My journey EAST... Albania...then Kosovo

LAST VIEW OF MY HOME SWEET HOME. 10,000 FEET ABOVE. 

FINAL GOODBYES WITH FORMER COMPANION, ELDER RICHARDS. PROPS TO THAT MAN. HE IS A STELLAR MISSIONARY.

ICH BIN EIN BERLINER. OOPS. I STOPPED IN MUNCHEN. SCRATCH THAT.

OF COURSE I BOUGHT SOME RITTER SPORT IN ITS HOMELAND.

DEAR FAMILY:

TO BEGIN, EXCUSE THE ALL CAPS. I'M IN SOME GHETTO INTERNET CAFE IN KOSOVO, AND HAVE NO CLUE HOW TO DISABLE THE FUNCTION. AND SECOND, YES, I DID SAY KOSOVO. I WAS THE ONE MISSIONARY OF FOURTEEN WHO WAS FAVORED FROM ABOVE AND ASSIGNED TO THE CAPITAL OF KOSOVO, PRISHTINA. IT IS INCREDIBLE HERE. THE PEOPLE ARE NUMBER ONE. THE CITY IS NUMBER ONE. THE FOOD IS NUMBER ONE. THE LANGUAGE IS CERTAINLY NOT NUMBER ONE. 

THE KOSOVAR DIALECT IS ESSENTIALLY A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE. LITERALLY. 'IT AIN'T THE LANGUAGE THEY TAUGHT ME IN THE MTC!' AND I CAN TRUTHFULLY SAY THAT. ALBANIAN CONSISTS OF TWO BRANCHES OF LANGUAGE, AND THEY ARE FAR DISTANT FROM ONE ANOTHER. REALLY SEPARATE AND INDEPENDENT. SO I AM RELEARNING EVERY GRAMMAR PRINCIPLE AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE THAT I WAS TAUGHT IN THE MTC. IT'S CALLED GHEG. AND IT'S WHAT THEY USE IN THE NORTH HERE IN KOSOVO. YIKES. I WILL UNDOUBTEDLY NEED THE AID OF THE GIFT OF TONGUES. IT'S QUITE COMICAL, REALLY: ALL THE PEOPLE HERE UNDERSTAND THE BRANCH OF ALBANIAN THAT I KNOW, THOSK, SO THEY UNDERSTAND EVERY WORD I SAY. BUT THEN THEY SAY SOMETHING BACK IN THEIR THICK NORTHERN INSANITY, AND I STARE BLANKLY BACK. EDHE NJE HERA? (ONE MORE TIME?- PROBABLY THREE OF FOUR TIMES)

WELL, I TRAVELED IN SAFETY ALL THE WAY FROM PROVO. I HAD THE CHANCE TO TOUCH DOWN IN GERMANY FOR A QUICK LAYOVER AND WAS REFRESHED THAT FOUR YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL GERMAN HAS ABANDONED MY MIND. I'VE GOT QUITE A FEW FUNNY STORIES THAT DESERVE SHARING, BUT WILL PROBABLY HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL AFTER THE MISSION.

THE ONLY THING I CAN THINK TO BE COMPARABLE WITH MY EXPERIENCE AS 'FRINGO FARE' (NEW MISSIONARY) IS SOME DREAM I HAD SOMETIME AGO ABOUT FLYING ALLIGATORS AND PINK BEARS. IT'S QUITE DUMBFOUNDING, AND IN THE END I'M IN THE SAME BOAT AS EVERY OTHER MISSIONARY TO SERVE.

WELL, DEAREST FAMILY, LIFE IS WELL IN KOSOVO. I'M LIKE AN 8 YEAR OLD AT OXFORD. FOR NOW, MY BEST EFFORTS COLLECT TO HALF SMILES AND SHY WAVES. I REALLY AM TRYING AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF JESUS CHRIST. I'M DOING MY BEST. BUT MY BEST ISN'T A WHOLE LOT. I'M GLAD THAT GOD DOESN'T EXPECT A LOT MORE THAN THAT.

 I could already write a biography of what's happened here. I have so many funny stories that I'll share when the time comes, or when I have the time.

Well, dearest family, a great work is afoot. And I have the chance to be a part of it. Even now as a missionary I can tell the missionaries that got ready before their missions and the ones who didn't. It's time to start getting ready. Read your scriptures every day. Love eachother. Learn to be friends and talk with people. I'm sure glad that I did these things.

I LOVE YOU AS MUCH AS I LOVE MY KOSOVAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS. A LOT. 10 WONDERFUL WEEKS DOWN. THAT'S NEARING 10 PERCENT.

LOVE,

YOUR KOSOVAR REPRESENTATIVE, ELDER BENSON RYAN GUNTHER

OUR GROUP OF 14 OVERLOOKING TIRANA.

THE TYPICAL TIRANA SCENE: IT REALLY IS THE MEXICO OF EUROPE, IN TERMS OF SOCIAL CLASS.

FIRST SIGHTS: TIRANA, ALBANIA.

LIKELY THE WORLDS SMALLEST COMMERCIAL AIRPORT. TIRANA INTERNATIONAL. CAPITOL OF ALBANIA.

PRISHTINA, CAPITOL OF KOSOVO, AS SEEN FROM MY BACK PORCH. HOW GORGEOUS IS THAT, RIGHT? THAT'S MY VIEW UNTIL AT LEAST JANUARY, NEXT TRANSFER.

SAME SCENCE. DIFFERENT CAMERA FUNCTION- PANORAMA. EXCUSE THE QUALITY IF IT SEEMS A BIT FUZZY.

THE EQUIVALENT OF THE SACRED GROVE IN KOSOVO.

ME AND MY 'DAD' (MY TRAINER)- ELDER TANNER. HE AND I ARE VERY MUCH ALIKE- BOTH AVID RUNNERS AND STUDENTS OF SCIENCE. WE ACTUALLY DID AN 8 MILER THIS MORNING THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS OF KOSOVO.
TODAY MARKS TWO YEARS SINCE KOSOVO HAS BEEN OPENED FOR MISSIONARY WORK. WE VISITED THE DEDICATORY SIGHT (AS PICTURED IN THE BACKGROUND) AND READ ELDER RUSSELL M. NELSON'S DEDICATORY PRAYER.

                         OVERLOOKING PRISHTINA ON P-DAY.

OF ALL THE NATIONS UPON THE FACE OF THE EARTH, I HAVE THE CHANCE TO SHARE THE GOSPEL WITH ONE THAT NEEDS IT MOST. DESOLATED BY WAR, DENIED FREEDOM, AND SUPPRESSED BY EVIL, THERE COULD BE NO OTHER PEOPLE MORE IN NEED OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.

THE SERBIA-KOSOVO WAR LEFT BEHIND THOUSANDS OF UN-DETONATED LAND MINES. SO SOME TIMES I'VE GOT TO WATCH MY STEP. 

WATCH OUT KOSOVO. HIGH VOLTAGE IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT. Gospel plus Spirit hints something significant coming your way.