ΚΑΛΗ ΧΡΟΝΙΑ!!

ΓΕΙΑ ΣΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΚΑΛΕΣ ΓΙΟΡΤΕΣ!!

Well I hope that everyone had a great holidays but the crazy thing is here in Greece the holidays don't stop after Christmas they just get bigger and they won't end until the 7th or 8th of the month everyone keeps telling me different things. But I had a great week

Monday and Tuesday were full of celebrations, it was a great couple of days and we were able to have a good time and most of all I got to see my FAM!! Here is a blurry pic from Christmas dinner!

Wednesday was a miracle day! So the plan was we were going to have 5 lessons for the day which was going to be awesome and then as we went throughout our day all were canceled or went bad except for 2, so we go out at the end of the day to do finding at a whiteboard and we each me and Elder Roffler had the opportunity to teach a lesson and it was so awesome to see that the Lord blesses us in ways that we don't expect!

Thursday we had an ok day, unfortunately Najeemb who had his baptismal interview that day came and told us that he would no longer like contact and then walked away, it was disappointing but we know that one day he will accept the Gospel. 

Friday we had a good solid day of work and I don't remember exactly what happened.

Saturday was awesome, we met up with a lot of friends and had a farewell party for a member of the Branch he will be going to England on his mission it is exciting, he will be the first Greek missionary in a very long time! Then we also met up with a new friend he is called Ali, and he is super good and just wants to do good in his life it is super awesome and he just wants to learn how to be a better person.

Sunday was a great Sabbath day we had so many unplanned opportunities to share the gospel. And then in the evening we met with a man Alexandros. He is such a humble man that wants to have the blessings of the gospel so that he can see his wife and daughter again it is just amazing!

Then today we had some good new years celebrations with all of the missionaries and then with the members and it was just overall a great day!

Then here is a pic of the singing that we have been doing a lot this week with the holidays!

ΣΑΣ ΑΓΑΠΑΩ ΠΟΛΥ!!

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον

ΚΑΛΑ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥΓΕΝΝΑ

MERRY CHRISTMAS

The Greek Word for christmas is Christouyenna (ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥΓΕΝΝΑ)(sorry if you can’t read that).  It means the birth of Christ and that is so great to remind everyone just like in English that Christ is the biggest part of CHRISTmas.  When I think about Christ’s life I think about how selfless he was and how everything that He did was to help people, to lift them up to make their day better any way that He could.  He is the light and with his life He showed us how we can share that light with all of those around us.  That is the purpose of Light the World it is to share the Light with all of those around us and it can be with things as simple as a smile to make the difference in someones day.  I would like to share a quick story about and experience I had.  We were doing our day of service activity and we decided that we were going to go and just have fun give out hot chocolate and socks and have some games with music.  So that is what we did.  It was amazing we were all just happy and the people all around us were having a good time.  That lead to having a man named Najeemb talk with us and he is now going to be baptized.  That day was one of the happiest days of my mission so far.  I know it is because we were able to share happiness with others.  It was so cool to see so many people light up around us.  I know that as we strive to Light the World all of the time we will be able to draw closer to The Light itself which is Jesus Christ, I know He lives and that he is our Savior and Redeemer.

Love, Elder Halverson

ΚΑΛΑ ΧΡΙΣΤΟΥΓΕΝΝΑ #2

Καλά Χριστούγεννα σε όλους!!

Hey everyone! Well to start off I just hope that everyone has a great Christmas this year!

This week was a great one on Tuesday we had a great day planned we had two lessons planned for the evening and so the first was from a girl who called us from a pass along card and so we were pretty excited and so we go to meet up with her and we just start talking but she just wouldn't talk and as you know I am not the biggest talker and it was just super awkward but then it all went good when we started to talk about the Book of Mormon which was good and she said that she would read and we scheduled to meet again to teach her more and then our other friend showed up for our lesson with him and she just sat there and we had no idea what to do so we just started our lesson with our other friend and luckily the Sisters for some reason just showed up in the same spot and saved us from that awkwardness and they are going to be teaching her now which is great but it was just a funny night that made us laugh. 

