This week was pretty intense

Hyello!

Well this week was pretty intense. Vasil got baptized last night. Oh man he is one funny dude. He loves to tell stories about his life and his village and stuff and it usually makes our lessons take about an hour or more. So when we were talking about the logistics of the baptism with him the day before, we made special mention of his testimony that he gets to give after he’s baptized. We didn’t want the baptism to go for like three hours so we really emphasized how his testimony was supposed to be short and concise. We told him it wasn’t a time for life stories, but instead a time to share what he knows to be true. So we got to the baptism and the speakers give their talks, he gets dunked, and we come out of the changing rooms. It’s time for Vasil to give his testimony and the first thing he says is, “I, Vasil, would like to tell you a little bit about my life. . . .” Good times, eh? But he actually did really well. He kept it short and it was a good testimony. It was really cool to see Vasil get baptized especially because of Brother Saraçi’s work with him. Brother Saraçi is probably one of my favorite members here in Albania. He’s just a really really good man that really cared about his friend. And look where that friend is now. We have something that is so valuable and the people that understand that don’t hesitate to share that with their friends. We’re really grateful we got to take part in the baptism last night.

We had another training this week. This one was two days long and once again based on the principles of Teaching More Effectively. It was really good to get a lot more practice in and actually led to some success this weekend. One of the principles is called the Doctrine of Christ which really outlines our purpose as missionaries. It is found in 2 Nephi 31 and focuses on faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. After all this practice you really find out where you can improve and one of the areas we found that we could improve in was inviting people to prepare for baptism early. Getting it out there so they know we’re not just teaching them so they’ll learn stuff about Jesus, but teaching them so they will make the changes needed to receive the ordinances necessary for them to return to their loving Heavenly Father. So we decided to try it this weekend in our tracting. We kept our purpose in mind and set baptismal dates with two people. One’s name is Agim and the other Sefer. Agim is probably about 45 and is a really cool guy. He loves his family and he was ready and willing to accept the invitation to be baptized. Sefer is probably about 55 or 60 and has a killer northern accent. Oh man I love it. I am learning so much Gheg from him. It’s sweet. He is an awesome guy too and he loves the word of God. We tried to get him to read the Restoration pamphlet after we met him the first time, but he really can’t see well at all and it hurts his head to read those small letters. So we made a HUGE copy of 2 Nephi 31 for him and read some of it together. He also accepted the invitation to be baptized. He was like, “Well if it’s the word of God then of course I’ll do it!” They’re both gonna be really fun to teach and I’m really excited to see them progress.

Also. Our English class is huge now. About 40 people come to the beginning class. It’s kinda stressful sometimes, but it’s really fun too. We talked about professions this last time and I learned a new word. “Banakier” in Albanian means “bartender.” I have no idea how I’ve managed to live in Albania for a year and three months without learning that word. Pretty embarrassing, but it was a cool word. Anyway, we’re looking forward to some good investigators coming from our English class.

I’m glad you guys got to go hang out with the fam a little. Where is the Jasmine? Have I been there. I swear that I recognize that place, but I can’t put my finger on it. Tell Sher happy birthday for me!

Well I hope that you have an awesome week, mom! I love you and pray for you every day. Take it easy!

-Elder Swenson

I got to baptize Erodita

Hey Mom!

This week wasn't super eventful all in all. Okay well actually let me take that back. There were some pretty good stories from it. The first of all being that I got to baptize Erodita. It was awesome. She is going to be an incredible member of the church. It was an interesting situation, though, because about three weeks before the baptism she went through a terrifying experience swimming in the sea. She was very shaken up about it and understandably it was a hard thing for her to be in the water again a couple weeks later. But she made it out. I was afraid she thought I was trying to drown her though cause she came out of the water and took a huge gasp for air like she hadn't been breathing for a minute. She was just a little bit nervous I'd imagine. But it went well and the next day she came to English course and told us that she didn't even feel like she weighed anything cause she felt so light after her baptism. I told her that was great and that I was happy for her. I told her I wished I felt the same way, but our diet was pretty interesting that week and so I was definitely feeling by body weight. ;) Anyway, I was really glad I got to take part in that.

