Durres is Great!

This week has been awesome. To be honest it is always great out here.

The weather is heating up. We are all sweating like crazy. I think we are nearing the ciesta time of year. It is getting to the point where being outside at midday is killer. It is interesting here. School schedules are different for all different ages of children. Many kinds will have school in the morning, and then spend the day at home, and then go back to school at night. I think that must be super tough. I liked getting it done in one straight shot. School ends on the 18 here. I think everyone is getting quite excited for summer.

This week we started our free English course. We do it as a service to all of the people here. As well occasionally investigators are found through English course as we share a spiritual message with every lesson. 45 min lesson with a 15 min spiritual thought. We start and end every lesson with a prayer too. Elder Gray and I are teaching advanced English this time. All of the other times I have done English course I have been a beginners teacher. It is strange to talk in English around Albanians. We have a really fun time teaching English course though!

A is doing well. We had a great lesson with him this week. We had two male members in on the lesson. They did a great job testifying. Members really help to have in lessons because they can relate to the investigators in a way that we will never be able to. A is quitting smoking. We all fasted together this week. He has a great understanding and testimony. He is ready for baptism, and he knows it and wants it. I can't wait for tabacco to be a thing of the past for him! The members have really taken him in, and befriended him!

X and B are on the ropes again. They have to show their faith, and so far they just haven't. They didn't come to church again this week, and they skipped a couple of meetings this week. As sad as it is we may have to temporarily drop them or at least just back off a little bit. They are scheduled to be baptized on the 21, but that can't happen if they are going to fall away right away. The Bishop made that very clear to us, and I completely agree with him.

That awesome family we met is still awesome, but the thing is they are leaving to Greece this week and may never return to Albania. I don't know how people do it. The parents are just picking up and taking their family with them. It is tough on us seeing them go, but I can't even imagine how it must be on them. Moving to another country and not being able to speak the language. Leaving your friends and everything you have known behind. I am amazed by their bravery. It must be really hard. Both parent have been out of work for the last little while, and this is their only solution to making ends meet. Crazy. I don't think we will ever be able to comprehend.

We had a really cool meeting this week with two very educated 21 year olds. They knew a lot about a lot. They said they haven't found a true church. When I hear people say that it gets me pretty excited. They began to explain how they thought Muslims might be right, but how they had found a bunch of flaws with them. They believe in science, and proof. They told us Mohammed split the moon in half, and their is scientific proof that the moon has been split in half. That was one of their fundamental arguments for Islam. He had a Book of Mormon that he had received before, but he had never read it. We encouraged him to read it. He told us we can't be right because the true church will not consume alcohol. Funny enough we don't drink. They told us we can't be right because praying to saints and to Jesus Christ and saints is a sin. Funny enough we pray to God. They were shocked and amazed at how calm we stayed all of the time. They were amazed how we testified simply, and answered their questions directly but not pointedly or argumentatively. It was a testimony builder. They left shocked, and they each had a fresh Book of Mormon to leave. we read Moronis challenge with them so they know what to do.

This week for church we had a Europe wide broadcast from Switzerland. It was done by Elder Uchtdorf and Anderson. They did well. we had some technical difficulties in the middle, but we saw a lot of it.

Durrës is great. We are working very hard as a companionship, and as a district. The goal is obviously baptisms, but we have recognized that baptisms take a lot continued effort. Initially people have to change. We are trying to be in the right place at the right time so the spirit can testify to people through us. The church is true, and we can't wait for people to accept it!

Have a great week, and take Buddy on walks!

Love, Elder Stewart

Elder Stewart and Elder Clawson

They put a photo of the Saviour on their door just like in the episodes of "The District". :)

Cooking in the kitchen in the new Canada apron we sent him. He's becoming quite the chef!

We also included KD in the package we mailed. They shared it for lunch one day as a district and all loved it!! Little taste of home...

Even better with hotdogs! Wonder if they were beef....??

