Best Experience Of My Life!

(This is the very last email that Elder Clawson will write as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints.  As his mom I really can't believe this day has actually come.  It seems like I've been gearing up for Jed's mission since the day he was born, and now it's over.  I will miss these weekly letter's and getting a glimpse into this amazing experience.  I didn't quite expect what an amazing journey this would be for our whole family.  Jed has touched the lives of so many people who he didn't ever actually meet.  His letter's and testimony each week have made this whole two years so worth it.  He left a little boy, and I love seeing what he has become.  Thanks everyone who has followed Jed's adventures in Albania and Kosovo.  The blog won't sit idle for long.   Jed's sister Emma is in the process of submitting her papers to serve a mission as well.  Jed's example and excitement for the work of the gospel of Jesus Christ has influenced her decision to be a missionary too.  She wants to be just like Jed! We'll be back to these pages in no time. xoxo Lisa)

Lot's of goodbyes!!  This is the Larsen's.  Jed loves them!!  The senior couples who have served in the Adriatic South Mission are amazing!!  A little piece of home, and a sweet grandma and grandpa to all these young Elder's and Sister's.  Thanks to ALL the senior couples that the Larsen's are representing here!!

Well Dearest American Family who patiently has waited for my return, 

This is the last email that I write to you all. I don't know if I'll talk about all the stuff that happened this week but I will say that it was a great week to end on. 

My mission has been the absolute best experience of my life. I have never seen so many people so blessed by accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have never been so happy to work so hard in my life. I love the Albanian people and I have loved being here. The church is true and God loves us!! This is my email and I will see you all soon. I don't have anytime to email anyways because I've got interviews with Pres. Weidmann right now and I've got some errands to run and stuff. But I love you all and I hope you all have a good two days!! 

Love, Elder Clawson 

Elder Clawson and Elder Befus

Elder Holmes and Clemens

The Fuller!  She's awesome!

Goodbye Albania!

Another great member couple and Elder Osterguard.  He is returning home the same day as Jed.  

Saying goodbye to the people at the old folks home.  He's spent a lot of time with these people and loves them:)

This Week Is Going To Be Great!

June 22, 2015 email

Service for the week was clipping old folks toe nails and finger nails!

Dearest Family, 

Well this week was a good week. Things are kinda starting to dawn on me and it's weird. 

At the beginning of the week we tracted into this family that was great. We were able to teach them about the Family Proclamation and a bit about the Restoration. It was the father, Tom, the mother, Mira, and a daughter, Geraldina who actually does some work at the massive Catholic church here. We set up a return appointment for Thursday and we were super excited to go over and talk with them. Thursday rolls along and only the mom was there but she politely asked us to not come back anymore. I'm glad that she was nice enough to let us know right then that they weren't interested. So that was kinda sad but it gave us some excitement at the beginning of the week which was nice. 

Nucrema on toast.  It tastes like Nutella, and cream and butterflies he said.

Elder Wilcox is Jed's companion.

The second cool thing that happened this week was with another named Fatos. He was found by the sisters while street contacting and they handed him off to us. We have been able to meet with him almost everyday this week which has been fantastic. He is very poor and has a smoking problem but we have been able to set up a routine and a plan so that he can finally get over his addiction. He also is preparing to be baptized on the 25th of July which is fantastic! It's kinda weird planning for a baptism when I won't be here but it's alright. Fatos really enjoys meeting with us and he wants to come closer to God. We were a little concerned when he told us his financial situation because we were a little afraid he would ask for money but he has told us many times that he wants to strengthen his faith and then that will help everything else in his life. 

District flour wars!

Xhemil wasn't able to meet with us this week because his mom is really sick. He's been taking care of her so he just doesn't have the time to meet with us. But we are still very excited for him so no worries. 

Plan of Salvation yay!

I don't really know what else to say besides the fact that this week is gonna be great. I have a talk next week in church and we have Mission Conference on Wednesday with everyone and I am ready for it all. Shkoder is witnessing a miracle right now and I'm glad that I get to be a part of it. 

I LOVE YOU ALL!! 

Love, Jed

Dearest Mother, 

Mom, I am super excited to see you. Don't worry, I am stay focused on the work but every now and then when I'm just sitting in the house I start thinking of the awesome food that I'm gonna be eating with ya'll. Also my card still doesn't work so it might have the same problem as last time or maybe an international problem. I love you Mom! Have a good week! 

Love, Jed

Happy 20th Birthday Elder Clawson

June 15, 2015 email

Dearest Family and Friends, 

Looks like a little lemonade with some street contacting!

