Aftermath of a Lunch

Mission Council lunch.  It was fajitas for 13.

Goings and Comings

This last week we said goodbye to 11 missionaries (Elders Wilde and Whittier left a week earlier). Pictured are Sisters Fronk, Langford, and Slack; and (back) Elders Hanson, Sewell, Mattox, Smith; and (front) Elders Humphries, Flora, Leonard, and Hunt. This picture is taken at the Monument to the Martyrs overlooking Tirana.

At their goodbye dinner in our apartment, I told the elders they could take off their ties, and they lined them up on the sofa, which made a great picture. Albania imports a lot of ties from Italy, and the elders take great pride in their tie collections. They refuse to pay more than $10 for one. Even the President (Marty) is getting interested after receiving three new ties for Father's Day--chosen by Elder Turley and Elder Mattox, our two office elders. The orange striped tie on the left is his.
The new missionaries are Sister Bentley from Sandy, UT., and Elder Swenson from Alpine, UT. We're very excited to have them. We currently have only 38 missionaries, as missions are being "balanced" around the world and most European missions are losing missionaries.

We had just finished up training the new missionaries when Marty had to fly off to Cypress (via Vienna) to attend meetings with Elder Wondra and the new mission president of Greece. While he was gone I caught up on some mending and ironing, and spent Saturday morning with the Young Adults and missionaries at a retirement home in Tirana. I took my guitar and we sang a few fun songs as well as "I Am a Child of God" and "Count Your Many Blessings" in Shqip (Albanian). "Count Your Many Blessings" is a favorite with the Albanian saints, and we sing it often! Sister Bentley is pictured here with Jeffrey, an investigator, and two men of the retirement home. These two gentlemen were really getting into the music, clapping and singing along (the man in the blue shirt has no teeth), and the other was a musician (accordian) and singer. He sang for us and still has a terrific voice!

Also, for the first time in the year since we've been here, I braved the traffic and drove the van to a shopping center that is just outside Tirana. I think I can do this. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can... I went to the shopping center for my first trip because it has a large underground parking lot. Parking on the streets of Tirana is very difficult and is what has kept me from behind the wheel--that and the crazy drivers in this country. I also deliberately went out at 3:00 when many people are off the streets for lunch and naps. My return trip was at 5:00 and the traffic was busier and the traffic circles were jammed with cars and trucks all trying to muscle their way into position for the desired exit. Scary!

One Year!

Marty and I have been here one year now! We arrived last year on Sunday, June 29. As they say, time flies when you're having fun!

When our visitors or missionaries fly home to the states, their flights are usually at 5 or 6 a.m. which means we have to arise between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m. to get them to the airport in ample time for their international flights. In the last five days, we've made the early morning airport run three times.

Friday, June, 26, we took Sadush Malku, who was leaving for the Provo MTC before going to the Italy Milano mission, and Elder Vail, who sadly, had to leave to go home to Alpine, Utah because he was experiencing an eye problem that couldn't be treated here in Albania. Fortunately, Elder Vail and Elder Malku were able to travel together. We hope Elder Vail will recover and be able to be reassigned to finish the remaining six months of his mission in the states.

Saturday we took Emily, Peter, and their children to the airport to go home to San Diego.

This morning, we took Elders Wilde and Whittier to the airport as they left their missions one week ahead of their normal release date so each could attend family events.

Also today, we said a sad goodbye (another airport run--but this time at noon) to Elder and Sister Chatfield, who served an 18-month mission as a proselyting couple in Vlorë. Elder Chatfield was branch president in Vlorë, and also gave patriarchal blessings to English-speaking members throughout the country. The Chatfield's are returning home to the Boston area. We will greatly miss them. There are only two couples besides ourselves left in the mission.

Five Very Important Visitors

Emily, Peter, and their three children, Jack (7), Andrew (6), and Eliza (2 1/2--the 1/2 is important!) visited us for almost two weeks June 14-27. We had a wonderful time together and managed to fit in some great sight-seeing despite some unseasonable rainy weather. We took a day trip to Kruje, and another day trip up Mt. Dajti, taking the long gondola ride up, eating at a nice restaurant on the mountain, exploring, and kicking balls around the meadow.

