Morning in the "treg" (think farmer's market!)

We spent this morning looking for American style bacon in the treg right next to the Stephen's Center cafe, where we had a wonderful breakfast---waffles, eggs, bacon, toast,hot chocolate. After eating their bacon, we asked where they purchased it, and they pointed us to the next square over in the treg at a proschute and salame place called Hako. These are some of the colorful sites along the way.

The traditional New Year's meal in Albania is turkey, and there were turkey's everywhere this morning. Last year one of our missionaries was invited to New Year's dinner, and was given the honor of killing the turkey, which was done by slitting it's throat in the bathtub. Speaking of grisly things, much of the slaughter takes place right on the streets, usually on Sunday's. When the meat stores advertise "fresh meat", they really mean it! (Posted by Marty)

Singing in the Qender Christmas Eve

Motra Neil organized a wonderful Christmas eve activity with all the Tirana missionaries, young adults, and other branch members. There must have been 50 of us all together. We drove into the center of the city, beneath the giant statue of Skanderbeu, and after meeting up with everyone else who walked, we set up with several tables (nicely draped with red tableclothes), tracts and Books of Mormon, and a large picture of the Savior. We also brought a guitar and a small battery operated keyboard. After handing out Liz's homemade collection of all the translated Albanian Christmas carols (eight of them), we started singing, as loud as we could, because in the open air, and without amplification, the sound doesn't carry very far. As we sang hymns, missionaries did street contacting and wished passers-by a Merry Christmas.


I don't know that we sounded very great, but it was wonderful fun! We did have to take a few minute break, when the mosque right behind us began broadcasting the call to prayer (adhan)---they had major amplification!

The center has a very large, decorated Christmas tree, not too far from where we were singing...in fact, Christmas decorations are eveywhere! But, to our surprise, we learned that it's all about New Year's here. (It's not a Christmas tree....it's a New Year's tree!) They give gifts on New Year's as well. And, they do fireworks! So much so, that we instruct the missionaries to be in their apartments by 5 PM New Year's eve, and not to come back out until the next day----it's dangerous to be on the streets. (By Pres. Neil)

Gate Keepers

If the Assistants happen to be outside when we're loading up the car to exit the mission home grounds, they run to the open the gate for us. There they stand at attention with stone faces like they're Secret Service. They look up and point at the windows and roof, speak into their "watch radios" and salute us as we drive past. This morning as we exited to visit the Tirana 3rd Branch, we noticed a large group of men standing at the lokalë (cafe/bar) across the street (just out of view to the right) watching our little exit ceremony. We laughed and wondered who they think we are to deserve such respect!

Whew, What a Week!

Monday: Loads of preparations for Zone Conferences. I assembled 60 of these refrigerator magnets as a Christmas handout. The words are by Marvin K. Gardner from the song "Room in the Inn" by Vanja Watkins. My daughter Erin stamped and embossed the small manger cards for me before we left the states, and I cut and assembled the cards based on her design.

Tues., Dec. 9: We were invited to attend a concert with the Grimci's (District Presidency) of "The Tenors," an Albanian version of the famous "Three Tenors" concerts. It was not exactly high culture, but entertaining none-the-less, and the featured tenor from Italy was excellent, as was the orchestra. Also featured was an aging, bleached-blonde soprano from Italy who waltzed out in a slinky red dress with a fox-fur cape. She was all shtick and schmaltz, and had a knee-length vibrato. Cultural events here are very inexpensive to attend. Our tickets cost us $10 each and they were front-row seats!

Wed., Dec 10: An LDS family gave us second row tickets to the National Opera where the husband and wife play violin. It was a trio of "short" Puccini operas. "Short" is relative when it comes to opera, and we left after two and a half hours, missing the third opera. The Opera House is a concrete building, built in 1963. It is unheated, and there was cold air blowing on us throughout the performance. Fortunately, I brought a scarf with me which I wrapped around my neck and head, with only my eyes peeking out. My feet froze, though. If we hadn't been so cold, we could have enjoyed the excellent singing more!

