Hey what's up? Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving Day! I did!
So,
we first had mission conference in the morning, pretty much where
President Ford talked
about the importance of teaching, and like two weeks ago, challenged us
to 20 lessons a week. It was really good though, the Ford's are awesome. I just
gotta say, and I know I have already said this, but Brits are
hilarious. The stuff that Elder Boydell jokes about is downright funny. It's so great, I love them. I unfortunately could not get any pictures of the talent
show because my camera died. The entire
mission was there, so I have met everyone now. The furthest? (a missionary traveled for the conference) I don't
know, probably the missionaries in Macedonia or Montenegro, I don't
remember what city is open in Montenegro, but they came down the night
before.
Sounds like Thanksgiving was good. Yes, we had stuffing. In fact, I
eat stuffing almost every week because the Boydells almost always make
it for Sunday lunch. It's funny, because the people that made the food
(for Thanksgiving) were the Fords and the senior couples, and I think more than half the
couples are either British or Irish (the Fords did a lot of recruiting),
but it was really good.
Oh, the turkey bowl, oh how I miss it, as well as 7-11 breakfast, but it's all good. (Family tradition: play in the turkey bowl on Thanksgiving morning with other young men, fathers and members of the ward followed by a trip to 7-11 for a breakfast of donuts, slurpees and hot dogs.)
(I have a clock at home set to Albanian time) When you look at the clock and wonder what I'm doing, assuming when its
the daytime in Virginia, for the most part I am probably sleeping,
otherwise if you look now I am on the email.
(Has the weather started to cool down?) We're doing good, actually it hasn't gotten cold yet, it's been very
disappointing. I'm wearing shorts right now. President Ford told us
we're in for a very harsh winter, yet it's almost winter and it's just a
very cool temperature. Albanians think it's bitter cold, though, they
see us only in suits and they're like, "A s'keni ftohte?" (you're not
cold?) and we're just like, "Jo fare." And then they're like
"marshala" (oh my gosh). That's actually turkish, they stole that
phrase.
Ok, dad:
1) Well, the zone leaders (the other companionship
in Elbasan) are in Elbasan have a car, so we went to Tirana with them.
No, the senior couple's car only has 6. (Not clear, will ask next week) I have seen train tracks, but
have not seen a train yet.
2) Christmas isn't celebrated too much, but New Year's Eve is gonna
be a party. I have been told it's insane. We're already told to not
go out that day, so we'll chill at the zone leaders house, and then this
member's house is on the top of a building, so we're gonna go there and
sit at the top of the building and watch the fireworks
go off.
3) Yeah, Sister Ford told us there will be more and more
missionaries coming in the next couple transfers. President Ford said he doesn't plan on opening any other cities though
while he's president, so he's gonna be beefing up a couple cities in
Albania, and hopefully Macedonia and Montenegro will start to pick up
soon, and then more missionaries can be put in there (only one city is
open in both countries).
Alright, this past week. As I said, we had mission conference, and
then we ate food, and then talent show, and then we had a testimony
meeting where all the dying (the ones going home after this transfer)
missionaries all were told to get up, and then all the missionaries who
have been reassigned to this mission from the Adriatic North to go up. 2
Serbian speakers came down in April, both were set with an Albanian
speaker to open up both Macedonia and Montenegro, and now one of them is an Assistant, and in 6 months has become fluent in
Albanian, it's ridiculous, but he's cool. We just got another
missionary from Serbia to go up in Macedonia, and he's really cool too, he's got about 10 months left. We get our
first Serbian speaker called to this mission in January, and I'm
assuming he'll go straight to Montenegro, since that's the only country
that's almost completely Serbian speaking (Macedonia is about 50-50).
And then, right after that, we went on exchanges with the zone leaders
the next day. I was with Elder Lewis, and Elder Knight was with Elder Kay.
Elder Lewis has about 4 months left. It was fun though, a good experience. And yeah,
this week, again, we're gonna try to get 20 lessons done, so that'll be
good, but nothing out of the ordinary happening.
Well, that's about it. Enjoy this week, and enjoy all the Christmas stuff that's gonna happen.
Ju dua,
Elder Palmer
*
"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."
Monday, November 26, 2012
Monday, November 19, 2012
2012 November 19 email
Hello all.
From what I have heard, we can skype for at least an hour, but I have heard missionaries go on for like 2-2.5 hours, so we'll have time. I will be in Elbasan, most likely chilling at the Boydell's house, and then we'll probably go to an internet cafe and skype you, don't exactly know what time yet I'll let you know at a later time. It'll probably be through skype, but that's ok because I created a skype account back when I was normal so you can probably just use that and I'll use an account that the mission gives me.
Well, I did not get my 'Albanized' nametag yet, and I'm disappointed. It's going to be spelled 'Pallmer,' except the 'e' will have 2 dots above it, so that will be cool, and definitely make the difference while I am proselyting.
I'm glad you like the pictures, I can see the ones you sent me, looks like a good time was had.
(Tell us about the orphanage by the church) There are probably quite a lot of orphans in it, and between 4-10 come each week, so it really helps our church attendance as we are trying to prepare for a stake next year. Yeah, since missionaries can't touch them because it's not allowed we mostly just tell them that they need to be quiet and they usually don't like that, but some of the girls sit by them and they're usually more quiet. They're all little kids.
Yeah, I'll make sure to get the talent show recorded, I haven't seen Elder Boydell do his version of Jake the Peg yet, but apparently in England he is well known for it, so Thanksgiving is going to be a fun day. On Thanksgiving the entire mission is going to Tirana for mission conference and then for dinner, and then the talent show, and then we'll go back to Elbasan at like 6 or something. Enjoy Thanksgiving, and the Pie thing, I hope that's a good time.
