Week ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR !

"It's been a good week, and it's passed so quickly! We didn't have many lessons, all of our friends weren't available for different reasons, and we ended up having just the one lesson this week. But we made a lot of visits to less-active members that have had no contact with the church for years, trying to find it they still live at the same address. It turned out that most don't, but we did find one man who hasn't talked to missionaries for years, and he said that I look exactly like the missionary that taught and baptised him, and that I reminded him of him a lot. He's a nice guy, and hopefully Elder Reed and his new companion will be able to work with him and get him coming out to church again.

I'll fly down to Athens today (Monday 25.01.16) at 5pm, then I'll be with Elder Peel and Elder Dastrup until we fly out on Thursday. Tomorrow we'll have Mars Hill as Elder Potter will leave tomorrow afternoon, and on Wednesday we'll have leaving interviews as well as a meal at the mission home.

I had a talk at church on Sunday about humility, and it went really well. Lots of people came up to me after and told me how much it had touched them, it was a really nice last Sunday at church here. It was strange to say bye to everyone, but it's the third time I've said bye to all the members here, I'm almost used to it! And I'll see them again when I visit at some point, and if any of them come to the temple in England, so it wasn't too bad. I think it's been much easier to finish my mission this way after a short transfer than it would have been to come home immediately after 10/11months in the same area if I had stayed in Athens! And it was really nice for Thessaloniki to be a sort of bookend on my mission, at the beginning and end."

"S.'s baptism on Friday! She was taught by Elder Burton and Elder Shaner"

Elder Teal was wearing white to go in the sea and be one of the two witnesses

From Me to Elder Teal...

2 John 1: 12 

"Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full."

The return email from Elder Teal...

"That sums up how I feel so well. It's impossible to sum up two years of amazing, life-changing experiences with an email, so I won't try. But I am so grateful for these two years and for everything that they've taught me. I've met wonderful people, seen beautiful places, and done amazing things! I think the most important thing I've learnt is how accessible Heavenly Father is to each one of us. He is not only able to bless us, but wants to, and all we have to do is ask. I'm grateful that I've been able to build and develop my relationship with Him and with my Saviour Jesus Christ.

I think another scripture that sums up well how I feel is Alma 26:16 - 

"Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."

I can't wait to see you all on Thursday, and tell you all about these last two years! I think it's going to take a long time for me to share with you all of my experiences and the lessons that I've learnt, but that's okay because we have the rest of eternity!"

Week One Hundred and One - New Badges -Thessloniki

New Badges

We ordered badges for my MTC group and Elder Mead as we will be leaving soon. We're wearing them to see what peoples reactions will be, and if there's no problem we'll be ordering them for all the missionaries :)

The other one was the English word "Elder" written in Greek characters, this one is the actual Greek word for Elder. It's been good so far. And yeah, now they can actually know what it means! What we had before was as meaningful to them as this would be to you: "PRESBYTEROS TIL"

It's been such a good week! We had lots of lessons and two new friends to teach. We also have a new baptismal date for August 13th with a lady from South Africa who is so nice, and so ready to learn.

It's exciting stuff! I'm excited to be able to leave an area in great shape!

The two people we had dated for July are not ready yet and it looks like they'll need more time. 

The Branch had a Baptism!

The baptism was great, A. was so ready to be baptised and is such a good example of the happiness that people can have when they find the gospel in their lives. She will be a strong support to the branch I think. I've seen in my mission that Albanians are such nice, open people, I feel like I know their culture well without ever going to the country! I can also have a basic conversation in Albanian, which I think will be a life skill which will help me go far :P

I'm genuinely worried about the heat (or lack of) when I get home haha, but I'm sure it will be fine, I'll just have to wear a jumper until I get used to it :P

Week 82 Baptism

"It's been a really great week, topped off by the baptism this Saturday! It was a great day, and combined with the confirmation at branch conference yesterday one of the best weekends of my mission! The branch has done a really good job of taking him under their wing, and he's already a part of the family. It's so good to see someone be baptised who is immediately so involved in the branch, and I think we're definitely on the way to our goal of baptising future leaders for the church.

Everything else is going well, we have some changes on Tuesday so that we can start working in the new areas here in Athens, and to open the new area in Paphos. I've also been able to talk to P on the phone a few times this week, he's doing really well and has lots of good questions about the gospel that I've been discussing with him. I wrote him a letter this morning about our potential to become like Heavenly Father, which is something he's fascinated by and has been reading about a lot. I kept it simple and based in the scriptures, and I really enjoyed writing it. I felt like Paul writing one of his epistles! :)

I love it here! I have really good friends in all 3 of the branches and I love that you get to see the other missionaries so often, it's a great atmosphere."

"M. came to church today so that was a great moment. 

There was such a nice atmosphere of love and friendship between the members. "

"We finished the day at the office where I did some work with the online referral system. We get 1 or 2 referrals every week now through the church's website which is great. We're hoping to use the Internet more effectively soon which I think will bring great results."

"I had email correspondence with a university professor here in Athens who would like 36 copies of The Book of Mormon for his students and would also be interested in missionaries coming into the university to deliver a presentation about our beliefs. It's exactly the sort of opportunity that we're looking for as we really want to show young people that ours is a religion that is still relevant today, and to raise the awareness of the church here in Athens. If even one person in a class of 36 has interest to learn more it will be great, and hopefully through this professor we'll also be able to make connections with other similarly minded people."

The Baptism

"A. asked me to baptise him which will be a privilege and a great capstone on the around 8 months that I've known him now."