This week was full of blessings and shinanigans. One awesome thing that I must mention is the fact that our investigator Xhemil is AWESOME!!! He has been reading and soaking it all up. We just need to get past the whole mindset of "I'm Muslim and I can't change." So I exhort you all to pray for his heart to be softened to the message of Jesus Christ. But he was reading this week and had some pretty good questions. They're a little deep so I'm not gonna get too in depth in them but Elder Wilcox and I had to go and do some hardcore studying. But he is a great guy and we are so excited to see where the Gospel is gonna take him. 

We also started teaching two young couples this week! The first one is Erik and Anisa. They are a very young couple with a super cute 2 year old girl named Erisa. If you don't notice that's Erik and Anisa put together. I just thought that was hilarious when they told us that. Anisa is Muslim and Erik is Catholic but Anisa really wants to be baptized. We are working on her a little bit more than Erik. He doesn't pick it up quite as much as Anisa but he still pays attention and reads a bit. They are having a little struggle with the First Vision and accepting it but we are praying for them and they are also praying for an answer so it'll come in God's time. But they are fantastic people. They are super young and just love to laugh and have fun. 

Birthday haircut.  And it was free.  What a kind lady!

The other couple is Ton and Arta. We tracted into them using the Family Proclamation and Ton wasn't home so we had to wait for him to come home so we could go into the house. But we just shared the message on eternal families and they loved it. Ton seems a bit older than Arta and he is super tall. Arta is short and kinda quiet but they have some super cute kids. We have a meeting with them tonight and we will be sharing the message of the Restoration with them. I have big hopes for them.

You asked about Filip, he is doing great. He stopped smoking for a bit and he has been coming to church and learning from the Elders still so he is chugging along like a champ. Genti is actually coming up to Shkoder in a couple days for work so he said he'd come and see me real fast. That should be fun. 

Elder Clawson and one of his awesome investigators.

These next coming weeks are gonna be good. I don't feel like it's ending yet but I had a reality check last night actually. Elder Rawlings called me at 3:30 in the morning to wish me a happy birthday. He was just about to get on his plane home. It took me a while to get back to bed because the fact just smacked me in the face that I don't have a lot of time left. My deadline is coming and it's coming incredibly fast. I have loved my mission and I have never been so satisfied with anything I've ever done. I love being here!

Love, Jed

Dearest Mother, 

I would really like to go to Glacier! That would be really cool but Lake Powell would be fun too. Let the children decide. Don't worry, I'll work my guts out these coming weeks. And yeah if Kell wants to come then she totally can. I'm glad to hear that the garden is coming along well. I'm excited to work in it with ya! I love ya mom!!

Love, Jedediah James

Two Service Projects

July 8, 2015 email

I love this picture!  A man Jed is teaching.

Dear family in Lake Powell,

Well I was sorry to hear about the houseboat not working and I hope you all survive living out in the wilderness for awhile.

This week was full of goodness, butterflies, candy, and powdered lemonade.  We were able to meet with Xhemil again this week and it went great. We had invited to begin reading the Book of Mormon from the last time that we had met him and we were expecting him to maybe read a couple pages or something but he had read most of 1st Nephi! He had some questions about why Laman and Lemuel were always against Nephi and the dad. It was super cool and we were able to just expound on how life will always have opposition no matter what we do because Satan will always be there to try and drag us down. We then shared the message of the Plan of Salvation and he totally ate it up. He also prayed for the first time which was a miracle and a half! I may or may not have had him just repeat the words that I said but baby steps are steps nonetheless.

We met with Erjon this week as well and kinda just had a smack down lesson with him. We explained that we aren't here to just sit and chat with people but we are here to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We talked to him a lot about how our message can help him in his life and we just tried to simplify everything to a point where he could understand clearly. We invited to be baptized on the 27th of June and he accepted so we will just pray and continue teaching in hopes that he can prepare himself. He is a good guy, he just doesn't think as much as we would like.

We were also blessed with TWO service projects this week. The first one we did was at an investigators house and we helped her pick flowers for chamomile tea. We stayed there in her garden for about two hours just picking flowers and socializing. It was actually super relaxing. The second project was a bit more interesting. We went back to the old peoples home but this time they needed us to help change all of the old people's bed sheets. We had to pick up the old people, throw them somewhere else, change their sheets and then throw them back in their beds. Good thing we are all super strong.

