ΕΝΑΣ ΕΤΟΣ!!

ΓΕΙΑ!!

Well a ton has happened so I am just gonna jump into it.

So last Monday evening we had an awesome FHE with Dimitris. We were able to teach about temples an Family History work. He said that it was really cool and would like to do what he can to find his own names.

Tuesday we had a good day, we started an exchange and I was able to stay at home and have Elder Albertson come join me. That night we were able to have a good meeting with the Stilo Family. We are really trying to help them read the BoM everyday. We hope that this week we will see some improvement!

Wednesday, on our exchange we had an adventure. In the morning a Professor came from BYU. We had to do translation for her as she interviewed the members of the branch here. She wanted to know about the branch history - oh man my brain got a bit fried. That night we were able to have a Skype lesson with an awesome guy in Albania who is half Greek and half Italian.  He is totally prepared by God and his member friend who taught him all the lessons. It was cool.

Thursday, I became an old missionary or you could say I went over the hill but I have now been a missionary for a year. That is pretty crazy. We had an awesome lunch, then we did some good service at the Graveyard for our friend. We also were able to have a good conversation with him. Then that night we celebrated by ordering some crepes.

Lunch

crepe

On Friday, we had a good day and did some good finding in the morning. Then we had a busy evening. We met up with Dimitris, then with our security guard friend Jimmy. He introduced us to a friend! Then we met up with Vasilios and we taught english, but then we were able to talk about our experiences with the BoM it was cool. 

Saturday was great! We did service again with our friends in the Laiki and help them set up and take down. They are really starting to trust us which is good. We hope soon things will start happening they are such good people. Then we met up with Dimitris to eat some food with the other Elders. We had a lesson on the baptismal covenant and we all bore testimony it was super awesome! Then that night we were able to Skype with Stelios again. This time we did the baptismal interview questions and he is going to be baptized next Saturday! Super awesome!

Sunday we had a great Sabbath with church. We were able to meet with Jimmy again and share the Family Proclamation. In the evening we met with Kostas who was a former investigator. He loves the Bible and has lots of questions it is cool!

Today we had an adventure. We decided to do a 40 mile bike ride and see a lake. It included climbing a mountain and then going down the other side and then back again. Man it was tough but it was so beautiful. A tear may or may not have been shed when I was just surrounded by nature!

Me and Elder Forsey

Me and my trusty steed

Well that is my week it was awesome and full of blessing!

ΣΑΣ ΑΓΑΠΑΩ!

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον

1 Year!

1 Year!

Today's adventure up the mountain:

'MERICA!

ΓΕΙΑ ΛΟΙΠΟΝ!

So what a great week it was so lets get to it!

Last Tuesday was a good day of just good 'old findin around town. We were doing some service through a park and we starting talking with a guy named Vangelis. He was cool and told us to pass by again to tell him about what we were doing. We still haven't seen him again but hopefully soon!

Wednesday was a great day! We started off with some service at the warehouse moving around some wood! Then we go to have a good 4th of July BBQ. Before the BBQ we invited Dimitris to come a bit early for a lesson. We had a great lesson about what God wants us to do in life. To end it off great he accepted to be baptized on the 28th of the month! It was awesome!  We had a great BBQ and were able to have a lot of friends from all over come. It was a very good day!

Thursday was a good day. In the evening we were able to meet the new APs and President!

Friday we had our 1st interviews with the new President! WE also had a meeting about the changes that will be happening in the mission. It was really good and I am excited for the changes! Then me and Elder Forsey went on exchanges with the APs. I went with Elder Schneider from Idaho. We headed off and met with Dimitris, and had an awesome lesson in which he agreed to read and pray everyday! Then we went and visited the Stilo family. They just talked in Albanian the whole time and I had no idea what was going on. At the end we gave Maria the mother a blessing because she has some health problems and the spirit was so strong! When we got home after some finding, which was interesting because he spoke no Greek, we found out that Elder Forsey and Ward had given BoM to two of our good friends. Jimmy the security guard and Vasilios who we teach English. They are now investigators it is so awesome!!

​

Saturday we did some soccer finding in the morning with Orestis. It was good. After we headed back to the church and had some Family History training from President Anderson. It was awesome! That evening we went and visited Brother Matrapazis at the hospital.  We then went to teach Vasilios English and about the BoM it was awesome!

​

Sunday was just a good normal Sunday. Except for that morning we went to church twice we visited an Orthodox church with a friend before going to church. I will just say the feeling was very different. Yeah we have the truth!

Today was a great day we went out with Dimitris. He showed us some of his favorite stores and we got donuts bigger than our heads. It was awesome!

Well that is it for the week good changes, good things, good people!

ΣΑΣ ΑΓΑΠΑΩ

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον

ΠΗΓΑ ΣΤΗΝ ΘΑΛΑΣΣΑ!!!

ΓΕΙΑ!!!

Well what a week it has been.

Tuesday we had a busy day. We first went out of Thess a bit to visit the Koutouri family. It was great they are awesome members. Then we came home and planned a District Meeting and went and met with Dimitris. It was good because we were able to explain the baptism we were going to have on Saturday. We were also able to talk about what it means to be a member. It was really cool to be able to answer all of the questions that he has.