We attend church in the little branch in Fier, where the children joined one other child for Primary. Then we continued on from Fier to Gjirokaster where, alas, we ended up having to spend the night in the Relax Hotel where in April, Marty and I had spent a sleepless night on a rock-hard bed listening to bar music all night. Marty found it ironic and funny. I was not amused, but our stay was a bit more "relaxing" this time. The bar closed earlier this time, but we were awakened at midnight by the most fantastic half-hour thunder and lightning show we have ever heard and seen, with the noise ricocheting off the slate roofs, streets, and mountainside of Gjirokaster. Amazingly, the children slept through the storm. In the morning, the boys (big and small) loved exploring the underground rooms of the huge fortress. Emily was amazed at the openness of the castle. Unlike any other castle in Europe, tourists are free to roam the ancient stone tunnels and rooms, which are not restored. There are WW I cannons and armaments in the main hall. We ran into 13 missionaries at the castle, who were on their two-day "senior" trip (they call it their "dying" trip that they earned by finished the progression program in a year's time.) After exiting the castle, we drove on to the site of the "blue eye", a deep natural spring and grove, and continued on to Saranda, a picturesque bayside town on the Ionian Sea. There we found a very nice hotel for the night and toured the ancient Roman ruins in Butrint the next day. The kids didn't swim on the Ionian but had a great time skipping rocks. The beaches in Saranda are gravel and rock.

The kids were real troupers throughout the long drive and were happy as long as the snacks kept coming.

On the 19th of June, Emily and Peter celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary by going off by themselves to a nice restaurant while we babysat.

Some other activities of the visit included a Family Home Evening with a young convert family; walks through town; ice cream at Rudi's; Peter going with the missionaries to contact (and finding three interested investigators); the movie "Night at the Museum 2" at the new Krystal Center Theater (in English, with Albanian sub-titles); a visit to the Monument to the Martyrs, where Elder Oaks dedicated Albania for preaching the gospel in 1993; game playing; trying out my new Wii Fit they brought as a birthday gift from all our children; more ice cream; Emily and Eliza having a dress and skirt for Greg's August wedding, custom-made for them by a seamstress in one of our branches; and drinking lots and lots of Ivi Orange and Lemon soda.

Eliza and I were best friends, and as her mom was packing to go home, she kept saying, "We have to leave. Grandma will be so sad. She will miss me!" Indeed I do.


Jack and Andrew loved visiting Hassan, a shopkeeper across the street who gave them free Snicker's, and all three children had their cheeks pinched and kissed many times by complete strangers. Here are Jack and Andrew keeping Marty company in his office.

Elder Christofferson's Visit

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, and his wife Kathy visited us from May 28-31. Our Area Seventy, Elder Wondra and his wife Ursula were also visiting. After their arrival in Tirana on Friday afternoon, we whisked them off to the U.S. Ambassador's office for a half-hour visit, then went to the opening of a Roma (gypsy) pre-school where the Snow's had arranged some LDS Humanitarian Services aid of kitchen appliances, desks, chairs, and supplies. It was a colorful cultural event! That evening we hosted a dinner at the Tirana Sheraton so Elder Christofferson could meet several people here in Albania who work on goverment religious committees, the diplomat Michael Gray, from the U.S. Embassy who deals with religious affairs, and our attorney here in Albania.



At the Roma school, Sister Christofferson was drawn into the traditional line dancing and we were treated to dancing by the Roma children.

I had been concerned that I had not purchased flowers for the conference meetings in Elbasan and Durres on Saturday and Sunday, but the Roma people gave us three large bouquets of flowers. Problem solved!

We left the mission home early Saturday morning for the exciting and beautiful drive to Elbasan where we held an all-mission conference in the brand new Elbasan chapel. This was the first all-mission conference we've held since we've arrived. It was thrilling to be all together and had a wonderful two-hour session. I arranged a small choir of missionaries who sang an arrangement of "Behold the Wounds in Jesus' Hands" by David Naylor. Elder and Sister Christofferson loved the music and requested that they sing it again for our closing song.

After the mission conference, we sent the missionaries into the streets of Elbasan to find lunch and investigators, while we drove our guests to a Greek restaurant where we were the only diners and the owners rushed to serve us a delicious lunch. Then we returned to the chapel for two afternoon sessions with members of the district. At the end of the afternoon session, Elder Christofferson dedicated the new Elbasan chapel. We now have two church-owned chapels in Albania. The other is in the city of Durres. In Tirana where missionary work began in the early 90's, we still do not have a church-owned building. The four branches meet in three leased buildings. Back home that evening in Tirana, the Baird's (Marty's counselor and diplomat of military affairs at the U.S. Embassy) hosted a reception so the branch presidents and district presidency could meet and mingle with Elder Christofferson.



There were two sessions of conference in Durres on Sunday, and Elder Christofferson was the featured speaker at an evening meeting with the Young Single Adults in Tirana where he gave them an Apostolic Blessing. Throughout the conferences, Elder Christofferson was very generous with his time and shook every person's hand who wanted to meet him, and posed with several for pictures. The Albanian members were thrilled to have an apostle visit Albania. It has been five years since the visit of Elder Nelson.