On Friday we were able to have a zone conference in Durres. We received a wonderful training from Elder Roemer and Anderson about setting appropriate goals. It was kinda funny because me, Elder Ostergaard, and Elder Rawlings have all been zone leaders before so we had quite a bit to say on how setting good goals can totally help an area when they are used correctly. It was Elder Rawlings' last time to see most of us because he is leaving next Monday to start summer semester at BYU. After the ZL's training we got another training from Sister Coleman on how we can basically determine how successful we are. She showed a little clip of Napoleon Hill which was cool and we all learned from that. Afterwards we all went out and got sufflaqe and ice cream. Good day.

These young men all became missionaries on the same day almost 2 years ago now!  Still brothers in the Lord:)

This week we were also able to meet an older couple. Peter and Margarita. They are an old Catholic couple and they love us. We met them on Friday night and taught them about the Family Proclamation. After all that she asked us if we had any Holy Water and we said no. She said that when she can't sleep at night she takes some Holy Water and wash her face with it and then she would sleep better and that she had run out. We explained that we didn't use Holy water and that we used prayer to ease our burdens. So she asked me if I would pray and bless her and their home, so I did. We went back last night and we were talking and she said that she'd had the best night's sleep that night. It was just really cool to see how excited she was!

Today we just went grocery shopping, and ate lasagna. Good stuff. I love you all! Have a killer week and enjoy life without me while ya got it.

Love, Jed

Dearest Mother, 

Well Mom, the time is near and I need to get the siblings some gifts. I've got one thing but should I get them anything else? If so, I need the funds from ya'll. I have no moneys. I am totally loving Shkoder though. Elder Wilcox and I are taking the branch on our backs. I've been conducting in church and stuff lately so that's fun. The work is definitely coming. We are still doing tons of finding but I'm loving it. 

Love, Jed

What Are You Grateful For?

June 1, 2015 email

Hello Fam!

Well once again I don't have tons to write you about. The week started out just like any other week. I told you all a little bit bout our new investigator named Xhemil last week. We were able to meet with him again this week and we were able to teach him about the Restoration seeing as the first time we met with him we had talked about the Family Proclamation. 

Shkoder, Albania

Turns out he actually heard a bit about our church when he was living in Italy! The lesson went so well and we loved teaching him. We both bore testimony of the truthfulness of our message and invited him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. He totally felt the Spirit and I know that he is gonna go places if he sticks to it. Unfortunately our schedules didn't line up this last week after that lesson but we are hoping to go over tomorrow night. 

Throughout the week we basically just did lots and lots of finding. Wednesday was a fun day with street contacting. We had set apart a couple hours out of the day and we all went street contacting as a group. We took this massive white bed sheet that had the Plan of Salvation written up on it and then we also bought some sidewalk chalk and Elder Ostergaard and I wrote " Për çfarë jeni mirënjohes?" Which means, What are you grateful for? and then we would stop everyone that walked by and we invited them to write something on the sidewalk. We didn't get tons of numbers but we were able to talk with TONS of people which was fantastic. We are just trying to get the name of our church out in the public so that they can realize that we aren't Jehovah's Witnesses or Catholics. 

This is the meeting house in Shkoder.

The next cool thing happened on Saturday. We were able to go to Tirana and watch some investigators get baptized. Their names are Tonini and Jona and they are a father and daughter and it was such a good baptism. I gave the talk on the Holy Ghost and Mimoza gave a talk on Baptism and it all went super well. I haven't been so happy for a baptism that isn't mine! After that we went and celebrated by eating some Mexican food. 

Group street contacting.  Plan of Salvation is on the sheet:)  

The next day we confirmed Tonini and Jona and they gave their testimonies which was fantastic. They are going to help the branch so much here! Afterwards we had a meeting with a member of the stake presidency to try and take care of some branch stuff and what not and then we had to interview Tonini for the Aaronic Priesthood. He is super ready to just take everything on! Later on during the day we did some street contacting and then we went tracting. I HATE IT. But God blesses you when you do things that put you out of your comfort zone I've learned so we kept doing it until the end of the night. On the very last door we were able to teach a family of a grandpa, dad, mom, and two young sons about the Family Proclamation. We will be going over again tonight and teach them about the Restoration. Super excited! 

Theth, Albania

Today we went to Theth. And I loved it! We got back around 3ish so that's why I'm on so late. But I have pics. And that's about all that I have for this week. I love you all and I hope you have a good week!!

Love, Jed

Dearest Mother, 

That dog looks great! I hope everything is kinda settled down now from the last week. I love you and I hope you can get the garden in soon! Loves!

Love, Jedi

Great Land of Albania

May 25, 2015 email

Well my dear family, 

Once again I write to you from the great land of Albania. 