Thurs., Dec. 11: Mulek Zone Conference. A real spiritual highlight of the last six weeks. My preparation included a Power Point presentation on cleaning apartments. I modified a presentation my friend Sandra Ludwig gave when her husband was president of the Greece Athens Mission. O.k., so that wasn't spiritual--but it was necessary! New Year's Day is a huge holiday here and follows a night of merry making and crazy fireworks, so the missionaries are staying inside for most of the day to "make a fresh start by deep cleaning their apartments." I also put together a missionary musical number; cinnamon rolls for the break; and a beef stew lunch for 34 with Christmas-decorated tables and large Christmas-tree cutout cookies for dessert. Marty gave two presentations, including one he developed with the Assistants on our vision of how we can have a stake here by mid-2011. They call the project "Korab," which is the highest mountain peak in Albania, and compares climbing a high mountain to the work and faith we need to accomplish our goal of a stake. Then the Assistants showed a beautiful slide show they developed of Christ's life in art, from birth to resurrection, with an accompaniment of a choir singing Mack Wilburg's "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need.

"The Sisters ended up at one table. You can see we dress to be warm here! One sister at this table told me she had on four pair of tights! The weather has been fairly mild, but the cold is a damp cold which chills to the bone, and it sometimes seems colder in our concrete and tile buildings than it is outside.

Fri., Dec. 12: Lehi Zone Conference. Same presentations, cinnamon rolls for break, and cutout sugar cookies, but for the "outside" zone we hire two women (both former caterers) to cook the lunch.

We left before the lunch because we had to get back to Tirana to take a dozen missionaries from the inside zone to the U.S. Ambassador's residence to sing carols at his annual Christmas reception for the embassy staff. They sang beautifully, but Marty said it was like missionary work: "Only a few people listen." The ambassador, John Withers, II, was most appreciative and the finger food was very American and very delicious. Marty had six or seven deviled eggs.

Sat. Dec. 13: Our 40th Wedding Anniversary. Marty gave me a beautiful Swarovski crystal angel. He had meetings until 2:15 and then we had lunch at an American cafe. It's not far from the mission home and it's the only place in town you can get a real hamburger and mexican food. Then we drove to the big QTU shopping center which is outside the city and hit the EuroMax supermarket to stock up on groceries.

While at the grocery store, I was waiting for the clerk to weigh my bananas (you bag your own produce, but it has to be weighed and tagged before the main checkout), when a man stepped in front of me with his produce. This has happened to me several times in lines and at elevators, and as Marty has told me, "You can't show weakness!" Actually, he was talking about driving when he said it but I decided I'd had enough and blurted out, "Excuse me!" in Albanian. He motioned for me to go ahead, but I'll bet he doesn't get challenged often, as this is a "men first" culture.

It was pouring rain and we didn't feel like doing much that evening, so we stayed in and watched a movie on our new Sharp Aquos, 32" screen, High-def, LCD, 1080p TV. Actually, this was an anniversary and Christmas present to ourselves and it replaced a small 20" screen TV that was here when we moved in. Well, we did need something bigger on which to show the missionaries General Conference, didn't we?! It will be our gift to the mission home.

Sunday, Dec. 14: Church in the little unit in Kamez, a suburb of Tirana. 19 people in attendance: two elders, Marty and me, the Vogli family of five who were the visiting speakers, one member and nine investigators. Pictured is the wonderful Vogli family. Brother Vogli is the man who sculpted our marble bust of Christ as a surprise gift. He also carves the marble name plates on our branch buildings. I'm going to teach Ester, who is eight years old, piano lessons. This was a very sweet Sacrament Meeting. Elder Monson and Humphreys are doing a wonderful work in Kamez.
After church we took a drive part of the way up Mt. Dajti (pronounced "Dyetee") which is directly to the East of Tirana. There is an aerial tram that you can take most of the way up the mountain, but I don't think I'll be getting on it unless they drug me first. Marty and Elder Shupe say they'll take it while Sister Shupe and I sit in the cafe below and drink hot cocoa. Marty is standing on one of the many concrete bunkers on the mountainside.


It's going to be what the missionaries call a "White Christmas" in Albania, due to all the baptisms scheduled for Christmas day. We're expecting as many as 25 convert baptisms in December, many of them coming from a little branch in Shkodër, which has had missionaries for only a year or so. Things have exploded following the baptisms of Adriana and Toma as they are wonderful member missionaries! (See Adriana's story below in Marty's post "Two Convert Stories.")

