Soft American Carpet

Jan. 19, 2015 email

Well my family, 

Sunset over Tirana looking out Jed's balcony.

It has been a good week. Not tons of crazy stuff happening but what can ya do. Just gotta work. 

So last Monday night I got done with email and then we had to go to 2nd ward to have a baptismal interview. Elder Braden wanted to do it so I just said, "Ok." So I got to sit with the other Elders and talked about how everything was going and whatnot and then the interview got done. There were a few things that the investigator needs to freshen up on, but he's got a date for the end of this month so we are excited for that! Afterwards we had to go to an appointment at our bishop's house and Elder Braden thought he knew the way...(Obviously Elder Clawson didn't know the way either:)

Needless to say we showed up incredibly late but they were fabulously forgiving and we just got to know them a bit more and talk about how we can work closer together to make the work progress more effectively. Our bishop's wife made these killer awesome sushi things with mango puree all over the top and NO ONE was eating them. So I ate all of them. There were like 24 or something like that. Good!

Looks a bit warmer in Tirana vs. Kosovo.

Tuesday was good. Just some meetings and what not in the morning and then after all of that we did some finding. Later in the day was when we held our English Course. I love English Course because you get to hear all of these new english speakers with great accents say some funny things!  My favorite thing to do is play "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes". All the kids love and then you get these old ladies and their husbands in there and they are trying super hard to stay on pace with everyone. Good stuff. Well we haven't found a whole lot of investigators for ourselves but we have found like 5 girls for the sisters to teach. They come up after the english lesson and ask to learn about the church and we just say "Yeah, here we'll introduce you to our awesome sisters." After English Class we had a big Ward Council meeting. This place is so developed! I love it. Missionaries don't really have to deal with Branch work ever and we can just let them take the controls for the ward. We get to just focus on missionary work. After that we had a lesson with a less active family called. They were baptized before I was born, so like a really long time ago. They are good folks. They have a son on a mission in America right now that's having a great time. 

Wednesday I basically went finding all day until about 5 o'clock and then we went to the US Embassy housing compound. We have a member there and she invited all the Elders over to her house for dinner. So we walked over there with the other Elders and got scanned and x-rayed and entered the compound. It's been a year and a half since I have laid foot on soft, American carpet. It was quite pleasurable. We goofed around a little bit and talked about Doctor Who a lot and then ate dinner. Enchiladas. Super good! I usually hate enchiladas too. After that we did a lesson on Contention with a battery and steel wool. The kids loved it so mission accomplished I guess. 

Lunch with Elder Griffiths while he and Elder Clawson were on splits.

The next day I was in 1st ward with Elder Griffiths. He came in last transfer and is awesome. We went finding a lot and had a great lesson with a member. He's a solid missionary and was super fun to hang around. I also had an interview with President Weidmann that morning at his home which was great. He gives me the best interviews of my life! He just gets to know ya and then blasts you with spiritual awesomeness. Love it. 

Friday was a lot more finding and weekly planning and ward missionary meeting. So yeah not much on that day. 

That night I had another exchange but it was with Elder Linderman. It was awesome to work with him on Saturday. We found for about 6 hours the following day and then we had a lesson with a less active and then we went hunting for an inactive member that had served in Elder Linderman's home town in California. We didn't find his house but we found his number and gave him a call. Cool guy so hopefully we'll be able to meet with him soon. 

Thanks again to Elder Tanner!  He passed this guitar on to Jed when he returned home last summer.  Jed singing to Tirana.

Sunday we went to church and then ate lunch. I made some killer pasta. After that we stayed at the house for a bit because Elder Braden is pretty sick and he needed to sleep so I just slept for thirty minutes and ate food and watched the Testaments and then the Restoration video like 4 times. It's memorized completely now. 

Later on we went to visit a member.  He's fantastic and it was good to meet with him. After that we had a lesson with a part member family and taught them the meaning of prayer. Lots of people here kinda struggle with that but I'm sure that's a world wide thing. After that we went home and got the numbers for the zone. 

Another suit selection:)

One thing that I saw this week was kinda of on a personal level. I've been noticing that my mission has changed me quite a bit. Not only mentally and physically but obviously spiritually. I'm not saying I'm this awesome spiritual giant that can prophesy about crazy stuff but being on a mission has totally helped me recognize the Spirit so much more. I feel more secure with my decisions and just more guided when I pray and when I seek the Lord's help. It's honestly the best thing ever. My mission has changed my desires too. It's interesting to think back before my mission and look at what I wanted in life at that time and then to look at myself now and see how those desires are just so different now. I honestly love my mission so much! It's the best thing that has ever happened to me!

I love you guys!! Be safe this week at Sun Valley and have fun skiing! I'll try to be on a little bit later today. I love you guys! 

Love, Jed