The week was good and full of tons of finding and and running around trying to get stuff done. I don't have tons to say, once again. We dropped our investigator Erion because he was just not going anywhere and so we are just hoping for him to get ready a bit later. 

Also, the family that we tracted into last week kinda broke our hearts. We were super excited to meet with them all again and we came over and a bunch of their neighbors had told them not to listen to us anymore. So that was pretty sad but we continued on. We were able to meet with a man named Lushi and we hope to see him again real soon. He's an older gentleman that just has no idea who God is, so he's pretty interested in listening to what we have to say.

Yesterday we tracted into a guy named Xhemil. We talked to him about The Family Proclamation and he seemed pretty interested. He was very kind to us and we are planning on going over there tomorrow night so we'll see how it works out with him. 

Also we have been trying to meet with "VIPS" as we call them. They are basically just famous people in Shkoder or people that hold high positions in town, and we've been trying to be friends with them and go have a tea with them. We did that with one brother named Angjelin and that was pretty interesting. He speaks no English but he loves the F-word. So we heard that a lot. Kinda humorous but inappropriate as well. 

I was able to go on an exchange with the Zone Leaders and I spent the day with Elder Roemer in Durres! I didn't get to see a lot of the people there but I enjoyed just being there again. I worked the whole day there and then we met the other missionaries in Tirana and switched back. We had a pretty fun activity this last week as well for some of our investigators. We filled some nylons with flour and had a dodgeball game with those and just had a good time.  

Also on Tuesday we had to teach the Beginner's English Course because the other missionaries were in Tirana for the Trainee Training. Elder Wilcox taught them "I like running over old people". So now our class thinks that we just kill senior folk. 

Shkoder is totally wearing on me. I am SOO tired all the time and you can totally see it on my face all the time. I'm still out working and having fun but I'm just getting tired a lot faster. I also got made the first counselor last week and I forgot to tell ya'll. Our branch president is going to Italy next week so we are going try and get him to stay. 

Well I hope you all enjoy the new dog! Have a good week and tell Kayd that I said hey! I love you all!

Love, Jed

Dearest Mother, 

I did just get my travel plans. Should be fun traveling with all those guys. But yes I can guarantee that I will be dead. Filip is still meeting with the missionaries every day and doing week. I really miss teaching him. I really miss teaching in general but he was so great. I got some awesome souvenirs for ya'll. Also have you happened to put money in my account? I got an email from the office couple and I need some moola in my pocket when I head out. I love you Mom! 

Saying Goodbye To Vlore and Hello Shkoder!

May 18, 2015 email

Dear Family, 

Well this email is gonna be a tad bit short but I have settled quite nicely into Shkoder and I am back to TONS of finding. 

So I said goodbye to everyone last week and had a really rough time leaving some members and investigators but that's okay. The missionaries will take great care of all of them. So Tuesday we took of to Tirana with Elder Befus, myself, and Sister Gjoncaj who is from Vlore and she is serving a mini mission in Tirana. So we did some shuffling around in Fier and Lushnje but eventually we got to Tirana and I was once again on my way to Shkoder with my new companion, Elder Wilcox. 

The first couple of days were just lots of finding with a lesson here and there. We have had one investigator named Erion and he is a good guy but he is still under control of his dad. And Erion is like 35 years old. He just went through a divorce and just is having a rough time.  So we have been praying a lot for him in hopes that his dad doesn't sway him in the direction. 

The missionaries in my district are Elder Wilcox and myself, Elders Ostergaard and Crandall, and the Sisters Kelly and Dunn. They are all really solid missionaries and I'm excited to work with them. Elder Ostergaard and I are definitely a bit different from the others in the fact that we really enjoy laughing and having fun. The others will understand that it's okay to be smiley all the time.

One awesome thing that happened had to do with tracting. I hate tracting. But we decided to give it a shot around some private houses in a different part of the city. We got two return appointments and only got yelled at like 4 times! HALLELUJAH! So the first return appointment didn't turn out super well. The first time we tracted into it, there was only a mom and her 2 kids and so we told her that we would like to come when her husband was there. She said he wasn't but that we could come the following night. Following night came and the guy basically thought that we had tried to hook up with his wife. After a bit of explaining we finally ended on good terms but didn't get to teach them. The next appointment was with a woman named Sofi. We set up a return appointment for a time when her husband would be home as well. We went over last night and he invited us right into the house and we had a great lesson with him, (his name is Eduardo) his wife Sofi, and his sister Valbona. And it was AWESOME!!!! We are going over tomorrow night and hopefully invite them to be baptized. They are so fun to talk with and I really hope they go well.

