8-2-2010

"Things here are pretty much the same,lol, as always. Sorry i don't ever have anything exciting to talk about. I've been in the same area for about 6 months now and i don't have much to talk about. I always meet new people on the roads but i pass so many of the same people now i don't really have any new things going on. We did meet with an awesome guy this week who is from Chicago. He is Albanian but he's back here for a while and we sat down for a couple hours and got a bite to eat with him. His name is Ylli and his wife and kids are in America and hopefully soon he says he'll be going back there. I'm not sure how interested in the church he is but he says he just loves speaking English and doesn't want to forget it so we are going to meet him again this week. I think tomorrow he might come play soccer with us too. He looks like he would be pretty good so hopefully he can get up at 5:30 and get to the field. Odds are probably not... Agron's baptism went amazing. There were so many people there and at the end he gave a very powerful testimony. He is 45 and has been through and seen a lot in his life. He was in the army for 19 years and he is alone here in Albania. It's hard to express in words how i feel as i have seen this man take hold of the Gospel and completely change his life around. He was so sad and depressed when we first met and now there is a new light in his eyes. A light of hope, i think it's a light of hope for a greater future. Its not that the gospel gave him meaning in his life but it gave him a better understanding of why certain things have happened and now an understanding of where he's going. I believe it's a hope that only the gospel can bring to us. I couldn't be more happy for Agron and he will be an awesome member here... Today we don't have any big plans. Last Monday was a blast because we did play soccer on the big field and it was a blast. It started to rain like crazy on us and the Albanians got under some trees for cover but all the missionaries just kept playing. We played a good 30 minutes straight as the rain just drenched us. It was such a blast!! We played for 2 hours so the other hour and a half was just fine. Today we have nothing big planned out. Hopefully I'll get some letter written but odds are that I'll get sidetracked and end up playing cards or we will find some new adventure to go on. I don't think i have anything else to write about."