Whew, What a Week!

Monday: Loads of preparations for Zone Conferences. I assembled 60 of these refrigerator magnets as a Christmas handout. The words are by Marvin K. Gardner from the song "Room in the Inn" by Vanja Watkins. My daughter Erin stamped and embossed the small manger cards for me before we left the states, and I cut and assembled the cards based on her design.

Tues., Dec. 9: We were invited to attend a concert with the Grimci's (District Presidency) of "The Tenors," an Albanian version of the famous "Three Tenors" concerts. It was not exactly high culture, but entertaining none-the-less, and the featured tenor from Italy was excellent, as was the orchestra. Also featured was an aging, bleached-blonde soprano from Italy who waltzed out in a slinky red dress with a fox-fur cape. She was all shtick and schmaltz, and had a knee-length vibrato. Cultural events here are very inexpensive to attend. Our tickets cost us $10 each and they were front-row seats!

Wed., Dec 10: An LDS family gave us second row tickets to the National Opera where the husband and wife play violin. It was a trio of "short" Puccini operas. "Short" is relative when it comes to opera, and we left after two and a half hours, missing the third opera. The Opera House is a concrete building, built in 1963. It is unheated, and there was cold air blowing on us throughout the performance. Fortunately, I brought a scarf with me which I wrapped around my neck and head, with only my eyes peeking out. My feet froze, though. If we hadn't been so cold, we could have enjoyed the excellent singing more!

Thurs., Dec. 11: Mulek Zone Conference. A real spiritual highlight of the last six weeks. My preparation included a Power Point presentation on cleaning apartments. I modified a presentation my friend Sandra Ludwig gave when her husband was president of the Greece Athens Mission. O.k., so that wasn't spiritual--but it was necessary! New Year's Day is a huge holiday here and follows a night of merry making and crazy fireworks, so the missionaries are staying inside for most of the day to "make a fresh start by deep cleaning their apartments." I also put together a missionary musical number; cinnamon rolls for the break; and a beef stew lunch for 34 with Christmas-decorated tables and large Christmas-tree cutout cookies for dessert. Marty gave two presentations, including one he developed with the Assistants on our vision of how we can have a stake here by mid-2011. They call the project "Korab," which is the highest mountain peak in Albania, and compares climbing a high mountain to the work and faith we need to accomplish our goal of a stake. Then the Assistants showed a beautiful slide show they developed of Christ's life in art, from birth to resurrection, with an accompaniment of a choir singing Mack Wilburg's "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need.

"The Sisters ended up at one table. You can see we dress to be warm here! One sister at this table told me she had on four pair of tights! The weather has been fairly mild, but the cold is a damp cold which chills to the bone, and it sometimes seems colder in our concrete and tile buildings than it is outside.

Fri., Dec. 12: Lehi Zone Conference. Same presentations, cinnamon rolls for break, and cutout sugar cookies, but for the "outside" zone we hire two women (both former caterers) to cook the lunch.

We left before the lunch because we had to get back to Tirana to take a dozen missionaries from the inside zone to the U.S. Ambassador's residence to sing carols at his annual Christmas reception for the embassy staff. They sang beautifully, but Marty said it was like missionary work: "Only a few people listen." The ambassador, John Withers, II, was most appreciative and the finger food was very American and very delicious. Marty had six or seven deviled eggs.

Sat. Dec. 13: Our 40th Wedding Anniversary. Marty gave me a beautiful Swarovski crystal angel. He had meetings until 2:15 and then we had lunch at an American cafe. It's not far from the mission home and it's the only place in town you can get a real hamburger and mexican food. Then we drove to the big QTU shopping center which is outside the city and hit the EuroMax supermarket to stock up on groceries.

While at the grocery store, I was waiting for the clerk to weigh my bananas (you bag your own produce, but it has to be weighed and tagged before the main checkout), when a man stepped in front of me with his produce. This has happened to me several times in lines and at elevators, and as Marty has told me, "You can't show weakness!" Actually, he was talking about driving when he said it but I decided I'd had enough and blurted out, "Excuse me!" in Albanian. He motioned for me to go ahead, but I'll bet he doesn't get challenged often, as this is a "men first" culture.

It was pouring rain and we didn't feel like doing much that evening, so we stayed in and watched a movie on our new Sharp Aquos, 32" screen, High-def, LCD, 1080p TV. Actually, this was an anniversary and Christmas present to ourselves and it replaced a small 20" screen TV that was here when we moved in. Well, we did need something bigger on which to show the missionaries General Conference, didn't we?! It will be our gift to the mission home.

