As Mom and I are back in our apartment awaiting the beginning of the New Year fireworks, I thought I'd post some pictures of some wonderful Albanian friends. It is hard to explain, but these people get deep into the heart of you. Living in a very difficult situation they still smile and love one another.  Picture to left is of two young ladies from the English class, Elona and Ylmia with their mother.
Ema, Eldorada, Alma and Meri Xhoji.

Three of the Beleshi girls with their mother.

Nexhti and her mother in the computer class.

Getting ready for the New Year. Lamb, anyone?

Teacher at Radostin-Vadhiz village school and students.

Before the Christmas season ends, I thought you might like to hear one verse of "Silent Night" sung in Shqip (Albanian). The video clip is of the Tirana 4th Branch Christmas party held last week.  If you think you recognize that deep baritone voice in the background, its not me. 

With the new year approaching, the fireworks stands are starting to appear around town. Nearly every little store has some assortment of fireworks, but some have what look like bombs and big rockets. What do you think Taylor, Buck? Should I get a couple to launch off the balcony?  Mom is not too excited about the idea, but I'm thinking it would be fun to join in the festivities. 
These next pictures are from the 4th Branch Christmas party. This is the primary (kids from 3 to 11 years of age) table just before they put the food out. 

This is the primary table with all the food on it. Can you image kids eating all of this?  The Albanians love to eat.  When you visit their homes they don't stop feeding you. I've learned never to clean my plate, because the moment I do more food is coming out of the kitchen. If you empty your glass, its refilled before you put it down. Notice Santa is giving me the "thumbs up" sign, because I've been so good this year.

On Christmas morning we had a baptism. Manjola Gjipali asked me some weeks ago to baptize her. Our first Sunday in Albania was the first Sunday she came to Church.  This is picture of "Jola" and her sister Egla.

Just before the baptismal service started Elder Whittier came up to me and said that the propane tank used to heat the water in the baptismal font had run out of gas. I asked him how cold was the water. His comment will go down in history as one of the greatest understatements of all time, "Its luke warm."

Well, it wasn't even close to luke warm. As I stepped into the font, I thought I would die. It was unbelievably cold. Lola was brave, but the first time I went to baptize her, her natural reaction to the bitterly cold water was to jolt up. She wasn't totally immersed so, needless to say, the ordinance had to be preformed twice. It took me the rest of the day to warm up. This was a Christmas day I'll never forget. Just telling you about it makes my toes cold.

On Christmas Eve we walked up to the Qendor (also known as Skanderbeg Square) to sing Christmas carols with the missionaries. We sang for nearly an hour right under the Skanderbeg statue.
The Qendor, Tirana city center, has taken on a Christmas spirit with erected tree and note the lights on the Tirana International Hotel in background.  The opera house is on the right and you can see the 18th Century mosque just at the edge of photograph on right.
Mom really likes the diversity you find on the streets of Tirana. As we were out visiting young single adult families on Christmas Eve day, we came across these cows. Mom took a liking to these two with their big brown eyes. Then we realized they were tied up in front of a butcher's shop. The sign over the door says it all, "Mish I Fresket" -- Fresh Meat.  I'm sure these guys were destined for someone's table on Christmas day.

MY CHRISTMAS EVE MIRACLE, 2008

We were told that in Albania when winter comes, your toes don't thaw until spring.  I had brought my boots from home; but when I had tights and two pairs of thick socks on, they pinched my toes so badly that every step was painful.  The day before Christmas, after we had already walked 5 miles, we were on our way to visit the family of one of our Young Single Adults in the outskirts of Tirana.  Typically, the dirt roads outside the city are very wet and muddy and cold.  When I thought I could not take one more step, we found a tiny, rustic, second-hand shoe shop the size of an average walk-in closet.  Inside, I could barely see two very old wooden tables loaded with a variety of well-used shoes.  On top of one, there was a pair of boots with large square toes and thick rubber soles that looked nearly new.  I tried them on, and they fit perfectly.  We paid the owner 1000 lek ($10), I put my boots from home in a bag and walked back out into the daylight with a sigh of relief.  On our way home, I had the wonderful thought that Heavenly Father did not want my feet to hurt on Christmas Eve.  By the end of the day, we had walked at least 10 miles.  The comfort of the last five miles was part of a Christmas Eve miracle.  When we arrived home after dark, I took off the boots; and for the first time, I saw the brand name on the inside label--"Spirit."  God loves us.  He knows our every need.  Look for daily miracles.

