Two weeks ago Mom and I took a Preparation Day excursion with the Elders and Sisters from the Tirana 3rd Branch. As usual, it was an exciting 3 hour furgon ride from Tirana. Berat is one of the oldest cities in Albania. Its ancient mosques and churches were protected from the worst ravages of the communist atheism campaign (you may remember that in 1967 Albania declared itself the world's first atheist state and banned the practice of all religions) and in 1976 the communist government designated Berat a "museum city".  This is photograph looking up at the castle wall at the top of the hill. The part of the city you see climbing up the citadel is called "Mangalem" and was the Muslim quarter in the Ottoman times. Christians lived in the citadel itself.
Mom at the entrance to the castle which was built in the 13th century by a Byzantine despot named Michael II Comnenus Doukas.
In side the castle walls with two Albanian women.
There are some 12 churches located inside the castle walls. Apparently none are used for worship purposes and most are considered "museums."  This is picture inside the Church of  St. Mary. It is now the Museum of Onufri. Onufri was a very famous 16th century Albanian painter. The photograph shows 3rd Tirana Branch missionaries with Mom. Behind them a wooden iconostasis (alter screen) carved in 1806.
This is close-up of painting of Madonna and Child by Onufri found in the Church of St. Mary.

This is the close up view of the painting over the entrance to the Church of St. Mary.  
Near the Church of Constantine and Helen built in 1639 there is this very large head of Constantine. Mom is reaching for some banana bread baked by the elders for our trip to Berat. Photo shows Elder Huellet sitting next to Mom and Elder Thackery standing.
Within the citadel's walls there are numerous residences and lots of narrow streets.
Mom standing on the old battlements of the castle with Sisters Kennedy (from Manchester, England) and Waldron (from Ohio).
Just to give you some perspective of the battlements.  This wall goes all the way around the citadel. The first traces of buildings on this very high hill date from the second half of the 4th century B.C when an Illyrian tribe controlled the area. Berat was a very strategically important castle and town because all the trading routes coming from the south (ie Greece and Macedonia etc.) had to come past it. If you controlled the castle, you controlled the trade.

Two weeks ago I went hiking with some of the Elders. They knew about a very large cave up in the mountains between Tirana and Elbason. Mom didn't see a lot of fun happening climbing around a mountain and stayed home.
After a 40 minute hike we found the cave entrance.
Inside the cave which was very "dark and scary".  Lots of bats and some very large rooms. It seemed to me that the cave went back about 1/2 a mile or so into the mountain.
Near the cave was a typical Albanian village. The women of the villages are the real workers. Note the lady on the right.
I got her to stop working, briefly, for a picture. 

Its been a busy couple of weeks. We had our monthly Family Home Evening on June 22nd. The turn out of approximately 30 young adults was a little smaller than normal.  All the Universities in Tirana are holding their final examinations this month.  The school year technically ends mid-July so everyone is very busy.  As usual, Mom and I gave the lesson after which everyone had some of Mom's "famous" banana bread.
After Saturday's Institute class, we had a "Movie and a dinner" night. This is photograph of our apartment kitchen with young adults, Ergina, Marsela (partially hidden), Neti, Rowena and Mirgen helping prepare the dinner.  We served sloppy joes and a greek salad. Popcorn with M&Ms were desert while the movie played.
We also visited the Blind Institute here in Tirana. One of the young men played some classical piano for us and we discussed a future service project.
Mom with some of the young men at the Blind Institute.

On Saturday May 30, 2009 the Elbason chapel was dedicated by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. This is the 2nd LDS Chapel in Albania. Its in a great location on the main road into town.
With Elder Christofferson in Albania we held a Mission Conference. This was the first time, since Mom and I have been here, that the entire mission got together. Photo is peeking into the Elbason chapel with all the missionaries.
Picture of Elbason. It takes about 1 and 1/2 hours to drive from Tirana to Elbason. The road is narrow and very tortuous. If you take a furgon over to Elbason, you just expect that someone on the furgon will get sick.
Getting ready for the mission photograph.
Photograph of the entire Tirana, Albanian Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder and Sister Christofferson are in the center of the photograph. Mom and I are on far right.

Mom and I visited Vlore this past week. The primary purpose was to meet with a hotel owner and finalize our plans for the Albanian YSA Conference to be held September 3rd. Because it also happened to be June 2nd, we celebrated our 37th anniversary looking for Adriatic "Sea Glass". It was a wonderful day in Vlore and we found some awesome sea-glass.



Mom and I having breakfast at the New York Hotel, Vlore, Albania June 2, 2009. Just down the coast from the hotel there was a great big left hander just going off. I know the surfers in the family can appreciate that ankle slapper.  This is the only surf I've seen on the Adriatic Sea (so far).

The water is extremely clear in Vlore. Its a great place to go to and remind us home.

Last week David Walsh, one of my missionary companions while on my South African mission, came through Tirana before heading out on an Italian/Mediterranean cruise. This is picture of David on left and President Leonard Tako in center. President Tako is the Albania Tirana District President for the Church. 

As some of you have noticed, I've found a great looking hat to protect my head from the summer sun. President Neil liked it so much that I got one for him. So this summer in Albania you can tell who the "good guys" are.  They're the guys in the white hats.