Happy New Year 2010 from Tirana, Albania. Its hard to believe that so many rockets can be fired off in so short a time, but again this year Mom and I were not disappointed with the New Year's celebration. From our balcony this 5 minute video will give you a feeling of New Year in Albania.

Mom and I will ride the bus if we have to go a long way or are running late. When we do ride the bus we'll talk to everyone on board. This is very "unAlbanian" to talk to people on buses. Its actually quite fun. We'll hand out pass-along cards or invitations to our English classes. This is photograph of Mom (you can just make her out) talking to about 4-5 Albanian women this past week. It is usually "standing room only" on bus rides.
Christmas Eve we visited the Beleshi family. Their four daughters are members of the Church. One of the Christmas presents given to Bledi, the oldest brother was a "çifteli". Brother Beleshi had not played one in years, but entertained us with some wonderful songs. The çifteli is a 2 metal string instrument which requires a lot of dexterity. I gave it a try, but couldn't get it to sing like Brother Beleshi.
Beleshi Family gathering Christmas Eve. From left to right: Blerina, Brisi, Mom, Mother Beleshi, Father Beleshi, Bledi and Almira. I can't even begin to tell you how much we had to eat. There were stuffed peppers, turkey, byrek (a baked meat pie), pickled vegetables, nuts, frozen vegetables, fruits, meat, breads, and baklava for desert. Albanians expect you to eat everything and are devastated if you don't clean your plate and ask for more.
Mid-day Christmas we had our district of missionaries over for lunch. from left to right: Sister Boyer, Elder Layton, Elder Rispoli, Elder Turley, Mom, Sister Bentley, Elder Scandin, Elder Muglesson, and Elder Seevers. After dinner we played tile-rummy, Mom's favorite game. Photograph is taken in our front room/kitchen.

With Christmas here and the New Year around the corner, many Albanians will be preparing traditional meals. This will include a very fresh turkey. These guys are on the way to the market. It's a long walk, but they only have to go one way.
On Sunday December 20, 2009, mom and I drove to Lushnje, a small city about 1 1/2 hours south of Tirana, to speak at Sacrament meeting.  There were only 6 members present in this little branch. On the way down we had to stop for the only train in Albania. As you can see its pretty old, but better yet the crossing arm is hand operated by this fellow. He watches for the train to come and then lowers the arm. After the train has passed, he'll push the arm back up. Important job, but low pay. 
On December 19th we held the YSA Christmas party. It was a lot of fun. Above photograph shows mom, Alma, Elba and Neti watching Mom's T.V. appearance. Everyone applauded when it was over. They had never seen so much publicity for the Church in Albania.
We played a Christmas trivia game. That's me up front being the MC. I was very surprised that none of the young adults knew the name of Santa's most famous reindeer. There are a lot of Christmas traditions which have not made it to this predominantly muslim country. Also the nearly 50 years of communist rule eliminated all public Christmas celebrations.
We decorated sugar cookies. Something that none of our young adults had done before. Here showing off their creations are, from left to right, Mira, Romena, Bruna, Inva and Sonja.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Mom and I wish you all a Merry Christmas from Tirana, Albania. For the last 2 weeks we've had rain and cold. Today the sun was out, but it was colder. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. We just checked Santa's list, and mom and I made it along with all 9 of our grandchildren. We love you all!

Last Tuesday, December 8, 2009 Mom appeared on Albanian television. One of the young adults, Fatjona Priska, is a reporter for Ora News. Almost every morning she will interview someone on the morning news and Monday evening she asked Mom if she'd like to come and talk about Christmas traditions. We were a bit worried about wearing the missionary badge, however, as you'll see it was perfect. There's more to the interview than just this clip and in the next couple of days I'll see if I can post more. Mom was on for over 15 minutes. We've already been told that some people here in Tirana saw the interview.

Thursday, November 26, 2009 was Thanksgiving. Its not an Albanian holiday, but the missionaries all got together and had a great meal. Sister Neil, the mission president's wife, put the feast together. The missionaries were responsible for the deserts. Above photograph shows a very proud Elder Turley holding his 24 inch "deep dish" apple pie. It was delicious!
The Elders and Sisters lined up holding their deserts. We had everything from pumpkin and apple pies to rich chocolate cake.
The Thanksgiving feast was held in the basement of the mission home. Standing, in white shirt, is Elder Ditmer from Indiana.
Heading into the basement for the Thanksgiving meal, Elders Kushlan, Hagen, Garn and Smedley.
I knew it was getting close to Thanksgiving when I saw this fellow taking his birds home. Actually, towards the end of the year, you start seeing live turkeys on the streets of Tirana for sale. The big Albanian meal when turkeys are served is New Year's. Can the end of 2009 be that close?

We held our annual YSA "Clean the Building" service project this past Saturday. The Institute meets in the same building as the Tirana 2nd and 4th Branches. The building gets a pretty good work out from all the people that use it. It does get cleaned every week, but once a year we try to give it a deep cleaning. Above photograph is of Roan, Neti, Donald and Besmir cleaning chairs in one of the class rooms.
The guys really help clean up the outside. Around the outside of the building in a space that is not seen, people will sometimes throw their junk. Besmir and Amarildo hauling some junk away.
Alma and Elona cleaning the kitchen cabinets. This March Alma will leave on a her mission to Salt Lake City, Utah. For 18 months, she will be one of the sister missionaries on Temple Square.
After spending a couple of hours cleaning, we all sat down and had a pizza and ice cream lunch.