Becoming FAMOUS? ⭐

Motra Sutton comin at you live from SHQIPËRIA. Things are just groovy out here. We are doing lots of finding and teaching and are starting to get a handle on this whole "technology" thing. It sure has added some spice to missionary work that is for sure! Our transfers have been pushed back a week in hopes that they may loosen some restrictions next week, but we shall see what happens! I am still with MY AMAZING COMPANION SISTER LONG. We are going on almost 6 months together now and I couldn't be happier! Besides our inability to cook I would say we are a 5/5 star companionship. 

CULTURE SHOCKS: 

1. I probably have mentioned this before... but it is so odd to me that Albania isn't known as "Albania" here! Albania= Shqipëria Albanians= Shqiptars Albanian language= Shqip (pronounced like sh-cheap) 

2. Albanians use tree branches and attach them to the bottom of big sticks to use as brooms!!! 

3. In general Albanians are known as a "cash country" meaning that they don't use cards, have savings, and their economy is not good! Corona has been HARD for them:( 

FUNNY THINGS: 

1. To keep ourselves nice and busy here Sister Long and I thought of the most genius ideas. I wasn't kidding when I said above that we are "stars". We have been reenacting the Book of Mormon stories and I think it may in fact be the highlight of my evening. From Nephi, Samuel the Lamanite, Abinadi, and all the other stories we have quite the show planned out so stay tuned my friends. 

2. Speaking of being rich and famous.... we are going viral people. We are now making ads for the whole country of Albania to see on the internet and facebook!!! However, we are not becoming rich and we are definitely not famous. In fact, there are some pretty hysterical people that really hate us on the internet. But hey, THE WORD IS GETTING OUT AND THAT IS WHAT WE WANT. Send me your best pick-up lines;) We are looking for some awesome 2 second catches;) 

3. You know you have been in quarantine too long when you have relationships with your plants!! Our plants have become our family and we are so very thankful for them. They make life colorful and happy. They also endure our constant care which now includes reading them scriptures and entertaining them. Hahaha who knew I would become such a good mother (of plants) on my mission!!!!!! 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: 

This week we have had the amazing opportunity to study together as a mission. We have attacked the topic of faith. I have learned so much!! One of the most incredible things I was able to understand is the fact that we all NEED faith and we all HAVE faith. Faith is simply the principle of action in all intelligent beings and without it we absolutely could not progress. This includes members, muslims, swimmers, jugglers, the lost and lonely, racecar drivers, the mediocre, and LITERALLY everyone! In the Lectures on Faith there is question, "Is there anything that you would have done, either physical or mental, if you had not previously believed?" We all have faith and we have all believed in something. We have faith that we will wake up tomorrow morning, faith that our plants will grow, faith that studying will bring good grades, and faith that our prayers will in fact be answered. Some of you may think that you don't move or act by faith but you do! For faith, as defined in the Book of Mormon says,  "And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true." (Alma 32:21). Maybe you think that your faith isn't enough... what could one simple person's faith really do in a world so big that is constantly changing? Remember, that it is a MUSTARD SEED of faith that moves mountains. When your faith is focused on Jesus Christ, it is enough! As you exercise that faith it will continue to grow. As President Anderson of the ASM says, "It is through faith that we will accomplish all things." Whatever "mountain" you are facing you have ENOUGH faith to remove it. Your faith is enough. Exercise your faith! Call on the powers of heaven. If you will listen, you will hear Him. I LOVE YOU! HAVE A FAITH-FILLED WEEK <3 ALSO- hug your families lots!! That isn't something I can do right now but I sure wish I could:) 

Pics: 

1. Cute comp!!

2. Balconys are a gift from God 

3. Pday with this crew!!! 

4. Pretty tree 

5. We found cheddar cheese! Miracles! 

Love, Motra Sëtën

Adriatic South Mission

P.O. Box 2984

Bulevardi Gjergj Fishta 

Qendra ALPAS

Shkalla NR. 5 Apartamenti NR.14

Tirana, Albania

Gëzuar Pashkët!!!

Hello everybody!!! And Hoppy Easter! This week was full of good things!!:) Instead of being outside for 1 hour we now can be outside for 1 hr 30 min! How exciting! #smallandsimplethings We have had such a wonderful and spirit filled week as we have met daily with our mission and mission president preparing for Easter! Each day we have learned so much and we are just thriving. We also were given a training on how to do family history work! What a perfect time to learn! We have cooked lots, studied lots, and we have had quite a few lessons! Quarantine got nothin on us! Or as my favorite Australian, Sister Tolhurst, would say, "quarantine can stuff it." 

CULTURE SHOCKS: 

1. Albanians have an Easter tradition where they paint their easter eggs red!! This came from a catholic tradition to symbolize the blood of Christ. 