Sunday, Dec. 14: Church in the little unit in Kamez, a suburb of Tirana. 19 people in attendance: two elders, Marty and me, the Vogli family of five who were the visiting speakers, one member and nine investigators. Pictured is the wonderful Vogli family. Brother Vogli is the man who sculpted our marble bust of Christ as a surprise gift. He also carves the marble name plates on our branch buildings. I'm going to teach Ester, who is eight years old, piano lessons. This was a very sweet Sacrament Meeting. Elder Monson and Humphreys are doing a wonderful work in Kamez.
After church we took a drive part of the way up Mt. Dajti (pronounced "Dyetee") which is directly to the East of Tirana. There is an aerial tram that you can take most of the way up the mountain, but I don't think I'll be getting on it unless they drug me first. Marty and Elder Shupe say they'll take it while Sister Shupe and I sit in the cafe below and drink hot cocoa. Marty is standing on one of the many concrete bunkers on the mountainside.


It's going to be what the missionaries call a "White Christmas" in Albania, due to all the baptisms scheduled for Christmas day. We're expecting as many as 25 convert baptisms in December, many of them coming from a little branch in Shkodër, which has had missionaries for only a year or so. Things have exploded following the baptisms of Adriana and Toma as they are wonderful member missionaries! (See Adriana's story below in Marty's post "Two Convert Stories.")

Christmas Calendar

My sister Virginia sent me this beautiful gift-filled calendar for the days of December, perfect for this spot in our living room. She found eight sheer curtain panels with pockets at a garage sale, and creative person that she is, immediately thought of how it would be a great advent calendar. Each pocket has a beautifully wrapped gift, sized specially for that pocket, a scripture card to help you guess what is inside, and a Christmas gift card that can be placed in the pocket so it continues to look festive as the gifts are taken out and opened. Also included in each package is a small ornament which goes on the little twig tree pictured here. We've been sharing the American candy and fun little gifts with the missionaries and they think my sister is something special! I gave one to my piano student Jona, (pronounced Yona) and she was thrilled, and carefully opened the metallic paper so she could save it.

We are Thankful...

• for a glorious, sunny Thanksgiving Day.
• for Tony and Heidi Baird, an American LDS couple with four young children. Tony works at the U.S. Embassy, and offered to get some turkeys for the mission when the Embassy ordered some for their employees. The Baird's generously donated cans of pumpkin, stuffing mix, and cranberry sauce to the cause.
• for folks back home who sent brown sugar, oatmeal, graham cracker crumbs, etc. so we (three mission couple wives) could give the missionaries a taste of home cookin'. (The oatmeal was for the dessert of apple crisp which we served along with pumpkin chiffon pie, apple pie, and pumpkin bread. Think we overdid it?)
  
• that the frozen turkeys arrived a week and a half early so we had time to distribute them to the three couples in the most distant cities for their dinners.
  
• for five non-American missionaries, Elder Rispoli of Australia, Elder Abley of England, Sister Kennedy of England, Elder Harline from Canada, and Elder Çelaj of Albania, who were perfectly happy to join in our American tradition of stuffing the face...I mean turkey. AND, we can't forget to mention Elder and Sister Müller from Switzerland, who cheerfully cooked a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner in Durrës for 13 missionaries, five days before they leave us and return home.
• for beautiful choral Christmas music which I listened to at high volume while I raced about the kitchen all morning. Motivated me like an athlete getting pumped up for the championship game of a lifetime. I threw open the windows and let the street hear, also. Whooeeeee!
  
• for the oven and cooktop that didn't burn up (not to mention the kitchen) even though a terrible smell like burning electrical wire insulation filled the apartment.
  
• for Sisters Newhouse and Shupe who helped me prepare dinner for 34 people. We filled a 20-quart electric roaster with mashed potatoes--and the missionaries cleaned the pot! We had only a portion of the four turkeys left over and a couple pints of gravy.
• for my mother who taught me how to make a darn good Parker House Roll.
  
• for Marty who cheerfully washed up countless pots and pans over three days. Nothin' finer than a man with a dish towel slung over his shoulder.
• for Skype. It is wonderful to have the technology available to video chat with our family. It brings them so much closer to us. If we had to wait for a two-week old letter, we'd feel much farther away from home.
  
• for the hand of the Lord in our lives today. We are grateful to be serving Him in a foreign land. We missed our family on this traditional family day, but we know they were thinking and praying for us, as we were for them.
  

One Year Ago

On the drive to the Durrës branch this morning, Marty mentioned that it was a year ago that he was called to be a Mission President. We've been so busy that we've hardly noticed the time flying by. We are grateful for this opportunity to be serving the Lord in Albania with 50 outstanding young men and women, and five wonderful couples. The selfless service and goodness of the missionaries is a constant inspiration to us. We appreciate the support we feel from our friends and family back home, and are grateful for your prayers on our behalf and for missionaries everywhere in the world.

