Baptisms And Potatoes

Dearest Familja, 

Elder Clawson and Nazir harvesting potatoes in Kosovo.

Once again I have encountered another week in the land of Prishtina, Kosovo. I have lived and I have conquered and come on top victorious. 

This week started out really good. On Tuesday we had a wonderful district meeting and then later that day we headed out to US military base with the sisters. We met with the Senior missionaries, the Tooleys, and then we headed to the base. So I don't know if I explained this, but the last time that I went to the base, I wasn't feeling very good. I had been sick and so when we all went to eat I couldn't eat a whole lot and it was super sad because I had been looking forward to getting some American style cafeteria food for a while. This time around I was able to take full advantage of it and I loved it! I had a bacon cheeseburger, onion rings, salad with ranch dressing, white milk, and lots of bacon. It was a good time. Right after that we went into a seperate room with two soldiers and had a lesson. The sisters prepared it and we talked about prayer. It was super good and really made me think about how I pray. Sometimes I am just sitting there trying to get my prayer over with so I can sleep but I have realized that God is like a parent on P-Day that is waiting to hear from his missionary to see how they're doing and I need to be a better 'emailer'. All in all it was a spiritual lesson that benefited everyone. 

The car didn't fare to well this week.

Wednesday. Oh the lovely Wednesday. So after studies and what not, I decided that it was time for Elder Jorgensen to learn how to drive stick once and for all. Therefore, I drove out to this abandoned little piece of town with a big hill on it. I park the car on a little incline and switch him places. He starts it up and rolls backwards for a bit trying to get a start on the clutch. I say something to the effect of "You might wanna hurry." And then he hits the brakes and looks back and sees this big semi truck backing out of a parking lot. Unfortunately Elder Jorgensen couldn't quite get the clutch into gear fast enough without rolling back even further. So this guy ended up smashing the back end of our car. Good stuff!!! I get out of the car with steam puffing out of my ears because this guy would've seen us had he looked into his mirrors. Then I cooled down and got his insurance and our insurance and called the police and all that jazz. We ended up going to the police station and getting everything figured out. Wasn't our fault so we were happy. Now we are just waiting for our car. 

Elder Clawson at the church.

Thursday, just had lessons. We met with Betim and Suad separately that night but we taught both of them about the Atonement and gave some clarification on that. At the end of both of their lessons we watched "Because of Him" which came out for Easter last year I guess and I almost lost it every time we watched it. Suad almost lost it like a little girl and it was just really nice to sit back and have a relaxed lesson talking about what Jesus did for us and how much it blesses and helps us. We also taught our english course and we had one really annoying girl that thought she knew English better than me and everyone else in the universe so I may have had to humble her with some street talk and Bible talk. Nothing too hard. 

Harvesting potatoes in Kosovo.

The next day we had service in the morning! We woke up at 5:30 in the morning and met one of the members at the church at 6. We then drove out to his village which is about an hour and a half away from Prishtina right next to the Serbian border. Didn't really know that but we were okay. We helped him with his potato harvest and had a great time. All the elders took a hoe to the soil and we were digging up taters like there was no end. The sisters tried to switch off with us but the then Nazim, the member, told them that they were the ones that needed to gather all of the potatoes and then go back to his house and prepare the food for us! It was kinda funny but not at the same time. We went up to his little farm house and had a lunch of bread, jam, and cheese. We ended up getting back into Prishtina at like 4:30 which gave us enough time to run home and shower and then get ready for our fantastic halloween party! We were in charge of the 'Donut Dangle' (I named it that) and the Apple Bobbing. We set everything up and had a great turnout! Everyone was having a great time and we ate hot dogs and drank juice and laughed and partied. The games were super fun and everyone was being a sissy la la about the Apple Bobbing so I had to take off my tie and show them all how it was done. One highlight from Friday night was in connection with Nezir. He had his baptismal interview with Elder Stewart that night. AND HE PASSED!!!! Oh he was super excited, I was super excited, Jesus was super excited, and the world rejoiced. He asked if I could baptize him and of course I said yes. So he will be baptized this coming Saturday and we are super excited for him. 

Lunch after harvesting consisted of bread, jam, butter and ketchup.  A floor table and a wood stove:)  Heaven!

He hasn't smoked for two weeks now and we are blown away with his spiritual change. He is so great!! So there was that and also our other investigator, Ajdin came to the party and had a great time. He is getting super interested in the church and he loves coming to Institute and stuff and he is loving meeting with us. I think he'll be baptized for sure. He's just a solid guy that wants to do right. 

Saturday was a good day too. Met with John Jashari and talked about Charity with him. He kinda hates Serbians a lot because they imprisoned his son and he wants revenge bad. But he took the lesson well and is going to work on it. 

Jed's district harvesting potatoes.

Sunday was great! We fasted for an inactive member and she came to church and even bore her testimony! It was a tender mercy I tell ya!! I bore my testimony as well. It was good. The soldiers from Camp Bondsteel actually were able to come attend church with us yesterday as well and it was great. One of them said a testimony and said the closing prayer and it was great. 

For lunch the sisters made us french toast and hashbrowns and they were to die for! I loved it. After that, we went finding, and then had a meeting with the Branch Presidency about how the work is going and then we got everyone's numbers for the zone. 

Today we just sat around and got errands done. Elder Jorgensen and I have been overloaded with busy work this last week and it is killing me. I'm getting a cold and I'm super tired!! But I love being on my mission. I love the Kosovar people and I love chatting with Muslims everyday trying to learn more about them and how I can help their faith in God grow, if they accept my message is up to them, but I love being a missionary and doing this work. And I know that God loves us all! 

Another area Jed says he wants to live in some day.

Love, Jed

Dearest Mother, 

I hope you guys had a great time in Hawaii! I loved everyone's costumes too! Emma's was great and I loved Jane's. I hope the snow stays! It looks like you guys are all having a great time and loving life. Keep having fun and be safe. 

Love, Jedediah