What Makes You Beautiful

Singing "What Makes You Beautiful" at the rest home.  This picture was sent to me from a cute member in Elder Clawson's ward in Tirana.  Look at those smiles:)

March 23, 2015 email (sorry I'm a slug!)

Well Family,

Once again the work of the Lord was done this week and I am tired. This week we kept up with waking up at 6 every morning and I am running on fumes right now. I may collapse at the keyboard of pure exhaustion.

So lots of cool stuff happened this week, I just can't remember all of it. On Monday we went and met with the Nure family because they all needed some blessings. The mom, dad, son, and the daughter. They are the family who had the recent death of their grandfather last week so they were really sad. We gave blessings of health to the kids and to the dad and then for the mother we gave a blessing of comfort and counsel. After that we went out finding.

Tuesday we had our wonderful district meeting. After that we went out street contacting and talked with a bunch of people and we met these two boys named Klajdi and Ledion. They seemed pretty interested in what we had to say so they gave us their number and we told them that we would call them that night. After our contacting session we had our English Course! I really like our class. We've got like 8 kids in there that are all super fun to talk with and they all love hearing about the Gospel. We invited two of the boys to meet with us after the course but they said that they didn't have time so hopefully next time.

On Wednesday we went and sang a the old people's home again! It was fantastic! We started singing hymns in English and some in Albanian and then Sister Fuller and I decided to sing "What Makes You Beautiful" By One Direction for them. So we did. And even though they couldn't understand a single word of what we said, they loved it. When we finished it all up one of the old ladies grabbed me and told me that I looked just like her husband when he was young. I just told her "Thanks!" In my assumption, what she said was a compliment. After that we met with Klajdi and Ledion and taught them the Restoration. The lesson lasted FOREVER!! One because the member that we had invited for the lesson was a chatty kathy and two because Klajdi was all hung up on the fact that he was baptized when he was 3 and had no need for another baptism. And we explained super clearly the whole fact that WE have the authority and stuff. Ah well. We'll meet with him again soon.

Thursday I don't remember much about what happened besides the fact that I taught English Course, found for like 6 hours and found like 5 new investigators for the sisters.

Friday, we went out finding in the morning and then we weekly planned and then I got hit by something. I was instantly feeling like a train wreck and had a runny nose from heck. We met with the Lamaj Family that night and taught the Word of Wisdom and talked with the kids how to stand up against their friends if they did stuff like that. Good lesson.

Saturday we went finding in the morning but we had planned two lessons that didn't show up. But it was okay because we had five other lessons planned through out the rest of the day so we would be okay. Only one of them happened. That lesson was the highlight of my week. We met with Behar, who is the guy that we met with last week that said he is God. So we decided to meet with him one more time to give him a chance. We started the lesson and he wasn't showing any real growth but then we decided to read Alma 32 with him. We each read 5 verses until we had finished the whole chapter and then we asked him what he liked about the chapter and he just blew us away. He understood so much and was asking all kinds of questions and stuff and he was just eating it up. We loved it. SO we had asked him to pray and he hadn't accepted the invitation to do so yet, but this time we asked him if he would like to give it a try. He gave a great prayer! It was just like the the song "A CALL I HEAR"!! After that we left and went home. Victorious.

Yesterday, we picked up an investigator for church and sat with him during sacrament meeting. It was a sad, gray, and rainy morning so everyone's spirits were a little down and sacrament meeting was just a little dry but what ya gonna do. So our investigator, Alen, had some work to do after the meeting so he couldn't stay but the rest of the day went well. We had some lessons not show up but it was okay because I was still sick so we just went out and found and taught the Mission Prep class and then we went home because I was not feeling good at all. Also last night I got the zone numbers, for the last time! I may never have to get numbers again.

Today we had house inspections in the morning and then we had to run to the mission office to get some stuff and turn in some baptismal papers. After that we took a bus to Pellumbas which is on the way to Elbasan to go see a cave. But when we got there we realized that the next bus that could take us back to Tirana left at 6. SO we just hopped right back on the bus and came home. Not the best P-Day I've had but it's alright. Tonight I"m going to visit the Spalding family with their home teacher so that'll be fun.

Well, I want everyone to know that I love the Albanian people! I love the opportunity that I have to be their messenger of the Gospel! I love being a missionary and I love my life here!!

Have a good week everyone and be safe! LOVE YOU!!

Love, Jed

Dear Mother, 

Well I don't know what I have but I am a sick dog. Any suggestions in case this lasts any longer? I've basically been living off of ibuprofen and oatmeal lately so that might not be helping the situation. Sorry I don't have pics, the card didn't work so I couldn't get a new camera. I hope everything is going well at home. I love you all so much! Have fun boating and stuff!

Love, Jedediah 

Contacting and More Contacting

Dearest Family,

This week was kinda long but full of good stuff! We finally found some new investigators and saw some good improvement on the progress of others.

So Monday we just went contacting for the rest of the night after we had gotten done with climbing and emailing. We had been out there for a while and then this guy was looking at us so we naturally stopped him and asked him if he wanted to learn. So we took him to the church and gave him a lesson on the Restoration and then he told us that he had actually taken lessons from the elders before and that he had heard all of this and that he really just wanted us to give him financial help. So that was when we ended the lesson gave him our number for future referrence and then we left.

Tuesday, we woke up at 6 o'clock in the morning and took off 30 minutes of our lunch time because we needed some blessings and so we had to sacrifice the only thing we could, which was time. So we got an hour of street contacting in the morning before District Meeting and then we had lunch and visited a family later in the day. We taught them a review of the Gospel and got them all hyped up and they were loving life. After that we had our English Course and we had a good time. Two girls showed some desire to learn after the lesson and we introduced them to the sisters and it was great. After that we had a lesson planned with Florencë and he didn't show up so we will probably drop him real soon because that brother is not acting on his knowledge. 

The Israeli, the Avonite, and the Kiwi.  Great Elders!

