CalledToServe

CalledToServe

Monday, September 7, 2015

When We Lose Ourselves, That is When We Are Found..... week 71.. Three weeks left

Hello Hello!! :) 

Motra Z's Toms worked... 
Wow. What a week. (That is to be read the same way that the robber says "wow. what a hole" in Home Alone 2). This past week was a super good week and a super busy one. Those are the best kind of weeks. The days are always super packed and long and then snap! the week is gone. 

On Tuesday the Gjakova sisters came down to stay at our apartment for MLC that we were having on Wednesday. So we had a cool sleep-over. But I was the pooper of parties and went to bed early because of the lack of sleep that I had the night before. It was really fun to be able to be with Sisters Kelli and Piters! on Tuesday I also got to see my Macedonian brothers. It was also the last time that I would be seeing my twin-macedonian brothers on my mission. It was fun to talk and quickly catch-up with them, until one of them did a "dying" joke, so i punched him in the arm. #punk. haha, but it was fun! I started to choke up a little saying bye, i love my macedonian brothers! 

MLC went super super well. It was my first one, and so i didn't know what to expect. The Assistants to the President did a super good training on living the Higher Law and the Lower Law. It is so amazing how much we learn through the power of the spirit. Because you can never deny what the spirit is telling our hearts, it was so good! On Thursday we had Zone Training. Sister White and I did a training on Charity and how that helps us fulfil the Higher Law. I was super nervous at the beginning for the training, but the spirit totally led and taught that training. It was so amazing. All the comments and stories that were shared were absolutely amazing and so inspiring! Gosh- i just love being a missionary!! 

So, I went on an exchange on thursday-friday with Sister Bennett. First off, her and her family understand our disneyland craziness! Because they are the same way! Finally someone who understood me! haha, that was a lot of fun to talk about disneyland with eachother and everything! The exchange went really really welll. I had probably one of the weirdest lessons though. It was with one of their less actives, and for some reason she wasn't really a fan of me. I didn't do anything to her, haha, but it happens. We talked about Christ and the Atonement, and anytime sister Bennet said anything she was super happy with her and te lumted her goja. But, then after I would ask a question, she woudl start to talk really loud and then would yell a little and say something about the Albanian Dynasty and the Kuq i Zi. It was really confusing... and by far the most interesting and weird lesson that i have had. I wasn't offended or anything, it was just really weird. Sister Bennett and I just laughed about it as we were walking home. 

Poor Sister White slipped
We did group service this past week. We decided to clean around the lana. The Lana is the flowing river of diseases. It is so gross. I would not touch or pick up any of the garbage. So I held a garbage bag so that others could put their trust in the bag that I held. It worked. We only came across a few dead animals. so i think it was a success, and none of us got sick from it either. #smallvictories

Our Mission President is the coolest mission president ever! Yesterday he bore his testimony in ALBANIAN.  no translator needed. It was so cool! All of the members were smiling so big because President Weidmann was learning their language; it was so cool. Because it showed how much he loves and cares about the people here. It was awesome! 
 
Today for p-day we went to Pellumbas. It is a cave place between Tirana and Elbasan. It was so stinkin' gorgeous! It was a stinkin' good work out/hike walking up to the cave. Holy cow. I am already feeling it in my legs. haha. We went exploring in the caves. Which was so much fun! :) It was quite spooky too, because you could just hear the bats above us...that was creepy. The cave was super super slippery too. My companion slipped atleast 10 times. Others were slipping, but not as much as she did. We were all laughing. hehe. I am telling ya, TOMS are the best shoes ever. I didn't really think super well this morning when I was getting ready, and didn't think it'd be that big of a hike, so I wore toms. They were awesome! I didn't fall once, where my companion in her good tennis shoes fell a lot. So, pretty much everyone should own a pair of TOMS. The cave was super cool! I only thought that we were lost for a little while, because it was pitch black in there and we were all just roaming around together, but none of us got lost! :) I feel like I walked past mars though. Because the bus that took us to the topish wasn't going to come back til way later. So we decided to walk to the main road which was 40 minutes away. Best work out ever. That line in The Best Two Years, I think it really applies now, "mon aktavorn eshte mui kavorden" hehe. 

Like I mentioned earlier, about Zone Training. I learned so much as we all had the big discussion on Charity. Missions are absolutely amazing. I think I realized even more on Thursday why missions are so amazing. It is because of Charity. Christ is Charity. We as missionaries, it is our duty to represent the Lord to our companions, to the members, missionaries, and our investigators. It would be impossible to do that without us having charity and constantly trying to have more charity.  Charity is a really long process, and a process that I have only just begun; but I can already see the amazing blessings of it. I think the most amazing thing about Charity is the change that happens within us. Just like the scripture that says (this is paraphrased) that he who shall lose his life for God's sake shall find it. That is exactly what happens with charity. It is when we reach outward and help others that we are able to find ourselves. It is through helping others, that we realize that we are loved because of our weakness and our determination to use Christ's atonement to make them become strong. That is what I have realized on my mission: that every single person that I have met on my mission has been because of divine inspiration. God knows who I need to meet. I am not perfect, at all. I have so many problems and weaknesses that I am working on. But, that is how God works. God works with broken people. All of His servants are broken in one way or another. But the areas where we are broken, they are future strengths.  Countless times on my mission, I have worked with someone who had some of the same problems or weaknesses with me. And thinking of one example in general, it wasn't until I met this person up in Prishtina and I helped her overcome one of her weaknesses that I was able to start to over come that same weakness in myself. It wasn't until with my own brokeness tried to help fix someone else with the same breaking that my breaking was able to start to glue together with charity. I think that is why missions are such miracles. We are broken teenagers trying our hardest to help other broken children of God fix their breaks and their bumps; and it isn't until we do that we start to be healed from within. But the glorious thing about this, is that we don't have to be missionaries to have the power of Charity heal us. We can do it now, and we need to start to do it now so that we can help all of those around us. We need to have a desire to have charity, because that is an ingredient to happiness. Charity is the first step to conversion and how amazing it is to feel that change take place within us. I testify of the power of Charity and that it is only because of the love and grace of our Savoir Jesus Christ that our brokeness is able to be healed as we help those around us. It is miraculous. 

I love you all!! Have a wonderful week! Smile lots serve lots and treasure trials! :) 

Love,

Motra Zollinger

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