Yes! Motra Z got her chocolate and ice cream in freezing temp! |
Hello hello!!
I hope everyone had a splendid week!! Can you believe
that it is March already? I can't, like at all. This is going so crazy fast.
Someone please press the "slow mo" buttun. Great, thanks. :)
First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY OLDEST SISTER
MARNE!!!! I hope that you have a great birthday this SATURDAY.
This past week was one of the more difficult weeks,
but still good things happened. Sometimes you have looked harder to find the
good things when things don't go as you hope them too. But, it's easy. Why do
you think, we have chocolate? hehe. Really though, it was still a good
week.
Yep! It is freezing but sometimes a girl just needs ice cream! |
In Tirana they have the best ice cream ever called
Rudy's ice cream. Well, I wanted ice cream so I bought the ice cream here. It
is so good!! And I may or may not have gotten ice cream four times this week.
haha, one day I went there was about 5 inches of snow of the ground. The day
before it was warm, but this day it was cold. The ice cream is outside, so I
stand outside at look at one of the guards outside piing his duhani (smoking)
and I just pointed at the ice cream and smiled. A worker came out and I was
just like "am I still allowed to get ice cream (because it was cold ya
know)." he just looked at me like "you weird american" and then
I got my ice cream. hehe. It made my day.
So, snow. For about the past 3 days it has been
snowing. SNOWING. haha. I texted the elders and quoted home alone saying
"Merry Christmas ya filthy animals." haha. It was like Christmas!!! I
love the snow! All the members here know how much I love the snow, we were
talking to a recent convert family and the mom was like "is sister
zollinger happy with the snow?" hehe. I love snow.
The Sister missionaries in Sister Z's zone |
We had Zone Training this week, and so the Macedonian
missionaries came down!!!! I love the Macedonian missionaries, they are amazing
and so much fun!! The Elders came down a day early, and so we all went to
lunch. They were with Elder MkGrath on splits, it was fun. I think an exciting
part of just helping elders have a good day, is all ya got to really do is make
them some food. Like cookies. So that's what I did. I guess I am known around
the mission as the sister that can bake. and so some elders will ask me if I
can make them food, and I do it. Because it's fun. But anyways, zone training
went really well. It was super good and I just love zone training. I love
spending time with missionaries because I still can't believe that I am a
missionary some days. It is just amazing and I love being a missionary more than
anything in the entire world!!
So, english class has gotten a little rowdy lately.
There are a bunch of little kids that are so disrespectful, and have no respect
whatsoever for the church building or anything of that matter. So we are
starting to do another english class for the more quiet and mature people. So
on Friday we played ping-pong and around the world with the english class. It
was a lot of fun!! We teach the beginners and so they had to say a fruit or
veggie word or something each time they hit the ball with the paddle. As they
were playing I was guarding the door incase any of the rowdy neighborhood boys
came in trying to be well fatheads. So, I stood guard at the door. Sure enough
I heard them coming so I held the door shut as they banged on it and tried to
open up the door. ha. not on my watch. But then they kept punching the door so
I pushed the door open and the kids went running. I thought I had scared them,
but then I saw the elders were out jepping a drew at them. I thought the fight
with the rowdy boys would be over for the day... not. We do a spiritual
thought at the end of each lesson. I was in charge of it, I was reading a
scripture and then the rowdy people came back in and they just banged and
banged on the door. I had had it. So I looked at my companion and said
"here. you read this and bear your testimony. i have business to do."
As I was walking out of the room I just muttered under my breath "i am
going to kill them..." but the elders beat me to it. haha, jk. the elders
took care of it though. I came back in the room with our students and said
"oh what lovely children of God those boys are." Fearing that some of
them had understood me saying that I was going to kill some of the boys, I just
said "don't worry. They are still alive (smiling and laughing as i said
it. The class also is laughing too)...but not for long (I went total straight
faced. and then my companion just laughed)." It was quite commical.
haha. Don't worry though, they are still alive..... for now. ;)
We had another priceless lesson. Priceless I tell you.
All I am going to say is "Kush e kesh e vesh." hahaha. :-)
So, for all you moms or dads or siblings or just
people in general who worry about the safety of missionaries. I can testify
that we are protected by invisible angelic forces, legions of angels. I had a
super close class last night and we both had one super early this morning. Last
night we were heading to the boulevard to go contacting. We had to cross the
zebras (cross walk). Usually people here they stop for people on the cross
walks and at the same time crossing the street is an art. I always joke with
moter that I play chicken with the cars and that I am still undefeated... Well,
Moter had started crossing and I didn't really look before I stepped into the
street. After I had stepped into the street I looked at the traffic coming by.
One car started stopping, I was good. The other car was stopping (but it was farther
behind) so I was still good. But then, a car that was speeding cut off the car
that was farther behind and boy it was not slowing down at all. I was in the
middle of the street by then and for some reason I was super calm about it. I
thought in my mind "well...that car is still going fast." but i had a
calm and peace and as if something was telling me to just keep walking the
street and to not stop. So I kept walking and as I was walking onto the
sidewalk I look back and the car had barely missed me. It sorta scared me
realizing how close that call was. Looking back, I knew that I was completley
protected. Why? Because I had a weird clearness in my mind and I knew exactly
what I needed to do to well live in this case. If I had stopped (which I think
would have been reflex) the car would have hit me and I could have gone flying
and who knows what would be happening right now. But I know without a doubt
that I was protected last night crossing the street. The other instance
happened this morning. We had woken up just a little bit early to go down to
the church to do email because of our p-day activity of paintballing that we
did later today. There are a ton of stray dogs around here and last night they
kept on howling and crying and everything. So we come out of our apartment. And
there is a stray dog just at the bottom of the steps. I immediately felt uneasy
about it and only walked like four steps and then stopped. The dog just stared
at us and I knew it wasn't gonna be good. Moter was a couple steps in front of
me. She had stopped as well. We didn't know what to do really. But then I saw
evilness in the eyes of the dog that said something like "hey pal (another
dog just came across the corner) what do you say we try to scare the snot out
of these girls and see if we can make them wet their pants? ready go!"
They started barking and running at us (I feel like every missionary has a
running from dog story). Well, the key to get back into our apartment was one
of 10 keys that we have on our keychain. I was trying to find the right key and
also preparing to get bit or something, but then the dogs stopped going after
us and then they just left. and we still had dry underwear (take that dogs.)
Again, I know that we were protected. I know why the dogs didn't attack
us when they were just feet from us, because we had angels protecting us. I
think that my guardian angels had out their celestial frying pans and they gave
those dogs a wack with it. In all seriousness, after what happened yesterday
and this morning (and many more experiences through out my mission) I
know without a doubt that missionaries are protected. I really do believe that
we have legions of Angels surrounding us and protecting us at all times. It is
because of all of your prayers that are said in our behalf: whether it be in
prayers said by little children, in family prayer, by family member, ward
members, bishops, in the temple, or by anyone. It is because of those prayers
that I am safe right now, and that i continue to be safe-and not only me, but
it is why we as Missionaries are safe. Because of your prayers. So thank you so
much! God really truly hears our prayers, He not only hears them but he
listens to them. I testify of this, because I know that it is true, I have
experienced it in my life.
Have a wonderful week! Smile lots serve lots and
treasure trials.
Love,
Motra Zollinger
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