February 9, 2015

Dear Mom,

So I have a few things to write you about since I haven't emailed in two weeks. One night about two weeks ago, I woke up at 1:00 am feeling horrible and went out to the living room trying to find comfortable positions to be in without waking up Sister Hassell. I had been taking aspirin during the day, and I read the bottle that said if too many were taken and you were nauseous and threw up that it could be an early sign of a "rare but serious condition". Shortly thereafter I went into the bathroom and did just that. I was pretty sure I hadn't exceeded the limit, but I was feeling so horrible and was worried by this point so I went out into the hallway outside of my apartment and called the mission office in Albania. None of the numbers went through. Fantastic. I felt guilty but decided to wake up Sister Schofield to see if she knew something about getting in touch with Albania that I didn't. She didn't but I had her call the elders for me to come and give me a blessing. Elder Prince and Elder Rigby only live like a ten-minute walk away. It was 3am by this time. The elders aren't allowed in our apartment so whenever they come to give us a blessing we sit in a chair in the doorway and they can put their hands on our head while they still stand in the hallway. As soon as Elder Rigby did the anointing I felt something in my abdomen that turned into warmth and I didn't feel nauseous at all from that point on. It was pretty amazing. When the blessing was over Sister Schofield told me my face wasn't stark white anymore. I still felt bad, but it was pain that I was able to sleep through. The only one in our apartment I hadn't woken up was Sister Barch. Oops.
 

One day while contacting in Center Mall (градски трговски центар) me and Sister Hassell were dismayed to find that the clean, soap-and-toilet-paper-having bathrooms that we knew of were closed, so we went down to the bottom floor where there's an open cafe always filled with smoke and found bathrooms there. She got sidetracked talking to someone, so by the time she came in I was washing my hands. "It's Turkish toilets, so good luck," I told her. Turkish toilets means essentially a hole in the ground. I waited for her by the smoky cafe. She finally came out laughing and said, "I was calling for you, where were you? My door locked and wouldn't open, so eventually this guy came in and yelled something and I realized he wanted me to stand back. He kicked the door down and it's broken now. Like, the frame is still there and the inside part is just hanging there." She was too embarrassed to go back and have me look but we did on another day. It was a funny view. I don't even know if the lack of a door will deter people from using that toilet because I have seen people going with the door wide open before. Only in Macedonia. And that concludes my update on toilet-related news for now.

Me and her have been having so many lessons. One night we came back and realized we had each had about four drinks that day while in cafe lessons. We were kind of complaining about having to take in so many extra calories, since we usually order either salep or hot chocolate, but then realized it was such a blessing to have problems due to having lots of lessons.

We had zone conference in Gjakova instead of Prishtina because there were riots going on there. President Weidmann had his daughter, who is just recently returned from her mission at Temple Square, talk to us. It was pretty cool. Then at the end we were able to watch Meet the Mormons! I was so excited! That's the first "real" movie I've seen in over a year! I found it's a lot easier to entertain myself and get me to laugh than it used to be, I guess due to my lack of outside influence. I really liked the movie, especially the last story. It was also an unexpected surprise to see Annapolis, Maryland in part of the movie!!!!! At zone conference we ran into Elder Lesi again, an Albanian who will be serving in Macedonia when his visa clears. He seems like a really, really good guy. He's only been learning English for a few months now but his progress is impressive and he even makes understandable jokes in English. During conference he raised his hand and said, "I no testimony, Spirit testimony." True words.
 

Also while in the church building in Gjakova I found a cabinet filled with Albanian and Turkish pamphlets and put a bunch in my bag. I realized later I probably should have asked first.
 

We had arguably the best lesson of my entire mission one night last week while on the third floor of a cafe with two Muslim guys. It was our second lesson with them and one of them definitely felt the Spirit. I don't really want to write it here but I'll tell you about it when I get home. Funny, too, because afterwards I asked Sister Hassell what she thought about how it went and she said it was, "not terrible." 

"What?? Seriously?? That was the most phenomenal lesson ever." Just know that it was a miracle lesson. The soonest they could meet again was almost a week later and they were always on my mind during the time in between. The one guy was completely different this time and it was the most bitter disappointment I have ever felt on my mission. At the end of our previous meeting, a third Muslim friend had showed up and I assume he told them something about us to turn them off after we left because now he was no longer open to reading the Book of Mormon. This time the other guy's little brother was there and he showed us a video of an American guy talking about why he changed from Christianity to Islam. When we were walking back Sister Hassell stopped in a little shop to get some sort of pastry and I watched her through the glass. 