Sounds like the temple trip was fun, I remember when a temple was near where I was inhabited, but no, not now. That's cool about the room in the DC and LA temple, DC by far has the best temple in the world, even though Elder Knight keeps trying to tell me that the Laie Hawaii temple is better, I'm gonna have to call a big fat 'me kismet' (maybe, but pretty much means 'no') on that. (I have no idea what this means, but he hasn't been to Hawaii so he can't really compare the two. It is Hawaii afterall.)
Ok, dad, you have the turn.
1) Until Rome Temple is finished, we are in the Frankfurt, Germany district. Yeah. I think we try to get 2 trips to the temple every year for the members, and if it's their first time the church will pay for it, otherwise they pay their own way.
2) No, 'xh' makes a 'j' sounds. So jajee, I guess. I don't think it's offensive, I think it's what they're known as by the Albanian people, but if they appear as an 'old-timer,' they're a xhaxhi. We don't call them that, we say, 'Zoteri,' which means 'mister.' It's more respectful. I have no idea for women
3) I'm really not sure for phones, because we'll be in Elbasan, I don't know where we'll be able to access any phones that can do international. And as I said, I don't really know much about the times at this point.
Yeah, these people are talking a little bit about 12/21/12, that's why I was asking, because I wasn't sure how the people in the states are doing as it approaches.
Jake, I told you to stop lying to me. (Jake tells Scott he does not have a girl friend.) Do work in Churchball.
Andrea, when you say 'down there,' where the heck is that? I think I am to the right of you, not below you.
Ok, sports real quick. Sorry about the U. The Jazz won some games but can be better, understandable. From what you said, sounds like Randy Foye is pretty dang good. Cards lost, but Skins won, ok, 1-2, not bad at all.
Alright, this me and this last week. So, we went to Tirana, and did midway training. That was fun, but President Ford gave us an assignment. We needed to have 20 lessons this week, and that included just going to members houses, if need be, and that was only 3 of them. The other 17 were with investigators and less active members. He did this because he said we needed to be teaching and not finding. Language is getting better, pretty much understand the gist of what people are saying when I talk to them now, so that's good.
Ok, I think that's about it for this week. Enjoy your Thanksgiving, and that pie thing, and 3 days off school and work and whatever else you all are doing.
Ju dau!
Elder Palmer
From what I have heard, we can skype for at least an hour, but I have heard missionaries go on for like 2-2.5 hours, so we'll have time. I will be in Elbasan, most likely chilling at the Boydell's house, and then we'll probably go to an internet cafe and skype you, don't exactly know what time yet I'll let you know at a later time. It'll probably be through skype, but that's ok because I created a skype account back when I was normal so you can probably just use that and I'll use an account that the mission gives me.
Well, I did not get my 'Albanized' nametag yet, and I'm disappointed. It's going to be spelled 'Pallmer,' except the 'e' will have 2 dots above it, so that will be cool, and definitely make the difference while I am proselyting.
I'm glad you like the pictures, I can see the ones you sent me, looks like a good time was had.
(Tell us about the orphanage by the church) There are probably quite a lot of orphans in it, and between 4-10 come each week, so it really helps our church attendance as we are trying to prepare for a stake next year. Yeah, since missionaries can't touch them because it's not allowed we mostly just tell them that they need to be quiet and they usually don't like that, but some of the girls sit by them and they're usually more quiet. They're all little kids.
Yeah, I'll make sure to get the talent show recorded, I haven't seen Elder Boydell do his version of Jake the Peg yet, but apparently in England he is well known for it, so Thanksgiving is going to be a fun day. On Thanksgiving the entire mission is going to Tirana for mission conference and then for dinner, and then the talent show, and then we'll go back to Elbasan at like 6 or something. Enjoy Thanksgiving, and the Pie thing, I hope that's a good time.
Sounds like the temple trip was fun, I remember when a temple was near where I was inhabited, but no, not now. That's cool about the room in the DC and LA temple, DC by far has the best temple in the world, even though Elder Knight keeps trying to tell me that the Laie Hawaii temple is better, I'm gonna have to call a big fat 'me kismet' (maybe, but pretty much means 'no') on that. (I have no idea what this means, but he hasn't been to Hawaii so he can't really compare the two. It is Hawaii afterall.)
Ok, dad, you have the turn.
1) Until Rome Temple is finished, we are in the Frankfurt, Germany district. Yeah. I think we try to get 2 trips to the temple every year for the members, and if it's their first time the church will pay for it, otherwise they pay their own way.
2) No, 'xh' makes a 'j' sounds. So jajee, I guess. I don't think it's offensive, I think it's what they're known as by the Albanian people, but if they appear as an 'old-timer,' they're a xhaxhi. We don't call them that, we say, 'Zoteri,' which means 'mister.' It's more respectful. I have no idea for women
3) I'm really not sure for phones, because we'll be in Elbasan, I don't know where we'll be able to access any phones that can do international. And as I said, I don't really know much about the times at this point.
Yeah, these people are talking a little bit about 12/21/12, that's why I was asking, because I wasn't sure how the people in the states are doing as it approaches.
Jake, I told you to stop lying to me. (Jake tells Scott he does not have a girl friend.) Do work in Churchball.
Andrea, when you say 'down there,' where the heck is that? I think I am to the right of you, not below you.
Ok, sports real quick. Sorry about the U. The Jazz won some games but can be better, understandable. From what you said, sounds like Randy Foye is pretty dang good. Cards lost, but Skins won, ok, 1-2, not bad at all.
Alright, this me and this last week. So, we went to Tirana, and did midway training. That was fun, but President Ford gave us an assignment. We needed to have 20 lessons this week, and that included just going to members houses, if need be, and that was only 3 of them. The other 17 were with investigators and less active members. He did this because he said we needed to be teaching and not finding. Language is getting better, pretty much understand the gist of what people are saying when I talk to them now, so that's good.
