Εβδομάδα 19: BAPTISM in the OCEAN, trio-ing with the Elders, and emergency transfers!

THESSALONIKI HAD A BAPTISM!!! IN THE OCEAN!! 1st one in 5 months! It was the most perfect day for Ahmed, an investigator that Elder Kirkman and Hawkins have been teaching! He's way cool and has been talking about getting baptized for a long, long time. So we were beyond excited for him. It was also super last minute and we were able to throw everything together in about 12 hours for the special occasion after we found out the night before we'd be having his baptism the next day. But yeah, if there's any place to get baptized, well, the gorgeous waters in Greece are ranked pretty high up there. Just take a look at the pics if I'm not convincing enough. 😍 Sothiris, our investigator, gladly came to Ahmed's baptism and afterwards he wouldn't stop talking about his baptism hopefully next month!

Monday was a little sad since it was Elder Kirkman's last day before he was getting emergency transferred to Cyprus...aka ET-ed to the non Greek speaking country. We went out on the pirate ship as a district for pday! There was a thunder storm a bit away that we could see and then a few lightening strikes you could see hitting the ocean, way sweet. So now there's only 5 missionaries here in Thess, it's a little weird.

The Sister Training Leaders (STLs) from Athens came for exchanges Tuesday and Wednesday! I got to be companions with Sister Campbell! Funny thing is is that she's Elder Hawkin's cousin! So I basically got to have Elder Hawkins part 2 since they're pretty similar Haha, it was great! We had a really awesome lesson with Graciella and she got to go to the temple for the 1st time on Saturday in ROME!! Tried so hard not be jelly but c'mon... the temple there is to die for. Really wish we could hop on the hour flight over to Italy for a day but sadly it's not in our mission boundaries. 😢 

Thursday I had to go to Athens for residency stuff and got to be in a trio with Elder Hawkins and Elder Blackhurst haha, it was weird leaving Sister Merkel back in Thess and not have a girl companion. But yeah, trio-ing with the elders was pretty fun and not something that happens often. 😎 All we did was eat, wait around while our attorney did paperwork, talked, waited some more, went to another place, more waiting, signed some things, ate again, and then Elder Hawkins and I flew back to Thess that night, accidentally tried to board the wrong flight lol. Also realized on the plane I couldn't find my wallet so there went my nap and I was trying to not freak out the entire time. Ended up being in Athens still so that was a huge relief. But yeah, it was a long day of basically just waiting around but its gotta be done if we wanna stay in Greece! 

Graciella, a recent convert, went to the temple for the 1st time in Rome this Saturday! She was just beaming with happiness telling us about her experience! They almost put her through an endowment session tho haha until she came out dressed and asked where she was supposed to do baptisms, but she LOVED IT!! She took pictures of the temple and sent them to us so I'll put some of those on here because, WOWWWW, absolutely in the top 10 ten of the most stunning temples! I wish we had permission to go with her!

Spiritual thought comes from 3 Nephi 12:13.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men"

We are metaphorically the "salt" of the earth! We all know salt alone isn't great, but instead its purpose is to enhance the flavor of something. There are little pockets of "salt" or members of the church throughout the Earth and if we stay put, we are "good for nothing". We are commanded to "BE the salt", be that something that enhances those around us. We can do this is so many ways: building positive friendships, being a good influence and example, or reaching out and strengthening those around us. We must also recognize our duty isn't to change others into salt. I hope we can all find ways to truly become the "salt of the earth" and help others feel that we have something special about us, something that can give them a little more flavor, and that's the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 😉

Love and miss you all! Θα σας μιλήσω την επόμενη εβδομάδα!

Love,

Sister Gale!

Pic overload only because I swear I'm serving in the most beautiful country and this week was just full of adventures! 

1. The crew supporting Ahmed at his baptism! 

2-4. Isn't getting baptized in the Sea the coolest thing ever?!

5. Finding during exchanges with Sister Campbell!

6. Pday fun on the pirate ship with my awesome district!

7-9. TRIO-ING with the ELDERS and trip to ATHENS! 

10. ALL THE HEART EYES FOR THE ROME TEMPLE!