Scatter Sunshine: Adriatic South: Gëzuar Ditë e Verës!

Pershëndetje from Tirana! This city is HUGE! I never knew what it would be like to be a city girl. There are plenty of people to talk to in the streets, just not quite as many so open to hear our message :) My companion is Motra DeCoursey! She's played volleyball, she's super tall, and she was a 2nd grade teacher before she decided to drop everything and serve a mission. That truly is so awesome!

Culture Shocks of the Week:

1. GEZUAR DITE E VERES! This holiday is HUGE here in Albania! It is "Summer's Day" and there are open fires everywhere symbolizing burning the old and starting with the new as Spring is approaching. People eat these giant cookies here called Ballokume and have little traditions with sleeping with twigs under their pillows and throwing it out the next day to have their dreams come true.

2. Here in Tirana I feel like I'm at a carnival everywhere I go with all kinds of vendors in the streets selling all kinds of fruits with popcorn stands and cotton candy.

3. Due to Albania's history with it being under a communist dictatorship, there are bunkers all over Albania for protection just in case they were attacked during that time. They are concrete domes and you find them in people's back yards. The intent was to have a bunker for every 11 people. For P-Day, we went to the massive 4 story bunker 4 underground! It took about 5 years to be built-and it was never used. hahaIt's now a pretty cool museum though!

So this past week has been filled with a lot of street contacting and finding. We are now starting up a lot of things like English course, sport activities, and Family Home Evening here to really find and meet people here in Tirana! There are SO MANY people here from all over Albania so it's fun to hear the different accents from everyone.

Because we are the sisters over 2 wards (2 areas) we are walking a lot-all over Tirana back and forth! Lessons are different here as we have them on park benches, walking down the streets, and even in local cafes. Right now we are really working on finding people so we will see how this next week goes!

I LOVE CHURCH! Oh my goodness it is so peaceful! I have about 5 hours of church every week because we are over 2 wards and I am just at peace singing hymns, partaking of the Sacrament to remember my Savior, and learning more about my Savior. One thing that really stood out to me was someone in the ward was sharing about the story of Lot's wife in the Bible who looked back longing in the past. He is now a returned missionary and he said as he was thinking about the story, he realized how much he had been looking back at the joys of his mission and not looking to the future. This has impacted me. It's a lot going through change right now and as much as I can look back and think back to the joys and memories I have had in the past, that shouldn't be effecting what I am experiencing now. Instead of looking back longing for the joys in the past, let us look forward to a joyous future. As we always look to improve, to overcome this next trial, and to continue to impact those around us-therein lies everlasting happiness. As we always look forward to the Lord and look to Christ, striving to improve everyday, we will find peace and joy. I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Here's an amazing talk from Elder Holland titled, "The Best is Yet to Be" https://www.lds.org/ensign/2010/01/the-best-is-yet-to-be?lang=engtalking about looking forward with faith! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Saying goodbye to my Korcë family!

The people here are so giving and so nice! As I was leaving Korcë, the people gave me all kinds of gifts ranging from homemade food to a potted flower :)