"You look so sad," she mouthed to me sympathetically. I guess for now we aren't going to try to get back in touch with them. The one guy seemed so happy in his religion, so I guess that makes me happy too. "The name of my God is Allah," he had told me firmly. I respect anyone as devout as he is. I don't know why, but all devout Muslim men all have the same look that he has. Short hair with a short beard, overall kempt and cleaner than normal, which probably has to do with washing themselves before they enter the mosque, five times a day. They have an air of propriety, walking straight-shouldered and tending to be a little serious, and dress nice. They are kind. They despise Satan. They are firm in their beliefs. I really do have a lot of respect for Muslim people.

Something good that came of the lessons was more insight into Muslims beliefs and the problems they have with Christianity. Most obviously, they have trouble accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior and as the Son of God, which is a problem. "I love Jesus, I just don't believe He was the Son of God," the little brother had said to me. Now we better know how to teach them and have a better understanding into the root of their religion.  They are still both always on my mind. I told Sister Hassell that even though I was sad we wouldn't be teaching them soon again, I could feel partial relief by continuing to pray for them by name every day. (I do know their names, I just haven't written them here.)

Zdravka is still on baptismal date and is doing fantastic.

We had a lesson with Blagoy once in a bakery where we showed him all of the pictures in the gospel art book about Christ. We were, for the majority of the lesson, the only ones there, so the worker there was listening to a lot of what we were saying. At the end when we paid I invited him to church, but I haven't seen him there since. I should go back and invite him again. We had another lesson with Blagoy and had Metia come since it was at his house and we need a third girl to be able to teach a guy in their home. I think it was a really good experience for both of them. We talked about the Atonement. I just love hearing Metia talk to us about "нашата црква", our church. 

Last Sunday one of the street guitarist/singers that Sister Hassell has made friends with came to church. We had a lesson with him afterwards. I promised him that as he read from the Book of Mormon, he would find happiness and be better able to see the blessings from God in his life. We ran into him in the mall a few days later and he had a big smile on his face. We sat down with him to talk and one of the things he said was, "My grandma always said, 'Every bad thing brings something good,'" it was kind of funny seeing the huge change in attitude. Sister Hassell commented on his good mood and he said he had been so for that day and the day before, and the day before. So right about the time he would have started reading. I think that was the first time I had been able to see for myself blessings that I promised someone, something I'd been praying about. 

"We are not accustomed to speaking of women having the authority of the priesthood in their Church callings, but what other authority can it be? When a woman—young or old—is set apart to preach the gospel as a full-time missionary, she is given priesthood authority to perform a priesthood function. The same is true when a woman is set apart to function as an officer or teacher in a Church organization under the direction of one who holds the keys of the priesthood. Whoever functions in an office or calling received from one who holds priesthood keys exercises priesthood authority in performing her or his assigned duties.

Whoever exercises priesthood authority should forget about their rights and concentrate on their responsibilities. That is a principle needed in society at large. The famous Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is quoted as saying, 'It is time … to defend not so much human rights as human obligations.' Latter-day Saints surely recognize that qualifying for exaltation is not a matter of asserting rights but a matter of fulfilling responsibilities." -Dallin H. Oaks, The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood.

Sister Hassell had the idea to edit the video Because of Him so that it's available in Macedonian as well and we can put it on a flashdrive and show it to people. We've spent so much time editing the video trying to make it perfect. It's so much fun. Unknown to her at the time was that Macedonia was getting a bunch of Because of Him pass-along cards, so now they can be used in conjunction and at just the right time. We're almost done with the video and the cards should be ready within a week or so.

A long, long time ago when I was still companions with Sister Schofield, we had a lesson with a salesman named Marian. A few nights ago we were finally able to have a second lesson with him. He told us that as a second job he does stand-up comedy. He asked us, "Are you ok with jokes about God?" We both said that most of them were ok, as long as they were respectful. He went on, "Don't ever tell a joke about God to a Muslim person, oh noooo, they get so mad. They don't like it." Good to know, I thought, since Muslims were on my mind so much.