Heinz ketchup - It's universal!

At the barber shop. Elder Stewart says he loves going there and chatting with them! They went as a district all together.

Just before the cut. It actually looks pretty short already! :)

A cool experience!

                                    

More Adventures...And a Baptism that Falls Through.

This week has been a good week in Durrës. A is doing very well. He is quitting smoking. We had a very powerful lesson with him this week on the Atonement. The Spirit was so strong. We talked about what the Atonement was, but the focus was on why Christ performed the Atonement, and how we can show our gratitude for the Atonement. He comprehends quickly, and gave incredibly advanced insights on the Atonement. We read many scriptures together. I feel the Spirit very strongly when we meet with him. He continues to come to all three hours of church, and has been well fellow shipped. He is amazing. He learns on his own and brings us knew knowledge. He is fantastic.

We had a baptism fall through this week, and we are still a little bit unclear as to why. X and her Mom were both so excited as we met with them throughout the week. We met them at the church an hour before her baptism on Saturday, and they told us and Bishop Dodaj that they had a small problem and that they needed a different day. We will continue to try and get a better answer. They didn't come to church. We have no idea what the deal is. We can't baptize them if they aren't commited. I think there may be some kind of deep underlying problem, but we really don't know. We are praying for them.. a lot! Fast Sunday fell on a good day.

We met an amazing family this week. It is a mom, dad, two middle school age daughters, and a baby boy. We street contacted the dad D last week. We street contact a lot of people, and often times the numbers we receive are either fake, or the people just want to mess with us.I had the lesson in my planner for a few days, and after a few calls nothing had happened. We felt like we should give it another shot. D was more than happy to meet with us. We met on the road and walked together to his house. The first lesson was only with the parents (D and V), and the second was with the whole family. They are a very Christian family, but they don't have a faith. It turns out the two girls have been to our church once before. They had a Book of Mormon. They all show great potential. The older daughter E gave a flawless closing prayer. She thanked God for the Book of Mormon, and the Bible. She thanked him for Joseph Smith. She ended in the name of Jesus Christ Amen. We had a member (Ersi) with us at their house, and he was blown away. He was baptised earlier this year. He was a very prepared investigator right from the start. He said in Albanian "Her first prayer was better than mine. She got everything. She even thanked God for a modern prophet and Joseph Smith. No investigators do that. She also said in the name of Jesus Christ Amen. I didn't even do that. I said in the name of Ersi Amen." We almost died laughing. we will be meeting with the family again this week. We challenged the family to begin reading from the Book of Mormon. Ersi brought up the fact that he read the whole thing in 3 days when he was investigating. The girl doesn't really seem like the kind that will be beat. She has all tens in a country where grades are all given out of ten. D and V are trying very hard to follow Christ. They just lack direction. They have crosses all over their house, but they don't really know where to go from there. We hope to get them to church this Sunday.

Ersi is awesome. He is a sweet kid. Way beyond his years. he is 15, but he has come through the fire to get to where he is.

This week I ripped my pants pretty bad, and we didn't notice until the end of the night. Up and down appartment stairs takes a toll on pants. I had to take them to a seamstress to get the fixed. The problem was out of my hands.

Also this week we had a funny problem with the phones. We were without coverage for a whole day because our carrier was switched. The whole mission including Pres Ford was off the map. It was weird. we had no way of confirming our appts, but it all still worked out in the end. i think we all realized how dependent on technology we are. We wondered how people used to live without cell phones.

This week we have continued to do a lot of finding, but also we have tried to find some more inactives. We have a lot of members here in Durrës, but unfortunately many of them are not in sacrament meeting. We have found some! Thanks to the Atonement they can come back. President Ford said something that struck me. When people Understand the Atonement they will have a desire to change. I guess it just makes sense.

Have a great week. Take Buddy on walks!!

Love you all!

Elder Stewart

Poppies he found in Albania!