Jed and his new companion Elder Wilcox.

Another tender mercy happened today. Last time I was here we taught these two girls that were doing great but there dad didn't like them learning from us so they stopped coming. I prayed the other night that I would be able to see them at some point and to talk to them because their phone numbers that the sisters had weren't working. So we were walking back from our P-Day hike and I saw Juli! She was the oldest of the two girls and she totally remembered me from last year. We were able to chat a bit about school and then I invited her to come to some of the activities that we hold throughout the week and she said she would love to come. God loves us! 

MMmmmmmm!  Cherry Days in Albania!

Anyways, thats about it for this week. Lots of stuff and lots of finding. Gotta love it. Well I love you all and I hope you enjoy this coming week! Tell Emma to have fun and to do good!! Love you all!

Love, Jed

Dearest Mother, 

I was able to talk with Filip last night and ask him how he's doing. He told me that he had a great time at church in the morning and that he is loving the lessons. So I'm not as worried about him anymore. I say hire Sister White. She would work her butt off and I would love working around her. We get along super well and she would do good. I love you Mom! Thanks for being so fantastic! 

Love, Jedediah James

I'm Headed to Kosovo!!

July 28, 2014 Email

My dearest and most cherished family,

I had a great week with Elder Dahl! This week actually went by super fast. I had an exchange with the zone leaders in Tirana and I got to spend all day Thursday with Elder Ostergaard in 2nd Branch! My old stomping grounds.

Cinnabon heaven!

So this week we found two new investigators. One of them is a young boy named Ledio. He is actually related to Besara and he is super down with learning about the Gospel. he doesn't know a whole lot about church stuff if it's not related to Catholicism but he is super in tune with the Spirit and we really enjoy meeting with him and he even came to church this last week. Good kid.

The other investigator was found by Elder Dahl and Elder Temple while I was in Tirana. They went tracting and got into this lady's apartment with her and her husband. Her name is Anxhelina and unfortunately we set up a second lesson but she had to cancel because she had some stuff going. And then she told us that we are going to have to call her next week because she is going to be in Italy. So we have some high hopes for both of them. Ledio could definitely be the Elder's Quorum President in the future.

I guess I need to tell you the big news. Last night I got myself a phone call from President Weidmann. The Man, The Myth, The Legend. And he told me that the Lord wants me to serve as North Zone Leader in Prishtina, Kosovë. I had to say yes.

I'm heading up tomorrow morning and I'll be serving with Elder Price from my original MTC group up there and I am super excited. A lot of people were actually transferred last night so I think President wants to switch over to 6 week transfers.

Primary in Shkoder!

Anyways, so I had an exchange with Elder Ostergaard on Thursday day and it was awesome. I didn't get to meet with Evi or Sam because they were out of town with work or with family stuff but they are still doing good is what I hear. We did some finding and had a good time with Elder Rawlings and Elder Wright during lunch as well. 

We had a cool experience there as well. We were out in a little side city called Kombinat and we decided to do some tracting. We knocked on a few doors and finally one let us in. The lady was super kind and willing to listen to us. We got into her house and her husband sees us and he flips out! He starts saying how he hates the JW's and how we weren't allowed to enter into his house and all this other stuff that kinda freaked me out personally. But his wife just motioned him away and he left and she was just like, "Don't worry about him. He is just old and weird." After all that we got to know her and introduced ourselves and then the husband came back in. He sat on the couch and we explained that we were Mormon missionaries with the LDS church. He kinda settled down as we got to know him a bit more and talked about ourselves as well. Then we explained that we had a message to share with people. We asked if we could begin this message with a prayer and they said okay. We prayed and then we taught the Restoration. I don't know if it's the fact that I haven't been with another missionary who speaks fluently since the end of December or what but that lesson was super spiritually guided and we were a great team. We were asking inspired questions and they were just eating it up. We ended the lesson and set up a return appointment and left the home feeling like a million dollars. I'm not saying it's rough teaching with new missionaries, because my son's have been amazinge, but it's kind of nice when you can have a seamless lesson about the Restoration when everyone involved that knows the language super well, they know the doctrine, and they want to share it with everyone.

Elder Clawson and Elder Jorgensen with the landlords poopy as Jed put it.

When I left, I ate a Cinnabon Cinnamon Roll. An English guy just opened one up in Tirana and it tastes like heaven. All in all it was a good exchange.