As for the update with Vasil, he will be getting baptized on Sunday. He got back too late from his fshat (village) to baptize him this week, but we'll get him in there this week. We don't know who's baptizing him yet. He wants one of us to do it, but we're going to try to get him to choose Brother Saraçi, his good friend and the one who referred him to us. But we'll see how things go. I'll send you some pics!

As for Azgan. We're meeting with him tonight so we can drop him. We've been doing everything we can for him to start turning his life around, but he also has to do his part. And he hasn't been doing that. We taught him about the Word of Wisdom Saturday night and he has a lot of work to do in that aspect. So we agreed to start the Stop Smoking Program the next day after church. He didn't come to church. So we went over to his house ready for him to become a non-smoker, but apparently he wasn't. It's kind of a long story, but he just doesn't have the courage to stop all at once. But that's the only way it can happen. He kept saying stuff like, “Yeah, this will be good. I mean if I quit that would be awesome, but at least I'll reduce the amount that I smoke.” I just had a really bad feeling about continuing with the program and so we decided to stop before we got too far. He said he wasn't ready to quit yet. It's really frustrating because he says over and over again that he knows he's killing himself. His health is completely in shambles and yet he'll decide to wait to stop doing that to himself. He said that we can try it again after October 7^th, but it's not going to be any easier then. It's frustrating, but he doesn't do anything without our help. So we're going to read from D&C 58 with him tonight and hopefully someday he'll realize that he has to do his part.

I've got to tell you about Sunday night. =) Ha ha it was probably the most frustrating night of my mission. But it ended well. So there's this thing called patience and me and Elder Foulk both have some. But, Sunday night the little patience that we do have was pushed to the extreme. There was seriously a moment where we were both just pacing back and forth in the stairwell just trying not to blow up. Seriously I haven't been so aggravated in a long time. BUT! We kept going and finally we knocked a door and a man named Sefer let us in. He was from a city called Puka so he had a legit northern accent. We had a pretty good first lesson with him, but nothing really came out of it. But we had been trying really hard to get in so we could teach somebody and after many many many trials, came the blessings. Man I rock at telling stories, eh?

So that's pretty much it for this week. Oh, except for we took the entire day yesterday and went to Theth with President Neil. It was probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen on earth. I fell in a river. Awesome. That is something that of course only Elder Swenson would do. You'll get some sweet pics. I took a couple pictures of literally the most breathtaking view I have ever seen in my entire life. Wish y'all could have been there with me.

So now there is seriously nothing else. ;) We're coming up on a busy week so hopefully I'll have lots to write you about next week.

Love you!

-Elder Swenson

The real highlight of my week will happen on Friday.

Hey Mom!

So here's the deal. We got back late from our district trip today and so we have like 20 minutes for e-mail! So basically I'm just putting everything in here and you can send it to Dad and Lindsey and stuff. =)

That is so cool that you basically knew Elder Foulk's sister. I've been hearing the updates on the marriage thing every week of course. That was definitely a weird coincidence. Also, you have a facebook page? Weird.

This week was pretty boring actually. The highlight in time consumption was a three day training on the Fundamentals From Preach My Gospel: Teaching More Effectively. (Ha ha hilarious name) We got to practice a ton on each of the eight principles and get some great new ideas for our investigators. It really was a pretty good experience and we definitely need all the practice we can get. Ever since the trainings have started, the mission has seen a drastic increase in baptismal dates and just good positive key indicators. It's pretty cool. The goal that I've set for myself for the rest of my mission is just to become an awesome teacher. I have a lot of work to do, but I really really like the practice we've been getting and I think it's been helping me. But what do I know?

The real highlight of my week will happen on Friday. Guess what. I am going to baptize somebody! Not somebody I taught, but somebody I found. Her name is Erodita and she came to our English course the last time we did it. I also had the opportunity to give her a blessing last week and it was a really good experience. One day a long time ago in English class, I asked for a volunteer to say the prayer and nobody was volunteering. So finally Erodita was like, "I'll say it, I guess." She said an amazing prayer and then after the prayer we had like a one minute discussion about prayer from which we drew the fact that she was awesome and ready for the gospel. We sicked the sisters on her and they have been teaching her ever since! It's really exciting that she's going to get baptized and obviously I'm pretty excited that I get to dunk her. ;) So I'll make sure to get some pictures from that.

