Peruvians Come In All Shapes and Sizes, But Mostly Small WEEK #1 Aug. 16, 2018

Saying his final goodbye!

Hey guys so this week has been awesome but also really busy. I got on the plane to go to Atlanta and the kid I was sitting by was from Grace Idaho and he was also going to Cusco! We sat by each other on the next flight to Lima as well. While we were on that plane, there was this 21 year old guy who was flying to Peru for the first time, and it was also his first time out of the country! We talked with him for a little bit which was fun. He was really confused why there were so many of us wearing suits and all going to Peru. We told him that we were all missionaries for the church of jesus christ of latter day saints, and that we were going to peru to teach people the gospel. right after, he said  ok, tell me about your church. Me and elder campbell looked at each other and were like ok! we shared a couple things with him and he was super nice about it all. He did have some difficult questions though and i wish we could have had a couple days to teach him more but we did an alright job for our first lesson. It was kinda fun teaching him, but at the same time it was also really hard because he had some difficult questions. We got to the airport in lima and kinda didnt know where to go, so we just kinda walked around looking for a guy holding a jesus christ sign. Funny thing, everyone is really short here. Most peruvians are super short and have really small hands and really small feet. Just a really small person. And its weird because we were on the plane with some peruvians and they were not dark skinned at all, they were like white people!! it was weird! Peruvians come in all different shapes and sizes, but mostly small.

Last family photo for a while.

Brotherly love!

Most of our days have been the same. wake up, study, breakfast, classes, lessons and more studying, lunch, classes, dinner, classes, study and then go to bed. I felt like i have been here for so long and the language is hard. especially when some peruvian man or woman all of a sudden comes at you with like 100 words per minute. But im getting better with phrases and words and kinda of talking to the latinos. 

On monday we had to wake up extra early to go to interpol so we could work on our visas. It was going to be our first time outside of the walls since we arrived and we were all freaking out!! This littel taxi driver guy comes to pick us up in one of those little vans that can hold like 10 people in it. Just a fun fact, everyone that drives here drives like there are no rules and they can do whatever they want, im pretty sure we almost died 5 times on our way to interpol which was only 10 minutes away. We were actual missionaries and it was our first time out in the real world. the CCM (its what they call the MTC in Lima) is exactly what the mission presidents wife said it was. A paradise in the middle of a crazy world. that is totally true! we have these huge walls that surround our building to either keep things out, or to keep us in. the weather is usually really cold and today was the first time we have seen the sun all week. But the CCM is not just a paradise, it is also a spiritual prison, lots of rules and they are very strict on pretty much everything. But honestly it is amazing here. the grounds are beautiful and the physical activity area is huge and awesome!! We have like 3 small soccer courts, one full size and 2 basketball courts that are only for our use and have huge walls surrounding them. it has everything we need here. all of my roommates and mi compañero are so awesome. my companions name is Elder Boyle and he is from Eagle Idaho.  Elder Abrath is 20 years old and from salt lake city, elder chamberlain is 18 and from salt lake as well. and then we have too elders who are already fluent in spanish and are awesome. Elder Salazar y elder Dahl. all the elders in my district are awesome as well. I love them all and they are all so fun, and they are totally as lost as i am at times. I have met An elder spackman who is dennis spackmans nephew, (Dennis is our favorite bus driver at home) and i have two friends from school that came down here with me!! and i also met up with Elder Nichols from ridgeline, I dont know if you know jackson Nichols but hes a good dude and hes here!!

Jake and his favorite friend Tyler shared a mission farewell.  These two girls have been in Jake's primary class since they were BABIES!  Love these kids!

we have had many devotions and i love it when we have choir practice. Yesterday we had an Elder Held from colombia talk to us and that was awesome. today for prep day we went to the temple in lima and it was so awesome! the session was all in spanish but we had those little translater things. And we took tons of pictures of the temple and i bought a peruvian tie form some guy on the street! I dont think i was supposed to do that but me and my companion did it anyways. Then we did a flippin ton of laundry. and I was feeling sick today but i took some advil and now I feel great. I have a testimony of advil! I dont have a lot of time but I love you guys and miss you all.

I know that I came here to be a messanger of Heavenly fathers message and I know that the scriputres are true and that jose (Joseph)😁 smith did translate the book of mormon and restore this gospel.

Love elder clawson.

Packing and going to visit Grandma Roberts before the airport.  As she hugged Jake he just burst into tears.  Grams looked at him and promised she'd be here when he got home!  She'll be 90 in a couple weeks.  We love you Grams!!!

MOm, I love you and miss you tons. I dont have too much time but Thank you for all you do for me and feel free to send me packages of stuff if you would like! but probably dont cause it might take alittle bit and i forgot the address. I love you all and I cant wait to email you all next week. 

I love you mom!.

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

Love One Another

May 4, 2015 email

My family in America, 

Getting ready for a baptism!

So yeah this week was super AWESOME and super SAD at times. But to be honest it was one of the most intense learning weeks of my life. 

