"Good Grief"

Grief is mental suffering.  

I suppose I have experienced that in a small way but take comfort in knowing that 

"thy afflictions shall be but a small moment."  The good part is the growth afterward.

When I tell you my "grief" you will roll your eyes and laugh, but to me it has been real.

We prepared ourselves for what we thought would be our role of relieving the suffering of humanity in this corner of the world.  We were mentally prepared for changes but not prepared for the detail of the work.  Remember we had been to the MTC, Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission and then cooled our heels in Albania and then a B&B.  It seems we needed more training.  Lots and lots of training.

So first we flew to Frankfurt, Germany.

Those are the Sar Mountains, dividing N. Macedonia and Kosovo (the two countries we live in).

In Frankfurt we met with five other couples assigned to different countries in central Europe.

We learned we were in the Central Europe Area of the Church (one of 23 world divisions).

Kristi and I serve in the green section of the Area, along with many others.

You can see that the Welfare and Self-Reliance portion of the Area is very organized.

The Church does employ a lot of folks.  We are down at the bottom of "Field Operations" where it shows six managers and twenty-one couple Senior Missionaries.  The other areas also have a few Senior Missionaries assigned.  There is a great need for more.  

Good grief, what have I gotten myself into?

We were gone four days and they tried to fill our heads with new forms and reports, more computer insights, software training, financial reports, evaluation criteria and reports,  protocols and the necessity of keeping receipts for ten years.  Good Grief.  Now please, just let us get to work.

No, not yet, they wanted us to share how great an experience being a senior missionary is, so in the evening we experienced old fashioned German bowling.  No gutters and creative scoring.  I must admit I had fun and of course winning is always fun.

We went to the Senior Missionary family home evening.  There are a lot of senior missionaries in Frankfurt.  These four couples were heading home.

Another evening we went to the Frankfurt Temple.

So now we are pumped full of new information and ready to put it to use?  

No, not yet.  On our return we were invited to the Albania Mission couples' conference.

We drove down through N. Macedonia to Korce, Albania.

It was beautiful and I said, "Good grief, are we just tourists now"?

Our Mission leaders are great people and we did learn more, but also had fun activities.

This is President and Sister Auras.  They are helping and teaching us all, in the three countries of Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia.  There are nineteen senior missionaries and less than sixty young Elders and Sisters. The Auras' are serving here for three years from Germany.

Sunday was Branch Conference in Korce, Albania.

Monday was P-day or preparation day.

We watched and ate at a demonstration of making a traditional food of Byret.

It was especially good.

The next day was the Mission Conference with all the young missionaries in the mission.

They are bright, intelligent, conversant in Albanian and Macedonian, and in touch with the Spirit.

I have been so impressed with their work ethic and love for the people they serve among.

It is a delight to be around them.  

(And none of them call me "Older Skidmore" yet, rather than Elder Skidmore.)

OK, one more photo - can I go home now?  I can't contain one more drop of learning.

GOOD GRIEF, all of a sudden we are almost on our own.  

We are starting to get in the swing of things.  

Our world is meeting new people every day, emails, forms, starting projects, monitoring projects, documenting projects, filing every bit of information with each project and then seeing that it is closed and that everything is accounted for.  

"Almost" on our own.

We can call Frankfurt any time.

We can call other Humanitarian couples, any time.

There is even a help line with the main software we use.

This is "but a small moment."

GOOD GRIEF - with prayer we are never alone.

 

Everyone Does Good

We have moved quite a bit these last nine weeks.  When traveling we try to unpack and settle into a place, no matter how short a stay.  Sadly, it has seemed impossible in so small a space and with so many suitcases and bags to unpack, there just wasn't room where we stayed . . . so we have been living out of our suitcases until now.  Often, strangers would offer to help with our luggage.  

There are good people everywhere.

We finally moved into our flat in Gjakova, Kosovo.  It is pretty bare but the landlord promised a new bed for Saturday.   This was my view from bed when I awoke my first morning in the new flat.

Not too bad.  Then I got up and looked out from our 6th floor deck.

We needed to get back to Macedonia to check on a school that the Church was helping to provide an elevator for the disabled students. 

There are 25 to 30 children in this school of 1600 students who are handicapped, but have classes upstairs with the older kids.  The teachers and parents carry them up two flights of stairs for the day where they remain until taken downstairs.  (Below is just the second flight of stairs)

This is the footing/hole where the elevator will be located in an inner courtyard.

Suzana, the principal, was very happy to see us and very hopeful about the 

elevator.  She does a lot of good.

When we are on the road, Kristi will run into a bakery and grab some fresh rolls with cheese and jam for lunch.  Every morning this type of shop is full and by the end of the day it is empty.  These good people make my life easy.

One strange sight I found while looking for more electrical plugs was this set of toys hanging on the wall.

When we got the call to the Albania mission, one of the first things I did was search out the golf clubs in the three countries.  I was shocked that there were none!  So what do I find - toy golf clubs.  Clearly someone has the same hope that I do.  Perhaps somehow it could be a humanitarian project to benefit women and children by getting men out of their way and to a golf course.  (?)

I am surprised by the number of good people who want to have their photo taken with us.

This neighbor lived in Palm Springs for a while.