Elder Stewart's birthday celebration in honour of his sister, Sara! Looks tasty!

The hole in the pants...

Good thing he could find some help for the repair!

Cell phones are only so helpful...How did we live without them??

The baptismal program. Everything was ready to go. :(

Stylin'!

Warming up in Durres

(Editor's Note: This post is a week late. The week got away from us... It should have been posted May 26 - Aunt Carolyn's birthday. He doesn't mention Sara's birthday which was the next day May 27 because he told us later, that in Albania, it is bad luck to acknowledge a birthday until the actual day - never before!)

To start off Happy Birthday to Aunt Carolyn! Thank you for being such a great aunt, and supporting me out here. I have a lot of really great memories with you! I hope your birthday is great!

This week we haven't done anything too out of the usual, but we have been working super hard. The weather is warming up, and we peel our shirts off every night!

We have been working very closely with X and her Mom this week. X is getting baptized this Saturday. While her mom does not want to get baptized yet she is very excited for X. We teach them together, and her mom comes to church with her, The Young Womens program has really taken X in. We are very excited for her.

Our friend A is quitting smoking. We are praying for him, but we don't know exactly what to do. V Balla came to his lesson. V Balla had that crazy history with cigarettes, and he effectively quit on his own. We don't ave an addiction recovery program here so in the end it is probably going to come down to Astritis testimony vs his craving for smokes. If anyone has a good suggestion we would love it. A is awesome. He really gets the gospel. He just gets it. I feel like it is over a lot of peoples heads. For some reason religion is just such a distant concept for them that even when we explain it clearly they just don't seem to get it. He gets it though, and then on top of that he is willing to keep all of his reading assignments, and then some. He is a divorced man moving through life. I think he has had a tough life, but he has a big heart, and the Ward loves him.

This week we tried our special trick. It is called calling a bunch of random numbers that we have got on the street, and never been able to meet with, and just invite them to church. once again it worked, and a lady named D came to church. Some ladies really took her in, and she had a great time. I think I forgot to tell you, but last week we did the same thing and a young family came to church. I really think some people feel as though you a;ready have to be "in" with the church crowd to go to church. I think a simple invite to a stranger goes a long ways. That is what Elder Gray and I have been finding anyway.

Our companionship focus is families. Every day we pray multiple times that a family will be placed in our path. It is kind of a new thing. We have been trying to say very specific prayers. It has worked. The Lord has put a number of families in our path. While none of them have taken any huge steps yet we hav a lot of hope and faith. Our most recent find was a 11ish year old boy. while walking away from an appointment that fell through we heard the classic Albanian young boy English "Hello my friend" type thing. We started talking to this little guy. He and his friend were just hanging out in the road. We talked to them for a little bit, and got to be acquainted, and told them we would see them around. Yesterday we heard the same kid yell at us from across the street. He was with his mom and two sisters this time. We walked over to them, and had a great converstaion. They are quite the family. They have a lot of personality. We have their phone number, and we are supposed to have a visit to their house later this week, and then they said they will come to church.

We met with one other family this week. They could turn out awesome as well. It is a dad, a mom, and three little boys. It is a Jeff, and Lindsey type set up right now. They are great as well. One day this week we had to make a run back to our house in the middle of the day because our heater air conditioner was being installed. We have been living in our house illegally for the last two months according to mission rules. On the way back we literally ran into them. We gave them a quick run down on who we are. The dad was fascinated, and we got an appt with them two days later.

I went on an exchange with Elder Ashler this week. He is from Croatia. He is really funny. He speaks perfect English because he used to play a lot of online video games. It turns out video games are good for something. We had a good time together.

I got my interview from pres Ford this week. He is a great man. Sis Ford is so funny!

Have a great week. I love you all! I am out! Take Buddy on walks. Sorry I didn't have time to send pics this week. We went to Berat today for pday, and it cut into our email time. Sorry for any emails I didn't respond to!

