Extremists :D

WHAT IS UPPP. It is already Monday again ahhhhh time is flying out here. This week's details include driving to Albania, Zone Conference, and lots and lots of futbol. 

MORE CULTURE SHOCKS:

1. Believe it or not, there are always more culture shocks to report. Kosovo is so awesome. One funny cultural thing is that THE PARTY NEVER STOPS here!! Literally, they cannot stop dancing. Between their traditional Vale dances and Korean pop music they never stop dancing it is hilarious. 

2. Speaking of  KPOP.... they are obsessed with Asians here. If we see an Asian person they just freak out and want to talk to them so bad. It is so stinking funny. THEY LOVE ASIANS HAHA.

3. Most people here don't have money to initiate a call or respond to text messages so facebook is saving our butts over here!! The funny thing about messaging them on facebook is that now that they are able to respond for once, they send 50 texts all in a row lol. The "double text" rule is non existent lol. 

Knee slappers:

1. HAHAHA okay so this is awesome. This week we were drawing the plan of salvation "chalk style" when this qun ( usually quns are flirty and annoying boys) came over. Our chalk drawing was attracting TONS of attention because it is super irregular to do chalk here! So anyways, this boy started asking us questions. We started answering his questions but he just kept repeating over and over again the same question. Finally, our cute Teuta got so annoyed that she just yelled in Albanian, "Are you an idiot or are you just acting like one???" Everyone watching us got super silent and their jaws dropped hahah including mine. I was so shocked because I don't think that Teuta has ever said a rude word in her life oh my goodness. It was so stinking funny. 

2. So on our way home from Albania we got pulled over by police close to the border (fyi this was the second time that day lol.. p.s. I wasn't driving). Anyways, we were talking to the cops and literally as soon as they saw that we were American they were like, "Oh yeah you can go you're awesome!" It was pretty funny. Also, later they took Motra Adam's information from her ticket thing and FOLLOWED HER ON FACEBOOK. Hahah super professional Kosovo good job. Cool thing though, they are totally interested in our message and gave us a referral HAHA. 

SPIRITUAL GOODIES:

1. Alrighty folks I gotta share this experience because it is a miracle. So remember Teuta? She has been through the hardest life but is still a rockstar. She is in college right now but she has like NO money a) jobs are extremely hard to find here b) she is in school c) her family won't support her at all if she's baptized. This week we taught Teuta about tithing. Despite how hard money is right now, she ANXIOUSLY agreed that when she was baptized that she would pay tithing. She said, "I have enough faith to know that if the Lord asks me to do something, I can do it, and he will help me." No questions asked. THE VERY NEXT DAY Teuta ended up getting a new job. Literally, the day after she agreed happily to pay tithing she was blessed. She is now making more money and doesn't have to work on Sunday's!!!! WHAT A MIRACLE. THE LORD WORKS IN THE MOST MIRACULOUS WAYS. We are promised EXACT blessings when we pay our tithing. The Lord promises that he will provide. Have faith!! 

2. Okay so on our chalk day we ran into a slight problem. An extremist muslim lost his shiz when he saw what we were doing. He called the guards and was FREAKING OUT. He was mostly mad that we would "dare draw our beliefs during Ramazan". It was pretty ridiculous. So we ended up having to spend half an hour throwing buckets of water on our drawings to clean it up while these extremists muttered rude things. Through this experience, I went through a range of emotions. First of all, I was angry. I was so mad that they had that much control in this country to stop us from drawing with chalk. I was so angry that he was so mean. Then, I was sad. I was so deeply sad that all the people watching us draw and were interested wouldn't be able to hear about the gospel at that time. I was also so sad that the extremists could deny Christ and the spirit in that way. Finally, I changed my attitude and softened my heart. I suddenly realized that anger and sadness are the exact feelings satan would want me to feel. It made me happy that satan had to try THAT hard to make people throw a complete fit because others were starting to feel the spirit. Why would they try so hard to destroy us if we weren't worth destroying? It made me happy that I knew that satan is the ultimate loser in this spiritual war. It made me happy that I knew, without a doubt, that we knew the true plan of salvation and that Christ lives. 

