Week 15 - Kosovo

 

found the cutest juice bar in Gjakove, I would love to serve here just so I can go there again hahah.. and also for the awesome members :)

I love Nene Tereza <3 hey read her poem "anyways", it's my new fave

Mother Teresa's Anyway Poem

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

&yummm right? our fave ;)

 

and this is Motra Betinger, she is Canadian and vegetarian and such a sweetheart :)  /

went to a little  bday party 

this is in Ferizaj, looked cooler in person I thought haha

and the sunset one is just Kosovo countryside, an hr away from Prishtine

these are the tooleys, a cute senior missionary couple serving in gjakova who took us to bondstill! they're funny :)

 

and we had "institute" with these army guys who also come to our branch in Prishtine. Thought of you, dad! Try and get deployed to Kosovo?

krejte rahat?

Hey, how are you guys?! I am doing good and taking precautions to stay safe (&warm lol!) these days, so don't worry about me. :)  A highlight of this past week was an exchange in Gjakova!

I forgot to mention but last week we had zone conference there and it was really great, President Weidmann came up and everything, with his daughter who just got back from serving in Temple Square and is so nice and cool and I loved chatting with her in German.  (And we got to watch Meet the Mormons! Among other things, that movie makes me want to visit Nepal and try out kickboxing and be a mom. Haha it's so good though right? Use it as a missionary tool, get people to watch it because it is very well-done and should clear up so many misconceptions.)

Anyways I went back there on Thursday! I didn't know I was going, but when the STL's got to Prishtine they asked me if I had my stuff and was ready to go.. I told them to give me 5 min:) I really had a great time there, and learned from Motra Betinger who is on her last transfer. And of course it was just super neat to serve in a completely different area. Street contacting was way different but I enjoyed it and it also made me appreciate how many more people we have to talk to on our boulevard. I had a great time but I am so glad to be back home in Prishtine :) <3

Oh and on Tuesday we got to go to the army base Bondstill which was cool!

Wednesday there was supposed to be a huge protest but, nothing happened because of rain. (And also because of some changes to the government.)

Tomorrow we go down to Tirana for a training meeting! I'm so excited to see my mtc group again :))

Also, most importantly, this past week we had some really great lessons! The work really is picking up here, and while it's still hard to consistently meet with people because of busy schedules etc. (we meet with a lot of university students), just being able to testify and discuss with open, eager-to-learn, quality people, really makes it all worth it. And while it's a rule for us not to teach guys for safety reasons, we still have plenty of referrals for the elders (lucky them) who seem to be doing great and quite a few have been coming to church and institute etc.

I was reading in 3 Nephi ch. 11 which is always a good read; Christ's visit to the Americas. Just in these past 6 weeks being out here, I've learned so much more about Christ and his role as our savior and redeemer... Elder Holland's talk "the mediator" sums things up pretty well! I don't think I ever realized just how essential the atonement is for every single one of us. I am so grateful for Christ and everything that he's made possible for me.

Just want to wrap things up saying that I love you all and thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has written to me because it really does mean so much. <3

Ju dua shume elle do flasim javen tjeter ne dita e pergatitjes patjeter si gjithmone:) shpresoj qe kete jave do jete nje jave shume te bukur per ju. Zoti ju bekofte!

<3 Madi :) 

from my exchange in Gjakova on Thursday! pretty dang different from Prishtine. The STLs just moved to a new apt. there and it's so nice; lotsa hot water, heated floors etc..

and borrowed an Elder's blender so I can make smoothies woo

internet cafe selfie w elder rawlings from peja