Wednesday was just a great day we went out in the morning and I was able to teach Greek class to some refugees and a member came to help me out which was really cool we had a good lesson, then we had another lesson with Najeemb and just we saw how prepared he is from the Lord and it just is so cool to see his hand in the lives of others! Then that night we had an activity with the members! We went to Syntagma square and sang Christmas songs with the members and talked with people it was a good night and a great way to end the day!

Thursday we had a great day we went around with some cookies to visit our less active members and it was good we actually went and knocked on ones door and he answered and let us in! It was amazing we were so excited and we sat down started talking and then from the other room this guy just comes in and started yelling at us and the member and just told him he can't get involved with us again and then kicked us out so yeah that was fun. Then we had a lesson with Najeemb and then with a young guy named Nikos who is interested in learning about the church and especially why we believe we had a really good spiritual lesson with him that was just amazing!

Friday was another good day of work for the week and I don't remember what happened exactly.

Saturday was a miracle day! So we organized to meet up with a guy named Mike with his wife and daughter and so we go  and they had already read part of the Book of Mormon that we gave them and just loved it and they want to learn more and just to learn more so that they can draw closer to their Savior it was just so amazing! Then that night we had the branch Christmas party which went well.

Sunday was a great Sabbath and we had a good program at church and then after we went and did some caroling and it was just a good day.

Today my comp gave me my Christmas present and traveled with me to the track so that I could run it was great!

Well I hope that you all have a great Christmas and never forget the reason behind the season!

ΣΑΣ ΑΓΑΠΑΩ ΠΟΛΥ

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον

ΑΚΡΟΠΟΛΗ

ΓΕΙΑ ΣΑΣ!!!

So on Tuesday we had a good day we got some practice in for our Christmas Musical evening on Saturday and then we had a good evening of finding! 

Wednesday we went and taught some English and then in the evening we went and did a whiteboard and we decided to try a new place me and my comp and so we went and it didn't go to well until the very end and I got to talk to this lady and it just came to my mind to say hey I want to tell you I believe that families can be forever and you can know that too and she was just like "oh really I would love to here about that I have no time but here's my number" it was so cool. Oh yeah this day I also got to try some sushi for the 1st time it was pretty good.

Thursday was an adventure so we went out in the morning to do some service and we started moving these metal bars and we were moving them, we were doing a chain and handing them down and all the sudden I saw some blood on one of them and I look at the guy in front and he isn't bleeding then I think oh I don't know what is going on then my comp called me over and he got cut pretty bad and our friends there helped us clean it up then we went to the hospital and he got some stitches so it was a pretty fun day and in the evening we taught English and got the presentation ready for our Christmas Music Evening.

Friday we had a great day we had the friendship center and taught some English and then we did some caroling at night.

Saturday was a good day we did service at the beach in the morning with the youth to light the world. Then we had that night the Christmas Musical Evening and it went so well we had about 10 members there and 40 non-members it was so cool and most left with Books of Mormon and a lot came to church the next day it was cool.

Sunday was a great Sabbath! We had a meal with the Senior Couples, in Athens we have a senior Sisters couple and one is from Albania and has a daughter that lives in Greece pretty close to us and she came to church to help her mom give a talk in Greek and then we were able to go with them to dinner and we are going to be able to meet up with them it is super cool!

Then today we went to the Acropolis it was a blast!!

ΣΑΣ ΑΓΑΠΑΩ ΠΟΛΥ!

ΜΕΓΑΛΑ ΘΑΥΜΑΤΑ!!

ΓΕΙΑ ΣΑΣ!!!!

Well I hope that you all had great weeks and are having a great time Lighting the World! My week was awesome and we had some pretty amazing miracles.

Last p-day was fun we met up with the missionaries at the church and we had a fun day playing Volley and some b-ball with pizza of course. Then in the evening we went out with Hedy for Elder Fasa's last day and went and found this crazy place that was all decked out for Christmas. here's a pic sorry it is a bit blurry.