Wednesday we were able to go the warehouse and do some more service there. Then from there we met with Achilles. He is now investigating the church which is awesome hopefully we can share the message that we have with him.

Thursday we met up with Haralambos and just to think of what he looks like I will tell you guys that I have found Hagrid. 

Friday We were able to visit with our security guard friend, Jimmy, at the university. We are starting to progress with him. It is cool we hope soon to start really teaching him. That night we taught English to Vasilios and it went well, he is a good guy and has a fake leg and is hoping to be able to make it out to the church soon!

Saturday was for sure an adventure, we had a busy day running around trying to do final preperations for the baptism and also helping out our friends at the Laiki or the market. Then that night we had the baptism, it was an excommunicated lady who came down from Skopia (Macedonia but can't say that cause Macedonia is Greece), and we had a good baptism. I got surprised by them needing a witness to go out with them so I was lucky enough to go out. But unfortunately stepped on a sea urchin. My comp was awesome and helped me get all the needles out. Also I was able to meet some of the members from Skopia and one who knew my cousin, also Elder Halverson, who had served there recently. It was really cool!

Maria's Baptism

Baptism

Baptism

Elder Forsey helping me out after stepping on sea Urchin

Dimitris Me and Nik from Macedonia

Church

Sunday was a good Sunday. In the evening got invited, by one of our friends, to an event about a memorial for the Greek Soldiers that got lost in Cyprus when Turkey invaded. It was really cool.

Memorial with our friend Costas

President and Sister Heder

Selfie with Steve

Then today was awesome, we finished cleaning out my foot. We also stopped by the Nike store to look. I had to take a selfie with Steve! Also today was the day I am now officially a part of the Adriatic South/Greece Mission doesn't feel any different but I will for sure miss the Heders.

Well that is it for the week something that I have really realized this week is that we all have two choices in this life to smile or to not. It is always easier in the end to smile. It makes a big difference especially with those on the street!

Γραφω παραπανο λοιπον, τα λεμε σας αγαπαω!

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον

ΥΠΗΕΡΕΣΙΑ!!!

ΓΕΙΑ ΣΑΣ ΠΑΔΙΑ!!!

Well it was just a fantastic jam packed week again so lets get to it.

Last Monday we held a Family Home Evening with some single members, and our investigators and friends it went really well. It is starting to attract more people which is awesome we hope things will keep getting better. 

Tuesday, we had a good day and went to find a new service opportunity. Hopefully it works out. They just said we will call you. That night we met up to try and find some former investigators, but we didn't find any trace of them. The positive was we made a friend along the way. 

Wednesday we helped out with service at the warehouse and had English class later that day. Both went well not amazing but still good.

Thursday, was a good day we met up with Dimitris in the morning. He showed us a new opportunity for service with someone he knew. We again don't know if it will go anywhere but it is still good. Then that night we were able again to go help out at the Graveyard which was good.

Friday we were able to organize a lot of member stuff for Thessaloniki. Now we can start to try and find some of the Less Active Members up here in Thess. In the evening we were heading to see Jimmy the security guard. We got stopped on the way and in English with an Autralian accent he said "Hey are you the Mormons". We had a conversation it turns out he is a bit crazy, but we had an interesting talk about how he told the Jews that Abraham was a Saudi Arabian.

Saturday we had a good day. We did a lot of work in the Laiki, which is just the local market. We made another new friend. We returned later in the day and helped out some friends with their stand. We helped with clean up and everything it was really cool. It has just been really cool this week to see how through service we are really able to help and touch the lives of all those around us.

Sunday was a good day we had a visit from the Finlaysons from Athens. They gave some great talks on ministering. We had 5 friends at church who weren't member it was really awesome, and only 2 were investigators, this week we are going to be meeting up with 2 more to teach it is so awesome! 

Today we got up early and headed out and did some service with a friend. Then the Finlaysons took us all out for lunch it was so awesome! They are great people and missionaries.

ΣΑΣ ΑΓΑΠΑΩ

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον

Sorry no pics this week.

Last ZC with the Heders

Γεια!

Well this week was really good and pretty eventful! 

So last Tuesday, we ran around the city trying to find service. The last person in the charge just said "go online", so that was fun. Then we went and saw Brother Matrapazees for his B-Day. It was great. We went with him to the Hospital, Elder Celestini had just had surgery so we went and saw him.

Wednesday we had work at the warehouse. In the evening we ran to Brother Todi's house and gave him a haircut. Then afterwords had a good English Class.

Thursday was a good day we did a lot of planning and studies. Then in the evening we saw our friend at the University. After that we went with Brother Matrapazees to do service at a graveyard. We got rained on and so we ran inside and had a good conversation with the man we work with about the church. he gave us someone else that we could go to and help every week it was really awesome. With all the rain the streets flooded a bit. Luckily we were in service clothes and were able just to get soaked and walk through the streams in the roads it was fun.

Rain Flood on Thursday

On Friday we had a good day and finished up some work before heading to Athens in the evening.