Wednesday, we woke up at the same time and got out street contacting and all that lovely jazz. After that we had a lesson set up with a new guy named Rifan but he didn't show up but ah well. We got more time to street contact. On our way to the church for a bathroom break we said hi to a guy on the road and then a conversation started and we were able to invite him into the church to come and learn a bit more. He accepted a baptismal date and loved the Book of Mormon. His name is F and he lives close to Elbasan so we handed him off to the elders over there but it was still great! We are trying to talk with everyone and so far it is really good. After that we had Ward Council meeting so Elder Penrod and Elder Braden went and got all of that figured out while Elder Sadiku and I met with some of his investigators. 

Thursday we went to go meet with V and his mom because we hadn't paid them a visit in a while and so we did that. His mom, L, fed us some really good food and we had a great time talking about the scriptures with them. After that we went CONTACTING!! Wonderful it was. And then we had a lesson with a guy named B. He thinks that he is a god so we had an interesting lesson with him explaining that we are God's children and that he is our Heavenly Father. He seemed a little skeptical but he said he would read. After that we had English Course again. We are really trying to get them all to come to church. After that we just went street contacting. Love it!

He's always got cute girls!

Friday morning we went contacting at the Pyramid with the other Elders and that was great. Got lots of numbers. After that we did some weekly planning and then the Assistants took Elder Braden to the hospital to get an x-ray for his foot because it's been hurting him for a while. Turns out he just has a bone spur. But I got to go on splits with ELDER PRINCE from Macedonia! It was the best ever! I love that guy to death. While with him we taught a guy named Mjeku who was awesome! He accepted a baptismal date too and we are stoked for him. Then we met with Behar again and had a Plan of Salvation lesson with him and had a nice talk about that. He is slowly going to get better and believe a bit more. He just thinks that God was made up by men so they wouldn't feel so lonely in the world. Even though he is very against the whole concept of God, Elder Braden, Brother A, and myself bore some solid testimony on the realness of Heavenly Father and there was no way that Behar didn't feel the Spirit. After that lesson we went and taught the J family about living prophets and had a good time with them. We invited them to get all ready for General Conference and such and they are preparing some questions that can be answered in conference. 

Saturday, it was the Day of Summer. Probably one of the biggest holidays in Albania. And Elder Braden and I set up 5 lessons with investigators and guess how many of them actually happened. NONE! Yeah so we just contacted for all day until 6 o'clock and then we went to a baptism which is always a joy. The man's name is P and he got baptized into our ward. He met the missionaries in 97 and then the missionaries got evacuated becasue of the civil war that went on so yeah. But he met us again and got baptized!

 Sunday was interesting. We had two investigators in church and the sacrament meeting was going great and everything and then Ersi walks in, and two of his friends. Ersi looks fine but then the two friends are wearing these huge flat brim hats and talking up a storm in the back of the meeting room and then their phones go off and so they get up in the middle of a talk and just make a racket as they leave the room. After the talk, the bishop got up and just ripped them a new one saying that this was a church and not a club and that we came here to worship God. It was really good but kinda frightening for our investigators. After church we went to the other Elders house and ate lunch and took a quick nap and then we had a lesson with Brother A. About 10 minutes into the lesson we get a phone call telling us that a members father had just died and that we needed to come take the casket down the stairs. So we hussle over to this house, carry down this super heavy casket down some flights of stairs in an apartment building and place it in the hearse and then the family puts us on a bus and we drive to a cemetery and we have the funeral! The man died and 4 hours later was in the ground! It was super fast. It was also very sad, we had all given this man several blessings of healing in the past because he had been suffering with cancer. It was sad for the loss but we knew that it was an answer to our blessings. After that the bishop told us that we needed to go with the family to a restaurant to kinda sooth the pain. Then we went home and I fell asleep while Elder Braden called for zone numbers. 

Today we went to TEG to go see what they had and they had gotten some awesome new stores but they were all ridiculously expensive so nothing happened. After that we went to the climbing gym and did some slacklining and bouldering. I'm getting lots better by the way.

Well that was about it. I'm super sorry that my emails are just lame lately. I'm hitting that point where emailing isn't that much of a highlight anymore. My week was an awesome spiritual week though. I know that if we sacrifice the little things in life that are holding us back from giving our all, we will be blessed and we will be more able to see God's hand in our life. I love the church, I love Albania and I love my mission! Have a good week everyone! Love you!

Love, Jed

Dearest Mother, 

Well I love you and I wish you a happy anniversary! I definitely agree with you on making cookies for the occasion. I hope you made me look good in your talk. And by the way, my singing is tons better than it was in America. So yeah that old lady loved it. I love you MOM!!

Love, Jedi

What Is A Prophet

March 9, 2015 email

Elder Clawson with a family he and his companion are teaching.

Hello Family!

Well not too much happened this week because we had TONS of meetings to get to and such. 

Monday night we were able to meet with a new investigator named X and he was very interesting. He said he was Atheist but he talked a bit in our lesson about how he has seen the hand of the Lord in his life basically and how much God has blessed which was pretty awesome to hear. The lesson went pretty well and he listened very intently to the message of the Restoration. Unfortunately he was super busy this week and he didn't have a whole lot of time this week to meet so that was a bummer. 

On Tuesday we went out finding in the morning at the Pyramid because it was a beautiful morning full of people ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We took out a huge board that said "What is a prophet?" and we used that to kinda reel people into hearing from us. We got a few numbers and hopefully they will be willing to meet with us this week. After that we had some lessons with some members and then Elder Braden and I had to go in early to prepare our goals for the following day. 

This was the dinner called "Wine and a Spiritual Thought".  Jed loved the interaction with people from all over the world.

Walking to P-day activities.

Wednesday we had our big MLC meeting which was awesome! For this meeting, President Weidmann invited all of the district leaders to come down and he gave them a training on how they could better interact with their missionaries and set District Goals that were in hand with the Zone Goals that we set. He always gives the best trainings! After that part, we presented our numbers and then received a training from him about "How to Begin Teaching". This is a chapter in Preach my Gospel and it is super good. It helps us be more bold while sharing our message and just gives us lots of good stuff to work on. We decided that some of the main things that we needed our investigators to know from HTBT was; The importance of our message and the authority of our calling as missionaries. If our investigators understand this then they will want to be baptized and they will want to progress in the Gospel. MLC took a while and then we went finding after all of that. At 6 o'clock we had saved up a bit of our lunch to go to a concert for a member. She was playing the violin and she did a super good job. She is 13 years old and has been playing for 8 years. Very talented girl. After that, we had to go home and prepare our zone training. 

