Thank you for all your wonderful, story filled letters. Congrats to everybody with each engagement, I can't even keep up. Good Job Steven with your first dance-date! Now, my first preference date is on a mission, time flies! I'd like an update on that please (and your height as well). From all the emails about the holidays I feel impressed to share with you the video that the church has issued for the Christmas season; an initiative entitled "He is the Gift" please watch:
Ok, now that you've watched it I bet a lot of you are reflecting to your time in NYC. Life can be so busy. I recently realized that most missionaries serve in large cities (growing up, I thought we served in little villages...but not a lot of people live there, so I guess it makes sense). There is always something going on. Usually when talking to people they say, 's'kam kohë' or 'po nxitoj' which mean--I hope you really read them and didn't skip over them like they were some foreign language or something like that--that they have no time and I'm hurrying. Inside my head, and sometimes with my mouth, I say, "Do you not have time for God?" I know that we can accept Jesus Christ as the gift. I hope you EMBRACE THE GIFT as illustrated by the scene of one going to his knees. Embrace it like you would your parents! The atonement can help always!
Although his initiative is in so many languages, it is not in Albanian. Thankfully we have Photoshop and a universal message! We have immediately already started to invite people to Christmas things. Street contacting is super fun when talking about Christmas! We hope to translate it into Albanian this week and show it on the street. And so, for all you with a native language video in your hands, you better be grateful like you just had thanksgiving and share it like Christmas is around the corner (oh, wait it is)! Mom, even you can do it, and even you can use the hashtag #SharetheGift.
Sad news came this week when we found out that our awesome investigator Tomi, who was to be baptized this week, is going to Italy for a month...thankfully he'll be returning, but most-likely after my departure. Good news came as we all gathered together at the mission home for thanksgiving! This was the 3rd trip in 3 weeks up to Tirana, and I'm starting to get to know all the drivers! I'm grateful for a small mission, so that we all can meet together so often, and talk to our mission president so often. I probably told you, but he sends daily, morning texts reminding us of our calling and giving us faith and hope!
The miracle of Thanksgiving came as we left the mission home. Vlore is the furthest south city in the mission and takes a good 2 hours to get home. The meal went kinda late, and we believed that we wouldn't be able to find a furgon that would be heading down to Vlore so late in the evening (about 5 o'clock) On the ride over to the 'furgon station' I said a couple prayers that all would be alright. When we arrived, we found about 10 other people who'd been waiting for 2 hours for furgons, yet none had come. Amazed at their patience to wait, we waited to. We talked about Christmas and the church with them. After 10 minutes, a man approached one of the other missionaries and said, "I have a furgon for Vlore" Assuming it was a small one for just us 6 we all followed him. Pretty soon, the other people waiting followed us, and I thought, "O, boy will there be room for all of us?" The man led us to his BIG furgon, big enough for every person. When I found my seat, I bowed my head and said a prayer of thanks. God had blessed his servants. He'd provided a way. I was grateful that we were late getting out of the mission home, for if we would have been on time, we would have been stuck, waiting for 2 hours (and I know we wouldn't have had the patience to wait that long). I was grateful that in addition to the furgon, God had given us people to talk to, and we gave out a Book of Mormon on the way home. Yes, I had great food, friends, clothes on my back, and all the fun of a missionary life. But, this thanksgiving I was just tankful for a furgon ride home, a true miracle. I wish that every thanksgiving that God will be so merciful to us, so as to give us so much that we become obsessed with being thankful.
Last night another miracle happened. I called a number of a man I got two months ago. We met him and his 11 yr old son. They both accepted to be baptized. The Church is True.
I love you all. He is the Gift. Discover it, embrace it, and share it. So, will you EVERY DAY from today till Christmas, share the gift of Jesus Christ? Thanks for accepting. I know I will too.
Love Elder Bangerter
P.S. Mom, thanks for the package! I look forward to all those oreos...I mean, I don't know whats wrapped inside them!
P.P.S. the website you should share is christmas.mormon.org
P.P.S. Proud to be a Cavemen! Please say hi steven to any of my old teachers, especially uncle Steven! Also send pictures of your dance, the new gym, and NYC!
Pictures
-Our district, our senior missionaries (president is the center with the glasses), and a bridge over troubled waters (led to a monastery we visited today)
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