There is a recycling program in one of the villages we drove through.

Someone is a leader in being good.

On Saturday Maslina was baptized in Skopje.

She is freshly good and surrounded by very good Elders.

Sometimes you forget the good that is really close to you.

Occasionally, I get reminded in a big way.

Searching for Good in N. Macedonia

 Our job or "calling" is to find areas that need some good done.  It is a little frustrating as we learn about two countries needs while still in temporary quarters.  Without a visa to N. Macedonia we will be traveling there on tourist status.  This week we finally made it to N. Macedonia to find our home for half of the time.  Dividing Kosovo from Macedonia are mountains.  This is the pass you look for to go south.  

The highway through the canyon is quite impressive.

We made our way to the city of Skopje, N. Macedonia, and to our duplex.

We were happy to see a little yard and carport.  Met our nice landlord and neighbors.

Inside was the "famous" chair all the missionaries in this mission mentioned.  President Russell M. Nelson sat in that chair when he visited after setting the nation of Macedonia apart for missionary work.  I figured if I was 85 and needed to sit down, that would be the chair I would choose. (That was 2010).  

I put a pillow in the back and find it the best chair in the house.

Kristi jumped at the chance to weed. . .

and I got the lawn mowed.

The famous Stone Bridge is just under a mile in a straight line from where we live.

Skopje is a city of statues.  There are reportedly 284 within the city center.  One of the largest is of Alexander the Great behind Kristi, it is eight stories high.

After finding the only four Elders in the nation, we were invited to a Wednesday night game night with the local members. 

We found the church near the middle of town.

After much research and finding the right words. . . I bravely went for a haircut, to the best barber in town.

Well . . .  it seems I got the standard Balkan haircut.

We went shopping for some food and household items.

It turns out our plastic money is just like Macedonian plastic money.

On the whole, we have found one more beautiful country.  We hope to be able to do some good here.

It is easy to find our way home in Macedonia.  We live on the bottom of the big hill that has the lighted "Millennium Cross" at the top.  Look closely in the photo,  it is 217 feet tall and marks the path for us and all who follow Jesus Christ.  Hope you all had as good an Easter as we have.

Following a Good Path

 We left Albania Monday morning and headed for Kosovo.The path was well marked.  It was hard to imagine how the Albanians of Kosovo had fled to Albania during the Kosovo war of 1998-99 under such trying circumstances.  We are here to help in any way we can to relieve suffering and share the message of the Prince of Peace.  That is our path.

We found our temporary digs above a bakery/pizza restaurant.

We have the balcony and windows on the corner.  Only 25 steps up that path.

The view is spectacular.

We are grateful for a nice place to rest.

The green grocer is right across the street, in front of the bumper cars and tilt-a-whirl.  

Kristi has already made me some applesauce.

We did some grocery shopping in the stores.

All the staples:

Bread

Eggs

Milk in cartons

Pasta

Lots of ketchup

and sausage!

After stocking up, we had a look around Gjakova and the surrounding area.

This is the famous grand bazaar that had been around for a thousand years.  However, it was destroyed and rebuilt as best they could following the war.

Gjakova woodworkers are known for their cradles.

Many of the old bridges that were destroyed have been reconstructed.

Sheep don't change much.  Some do stray from the path.

Mosques are everywhere.  We get to hear the call to prayer right across the street.

(Not from this one, ours is closer)

If you look hard, you can find very picturesque scenes.

Adobe bricks and fired brick and tile roofs.  

Eventually the outside walls are stuccoed.

After settling into our area we headed out on the path to find some of the projects the previous missionary couple had started and still needed the paperwork to be completed.

This is a water tank that now supplies water from a spring to a small village.  The village had started it seven years before, but did not have the funds to complete it.  Trees had started to grow up through what they had started.  They were kind enough to attach a plaque with the Church name on it and honor us with a certificate which we accepted on behalf of the Stringhams.

We visited three small family farms that the Church had helped secure greenhouses for, extending the growing season.  The three we saw had just been installed.  So far 70 out of 100 have been built.  We were met by the municipal director of agriculture, another official and Rrahman who has been instrumental in helping the missionaries coordinate projects.

We then visited a potential project of renovating some shop sites to house a program for disabled children to meet their mental and physical needs.  It is the four shops along the bottom at street level.  We will see what we can do to help.

They burn a lot of wood around town.  (The pizzas are delicious).

These two-stroke engine buggies do a lot of the work.

I have seen a few with saws built right into the rig.

I mention that Kristi and I were holding hands quite a bit more.

I think that has come to an end, as the narrow path walking spaces tend to break us apart.

I am not too sad,  as I have realized an old view that I had forgotten about, and it is quite pleasant!

This stop was on our path to church.

This is the Gjakova Branch building. On the first floor are a couple of classrooms and on the second floor is the main meeting room for Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School.  

Above are apartments not associated with the church.

Here is the main meeting room.

I am reminded of an old photo of a storefront in Martinez, California I found in my father's things.  

On the back he had written, 

"Not much to look at, but we sure have some good meetings."

Sunday we had ten adults and six children in attendance and I can write the same thing as he did.

"Not much to look at, but we sure have some good meetings."

I am on a good path.