Scatter Sunshine: Adriatic South: July 2017

Monday, July 31, 2017

HEY THIS IS NATALIE!!!

Hello everyone! I want to start off saying how my I LOVE GJAKOVA!! This place is honestly my new home and I love everything about it! Kosovo is SO special and I have a new family here! I don't even know where to begin! I want to share a little bit more about my companion Motra Suko: She is half German so I'm learning a little German (that's a joke. I still got a lot to learn in Albanian haha) and lives in Austria. She is super fun, knows a lot about essential oils (now I'm obsessed) and shares with me my obsession with peanutbutter so it's perfect :)

Culture Shocks of the Week:

1. First off: My face. I'll tell you why haha Gjakova is the place for weddings. People travel from ALL over: Switzerland, Germany, Albania, and all over Kosovo to Gjakova to have their weddings (or Dasmas) So there are always a line of cars with ribbons honking through the streets with people hanging out of the windows. There are beauty salons on EVERY corner to prepare all the brides and the nights are just blasting with music. It's super fun to be here during wedding season! So my companion and I needed to experience a little bit of the culture....we went into a beauty salon today and said, "Make us a bride" (Më bën një nuse) The girls LOVED it and let's just say I'm in shock. you can tell how huge the weddings are based off of my makeup.....so fun!

2. The kids in the streets here play night games! It is so fun to be heading home at night and seeing all of these kids running through the streets playing their games.

3. We have been doing a LOT of tracting here and what I love about Gjakova that I haven't really seen in Albania is neighborhoods!! It's in the newer part of Gjakova built after the war.

So our days usually consist of appointments falling through and we end up going out and talking with everyone whether that be through tracting (house to house) or street contacting. I honestly have come to love it so much. We went out contacting yesterday and the people here are just incredible and I love talking with so many people but also sharing with them our Heavenly Father's love for them! It truly has been a special experience! Other than that, our little branch is super close with each other because we have about 7 active members. It has been such a blessing getting to know them and growing closer to them. We have been having little activities like playing volleyball and reading the Book of Mormon together and honestly these people here are my family!

I just wanted to share something with you that become real for me this past week. As I've been going and talking with so many people, there are a lot of Muslims here and they don't know a lot about Christ. As I have been developing a relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ, I desire others to have that too! My entire life I have felt a connection to my Father in Heaven as I have treasured prayer. We pray to our Heavenly Father in Christ's name but I didn't feel as connected to Christ until my Senior Year. I then realized that that is how the people are here. They have a strong belief in God! Understanding more about God helps us understand why Christ was sent and why He sacrificed for us! God is our literal Father in Heaven. The means: He created us! We are His children. He is the Father of our Spirits but we are sent to earth to have the blessing of receiving a body as He has. He resides in Heaven and watches over us and does all that He can to bless us and to care for us because He is our Father! To know that I am a daughter of God is a way that I realize my worth and even if the world tells me otherwise. You are a child of God! He love YOU so much SO THAT He sent His Son, Jesus Christ so we have a light and a way in this life to grow, to experience joy, and to become like Him! All He wants is to bless us and give us all that He has just like any other parent or parental figure would. Sharing with the people here who God truly is has helped me come to know more of who I am, and who I truly am. We are children of God. We have a way to happiness and that hope is tangible because Christ's love is real. All that Christ does is according to the Father's will. Therefore, if we come to know Christ through becoming like Him and following His example, we come to know God, our Father in Heaven who loves us with all that He is.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Tell yourself in the mirror everyday that you are a Child of God because you are of worth. You are divine! Come to know Christ and you will come to know your Heavenly Father. I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week!

The sign for this meat shop is not big enough... :)

The church here in Gjakova.

Typical... :)

Your typical wedding car.

Loving the sun here in Gjakova :)

MY GIRLS! These are some members in the branch.

Tracting in the neighborhoods :) No I am not wearing white shoes.

BEFORE

AFTER! This is honestly how an Albanian bride looks like!

Me and my companion :)

The sweet girls that did our makeup.

Yes we look like dolls....I'm pretty afraid myself hahaha

There was a fan and everything for the effects :)

Mirupafshim! Të dua!

Motra Olsen

Letters:

Adriatic South Mission
Sister Natalie Olsen
POB 2984
Bulevardi "Gjergj Fishta"
Qendra "Alpas", Shkalla #5, Apt #14
Tirana
Albania

(If you can't send it with the POB box number, you can just send it without it. I'll still get it)

Email: natalie.olsen@myldsmail.net

mormon.org

Monday, July 24, 2017

Qysh Je Prej Gjakovas!! KOSOVO!

QYSH JE? If any of you knew Albanian, you'd realize that I am now speaking Kosovar, or GHEG! (I'll explain). Hello everyone from the beautiful, humble country of Kosovo!! There is some incredible history here and some incredible people here! so an update about my life: My President and the leaders are still trying to figure out how they can get me into Macedonia because Macedonia might not actually let me into the country. We will hope and pray if I make it in and if not, I'm meant to be here in Kosovo. :)

Culture Shocks of the Week:

1. I am back to the basics learning the language...let's just say that in Kosovo it's a different Albanian where they have a different vocabulary and grammar structure. The Albanian I've learned is Toskë but in Kosovo they speak in a different dialect: Gheg. It's actually coming along faster than I thought! But I definitely have people tell me, "I didn't understand a single word you said." Super fun :)

2. Kosovo is such a special place! So they just went through war just 10 years ago so the buildings are still getting rebuilt and you see people still recovering from the war in the streets. I'm just amazed at how people are doing after what they've been through.

3. I have never seen so many meat shops in my life. It's like they just eat meat in Kosovo! I also got to have ROOTBEER!! You can't find that in Albania so I was pretty pumped :)

So I wanted to share a little more about Gjakova. I feel like I have entered into Hyrum, Utah with horses everywhere and it's like a little farmland with tractors everywhere. It is a very small city especially in comparison to Tirana. That definitely was a shock but I have absolutely loved it! I am back to a little, little branch (speaking of: Korcë is becoming a BRANCH in SEPTEMBER!) with just 2 hours of church and we have a senior couple as the branch president. I honestly love it so much. When I entered, the branch welcomed me right in and an adorable little girl, Maria, ran right up to me saying, "I love you Motra!" and now she will not leave my side haha I love these people and am so excited to serve here with my new family.

The work here in Kosovo definitely is different than in any other area I've served. There are not as many people out and about and we are doing a lot of finding and talking with everyone. I love it! Something super cool that happened this past week was that Liz, a lady who came to Kosovo 10 years ago to help children with post-traumatic stress after the war, was in town. She is actually a member and at that time, held. Through her influence, the country was opened up to missionaries and the church just 5 YEARS ago so it is still very new here. As she was in town, we were able to serve with her and help run little carnivals for the little kids in Kosovo along with playing some music with them. I got to play my ukulele!! I was so happy and the kids were absolutely thrilled!

Another precious experience I had was we went out into this outer village to visit a family. The mother called us into her humble home so we climbed in and all sat around this massive platter of cabbage. She ripped off chunks of bread for us to feast. After that, we had all these little boys marching through the streets playing their drums and a bunch of the people gathered and started doing traditional dancing to the drums. I just sat there in awe at the beauty of these people. Them being there as a family is what brought them joy. I truly have a testimony of families. They are precious above anything else.

"Our family is the focus of our greatest work and joy in this life; so will it be throughout all eternity."-Russel M. Nelson

I know that we lived with our Heavenly Father who loves us. He has given us our families. I truly know that we have come from this Heavenly Home and we have our families here to prepare to return back to our Heavenly Home with our eternal families. Life truly has so much more of a meaning and a purpose as we keep in perspective the reality of eternal families. Everything that our Heavenly Father does and His Son, Jesus Christ does is to bring to pass this eternal happiness and eternal joy with our families. I am here to teach how we can achieve this! How truly hope is tangible as we act and follow Christ together as a family. I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Have a wonderful week this week and spend time with your family! I love mine with all of my heart.

Entering Kosovo!!

The kids we served there.

We tie dyed shirts with the kids.

I love the horse carriages EVERYWHERE!

This cat just casually slipped into my bag...

I know. I didn't Aloe Vera could be a drink either.

We made hygiene kits with the woman in our branch. Maria is the little girl by me.

Gjakova. There are mosques EVERYWHERE!

Your typical vehicle on the streets.

Milkshakes :)

Mirupafshim! Të dua!

Motra Olsen

Letters:

Adriatic South Mission
Sister Natalie Olsen
POB 2984
Bulevardi "Gjergj Fishta"
Qendra "Alpas", Shkalla #5, Apt #14
Tirana
Albania

(If you can't send it with the POB box number, you can just send it without it. I'll still get it)

Email: natalie.olsen@myldsmail.net

mormon.org

Monday, July 17, 2017

From Tirana.....to MACEDONIA?!

Cfarë?!!!! SI JENI JU? Jam mirë! Thjeshtë do shkoj në Macedoni?!! How are you all doing? I'm just going to go right into the culture shocks.....

Culture Shocks of the Week:

1. I'm 9 months into my mission meaning I'm halfway :(

2. I'M GETTING TRANSFERRED TO MACEDONIA! No I don't speak Macedonian. No I can't read Serbian (the Book of Mormon is in Serbian). This will be so much fun!

3. Before I go to Macedonia, I'm serving in KOSOVO for 10 days while they do my paperwork and wait for another sister to fill my place in Kosovo.

In conclusion: I get to serve in all 3 countries on my mission! WHAT?! I'll be learning a little Macedonian, Serbian, and Gheg (Kosovo's Albanian). I'm so excited! It's a special assignment for one transfer (6 weeks) but honestly I am just so ready to go out and serve the Lord serving the people in Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia!

So me being transferred means that I sadly had to say goodbye to my family here in Tirana. It was definitely a big family! haha I love all these people here and honestly am just so grateful I had the opportunity to serve them for this last 4 and a half months. Some special moments from this last week was that Liliana is getting baptized!! I am just so excited for all of the people that we are teaching right now and their preparation to make this covenant and receive the blessings of baptism! Hopefully I can hear about it somehow in Macedonia haha

Some other moments from this last week: We have become regulars at a milkshake place we discovered by our home....they've now been giving us free cookies. I don't know how that's helping our health haha but hey, I had a lesson with an older lady who told us ice cream is good for you so I'm going to go with her wisdom :) Also I got to go on an exchange in Shkodër again and honestly I just love that city! Any city that's not Tirana is a quiet city haha and lastly, for my last Sunday, I gave another talk in the other ward and probably said about every prayer in every class possible because of me leaving.....also I have to mention that as I was the organist in the Tirana 1st ward, I may have been playing the wrong song for half of the song in church as everyone was singing a different song. They thought the chorister was confused hahaha luckily it was just one of the Elders directing the song.

As I am now halfway through my mission, I just wanted to share something I have learned. This past 9 months I have learned about how real the love of God is. It is powerful! I have found that if we are feeling down or we feel that God has forgotten about us, it is not that God has forgotten us, we have forgotten Him!

1 Nephi 21:14 But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me—but he will show that he hath not.

15 For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.

16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

I truly can testify of that as occasionally when I'm feeling down or a little lost, I then think, "Have I turned to the Lord?" It is then when I turn to the Lord in prayer, I feel of that comfort, peace, and love that only comes from Him. We met with a lady this week that approached us saying that she liked my companion's skirt :) We then ended up meeting with her at her home and she shared this message: God has not forgotten me! It is me that does the forgetting. She has such a desire to follow Christ, the Son of God. I just want to testify of the joy that come from following Christ and coming unto Him! That is literally why I am happy! His love becomes so REAL in our lives when we REALLY follow Him! It does require work, action, but it is doing something we've not done before that helps us feel something we've not felt before. That is why we keep learning, keep changing, and keep coming unto Christ. I testify of that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Have a wonderful week! Until next week when I'll be writing from Kosovo! :)