The following day we had our zone training and gave a training on finding and then also on the HTBT section that President had trained us on. About halfway through our finding section, President Weidmann walked in with his wife. Yes that was stressful. The trainings went well and the Spirit was felt and hearts were touched. A few interesting things were also put into place as well. We are required to find for an hour and a half everyday if not more, we always speak Albanian outside of the house, and we roleplay a lot more often. Hopefully all of these new committments will get us on track to celestial glory. After that we had our English Course and we had a bunch of new people. about 7 girls around the age of 21. WHY!?! So yeah they just sat and watched us and then we ended the class with a spiritual thought on the Law of Chastity. It was good. That night we also met with the L Family and taught them the Plan of Salvtion and tried to help them get answers to some of their questions. They had quite a few about the Resurrection which was interesting. 

The next day we woke up and went finding again. We had originally set up a lesson with a guy that we had met on the road the morning before but he couldn't make it so we just went finding again. Once again a nice sunny day. I love the sun and hate the rain. My spirits just die in the rain. So we did that and then had to weekly plan for a good chunk of the day so we did that. That night I went with one of the T4 Elders to do a hand off lesson with a family that we had found that were interested. It was our first lesson with them and it was really good. We taught the Restoration and ate dinner with them. The father's name is S and his wife is R and they have 4 ADORABLE little girls all under the age of 13. Oh they were the cutest things that I had ever seen. Besides Jane. So that went well and I was sad that I had to hand them off but at least they are receiving the Gospel. 

Saturday I had to go to Durres for a leadership meeting with the Stake. We had Stake Conference this weekend and it was very good. I didnt' see a lot of people from Durres but I did see some familiar faces which was nice. The meeting talked a lot about Ward Councils and how they need to work with the missionaries better. So from now on we are holding Ward Council every week with missionaries. President Weidmann spoke and glorified the missionaries. He loves all of us a lot. We got back a little late from Durres and had another meeting. It was the adult session of Stake Conference and it was also very good, they gave lots of talks on fast offerings and tithings. A bit later after that we had a lesson with Elton. His grandmother had passed away the day before and so we just gave him a big comfort lesson. 

Sunday we had our big meeting in Elbasan with all of the Tirana wards. I got to see all of my lovely converts and the missionaries and I also met tons of new people. I don't know  a lot of the members from Elbasan so it was good for me. I have now officially been to every city in the mission that is open for missionary work. Elder Linderman and I had to translate the talks for President Weidmann and the senior couples. We had a little microphone with a transmitter in it and they all had earpieces and it was super difficult. You have to pay lots of attention to the speaker and more to what you are saying. A lot of times I would just say something in Albanian into the microphone. The talks were awesome. Pres. Mema talked about missionaries that were preparing to leave and he just let it rip. He really wants only the prime and elect to be serving. Ity was really good. Afterwards we came home and got back at like 2. We were asked to give a blessing last night but the lady wasn't home so we weren't able to do it. Then we had a lesson with Florence. It was a drop lesson. I explained to him why we were here and why we spend our time diong this. Florence then expressed a desire to act and show effort so we set a baptismal date that we could work towards. Hopefully he works out. Also my camera bit the dust last night when it fell out of my pocket. I have no camera now. After all of that jazz we went contacting. Love. 

Today, I basically just put in zone numbers, talked with the AP's, ate breakfast with the District and went climbing. I love climbing. Well that was about it for the week. I honestly love being here spreading the good word. God is at work in Albania and it is awesome to be a part of it. I love being a missionary!!

I love you all! Have a good week!

Love, Jed

Dear Mother, 

Well I am still healthy and alive. And also, I think I"ll just come home on the 1st of July. There's only Elder Jorgensen flying to Utah and I need to go home with him. Transfers are at the end of this month and so that's when I'll find out where I'm going to finish. Well I hope you all have fun in Palm Springs, I bet it's nice and warm. Love you!

Love, Jeddy Jim

Miracles DO Happen Today!

March 2, 2015 email

P-day fun!

Dear American Family,

Well it was a good week. Lots of stuff going on and miracles abounding in every moment.

So Monday night we actually had to run over to a members house and give a blessing. The father of the home has been really sick the past few years and hasn't been making any progress. He needs blood transfusions every other day so it's really rough on him and his family and they called us over to give him a blessing. It was super good to give that. So in the last 1 and 1/2 weeks we have given 9 blessings to missionaries, members, and non-members. Since that has been happening so often I decided to study up a lot on the Priesthood and see what I could learn more about it. Can I just say the priesthood is awesome?! God has literally given us is power to use as long as we are worthy to exercise it. On my mission I have seen amazing things come to pass from the Priesthood but also from raw faith that people have. I was listening to a talk that I had on my hard drive and it was talking a bit about spiritual gifts and healings, and someone had asked why aren't there miracles today like there are in the Bible? The truth is there are miracles that occur even MORE often in these days! People receive blessings for all kinds of things and we kinda just skip past the miracles that are exposed afterwards such as a headache that ceases, a quickened recovery after an accident, a new job opportunity, and all kinds of other things are manifested in abundance in these last days.

Tuesday we had District Meeting and such and then we had to do some work for the Bishop in connection with helping some members at a hospital. Hospitals are the worst. The smell makes me see red. Good thing I don't go into them very often. Then we handed out a bunch of english course fliers and then had our class for the intermediate speakers. We've got a pretty good class but they are a little rambunctious. But I love teaching English so it goes pretty well. After that we had a lesson with a V and it was awesome. We are trying to help him introduce his wife and family to the church but he is a little timid and worried about it. Pray for that man!

I don't think it's dangerous?!

