Week 94

Only a couple of pictures this week so I have gone back through previous weeks. The one above is from Christmas 2015  It caught my eye, a "Tower of Power" Interestingly Elder teal has been companions with four out of the 5 other missionaries in this picture !

"Hi"

"It's been a really good week. We had the two zone conferences on Tuesday and Wednesday, and a really busy day on Wednesday as we went to Cyprus in the morning and came back the same day in the evening. As usual we went to Panayiotis' house for dinner, and it was great to see him, Georgia and Pavlos, as well as Alexis and Sophia. They're all doing well." 

"It was good to see all of the missionaries as well, it's always fun to go to a zone conference just after transfers and see people with their new companions." 

"We have such great missionaries here, and it's always great when we get to meet up."

 Athens Zone Conference

Cyprus Zone Conference

"The flights were fine as usual, and this time it was more than ever just like getting on a bus, as we didn't have any luggage at all, just our normal bags with our scriptures and things in!"

"We have a new friend called H, who's not really a new friend, Elder Mead taught him in his first transfer. Anyway we had a lesson with him this week where we talked about faith in Jesus Christ, read from the Book of Mormon, and invited him to be baptised. He said yes, and we set a date for July 2nd! It was one of the most spiritual lessons of my whole mission, it was so simple and so focused on the Saviour. H. is great, he said he felt like something was missing in his life, and that he's seen a day where he's a baptised member and has brought all of his family into the church. It was amazing!"

"Yeah I had an email from Aaron, that's exciting! He'll do great."

(A young man from home who has just been called to serve a mission in Kenya)

"Church was good too, I taught the joint Priesthood/Relief Society lesson as the teacher couldn't make it, and Heidi volunteered me (she said it;s because she has lots of confidence in me haha). It went well and it was fun to be able to share some of the things I've been studying recently in personal study. At the end Vassilis came up and said to President Karampoulas in front of me "He has a teacher in him! He has Jesus in him!". I took that as a compliment."

"The shirts didn't arrive yet no, the Perrys go to the PO box every Tuesday and Friday, so I'll probably get them tomorrow."

Another older picture, but we love pictures of Mars Hill

Week 86

This weeks emails came on Tuesday not Monday, as the Athens zone had been on a trip to Mystras.

As well as fun its important to know the history and heritage of the people you serve amongst.

(Mystras or Mistras, also known as Myzithras in the Chronicle of the Morea, 

is a fortified town and a former municipality in Laconia, Peloponnese, Greece)

On the way a picnic among the ancient olive trees 

"We had a really good zone trip yesterday, where we went to Mystras and Corinth. I'll send you some pictures. I've been to Corinth before as you know, but it was my first time at Mystras and I really liked it. It's an old town that has loads of churches and monasteries, and it is in a really beautiful location. I drove our car and we took Elder Deighton and Elder Tornar, and we had a lot of fun. I really enjoyed driving there and back through the Greek countryside. Mystras is way down near Sparta so we drove almost the whole length of the Peloponnese. Greece is such a beautiful country, and it would have been worth the journey just to drive there and straight back again enjoying the views!"

You should be able to scroll around the Google Map image below to see where they were.

 

 

 

Church this week

"Church was good! We didn't have any new friends there with us this week as M. has broken her foot, but we have a couple of new friends that we're excited about, as well as people that we've met through the service that we've been doing. The branch is so friendly here so it's really easy to bring people. We've also been meeting with some of the members to discuss the Europe Area plan, and we had a really nice visit with the R. family earlier in the week. They're from the Philippines and are such a sweet family. It makes such a big difference when the members are welcoming, but perhaps even more important is that the lessons that our friends attend and the talks that they hear invite the Spirit. The members here are all so sincere and so committed to the gospel. I think that with it being such a small branch that only the people who have a strong testimony and who are determined to live the Gospel keep coming, and so they're the ones that deliver fantastic lessons and talks."

"It was lovely! And  I'm so excited to bring you over and show you things, you'll absolutely love it! Greece is your dream holiday place, it has beautiful scenery, good food, and such friendly people. And you'll even have a tour guide who speaks the language and drives like a Greek! Haha I think it will take some adjustment to drive in England after my mission, and not just for which side of the road!"

Athens Zone Conference

Last week Elder Teal attended the Zone conference in Cyprus, 

this week it was Zone conference in Greece. 

This week we had over 60 pictures, too many to put them all on the blog, 

but if you click HERE you can see them all

Other News

Elder Teal LOVES old books, he took time to read Homers Illiad and Odyssey before his mission. We can only imagine how being shown these old books would have been for him.

"These are books that V. has in his collection. 

