Dear Family,
Well, this week we have excellent news...Nene has a BAPTISMAL DATE! We brought a member to her house and we talked about her baptism, and she said that she wanted to be baptized....so we set a date! We hope she will be baptized June 19.
Well, we have lost about half of our investigators... We met with Ana and Aida on Tuesday. Actually, Aida brought another friend! Her name is Elona also...but all of them are leaving to their respective cities this week. I don't know if we will meet them again. We ran into Ana last night in the road. She stopped and talked to us. They are in the middle of final exams right now so it is very busy, and then they leave. On Tuesday we gave them a semenary student manual to help them in their Book of Mormon reading over the summer because we won't be able to answer their questions....they are in the Lord's hands now....
I'm not sure what more to say about this week. Tell Grandma Nevins that I got her letter and I hope her leg feels better. Also tell Sister Jensen that I wrote a letter and it will be sent shortly. I was able to write 4 letters last week and I am probably going to try to send most of them at the same time...because I have anothe 10 letters to write! I am trying to get them all written but it may take a couple of weeks. I typically only have a couple hours on P-day to do that kind of thing, so It will be a slow process.
Anna, I am so proud of you! You have worked so hard and now it is all working out! Congratulations! Thank you for the audio recordings last week. It is always good to hear your voices. It would be nice if all of you got a chance send a recording sometime and upday me on how everything is going.
My companion says that my Albanian is improving a lot. another missionary in the district gave a talk yesterday. He was in my MTC group. My companion said that I have surpassed him now, and that now he is kind of worried about his albanian... I don't know, but I think my albanian has gotten better. For the most part, my companion and I simply speak Albanian with eachother. We have gone nearly the entire day without speaking any english...it has been helping a lot.
Congratulations on the Baptism. It is great news to hear!
Well, I love you all. Thank you for all of your continued support. It is hard sometimes, but I am doing all that I can...what more can I ask of myself than that? Well, have a great week!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
May 24, 2010
Dear Family,
Well, first off, those expecting letters, I wasn't able to write last week. We hardly had a p-day because of things that came up. So I plan on getting a good chunk of those today.
So, as for the work here, it seems to be slowing down. Ana, Aida and Elona are preparing to return to their respective homes for the summer. So this week will be that last week we can meet with them until october unless something changes and we can visit them in pogradec and divjaka. They continue to read (despite the fact that the word used to describe the Great and abominable church of the devil as a nasty woman is as strong as a few choice profanities in English. It is interesting because we thought about it, and we realized that the word in English must have been equally as strong in the time of Joseph Smith, but we have been desensitised over time to the strenght of the word. Albanian is a REALLY ancient language...) Anyway, they are about in 1 nephi 20 right now. we are thinking about giving them the semenary student manual as a reference over the summer because we will not be there to answer questions and resolve concerns. I hope they gain a testimony.
Other investigators hae simply dropped off the face of the Earth or have decided not to continue meeting us...it is too much of a comittment for them.
Bona and Kozeta accepted the challenge to read the Book of Mormon. They read A LOT (sometimes 6 books a week!) so they will probably be finished with it by the time we meet them next tuesday. They reminded me of Melisa in the way that they read so much. They are good girls. They have read the Bible...but nonetheless are still very Muslim. It will be hard, it may take time, but if they join, they will be strong. I hope they gain a testimony.
Nene is amazing! We had a lesson and we brought a member...or 4! We had 4 members at this lesson and mainly we just talked about her getting baptized. 2 of them gave their experience of baptism and testified that is was one of the best things they have chosen to do. One of them even had a Muslim background (which helped because Nene professes to be Muslim, but comes to church every week). She is getting close to baptism...if she feels that he health can handle it. If she decides not to, we are thinking of getting her information and a written permission to do her work for her after she goes to the other side of the vail.
It is good to here about the Miracles back home. It is good to see how the Lord is taking care of my family.
Thank you for sending those audio files Anna. I look forward to listening to them. I always love to hear my family's voices. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Week!
