Once upon a time in Albania (October 12, 2009)

Hello All From Albania!

Wow! What a great week! 2 baptisms this week! Roani and his sister on Monday and Ermal yesterday. What an exciting week! However, this week I am going to direct my email as a mission report to my bishop and stake president. I hope you all still enjoy it, Before I begin I just want to let everyone know that our church building got ransacked. It looks like someone came into the building while it was open, hid, and than sacked it, because there is no evidence of forced entry but tons of evidence of forced exit. Crazy! Fortunately nothing of great value was stolen. Whoever this thief was, they were looking for raw money but didn’t find anything and were clearly not wise enough to realize that our church amplifier and projector were worth hundreds of dollars. Thank goodness! My new companion: Elder Seevers from Nevada. He is awesome! I’ll talk more about him next week.

Dear President Maxwell and Bishop Council,

I apologize that I have not written sooner. Today I will give you a brief report of my mission up to this point. I hope you enjoy it.

Current Status: Successful! Albania is a small, poor country that is still suffering from many side effects of communism. The church is small here but the work is moving forward. There are about 1500 baptized members but only about 400 are consistently active. The District recently took several steps backwards in its progression when a Foreign Service Officer from the US had to be made district president because the current president went inactive. There are 11 branches, 5 of which are in the capital city of Tirana. The Church has built two buildings so far, one in Durres and one in Elbasan. We have many faithful members who are fulfilling their callings and slowly we are adding active Melchizedek priesthood holders towards the qualifications of stakehood.

Personal Development: I am growing beyond that which I could have imagined! Every day I see the hand of the Lord revealed in this work. I have seen the holy spirit work in the lives of the people I have interacted with. I am slowly learning the language of the spirit and my knowledge of the scriptures continues to grow as the Lord enlightens my mind with greater insights throughout my studies. I am surprised at how we can always have more faith, we can always be more diligent and more Christlike. It is a life long development. My testimony of the Savior and his Atonement has deepened since I have been here, as has my testimony of the restoration. I continue to learn patience, charity, and love, as I have had to pray for a great deal out here. I did not realize how self-centered I was until my primary responsibility became the spiritual well being of those around me.

Language: I am OK at the language. I have seen amazing progress over these 6 months and it has been all due to the Lord and his mercies. It is hard to believe that I once could barely construct a sentence when I can now express my self in complex ideas and phrases. I still have a long way to go, I am far from mastering the Albanian language. I have begun training another missionary and I already can tell that this will take my language capabilities to my limits. Indeed the gift of tongues has been a powerful ally here in the country. At times I am extremely surprised at the things that leave my mouth, not realizing before that I had the knowledge to say them.

Successes: My first 3 transfers in the country did not have a great deal of what might be called outward success. In fact, the branch I was in, Skoder, had 30 people in Church my first Sunday. 5 weeks later we had 2. Fortunately at least 1 member always showed up. My time in Skoder can be summed up easily in two words: Enduring Apostasy. That is not to say that I feel my time there was wasted. I felt the spirit work strongly through me numerous times, many people were called to repentance, though such calls were rejected. I challenged people to change their lives, I developed Christlike attributes and I came to love some of the most dishonest and selfish people I have ever met, as Children of a Heavenly King. I have spent 1 transfer in Tirana e Re, in the strongest branch in all of Albania, 2nd branch. Here I have seen people use their agency for good rather than evil. The hand of the Lord has been outstretched to them in love and they have gladly accepted it rather than turning from it for the pleasures of the world. The Lord has blessed me in allowing me to take a direct and central role in the conversions of 2 individuals to the gospel, Ermal Llaha and Roani Kallopi. I have also felt the holy ghost work through me as I have taught people about our Lord and Savior.

Conclusion: I have felt that thus far my mission has been incredibly successful. In the MTC they told us many times that our mission was a success if the only person that changed or was converted to the gospel was us, then we had successful missions. I have been blessed to see much more than that. I know that this is the work of God. Nothing can stop it. I am but a tool in his hands and it is a blessing beyond that which I deserve. However, the Lord in His mercy has allowed me to be in His service. I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Almighty God, and the Jehovah that rules this existence. I know that His Atonement is full and complete, I have felt its powerful effects in my life and through it I have been redeemed. Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Restoration and Thomas S. Monson is the prophet of our day. This Church is Gods kingdom on the earth, I know this without doubt. May God be with you.

Love,
Elder Scadden