Week 83

Not sure if these pictures were before or after last weeks baptism ?

"Week 83! That number is getting high!"

"It's been another great week, and a busy one! You can read all about it in my journal as to be honest off the top of my head I can't even remember what happened. And you'll be able to read about the confirmation too, it was really good. It was nice to be there in the Athens 1st branch, I have lots of friends there and it was good to see them all! That's one of the best things about us not having many areas, you don't just get to know people for a couple of months (maybe 6 if you're in the same area for a while), but you get to know them over 2 years and they become really good friends, who I'll miss when I go home!"

"We didn't have any new investigators this week, but we did have two lessons with M. and we have one planned with T. (we had a first lesson with him before Christmas) for tonight that we're looking forward to. We also have a few people that will hopefully become investigators soon, and we're excited about that!"

"Great that you got to go out to the temple, it's made me appreciate how blessed we are to have one so close whilst I've been out on my mission!"

"I think I'll Skype in May if you don't mind, since I think it will be good to space it out a little bit more and not talk to you now where we've talked recently and I don't have that much new stuff to tell you!" ( There was an option of English or American Mothers day) 

They skype call with Dr. James Holt (Uncle Jimmy) went really well yeah, and was very useful!" (the call was to discuss ways to help bring the church in Greece "Out of Obscurity")

Lunch - the Elders made stuffed peppers and play chess!

Study

Outside the apartment.

I think these pictures fall into the category of, I've not taken any pictures all week best take a couple to send home !

"The weather was perfect. Bright and sunny and not a cloud in the sky but not yet at the point where it's unbearably hot. I think I'll miss the weather here a lot when I'm home, because even in the summer when it was really hot I quite liked it."

"We had district meeting where Elder Peel and I were asked to share about how we'd seen the influence of the Holy Ghost in A as he learned about the Gospel. It was a really good district meeting."

"It is very satisfying to be able to teach and testify about basic truths like that God has a body and that He is a separate individual to Jesus Christ."

"In the evening we had a Skype call with Uncle Jimmy so that we could talk to him about public relations for the church and also about representing the church at universities and other academic venues. It was a very productive discussion and we learnt a lot from his experience."

"There is definitely a very real correlation between how often we bear our testimony and how happy and satisfied we feel as missionaries and how much we feel that we're fulfilling our purpose."

"The zone leaders had planned a service activity where we wore the Helping Hands bibs and tidied up all of the rubbish on Mars Hill. We were there for about an hour and half and we got a lot done. There were also a lot of people around so it was good to have people be interested in who we are and what we're doing. It was a really good activity and it was a lovely day, so with the views that you have up there there's no better place to do service. It also reminded us how lucky we are to be serving in such a beautiful place that is so steeped in history.

I'm grateful for the greater love that we develop as we serve."

Week 41 Athens - Mothers Day

Week 41 included a Mothers Day Skype call. Missionaries get to Skype call home at Christmas and Mothers Day, To split the year up we mutually decided to take the American date for Mothers day instead of the English one. So although we didn't get many pictures this week we did get to video some of the hour call.

"No I haven't got much to tell you haha! I think this week we had the most lessons in a week that I've had in my mission so far, we had 8, which was really good! And hopefully we'll have even more this week! The problem is that with teaching we don't have as much time to do finding, so it's getting the balance between helping investigators progress and finding new ones!"

After our Sunday afternoon skype we had regular emails on Monday, here are some extracts from the journal pictures he sent.

"We then headed to the waterfront to do some contacting. We spoke to lots of people including one man we've talked to a couple of times before  who sells books for one euro. He said hes selling them for his friend who wrote them in memory of his parents. He said he often gives them away and over the years has given away over 20,000 copies. When I asked him why he gives them away he said so he doesn't have to carry them around anymore, which I thought was hilarious!"

"We had a lesson with H where we read together from  1 Nephi 8 about the tree of life. We talked about missionary work and gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon in French to give to a friend which he was more than happy to do."

"We also met a man from Albania and later a man from Egypt who both gave us their phone numbers and addresses."

"Our lesson with J, the Greek orthodox priest went really well. He was very teachable and willing to learn, and agreed with everything that we taught."

"We had a really nice meal with Elder and Sister Howells .

I went on exchanges with Elder Valasquez.. We had a lesson with E on skype. We taught about the 10 commandments and he accepted everything as he had already learnt about them before anyway."

"We also had a lesson with A. We taught The Gospel Of Jesus Christ after reading 2 Nephi 31 together and we did a really good job of adjusting it to his needs. In the end Elder Valasquez shared his conversion story which A. liked a lot as he really wants to receive an answer but doesn't know how. We invited him again to be baptised and he said he has to think about it, which I told him I knew he would say and we read from Alma 32 together about planting a seed. I explained how if we never make that first step, we’ll never receive our answers and he agreed to the date of June 13th! Elder Valasquez and I were both really happy as the lesson couldn't have gone any better, and in the evening we had Home Burger to celebrate. I’m grateful for the 2 fantastic lessons we had today and for the influence the Book Of Mormon can have on people."