I Took That As A Yes!

Oct. 27, 2014 email
Well Family, 

Pumpkin selections for carving.

It's been another week here in Prishtina and it was definitely a good one.

The Ap's came up from Tirana on Monday and had an exchange with us on Tuesday. It was super good because they both just stayed up here and we had two companionshps working one area so we just went finding and found tons of people and tons of numbers so we were set for the rest of the week. The following day we met with Nezir. It was the first lesson that we had since he had started the smoking program and it was going to be our first impression on seeing how well he was doing. 

Handsome Elders.

We came into the lesson and talked for a bit and then I asked him how many cigarettes he'd had that day and he told me that he hadn't had any smokes since the day that he started the program. My mind was melting out of the side of my face! So Nezir has been making some amazing progress. He hasn't smoked since last Sunday and we are planning on his baptism really soon. He's such a good guy and I"m blown away by how much he has changed from the first time we had contacted him in the road. He was super quiet when we had started teaching him and he would hardly say anything in his lessons and when we would ask him to pray he would say it in his head and then say "Amen" at the end of the prayer. But now he is super open, asks tons of good questions about the priesthood, temples, baptism, and all kinds of other stuff and we love it. His prayers are super sincere and out loud! We are so happy for this guy!!

Elder Jorgenson, and Elder Clawson

So that was one success that we had this week. Another happened a bit later. Elder Linderman and I got a number from street contacting from a guy named Ajdin. We called him up on Wednesday and got a meeting with him and we had a great Restoration lesson with him. He is Christian and he loves Jesus! That was a miracle in and of itself. So there was that and the lesson was just very spiritual. We set up a return appointment for Friday and parted ways. 

Church with members and an investigator.

Friday came around and we met with him again. We taught the Plan of Salvation and explained how one way we can get closer to the Celestial Kingdom is by baptism! We invited him to be baptized and he was like "Yeah, right now?" And then we had to explain that there was more stuff to learn but he was super excited to hear he could be baptized! He is such a good kid and he's 22 and super cool. We're excited to work with him. 

It snowed in Kosovo last week.  Looks like Utah today!

Another cool thing was that we got to meet with Agim from a village outside of town. We haven't had a lesson with him for a while because he has been busy but we finally got to meet with him again. In the last lesson that we had with him he mentioned that baptism looked a little weird and awkward so in the recent lesson we explained a bit more about baptism and how it can bless and then we asked him if he would like to come and see a baptismal service one time. He said 'me gjithe deshire' which means with all desire. So I took that as a yes. Hopefully he can come to Nezir's baptism real soon. 

Pres. Monson the slayer.

Visa stuff. 

Thursday I had another exchange with Elder McGrath. We taught some lessons in his area and had a good time. I really don't know what else to say about this week. 

Today I carved pumpkins with everyone else and Betim. We did the symbol of the Rebels in Star Wars. It was pretty sweet. After that I had to do some visa work and stuff to see if I can stay in Kosovo and I didnt' really get anywhere. They either tell me I don't need it or they direct me to someone else. Kinda rough. 

Well you guys! I love you all and I hope you have a good week!

Love, Jed

Dearest Mom, 

Sorry this email was a little short. I'm super tired and I wanna just take a nap. But I am super glad to hear you guys are having a good time in Hawaii! Keep having a good time and eating good food! I love you!

Love, Ted