Well I'm really sad to be leaving Shkoder, especially when things are looking bright but it's alright. I'm excited to serve in Kosovo and see more of the mission and work with different people. Today I went to Theth again with Vëllai Vance from the MTC! He was one of my teachers and he has been in Albania for a bit and he came and spent the day with us. It was really fun to relax with him and his wife. They are good folks.

Theth, Albania for Jed's last P-Day in Shkoder.  I think it's one of his favorite places.

Elder Clawson with the Vance's.  Brother Vance was one of Jed's instructors in the MTC last summer.  Jed loved spending the day with them.

This week I learned how important the Spirit is in order to teach effectively. Without the Spirit, being a missionary is worthless. If you don't have the Spirit with you, you wont' touch lives and you won't be effective as a missionary. I'm not saying that if you aren't successful that you don't have the Spirit but you don't have any chance of being successful if you don't have the Spirit. Always be worthy of the Spirit in your life. It leads and guides us in every decision and we need it daily.

I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week! Jackson looked fantastic!

Love, Jed

Dearest Mom, 

I hope you had an unstressful time in Yellowstone. It looked super fun and those kayaks look great too. Good luck in Montana this week. I hope everything goes well and tell me what happens because that is pretty interesting stuff. I love you so much!

Love, JEDEDEDEDIAH

Nothing Better Than A Cute Little Mom And Her 4 Kids Coming To Church!

July 21, 2014 Letter

My dear family!

Well I am alive and happy! Shkoder is doing well and I'm still out looking for people to teach. 

Elder Clawson overlooking Shkoder, Albania.

Last week I talked about that couple that Elder Dahl and I had found tracting and how stoked we were to start teaching them. We called them on Monday night last week to see if we could set up a meeting with them and teach them about the Restoration. We called them and they told us that they would be in Tirana all week! So we are going to be calling them later this week. It was kind of a bummer but oh well. 

Nothing super crazy happened this week but we did find a new investigator. I was actually on an exchange with Elder Temple this last Wednesday and Elder Jorgensen went into my area with Elder Dahl and they were street contacting all day and were able to get a bench lesson with this one guy named Olsi. He was a pretty interesting guy I guess. He was really tattooed up and had actually just been released from prison or something to that effect. 

Elder Clawson and Elder Dahl.

They taught him a bit about The Book of Mormon and asked him what his thoughts were on Christ. He told a story about how he realized that he was really good at art and so on the ceiling of his jail cell he drew this incredibly detailed picture of Jesus and the news station came in and did a story on it and stuff. He really has the desire to follow the example of Christ but he just doesn't know where to start. We can definitely help him with that. 

They invited him to church and he said that he would meet us on Sunday morning at 9:30 at a certain place. Unfortunately he didn't show up. 

We still have hope for him though. Another cool thing happened though. We got a call from some random number and it was an older investigator that asked if we were going to have church still on Sundays and we said "OF COURSE!" and then they told us that they were going to be trying their very hardest to see if they could make it and attend sacrament meeting. Sunday morning rolls around and this cute mother, her mother,  (a nënë), and her 4 kids are all waiting for us outside of the church. We talked with them and we all really clicked pretty fast. They stayed for all of sacrament meeting though and then for the Sunday School class! Which I taught. They shared some good insights and had good questions. At the end of church they asked me if I could say a prayer with them for their son who was really sick. I told them that I would love to and so we got in a circle with the mom, the grandma, Elder Dahl, myself, and Besara. I said a prayer for them all and it was a really powerful spiritual experience for me. I didn't know what I was supposed to say that would comfort them and help them. But everything worked out alright and then after we ended the prayer I saw that Besara and the mother were bawling like a bunch of little girls. Then the grandma looked at me and said "Qofshi me jetë" which means "may you be with life" and I was just like "Well thanks." Older ladies always say that to us and it just makes my day. They left with the kids which were all super cute and fun. And they told us that they hoped to be back the coming week. 

The view of Shkoder from the Rosafa Castle.

Rozafa Castle overlooking Shkoder, Albania. Click here to learn some interesting legends of the castle.

Right after that, President Kraja asked me to come and talk with him for a second. I got into his office and he told me that he was super impressed with the way that I had taught the Sunday School lesson earlier and he asked me if I would be the Sunday School Teacher from now on. I said "Alright." And then he continued and paid me one of the best compliments of my mission. He told me that my Albania was exquisite and that he is astounded that I've learned so much in 10 months and that he needs a person that speak good Albania to be his 2nd counselor. So yeah he asked me to be his 2nd counselor as well. Pretty interesting Sabbath. 

