Elder DeCelle

After extending his mission by six weeks (the longest a missionary can extend), Elder DeCelle left us this week to go home to Kansas City.  We will miss him, and are grateful to him as he helped us keep an even number of elders.  Now we have a group of three elders in the city of Fier.  After April transfers, we'll be back to an even number.  

We never appreciated before we came here, how difficult it must be for the Missionary Department to send out missionaries to the various missions of the world.  We see how inspiration is key in that process.  If a missionary has to go home early for health reasons, it can leave the mission with a "hole" and the missionaries aren't really keen to work in groups of three.  Apparently there are fewer couples going on missions now also, probably due to the downturn in the economy and people retiring at an older age.  We haven't heard yet if we have a couple coming to replace Ron and Judy Newhouse, who are our excellent office couple leaving in May, and we're worried about it.  Any takers?  You get to see a corner of world seldom seen by westerners, and participate in the most rewarding work you'll ever do!  

District Conference

This weekend was a whirlwind of meetings with our visitors, Elder and Sister Weidman from Bern, Switzerland. Elder Weidman is an Area Seventy and was assigned to Albania for this conference. After picking them up at the airport, we whisked them home to Tirana to three different meetings, finally arriving home around 8:30 p.m. for a quick meal--our first since breakfast. Our Sunday meetings were held at the Durrës chapel, in two different sessions. There were 520 attendees, including 80 members who had been baptized in the last year. They had been invited to a special meeting with Elder Weidman after the two different sessions. We arrived home at 5:00 and wolfed down a roast beef meal that I had partly prepared on Friday and Sister Newhouse had finished for me as the Newhouse' arrived home before we did. Then we were off to a fireside with the Young Single Adults. Whew! The Weidman's left on Monday at noon, so we had time in the morning to have breakfast at the "American Cafe," a cafe run by some American evangelical missionaries, and a visit to the monument where Pres. Oaks dedicated the mission.

A Day to Remember

Have to quickly write before I forget the feelings. We drove to Vlorë today to attend church, an almost six-hour round trip from home. The little chapel began filling and filling until almost every seat was occupied. There were 54 people in attendance--a new record for the little branch. It was Fast Sunday, first Sunday of the month, and the day we skip some meals, and contribute what those meals would have cost to help those in our congregations who are in need. Then in the worship service, members voluntarily speak of their feelings about the gospel of Jesus Christ, or "bear their testimony." The meeting simply flowed past as so many wanted to speak, especially the young people, and there was a strong spirit in the room. The four missionaries and the Chatfield's, the missionary couple who reside in Vlorë, are so excited to see the growth of their their branch and they are so filled with love for the members they serve. On the way back home we stopped in Fier to deliver two wheelchairs that the Snow's have arranged to be donated, and then arrived back in Tirana twenty minutes before the first of two absolutely packed baptismal services this evening. Each service was for three new converts. There were two more people from Shkodër being baptized, and that branch has almost outgrown it's little rented room. One woman from Tirana getting baptized was a young wife whose husband joined a few months ago and he was just beaming to be able to baptize her.

The new Yamaha electronic piano in the Tirana 2nd Branch is a huge improvement over the old keyboard. I happily played for both baptisms and started prelude music fifteen minutes before the meeting so people could settle down and experience the peace and quiet that invites the Spirit. I am sooo excited about the new instrument.

We are blessed to be here and witness the blessings that the Lord is pouring down on His people of Albania. -Liz