Love, Elder Fredrickson
Well, first off, those expecting letters, I wasn't able to write last week. We hardly had a p-day because of things that came up. So I plan on getting a good chunk of those today.
So, as for the work here, it seems to be slowing down. Ana, Aida and Elona are preparing to return to their respective homes for the summer. So this week will be that last week we can meet with them until october unless something changes and we can visit them in pogradec and divjaka. They continue to read (despite the fact that the word used to describe the Great and abominable church of the devil as a nasty woman is as strong as a few choice profanities in English. It is interesting because we thought about it, and we realized that the word in English must have been equally as strong in the time of Joseph Smith, but we have been desensitised over time to the strenght of the word. Albanian is a REALLY ancient language...) Anyway, they are about in 1 nephi 20 right now. we are thinking about giving them the semenary student manual as a reference over the summer because we will not be there to answer questions and resolve concerns. I hope they gain a testimony.
Other investigators hae simply dropped off the face of the Earth or have decided not to continue meeting us...it is too much of a comittment for them.
Bona and Kozeta accepted the challenge to read the Book of Mormon. They read A LOT (sometimes 6 books a week!) so they will probably be finished with it by the time we meet them next tuesday. They reminded me of Melisa in the way that they read so much. They are good girls. They have read the Bible...but nonetheless are still very Muslim. It will be hard, it may take time, but if they join, they will be strong. I hope they gain a testimony.
Nene is amazing! We had a lesson and we brought a member...or 4! We had 4 members at this lesson and mainly we just talked about her getting baptized. 2 of them gave their experience of baptism and testified that is was one of the best things they have chosen to do. One of them even had a Muslim background (which helped because Nene professes to be Muslim, but comes to church every week). She is getting close to baptism...if she feels that he health can handle it. If she decides not to, we are thinking of getting her information and a written permission to do her work for her after she goes to the other side of the vail.
It is good to here about the Miracles back home. It is good to see how the Lord is taking care of my family.
Thank you for sending those audio files Anna. I look forward to listening to them. I always love to hear my family's voices. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Week!
Love, Elder Fredrickson
May 17, 2010
Dear Family,
Well, transfer calls have come and gone. My entire district is staying. No one is getting transferred...and I am very content with that. We are all staying in elbasan.
Well, I'm trying to think about what to write... I'm slightly overwhelmed with the success we have been having. We are teaching about 10 investigators regularly each week, multiple times a week. They all have their individual needs and circumstances, and sometimes I admit I am at a loss as to what to do. On top of that we are teaching an additional 7-8 less actives regularly, again, each with their needs and desires (or the lack thereof). All of these people have great potential in my eyes, and I don't want to drop any of them simply because I don't have time for them. They are all precious in God's eyes. On top of that, I have caught wind that I had better be ready to take over the area next transfer... well, it's all in God's hands. If he thinks I can handle it, I can. God qualifies those he calls.
Nene (nene isn't her name, but it means older woman (respectfully). It is a term of endearment.) is our focus right now. She considers herself Muslim, but she loves to come to church each week. We have even talked to her about baptism, and she seems to be open to the possibility, but she is afraid for her health (she is 65 with a pace maker). Anyway, I will send an audio recording of her telling all of you how great I am! I will try to get around to translating it for you sometime.
Ana and Aida and Elona seem to be doing well. They continue to read, but they seem to be slowing. We aren't sure what to do, and we are thinking of explaining the implications of what we taught them. We are dealing with exaultation here!
We also met with a young lady named bona and her twin sister kozeta. They are HARD CORE MUSLIM! They do not believe that God can be our loving Heavenly Father, because they believe we are simply his creations. They think God can't have children because he is only one (he is the only God) so he can't have a wife, and if he did have children, they would have the potential grow up to become like him. They told us that after they read the restoration pamphlet, and we were shocked at the conclusions they came up with...we just moved on and did our best to stay out of those waters. I think they have potential, and I simply feel like I need to trust in God, and His Promises, especially the Promise of the Book of Mormon. There is a lot of power in the teachings and testimonies contained in that sacred volume of scripture.
