Alma's Mission Call

In case you were curious about Alma's mission call that I mentioned in the last post, she opened it this morning in District Conference, and her call is to Salt Lake Temple Square--English Speaking! We're thrilled for her and were secretly hoping that would be where she would go! She leaves in early March.

13 New Missionaries

Alma Osmëni

13 new missionaries arrived after spending almost three months at the Provo MTC. Back l. to r: Elders Seevers, Buys, Thorpe, Vance, Klein, Dittmer, Griffith.
Front L. to R.: Elder Fredrickson, Sister Hiland, Elders Mugleston, Loose, Roney, and Skousen.

First day: Interviews with Marty, trip to the Embassy to register, a bit of street contacting with seasoned missionaries, and then dinner and bed.

Second day: Breakfast, a trip to the Monument to the Martyrs overlooking Tirana, an hour of training, pizza lunch, and assignments to areas and a new companion/trainer.

This trip to the monument was particularly tender and memorable. The autumn morning was sunny and beautiful as we arrived up the hill above Tirana. As we fanned out into the large open space in front of the Mother Albania statue, we noticed two people lying down on the concrete wall that overlooks the city, heads together and chatting. We moved away from them into the shade and passed out copies of the hymn and Elder Oak's 1993 prayer, dedicating the land and people of Albania for the preaching of the gospel. Elder McGlothin noticed the two young people sit up and exclaimed, "That's Alma Osmëni!" Alma is a member of the church who has just received her call letter from Salt Lake to go on a full time mission. She has not opened the letter yet, as she's speaking at District Conference Sunday and wants to open it then. Marty invited her to join our group. She explained that she had come to the monument with a copy of Elder Oak's dedicatory prayer translated into Albanian , unbidden by us and unaware of our intentions to be there, to read it aloud and ponder her upcoming mission. Marty invited her and her friend to join our ceremony and after a hymn and prayer, we took turns reading aloud the dedicatory prayer. Alma then read aloud the prayer in her language and took a moment to thank the new missionaries for their sacrifice and service, and challenge them to work hard and bring more of her people to Christ. We gave the missionaries five to ten minutes to be by themselves to ponder the dedicatory prayer and consecrate themselves to help fulfill the promises Elder Oak's prophesied.

Departing Missionaries

Eight excellent missionaries, returning home to the states and England. L. to R.: Elder Kelley, Elder Bruneel, Elder Johnson, Elder Hewett, Elder Oakey, Elder Abley (England), Elder Tracy, Elder Harline.

Elba and Roni

L. to R. Elder Abley, Elder Scadden, Roni (12) and Elba Kapllani (19), Sister Bentley, and Sister Kennedy. Picture taken just before Elba and Roni's baptism Monday evening, October 5.

Elba Kapllani was taught the gospel lessons four years ago by a set of sisters and some elders. (See first comment on this post from Eliza Robinson Ruys.) One of the sisters who taught Elba later became a language instructor at the MTC for Elder Abley, pictured here. Circumstances prevented Elba from joining the church but she continued to see missionaries on the street because her grandmother's home is very near our 2nd Branch building where the missionaries teach English and hold discussions with investigators.

This summer Elba's brother Roni wandered into the 2nd Branch building because he saw other boys in the neighborhood going in to play Ping-Pong. Elder and Sister Shupe, who run the Center for Young Adults (CYA), had decided to let the young boys in the neighborhood come in to use the Ping-Pong table at a few selected times during the week.

One day Elba's mother sent her to get Roni at the church, and as she approached the building she was greeted by Elder Abley and his companion who were standing outside, and she was invited to "just go on in." Inside she was warmly greeted by several people including the Shupe's, and all the old feelings she had toward the church came to her memory. After that she was at the CYA several times a week attending Institute classes and activities, and the missionaries began teaching her and Roni the lessons . Roni enthusiastically accepted the teachings and wanted to be baptized, and his parents approved but did not want Elba to be baptized because she had "already been baptized in the Orthodox church." Elba introduced her parents to the missionaries and the Shupe's invited the Kapllani family over to their home, and it was only a short while before their hearts were softened because, as Elba's father said, "These are good people, and this must be good."

The parents, grandmother, and several of Elba's non-member friends attended the baptism, and the grandmother made some beautiful chocolate treats for everyone. Elba's father beamed as he watched his children bear their testimonies after their baptisms and confirmations.

The evening was especially sweet for Elder Abley, as he has completed his mission and is going home to England tomorrow. He told us at the testimony meeting we held in our apartment with just the departing missionaries, that Sister Rose who had gone home earlier this year, had written to him with the advice to work especially hard at the end of his mission because "that's where the miracles are hidden."

Elba was able to contact the missionaries who taught her four years ago to let them know of the fruit that had come from the seeds that they had helped to plant in her heart years ago (see Book of Mormon: Alma, Chapter 32).

How Beautiful Are the Feet

During the hot, sticky summer months, our sister missionaries are allowed to wear sturdy sandals. Four of them came to our apartment at 6:00 p.m. to watch the morning session of General Conference. Albanian tradition is to remove shoes in the house, and I noticed their missionary tan lines and took a snapshot. After today's transfer, we go back to hose/tights and closed-toe shoes. The weather changed over the weekend, so it's time.

Left to Right: Sisters Larson, Bentley, Kennedy, and Boyer.