All of the Elders gave talks in sacrament meeting and it was really spiritual. They all did a really good job. I talked on Prophets, Elder Dahl spoke on Cleanliness, Elder Jorgensen talked about Faith, and Elder Temple spoke on Prayer. They all went really well.

 

My exchange was really good too. I met with Arsen and some investigators that the other Elders had. Everything went really well and hearts were touched. 

Besara told us that she is leaving for Sweden on the 1st of August. So that kinda sucks.She is one of the three active members that we have and we need some more. 

Nothing else has really happened. Even though all I do is finding, I am still loving being on a mission. These people are awesome even if they think I don't know anything. I love Shkoder especially because of the undeveloped state of the Church here. It would be great if it was a full branch or stake, but it's so fun to be working with it when it's in it's little stages.

Elder Clawson and Elder Jorgensen

I know that this Church is the true church of God restored on the earth. I know that the work I am doing is the Work and the Glory of Christ. The Gospel can change lives and if you give it a chance, it will.

I hope you all have a wonderful week full of candy and Jackson Lake water skiing pics. I love you guys!!

Love, Jedediah

Mudda Dearest, 

Tell Jake and Seth way to go on their man pins! That's awesome! I hope you had a great time with Grandma Great and the girls in Salt Lake. That sounds like it was super fun. Thank you so much for taking the time to email me every week. I love you so much and I totally appreciate the support that you give me! I LOVE YOU AND YOU ARE THE BEST MOM EVER!

 Love, Jed

Yes Mama Lisa, My Piano Skills Have Come In Handy!

July 14, 2014 Letter

Elder Clawson in Theth Albania!  A beautiful little village in the Albania Alps, right on the border or Albania and Montenegro.  Amazin!

My dearest family and friends!!

What a great week we had! We taught a few lessons and met some good people and had a good time!

So on Tuesday we had a huge meeting with just the missionaries and we were talking about what the branch here in Shkoder needed. There are 3 active members and 2 of them have callings. One is the branch president, Besnikë, and Arsen who is a Sunday school teacher. We are currently fulfilling the other positions and we are overloaded with a bunch of branch work. We are the Relief Society, Elder's Quorum, Primary Teachers, (Every now and then some kid investigators come) and anything else. I have blessed the sacrament every week that I've been here and I've been the ward pianist a bit. Yes Mama Lisa, my piano skills have come in handy. Even though I can only read from the simplified book. (I knew there was a reason we plugged through piano lessons!!  Thanks Charlotte!!)

More pictures from Jed's p-day in Theth.  Looks amazing!

Elder Jorgensen made a statement the other day about talking in church. Since he is Relief Society President he wants to give a talk on how we can all be strengthened as Sisters in Zion. 

We talked about what work needed to get done here and then we all made a goal to pray specifically for opportunities to find people that would fit these positions. We have been doing that all week. 

Wednesday Elder Dahl and I met with one of the sisters investigators this last week named Klodi. She had been kinda skeptical of us before because she didn't know who we were and we were two new young men in the sisters area. But on Tuesday night we were talking with people in the road and these two girls walk by and we say hello and they ignore us and then walk away but then after a bit they turn around and stare at us forever! It was super awkward. After that happened I got a text from Klodi that said "Hey are you those two guys that we passed in the road?" I called her and said yes we were those guys that they were looking at. She agreed to meet us the next day at the church so we were kinda skeptical as to why they wanted to meet with us. 

Anyways, the next day came and we met them and had a lesson with them and the other elders. Klodi was super nice and very in tune with the Spirit. She hadn't been reading as much as she would like she said but she tries to read every day. Her friend on the other hand.... She was not into learning about our church. She wanted to learn about us.  Klodi gave a great prayer at the end of the lesson and then told us that she was actually going home for the summer. That was really sad. She told us that she'll be coming back in September though and I'll probably still be here so that's good. 

Wild strawberries.

Handsome Jed.

We said goodbye to them and I shook Klodi's hand and her friend shook Elder Dahl's and then I went to shake the other ladies hand and she wrapped her arms around me and gave me two huge kisses right on my cheeks. It happened in the blink of an eye and I was just like "What the heck just happened?!" She told me I was beautiful and 'mire' which just translates to "good" so I don't know how to read that and then they were off in the blink of an eye. Crazy experience.  

