So sorry I didn't get this email out to you guys yesterday! Things were crazy and kind of still are. So, you all are receiving an untimely email from yours truly. For those of you who aren't familiar with the time zone difference, it is Tuesday morning for me at the moment. :)
Alright homies let's get right to it. So much more has happened in the last week. It's been quite the adventure for us down here in Gjirokastër. Let's get right to the title though shall we? Albania and Greece are literally burning. The fires have been going pretty much since I got here, but they have gotten progressively worse over time. Last Tuesday, there was a large fire very near to Gjiro, and so President and his wife had us evacuate to Vlorë and stay in the empty elders apartment there for a night. Super wild adventure because we left Gjiro after 9 PM and Vlorë is 2 hours away. It kinda worked out well for us though we suppose, because we just had district counsel in Vlorë the next day until we got the clear to head back to our area. I also got to see another beautiful area of the country, because Vlorë is a city right on the coast of the Adriatic. In fact, in our travels we discovered that I've been to almost every area in the 2 Albania zones already in my first 2 weeks here. I only need to visit Shkodër, Elbasan, Berat, Pogradec, and Korça. I have now met the majority of the missionaries in the mission which is super dank. I love how tight we all are.
Let's talk about some missionary work stuff now, shall we? We had some really awesome experiences in the last week that I'd like to share really quick. The first of which is this nice old lady we met in the upper city last Monday night. We were walking back to our apartment at about 9 to get to bed, and we pass by this lady sitting in front of her house. As per usual, Elder Basham and I said hello and also good night, but in my incredible Albanian skills, I accidentally ended up saying good morning. This got us all laughing and this lady ended up starting a good conversation with her. Before we knew it, it was 30 minutes later and she had invited us to come visit her in her home at any time whenever we were passing by again. We took her up on that offer a few days later, and were able to have a wonderful visit with her where we got to know her a lot better, and gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon. She immediately started reading from it and asking us questions. She is such a sweet lady and we are hoping to have a full lesson on the restoration and history of the church with her sometime this week.
Let's talk about the fires again for a second. After getting back to Gjiro, we took a couple journeys up into the villages around us to see the damage and look for service opportunities. We ended up happening upon 2 different government officials working on helping with the logistics of the damages of the fire and we got their contact info! We are hoping to get in touch with them and outline some big service projects for us and maybe even get the church charities involved in meeting the needs of the families whose homes and property burned. Updates definitely to come on that!
Now a quick rundown of P-Day yesterday. We actually had to drive all the way up to Tirana again because I had some embassy work to do for residency and Elder Basham had a doctors appointment for his feet and hands. We drove up Sunday night, and got back home late last night. It is a solid 4 hour drive one way and so we have put a lot of kilometers on our little vehicle in the last 2 weeks. But, the best part about going to Tirana, was that we got to meet up with other missionaries and socialize. I am a very social person and in only being able to effectively socialize with one person these last couple weeks, it has definitely been quite the challenge for me. Just being able to talk to the Elders and Sisters up there was such a party. At one point we even got a bunch of us together to play "Bang!" and that was super dank. I sincerely love all of the missionaries here. Definitely another reason why our mission is the littest of them all (not to mention our mission president is super cool and we get many privileges that other missionaries wouldn't even dream of).
Really quick before I wrap up, here is a little bit on the mail I can receive. The postal system here is whack, and so it is very hard for me to send anything home (not impossible though so it may or may not happen). Basically I have to use the post office in Tirana 4 hours away to send anything, so it won't happen often. But, the good news is that I can still receive anything from you all. Here are the addresses for both packages and letters:
Packages:
Jacob Millsap
P.O Box 2984
Bulevardi "Gjergi Fishta"
Qendra "ALPAS"
Shk Nr 5, Apt Nr 14
Tirana
Albania
Letters:
Jacob Millsap
Bulevardi Gjergi Fishta
Nr 5
Apartmenti Nr 14
Tirana
Albania
It is critical that the address says "Adriatic South Mission" otherwise they won't know who to get it to.
I hope you guys are all doing well! Keep vibing wherever you're at in the world. I love you all and remember you can always reach out to me if you ever need anything. :)
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