Love Elder Stewart

An Earthquake, New Investigators and Albanian Food

So we had an earthquake on Sunday night into Monday. I woke up, and was getting shaken all around in my bed. It was pretty cool, but we lost power for a whole day. So I am emailing tonight instead! (One day later than we usually get his letter. So, we were really relieved to get it! We had heard that there was an earthquake there...)

So this week has been another great week here in Albania. We have not had record breaking amounts of rain, but we have had a lot of rain none the less. It hasn't been cold though. It is just really wet.. you know that way it is when water falls from the sky. We have had some good times. I like contacting in the rain because we just stop under store roofs, and we have a contained audience. They have two options.. listen to us or get soaked.

We had a good lesson with X and her mom B this week. We were a little scared for it, but we prayed hard and went into it. We taught tithing. It was our first tithes and offerings lesson as a companionship. They accepted everything, and were extremely happy.. like the happiest they have ever been. Something has rung true to them. B still is not sure about baptism, but X is scheduled for the 31. B feels it so I think she will come around eventually. It may just take a little while.

A is awesome. He is Dads age. He has now been to church twice, and he came to the Priesthood activity. He has now interacted with members. In Elders quorum his comments outdid most of the members. The big challenge now is getting him to quit smoking. He has the testimony to do it. He just needs to stop. Our next lesson with him will be Word of Wisdom. We are using Vellai Balla again. He has the know how, experience, and a very powerful testimony. I am not worried.

A 19 year old guy who we met on the road came to church this week. He met with missionaries 5 years ago and wasn't ready then, but he has an unreal fire right now. I think he is the real deal. We have a lot of faith.

We have met some new investigators this week. We have contacted a lot of people. Elder Gray and I were talking about it, and we wish we had a counter that told us how many people we talked to in a day. It would be a lot!

We have done some fun things this week. Elder Gray and I really get along with the other Elders here. We have eaten lunch together a couple of times. We made Crepes one day. Elder Watson made an amazing shepherds pie this week. If you ever find easy and quick recipes I am in the market. (If you read this and have any for him, please send them!!)

I caught a lizard this week. That was pretty cool. Also I took a picture of Suflaqes so that you can see what they look like. 

Durrës is awesome. The work is going well. We had a district fast this week because as always we are trying to increase the harvest! Elder Gray and I get along very well, and we both have the same mindset. It consists of lots of work, sleep, and food.. and occasionally some other out of the ordinary things to keep life interesting. It is sweet though because he hates spending money too so we do well on funds! We both love playing soccer with the youth as well, and we brought an investigator this week so that was great!

Thanks you for taking Buddy on all of those walks!!

Love Elder Stewart 

A field of random stray dogs. This is a common sight.

Looks like a fair amount of rain!!! Guess he got a new umbrella.... :)

Crepes!

These are suflages that they buy on the street for very cheap. Looks like hardly any calories at all, don't you think?  Sara thinks they look delicious!

A ward dinner. Elder Stewart liked the sausages but was informed they were made from cat.

The lizard he caught. Elder Stewart has always had a love for catch and release of small critters. He has spent HOURS doing this in the past, so it's nice to see some things don't change! :)

After Mother's Day in Durres

That was fun talking to you yesterday!  It was good to see you all doing well! Thanks for walking Buddy yesterday!

Well I filled you in on most of the details. Unfortunately K has dropped us. When God gives he can take away. Hopefully he helps K find his way back. If not for us for some missionaries in the future. The worst part was he just texted us. We haven't talked to him in person. Something must have happened. We know he went back to smoking, and was really disappointed in himself. We will keep trying to contact him!

M is going with her son to Italy next week, and will be gone for three months. She can't be baptized in that unstable situation so for the foreseeable future she will just have to try and keep her faith strong. We will vizit her right up until the day she leaves. We have found all of the churches near her house in Italy. Hopefully she will go there, and continue to read and pray.

