Letter #2

Çfarë është lart?!! (okay, that means "what is up" in a direct translation ... so... they don't really say it as slang... whoops.)

 

Whoohoo. Another week has gone by. AKA. I've been here for 2 weeks. What the. Feels like 4 months.

To answer some questions and other miscellaneous items to address:

1. My companion is from Missouri, she is sooo beautiful. She seriously saves me from myself sometimes. She is such a support. I know we have companions for a reason. There is NO way we could do this by ourselves.

2. We're all going to Albania (probaly Kosovo, now that a companionship sister has just opened it up for sisters, in the last round of Albanian speakers)

3. The food is horrid. It tastes great, but in five minutes, you feel like you're about to shpethoj (explode) (why I know that verb, I don't know.) In class you just hear the grumbles of upset stomachs. It's so gross and awkward and horrid. I've been sticking to salads and fruits the last week...

4. I have seen Cindy 4 times now!! I also have seen Carter Spear, an awesome boy who was in our ward at Glenwood, too) I'll put a picture of me and Cindy up! She works so hard to serve us the lovely ushqim (food). I love her:)

5.  MOM. I promise I didn't forget your birthday. I feel really sad because on Monday, I had a written note with love and happy birthdayness written all over it. Sister Iftiu (the woman who is in Jane's ward who is one of my teachers) was going to take it and scan it and put it on your facebook wall. BUT she couldn't find you on Facebook! I'm so maaadd.

6. And Dad! I was going to do the same thing for you, but she went out of town before I got to ask her. I have failed ju.

7. I am so happy Jane got to you via Facebook. I MISS HER. BEYOND WORDS. Tell her to write me. Seriously. I want her to write me real real bad.

8. The peeps in the pics are a) Cindy and Me! b) the girls in my district, Motrat Heathcote, Wait, Curtis and Kokol and c) Elder Davis with the crazy eyes (sorry it didn't attach last time). He's the bomb! d) That's Elder McGrath, we decided he is the epitome of Dwight Shrute. Don't ever tell him... haha but seriously, he's awesome, too. We have the best district ever!

 

 

I promise, parents, I really tried to do something fun for your birthdays... but... I guess I just don't love you enough. Better luck with your daughters next time... 

 

So,

Happy belated, beloved Birthdays, Mum and Pop. They're the best birthdays ever. I'm glad you both got to go out to eat and celebrate with some loved ones (besides me). You both deserve the best and both deserve to be shown love and support. I love you! I support you!

 

And yes, Mother, I'm so sorry that we are horrible children who never listen to you and didn't listen to any of Mary Ellen Edmonds tapes. She definitely makes you cry and laugh at the same time throughout her whole shpiel. She was so great to listen to when we first got here, like we weren't crazy religious fanaticals. We're just humans with an eye single to the Glory. haha.

Dad, I hope you get that extra Job with the School! That sounds like a perfect thing for you!! I'm praying for you. Though I know that you will always get what it is you need. I'm also really glad that you got those people to rent from you! That sounds like a party and I'm so glad things are working out.

 

This week has been absolutely mind-blowing. I have finally settled in, so it's not so much an emotional roller coaster, but we are cracking down on memorization and grammar. We are now teaching investigators without notes. They're encouraging (forcing, it's boot camp here) us to use everything that we know already in Albanian, but if we don't know a word, we describe around it. Basically I use a lot of impromptu ASL (Albanian Sign Language). It is so fun to try and talk!! I feel like French TOTALLY helped me out. Putting adjectives after nouns, pronouns before verbs. BAH. my mind understands that concept already, so I'm feeling good. Even still, it's the weirdest language ever. It is the most beautiful, too. Mom, I'm so glad that our neighbor was trying to talk to you about the Cases and noun declensions. It's seriously crazy.

 Okay I know you guys don't care about this language stuff... but, obviously I'm obsessed with it... 

 

So Wednesday, Mikelle came in. I think I probably cried. It was so good to see her. She and Natalie Cameron have been such a source of strength for me, this week. It has definitely been a lot harder than we each anticipated, but I have never felt more joy, peace, accomplishment, or clarity in my entire life. It is so good to see all the pepole I know around here in the MTC. I also think about my friends in the mission field right now, and how much closer I am to them by knowing what they are experiencing.

 

The MTC is truly the most efficient place in the world. As Brother McGlothin says, "God is VERY efficient." This thought has come to me in different ways since I first heard it. Yes, he stretches and maximizes His time in every aspect. More importantly, we have been called by Him to the places where we and His children will be benefited the most. The more I learn about Albanians the more sure I am that I was meant to go there. They are very cordial when you first meet them- as in, they aren't rude and run away. In fact they love the small talk at the beginning, they love telling everyone their stories and their troubles, they're a very open people. However, when you get down to the business of talking, they GET DOWN to business and do not want their time wasted. They are very direct. If they don't think something is appropriate or acceptable, they say it to your face. Not out of cruelty, out of bluntness. Brother Vance (my third and final teacher, I promise) says that if they think someone is heavy, they just say "You're fat. You eat less, yes?" or they'll say, "That dress is not good. It is ugly. You should wear something else." I LOVE IT. I LOVE THESE PEOPLE. THEY ARE MY DREAM PEOPLE. 

