At district meeting on Tuesday, a return missionary told us about one of his friends that wants to get baptized. He told us her name, and told us that we needed to find her! We told him we would, and made sure not to forget her. After district meeting, we ran to Zana's to have a lesson. The lesson went really well! Later that day, we had English Course, and then studies. When we got back to the house, Brother Deda, a member of the ward, called us, and told us he had a new investigator for us! We set up an appointment, and planned to go over later in the week.
Wednesday was Sister Cheshire's birthday! So we went to eat with some of the other sisters at Stephen's Center (an American food restaurant). We also went to institute and then had a lesson with Kela (Markeliana). We talked about prayer, and shared a lot of personal experiences. It was really good!
On Thursday afternoon, we went to the Deda's house to meet the new investigator. We got there, and found out they had two new investigators for us! We were so excited! One of them is their niece, and one is a friend of the family. So we taught them, invited them to be baptized, and they accepted! We were so happy! We left the lesson and were so pumped, until we realized that neither of us remembered their names...
Friday was crazy. We were supposed to meet with Zana at 11, and a little bit earlier, her friend (a member that goes to Zana's lessons) called us and asked us to come over. So we stopped our studies, and headed over. She was super upset, and we found out that she basically didn't feel the love of the ward, and felt like some of the members had been gossiping/being rude to her. We then found out that one of the women was one that we had just invited to Zana's lesson...awkward...Let's just say we could feel the contention as soon as they saw each other before Zana's lesson. We said a prayer before going in, and it ended up not so bad. But the lesson was super short, because she forgot we were coming over, and had a friend coming. During the lesson, Zana said, "You keep saying that service is a big thing in your church, but no one has come over to serve me. I haven't been helped at all." I said, "Well first you have to come to church, and meet the other members. Then we help/serve each other." Obviously that isn't exactly what I said, but it was close. Then the member backed me up, and was more blunt than I was. But it helped Zana realize that if you don't go to church, nothing is going to happen. You aren't going to gain a testimony if you don't go, and you aren't going to feel the love of the church when you don't make the effort.
Saturday, we went to a less active's house to help her with some stuff around the house. We ended up cleaning her rugs, and doing a small lesson with her. As soon as I got to her house, my allergies got super bad! I was miserable. She kept telling me to sit down, and that I was too sick to work, but I kept saying I was fine. It was the weirdest thing. My allergies were only bad for about 15 minutes! But then we finished the carpets and headed home. That night, we had another lesson with one of our no-name investigators. During the lesson, we found out her name was Xhena (Jenna). We were so happy that we found out her name! I had her write down her first and last name and number, so we could contact her, and then we left. As soon as she wrote down her full name, I realized it was the exact same name as the referral we got from the return missionary...So we had been trying to track down his referral all week, but we had already started teaching her! It was so crazy! But we were so glad that we found her and know her name now:)
It was a really good week though! In the past weeks, we have gotten around 12-15 lessons. This week, we had 19 lessons! We have been busy, and it has been awesome! And! Zana came to church on Sunday! We were so happy! We also had a member of the Seventy come and speak in our sacrament meeting. He was really great, and gave a great talk that was just what our ward needed to hear.
This Saturday, we get our transfer calls, so next P-day, I will have a new companion! Most likely, I will be staying in 1st ward, because Sister Cheshire had been in Tirana for 9 months (her whole mission) and will most likely go somewhere new. But I love it here, so I am ok with that! Have a fantastic week! I love and miss you guys!
Love,
Motra Bennett