Well, thank you for wishing me a happy Birthday! I actually haven't told anyone that my Birthday is tomorrow...I kind of wanted to keep that to myself. Thank you for the birthday gift. As for restaurants, my cooking is usually better, and it is many times less expensive to eat out than it is to cook at home...and far less work! But I got myself a couple BEAUTIFUL ties with the money you sent so I will send you pictures. Ties are gorgeous here and typically inexpesive. We get the ties from italy, so you know they are nice!
Well, tell Sister Jensen that I am in process of responding to her letters. She sent her e-mail address to me in her last one, but you know that I can't send anything directly to her. Today I plan on getting caught up on letters ishalla.
I love you all! I hope you all have a glorious week!
Love, Elder Fredrickson
My companion translated it for you. Here you go!
On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 2:19 PM, Geoffrey Thomas Foulk wrote:
Starting from Nena talking
Good evening. It’s my pleasure to talk with you, Elder Fredrickson’s parents. You have a great son, and we have a very very good missionary, wonderful. Boys like this are rare, together with his companion, Elder Foulk. It’s been 2 months since they came here, and I have the best impressions ever in the world. So you should be very happy that you have a son that wonderful. An extraordinary missionary. I congratulate him a lot. May the Lord bless him. May the lord be with him, and give him all the best in his life. He’s done a wonderful job here at church, together with Elder Foulk. They’re great missionaries, and may they have good luck in their life. Should I keep going? They come about every other night to my house, and we worship the Lord, Jesus Christ, we talk, and they’re really excited because of me, because I more or less am… should I say muslim or not? No problem? Ok, I’m muslim, but I really like this religion, because I’ve been really sick for a little while, and they’ve spoken really well for me, and I would like to get baptized! (chuckle) I’m not baptized, but maybe I can get baptized later, and I’m really grateful to these boys. I send you greetings as their parents, that you have raised a very educated boy, for as much time as I know him. Your boy is gold, really great, together with his companion Elder Foulk. Good night a lot from me, and I would love to meet up sometime somewhere, at your son’s wedding. Good night. (Did I do a good job? Yeah, really really good. Awesome!)
Well, transfer calls have come and gone. My entire district is staying. No one is getting transferred...and I am very content with that. We are all staying in elbasan.
Well, I'm trying to think about what to write... I'm slightly overwhelmed with the success we have been having. We are teaching about 10 investigators regularly each week, multiple times a week. They all have their individual needs and circumstances, and sometimes I admit I am at a loss as to what to do. On top of that we are teaching an additional 7-8 less actives regularly, again, each with their needs and desires (or the lack thereof). All of these people have great potential in my eyes, and I don't want to drop any of them simply because I don't have time for them. They are all precious in God's eyes. On top of that, I have caught wind that I had better be ready to take over the area next transfer... well, it's all in God's hands. If he thinks I can handle it, I can. God qualifies those he calls.
Nene (nene isn't her name, but it means older woman (respectfully). It is a term of endearment.) is our focus right now. She considers herself Muslim, but she loves to come to church each week. We have even talked to her about baptism, and she seems to be open to the possibility, but she is afraid for her health (she is 65 with a pace maker). Anyway, I will send an audio recording of her telling all of you how great I am! I will try to get around to translating it for you sometime.
Ana and Aida and Elona seem to be doing well. They continue to read, but they seem to be slowing. We aren't sure what to do, and we are thinking of explaining the implications of what we taught them. We are dealing with exaultation here!
We also met with a young lady named bona and her twin sister kozeta. They are HARD CORE MUSLIM! They do not believe that God can be our loving Heavenly Father, because they believe we are simply his creations. They think God can't have children because he is only one (he is the only God) so he can't have a wife, and if he did have children, they would have the potential grow up to become like him. They told us that after they read the restoration pamphlet, and we were shocked at the conclusions they came up with...we just moved on and did our best to stay out of those waters. I think they have potential, and I simply feel like I need to trust in God, and His Promises, especially the Promise of the Book of Mormon. There is a lot of power in the teachings and testimonies contained in that sacred volume of scripture.
