1 YEAR, A BROKEN BUTT, & A MIRACLE

WHAT A GOOD OL WEEK FOLKS!!!! I have officially been a missionary for 1 year!!! Crazy stuff. On November 14th I hit my year mark woo hoo how fun! We had fun celebrating this week and I was also super excited because I got to hang out with my bestie Sister Mann for 2 days! I am so blessed to get to see her so much. This week we were blessed with rain, another baptismal date, and LOTS of laughs :) 

Culture shocks!!!! 

1. There are not any addresses here which is pretty funny. This is how they describe where they live, " go straight, then turn right, then turn left then go straight until you see a blue door and then go right and if you have seen a goat you have gone too far" super helpful. We only got lost like 30 times this week ;) 

2. Everything has seeds! The grapes, the oranges, the olives, and just everything has seeds inside!! We are constantly on the look out for seeds so that we don't grow grapes in our tummies ;) 

3. To have a bathroom in your house is like royalty here! Most of the people have to go out in the cold to wash and prepare food and go to the bathroom. They are so strong!! 

FUNNY STUFF: 

1. This week we had an unfortunate case of events hahaha. We had planned a lesson with this miracle family out in a fshat (village) about 30 minutes away but we came to find out that we wouldn't have the car because some things came up with our elders! We really didn't want to miss our lesson so we decided we would use our bikes!!! BRAVO. Well, let me set the scene for ya real quick. First of all, helmets are NOT used in Albania so 2 blonde girls in skirts riding bikes in the freezing cold with helmets in the middle of nowhere was quite a sight to see. We got some FUNNY looks and even funnier comments as we passed by the old cute fruit vendors on the side of the road. Our biking trip ended up taking us 4 hours total because we did not realize how long the trip would be into the village in the mountains HAHAH. It was also uphill both ways and both of our bikes were broken lol. My handles were about 20 klm from my hands and so my back was absolutely destroyed AND the gears were broken so our legs were going super sonic speed yet we were hardly moving. Oh man it was so stinkin funny. I was laughing so hard!! Oh also as we were leaving they gave me a peach to eat as I was biking and I totally crashed while eating this stinkin peach. Let's just say that I WILL be fixing those handlebars... Despite my broken butt (which has been bruised for the last 3 days) I had the time of my life and we met ANOTHER miracle family!!!! Once we got to the village we couldn't find the house and so I decided to ask these cute little kids playing futbol in the road for directions! While my comp was looking for directions with their mom I started playing futbol in my skirt and helmet with like 8 kids and we had so much fun. The mom was so happy that we played with her kids that she wants us to come back and teach her about The Book of Mormon!!! Ahhh I am so excited. #worthit 

2. Hahha okay so this week I was in the bathroom and saw all of these powder things on this ledge hanging in our bathroom. I thought it would be a good idea and open them so that I could see what was inside! Hahhaha so the first one I opened was just some kind of cream thing or something and the second one was quite the surprise. I opened the second bottle and BOOM it exploded black powder all over the entire bathroom and all over my clothes. I was completely black HAHAH. I figured out that it was some kind of powder for your teeth or something lol but it was quite hilarious looking at the reaction of my companion when I walked out of the bathroom. 

3. We went to dinner at this cute lady's house and all she wants to do is feed us! She is so cute. However, we didn't have very much time to eat with her because we had an appointment so as we were leaving she was just throwing tons of food on us putting them in my pockets, my coat hood, my shoes, and just everything. It was so funny!! I kept telling her that I didn't have enough room for all of her nuts and fruits but she somehow was able to find every cranny. Oh man, I love Albanians. 

SPIRITUAL GOODNESS:

This week I have been thinking a lot about angels. President Nelson has made it very clear that the work of salvation is proceeding here on the earth and is also continuing on both sides of the veil!! What a wonderful thing. There are spirits all around us who are constantly helping us, lifting us up, and encouraging us in everything we do. It is so comforting to know that we have those special spirits who know us and love us and want us to grow closer to our Heavenly Father! They cry with us and they rejoice with us. They comfort us and they help us in EVERY SITUATION. Each day they help us and minister to us and perform miracles for US. We have access to their power and that is such a blessing! Moroni 7:29 says, "And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men."  Don't forget the amount of people that love and care for you. They are here on earth and they are in the spirit world! Don't forget about the angels. They are numberless and they are real. They are cheering you on! I am cheering you on!!! I love you and miss you more than you know!! Have a spectacular, groovy, and happy week :) 

