March 3, 2014

Hello all :)

I am now one of the privileged few who know where to get bibles in Albania. This is an honor. And now a bible, a bible, I have no more need for a bible. Best day ever buying that bible. I finally have one in Albanian!

We had a sister training in Tirana this last week. It was amazing and so spiritually uplifting. I love the sisters in this mission. They're pretty fantastic.

The Best Two Years (aka living with the other sisters) is still going on and is still amazing and so fun! I don't want it to ever end :( ...(even though our new apartment is pretty fantastic...) .... they have been such a great boost to the end of the day. We have had so many wonderful laughs. I love it with them :)

I noticed my language take a spike! That was a thrill! I was sitting in a lesson and I thought to myself, wait... I know what they're saying and I'm responding... wait... when did that happen?!?! It was pretty exciting :D Don't worry, I'm still awful and don't know what's going on ... pretty much all the time... but hey! I'm improving! Avash avash....

I don't even know what to write about this week, so this email is gonna be short.

I just want to write about an investigator that we had.

She had been studying religions for a long time. Years actually. And she's only 19. One day, she prayed to God telling Him that she was tired... that she just wanted to find the truth. The next day, the NEXT DAY! Missionaries show up at her door. Her one door out of hundreds of thousands of doors in Durrës when there are only 6 of us here. And we come to HER door. If that's not a sign enough, I don't know what is. She reads the book of mormon and knows that it's true. She is loving what we're teaching her, etc... We take her to church.... She decides it's not for her. It wasn't what she "expected" and she doesn't want to learn from us anymore and then she walked away.

This made me think a lot about answers to prayers. How many times have we gotten answers to prayers but rejected it because it wasn't what we wanted or what we expected? How many times has the Lord given us the best thing that could ever happen to us but we walked away because we thought we knew better?

It makes me think of Mosiah 3:19 and how we must submit like a child submits to his father.... I think that includes excepting answers to prayers that we may not like or think is what's "best". Because I promise you that the Lord knows what's best. And He always answers our prayers. So the question is, are you walking away? Are you rejecting the blessings that He wants to give you? I know that God loves each and every one of us. I know it as real as I know that you and I exist. And I promise you that if you trust in Him, if you make His will your own, you will be happier than you could have ever imagined. Don't walk away from Him. Let Him take you in arms and love you and guide your life for the better.

Motra Missy

Some pictures from the coast, a soldier statue, etc...