Dear Family,

So everyone in our district got more than 20 lessons this week.  I think Elder McGlothin and I got the least amount, but we still got 22 total lessons.  Quite a bit better than my last areas.  We should be getting more lessons, but one of our investigators is still unable to meet us, these kids we give retention lessons to haven't been showing up, and one investigator shows up, but doesn't want a lesson.  I think everything is straightened out with one of the boy's parents and he says he can get baptized.  His friend has all of a sudden just not wanted to meet with us though.  Nonetheless, we have 3 baptismal dates for May.

Recently, this investigator that the sisters have been teaching for a long time came up to Elder McGlothin and I as we were walking back home from a meeting with Elder Snow and told us that she wants to get baptized.  So just yesterday, she got baptized.  The sisters had asked her who she wanted to baptize her, and she chose me.  It turns out it was because I looked like her dad or something.  So that was cool.

The other day, we were walking home from an appointment later at night, and we passed this Red Bull stand that started shooting those big fireworks into the air randomly.  It was pretty cool, but really loud.  I'm not exactly sure why they were shooting the fireworks off, but it was still pretty cool.

We recently found out that one of the assistants went home early due to health reasons, so a couple people moved around a bit.  Our district's elders all stayed the same though.  Every transfer I've been here so far, somebody has gone home early due to medical reasons.  That's probably hard for president because we already don't have all that many missionaries here in Albania, not to mention those going home have been pretty good missionaries from what I hear.  Recently, there was an emergency transfer as well for the sisters because one of the sisters in Tirana got a couple stress fractures in her foot.  So now Sister Hall has a mini-missionary here in Vlore.  From the sounds of things, the rest of this transfer will be pretty difficult for Sister Hall.

One day we were heading home at around 9 pm in the rain from a meeting we had, and we decided to go down this road to get home quicker that has always had kids hanging out that like to bug the missionaries.  We figured that since it was late and raining, they'd be inside.  We were wrong.  From what I've seen, these kids literally just hang out on this road all day long.  They can't and don't really do anything to us, but they try to be intimidating.  It's a little difficult to be intimidating when your only weapon is a small and slightly broken plastic bat.  One kid had something sharp that he'd poke us with, but it was pretty obvious it wasn't a knife or anything dangerous.  Apparently, I accidentally moved in such a way that made the kid with the sharp object and bat run into this other kid that was on a bike.

I received the package you sent just a couple days ago when president came down for interviews.  So that was fun.  Thanks for that.

It seems like p-days here in Vlore are a lot busier than the other places I've been, but today it is a little less busy which is nice.  It seems like we go down to the beach every p-day to play games, and today we played soccer.  The beach is pretty great here.  Back in Shkoder, p-days had always seemed like just sitting around not really doing anything all day, so I started drawing.  I have a binder that I picked up where I can put everything I draw, so that's fun.  We also have a really old game of risk here in Vlore that we can play on p-days as well.

Last Thursday, we decided to go out and start picking up trash for service in order to clean up this path that we have to walk through every day.  It was funny because a lot of old people would pass and tell us that it was all just going to come back anyways.  That's one thing from which Albania is still kind of recovering from communist times.  They used to get fined whenever they littered, but as soon as that was no longer the case, people just started throwing trash everywhere.  You could even have a dumpster right next to somebody, and they'll throw their garbage on the ground.  It's kind of silly.  I also hear they used to have numbers on all the apartments during communism, but they have now painted over them all.  We did have some people come and lend us a rake to help us clean though.  That was nice.

Seminary and mutual and all that stuff seems to be pretty new here.  I don't think there are really too many youth here who have member families, so I don't think they really can have it at home like we did in Belgium.  Some people also get mad if you suggest that they have seminary some other day in the week because nobody has time.  Yet mutual was started and we have people going to that.  So seminary is only on Sundays here for 2nd hour.

When we went to the family and worked, we were in our proselyting clothes, which now is without a jacket and we can wear short sleeves.  So it wasn't all that bad.  The people there that were already working seemed to think that we didn't know how to use shovels or wheelbarrows though.  Afterwards, Elder McGlothin was telling me how they had been asking us if we had ever used them or if we knew how to use them.  It was kind of funny.  I think they just see movies where they see Americans with some kind of desk job or something like that.  I guess they didn't really think that we did physical labor like moving dirt back at home.  It was kind of funny because even if we had never used a wheelbarrow, I'm pretty sure we could figure it out.

I asked one of our investigators what he does all day for fun (he's pretty young), because I've always wondered what people here do all day.  He said they pretty much play soccer, tag, and hide-and-go-seek.  It seems like a lot of people just hang out at these small restaurants drinking coffee and hanging out with friends for extended periods of time.

Anyways, I think that's it for this week.

Love,
Elder Wallentine

Dear family,

I think most of the branch here in Vlore consists of youth, so we have a ton of people.  Not all of them came to mutual because we hadn't announced it too well, but we had a pretty good show of people.  I'm not sure exactly, but I think there were somewhere between 15-20 people there.  We even have a seminary teacher and young men's and women's leaders.  That's pretty cool.

In like a week, the senior couple here are leaving and so Elder McGlothin is going to have to be branch president for a month or so until the next couple comes to Vlore.  That might make us a little busier as well since we have a pretty large branch here.  In church, we had 71 people come, but like 11 were from Tirana for branch conference or something.  The District President came down as well.  He's an American, and he'll be leaving soon to go to some crazy unknown eastern European country to learn a crazy named language.  He works with the embassy or something, so he moves around a bit.  I think he said he wanted to start looking for land in Vlore for an actual church building.  We have land up in Fier, but church attendance there dropped quite a bit, so we don't have a building.  I have heard recently that the members in Lushnje are now attending church each week in Fier.  So that building in Lushnje is now officially closing.  I hear the active members are all able to go to church in Fier.  That's cool.

The other day, we took a taxi out to see a family that lived quite a ways away, then when we got dropped off and started walking the rest of the way, we called them up and they said if we came we'd be working.  So we told them we'd work.  We ended up using shovels and wheelbarrows to haul all this dirt in their garden I think it was.  We also found out that our new investigator from English course was there as well with her sister who is a former investigator who stopped meeting with the missionaries because she was busy with school for a while.  I think the sister might be interested though.

This week was a little worse than last week, but it was still good compared to weeks in Shkoder and Lushnje.  We only got 17 lessons, but we had 15 lessons cancel on us, so that's why we fell short this last week.  One thing that probably hurt our numbers was that on Thursday, Elder McGlothin had a district leader training meeting in Tirana, so I went to Fier to go on exchanges with Elder Moyes from my MTC group.  Turns out he and the rest of the district don't really like his companion.  It was fun to be back in Fier for a short time though.  Got to have a little Pizza Roma as well.  When Elder Flack and I had moved down to Fier, we had started looking for a new house, but apparently that all ended with the next transfer, so there were still 4 elders in the one house.  I think president really wants them to find another house, and I think things would be a lot better there with 2 separate houses.  It's basically a party there all the time.

This morning, at around 7am, we went to the beach to play volleyball, so that was fun.  It was cool having a beach so close, and it was completely empty when we were there.  Probably because it was early, windy, and slightly rainy.  Not to mention everyone probably had school and work as well.  So that was fun.  The internet cafes cost money, but it usually isn't too bad.  We always have enough money.  Basically the only time we use internet is on Mondays when we write home.

 When my companion had migraines in Shkoder, it wasn't too bad.  I got to have a little down time to study a little more.  Although, it was a little hard to find something to keep me occupied all day.

We do get to call home on Mother's day, and Elder McGlothin told me that we use skype when we call home.  

We found out recently that one kid with a baptismal date that said he didn't want to get baptized actually does want to get baptized, but his dad won't let him.  It is mostly because some people like to get involved with everyone else's business here, and those people in this case also happen to confuse our church with another one that tells kids that they will be resurrected if they kill themselves.  So that's a little annoying.  People always mistake us with this other church when we tract and stuff as well.  It's boggling how this other church can even have any success in Albania at all because everyone just hates them.  Anyways, we're probably going to try to convince the dad that we are not from that church and that those other people are mistaken.

I think one of our investigators is going to be able to have more time in one of these next weeks, so we will probably be able to meet with them more often.  Anyways, that's it.

Love,

Elder Wallentine

Dear family,

So, a couple weeks ago, dad asked in an e-mail if I had any favorite Albanians yet.  Well, I just decided recently, that its pretty much every member here in Vlore.  There are tons of people that come to church, and in just the few days I've been here, We have gotten 2 new baptismal dates.  I guess we already had 1 or 2 others as well, so that's cool.  My first full day here in Vlore, we got like 8 lessons in 1 day.  I think that is right anyways.  It was at least 8.  We were so busy, we hardly had time for lunch.  That seems to be the only hard thing so far about work in Vlore; we have so much work here that we often get shortened lunch.  The 2 new baptismal dates are set for sometime in May, so that's cool.

Unlike most of Albania, I hear that like 80% of the members here are active.  That's crazy.  And I no longer have to play the piano in church, because there's an Albanian who does that, and we have sisters who are good at piano, so there is a pretty good chance I won't be playing the piano in church anymore.  In Shkoder, we would take the piano home from church with us so I could practice on P-day.  It was basically just a keyboard, so it wasn't bad.

I gave a talk this past Sunday, and it went pretty good.  The language just seemed to flow all of a sudden.  It's like it wasn't even me speaking.  It was pretty awesome.  Afterwards, this girl came up and said, "Isha shume i habitur" which means "I was very surprised".  The day before that, we had met with her, and she was arguing with Elder McGlothin because she thought I was a "fringo" or newbie missionary.  It's funny.  I've had several people think I was a brand new missionary here.  Luckily, I'm usually able to understand their first question and answer pretty quickly.

Another great thing is that I can understand people so much better here in Vlore.  In Shkoder people usually sounded like they were grunting or something.  They speak so much more clearly here.  Even some of the people who speak insanely fast are easier to understand here.  It's pretty great here in Vlore.  It's still a little difficult to understand, and it's really hard work to listen.  I have to focus pretty hard on what they're saying in order to understand.

The drive down here was like 3 hours from Tirana after a 2 hour drive from Shkoder.  The road down to Vlore was awesome as well.  You go over this hill, and there are trees and grass and stuff everywhere, and all the sudden, the city just appears amongst all these mountains right next to the sea shore.  It was awesome.

Packing seemed hundreds of times easier this past time as well.  I'm only 3 months into my mission, and I've already moved between 4 cities.  The move from Fier to Shkoder wasn't too bad packing, because I just lived out of my suitcases for 2 weeks.  I have found it is much easier when I pack my shoes first.

So, I think I may be here in Vlore for quite some time. I'd be just fine with staying here for a while. 

Elder McGlothlin has served in every area I've served in as well.  He was in Lushnje back when there were 4 missionaries there, and that's actually where he began his mission as well.  He also served in Shkoder for a transfer.  It seems like we always have quite a bit to talk about, so if we stay companions for 2 transfers it probably won't be too bad.

We went to the castle in Berat today for a district trip, and I forgot my camera.  But there was a statue of a giant head that I had seen Elder Flack and Fredrickson climb the first time I was there, so this time, I tried it out.  Of course, I climbed up the back of the head where you were basically just climbing between the statue and the wall behind it.  So it wasn't too difficult.  This time through the castle, we also got a guy give us a tour of it.  He didn't even try begging for money afterwards, and he was pretty informative.  It was cool.

I'm pretty pleased with the way I have started the mission.  I was thrown immediately into a white-washed area that was ready to be closed, then into an area where everyone has the thickest accents possible.  And now, I'm in the area with tons of success and clear accents.  It's so great.  I don't think we've had time to go tracting since I got here.  I started seeing why mini missionaries here are surprised that missionary work isn't just sitting at the church waiting for people to show up for lessons.  That was pretty much all we did my first day here.  Didn't really leave the church too much that day because everyone was scheduled to come to us.

I have realized that I really need to get better at teaching.  Elder McGlothin is a really good teacher, so I will probably just need to learn all I can from him in these next 3 months.  I think I'll probably start reading through Preach My Gospel more and do more things in personal study to be able to be a better teacher.  My first 3 months I think I got a little better at finding, and now is probably the perfect time to improve my teaching, since we actually have people to teach.

I think a big thing to be able to learn a new language is you just have to eventually feel that saying a certain thing a certain way is right.  It's starting to be more natural how much everything changes.  I've also noticed that sometimes I understand words people say, but they use them in a way I don't understand what they're saying.  At least I can pick out words now.  Although, when this 7 year old told me I couldn't hurt him because he had an anti-bullet anti-bomb force field around him, I didn't understand any of it.  The only word I know out of that is bomb, so it makes sense.

Anyways, we have many really strong members here, and not only members.  We have entire families here.  It's great. We started up mutual last Friday, and if I heard right, this is the first mutual group in Albania.  There are plenty of youth to come to it, so that's nice.  Anyways, that's about the update for the first week of this transfer.

Love,

Elder Wallentine

Dear Family,

My companion had a couple migraines this week, so we were out of commission for like a day and a half.  I got quite a bit of studying one day where I finished Leviticus and got partway through Numbers in the Bible.  Last P-day wasn't too bad being stuck inside.  I just practiced the piano, swept, drew, scrounged the house for food, and other P-day-type activities.  We still managed to get 11 lessons for the week, which isn't too bad concerning our circumstances.  We held church in English last Sunday because nobody showed up.  We found out that one of our members is now in Italy, and the other active member may have not come because it was Easter.  It was a short meeting too because it was fast Sunday.  We were able to watch the Saturday and Sunday morning sessions of conference.  We had to go to internet cafes as we do for e-mail, so that was interesting.  The headphones were really really quiet and uncomfortable, and there was music playing and people talking all over.  It was hard to listen, but we somehow managed to drown out all the noise and got quite a bit out of conference.

The language seems to be going well.  Some people, I'm surprised how much I can understand.  I still have to guess a little about what they're saying, but I can usually respond well.  I'm also getting to be able to repeat their question in different wording so I can make sure I understand the question.  They have a really thick accent here in Shkoder, so it's hard to get used to, but it's getting better.  Some things that probably make it harder is that people shorten tons of things.  For example, "Cfare je duke bere?" can be said as "Care je tu bo?" (both C's are the weird C symbol they have that make the "ch" sound.)  They shorten participles too.  Like ndodhur, vrapuar, and pasur all change to ndodh, vrapu, and pas respectively.  It seems like just the most random things get changed, but it's not too bad.

There's this one road here in Shkoder that has been under construction for a long time and is finally finished... at least, half of it is.  It doesn't really affect our work or anything, but it looks nice.  It looks just like a normal road from home looks now.  It seems like when roads go under construction here, they are under construction for a long time.  The road from Shkoder to Tirana takes 2 hours because of the construction that is always going on there.

So, last Saturday, we got transfer calls, and I'm heading out of Shkoder back down to the south.  Elder Fahey is going to be training in Shkoder, and I'll be going with a companion who I think has been here in the country for a long time.  He was an assistant with Elder Flack before I got here in the country.  So that's fun.  Anyways, I'm going to be trekking down to Vlore, as far south as I can go.  So in my 3 months here, I will have seen both ends of the country.  I'm excited to see what it'll be like.  I hear the branch there is growing crazy fast.  Also, I hear it's a nice city.  I've heard that after being in Shkoder that it's easier to understand people from the south, so I guess I'll see about that.  Total furgon time will be 5 hours down to Vlore. It'll be 2 hours to Tirana, then 3 hours to Vlore.  I'm not sure how long the transferring process is going to take in Tirana, but we might be able to get a half a day of proselyting tomorrow.

This transfer really seemed to fly by.  It went by so much faster than my first transfer.  Probably because we actually had lessons and it was only a 6 week transfer instead of a 7 week one.  I'm kind of dreading packing all my stuff up again.  That's probably the only thing I don't like about transfers.  Maybe I'll be able to stay in Vlore for more than one transfer.  We'll see.  I'm pretty excited to go to Vlore though.  It's going to be much different.  There will be 4 elders, 2 sisters, and a senior couple down there unless something changes.  All this missionary work is getting easier and easier.  I am getting a lot better at stopping people in the street.  It's not all that strange anymore, at least for me.  It's probably still strange for everybody we stop.

Love,

Elder Wallentine