Hello from Vlorë! (Sent September 1st)

Familja e dashur,
   "Vlore is kinda sleepy 'till about September 1st, but we'll fill font, 'till its ready to burst. We're missionaries, never making noise, blue and green ties and the Vlorak boys..." 

Well, I'll get to one of those Vlorak boys later but first...Yes, it is September! BYU has started it's football season! Congrats on the win, I knew you could beat UCONN. It was so cool to hear that we had a great family representation at the game...grandma garlick is proud I'm sure. 

  One other thing that started this week was our stay at our new house. Yep! I believe I'm ready for marriage and all that jazz because I just sealed a deal on an apartment! Our new apartment is 11 minutes closer to the church and has running water...constantly! (something we've been lacking the last couple weeks) It was truly a blessing to get this house. We actually got this number when a random lady approached another missionary companionship on the road and said, "I have an apartment, are you looking for one?" We prayed a lot and feel that this is the house that we need to be in. I hope it will help missionaries for the years to come! It also has 2 washers and 2 bathrooms so that was pretty exciting! But no dad, I still have to make my own bed and cook my own food.

   We have great investigators, including one of those Vlorak boys. His name is Klodi Merkaj, the younger brother of our recently baptized member Albano. He is skinny, dark, black hair, 16 and is quiet and impressionable. He has progressed SO FAST. He reminds me of all the Brazil Stories that Dad would always tell us. He's been doing so well that we moved his baptismal date up another week, the 19th of September. This week he is taking the awesome opportunity to go to the YM camp in Durres. Each meeting we have with him, he rehearses what he learned from Nephi, and he already is in chapter 17. He already has a FSOY pamphlet, and a Duty to God pamphlet! It is only a matter of time before he'll be serving a mission...well I guess a couple of years. He has really been a huge blessing in our companionships lives. Keep him in your prayers.

   We also are teaching a young girl name Keti. In our second lesson we asked if she had read, to which she replied, "I have to be honest, I haven't read." I tried to be like Elder Holland, and be devastated, however that couldn't last too long because my mind couldn't let go of the first sentence she said, "I have to be honest". That sentence really showed me a lot. Countless times I've asked investigators this question, and regardless of the answer, I often have doubts that they read the prescribed chapter. To hear someone say, let's be honest, is a breath of fresh air. Now, Keti is not the only investigator that has showed this honesty. Albano and Kristi showed it too when they didn't read. Now, I think that this is a great correlation. Honesty = prepared investigator. Thought they may not have read, at least they know that being honest is the right thing. We invite people to repent, and if they lie...well, then they are going backwards. When someone tells me they must be honest, I see it as a sign of repentance, and humility. I'll be honest, sometimes I'm not a perfect missionary, or sometimes I get into a rote presentation. However, I know that if I live up to my fist name, I know that I will in the long run, be happy with my life. Like Joseph F. Smith in Hawaii. "I am late, but I am (honest)". At the end of Keti's lesson she accepted the baptismal commitment. And since she was honest at the beginning I believe she was honest at the end. Please pray for her.

Thank you for all your prayers. I have just started to realize how many prayers are really offered in my behalf. For example, if 100 temples in the world have 14 sessions a day, in one week there will have been enough prayers given to supply each missionary in the world with a blessing! And that is only from the temples. Truly there too many prayers to go around, so much that there would probably be 12 basketfuls left over (there's my scripture reference). Prayer truly is a miracle. 

Unë e di që kjo kishë është e vertetë. Jam shumë shumë mirënjohes për një Ati në qiell që ka një dashuri të plotë për çdo njëri në tokë-sepse, jemi të gjithë fëmijët e tij. (ok too many ë, I will continue) S'e di si une kam marr kjo mundesi ge te sherbej si nje misionar i Krishti. Une e di qe Shlyerjen e Jezu Krishit eshte e perjetshme dhe mund te na ndihmojm nese ne kemi besim te sherohemi. Jam shume mirenjohes per shoku im Elder Penrodi, dhe per frymen e tij. Perendia jeton. Krishti eshte biri i tij. 
Ju dua!

Elder Bejngëdër.

P.S. I finally realized why I liked the picture of Joseph Smith receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood so much. Peter James and John look like three of the Pontipee Brothers. I hope that's what we will all look like someday! "All as tall as church steeples!"

PPS. Sorry for the very generic Title. Honestly, I couldn't think of a better one  :)

PPS. Abby and Eliza and Jay and Emma... I pray for each of you every night!