"I think God has a sense of humor," said Sister Hassell.

"I think God has a sense of humor, too. That's why He created Macedonia," he said. He wasn't super interested in the church, but we ran into him a day or two later while we were eating at a сларкарница by the smoky cafe. He joined us and he told us some stuff about Macedonia and the culture here. He's a really nice guy. I hope we see him again soon. I'm grateful for Sister Hassell's example when she said, "Now we have to think and pray about why the Lord wanted us to see Marian again." While on the bus I asked her if she had heard this story (she hadn't) that you first told me and that is also in the movie Pursuit of Happyness: A man is drowning in the ocean and he prays and asks God to save him. A boat comes and throws him a life raft. He says to them, "No thank you, God will save me." Again he prays and asks God to save him. Another boat comes and offers help. He tells them that he is waiting for God to save him. He prays again and says, "God, please don't let me die. Save me." A boat comes and he refuses their help because he has prayed for God's. He dies. He gets to heaven and asks God, "Why didn't you save me?" God says to him, "I sent you three ships." In response to that, Sister Hassell said, "How many times does God have to knock on our doors?"

This morning I was reading in First Nephi and thinking about these verses, "...Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw? And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things. And he spake unto me, saying: Yea, and the most joyous to the soul." By the love of God, does it mean our love for God, His love for us, or the love we should have for others? I think it means all of those things. Maybe that's why the most important commandment is to love God (Mark 12:30). Because it brings happiness. That's what this gospel brings is happiness. What else does it bring other than feelings of peace, or the knowledge to help us change things so that we can have peace? These are the things I most often testify to people of on the street or in a first lesson. It is so simple. The only thing we have to do is believe. Only a lack of believing will keep us from feeling this. God is there, and he is so ready to bless us if we will do no more than follow Him.

As I pray, Heavenly Father blesses me to help me learn Macedonian. As I pray and as I speak of my Savior Jesus Christ to people, I come to know more and more that He really is my Savior, that He took my sins and afflictions upon Himself for no reason other than He loves me. He has done the same for you too. God is our Father who sacrificed His Son because He loves us, His children, and He wants us to become more than what we could ever be by ourselves. He has helped me to do so. In His sacred name, Jesus Christ, amen.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1997/04/pray-unto-the-father-in-my-name?lang=eng

Love,

Sister Riddle

January 19, 2014

Dear Mom,

The past week or so has been one of my most successful in the mission field, ever. I don't know why things have changed so much for the better.
 

Even though we spend so much time contacting, on average I get a phone number or two every few weeks, and usually those phone numbers don't turn out to be anything. Last night while updating the area book with Sister Hassell I counted and realized I had gotten about ten phone numbers in the past two days. All working phone numbers as well.
 

Sister Barch got here on the 14th. We drove Sister Schofield to the Kosovo border the night before and the Sister Training Leaders picked her up (there are now two cities open to sisters in Kosovo; Prishtina and Gjakova, where the STLs are now.) The next day they drove to Albania to pick Sister Barch up from the airport there. She flew into Tirana and because we weren't sure when her Macedonian visa was going to be ready and were going to have her work in Albania until it was, but it ended up being ready then. Sister Schofield is now her trainer and Sister Hassell is my now my only companion. Thus marks the end of an 11 month and 1 week companionship with Sister Schofield.
 