Christmas Calendar

My sister Virginia sent me this beautiful gift-filled calendar for the days of December, perfect for this spot in our living room. She found eight sheer curtain panels with pockets at a garage sale, and creative person that she is, immediately thought of how it would be a great advent calendar. Each pocket has a beautifully wrapped gift, sized specially for that pocket, a scripture card to help you guess what is inside, and a Christmas gift card that can be placed in the pocket so it continues to look festive as the gifts are taken out and opened. Also included in each package is a small ornament which goes on the little twig tree pictured here. We've been sharing the American candy and fun little gifts with the missionaries and they think my sister is something special! I gave one to my piano student Jona, (pronounced Yona) and she was thrilled, and carefully opened the metallic paper so she could save it.

We are Thankful...

• for a glorious, sunny Thanksgiving Day.
• for Tony and Heidi Baird, an American LDS couple with four young children. Tony works at the U.S. Embassy, and offered to get some turkeys for the mission when the Embassy ordered some for their employees. The Baird's generously donated cans of pumpkin, stuffing mix, and cranberry sauce to the cause.
• for folks back home who sent brown sugar, oatmeal, graham cracker crumbs, etc. so we (three mission couple wives) could give the missionaries a taste of home cookin'. (The oatmeal was for the dessert of apple crisp which we served along with pumpkin chiffon pie, apple pie, and pumpkin bread. Think we overdid it?)
  
• that the frozen turkeys arrived a week and a half early so we had time to distribute them to the three couples in the most distant cities for their dinners.
  
• for five non-American missionaries, Elder Rispoli of Australia, Elder Abley of England, Sister Kennedy of England, Elder Harline from Canada, and Elder Çelaj of Albania, who were perfectly happy to join in our American tradition of stuffing the face...I mean turkey. AND, we can't forget to mention Elder and Sister Müller from Switzerland, who cheerfully cooked a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner in Durrës for 13 missionaries, five days before they leave us and return home.
• for beautiful choral Christmas music which I listened to at high volume while I raced about the kitchen all morning. Motivated me like an athlete getting pumped up for the championship game of a lifetime. I threw open the windows and let the street hear, also. Whooeeeee!
  
• for the oven and cooktop that didn't burn up (not to mention the kitchen) even though a terrible smell like burning electrical wire insulation filled the apartment.
  
• for Sisters Newhouse and Shupe who helped me prepare dinner for 34 people. We filled a 20-quart electric roaster with mashed potatoes--and the missionaries cleaned the pot! We had only a portion of the four turkeys left over and a couple pints of gravy.
• for my mother who taught me how to make a darn good Parker House Roll.
  
• for Marty who cheerfully washed up countless pots and pans over three days. Nothin' finer than a man with a dish towel slung over his shoulder.
• for Skype. It is wonderful to have the technology available to video chat with our family. It brings them so much closer to us. If we had to wait for a two-week old letter, we'd feel much farther away from home.
  
• for the hand of the Lord in our lives today. We are grateful to be serving Him in a foreign land. We missed our family on this traditional family day, but we know they were thinking and praying for us, as we were for them.
  

One Year Ago

On the drive to the Durrës branch this morning, Marty mentioned that it was a year ago that he was called to be a Mission President. We've been so busy that we've hardly noticed the time flying by. We are grateful for this opportunity to be serving the Lord in Albania with 50 outstanding young men and women, and five wonderful couples. The selfless service and goodness of the missionaries is a constant inspiration to us. We appreciate the support we feel from our friends and family back home, and are grateful for your prayers on our behalf and for missionaries everywhere in the world.

Small and Simple Things

Today I'm playing Pollyanna's "Glad Game" or perhaps a rudimentary version of President Eyring's suggestion "O Remember, Remember." Here are some small and simple things I am grateful for:

1. Flowers and green plants. We have found a greenhouse and a flower shop and purchased some fresh flowers (first time since we've arrived), an orchid, and three green houseplants. Yeay!!

2. Mandarin Oranges. Seedless mandarins from Italy and Albania have come into season, are widely available, and are more delicious than any I have ever tasted! No kidding--better than California.

3. HandiGrips. I picked up two of these at the Container Store before I left California. Wish I'd brought six, so I could put them in different places to have when we need them. Everything we purchase is bagged into in small plastic bags, and since we often walk to shop, the handles of the bags bite into our hands before we get home. These hard plastic handles really help. Perfect for carrying heavy water bottles up four flights of stairs!

