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| Motra Johansen, Motra White and Motra Zollinger |
Hello hello!!! :)
I hope that all of you had a wonderful week this past
week. I know I did. It was quite an adventurous week as well!! So much has
happened!
First and foremost: HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!!!! Oh my
heavens. Thank you Dad for being my hero and for always being there for me
through everything. Even now, while I am on the other side of the world, I can
feel your love for me and I know that you are there for me through everything.
I love you so much Daddio.
Secondly: no brat diet this week. haha, success!!!
hahahahaha.
Monday night, President Weidmann called. This is how
the conversation went:
PW: Hello Sister Zollinger, I am calling to let you
know that you will be serving.... *immediate panic and stress. wait, i thought
transfers were in a week, not right now. what is going on...uuhhh....oh, i
should listen so that i know what is going to be happening* in a tripanionship
now. You will be with Sister White and you all will be serving in the Tirana
2nd and 4th wards. Sound good?
Me: Yeah, sounds awesome.
PW: okay. bye bye now.
haha. yeah, so that happened! It was totally papritur,
but i was so excited and a little nervous about it at the same time. But it has
gone super super well. It has been an adventure and so much fun! The work has
doubled literally overnight, now that we cover two ward areas (which is
practically half of Tirana), so that is super super good. We got to meet with
one of the older sisters in the T4 ward, she is like the lifeblood for the
members. She is toothless, and so when she gave us kisses on the cheek (which
is culture) is sorta felt like a baby's kiss, when it is sorta wet and
everything. hehe, we all just giggled afterward. That is a strong nena though.
I was talking to someone and she wanted to talk to me, but i told her just a
second so I could ask this person a question. but she wanted to talk to me
then. She is like 80 plus years young, but she grabbed my arm and started to
pull me. and I couldn't hold my own and keep talking, she dragged me to where
she wanted to talk to me. haha, I was totally surprised and gained so much more
respect for that nena! Especially as she was telling me to bring the elders
next time we visit her and then as she was leaving she got close to my face and
smiled and said "now, don't forget sister!" haha, not a chance. We
will be there. hehe, I love that member so much! :)
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| She sent this when "she was in a funny mood, isn't that always?" So if the Elders say it out loud in Albanian in comes out....?? Yep she went there.... |
So we had mexican food this week. It wasn't as good as
Cafe Rio, but it was still pretty good. It was stinkin' hot though!! I am
already sweating like a pig trying to pass a peach pit here in Albania because
of the heat, but the sauce on the food that I got it made me start to sweat
from the inside out and not the outside in. haha, but I wasn't being a sissy.
Because some of the elders were going red because the sauce was so hot. Spicy
stuff man, it is crazy.
There is another sweet Nena in the T2 ward. We went to
go surprise visit her, but she was at a park nearby just watching her grandkids
play. So we came to go say hi to her, and she was using a cane. I smiled really
big and asked her if she really uses that cane for walking or to hit people?
She just looked at me and smiled and said "what? Like this? *and then she
tried to hit me* and said, i only use it on the annoying boys here." hehe.
She is my favorite nena. She is adorable and so fun! She then insisted that we
go to her house. So we went. She came out with an entire big bowl full of
cherries. She looked at us and said "you aren't leaving until you eat
every single cherry." haha, we thought she was joking. But she wasn't. We
at so many cherries that night, but they were so good. hehe. Memories.
Memories.
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| Helping pick a tie... |
I totally won at farkle this week!! I didn't beat Elder Smith though, because I think he cheats. I don't know how he cheats, but I am going to figure it out. But I got revenge on Elder Guymon and beat him bad this time. hehe. #victory
So, I taught the Law of Chastity for the first or
second time this past weekend. I was tempted to tell our 17 year old
investigator that kissing at all is totally part of this; but i didn't think
that'd be a good idea. So I didn't...but I was super tempted to. hehe
Something that I have realized that is so interesting
is how much people open up to us as we talk to them on the street. I was
talking to an older man from Greece, who had ran into the missionaries there.
We eneded up talking for about an hour on the street just about his life and
his relationship with God. It was amazing, because I felt like I already knew
him. and he just opened up to me and told me so much about him and it was just
a really neat experience. It is amazing the people that God puts in my path and
in all of our paths. It is super humbling.
The other day at the end of our lesson, I almost
jumped up and started dancing. Because sometimes really cool things happen
during lessons and they are so miraculous that you just want to start dancing!!
That happened. It was with one of our investigators. She is 18 years old. The
first lesson, we invited her to pray and she said that she won't, because she
didn't want to. Okay, so we asked if she would do it the next lesson. She said
that she would. So, we asked if she would pray. She said that she couldn't
because she was Muslim and she can't pray in the name of Jesus Christ. So, one
of us said it in the beginning. We taught her the Restoration and it went so
well. It was fiks fare. Then at the end we asked her if she would say the
prayer, and sister White said that before she closes the prayer, to just wait
and if it feels right for to say the prayer in Jesus' name. She said the prayer
and she said it in Jesus' name!!! I just smiled so big during the prayer, and I
wanted to badly to just jump up and start dancing! After she closed the prayer
she was just smiling so big!! It was absolutely amazing!!! :) Miracles happen
each and every day.
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| Motra's talk |
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| Yep! She did that..... |
I gave a talk for the first time in my mission. Yes,
for the first time in my mission in sacrament meeting. I guess that is rare,
for someone who has been in country for almost a year. I gave it in the fourth
ward. The talk went really well. During the talk, I was trying to talk about a
flashlight. But, I don't know if the word that I had looked up in the
dictionary was right (because Elder Acheson who was translating for the senoir
couples, he just smiled and started to giggle), and so I wanted to make sure
that they knew I was talking about a flashlight. So I acted it out. I put out
my hand and pretended to click on the flashlight and shine it and said
"drita" which means light. haha. well, it worked. hahaha. oh besi.
:)
I just wanted to bear my testimony of my Savoir and my
Redeemer Jesus Christ. When I left on my mission, I thought I already knew who
Christ was and that I had a relationship with him. But since being on my
mission, I have realized how little I knew about my Savoir and about the
Atonement. I am so grateful for the trials and the experiences that I have gone
through on my mission, because I have come to know my Savoir in ways that I had
never expected I would, but God knew that I would need to come closer to His Son
in the ways that I did. I know that the Atonement is real. What happened that
night in Gethsemane, and on Golgotha, and in the Tomb really did happen. And
because of those events, history will never be the same. Life will never be the
same. The key to victory was given on that third day. The solution and answers
to all of our sicknesses, trials, sadnesses, and any hard times was revealed.
Christ lives. He is the Son of God. He has taken upon Himself every single
sickness, illness, and hard time that we will ever have in our life. We can
over come every single thing. He has already felt what we have all felt so that
we don't need to be alone. As far as we sink through hard times is as high as
we can rise through the Enabling Power of the Atonement. The power of the
Atonement is stronger than the stronger material because it heals hearts. I
love my Savoir and my Redeemer with all my heart, and I will forever sing
praise to His name. Christ Lives. He loves you. He died and suffered for you,
me, your parents, your siblings, your friends, and your enemies. The key to
happiness and true joy is through Jesus Christ. Go to Him. Know Him. and I
promise you that your life will change as you come to know Him who did the
unimaginable for us. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-00-1420-because-of-him?lang=eng
I love you all!! Have a wonderful week! Smile lots,
serve lots and treasure trials!!
Love,
Motra Zollinger
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