December 22 Athens Airport

This is our second trip to the airport today. We have been waiting a long time to welcome Sister Christensen, Elders Wells, Balhorn and Steeby.

Even after their long delays they are still smiling and happy to be here.

Time to go through passport control.

Only time for last hugs and words of love and good cheer.

May God bless you and keep you safe.

Outside Athens Airport Dec 21st.

Sister Campbell ( on the right) and Sister Longhurst . These two sisters made a lovely team. Strong and powerful with a sweetness that melted the heart.

Early to rise, on the 21st December 2009

They are still smiling even though they had very little sleep. All showered and ready to leave for the airport at 4.30 am. Top left, Elder Baker taking a picture of me, taking a picture of him!

Sunshine and Showers on Mars Hill Dec 20th.

Powerful testimonies and tender hearts dominated this Mars Hill visit.

Mars Hill December 20th.

A Beatles song says it all. " Love you forever and forever, love you with all my heart. Love you whenever we're together ,love you when we're apart "

Saturday 19th. Leonidas Lunch.

Here they are our valiant band of missionaries. Top right picture from left to right we have Elders Southwick, Okazaki, Hickey, Valgren and Dundee. Then on the end is our beautiful Sister Cambell. There was a lot of laughter and also some very tender moments. We had chocolate cake and trifle for dessert. I do believe the trifle made the satisfactory schloop sound as the spoon went in.

We love them, we delight in them and they have a place in our hearts forever.

More study time.

We did a lot of role playing with Elders Sebald and Lohman, it brought tears to my eyes as we talked about loved ones who had passed away. But yet we have such glorious hope in our dear Saviour.

Met up with Elders Okazaki and Dundee at the airport on the first part of their journey home. With Elder Dundee going , who am I going to talk to about food and recipes??

Companionship study and party time!

On the 14th Dec we had a wonderful companionship study with Elders Escher and Muurling, they had made a wonderful pictorial representation of the Plan of Salvation. ( I know I should have taken a picture) More role playing and again later with Elders Gaillard and Muurling. They were both so good, we did some role play in greek their language skills are amazing. On the 16th study with Elders Potter and Jentsch, we role played the first lesson which invited the Spirit into their humble home.

Party time in Limassol with all the missionaries. The food was plentiful and had been prepared with love. We played the white elephant game which was very funny. We watched the Preachers Wife, and ate even more popcorn, sweeties and enjoyed being together.

Elder Okazaki baptises Amelia in Nicosia

December the 15th we had the privilege of attending the baptism of Amelia, There was a beautiful spirit present, and Amelia seemed overjoyed.

Sunday in Larnaca Cyprus

Sunday 13 December in Larnaca Branch was so special. Joanne and Valentine were confirmed members of the church and were given the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

Pot luck lunch after the meeting was absolutely scrumptious, we had a lot of dishes from the Philippines. I am definitely getting the recipes for those.

We hugged and laughed and rejoiced together. Thank you President and Sister Checketts for an amazing two days.

Baptisms in Larnaca Cyprus

We had a wonderful trip to Cyprus. It started on Saturday 12 Dec when we joined Elders Dundee and Rimmel for companionship study. There was such a good spirit as they had planned well, we also did some role play together.

Later on the same day we attended the baptisms of Joanne and Valentine, the sea was wild but the spirit was sweet.

Elder and Sister Ollerton arrive in Athens

In the bottom right picture we have the Ollertons arriving in Athens on the 10th Dec. (sorry it's a bit blurry) We are always leaning over the barrier as the doors open ,just to see if we can peek through and catch a glimpse of those arriving. It's wonderful when they see us and wave back, it really is hard to stop the tears.

Facebook!

We have created a facebook page so you can see many more pictures (and videos!) from the Greece Athens Mission.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kifissia-Greece/Greece-Athens-Mission/166885604263

For Becky and Rachael

Dearest Becky and Rachael the heart was drawn on Marathonas Beach. I am sure by now the tide has washed it away, but need you to know that .you both are forever firmly etched into our hearts.

Mark Coopers Baptism

Elder Grow baptised Mark much to the delight of his wife Shoshanna. President Taylor spoke on baptism, he taught us well using the scriptures and our Saviour as an example. Elder Bell taught us about the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It was good to hear from Mark who bore testimony after his baptism.

Cyprus Baptisms

Recently we had three baptisms on Cyprus. Cherry was baptised by Elder Gaillard, Linda by Elder Escher and Rupak by Elder Rimmel.

Congratulations to Cherry, Linda and Rupak! This is just the beginning to many great experiences.

Cyprus Zone Conference November 2009

We had a wonderful Zone Conference in Cyprus because we had Elder Causse First Counsellor in the Europe Area Presidency.
Have to apologise that we do not have pictures of Athens and Thessaloniki, my camera has decided to make every picture blurry. Hope to get missionaries to send in pictures that they have taken.
Elder Causee was truly inspirational, and I believe we all came away with a firmer resolve to find and baptise those prepared to receive further light and knowledge.

The Perfect Visit

David, Lesley, David and Wendy came to stay for just a few days. I can't tell you what their visit meant to us. We are dear friends, and having them visit and bring love and fellowship was an absolute delight. Tears of laughter were shed, tears of joy as we shared spiritual moments.

Farmers Market

This is a picture of a Laiki ( A farmers market) I did make a video of it but I am not sure if I can blog this. We enjoyed walking around and feasting our eyes on all the beautiful colours and varieties of fruits and vegetables. Many of the missionaries will shop at these outdoor markets because they are cheaper and at the end of the day you can pick up a real bargain. The markets set up on different streets during the week, so they get to shop at the one closest to their apartment.

YSA Monthly Council Meeting

Dimitris Voutourlis , YSA Council President( in the far left of the picture) conducted a wonderful council meeting. The majority of the time was spent talking about people, their needs and how those needs could and would be met.

Elder Wondra ( area 70) spent the weekend with us. His energy and enthusiasm for the gospel gave us great encouragement and hope.

He spoke about discouragement and said- who are we following when we allow ourselves to feel this, whose servants are we? He spoke about joyfully living the gospel, and that whenever we teach the classroom should be filled with the love of God.

We felt very blessed to have him in our midst. Sister Tayor and Sister Bell smoothed the way by providing the food for the whole day on Sunday. Not only did it look beautiful but it was also quite delicious.

Parthenon and changing of the guard.

We had such a lovely day, the weather was perfect. The Acropolis is the symbol of Athens, the sacred rock, linking the ancient civilisation with the modern city.

Rachael and Aimee

Rachael and her dear friend Aimee came to visit. Here they are on the old steps leading up to Mars Hill .

Visit from the CES Department

This picture was taken on the balcony of the Acropoli Branch building. You can see the Parthenon in the background. It never fails to amaze me when I look around and see the history that surrounds me.
Brother Fingerle, Lotito and Wilkinson talked with us about Seminary and Institute and opened our eyes and hearts to many possibilities.

Thessaloniki Zone Conference

It is always a pleasure to visit Thessaloniki. We are given such a warm welcome from this merry band of missionaries. As you can see some intense work is going on as we prepared ourselves for role play situations .
We love all of the missionaries in the Greece Athens Mission, how blessed we are to rub shoulders with such great ones.