Ok, I think that's about it for this week. Enjoy your Thanksgiving, and that pie thing, and 3 days off school and work and whatever else you all are doing.
Ju dau!
Elder Palmer
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
2012 November 11 email
Hello? How are you good? With health? With Strength? That's what we
say to xhaxhis (old men, I think that's how it's spelled) while street
contacting.
Alright, I'm just gonna say this now, because I have been meaning to tell y'all this for a while. Things are a little different here than the Congo. (Where his brother served a mission) On Christmas, we will be skyping, not phonecalling. So, get that skype account created so I'll know who to call.
Sweet, thanks for the box, I'm pretty excited for it, I'll let you know about the price thing when I can. (Boxed mailed with Christmas/birthday) Dang, they start school late. (Siblings don't have to be back to school until 1/7) When does winter break begin? 12/21/12? That's a sick joke if the world really does end? Is there more talk about 12/21/12 now that it's getting closer?
Well, I just figured out that I can send pictures through the wolverine, so I'm sending a ton today to y'all. Yeah, you'll have a ton of emails today. Sorry.
Yeah I just checked out the blog. I have no idea where Thessalonia is specifically. So, as far as Alabama goes, I don't know anyone who's in the field now from Alabama, but there is an RM from Alabama who served in Albania. In fact, he actually lived with Sang last fall, he goes by the name of "Freddy," he volunteered a few times in the TRC when I was in the MTC. Yeah, that Elder from Australia is Elder Woods, he's training Elder Finklea in Tirana right now, haven't really talked to him much, but he seems cool.
So, are you telling me that the Ford Flex is a car that you are considering buying now? (No, just rented it for the weekend.) I don't know cars at all, so let me know.
So, yeah, we had that exact same lesson yesterday in church, ("Kindness" in the George Albert Smith manual) and in fact, I taught the lesson. I am now the Elders Quorum Instructor every 2nd and 3rd Sunday of each month. Man, I thought street contacting every day would take away anxiety of teaching, but no, I taught in butchered Albanian, it was alright. It was tough involving the members, so in the end, I felt like I was just teaching the missionaries, which was weird, but apparently I did ok.
So, you said it was 12:20 in Virginia when you wrote this, eh? That means it was 6:20 here. We changed time too when you changed time, so I still was asleep for ten more minutes.
Ok, dad:
1) I really don't know how the YSA works because the missionaries don't really do anything with it, but they have an institute every Saturday at 4:30, I believe. But, I think the YSA does have a lot of activities that involve the entire country, there's not enough people in just Elbasan to have an activity.
2) There are like 10 youth in the branch, and there is seminary, and the seminary teacher is 18, she's awesome, she's beginning her mission papers in January.
3) There are like 2 primary kids in the branch, but there's an orphanage right next to the building where they just walk in and we don't do anything as long as they're quiet, and then they usually do primary.
So, for my quick opinion on sports, all I can say is I am happy that things are going the way they are for the Lakers. Take that, Laker bandwagon fans. Of course BYU wins, we're playing a bunch of scrubs now. How's the basketball team?
So, it's snowing like crazy in Utah, eh? Dangit, because last year was terrible as far as snow goes in Utah. Grandma and Grandpa, thank you for helping me get that coat, it is dang useful and convenient. No, they don't have Thanksgiving in Albania, but we're celebrating it in Tirana next Thursday, which also happens to be mission conference.
Ok, so my time to shine. So, yeah, this last week we had the baptism of the century, 2 girls, after 2 years of waiting. I think we had 14 missionaries there, all who either served in Elbasan or are just their companions, and President and Sister Ford came and presided over it. It was awesome. We also committed 2 other people to baptism, We're also working with this one girl, a media referral, who likes the church, but she has a ton of questions. She's awesome, though, and really smart.
So, this week, tomorrow I am actually going to Tirana for midway training. By the way, I just gotta say, Brits are absolutely hilarious. Just saying. Next week, at Thanksgiving, we are having a talent show, and each district has about 7-8 minutes to do something, so Elder Boydell is doing something called "Jake the Peg." Look it up. It is funny. The rest of us will be singing 'eedle eedly um' in the background while he does the main part. It's absolutely hilarious.
Well, that's about it for this week, enjoy the pictures I sent, it's a good thing I discovered this. See ya next week!
Ju dua,
Elder Palmer
Alright, I'm just gonna say this now, because I have been meaning to tell y'all this for a while. Things are a little different here than the Congo. (Where his brother served a mission) On Christmas, we will be skyping, not phonecalling. So, get that skype account created so I'll know who to call.
Sweet, thanks for the box, I'm pretty excited for it, I'll let you know about the price thing when I can. (Boxed mailed with Christmas/birthday) Dang, they start school late. (Siblings don't have to be back to school until 1/7) When does winter break begin? 12/21/12? That's a sick joke if the world really does end? Is there more talk about 12/21/12 now that it's getting closer?
Well, I just figured out that I can send pictures through the wolverine, so I'm sending a ton today to y'all. Yeah, you'll have a ton of emails today. Sorry.
Yeah I just checked out the blog. I have no idea where Thessalonia is specifically. So, as far as Alabama goes, I don't know anyone who's in the field now from Alabama, but there is an RM from Alabama who served in Albania. In fact, he actually lived with Sang last fall, he goes by the name of "Freddy," he volunteered a few times in the TRC when I was in the MTC. Yeah, that Elder from Australia is Elder Woods, he's training Elder Finklea in Tirana right now, haven't really talked to him much, but he seems cool.
So, are you telling me that the Ford Flex is a car that you are considering buying now? (No, just rented it for the weekend.) I don't know cars at all, so let me know.