 Here is something cool- This week has been about Being Converted Unto the Lord. Guess whose farewell talk was about just that? I'm so blessed to have had that topic so I could study it out in my mind and then come to the MTC and learn what apostles and teachers have to say about it. I got to contribute in my own mind about it!  Here are some things I have written down in my journal that I hope will help you a little in thinking and going about life:

 

1. God does not expect perfection but he is pleased with progression.

2. The Gospel works.

3. Dilligence is greater than intelligence.

 

I apologize in advance about my spiritual shpiels, but this is the MTC and my Mission, so... just don't take too much offense.

 

As we grow in our willingness to yield to the Spirit and to Heavenly Father, we grow in faith and in joy. This time in life is God's time. It's not mine. I chose to be here, therefore, I chose to yield. I am not perfect. I am not a perfect teacher or a perfect listener. But I can become that by being a perfect repenter. As we continue to turn away from what we justify as right and toward what we KNOW is right, we become like Him. Kind, patient, understanding, empathetic, loving, listening, clear, straightforward, simple, deep, Whatever it is you secretly know to be perfection, that's what we can be. We can develop that right now, even.

And as a Missionary, I need to be as close to that as possible, because we're pointing our investigators to Christ and His example by BEING that example. We're helping them to develop their relationship with God, with Christ.

 

Yesterday, Motra Curtis and I learned in our personal study about consecration. We were reading in 2 Nephi 32 ... (v 8 and 9, I think) and it says, " he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of they soul. "
I was like, what the heck does consecrate they performance unto thee, mean? We had our ideas, I thought about the Law of Consecration and she about consecrated oil. We were both right. We asked Bro. Vance, and he said, "consecration is something that is special, that is set apart for something."

What we learned yesterday is that God only wants to bless us and give us all that He has. As we consecrate our talents, gifts, time, and even our very lives, It is then HIS, and He can therefore do with it what He wants. What He wants is for us to be happy, to feel love, to radiate it, to become like Him. He can take your freely given will, set it apart, and maximize it for the good for you and those around you. That's how love works. It increases like a fire, the more it is flamed. It expands like molecules being heated, growing in energy and not losing its substance.

 

Test it!! It WORKS. I'm serious. We are our own greatest investigators. Do you have a question? ASK. Do you really want to know? Expect an answer. Already commit to acting upon whatever it is that answer is. That's real intent.

 

This is because the Law of Consecration is really the Law of Trust. Can we trust Him to take our humble offering of the soul to use for good and justice? He IS justice. He IS happening. I know that we can trust Him. I know that we can become all that He is and has as we learn little by little how to consecrate, how to trust.

 

I love this work. I have never loved anything more in my life. I have never wanted to curl up and cry in my life. I have never wanted to sleep more in my life. Even more, I HAVEN'T done that. I haven't had time to cry or sleep! NOT FAIR. ahaha. But in all seriousness, I know that Heavenly Father loves His children. Who else would require 18 and 19 year olds to go out telling people that they are loved? No one except He who is perfect in love and truth.

 

The thing about truth is, if you're looking for it, you'll find it.

 

I love you all. I love you so much. Thank you for support. Thank you for your love.

 

I love snail mail. you should send me more of it:) I can only write back on Wednesdays, but I get mail twice a day! I would love to hear about what you're doing and thinking and becoming every single day! BLAH BLAH BLAH, something something cheezy. Bye for real:)

 

With Love,

 

Motra Kokol

Ari's first Letter!

Family!!!

Oh my word, I don't even know if I can start this letter.

The day you dropped me off was a whirlwind! I got my books (10 lbs, at least) Then we went straight to the classroom, dropped it off, went to my "Residence Hall" to drop off my stuff, went back to class, studied forever, ate dinner, went back to class, then came home and was ready for lights out at 10:30.  That weekend was truly mind-blowing. I don't even know what to tell you!

My companion is Motra Curtis. She is the most amazing thing. We get along so well, it's like it's divinely instigated (haha). She is so bubbly and outgoing and I trust her. We can bounce off each other really well with ideas, construcive criticism, and understanding.

We're all stuffed into one residence living room (6 of us in the size of my Helaman appt), which makes for some interesting conversation slash craziness.

 I can't begin to tell you how much we're learning! There's no way I would be able to learn Albanian if not for the fact that 1, I'm called there, and 2, I know I have to out of fear of embarrassment if I don't get it when I'm in the field.