3. This week we have been really focused on BEING the answer to someone's prayers. We always pray for opportunities to serve, help, and teach people. However, this week we realized that the only way we are going to be able to do that, is through ACTING and going out of our normal routine to answer peoples' prayers. It has been one of the most rewarding things for us. I encourage all of you who have actually read this far into my email, to be the answer to someone's prayer this week. Pray for opportunities, and ACT ON THEM. 

Thanks for all of your support and love! Have a great week! 

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!

Love, Motra Sëtën

Adriatic South Mission

P.O. Box 2984

Bulevardi Gjergj Fishta 

Qendra ALPAS

Shkalla NR. 5 Apartamenti NR.14

Tirana, Albania

Pics: sunset, nature, cows :)    

500 BALLOONS!!!!!!!

Heya everybody!!!! Another week another dollar amiright?? We had transfer calls this week and THANKFULLY, I get some more precious time here in Kosovo. We went to this national park thing here called Rugova and it is GORGEOUS. The Lord knew what he was doing when we called me to mountainous terrain... the people here are thriving and the Lord is definitely hastening his work.

Culture shockss: 

1. They eat the orange and lemon peels here... they just eat the whole fruit. What in the world. 

2. The elevators here are SOOO SKETCHY and SOO TINY. Also usually they do not have working lights in them which makes for very exciting elevator rides ;) 

3. They eat a lot of dates here and I have come to realize they are absolutely delicious. 

4. They do everything in the world to avoid paying for parking. They are pretty poor so even a 30 cent parking spot is absolutely ridiculous to them. 

Funnies!: 

1. This week was Elder Van Dyke's 6 month mark so we blew up over 500 balloons and the other Elders stashed them all in his apartment and it was crazy HAHA. There were so many balloons!!!! Everyone had blisters on their fingers from tying them HAHAH. We had cleaning checks the next day so poor Elder Van Dyke spent hours trying to pop them the night before HAHA. 

2. So like I said before, the elevators here are super sketchy. Anyways, so we went to this ladies apartment and got in her tiny tiny elevator. However, we couldn't go up to her floor unless she pressed the button with her key. So we were going to wait in the elevator for her to press the button when all the sudden the elevator doors closed and the lights turned off. We started pushing buttons and nothing would make the doors open HAHAH. To make everything better we didn't have service to call our friend so we just were stuck in the elevator for a good while hahaha good mems. 

3. We went to the library this week to check it out and it seriously looks like a prison. It was made in the 1990s and is terrifying. Seriously, all the windows are boarded up and it is really dark and silent. Also- they don't have books. They call it a "reverse library" where people can ask for a book from the basement and read it there but can't leave with the book. Super weird. 

Food for the spirit!!!!!!:

1. This week it hit me hard how important faith is in our lives. The people we are teaching right now are the coolest people ever. Their faith GLOWS FROM INSIDE OF THEM and that is the goal!!! That is the goal for all of us. 

Teuta's faith is such an example to me. As soon as she developed a testimony, she put that testimony into action. She lived it!! She has been spending so much time studying, praying, and she is the most selfless person I have ever met. This week this adorable girl came running up to us begging for money. She also thought that Teuta's hand-sewn bag was so beautiful. After some time getting to know the sweet little girl we found out that she was ditching school. Teuta made her promise that if she would return to school and promise to learn that she could have Teuta's bag. They pinky swore and Teuta gave her the special bag. It might not seem like big of an experience, but that was so moving to me. Teuta PRACTICES her faith. 

Elsa is also an example to me of true faith. She still can't get baptized, but that is not stopping her. This week she said that the only way she is going to see miracles is by having faith. She finished The Book of Mormon last week and hasn't stopped reading. She is doing personal progress everyday for young women's. She is praying everyday. She isn't fasting for ramazan like her whole family and she is preparing to go on a mission after she is baptized. She knows this is true, and she is living it. She is living her faith. How do we live our faith? 

2. This week a youth group from our mission were able to coordinate a temple trip to the Rome, Italy temple. These people put off school, work, and spent a pretty penny to go to the temple. Why? Because they live their faith. What a precious experience for these people to attend the temple. I miss the temple so much! There is no place in the world as peaceful, pure, and holy as the House of the Lord. For those near temples, take advantage of the temple experience. It will help you truly LIVE your faith. 

FASTING FOR A MONTH???

