4th email from the field

Here are snippets from this week's email...

Wow this week. I literally woke up and found Pday is here already again. It felt like I just finished my Pday last week. Time is flowing quickly here. 

Now to say the least, the adventures we had this week are something that will always be with me. But I will explain all of that after I answer some questions. :) 

How is your satchel working for you? 

Like a charm. I love it. It is a solid bag. Especially when it rains here. None of my inside contents get wet. SO that is a plus! 

How are the shoes working for you?  

Good. The first couple days recently in the past week two toes were not happy and definitely expressed their feelings. Especially Terry the Toe. :) But now everything is going better and Terry is happy. :) 

What sheets did you get? Were they expensive? 

 I haven't bought any yet. I am just using sheets they have at the apartment. There are a couple of sets there, so I won't worry about getting them until I really need them. 

Where do you go to write letters and upload pictures?  

We go to an internet Cafe. 

What is the structure of your P-Day..... Up at 6:00, comp study, laundry, site seeing, letters, back to work at? 

It is honestly goes something like: Wake up at 6:30. Clean the apartment. Do personal study, comp study, and then the day is ours until 6 which we then have to go back to work. At 7:30 every Monday night we have Family Home Evening with Bishop B and his family. Apparently I look a lot like one of their nieces... I get that a lot here. A lot of people think I am Albanian. 

By the way, where do you do laundry? 

In our home. We have our own washer. Everything though we air dry them on racks. I will have to take a picture of that one time.

Okay, so now that I have finished with the questions, I will now go into the events of this week. So first off, something that happened was that we had put bug killer down last week and we are seeing the outcome of it. You can tell Larry was the first one to take hold of it. I took of picture of him. He is one of the bigger cockroaches we have in our apartment. :) But it is all good because others have come to the same conclusion as Larry.  :)

Another adventure is that our water stopped working. It was during this last weekend. We now have it back. Thank goodness. The moment it happened I was in the kitchen cleaning the dishes. It feels so good to clean. I just love it! :) Small joys of a missionary. 

So, something that was interesting this week was that we have talked with two different missionaries that are Albanians that have returned from their missions. One was serving in Minnesota and the other in England. It was cool to ask them how their mission was and what they thought about being home. It was soo cool. Funny story actually, another Albanian we bumped into said he served in England and I asked where. I then find out she was in the MTC with M. Fun Fact!

Wow, this week was great growth. I am so blessed to have this opportunity to serve here in the wonderful land of Albania and the people here. I know that this is God's work, and that we are his tools. I learn that everyday as I do my personal study, companion study, we go out and work, and especially when we do daily planning and we talk about the hand of the Lord in our lives. As I do this all, I know more and more of the love he has for each of us.

So this last Sunday we had a fireside and invited members and investigators to come. Our mission president was there and the stake president of the area. The fireside was amazing. My companion and I talked about how strong the Spirit was. Something that I really got out of the wonderful fireside we had was how no mortal man could have written the Book of Mormon. That it was from God. All of it. Every single word... how all that is written s is for all of us in this last dispensation. I know that with all my heart. God has given us the Book of Mormon as a guide in our life. That is just another fact of the love He has for us.

This week we were able to visit a mother and her four wonderful children. I love them so much with all my heart! They are working towards their baptism date. AHHH! They are just sweet as can be! I have grown a love for them that I now understand is how the Lord loves his children!

I love this gospel. It has blessed me. It has blessed those that are on the verge of giving up. It has blessed those all around the world from all different backgrounds. This gospel is something that is meant for all. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ, we can return to our Heavenly Father!

I love you and I hope things were amazing this week. You are my heroes!

Motra Bezas

The following pictures are from her most recent p-day, after a week of service.

 

Having a native Albanian smoothie

  

Some of the amazing views....

They are so happy. It's true--the more you lose yourself in the service of others and Christ, there just seems to be a rebounding return of joy.

3rd email from the field!

Here are portions of this week's email from Motra Bezas. In the Bible we can read that the Spirit can inspire what to pray for. This week I'd had the sense to pray for her tenacity to continue. It was therefore interesting to read afterwards that a variety of appointments had fallen through. The Lord is so good to help parents know what to pray for for their missionaries!

Hello!

Wow, It really hit me yesterday that it is already another Preparation Day! How time has seriously flown by! 

This week crazy things happened this week. Wow, this week has been a time of growth, and I have loved every minute of it! I honestly don't even know where to begin.