The next day was a bit more busy, we handed out English course fliers and then we met with the L family with V so he could get his hometeaching done. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and how we can feel peaceful due to the fact that if we keep the commandments of the Lord, we will be totally fine and nothing is going to effect us eternally besides the commandments. After that we had to help another member do his hometeaching but his family is the Spaldings. So we went over to the American Embassy housing and had a good lesson with them. They have the cutest son! I just want two twin boys as a father, that's all I want. One to be a professional biker and one to be a professional skiier. Anyways, now that I've shared all that, afterwards we went to the D family and talked about the Sabbath Day and invited V to come to church with his wife and to not go to work since he owns his own place. He is coming to church next week for Stake Conference he said so hopefully that sparks a little something in his heart.

Thursday we did service all morning. We decided to pick up garbage from off the side of the road and someone had stuck a massive jagged piece of rusty metal in my bag and I moved it past my leg and it sliced my leg open! I got blood all over my sock and shorts. I went to the church to get something to clean it and the bishop just happened to be there and he flipped out and got me the Body Fluid Spill kit complete with mini shovel to scoop up any guts that may have been spilled during the accident. One other interesting thing that happened while picking garbage, I found a CD called "STING: The Ultimate Collection" I'll bring that home for you all seeing as we enjoy Sting. It seems to be in pretty good condition for having been on the road forever so hopefully it'll work. After that we had a lesson with a brother on the High Council. After the lesson he asked if we could help him buy something off Amazon. My Amazon skills, which were inherited from Mother, came in handy. After that we had our English Course and taught about Faith. Usually when we have a lesson on Faith it's because we couldn't think of anything else specific for the person but we felt prompted to teach Faith. It was awesome! We got everyone participating and everyone learned something I think. Then we met with our investigator Florence and watched the Restoration movie. He said he had seen it before but he was really moved by it.

Friday was a little rough, we had no lessons planned and just a lot of finding. So that's what we did and then Motra X from Durres called us and told us that we needed to come to her office and meet some referrals that she had for us. So we went over to her office in the Center of Tirana and went into her conference room which was super nice. Next thing we know she walks in with 5 women all interested in learning about the Gospel and some for English Course. So Elder Braden and I sat there with 6 women ranging from 20 to 40 years of age and then finally a member  named Andi who had recently returned from his mission came in and sat with us. So we didn't break any rules. But we just explained a bit about the church and such and then Motra X started saying how Mormon men make the best husbands and that we are so filled with the Spirit and all these women started eyeing us like freshly baked bread at Great Harvest. Kinda weird so we just got all of their numbers and then left and later passed the numbers onto the sisters. That night I also went on an exchange with the AP's. I went with Elder Bangerter and had a blast.

Saturday we just went throughout our day on exchange. We played futboll in the morning and then had some killer good pizza for lunch. We had some lessons not show up so we decided to go tracting. I loathe tracting. But it's necessary at times. So we found a massive building to tract and went through the whole thing. We got several return appointments set up and lots of numbers. One man did get super mad at us and grabbed our arms and escorted us to the elevator but we just took it down one more floor and then walked back up to finish the doors on his floor. After that I went back with Elder Braden and we helped some people get there house all cleaned up because of the rain that had come down that day. Tirana got FLOODED! This family's house was like 7 in. under water so we helped them get it out and then sqweegied it down.

Sunday was awesome. A man and his daughter showed up and said they had met missionaries before but they wanted to learn more and come to church. Luckily it was Sunday during Church time. His name is Sokolli and he stayed for all 3 hours of church and loved it! But that's not all, our investigator Elton that cried last month in church, he came again yesterday and he is still awesome! We had a lesson with him after church with Ona and we watched the Restoration movie. At the end Ona started going off on random stuff and it was super hard for us to get in there and throw in our parts and we were super nervous that Elton was gonna be scared away. But we finally got to speak and that was awesome. We both bore testimony of Joseph Smith and the Spirit did the rest. We invited him to be baptized and he accepted and it was fantastic. Elton and I are just crying our eyes out and Elder Braden is just thinking we are sissy la las. After that we ate lunch and took some naps and then had some contacting time. We taught the J family, there the ones in that pic, and we talked about temples and the mom asked lots of questions that I couldn't necessarily answer comfortably. But at least they all want to go!

Today we all went out to breakfast and had companion study as a district at the restaurant. They have a basement level where no one ever eats so we were able to eat Eggs Benedict and read the scriptures and talk about Churchy stuff. I'm going climbing in a bit because I haven't been for a bit and I need to talk with Dan. Pray for him because he is awesome.

Well my family, I love you all like a fat kid loves cake. Enjoy your week and be safe!

Love, Jedediah Jim

Dearest Mother, 

Well I finished the last of the Christmas package this week. I made the gingerbread cookies yesterday and they were lovely. I had the chocolate pudding for breakfast like two days ago which was also great. Thank you for that stuff! Well I was able to take 20 dollars out of my card last week in increments of 10 so that is progress. It just says that my limit is too low to take anything else out. Thanks for telling me all of the weekly happenings and it was so awesome to hear about Alton Brown! I hope you high fived him for me. I love you mother!!! Have a good week!

Love, Jedi

 

I Felt Like A Primary Teacher

This is the some of the missionaries in Jed's district, but the young man to Jed's right (in the middle) is leaving on a mission this week.  

Dearest Family!!!

Well this has been another happy week full of stuff. We've been super busy with more exchanges, So last Monday we went over to the Gostorani family and had FHE with them which was super awesome. I made Helen's Brownies (Here's the link to the recipe!) for them and they all thought I was the hottest chef in town! Just kidding, but they did like the brownies. 

Tuesday was kinda just busy with stuff. We had district meeting and tons of other stuff going on and we were all just very occupied with busy work and errands. We had a lesson with our investigator named Florenc and we taught the Plan of Salvation which went pretty well. He had lots of questions about it which was good. He is super into psychology and stuff and he has some weird ideas about life so I don't know if that's a psychology thing or what but he is very interesting.