4. Upright kitchen faucets. For three months I struggled with back pain preparing food and washing dishes under a straight sink faucet. Our lower cabinets, including the counter, are 33 1/2 inches high--that's the inseam length on slacks that I wear! (Well, I should say "used to wear.") Standard cabinet height in the U.S. is 34 1/2" before the counter is added, which usually brings cabinet height to 36". Marty and I like our cabinets even higher. Anyway, we finally were able to have a plumber install an upright faucet which has made my kitchen life a lot happier.

5. City beautification projects. This morning I saw four people picking up garbage on the street: two men pushing the garbage can carts, and two women stooping and picking up papers and trash. I have noticed the street is much cleaner these days than when we first arrived! Hooray!

Two Convert Stories

Besmir is a 19 year old Muslim young man, who a few weeks ago was pondering life, and praying that he might know the truth. He decided that he should go buy a Bible and read it, and on the way home from the book store, with his newly acquired Bible tied to the back of his bicycle, he came across two Mormon missionaries, Elder Humphrey and Elder Monson. They struck up a conversation, and Besmir agreed to hear their message. After the first lesson, and a gift of the Book of Mormon, Besmir wanted to be baptized, and has been pushing for baptism ever since. He'll be baptized this coming Sunday! (Interesting side note: Besmir has been going with the missionaries to other investigators to TEACH! He bears a strong testimony, and has a solid understanding. We keep track of the number of lessons our missionaries teach with members, but what about lessons taught with investigators?)

Adriana is in her 30's, married with 2 small children, and lives in Shkodër (near the northern Albanian border). We've been working in Shkodër for about a year now, and have 2 members, and a very small, dark rented room that we use for a chapel. Adriana speaks fluent Italian, and was a nun for many years in Rome, and actually worked directly for the Pope for about a year. When I interviewed her, Elder Anderl asked her my questions in Albanian, and she answered to me in Italian, which I understood very well. She was baptized two weeks ago and became the 3rd member in that small branch! She's amazing, and has such a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon, that she couldn't NOT be baptized. Adriana's husband Toma is also receiving the lessons. They've been receiving welfare assistance from the Catholic church in Shkoder, so that will probably go away, but she has faith that God will provide. Adriana's been out of work for about 3 months, and her husband is also out of work. She has been promised a job at the Italian Embassy in January. We're overwhelmed by the faith, and the courage of the investigators who join the church here! -Marty

Little School in Fier

We were invited to Fier today to go to school! It was four classrooms, Kindergarten through 3rd Grade. We were astonished at the condition of the little concrete building: walls and floors of rough concrete, several windows broken, and no heat or air conditioning.

The purpose of our visit was to witness the Morton's, our humanitarian aid couple, bring LDS donations of supplies to help the school. On their regular morning walk into the countryside, the Morton's had met a man whose daughter attends here, and in getting to know him discovered that the school could really use some help. After visiting the school and teachers to determine their needs, the Morton's arranged to have a cabinet maker build desks for the teachers and some storage cabinets and shelves for each classroom. Today we delivered to each classroom some maps, a globe, a CD player, soccer balls and pump, and an oil heater. The Mortons have been in contact with the superintendent of the school, and he has agreed to fix the windows--they've already been measured. The community was organized to clean up the bathroom and playground, and do some electrical work.

You should have seen the boys' faces light up when they saw the balls! We were treated to a little show of the children singing and then the three missionaries that came with us sang one verse of "I Am a Child of God" in Albanian, and the rest of us followed with a verse in English. The four teachers were very appreciative and invited us to stay for a snack after the children were dismissed. They also gave the Presidenti (Marty) and the Morton's a gift of a souvenir plaque of Apollonia--an ancient town nearby that is a major archaeological site--and a hand-made crocheted doily made by one of the teachers. They were very proud of their gifts to us.

It was the sweetest day, and so wonderful that the Morton's were able to arrange to help this small village school.

To see a few more pictures, click on the title of this post--password is "mission". Todays pics start with #35.

Happy Birthday to Marty!

Nothing like having two elders knock on your door at 7 a.m. to sing an energetic alternative "Happy Birthday" song to their president! ("Alternative" meaning like one that is sung by waiters in restaurants.)