First, I am so blessed to have the companion that I do. She is amazing! I see it everyday. She is a hard worker and loves serving the Lord.

This week we had some dry spells. We had lots of lessons planned, but they would either get canceled or people would stand us up or people wouldn't be home. It was discouraging, but we just pushed forward. We would always try to have an open mind to what the Lord then needed us to do with his time for this mission.

We found that we were rewarded by meeting a person or two and seem very interested in the gospel while we street-contacted one day. Or rewarded when meeting new investigators we received from the Elders. 

We know that God knows his children. I have seen it as I have talked with them. There is something that we need to specifically teach them.

I love this gospel with all my heart. I love the opportunity that I have to serve here with these people. The time is coming for the Savior to come again. I see t everyday as we walk out the door and share His word.

The day before we actually had a Zone Conference. The meeting was so GREAT! But I will get into that. ;) 

God knows this people, of this mission. This is just another sign that God lives and that we are his children.

Now Zone Conference... IT WAS AMAZING! We discussed our goals as a zone and what we want to accomplish for this month. The spirit was so strong I loved it! I am so blessed to have the people I work with in this Zone.

Today we went for our P Day to Elbasan. It was amazing! We went there to visit the people there! It was Motra L's last area she served before I came. I was actually was going to be trained there but God had a different plan in store for Motra L and I.

So, something that the President has also wanted us to do as we do our Daily Planning for the next day in the evening, is to see how the Hand of the Lord was in our day and also we each share a scripture that shows the Hand of the Lord also! :) MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS! It has been such a blessing to see the Hand of the Lord. Yeah, we have had days of not much success, but then again. Who is the real judge of success. GOD IS!

I love God with all my heart. He is my Father and I am his Daughter. HE! is the one that makes STRONG and that can help me handle what I have in my path. HE! Is there to help me when I am need of comfort. He is my Eternal Friend.

I love this gospel. I love it. I love it with every fiber of my being. A song I love, has this phrase that rings to me so true. "He hears me and he answers, every thoughtful plea... even when I can't speak..." I know this is true for each and everyone of us.

I know that I am not perfect. But I learn and know more as I read from the scriptures and the Book of Mormon and hear the words of the prophets and as I pray, I begin to see who God truly is. He is always near me and walks beside me as I walk the roads of life. No matter where they may be. Either back at home or here on the roads of Albania to visit a less active. He is there ALWAYs!

I love you all and I am so blessed to have you in my life.

Know. You. Are. His. Chosen. Ones.

Motra Bezas

 Having a meal with the other Motras in the apartment - 

it looks something like French toast. :)

 

 At an Albanian restaurant with an Albanian and others

 In English!

Knocking on an Albanian door - 

look at that wooden handwork - so beautiful in its heirloom quality.

And now for one of my favorite pictures Motra Bezas sent . . .

It reads, "Reality is wrong. Dream ARE for real."

Until next time, keep the missionaries in your prayers! They are seeking to love God's children and teach them of the Savior's sacrifice for all.

2nd email from the field

Here are portions of the second email from Motra Bezas in Albania!

Dear The Loves of My Life,

This week was pretty intense. So much has happened this last week. It was crazy. :D But first I will get into the questions Dad sent me.

 How was the first discussion that you have been involved in and did you get a chance to participate?  I cannot honestly remember what was the first true discussion I was in. We taught a lot as soon as we got to our area. Motra L, my comp, was here about a year ago and now is returning here, so she is getting to know the people.

The people here are just amazing! I just love them! Everything about this place is without a doubt amazing to me. The culture and history and the backgrounds of the people are just so fascinating. :)

What is the most interesting thing that you have learned about yourself this week?
That I can endure. This week was hard in some ways. The language is still at times where I think, "Come on Rach, were you not at the Mission Training Center for two months learning Albanian? You should know this!" Ha, but alas, I realized that I am not perfect and I never will be... :) Well, at least not in this life. But that is the whole reason why we are here. To gain experience. :) I just learned about the Atonement this week and how it truly fits in each of our lives. It truly is the key to returning to our Heavenly Father. Because Jesus Christ was selfless and died for us, along with atoning for our sins, we now can come home when everything we needed to do here is finished.