Marty was able to arrange a meeting with the Albanian President, Bamir Topi, on Monday morning, and then we said goodbye to our guests. They took our personal mission van with a professional driver to Macedonia to visit with a few saints who live there, and after a night's stay, the Christofferson's headed back home to Salt Lake City, and the Wondra's to Vienna. Our van arrived back on Tuesday morning. We were also supposed to have gone with them to Macedonia in our larger mission van, but the clutch on that van burned out last week and was in the shop. We were so tired by Monday morning (I don't know how they kept up their busy schedule on this two-week tour!) that we were grateful to be staying behind.

We barely had time to catch our breath and then we held our two zone conferences Thursday and Friday. It was quite an exhilarating week!

Tangled Web

We're not quite sure what to make of this....we've heard about "free" electrical service.

It's two days later, and now that I think about it, I suppose it could be cable/internet or phone lines.  You'd kill yourself tapping into electrical lines, wouldn't you?

This is Retirement?

Here's a look at our--or rather--Marty's schedule. Mine works around his.
Monday: Office Devotional, where we get our heads together with the office missionares to coordinate work and calendars. The Assistants report on weekly key indicators from the missionaries.

Language lesson from Brisi, our 20-year old young woman tutor and friend.

Marty spends a good part of the day reading the emails from the missionaries and sending quick replies that they won't receive until the next Monday's P Day.

Monday afternoon I teach six piano lessons. The church has a keyboard program of loaning a five-octave electronic keyboard (from the U.S.) to piano students. They can keep the keyboard as long as they are taking lessons and showing progress through their practice. When the student becomes proficient enough to play for meetings, we can apply for a grant of a new permanent keyboard for him/her.

At 9:00 Marty starts making congratulatory calls to missionaries who've had a great week.

Tuesday-Thursday (for three of the weeks of the six-week cycle): Marty goes to interviews. Four of the districts are in Tirana, so this only takes half a day, but the outside districts in Shkodër, Fier/Lushnjë and Vlorë take up most of the day. I often go with Marty to interviews to chat with the elder/sister who is waiting. I always send cookies for the missionaries, meaning I am in constant need of infusions of brown sugar and chocolate chips from the states.

Friday: District Mtg. with one of the districts (four to six missionaries), and sometimes we treat them to lunch.

Saturday: P Day. Sometimes we get to relax, sometimes we don't. There are often meetings on Saturday.

Sunday: We visit a different branch each Sunday. We speak on the fourth Sunday. If it's a small branch, we always speak so the missionaries get a break. We both speak at Zone Conferences.

Tuesday-Thursday (the other three weeks) is lots of meetings: with members; with investigators; to decide on transfers; big transfers four times a year with arriving and departing missionaries; Mission Council to plan for Zone Conference and training (I provide lunch for 14 that day); Meetings with folks from Germany or Austria about finding land for buildings, the Church Education System, Public Relations, etc.; meetings with visiting authorities; Zone Conferences (two); visits with inactive Melchizedek Priesthood holders; and many more meetings that come up unexpectedly.

I attend some of these meetings. I do a lot of cooking, baking (cookies in the oven as I write), and laundry, although my laundry time has been greatly reduced since we purchased a new Bosch 8 kilogram washer and dryer. As a matter of fact, it's been life-changing! The laundries here don't do shirts, so I have to iron a lot, also. But I did buy a steam generating iron which helps. (If I have to iron and do laundry, I believe in having the best tools.) If Marty is around, he'll iron his own shirts. I am grateful. The missionaries and couples have washing machines but no dryers, so they have to hang their clothes to dry-- usually inside their apts. A laudromat would seem to be a good business opportunity here, but I think most people are too poor for it. The missionaries sure would love it!

Marty takes me grocery shopping if there is a lull between meetings. I could shop at the various little stores and fruit/veg. tregs around the mission home, but I would be going back and forth constantly with little bags of this and that and with my bad shoulder it's hard to carry heavy things. So he drives me to a Conad or EuroMax Supermarket where I can get most things in one place, and some things that are unavailable in the small shops. I buy fresh produce at our corner or down on the Myslym Shyri street where I can get better quality and more variety. There's a little store across the street that we frequent as often as we can as Hasan the owner keeps an eye on our building, and often opens and closes the gate when we're departing in our car.

Once the shoulder is totally better I'm going to learn to drive here. Eeeeek!

Marty's cell phone gets a workout every day. Mine rings when a missionary is injured or sick. We have a service doctor in Frankfurt who answers questions I can't.

We may be tired sometimes, but there are moments of great joy and we're enjoying the work and grateful and happy to be of service. Our missionaries are diligent and hard working, and we love them.

Any questions?