We've Been Booted!

Yes, we got the Boot when we parked near a  grocery store Friday evening.  Found out later it was a disabled parking spot.  There was a policeman nearby when we got back to the van, but he said that we needed the special police unit, and he called them for us.  He told them we were Americans and two cars showed up in a hurry.  One of the policemen spoke excellent English and apologized up and down for booting our car, and said he had waited for 10 minutes, but "had to do his job."  We told him S'ka gjë (it's nothing).  He took Marty to the station to pay the $30 fine (red carpet treatment, we're sure), and we were on our way in no time.  The ice cream didn't even melt.

Below is a front and back picture of two of the 100 favors I made for the District-wide Relief Society conference next Saturday.    The "mature" couples came into Tirana for the Branch President's Mtg. this morning and while we waited, the wives helped me assemble the favors.  It's a laminated refrigerator magnet (my daughter sent magnet tape from Michael's) and a small Greek dark chocolate bar with almonds (excellent!) and some gel candies.  The Anonymous quote says, "Live so that people who know you but don't know Christ, will want to know Christ because they know you."  Translated into Albanian, of course.

IN-N-OUT

OUT: Elder Lindsay, Elder Zurcher, Elder Cradic, Motra Neil (me), Elder Kramer, and Elder Smith.



N-IN: l. to. r. zig-zag: Elder Allen, Elder Smedley, Elder Fisher, Elder Scadden, Elder Hagen, Elder Hixon, Sister Larson.

Well, really it's OUT-N-IN, the BIG transfer week. It happens only four times a year in our small mission, in January, April, July, and October. This week we lost six outstanding missionaries and gained seven. I'm standing in for Sister Rose here, who was with the other sister missionaries at a farewell lunch and couldn't come to the monument with us. Busy week. Lots of meals, lots of laundry, lots of interviews for the President. Sad to see 'em go. Glad to see 'em come. I'm grateful for a small mission. It would be hard to do this every six weeks!

Albania is In!

NATO that is. Flags and banners are up everywhere, like these over the Opera house in the Center, and huge celebrations throughout the country celebrated the official entry of Albania into NATO yesterday. The banners say: "NATO: This is a Miracle of Freedom!" One large fountain at the Zogu i Zi (big roundabout at the main entrance to the city), was surrounded with new poles topped with the flags of every country that belongs to NATO. My sister Virginia commented so aptly: "It is a miracle. Freedom preceeds the growth of the Gospel all over the world. Let freedom ring!"

Missionary's Dream Contact

Robert Sina, a young man who is a security person at the Casa Italia mall in Tirana, saw our name tags as we passed him in a hardware store and chased us down. Robert told us (in very good English) that as a high school student eight or nine years ago, he was contacted by the missionaries and began studying the Book of Mormon and coming to church. He joined the army after high school and lost contact with the church as he served in various Balkan countries. He's been back in Albania for a month, is no longer in the army, and wants to pick up the lessons with missionaries again! Now that's a missionary's dream!

Visit with Mrs. Berisha

The Snow's and Sister Grimci, who is a long-time member and pediatrician, arranged a visit with Mrs. Berisha, the Prime Minister's wife. Mrs. Berisha is also a doctor and is interested in pursuing joint humanitarian aid ventures with our church and her own foundation, particularly the wheelchair program. We hope to bring in from 250 to 500 wheelchairs, primarily for children and disabled workers. l to r: Sister Snow, Dr. Berisha, Marty (behind), Migena Ceci (member and new physician from Fier who came to help translate), Elder Snow, and Dr. Berisha's personal assistant. April 5 Note: We've just learned that the project has been approved by the Church for 500 wheelchairs!

First Tourist Trip--After 9 Months!

Krujë, Albania. The town sits high on the mountainside. George W. Bush visited Fushe-Krujë, the town at the bottom of the mountain in June, 2007. The cafe he stopped in is named after him. He may not have been much liked in the U.S., but the Albanians love him!

Cobblestone street and reconstructed bazaar. All tourist shops, some with interesting goods. The rough woolen rugs are made in several of the shops and remind us very much of American Indian rugs. Throughout the country we see women hand-spinning wool into yarn as they walk along herding their sheep.

New castle within the old (reconstructed) castle that houses Skanderbeg museum.

We took a real outing on our P-Day, which is supposed to be every Saturday! It was a beautiful Spring day and we went to Krujë, a picturesque mountainside town famous for being the hometown of Gjergj Kastrioti (Skanderbeg), the national hero. The castle, now partly restored, was where Skanderbeg defended against the invading ottomans during four different sieges in the 15th Century. It fell to the Ottomans after his death. There is a castle-like museum built within the walls of the old castle. Among other things, it houses replicas of the helmet and swords that are reputed to have been his and are now in a museum in Vienna. The goat head helmet is very interesting and you see it on many signs throughout the country.

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.