Week 10

We had a Zone Conference this week in our mission. This was our first and we weren't completely sure about our role in this. President Charles invited us to ride with him and the AP missionaries to the conference, stay for the morning part, and then return to open the mission office in the afternoon. We were happy to ride with him there, because we are still learning our way around Greece. We had a lovely Zone Conference, and Linda even said the opening prayer in Greek! Then we made it home easily on the Metro.

We were able to get a lot of work done in the office while everyone else was still at the conference. Because the office is in the living area of our apartment, we were able to get started on making our dinner in the afternoon. When evening came, we had an opportunity to share our meal with the mission president and his wife who were busy preparing to travel the next morning. We felt blessed to be ready to serve in this way.

We love our apartment. It is clean and has a nice kitchen. It has many windows so we can enjoy the roses in bloom by the windows and a lovely yard (with a gardener!). It is in a safe neighborhood. We find that with our mission work, we have a lot more time to be together. This is another aspect of our mission that we love. It is nice to work together on the missionary work here in Greece. We feel blessed to be a part of this great work!

Mission Week 9

This week we continue to learn the basics of the mission office. We have many responsibilities from transportation to office work. We keep track of financial expenses and with a little help, we finally figured out the German phone system in the office. Before this week we had the departing office couple here to help us out, but they are gone now so we are doing this on our own. There is a lot of work to do, and although we are not as efficient as we hope to become, it seems like we are slowly learning what we need to do. The most important thing we are learning is that, even though there is much we do not know, the Lord can use us to further His work here in Greece, despite our knowledge of the culture. That is a comforting thought.

Despite what you may see on the news of the unrest in Greece, we are well and safe here. We live in a suburb of Athens and it is away from the strikes and we feel safe here. The missionaries are instructed to avoid the demonstration areas, and because the locations of the strikes are announced, it is easy to stay away. So although the strikes may continue, we are doing fine in our duties in the mission office.

First weeks in Greece

Here are some pictures from our first weeks in Greece.

This is a group of missionaries gathering for a testimony meeting on Mars Hill where Paul spoke.

The Sister Missionaries

In front of the Acropolis

We arrived in Greece and are getting settled in our new home. The mission office is in the living area of the apartment where we live. We spent the first weeks trying to learn everything we could from Elder and Sister Smith, before they finished their mission. There is a lot to learn about our responsibilities and running the mission office. We are also figuring our way around here. We had the chance to attend a baptism and testimony meeting on Mars Hill. There is a lot to see here. We are loving our mission and we miss all of you!