This really has put the importance of temples into perspective for me.

Hey Mom!

Yeah that was a picture of the district I was in before this transfer. We were up at Shkodër castle like all the other ones. And speaking of Shkodër, Elder Johnson is serving in Shkodër and he is in (well. . . .was in) my district. He’s going to be awesome. He is super excited to be here as far as I can tell and he’s willing to get out there and talk to people. So tell Karen to tell his parents that he’s doing great! He also has a great companion, Elder Fahey, so he’s in good hands. =)

Okay so the latest news. I was involved in yet another emergency transfer. So I am no longer in Durrës as zone leader, but now I am back in Tirana in 1^st Branch. I am serving as assistant to the President with Elder Monson so unless I get injured or something and have to move, I will be here until the beginning of October. That was pretty weird when I found out I was moving. But hopefully I’ll be able to do my best.

Ha ha it was so funny to compare your account of Jade’s farewell to Dad’s. Your words were “I’ll have to admit it brought some tears to my eyes.” Dad’s words were, “Mom was blubbering the whole time.” =) I laughed a hearty chuckle right there. Man that youth conference was so memorable! It was pretty dang fun. Seriously I don’t think any one of us that was there is going to forget that. And who doesn’t appreciate sister missionaries?! Whoever it is, they’re insane. Sister missionaries kick Elders’ trash. At least here in Albania they do. There’s just some people that the Elders could never get to, when the Sisters can. Jade is going to do great and God will definitely appreciate the work that she does in his vineyard. Tell her good luck from me again if you see her before she leaves!

Well this week was pretty interesting as you could imagine with the emergency transfer and everything, but the work in this area seems to be doing a little better than my last couple of areas. Hopefully I don’t curse it forever ha ha. One thing that really hit me this week is how much of a sacrifice some people have to make to go to the temple. We have it so lucky in Utah. When we want to go to the temple, we don’t have to decide a year or more in advance or start saving up money. We don’t have to arrange for plane tickets or worry about visas and passports and other such things. I could decide at noon that I felt like going to the temple and be there in ten minutes. This really has put the importance of temples into perspective for me. These people start saving up money and preparing way in advance just to go even one time in their entire lives. But it’s because they know they wouldn’t want to miss out on the opportunity of an eternal marriage and family. And when we have the opportunity to go so easily, we need to take advantage of that and help others to seal their families for eternity as well.

Well, I should probably get going. I feel like this letter sounds kinda weird. Sorry! It was kind of a strange week so hopefully next week I’ll have my feet set a little bit more. I love you, mom. Thanks so much for your e-mail. We get to talk in two weeks! Have a great week!

-Elder Swenson