Vasil was actually in his village this week and so we didn't meet with him, but we should be meeting with him again tomorrow and he should still be getting baptized on Sunday. We're definitely excited for that as well. We're just trying to get him to let Brother Saraçi (his friend that referred him to us) baptize him and not one of us. But either way it should be a really good baptism. He's always super happy and we think he's going to have a positive effect on 1st Branch.

We are also meeting with Azgan still. He has a lot to change, but this week we feel like we saw signs that he actually is changing. He has a huge prejudice against Albanians (yeah weird) so we had a lesson about 3 Nephi 12 when Jesus tells us to love our enemies and do good to those that despitefully use us. It was a really good lesson and so now we're helping him focus on the positive things in his life instead of the negative. It's a big change, but one that has a LOT of effects. Avash avash (slowly, slowly). He'll get there.

The rest of the time we had this week we just filled with handing out more English flyers than you can imagine. We're starting up our course on Wednesday and hoping some good, prepared people come to that. I actually really like teaching English. It's fun stuff and it kinda reminds me of teaching piano which, by the way, I will be starting again this week. =) I'm happy.

I'm really looking forward to this week. It's gonna be busy, but it should be a really uplifting week too. I hope you guys have a week equally as awesome!

I love you! I'll send you pics next week. Sorry!

-Elder Swenson

Albania has been really good.

Message to Friends:

Hey Boys.

Well things just get busier and busier don’t they. This last month has flown by. And I’m sure September is just going to be even faster. It’s so weird to think that I’m basically ¾ done. I don’t know how I feel about that. Tim’s gonna be home for Christmas which is really jacked up.

Albania has been really good. Good weather, good work, good times. We’ve been trying really hard to incorporate this new teaching stuff into our lessons and it has been really interesting. I find myself either having a really good lesson or just bombing horribly. It’s pretty funny. I’m sure you’d all be supremely entertained to see some of my bloopers from lessons. But as a general rule I’m really glad that they released those principles. I have a lot to work on, but now I know where to focus my efforts and what to practice. And I think I’m getting better. Slowly, but surely.

Anyway, so what’s up in the rest of the world? It’s great to hear all your guys’ stories and successes. Fjelsted, sounds like a pretty rough comp. Hang in there! You’re my hero. So as I was reading the last newsletter, I was thinking to myself about how legit you all are. You guys are seriously awesome. I can honestly say that my friends are probably the coolest people on earth. All of you out there working tirelessly/biking across freaking America. How can you get more legit than that? Anyway, thanks for your examples to me. I’ve always looked up to you guys and always will. I feel like if I were Tazz I would tell you to stay classy.

We’ve had a lot of blessings from the Lord this past little while. It seems like He knows exactly where we need to be. I’ve also seen more answers to my personal prayers than ever before in my life. There’s a section in Alma 33 that really describes how I’ve felt as of late. Alma is quoting Zenos and he says the words, “Thou didst hear me,” over and over and over again. Zenos recognized that God always heard him and was continually answering his prayers. Lately I feel like God has been very close to me listening and answering my prayers. I’ve felt peace when I’ve asked for peace. Forgiveness when I’ve asked for forgiveness. Direction when I’ve asked for direction. It’s incredible to know that we really do have a Father in heaven that looks out for us and cares for us. He can do anything and He is so ready and willing to help us. He loves His children.

One of the answers we saw yesterday after church. We have set a goal that was inspired by President Neil to not let any week go by without finding any new investigators. We usually don’t have too big of a problem with that, but this last week we were really cutting it close. It was Sunday and we still hadn’t found one. In our nightly planning, we had decided that new investigators were really all we wanted out of our Sunday. So we decided that we were going to go tracting after church and find a new investigator. Even if it took us till 3:00 when everyone is asleep. It was Fast Sunday so tracting after church was not the easiest thing to do, but we had faith that the Lord would guide us and help us find the person that was waiting for us. So we started tracting some private houses on a dirt road. It was about 2:00 which is usually when tracting stops being effective in anyway, but we knew our new investigator was right around the corner. We ended up at a big, bright green door and gave it a knock. We had heard a couple voices coming from inside the gate, but weren’t sure if they were coming or not. It was weird because we both just ended up standing at the door for a really long time. Normally I would have left, but I just kinda stood there waiting for my comp to leave. Finally after probably two or three minutes of standing in front of the door, a young man came to the door. We introduced ourselves and our message and asked if we could sit down for a couple minutes and show him how he could benefit from it. He was like, “Uh sure I guess.” We sat down in his front yard and had a really short, but really good lesson. He’s not super religious, but he said that he was willing to ask God and read the Book of Mormon. We’re going back on Wednesday to follow up.