X and Bu are doing well. They came to church again. Xh is around Saras age, and she loves learning. They are scheduled to be baptized on May 24. They have to continue to 'prove' themselves. They have to be strong in their testimonies before they get baptized. It looks like they are going to go the distance, but I have said that for a lot of investigators thus far. We have faith that they are the real deal!

Elder Gray and I street contacted a man named Astriti. He is 44. He is very nice. We have had two lessons with him. He is reading, and praying. He came to church for three hours. He is on a baptismal date for june 14. He really liked church, and is coming to the priesthood activity on saturday night. We will meet with him throughout the week.

While we worki like dogs we have a lot of fun here too! This week before Zone conference we got waffles and ice cream as a district! They were amazing. After Zone conference we found a street vender selling handguns that are actually cigarette lighters. Crazy.

This week we saw a car from Ontario! Crazy!!

This week to find some investigators Elder Gray and I went tabeling with Elders Watson and Clawson. It was very successful. We were able to talk with a lot of people, and it was a really fun activity. We had a pretty cool Book of Mormon display going on. It was a hit! It was good to switch up our finding methods a little bit.

I hope you have a great week! Thanks for your support!

Love you lots. Happy Mothers day to Mom, Nana, Grandma, and all of my Aunts! Happy Mothers day to all of the rest of the mothers!!

Take Buddy on walks!

Love, Elder Stewart

Before Zone Conference, they all stopped for street waffles. Amazing!!

Elder Gray, Elder Stewart, Elder Watson and Elder Clawson did some "tableing" this week. It was a good way to switch up their finding method.

While tableing, they met this artist who said he met the first ever Elders to serve in Albania He was very kind and wanted to do caricatures of them.

Lunchtime! Looks pretty good....They often buy lunch on the street. It's quite cheap and yummy. (And some of the meals sound very high in calories!!!:)  )

This is a very friendly couple who are not members but love the missionaries and even feed them sometimes!

This was the meal they fed them. Elder Stewart said it was delicious!!!

What morning study and prep time looks like every morning!

Comparing photos from everyone's skype session with family. President Ford let them all have 3 hours. WE were so happy!

This is the picture he took os us while skyping. This years Christmas photo???

The coastline on pday.

On P-day, they explored the coast. He's holding an Albanian Book of Mormon.

This is the picture we took of him while skyping. It was remarkable!!!

Durres Week 5

This week has been fantastic!! The first thing that made this week really great was serving the Telhaj family. I think I mentioned them before. They have been members for about a year and a half, but they have gone inactive. Finances and life just caught up to them. We have been trying so hard to get them to come back. This week we decided to serve them. We called them up and decided to try and help relieve the stress. THeir yard.. to be garden was a weed mess so we volunteered to clear it for them. I sent you the pics before and afters of one side of the yard. Elders Clawson and Watson came with us, and the four of us and Vellai Telhaj cleared their whole yard. It was hard work in the burning son. I can't imagine doing that by myself on top of trying to support a family without being able to find a job. He was so grateful, and he came to church on Sunday!! We will have them sealed as an eternal family yet!! Also at church he bore his testimony, and I could tell he felt something. So he has a testimony. It is sweet. His family wasn't at church, but we will keep at it.

K. is going the distance. So last week the smoking problem hit us like a train and we were scrambling. We did everything we could. We promised blessings, and in the end the Lord pulled through for us. He read the Word of Wisdom pamflet. He knew it was right. In the middle of the week he figured out his neighbour sells the gum to help with a smoking problem. He quit smoking on his own. We had a lesson with him in it on saturday night. He told us that and Elder Gray and I almost jumped out of our seats with excitement. We both agree that was the best part of our mission so far. He gave all credit to God. In his story he personally pointed out Gods hand throughout the week. He told us God led him to his neighbour. He said quitting smoking was a lot easier because he was able to pray to God on a daily basis. He said this is incredible. Are there any other commandments I should know about? He had the chance to drink with his friends at a party music this week, and he said no!! He had a chance to smoke with some friends this week and he didn't. He recognized that living the Word of Wisdom would not be easy, but he knows it is best. He said he knows his swimming and school will improve. I know they will. Also he decided to eat vegetables. That was the cherry on the cake! His baptism is set for the 17. We gave him two options. The 17 or the 24. He said the 17 but he needs to pray about it. He is a sweet kid. Elder Gray and I both love him! He came to church this week again so that was awesome. That is his third time!