Zone Conferences

We just concluded two amazing Zone Conferences which were part of a mission tour by Elder Erich Kopischke of the Seventy, and a member of the European Area Presidency. He stayed with us in the mission home for 3 nights, then left right after our mission council to catch a plane to London where he had to reorganize a Stake. (And I should mention that Elder Kopischke thought Liz's breakfast Smoothies were "brilliant"---to quote the British).He taught us a lot and I think it will revolutionize our mission! We are a Preach My Gospel mission, but we learned there are some things we can still work on (when Elder Kopischke was Berlin Mission President, implimenting teach to find, and really working with members, changed it from 0.3 baptism per missionary per year to 2.0 baptism per missionary per year). So, now we start doing some of the finer points---3 short lessons a week, daily contact, pray on the first lessons (which means we'll have to stop teaching in lokale's--bar's), and teach to find. Teach to find will be a big cultural change since it's teaching from the very start when contacting, and that's not what we currently do. But the most important thing is what we need to do on the member side to have them take more responsibility for helping the missionaries with retention, teaching, and fellowshipping. Five years ago, there were 500 on average in Sacrament meeting across the mission. After baptizing maybe 700 over the past 5 years, we now have about 500 in Sacrament meeting across the mission. If we and the members don't do something differently, we'll still have about 500 in Sacrament meeting 5 years from now. (One very urgent need is to be creative in helping them with employment as we lose a lot of members to other countries seeking employment. We discussed the possibility of finding a missionary couple with experience in new business creation to be called to Albania with a "venture" fund to help some of our young people start up businesses here---anyone interested??.) We've held mission council meetings, and just yesterday, an all district leaders meeting, where we've created a vision of what we believe can be in 3 years, and a plan of what we need to do to achieve it. Everyone seems very excited about doing this, which is to have 5 units ready to be wards in 2011 so that a Stake can be formed. So, now we embark on a very aggressive training program thru the Assistants, Zone Leaders, and the District Leaders to make an already wonderful set of missionaries even better! And, Elder Newhouse and I start working with our District Presidency and the branch presidents on the member side.

One of our members is a young student at the university in Tirana who joined the church a little over a year ago. He turned his papers in to serve a mission, and was called to serve in Albania. A little over a week ago, he called me and said that he wouldn't be able to serve a mission because of family problems and that his father had left for Greece. Then just a few days ago, he came to the office and I had a chance to hear the whole story. His father had sold a little land to a very good friend, who said he'd pay him later. After some time, still no payment. A couple of weeks ago, he and his friend were in a lokale (bar) drinking, when the topic of payment came up. The friend got angry and said to stop bringing it up all the time. The argument escalated to the point that his father hit his friend over the head with a beer bottle, and sent him to the hospital. (He was in a drunken rage.) Fearing revenge, the father fled the scene to southern Albania, where he then walked for over 14 hours at night thru and over the mountains into Greece, where he's now staying illegally with relatives. But, in this country revenge can be taken out on any member of the family, so his mother and other siblings are all fearful of what may happen. I counseled and urged him that he immediately visit his father's friend in the hospital to ask forgiveness, to make restitution, to offer whatever it takes (like forgiving the debt on the land) to make things right. He just shook his head and said that it doesn't work like that in this country. I hope I can persuade him to give it a try (and that he can do it without personal risk)...otherwise, I don't know what the future is for this family.

The Charme Salon

Well, I got my first hair cut in Albania today. With fear and trepidation I had Marty drive me to town to the Charme Salon that was recommended by Sister Newhouse. I had to walk through a courtyard and up some dark stairs to this little doorway. I felt like I could be entering some kind of gambling den and half expected someone to open a little window in the door and ask for my pass code. Surprise!--it turned out to be a really nice salon. The amazing thing about Tirana is that you might climb over garbage to get to someone's home or store, but inside will be immaculately clean and usually very nice, no matter how small. I think Addi did a good enough job. I usually like my hair cut better after I fix it myself, but whose complaining--it only cost $10--plus a $2 tip. Tips aren't expected, but since the cut cost a fraction of what I pay in the states, I decided to tip. My hair is pretty short, so I may not have to spend another $10 until after Christmas.

There were many very fashionable and beautiful ladies in the salon, and all were smoking. I was afraid my hair would go up in flames when Addi used hair spray on me, and now that I'm home, I smell like I came out of a gambling den.