Heyya everybody! Wowwwza we had a FANTASTIC WEEK!!!! Seriously, we have met the coolest people. Prishtina is THRIVING! I am so grateful to serve here because these people are prepared beyond belief! One thing that is difficult is that they have a hard time distinguishing the difference between religion and culture because their religion is their culture in this 90% Muslim country. 

Culture shocks!!!!!: 

1. Soo I'm not quite sure if newspapers exist here haha but what I do know is that the obituary section is definitely posted on the trees and poles throughout the city! Tons of papers just coat the trees and poles and they are all filled with people that have died hahaha. 

2. Another fun fact is that the people will just rip off branches from the trees to eat the seeds and fruits. 

3. It is Ramadan for Muslims this month. Ramadan is where they fast everyday for an entire month. They start by waking up around 2ish AM to start the fast, going to work/ school all day, and then eat again around 7ish PM and have a huge feast with tons of family and guests. It is really cool to see their faith and dedication but the downsides include 1) They are sleep deprived and are not getting ANY nutrients 2) They are super onry because they are always so hungry 3) The streets are pretty empty because the only reason people "go out" is usually to eat food and drink coffee with friends lol 

Funny stuff: 

1. This week I had this pretty good feeling that we should go down this particular road. So we started goin down these concrete stairs and boom there I go. I tumbled right down the stairs and cranked my ankle like no other. Hahaha I sat there for a moment thinking, " Why the heck would I be impressed to just fall down the stairs." Hahah all is well though because at that same moment we met a wonderful lady who we are now teaching! God works in mysterious ways! 

2. Our branch president here is SOOO COOL AND SO FUNNY. So when he was younger he had really long hair and he kinda looked like Jesus lol. So anyways, he gave a framed picture of himself to his landlady for some reason (yeah Idk why) but apparently she THOUGHT that the picture was of Jesus so she hung his picture up in her house and every night she was praying to him HAHAHA WHAT. The best part is that when he found out he didn't tell her it was him in the picture because he thought, "Well it is better she worships Jesus than something else!" Oh man, that is funny stuff. 

MIRACLES: 

1. This week we introduced Elsa to personal progress! She was getting really into it so I decided to challenge her to a Book of Mormon challenge (where we would read the whole book as fast as we could). Then, the next day, she came to the church with some exciting news!! SHE READ THE ENTIRE BOOK OF MORMON IN ONE DAY OH MY GOODNESS. It was so stinkin cool. After reading there was a MIGHTY change in her heart and she STOPPED FASTING FOR RAMADAN BECAUSE SHE KNEW THAT SHE BELIEVED IN SOMETHING ELSE. WHAT A MIRACLE. There is so much power in The Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon changes hearts and heals wounded souls. 

2. On Thursday Teuta, our investigator who is getting baptized, wanted to have a missionary day! We showed her life as a missionary and man she was a natural! She wants to go on a mission and she is not even baptized yet! She is sooooo cool. We took her to a lesson with us and she immediately started testifying saying, "We believe..." she didn't say "I think.." or "they think" but WE BELIEVE. HOW COOL IS THAT. She knows with all her heart that this is the truth and she IMMEDIATELY started testifying of it. She is SOO COOL and such an example!!!!! 

3. We had a branch activity this week and we went to go play volleyball at the college! As we started playing TONS of Albanian/Kosovar students started watching us! So we invited them to play and ended up getting over 6 numbers of people who were actually interested in our message! There are so many opportunities for us to find people who are prepared to receive the restored gospel if we will take them! 

Thanks for all of your support and love! Have a great week! 

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!

Love, Motra Sëtën

Adriatic South Mission

P.O. Box 2984

Bulevardi Gjergj Fishta 

Qendra ALPAS

Shkalla NR. 5 Apartamenti NR.14

Tirana, Albania

Pics are Teuta and her friend, me and Elsa, some art one of pur investigators painted, me and Adams, cute Teuta :)

MIRACLES MIRACLES MIRACLES!!!!

What is cookin good lookins??? It's been another week wow how crazy!!! This week was soooo rockin here in Kosovo. WE SAW SO MANY MIRACLES!!!! We also met the coolest people!!!! We spent lots of fun days outside at the park and in nature and we also went to Gjakova (the only other city with missionaries in Kosovo) for yw and it was so fun!! I think my love for this place and these people grew about 17X bigger.

