Mon 3/27/06 3:08 AM

Dear President Hafen,

Last night we returned from our trip to Kosovo. It was a good experience. We were accompanied by the Houcks as CES wanted them to check out the youth of Kosovo and the possibility of Institute. There has been substantial communication between the Houcks, CES, and members in Kosovo regarding this. We were met at the airport by Kwang-Koo Choi, a member from Korea who works for the UN. He has been in Kosovo for six years. His wife Kyong-Ah Lee and sever year old son Chan-Young have been with him in Kosovo the last two years. He is tentatively scheduled to leave Kosovo in June 2006.

Elder Choi took us on a two-hour tour of the city and checked us into a hotel. We were surprised to see so many youth out on the streets on a late Saturday afternoon. (50 percent of the population of Kosovo is under 25 years old.) They were all dressed in clothing typical for youth today. No different than we see in Croatia, Serbia, or Slovenia. We then went to Choi’s home and met with a number of young single adults, both male and female. We ate dinner and visited. We were joined by Brother and Sister Richard and Wendi Sweeny from Utah. Brother Sweeny is employed by a private firm that works for the UN. They are scheduled to go home in June also. The Chois and the Sweenys have been the ones to hold church and meet with investigators. When they go home, I don’t know what will happen. It would be good to have a couple serving there.

I met and spent most of my time with Edon (Edi) Kurtishi. He is a member and Elder. He became a foreign exchange student his senior year in high school. He knew English well as his father teaches English. He lived with members Thomas and Sandy Enyeart in Idaho Falls. He then went to Ricks College and received a two-year associate degree. He then went to Pocatello, Idaho for one semester. His family deceived him by telling him his father was deathly ill to get him to immediately come back home in January 2000. They were not happy with his new religion. He has been inactive for sometime because of their initial pressure and no local church structure and a one-time transgression that he was anxious to confess to me in private at the end of the evening. I had a strong witness that he is the key to the future of the Church in Kosovo. Edon Kurtishi works for a lady who is the Legal and Political Advisor to the President of the Assembly. It is not a coincidence that he went to America, found the Church and came back to his country, (He was studying to be a dentist and spent 1 ½ years in Germany and knows German, English, and Albanian) and has this job of influence. He does translation and is a legal aid. He dresses well and is a handsome young 26 year-old man.

On Sunday, we had 25 people to church. Two were local members. Sixteen were investigators. One of them, a young 25 year old, Burim Vranigi is prepared and wants to be baptized. He was taught for sometime by example in lessons by an American Liz Shropshire. She is funded by some grant and teaches music. He volunteers and supervises the group when Sister Shropshire is not in Kosovo. They took a trip to Ireland and performed over 1 ½ years ago. They were there for 20 days. Burim spent time every day with the missionaries. He was formally taught by them. I interviewed him after church and our meal prepared by Sister Kyong-Ah Lee. He is living the gospel and has a testimony. After this we gave Priesthood Blessings to Choi and Lee. Then I gave a blessing to Edon (Edi) Kurtishi. Again, it was confirmed to me of his future role in the Church in Kosovo. I saw thousands appreciating him and his leadership. I told him after the blessing to prepare himself so that he could baptize Burim if that was cleared. He committed to do so. I gave him a copy in English of Preach My Gospel and asked him to read it and be prepared to teach lessons in Chapter 3. He agreed. I told him to plan on giving of his time to do this. He agreed.

Recommendations.

1. Prepare and call a couple on a 23-month mission to Kosovo. No visa require; only passport according to Edi. Do this now before Choi and Sweeny leave. They can hold the members together and teach English to investigators with the help of current investigators who speak English well.

2. Let Edi teach and baptize Burim. Brother Sweeny can interview him.

3. See how they as future leader’s can grow the Church. In the future, send in missionaries. I think this could happen within one year.

4. Create a branch if numbers warrant it sometime in 2007.


I feel rapid growth will happen in Kosovo if we do this. Edon Kurtishi is strong in his convictions. He is the future Kresimir Cosic of Kosovo.

Please advise us. Have a great experience at General Conference.

Sincerely,

President Weight