This week we began teaching a Mom and a Daughter. We found them last week, and I think i may have mentioned them, but they are super awesome!! Their names are X. and B. X. is 13 I believe, and  B. is her mom. We had a fantastic first lesson on the restoration with them. Aida (a member) bore powerful testimony. They committed to baptism on the 24 of May, and are holding us to it. We also had a lesson on the Plan of Salvation. They came to church and brought their sister in-law. They are doing super well. We are being seriously blessed with people to teach.

M. and her family are doing well. They are on track for baptism on the 31. The Restored gospel is a very powerful message. Eternal families are a great thing. They live a long ways away from our house so it is a long walk, but it is always so worth it!

We have had a lot of fun here with our district. We played soccer with the Young Men, and it was really fun. We eat lunch together quite often. We all love pizza and suflaqes!

Elder Gray and I cooked this week for Sunday dinner for all of us. It turned out good. You have a picture. Noddles and sauce, and carrots. Also toast and nutella because of our recent purchase.

Take Buddy on walks!!

Love, Elder Stewart

Telhaj family's yard BEFORE

Telhaj family's yard AFTER

Pizza with his Zone!

The pizza box - Hannah wanted us to try calling the number. :)

Soccer with the YM

Noodles, carrots and sauce. Looks pretty edible!

Nice cookware! We were impressed!

The closest thing he could get to cake for Matt's birthday. If you look closely, it says, "Happy Bday Matt" in Nutella.

Their fast offering. Looks quite familiar - just a different language! 2000 lek equates to $21 Canadian.

PDay in the hills. Pretty green there!

His "Happy Mother's Day" photo. :)

Beautiful Coastline

The Elders in Durres

Look what he found in Durres! Guess I don't need to mail anymore of those!

Challenges and Blessings in Durres

This week has been really good. We have been working hard as always to get investigators.

K is doing well, but he has that smoking problem. We have pushed his baptismal date back into June because he needs to have it cleared up. Hopefully we can bring it forward again if he kicks it fast enough. We had a really great lesson with a member named Vellai(Brother) B. He used to have a terrible smoking problem. He said as soon as he finished with one he would start smoking the next. He went through tons of cigarettes, and he got to the point where normal stuff wasn't good enough so he started buying stuff that you roll yourself. He was great to have in on the lesson. He is a good story teller, and pretty motivational. K only smokes when he is stressed. A few a week so nothing in comparison, but still it is a trial he needs to overcome. He calls it one of Satans tricks. K came to church again though. Once again he had to leave early to meet a professor. His school schedule is not very accommodating for the Sabbath day, but hopefully he can do better in the fall. He liked it though!

This week we had our first official ward council here in Durrës. He was obviously brought up. They asked about the situation. We explained, and then almost immediately had questions flying at us from around the room. It got super stressful. I honestly never get stressed out in lessons and conversations here, but I got super stressed out. They picked us apart pretty good. I said a Jo when I should have said a Po because we got confused amidst all of the questions. Elder Gray just stopped talking because Albanians can be super pointed people. So I had to wrap stuff up on my own. We got our testimonies called into question by a member of the bishopric in front of the Ward council because he asked "Do you think not smoking will help him with exams?" but I thought he said "do you think smoking will help him with his exams?". Yeah it was kind of scary, but we made it out of there and Elder Acheson got torn to shreds too, and the third set of Elders don't have any investigators. So yeah I think the ward council thinks we are all incompetent. 