We're all in the same apartment though which is fun. Originally the STLs drove back with them and did exchanges with us in Skopje for a day. I hated having so many people in my house at first but quickly got over it. I worked with Sister Boettinger, who's from Canada and was in the MTC at the same time as me. With all of our investigators split between three companionships, we only had one lesson planned for the whole day which ended up cancelling on us. In the morning for companionship study I told Sister Boettinger that so often when contacting people, I froze up and couldn't think of what to say so I wanted to spend our study hour coming up with short prepared messages. Among our other ideas, we decided to take our gospel art book with us to help us explain the first vision, etc. (Helpful since to a lot of people here, the idea that God has a body is new.) I told her that I wanted to try an idea another sister had of showing people a picture of a baptism and asking if they wanted to be baptized. We had very long hours of straight contacting that day, but it turned out being SO much more fun than I had anticipated. In the morning once we were out in Center, we decided to pray about where to go. We both thought the bridge, which was cool. Something very strange happened. During that time on the bridge, not just one but two different people came up to me and asked what I was doing. One was a man named Lypcho who was with his wife Elitsa. Never before in missionary work have I felt the Spirit so strongly directing me what to say than when I talked to Lypcho. At the end when I asked for their phone number and his wife started politely declining like usual, he thought for a minute and then gave it to me. A while later a Roma man selling towels came up to me and started having a discussion with me and he told me his beliefs about marriage and chastity. I gave him a law of chastity pamphlet, which we don't usually use on a first contact, but it went exactly with what he had been saying to me. Sister Boettinger wanted to try traditional Macedonian food, so I took her to a little restaurant in Old Town. I think the cook was the waiter's mom or something, because I got something different than what I ordered and he just asked me if it was ok to have that instead, and when the cook went outside he came back over and apologized. We went and picked up my new Macedonian ID card, then I had probably the least-frustrating hour of language study since being here. We continued contacting and talked to a man on a park bench drinking a can of Скопско (the local beer) and showed him the picture of baptism. He more or less ran away. We went in for our dinner hour before all the other sisters and Sister Boettinger made me some Albanian hot chocolate. I'll have to make you some when I get back.
 

I just thought it was so cool (a word I apparently overuse according to President Weidmann) that the previous night I had been so disheartened looking at my planner and seeing the large blocks squared away for contacting time and saying to Sister Boettinger "I'm glad you're enthusiastic" and then the next day being rewarded for acting in faith, I suppose. Maybe God is trying to teach me not to have a bad attitude. Sister Boettinger was beneficial to have on the bridge because a lot of people in that area speak Albanian.
 

The day after the STLs left we had language class with Zoki rescheduled at the last minute which totally messed up everyone's schedule. To make things easier, me and Sister Schofield got back together to cover all the lessons that were going to take place while the other two sisters went to class. One of our investigators dropped us. It was sad, but I was glad Sister Schofield could be there with me since we had found and taught him together. The lesson right after that we had to take a taxi to get to on time (I told the driver we were in a hurry and he really stepped on it-- it was fun) which was with Atesh, the Roma I had met the day before on the bridge. He committed to read the Book of Mormon. Sister Schofield said it was probably one of our top five best first lessons.
 

On Sunday we had a new record--46 people in church (including babies, missionaries, and members). Our most recent convert Prend gave a talk on prayer and invited a lot of his family to come hear him speak. I sat next to one of his family members and she said she was interested in meeting up with us. 

Sunday morning I put both a Serbian and English Book of Mormon in my bag because we had a lesson planned with a man who spoke English as well and I wanted to give him the choice of which language he wanted to read in. After church while contacting, Sister Hassell ran into a guy that had come to church and was able to fellowship him a bit more. Have I mentioned before that there are Mother Teresa quotes all over the city? We both like to stop and read them even though I've read them all before. I stopped a guy on the street who said he had heard of the church because he'd talked to Elder Krajnc before. He said he wanted all of our materials to read and I had pretty much every pamphlet to give him since I had just recently been hard-core contacting. I also gave him the Serbian Book of Mormon, which was also one Sister Boettinger had had me write my testimony in and that I had highlighted some of my favorite verses in. I started talking to an old man who introduced us to his son who was with his American friend. Can I just say that Americans are not hard to spot? He had on an Under Armour hoodie and baggy jeans and was taking a picture with his iPhone, with a non-European style hat on and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Turns out not only was he American but he was a soldier visiting from Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo! "Well, y'all ain't strangers or nothin'!" he said once he found out we had friends there and visited the base occasionally. He was from Indianapolis and was celebrating his 49th birthday in Skopje. I told him he didn't look that old. "It's called not havin' a lotta stress. And relyin' on that Man you're talkin' to everybody about," he pointed to a pamphlet I had in my hand about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sister Hassell talked a little more to him while I talked to the old man who only spoke Macedonian. He gave me his phone number and we planned to meet later that week. Once we were about to part the American guy, named Shelton by the way, said, "Well, why don't you give me one of your books?" I opened my bag to find something in English. 

"Do you have a Book of Mormon?"