Culture shocksssss:

1. So one funny thing that people do here is that like everybody holds arms/hands, even the boys. It is just like culture to hold hands or arms with the person you're with as like a protection thing or something I don't even know. But it is pretty funny to see boys just holding onto each other when they are straight lol. Another thing is that for some reason if you're a twin here you have to match clothing. We have seen a couple pairs of twins and they are always decked out in the same exact outfits. 

2. Because the driving here is absolutely ridiculous (non-existent) they park on all of the sidewalks. Basically, you never know if you're about to get hit or if someone is just parking. 

3. They believe that if you are darker skinned that you're a gypsy... they're actually pretty racist here. All the darker people are usually more poor too it is so sad. They also drive these weird tractor like things instead of cars and they have chainsaws on the back. Dope. 

Knee Slappers:

1. There is a member here named who is the COOLEST PERSON EVER. Her family is really cool but she is afraid to tell them she is baptized because she doesn't want them to be disappointed. However, her sister totally knows that she is baptized and covers for her all the time when her parents question her about religion (hahah because she is literally at the church every single day but she claims that she "just directs the music for us"). Anyways, her grandma is this DEVOUT Muslim woman (who doesn't know she's baptized) and this week she was asking her if she was excited to fast for Ramadan this month and she was like, " Yeah totally grandma I love fasting!" and then she goes on about how much she loves Ramadan and then her sister comes up behind her and whispers... "I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen" it was so freaking funny oh my goodness. Her sister is super awesome. 

2. So this week our apartment was getting kind of dusty and gross so I thought it would a great idea if we tried to vacuum a little bit. Note to self: ALBANIAN/KOSOVAR vacuums do not work!!!! Hahah so the air pressure was like horrible so I started inspecting the machine when all the sudden dark clouds of black smoke starting puffing from the dang thing starting a fire in our house HAHAH. 

3. We went for a fun walk at the park with some investigators because they had a day off of work/school and literally EVERY single group of people had a soccer ball. There were like hundreds of people everyone had a soccer ball it was pretty funny. Not only that, but they have these claw machines all over but they only have soccer balls in them that is like so funny to me I don't know why. 

MIRACLES:

1. This week we met with our cute investigator Teuta EXPLODED spiritually. SHE IS SO PREPARED. Seriously, she is a rockstar. She wanted to learn as much as possible about us because she has never felt so loved from people before. She comes from this rotten background of extreme abuse and violence from her family, death of loved ones, bullying, etc. etc. However, she decided that she wanted to have a priesthood blessing and it was one of the most spiritual experiences ever. Everything the Lord had prepared for her was just exactly what she needed it was a miracle. I have so much faith in priesthood blessings. Also she was so stinking funny this week because she found Elder Murray's quad of scriptures full of marked stuff and she put them in her backpack and was gonna take them for the weekend HAHA. Then Elder Murray was looking for his scriptures everywhere and couldn't find them so she returned them and he said, "Where did you find them?" and she goes, "umm in my backpack. hah I wanted to read all your favorite scriptures," It was sooo funny and so cute awhhh. He let her keep them for the weekend and she is LOVING reading everything he has marked. 

2. We also had a lesson with her yesterday and she went on to explain that she never wanted to meet with the missionaries and that in the beginning she had no idea why she said yes. In fact, if I never talked to her at church my first week she wouldn't be here today. When we decided to meet she completely changed her mind and after 3 weeks she now has decided to get baptized :) Her life has been so hard and she has been through a rollercoaster of beliefs from believing everything in her old religion to nothing to finally having hope again. She has noticed that change, and knows that it is completely 100 percent the spirit and the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

3. Continuing this miracle story, her story has inspired Elsa who wants more than anything to get baptized (she is still waiting on parental permission). It is the sweetest thing in the world to see these two girls work together and see their testimonies grow. Through all their struggles and hardships they strengthening each other so much. THIS GOSPEL IS SOOOO TRUE. 

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!

Love, Motra Sëtën

Adriatic South Mission

P.O. Box 2984

Bulevardi Gjergj Fishta 

Qendra ALPAS

Shkalla NR. 5 Apartamenti NR.14

Tirana, Albania

CASTLE DATE!!!!! WOOT WOOT!!!