Mom and guard who showed us around the 13th Century Byzantine monastery located at Apollonia. 
Located in and arranged around the cloisters of the monastery are statutes and stelas (gravestones) from the early Roman city of Apollonia.
Views of portion of the Byzantine church.
There are no longer any monks here.  The Church is located in the center of  a large court yard around which is a monastery and cloisters. Photo shows church on left with monastery on right. 
In the foreground are the foundations of Roman homes of Apollonia. Beyond is the facade of a bouleuterion. Apparently this facade had collapsed many years before this site was excavated in the 1920's and 30's. Just to the left of the bouleuterion is a portion of a Roman theatre. 

Near Fier, Albania on a hill high above the Muzeqe plain is the ruined city of Apollonia. It was founded by the Corinthians around 600 B.C. It was for many years one of the most important ports along the Albanian coast. But some 800 or 900 years later the river Vjosa shifted its course to the south and Apollonia lost its harbor.
Looking down from the top of Apollonia you see some small Albanian villages. Note also the old bunkers on the far side of the valley.  As I've mentioned before there are bunkers all over this country.
At Apollonia there is also a Bysantine monastery from the 13th Century. The rock (front right as well as those that can been seen in the distance below the monastery were part of the walls which surrounded the city.
The facade of a bouleuterion, built in the 2nd century AD as the administrative center of the city of Apollonia. This important Roman city was awarded the special status of "free and immune city" by Caesar Augustus,  meaning, it was not liable to the Roman emperor for taxes. Augustus was studying here when he had to rush back to Rome to claim power after the Ides of March, 44 B.C. when Julius Caesar was assassinated.  
Apollonia elected its own local authorities. Its everyday language was Greek, not Latin and it had its own coinage.  Until the 1st Century B.C. the city's silver coins were used to pay Roman legionaries stationed in the Balkans. 

After visiting Apollonia we headed back to Tirana, but made one stop at the 18th Century Church of St. Mary, part of a monastery at Ardenia a small town between Fier and Lushnja.
The first church was built here during the 13th century and the monastery gate house dates from 1474. The existing church is the long cream colored building in the middle and right of the above photograph. The white bell tower was built in 1925. I had read about this church and monastery in a travel book about Albania. What makes the church so important is that inside there are some very special paintings done by Kostandin and Athanas Zografi. Their surname, Zografi, was acquired while painting frescoes in Greece. In Greek the surname means "painter". These brothers were known throughout the southern Balkans during their lifetimes. 



Here is photograph of the LDS Church meeting place in Fier, Albania. Mom and I drove down there to speak in their Sacrament meeting. Edmond Dukaj and his wife Valentina drove us there just as they had down last month when we went to to Elbason to speak. The Church meets in a small four story building. The first floor holds some shops, the 2nd floor is where the Church holds its meetings and the 3rd and 4th floors contain apartments. You should be able to make out the name of the Church posted on the balcony of the 2nd floor. There were about 30 in attendance at the meeting. Eight of those were missionaries. Its a pretty small branch.  Fier was a city built during the Communist period and is the center of what is left of Albania's industrial heartland. Its about a 2 hour drive south of Tirana. So to be on time for a 10:00 am Sacrament meeting we left Tirana at 7:30. 

Here is a little Christmas greeting from Mom.

As the storms come in from the Adriatic Sea, we can watch them approach from the West.  Every now and again there is a bit of a surprise, in this case a faint rainbow. I hope you can see it.