God was obviously helping us to achieve our goal. It was really cool because afterwards I found out that my comp was fasting to find a young man that we could start teaching. (We’ve had this streak of finding women and having to give them to the sisters. Weird I know.) Just like Zenos says, God hears us when we pray to Him. He wants to help us and He loves us so much. I know God answers prayers.

I love you all and I’m praying for you. Keep your stick on the ice.

“Prayer can change the night to day. So, when life gets dark and dreary, don’t forget to pray.”

-Elder Swenson

This week was kind of a blur

Hey Mom!

Sounds like everybody had a pretty eventful week! I guess it’s better that way than boring. That was a big surprise that we got a new bishopric. They’re all studs though so they’re going to do great. That’s sad to know that Bishop Pearson isn’t bishop anymore. He was really good. But there are other things to do in life. Tell him thanks from me for his help. I’m planning on writing him a letter next week, but let him know that I really appreciate everything he did for me and everybody else in the ward.

So this week was kind of a blur. We have been kinda sick and we haven’t had water almost at all in our house which is awesome. We’ve had to come to the church to shower and get ready almost every day this week. It’s pretty annoying. It also prevents us from doing the dishes/mopping/cleaning. Not the greatest situation ever. We thought it was just our old grandma neighbor stealing all our water, but we figured out it’s actually probably the pump so we’re looking into that right now.

We had Zone Conferences this week which were fun as always. The Missionary Department released something they call “Fundamentals from Preach My Gospel: Teaching More Effectively” which are eight basic teaching principles that will improve our teaching skills. They are really good and they released some DVD’s to go along with them that are very effective. So a lot of the Zone Conferences were introducing the principles and watching the DVD’s. I really enjoyed it, though. I think the principles are awesome. They’ve definitely helped me to become a better teacher so far. It’s funny cause they’re just simple things that you just forget sometimes. Some are harder than others, obviously, but for the most part they’re pretty simple. I really just want to become a better teacher. I think that is an awesome skill to have and I really look up to exceptional teachers. And it really helps in missionary work seeing as that’s basically all we do.

Really just another normal week. We taught Vasil and Azgan a lot and they’re still both progressing avash avash (slowly, slowly). We’ve moved Vasil’s baptismal date to the 19^th of September and we’re pretty confident that he can be ready for that. We still have to talk to him about the Law of Tithing, though, which is our biggest concern. They are not a wealthy family at all and it’s going to be hard for him to show his faith by paying his tithing. But if he has really received a testimony of the Book of Mormon then he knows what he should do. We’re also going to be starting the stop smoking program with Azgan this week so we should have a pretty groundbreaking week! We’re a little nervous, but excited as well. It’s always amazing to see people progress in the gospel.

Well it was awesome to hear from you! I hope you have an amazing week! I love you, mom!

-Elder Swenson

This week was a really busy week.

What up?

This week was a really busy week. Not a ton of people here in Albania have cars so we were basically the youth camp transport. Girls camp and boys camp both happened this week and I think we made at least five trips up there. We also took our entire Wednesday night and did shopping with Sister Veliu for girls camp food. I’ll tell you what, we bought a lot of food. I think I got a little insight into what it takes to prepare for a youth camp in America cause that would probably be even more work than we did. But apparently the camps went well which is really great. The youth had a really good time.

