Elder Parker Stewart in the Adriatic South: Zone Conference in Gjakova

The highlight of this week was our Zone Conference that we had here in
Gjakova on Saturday. Usually it is in Prishtina, but there have been a
lot of riots in Prishtina related with the government. So they
scheduled the conference to happen here in Gjakova. President and
Sister Weidmann came up here, as well as Elder and Sister White (the
office couple). Our Zone is all of Kosovo and Macedonia.

Zone conference was great. We received some good training. In the
morning all of the soon to depart missionaries gave their testimonies.
It was super weird. All of the sisters that were in the MTC with me go
home at the end of March. Going home with them is Elder Austin,
McGrath, and the rest of the guys in their group. It seemed really
early for them to give their end testimony, but this is the last Zone
or mission conference before that. The Weidmanns then gave their
testimonies. Their daughter just got home from her mission last week
so she was with them. She is staying with them for a couple of weeks.

Some of the members here made the meal for our lunch. It was really
great of them. They made an awesome soup and some buns. Electricity
costs less in the middle of the night so one of the ladies got up at 3
in the morning to cook the buns. That is dedication!! They did a great
job. There isn't much to buy as far as food goes here in Gjakova so we
were super grateful when they accepted our invitation.

President Weidmann put on a great training for us. It was based out of
PMG 11 and 3 Nephi 19. He is a very good teacher. It is pretty cool
just listening to him speak. He is a great speaker.

We had a "Special training" as well. None of us knew what it was. It
ended up being the new "Meet the Mormons" video. It was a great movie.
They did a really great job of it.

We had our interviews with President Weidmann this weekend. I feel
like I know him now. Being a mission president must be tough because
it is almost impossible to get to know all of the missionaries. After
this weekend though I feel like I know him a lot better. The interview
was good, He is a smart and caring man. I also had the opportunity to
do some translating for another missionary's interview. It was
interesting seeing how President Weidmann works.

This weekend we also did the Branch Audit. I am the branch clerk so I
looked through old files and pulled up expenses and signed some
papers. It was quite the time. Elder White is the one in charge of the
auditing so he went through it all with Elders Tooley, Lesi, and I.
Audits must be wild for a large ward!

We have met with a young man named E. 3 times now, and he has
accepted baptism for March 7. He met with missionaries before, and
then we met him street contacting. He is a really nice guy. He is 24.
He was at church last week, but not this week.

We have been tracting a ton. We have had some good lessons. There are
a lot of really nice people here in Gjakova. We pray daily that they
will accept our lessons. I can't remember if I already told you, but
we met a man with 4 sons that live in a four story apartment. They
each own a level of the apartment, and the dad lives with one of the
sons. How is that for a close family? We are trying to get back there.
Can you imagine how awesome that will be if they accept the gospel.
They would double our branch. That would be awesome!!!

Elder Lesi is still doing well. We are working hard. I really like it
here in Gjakova! The people are great. There are a lot of people who
we see on a daily basis, and it is hard to explain all of them. They
are really nice. We have invited a lot of people to come to church, to
learn from us, to come to activities, and so forth. There is a lot of
potential in the younger generation especially.

Have a great week, and take Buddy on some walks!

Love Elder Stewart