Türkiye Day II & III

... ALBANIA!
The night before we left for our Turkish excursion
Jairus handed me our itinerary. In it was a flight from
Turkey to Albania.
I was so caught off guard I couldn't even read the words.
I think I stared at the paper for at least 3 minutes.
I started hyperventilating.
Jairus bought us tickets from Istanbul to Tirana for the afternoon.
I asked him what in the baklava he was thinking.
He said, "We can't be so close and not go."
It's been 8 years since I've been home from my mission.
This truly was the most special surprise to me.

The newest pizza place on the Blloku.
Piceri Era

No beverage in the world is better than
Fanta Exotic.

Followed by the best pizza in the world
pice me ton.

Jairus and I on the Lana.

Shqiperia e dashur

I took Jairus to our church building.
This is the little tunnel we'd take to get there.

I was speechless when I walked up to the church.
A flood of memories came to me and I couldn't believe
I was standing right there right at that moment.
Gosh, I loved my mission.

The church sign and under it is the
Seminary sign for the youth.

Across the street is the mission home where President and Motra
Kinghorn lived for most of their time there.

The mosque right in Tirana. We heard the prayer call
so we rushed over and went in.
Jairus removed his shoes and went into the prayer room
to join the other men for the prayer.
Disobediently, I snapped a picture. If you look really close
you can see him in the crack of the door.
One of the top highlights of our trip for sure.

I took Jairus to the best Gelato place in all of Tirana
Behari. He loved it.

Byrek me gjize!

The heart of Tirana at night.