Vellai B was in on that meeting though! He is awesome. He is the Young Mens President. He is super respectful. This week on the street he stopped at the store and spent 200 lek that I know he doesn't have, to buy us a snack. We tried really hard to get away without anything, but he did it anyway. He is just that kind of person. He has done a lot of things that have really impressed me. He works like a dog all day as a postman, serves faithfully in his calling, and just serves others. He is a member highlight for the week!

This week while street contacting we found a family. They are really nice. We aren't exactly sure what the dynamics are for sure.. I has been hard to tell. But in the street contact she came up to us because our tags say Jesus on them. She told us that she had a really strong testimony of Jesus, but that she had never been baptized. She had been to a few churches, but never found the right one. We got her number, and all of the kids with her were super nice. Another couple was with her and they were awesome as well. We set up an appointment for the next day. We found their house and had a great lesson on the restoration. They ate it all up. There were about 6 people in on the lesson. In the end 6 of them came to church. They used to attend church every week in Italy, but haven't here. They said they will come every week. The kids liked primary too I think.

Another Street contact turned out good this week as well. We had a guy from Orthodox background pretty interested in the book. We set up a meeting with him. He came. He loved the restoration message. We gave him a Book of Mormon. He told us he would have it finished up in about 4 days. We showed him the promise. If he reads the Book of Mormon and prays about it he will get an answer. I saw his desire. I can't wait to meet with him again! It will either be tomorrow morning or Wednesday!

We are working with some Ward Members too! Two of the families we are working with have missionaries in the field, but the dads are not members. It blows my mind how that is possible, but we hope to help them see the light. Another girl we are working with is 9. Her two older brothers are in their 20s, but they are totally inactive. She has no way to get to church, and we can't figure out a way to get her there. We visited her once with the Primary President as well. She is looking into it also. The primary president here is fantastic as well! She helped us a ton at church with all of those kids!

Because everyone here loves Nutella, and because those little bottles eat money we decided to buy nutella in bulk, and save the Elders here in Durrës money for the next year. 10kgs for 28 dollars. It is a ton!! But it makes for a good decoration in our very empty house! Also it tastes pretty good on toast and other things! We will also be mission legends haha. When you do the math though it was actually a good money saver. It is awesome.

Today for Pday we played capture the flag by the sea with our whole zone. We got a picture. I don't have it yet but hopefully for next week. Those other ones I have are just us making teams and boundaries. South Zone is the best zone! The other ones are our district on the bus on the way to capture the flag. All of the Canadians in the mission are in the south Zone. The others thought it was hilarious every time we said Capture the FLAG. I have a lot of friends here now! We get to know each other pretty well because our mission is so small!

This week we have a very full week planned. We have lots of lessons planned. We have lots of investigators now thank goodness. The Lord has helped us out big time!! We have put in a lot of hours of finding! I just give you the highlights. One I forgot to mention though is two 20 year old cousins. Just thought they would be cool to mention for my cousins out there. Their names are Alteo and Albana. Guy and a girl.

Also, F. from Elbasan is now baptized!! That is very exciting for me!! He got everything in order. You have a picture of me with him. He is the one that was supposed to get baptized right before I left, but didn't.. But now he is!!

I am happy Arizona was so good! Thanks everyone for thoughts and prayers!! I appreciate it a ton!

Take Buddy on Walks! 

Love, Elder Stewart

  

Elder Gray, Elder Stewart and a 14 year old boy named E. He has a rock solid testimony and helps with lessons quite often.

On the bus on P-day on the way to play Capture the Flag.

Making teams for Capture the Flag

That's a lot of Nutella!!!

Elder Stewart's form of decorating. :) I may have to take him to Real Deals when he gets home to spritz up his  living space!

The church in Durres