2. Another easter tradition that Albanians have is painting a red egg and then putting it in a safe hiding place in their house all year long  they don't switch out the egg until the next easter!! Gross! 

3. They also make this special  traditional sweet bread that they decorate with the eggs hehe. 

Goofs and giggles: 

1. This week we decided we need to spice things up for district council and we could only be out until 1 pm so we decided to have a district breakfast and oh boy was that one of our best ideas ever. We ate pancakes, fresh fruit, and the most scrumptious breakfast burritos. The cooking competition goes on! When Motra Long and I started cooking that morning I looked over to see what she was doing and suddenly this pot started boiling over this orange gooey stuff! I was like, "What are you making Sister Long?" And she just gave me these hilarious eyes and said, "Ummm... pancakes...??" Hahaha don't worry I taught her how to make the best pancakes ever;)) However, we did get 2nd place but that is okay. Better luck next time;)  

2. We have been learning how to use technology lately and we sure have had some interesting experiences. It is kind of difficult to find people using technology in Albania but we are making it work and we are LOVING IT UP. We have started following a bunch of groups and then posting things to grab different peoples' attention! Albanians are very attracted to the cheesy posts with Jesus in the sky and they will always comment "amin" on all of the posts. They often confuse their nationality with their religion so there are some extremely proud muslims and christians here that we find. We have the funniest conversations from questions like "Where should I hide my easter egg?", "Have you eaten today? I need to tell you how to cook because Americans don't know how", "Why are you contacting me I don't believe in Jesus.", "Can we talk later I am downloading illegal movies". WE HAVE BEEN HAVING FUN WITH THESE. 

3. We had the cutest lesson this week with a family and we decided to do an easter craft with them and then do a lesson afterwards! As we were making crafts the connection got super bad and we were unable to see them! We could still hear them though so we continued in conversation. Their little daughter asked us if she looked like "pqolsbejx" (some word that got cut out). I decided to just answer the question based on the context of the sentence and I said, "Yeah of course you do!" Hahahah well right after I finished the sentence the screen started working again and we just saw her jaw dropped while holding up a picture she drew of the "poop emoji"!! I definitely had to do some explaining there hahahaha. THEY ARE SO CUTE AND FUN THOUGH!! 

FOR THE SPIRIT: 

One of the best things about this week was the opportunity to immerse myself into studying our Savior and the days leading up to his death and resurrection. As Jesus Christ was being betrayed the guards asked if he was Jesus of Nazareth to which he responded, "I am he". Then, as John 18:6 says, "As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground." I LOVED THIS PART. Even as Jesus was being betrayed he STILL held all power and had to FULLY submit himself to the will of the Father and allow himself to be betrayed. He had so much power that they were struck down! As we follow the Savior we can access this power. We cannot forget the power that our Savior holds! He overcame death so that we could live again! There are so many times in our lives that we feel betrayed, lost, dark, attacked, cast out, or all of the above. In those hard times we can access the Savior's power and use His Atonement to heal us and protect us. He defeats all evil! He has more than enough power to strike those evils down. His Atonement covers us all. Every pain, both large and small, was felt by our loving Savior and he truly does succor his people. I love my Savior. I am so incredibly thankful for his sacrifice and love he gives. Although I am still learning, I know enough, and I cannot stop until he shall say, "my work is done." For as it was said in conference, we did not come this far only to get this far! I know my Savior lives and I love him oh so dearly. Remember Him this week and every week! He loves you. AND I LOVE YOU. HAVE A MAGICAL WEEK THIS WEEK!! Don't forget to pray!! 

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 & cute sis butters, the cute fam we video called, red eggs, albanian sweet bread, pictures from when some of the missionaries left, awesome photo shop one of our elders made hahaha

Police, Puzzles and Prophets!!!

Hello hello!!! What a fun week it has been!! We are still quarantined. No surprise there;) but general conference was this weekend! I hope you all had the chance to watch it! Our time is about 8 hours ahead of all of you so we watched conference from 6 pm-8 pm and then 10pm-12am and we watched the evening session Sunday morning when we woke up! Conference was absolutely beautiful. We are blessed with both a small mission and the most AMAZING mission president who truly helped us prepare to hear HIM. Each night this week we were able to have a zoom call with our entire mission and have a study session all together! It was INCREDIBLE. To prepare for Easter we will be doing the same thing this week! It is so wonderful. I am learning so much and I am so very thankful for technology. 

Culture Shocks: 

1. Albanian internet (with or without wifi) is pretty dang slow lol whoops. 

2. When Albanians are bored they cook!!! And don't stop cooking! And it smells so good!! 

3. Albanians are sooo kind and friendly. They are always outside on their balcony's washing their laundry and talking with their neighbors it is so cute. 

