Εβδομάδα 6: This feels like it's from God or something"

Sorry for the long email in advance, this week was great!

Scroll to the bottom for the pics haha (;

Life is still going in the good old England MTC! It continues to be so busy, and jammed packed with so many great experiences even after 6 weeks!

AND I gave my first sacrament talk in Greek!

ALSO, another cool thing. "Utah" literally means "top of the mountains". And then, in Isaiah 56:7 we read, "Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer... for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people." That's a pretty sweet connection in my mind.

*skip on to Saturday’s recap to read about our experience with Βέρα!! … our first conversation with a member in Greece!*

TUESDAY 3.19.19

Awesome day! Temple at 9, then after all the Germans and Greeks took the bus to Chorley! Walked around for a bit, and eventually wound up at McDs haha. Can’t get by without American food for that long. Then we all played soccer on the sports court. It was so fun, think we all ended up with bruises somewhere. It started raining a little and the court started getting pretty slick, we kept playing though... probably could’ve prevented some injuries if we stopped earlier tho.

WEDNESDAY 3.20.19

We got another group of missionaries! 17 of em! We watched a 2009 mtc devotional from Elder L. Tom Perry tonight. He discussed the importance and value of our companions and how we should continually be striving to build unity and harmony in our relationship, and to be one... because "if ye are not one, ye are not mine"

SATURDAY 3.23.19

We talked to Βέρα!! She lives in Athens and we got to video chat with her for 25 minutes! And honestly that has probably been my highlight of the entire MTC so far. We were suppose to completely use Greek even though she could speak English, and for majority of the call we did! We prepared a little message to share with her and it couldn’t have gone any better! I have been reading in Mosiah this week and verses 13-16 in chapter 24 have really stood out to me. When we were asked to prepare a message to share with Βέρα, I immediately felt like we needed to share those scriptures, and I am so grateful to have followed that instinct.

Βέρα is a single women in her 30s and is very active in the church, and she is so sweet! We small talked for a bit and asked her how she was converted to the church and a little about herself. We knew she was one of the few people in Greece who does family history work, so I asked her about it and told her we would love to help her do family names and she got so excited! So now my fam back home will have some Greek names to do! And then we transitioned to the message we wanted to share by opening with a prayer. We asked if she would read Mosiah 24:13-16 out loud with us, and she did. As she was reading, she stared tearing up, and had to pause for a second. Then she finished reading and started wiping away her tears. It was such a tender moment, and kinda indescribable. You could feel how much those words in those versus touched her, and that whatever was happening in her life, that she needed to be reminded of those scriptures and the messages in them.

I’ve never met Βέρα before, but I immediately felt so much love for her, and the love Heavenly Father has for her. She told us how thankful she was that we had picked that scripture, and you could feel the spirit so strongly.

That experience for me goes to show how powerful the Book of Mormon in teaching, even over a video call! As well as how great of an impact it can be for every one of us.

The teachings in it are so pure, and can help us in both the good and bad times.

I testify to you that the Book of Mormon is true, and as we frequently read it, we will be able to feel of God’s love for us.

SUNDAY 3.24.19

1st talk in Greek... CHECK! I’ve gotten off the hook for 5 weeks already so it was about time haha. I was a little nervous at first since I’ve only spoken in front of my small district, and 90 + missionaries was a whole different crowd. But, ήταν πoλú καλά (; (It was all good) I got to speak about the Book of Mormon! I’m way far from fluent and stumbled on a few words, but no one knew except the 4 others in my district, so ήταν μια ανακούφιση. (That's a relief.)

MONDAY 3.25.19

Manchester was SO GREAT TODAY WOW. I was companions with Sister Jarman (Utah) and Sister Baatarkhuyag (Mongolia) this time, they called me the senior companion since they barely got here on Wednesday and they wanted me to show em the ropes. Elder P and I went to the Greek place and talked in Greek to the workers!! They loved it!!

Then we passed out tons of pass along cards and 2 Book of Mormons around town!
One guy, Pritam, is GOLDEN. He was so interested in our message and it was one of the most powerful conversations I've had in my LIFE. We shared so many of the same beliefs and he called us lionesses and warriors haha because we weren't afraid to talk about God and how much of a divine, real being he is. I shared with him my favorite scripture... Alma 26:12. I had him read it, and then he asked if I could read it to him so he could here it. He paused for a second in just amazement. He said he wanted to read that again just to soak it in. He said that was the most powerful thing he's ever read and he was just wowed. He said to us "this feels like it's from God or something" and we were so happy to tell him it was! And the entire Book was filled with more messages and scriptures like that! We told him that that book was his if he wanted it and he looked up at us and said "seriously? You would give this to me?? Thank you so much, I feel like I need to give you guys money or something". He then offered to buy us a drink or meet up another night for dinner. And then he said something I will never forget. He said "I left my flat this morning and I don't know why, except I had this weird feeling that I needed to come to this park and sit on this bench, and then you guys came and I knew why I was supposed to leave my flat. It was because I was suppose to meet you. And now I can carry this Book around with me and people can know I am a man of God, and that I have a purpose."
So many of the things I was saying, I don't even recall, but there were so many times when Pritam said, "wow, what you just said need to be engraved somewhere for everyone to read, because I know I needed that, and so many others can be helped by what you just told me". Everything about this conversation was just too perfect. If there was anytime the Spirit was speaking through me it was then. And it was incredible. Experiences like this are why I love being a missionary. Being able to share what makes me happy and give someone else a glimpse of hope when they might feel lost is one of the best feeling in the world, and I know it's only through Christ that I am able to do that.
We talked about Baptism with Θοδωρής (Theodore) today, and in the middle of the lesson he goes "πότε μπορώ να βαφτίσω?!" Took me a sec to register that he just asked when he could be baptized since I wasn't expecting that haha, and the only Greek day of the week I remembered how to say was Σάββατο! So Saturday it is (;

Scripture of the week: basically all of MOSIAH 24...emphasis on verses 13-16.

"I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs...I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions... the burdens... made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease"

...

The Lord won't make our burdens disappear completely, but he will make them light. He will give us the strength to overcome our trials as we exercise faith in Him. This shows the reality of His love for us. He wants to be there, He doesn't want to see us struggle. He is there every time, without doubt... a 24/7 best friend. The Lord won't ever break a promise, and when He says he'll be there, He will.

Until next week!

Love,

Αδελφή Gale (:

1. New missionaries! All headed to Birmingham!

2. Acro yoga w/ Sis Rushing & Sis Munns ;)

3/4. we love our german learning sisters, they're headed off to their missions today!

5. Sister DeMille and Sister Owens!! We've clicked pretty quick and usually end up hanging out in our down time!

6. Elder Rogers is James' doppleganger I swear, I thought it was James when he first got here, minus the new Zealand accent... but still, freaked me out a bit haha

7. Temple day!

8. Kiwi friend! He tried showing me how to do the New Zealand shaka haha, and thinks it's so funny Americans call jandals (all forms of sandals in New Zealand) "flip flops"!

9. Biggest mtc group so far, the weather here is getting so nice so we had to take advantage of it!