people in comfortable, good lives. This guy was one of those people. But the gospel is what makes life that much better. His life is now going to be that much better. It's seeing the light in people's eyes when they start living the gospel and accept it in their lives that makes missionary work so exciting. The gospel is a gift that anyone can have. An awesome gift that makes everything better than it already may be. Here's what I'm trying to say... If you're happy, wonderful! I am so glad for you! But I promise you that if you accept the gospel in your life and live it's principles, you will be that much happier. That's a promise from yours truly. I've seen it in my life and countless others. It's a scary change, but I promise you it's worth it. Don't take my word for it, try it yourself ;)

Much love,

Motra Missy

Sheep in the  middle of town

View from our hike

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