Scatter Sunshine: Adriatic South: Beary Happy

Hello everyone!! This week has been a crazy one, but a fun one!! Motra Suko and I have been having a BLAST training Motra Hysa! She is from Vlorë, Albania and has incredible language skills ;) She is so excited to serve her people and I am honestly so blessed to work with her! She has been a convert of just 3 years as 3 years ago, her brother came home with a Book of Mormon and she LOVES to read so she was like, "Look! A new book!" She starts reading and goes to church. While she didn't understand a LOT of things, one thing kept bringing her back and that was the peace that she felt. She eventually came to know that this church was true and was baptized and has been preparing for a mission ever since! She is incredible! It's definitely been a lot of fun in this trio :)

Culture Shocks of the Week:

1. BEAR WORLD! Some animals you can find here in Kosovo are bears so we went out to Prishtina to Bear World to see all these bears that have been rescued.

2. Prishtina is a huge city here in Kosovo that LOVES America haha there's like a statue of liberty there in the center of the city. It was fun to see :)

3. VALLE DANCING! So the perks of having an Albanian companion is that after a long, tiring day, we break out into dance back in our apartment. Motra Hysa taught us Albanian Populore (Traditional) dance called Valle. It's a line dance where everybody joins hands and there are these off-beat steps and hops and all kinds of things. It is so fun!

So this week Motra Suko and I went out to Tirana to pick up Motra Hysa and ever since then, we have been out finding, working, and doing all we can to serve the Lord. It has been so fun! We have met with so many people going door to door and talking to everyone and have had some incredible lessons! Something I have loved is how much Motra Hysa truly can connect to these people here! That has been something super special to see! We are also teaching this girl who is preparing to get baptized this week so we are so excited!

This past week I have been reading in Jesus the Christ and as I read about Christ's suffering, I was impacted at how much He truly suffered for US! For you! For me! After an evening with His apostles at the last supper, He went and suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane. Right after that, He was betrayed after being sold for the price of a slave from one of His apostles, Judas Iscariot. After that, He went through completely illegal, inhumane trials all night and was sentenced to death because of the cry of the people! He suffered on the cross because He LOVES us! This is so real! While His death was such a sacrifice for us, He is risen! He was resurrected after 3 days and is risen. He lives! If you're wondering why we don't bear the cross, it is because it is the fact that He lives that we focus on! It is the hope for the future, the hope for tomorrow, and the hope that through Christ we can do all things that we focus on. The way we live; the way we act; the way we serve is how we display our faith in Christ. He lives and He truly is there for us! As we shared this video (https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/he-is-risen?lang=eng) with the girl that we are teaching this last week, I could see how she was impacted. Her family is Muslim but she is excited to follow His example and be baptized this week. I know that He is Hope. He is everything that is good. It is through Him that I can do all things. I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love you all and hope you have a WONDERFUL week!!

Getting ready to pick up our trainee Motra Hysa :)

My CUTE companions: Motra Suko and Motra Hysa.

My mission president and his wife with us in Tirana.

We went up to see the statue where Elder Oaks dedicated the nation of Albania to the declaring of the gospel of Jesus Christ that I saw on my first day! It was so special! We read the dedicatory prayers of all 3 countries.