This week really turned into an insanely busy one.

Hey Mom!

This week really turned into an insanely busy one. We weren't planning on that, but somehow it ended up that way. We had tons of random stuff we had to do along with a couple trainings and then finishing off the week with a baptism in Elbasan (one of Elder Holmes' old investigators got baptized). By Thursday we had only taught three lessons ha ha. But we rebounded somewhat and ended up having a pretty good week.

Thursday we had a specialized training about the role of the Holy Ghost in Revelation and how we can teach investigators what kind of environment they need to feel that more often. It was really a pretty good training and we got some good ideas. Whenever I talk to investigators about the Holy Ghost and how it feels, I read 3 Nephi 11:3-7 with them. It talks about a voice coming from heaven and how, even though they didn't understand it, it pierced them to the center and made their hearts burn. I love that description and I know I have felt that. It also helps them understand that they might not understand it the first time around. Or the second time. The people that heard the voice only understood the voice when they opened their ears to hear and turned their eyes towards heaven. We really have to be looking for an answer and putting ourselves in places that the answer can come. Mainly prayer, the scriptures, and church. But President also talked about how, in order to get an answer, we have to be constantly searching. We really have to want to know. I loved the way that Elder Griffith put it. He said that we can read the scriptures and then pray about it, but if we leave our house and put the ipod right in, we're not really "seeking" an answer. We have to be open to the spirit. We have to open our ears to hear and turn our eyes towards heaven.

Then we played frisbee. =)

Probably the coolest experience of this week was last night. It's always on a Sunday, I'm tellin' ya. We hadn't found a new investigator at all this week and we were pretty upset about that. Yes it was true that a ton of other random work came out of nowhere, but finding zero new investigators in one whole week is just unacceptable. Especially since last week we found nine. We had gotten back from Elbasan at around 6:00 and hadn't eaten. We went home, ate, and then left straight to a meeting that ended at a little past 7:30. Usually we go in at 8:30 for language study so we didn't have much time. We went tracting. Yay tracting. In the apartment building we went to, nobody was really answering their doors which was kind of discouraging, but lo and behold at 8:15 a door opens! And an older man named Xhaxhi Dini invites us into his home. He was quite the chatterbox, but at the same time a really wonderful man. Basically just the type we're looking for to lead the Vlorë branch. So we got in as much as we could about the Book of Mormon and how he could find answers himself from God. It was a pretty long meeting. . . .but a good one! And we're going back on Wednesday to discuss what he read. Him and his wife were our two new investigators for this week. I know they're not many, but they're more than zero. I'm grateful for the Lord's help in achieving our goals.

I love you. I can't believe we're going to give each other big hugs in a little more than a week. That's really weird. I'll see you soon.

-Elder Swenson