Adventures/Happy things:

1. If you know me, you know that being a spy is like my dream job. Well this week I really got to experience being a spy FIRSTHAND. There was something we needed to get done at the mission office which is about a 35 min walk from our house BUT the laws all changed this week and we were totally not supposed to leave but we HAD TO GO. We got all ready and tried to blend in as much as possible (my blonde hair doesn't do me any favors here). So as we were walking a car full of cops drove past us and then suddenly stopped right ahead of us and I was like SHOOT. So we immediately turned down some random neighborhood and ended up getting super lost for a good 10 minutes and then we ended up in front of another huge van full of cops!!! Hahaha after that we snuck away around the garbage cans and tried to blend in with the 2 people walking around. Our sneaky skills and spy-like maneuvers got us to the office safe and sound. Shout out to Spy Kids for teaching me all I needed to know. Who knew I would have to avoid the police this much on my mission... 

2. We got permission this week to sleepover at our fav sisters' house so we could watch general conference together! It was such a happy time and quite the party lemme tell ya. We made homemade Horchata and pizzas and hummus and soup and deviled eggs and juice and a bunch of other super random stuff. They are the future relief society presidents just saying!! After missing half of the first session of general conference because of the connection we were finally able to connect and we watched conference on our tiny little phone!!! I just couldn't have been happier:) General conference was so good!! We also completed a 1500 piece puzzle in an incredible amount of time... I may have been teased for my "puzzle intensity"....The key to puzzling is strategies... just sayin. 

3. I have had some interesting sleep walking and talking experiences lately. I think I have been extremely tired or something. It has been a little wild. I got out of bed this week, made my bed, and then proceeded to get frustrated with someone telling them that they absolutely could not sleep there because that was my bed! Hahaha I also had a conversation with Sister Long about how rice cookies would make you full all day if you ate them in the morning! Let's not forget all the Albanian words I learned DURING my sleep this week haha. It is kind of a mix between miraculous and really creepy hehe. 

SPIRITUAL GOODNESS: 

This week was just FULL of revelation and wonderful spiritual impressions. We are constantly blessed by the beautiful message of the restoration and we are SOO lucky and blessed to have the knowledge we do in these latter days. Our lives are quite a bit like puzzles. A lot of things don't make sense at first and it takes a lot of patience to find, twist, and place the pieces where they go. Sometimes we try to force the pieces to go into places they don't belong. Other times we look at the many many pieces and doubt whether or not something good could actually come out of the utter chaos. However, if we can look at the big picture we can understand that everything will make sense in due time. If we look to GOD we can understand that everything will make sense in due time. A common theme outlined in this general conference was that God WANTS to talk to YOU. He is TRYING to talk to you. President Nelson said that becoming like the Savior always has its difficulties! But as we do our part and work hard we open ourselves to better be able to hear Him. In reference to the Savior Elder Gong said, "He finds us and He makes us whole". As we stay believing and place ourselves in situations to HEAR our Lord and God the pieces of our puzzle will begin to align and make sense. We will be able to see the big picture and endure our trials with patience. I LOVE MY SAVIOR. I love our Prophet Russell M. Nelson! I hope you will all be able to join the world wide fast THIS FRIDAY. It will be miraculous!! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. Stay safe and happy and remember that being bored is impossible! There is always something to do ;) HAVE A 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:

1) The gang 

2) Horchata party

3) technology 

4) the backyard

5) sunsets <33

6) pretty spring!!!!

"How far can you throw a Book of Mormon?"

"HEYYYYY YOUUU GUYS!!!" (If you can name the classic movie this phrase is from you get Motra Sutton victory points just sayin) I hope you all are groovy and spending time with your amazing families learning, growing, and playing together. Hopefully you all are safe and happy and loving the long-lasting "inside day". We are safe and happy in Albania. These are definitely times I will remember forever! I am learning so much. This week we had sacrament on Saturday because we are unable to leave our houses on the weekends starting Saturdays at 1pm through Monday. It was absolutely beautiful. I am so thankful for the amazing missionaries in the Adriatic South Mission. They are MIGHTY WARRIORS and they have CHANGED my life forever. 

MORE CULTURE SHOCKS?:

1. The Albanian government is goin a little crazy with the whole quarantine thing. A new law has passed notifying us that only 1 person from each household will be allowed outside for 1 hour to buy food. That person has to register by text and will receive a confirmation number (which will be checked by the police) to buy groceries for their family. This means we will need to split from our companions to buy our food. Otherwise, we cannot leave the house. The whole "stay with your companion" thing seems to get pushed aside the more time goes on.