Then the next day we got a call from another investigator named Liza. We met with her a while back and she was pretty cool. Unfortunately like I said before, all of my investigators are girls. We are trying very hard to change that. Anyways, we met her on the road and SHE TRIED TO KISS ME TOO!! Fortunately I knew the signs of an approaching kiss so I just did this temple knock thing that men do. You just bump sides of your head together like two big boy rams fighting over a lady sheep. She didn't have enough time to meet with us but she just wanted to say hi which was really nice of her and I hope we can meet with her a bit more this coming week because she is a really good lady. 

Blood Feud tower.  These towers were and still are occasionally used as safe havens for men who are involved in a blood feud.  Click the link to read what Wikipedia has to say about it.  Very interesting.

We also had a lesson with Besara's husband, Edi! We've been trying to meet with him for a while and we finally got into his house when he was there. We watched the Restoration video and talked about the Book of Mormon and how we can know it is true. And NOT written by Joseph Smith. 

He had tons of good questions that we wouldn't have been able to answer fully if we didn't have the Spirit with us. He asked how could we know the church is true if we hadn't had an experience like Joseph Smith did where God actually talked with us. We told him that we can know that this is God's true church because he lets the Holy Ghost answer us by praying. We told him that we had prayed with sincere hearts at certain times in our life and that we asked if the church, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine of the Church was true. We explained how the Holy Ghost works through our thoughts in our minds, feelings in our hearts, and through our general atmosphere such as feelings of quietness and peace. 

More of Theth,Albania.  It must have been a spectacular p-day!

Elders having a great time.

Beautiful!

He seemed to understand it pretty well but we'll double check this coming week. But it was a really good lesson and I just wish I could have ones like that more often. More reason for me to work my bum off. 

Sunday was pretty cool as well. President Weidmann, his wife, and the AP's all came up to Shkoder! They got to know the branch president and they also gave some talks, and so did Besara. We all helped her the night before to write her talk because she was super nervous because it was the first talk that she had ever given. She did great! But it was a pleasure to have the Weidmanns come. They are great! None of our investigators came but that just leaves room to improve. Next week baby. 

After church we had a branch council and talked about the needs of the branch. It was really cool because the first thing that President asked was "What positions are filled and which ones need to be filled?" We told him which ones were open and not taken by members and then he said "We need to pray to find specific people to fill these positions." HOLY COW! The Spirit was definitely prompting all of us into the same direction. We explained how we had talked about that in District Meeting. The meeting went well and the Spirit was felt. 

After that meeting, President came to see my house. I cleaned very well so don't worry. They sat us down on the couches and got to know us and then President asked us what our vision was for our area. We told him that we simply wanted to strengthen the branch and if we ended up leaving at the end, we wanted to have a good amount of work ready to hand down to the new missionaries. 

He looked me right in the eyes (kinda scary) and asked me if I could think of anyone in the scriptures who didn't have a lot of work at the beginning. The first thing that came to mind was Alma before he met Amulek. We read that part together and it said that Alma was rejected by the people of Amonihah and he left. He had no work. As he was leaving, an angel visited him and told him to not be sad. He was beating himself up for nothing. The angel told him that he had done his part and that God was pleased with him. But he needed to go back. And this time, God gave him a companion. Alma, along with his new companion Amulek, went back to Amonihah and they preached together and were able to touch the hearts of many people. 

As we analyzed this story, there were certain verses and sayings that struck Elder Dahl and myself to our core. We know what we need to do and who cares if we seem like we aren't having success. I know that as long as we are trying, working, and being obedient, we will be blessed and God will be pleased with us. Therefore, we are going to work. Harder. 

About 4 hours after that, we prayed that we could find some people to fill the positions of Elder's Quorum President and Relief Society President. We left and went tracting. We tracted one building and got nothing. We went to another and the first door that we knocked on opened up. An older lady, maybe 50, answered and listened to what I said and then invited us in with her husband.... And they want to learn more. We are hopefully going over tomorrow but we left them with a Book of Mormon and they let us say a prayer before we left. We floated away on Cloud Nine. 

GOD LISTENS TO OUR PRAYERS!! I also had another little experience with it. One morning I was taking a shower and unfortunately our shower only has one temp. Boiling. So I was so sick and tired of dying in the shower, I said "Heavenly Father, please make this water colder. This is the only time where I get to just be by myself and relax for a bit." And sure enough, the water turned to a wonderfully perfect temp. 

Today I went to Theth. It was awesome and we will all go one day. I'm not living in Berat any more. I'm living in Theth. 

I love you all! I'll try to send pics soon! Have a good week!

Love, Jedediah

Dearest Mother, 

Sorry I got on so late. We had some difficulties getting back from Theth. How's the garden doing? Is anything growing lately? I love you so much! Have a good week. 

Love, The Eldest