Well, thank you for wishing me a happy Birthday! I actually haven't told anyone that my Birthday is tomorrow...I kind of wanted to keep that to myself. Thank you for the birthday gift. As for restaurants, my cooking is usually better, and it is many times less expensive to eat out than it is to cook at home...and far less work! But I got myself a couple BEAUTIFUL ties with the money you sent so I will send you pictures. Ties are gorgeous here and typically inexpesive. We get the ties from italy, so you know they are nice!
Well, tell Sister Jensen that I am in process of responding to her letters. She sent her e-mail address to me in her last one, but you know that I can't send anything directly to her. Today I plan on getting caught up on letters ishalla.
I love you all! I hope you all have a glorious week!
Love, Elder Fredrickson
My companion translated it for you. Here you go!
On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 2:19 PM, Geoffrey Thomas Foulk wrote:
Starting from Nena talking
Good evening. It’s my pleasure to talk with you, Elder Fredrickson’s parents. You have a great son, and we have a very very good missionary, wonderful. Boys like this are rare, together with his companion, Elder Foulk. It’s been 2 months since they came here, and I have the best impressions ever in the world. So you should be very happy that you have a son that wonderful. An extraordinary missionary. I congratulate him a lot. May the Lord bless him. May the lord be with him, and give him all the best in his life. He’s done a wonderful job here at church, together with Elder Foulk. They’re great missionaries, and may they have good luck in their life. Should I keep going? They come about every other night to my house, and we worship the Lord, Jesus Christ, we talk, and they’re really excited because of me, because I more or less am… should I say muslim or not? No problem? Ok, I’m muslim, but I really like this religion, because I’ve been really sick for a little while, and they’ve spoken really well for me, and I would like to get baptized! (chuckle) I’m not baptized, but maybe I can get baptized later, and I’m really grateful to these boys. I send you greetings as their parents, that you have raised a very educated boy, for as much time as I know him. Your boy is gold, really great, together with his companion Elder Foulk. Good night a lot from me, and I would love to meet up sometime somewhere, at your son’s wedding. Good night. (Did I do a good job? Yeah, really really good. Awesome!)
May 10, 2010
Dear Family,
You are right, I don't have much time. I just got back from Korca. We went to a big orthadox church, and inside there were HUGE wooden chandeliers! Then we went and visited the Oldest Masque in the balkins, and the others wanted a Koran. I already had one in Albanian, so I asked I I could have one simply in Arabic. They happily gave it to me, and the other missionaries left with the red albanian one that I already have, and I have the Green one that is according to the muslim religion, LITERALLY the word of God. In many ways, they almost worship the Koran in Arabic. Then we went to Pogradec and ate a fish that ONLY lives in two lakes in the WORLD! In the lake over by macedonia and another lake in Russia thousands of miles away! It was delicious, the fish is called, ironically, a koran. that is the name of the fish. Anyway, that was our trip...and I gave away a Book of Mormon in Pogradec. It was good.
I really enjoyed talking to all of you on saturday. I don't have much time but I love you all! Have a great week!
Your Son in the Service,
Elder Fredrickson
You are right, I don't have much time. I just got back from Korca. We went to a big orthadox church, and inside there were HUGE wooden chandeliers! Then we went and visited the Oldest Masque in the balkins, and the others wanted a Koran. I already had one in Albanian, so I asked I I could have one simply in Arabic. They happily gave it to me, and the other missionaries left with the red albanian one that I already have, and I have the Green one that is according to the muslim religion, LITERALLY the word of God. In many ways, they almost worship the Koran in Arabic. Then we went to Pogradec and ate a fish that ONLY lives in two lakes in the WORLD! In the lake over by macedonia and another lake in Russia thousands of miles away! It was delicious, the fish is called, ironically, a koran. that is the name of the fish. Anyway, that was our trip...and I gave away a Book of Mormon in Pogradec. It was good.
I really enjoyed talking to all of you on saturday. I don't have much time but I love you all! Have a great week!
Your Son in the Service,
Elder Fredrickson
May 3, 2010
Dear Family,
I think I told you about Ana and Aida. Well, I am sending an Audio File of their story. It is about 30 minutes long ( much has happened with them) so listen to it when you can. It is really amazing, and words can't describe all that has happened.