This one is a copy of Homer's Illiad in Ancient Greek."

These are books that V. has in his collection. 

This one is a copy of Homer's Illiad in Ancient Greek.

Final Thoughts

This coming Saturday Elder Teals big sister, our eldest daughter is getting married. It will be a little strange not having Elder Teal here, but it is a testament to his conviction that he knows he has a work to do where he is. Families can be together forever, so we are happy to let Greece keep him a little longer 

"I'll be thinking about you all too! I think it will be a little bit strange not to be there, but I'm happy that it's happening now! Make sure you take lots of pictures and videos to send to me on Monday! Elder Peel and I will both wear our wedding ties and send a picture over :)"

Week 85 Athens and Cyprus

Elder Peel, Elder Teal and The Heders flew to Cyprus for Zone Conference this week. 

We have totally lost track of how many times Elder Teal has flown on his mission now, its 30+

Sister Heder and Alinda are always up for a Selfie !

 The Cyprus Zone, President and Sister Heder 

"Cyprus was really good! We had a great time over there and it was so good to see everyone!"

Presenting Training

Visiting Cyprus was also a good opportunity to meet up with old friends. 

Both Elder Teal and Elder Peel have served there.

 

 

"At Panayiotis's home we had a meal with him and Georgia and the food was really good as usual.  It was also really nice to catch up with them and talk about the changes that have taken place since I was last here. 

As we walked home it seemed strange to think about all of the months that I spent in the area and to remember all of the good times with Elder Dixon. I miss serving here in Larnaca, it was one of the best periods of my mission and although I love the area I'm in now it will always have a special place in my heart. And it's strange to think that it was my previous area as it feels like such a long time ago." 

"View over Nicosia from the plane. The lights on the hill are the Turkish flag that they have on the other side of the border in Northern Cyprus."

Back in Athens for Sunday Meetings

"Church was good too, although unfortunately we didn't have any new friends there yesterday. 

A.. is doing a great job of inviting all of his family and friends, and a couple have taken him up on the offer.  He talks about the church to literally every single person he speaks to, he's such a good missionary! We had a meeting with him last night and we left so happy, it's amazing to see how much he knows now and how much he loves learning more. He's halfway through the Doctrine and Covenants and is really loving what he's learning, and has such good understanding. We gave him the book Our Heritage which I think he will really enjoy, and I'm excited to talk to him about it. And things are going great with his work, It's so good to see that we are fulfilling our purpose as missionaries, and to see people like him and P. who have changed so much and who are so much happier now."

"The Facebook page is doing great and growing fast, we just hope that we can maintain the growth! I think a lot of the people that have liked it so far are church members already, but it's a good start and we need to have the strong foundation before we can start seeing lots of new opportunities to teach from it! And it's good for members here to have something that they can refer friends to, it provides them a very easy way to do missionary work!"

"Today was the last day for me to take my eye drops as its now been 2 months since the surgery, so now I'm officially out of treatment! I have another appointment in April as a final check up and then I will be done." 

"Our district meeting was really good. It was about revelation through prayer. Elder Peel and I had a role play where we taught Elder Petchey about prayer and right at the beginning he asked if we used The Lords Prayer in our church. We then showed him how we use it as a model for our prayers by going through and talking about the parts." 

"We had a meeting with the university professor again and he and another friend with him. We discussed the possibilities of the church in Greece and their university working together on a variety of ventures and it was a good meeting." 

"It started to rain and there was thunder and lightning and it was absolutely pouring down. When you see the lightning storms here, it's easy to understand why the people used to believe in a God of thunder and lightning." 

I learnt the Greek word for dragonfly. 

I've really enjoyed looking for types of Christ since you sent me the email about Zoram, and I think there are so many in first Nephi! I really like where it says about Lehi dwelling in a tent in the valley of Lemuel. I think in part it represents Christ's condescension to live in a mortal body (which he was way above) with Lehi's living in a tent (a rich man in poor circumstances), but also "in the valley of Lemuel" which Lehi named to represent obedience to the commandments, which is the way in which Jesus lived his life.

"yes that is a carrot"

We had lots of pictures this week, many with companionship's in the Cyprus zone. 

Click here to see more

Week 73

"It's been a good week! As you saw we were over in Cyprus for a couple of days for the zone conference over there. We got to see Panayiotis, as well as Robin and Edward, which was really nice. Unfortunately we didn't get to see Pavlos."

