There and Back Again: A Missionary's Tale

1 September 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you for your email! It's always really awesome to hear from you on P-day! It sounds like you've had a great week! It sounds like you had a good party with the whole family. Brats sound so good! They don't quite have anything like that here in Kosovo. I've come across some stuff like brats in Albania, but it's not super common. If you have any left, eat one for me. The patio is looking good! I hope the weather holds out for you so that you can finish it up soon!

Rachel, I hope that you have a great first day and week back at school! It's kinda' crazy to think that kids are going back to school already. The other day, we had a back to school ad for a local store on our doorstep when we got back to the apartment. Just work your hardest and do your best and you'll succeed!

So this week was really awesome for Elder Roberts and I. The past couple weeks we've been in a little bit of a slump, but President Weidmann promised us that as we continue to work hard, that we'll see the work that we've been accomplishing. We saw that promise fulfilled this week! We were able to meet with tons of people and we actually got an investigator to come to Church on Sunday. That was really awesome because we met him for the first time this week and he sacrificed greatly to catch an early bus from his village into Prishtina, and he brought two of his kids. It was really awesome! We could definitely see that the Lord had blessed us greatly this week!

This week we also had an interesting experience street contacting. A man came up to Elder Roberts and I and asked if he could get a book, referring to the Book of Mormon. This is a pretty common experience. A lot of people see us and just assume that we want to give them away willy-nilly. So I started explaining what the Book of Mormon is and how we got it. He asked if he could see it. I let him hold it and I continue explaining. I explain that if he wants to learn more that we can meet one day and we can talk more about it and then we'll give him a copy for free. He started telling me that he just wants to get the book and read it himself. We explain that that's not how we work. Elder Roberts starts talking to him and the man grabs his Book of Mormon as well. So now this guy has both of our books. He starts telling us how Jesus Christ isn't the Son of God and how Muhammed is God's prophet. I keep talking to him and I end up able to get my Book of Mormon back from him. He cuts me off and starts denying Jesus as the Son of God. Elder Roberts grabs his Book of Mormon back from the guy and starts testifying that Jesus is the Son of God. So now both of us have our Book of Mormons back and still the guy stands there and says he wants a book. We explain again that if he wants a book he can meet with us another time and we'll gladly give him a book. As we're standing there talking he starts reaching for our copies like he's going to steal them right out of our hands. We pull back and Elder Roberts grabs his hand and pushes it away. We figured that he'd walk away after that, but he still stood there asking for a book. I told him that if I get his name and phone number we'll set up a time to meet. He says okay. I ask him his name and he tells me. I write it down in my planner. I ask for his phone number and he tells me he doesn't have a phone... while holding it in his hand... since the beginning of our conversation... Elder Roberts just slowly points at it and asks, "What's that?" The guy makes up a really lame excuse. So I just put my planner away figuring that he'd just walk away after lying that blatantly. He stands there and asks for a book again. I told him that he can get a book when we meet again. He gets mad and tells me to write down his phone number. Elder Roberts messed with him and said, "Oh, so you have a phone now". The guy said yeah, and gave me his phone number. He asked if he could get a book now. I explained to him yet again that he'll get a book when we meet again. He got super mad and he finally walked away. He came back up to us and he tells me never to call him and to cross out his name. So I take out my planner again and I overly cross out his name showing him that we'd never talk again and then he walked away for good. I turned to Elder Roberts and said something along the lines of "I just blotted his name out of the Book of Life". We ended up going to the Church right after this experience and just laughing about the whole situation. It was a very unique street contacting experience! Having one like that every once in a while makes street contacting interesting every once in a while!

This week I had the opportunity to give a blessing to one of the Sisters' investigators. She's been having a problem with living the Word of Wisdom, and she really wants to get baptized. So I was able to give her a blessing before Church yesterday. It's always really amazing being involved in blessings. Whatever fears you have soon go away and you can totally feel that the Spirit is directing you and that you are giving exactly what that person needs to hear at that point in their life. It was an amazing experience. Also, this Sunday, I was able to translate for a member who was visiting Kosovo with work from the US. It was difficult to keep up with everything that was going on! But I feel like I got the message across for the most part. It was a pretty great experience! All around this week was great!

I'm loving it here in Prishtina! I love being a missionary! I know that the Gospel brings happiness and peace into the lives of those that accept it! I've seen the Gospel of Jesus Christ bless the lives of those that accept His Gospel! I know that the Book of Mormon is true and I know that it contains the word of God! I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that through Him, we all have the ability to find forgiveness for all of our sins.

Thank you for the love and support that you give me! Ju dua shumë! Javë të mbarë. Rachel, paç fat me këtë vit e shkollës!

Love, Elder Uacën