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.

No Good Done by Me (this week)

Thanks to our mission president, we are on our way.

He caught wind about the airline strike scheduled for our flight so he rattled the cage to get us rerouted and not stuck in Frankfurt.  We flew from SLC to Chicago and then to Warsaw and on to Tirana.

There wasn't anything at the SLC airport to stop us now.

Took the long walk that we had heard about at the SLC airport.

Changed planes a few times.

Finally got our first glimpse of Albania.  It looks very inviting.

We were greeted by Pres. and Sister Auras.  We traveled with Curtis and Janette Gomm who had just finished up at the MTC and will be living in Albania.  We have made so many new friends!

We were also greeted by two senior couples who work in the office and the assistants to the president.

They certainly made us feel welcome and special and whisked our luggage away.

All but the two bags the Gomm's and us were missing.

(They came a couple of days later).

We were left alone to get over jet lag,  then took care of some paperwork and were given keys to our cars - one for the Gomms and one for us.

Kristi and I walked around Tirana each day trying to get our 10,000 steps in.

The city center was impressive with plenty of unusual architecture.

We found the mission office next door to where we were staying.

It seemed pretty nice but understand they are planning on moving downstairs to a nicer place.

(With more storage for supplies)

Pres. Auras and Sister Auras invited the four of us and the assistants to dinner for a delicious meal.

The Auras' live just a ten minute walk from the office.  It is the orange/yellow house in the middle.

It is also used for missionaries during transfers to other areas.

Spring is here and the trees are starting to bud out.  Apparently, it is traditional to wear a red and white string/bracelet until the first sign of spring, then it is hung on a tree.  We have heard many different reasons by each person I asked.  There are also huge sugar cookies for sale along the road, to welcome the first day of Spring and perhaps it is connected to Easter.

Saturday, the Ellsworths (humanitarian couple here in Albania), picked us up and took us for a morning walk where we were able to pick their brains about what their experiences and projects have been here in Albania.

Sunday, Kristi and I drove down to Elbasan, Albania for a District Conference with Elder Picard, a visiting Area Seventy Representative.  A very good meeting with both Elder Picard and Pres. Auras giving good instruction about love and the Savior.  The meeting was full with the many branches coming from up to an hour and half away by small buses.

Albania is a very pretty country.  This is the city of Elbasan.

Lots of olive trees and citrus around here.

Monday morning we will drive to Kosovo.  Still no visas for N. Macedonia so we will stay in an air B&B until the first of April.  Then we will move into an apartment permanently in Gjakova, Kosovo.  The apartment is still there in Skopje, N. Macedonia so we will use both as we can still travel between countries as tourists.  We think we will be living out of suitcases for the next 17 months but hopefully we will be able to do some GOOD in both countries.

 

Good - All Around Me!

This is Salt Lake City.  Nowadays it is pretty much like any other big city.  You can find anything you want here, I mean anything.  However, I feel like where I have been all week I have been surrounded by good.

We have been assigned to the Church History Library.

I love libraries.

I love books.

I love the Church.

I love Church History.

I love old things.

I am surrounded by good in my mind.

There are a lot of professional librarians, historians, and curators here at the library.

Also many missionaries trying to be professional and exact at their tasks.

There are 270,000 books, pamphlets, magazines and manuals.

500,000 historic photographs, posters, maps.

23,000 audio and video recordings.

120,000 local histories for Church units.

150,000 journals, diaries, papers, and manuscripts.

20,000 rolls of microfilm.

4.5 million patriarchal blessings recorded for Church members.

The Joseph Smith Papers have recently been published along with the 

Church History Biographical Database that contains the information of 100,000 early members of the Church and the records of the early pioneer emigrants and wagon train companies.

There are twelve storage units the size of a tennis court that are temperature, humidity and light controlled.

So this is where Kristi and I are being trained to host visitors and explain the display in the main reading room.  It is called "The Foundations of Faith."

Four simple cases of documents and artifacts that blow my mind to see them all together.

First hand and contemporary accounts of Joseph Smith's first vision.  Original manuscript of the Book of Mormon translation.  The printers copy of the Book of Mormon.  A first edition Book of Mormon, Book of Commandments, 1st edition of The Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price.  There is also the Women's Exponent Journal where the storage of wheat was first reported and the Articles of Retrenchment, where programs for the teaching of youth began.  Finally the sketch of a modern prophet when it was revealed to him to make temples available to as many as possible by making them smaller.

Foundations of Faith - worth a "good" visit in Salt Lake City.

We were surprised that before the start of each day there is a devotional.  I am a little pessimistic and I was surprised how spiritual and interesting they were.  The folks I have met here really seem to be good.

This last Tuesday was a little different.  The morning devotional was canceled and at 2:30 a "Special Devotional" was held in the main auditorium of the Church Office Building.

Everyone seemed to know what was going on but us newbies.

The church historian, Elder Kyle McKay, presented what had been in the works for three or four years.

The Community of Christ church had asked the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to buy some Nauvoo, Illinois properties and Kirkland, Ohio properties.

Kirkland Temple as seen from Joseph and Emma's home.

This was on the list:

Red Brick Store in Nauvoo where many significant events happened.

It was quite an emotional meeting as it represents a more formal closure of the schism that has existed between the two churches since the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum.

There was no gloating or celebration but a welcoming of more artifacts that can tell the story of the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ.  The Salt Lake church has had all of that information and copies of all the documents for many years but now these items can help lead people to the gospel of Jesus Christ.  This was a "GOOD" day.

We have walked a lot, everyday.  The best thing is after 55 years we are holding hands all the time.

This is a good benefit I had not anticipated.  In our walking we explored the Conference Center.

It can hold 20,000 good people!

We met many "good" young missionaries from all over the world sharing their testimonies of Jesus Christ.

This painting is of "Other Women" mentioned in the New Testament.  They are "good" women without names but witnesses to the life of Christ.

I took this photo of one other woman that has borne witness of Christ, but I know her name.

It is Kristi.

The two buildings here are full of good people.

The one on the left is the Family Search Library.  They will help you find your ancestors.  If you walk in they will go right to work and eventually print out a multi-generation fan chart for you for free.

You can even access everything they have online at FamilySearch.org

That building on the right is its twin but it houses the Church Museum.  It is full of good stories and artifacts of good people.

This is Martin Harris' wallet.  He loaned Joseph Smith $3,000 so the first copies of the Book of Mormon could be printed and distributed telling of Christ's visit to the Americas.  It is a second testament of the divinity and mission of Jesus Christ.

Martin Harris was a good man.

The Salt Lake Temple took 40 years to build but only one year to shut it down.  After 128 years it needed some earthquake upgrades.

This is how deep the work has gone.

Straight across is one of the doors folks have wedding photos taken at.

That hole is four plus stories down.

They seem to be doing a good job according to the sidewalk superintendent.

This bride forgot her wedding dress, but I know she can still fit in it as I caught her in it a while back.

It was a good discovery.

I always knew that the temple could be an allegory of the stairway to heaven.

I was happy to be able to see part of that actual stairway being installed in the temple.

I could go on about all the good that has surrounded me these last three weeks.  

If you are just reading and playing golf and waiting for the grandkids to show up, you might try praying about what is next in your life.  Not everyone gets the same answer but I guarantee your answer will be to do some good for someone.  It might be just a smile at the right time but you will be part of the good.

This man had a pretty good idea.

Not a bad promise

We are giving it a try.

I hope to do good.

Friday we got some news about Macedonia.  The Mission President in Albania has been working to get us on our way to what we were called and set apart to do.

We now have plane tickets to fly to Frankfurt, Germany and then to Tirana, Albania.  After a week in Albania we will drive to Kosovo and stay in a Bed and Breakfast until an apartment is ready on the first of April.  We can travel as tourists to Macedonia until a visa for an NGO charity work arrives.  The Stringhams have got us started on one project in Kosovo so we hope to hit the trail running.

We just got word there will be an airline strike in Frankfurt on the Tuesday morning we arrive so we hope everyone in Frankfurt is behaving and being good so we can move on to Albania that day.