Busy, Beautiful Week

Tuesday was transfer day. Four missionaries were "dying" (missionary jargon, meaning leaving the mission--they're "born" when they arrive) so they were given long exit interviews by Marty, were feted with an open house (I'm responsible for simple refreshments), testimony mtg., and dinner in our apt. Then the elders slept on foam pads in the office and a sister in our guest room. We left for the airport at 3:00 a.m. so they could catch their 5 a.m. flights. We were as sad to see them leave as they were to go, and they felt like they were going to a foreign country--the U.S.! It occurred to me that each had just spent one tenth of his life in Albania.

We arrived back home to catch maybe two hours more sleep, and then awoke to prepare for the new missionaries arriving at noon from the MTC--four sisters and four elders. As I caught a peek of them through the sliding door into the baggage claim area, I spontaneously clapped my hands with joy. They (almost) could have been my own kids coming to see us. They are an amazing group, filled with enthusiasm, unity, and excitement to start their missions--mingled with just a little anxiety. A few had their initial interviews with Marty and we fed them a big pancake supper, with smoothies (so glad I brought my VitaMix) and fresh-made chunky applesauce (no applesauce in Albania, but lots of apples) and "maple" syrup made with Mapleine. We took pictures, and stayed up late to e-mail each missionary's parent to show their son or daughter had arrived safely in Tirana. This morning after breakfast, we took them to the Mother Albania monument, high on a hill with a beautiful view of all of Tirana and the mountains that surround it. This is the spot where Elder Dallin H. Oaks stood in April of 1993 to dedicate Albania for the preaching of the Gospel. It was a gorgeous morning, and the sun was coming up behind the large monument, very much like the morning described in Elder Oak's dedicatory prayer. We sang a hymn (good singers in this group), prayed, and Marty read the dedicatory prayer. Then he asked each of the missionaries to take a few minutes to be by themselves to think about consecrating their efforts to help realize the blessings of that prayer for the people of Albania. Except for a woman sweeping the parking lot with a palm frond and two old gentlemen who seemed to enjoy the singing, we had the park to ourselves. We took a few pictures and left the park. The missionaries took a trip to the police station to show papers and register, and we spent the rest of the morning finishing up interviews and training at the office. The trainer missionaries arrived, we had a pizza lunch, and then the President (Marty) announced the new companionships. The new missionaries were so nervous and excited to meet their first companions, you could just feel the electricity in the room. Cheers went up and it was a very exciting moment for each. They were given big Albanian hugs and kisses (kisses on either cheek for women, left cheek first--this is important!) side to side forehead touching for men-- without the kisses, and they all flew out of the building to catch taxis or furgons to their areas, feeling very welcomed (we hope) to the mission. Marty sent off second emails and pictures to the parents telling where and with whom their son or daughter had been assigned, I threw a batch of towels in the washer (barely dented the laundry pile) and we both collapsed, exhausted. Exhausted, but spiritually high.

YSA Conference, Sept. 22-24, 2008

The Young Single Adults of Albania, ages 18-30, held a conference in Durrës, at the Tropicana Beach Hotel with a huge swimming pool and nice beach. Due to unusually cool and rainy weather we had only 28 youth come, when we were expecting 50. One of our couple missionaries, the Monson's had arranged the conference, but had to leave their mission early because Sister Monson was having some serious health problems. The Mueller's, from Switzerland, carried on where the Monson's left off and did a fine job. The theme of the conference was "Developing and Using Your Talents." Marty and I spoke at the kickoff devotional Monday at the Durrës chapel, and stayed for workshops and lunch. We went to the hotel on Tuesday morning where I directed a Hootenany (folk song singing) with the entire group. I was worried about it, as all my songs were in English and I didn't know if the youth would be able to "let their hair down," or if they would be self-conscious and inhibited. We sang rounds and silly songs like "Little Tom Tinker," "I Love the Mountains," "Music Alone Shall Live," "If You're Happy and You Know It...," etc., and the group really got into it and had a great time. Turned out only two or three in the entire group did not speak English, and I passed out word sheets so even they were able to sing. I asked some youth about Albanian folk songs that we could sing, but no one seemed to know any. Perhaps that part of the culture disappeared with Communism.

The weather cleared Tuesday so the youth were able to have beach activities. We returned to the hotel Tuesday evening for the dinner dance and more youth showed up for that event. In addition to the standard fast and slow couple dancing, we were treated to a show of traditional Albanian line dancing.

