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
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6 comments:
YEA! That sounds like a wonderful day Mom. I am so happy for a great day for you!
The Wood family loves hearing about the progress of the Gospel in Albania. Thanks for posting these experiences you are having.
I will pass along some of your missionaries' ideas to Christian who is in Guatemala.
I'm glad you got a new piano for your building. It is amazing how sacred music does invite the Spirit into our meetings.
Love to all!
Ginger
Loved reading your experiences! Glad your stove and dryer are rewired!! We don't want you to have too much excitement over there! Just made (with help, of course) over 300 lollipops for camp fundraiser. It was a grand success--but very labor intensive!
Love, Charlotte
Thanks for sharing the excitement and Spirit associated with growth of the Church, there in Albania. Dan is now our ward mission leader and paired me up as companion with distant cousin, Gentry Fairbanks, our LM neighbor who just returned from a mission to Rome, Italy. Last night we taught a part-member family Dan home teaches. I thought we were doing a good job of getting through to their eight year old, until she raised her hand and asked, "Did Joseph Smith live back when there were dinosaurs?"
Love, Sherlene
We had an interesting weekend here in Arlington. Our Mongolian members, of whom there are about 25or 30, put on a New Years celebration Saturday evening to mark the beginning of the Year of the Ox.
It started with dinner, featuring 1000 dumplings, rice milk, colorful salads, pork, lamb and about 50 other dishes from which to choose (I am not making this up). These were mostly native creations but some conventional American items were provided in addition so that the Anglo children would be happy.
The cultural hall was decorated to the nines, as designed by a Mongolian member named Munich who is a professional translator. (He speaks six languages.) Munich is married to an American, speaks excellent English and is therefore a key part of the integration of the Mongolians with the majority of the ward membership. He translates sacrament meeting into Mongolian, which the members pick up on headsets. Or if Munich is busy chasing his toddler around, we also have a returned missionary from Mongolia who can handle the translation.
Execution of Munich's decoration plan for the NY event was achieved thanks in large part to Ginger, who brought all of our vases to bear, combed the ward for other contributions, and worked all afternoon on the decor.
Only clear glass vases were allowed, it being contrary to some Mongolian tradition to use colored vases to mark the New Year. Brilliant pictures of scenes from Mongolia, borrowed from the embassy, covered the walls.
After dinner the two hour program ensued. It included a description of their New Years custom, plus excellent musical numbers, traditional dancing, etc. The girls were resplendent in their white satin dresses with gold & blue trim. One of the girls was a Church member but most were not. They have a Mongolian school here in connection with the embassy that trains them in the ancient arts.
Mongolian dancing, especially for the teenage boys who performed, is much more interesting and athletic than other Oriental dancing we have seen. The young men's troupe was incredible. Their presentation was marked with brilliant costumes and a mixture of segments that were reminiscent of Thailand and others that invoked the knee-killing Cossack dances. I am generally not a fan of ballet at all, but this was an entrancing show.
The biggest hit of the night was probably the Mongolian man who can sing two completely different notes at the same time, in different registers: one in his throat, where he can go to the low end of basso profundo, and the other using the septum of his nasal cavity somehow, from one to three octaves higher. Not just little tiny sounds, either, but enough to almost shake the walls of the cultural hall. Just to show us that he could do this in Western music as well as Oriental, as his finale he sang "Moon River" in English. It was a tenor-bass duet sung by one person, and self-accompanied on an obscure instrument unlike anything I had ever seen before. He wore a traditional ochre costume with a strange hat that resembled and upside-down pottery wash basin.
If Ghenghis Khan traveled with someone like him, you could see how they terrified the opposing armies.
All in all, it greatly exceeded expectations for the Americans. About 50 nonmembers attended, along with most of our ward, plus the mission president & Sister Wixom; total about 250. Every seat at the tables was taken, so it's actually a good thing that some ward members missed it, not realizing what an extravaganza the Mongolians were putting together. If word gets out next year, we'll have a seating problem.
One of the Mongolian members is Mooghi, who was baptized two weeks ago. After his baptism, I asked him why he had joined. He said, "I wanted to become a better person." In other words, the Mongolians are clear on the concept. His two syllable name that he uses for convenience with Americans is shorthand for a much longer Mongolian name meaning "beautiful everlasting life." Mooghi was baptized by another Mongolian man, Muncktor, whose baptism we had also attended a couple of weeks prior.
The Mongolians' English may not be great in all cases, but they are highly intelligent, capable people. My friend Zul was a lawyer in Mongolia. The Sukhees, who ran the kitchen operation Sat. night, are college graduates. I understand that Sister Sukhee was trained as a physician in Mongolia but as the American system does not recognize her degree she had to take some rather menial jobs for her first few years here. No complaints. Crystal teaches the Mongolian-language gospel doctrine class.
One of the Mongolian female soloists, Sister Herrera (she's married to a Peruvian) is in our choir. She doesn't have a car, but she lives quite close to Senator Bennett so the Bennetts give her a ride to choir practice at our house. She has an amazing range and a powerful voice, but she can't read Western music. She learns the pieces by listening to those on either side of her -- sometimes singing the alto parts an octave lower than written - because she can, I guess.
Another activity that has contributed to the missionary effort among the Mongolians is that they have a ping pong and volleyball night in the cultural hall every Thursday. It offers a setting where Mongolian expatriots can come and hang out with the LDS Mongolians, a few Anglos and the missionaries in a no-pressure environment, and thus become more comfortable with the next step of showing up at church and taking the discussions.
Barry Wood
Wow, Barry! That sounds like a wonderful event--and I'm not surprised that Ginger stepped in and helped. Thanks for sharing about it. There is a four-year folk festival here in Albania, and I've been trying to find out when that happens, as I would like to see it and have our missionaries see it as well.
Liz
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