Guess what! I got a letter from PASTOR WHITE! I was surprised because I didn't think that she would write (she hadn't written this entire time). My companion was in Awe at how beautiful her handwriting is. Admittedly, she has beautiful handwriting. Anyway, I was pretty surprised.
So I had quite a busy saturday. We left the house at 8:00am to go to a fshat named Rril to visit the family of Cehu. It is beautiful, and they fed us. They are the ones i think I told you about that other time where they make everything they have on their farm. Anyway, we were there all morning, and then we walked the entire way back (on the way there we took a van). It is a 12Kilometer walk....in a river bed! The Zaranika river dries up in the summer and they use in like a road into Elbasan, but even so it is not completely dry and we had to fjord a few streams....it was quite the adventure, but we didn't get home into the house untill 9:00pm, so we were exhausted!
Lets see...what else...I told the events with Ana and Aida in the audio recording, and that is most significant.
Melisa, I am so proud of you. I love you, but I want you to be careful...I don't want you to get hurt again. I am all for whatever decision you make.
Ammon, I hope you are ok. I guess you just wanted to follow your brother's example...but falling into a manhole was NOT a good example, haha! I hope all is well with school. Good luck!
Anna, I am stoked to hear that you are going to be attempting Rachmoninof! I MUST have a audio recording of THAT! I hope your AP tests go well!
Thank you for your words of encouragement brother Fellows. Thank you for your advice. The Priesthood is truly a blessing, isn't it?
Well, I think that is everything. I will talk to all of you at 9:00am (4:00pm my time) on Saturday. If Anything happens talk to the mission office. I could possibly be a couple minutes late, becuase we will be walking the zaranika again on the way back from Rril that afternoon. but it shouldn't be too late.
Love you all and I hope you have a great week!
I think I told you about Ana and Aida. Well, I am sending an Audio File of their story. It is about 30 minutes long ( much has happened with them) so listen to it when you can. It is really amazing, and words can't describe all that has happened.
Guess what! I got a letter from PASTOR WHITE! I was surprised because I didn't think that she would write (she hadn't written this entire time). My companion was in Awe at how beautiful her handwriting is. Admittedly, she has beautiful handwriting. Anyway, I was pretty surprised.
So I had quite a busy saturday. We left the house at 8:00am to go to a fshat named Rril to visit the family of Cehu. It is beautiful, and they fed us. They are the ones i think I told you about that other time where they make everything they have on their farm. Anyway, we were there all morning, and then we walked the entire way back (on the way there we took a van). It is a 12Kilometer walk....in a river bed! The Zaranika river dries up in the summer and they use in like a road into Elbasan, but even so it is not completely dry and we had to fjord a few streams....it was quite the adventure, but we didn't get home into the house untill 9:00pm, so we were exhausted!
Lets see...what else...I told the events with Ana and Aida in the audio recording, and that is most significant.
Melisa, I am so proud of you. I love you, but I want you to be careful...I don't want you to get hurt again. I am all for whatever decision you make.
Ammon, I hope you are ok. I guess you just wanted to follow your brother's example...but falling into a manhole was NOT a good example, haha! I hope all is well with school. Good luck!
Anna, I am stoked to hear that you are going to be attempting Rachmoninof! I MUST have a audio recording of THAT! I hope your AP tests go well!
Thank you for your words of encouragement brother Fellows. Thank you for your advice. The Priesthood is truly a blessing, isn't it?
Well, I think that is everything. I will talk to all of you at 9:00am (4:00pm my time) on Saturday. If Anything happens talk to the mission office. I could possibly be a couple minutes late, becuase we will be walking the zaranika again on the way back from Rril that afternoon. but it shouldn't be too late.
Love you all and I hope you have a great week!
April 26, 2010
Dear Family,
Spring is in full bloom here in Albania. I love being able to drink in the abundant smell of Flowers...It really reminds me of home.
