the weather outside is frightful, but our woodstove is delightful

When I went to Korea this summer, I never knew I would use what I'd learned there while here in K-land. On Sunday we went to church in Peja and met some people from Korea. I thought it was great to say "anyo-ha-sayoo" instead of the usual, "mire dite" (good day).
At the beginning of the service, a few people shared about the Christmas shoeboxes. Earlier this week, truckloads of the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes arrived. Groups from the States, England, and Germany send these boxes to children around the world, and we got to help hand them out. On Tuesday we woke up hours earlier than usual to get to the first school on time. The kids remembered the boxes from last year and ran around giggling and squirming with excitement. At the other schools for 7th-9th grades, the bigger guys came out and helped carry the big boxes that took two of us girls to carry. The schools were all cold inside, but once inside a classroom, the woodstove had the rooms warm and cosy.
The other missionaries here each took one of us into a classroom to help deliver the shoeboxes. They told the kids that the boxes were from people around the world who love Jesus and wanted to share Jesus' love with a gift.
On Wednesday we went to some village schools. We had to wait for the teachers to arrive before giving out the boxes, and as we waited, the kids came in and got ready for the day. They just stared at us curiously as they ran in and out of the building getting wood for the stove and rinsing out sponges to clean blackboards. But some of the braver ones murmered a "Mire dite!" before running inside.
After we finished at the village schools, we went to a preschool. The teachers had all the kids sitting on the floor for us. They stared with their big dark eyes and only wriggled around a little. Each child took his or her box shyly, but as soon as we left the room, I could hear the giggles and the sound of wrapping paper being shredded.
In the baby room, Lakyn and I were amused to see that fashion isn't just for the grown-ups. One four-year-old had a diamond in one ear, a gold bracelet, and blonde highlights throughout his hair.
We really enjoyed helping with the Christmas shoeboxes, and not just because we were able to miss Tuesday's language lesson.
Marita, our Albanian teacher, comes each afternoon for two hours. We are studying out of two books of Albanian phrases that may be useful, although I'm not sure how useful it is to know how to say "I do not know that man" in Albanian. We go over the homework from the day before and then get a new list of things to memorize. The lessons leave our brains drained for the evening, so our mornings before language is for cramming and forcing the Albanian words through our skulls.
This week went fairly well except for the time the electricity was out for twenty-one hours. However, on Friday night into Saturday, we got several inches of snow.
For the most part, we are doing well. I personally enjoy the strong Turkish coffee, the wonderful mountain teas, and the milky sweet hot chocolates from the local coffee shops. Drip coffee and yes, even Starbucks, is nothing compared to a cup of cappucino overflowing with whipped topping from Trofta for a mere euro. Yum-o.

Prayer Requests:
Health: a few of us have colds and there might be a stomach bug
Language: that we will learn it and be able to take it all in
-and please pray for a couple from one of the churches. Their baby girl died this week from complications of a premature birth.