7 September 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you for writing to me every week. Mom, Dad, and Rachel, I'm glad that you had a fun time at the State Fair. That's really cool that you ran into lots of missionaries there! It's always really cool for us when we run into members from other cities or other countries. It's always fun to talk with different members. I bet they were all really happy to go to the State Fair on their P-day. I know I would be! Is it possible to go to the State Fair and not eat anything on a stick? I wonder how many of those sticks they use during the course of the fair. I've heard the name Abrahamson but I haven't met them at all.  {Sister missionaries that we met at the fair mentioned that a couple from their ward had just left for the Adriatic South Mission.}  I don't know if they've arrived in the country or not. Hopefully I'll be able to meet them soon. That's really cool that they're Minnesotan! Haha, that's funny that Rachel has Mark {one of Jacob's former baseball coaches} as a teacher. Yeah, hopefully you didn't ruin her chances of a good grade in that class right then {by mentioning that Mark had coached Jacob several years ago}. That's cool that Wes and Becky are celebrating their anniversary. Be sure to tell them congratulations from me. Say hi to Kayla from me. Also tell Grandpa Watson happy birthday for me!

Sorry, I don't have a lot of time left to email. Today for P-day we went to Prizren again, and we didn't catch the bus back to Gjakova that we wanted, so we didn't get as much time to email as we would have hoped. But this last week was really good. We had zone training this last week, which is always awesome! The training that we received was really good, and it was really awesome to see missionaries from Prishtina and Skopje. A missionary that I served around in Durrës for a while, Elder Muncy, got transferred to Prishtina and so it was really awesome to see him again. It's really awesome to see missionaries progressing and growing so much during their missions. I've seen it a ton in Elder Keck, but that's because I got the chance to serve with him when he was fresh from the MTC. I've also known Elder Muncy for most of his mission, so it's awesome to see all of the progress that he's made in his mission. I think that seeing progression in other people is one of the most wonderful aspects of missionary work. This week what really stood out to me as I was working with the branch members here in Gjakova. This week I was able to see some of them bear their testimony in Sacrament meeting on Sunday when they've never done that before. I've also been able to see members change their lives and repent to live the Gospel more fully in their lives. I've seen members accept callings and start doing everything that they know how to do to fulfill their callings. It has been one of the most fulfilling things that I've witnessed on my mission. It is wonderful to see people progress in the Gospel and become more like the Savior. It's wonderful to see them applying the Gospel in their lives even when it is difficult. It gives me so much joy and happiness to see the Gospel making positive changes in the lives of others!

Thank you so much for all of the love and support you send to me. Ju dua shumë. Kalofshi bukur. Javë të mbarë.

Me dashuri,

Elder Watson