I really tried to connect that with myself with week and that is a role in being a missionary for him. I realized that I represent him for this next year and a half by being selfless towards all that we come in contact with. :)

Something I learned in the MTC before I left was that as missionaries we a portal to shine His love and LIGHT to those we meet on the streets or in their homes or wherever it may be. They recognize it and begin to have a seed planted within them. I saw this this past week when we talked with a few while street contacting. :)

What is the most interesting thing that you have learned about Albania this week?
Well, there are a lot of culture differences here that in America you would not see. But one is that people when you visit them at their home by appointment or just a surprised visit for them, they always give you a treat. Like a drink or a candy are just some of the examples that are smaller. :)

What have you learned about your companion this week?
That she is just AMAZING! I saw the rich blessing of having Motra L as my trainer. I always feel open to asking her questions and don't feel judged if I don't get something. She is so patient. Something I really admire about her is that she loves people with all her heart and when she talks and is in the middle of a lesson, she honestly transforms. It is an amazing sight that I can't even explain. :)

What was the most important thing that happened this week?
That prayer is an aid for the spirit to enter a home or whatever setting it may be. I experienced that this week. We visited an inactive lady. She is elderly and lives with her parents. A long story short, one of the things that happened was when we first walked into the home, there was an odd feeling to the place but subtle enough you wouldn't really notice it. We talked with them for a bit, her mother, who is not a member, and the inactive. When we asked if we could give a quick message to them. They said sure and we then asked if we could start with a prayer. They consented and I said I would say it. As I began, I didn't truly notice a difference, but as I got near to the close of the prayer, I began to feel a peace that was more prominent but still subtle. The inactive looked at me and told me that all the evil spirits left the room for the first time in a long time. My heart was filled with a love that I could not truly comprehend.

I love this gospel with all my heart. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, Redeemer, and Friend. He loves and knows us each personally and what we are going through. Something I also got to do this weekend was see the General Women's Broadcast. In English! The elderly couple in our ward, the S's, they had it set up so I took the opportunity. I am so glad I did. The spirit was so strong. It was like being enveloped in a blanket. We also got to the watch the Sunday Morning Session of General Conference. That was also amazing! I love you all and hope things went well this week!

You are in my prayers. :)

Motra Bezas

First email from the field!

Here are some pieces here and there from Motra Bezas's first p-day (and therefore first email) from Albania! Photos will be included below.

FAMILY!

So it is a official.... I AM IN ALBANIA!!!!! First off, I have to stay that I am alive and I am sorry for any weird typos. The keyboards are different here, so bear with me. First, I am going to answer the questions Dad had for me.

Your area? I am serving in Tirana.

Your Companion? Motra L. This is her last transfer before she goes home. SHE IS SO AWESOME! Fun fact actually: this area was where she was trained where she first got here. So it is coming back home in someways. :)

Your first impressions of everything, food, people, apartment, town? My first impressions... well I don't even know where to begin. First, Mom... you know how you LOVE the driving in Cali? Well, it is just like that here but even...eh, more. The funny part is there are hardly any accidents and even people walk into the road when cars are going. It is almost natural how everything works. They use the horn differently here. It is more a kind gesture than a mean one. The food is more natural here than anywhere else I have ever been. The smells here are something that you grow to love. I know one day I will actually miss it. :)

How did your flights go? My flights after the call with you went really well. I slept a lot. The Austria Airport was so unique.... I don't even know where to begin. It was hot. VERY hot, like there was no AC. I will be sending some pictures. Everything was very... abstract. That is the best way I could describe it. There was a ton of Albanians we ran into while waiting at the airport.

How your first day went? Well, when we finally got there, we met the President, his wife, his daughter, and two ADORABLE grand daughters. They split us up, and they took the elders in one car and us three sisters in with the new office couple at the mission home.

A picture of the mission home and office...

I wasn't truly tired yet actually when we first got there (HA, that hit me later!). So Mom, I met Motra R...like an hour after I got there! She is one of the Sister Training Leaders. We talked, and she is just so sweet! I love her. I even talked to her about her blog. :)

Anyway, long story short. The first day we had individual interviews with the President before we headed for the mission home. But in the meantime of waiting for it to be our turn, we went with not our real trainer (but mine just happened to end up being my trainer in the end) who took us out to teach near the mission office. We went to a sister who was college age. I can't remember her name for the life of me. Oh well. Anyway, we taught her, but when we got there, a sister missionary who was finished with her mission did what you did with Paul and stayed a couple days after with her parents. It was just her mom, but we taught all three of them.

