3 Days of Winter

Hey Everyone!

It was yet another great week. Now I think this next week things are going to start to pick up which makes me really excited.

Last Monday we traveled to the church and we had a meeting with President and Sister Heder with the whole mission on Skype. It was cool to see all of the other missionaries especially ones I haven't seen since the MTC.

Tuesday we helped some other missionaries move into a new apartment in Athens. Then we had a lesson in the evening with Alexy and Anna, they are both from Ukraine and are really cool. Alexy is a member he really likes the church but says he misses his partying on Saturday night sometimes. Anna is really cool but she is an investigator.

Wednesday not to much happened we did a lot of finding and we had our first day of winter. It got pretty cold here.

Thursday we had a good day. We ran into a guy on the tram named Christos who wants to learn about our church which was really cool. We will be meeting with him sometime this week so hopefully that goes well.

Friday We had another good day and we ran into this lady in the evening who wanted us to come over to her house sometime so that we could talk about Jesus again. It was cool hopefully it all works out with her.

Then on Saturday we got to go to Mars Hill and clean it with the Sister Training Leaders. It was fun. We made some friends with some of the guys that work over by there it was cool.

Sunday we had a good day at church. Then President told Me and Elder Gaskill to join the choir because they need Elder Gaskill to help them sing so we did some of that. Later that day we had a meal with the Finnlaysons a senior couple. It was very good and they are very nice people.

So overall I would say that it was a great week. Oh I forgot. I got notified this week on Wednesday I will be getting another trainee so it will be me and two trainees now so it should be a fun week.

Well that was my week I hope that you all have a great week and always remember to do the good things in life. The Greeks forget that often and it just makes me sad but happy to come from Utah.

Well that's all.

Love,

Elder Halverson

Mom note:  Brig was finally able to send us some pictures.  Here are some he took by the ocean.  It is so beautiful there!!

Λοιπόν

Hey,

I hope that you all had a great week . I heard there was some snow at home. Unfortunately we still have some sunny skies here ha ha.

On Tuesday we had district meeting. President wanted us to stay after to watch President Nelsons address to church members. It was very good and he IS a prophet called of God. It is amazing that we are able to have someone to lead and guide this church.

Wednesday we had something crazy things happen that have never happened before in Greece. We had a lady stop us on the street and asked us to teach her and her son. It was really cool we still haven't been able to go. But tomorrow is the day I hope that all goes well!

Thursday we had weekly planning and Elder Gaskill's midpoint training at the church. It is crazy that we are already half-way done with training I am still trying to figure out what I am doing sometimes.

On Friday we were able to do finding and service. We gave a Book of Mormon to our friend who owns a shop down the street. He said he would read it was cool.

On Saturday we did a ton! of finding and walked a lot. It was good we got stopped by a guy who told us we were a fallacy and heresy and I just genuinely felt bad when we told him we knew we had the truth. It was kinda sad he didn't believe us but oh well. Then that night we were walking past this guy, said hi, and his dog started attacking me. We ended up having a good conversation and making his day. He said he would come to church so it all went well.

Sunday we almost died but we will get there in a minute. We had a good day at church. At night we did a whiteboard at Syntagma and then we were coming home. I said hi to two guys and then they stopped us all mad and wanted to know why we said hi. So we told them we were missionaries. They were high on something. One guy was from America from Chicago and had served in the marines. My comp told him he wanted to be in the Air Force and then he started flipping out for some reason and got really close. I thought he was going to kill my comp it was a little freaky but yeah in the end we were friends so it ended all good.

Today we went to the beach for a while walked around and took some pictures. Maybe the pictures will work this week we will have to see.

So I hope you all have just a dandy week this week and I hope all the best for you all!

σ'το καλό

Με άγαπη 

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον

sorry pics don't work (Mom note: I added some we received from Sister Heder.  She is the best!!)

Ας Πάμε

Hey Everyone!

Wow! It is already p-day again a mission just starts to fly by just faster than you would like sometimes.

So last Tuesday, We had a good District Meeting and a good day. We talked with some people and all the normal stuff, nothing to crazy though.

Wednesday we had two lessons lined up but both of them fell through. Funny story, we were trying to find this one persons apartment. As we were walking around the building there was a balcony about as tall as I am. It was dark and this huge black dog jumped up on the railing on the balcony and it scared me so bad! We had to start sneaking around so the dog wouldn't bark at us haha.

Thursday we had some good weekly planning, the best time of the week haha not really but it was good all the same. I think me and my new comp are starting to figure the area out now which is really good.

Friday we had a real meal appointment! It was with a member from Indonesia. She is a really nice lady and has a good family. She has a son that is going to leave on his mission in about a year, which is really cool.

Saturday, we had another dinner with a member family. They are from the Philippines. It went really well with members this week. We have been sharing a message about service and it has gone really well. The members are really stepping up to the challenges we give them. It is cool to see that they are willing to make a change!

Sunday, was a good day. I gave a talk in sacrament meeting on the Plan of Salvation. I focused on the fact that all of the blessings that we receive in this life will be because of our choices. Especially on whether or not we repent because repentance isn't just a one time thing. It is a daily and continuous process throughout our whole lives.