Love, Motra Sëtën

Adriatic South Mission

P.O. Box 2984

Bulevardi Gjergj Fishta 

Qendra ALPAS

Shkalla NR. 5 Apartamenti NR.14

Tirana, Albania

Pics: me and my cute new futbol friends, futbol field!!!, biking, cute lil road 

1ST WEEK IN KORÇA

Wowww what a week it has been!!! It has been the craziest week EVER. Transfers were this week and I am officially in Korça woot woot!! My first day I actually spent in Pogradec (another city on a lake) because we had exchanges! I got to hangout with my cute bff trainee!!! Motra Mann!!!! That was soooo fun. We had the best day ever. The next day we had zone conference in a different city called Elbasan which is about 2 hours away. I got to see a bunch of my friends there so that was awesome! Everything is far away from Korça haha. I went from the furthest north to the furthest south!! Korça is beautiful! It is in the mountains and absolutely gorgeous. It is very very cold and old. The streets are cobblestone and the buildings are very old! The branch here is wonderful!  There were about 60 people that came to church and it was amazing. It was a huge change from what I am used to! The people are predominantly Orthodox so that has also been an interesting transition from teaching Muslims before. There are so many miracles happening here it is unreal. Within my 5 days here we already found and taught 3 people here who will be getting baptized!!!! What a miracle!!!! My companion is Sister Wilson. She is so rad!!! She is American but she has lived in Italy, Turkey, Germany, and some other places and she went to school for a year at SUU! Everyone thinks we are sisters here because of our twinning blonde hair :) 

CULTURE SHOCKS: 

1. Soo there are a ton of culture shocks from my transition to Albania from Kosovo. One thing different is that they shake their heads no when they mean yes and they shake their heads yes when they mean to say no. Very very confusing. 

2. Korça is a very poor area of Albania. Most of them make their clothes straight from their own sheep. Many of them also wash their dishes, laundry, and bodies in the same pot of water. This is a very humbling experience let me tell ya. 

3. Grape season is coming to an end however, it has been fun watching the cute old women here make jam. They stomp on the grapes with their bare feet and then serve you their famous grape jam yummm.

GIGGLES AND LAUGHS: 

1. HAHAH okay so Sister Mann and I had quite the adventure when I was on my exchange in Pogradec hahaha. We always have the most interesting experiences together. We drove to this members home up this random horrible dirt road in the mountains. As we were driving down the mountain the car suddenly dropped and we couldn't drive forward. SHE DROVE INTO A HOLE! IT WAS A MASSIVE HOLE TOO HAHAHA. It wasn't just a pothole though it was like a deep hole for construction. We tried lifting the car and pushing it out but I guess my p90x isn't helping too much because we couldn't do anything (keep in mind we didn't have reception on our phones lol). Finally, someone came to help us out and we made it out alive and well :) #goodmems 

2. This week we went to a beautiful city by the lake called Lin. It was gorgeous! We went with our fellow Pogradec friends and had so much fun haha. Most of it contained them throwing onions at me (idk why), us teasing Motra Mann because she has lice LOL, and then us hitch hiking trying to find a bus for an hour #classic Then as we were walking home from the bus stop I got hit with a moped!!! I was walking and he totally saw me and boom he just smacked right into me. Awesome. 

3. We taught a lesson to this family this week and they are so wonderful. They brought us some mystery meat with this flour pasta stuff. As I was about to take a bite one of their 5 cats just stepped into my bowl. Haha they have a dog, 2 birds, and 5 cats that were just running around their 1 bedroom house hahahaha yeah I didn't eat that stuff just fyi. There was a point that I had 2 cats crawling in my dress, one of my lap, and a dog rubbing up against my leg. It was so uncomfy!!!!!!! Hahahahha. 

SPIRITUAL GOODIES: 

I am in Moroni 7:40-42 this week. Boy do I love these scriptures!! They are all about hope! Hope and faith go hand in hand. Hope helps faith develop and true faith gives birth to hope! When we begin to lose hope, we also falter in our faith. I learn more and more from the people of Albania each day. Here in Korça they have so much faith. This faith has led them to find hope in Jesus Christ. This hope has led them to have true charity in their lives despite their circumstances. They give and give until they cannot give anymore. If we will all find and develop more faith in Jesus Christ we will find hope in his Atonement; which is easily the GREATEST gift we have ever been given. Have hope!!! Things will work out. There is a plan. He loves you more than you will ever comprehend. There is so much to live for and be happy for!!!! I love my Savior! I love you and miss you all so so so much!!!! Talk to you next week!!! <3 

Love, Motra Sëtën

Adriatic South Mission

P.O. Box 2984

Bulevardi Gjergj Fishta 

Qendra ALPAS

Shkalla NR. 5 Apartamenti NR.14

Tirana, Albania

Pics: some of my fav missionaries at zone conf, beautiful lake in Lin, BOYCE AND WEBSTER (MTC GROUP), pogradec sisters, korça streets, DINNER TIME!

KOSOVO HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

We had a SpOokY week here in Kosovo!!!! Lots of spiders and spooky things up our allies if ya know what I am sayin. This week we had a HUGE Halloween party and it was SOOO FUN. We had lots of friends and members come it was a huge hit!! I am tellin ya, Albanian's know how to party. In other news, we got transfer calls this week. I am heading to Albania! I will be leaving my beautiful homeland, Kosovo, and be off on my next adventure in the land of Korça (Korcha). I have now been in Kosovo for over 7 months and made friends that I will keep FOREVER. It is gonna be a hard leave but I know that Heavenly Father will take care of them :) 

CULTURE SHOCKS: 

1. Peoples' names here are hilarious. They name their kids after common things and objects. For example, flamur= flag, fortessa= fortress, lumturie= happiness hahaha it is awesome lol. 

2. Albanian's don't celebrate Halloween!!! They don't dress up at all!!! Those crazies!!! 

3. They are very respectful of the elderly here! They will not sit down for dinner before the elderly and cannot eat until they take a bite first!! 

GIGGLES: 

1. Our Halloween party was rockin awesome hahahaha. We played a bunch of games and listened to music and everyone had an awesome time we laughed really hard the entire night. We have this cute little boy we are teaching and he was going CRAZY about our hanging donuts game (not donuts by the way). He wanted to fight them boxing style and kept hitting the strings anytime someone would try and eat the donut thingy. We finally got him to settle down and then out of nowhere he comes SPRINTING with his axe he used for Halloween and just bonks this girl on the head and cut the string with axe. Then he started swinging the string with the donut on it and it shot up and smacked me in the eyeball HAHAHA I LOVE HIM!!! Also at least 5 people may have almost drown during our bob for apples activity... ;)

2.  We went to have a lesson this week with these two girls and sometimes our lessons can be a little different. We always try to have our lessons at people's houses or at our church but the culture is a little different here so sometimes that is not always possible. We decided to meet at a quiet little cafe where we could talk! Right before we met together the girl told us that she had a better and quieter place to meet so we said sure! Well, we went to our lesson and it looked like we were in the desert hahaha. We sat on these little round cushions and there was like Arabian music playing and the walls were painted with camels and pyramids and it was very interesting. To make it better they started smoking those massive bong things so that really added to the experience. 

3. We have awesome Elders here in Kosovo. For some reason (I don't know why) we thought it would be hilarious if we pulled a joke on them. So one day we went and put tortillas in their crocs. HAHHA. This does not sound funny but I was laughing so hard. Well, turns out they actually never noticed there were tortillas in the lining of their crocs until today. Do not ask me how.... hahah but OH MY GOODNESS THERE WERE TORTILLAS IN THEIR CROCS FOR 3 DAYS HAHAH that is so funny. 

THE GOOD STUFF: 

This week I have just been on a spiritual high. The spirit has been so strong in all that we have done. The spirit has directed me and guided me and comforted me in so many ways. This week has been rough preparing to leave Kosovo. I am so excited for the opportunity to serve in Albania but the people here have a very special place in my heart and for that it hurts to leave. There have been lots of tears shed by members in the branch (hahah okay and me too). They are wonderful. I have learned so many things from the people of Prishtina. They have taught me so much. They have changed me forever. Here are 5 things I have learned while serving in Prishtina (although I have learned much more). 

1. I have learned to love. THEY LOVE EVERYONE. They have Christlike love and it GLOWS from their very beings. I have learned how to TRULY love while I have been here. 

2. I have learned how to be strong. They continue to amaze me everyday. They have been through war, abuse, trials, and hardships and they ALWAYS stay strong and keep on going. They never give up. 

3. I have learned that no one is outside the reach of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. No matter what religion they are and no matter how active they are in their religions they have hope. I have truly learned this as I have watched my friends serve and have taught the people here about Jesus Christ. 

4. I have learned that with Jesus Christ, everything is possible. We can do the impossible!! The hard days become the best days and there are ALWAYS miracles!!! 

5. I have learned how to truly be happy. A lot of people in this country are not happy. However, the people of this branch are truly happy because of their knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and their relationship with their Father in Heaven. THAT has helped me learn how to truly be happy. It is lasting, and it is contagious. It is divine. It is a gift from our GOD. 

Anyways, my testimony has grown so much while serving here. You should all give Alma 34 a read <3 that chapter has blessed my life in so many ways!! 

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE AND PRAYERS. 

