Ooooh hello hello!!! I cannot believe we are already in
December!! I hope you are all happy and well and had a great week:) I am doing
just fine and dandy here in Korça. The temperature is dropping concerningly
fast but still no snow... it will come though! We had a good week! We decorated
the heck out of our house and the church, our favorite nënë got baptized and a
miracle family of 4 got baptized, and the city finally turned on the Christmas
lights!!!!! Woot woot!!! We are celebrating SHUMË up in here:)
Culture Shocks:
1. In Korça they decorate ALL the cobblestone streets with
lights and it is beautiful!! It is part of Orthodox tradition that they turn on
the lights on December 6th through January 6th to celebrate Saint Nicholas!!
They did a way cool light show and there were tons of visitors that came to see
the lights too!
2. People are rarely named after their parents but often
times named after their grandparents! The Orthodox people also have two names
because they receive a new name (named after one of the saints) when they are
baptized! They celebrate the day that "their saint" died too (kind of
like a second birthday)
3. Funerals are pretty big here! They think we are crazy
that we wait a week after someone dies before having a funeral. If someone dies
in their neighborhood they whisper and don't mess around at all to show respect
even in their own homes! They also have this cool culture thing that you are
supposed to turn on your hazard lights when you are near a hearse.
FUNNY STUFF:
1. Okay so this week was so funny. It started out with us
going to this village in Pogradec to do some service for a SUPER old member and
his wife. We were cleaning their house and oowee that was a sight to see. After
we had fished out DARK BLACK hair from their drains for 1 hour the old 80 year
old man turned on some crazy music and we all started dancing!! He was so
loosey goosey out there on the dance floor wearing his cute traditional hat it
was awesome. He was really trying to impress us because then he did like 10
push ups and they were perfect!! Hahaha the rest of our service project
consisted of us eating STRAIGHT pumpkin off of the skin (I do not recommend),
crazy dancing, and the old man attempting to set us up on dates with the elders
lol.
2. We had 5 baptisms this week it was such a miracle!!!!
Hahaha but let me tell ya... we are not that organized. At the very last minute
our friends changed their minds about who they wanted to baptize them and we
didn't have enough baptismal clothes!! Our branch president was supposed to be
the baptizer but he also didn't have any white clothes... then our first
councilor said that he had some white clothes and baptismal slippers that our
branch president could use at his house!!!! So we went to his house 5 minutes before
the baptism was supposed to start and opened his door and there were just these
2 random guys in tank tops walking around the house wearing the baptismal
shoes as house slippers! HAHAA it was so freaking funny oh my goodness. I am
not quite sure why this member had the baptismal slippers in the first place
but ummm yeah that was stinking funny.
3. We were driving to a lesson this week with a member and
we had only been in the car for MAYBE 2 min when she started complaining about
her tummy hurting. We were almost to our lesson so I told her just to be
patient and that we were almost there (hahaha I'm gonna be a great mom). All of
the sudden she JUMPED OUT OF THE CAR WHILE WE WERE DRIVING AND STARTED THROWING
UP EVERYWHERE. Hahahaa she told us she gets really car sick but just forgot to
tell us... it was so funny but so scary and sad at the same time haha. She now
calls our car the devil's car hahaha.
4. When we were teaching our miracle family last week we
taught about the word of wisdom!! Sadly, the dad didn't keep his commitment to
stop smoking the first time so we went over again a few days later to check up
on him! We walked in and saw him standing in a chair in their one room house
preaching to 5 little boys. He was standing up holding the word of wisdom
pamphlet with his glasses on the tip of his nose and his arms out wide. He was
so proud that he had stopped smoking so he started preaching to anyone who
would listen!! The 5 little boys stayed for our lesson and then afterwards we
started talking about futbol. They are my best friends hahaha. They were so
excited that I play futbol so we decided we could play this Saturday. Every
time they see me they say, "5 more days motra!!!" They are pretty
dang excited. THEN- the next day they asked us when they could get baptized so
we are pretty excited to help them reach the waters of baptism:)) However, the
story goes on. They kind of live in a rough neighborhood and so we came out of
their house to a surprise. We had 4 flat tires!!!! Hahaha that kinda stunk
especially because when we finally got home we accidentally locked our keys in
our house * palm to face* and didn't have any spare keys.... whatta day. Whatta
day. We ended up getting in around 10:30 though so all is well:)
5. For pday we went to one of the oldest cities in Albania
to see some old churches! We were going up this mountain in the mud when I
accidentally slipped and kicked Sister Mann in the face with my muddy shoe. I
was all muddy and gross and so was she it was hilarious. Then I picked up these
berries that I thought would be so scrumptious but when I showed them to the
other elders and sisters I found out they were goat poops. I am so thankful I
didn't eat those lol. That would have been horrible lol.
SPIRIT FOOD:
I am so proud of our beautiful friends that were baptized
this week. They truly know the meaning of conversion and are the most joyful
people! How do we have the MOST joy in our lives? President Nelson said that
the real test "is to be able to look in the mirror, first thing in the
morning, and feel real joy." The way we feel this IMMENSE joy in the
morning comes when we feel good about the people with whom we live and work—our companions in life; when
we feel good about ourselves—in a humble way; and most important, when we feel
good about our relationship to God and sincerely love him. Every morning can be
a joyful morning if we allow ourselves to see it! The first thing we ought to
do is offer a simple and sincere prayer of gratitude. When we pray with our
whole hearts and souls we find answers to our questions, comfort to our
concerns, and guidance each day! I am so thankful for my Heavenly Father and
His son, Jesus Christ. Don't forget Him this holiday season! <3 I love you
all SOOOO MUCH. Do some service! Sing some holiday songs! Go to church! Say
your prayers! Make some cookies! STAY JOYFUL. LOVE YOUUUU <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: CHRISTMAS DECORATING (2), lights on the boulevard,
CUTE LILI'S BAP PHOTOS, me telling Lili a joke ;) (we have a very special
relationship) , more lights, miracle family and my cute futbol friends,
volleyball at the beach!!!
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