"No, I have a Bible that I keep on my nightstand and like to read, but I wouldn't mind having a Book of Mormon." I handed him the Book of Mormon I had brought for our lesson. He looked at it interestedly. "I'll read this," he said. The lesson rescheduled on us anyway. It worked out perfectly. 

This morning was a holiday. Every year the Orthodox church has a tradition where the priest throws a cross into the Vardar river and a bunch of guys try to be the first one to grab it. We walked over to a bridge this morning and heard something going on over the loudspeaker. Whoever was speaking was saying something about the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan and just kind of the life and mission of Him in general. So many people were gathered but I couldn't for the life of me see over so many heads into the water where the action would happen. If only I were five inches taller. There were a bunch of medics and ambulances in and around the water, I guess in case of the worst. The voice over the loudspeaker turned into a song and the crowd pressed in excitedly, so I figured the cross had been thrown. Once it was all over and people started to leave, I watched a recording of it on Elder Prince's camera. A guy in a black shirt came out of the water with an elaborate brass-looking cross in his hand, while the other competitors took turns kissing it. Apparently whoever kisses it gets the priesthood. The winner receives a cash prize. A random onlooker was also watching the recording with us. Kinda funny. I had wondered whether the singing/speaking had been a prayer or not, and apparently it was because he ended it with an "amen." We went to eat with the Elders at Irish Pub. Apparently while they were watching the cross being thrown an American baptist was trying to get into an argument with them. Zoki was there too, and since he used to be some type of missionary for the Baptist church in Germany (I think) he gave the elders pointers on how to work with Baptists. I forgot to mention that Zoki took a trip to Holland a few weeks ago and while there did baptisms for the dead in the temple there. He loved it. At lunch Elder Krajnc told me that back when he used to be Catholic, he wasn't allowed to advance in the priesthood because there were a couple of songs he didn't want to memorize. I told him I am glad that this church accepts Catholic rejects.
 

And actually it turns out that the thing about knives being approved was a rumor.
 

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say here is, if you ever think God isn't real, you're wrong. I feel so blessed that he called me as a missionary here in Macedonia. One night while reading in the New Testament I came across some verses that talk about Macedonia and I told Sister Hassell, "Likening the scriptures has never been more real." Here are the specific ones I was talking about:

2 Corinthians 7: 5-6, "For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus." (Replace the word Titus with "new missionaries" or "STLs" or "new investigaors" or "new potentials" or "new hope" or "rewarded faith" or "answers to prayers" or "His Spirit" or "His love".)

2 Corinthians 8: 1-5, "Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; Praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God."

 

I love you. Heavenly Father loves you.

Sister Riddle

January 12, 2015

Dear Mom,

So the President of European missions has approved and encouraged all missionaries living in an area where Muslim terrorist groups exist to carry knives.  As far as I know it isn't a real danger here in Skopje, it's just a precaution. 

Sister Schofield's mom knew somebody who has relatives here in Macedonia so she sent us a personal letter and pictures to deliver to them and try and introduce them to the gospel. We had Zoki translate the letter and then one night got in a taxi and had him take us to the address. The man and his wife were at home "preparing for Christmas" and invited us in and did a really good job of making it not awkward. They were so, so nice and later their son with his wife and daughter came by. They spoke a small amount of English but we understood them just fine in Macedonian. They said they had traveled to Portland many years before to visit family there, but were unaware of the existence of any relatives in Utah. We took pictures with them and made plans to come and see them again later in the month when they're done vacationing for the holidays. What a cool experience.

On Macedonian pre-Christmas Eve, people light a lot of fires and play really loud music and drink. We asked the guy with the relatives in Utah if he knew the reason for the fires, and he was really quiet and thinking for a bit and then said, "There is a reason, I just don't know it." I guess it's kind of like how I don't know why we have Christmas trees. It's also tradition here to hide a 1-denar coin in a big piece of bread, to cut it four ways on Christmas Eve, and whoever gets the coin gets good luck for the rest of the year. We bought one of said bread loaves at a bakery and did that in our apartment, but since there are only three of us none of us ended up with the coin.

We went to the army base in Kosovo again after Zone Training this week. We prepared a lesson about Heavenly Father's balance of justice and mercy. Only two soldiers came, but I think it went well. 