Tuesday was a good day so we left early so that Elder Fasa could get to the airport on time and then I was able to spend the day with the APs and it was a great day then I got my new companion that night it is Elder Roffler he is from Switzerland and he is a great guy we are going to have a great transfer!

Wednesday was a great day we planned our Zone Training for the next day and then we also had a lesson with Najeemb, so we had the restoration lesson on Tuesday which was one of the best lessons ever and then we met up and he told us the story of how some lady had tried to tell him that he should stay away from Joseph Smith and his fallacies and he told us how that is when he decided that he knew it was all true and that he wanted to follow his heart! It was so awesome he will be baptized on the 22nd of December if all goes to plan. 

Thursday we had Zone Training which went well and we were able to have some good training.

Friday we went to the soup kitchen and then we met up with Micheal our Less-Active friend and had a very good discussion about how God loves and supports each and every one of us. Then we had a meal with the Finlaysons and some Elder Schafer who had come back to visit.

Saturday we had another huge miracle. So about two months ago or more I met this girl at the center and we talked a lot and she really wanted to learn more and so she gave us her number and when we tried to call her the number didn't work. But she thought a lot about what we had talked about and then on her own she sought out the church online by herself! It was awesome and we received her information and met up and it was awesome her name is Georgia and she told us that she wants to make a change in her life for the better and just sees something good in us and wants the same for her life!

Sunday was a great day we had a good Sabbath Najeemb came and told us that he found a job! and that he has never been happier in his life than he has been the past two weeks it is amazing to see the gospel changing lives!!

Today was a great day we finally got a deep clean of the apartment and it just feels better and then got some haircuts it was a good relaxing day! 

This week something that has been on my mind a lot is the scripture from 2 Nephi 2:25 which says "men are that they might have joy" and that is how it is for us every day we are meant to have joy and just thought about how life is tough it really is and it has its ups and downs but we always need to have joy even through our hard moments because that is God's plan for us and that is why he sent us His Son Jesus Christ. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Αγάπη μόνο,

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον  

ΦΩΤΊΣΤΕ ΤΟΝ ΚΌΣΜΟ!!

ΓΕΙΑ ΣΑΣ ΠΑΙΔΙΑ!!

Well it crazy it is December already!

So last Tuesday we started an exchange and I got to go back with Elder Nelson! It was way fun and we were able to do some good finding that night and then in the evening we ordered Pizza and coke cause I made him a deal if I ever weighed 150 again on my mission I would drink a coke with him and well the day finally came haha.

(sorry its a bit blurry)

Wednesday all of the metros were on strike and most of the buses so we had a fun day walking around Athens and we got to teach a couple of guys in a park on the way which was cool. 

Thursday we had a good solid day of work and we also got to teach a couple of lessons, one with Maesum who is from Syria and has lost everything and it is so cool to see him change as we talk about the gospel, and then we met with Fransis who is from the Philippines and is a very cool guy just looking for the truth which is really cool .

Friday we went to the soup kitchen and then afterwords we went to the Hospital so that Elder Fasa could get an MRI for his back and that was basically our day. Then that night we got transfer calls, Elder Fasa is going to be leaving and going to Cyprus and then Elder Roffler from my MTC group is going to come and be my comp it is going to be a party!

Saturday we did our Light the World day of service and it was so fun and so awesome to see everyone just light up as we would talk and have fun. Then I was also able to meet a man named Najeemb he is from Afghanistan and he speaks perfect English and we talked and he just hung out for a long time cause he said that he just felt good and at peace around us and it was so good and he said that he would come to church!

Then Sunday was a great day Najeemb and Maesum came to church! It was so good we had a lesson the first hour with them about God and how he is our loving Heavenly Father and how prayer is how we communicate with him and it is was so awesome and the Spirit was so strong! Then we kicked off Light the World with the members!

It was such a great week and I would say especially with the Christmas coming up just to think about the reason behind the season which is Jesus Christ! He is the reason and that is why we should try as best we can to give as he gave and to Light the World! I love you all and hope that you have great weeks!

Αγάπη μόνο!

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον