Scatter Sunshine: Adriatic South

Monday, April 17, 2017

Gëzuar Pashket!!

Gëzuar Pashket!! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! This past week was very eventful and only really pictures can explain haha

Culture Shocks of the Week:

1. Easter is not as big of a holiday here however when people do celebrate, tons of people give out hard boiled eggs died red.

2. It is possible to walk into America in Albania. We went into an American Embassy neighborhood as one of our members invited us over for Easter dinner. Literally we walked in and saw lawns, trampolines, garages-it was crazy how much it felt like being back home! Then to top it off, we had mash potatoes, ham, and a lot of food you can't really find in the streets of Albania :)

3. The older men here in Albania are called xhaxhis (jaw-jee) and we have parks we like to call xhaxhi parks here in Tirana. Literally you passed by a park, and it is filled with old men and they spend their days sitting on cardboard boxes playing dominoes or cards. It is my favorite things. Sometimes I think parks are built just for them.

So this week was filled with a ton of activities! One of my wards had an activity where we had an Easter egg hunt. The difference is we aren't searching for plastic eggs filled with candy and the sadly nonexistent Reese's, but for hard-boiled eggs died red. At church everyone was handing out these eggs died red. It's a thing. :) We also had a beautiful evening this past week for Easter as we shared the #PRINCEofPEACE (#PRINCiPAQES) video along with having musical numbers like a missionary choir and some people playing violin or playing the piano. It was absolutely beautiful and so peaceful to focus on this beautiful holiday centered around Christ! He truly is the Prince of Peace.

This past week I went on another exchange with another set of sisters in Tirana! I got to spend a day with Motra Suko-literally the sweetest thing! She is from Utah but has lived in Austria for some time as her dad is German. I love getting to know so many sisters and learning from them as I go on exchanges! Also it was her birthday this weekend so we all went out to get Mexican Food in Albania! And not going to lie...it was really good :)

So a few stories about the people we are teaching: we were having a lesson on the joy and the gospel that we need to follow to return back to our Father in Heaven and to find eternal happiness through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the End. (2 Nephi 31) It truly is so special to share that this is Christ's gospel that we follow to obtain eternal happiness. As we were sharing that with someone we were teaching and we were extending the invitation to baptism, she interrupted us mid-sentence saying, "Yes I would love to!" We are so excited for her desire and to continue helping her along this path!

Another lady we've been teaching, we teach her and then leave her with the Book of Mormon and pamphlets with more information on what we've shared with her that day. The next visits we have we ask what she has read and understood from the last lesson and she then proceeds to literally reteach what we've shared with her last time! We are in awe as she just shares all of these details, some I've never realized before. She is an example to me of truly feasting on the words of Christ. She's always searching to learn it is incredible! As she came with us to church, she was just soaking everything in and asking to take all the books home so she can read and understand the things taught at church more! She is incredible and I am truly seeing her find more hope and more happiness in her life as she instead shares with us the blessings she's seen in her life than the hardships she's faced. One day we passed her in the street and she shared, "I was reading and I was realizing that I am not worthy to enter into God's presence! I need to be clean! Of course I need to get baptized!" What? We are SO excited for her! It is through baptism that we are truly cleansed and we take that first big step following Christ!

I just think of the verse in 2 Nephi 32:3 "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do."

As we feast upon the words of Christ: The Bible, the Book of Mormon, words from our living prophets, we will know all things that we should do! Another verse stood out to me in 2 Nephi 33:10 "And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good."

Whatever testifies of Christ, is true! If we truly believe in Christ, then whatever testifies of Christ is true! Living prophets testify of Christ; the Book of Mormon testifies; and the Bible testifies! Then through the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of God, we can feel of that truth and that peace that we have a Savior. Through the words of Christ and through the Holy Ghost, we truly have guidance in our life. I have seen that with this friend that we are teaching. As she feasted on the words of Christ, she has come to know the truth of this message and she has that desire to follow Christ through baptism! This is true happiness and true joy: to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the light and the Way. I testify of that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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

Motra Suko and I on exchanges :)

We had some members from our ward join us for Mexican food: I LOVE THEM!

An Albanian chimichanga. I'm impressed.

We had a picnic at our Easter activity with our ward.

I had someone make me a flower crown :)

Yes we are still in Albania.....this is a mini America! It was crazy!

We went to go see a castle here near Tirana and it is BEAUTIFUL!

The inside of an old mosque!

Skënderbeu! He's HUGE here in Albania :)

This is one way to go to the bathroom.....

If it looks like I just took a shower, it's because I pretty much did. It was POURING today!

Honoring a war hero. A dear friend from NH's grandfather whose memorial is here in Tirana.

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, April 10, 2017

Libri i Mormonit

Hey how've you been? Because I extended the invitation last week of sharing a funny story, now it's my turn. :) So this last week we were over at this lady's home for lunch. Her mom was there and she was just talking and conversing with us for like 20 minutes. Then after the 20 minutes, she asks, "Do you know Shqip? (Albanian) Then the daughter spoke to her mom "If they are responding to you in Shqip, it means that they know Shqip". It was the funniest thing.

Culture Shocks of the Week:

1. The cities here always have workers here with brooms made out of sticks and twigs sweeping up the streets! We actually have some friends now we pass by every day, and multiple times throughout our day at that as they are with their brooms calling out "Where are you headed to now?"

2. I've grown an appreciation for vacuums. Here, everyone has rugs- carpet doesn't exist. Nor vacuums, therefore with a lot of water and soap, and flooding the floor of peoples' walkways, we cleaned a lady's rugs this past week.

3. Here there's a 3 wheeled vehicle called a "dum dum" (doom doom) and they're everywhere! I always feel like they're on the edge of tipping over.

Oh my goodness. We saw so many miracles and blessings this past week to the point of where we had people running to US to know more about the gospel of Jesus Christ! An awesome story of one friend of ours, we'll name her A, we were leaving English course and this girl ran up to us calling out, "Are you the girls with the Book of Mormons?" at that point we had an opportunity to teach our message and she shared with us her question of "There are so many churches! How can I know which of them are right?" If any of you have that question, ask the missionaries and they'll let you know :) It was so awesome and we are so excited to continue teaching her!

We had a precious moment this last week with a lady who has been going through a lot of difficult challenges in her life. She shared with us how she fell away from Christ and it was through a pray that she felt such a powerful love of Christ and then met us in the streets. She knew she wanted to turn back to Christ so she met with us. It was such a special moment testifying of the love of our Savior and testifying about how it is not what we did in the past that matters, but what we decide now to change. That is repentance. No matter what stage of life we are in, we will ALWAYS be forgiven as we turn to Christ and follow Him!

We met with another girl this week named G who has read a little bit of the Book of Mormon before. It was so special because she shared, "I love reading and I feel something different when I read this book. There's a peace and a happiness I feel when I read this." I can testify that that feeling is the Holy Ghost: The Spirit of God testifying of this truth of this book! Another lady that called out to us in the streets said, "Come to my house and bring me a Book of Mormon. I miss him." Something that stood out to me was that she said, "I miss him" in broken up English. While it could've been just a grammatical error translating from Shqip to English, I thought about that phrase "I miss him". I then thought about replacing "him" with Christ. The Book of Mormon truly are the words of Christ! It truly is another testament of Jesus Christ in addition to the Bible! I truly feel a longing when I do not read the Book of Mormon. I can testify of the truth of the Book of Mormon. It contains the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It truly brings peace into our lives because it is through it, that Christ speaks to us. In this recent General Conference, our beloved Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson testified, "We live in a time of great trouble and wickedness. What will protect us from the sin and evil so prevalent in the world today? I maintain that a strong testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and of His gospel will help see us through to safety. If you are not reading the Book of Mormon each day, please do so. If you will read it prayerfully and with a sincere desire to know the truth, the Holy Ghost will manifest its truth to you." (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/the-power-of-the-book-of-mormon?lang=eng)

I can testify of that! It is Christ and His peace, His protection, and His love that we miss when we do not feast upon His words in the Book of Mormon daily. I have found the greatest peace and the greatest joy when I read His words. I invite you to read the Book of Mormon every day and be filled with His love! I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Wow I love you all a ton! Really! Have a wonderful week and a wonderful Easter!

