ΕΒΡΕΞΕ ΚΑΘΕ ΜΕΡΑ!

Γεια Σας!

Well I hope everyone had a great week cause yet again I have had another great week!

Last Tuesday we headed out for district meeting. We were about a fourth of the way there when my back tire goes flat. We were to far to walk. It was a long hard ride on the flat haha. I got the tire fixed and had a smooth ride home.

Wednesday we did a lot of finding and trying to contact less-actives just to find that they don't live where it says and that the number no longer exists. But what can we do. We also had a lesson with the guy we met on Sunday.Turns out he was a former investigator. It is cool to see how he has changed. We hope that he is more ready now but we will see. 

On Thursday we did more of less-active finding and then weekly planning it was a fun day.

Friday was a good day we were doing service outside and a guy stopped us. We talked about the church then out of nowhere he invited us to come and play ping-pong with him on Saturday - it was really cool. We helped at Salvation Army and it went well. When we were walking home after it started to rain and I forgot my umbrella so I got really wet. We made friends with a lady at a bakery and also with a lady that hated us. She said some stuff to us in Greek not knowing we spoke Greek but now she knows and is nicer to us haha. 

On Saturday we did soccer finding in the morning with the others. Then we had a meal appointment with the amazing Brother Matrapazees. Then we headed out to ping-pong finding. It was really good. We have found some ping-pong masters it is really fun. By the end of it I will become a ping-pong master I hope. 

We had a good Sunday. We finished up our less-active finding and also visited Brother Matrapazees who wasn't at church. It turns out he is struggling a little bit but is overall good now. He is such a legend. 

So yeah today we just relaxed and got ready for inspections this week it was a good day.

This week I have realized the importance of agency in our lives. It is all our choice on whether we are sad, happy, or glad so let us all choose to be glad. (From President Uchtdorf's Talk "Three Sisters")

Σας Αγαπάω!

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον

Pic of us yesterday when we got home at night.

Τι Έγινε;

Γεια σε όλους,

Λοιπόν μια άλλη εβδομάδα έχει περάσει και ακόμα συνεχίσει να πάει πιο γρήγορα και ακόμα αγαπάω το έργο πιο πολύ κάθε μέρα! 

Alright so lets get to it. Last Tuesday we did some finding. I also was able to try my first μπουγαστα which is a really famous desert here in Thessaloniki. It is really good. And I may or may not have fallen off my bike for the first time.

On Wednesday in the morning we did service on the streets. I was able to help an old lady cross the street. Yes I actually did it. We also had some good conversations. Then we visited a less active family. It was pretty fun and interesting they are a bit lost but want to start getting involved with the church again. I hope that we will be able to help them. They gave us φακές which is lentils and it has some stuff with it. The Greeks now are fasting and so they don't eat meat. It is one of the things they eat around this time of year and it isn't to bad. That night we did some basketball finding and were able to make some friends that invited us back to play with them whenever we want.

Thursday we went out to do service and some guy yelled at us in English to come and have a drink with him. It was actually really cool. He had lived in Philly for a couple years and we had met his wife on the street on Wednesday. They wanted to thank us it was cool. That night we went to visit our neighbors and it was super cool. They are funny they also gave us some Greek nicknames so they could remember us. I am Haris and then my comp is  Γλυκουλης which means little sweety it is really funny. 

Friday we went and helped out at Salvation Army. We also were able to do some basketball finding again in the evening which again went well.

Saturday in the morning we went and did soccer finding with the other Elders and all the youth in the branch. Which is just Orestis the branch presidents son. It went really well and we played with some 18 year olds that were really good so it was difficult. Then we went and had lunch at Brother Todi's house. It was really awesome he is such a good guy. 

We then got up on Sunday morning to a beautiful day. We even did part of companion study on the balcony but then things took a turn for the worse. It got super windy and rainy. So we had a fun ride to church in the rain in coats and suits. I would say it was a really good adventure. After church we had a linger-longer which is basically just a lunch with the members. It was cool. That night we were doing another whiteboard and not even 5 minutes into it we started to have a conversation with a guy about the Book of Mormon. It went well. For me it felt like maybe 20 minutes but I turned around and the Sisters had left with the whiteboard. It had been about an hour and half it was crazy. We are going to be having a new investigator this week. 

That was my week. It was great. Something that I have really realized is how amazing the atonement really is. Because every one of us has it offered to us. Nobody is more fortunate than another. It is something really neat to be able to have in our lives!

Σας Αγαπάω,

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον

συγγνώμη για το μακρύ μήνυμα.

P.S. Sorry I don't have any pictures this week I will make sure I get some for next week.

Thessaloniki!

Γεια Σας σε όλους!

Παράξενη εβδομάδα ήτανε όμως ήτανε πολύ καλή ελπίζω ότι ήτανε το ίδιο για σας επίσης! 

