Merry late Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful experience with your families, friends, and whoever you were with. And if you were alone for some reason, I hope you enjoyed some really quality time by yourself and with God! We all need those experiences. I know for sure that I enjoyed Christmas very much. To be completely honest though, it was hard on me to be so far from my family in a time where I've literally never been apart from them. It was hard not to constantly think of all the memories and the traditions that I so wish I was taking part in. But, I learned very quickly, that regardless of where I am and what I'm doing, Christmas can still be a wonderful experience. Because of the lack of things I was used to, I was able to focus almost entirely upon my Savior and the true meaning of Christmas through the service we did. Though we were given most of Christmas day off if we desired, my companion and I decided we would visit a member to help her out and then afterwards we even ended up helping our branch president deliver gifts. It is definitely a day I will always remember and appreciate.
Something else that was quite strange for me was that Christmas is not a big deal here really at all. On Christmas we would walk around telling everyone "gezuar krishtlindjet!" And they would just respond with a simple half-hearted "oh gezuar". It literally just was a regular day to the Albanians which was quite weird haha. Over here in Eastern Europe the big holiday is new years so not many people celebrate Christmas very much (not to mention its a Muslim country and they don't worship Jesus Christ haha). So, with that in mind I'm kinda hyped for the new year because I'm sure it'll be quite different.
We did some really good work this week. We were able to buckle down and visit quite a few members, several of which were less active. I am putting my best effort into really connecting with this branch to help revive it a little bit. It's definitely kind of dried up with the average attendance of 25-30 people in church when we have 300 members. All of the strong members here get all nostalgic on us talking about how many people used to come every Sunday and how close everyone was. Things have definitely changed due to people moving, not liking someone in church (this happens so much here it's crazy), not feeling like they belong, not having a testimony, etc. There are definitely a lot of reasons for an inactive branch, but overall we are trying to bring back a stronger sense of family. Truly church on Sunday is a place to come for comradery and nourishment after a long week. It's a place to rejoice in each other's success and to comfort in each other's loss. This is what we are trying to encourage. We just pray the branch can begin to grow a little greener.
We also got another exchange in this week. I got to spend a day in Fier with my good ol Elder Qose. I love that guy. He is an absolute beast and I've learned a ton from him. He's definitely someone who has impacted me forever through his example and his teachings. It was a good day down there too and we did some great work together. On top of that, we also made yet another video for our Adriatic South Mission variety show which I will not spoil in this moment since I know that some of our missionaries have access to this email. However, it was a great time. Definitely another one of those experiences I will never forget to say the least.
On the topic of the title, I have two things. First off, because my mission president is awesome, we were allowed to watch "It's a wonderful life" on Sunday. Such a good movie with such a great message. On a similar note, I have been feeling a lot of appreciation for life myself. Life is rarely what we expect it to be, but it truly is wonderful. There are miracles all around us. It's been important for me to try and remember the big picture - God's great work on earth - and that he is in the little details that likely will never be known until the work is done. I'd like to invite you all to try and be a little more grateful for your wonderful life this week and this coming year. We are so lucky to be alive.
Also I got some great new drip today in Tirana. Check out my Northface Gucci collab Hoodie that I snagged for 20$ in the photos. Albania exclusive.
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