Week 10 Athens

"Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, HIM declare I unto you." Acts 17:22-23

Almost two millennia ago the the apostle Paul visited Athens and  from the top of Mars Hill, preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. This week Elder Teal and the rest of the Greece Athens Mission met together on Mars hill and held a Testimony Meeting with each other. For those that don't know..

 “A testimony of the gospel is a personal witness borne to our souls by the Holy Ghost that certain facts of eternal significance are true and that we know them to be true. Such facts include the nature of the Godhead and our relationship to its three members, the effectiveness of the Atonement, and the reality of the Restoration.” —Dallin H. Oaks

Each of the group from the MTC stood and shared their testimony in Greek to the other missionaries. Of course their was also plenty of photo opportunities ! (Clicking on any blog picture will enlarge it)

Where He is staying...

Elder Teals companion, Elder Fletcher has been quite ill with a viral stomach bug which put him in hospital for a night or two. So Elder Teal got to move between a couple of flats during the initial days in Athens, also temporarily being with different missionaries.

The apartment in Acropoli is one of the highest in Athens so has some amazing views...

 

 

But with Elder Fletcher out of Hospital the two of them were dropped of at the apartment they will be living in for the next 12 weeks. A place called Sepolia. By all accounts its not a very affluent area of Athens but full of friendly people and convenient for the Metro (Underground) The chapel is about 30 minutes away via public transport. Once there, the Branch has about 10 regular members plus visitors and missionaries.

"You can really see the Gospel in action. In a branch this small the only thing keeping the members here is their faith and testimonies, you can really see how committed they are to following Jesus Christ. There was a man baptised not long ago, so I had the privilege to be in the circle when he was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood this Sunday. I also lead the music in Priesthood, I learnt how to conduct whilst I was in the MTC so they'll probably get me to do it every week in Sacrament now. " 

The apartment in Sepolia, Room to Study, cook, exercise and sleep (there's a bathroom too)

 

 

There are more pictures in our online album HERE