YAS Kalaja Activity

Our YSA Activity for 24 August 2011 was to hike up to the Kalaja Castle.  It was a good activity and everyone had a good time eating and visiting with each other.  They don't have the opportunity to do this type of thing because of time and money that they just do not have much of.

The group all except Motra Smith.

Ganjel and Eris talking about Eris's upcoming mission to Italy.

Eating everything that Motra Smith made.

What a view!

Marsel climbing to the top!  Be careful!

Marsel at the top.

Eris drove up the backside over a very bad road.

Youth 12-14 Zoo Trip

23 August 2011 we had an outing for those youth who were not able to attend the first ever Especially for Youth (EFY) here in Albania.  We sent eleven youth to attend EFY and two of them were investigators.  The Branch President (Mike) promised those who could not attend EFY that we would take them to the Zoo in Fier, in the city just North of Vlorë.  There were six who were of the age but two could not make it due to a death in the family and other things.  We drove to the Zoo which took about an hour, went through the zoo, went down town Fier, ate Pizza Roma, went to the QTU and we all had an ice cream cone and then drove back to Vlorë.  We all had a good time and now it wasn't so bad that they could not attend EFY.

Stuffed in the back seat!  Xhovani Veizaj, Gerald Sadiku, Edison Hodaj and Hajdi Isufi.

Resting after the pizza!

On the streets of Fier!

Getting Pizza, they had never been to this food local.

Everyone enjoyed the pizza.

Edison said hey there are fish in here!

Edison though it was very stinky!

Walking around the Zoo they all stayed together.

At the Zebra cage.

Gary at the Derri (Pig) cage.

Everyone liked the monkeys.

Picture at the bear cage.

They are great, a pose by our makinë (Car).

District Trip

President and Motra Smith, Elder Roberts and Anderson, Motra Gjika and Read.

Best view of Vlorë.

Get Ready!

Get Set!

Jump!

Zvërnec Plazh Activity

The Vlorë Branch had a activity at the plazh (Beach) on Saturday the 20^th of August.  Zvërnec is about 20 kilometers North of Vlorë and the last 5 kilometers are a very bumpy narrow dirt road. There were 45 who attended and 16 were investigators.  The missionary came and had a bunch of conversations about the gospel.  Everyone had a good time with swimming, football, soccer, volleyball, Frisbee and climbing on the rocky hills next to the plazh.  We had water and byreck with goat cheese in the middle.  Byreck is made by layering very thin bread like layers that are fried in oil with about 5 to 10 layers on each side of the cheese.  They are actually very good and we had 100 of them and they were all eaten before we left to go back to Vlorë.  

Lake Nartes with the Plazh just beyond the hills.

The Auto-Bus we rented.

The road is narrow for even two makinës.

The narrow bumpy dirt road.

One pan of the byreck.

Enjoying the byreck!

Mike and Vëlla Hodaj playing water volleyball.

Last Zone Conference

This was the program from our last Zone Conference we’ll attend on our mission to Albania.  We drove to Durrës and took the Motra’s.  The summer traffic was heavier than normal and it took us a full 2 hours before we arrived (Car Wars).  Due to this being our last Zone conference we bore our testimonies after the young missionaries.  It was a great meeting and the first on presented by the new Mission President, the Fords.  

 R.O.C.K. stands for Rest of Country and Kosovo.  Our Zone, the other Zone is the Tirana Zone.

My 2nd Posting "Olive Trees"

When I was a little child I remember this poem and wondered what olive trees looked like.

Winds through the Olive Trees,
Softly did blow.
Round little Bethlehem,
Long, long ago.

Sheep o the hillside lay
Whiter than snow,
Shepherds were watching them,
Long, long ago.

Then from the happy skies
Angels bent low,
Singing their songs of joy;
Long, long ago.

For in a manger bed
Cradled we know,
Christ came to Bethlehem
Long, long ago.

Now I've learn to love the trees and enjoy the beauty in Albania.  As we go for our walks we seem to find a lot of thing to look at, the olive trees are so amazing to us.

This olive tree is part of the fence.

 OK, this is a test what is in this picture?