Actually, this reminds me. When we first arrived at the airport in Austria, we got there early, so we walked on the actual tarmac. So that was cool! We then went into the airport when God gave us the wonderful blessing to meet the old Albanian missionaries now going home. We got a picture together so you will see it. It was so nice to speak with them all. The sister though I mentioned before did not go home with them but was part of the departing party.

Did you travel to your first area by your self? No, all the trainers were there the next day to meet us when President assigned us. The office couple sent pictures (I gave her your email, mom, so hopefully I wrote it right. If not, you can probably email them.)

How did it go? It was good. Motra L was also moving, so we both had to bring their stuff into the new apartment. Haha, it was an adventure :). Today we actually got to clean the place and decorated it how we chose. So now it is clean.

Do you have a car in your area or do you ride bikes or just walk? We walk or ride the bus if where we are going to out aways.

Now that I finished with those questions, I will fill in on other things.

Well, the second day it finally it me...the whole time zone difference. I was so tired one day. I prayed that God could give me strength. He did and I was so blessed. Now the fatigue is not as bad. I have taught a couple of lessons and it was really good. The people here are so kind and giving. Yes, there are some that are not as happy, but that is only because they have had a sad life.

But it is really what you tell yourself that can change a situation. For example, we received from another ward a sister who is an investigator. She is a single mom of four AMAZING little children. We sat with her in all the meetings at church yesterday. (That is a whole other story that I will get to.) After church we asked if we could come by and she said yes. Their whole family already has accepted to be baptized and have a date. WHICH is SO cool!!! Anyway, we went and they met us at the bus stop. They walked us back to their house. It was a little ways in the dark but not too far. We finally got there. The house was pretty nice especially on the inside. But they didn't have much furniture so they let us have the only two chairs they had in the living room/ kitchen.

I found out later from Motra L that people with little money buy houses out farther from the city if they want a nicer house but they don't have a lot of furniture. That really hit me. I knew people didn't have a lot but it is always so shocking how sweet people are when giving even the precious things they have to you.

We taught this sweet family about the Book of Mormon. The children's eyes lit up as we used pictures to teach about the stories in the Book of Mormon. We then taught them to pray. It was amazing! The second oldest daughter gave it and it brought tears to the mom's eyes. We asked if we could meet again and they  agreed! :D The mom walked us back along with the oldest daughter to the bus stop. They waited until we were on the bus. When the bus got there they said goodbye. As the mother said goodbye, she said "Respekt." And nodded firmly.

AHHH! I just honestly love missionary work; it is the best. :) I know that the Savior's gospel is where you can find TRUE and everlasting happiness. It is where you can come fully unto Christ through his glorious atonement!

Were you able to watch General Conference? So, we don't get to see general conference until next week. And not even the full thing. AND it will be in Albanian. So maybe one day I will truly get to catch on what I missed one day. I heard it was good from a mission couple in my ward. They do a break-the-fast every Sunday so they told us a tiny bit about that.

Anyway, I love you all so much and thank you for all your emails. I usually email around this time now and have more than an hour now to write. :)

LOVE, Motra Bezas

A picture of the country of Albania from the ground!

One day into her mission, Motra Bezas is experiencing her first Albanian crepe!

Second day of her mission, she's now experienced an Albanian restaurant. :)

4 Motras caught in the rain... :)

 Making her first purchase in Albania!

 Another picture of caught in the rain...

 Another sideways picture that originally was vertical...(sigh)

More to come!

Email from President Weidman, Motra Bezas's new mission president of the Adriatic South Mission

Here are portions of the email we received from Motra Bezas's new mission president who presides over the Adriatic South Mission.

 Dear Brother and Sister Bezas,

 Your daughter Motra (Sister) Bezas, arrived safe and sound at the Mission Home....Her companion will be Sister L. There was much prayer concerning who her trainer would be and we have followed the direction of the spirit. The trainers that we have for the new missionaries are some of the very best missionaries.

Sister Weidmann and I are so pleased to have Sister Bezas as one of our missionaries and look forward to getting to know her well. We know that she will be able to contribute much to the missionary effort in teaching the people of the Adriatic South Mission about Jesus Christ. Thank you for allowing your daughter to serve a mission for our Savior....

If you have any concerns at all please feel free to contact us.  We have enjoyed meeting your daughter and feel she is well prepared for this mission.

My warmest regards,

Louis Weidmann
President
Adriatic South Mission