All my previous companions in the mission :) I love them all!

Woooo suflaqe! (pita bread with salad, fries, chicken, tomatoes, and a bunch of other random stuff)

Dum dum! I want me one of these :)

We found one of our gospel books on the streets in a book sale hahaha we didn't expect that!

We found American Chinese food in Albania!

We had Sisters conference this week where all of the sisters from Macedonia, Kosovo, and Albania gathered together. My companion and I got to give a training as Sister Training Leaders so that was fun!

I made LAKROR! (A Korchë recipe. It's basically a lazy byrek with less layers)

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, April 3, 2017

Princ i Paqes

Përshëndetje ju të gjithë! How's your week been? This past week has been such an awesome week and we have so many incredible events coming up I'm so excited!

Culture Shocks of the Week:

1. Families are huge here in Albania. Families are so important in this culture and my favorite thing is to see mothers walking in the streets with their babies in strollers. Literally, there are strollers everywhere! My favorite thing is getting on a bus and being surrounded by a bunch of ladies and their strollers. I'm just impressed with their skills getting them on the bus!

2. So no joke, Albania has like an unspoken naptime from the hours of 2-4pm. During that time, there are like no one in the streets and when we try to visit people or meet new people, they always say, "don't you know we're sleeping?" It's the best!

3. I think one of the reasons I was sent to this mission is that the Lord knew how much I love ice cream. Oh my goodness is it good and it is everywhere! Funny story, I've been asking for samples at the ice cream shops multiple times and then when I got ice cream with Motra Cajupi this week and asked to try a sample, she laughed at me and told me Albania is not like America. It makes so much sense now that previous ice cream workers were so confused but gave me samples anyways haha woops :)

So this week I got to go on yet another exchange and this time I was so blessed to have Motra Cajupi come here to Tirana with me for a day. It truly was a blessing as we went out and really focused on street contacting and talking with the people. Through this experience, it was an answer to my prayers as my faith grew and my desire to talk to everyone has increased so that I can do all that I can to serve the Lord and share this gospel of joy to everyone here in Tirana.

A cool story we had this week as we were walking to a lesson, a lady stopped us in the apartment complex and told us, "What is that book, the Book of Mormon? Can I have one and can I read it?" we are so excited and are meeting with her this week to share our message about Christ and the Book of Mormon. I have just been seeing so many people placed in our paths and we are meeting with them all this week so I will let you know how it goes next week!

Some other activities we experienced this week to find more people was that we started English course again! We passed out about 5,000 flyers and got a good amount of people that came! It was awesome! I have my own little class and I teach the advanced English course. At the end of each class, we are able to share a little spiritual thought with everyone then invite them to learn more. Another beautiful experience I had this week was all of the Tirana missionaries, we got together to sing hymns to advertise for this beautiful event we are having for Easter. You don't really see a lot of choirs singing in the streets of Tirana, or any, so it was cool to have some people gather around and some people said their child heard us down the street and begged them to come and see.

Something that's been really standing out to me is that for this upcoming Easter, we have a message focusing on Christ and about Him as the Prince of Peace (or Princ i Paqes). In Isaiah 9:6 it says, "...and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Christ truly is the Prince of Peace. It is only through Him that we can find peace.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

He can only come unto us and comfort us if we accept him; if we follow Him. He loves us so much that He is giving US the choice to accept Him. If we truly desire peace in this life, then we need to accept Him and come unto Him. Then through doing that, He can come unto us. As I was going through a hard time this week, I was thinking about how I can obtain peace. I then turned to the scriptures and read John 14:18 "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." I then dropped to my knees and poured my heart out to my Heavenly Father and I felt such a peace. I know that ways that we can come unto Him is through prayer and through the scriptures. I have felt the greatest peace and it is only through the Savior that we can obtain this peace. I invite you to see this message https://www.mormon.org/ about #PRINCEofPEACE. You will find peace as you come unto Him. I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Have a wonderful week! You are in my prayers! And tell me a funny story you experienced this week :)

Back together with my mama Motra Cajupi! (first companion/trainer)

I found this run down, small wood shop here in Tirana and this man can carve ANYTHING into wood! I gave him my favorite picture of Christ and this is how it turned out!