Chronicles from Albania (June 8th 2009)

Hello all!

So I got more packages! I do want to say that that CD I got, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, rocks, its got some of my favorite songs on it! We enjoy listening to it often. Thank you for the conference editions!! Elder Flack and I have really enjoyed the copies you sent. Studying them has become an great part of personal study. We used some taco mix you sent in some beef concocson we made yesterday, it was extremely good actually. I am going to have to figure out what sort of things I can make with the limited American like ingredients found here in Albania. For instance, they only have one kind of bean, pinto, but I can still make chili with that can't I? I think I have already decided though, my first family dinner home will probably have to be Mexican style. I do miss our food :)

What has happened this week? We had Zone Conference, which was excellent as it always is. Sister Neil made us cinnamon rolls, so outstandingly good! There was also a lot of good insight, I enjoy zone conferences, they help me to be a better missionary.

Our branch continues to struggle, we had only 3 members in church on Sunday. We had discovered that one couple of members are really becoming enemies to the church (I passively mentioned them last week) They actively sought to dissuade all of our members from coming to see elder Christofferson, calling us liars etc. I don't know who of our members listened to them, or if they just allowed other small things of life persuade them not to come. What do you do with members that actively seek to breakdown the faithfulness of other members? It is sad and unfortunate, however I believe the Lord will grant unto us guidance and love for them, if we continue to sincerely seek it.

This past week has been an extremely successful week. I'm not sure if you noticed the past few weeks, but I never really had any investigators to talk about because we didn't really have any progressing investigators to speak of. However this week we have found several individuals and families who have good prospects for progressing in the gospel. None as of yet stand out as good progressing investigators, but we are ever hopeful. All of these people need the gospel and the blessings therein! Next week we will see how things are going. It is truly amazing to see how the Lord's hand is in this work, though, and the strength that he gives us.

This past week I have begun reading M. Russell Ballard's “Our Search for Happiness”. It is a simple, and short book but it addresses the key parts of the gospel so well. It always astounds me how simple the gospel is! Every time there is a principle or doctrine that I start to make difficult or confusing in my head, the Lord tends to place the simple, plain answer before me to remind me that we need not be scholars to know the path to exaltation!

OK, brief success story. There are many diverse ways to find people, however up here in Shkoder we tend to not be very creative. We do one of 4 things: We put a table out with pamphlets etc. It tends to attract a lot of good attention, and, when used in the morning hours, often results in contacts. We put out a street sign out which from time to time sparks people's interest and they stop to read it and we talk to them. However it is less effective than a table so we usually use it on rainy days or when we don’t have too much time. We tract which is, apparently, much more successful in Shkoder than anywhere else in Albania. We get in every time we try to tract. I believe this is one of our most effective uses of time. Lastly we do giros (strolls) and try to stop people that walk past. The last choice is grossly ineffective. I believe I have only seen one or two contacts come from a giro. So, we try not to do those. However, recently as we stand with the board or table in the evening, Ully (an Albanian who is a British citizen who has become good friends with us, but won’t let us teach him. He is here because his wife and kids are Albanian and he is having trouble getting them to England) stands there and talks to us, distracts us, and makes things less effective.

Well, Elder Flack and I decided to try something new. I had heard from another missionary a better thing to do than giros is to walk far away from where you normally stand and do street contacting because the same people pass and they start to get use to you as part of the scenery. We executed this with great success. In 15 minutes we got 4 contacts, which is huge. There are entire days where we do not even get 1 contact after hours of work. We realized it is because of several factors: first we are probably in a place where there are people who have never seen the missionaries, second there are far less people around so people have less shame to stop, and third because we are standing and not walking the other direction. People feel more obligated to stop and talk to us. As of yet, none of the people we have contacted show promise of progressing, but the more contacts you get the more potential investigators there are and the more likely that there is a prepared individual amongst them. I know that there are people who are prepared here in Shkoder, we just must find them. LOL that was long! Maybe you all know a little more of what I do everyday….

Anyway, I hope you all are well, thank you so much for you love and your prayers, I do feel them. I am ever grateful for the great support I get from home from you all. I love you all, I hope you all are well!

Love
Elder Scadden