"The zone conference was really good, probably the best one I've been to since I started in the mission. We had training from Sister Heder, from Elder Peel and me, and from President Heder. We also had some really funny role-plays where Elder Peel and I were investigators with ridiculous questions, and the missionaries had to teach us the first lesson. Each companionship took a small section of the lesson and each had to get back to the topic as we tried to get it as off-topic as possible. It was a lot of fun."

"We had a Christmas Concert here in Athens which was great, we sang carols and had readings from the scriptures. Starting on Christmas Eve we will have a full week of Christmas activities with the missionaries, and we're really excited for it! It's taking a lot of preparation, but I think it will be worth it."

"I had an email from Sister Mckenna where she's sitting in my old room! It was nice to hear from her, I'm glad she's doing well! And I think she would actually die laughing if she was here with Elder Peel and me as assistants!" (Sister Mckenna stayed at our home on a whistle stop visit to the Preston Temple from Ireland)

"Please tell people thank you for the money, I'm sure that will be more than enough for some nice sunglasses."   Elder Teal is buying a good pair of UV sunglasses to protect his eyes after his operation

"At zone conference Elder Peel and I gave our training. We talked about faith and prayer and how we can seek and ask for our righteous desires and have them granted. We also talked about how we have to be specific with our prayers and with our faith."

We think Elder Teal and Elder Peel make a lovely couple :)

"In Cyprus, it was good to see Panayiotis and Georgia and catch up with how things are going in Larnaca. I also saw Robin and Edward at institute who are both doing really well and it was good to see them. I've missed being in Larnaca!"

"In Priesthood at church, we had a lesson about stakes. It was the best lesson I've ever been in about stakes taught by a man who's never stepped foot in one. It made me realise that I took a lot of the organisation of the church for granted when I was at home."

"We had a really good lesson with A where we talked about the Book of Mormon and about how it has importance in our lives. Elder Peel and I teach really well together and we were able to ask lots of questions that helped him to realise what he needs to do to get to where he wants to be. It was the first time I've quoted Yoda in a lesson as when he said he'll try to come to church next week, I said 'do or do not, there is no try' He got the reference and we laughed." 

Not really sure what these two pictures of Elder Teal and Peel are all about, it just said "a couple of us inspecting the broken window at the chapel" we can only assume they were organising a replacement?

"We also have a service project this evening, all of the missionaries will be coming to the old people's home next to the mission office and we will sing some carols and do readings from the Bible for them!"

In an email I asked about a specific missionary rule, and the missions policy on it, to which I got this quite profound reply.

"... that's why it's so important that we don't make rules! And also, if someone asks if they are or are not allowed to do something, for months now (since I was zone leader in Cyprus), I've never told them they can or can't do it, I've just referred them to the section in the handbook and told them to make a decision. There's a reason that the handbook is given to every missionary and not just to leaders. I think a big part of serving a mission should be learning to be accountable to yourself and to the Lord without having leaders checking your every move."

Finally a caption competition !!

Week 68

It has been a busy two weeks in the Greece Athens Mission. As a consequence Elder Teal only got a brief moment to drop us an email. We have pieced together events as best we can and are grateful to all those who have shared pictures on Facebook.

A flight up to Thessaloniki two weekends ago started the hectic time. 

Elder Klestrup and Elder Teal accompanying President Heder.

Then last week, training at a Zone Conference in Athens followed by repeating it at a Zone Conference in Cyprus. As the church in Greece and Cyprus is organised as a district that the mission President presides over, we assume that the assistants would have been involved in arrangements for the District conference held last Sunday in Cyprus. Elder Charles of the Quorum of the Seventy attended all three of these meetings

"I'll just let you all know a little about how the week's been!

First of all we got back from district conference over in Cyprus on monday night. It was so good to see everyone there, especially Robin who was looking smart in his suit and tie!

On Monday we had the training for trainers in the morning, and in the evening the new missionaries arrived. They're all great and we had a good time getting to know them.

On Tuesday we had training and coordination with the new missionaries, and they made such a great impression. They all seem so excited to be here, and are all doing great."

 

Cue an opportunity for silly pics, its a missionary get together thing !

 

 

Family ..Elder Teal with his sons and grandson.

(A second grandson will be trained by Elder Burton)

On Monday of this week a new group of missionaries arrived from the Preston MTC. 

So more training opportunities

 

With the new missionaries arrival comes a new assignment for Elder Klestrup to train. So as of Monday Elder Teal had a new companion .. Elder Peel seen here in the centre with Elder Teal. 

For those who have not been following along, Elder Teal has been great friends with Elder Peel since the MTC and our family have had the privilege to get to meet and know his family

Finally, today we have learnt that Elder Ballard of the Quorum of the 12 apostles 

has visited the mission.,. But technically that is a story for week 69 !