Even the dogs take cover when it rains in Tirana. 

We've got the foosball game up and running at Institute. Its become quite a gathering place. Mom and Ina take on the Sisters Rose and Sieman.  Just to show you its not all fun and games out here. This is picture of mom walking the streets of Durres after a little rain has fallen. You've got to be careful of the puddles. Some are a lot deeper than they look.

We had Family Home Evening in our apartment this past Monday. Mom and I gave a little lesson and we all sang some Christmas songs. It was really well attended by the young adults -- close to 40. The hot chocolate and homemade pumpkin bread were a huge success.
After the Wednesday night institute class, we handed out the CD's our friends from home had sent for each of the YSAs.  Behind me is Nettie, our Institute president.  Our translator and good friend, Edi, is the one in the middle with a grey t-shirt.

Mom and I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and also give you a quick tour of the apartment.  We've had a very busy week. I'm always surprised when the weekend is upon us. Hope you like the quick tour of the apartment. Mom has made it her home.

The Muslims celebrated a holiday this past week called Bajrum. It is celebrated in remembrance of Abraham and the near sacrifice of Ishmael. Note the Muslims believe it was Ishmael and not Isaac who Abraham took to the land of Moriah.  This video is taken from our balcony. One of the things Muslims will do on this holiday is walk around town beating a drum.  Hope you will enjoy "our room with a view" video. You will also hear a lot of car honking. the Albanians don't use turn signals when driving. They honk and they honk a lot. Mom and I are awakened every morning with the sounds of honking. It continues all day and into the night. 

We've had a lot of rain this week, but you'd never know it from these pictures taken, December 11, 2008. When the sun comes out its spectacular here in Tirana. It remains cold and Mom, seeing the sun forgets to bring her gloves and scarf. Picture above is taken looking east towards Mount Dijte along the Lana, the small river that runs through town. 
Looking south towards the Qendor. Building on left is the Tirana International Hotel. Yellow buildings on right are government buildings which were built by the Italians when they controlled Albania before WWII.
Mom with friend at the Galleria, a small mall in Tirana. Notice that the beard is a little bit off.
Thursday was also Zone Conference. This pictures shows more that half the missionary force here in Albania. Kneeling on the front row are Sisters Beleshi and Nygrin and Elders Fisher and Owen. Nygrin, Fisher and Owen will be heading back to the US on January 6th. Fisher is from San Diego County. 
On Tuesday, December 16, 2008, Kitio Herve' was baptized in Tirana, Albania. I spoke at the baptism. Kitio plays soccer for one of the professional teams here in Albania. He speaks French, English and Albanian besides his native tongue of Bafa. 

Picture is of inside of Tirana, Albania Post Office. There are no lines, just a crowd trying to get to two or three open windows. On this day many were trying to get Christmas cards in the post for overseas deliveries.
Mom and I have received a couple of invitations for a Christmas meal. I'm a little worried that we could get that famous Albania dish: sheep head soup.  My fears are only being confirmed as I I walk around town and see more dead sheep hanging in the butchers' windows.
The Christmas spirit can be felt in the mission office. Assistants to the President, Elders Lindsay and Owen with office Christmas tree.
We're still feeding the missionaries after our District meetings every Friday. From left to right: Elders Humphries, Kushlan, Owen, Hamilton, Lindsay, Mom, Edie Cuchi, Monson, Whittier and Hunt. We call our Friday lunches, "Fiesta Fridays".  We feel very close to these great young men.
Downtown Tirana, Albania at the city center known as the Qendor. Traffic crosses this area at the craziest angles and directions. Every car, bus, truck, and motorcycle is moving in this picture. Now throw in a few brave pedestrians trying to cross here and we're talking chaos. Its quite fun for me to try and get across the Qendor, but mom gets a little worried sometimes.

The last posted video was such a hit, here are two more. On right is panoramic view of Qendor with friends, Eldorado and Alma. On left is local bar where things were pretty festive as we passed