Elbasan Open House

Saturday was the open house for the new Elbasan chapel. The people of that branch really did a nice job of cleaning and setting up classrooms to demonstrate the different aspects of the Church. Lindita Grimci, our Public Relations Specialist, helped to organize the event with support from our office elders. I brought flowers for various rooms in the building, and also the refreshments. Sister Grimci arranged for Marty to have a meeting with President Topi of Albania to extend an invitation to him, and he promised to send some of his deputies. Instead he sent some counselors, which we were told is a much higher position than a deputy. Since Elbasan is over an hour from Tirana over a winding mountain road, we felt very honored to have not only President Topi's representatives, but several other government officials from Elbasan and Tirana. There were two media representatives taking video for the evening news. The Director of the Committee on Cults from the Ministry of Culture of Albania, Mr. Rasim Hasanaj, came to the open house as well. He has become friends with Elder D. Todd Christofferson, whom he met during the apostle's visit to Albania in June. Mr. Hasanaj was invited to attend the BYU International Law and Religion Symposium that was held at the beginning of this month in Provo, Utah, and met again with Elder Christofferson for lunch. We would like to have the Church recognized as a religion instead of a cult. Currently there are only four recognized religions--two sects of Muslims, the Orthodox Church, and the Roman Catholic Church--so this interest in our church is very welcome.

In addition to the special invited guests, we welcomed several visitors from the community, including a large number of children and young people. There were so many young boys and girls, that the missionaries had to let them into the building in small groups to usher them through the different exhibits. We hope some seeds were planted in their hearts that will produce fruit in later years.

Center: Mr. Rasim Hasanaj, Director of the Committee on Cults in the Ministry of Culture, and another visitor from the Ministry is next to Marty on the end. Agim Grimci, a member from Tirana is on the left.

Some of the members of the Elbasan Branch, along with missionaries who worked on the event.

President Topi's Counselor listening to a presentation by Sister Xhaferaj on the Church's programs for families.

One of our Albanian missionaries, Elder Celaj, is telling some of the young visitors about the Book of Mormon.

When the day was done, Marty and some other men retreated to the basketball court out back for a quick pick-up game. Apparently, the old guys won.

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.

Visitors at Church

We went to Sacrament Meeting in Kamez, a suburb of Tirana. It is a Wild West kind of town where many people are coming to the big city from their small villages in the mountains. There is one newly-paved four-lane road through the center and the city is rapidly and randomly expanding. Prime Minister Berisha campaigned there this Spring and said that he was going to make Kamez the most modern city in Albania--some of the boldest campaign rhetoric I've ever heard. It's a bit of a rough town for the two elders there, but the the work is going forward in Kamez and we have a very small branch there. Today there were eight members at church, including the two elders and Marty and me. And there were bees. Lots of bees. Hornets, actually, and they were coming in through a small window in the back, crawling on the floors and walls of the small room, and flying to the front trying to exit via the window there. We would open and close the front window to let them out, but as soon as one would exit, another one or two would be there. I decided to move to the safety of the back when I finished my talk, but found it much worse there. With my scripture bag I smashed five or six hornets that were crawling around my feet, but really caused a stir when I leaped out of my seat brushing away the one that was crawling on my blouse toward my face. I moved to the front again. The six Albanian saints just calmly sat through the meeting, unperturbed by the unwelcome visitors.