So, yeah, we had that exact same lesson yesterday in church, ("Kindness" in the George Albert Smith manual) and in fact, I taught the lesson. I am now the Elders Quorum Instructor every 2nd and 3rd Sunday of each month. Man, I thought street contacting every day would take away anxiety of teaching, but no, I taught in butchered Albanian, it was alright. It was tough involving the members, so in the end, I felt like I was just teaching the missionaries, which was weird, but apparently I did ok.
So, you said it was 12:20 in Virginia when you wrote this, eh? That means it was 6:20 here. We changed time too when you changed time, so I still was asleep for ten more minutes.
Ok, dad:
1) I really don't know how the YSA works because the missionaries don't really do anything with it, but they have an institute every Saturday at 4:30, I believe. But, I think the YSA does have a lot of activities that involve the entire country, there's not enough people in just Elbasan to have an activity.
2) There are like 10 youth in the branch, and there is seminary, and the seminary teacher is 18, she's awesome, she's beginning her mission papers in January.
3) There are like 2 primary kids in the branch, but there's an orphanage right next to the building where they just walk in and we don't do anything as long as they're quiet, and then they usually do primary.
So, for my quick opinion on sports, all I can say is I am happy that things are going the way they are for the Lakers. Take that, Laker bandwagon fans. Of course BYU wins, we're playing a bunch of scrubs now. How's the basketball team?
So, it's snowing like crazy in Utah, eh? Dangit, because last year was terrible as far as snow goes in Utah. Grandma and Grandpa, thank you for helping me get that coat, it is dang useful and convenient. No, they don't have Thanksgiving in Albania, but we're celebrating it in Tirana next Thursday, which also happens to be mission conference.
Ok, so my time to shine. So, yeah, this last week we had the baptism of the century, 2 girls, after 2 years of waiting. I think we had 14 missionaries there, all who either served in Elbasan or are just their companions, and President and Sister Ford came and presided over it. It was awesome. We also committed 2 other people to baptism, We're also working with this one girl, a media referral, who likes the church, but she has a ton of questions. She's awesome, though, and really smart.
So, this week, tomorrow I am actually going to Tirana for midway training. By the way, I just gotta say, Brits are absolutely hilarious. Just saying. Next week, at Thanksgiving, we are having a talent show, and each district has about 7-8 minutes to do something, so Elder Boydell is doing something called "Jake the Peg." Look it up. It is funny. The rest of us will be singing 'eedle eedly um' in the background while he does the main part. It's absolutely hilarious.
Well, that's about it for this week, enjoy the pictures I sent, it's a good thing I discovered this. See ya next week!
Ju dua,
Elder Palmer
Monday, November 5, 2012
2012 November 5th email
Hello, how's it going?
Well, it's good to hear that (Hurricane) Sandy did not affect home too much, and I have actually heard a lot about New York and New Jersey, the Albanians pay quite attention to what goes on in America, and I'm gonna keep the people there in my prayers.
For other stuff that I might want, I would probably like some sweats, because it's gonna be getting really cold here real soon. And maybe some skittles, the ones in the light blue or purple bag, if I have to be specific. As far as like coats and stuff, I think I'm ok with that stuff because that coat I got from the missionary mall is incredible. (Yeah!)
So, the move last week was good, things went pretty smoothly. So, simply, we just switched YSA buildings. We actually have a legit church building right now, for the time being at least. Our apartment is separate from the other church buildings, so we didn't move houses. The purpose of the YSA building is for FHE every Wednesday and to teach investigators.
For English classes, there is beginning, intermediate, and advanced English. Most are in intermediate English, but Elder Knight and I taught Beginning, but we don't have English this week since we moved buildings.
I don't think anyone else in my district has a blog.
Ok, that makes sense now about Dave, well tell him I say 'yo' and to send me the baby pictures. Finally, I can be an uncle-in-law. (Getting married in November....)
So, you (Mom) went tracting to talk about the Mormon Presidential candidate with 2 other Mormons, eh? That's funny.
I've heard from a few friends from school who are in the field now, they're doing really good I hear. I lost Colin's address, could you send me that?
So, right now, I am in Alma 35. The Book of Alma is legit, I love it. This is the first time I'm reading the Book of Mormon (with a purpose, I guess, I've read it twice before but I didn't pay attention), and it's awesome like actually knowing the stories in them and when someone asks you about those stories you actually know what's going on, because before I started I didn't know jack, and I could really see the difference.
Jake, glad you liked band, write Michael Jordan and send him my congratulations for that 1 win, here's hoping for a few more.
Andrea, glad you love band so much that you don't get bored because Mr. Swartz (the man) is yelling at someone, that's just who he is.
Dad, we didn't do jack for Halloween, but there was a YSA party in Durres, but we didn't go because we're not on our own time right now, but yeah no pumpkins or anything.
Favorite candy bar? It's called White Lion, it's so good.
Food? Chipotle. But, as I said, if it has to be mailable, I do miss skittles like no other, so that would be lovely if you would be willing to send me some, thank you.
Yeah, Albanians are paying quite a bit of attention to the election, and since everyone knows we're Americans, they'll probably let us know by yelling, "Romney" or "Obama!" No, the people aren't aware that he's Mormon, and honestly we have been told not to use that to gain interest. The members in the church know, however, and yesterday in Priesthood, our teacher told everyone that it's very important that we all pray that Romney will win the election.
So, from what you've told me about football, BYU is playing nobody, and the Redskins and Cardinals are pretty much how they usually are. The Jazz lost to New Orleans? Outside of Anthony Davis, who did they have that made the game difficult? The Spurs? We always lose to them. I feel like we got a pretty stacked team if everyone plays to their potential, but whatever. Glad to see Marvin Williams is doing well, as well as Mo.
Alright, so this past week. We actually got something that we had never thought we would get in Albania. We got a media referral! I think it's a couple, but not sure, but one of them actually knew a lot about the church because when they traveled to South Korea (yeah, I know right?) with their Mormon friends they talked with the missionaries a lot. They can speak Albanian, English, French, Spanish, Czeck (which means they can pretty much understand Serbian, Macedonian, Russian, and Slavick), and Korean. Apparently once you master Albanian, you can learn any language with ease. But anyway, they're awesome. Yeah, and yesterday at church, outside of the branch president and missionaries, we had 3 priesthood holders, 2 of them Aaronic. I blessed the sacrament for the first time in Albanian yesterday, it went just fine. I'm pretty sure that the ward still thinks I don't understand a lick of Albanian, but I think I can understand between 60-70% now when I talk to people. I definitely need to work on speaking more, I feel like I have been focusing more on understanding than speaking lately, so I am working on that this week.
So, this Friday, these 2 girls in our branch, after 2 years are getting baptized. This is so significant that every missionary in Albania that has served in Elbasan is trying to come, as well as the Fords and the assistants as well. I'm pretty sure this is going to be the biggest event Albania has this week. It's incredible.
Well, for any of my friends reading this blog, feel free to take the time to send a letter to a kid in Albania who hasn't gotten much mail since I hit the field, as a missionary I invite others to make commitments, so, as I say to my investigators, I encourage you to make this commitment, and I promise you that you will be blessed beyond all belief for sending me a letter.
OK, well that's really all I got for this week. Hope everyone is doing well, feel free to email me pictures of what you guys look like, after all it's been 3 1/2 months. Ok, see ya next week!
Ju dua
Elder Palmer
Well, it's good to hear that (Hurricane) Sandy did not affect home too much, and I have actually heard a lot about New York and New Jersey, the Albanians pay quite attention to what goes on in America, and I'm gonna keep the people there in my prayers.
For other stuff that I might want, I would probably like some sweats, because it's gonna be getting really cold here real soon. And maybe some skittles, the ones in the light blue or purple bag, if I have to be specific. As far as like coats and stuff, I think I'm ok with that stuff because that coat I got from the missionary mall is incredible. (Yeah!)
So, the move last week was good, things went pretty smoothly. So, simply, we just switched YSA buildings. We actually have a legit church building right now, for the time being at least. Our apartment is separate from the other church buildings, so we didn't move houses. The purpose of the YSA building is for FHE every Wednesday and to teach investigators.
For English classes, there is beginning, intermediate, and advanced English. Most are in intermediate English, but Elder Knight and I taught Beginning, but we don't have English this week since we moved buildings.
I don't think anyone else in my district has a blog.
Ok, that makes sense now about Dave, well tell him I say 'yo' and to send me the baby pictures. Finally, I can be an uncle-in-law. (Getting married in November....)
So, you (Mom) went tracting to talk about the Mormon Presidential candidate with 2 other Mormons, eh? That's funny.
I've heard from a few friends from school who are in the field now, they're doing really good I hear. I lost Colin's address, could you send me that?
So, right now, I am in Alma 35. The Book of Alma is legit, I love it. This is the first time I'm reading the Book of Mormon (with a purpose, I guess, I've read it twice before but I didn't pay attention), and it's awesome like actually knowing the stories in them and when someone asks you about those stories you actually know what's going on, because before I started I didn't know jack, and I could really see the difference.
Jake, glad you liked band, write Michael Jordan and send him my congratulations for that 1 win, here's hoping for a few more.
Andrea, glad you love band so much that you don't get bored because Mr. Swartz (the man) is yelling at someone, that's just who he is.
Dad, we didn't do jack for Halloween, but there was a YSA party in Durres, but we didn't go because we're not on our own time right now, but yeah no pumpkins or anything.
Favorite candy bar? It's called White Lion, it's so good.
Food? Chipotle. But, as I said, if it has to be mailable, I do miss skittles like no other, so that would be lovely if you would be willing to send me some, thank you.
Yeah, Albanians are paying quite a bit of attention to the election, and since everyone knows we're Americans, they'll probably let us know by yelling, "Romney" or "Obama!" No, the people aren't aware that he's Mormon, and honestly we have been told not to use that to gain interest. The members in the church know, however, and yesterday in Priesthood, our teacher told everyone that it's very important that we all pray that Romney will win the election.
So, from what you've told me about football, BYU is playing nobody, and the Redskins and Cardinals are pretty much how they usually are. The Jazz lost to New Orleans? Outside of Anthony Davis, who did they have that made the game difficult? The Spurs? We always lose to them. I feel like we got a pretty stacked team if everyone plays to their potential, but whatever. Glad to see Marvin Williams is doing well, as well as Mo.
Alright, so this past week. We actually got something that we had never thought we would get in Albania. We got a media referral! I think it's a couple, but not sure, but one of them actually knew a lot about the church because when they traveled to South Korea (yeah, I know right?) with their Mormon friends they talked with the missionaries a lot. They can speak Albanian, English, French, Spanish, Czeck (which means they can pretty much understand Serbian, Macedonian, Russian, and Slavick), and Korean. Apparently once you master Albanian, you can learn any language with ease. But anyway, they're awesome. Yeah, and yesterday at church, outside of the branch president and missionaries, we had 3 priesthood holders, 2 of them Aaronic. I blessed the sacrament for the first time in Albanian yesterday, it went just fine. I'm pretty sure that the ward still thinks I don't understand a lick of Albanian, but I think I can understand between 60-70% now when I talk to people. I definitely need to work on speaking more, I feel like I have been focusing more on understanding than speaking lately, so I am working on that this week.
So, this Friday, these 2 girls in our branch, after 2 years are getting baptized. This is so significant that every missionary in Albania that has served in Elbasan is trying to come, as well as the Fords and the assistants as well. I'm pretty sure this is going to be the biggest event Albania has this week. It's incredible.