2. I have said this before, but Albanians really LOVE BREAD. Hahah so yes, we are totally good on our toilet paper... but there is no bread. The bakeries are absolutely bare. Whoops. We have been attempting to make bread though.... but we are now praying that the bakers will bake a little quicker!!!;) 

3. Albanians don't like any traditional American or other foreign sweets. They are all WAY too sweet for them! That is super funny to me because they totally eat bread just DOUSED in sugar water called baklava...  

FUNNIES: 

1. Oh my heavens we have the funniest stories from being in our apartment all day but I truly can't think of many of them. Just know that we are a HOOT! There is this traditional Albanian game called Tavlla that you play with these triangle pieces and checkers! I used to get DESTROYED by our branch President in Kosovo haha he is so good. ANYWAYS, he never actually taught me the rules because he said, "There are no written rules. We just grew up with this game." So this week we were cleaning out our cupboards and I FOUND A GAMEBOARD. I begged Sister Long to play with me and we tried playing but we were struggling so hard considering that there are no rules... so we basically made up our own rules and were laughing so hard. The best part was that Sistet Long didn't know I was making up the rules until I won for the 4th time HAHA. I texted some of my Albanian friends to see if they could find any rules and they all said the same thing, "The rules don't exist." How can you have a game with no rules??  Finally, one of my friends found some written rules for us and boy had we been playing SOOO wrong. However, now we are pros and I am calling a rematch with my old branch president:) woot woot! 

2. The prime minister of Albania, Edi Rama, is stinkin hilarious. He sends updates on facebook daily and he basically just changes the law everyday which is kinda cool and funny. Anyways, he posted this post that is absolutely hilarious (kind of). He went around the city YELLING at everyone on the streets (especially all the old people) to go home and stay inside! It was interesting too because he didn't have any kind of protection like gloves or a mask or anything haha it was pretty funny. He wrote, " Don't ask me where my mask and gloves are in this picture... I am not sick so I don't need them. I am still social distancing." What a guy. #socialdistancingiscool 

3. Creativity is now our passion and our sanity. Lets just say week 4 of quarantine ain't got nothin on us. We decided to make a huge and super ghetto poster and hang it off of our balcony so that we could offer all of our neighbors free Book of Mormons!!! We like to sit on our balcony and sing hymns, talk to our neighbors, throw people Book of Mormons off the balcony, and play games outside. Our conversations typically go like this, "Are you bored? Yeah so are we. Do you want a free book? Cool we have one! Want me to throw it to you? Awesome! It will change your life!" Lets not forget my favorite quote from Sister Long this week..."how far can you throw a Book of Mormon?"  HAHA HOW FUN IS THAT. 

FOOD FOR THE SPIRIT: 

Everyday we have been so extremely blessed. We are so lucky to be able to continue the work of the Lord in this beautiful place and we have constantly been surrounded by miracles. Although our circumstances might have changed the work of the Lord has not. MIRACLES DO NOT STOP. Miracles have resulted from our precious friends beginning to read the Book of Mormon and pray, others have called US to set up appointments, we have taught our friends the power of fasting, we have found a way to contact MANY less actives, our members are preparing for general conference, our spiritual thoughts over social media have brought many to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and we have had the ability to communicate with people through technology. And lets not forget the mighty miracle of us being able to have lessons in our COZY SOCKS. There have been so many miracles! The Lord is so good to us. 

One thing that has been on my mind lately has been this... the biggest excuse and complaint we hear from people is, "Skam kohë" or in other words, "I don't have time." However, I look at this trial or challenge that our world is facing and I can't help but thank God for the many prayers he has answered and the many blessings he has given us. We ALL have time now! We have time to read and pray, we have time to spend with our families, we have time to paint and draw and develop our talents, we have time to meditate and reflect on our lives, we have time to write letters and serve one another, we have more time than ever before!  TAKE THIS TIME. ENJOY THIS TIME. Be of good cheer, despite the circumstances!!! We are living miracles. Please do not forget that Christ does not "run out" of miracles. When Christ fed the 5000 there was enough food for ALL of them and plenty more to go around. He has an abundant amount of miracles and blessings that are blessing you right this very second. Everything happens for a reason. Remember Him. One way you can remember Him is by heartfully studying his appearance in THIS latter-day dispensation to the prophet, Joseph Smith. Christ truly came and restored his church to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith. Of that I am sure. Do NOT FORGET TO WATCH GENERAL CONFERENCE. They have answers to your prayers<33 I love you all!! Be HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY. 

Love, Motra Sëtën

Adriatic South Mission

P.O. Box 2984

Bulevardi Gjergj Fishta 

Qendra ALPAS

Shkalla NR. 5 Apartamenti NR.14

Tirana, Albania

Pics: 

1. District council I love them 

2. Our awesome poster 

3. Sacrament saturday gang 

4. Our poster featuring my bob ross slippers 

5. I am a bread winner 

Can't stop, won't stop!!

Hello hello!!! Would you look at that... another week in quarantine down!!! Woot woot!!! Nothing can stop the work of the Lord:) I hope you all are staying healthy and happy and safe. I don't mean to brag, but we have plenty of toilet paper here in Albania just so you know;) so life is GOOD. We are happy happy happy out here and I am so thankful for the opportunity I have each day to be a missionary. The laws here are getting crazier and our work is becoming a lot more restricted. But we don't doubt the Lord is in charge. To all my friends and family STAY HOPEFUL THERE IS GOOD TO COME. 

CULTURE SHOCKS: 

You are in luck, there are always funny shocks to come from this amazing country even if we are inside all day:) 

1. People still have to work here to pay for their food (food storage and savings don't exist) so they have certain hours in which we are allowed to shop and there is also a curfew! However, these hours change daily. It was 4pm-6pm, 6am-10am, 10am-1pm, and Sunday we couldn't leave at all!! (This is how we help the entire nation keep the sabbath day holy #countingmiracles) 

2. They have army troops scouting out the roads looking for any rule breakers out past curfew! Who knew being out after 1pm could bring a $5000 fine.... 

3. Cooking in Albania is like cooking in outerspace. I have never tried that but I assume it doesn't work. All the sugar and vanilla and other baking items come in large granules so they don't mix very well and the ovens here rarely work so cooking here is quite the adventure:) 

FUNNIES: 

1. We have been having some cooking competitions out here with our district.  So far we have got 1 BLAZING black fireball (known as banana bread in America) to contribute (pic attached below). However, that might beat our elders' super interesting chicken wings... let me tell you how they made these wings. They threw the frozen chicken wings in a saucepan on the stove and then burned the edges, ate the edges, and then they put them back on again for another rotation. #learningtosurvive Also on that cooking note I have developed a new talent. I think I might have superhuman strength. Quarantine is developing my muscles... or I am just really angry hahaha. I keep breaking all of our dishes! I have now shattered a glass in my hand, broke the handles off of our measuring cups, and broke a spoon in half. You could say I am talented. 

2. This week we had to do some emergency preparation on the computers in case we get kicked out of Albania, well you know what this meant for us... party with the other missionaries!!! Hahaha we got to eat a picnic lunch together and it was so so fun. We made some good ol singing videos and some comedy films to send out to our members and friends and that was fun too. My kazoo finally made the appearance we have all been waiting for. Our mission president gave us a wink and said, "The kazoo sure carries" and then he asked for a copy! Yeah, we are going viral. 

3. We had zone conference this week with our entire mission over technology hahaha and that was fun! It was a really good conference however, sometimes the people talking would cut out and it made us laugh really hard. The first counselor to the mission president is Albanian and he is so cute and awesome. He was giving us a lecture on keeping our apartments clean. He then gave us the example of wanting to keep our bodies clean. In his cute accent he said, "That is why we needs to shave our birds. If yous are growing a bird you needs to cut it. We needs to be clean! We can't be clean with a bird on our faces!" Honestly, we had no idea what he said until about the 12th time he said the word "bird" and we realized he meant beard. Hahaha I think our entire mission about lost it it was so funny. Watch out for those birds elders!! 

Spiritual thought: 

These are interesting times! The world seems to be going into panic mode and things are rapidly changing all around us. However, we need not have fear. Where does fear come from? The Adversary! Where does panic come from? Satan! From where do doubts and discouragements arise? Lucifer!! This is not the time to be fearful, doubt, or be sad. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is in charge! Our merciful, loving, kind, and glorious Redeemer has a plan for us more beautiful and glorious than we will ever be able to comprehend. THIS is HIS work. THIS is part of HIS plan and THIS IS the work of salvation! We triumph in his goodness for us!! We are so lucky to be alive during these times!!! Despite the pain, sorrow, and loss we have seen we know that we can find happiness and joy that will help us overcome our trials. Our joy starts with a smile and the days pass with good deeds. D&C 68:6 says, "Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come." May we continue forth in good spirits and high hopes. May we continue to thank the Lord for the many blessings we are given each day. May we look to Him, testify of Him, and live like Him. I know my Savior lives! I know that he died for EACH and every single one of us that WE may live again. He knows you and he loves you. And I love you all!!!!! Have a wonderful week and make MIRACLES HAPPEN. You have the power to do so. <333 

Love, Motra Sëtën

Adriatic South Mission

P.O. Box 2984

Bulevardi Gjergj Fishta 

Qendra ALPAS

Shkalla NR. 5 Apartamenti NR.14

Tirana, Albania

Pics:

1. How Albania does quarantine during our "allowed hours of movement". 

2. Me & my cute comp

3. Zone conf online hahahaha 

4. Painting woot woot 

5. Some uhhh.... banana bread.... 

Top Secret Missions 😎🇦🇱

Përshëndetje friends and fam!! Boy have we had quite a week. Corona hit us like a brick this week. We are officially quarantined and have been for the past week. Please send your yummy recipes and ideas for what we can do while stuck in the house;). The roads are dead, cars aren't allowed to drive, many quarantine laws have been passed, almost everywhere is closed, and still the amount of cases continues to rise! About 37 missionaries from our mission returned home this week. However, we are in high spirits and hopeful! Satan can't get us down, and neither can corona. We live in very interesting times my friends. 

Culture shocks: 

1. Albanias don't know how to wear masks (They have been hanging off of one ear, not over their noses, on their heads, backwards, and all sorts of ways).

2. Quarantine= lets all go hangout outside in large groups because work and school are cancelled! (Not anymore though because now it is a law). 

3. The food here is so fresh and goes bad so quickly that they literally can't shut down the markets! 

Stories for the week!!!!

1. This week has been pretty dang crazy for us. This week we got a call from Sister Anderson to go to the mission office. At the time we were quarantined so you can imagine our excitement when we found a reason to get out of the house. Little did we know. When we got to the office we found out that all the senior couple missionaries would be going home within the next day and a half and so we were supposed to take over ALL the office work in our mission. One of our APs who served in Greece was emergency transfered back to Greece to do the same work for Greece while the other AP somehow ended up becoming our companion in a trio while we all learned how to run the office. That was easily the craziest 24 hours of my life. Sister Long and I are now a senior couple... and we are in a trio with Elder Westhoff hahaha. CRAZY. 

2. So amongst the other craziness of this week we were instructed to go on a secret mission to pick up some things in the MASSIVE mission van. Sister Long and I were the only ones who were able to drive so we were asked to go on a secret mission and not get pulled over by the cops. The police and army have been everywhere patroling the streets and vehicles and pedestrians to make sure nobody leaves or enters the city. Well, within 3 min of driving the police came and pulled me over. They asked for my authorization to be on the roads. They completely shut down driving so if you do not have specific authorization to be driving they will kick you out of Tirana (with no way back) or arrest you. We had no authorization AT ALL. I don't know if I have ever prayed so hard in my entire life. He looked at my drivers license and got mad saying that I needed authorization. I got the impression to pull out a paper from the vehicle. I pulled out this random paper receipt thing from the car dealership that definitely wasn't any kind of authorizarion. The guy threw it back at me and started getting very upset. Another cop came over and agreed with him that they would need to confiscate both of us and the vehicle. I kept praying praying praying and knew that if I kept praying and having faith He would provide a way. The third cop came over took the paper and read it over for about 2 minutes. Then he looked back at me and said "vazhdoni" (continue) while all the other cops looked at him in bewilderment. I almost started crying it was such a miracle. Holy cow. I cannot relay the importance and unlikeliness of us getting through that border line. I am still in amazement at the miracles the Lord has provided for us. 

3. Secret mission #2. We had over 37 missionaries leave our mission this week. We have taken quite the hit. Between missionaries getting sick, missionaries with past health problems, and the senior couples we have lost quite a bit. Well this next secret mission involved us helping to drive those missionaries to the airport and then drive all of their cars back to our office. We drove with President Anderson to the airport and caravaned over there with 5 different vehicles. Saying goodbye was hard. Watching the senior couples and missionaries I have grown to love was difficult. These are interesting times. Our mission is really small so saying goodbye to that many missionaries sure has an effect on you. Well, on our way back we had a HOOT. Because of the limitations on drivers it meant that both Sister Long and I had to drive seperately. Like alone! We caravaned home and I was alone in the car and it was so weird. Hahah wow. There were absolutely 0 cars on the road so we were able to FLY down the highways. I literally felt like I was in Fast and Furious. We may or may not have raced our way home;) Thankfully, we were able to make it through the border police into Tirana again because this time we had police clearance. Although we said sad goodbyes, we were very blessed. 

Spiritual thought: 

I have had many spiritual experiences on my mission. Many of which I have written about and many of which I have not. My sacrament meetings have always been extremely special but yesterday was one I will never forget. We were able to get permission to have sacrament meeting together as a district. This was a miracle considering the fact that we are not supposed to gather in groups of people. We sang hymns and and had our own "sacrament meeting" that was absolutely beautiful. The Elders blessed the bread and water and we took of the sacrament together in the most unusual and wonderful setting. I was amazed at the power of the spirit!! After the sacrament we were able to do a come follow me lesson together and it truly hit home for me. We are so blessed with the at home resources, technology, and the Holy Ghost to guide us wherever we may be. I have a testimony of God's plan and that He is VERY aware of every single one of us in this very moment. He loves us. His power surrounds us. Mosiah 4:9 I love you all so much!! Have a wonderful day and stay safe, healthy, and happy!!! 

Love, Motra Sëtën

Adriatic South Mission

P.O. Box 2984

Bulevardi Gjergj Fishta 

Qendra ALPAS

Shkalla NR. 5 Apartamenti NR.14

Tirana, Albania

Pics:

1. My cute new grandparents (senior couples ARE THE BEST) 

2. We snagged some pizza before they closed down! 

3. Another set of grandparents I have!!

4. Homemade masks made out of baby wipes... they are sold out of masks here lol. 

5.Sacrament meeting gang! 

6. Some nasty drink from Macedonia that I highly discourage

Mother's Day & bra masks 🥳

Hello hello ladies and gents!! It has been a goodie this week. We had transfer calls and I will be staying with my bff Sister Long!!!! We are STOKED. I lucked out with her. I also had a fight with gripë (sickness) and thankfully I think I may have won. Saturday was "Teachers Day" and Sunday was "Mother's Day" for Albania!!! They go all out for Teacher's Day surprisingly... what a good time of year to be a teacher and a woman!;) 

CULTURE SHOCKS: 

1. They have this special cookie thing called 'Ballokume' and they make it to symoblize that spring is coming! It is rounded to show the shape of the sun! 

2. Albanians will cancel ALL plans if it is raining. If it is sprinkling they just don't show up hahaha. 

3. Dita e Nënës is Mother's day!! A fun traditional thing they do is buy single carnation flowers for all the women! It is really cute! 

FUNNIES:

1. Recently we have been working with a cute family whose son is preparing for baptism! He is 14 and his sister is 9 but she is already baptized! So this week we went to their house for a lesson and played a homemade game of jeopardy. One of the questions was, "What words/phrases can we say instead of using 'O zot' (which is the taking the Lord's name in vain)". They were super surprised to hear that we don't in fact use that phrase and they were struggling to think of other things they could use in place of "o zot". I gave my own personal examples that I use like "oh sugar" or "oh blueberry muffins" and they were SOOO confused. Albanians don't usually go out of the box on these kinds of things... Well finally the kids starting brainstorming and then suddenly the cute 9 year old girl said, "Ooh I know!! OH ****" and started saying all the swear words in English that she knew!! Haha we were laughing so hard. They have different swear words in English than they do in Albanian so those words meant nothing to her! Haha it was so funny. 

2. This week EVERYONE has smelled like Alcohol. There is a rumor in Albania going around that Alcohol will protect people against Corona. That being said they are basically showering in Alcohol and using spray bottles full of STRONG Alcohol. They just are constantly spraying themselves with the alcoholic spray. Better safe than sorry amiright? 

3. Imagine 2 Americans (one who stands out like a sore thumb) in dresses, running about a quarter of a mile, weaving in and out of people, with bags and books and papers flying, and arms shaking waving down a bus. Now imagine these moments in 'still picture' form kind of like they do in ratatouille. Now imagine that this was real and add my face to your mental image. This was me and Sister Long I think every single day this week. #GOTTAFIGUREOUTTHEBUSSYSTEM I am thinkin that Albania has this thing where if you are late you truly miss out because the next bus doesn't come for another 30 minutes;) 

4. You know you are in Albania when they are cutting their bras and using the cups for masks against corona... HAHAHA AWESOME. 

SPIRITUAL TIME: 

The time in which we live is extremely special. We live in the latter-days!! We live in the pivotal moments of the Restoration and the gathering of the House of Israel! We are the "finishers" of this great work! President Thomas S. Monson said, "From the very beginning to the present time, a fundamental question remains to be answered by each who runs the race of life. Shall I falter or shall I finish? On the answer await the blessings of joy and happiness here in mortality and eternal life in the world to come. Times change, circumstances vary, but the true marks of a finisher remain. Note them well, for they are vital to our success."

1. The Mark of Vision. We are constantly making small decisions. The outcome determines the success or failure of our lives. True finishers have the capacity to visualize their objective.

2. The Mark of Effort. Vision without effort is daydreaming, effort without vision is drudgery; but vision, coupled with effort, will obtain the prize. 

3. The Mark of Faith. Recognize that faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other.

4. The Mark of Virtue. ‘… let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly. …’ (D&C 121:45.) This counsel from the Lord will provide staying power in the race we run.

