Dear family,

Last Friday, we went to this restaurant for district lunch, and there were TVs showing the protests in Tirana.  There were quite a few police lined up keeping this huge group of people from going into the building.  Eventually, people started throwing all sorts of stuff at the police.  There were several methods used to disperse the crowds, but they were pretty persistent.  So far, nothing like that is happening in Durrës, so we've been safe.  We've heard from people that people here in Durrës are typically pretty quiet and calm.  If we see any of those protests happening, we'll be heading inside.  From what I've heard, angry mobs don't typically treat us religious folks all that well.

Anyways, this week we had quite a few investigators drop out of our teaching pool.  That was a bummer, but hopefully we can fix that.  We were pretty much out of commission for half the week last week because of my sickness and the special training we had.  Lately, I haven't been doing a very good job of waking up on time and exercising in the mornings.  I'm trying to change that this week.  Today I was able to get up and do some exercising. I'm reminded of the talk in conference by President Uchtdorf.  The one where he talked about taking things slower when we're going through a rough time.  It seems like an important theme for our days.

I have been reading the Old Testament and I'm in 1 Kings now.  I just read the story this morning when Solomon is judging between the two ladies that were fighting over a baby.  I'm also looking through the study guide and it explains things better.  Last Sunday, I was able to play another one of the hymns with both hands during sacrament meeting.  My companion plays the piano well, but he is kind of like me and has never really played the hymns.  He also says he can't read sheet music all that well.  A lot of missionaries seem to get upset with him when they found out he wasn't playing the piano in church, because they've seen him play the piano and think that since he can play these other songs that he could play the hymns.  I think it's a lot harder than many people think.

Anyways, not much else to say for this week.  Have a good week.

Love,
Elder Wallentine