Well that is it from my week today we walked around by the ocean and cleaned. It was a good day I will attach some pictures from by the ocean, actually sorry no pictures this week the computer won't let me load any but have a great week!

Love you All!

Elder Halverson

Εγινε(It happened)

Hey Everyone!

I hope all is well because all is well here. This week kinda just happened and it was cool.

Tuesday we didn't do a ton of stuff we did a lot of finding and we also met some people who work at a refugee camp. They invited us to come over sometime and to do some work with them. We are probably going to do that this week it should be cool.

Wednesday morning we had a meeting with a less active member named Douby from Africa and it went really good. He even came to church on Sunday which was good hopefully he comes again next week.

Thursday we had a meeting with a guy named Ermal he had been baptized and not confirmed and we didn't know why. So we went and found out why he hadn't been confirmed and lets just say we will not be meeting with him again anytime soon.

Then Friday,we did service where we go around and clean up garbage on the road. We talked with this guy he knew who the Mormons were and spoke perfect English. It was really cool it turns out he has a brother-in law who lives in Utah so that is cool. We are going to be meeting up with him and his wife sometime this week which is really exciting.

On Saturday again we went out and did service and we talked with a young guy who wanted to learn more about the church so it was really cool and we also gave him a book of Mormon.

Then Sunday, we had a good day at church. It was really good. After church we went and visited our friend Tony who lives across the street from the church. He introduced us to his family and we talked about how the gospel blesses families with him it was really cool. He invited us back to have pizza from his brick oven.

Today we just shopped and cleaned and I got a haircut so nothing to exciting happened. I hope all of you have a Great New Year and remember to read and pray everyday!

Love,

Elder Halverson

P.S. some pics from the top of our apartment with an overview of Athens.

Happy New Years!!

Hey everyone!

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Wow well it was been a while and times have been crazy so sorry this will probably be a long email.

I will go all the way back to the 18th which was two weeks ago, that night a member Heidi took out me, Elder Gaskill and some other missionaries to dinner for my birthday it was really cool.

On the 19th we had district meeting and then we had our first lesson with George a guy that we found out on the street it went really well and he is now an investigator! That was really awesome, I have a hard time understanding him though because he mumbles but he is a funny guy and loves Jesus so it all works out in the end.

On the 20th we all went caroling at Syntagma. It was interesting we had a crazy homeless guy sit there and talk to one of us or yell at us pretty much the whole time. It was pretty fun.

The 21st we were just sitting at home eating our lunch and we get a call from President Heder. He told us that one Elder from Athens was going home and that me and Elder Gaskill would be moving the next day to Pireas, which is by the ports. So we had to pack and be there the next day by lunch time.

The 22nd we moved to Pireas and took the Elder that was leaving to the church. The rest of the day we basically just moved in. A pretty boring day. Oh yeah we were in a Threesome with Elder Shinasi.

On the 23rd we had a Christmas party with the Greek branch. It was good. They had the youth do an activity for the Saviors birth and they read the Narration out of the Book of Mormon. It was a good night.

On the 24th we went to Presidents house and had a Christmas dinner and just had a good time with the missionaries. President and Sister Heder did a good spiritual presentation for us and man my mission President can sing wow.

Christmas day it was probably my best Christmas yet, in the morning we just hung out and that night we went to a members house. I was able to skype with my family and it was awesome. After we had an awesome dinner it was a good day.

Tuesday, was another good day we had an activity at the church. It all started with a 1000 meter race which was awesome! I may be a little out of shape but it was still really fun to race again none the less. I won! The rest of the day we just played games, and had a talent show. It was really fun being with the other missionaries. Here is a picture.

Wednesday we had Zone conference which was really good.

Thursday we did all of our shopping. This was the first time we were able to Since Christmas was Monday and we moved.

Friday we went and walked around our new area for 8 hours. None of us in the threesome knew the area so we walked around visiting members and getting to know the area. It was fun. The ocean is super cool in my new area. 

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Saturday we got to go to a meal with all of the other missionaries at the church and some of the members. Then we also got news that day that one of the Elders from Cyprus had to go home for medical reasons. So Elder Shinasi would be leaving us and I am now whitewashing and training so fun stuff.

New Years eve was a good day, we had a good meeting at church. Then we went to a members house in the afternoon with all of the other missionaries. It was fun. I got up and celebrated New Years at 9 this morning cause I was asleep for new years here.

Today we dropped off Elder Shinasi with his new companion and cleaned our apartment that probably hasn't been cleaned for years.

It was a great two weeks. This past week I was able to finish the Book of Mormon again. It was so awesome and I read President Nelsons talk from last conference on the BoM. I really like the story about the African leader, it poses a great question for us. We must decide would we rather have the BoM or the riches of the world. The Book of Mormon is my choice because it is so awesome, if you are unsure about your answer I would invite you to read and pray.

Thank you guys for all being awesome!

Love,

Elder Halverson

P.S. Some ocean pictures​​​