18 Months in the Adriatic: Week 21

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Week 21 - Kosovo

reunited w my motras! <3

my mtc sisters, love these girls!!

fergon ride home! goin for the Rachel look

like this companionship pic?

me dashuni të madhe prej Kosovës

qysh jeni a jeni mire a jeni lodhe??

first off I have SO many pics from this week oh my goodness, so don't be overwhelmed, I just wanna show y'all how BUKUR Kosove and Shqipni are...

We were out of town for about half of this week because of sister's conference and spontaneous exchanges etc. and it was just a really great week, filled with missionary work and also just FUN.

We packed in as many lessons as we could before leaving to Gjakove and Tirane for a couple days and we ended up staying in Gjakove longer than expected which was awesome because I love going to new areas and doing work with the members and missionaries there (our companions went to Peje to help out.. I haven't been there yet, but hear it's a beautiful city!) and honestly doing missionary work is the best way to see a place because we walk all over and go inside people's homes etc.

A funny quote from the (catholic) produce boy at the grocery store (we had an unofficial lesson with him for a while; he was talking to us while working and when we gave him a copy of Libri i Mormonit to read the intro, he was so interested that he held the book with one hand and read while weighing fruits and veggies with the other), and later talking about USA because we're from there he said, "we have one God in heaven, and one God on earth: America" haha yess I love how much they love us here (thx Bill Clinton..!)

Tirana was so fun; love that bustling, bright place and of course soo great to see my mtc motras again and also meet all the other motras I'd heard so much about..! And the drive there and back was absolutely BEAUTIFUL wow, this has got to be the coolest place in the world. <3

When we came back to Prishtine after our little Albanian getaway it was soo nice to go street contacting again, and really, every time we just meet such awesome people. i.e. a Swedish girl's handball team and a Kosovar guy with an Australian accent b/c he lived there for 10 years and after I talked to him he said, "wow this is really great, now maybe I've found something to believe in" and a teen girl who grew up in England and has been here for 8 months but doesn't know Shqip too well and wants to know how we learned the language so quickly and we explained that it was only with help from God #giftoftongues but offered to help teach her (good thing our language materials are all religious! i.e. pamphlets) and one of our investigators, F, has been too busy to meet with us but came to church and is set on getting baptized (woo!) so we are doing everything we can to meet with her this week, and the branch here is solid and it is so amazing to see returning members and recent converts making huge positive changes and just flourishing in the Gospel, really.

I love this church and everything it offers me, especially the Book of Mormon, which I KNOW is the word of God because I've prayed about it and asked for myself. This is why I'm here in Kosovo, to share this book and gospel with people who haven't had the chance to know about this message of hope and true happiness. So yeah I'm just really grateful I've had it all my life, and I'm especially grateful that I actually appreciate it these days. Gonna close with my fave scripture (one of my faves... there's too many good ones), 2 Nefi 4:16~ Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord, and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.

I'm so grateful to be a missionary here in Prishtine, Kosove, and this Easter season I am especially grateful for Christ's atonement and everything that his sacrifice means for me; for all of us.

Ju dua shume!!

<3 Motra Rajlli

(Shko ne plazh per mua sepse kena bore ketu hala... bukur, por ftoft apo jo?)

we're finally going on a p-day trip (yay!) but last week was soo eventful and fun and I cleaned off my camera which means I have TONS of sweet pics hahah Sounds like mary poppins was great and have a fun spring break, hit the beach for me :)