We are getting our own building!! This week had definitely
picked up! These are the highlights :)
Car accident! So this week we had our Zone Training. As a
part of that, President Weidmann wanted to meet up with the District Leaders as
well as the Zone Leaders, so we had to drive up to Kosovo for 3 days while
Elder Krajnc went off to his training. We were about to leave for our 2-hour
journey, when we stopped by my old apartment to pick up some CDs for the ride.
We got the CDs, some tasty snack food, and were ready to hit the road...when
Elder Krajnc hit another car getting out of his parking spot. The guy he hit
starting getting all flustered and angry because he was only the driver. We
weren't really too sure of what exactly we should do, but luckily one of our
members, Zoki, was there, so he calmed the guy down and helped us through it.
It was a pretty big blessing to have him right there! The damage was only a few
small scratches on the other guy's car, but we had to go, so we agreed to take
care of it on Friday when we got back. The rest of our journey to Prishtina
wasn't as exciting, but we got there, and pretty much just went to bed.
Elder Krajnc headed off with the Zone Leaders, and Elder
Chingas and I were with another Elder in Prishtina. We had a few lessons that
cancelled that we hiked pretty far to get to, which was disappointing, but we
ended up having a really good one that night. The investigator only spoke
Albanian, so I couldn't do too much or have any idea what was going on, but in
the middle of the lesson, I felt the Holy Ghost rush into the room. It felt so
peaceful, and I felt so happy. The missionary later said in the middle of that
lesson he started testifying of Jesus Christ strongly. The investigator was
found because he is very Muslim and wanted to make fun of Christians, but then
saw that we are good people, so he wanted to know more. It was an awesome
experience seeing the power of testifying!
We got challenged for each one of us to get a baptism this
month. We did a zone-wide fast for it yesterday, and have been praying for it a
lot. It will definitely take a miracle, but it's still possible for it to
happen. We have a few older people that we've been meeting with that are very
interested, but have been difficult to meet up with regularly. If we can figure
out a way to see them more often, then they will be as golden as anybody!
We returned from Kosovo and took care of business with the
car. We met with our lawyer, Elena, and she found out that Elder Krajnc's
license expired 4 years ago, so from now on, it's probably only going to be
Elder Chingas and I driving. I have yet to see the drivers here obey any law,
so I'm not looking forward to it.
One morning this week, we had the privilege of taking some
very cold showers. Our water heater busted, so we talked to our very awesome
landlord about it and he got it fixed that day. He asked us if there was
anything else we could use, and it ended with him buying us a mixer and a
grill. Like I said, this guy is a stud.
Filip ended up getting a job in Qatar, and so he left this
week. It was frustrating, because he just recently started getting very
interested, but his girlfriend is still here. We had as good as a lesson can be
in a very noisy cafe this week with them about the Plan of Salvation. They both
like it a lot, and both agreed to baptism. They always talk about how good they
feel whenever they meet with us, but Filip just can't seem to realize that's
the Holy Ghost. They're both very prepared people though, and were excited to
keep working with Ana!
We have another investigator named Lazar who read the whole
Book of Mormon in a week. He's read every religious book he knows of, and he
said he's never felt closer to God than when he read the Book of Mormon. He has
a big concern with actually joining our church though, and again, doesn't like
meeting with us often, but luckily Elder Chingas and I will be in the same
exact spot for 2 years to give him all the time he needs!
On Sunday, I gave my first talk here. I decided to opt for
English with it because I didn't have quite the confidence to give it in
Macedonian, but next time will be Macedonian for sure! Zoki translated for me.
We had quite a few American guests here for a service project with the Nelsons,
so that part gave me a good excuse for the English as well. That night, with
Zoki and Nejat getting the Melchezidek Priesthood recently, we had Macedonia's
first Priesthood meeting at the Swineford's house, which also happened to be
National Woman's Day. President Swineford encouraged the members to use their
priesthood when the can, and described more about what it is.
The most exciting thing this week is that we put a down
payment on the new building!!! It's seriously going to be such a blessing for
us, even though it's way far away. Now people won't look at us like were crazy
when they here we have church in a hotel on the Muslim side of town :')
That's it for this week! Things are going well for us right
now, and with the will of God, we might even add some new people to our branch
soon!
Elder Rigby