Well, for any of my friends reading this blog, feel free to take the time to send a letter to a kid in Albania who hasn't gotten much mail since I hit the field, as a missionary I invite others to make commitments, so, as I say to my investigators, I encourage you to make this commitment, and I promise you that you will be blessed beyond all belief for sending me a letter.
OK, well that's really all I got for this week. Hope everyone is doing well, feel free to email me pictures of what you guys look like, after all it's been 3 1/2 months. Ok, see ya next week!
Ju dua
Elder Palmer
Sunday, November 4, 2012
2012 October 29 email
Hello, my friends! How are you? That is what cuns (teenage boys) say
to us as we're street contacting. They say all 20 English words that
they know and they leave thinking they really got us.
Anyway, how's it going? Yesterday I had lunch with the previous senior couple (the Prestons), and they actually told me about Hurricane Sandy, so I hope you guys are all good, that would kinda stink if I came home to no family, so stay safe. (No problems at all from the storm.)
Yeah, that video of Elbasan is pretty accurate. Elder Knight and I have been wanting to try the bumpercars and the other rides around that area for a while. (Video linked on this blog)
Dangit, I forgot to ask the Boydells about if they have a blog, I will do that tomorrow during district meeting. I don't think any of the other elders have blogs though, they just do email.
English class is alright. We do 45 minutes of English, and 15 minutes of a spiritual thought. Usually the spiritual thought goes ok, but Elder Knight and I teach the beginner class. This week we will have class Tuesday but not Thursday because we're actually switching buildings this week, and I'll talk about that later.
(What do you do at church? Is there a primary?) Yeah there's a primary program, but the missionaries don't really do anything with that, our prime focus as missionaries is activating the priesthood, because we the missionaries are pretty much the priesthood here.
(The Hobbit movie is coming out soon. Andrea and I are reading it-did you ever read it?) Nope, never read the Hobbit. I read the first book, and the first half of the second. It's ok, the movies are good enough for me. In fact, I heard the Hobbit is now split into 3 parts. Is that true? Life of Pi, eh? Hopefully that will be good.
(Do Albanians celebrate Halloween or Thanksgiving?) I think they do celebrate Halloween, but no trick-or-treating. And no they don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but the whole mission is going to Tirana on Thanksgiving, so that'll be good, I can meet the missionaries not in Elbasan, Tirana or Vlore.
(Has the weather started to get cooler? Have you bought any warm clothes yet?) Yeah, it's gotten cooler. In fact, I have been told that Elbasan is the coldest and hottest area in the mission in winter and summer. But it won't start getting brutally cold until December apparently, but now it's nice and cool. Yeah, I've been looking for stuff, but I haven't really seen anything yet.
We had 53 people come to church yesterday, so that was good, 15 more than last week.
Andrea, sorry that your feet hurt, but what do you do, eh?
(Jake wrote him "nothing happened this week.") Jake, stop lying to me.
Eric, tell Sang I love him too. Tell him I got a picture holding a bear, and I'll send the picture soon, but now the jokes can finally end.
Ok Dad, your questions:
1: Daily schedule: Up at 6:30, shower and workout till 8, comp. study till 10, proselyte till 12, lunch till 2, yeah we have two hours of lunch, personal and language study till 4, then proselyte the rest of the day. I think since like January apparently the church instigated a new training program, and that includes a longer comp. study, and what we do is talk about different aspects of missionary work and how to apply them. It's good, but man are we inside a lot, I almost feel bad for Elder Knight.
2: Well, I think the education setup is the same as America, Elementary, Middle and High School, and some of the kids I have talked with seem really smart, so yeah. They do have universities, and I think the University of New York has a study abroad in Albania. That's really all I know as far as education here.
3: So yeah like I said it's getting colder here. As far as clothing I still have that fat jacket I got at the missionary mall, wore that thing for the first time Saturday.
Well, as far as sports go, best of luck to the Cards tonight. SF Giants won again, eh? The Jazz led the NBA in 3pt.%? I know it's preseason, but still. Glad BYU finally won. Is Georgia Tech any good, or did we just beat another scrub?
Ok, so last week was pretty cool. We we're visiting a member one night, and he happened to have his son and his wife, and also his niece over when we came. We had a really good discussion with them about the Gospel. They asked us good questions. We were gonna visit them again this week, but they were up in Tirana this week, so we'll get them this week. We have another, a girl named Armanda, who accepted getting baptized but not to a date. We also have Eni, an older woman who, after 3 visits, has said that we are like her sons already. When we went in her house, she had the Libri i Mormonit open.
So, this week is gonna be a big week. As I said, we are moving to a new building that will become our YSA building, and we need to be out of the old one by Wednesday, so tomorrow we are going to be moving out for a good chunk of the day. The new building is gonna be awesome though, it looks really good.
Alright, well I don't think I have anything else I need to talk about this week. Have a good week, enjoy time off from school. Jake, do you remember when we missed a whole week of school because of Hurricane Isabel? (We missed two days for Sandy). That was awesome. Alright, see ya next week!
Ju dua!
Elder Palmer
Anyway, how's it going? Yesterday I had lunch with the previous senior couple (the Prestons), and they actually told me about Hurricane Sandy, so I hope you guys are all good, that would kinda stink if I came home to no family, so stay safe. (No problems at all from the storm.)
Yeah, that video of Elbasan is pretty accurate. Elder Knight and I have been wanting to try the bumpercars and the other rides around that area for a while. (Video linked on this blog)
Dangit, I forgot to ask the Boydells about if they have a blog, I will do that tomorrow during district meeting. I don't think any of the other elders have blogs though, they just do email.
English class is alright. We do 45 minutes of English, and 15 minutes of a spiritual thought. Usually the spiritual thought goes ok, but Elder Knight and I teach the beginner class. This week we will have class Tuesday but not Thursday because we're actually switching buildings this week, and I'll talk about that later.
