I Love the Plan of Salvation

Hey Mom!

Yeah I actually knew that Sam was in Hawaii from facebook before the mish. =) Ha ha, but we never really talked or anything which was kinda stupid. But I met some kids in the MTC that went to Highland High and I asked them if they knew him and they said that he was the coolest kid they knew. So there ya go! Apparently he’s still doing well!

I guess January is just the month for birthdays isn’t it? Tell everybody that I said Happy Birthday to them. Or better yet, Gëzuar Ditëlindjen! Më mirë kështu.

Primary is always fun, isn’t it? You guys have a HUGE primary. The primaries here in Albania are just all the kids combined into one class and it’s usually around like 10 kids. But it’s still great. The other elders in 3rd branch got an AMAZING referral off of a primary aged kid. So you should get the class to do missionary work. ;) Speaking of which!! Forever ago, I got a letter from some of the primary kids and it was probably the best thing I have ever received on my mission. It seriously made me and my companion super happy. So tell them thanks if you get the chance. So how old are those kids that you sub for? I love the Plan of Salvation too. I still think that is my favorite lesson to teach. It is just full of hope and happiness. The cool thing is that it’s so simple, but at the same time, we can’t even comprehend everything there is to it. I love the principles that we know because of the restoration of God’s true church.

And speaking of the Plan of Salvation, we taught an awesome lesson on Friday. Me and Elder Jones found a family tracting a couple days before he left Albania and we went back on Friday. The first time we taught them, only the parents were there, but this time both of the boys were there too. So we had a lesson about the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement with the whole family. It was such a great lesson! We got the boys to participate and they seemed to like it! We talked about how we were with God before this life and the reasons why we came to earth. We talked about how God loves us enough to create the world and to give up his ONLY son for us. So that we could all return to him one day and be with all of our loved ones again. We talked about the importance of Jesus Christ and how huge his sacrifice was for us. I don’t think there is any topic that brings the spirit more than the Atonement. At the end of the lesson, Elder Anderson (my new trainee! I’ll talk about him later) added his testimony of Jesus Christ and the power of the Atonement. It was super simple because it was his first day in the country, but it definitely brought power into the lesson. After we finished teaching, we set up a teaching plan with them to come two times every week and so we’ll be going again tomorrow. I can’t wait!

So my new companion. His name is Elder Anderson and he’s from Roy, Utah. He’s really cool and ready to work. Training definitely brings me back to my first days and weeks in the country. I remember how weird it was and how stinking hard the language is. Already he’s helped out with our lessons and on Sunday, the Branch Presidency asked him to bear his testimony in sacrament meeting so he’s definitely getting some good practice with the language in. He’s kinda just a relaxed kid, but really nice and willing to work. Last night, we talked about some of the music we liked back home and just different stuff we liked to do. I also got to see a bunch of his family pictures and friends and stuff. It was really cool. It’s interesting because he actually knows Binoi Tamang (spelling is probably wrong on that) who is our stake mission prep teacher! Small world.

Thanks for your e-mail, mom! I love you!
-Elder Swenson