One side of Zogu i Zi (roundabout in Tirana e Re)
Our district after 2 straight hours of futbol a couple weeks ago.
Me on the shore in Durrës.
Our district minus Elder Bullough who was taking the picture.
How's it goin'?!
Okay and yes I know what you're talking about with the activity badges now. I guess I'm just one of those guys that needs someone to draw a picture for me. Or maybe I'm like Coach. I don't need someone to draw a picture for me, but I really like it when they do. =) So what is with the rooster thing? That is so weird ha ha. Funny though. Ha ha yeah Bear would have destroyed that thing. How did you catch Bear though?! He is fast! Okay funny thing we saw yesterday that is kind of along the same track. We were going back home for lunch and we saw this cow tied to a dyqan (store) along the road and we were like, "Well that's weird." So we looked at the sign for the store and it says "Mish i Fresket"--in English, "Fresh Meat." Ha ha we thought that was funny.
Okay so questions. Elder Bullough is a really good Elder. We are extremely different. And when I say different, I mean like EXTREMELY different. And if I were to be completely honest, we probably wouldn't have been friends in high school or anything. BUT, we're getting along really well and we both want to do the work. He is very obedient which is a blessing and a half and we have been working together to get things back in order in Kamëz. He is from Orem, Utah and I think his mom either tried to or is going to try to e-mail you at some point. They just decided that they were going to move to China and in a period of 3 weeks made the decision, packed, got the house ready, and left. Crazy sauce. But yeah so I am grateful for my companion and I think this next transfer will be just as good as the last. This is actually the first day of my second transfer, but neither me or Elder Bullough are leaving so that was big news!
Our apartment is small obviously but just great. It was pretty much a mess when I got there, but we've cleaned it up (and yes I did play a major role in that cleaning) and it looks pretty good now. It's hard to fit everything in there without a little bit of clutter, but it's pretty much organized. Elder Bullough is a fantastic cook and I'm learning a little bit. I've set a goal to learn to cook like 2 or 3 meals every week. So hopefully by the time I get home, I will be able to cook pretty well. =) To give you an idea on my progress, I cooked some white sauce yesterday and doubled the butter, but forgot to double everything else and it just ended up all lumpy and gross and yeah. So yeah that's going well! As far as the pictures go, technically we're not even supposed to have our cameras on us except for P-day so it's kinda hard. But I'm just bad at taking pictures anyway. I did get a couple from our district trip to Durrës so I'll try to send you those today. And I'll try really hard to take some more because I definitely want to have pictures to remember my mission by. Um stuff I could use. . . .ha ha I actually wrote a list. Deodorant is the number one thing cause they have like one kind here and it's way hard to find so some Sure would be great! Music would be great, too. I have 2 CD's and that's it ha ha. But no I don't really have a CD player. So that's the problem. So I don't really know what to do about that. And also if you could send me one of the copies of the Children's Hymnbook that we have. That has really good music for prelude and baptisms and stuff. But that's basically it. And that's not urgent at all so seriously this isn't something that has to be done like tomorrow. I was debating whether or not to just wait until Christmas to ask you for that so that gives you an idea of how much time you have ha ha. And no I haven't gotten any packages yet, but we did just barely get mail for the first time in like 2 1/2 weeks.
So this week was kinda disappointing. We didn't even get close to the goals we made. Tons of stuff prished on us and even Flamur's appointments ended up not really happening. We're going to have to move Flamur's baptismal date, which is pretty much lame. We were supposed to meet him every day at 7:00 this week. I think we met him twice. We call him every time and he just says, "I'm having some problems with my family." So I don't know what's going on, but he has his own makinë (car) and he's a strong guy so it's not like his family is doing anything physical to keep him from coming. It's frustrating, but we're meeting him tonight and telling him about the baptismal date thing and hopefully making a baptismal calendar with him. So we'll see how that goes.
But on the good side of things, last night we met a man named Denis who we've met once before. He can't read and so we're going to teach him how to read using the gospel pamphlets and stuff. I'm really looking forward to that. And he says that we teach him how to read for 4 days a week and he'll come to church on Sunday! ha ha sounds good to me!
Well things are going well. Just a frustrating week. Hopefully this one will be better. I love you guys and thanks for all your support and love. It really means a lot. Have a good week, mom!
-Elder Swenson
Hey Dad,
So you guys are just doing the Utah transfer from summer to winter, eh? Sounds like a party. It's definitely still hot during the day here. But it's really nice at night and early in the mornings when we go running. So yeah the answer to the question where is global warming? It's in Albania. Ha ha ha just kiddin'.
Wow there's actually a lot of people that are going on missions that I didn't even think were going to go. That's crazy! Way awesome and they will not regret that decision. I'm so pumped to see where Cameron is going (by the way, he is not one of those that I didn't think was going ha ha). You guys have to tell me as soon as you find out. Tell him good luck and I'm praying for him. He's an awesome kid and he'll do wonders wherever he goes.
Yeah the homesickness has actually been really hard lately. I think it just hit me that I'm not going to see you guys or anybody else that I love from home for a really long time. But I've been praying for help to get lost in the work and to find joy in others. It's really hard when I can't even carry out a conversation with somebody, but I'm trying. It's just like I wrote mom last week. It might take a long time, but I'm going through this for a reason and I'm going to be that much stronger after it's over. But it's true. When we're teaching a lesson or talking to somebody or teaching our members how to lead music =) it is an amazing feeling and I don't feel homesick at all. It's just hard when I have time to think.
We've definitely just experienced some people not following through which is really sad. You know that they know it is true, but they just don't have the determination to do what it takes for the truth. Now, I understand it's a lot harder here than it was for me or anything, but it's still frustrating to me. But we know that there are people here that are waiting for us to share the gospel with them that have that willpower and have that courage to go against all odds and do what it takes to live the gospel. We just have to find them.
Dad thanks for your e-mail. Thanks for everything you do for our family. I'm grateful for you and I'm praying for you. Love you.
-Elder Swenson
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