HELLO TO ALL FAM AND FRIENDS!! What a wild ride this week has been!!! We had such a good week with the funniest stories. We are teaching some amazing people 1 of which will be getting baptized somewhere in the next 2 weeks!! Yay! We had more exchanges too which was super fun. Also we are having a mission talent show in 3 weeks so if any of you have any ideas for good talents I could perform please send them my way;)
CULTURE SHOCKS:
1. Many Albanians love poetry!! They are even published authors! Haha we have collected many books given to us by our Albanian friends:)
2. Homemade wine is a tradition here. The Muslims don't drink wine but almost all of the Christians drink wine. They stomp on the grapes with their bare feet and make it themselves!!
3. Albania has many castles here!! They are so beautiful and old! Aww I love it.
FUNNIES:
1. So this week we had as such an amazing lesson with a member. We also taught her daughter and husband who are not members and it was just super spiritual. She is amazing. She brought us some juice (or so I thought) and I drank it and was like wow this is pretty tasty! However, it also had a tinge of something that was not very good at the same time. Anyways, after I had finished my glass I looked up and decided to ask her what drink she had given us. She then proceeded to tell us she had made homemade wine!!! Hahaha oh no. So then we kinda explained awkwardly that we don't drink wine but she said, "No it is okay because it is just a little bit" hahaha I was dying. She would not resist trying to make us drink more wine! We finally were able to convince her to give us homemade pear juice instead (these are just some of their fshati traditions). So I drank my pear juice because it was honestly super tasty and then I asked her for the recipe and what did it call for??? MORE ALCOHOL HAHAHAHA OH MY HECK ALBANIA. It was so bad but so funny. THEN 2 days later we had a lesson with a completely different couple who also gave us a mystery drink that looked just like orange juice. We came to find out VERY quickly that it was NOT in fact orange juice but GROSS THICK HAND SANITIZER TASTING ALCOHOL. My advice to you all, DON'T DRINK ALCOHOL IT IS GROSS AND A COMMANDMENT.
2. We had a lesson this week with a cut lady and her mom. We went to their house and right as we got there she yelled, "kokoshka është në zjarr!!!!!!!!!" (The popcorn is on fire!!!!!!!) We looked over and there was just this bag of charred popcorn on fire just blazing in the microwave!! It was so bad!! They were yelling and running round about trying to put it out oh man it was so funny. Hahaha it also smelled so freaking bad I was dying laughing because these old women had NO clue what they were doing with their microwave. To make matters even better she also gave us the great opportunity to EAT the wonderfully roasted, toasted, FIRE popcorn!
3. During another lesson we had another hilarious experience this week. During our lesson we read about the Holy Ghost coming in the form of a "pëllumb" (dove) when Jesus was baptized. Well "pëllumb" in shqip means both dove and pigeon. Our friend absolutely lost it when we read her that scripture hahaa. She just started going OFF about how there are good people and there are bad people and that there are good birds and there are bad birds. The pëllumb (pigeon) happens to be a bad bird who also happens to be the bird of dracula (according to her). That brought a lot of questions to the table. Most of which consisted of her asking us if we believed in vampires. It ended up being really good though and she is progressing really well so YAY HAHA.
SPIRITUAL UPLIFTMENT:
Alma 60:23 "...Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also." This week we have taught the most amazing people. It is such cool thing to watch the change that the gospel has on people. One friend we are teaching is such an example of this change. When we first met her she wasn't very happy. She never smiled and you could almost feel the light missing from her eyes! She was lost. However, as she started reading and praying she began to find the light that comes from Jesus Christ. It changed her from the inside-out. She found hope in His words, peace in His comfort, and joy in His example. She LOOKS happy and put together now. She is just filled with the spirit and it shows! When we take the time to "clean our inner vessels" the changes develop within us and are shown outside of us! What things do you need to do to clean your inner vessel?
I LOVE YOU ALL!!! HAVE A HAPPY WEEK, CHOOSE THE RIGHT, AND REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE < 3
Love, Motra Sëtën
Adriatic South Mission
P.O. Box 2984
Bulevardi Gjergj Fishta
Qendra ALPAS
Shkalla NR. 5 Apartamenti NR.14
Tirana, Albania
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