Well it was a good busy week so lets get to it.

Monday was a great day we met up at the church with some other missionaries and we played volley for hours it was sweet. Then that night Elder Gaskill accidentally grabbed the wrong phone at the church and had grabbed Elder Goodwin and Forsey's phone so yeah we eneded up having to figure that out for our evening but we were just happy we didn't leave the church without a phone which was good. 

Tuesday I had a fun last day in Athens. For lunch we ordered some pizza to have a good last day. We each had a pizza. Then we headed to teach mission prep to Nikos. His mom surprised us with lunch of a porkchop and potatoes it was really good. But after that I was full! Then we had to head to a dinner apointment with Hami and Oddyseas. We had some greek salad and then a big peice of pestichio, which is like the greek lasagna, and that was good. Then she came out with a huge plate of chili con carne and that just about killed me but it was really good. Then she brought out some greek yogurt for dessert and I just had to pray I was going to be able to finish it all - haha - but it was good. I am really going to miss those two they bought us little souveneirs as well it was awesome! Here is a picture with them:

I got up early on Wednesday Morning and headed to the airport to come to Thess. The trip went smooth and uneventful which was nice.

​This is my new companion Elder Nelson he is from Highland Utah so I have another great comp from Utah. He just finished training so yeah I again have a lot of work ahead of me this transfer but I am excited.

Thursday was a good day. The Sisters in Thess had invited the Elders to come help with English class just to figure it out. We told them we could come help. As we were hoping on the bikes to head to the church we got a text saying that we needed to teach, and good luck. So yeah we taught English class. It was for sure interesting. We will see if we end up doing that again. 

Friday I got to meet a member Brother Matrapazis he is super cool and just a great member. He has a short tounge and so he is pretty tough to understand sometimes.

Saturday in the morning we went and played soccer with the other Elders and Orestis a member in the branch. He is really a cool kid. That night we had a BB-Q at the church which went well. We had one of our investigators there and I got made the "grill-master" 

We had a good Sunday. We went to church. We had about 10 people there. I also gave my first talk in Greek it was great but I struggled a bit at points but overall it was good. That evening we had a whiteboard along the "Beach" which is really just a boardwalk. It went well. We had someone say they wanted to come to church and he gave us his number it was really cool.

(The other Elder had to run to the bathroom and missed the picture its to bad)

But yeah overall a really great week. This week my talk in church was about planting and nourishing our seed of faith. I focused on the fact the if we read our scriptures and pray daily then come to church every week we will be blessed and have our faith grow into something great!

Σας Αγαπάω,

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον

Goodbye Athens

Γεια Σας!

Well it was another busy week but another good one!

Last Monday we had a meeting with Vasilis, one of our investigators, he is an interesting guy and a former member of the KKK. We don't know to much about him other than he wants to learn about the gospel and change. We are trying to help him out.

Tuesday we had to bolt from District Meeting to do mission prep with a member, Nikos, he is a really cool guy and is planning to serve a mission in about a year after he finishes with the military which is really cool he is such a cool kid. Then we went to a lesson with Hami and Oddyseas again. We were able to answer all of Oddyseas' questions. It was cool. He knows it is true there are just so many problems with being baptized into another religion - which sucks - so we are going to have to see if we can help them out.

Wednesday was an interesting day. For some reason Elder Gaskill was needed for an exchange so we dropped him off. Elder Zizzi was sick so we had to find something to do inside that day. Which wasn't super fun but I got a lot done that I needed.

Then Thursday we had a good day. We went to Salvation Army in the morning and helped people find some clothes. Later in the day we had a lesson with Maria Rapti. We helped her to understand why she couldn't pray to Παναγια (Virgin Mary) so it was quite fun.

Friday we went to the friendship center. Elder Gaskill taught an English class cause I still can't teach English haha. We also did weekly planning.

On Saturday we had a meeting with a member at Sklavanitis, a really big grocery store with the best food court ever. It was good. Then we were able to have a meeting with Stamatina a less active who was banned from missionary contact for reasons better not to be known. We were told to give her a second chance and so that is what we did. Her Mom and Dad are really cool. We were told that she had questions but she didn't seem to have any so it was weird.

Sunday we had church. Hami came to church for the first time in years with her son it was really cool! After we had a meal at Presidents house which was really good as well.

Today we are emailing early because later today we are going to the church to play volleyball and eat. I also have to pack cause I leave for my new adventure on Wednesday!

Recently I have been thinking a lot about why we do the things we do all the time. Such as read the scriptures every day and pray. I mean I knew it brang blessing but people have asked me questions and I have thought about the specific blessings and it is amazing. I would invite you all to just take 5 minutes and list some blessings you get from doing these simple things and you will be surprised what you find!

Σας Αγαπάω,

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον