Scatter Sunshine: Adriatic South: Të pafsha në ëndërr me një dhëndërr

C'kemi! Si Jeni?

Hey how've you been! Things are going SO AWESOME here in Korcë! I'm also officially LEGAL WOOOO! (Finished all my paper work to be a resident in Albania)

Culture Shocks of the Week:

1. Albanians and directions. It is so funny! I was having a member tell me where to go and there was a fork in the road. He said, "Go straight" and I'm just like, "it doesn't work like that!" haha then when I reach the end of the road and there's either a right turn or left turn, they say, "Turn!" At that point. I'm just lost haha

2. There's food I didn't think could be food. I had this meat juice mixed with oil....yeah.....

3. I tried the only American fast food place here in Albania-KFC. Best thing was that we ordered the "snack box" and the picture looked great filled with chicken legs and fries. We then open up to find one lone chick leg and a couple of fries. It didn't help that is was about 3 times the price than it would be in America...I'm just going to stick to the Albanian food haha

So a couple things about how our little branch (not even a branch yet)works here in Korcë. There are 4 missionaries here in Korcë: Motra Willey and I and then the 2 Elders. One of the Elders represents our "Branch president". We run about everything you can think of in the church. Branch council: that's us. Branch activities, strengthening members, teaching, giving talks every other week, and more are included in that. It has been such a blessing being involved in everything and helping our little branch grow! We just started relief society this last week and started Young Women's last week! My companion and I run both of those programs while the Elders works with the priesthood. I love these people and I have loved helping to establish the church here in Korcë along with teaching and finding people!

As for those I am teaching, the work here has been so awesome! We are teaching this amazing family who lives in a fshat (a little town close to the city) who does everything they can to get to church. One of the daughters I about teared up when she walked through the doors of the church yesterday as she did everything she could to get out of things for school to get to church! She is amazing! She is preparing for baptism and when we taught here about the Word of Wisdom, since that day she has immediately stopped drinking coffee! She says since then, she drinks cocoa instead and has seen the blessings. It's been incredible! She has such a love for this gospel and has been sharing with us how she is coming to know that this church is true! She calls Motra Willey and I her angels as we have come to help her to come to know of the truth!

We have another family here where the children are members and the mom has been reading and LOVING the Book of Mormon! She actually finished reading it this last week! Every time we go over to their home, I feel like I am home. I have loved being able to strengthen my faith through helping to strengthen them! We read Book of Mormon stories and relate them to our lives! This last week we taught about Lahonti and the Hill Antipas (Alma 47) and how he gave into the temptations of Amalikiah. We talked about how we need to establish our hills and not give into the little things! I have learned so much from their humility as they wrote down things they can work on now to stay up on the hill reading their scriptures, praying, going to church, and doing the little things to strengthen them!

Another family we are teaching is this adorable couple working together to get baptized. They are having difficulties with the Word of Wisdom but I have loved seeing their desire and their strength. The wife, she is so funny. She's hid her husband's cigarettes and when he asks where they are, she calls out, "You shouldn't be smoking! The sisters told us not to!" Another time, she opened up the Bible and she was like, "Look at that! We need to repent or we're going to end up like these people." I love them!

Finally, we are teaching this one family who asked us, "None of the other churches have the Book of Mormon or have ever heard of the Book of Mormon. How do we know true?" I was then able to testify, "That's what makes us different. We have the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ contained in the Book of Mormon and all we need to do is to read it and pray about it to know it's true. We can know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints truly contains the fullness of the gospel and truly is Christ's church restored on this earth."

I truly know that this church is Christ's church! I know with all my heart that the Book of Mormon and what it contains brings true happiness. I love serving these people and I have been learning so much from these people and I am working to sharing with you more about their experiences along with mine. I love this gospel and I wake up everyday so happy to have another day serving the people of Albania.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week! Të pafsha në ëndërr me një dhëndërr (May I see you in my dreams with a husband. I get told that all the time haha)