"We had really good talks by Elder Szvoboda and V and a beautiful musical item on the piano by Alinda. The baptism took 3 times as his feet kept coming up." 

"After the baptism A. bore his testimony. It was so amazing, he talked about the changes he's seen in his life and how he wants to bring repentance to all the world as he's seen how it changes a person. He has really been accepted and loved by the members and it is clear he will be am important part of the branch."

"I'm grateful for this wonderful day. I'm grateful for repentance and how it changes people and for these wonderful people that over the last 18 months have become some of my closest friends."

 

Week 60

Clicking on any of the pictures will enlarge them.

 

 

 

 

This week Elder Teal and Elder Dixon had the privilege of being involved in the baptisms of two men they had been teaching. They each baptised one. There are 6 in the water as each baptism has to be witnessed by two other priesthood holders.

After the highs of the Baptism on Saturday night, Sunday was a little sadder as Elder Teal had to say goodbye to his friends in Larnaca Branch. It was his last Sunday before a transfer back to Athens on Wednesday. He has been assigned to serve as one of President Heder's two assistants, or APs.

I'll be leaving on Wednesday for Athens, where I'll be serving with Elder Klestrup as an AP. I'm excited to go but sad to leave, but at the same time I feel like I've done my work here and it's time to leave it for other people to carry on! And Elder Dixon will be staying, so the branch is in safe hands

"The new ZLs will be Elder Dixon and Elder Deighton, together here in Larnaca. 

It seems I was the last of the one man ZLs!

I think the APs live in the old apartment of the Everitt's, which is really nice!

APs also help the President with his scheduling, meetings, training missionaries and that sort of thing. And they have a car! A little bit nervous to be honest, but I think I'll be okay. The car is an automatic so it should be easy, but it's on the wrong side of the road! Elder Klestrup drives as well so I can just do a bit at a time until I get used to it.

I'm excited too!"

 

  

^ Two new Branch Members ^ 

Goodbyes 

 

 

  

Week 52

What is the Purpose of a Missionary

"Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." (Preach My Gospel Manual)

Missionaries receive no bonus, rewards or status when someone accepts their message. Its interesting to note in the stated purpose, it says nothing about converting just inviting. Having said that, the greatest joy a missionary has, is seeing someone accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, because they know how much happiness it will bring that person. 

This week Elders Teal and Dixon mark their mission half way date and also had the privilege of being involved in the baptism of their new friend. The Larnaca Branch Mission Leader introduced his friend to the missionaries a few weeks ago and together they have been teaching him the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. This marks an historic step in the Church history of Cyprus, as we believe it is the first time a Cypriot has baptised a Cypriot. 

 

Thanks to Elder Dixon's parents for their photo contributions to this weeks blog !

"My hand is pretty much back to normal now, it's a little stiff in the index finger and thumb but not a big problem! and I'm fantastic! I'm absolutely fantastic, not just okay!"

"The baptism on Saturday was great, and yesterday I did the confirmation in sacrament meeting"

This week Elder Teals best friend from home received his mission call to Poland.

"And Josef's call is amazing! I've just emailed him about it, he's s excited! It's perfect for him, he'll love it. We laughed about how between the two of us we'll have just about the two most useful languages in Europe!"

"We had ice cream sundaes using the stuff I received in the parcel last week and they were really nice." 

"I'm grateful for the fun we had today and also that P has understood our teaching and prepared himself for baptism." 

"We have some things to study and to prepare for the meeting with Elder Dyches next week. Including to ponder the difference between an exactly obedient missionary to a consecrated missionary."

"We had a lesson with A, the man who came to church on Sunday. It went really well, we weren't able to cover all of the material but he felt a lot more comfortable with us afterwards. We had P with us and he helped us in the lesson." 

"We went to institute so I could translate for P and we learnt about Porter Rockwell and also how in section 130 it talks about the relation between space and time about a century before Einsteins theory of relativity which is quite impressive to think about.  It was also quite interesting to translate it into Greek." 

"We had the second lesson with A and it went really well. He said he feels peace when he reads from The Book of Mormon and believes that it's true, and the same when he comes to church. He understood what we taught about the Restoration and we set a baptismal date  for August 15th. He is a really humble guy and willing to learn. I'm grateful for the opportunity to teach people that the Lord has prepared to hear His message." 

From Home

It is amazing how fast this year has gone for us as parents,. We put together a package for him that he received this week. Our Eldest daughter is our package and theme coordinator! In among the package was a set of pictures we took of family and friends, here are some of them...As always clicking on any picture makes it bigger. Elder Teal has had fun showing these to his Cypriot friends.

"I received the package for the one year mark this week! Thanks! We'll buy some ice cream to go with the stuff today haha! The ties are really nice! And the pants are nice too, but they don't have belt loops! I didn't realise until I had already tried them on, seen that they fit and taken off the labels, so I don't really know what to do with them now!

 And Panayitis and Georgia enjoyed looking through the pictures! It was really nice! It was a little bit strange as I've always being thinking of my time here as counting up (been here a month, been here 6 months etc.) and it was strange to see it from the other point of view, of counting down!"

Thoughts

Twelve months ago we thought that 2 years was an eternity, but surprisingly this year has passed really quickly. If you are about to send a son or daughter on a mission, we know just how hard it is, we have had those moments of missing our son, wondering where he is, which town, even which country he is in! We have shed several tears as we have prayed for his safety and success each morning and night. But even more we have been thrilled by his attitude and faith. There is no where we would rather he be right now, than serving the Lord and the people of Greece and Cyprus.

You can keep him for another 12 months, but then we would like him back please!