Albanian Costumes

We asked Zef, a member of the church in Shkodra, to make us some Albanian costumes. These would be typical of the villages in the mountain region of the Shala Valley. Zef worked extra hard to make them very ornate, as "befitting noblemen" he said. Mine is made of heavy fabrics and has many layers so it makes me look 25 pounds heavier, but it is amazingly detailed. The double-headed eagle is the symbol of Albania and is on the red flag.

The Old Year Passes

Christmas in the mission is always a busy season. Here, in pictures, are some of the activities of the month.

Tirana Womens International Group (TWIG) holds a charity bazaar early in December, and as last year, I made 40 ginger boy and girl cookies (with candy canes hooked in their arm) and 30 Christmas tree sugar cookies. The price went up to $3 (300 Lek) from $2 last year, and still they sold out in a hurry.

Sister Lindita Grimci, our District's PR Representative, arranged to have Marty interviewed by a radio station reporter just before Christmas. He was joined by Marjeta Ljarja, a famous Albanian actress, and member of the Church. The reporter asked Marty why we felt our church was important to the Albanian people, what a typical missionary day was like, and many questions about what we believe. Elder Swenson, one of the Assistants, translated. Sister Ljarja bore her testimony and quoted President Howard W. Hunter about Christmas. She is a wonderful missionary for the Church. We never did find out what station it was, but their intent was to play Mormon Tabernacle Choir music all Christmas morning, along with the interview.

With the reporter and Sister Ljarja

A television station decided they wanted an interview, also, so Marty assigned the Assistants to go to the studio and they were taped live on Christmas Day.

The district held a Christmas Concert at the National Museum in Tirana. Every branch participated with singing, skits, or stories. This is Motra Kashari directing the Tirana choir. There are men in the choir, but they are off to the left, out of the picture. The concert was two and a half hours long, and ended with fireworks as sparklers were handed out to singers and children on the stage as everyone sang "Joy to the World!" I was afraid a toddler's hair or clothing would catch fire, but all ended splendidly, and everyone was well-satisfied with the performances.

We had a missionary choir that sang "Peace, Peace," a lovely two-part song that partners at the end with "Silent Night." Four elders sang a rousing rendition of "Child of God." A couple of children joined us on stage.

We hosted the first and third districts of missionaries for Christmas Brunch, and invited the Wilsons, our humanitarian aid couple who lived upstairs from us. We had freshly-squeezed orange juice, cinnamon rolls, yogurt, muffins, etc., and then we had a White Elephant Gift exchange. We had to rush in order to attend the baptisms of two sisters--making the day into what the missionaries call a White Christmas!

Five wonderful missionaries went home to the United States and into the arms of their parents. L. to R., Elders Atkin Smedley, Nick Hagen, Jason Fisher, Nathan Hixson, and Sister Chelsea Hiland. We take returning missionaries to the Monument, where we took them at the beginning of their missions. This is the spot where Elder Oaks dedicated Albania for the preaching of the Gospel in 1993.

The turkey market at the Stephan Center circle. Turkey is the main dish of the big New Year's Day feast, and only the men come to haggle over the live turkeys. We see thousands of turkeys being fattened and herded throughout the countryside in the months leading up to the New Year holiday. Men grab the turkeys by the legs and throw them in the trunks of cars, or ride them home on bicycles, to a certain grisly fate. I prefer to purchase mine already packaged in cellophane.

The missionaries look forward for weeks to seeing the fireworks on New Year's Eve. Fireworks are legal for everyone, and all join in, shooting off their stash from rooftops and balconies throughout Albania. Young boys set off firecrackers for days before, finding the alleys between tall apartment buildings where the noise will be greatest. The Big Show begins warming up at 11:30, hitting a peak a few minutes after midnight, and tapering off at 12:30. I don't imagine I'll ever see anything like it again. Then for several nights afterwards, you'll see and hear fireworks. This country is crazy for them.

We welcomed two new missionaries on Wednesday, January 5: Elder Trason Carver, and Sister Kaitlin Hoxsie.
You may remember this picture I posted months ago, of Elder Dane Abley with pizza boxes (from lunches he had eaten), stacked high to the ceiling. Not to be outdone, Sister Hall, who spent 9 months in Vlora, sent me this picture taken before her transfer to Tirana. She and her companions have obviously been "nuts" about Nutella!