(What do you do at church? Is there a primary?) Yeah there's a primary program, but the missionaries don't really do anything with that, our prime focus as missionaries is activating the priesthood, because we the missionaries are pretty much the priesthood here.
(The Hobbit movie is coming out soon. Andrea and I are reading it-did you ever read it?) Nope, never read the Hobbit. I read the first book, and the first half of the second. It's ok, the movies are good enough for me. In fact, I heard the Hobbit is now split into 3 parts. Is that true? Life of Pi, eh? Hopefully that will be good.
(Do Albanians celebrate Halloween or Thanksgiving?) I think they do celebrate Halloween, but no trick-or-treating. And no they don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but the whole mission is going to Tirana on Thanksgiving, so that'll be good, I can meet the missionaries not in Elbasan, Tirana or Vlore.
(Has the weather started to get cooler? Have you bought any warm clothes yet?) Yeah, it's gotten cooler. In fact, I have been told that Elbasan is the coldest and hottest area in the mission in winter and summer. But it won't start getting brutally cold until December apparently, but now it's nice and cool. Yeah, I've been looking for stuff, but I haven't really seen anything yet.
We had 53 people come to church yesterday, so that was good, 15 more than last week.
Andrea, sorry that your feet hurt, but what do you do, eh?
(Jake wrote him "nothing happened this week.") Jake, stop lying to me.
Eric, tell Sang I love him too. Tell him I got a picture holding a bear, and I'll send the picture soon, but now the jokes can finally end.
Ok Dad, your questions:
1: Daily schedule: Up at 6:30, shower and workout till 8, comp. study till 10, proselyte till 12, lunch till 2, yeah we have two hours of lunch, personal and language study till 4, then proselyte the rest of the day. I think since like January apparently the church instigated a new training program, and that includes a longer comp. study, and what we do is talk about different aspects of missionary work and how to apply them. It's good, but man are we inside a lot, I almost feel bad for Elder Knight.
2: Well, I think the education setup is the same as America, Elementary, Middle and High School, and some of the kids I have talked with seem really smart, so yeah. They do have universities, and I think the University of New York has a study abroad in Albania. That's really all I know as far as education here.
3: So yeah like I said it's getting colder here. As far as clothing I still have that fat jacket I got at the missionary mall, wore that thing for the first time Saturday.
Well, as far as sports go, best of luck to the Cards tonight. SF Giants won again, eh? The Jazz led the NBA in 3pt.%? I know it's preseason, but still. Glad BYU finally won. Is Georgia Tech any good, or did we just beat another scrub?
Ok, so last week was pretty cool. We we're visiting a member one night, and he happened to have his son and his wife, and also his niece over when we came. We had a really good discussion with them about the Gospel. They asked us good questions. We were gonna visit them again this week, but they were up in Tirana this week, so we'll get them this week. We have another, a girl named Armanda, who accepted getting baptized but not to a date. We also have Eni, an older woman who, after 3 visits, has said that we are like her sons already. When we went in her house, she had the Libri i Mormonit open.
So, this week is gonna be a big week. As I said, we are moving to a new building that will become our YSA building, and we need to be out of the old one by Wednesday, so tomorrow we are going to be moving out for a good chunk of the day. The new building is gonna be awesome though, it looks really good.
Alright, well I don't think I have anything else I need to talk about this week. Have a good week, enjoy time off from school. Jake, do you remember when we missed a whole week of school because of Hurricane Isabel? (We missed two days for Sandy). That was awesome. Alright, see ya next week!
Ju dua!
Elder Palmer
2012 October 22nd email
What is up, family? Ok, first of all, before I start, a big shoutout to
Jeremy Moore (friend in our stake) for being called to serve in Armenia! That is
legit! Yeah, he definitely has the coolest call in the stake now, no
questions there. I actually saw an Armenian Book of Mormon in the MTC,
that language looks legit. In all honesty, I was thinking that if I was
called to learn an oriental language, I would probably want to learn
Armenian. Congratulations to him for that.
Oh yeah, happy birthday Andrea (13) and Jake (16)! I hope you like whatever presents mom assigned me to give you!
Ok, Elbasan, It's a cool little city, it's pretty small. There is like a fortress right in the middle of the city, we are next to it every night because that's where we go street contacting. There's this road right next to it where the city blocks it up so drivers can't drive through it at night, so that people can take walks on it. Taking walks is like a past time in Albania. I think people are aware that we are there every night, so when they see us they try to walk around us, but we've been trying to stand at different places now. But yeah, we actually have a legit church building too.
Yeah, syflaqes, they are good. (See picture from October 15th, 2012) We get them a few times a week, they're pretty cheap too. Fruit, we eat apples, I usually try to eat quite a few a week. If possible, can you send me a fat bottle of like Centrum or something, I have a bottle of like 60 vitamins, and that'll run out real quick.
Yeah, I am trying to get all the flags of my mission. Today I saw on the street an Albania and Kosovo flag, so I'm gonna try to get them next week. Montenegro is gonna be tough, because our mission is going to be getting Serbian speaking Elders in January I think, so I doubt I'll go to Montenegro at all.
That's cool that Jake's about to become a priest, that's kinda weird though. We're old. How's Bishop Holdaway doing? I am assuming he is dominating the ward, like usual? That's awesome though.
Andrea, good luck at the Pep rally, you'll do fine, just dominate at the piano like always. Jake, have a fun birthday, and enjoy those 5 or 6 dates I know you already have setup.
Ok, dad, you're questions:
1: Pershendetje (this keyboard does not have albanian letters with it, dangit) is not the most common greeting. We say c'kemi (what have we? (literal translation) or what's up?) usually. Pershendetje and Tungjatjeta both mean 'greetings' and are used when talking to old people, as respect.
