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!