The next day we went and did service at a member's home. We dug a big hole for him and such and made a canal for water run off because he was having some water issues in his house from all the rain that had been coming in. It was super fun and then afterwards his mom made us lunch and fed us. AND SHE POISONED ME!! Right in the middle of lunch I got hit with a huge stomachache and had to go home. I just got in bed and fell asleep while Elder Braden talked with our Landlord about our house. We've been having some troubles with our power and our heaters ever since I got here so we have been trying to work it out with him but nothing has been getting done so I guess we're just leaving the house this week. The conversation kinda turned into an argument with him and Elder Braden and I just watched the whole thing from my bed. In the end the landlord said that he was offended and that he would never speak with Elder Braden again and that he would only speak with me. I just looked at him from my bed and smiled as nicely as I could.

Thursday we had an all day exchange with the other Elders in our ward. We met with some of their investigators and just went finding in their area. It was a good day for finding because the weather has been super great lately and we were very excited to be out finding in the sunshine. Nothing else crazy really happened.

Friday we were on another all day exchange with the Elders in 4th ward. We went finding a lot and I spent the day with Elder Simons. We did tons of finding and got lots of numbers from people that looked promising so we are hoping that something good comes out of all that.

The next day we had a district comp study which was fun. We just all meet together and talk about what we've studied and see if we can help answer everyone's questions. It is an awesome learning experience. After that we had a mission correlation meeting. That went great and then later on in the day we were having a surprise party for Trazhgim because he is leaving for his mission in a couple days. Elder Braden and I made Cinnamon Roll and Apple Pie Byreke which was to die for. Everyone loved it. Later on we had a lesson with a less active family and I played games with their daughter and taught the Restoration as a review for everyone. When we were walking back from that lesson I saw a bunch of boys walking towards us and the one closest to us looked familiar. I grabbed his arm and he saw me and said "CLAWSON!!" It was Fatjon! You all probably don't remember him but about a year ago with Elder Eliason we were teaching those two golden boys that were looking for work and they found jobs and we couldn't meet with them again! We hugged and saw how each other was doing and then I gave him my number and he's gonna call us this coming week hopefully. It was awesome!

Not sure what this is from, but it looks like fun!

 Sunday came along and so did a new investigator that we found. I sat by him during church and he was being very naughty. He was making tons of noise and just being a distraction. And then the sacrament came around and he started laughing. So Elder Penrod and I escorted him out of the church and told him to come back when he was ready to be respectful. I felt like a Primary Teacher. After church we had lunch and Mission Prep Class. We had a lesson with another family which went well. We are working on their dad to get baptized. It'll happen. 

P-day soccer.

Sheep of Albania.

Dinner with a very nice family!

But the highlight of my week was last night at 7 o'clock. So I've been talking to the owner of the Rock Climbing Gym here and he is part of another Christian organization, kinda like a missionary but more laid back and just focusing on having people create their own relationship with God. So twice a month he meets with a bunch of other people at their home and they have a thing that they call "Wine and a Spiritual Thought". AND HE INVITED US LAST NIGHT!! The owner's name is Dan and we met up with him last night and went to his friends house. It was Elder Braden and I, Dan, Dave and Lynn from England that have been living in Albania for a long time, Toni and Ida who are Albanian and married, and then Ermal who is Dave's psychiatrist. Lynn had made us all dinner which was AWESOME!! Curry, some kind of chicken, and coconut rice with nan! It was heaven. As we ate and they drank their wine, we drank sparkling water, and we talked about faith in Jesus Christ. It was a great time. I felt the Spirit so much last night. Elder Braden didn't talk a whole lot but I was just a chatty kathy talking about things that have helped us on our missions and asking questions and all kinds of stuff. Then Dan asked a question about the Book of Mormon which opened up the opportunity that I was waiting for. I talked a bit about the Restoration and Joseph Smith.  We left super happy and they told us that we were invited over whenever we wanted to come! I loved it. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He is our Savior.

Today I went to Laç with the Sisters and a newly baptized member. Her name is Ona and she invited us over to her home. We went there and had a good time at her farm and ate tons of food! Like too much food. It was nuts. That took up the whole day so yeah!

I love you all! Have a good week and be safe!

Love, Jed

Dearest Mother, 

Well now my card says that I have a money limit and that I exceed it. So I don't know what is up with it. Thank you for emailing me about everyone's doings. Tell everyone that I said hi and that I love them. I love you!!

Love, Jedediah

Greatest Day Of My Mission

Feb. 16, 2015 email

Street contacting at night in Tirana, Albania.  This kid LOVES the food in his mission!

MY AMERICAN FAMILIA!!! (that's family in spanish you uncultured heathens)

Well this week was loaded with stuff. I had lots of fun and I ate lots of chicken and drank lots of milk.

So Monday night we went to a family's house to teach them some Temple Prep and ask them for any questions that they had before they left. We kinda just explained sealings and why we need them and then we read a bit from D&C 131 and talked about why it is important to be sealed and married for eternity. Because it is important. After that we went to a less active family's house and we taught them about Mormon chapter 9 and said that God never changes and neither do his commandments, so they need to come to church. They kinda think it's cool to take a week off and a week on for church and I was just like "Ha well I'm pretty sure the Celestial Kingdom is gonna be a lot like church everyday so you better come and learn to like it."

The next day was awesome! We had a lesson with a recent convert named S. that was baptized in November of last year and we haven't been able to meet with him lately because he has been super busy getting his kids to courses, with work, and with a whole lot of life stuff. So we basically just got to know him a little bit so that he would feel comfortable working with us now. He is a super smart guy! He was talking about political science and stuff and I was just like "Holy Goodness brother! I only know Gospel words!" Just kidding I speak fine. He also asked me if I was cold because I had my big jacket on, and it had been a little brisk outside that morning so I had to be honest and I said "Yeah, a little bit." And he looked at me right in the face and he said "If you were a man, you would never say that you are cold. Especially in the presence of a woman." I was a little surprised he mentioned that second part because there weren't any females around us at that time so I guess he was confused about the gender of my companion Elder Braden. But yeah I guess I'm not a man yet because I am still cold every now and then.