Love, Motra Sëtën

Adriatic South Mission

P.O. Box 2984

Bulevardi Gjergj Fishta 

Qendra ALPAS

Shkalla NR. 5 Apartamenti NR.14

Tirana, Albania

Pics: the strongest people, this massive leaf I found hehe, me and my cute companion, bowling with KOSOVO, HALLOWEEN PARTY 

SMOOCHES 3

WOW WOW WOW. Another week has just flown by again! Things are groovy up here in Prishtina. I love it so much!!! There is SOO MUCH to love about missionary work!!! This week was fun for us though! I got to go on my second exchange EVER (in my 7 months here) and it was awesome!! We couldn't do exchanges before because me and my comp were the only sisters in Kosovo lol. I got to go hangout in Gjakova with Sister Shaw from Utah and that was awesome. WE HAD SO MUCH FUN. I love her. 

Culture SHOCKS:

So the funny thing about my culture shocks is that slowly but surely the shock is going down because everything is becoming normal and that makes me laugh. So when our cute upstairs neighbor calls us drunk at 2 in the morning to buzz her in the door we smile and don't even take a second blink :) 

1. They don't have a lot of orange punkins here!!! Also every different color of pumpkin has a different name and isn't considered a pumpkin! Weird! 

2. Bathrooms= an experience. Most of the public bathrooms here don't include soap, or tp, or any other necessities! They are squatters that is for sure. Look out everyone. My thighs are getting ripped. 

3. The peaches have now disappeared from the shops :( HOWEVER, that means it is now cutie (orange) season!! There is nothin like the smell of fresh bread and cuties in the morning air!! 

GOOD CHUCKLES: 

1. This week we had a very interesting man come to church. He came about an hour early all ready for church and everything. We are always very welcoming here so we shook his hand and that is when things escalated!! Albanians have this thing where they will kiss you on your cheeks as a "welcoming thing". So this man was leaning in towards my comp but let me tell ya... he wasn't goin in for the cheek that was for dang sure. He wrapped his arms around her into a hug but she escaped milliseconds before smooching a 50 year old man. He then proceeded to follow us around begging to get a picture with us. We said no, but that he could get a picture with the Elders. He wasn't quite down for that hahhaha. 

2. Soooo interesting fact. Daylight savings is actually a week early here. Sister Bringhurst and I woke up really confused because it was extremely light outside! Plus, all of our clocks said that it was 7:30 so we were like oh no we must have slept in!!!! Hahaha we were rushing around and didn't really check our phones. When we finally checked our phones we were still so confused because our phones were an hour behind, or so we thought. Finally after some digging we found out it was just daylight savings hehe. Thank you Europe.

3. When I had my sleepover in Gjakova we had the best time ever. Sister Shaw is HILARIOUS. We also had some funny things happen to us. First of all, we were talking so much that we missed our turn to head to Gjakova and were in the middle of nowhere until we both were like hmm something is wrong... so that was funny. We also made these cookies for an activity that I absolutely demolished because I forgot about them in the oven lol. Our quote of the day was when she said, " So many crazy things happen in this mission. I am so numb to it all. At this point I could get shot or win 1 million dollars and I would feel exactly the same." I learned this week that I love exchanges hahahaha. 

SPIRITUAL FOOD: 

Recently, I have LOVED the scripture 4 Nephi 1:36 that says the people were "true believers in Christ". Many of us have testimonies and beliefs of all sorts but what does it mean to be a true believer in Christ? Elder Neal A. Maxwell described true believers perfectly. He said,

1. True believers are settled in their views of Christ. Despite their weaknesses, their spirituality is centered on the Savior, so their views of everything else are put in that precious perspective.

2. True believers gladly perform their duties in the kingdom. 

3. True believers are humble.They are not easily offended and they do not resist counsel.

4. True believers are willing to do what Christ wants... even if that involves stretching. 

5. True believers have a balanced contentment.

6. True believers truly pray. Their prayers are sincere! 

7. True believers have both right conduct and right reasons for that conduct.

8.True believers rejoice in the success of others.

9. True believers remember that forgetting is part of forgiving. 

10. True believers are innocent as to sin, but not naive.

11. True believers are HAPPY. 

Although many of us have different beliefs we sometimes take 'the backseat' and don't act upon the things we believe!! There are always areas in which we can improve and become TRUE BELIEVERS in Christ, our Lord. I am thankful for his guiding hand in every aspect of my life. He truly is our Savior!! Be a true believer this week!! Try it out!! You will see a difference in your countenances! 

Love, Motra Sëtën

Adriatic South Mission

P.O. Box 2984

Bulevardi Gjergj Fishta 

Qendra ALPAS

Shkalla NR. 5 Apartamenti NR.14

Tirana, Albania

Pics: me and our COOLEST FRIEND BESFORT, FALL LEAVES, me and a cucumber flower, cute bags, pic with us and the PRESIDENT OF KOSOVO INBETWEEN US!! HAHAHAHAHAHAH #famous