At the conference we met the Sweeny's, an expat couple who live in Kosovo and work for the U.N. They came on a long bus ride from Pristina with Burim, a single adult convert. The Sweeny's hold Sacrament Meeting each week in their home for about 10 people. Burim joined the church after meeting Liz Shropshire, a young LDS woman from the U.S. who brought music to the Albanian refugee camps. Sister Shropshire's amazing story was profiled in the August, 2006 Ensign article "Noteworthy Service." It can be found in a search at lds.org. Burim now works for Sister Shropshire's music foundation in Kosovo. Kosovo is under the jurisdiction of the Slovenia mission, but currently no missionaries are serving there.

Address & Phone Numbers

Here are our addresses and phone numbers in Tirana:

For mailing USPS Express Mail packages (expensive--but they come directly to the mission home in 3-4 days):

President or Sister Neil
Fondacioni Liahona
Rr Qemal Stafa Vila 1
(Përballë Postës 22)
Tirana, Albania

For mailing Priority Mail packages or Airmail letters (less expensive, takes two weeks):

President or Sister Neil
Fondacioni Liahona
P.O. Box 2984
Tirana, Albania

Skype i.d.: liznmarty
You can easily sign up for a Skype i.d. for free at skype.com
Calling from Skype to Skype (computer to computer) is free. Skype to our land line is next cheapest, a few cents a minute. Some computers have built-in cameras and microphones, so we can video or audio chat. Otherwise, you need to get an external microphone & speakers or headphone with microphone.

Land Line: 011-355-4-236-5472 (includes the country and city code)
President Neil's Cell: 011-355-68-202-5995
Sister Neil's Cell: 011-355-68-203-5330

July 21-Sept. 21

These two months have been marked by grief and joy--two extremes, but then that's life, isn't it? My father passed away on July 25, and I flew to the states to attend his funeral in Provo. It was a beautiful funeral attended by all but one of his grandchildren--and he was on a mission in Guatamala. I was able to be with all our children and almost all of my extended family. Dad was a well-known scientist, who made a big difference in the world with his synthetic diamond discovery, but to me he was just "Daddy." I'm grateful he's been released from his suffering and is with Mother and his parents again.

We've been on our mission for exactly three months--in Albania for all but one of those weeks and we're gradually getting used to things and learning our way around. I've struggled on and off with a gastro-intestinal bug, but Marty has been well--a good thing since his service is much more in demand than mine. I've been treated with two rounds of giardia pills (Tinidazole) and an antibiotic, and hopefully this time the treatment sticks.

My email was not working for about a month. I could receive but not send, so I apologize for my lack of correspondence. For a time I was sending, but didn't realize you weren't getting my mail. Sorry.

Here are a few of our activities--from the mundane to the miraculous:

-On August 20-24 we flew to Frankfurt and attended a Mission President's Seminar with the new combined Europe Areas. The seminar was in Bad Homburg, and it was so beautiful there. I reveled in the flowers, clean, tree-lined streets, and parks. We have a wonderful Area President in Robert Oaks, and we were taught by him, Elder L. Tom Perry, and Elder Ronald Rasband. We were treated to a Rhine Cruise one afternoon. I brought home a souvenir--a new G.I. bug, or the return of the old. This time I went on antibiotics after losing another 8 pounds. Y'all might not recognize me. Marty brought home a new paper cutter for the office in his luggage.

-Marty plays basketball with the missionaries and an investigator (does that count for missionary work?) three mornings a week. I worry he's going to get hurt. It's starting to get too dark in the morning, though, so he'll have to choose a new activity for exercise. They have to climb over a fence to get to a school outdoor court, and a few times a guard has extracted a little bribe.

-Marty attended Girl's Camp (I was having one of my "episodes") and it was very successful. One of the young women lost her cell phone--the one she wasn't supposed to bring--and the non-member father was furious with the Church and leaders. Marty and the others there debated what to do, thinking that letting natural consequences take their course would be the best, but decided instead that mercy should prevail and took up a collection to help her buy another phone. The father's heart was softened by the kindness. (A $50 cell phone is a huge thing to lose in a country where the average wage is $7 a day!)

-While Marty was away at Girl's Camp, we had a major flood in my kitchen/living room, caused by a not-so-competent dishwasher installer. It was a huge disaster and took me, the assistants (not usually in their job description) and our office sister, an hour and a half to mop it all up. I used about 25 towels to create a dam, so it only inundated the kitchen and kitchen carpet and didn't reach my new digital piano. Took me and Sister Newhouse three days to get the towels washed. The elders carried the 8x10 rug to an outside balcony railing to dry for three days.