2:Yeah, it would probably be great if you can send an adaptor where I can plug it into a computer (like where you can plug in a flash drive), and on the other end you can insert the SD card. I know those exist, because I used them in the MTC. If that is possible, that would be great, and that can be my Christmas and birthday present if need be. I am using the wolverine to back everything up.
3: Shopping? Yeah, they have supermarkets. We go to this one store called 'roadhouse.' It's just a supermarket, not a barbeque place or anything, and they got what we need. I haven't really gotten anything else as far as souvenirs, but this past weekend the zone leaders went to Elbasan for exchanges, and they brought us back Dominos! Macedonia has a Dominos, a couple McDonalds, and a couple Burger Kings. It was so good!
So, yeah, the election. People here keep up with what's going on with elections.
So, Taken 2 was pretty good, eh? (a movie Mark saw) Even if it was bad, I'd still watch it when I get back, probably just for translation. So you saw Tirana and some countryside? (online video-linked on this blog) Yeah, the countryside is pretty cool here.
Yeah, I got Lek and Denar when I used the ATM. Stupid fee, well at least I know now. (Scott used the ATM twice for small amounts of cash and was then charged a fee. Lesson learned.)
Yeah, college football sounds awful, luckily I don't really care, at least the Jazz are sounding good? When does the season start? Next Tuesday? That'll be weird, but what can you do?
So, just before I got here and started emailing, Elder Knight and I were walking over, and we saw a guy walking with a bear. A legit bear. So, I got a picture with it. He had a chain leash, and I held that leash. I got a picture next to a grizzly bear, (probably not a grizzly bear but a brown bear) holding the leash. Only in Albania.
So, yeah, this week we got a new investigator named Armanda, she was found through the English course we do every Tuesday and Thursday. She knows a bit about the church. And then we have Meriglen and Sylvia, a couple who have investigated and want to be baptized. But they are awesome.
Well, I think that's everything I got this week. Hope things are well, things are good over here.
Ju dua!
Elder Palmer
Oh yeah, happy birthday Andrea (13) and Jake (16)! I hope you like whatever presents mom assigned me to give you!
Ok, Elbasan, It's a cool little city, it's pretty small. There is like a fortress right in the middle of the city, we are next to it every night because that's where we go street contacting. There's this road right next to it where the city blocks it up so drivers can't drive through it at night, so that people can take walks on it. Taking walks is like a past time in Albania. I think people are aware that we are there every night, so when they see us they try to walk around us, but we've been trying to stand at different places now. But yeah, we actually have a legit church building too.
Yeah, syflaqes, they are good. (See picture from October 15th, 2012) We get them a few times a week, they're pretty cheap too. Fruit, we eat apples, I usually try to eat quite a few a week. If possible, can you send me a fat bottle of like Centrum or something, I have a bottle of like 60 vitamins, and that'll run out real quick.
Yeah, I am trying to get all the flags of my mission. Today I saw on the street an Albania and Kosovo flag, so I'm gonna try to get them next week. Montenegro is gonna be tough, because our mission is going to be getting Serbian speaking Elders in January I think, so I doubt I'll go to Montenegro at all.
That's cool that Jake's about to become a priest, that's kinda weird though. We're old. How's Bishop Holdaway doing? I am assuming he is dominating the ward, like usual? That's awesome though.
Andrea, good luck at the Pep rally, you'll do fine, just dominate at the piano like always. Jake, have a fun birthday, and enjoy those 5 or 6 dates I know you already have setup.
Ok, dad, you're questions:
1: Pershendetje (this keyboard does not have albanian letters with it, dangit) is not the most common greeting. We say c'kemi (what have we? (literal translation) or what's up?) usually. Pershendetje and Tungjatjeta both mean 'greetings' and are used when talking to old people, as respect.
2:Yeah, it would probably be great if you can send an adaptor where I can plug it into a computer (like where you can plug in a flash drive), and on the other end you can insert the SD card. I know those exist, because I used them in the MTC. If that is possible, that would be great, and that can be my Christmas and birthday present if need be. I am using the wolverine to back everything up.
3: Shopping? Yeah, they have supermarkets. We go to this one store called 'roadhouse.' It's just a supermarket, not a barbeque place or anything, and they got what we need. I haven't really gotten anything else as far as souvenirs, but this past weekend the zone leaders went to Elbasan for exchanges, and they brought us back Dominos! Macedonia has a Dominos, a couple McDonalds, and a couple Burger Kings. It was so good!
So, yeah, the election. People here keep up with what's going on with elections.
So, Taken 2 was pretty good, eh? (a movie Mark saw) Even if it was bad, I'd still watch it when I get back, probably just for translation. So you saw Tirana and some countryside? (online video-linked on this blog) Yeah, the countryside is pretty cool here.
Yeah, I got Lek and Denar when I used the ATM. Stupid fee, well at least I know now. (Scott used the ATM twice for small amounts of cash and was then charged a fee. Lesson learned.)
Yeah, college football sounds awful, luckily I don't really care, at least the Jazz are sounding good? When does the season start? Next Tuesday? That'll be weird, but what can you do?
So, just before I got here and started emailing, Elder Knight and I were walking over, and we saw a guy walking with a bear. A legit bear. So, I got a picture with it. He had a chain leash, and I held that leash. I got a picture next to a grizzly bear, (probably not a grizzly bear but a brown bear) holding the leash. Only in Albania.
So, yeah, this week we got a new investigator named Armanda, she was found through the English course we do every Tuesday and Thursday. She knows a bit about the church. And then we have Meriglen and Sylvia, a couple who have investigated and want to be baptized. But they are awesome.
Well, I think that's everything I got this week. Hope things are well, things are good over here.
Ju dua!
Elder Palmer
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