Let It Rain --- Apr. 8th

Just standing in the rain walking to get our hair cuts.
(wearing my new rain boots I got a few weeks ago!)

It has been a great week as a missionary. I love it in Kosovo. It got warm for a little a couple weeks ago, but it just has gotten cold and rainy again for the last week. Gotta love the rain! Lots of Umbrella's and rain boots! This morning I finally decided my hair was getting way too long and so we went and got some nice hair cuts. Motra Jones sent us to a place she goes and she did such a good job! She spoke really good English also, so that was nice. I'm glad I'm in Kosovo, because in Albania sometime the hair cuts get a littlecrazy. I'm lovin not having so much hair already. I only cut a little off, but it's really nice. The girls in the Salon were excited to cut our hair also and talk to us, so that was fun. We took a picture with them when we were all done. 

Here is today with the ladies at the nice beauty parlor... can you
believe I cut like 4 inches off.. I can't believe how long my hair got.

I love conference! Here we only get to watch the morning sessions because it is 6:00pm here. But they were both so great! I can't wait to hear the rest this week. This conference was a miracle for the people here because they had it translated in Albanian the day after!!! Online!!! That has never happened before. So awesome! It is also fun to hear the voices because they are all people in Tirana, and most of us have met most of them. Kinda fun to know who is translating. ha. It really is so great! The church is growing.


I loved a lot of things about Conference so far. So many powerful statements and words spoken. My favorite is the testifying though at the end of each talk of the Savior. So powerful! So great! On Saturday, our Investigator Afërdita came to watch the prophet, and so I had to try to translate for her. I didn't do a very good job, but I tried. My favorite part wast Elder Eyring's talk. It was perfect for her and when I got to translate his exact words of his final testimony of the Savior into Albanian, I felt the spirit so strong. I also know He lives and that He loves us! There was so much that was great but a few things that really stood out to me were these things:

 1. Light!! I love light and I absolutely believe that with light we can drown out any darkness. "Darkness cannot exist in the presence of light." and "God's light is Real!" I hope I will always be filled with light for the rest of my life! Never let the darkness in. Another thought I loved about light was that MUSIC is light! I absolutely believe that. I love music so much. and when it is good music it does fill my heart with light!

2. In my setting apart to be a missionary the Stake President kept saying over and over... Bring the people HOPE! I remember that and think of it often. In this same talk by Pres. Uchdorf he said that "Our living HOPE is in Jesus Christ!" I really loved that and it helped me to realize how I can bring more hope into these wonderful people. By teaching them of  our Savior I am bringing them Hope. I know He gives me a lot of hope, and I don't know what I would do or how I could live day by day without this knowledge and hope in my life.

I also just wanted to write a little about the beautiful people here, and their amazing strength.

Valmira: She went through a rough time the last few months and her life is still not easy, but she finds so much strength through prayer and her Father in Heaven's love for her. Her parents have both recently gotten really sick and even though it is hard and sad I think it has been a blessing for her. Through different events she has been able to come to church again, and not have to lie to come to activities. She works so hard in school and is the top of her class. She is the president of her school also. Because God has blessed her to be smart and to work hard to study and do her very best her parents don't ask her about the things she does. She says because she is doing so well they have stopped asking and stopped not allowing her to come to things. I am so proud of her. It is a constant battle with her own family to be a member of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. She knows it is true with all of her heart and this little rough patch she just went through has made her even stronger than before. She hopes to serve a mission this fall when she turns 19. That would be a miracle. We'll see how it all turns out. She also is our translator for the ward. She does such a good job and has been practicing even more lately so she can be an official translator for the church someday. She is SO amazing. She needs lots of prayers and strength, but I'm so grateful she knows also where to turn for strength and help to get through every hour of the day. She's such a good example to me and to all the members and investigators here. I love her very much!

Aida: She is similar to Valmira, but her family likes us and we have been to her home a few times. Her sister has started to come to a few activities and we are very excited. She just finally found a job here, but what is crazy is that they work and never really get paid. It seems like this happens alot here. The employer just keeps telling them that they will get paid soon. The people just keep working, but never get paid. Sometimes people work for long periods of time with no pay... even 2 years I heard once. But the sad thing is they don't want to leave cause they won't find a different job. and their isn't a government that makes these kinds of things happen so pretty much your just out of luck if you don't ever get paid. Kinda crazy. She is so wonderful though, and I hope she will get paid soon. She was just baptized the last weekend in December. She reads her Book of Mormon every morning to give her strength through out the day, and has now started to come to church every Sunday again, even if it is just sacrament meeting. She also has a hard time with her family sometimes, but I'm so proud of her strength and faith.

Dona & Donika: They are cousins. Dona has been a member from the beginning, even before Kosovo was dedicated. They have both been preparing to go to the temple in Germany. They would be the first Kosovar's to go to the temple. In Albania the people can go to Germany without a visa, but Kosovar's can't. They have tried to get a visa, but were just denied. So I guess they will have to either find a different temple to go to, or wait for Rome to open and hope they can go there. It's so sad. The things we all take advantage of. I hope you all go to the temple often. It really is such a blessing that not every faithful member in the world is blessed with. Dona's family are not members, but have met the missionaries. Her sister is being taught by the Elders in Gjakova. Dona hasn't told her family still that she has been baptized. Hopefully she will someday soon. They both work really hard all day everyday to only get paid like $150 per month. It's crazy.

These are our wonderful single girl members in Prishtina. Their are 3 more in Gjakova, but that's all. Sometimes it's hard to uplift them and give them hope in the growth of the church, but I just know it will grow. And these first members were chosen before they were born to come here, find the truth and be SO strong for all the others around them daily. They really do inspire me. I hope I can have the faith these members have and strength in God's promises. It really is so beautiful.

One of the boys name is Gjon (John). He has grown SO much since I have been here. At the beginning and for a long time he has always just wanted to be a "simple member." He comes from a family of 11 also!! That are all strong Catholic. Together we could have a full futbol game. ha. Anyway just recently a miracle has happened, and he has changed his mind about wanting the Priesthood. He never wanted it before, or a calling. (I think part of that is because he was connecting it with the Priest's in the Catholic church a little). Anyway... he is now working towards receiving the Aronic Priesthood. I am so proud of him! yes! It all was because the elders taught him of the temple one day, and explained to him that without the priesthood he couldn't get married in the Temple. Their next visit he came back and said I want to receive the Priesthood because I want to get married in the temple someday. I'm so glad. The true doctrine and blessings of this gospel always win! The spirit is amazing.

I hope we can continue to strengthen and uplift our members and find and teach new investigators as well. It is definitely not easy, but I'm trying. I know I can't do anything without the spirit so I have really been trying to be a better LISTENER and follow the spirit to help me teach and to pray that the spirit will touch the hearts of those we teach. This is the Lord's work! I know I can't do it without his help. It will grow and as Elder Anderson said in Conference quoting Pres. Monson , "NO force in the entire world can stop the work of God!"

Saturday we went out to one of our members fshat's (villages) to help him with a little work. He showed us all around and it was SO beautiful. His name is Ylli.. which means star. His thick white hair reminds me of Grandpa Villella a little. He is so great. and I loved seeing his home. He does a lot of bees! Reminded me of home. He had tons of bees all over his property. kinda cool, but stay away because they will sting you...Elder Roberts got stung. ha.

I love being a missionary and I love my Savior! I'm so grateful for this gospel and for my wonderful family! love you all! Stay strong! Stand up for what you know is right! Never let your Savior down. Always be a good example and be strong in all you do and say!

me dashuri,
Motra Kristi Hoover