So I'm not sure what to say this week.Truthfully, off the top of my head, Ana and Aida have been the main focus of this week. We met with them 3 times. The first time was tuesday, and then we met wednesday in the morning and Ana had read her reading assignment...even though we had givin it to her less than 24 hours before. That is nearly unheard of. I was on an exchange with Elder Loose on Saturday, but the others met with them and they said that Ana at first wouldn't pray in fromt of people, then convinced herself to pray and gave the best prayer they had ever heard in Albanian from member or nonmember. They eat up the English and the Religion. I hope they get baptized because they would be some of the strongest members I could think of.
My testimony has been like a fire for the last week. I have been frankly telling people EXACTLY how important the Book of Mormon is. In my mind, and according to much scripture, one of the main role's of the Book of Mormon is PROOF! THAT is why we need the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is hard evidence thjat God exists. The Book of Mormon is Proof that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the World. It was given for the convincing of Jew and Gentile that Jesus is The CHRIST. The Bible is Good, but it is NOT Proof. I Told a Musli the other day,'How can I know the Koran is true?" He tried to say something but I bust out the Book of Mormon and told him that it was proof that Jesus is the Saviour of the world that that there is a Promise at the end. You can know from the source of all knowledge and truth that this book is true and that this church, the Church of Jesus Christ , is God's church. The Book of Mormon is Proof that Joseph Smith is a Prophet, it is Proof that this church is true. I have been telling people this frankly and openly, and the Spirit has testified in full force. It is true, and I cannot deny it.
Thanks for the recipe Elisa, and tell Jeff congrats on being so popular. Also, give my regards to Adam and Mckay!
Thank you for your e-mail Melisa! I loved remembering all the good times we had together. Do you remember that day at Red Lobster where I got my first Lobster and couldn't Break it? I miss those pepperjack sandwhiches, but it will be a while before I can make another one. Bacon and Pepperjack are nearly nonexistant here.
Good Luck with everything dad!
I love you all! Have a great week!
Love
Elder Fredrickson
Spring is in full bloom here in Albania. I love being able to drink in the abundant smell of Flowers...It really reminds me of home.
So I'm not sure what to say this week.Truthfully, off the top of my head, Ana and Aida have been the main focus of this week. We met with them 3 times. The first time was tuesday, and then we met wednesday in the morning and Ana had read her reading assignment...even though we had givin it to her less than 24 hours before. That is nearly unheard of. I was on an exchange with Elder Loose on Saturday, but the others met with them and they said that Ana at first wouldn't pray in fromt of people, then convinced herself to pray and gave the best prayer they had ever heard in Albanian from member or nonmember. They eat up the English and the Religion. I hope they get baptized because they would be some of the strongest members I could think of.
My testimony has been like a fire for the last week. I have been frankly telling people EXACTLY how important the Book of Mormon is. In my mind, and according to much scripture, one of the main role's of the Book of Mormon is PROOF! THAT is why we need the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is hard evidence thjat God exists. The Book of Mormon is Proof that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the World. It was given for the convincing of Jew and Gentile that Jesus is The CHRIST. The Bible is Good, but it is NOT Proof. I Told a Musli the other day,'How can I know the Koran is true?" He tried to say something but I bust out the Book of Mormon and told him that it was proof that Jesus is the Saviour of the world that that there is a Promise at the end. You can know from the source of all knowledge and truth that this book is true and that this church, the Church of Jesus Christ , is God's church. The Book of Mormon is Proof that Joseph Smith is a Prophet, it is Proof that this church is true. I have been telling people this frankly and openly, and the Spirit has testified in full force. It is true, and I cannot deny it.
Thanks for the recipe Elisa, and tell Jeff congrats on being so popular. Also, give my regards to Adam and Mckay!
Thank you for your e-mail Melisa! I loved remembering all the good times we had together. Do you remember that day at Red Lobster where I got my first Lobster and couldn't Break it? I miss those pepperjack sandwhiches, but it will be a while before I can make another one. Bacon and Pepperjack are nearly nonexistant here.
Good Luck with everything dad!
I love you all! Have a great week!
Love
Elder Fredrickson
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