5. The Mark of Courage. Courage becomes a living and attractive virtue when it is regarded not as a willingness to die manfully, but the determination to live decently. 

6. The Mark of Prayer. When the burdens of life become heavy, when trials test one’s faith, when pain, sorrow, and despair cause the light of hope to flicker and burn low, communication with our Heavenly Father provides peace.

In our race of life we are all finishers waiting to finish things! We are finishing high school, missions, a decade, work, having children, university, and many more things. However, maybe most importantly, we are finishers of the great work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. When we remember that finishing goal we are unstoppable. When we have vision, effort, faith, virtue, courage, and prayers we are insurmountable. 

I love you all so much!!! Have a FANTASTIC week and spread some cheer!!!! < 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

1. Rainy basketball pic

2. Family night! 

3. Exchanges!

4. Nënës day flowers 

5. Traditional ballokume 

6. Grocery line???

Corona=Bad

CKEMI FRIENDS, FANS, AND FAMILY. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT. This week has been CRAZY busy and wonderful. Every second has been planned and I can truly feel the Lord hastening his work through his missionaries! There is POWER out here. 

Culture Shocks: 

1. Albanians will not start a conversation with you in person or through text without saying, "how are you". That always makes me feel good;) 

2. Albanian elevators can only fit about 3 people in them! They are so small! 

3. Albanians label their floor levels differently than in America! The ground floor is "level 0" and then they go up! 

INTERESTING FACTS/FUNNIES:

1. Well this week we got this emergency email from our mission president saying that the corona virus has officially been diagnosed in Italy, Greece, and now Albania! So we had to take immediate action to prepare for quarantine if it becomes a further problem. We are safe and happy the problem is that we have been instructed to avoid any physical contact with people in the MOST TOUCHY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD (I think). Between stocking our apartments with food and buying those breathing masks things we have been busy busy!! Pray that we don't get corona!!! 

2.  So on Friday we headed over to a member's house and we forgot what floor they lived on so we went up to the fourth floor and realized they lived on the third floor. Well as we were walking down I totally slipped down the stairs. Keep in mind, that it did NOT stop pouring rain ALL day and it was SO muddy and slippery everywhere. I flew down a flight of concrete stairs and ate is so hard! My leg was behind me in the most uncomfortable position (I didn't even know it could bend like that HAHA) and all I could smell was concrete WHOOPS. Everything I was holding flew out of my hands and down the stairs coating the entire staircase with english course flyers and pamphlets hahahah and it hurt so freaking bad!! I was just sitting in that horrible position just hoping that I didn't break anything HAHAH. After a few minutes I got up and was groovy. My legs and face are extremely sore and my ankle is crankled but other than that I'm doing fantastic. I may or may not have an ankle the size of a small child. My advice for Albania: fix the cracked and slippery stairs. My advice for you: kujdes. 

3. One day this week we decided to plan a bunch of different activities thinking, "Oh yes we have plenty of time!" Well about halfway through the day we came to find out that we did NOT in fact have plenty of time and we were going to be late to basically every appointment we had planned. So what did we do?? We turned on our speed gears and we went full blast Tokyo drift mode-running style. We sprinted from one side of town to the other and probably sprinted a total of 6 miles and we totally made it to everything on time. Were we panting? Yes. Did we leave a trail of cards, flyers, and pamphlets? Of course. Was it worth it? Absolutely not. Hahaha no just kidding. We taught the coolest people and I sure got in a hefty amount of exercise woot woot. 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: 

In Albania and Kosovo almost everyone is Muslim! This makes it hard sometimes for Christians to fit in or feel like they belong. Well this week we were getting ready to start English course when a new student (maybe late 20s) came! He came in and immediately began telling us how much he loved Jesus. Then a member of our church that is in our course (maybe in his 70s) said, "Yeah.. I used to be Muslim but then I became a Christian". Then our new friend leaned over to him said, "Amen Brother" (in English) and gave him knuckles. It was so cute and precious. Then another girl spoke up and said, "I am a Christian too!" He turned and gave her a big high five as well! 

This was a simple and small experience but it spoke very deeply to me. We cannot be ashamed of Jesus Christ! Alma 46:15 says, "And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come." My friend was so proud of his faith in Christ and he should be! Jesus Christ is our Savior! We should ALWAYS be proud to represent Him and to share His gospel! I am so thankful for the example of our dear friend who made Jesus Christ the center of his life and conversation and the source of his happiness!! His faith was abundant! May we all have enough faith to represent Christ at ALL times, in ALL things, and in ALL places! I love you all!!!! <3 Have a magical and miracle filled 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: service project, clouds, corona, castle :)