But, seriously, We're learning how to rely on the Spirit and how to teach with Simplicity and Plainness. This, my friends, is why I have been called to speak an incredibly difficult language. Not because I can, not because I want to, but because I need to learn how to shut up. God is so funny. haha

So, Saturday, I almost fell on the floor in sheer exhaustion. I was overwhelmed with how much we needed to do, the little time we needed to do it in, and the depth of what we needed. Then we hit Sunday. We were filled with everything we needed. My Branch President is an amazing man. He speaks in whispers. All the time. So we have to listen intently. I was talking with my District Leader, Elder Davis (he's the one in the last picture, I think... With crazy eyes) and  we decided that there was no way you could zone out or even look away when he was speaking. He's like a whispering Preacher. He's eccentric, but he's so amazing! We then had a devotional with a woman named Mary Edmonds. She has gone on 4 missions, all to Asian countries. It was the funniest devotional I have ever been to. I was not expecting it at all. Here's an example: In the MTC we are NOT ALLOWED to touch the elders. at all. We can give a professional handshake, but anythying more than that and you're out. haha So, she said, "DO NOT TOUCH THE ELDERS. I mean it. Do. Not. Touch them." Silence. Then, in a tiny, little voice close to the microphone, "but keep a list of the ones you want to touch."

I laughed forever. Mostly because we're stressed out of our minds... but I laughed heartily.

Okay... Then... Monday, we had class and cracked down on the hard grammatical barfage called "clitics." We don't have them in English. Essentially, you say, The boy it has kicked the ball. And also there are these things called Noun Cases, ... Noun declentions (SP?) aka You conjugate nouns based on where they are in the sentence. There are five cases. AAAAHHHH. JK I love it. You know I do. But It's still SO HARD.... I love it. I don't even know how to conjugate all the verbs yet!! I'm afraid of all those...

Oh well! It'll come!

Then Last night, we had another devotional and guess who came?!! Elder Richard G. Scott. Yes. My first week here, and an apostle of the Lord comes. Score.

It was amazing! He said everything we needed to hear at that moment. He not only was the example of simplicity and spiritual power, but he blessed us with 4 apostolic blessings!

He invoked the blessing of 1: not only to learn the language, but to master it.  He knew we were all freaking out. How can you begin to teach the Gospel in a language foreign to you when we can barely do it in English?!

2: he said our companionships would be blessed. 3: he told the sisters (and the elders) that because of our specific decision to serve a mission, our families and husbands would be blessed in ways we could never imagine. 4: He blessed us that we will be able to grow from our struggles. He started out his whole talk about the sister missionaries. I'm beyond words. I was so grateful to be a part of that group and to hear it from an apostle. Did you know that his wife served a mission too?? IN the 50's. His dear, sweet Janine served a mission and he loves her, though she died almost 20 years ago. I am so grateful I'm here.

Okay, I'm so sorry that it's so short. But I want you all to know how much I truly, truly love you. You have been the best family I could have ever hoped for. I didn't know my love could grow even stronger, but by studying the scriptures and principles and teachings, I have expanded my capacity to love.

Mirupafshim!!

With love,

Motra Kokol

P.S.(I'll write every Wednesday!) 

PreMee

Hello Family and Friends!
I'm beginning this blog so you can know how I'm faring during my mission I'll be serving in the Adriatic South. This mission includes four countries: Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Macedonia.
My mission home is in the capital of Albania, in Tirana, where you can surely send me packages full of treats and memories and love, but mostly treats. (All of my mailing stuff will be in one of these tabs on the blog, if you can find it... good luck.)

I'm so excited to do this. SO EXCITED. As most of you know, I've been planning to serve as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints since I was around the age of eight. Since that time, I've waxed and waned in that desire, but it has never left me. Still, it was a difficult decision to leave behind a year and a half of college, family, friends, weddings, birthdays, homecomings, and some cute boys to date to do this! :)

In all seriousness, it was a difficult, but totally easy decision to go where I was called and serve with all my heart, might, mind, and strength.

Before I leave in two days, I want you all to know how much I love my Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Through all of my years of increasing in learning, in my travels, and in my comprehension of how the world works, I have found that my love has grown as I've begun to understand who He and what He intends for His eternal Family. I have grown in love for my fellow men as well as love for myself. As I have come to understand my role in His family, I have been able to alter my decision-making skills based on what I believe to be true, therefore a knowledge of what proves itself to be true.  I've come to understand the reason for opposition and for struggle by studying the teachings of Jesus Christ and reading the Book of Mormon. Because of these things, my heart has been filled with a knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, what is solid and what is fleeting, and what has depth and what has destructive properties.
There is a peace and understanding that comes from transforming my thought process into one full of discipline, relaxation, obedience, faith, and unconditional love.

I have no idea what's in store for me, but I know for a fact that I'll love it because I want to love it. The people there are just like me and you. We are all a part of a family that deserves to be shown love, support, service, and understanding, just like any other. I'm going there to do just that!
Check back every week, if you so desire! And please write, I can't wait to hear from all of you!

With much love and a little nervousness,

Arianna Kokol, Soon to be Motra Kokol. (??!?aahhh!??!)