Edi Leaves for the London Mission!

When we first met Edi Çyçi (pronounced Choochi), we thought he had spent much of his life in America because his English is so good, hardly without accent, and his speech is sprinkled with American idioms. He said he learned it from television and movies. So it was fitting that he has been called to an English-speaking mission, the London Mission, and he left on Saturday, November 28 to go into the Preston MTC. We're excited for Edi and know that with his firm testimony of the gospel and love of our missionaries, whom he loves to be with, that he will be an excellent missionary himself. His mother joined the Church this year, and we're hoping that maybe Edi's mission will soften his father and brother's hearts.

We're Thankful

Since our mission is small we decided to bring everyone in for a Thanksgiving feast and afternoon movie. After debating back and forth whether to ask the Shanghai Chinese restaurant if they would provide a meal for us at their restaurant, I decided that maybe I could make dinner for 52 people. Was I nuts?!

I assigned the Tirana sisters to come up with table coverings and decorations, and invited the missionaries to provide the desserts.

The Assistants and Marty spent half a day on Wednesday in the cold, musty basement, sweeping, mopping, removing junk, stacking the huge stash of chairs we have down there, and setting up tables and chairs. I scrubbed a decade of grime off the plastic chairs and Marty cleaned the dirty basement kitchen by himself, even cleaning out the refrigerator. The basement was transformed, especially after the Tirana sisters came in with their clever decorations. I made place cards and told the missionaries that if they messed with them they wouldn't get dinner. (This was a trick to intersperse the newer missionaries among the older ones. The missionaries naturally gravitate to their MTC groups, and I wanted to "mix it up" a bit.)

I cooked six 12-lb. Butterball turkeys that the Bairds were able to buy for us through the U.S. Embassy, and one 6 1/2 lb. half turkey breast we found at the Conad Supermarket. I made tons of gravy, six batches of Parkerhouse and orange rolls, and got help on the last day from the Snow's, our Humanitarian Aid couple in Vlore, who whipped up all the potatoes (office elders and Assistants peeled), and helped me make the dressing. I put together a large fruit cocktail/fresh mandarin orange/banana/mini-marshmallows (sent by my daughter Emily)/and whipped cream salad that was devoured as the first course. Knowing that I had limited oven and stove space, the rolls, gravy, and most of the turkey were cooked ahead and frozen for thawing and reheating the day of the dinner. Getting it all together and hot at the same time was a trick. The green beans didn't heat up in time and had to be served along with the second round. There was enough food for seconds, and we had the equivalent of two turkeys left over! With all those side dishes, I guess we didn't need so much meat. Remind me never to go into the catering business.

Elder Turley and Mugleston's huge Apple Pie (they peeled 28 apples), one of many desserts provided by the missionaries. We had mixed decor as the 1st Branch had already started putting up their Christmas decorations.
Motra Kennedy, a happy Brit likes our Thanksgiving tradition! Also at her table (round to the left) are Sister Korita, Elder Allen, The Shupe's, (Institute/Outreach couple), and Elder Hixson.
The Tirana sisters decorated the tables with flowers, Thanksgiving-themed crayon artwork, small Thanksgiving cutouts to scatter on the tables, and candy. L. to R., Sister Boyer, Sister Bentley, Sister Larson, and our Albanian mini-missionary, Sister Korita, who is serving for twelve weeks until January when we get a new sister and will have even numbers again.
Gravy for a crowd! I think it was at least two gallons and was yummy, if I don't say so myself. My Kitchen Aid Mixer has gotten a good workout on our mission. Hope it holds out another year and a half.

After dinner we came up to the first floor where we had set up a theater using my computer, a multi-media projector, and some good speakers, and watched "UP" which all but the newest missionaries had not seen. The missionaries loved it! Afterward, they had seconds of dessert and went on their way happy and thankful for one another, for their missions, and for a little diversion from their long days of hard work.

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).