Once upon a time in Albania (August 3rd, 2009)

Hello all from Albania!

Anyway, this was a long week! I don’t know why, but it sure was. However, despite its length, it was a good week. Oh, my picture last week where I was wearing shorts! We are only allowed to wear shorts when we do something very active, like play soccer or something. I wasn’t even thinking when I threw my shorts on when we went to the castle, so you were right Dad, I was not supposed to be wearing shorts. Funny that no elders called me out on it, but I had to send a picture home for someone to remind me of that rule.

Alright, moving on, This week we were able to teach Toni again, but he is not progressing the way I would hope. I think he is realizing it is true, but I think he is also realizing that it means changing. Hopefully we can help him to understand that no matter how much change will be required, it will be worth it in both this life, and the next!

We found a young family to teach, however we have only taught them once, hopefully they will progress! This branch needs families! Ah, so speaking of the branch, we have two families that are related (the mothers are sisters). When I first arrived they were active, and had testimonies. Now they have fallen far away from the church, and I have not seen them in church for almost a month and a half. Well, we called them to invited them to Family Night, but when they answered they said they could never ever come again… We were really surprised by that because just 2 days before they promised us they would come to FHE and Church that weekend. Later that night we passed by, none of the members were home, only the grandma (who loves us) so we stood in the yard and talked to her for a few minutes. While we talked the 2 sisters and their kids arrived, immediately a strong spirit of contention rushed in. You could see the darkness in their countenances. They then started to argue with us why we weren’t buying them food, because they were so in need, and why we weren’t giving them money. I wanted to ask them why they were baptized but the spirit retrained me. Elder Hamilton wanted to ask them why they don’t use the money they use every Sunday to go to the beach (because that is what they do) to buy food, but he was restrained by the spirit. Essentially they attacked us, and we simply said to them that we don’t pay people to come to church. It was a sickening experience. They don’t want us to come by anymore. Its very strange to see people fall so very far. Well, that was a negative experience.

Outside of that the week was great. I actually feel like the family that tried to get the other members to not go to Durres to see Elder Christofferson are now some of our strongest members. I think the baptism of their daughter really helped them to desire change. So on the flip side of how crazy it is to watch people fall, it is amazing to watch people stumble and fall, only to find the atonement in their lives and walk towards the path of righteousness again. Audriana, the Mom in that family, bore her testimony on Sunday and I felt the spirit very strongly. She knows it is true.

So I had a thought this week, inspired by Elder Hamilton. I have always be slightly confused at the relation between the Plan of Salvation, and the calls to repentance that we find in both the book of Mormon and the Bible, and how they line up. For those of you who do not know, the Plan of Salvation is Gods plan for us to come to this earth, receive bodies, accept Christ's atonement and do all we can to return to live with our Father in Heaven. The point under main consideration here is where people will go after Judgement. In the restored gospel, we know that there exists not a heaven and a hell, but rather 3 kingdoms of Glory: The Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial kingdoms. The Celestial kingdom is the highest, most glorious, but only the righteous, who have received the proper ordinances and obeyed the commandments will go there. The Terrestrial kingdom is for all people who were excellent, or good people in this life, but who fell short of the greater glory either by not keeping all the commandments or by not accepting Christ. The final kingdom is reserved for the wicked of the world, who committed heinous crimes, the murderers and whore mongers of the earth. There is another place, called Outer Darkness, it is not a kingdom, it is where Satan dwells and VERY few individuals will go there, Cain for example. The qualifications for outer darkness are very intense, so don’t worry about it. All 3 of the kingdoms, even the lowest, are all a more glorified state then this earth. Is that not Merciful?? Even the wicked will be given something greater than this life, but it will PALE in comparison to the higher glories. There, though, lies my question of how the fears of the next life can be declared with such vivid and fiery imagery, and yet be so merciful. However (this is gospel according to Elder Scadden! If it is not doctrinal, don’t even bother posting it) I have come to a better understanding of the word Damnation. Part of the great plan that Heavenly Father has for us is Eternal Progression. In the Highest kingdom, we will be able to continue to grow and expand. Its hard for us to comprehend, but its sufficient to say that we will continue to progress. However! Damnation means to stop, to dam up, to prevent from progressing. In the other 2 kingdoms, there is not progression, or if there is, it is of a dramatically lower and less rewarding kind. Therefore, when the Prophets speak of damnation, and such things, they literally mean a stop of progression, and the sorrow of the know that those individuals will have that they could have achieved something greater. I hope that makes sense. If I am off, please correct me in an email.

Anyway, I hope that Ryan is over the swine flu, I’ve been praying for him. CONGRATZ to Fred and Yukoko Salatino! They will be having a babe in the coming months, I am very excited for them! Thanks Dad for the info on Charlie. I have also received the CDs that you all sent to me, and the pictures, they are all excellent, it has made me very happy to have that music and I am already displaying some of those pictures. We have also already eaten one of the red beans and rice, YUM! Thank you very much for those Mum and Dad! Anyway, I hope you all take care, I love you all very much and you are always in my prayers. Thank you for remembering me in yours, I definitely feel the merciful hand of the Lord here daily. Thanks for all your support, I love you all and miss you all very much!

Love
Elder Scadden