Saturday we got up early and had our final interviews with President Heder. We had a Missionary meeting with President Kearon of the seventy. It was really good he shared a message about how baptism is a gift that we have to give to everyone and we need to present it as such it was really good.

Sunday we got to stay for Church in Athens it was good to be able to see everyone there. After Church we had the Heder's last Zone Conference. It was really amazing they will be missed, but I am also excited for the changes coming our way. President Heder shared something with us it was that we need to never stop seeking for truth, or improving we just need to always continue on. I loved that! Then we headed home and had a mix up with the flights. We ended up having to get a later flight. I was able to talk with a man the whole way home and taught half of the Restoration it was really cool.

Then we had a good lazy day today and maybe took a nap or two since we didn't get home until after midnight. Then also I was able to run 8 miles it was sweet!

Well I think that is it!

ΣΑΣ ΑΓΑΠΑΩ

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον

 ZC and Visit from Elder Kearon

Another Busy One

ΓΕΙΑ!!

Well this was a great week, the hand of the Lord can be seen every day!

Tuesday was an interesting day, we got asked on Monday,by a random guy, to help out. So we went with him and he just dropped us off and left. Later another guy came and it turns out we were helping him set up a message shop. Hopefully we can go back sometime. He wants to come to English class which is awesome!

Wednesday we went to the Warehouse and had a good time there. We had some good conversations about the gospel. Then that night we had English class. it was awesome. We had a new student, which is Brother Matrapazees, so we are going to have some good times!

Thursday we headed to the Graveyard again to help. This time we cut up and moved a giant cherry tree that had fallen down in the storm a month or so ago. It was fun.

Then Friday was an awesome day! We met up with a guy that we had met on Monday named Haralambos. He is now our new investigator, he is so awesome, he is a former Greek Monk but is still young. He knows they are wrong it is awesome. He is also going to teach us some taekwondo it is so awesome! Then later we met up with our security guard friend at the University and it went really well. He is prepared by God to receive the gospel. We hope that we can introduce it in the right way.

Saturday was a crazy day. We went in the morning and had a unsuccessful soccer finding. Then a meal with brother Todi. Then we went home and headed back out to meet up with Dimitris who had just got back from vacation. We ate some really good Greek food, oh man it was so good, just some potatoes and pork but it was so good. That evening we had an activity about the plan of Salvation. It was so awesome! 

We had an awesome Sunday! We had church and it was really good. We had two of our investigators there and Maria Stilo came again with her daughter! it is so awesome to see them come back to the gospel! After we had a meeting with the ZLs in Athens on Skype and talked about the mission transfer a bit and what we as leaders need to do to prepare. That night we met up with a referral from a senior couple in Cyprus. We met up with this man, Kostas, and his wife, Eleni, and they took us to an international food festival, down at the beach, it was so cool!

(Yes Dad that is some Pelmeni for you from Russia)

That was my week it was awesome and I saw the hand of the Lord every day! It is there just look for it!

ΣΑΣ ΑΓΑΠΩ!!

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον

ΕΡΧΕΤΑΙ ΤΟ ΚΑΛΟΚΑΙΡΙ!!

ΓΕΙΑ!!!

Well it has been a good week but things are starting to heat up here in Greece, I mean you know the feeling you get when you get into the car after it has been in the sun forever, well that is just what is feels like to go outside, and people say it is going to get hotter phew, we will see how that goes.

So last Monday, we went and visited a Less-Active Family the Stilo Family. They are great they are from Albania and are good people, they just struggle with commitment. We are seeing change in them which is cool, we hope that is will continue.

Tuesday we had a good day with District Meeting. We had another meeting from Brother Todi and we decided that we were going to have one of the first ever Greek district meetings. It was really cool and was good to have a member involved in our meeting. 

Wednesday we had a busy day. We started with some help out at the warehouse, which was some really good work. Then we came back and yes I just had a giant salad for lunch just look at the picture. That night we taught english class which was also good as well.

Thursday we went and had a meal at Brother Todi's house. After we traveled to meet with a former investigator, with Brother Todi, named Iota it went well and we hope to continue to be able to meet and have good lessons.

Friday we had a busy evening we went and visited a lot of people. We saw Brother Matrapazees it was sweet, then we went and visited our security guard friend Jimmy at the University, and then we went and visited the Branch President's wife and dropped off a gift of cookies. They had a baby just a week or two ago. It was an awesome night but we biked from one side of Thess to the other but all good fun.

Then on Saturday we did some soccer finding with Orestis again. It was good this time Elder Carroll came with us and so we got some pictures...

Sunday was a great day we had a special European Conference. We showed up and it turns out they didn't have any Greek translation so I was fortunate enough to do it. It was a good it was from an area 70 in the area of Europe and Elder Uctdorf. It was really awesome about ministering and how it all starts with a Testimony of Jesus Christ! Which is just so true nothing starts with the work of the Lord or service without a Testimony of Jesus Christ which brings the charity for all of those around us.

Today was just a good day going around Thess! Man I love this city and these people and most of all the message that we have for them!

ΣΑΣ ΑΓΑΠΩ

Πρεσβύτερος Χάλβερσον