One morning when we were leaving the apartment I said a prayer asking the Lord to bless us with at least one new investigator. We went to Lucy's house to go and check on her and while waiting outside a guy named Risto passed who we talked to for a while and then ended up having a lesson at Irish Pub with him. Occurrences like that here are so rare. At one point Sister Hassell told him that her first name was Aspen and he said, "Aspen is the name of the town in Dumb and Dumber." 

Sister Hassell is really good about making specific plans for things, which makes us more effective, and for immediately saying prayers of gratitude when we receive blessings. I'm really glad I get the opportunity to work with her.

I don't remember if I mentioned that the Muslim taxi driver Mervan whose family we visited told us that the only reason they had us over was because we were Americans who had helped Kosovo (where they're from) in the war. They said they would do anything to help us but that they weren't interested in our religion.

I am so grateful for the Atonement and that we have a loving Savior who only wants us to do better so that we can return to live with Him and experience happiness to the depth that we are able. I hear so many missionaries express a fear of having not done their best. I feel the same but I know that as we sincerely try and seek our Father in Heaven's help every day in kneeling prayer, that He will help us and guide us. Christ's grace is sufficient for us all. He wants us to use His Atonement. He wants us to repent. He loves us. He loves you. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love, 

Sister Riddle

http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1966

January 5, 2015

Hey Mom,

So the new missionaries told me that I neglected to mention in my letters home that President Weidmann changed President Ford's plan for Macedonia when he took over. He wants to keep all of the missionaries in Skopje and not open up another city so that we can strengthen the branch here. Nine, soon to be more, missionaries in one city is unheard of in our mission. I think the maximum in any one city is six missionaries, which is what we were before the newbies came.

So we've been meeting with Zdravka and have her on baptismal date for the end of this month. She's so accepting of everything and practically invites and commits herself in every lesson. She's quite a perfectionist. 

President Weidmann came to Macedonia last week for Branch Conference and spoke to Blagoy about his problem getting baptized. He helped him devise a plan which will hopefully enable him to get baptized soon- just as soon as he finds a new apartment to move into.

Blagoy actually came today to this sports center we were at, ice skating, because we planned to play ping pong with him after. But then we found out everything but the ice rink was closed and so he left. He's such a nice old guy. He brought a thermos filled with tea for all of us.

Last time we had a lesson with Deon was New Year's Eve, I believe, and we talked to him about goals and resolutions. I shared with him an idea from Elder Bednar's talks--that any idea that inspires you to good is from God and of the Holy Ghost. He accepted that. So many people here just have a problem with accepting this church as the one and only true church because they see good elsewhere. I totally get what they're saying and even agree. As Elder Krajnc put it, other churches may be good, but if Jesus Christ had a church that He Himself organized, wouldn't you want to join that one? Deon says I don't accept anything other than "the Mormon church" and says I need to open my mind more. Which isn't true, but I can see his point considering he gave me something to read over two months ago that I still haven't touched. I would have read it by now had it been in English, though. I guess from his viewpoint, I'm not doing his homework and he isn't doing any of mine either. I would make for a horrible investigator. I'm hoping that once I finally get around to reading that article it'll show respect for his beliefs and he'll come around as well. 

Well, that's all I can think of that happened this week.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-05-1210-why-mormons-build-temples?lang=eng

Love you,

Sister Riddle

January 1, 2015

Hey Mom,

 

On Christmas Eve we had FHE at the Nelson's and I brought guacamole. Everyone kept commenting on and asking about the "salad with avocado". 

I don't remember if it was that night or another that we, the sisters, prepared the message. We watched The Coat which is on lds.org and then passed around a Macedonian Bible and took turns each reading a verse from the story of Christ's birth in Luke. I could really feel the Spirit there that night and we had a ton of people so it was awesome. 

Last night for New Year's Sister Schofield kept telling me how loud the fireworks were going to be because she remembered from last year and told me I should go take a nap before they started. (We weren't allowed out after 4pm as a safety precaution.) She was like, "I know you're a deep sleeper but you're not going to be able to sleep through all of that." In the morning when I told her I'd slept like a rock she just shook her head and told me I was ridiculous. 

We have been caroling and still giving out He is the Gift cards for contacting because it still isn't Christmas here for another week. Sister Hassell, being the banjo-playing vegetarian from Oregon that she is, has been able to switch to guitar and help provide music to our less-than-talented singing. Elder Gierisch was her secret santa for Christmas and wanted to buy her a goat's head from a butcher, but in the morning he found out that they weren't sold until noon. Apparently they only cost 60 denar, but I'm glad he didn't get her one because it would've made me feel a bit sad.

I can't remember what else has happened that I can quickly type to you. New investigators, 2 for sure coming to church. So nice to have dedicated people to teach!!! One named Lucy who owns her own chinese cafe, we had a lesson there one night. she's Buddhist but has described feeling the Spirit when she came to church. She just doesn't know what it is yet.  Thru her we met Zdravka, an old woman who we're teaching for the second time tonight.

It is SO COLD in Skopje right now. I'm wearing sweats under my skirt and a hoodie under my coat, plus handwarmers and wool socks, thermal garments, etc, and it still isn't doing the trick! The only trick would be to stay inside, which of course we cant do. We've been keeping the heater on at night the past few days. Snow everywhere which we got for the first time I want to say 3? 4? days ago, then it snowed again lightly. So we're walking on ice everywhere.

Feel like we're making some headway with Deon, one of our investigators, though that may be just a feeling.

Hope you all had a merry Christmas and were able to remember and feel it's true meaning.

"To love another person is to see the face of God." 

-Victor Hugo

Love,

Sister Riddle

                       Photo taken from hotel window where church is held. (Skopje, Macedonia)

 

December 15, 2014

Hi Mom,

Today was one of the best P-days ever. We finally went to see the castle here in Skopje. I've never walked around on it in all my time here. I looked it up and apparently it was built in the year 500?? Guess people back then knew how to build. It has been so, so foggy these past few days in the city but the view from up top was still pretty decent. Two stray dogs followed us around, which is pretty normal, and didn't part until we crossed the river later that day. Around the base of the castle were two tiny doors which Sister Hassell pointed out. I told her they led to Narnia and with that she disappeared behind them and I didn't see her for another twenty minutes (which for her I'm sure was about six months.) The castle was beautiful and artful up close and I appreciated all the arches, heavy doors and lookout points, and the slope of the castle in general, which definitely isn't the style in architecture today. So impressive was how sturdy it was and the fact that it's built out of a bunch of stones. I said to Elder Prince that tall buildings like that must have been the bomb for people who weren't used to being in planes or seeing pictures or movies from aerial views. Kind of strange for me to see a city I thought I knew so well from another vantage point, so I can't imagine how they must have felt. 

Then on our way down we stopped at the mosque that I've been to before, only last time we got there right when it opened so it was empty. At the mosque it's nametags off to show respect, then shoes off before entering or even placing your feet on the rug outside as a rule, and once inside this time a worker asked me to cover my hair and pointed to a rack full of headcoverings. He said it very respectfully. Another worker informed us that the call to prayer would be in about two minutes and had us stand to the side. I had never seen the actual prayer before so I was excited. The song came on as usual in Arabic and I realized that a man standing to the side was singing it into a microphone. People, all men, kept coming in late and knelt at the front of the room. There were about thirty of them, including the workers. The prayer lasted about fifteen minutes and was silent. I know that it's a memorized prayer though, and together they all knelt, bowed, moved their heads, and did everything else in unison. One guy who came in the latest I noticed had wet arms and legs, and once we went back outside I saw a huge fountain with soap around it that I guess they use to wash before entering to pray. Which is pretty notable considering how cold it is right now. The one worker who had told us about the call to prayer wanted to take a picture with all of us once we were outside. We stood around and talked to him about Islam for a few minutes and I heard him say, "What religion teaches people to kill? That is not a religion. A life is not ours to take. I see this on the tv, people who say they are Muslim and I think it's horrible. I don't know what it is." He told us he owned a restaurant in Tetovo and if we ever came he'd give us a free coffee. He told us to add him on Facebook and then we headed back out of Old Town; cobblestone and cigarette butts everywhere, and what Elder Gierisch calls "Balkan Spanish" music playing. 

All of the missionaries went over to the Swinefords on Sunday to watch the Christmas devotional and they gave us each a bag of American candy as an early present to all of us. Sweet! 