Small and Simple Things

Today I'm playing Pollyanna's "Glad Game" or perhaps a rudimentary version of President Eyring's suggestion "O Remember, Remember." Here are some small and simple things I am grateful for:

1. Flowers and green plants. We have found a greenhouse and a flower shop and purchased some fresh flowers (first time since we've arrived), an orchid, and three green houseplants. Yeay!!

2. Mandarin Oranges. Seedless mandarins from Italy and Albania have come into season, are widely available, and are more delicious than any I have ever tasted! No kidding--better than California.

3. HandiGrips. I picked up two of these at the Container Store before I left California. Wish I'd brought six, so I could put them in different places to have when we need them. Everything we purchase is bagged into in small plastic bags, and since we often walk to shop, the handles of the bags bite into our hands before we get home. These hard plastic handles really help. Perfect for carrying heavy water bottles up four flights of stairs!

4. Upright kitchen faucets. For three months I struggled with back pain preparing food and washing dishes under a straight sink faucet. Our lower cabinets, including the counter, are 33 1/2 inches high--that's the inseam length on slacks that I wear! (Well, I should say "used to wear.") Standard cabinet height in the U.S. is 34 1/2" before the counter is added, which usually brings cabinet height to 36". Marty and I like our cabinets even higher. Anyway, we finally were able to have a plumber install an upright faucet which has made my kitchen life a lot happier.

5. City beautification projects. This morning I saw four people picking up garbage on the street: two men pushing the garbage can carts, and two women stooping and picking up papers and trash. I have noticed the street is much cleaner these days than when we first arrived! Hooray!

Two Convert Stories

Besmir is a 19 year old Muslim young man, who a few weeks ago was pondering life, and praying that he might know the truth. He decided that he should go buy a Bible and read it, and on the way home from the book store, with his newly acquired Bible tied to the back of his bicycle, he came across two Mormon missionaries, Elder Humphrey and Elder Monson. They struck up a conversation, and Besmir agreed to hear their message. After the first lesson, and a gift of the Book of Mormon, Besmir wanted to be baptized, and has been pushing for baptism ever since. He'll be baptized this coming Sunday! (Interesting side note: Besmir has been going with the missionaries to other investigators to TEACH! He bears a strong testimony, and has a solid understanding. We keep track of the number of lessons our missionaries teach with members, but what about lessons taught with investigators?)

Adriana is in her 30's, married with 2 small children, and lives in Shkodër (near the northern Albanian border). We've been working in Shkodër for about a year now, and have 2 members, and a very small, dark rented room that we use for a chapel. Adriana speaks fluent Italian, and was a nun for many years in Rome, and actually worked directly for the Pope for about a year. When I interviewed her, Elder Anderl asked her my questions in Albanian, and she answered to me in Italian, which I understood very well. She was baptized two weeks ago and became the 3rd member in that small branch! She's amazing, and has such a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon, that she couldn't NOT be baptized. Adriana's husband Toma is also receiving the lessons. They've been receiving welfare assistance from the Catholic church in Shkoder, so that will probably go away, but she has faith that God will provide. Adriana's been out of work for about 3 months, and her husband is also out of work. She has been promised a job at the Italian Embassy in January. We're overwhelmed by the faith, and the courage of the investigators who join the church here! -Marty

Little School in Fier

We were invited to Fier today to go to school! It was four classrooms, Kindergarten through 3rd Grade. We were astonished at the condition of the little concrete building: walls and floors of rough concrete, several windows broken, and no heat or air conditioning.

The purpose of our visit was to witness the Morton's, our humanitarian aid couple, bring LDS donations of supplies to help the school. On their regular morning walk into the countryside, the Morton's had met a man whose daughter attends here, and in getting to know him discovered that the school could really use some help. After visiting the school and teachers to determine their needs, the Morton's arranged to have a cabinet maker build desks for the teachers and some storage cabinets and shelves for each classroom. Today we delivered to each classroom some maps, a globe, a CD player, soccer balls and pump, and an oil heater. The Mortons have been in contact with the superintendent of the school, and he has agreed to fix the windows--they've already been measured. The community was organized to clean up the bathroom and playground, and do some electrical work.

You should have seen the boys' faces light up when they saw the balls! We were treated to a little show of the children singing and then the three missionaries that came with us sang one verse of "I Am a Child of God" in Albanian, and the rest of us followed with a verse in English. The four teachers were very appreciative and invited us to stay for a snack after the children were dismissed. They also gave the Presidenti (Marty) and the Morton's a gift of a souvenir plaque of Apollonia--an ancient town nearby that is a major archaeological site--and a hand-made crocheted doily made by one of the teachers. They were very proud of their gifts to us.

It was the sweetest day, and so wonderful that the Morton's were able to arrange to help this small village school.

To see a few more pictures, click on the title of this post--password is "mission". Todays pics start with #35.