Home Teaching Albanian Style

I just returned from visiting my two newly assigned home teaching families, in a section of Tirana called Babru. It's located on a hill to the north of the city, and is accessed by driving over a very high dilapidated bridge that made me immediately think of an Indiana Jones movie. The bridge is badly worn, so much so that the re bar is exposed in many places, with sharp barbs sticking up in the air, ready to puncture a tire. But, I'll admit that as we started driving over it, I was more concerned about having a wheel drop through a gaping pothole, or the whole thing just collapsing. The roads in Babru are no better than the bridge, and are mostly rock strewn dirt (think Lehi Park X 10), very narrow, and steep! (Note to self: next time, wait longer after a big rain!!) But in spite of the difficulty in getting to these two families, the visits were wonderful!

In the Hamolle family, we sat in the dark (no electricity), surrounding a flashlight, as we talked and got to know each other (I was accompanied by the Branch President, the Elders Quorum President, and two missionaries, because no one of this group knew how to get to both families). The family had gone inactive sometime in 2007, following the death of the grandfather, a very strong Muslim who was converted by the power of the Book of Mormon, and led the rest of the family into the church. The 16 year old son helps his father in construction (seasonal work without a steady income), and takes a correspondence course for school. President Veliu explained that our vision for the church in Albania is to become a Stake, and that we need all priesthood holders to make it happen, and then challenged him to come back to church.

Agim Deda met the missionaries on the road late last year, and was given the Joseph Smith pamphlet. He loved what he read, especially James 1:5. He called the missionaries, and asked to be taught. He was given a Book of Mormon, which he began reading, and as he read, he said that he began cutting back on his liquor drinking. His wife was very much against this interest he had developed in religion, but as he cut back on the drinking, and stopped going to the lokale after work with friends and came home to spend time with the family, she started to be interested. When he finished the Book of Mormon, he took his last drink, and hasn't touched it since. He was baptized in September of 2008, and then baptized his wife just two months ago. He's now serving as the teacher in Elders' Quorum. Agim and Clirime have two beautiful children.. Ajvi (age 9), and Anca (age 6).

Both families are very poor, but so incredibly generous to guests....we were served candies, orange drinks, and cake (and they watched as we ate, but for us to refuse would be very rude!). They can't afford these things, but it's one of the great things about the Albanian culture that the guest is the most honored of all people. We were escorted all the way out to the auto, since the code of Kanun makes the host responsible for whatever happens to the guest until the guest is safely gone.