After that lesson we had a meeting with a new investigator named Florence. We taught him the Restoration of the Gospel and invited him to be baptized! The Spirit was super strong in his lesson and he was paying super good attention to what was being said. And he has accepted a date to be baptized. That made our day! After that we had a lesson with Trazhgim in connection with temples since he's getting ready to leave on his mission next week. It was a great lesson and he is going to be a sweet missionary. During that lesson Elder Penrod and I saw that there were some cake bites in the fridge so we decided to eat them. That was a mistake. The sisters had been saving them for one of their investigators birthday parties. Yeah we got in trouble for that. Later on in the day we had a lesson with Kristi but he brought a friend named John with him. So we tried teaching John a bit about the Restoration but he just wanted to practice English with us. He said the 'F' word a ton. At first we told him not to say that because we were in a church but then he just kinda said whatever to that rule and kept going. But after that lesson we were able to talk a bit with Kristi and he is doing great still. We then had English Course which was good and right after that we had a big Ward Council meeting where the bishop looked at the missionaries and told us how great we were working and then he verbally massacred the leaders of the other organizations of the church. Kinda sad to watch but I'm just glad that his wrath was not directed at me or else some tears might have been shed from my end of the story.

Do you think he really needs all those sticky notes?

That night I had an exchange with Elder Penrod in his area and met with some new investigators. They were a little skeptical of the message of Joseph Smith but they agreed to come and meet with us another day so that was good. I really enjoy teaching lessons and seeing how different people think about God and how a relationship with God should be. A lot of people think that we are kinda just God's pets and that it's not right for us to expect good things to come from him. I love the way our church looks at our relationship with God, a child and father. In Kosovo it was a little rough seeing all these people that were believing that we are simply God's little creations that he looks down upon. That's the relationship between Thomas Eddison and the Lightbulb. When we remember that we are God's Children it gives us such a feeling of belonging and purpose that can't come from anything this world has to offer.

One funny thing that happened on the exchange was that we listened to a J. Golden Kimball talk during lunch. He was going on his mission to the Southern States and while he was on the rain he overheard these guys talking to each other. They were asking each other where they were going and the first one said "I'm going west to escape the Mormons," and the other one said "I'm going north to escape the Mormons!" and the third one said "I'm going East to escape the Mormons." and Brother Kimball almost got up and said "Well then go to hell cause there ain't no Mormons there!!" I just thought that was funny.

The next day we went street contacting with the missionaries in 4th Ward. They may have needed a little push so we kinda went out there to help them out. We all had a good time and we talked with TONS of people. We used "Because of Him" as our contacting topic and it got lots of people to stop and talk with us. Afterwards we ate lunch and then went to a baptism for our sisters in 3rd Ward. Elder Braden got to baptize her and it was a great meeting. After that I went on an exchange with Elder Verushi in 2nd ward.

Friday, this was one of the greatest days' of my mission I think. We woke up that morning and after all of our studies and stuff we went to show the sisters where a member lived. The member lived pretty far out kinda on the outskirts of Tirana. Once we dropped off the sisters we decided that we would go tracting in some buildings there. We tracted the entire building and set up some return appointments and I was thinking "Nice, this is good, I think this why we were prompted to stay out in this part of town." We ended up finishing the building with some numbers and return dates and someone had given us two oranges. We wanted to go tract another building right after but we both remembered something that President Ford had told us. That we needed to take 10 minute break for every hour of work. So we decided that we would sit down for a bit and eat our oranges. As we were eating, I had set the Book of Mormon on my lap, a man starting walking behind the curb that we were sitting on. I didn't really mind him but then I heard him ask "What book is this?" I explained to him that it was a Holy Book and that it worked with the Bible and testified that Christ is the Savior of the World. He said he hadn't heard of the Book of Mormon, The Bible, or Jesus Christ. So naturally I was just like "Okay, this brother is messing with me." But he then said that if we wanted to share a message we could come walk with him to his house. He lived close and we followed him and had some small talk. We got into his home and I looked to my left and saw a library with two bibles, a Book of Mormon triple combination, and a couple other Books of Mormon. I looked at him and said "Hey I think you know a lot about this church and what this book is." He smiled and then Elder Verushi told me to look at the walls around us. My eyes quickly scanned the walls that were thoroughly organized with pictures of a young man wearing missionary attire in America or England. But this man was obviously living alone and I had never seen him in church or this young man that was in these pictures. We talked for a while and finally a lot of questions were answered. This brother had not set foot in church for 10 years. His son had been killed on his mission at that time and he didn't want to have anything to do with the church anymore. Words cannot explain the emotions that overwhelmed Elder Verushi and I. This man explained that he had no idea why God would let one of his servants die in service to him.  H

e explained feelings of sorrow that had been held in his heart for years, and he expressed a sense of loneliness and a feeling of being forgotten. He told us that he had recently been praying for God to end his time here on earth so that he could see his son again. Elder Verushi and I were at a complete loss of words. Confused and lost in a haze of tears, we were both able to bear testimony of the Plan of Salvation and tell this man that he would without a doubt be with his son for eternity. We spent a good amount of time there and set up a time for when we could come back. We left the home with broken hearts and strengthened testimonies. If we had not been prompted to stay in those raggedy outskirts of Tirana, to spend our time tracting, and to take a break at those moments, we would not have been able to encounter this man on his way home from buying some groceries. I know that the Spirit guides and directs those that are willing to hear it's small soft voice. I know that if we remain worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost, we will always know what to do in moments of confusion and trial.

P-day in Kruje with his district.  

That night we had a few more lessons with members and investigators but nothing will compare to that experience that we'd had earlier that day. We were sent to this man, as an answer to his prayers, so that we could remind him of the knowledge that he had locked withing his heart. I'm grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve as a missionary in this wonderfully prepared part of the world. I love being here and I love this people!

Enjoy the week and be safe!

Love, Jed

Dearest Mother, 

Sorry I didn't write about what I did today. I went to Kruje with my district and we had a great time. How is everything going at home? I don't really have anything to tell you for your talk. I hope it goes well though. Tell Emma way to go on those two guys by the way. I don't know who they were but I'm sure they were awesome. I love you Mom! I really don't care what you guys do concerning getting me. If you want to, I'm definitely okay with that but if you don't then that's okay to. Be safe this week! Love you all!