I don’t know if I told you last week, but we found a new investigator named Azgan who now has a baptismal date. He’s really weird, but he’s moving along. He looks and acts exactly like Igor from Young Frankenstein. He is a Muslim and actually knows quite a bit about Islam. He is very smart and understands everything we teach, but somehow thinks that it all ties right along in there with Islam which is not really true. . . . .so we’re going to have to work on that one. But he’s got a baptismal date for the 19th! We’ve got some time. We’re gonna work on the Word of Wisdom with him this week which is always a significant point in the teaching process.

Vasil is still doing well. Just kind of frustrating cause he talks so dang much. We’re actually not sure if the stuff we’re teaching him is getting into his brain. Like, he understands it, but he still tells us tons of super random stories that have nothing to do with anything and that are just based on completely fabricated lies by preachers in his village. It’s really really frustrating. I don’t really know how to explain it, but we’re really trying to overcome this and we haven’t found anything yet. So hopefully we can get this soon. We’re thinking that this week we’re going to do some sort of lesson that’s just really straight forward about how there is only one true church and all the others are false. And the true one is not in his village so he needs to stop talking about it. But we’re hopefully going to say that with a little more tact. ;) We might have to do the same thing for Azgan as well. We’ll see.

Oh, kind of a cool story. There is a member here in first branch named Grisi (greasy). He is pretty much the most legit person ever. Well, Thursday he left for the Preston, England MTC to get ready to come back here for his mission. About a week and a half ago we let him know that this was his last chance to bring any of his friends that he hadn’t talked to already to learn about the church. And what do you know, Wednesday morning we had a meeting with a guy that he always says hi to on his way to the church. Did it go anywhere? Not really, but Grisi is legit. End of story. We can’t wait to have him as a missionary here. My dying wish is to have Kosovo open and serve together there with Grisi. We’ll see. ;)

Yes I know I only have 8 more months left. That’s so weird. That means Tim only has four. Crazy sauce. Motra Bentley does come home at the same time as Elder Foulk. They’re both getting home in early October. I honestly cannot believe that she is going home. But I guess that’s how these things go. You’ll have to say hi to her for me when she gets back.

Hey mom, thanks for the e-mail! I love you and I am praying for you all every day. I hope you have a great week!

-Elder Swenson

It’s awesome to see the Lord’s hand in our lives.

Hey Mom!

How’s it going? Well I guess this week is just gonna be kind of a normal letter compared to the last few. We had a good week this week, but nothing incredibly exciting. First branch has been really blessed this last little while and it’s awesome to see the Lord’s hand in our lives. All three companionships in our district had really good work this week. The office elders set an all time high for number of lessons taught as office elders, the sisters just have tons of good progressing investigators and three baptismal dates, and we got a triple double. (A “triple double” in Albania Tirana mission terms means that we hit the mission standards for member lessons, new investigators, and total lessons) It was a good week to say the least.

We had to give Jenny, our incredible new investigator, to the sisters, but she’s still doing really well. Apparently the Book of Mormon has already changed her life! We have also been working a lot with Vasil who is now set to be baptized on September 12th. He’s been doing really well. He’s a very talkative person, but our lessons have been under more control lately and so we’re able to move a little bit faster than we were at the start. This week we’re going to be teaching him the word of wisdom which we imagine will be the hardest thing for him. So after this week we’ll see if he’s really set for baptism or not. He’s come to church every single week for the last month now and not only that, but he’s been in a shirt and tie which almost never happens with investigators. We’re really excited for Vasil.

Other than that, we’re just working. Just doing stuff that missionaries do, ya know? We’ve been doing a lot of tracting lately and, honestly, it’s been working really well. I know that the Lord has been guiding us as we’ve been asking him where to go and I hope that He will continue to do so. There’s just something about tracting that makes you feel good.

About the pictures. I’ve lost my jump drive again. Right when the new one that you sent to me got here, I found my old one and so I never used the new one, but then I was looking for my old one last week and I couldn’t find it. I still have the new one though, but I don’t know if it’s gonna work. It didn’t last week so I’ll see what I can do. I know my old one is just floating around the house somewhere, though, so I’m sure I’ll find it soon.

Mom, I love you! I’m grateful you guys support me so much and send me e-mails and shoes and candy and other good stuff like that. =) It means a lot. I hope you have an awesome week! In the words of Bobby McFerrin (spelling?), “Don’t worry, be happy.”

-Elder Swenson