Haha, that's funny what you said about the Schofields giving you that ornament because in our apartment right now we have a little Christmas tree that includes some tiny lights that Sister Hassell got at the MTC and a bunch of Book of Mormon ornaments. I looked at it one day and said to Sister Schofield, "Ugh. We are such sister missionaries."

We have a big "He is the Gift" sign in Macedonian that we take contacting now, which is great! It makes us look so much more professional. But it also makes us look a lot more like Jehovah's Witnesses because they always have little setups like that. The first night we had it, I talked to a woman for a long time and tried to get her to come to church. She said she didn't want to until she was sure we weren't a cult. "You guys don't, like, do sacrifices and stuff like that?" I told her no but she didn't seem to believe me.

 Sister Schofield has had fun wrapping Book of Mormons at this time of year. She's doing a 12 days of Christmas thing for all of our elders, which is really nice of her, and we're taking out our portable DVD player when we go contacting to show people the He is the Gift video. President Weidmann says he'll get more cards to us, and we're planning a few more cool things for the season. Among the missionaries we're all doing a secret gift exchange. It's lots of fun. 

https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/watch/christmas-devotional/2014/12?lang=eng&vid=3929047363001

Psalms 31:1-3, "In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me."

Love,

Sister Riddle

December 8, 2014

Dear Mom,

 

The new missionaries are here!!!! I was so excited going to pick them up from the airport on Wednesday and was the first to be waiting at the arrival gate. President and Sister Weidmann were there too, and they told us that Elder Prince and Krajnc would be training, along with me. I hadn't known beforehand that one of us would be the official trainer, I just figured me and Sister Schofield would both do it together. Elder Prince spotted them first, and then I went around to give Sister Hassell a hug. I remember her saying, "Is this really happening?" And another one of the first things she said to me as we were waiting for the APs at the curb outside was, "I read your blog." Apparently Elder Rigby's dad found it and mailed a bunch of my letters to him via DearElder while he was in the MTC, which Elder Rigby then passed on to the others once he was done reading them. He said to me, "I felt a little invasive reading them because they all start out, 'Hi Mom'. But they were so cool and I got to find out about everything and it kept me totally pumped to come in-field." I thought it was pretty cool too, that they read them. Unexpected. He served in Payson for I think a month while they got his visa ready.

 

It's so nice having new people. I feed off of their excitement and hope. It's nice knowing enough that I'm able to help them.

I forgot to mention that President Weidmann made an exception for Macedonia to the no-teaching-opposite sex rule. Woohoo! We can teach men again. And now that we're a threesome with Sister Hassell we don't have to bother our members so much to come to a lesson (not in public) when it's with a man. Like Blagoy, for example. For most of my mission I have only contacted men because I didn't want another Benjamin to happen. That backfired the other night when a woman asked me out. So now I'm contacting men again.

 

You know the He is the Gift video I sent you last time? So I have read in my friends' emails that in their missions around the world they are all doing these pass-along cards with the website to the video. President Weidmann mentioned it in a letter to us and I assumed that as with everything else it wouldn't apply to Macedonia. But then an amazing thing happened!! We asked Zoki to translate the card into Macedonian and when President came down with the new missionaries he gave us all cards in Macedonian! So awesome! The most professional-looking ones we have ever had. And it's so great and easy because everyone can connect with Christmas and it segways so easily into talking about the Savior. Plus watching a 2 minute video at home is a much easier commitment that coming to church or meeting with us. Call it a Christmas miracle. Now I just need to convince President Weidmann to send us more because we don't have nearly enough to last until January 7, which is when they celebrate it here. Elder Prince even worked on making the video in Macedonian and we're going to see if it can be played from the big tv screen in the center of Skopje. That would be so amazing. Fingers crossed!

The past couple of days have been super busy with getting the new missionaries settled and all the legal stuff and everything. We had training with President Weidmann for the first two days and went up to Mount Vodno and read Macedonia's dedicatory prayer for the first time ever. We had Zone Training in Kosovo on Saturday and today for p-day we all went bowling. 

 

Alma 39:15, "And now, my son, I would say somewhat unto you concerning the coming of Christ. Behold, I say unto you, that it is he that surely shall come to take away the sins of the world; yea, he cometh to declare glad tidings of salvation unto his people."

 

Merry Christmas and I love you,

Sister Riddle