Love, Jedediah Jim

Happiest Elder In The World

Feb. 9, 2015 email

Elder Clawson with a firework of a cute little girl!!  The sister's are teaching her, and I think all the missionaries love her:)

My dearest Mother and Family!

This week has been full of meetings, trainings, exchanges, near death experiences, rain, flirtatious Albanian woman, and fanatic finding.

So usually at the beginning of every month we have a big zone training with all of the missionaries but President told us that we didn't have to do it seeing as we had a huge zone conference the week before. So Elder Braden and I decided instead to have a meeting with each individual district in their own district meetings so we could address their own needs and weaknesses. So every morning this week, we were out and about giving trainings, talking with the missionaries, and doing all kinds of crazy busy work.

One awesome thing that did happen this week was on Tuesday. We were able to meet with our investigator Kristi and we taught him the Plan of Salvation with a member named T. We had a super great lesson and talked about what we need to do in this life to gain a position in the Celestial Kingdom, and that was when we hit him with a baptismal date. He accepted to be baptized! We are super excited for him and we knew that God would bless us for the work that we'd been doing lately. We also had English Course that night and one of the younger members in the ward was there and she needed someone to escort her home because it was dark outside and she's 10 years old. The sisters usually walk her home but they asked us for a favor because they had a lesson to get to. So we got stuck with escorting a 10 year old girl to her home. We got to her house and greeted her grandparents and then left and then this Albanian lady heard Elder Braden and I talking in English and she asked us where we were from. We started a conversation and she asked what we were doing in that part of town. I told her that we had just escorted one of our members home and she was like "Oh can you do that for me?". I looked at Elder Braden then looked at her and said "No." We did ask her if she wanted to learn more about our church though and she ended up giving us her number which we then gave to the sisters. Flirty woman are dumb.

The week went along with lessons with members and such and I also went on an exchange with Elder Asler from 1st Ward. He came and worked with me in my area and we had a good time. A member asked us for a blessing and so we went to the church to meet her and the sisters were there with one of their investigators. Her name is D. and she is 9 years old and probably one of the most adorable things that I have ever seen. And she is super sassy. But she was very stressed out about a math test that she was gonna be taking soon so she asked me if I could give her a blessing. I gladly did and then Elder Asler gave a blessing for the member that was in need as well.

The next day I had to go on another exchange with the elders in 4th Ward. I went into their area with Elder Waters. He's from New Zealand. Good kid and we had a great time together. We talked all night long while in bed, and just were making all kinds of jokes with each other all day. We had a lesson with one of their investigators. He is Catholic and says that it is against his religion to pray with people of other religions. So we basically just asked him at the beginning if he had any questions and he asked a really good one about baptisms for the dead. He had read on the internet that we did that and so he asked why we did that. My first impression was to say that it was what the true church of God does, but instead we just explained about Paradise and Spirit Prison and expounded on that a bit with him. After a bit the conversation went to the subject of Joseph Smith and we started to talk about prophets. He believed that all Gifts of the Spirit and all prophets stopped after Christ's Resurrection. We weren't really getting anywhere with him and so we decided to end the lesson and we gave him a reading assignment. Mormon 9:7-10 and then we told him that we would talk about what he had read the next time we met.

Elder Clawson with one of his favorite members!  This is the lady that hugged and kissed Elder Clawson's guts out!

These two have grown up a ton since Jed last saw them, but they are doing fantastic!!!  Future missionaries:)

After that lesson we got to see a baptism! Sister Favero and Sister Mehmeti had taught this awesome lady named Manushaqe. And they invited lots of the members from 2nd Ward and the sisters in 1st ward invited lots of their members too. And guess who came?! All of my recent converts! Sam and Evi came and so did Eli! I was the happiest elder in the world! I sat and talked with Eli about her life and she was just so pleased to see me. She was hugging me and kissing my cheeks like there was no tomorrow. After the baptism Evi and Sam came up to me and we had a great chat. They have grown up a ton since I last saw them! It was crazy! They are turning into men. After that we had a lesson with a member and his unbaptized family. We watched the Restoration film and had a great time. Elder Smith, one of the senior elders, came along with us while his wife was at home and I got to translate for him. Great lesson.

Yesterday came and unfortunately we didn't have any investigators in church. So we just dealt with it and talked with members all day. Later on we had a mission prep class with one of the returned missionaries and with two of the youth that are starting their papers really soon.

Well family I love being on my mission. It is the most rewarding thing that I have ever done! I love speaking Albanian and I love preaching the gospel! I am so blessed to be a missionary in this part of the world. I love it when one of God's children accepts His invitation to come closer to him by means of baptism and when you can see the desire to change come out from the depths of their souls. God loves us and knows us! Never doubt that knowledge!

I love you all! Have a good week.

Love, Jedediah

Dearest Mother, 

Well so far my card still hasn't worked but I'll keep trying. keeping me posted on everything. So there's not a lot of flooding in Tirana but in the South there has been quite a bit I guess. I don't know a ton but that's what I've heard. Also, Hunter, one of my friends, met one of Dad's companions in Washington this last week. Well I hope the slurpy snow freezes over and becomes love powder real soon. I love you Mom!

Love, Jed

He's My Investigator!

Feb. 2, 2015 email

Hello American Family! 

I got this picture from Ersi (one the left).  He's a member that helps the missionaries a ton!!  And Elder Clawson thinks he's awesome!!

Well it sounds like you all had a killer time up in Sun Valley without the best skiier in the whole family! Just kidding it sounds like everyone has surpassed my abilities now. And did I see a picture of Jake using Jimmy's old Mantras? 

This week was a better week. Still not the most fantastic week full of butterflies and sunshine,but it was still super good. And it actually is just raining all the time now. Elder Braden doesn't wear a coat in the rain or use an umbrella and all the Albanians just get super mad at him and tell that he needs to love himself and wear a coat or else he'll get sick. I always just sit there and watch them yell at him because I don't know how to defend him. 

