27 October 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you so much for your email this week! I really look forward to reading your emails weekly! It sounds like you have had some good weather to do some stuff outside. Here it was really hot at the beginning of the week, but the past couple of days it's been pretty chilly. It's been kinda' different in Durrës lately. Since it's getting colder, people aren't outside as much as they were before. Also it's been getting darker earlier, and this weekend was the daylight savings time switch for us. I don't know if we switch times on the same day or if it's different for you back home. It was interesting because I only heard it in passing from a member this week, so I had to ask a bunch of other people to make sure it was actually the right time to do it. It was kinda' strange how it just happened out of the blue like that. Mom, Dad, and Rachel, I'm glad that you had time to listen to Elder Bendar's talk this week and choose a family you would like to share the Gospel with. I know that the Lord will bless you because of your desire to share the Gospel. In fact, this week I had to give a talk in Church. I was asked to speak on Missionary Work. It was the second talk I've had to give here as a missionary, and I feel like it went very well. That's one thing I've felt like has become a lot easier since becoming a missionary: public speaking. You talk to so many different people and in front of different groups of people all the time, so public speaking becomes very easy. That's so crazy that Mikey has left! It blew my mind seeing those pictures of him at the airport! Thanks for sending those. I know that he'll be a great missionary! Have you heard anything about anyone else in the ward working on their mission papers? 

It's crazy how fast time has been flying by! October is almost over! It's crazy that Thanksgiving is right around the corner. There isn't anything concrete yet, but in years past there has been a Thanksgiving Mission Conference. So the entire mission gets together and usually they have a talent show and a dessert contest. We haven't heard anything specific yet, but we may be doing something like that! However, this Friday we're actually having a Halloween party at the Church here in Durrës. It will be interesting to see how Albanians celebrate Halloween. Apparently, they go around door to door and ask for candy. So guess who's going tracting Friday night!! Ha ha, just kidding, we'll probably figure out something more productive to do instead. They don't have a holiday like Thanksgiving here though. I've also heard that Christmas isn't celebrated as much as in the United States. The biggest holiday that they celebrate here is New Year's. Also on the 28th and the 29th of November they have a big celebration for the Independence of Albania. So I'm excited to see how they celebrate that.

This week has been pretty good! This week I got to go back to Lushnjë! I was only there for a couple hours, but it was really awesome to go back! We had a District Leader training meeting in Lushnjë with the Zone Leaders and all of the District Leaders in Southern Albania. We had to take public transportation there, so it took FOREVER to get there. It's difficult getting there because there isn't a bus or van that takes you straight there, so we had to take a couple different buses to get there. It took about 2 hours when it would've taken an hour with a car. So that was quite a trip, but it was super nice to be back in Lushnjë for just a couple hours. I really hope that I have the time to go back and serve there. I really enjoyed my time there. Whenever I talk to the missionaries serving there they always say that nearly all the members in Lushnjë ask about Elder Clawson and I all the time. So I'm really excited to go back and see them again and actually be able to talk to them and understand what they are saying! A lot of missionaries don't really have the best thoughts about Lushnjë because it's just a small village, but I really love it there and I would really like to go back one day. I hope that the Lord has it in His plan to allow me to serve there again for a while. This week I went on an exchange with another elder in my district Elder Rasband. He's from Brigham City, Utah, and he's super awesome! We got along really well and he's a great missionary! He's a great example of working with a positive uplifting attitude. We had a really great exchange and we got a lot of work done!

One thing we've kinda' been struggling with is finding new investigators to teach. We've been talking to tons of people, we've been knocking on tons of doors, we've been doing everything that we know how to do, but we've had a couple of really slow weeks with finding new people to teach. I know that as long as we are living obedient to the commandments of God, including mission rules, that we'll be able to have the success we're looking for. We are being obedient to the mission rules and the commandments and we know that as long as we are working with all our heart, might, mind, and strength that we will be able to have success in finding new investigators. One thing I would ask of you is to keep that in your daily prayers as well. That we will be able to have a successful week in finding new investigators. Also a passage I read from "Preach My Gospel" came into my mind as I was writing this. There is a section that talks about the importance of members helping with missionary work. There is a quote in there that I don't quite remember the source, but it talks about the importance of members not just praying for missionary work in general, but praying specifically for the success of the missionaries in the ward where they live. So if you could also remember the missionaries in your ward and pray for them, pray for their success daily. I know that their lives will be blessed, as well as yours!

Thank you so much for the love and the support you give me every week! Ju dua shumë! Javë të mbarë!

Love, Elder Watson

A sunset looking out of an apartment building where we were tracting.