-Marty drove to Elbasan for church last week. Again, I had to stay home. We had awakened to a terrific thunderstorm, and he was worried about the roads. To get to Elbasan you have to go over a very twisty, winding road, which goes along the crest of the mountain for a bit. There are spots where you can look to either side and see straight down. I do not like this drive at all! He said it only took him 90 min., while if I had been there it would have taken him 2 hrs. The rain had washed boulders onto the road so it was a little nerve wracking for him. The good thing was that because of the rain he wasn't worried about the legless man we've been told about, who sometimes lays in the middle of the road to stop drivers and extract a fee for the privilege of passing. Apparently he picks a narrow spot in the road, so you can't get around him. After church Marty gave a blessing to a young girl who was starting school, and there were two baptisms after church that day (in an inflatable font). When he arrived home, we attended two other baptisms in a branch in Tirana. We've had baptisms every Sunday, and Marty and I have to choose which to attend. Two of the baptisms last month were fathers of two of our full-time missionaries. Miraculous!

-We attended and spoke at our first District Conference. Saints came from the far-away branches by bus or furgon and we met in a rented Academy of Arts auditorium. There is only one district in Albania. All our missionaries sang "I Need Thee Every Hour" in Albanian and English for a closing hymn.

-Marty gave closing remarks at the local maternity hospital for a neonatal resuscitation training program that was organized and staffed by church service missionaries. The Church has trained scores of doctors and nurses, who in turn train others, and has donated thousands of resuscitation bags, trying to save some of those million babies who die each year from not breathing spontaneously after birth.

-I missed the first zone conferences when I was in Provo, so this last week I experienced my first ones. Whew! Besides having to speak and attend, I made cinnamon rolls for the morning snack (with bananas), and cooked lunch for 34. I prepared and froze ahead about 6 kilos of hamburger (Marty helped) for spoon tacos, and diced 15 tomatoes, shredded 4 heads of lettuce, grated cheese, etc. for toppings. I froze several quarts of Banana Slush for a drink (with 7-up), and baked four batches of Snickerdoodles and Chocolate-chip Cookies. The missionaries loved the lunch, and want banana slush to be a "tradition" at zone conf. HA! I cook for one of the two zones. We hire two sisters to cook a simple meal at the other and I brought cookies. I gave one of 12 Power Point presentations on health and safety that the Church has prepared for us to give at zone conferences. I chose the one on stomach problems and proper handling of food. I'm not the only one suffering here. Next time I'm going to do the one where the first point is "Don't do stupid things!" I'm not making it up!

-I started bringing homemade cookies to the monthly interviews that Marty has with each district. I've made SOOOO many batches of cookies. May have to make it more of a random thing or I'll go through too many bags of brown sugar. Received a generous supply of the precious stuff from a thoughtful friend, though, and that will keep me for quite a while.

-There are two reception/party halls at the end of our street, and Sunday is wedding day in Albania. The wedding party and family decorate their cars with streamers and balloons, and honk merrily as they wind through town following the new bride and groom. (Well, actually people don't need a wedding for an excuse to honk. I found myself honking like crazy when I was driving in Utah. It's the thing to do, here--just to let people know you're there, or to tell them the light has changed.) Little gypsy boys pound on drums as they make their way to the busier parts of town to beg for coins from autos. Quite a din on the street during church today!

-Marty flew to Athens yesterday to attend a conference and accidently left his cell phone home. Elder Christensen, who had already arrived at the hotel in Athens, thought to ask about Marty's reservation, and the hotel didn't have one for him. (Our office sister had booked a room online and Marty had a confirmation number, but apparently the reservations people never contacted the hotel.) Elder Christensen called (Marty's cell--I answered) to see if Marty was booked at another hotel. I told him no, so he reserved the last remaining room for Marty. Later, the hotel clerk told Marty that there were big tours and conferences in Athens, and there were no available rooms anywhere. What made Elder Christensen, who doesn't even know Marty, think to ask about a reservation for him?

-I've become a hoarder of plastic bags. Like my mother did, I wash out my Zip-Loc bags and reuse them--many times. I sent a few Costco packages in our shipment, and they have become precious as they are not available here.

I promise to post more often, so the posts won't be so long. Love to all.

A Few Pictures, July-Sept.

Some pictures are up! The password is "mission" Here's the address:

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