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| Motra Zollinger and Motra White in Korce, Albania |
Hello Hello!!! :)
I hope that everyone had a wonderful week this past
week! It really was such a beautiful week!
It was a super busy and fun filled week. So many
things that I want to say, haha, let's see if my brain remembers them.
First off, our investigator was able to get baptized
on Saturday! It was so amazing and go gorgeous! Both of her two little angel
daughters were able to come with her. So many people showed up from the ward
and other missionaries' investigators; it was amazing! She was so happy
and gosh, i don't even know what to say, words cannot even describe the
happiness that I saw in her eyes and her families' eyes and her daughters eye.
It was amazing.
There are these fruits, I think they might exist
everywhere, but the first time i saw them (or atleast knew I was seeing them)
was here in Albania. They are called figs. They look like gross alien brains
and I refuse to eat them. Except for one time a member gave us candied ones,
because i couldn't not eat it. Yeah, so Sister White loves figs. But I don't.
Last p-day there was a fig tree and they were all eating a christmas feast of
figs and i was gagging as she threw them to me to catch. So, Tuesday morning
during companionship study Sister White read to me the verse in the Bible where
it says that Christ ate a fig, then she says "Christ ate a fig. So you
need to eat a fig." haha. it didn't work.
I had to say good-bye to my Albanian companion. Her
mini-mission came to an end and she headed back home. I am going to miss her so
much!!!
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| The Motra's enjoying the rain |
We had an exchange with Shkoder this past week. It
went really well. and, guess what?! I DROVE FOR THE FIRST TIME FOREVER!!!!! It
was so much fun! I was a little nervous at first...but it went really well. In
albania, if cars are going slow and you want to pass them up you can go on the
other side of the road and pass them up (like onto oncoming traffic's lane), i
only did that a couple times. It was exhilerating. It was like I was in fast
and furious. haha, just joking. it was a little terrifying and i only did it
when i had to. But, driving wasn't that bad. I thought it would be awful like
having to eat a fig, but it wasn't! mwaa.
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| Cinnabon and hot chocolate |
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| Poor Elder say "cheese" |
Albania has some of the coolest lightning storms.
Honestly, they are glorious. On the way back from the exchange there was red
lightning. It was so pretty! We have had thunderstorms almost every other night
this past week. It was so glorious. One day, sister White and I were actually
outside when it started to rain, and we were between the real Shqiponja and Zogu
i Zi when it started to rain really bad, so instead of taking the bus we just
walked. It was so nice!! haha, we got a lot of weird looks. Then on Saturday
after the baptism we were walking to go tracting. A thunderstorm had just
started. We were walking down the street when a huge lightning bolt struck what
looked like not too far, like half a mile and as soon as we saw the light
there was a huge clap of thunder. It shook the ground a bit! It was so
awesome!!! I love the rain storms here! That night during language study, I did
it by the window so that i could keep looking outside to see the thunder...it
was so pretty!
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| Elder with Motra Zollinger |
Key: anetar-member, fort-strong. The funniest thing
happened during one of our lessons with a recent convert. We were talking about
Elder Ballard's talk from general conference. Sister White was talking about
how amazing the member is that we were teaching (which was comletley true) and
then she says "ti je nje anefart". As soon as I realized what she had
said I just busted out laughing, and sister white was laughing super hard too.
The member didn't know any english, so she didn't get what happened. I totally
knew what she was meaning to say "anetar e fort" but then it just
came out anefart. I tried to hold it in the rest of the lesson. But everytime I
thought of it, I just would laugh. So after the lesson as we were walking to
the gate i just said "so, she's an anefart, eh?" haha. I just started
to laugh super hard and sister white was opening up the gate and then she
kicked me. hehe. it was hilarious!!
haha, i totally just sneezed as i am writing this, and
it was worse than the usual wet squeeze toy. it sounded like a horse laughing.
haha, it just got really quiet in here... #awkward
We had a basketball activity on Friday night. It was a
lot of fun! hehe. Sister White and I were on opposing teams, which was fun.
Good thing we had already done companionship inventory that day ;) haha. jk. it
was a lot of fun though! The elders investigators who are 10 and 12 years old
showed up, and so it was a lot of fun! They are adorable little boys! it was a
blast. Then on Saturday we had futbol. It went really really well! It was a ton
of fun! After futbol, i tried to touch my toes and I was able to touch my toes
without cheating; haha, the practicing for excercise in the morning has paid
off. #score haha. Doing activities with the youth and investigators is so much
fun! I love it a lot!
On sunday as we were doing language study we got a
call from one of the senoir couples for us to come to the Elder's choir
practice because the elder who usually played wasn't able to come because his
companion was sick; which mean they needed me to play the piano. They sure were
desperate. So we went to the church. They were singing Ye Elders of Israel (I
think) and I saw that it was 3 flats. I just said "oh man. I'll do my
best, but I can't do 3 flats." For some reason I always have a mental
block if a song is over 2 flats or sharps because I think that I cannot do it.
I said a quick prayer and then started to play for the choir. After I played
through it, I was almost speechless. I just sat there thinking "what? What
just happened. that has never happened to me before." I was able to play
the entire song only making a couple minor mistakes, but not bad enough that
they couldn't sing. It was honestly a miracle. I remember feeling so shocked as
I realized what was happening, being able to sight read this song and to be
able to do it well enough to help the choir. It was a tender mercy in 3 flats.
For those that are really good at piano, 3 flats is nothing. But for a sister
missionary named Sister Zollinger, 3 flats was enough to make me super nervous,
and it may not seem like a big thing for a lot of people. But this was a huge
thing for me. It meant so much to me, that God would help me so that I would be
able to play that song well enough for the choir. And as the next hour and a
half went on, I played for the stake choir as well. I do not say this to boast
in any matter, but rather to testify of the marvelous works of God. In the
middle of elementary school I took piano lessons. It was fun in the beginning,
but as time went on I just wanted to play soccer and not do piano. Practicing
became a chore that I hated to do, and I eventually dropped it the last couple
years of high school because i didn't make enough time for it and I didn't
think that I wanted to do it. But something that I have realized is that
sometimes God gives us talents not to help or benefit us, but to help and
benefit those around us. Sometimes at the beginning a talent that we have might
not be something that we want to do, but it often times is something that God
has given us because it is what He needs us to do; and as we continue to grow
closer to Him that talent will be able to grow in us and our desire to use it.
That is what i realized on sunday as I played the piano. Along with a great
feeling of gratitude for my parents who stuck with their deicision for me to
play the piano throughout my youth, even though sometimes it was probably not
an easy thing to get me to practice nor the sound of me trying to practice; but
I am grateful for their support. Don't give up on yourself or your talents
quicker than what the Lord does; because the Lord is never going to give up on
us. Ever. We are given tender mercies of the Lord so that we can continue to go
on in our lives. I don't necessarily believe in coincidences, because I believe
in God. But, I do believe in Tender Mercies. I love what Elder Bednar said
about tender mercies, "We should not underestimate or overlook the power
of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy
of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the
troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide
the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to
attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot
yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when
mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome,
and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by
the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of
deliverance." I testify of the worth and value of tender mercies. They are real and
they are powerful and humbling. They don't always happen when we want them. But
they always happen when we need them.
Have a wonderful week!! Smile lots, serve lots, and
treasure trials!! I love you all!!
Love,
Motra Zollinger
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