So on Monday we had to go translate for the Orton couple because they are doing some big project up in Shkoder. After that we went and helped our Landlord do some moving out of his house. The next day was spent doing a flip ton of finding! We met with our English Course and taught them about the Plan of Salvation. That was pretty good and then we had a couple lessons not work out. We tried visiting this one member family but we got to the door and a voice on the other end said "Who is it?" and I just said "It's the missionaries." And then the voice came back and said "Sorry my mom's out of the house and I'm locked in." So... we kinda just said "ah, okay then. We'll come back later." Then we went finding for a bit. 

Wednesday I had to get food for the zone conference that we would be having the following day. So I call this lady and ask her for these huge platters of food, and she was either deaf or didn't speak Albanian because she was not picking up anything I was saying. And I think I have a hold on this language. Eventually the food was ordered. A little bit later in the day we had a lesson with a guy that we had met in the road. He was awesome. He comes from the north part of Albania from a town called Mirëdita which means "Good day". And he speaks like a Kosovar. So we had a good time speaking our mother tongue. We had a member in our lesson to help us out and she did great. The lesson was fantastic and he loved it. Hopefully we'll be able to meet with him a bit this coming week because he had to leave for his hometown for the weekend so we didn't have the chance to see him again. Then we had our English course and dealt with some flirtatious girls and bad mouthed young man. The joys that come with English Course. 

The next day we had a massive combined zone conference. It was everyone except the North Zone so I didn't get to see the Macedonian missionaries which made me kinda sad. I miss those people. We had an awesome training from President Weidmann on extending committments and then we heard the testimonies of the departing missionaries. It was kinda rough because there are 7 sisters leaving, AND I WATCHED THEM COME IN COUNTRY! It was weird to see Motra White, Favero, and Boettinger saying goodbyes because I've served a lot around them and it was sad! Afterwards we got to watch Meet the Mormons. Pretty good movie. Everyone enjoyed it and it was cool to see how this film is helping the world understand that we aren't weird people. It was also way cool to see that Costa Rica lady beating up people in her section. Also that one part in Nepal made me think about "Where the Trail Ends" when they go ride in the Himalayas and through all those little villages. Good movie. 

After that we went to the church and showed the members and English Course people the Joseph Smith Movie. The long one. It was super good and there were tons of people just bawling their eyes out at the end. And yes... I was included. My mission has turned me into an emotional little girl. I always cry when we watch Ephraim's Rescue when the nice pioneer girl dies. I HATE SEEING LOVE DIE!! Then to make me feel like a missionary again, we went finding. 

The next day we spent a lot of the day doing zone number work and weekly planning. Friday's are rough because we stay in the house for a long period of time and it's just hard to get going afterwards. So we try to break it up a bit. Later that night though we were able to meet with a part member family and we talked about the Book of Mormon and read the Introduction with everyone. We asked all of the members of the family to share something that they had learned from reading the Book of Mormon, including the non-member father. They all shared amazing insights and thoughts and then Elder Braden and I bore our testimonies of the truthfulness that it holds. It was a great lesson. 

The next day we woke up and had to go help a member take some pictures of his house for the government or else he was going to be arrested. No big deal. Then we went finding and afterwards had lunch with a members mom named Luma. She is wonderful. She made some super good food too. I just love the old ladies in Albania! They didn't really have them in Kosovo, but here they just love you unconditionally and will feed you, hug you, offer you their daughters for marriage, and always smile at you in the road. After lunch we got to go to another baptism for a young man named Martin in 4th Ward. He is awesome and super good with the Gospel. We already all love him. We then walked all the way home and went to play futboll with members and investigators. Good night. Except I kicked Motra Fuller right in the face. But she took it like a champ. 

~right now as i'm typing, the song "Shining Happy People" just came on and I'm singing it out loud~

Yesterday we invited a guy named Elton to church, we had talked with him on the road about a week ago and he came! I sat by him and talked with him during sacrament meeting while Elder Braden helped translate for the Embassy family in the ward. There were some great testimonies given and Elton was really feeling the Spirit. He was crying and saying that he hasn't felt like this for a long time. A little bit later Ersi tapped on my shoulder, (Ersi moved to Tirana by the way) and he asked me why I wouldn't bear my testimony and I told him that I didn't have anything different to say from what I had said the previous  month. But then I started thinking about something I read in the Ensign the other day. I actually just sent an email to Kirsten talking about it, but it's about a teacher that got a potato from one of her students and she asked "Why did you give me a tater?" and the student said "Because I didn't have an apple." And it was basically saying that even though we may not have a big, beautiful thing to give (Apple), we always have something we can give (potato). So I am now trying to apply that lesson in my everyday actions now. So I got up and bore my testimony, sat back down next to Elton and he looked at me and said in super broken english, "When you say that stuff, I felt a thing in my heart." 

After sacrament we went to the investigators class and the lesson was on fasting. There were a few recent converts and members and then two investigators. The teacher asked why fasting is important and one of the members said that it's so we can be healthy. It was a good answer because yes, our bodies benefit a bit from taking a break from food and kinda cleaning the system. But then Elton said, "No we fast so that we can come closer to God and help our spiritual state." I looked over at Motra Coleman and mouthed "He's my investigator." 

Church ended, we set up a return appointment with Elton, and we ate lunch and spent the rest of our day teaching members for Temple Prep and making visits. 

I love being a missionary. I love the Albanian people and I love doing this work. Sometimes it massacres me and leaves me in pieces but it's so worth it. Elder Penrod says that it's during hard times when we are putting blessings in the bank and every now and then we cash out. I know that this Church is true and I know that God loves each and every one of his children. He is the Captain at the Helm of this work and He leads and guides us in every step if we are willing to be humble and listen to His promptings. 

I love you all! Have a good week! 

Love, Jed

Dearest Mother, 

So did Jane do good skiing? It sounds like you all had the best time ever. I love pics that dad sent me too. Good luck this week with the preschool children. I hope they don't destroy our home. Mom, I love you so much! I hope you enjoy the week and have fun with Sweetheart. 

Love, Jedi