Watching General Conf. at the Nield's apartment which is located above church and mission home office. 

Elder Hozja just after he announced his mission call to other missionaries. He's very excited about going to Milan, Italy. He is first member of church in his family. 

This is picture taken on our bus ride and walk home after Gen. Conference. The Mosque of Et'hem Bey. This 18th century mosque is one of the few really old buildings left in Tirana. The minaret was destroyed during the Battle for the Liberation of Tirana and subsequently repaired.  The mosque's status as a cultural monument kept it from being destroyed during the 1960's atheism campaigns of the prior communist government.  It is once again being used from religious purposes. You may remember telling you that in the 60's the Albania communist government declared that Albania was an atheistic state. So today in Albania some people are learning about God for the first time.

Good Morning from Tirana, Albania. Its about 8:00 am here and the sun has not hit the city yet because of the mountains that surround this town, of 600,000 - 800,000 people, are pretty high off to the east. These panarama views are looking south and south-east from our balcony. The top image is looking west without the screen this time.

Walking back this evening from President Nield's home after watching the opening session of General Conference we walked through Skanderbeg Square. This is statue of the Albania national hero. He was actually born Gjergi (george) Kastrioti and was the son of an Albanian chieftain. His father struck a deal with the Ottomans in 1415 allowing the father to stay in power as long as he paid tribute to the Ottomans and sent his son Gjergi to the sultan's court. The Ottomans changed his name to Skender (Alexander) with an honorific ending of "beg".  Skenderbeg defected from the Ottoman army; raised his own army and was able to keep the Ottomans out of Albania for over a quarter of a century. He did this by gathering all the different Albanian clans together. Sounds a little bit like the Scottish clans.  (This picture of Skanderbeg on horse. In background is 18th century Mosque of Et'hem Bey and clock tower built in 1820.)

This is a photo, taken this morning, looking thru screen window from our bed room. The screen may actually help the picture.  We're 7 stories up. Mom has refused to take the elevator every time we've left or come back to our apartment. Elevator is small and the power does go out. This afternoon while visiting Branch President Apostoli, I noticed that the power went out twice. So maybe mom was right in climbing the stairs. The elevator is small too.

This morning Elders Whitaker and Hoxja showed us around town. Elder Hoxja is doing what they call a mini-mission. He's left his home in southern Albania and is here for 6 weeks. He joined the Church just a year ago and is waiting for his mission call. Actually he got his call today. Apparently his parents, who are not members, got the letter from SLC and not knowing what it was opened it. They called him while we were out and asked, "What's this thing about Milan, Italy?"  So he found out from his parents where he is going. He has not let anyone, but me, know about the call but will announce it tomorrow at Sacrament Meeting. He's sworn me to not tell a soul, so by the time you all read this, he'll have announced it to the Saints here. 

(Picture was taken in home of branch president Apostoli, 2nd from left.  His 87 year old mother is on right. They fed all of us. I'm sure it cost him a week's salary or more. Elder Hoxja is on left. Going left to right from President Apostoli is Elder Heil who is heading home this Tuesday, a young convert named Eddie who was a great help today showing us around and Elder Whitaker.)

  The flight from Chicago was a little bumpy, but we were both able to sleep. After a two hour stop over in Vienna, Austria, we landed safely in Tirana, Albania. President John Nield and wife Liz picked mom and I up  at the Tirana Airport.  We spent the day with them. Had a nice Italian lunch, visited mission home and our apartment. The Nields were nice enough to take us to a shopping mall where be bought a number of items for our new home. 

(Yes, they are a little taller.)

After we had repacked all our bags at the MTC, we left our little room and hung this sign on the door nob. Love to all, see you in 18 months.

We went over to the our Albania missionaries tonight to say goodbye. We have really enjoyed being around them these past 10 days. They will follow mom and I to Albania in about 7 days.
Mom and I love them already. You can feel their excitement when ever you're around them. I think they were all jealous mom and I will get to Albania first.
The elders all got haircuts today. In Albania there is a custom that if you see a young man with a new haircut you slap him on the back of the head and wish him good luck. I'm about to receive some good luck from elders Monson, Turley, McGothin and Rispoli.



Of the 10 LDS young men who were attending Harvard as freshman this past year, 6,as pictured, were in the MTC this week. The other 4 either have been here or will come within the month. Third from the left is Jonathan Palmer, your cousin. I think Alyssa, Sarah, Garrick and Meiken will remember Enoch Palmer from Hawaii. We met Jonathan our first day here. He will be a tremendously powerful missionary.



They do feed
thousands of
Missionaries
here at the
MTC. There are 2,300 here this week.







We said good bye to Kamryn tonight. She didn't cry but mom was sure ready to. We already miss her dearly. She's stressing over her French class tonight and was ready for Mom and I to leave.


So by the time you read this Mom and I will be on our way to Albania. Both of us are a little anxious. I can't wait to see if mom really will climb those 7 flights of stairs to our apartment in order to avoid getting stuck in an elevator.
I can't wait to see what food I'll be eating. No number 4 from Del Taco for the next 18 months. But more importantly, I can't wait to share with the young adults of Albania my deep conviction that God lives, He loves us, we are His children, Jesus Christ is His son and the Savior of the World, and that God has restored to the earth His Gospel through a modern day prophet Joseph Smith. This knowledge has made me grateful for all the blessings I enjoy. Let the Albanian Adventure begin!