So Tuesday started off great. We had an awesome district meeting full of love and I even got to choose the hymn (Elder Price has forgotten to give me an assignment for the meeting every week) And so I chose a Christmas hymn. Nextly, Filip asked us if we could come and chill with him for our lunch time and so we said sure. He drove us out to a place called Dhermi which is this beautiful hidden gem of a town about 40 minutes out of Vlore and it was awesome! While we were driving we talked to him about his smoking issue and fortunately it was a relaxed situation so he was open with us and we were able to kinda get to a better level with him. We chilled on the beach and skipped rocks into the ocean and just had a good time. We drove back and then we had English Course to teach and that was fun. Two ward members basically taught it because I don't know how to teach English good enough I guess. So we did that and then we just contacted all night and had a good time and then we had a lesson set up with Gentjan. We taught him the lesson and then we ended. He was planning on feeding us that night but right when we said the closing prayer we got a call from Elder Price. I answer the phone and he says "Hey, you need to get down to the Boulevard now." And I start freaking out because I think someone is dead or getting robbed but then some girl's voice comes on the line and says "Hey there's this girl here that really wants to see you." And I'm wondering if there's some crazy Albanian girl with a weird crush on me and then I totally recognized the voice. We apologize to Genti and book out the door and run down to the road and guess who was there?! SISTER KOKOL!!!!! It was super awesome! I didn't have tons of time so we just talked for about 10 minutes and took some pics together. It was such a good end to my day. 

Sister Kokol! A quick hi, but fun to see a familiar face:)

The following day was cool too. We started the day with a lot of finding which is basically my favorite thing to do now. Then we had a meeting with our ward mission leader, and that was interesting. Sister Coleman and her trainee, Sister Jackson, also came down that day to do an exchange with our sisters and it was fun to see them. Both cool people. After that we went to lunch with the Larsons and ate by the sea. I got lasagna. GOOD! Later on in the day we went group contacting which was pretty balling. It's always fun to just be unified in one massive contacting effort. After that we had two lessons to do. One with Filip and one with Emiljano. So Elder Befus went with Filip and a member that we were using. The Brother had come over smoking and so we wanted some input from his side of the  experience. One thing that I've been doing to help with Filip is I've been trying to not bite my nails. In Preach My Gospel it says that if you want to sympathize for your investigators a bit better you should try to get rid of a habit that you have such as popping knuckles, chewing pens, biting nails and etc. So I haven't bitten my nails for like a week now. While they had that lesson, I went with Elder Larson and Emiljano. We are making some killer good progress with Emiljano. He is totally starting to open up and understand everything. He is so ready to be baptized and he actually told us that he wants to be baptized. He told us this last night so we are going to meet with him as soon as possible to set him up on a date and such. But in that lesson we read Alma 32 which is the classic seed=faith story and he loved it. The lesson went well and I just waited with Elder Larson till Befus got out. They ended and I guess Brother Duraj had done a fantastic job on telling Filip that God doesn't just let us sit on our cute bums waiting for Him to take away our addictions. WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING BOUT IT!!! So Filip left happy and inspired. Then we went finding... 

Favorite people in Vlore, Albania

Thursday. This was the day where things changed a bit. We had a service project that morning helping a member move some bricks up to her roof so she could build something out of them later on. We did that and she made us breakfast. They have this thing called Petula which is like scones or navajo tacos except it's just more yeasty and you eat with cheese. We all ate and had a good time and did service. After that we went to a baptism for the sisters. It was really good but the lady didn't want a lot of people to be there because she is kinda embarrassed to be a Christian now. I say be proud but we all got free agency. So after that we had ANOTHER baptism for Elder Dahl and Elder Baldwin. Their guy is named Xheku and he is awesome! He asked me to give a talk on baptism so I was pleased to do so. Filip came to that baptism so that was great for him to see that. After the baptism we had a lesson with Filip. We got into the lesson and I started out by asking him how the lesson the day before had gone and what he was thinking. He said it was a good lesson but he said that it had got him thinking a lot. He looked at me and said that his time hasn't come yet to give up smoking. He explained that he just doesn't want to give it up. He knows it's bad but it calms him and he just enjoys smoking. And then he continued saying that he just can't do it because he isn't strong enough right now. We continued with the lesson as planned but I was not there. Right when he said those words, my heart died. I had never had such a feeling of despair and sadness come over me. We ended the lesson and said goodbye and I came upstairs and just broke down in tears. It had broken my heart to see one of God's children that I had come to love so much could just lose all faith in himself. Some of my most intense prayers have been on this brother's behalf. I know God has a plan for him and I know he will stop one day. I sat there for a few minutes just blubbering like a little girl not knowing what else to do. After saying a prayer with Befus we took off for another lesson with Gentjan. 

Friday was full of planning and finding but we also had another productive lesson with Emiljano and Elder and Sister Larson and that was great. Later that night we started an exchange and I got to go with Elder Clemans! That night we just made quesadillas talked each other's ears off. Saturday we worked together and met with some of his investigators. We met with a part member family named the Zeqiri's and they were great. The mom and dad aren't baptized but need to get married before they are given a date. But they are awesome and should be getting married in the very near future. They also live like 3 miles out of Vlore and so we walked FOREVER. All in all I had a good time with Clemans. He's good people. 

Yesterday we got the sad news that 2 of our recent converts have some problems with some people in the ward so they have decided to go to church elsewhere. I hate the fact that people hate other people sometimes. JUST LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!! With all of that we had a good meeting. The testimonies shared were solid and happy and all of the other lessons were great as well. And I also gave the Priesthood to a recent convert named Patrik yesterday. That was awesome! After church we went and ate lunch with the Larsons and they made us taco soup!! Heavenly. Afterwards we met with a new investigator named Arel and we have big hope for him. He seems like a good brother. We just taught the Restoration and got him excited for more. Afterwards we went and taught Genti because he had some doctrinal questions from an assignment that we had given him from section 93 of D+C. After that we came home and did our thing. And then we slept. 

Today we just played Phase 10 and ate lunch together. That's about it. Well I love you all! Enjoy these last two months without me. Have fun!

Love, Jed

Dearest Mother, 

So I will be on Skype at 6 o'clock so be ready. It should be like 10 o'clock your time.  But anyways, I love you Mom and I hope you all still love me. Have a fun week and enjoy your time with Jane!! Loves!!

Love, Jedediah