GOOD MORNING AMERICA!! (Most of you are in America I believe)

This week was poppin in Kosovo. The language is coming along and I am just making life long friends that I love SOOOO MUCH. We did a service project (check us out on lds.org I think we're featured on the lds charities page or something), played some futbol, went to the hospital twice, spent a lot of time at the park, had the best lessons, got chased by dogs, and took a hike to an AMAZING castle. 

Culture shocks!!!:

1. Okay so in Albania people shake their heads yes when they mean to say no and shake their heads no when they mean to say yes. Weird right? However, here in Kosovo they click their tongues when they say no! Everyone just clicks around here it is pretty funny wow. 

2. They have like a gazillion holidays here. There have been like 5 days the past two weeks where everything is closed and their is no school because they had to celebrate Catholic Easter, Orthodox Easter, some Muslim holiday, and some others that I can't remember. They use any excuse possible to get out of work and school it is pretty hilarious. 

3. They are very kind and helpful here. If you ask them for directions they will do everything in their power to get you where you need to go (even if it's dropping everything and taking you there themselves) they are so cute. Usually after they help us they always invite us to go get a coffee afterwards with them too it's so awesome :)

4. They put these yarn design thingies on the trees and decorate them all and they're actually really pretty!! I put a picture down below so you can check that out.

Funniessss:

1. This week we went to this cute ladies house and she ALWAYS feeds us tons of food whenever we go over there she is just the biggest sweetheart. Hahha however, when we went to her house week she just stripped down into her granny underwears to show us this rock that was in the side of her stomach or something. I wasn't going to touch it until she grabbed my hand and had me rub the rock inside her stomach that was fun. Good news though, she is going to Germany this week to get surgery so that is really awesome.  Also- her and her husband don't know English very well. In fact, the only phrase they really know is "big momma" so her husband definitely goes around calling her "big momma" HAHA. 

2. Our cute investigator Teuta had painted these eggs last week and she carried them around for like a week waiting to gift them to us and by the time she actually gave them to us they were well... not eggs anymore. It was so adorable and so so funny.

3.  Hahah this week there were some interesting sleep walking incidents this week. The first included me walking around the room touching all the walls and trying to move Motra Adams bed. Then I ended up curling up on the floor and tried to sleep their for the night. The second night I took ALL of the covers and put them in a ball and sat it on the end of the bed... no idea why. Ahhhh why am I so weird oh my word. 

SPIRITUAL STUFF:

1. This week we played futbol and then had quite the scare. So there was about 20 of us total and everyone was piled into this tiny bus headed home after our fun day. All the missionaries were in the car behind the bus when suddenly the bus stopped and everyone sprinted out carrying Elda, who had passed out. She wasn't breathing and it was one of the scariest things ever. We were in the middle of nowhere and there aren't really any ambulances so we put her in our car and drove her straight to the hospital. Ahh it was so scary. I was holding her while they were hooking her up to fluids and everything and despite all the commotion she turned to me and said, "Can you say a prayer?" Right after that she asked if I would sing to her so I sang "I know my Redeemer Lives" (it's her favorite). That was the most interesting moment. As we were praying and singing we both could just feel the spirit so strong and knew that she was going to be okay. It also blew my mind that despite all the pain and craziness going on all she wanted to do was pray and sing and think about Heavenly Father. It is such a miracle to know that we can find peace in Christ anytime and anywhere. He is there for us ALWAYS. 

2. This week we also helped do this service project for LDS charities. It was so touching to see how grateful these people were to receive these wheelchairs. Work is hard to find here, despite having a disability, so these people were so happy to have the opportunity to receive help. 

3. This week we had some really spiritual moments with Teuta. We walked with her to the park and talked about all of her life questions and she came to all of our activities this week it was so fun! She is soooo busy with school and work all of the time yet she STILL finds time to read her scriptures, text us questions, and share what she learns with us. Her effort is building her faith each and everyday that she puts in effort. 

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!

Love, Motra Sëtën

Adriatic South Mission

P.O. Box 2984

Bulevardi Gjergj Fishta 

Qendra ALPAS

Shkalla NR. 5 Apartamenti NR.14

Tirana, Albania

(Pics are from the castle and one of the cool trees )