Εβδομάδα 43: a...PROPOSAL?!?! 💍😳

Ohhh boyyy... let me just fill ya in because this mission just got a whole lot crazier.

So late Tuesday night we get a phone call from all the elders saying they had some news and lots to tell to us regarding our investigators and that it wasn't good stuff. Uhhh okay??!? They start off by telling us, "so ya know how we were at brother Todi's last night?? Well he had some things to tell us that Dimitris told him when he was there earlier today having a video call lesson with you guys. Apparently Dimitris was planning on professing his love and PROPOSING to Sister Gale!" We all start laughing so hard haha. WHAT?! They said that brother Todi set him straight and told him he couldn't do that and he'd have to write a letter to President Anderson for permission to marry me. Ummm I'm not about to get set up for an arranged marriage by any terms hahaha. And the news of the call didnt stop there... it got even better (or worse depending on how you look at it lol)! The elders then proceed to tell us that Babis, our other investigator, had also called brother Todi during our video lesson and that Babis had the hots for Sister Vennerholm! And professed his love for her to brother Todi. Poor poor brother Todi is stuck in the middle of this love circle, too much for his little 4ft body to handle! What even is this?! Right when we thought our investigators were GOLDEN and simply perfect, THIS happens! Why do Greek men always have to do this to the sisters hahaha. The elders also joked that Dimitρισ was going to propose to me at his baptism on Sunday and that's why he wanted me as a witness out in the sea. Then Elder Ioannou makes the comment, "hey at least there's one for the both of you!" NOT the news we were expecting or wanting! So wrap up on the whole ordeal... Babis and Dimitrιs did not end up getting baptized this Sunday and we will see where their intentions are; whether that's on us or Christ.

Wednesday morning we were able to escape our investigator's drama and flew down to Athens for exchanges! I got to serve with sister Baird again for the day! Her very last exchange before she finishes her mission! Last time we served together was back in Cyprus! She continues to be such an incredible example of Christ-like love to me and is one of my closest friends out here on the mission. It wasn't too long ago that I left Athens so I was already familiar with the people we visited. First one was Daniella! She is like a grandma to us! We barely sit down and she throws these super soft blankets on us and tells us to make ourselves at home while she goes to fix up some mugs of hot chocolate. Then she turned on some Christmas music and we caught up with her. Daniella used to be a dancer until she got in an accident where she lost one of her legs, which ended the career she loved. She is incredible strong and an example of faith at its fullest. She looks at the bright side of all situations and chooses joy. We helped her translate her talk from Greek to English because she wanted to make sure it sounded alright when we translated it during sacrament meeting. Also met with Stan, who seems like an eternal investigator at this point. He hasn't come to church for a while because of foot problems but appreciates the missionaries (literally all 5 sets in Athens) who visit him and check up on him since he gets lonely. Thursday afternoon we were back to our area.

We went to visit a less-active lady for the 1st time, her name's Χρυσούλα (Christoula), on Friday. She left the church 20 years ago because of the missionaries :( apparently the elders that were serving at the time were teaching 2 girls and promised them they'd marry then and take them to America if they got baptized. Which is crazyyy and honestly really sad because their actions did not represent accurately who they should've been. This had a huge affect on Χρυσούλα who had recently been baptized at the time and she felt like "okay this church is just like all the rest and it's corrupt". Sad sad story. So she ventured out and explored other churches and has now settled with another one called "Ba-hi"... apparently really big in America but I've never heard about that so I have no clue. We read a lot from the Book of Mormon with her and I hope she felt the Spirit as I felt it because it was strong. We hit lots of points from the Restoration, specifically the apostasy and prophets. She is very stuck on the bible saying that there won't be any more prophets after the bible and we tried to help her understand that the bible talks about the apostasy so much and tell us that God would take away the prophets because the people were so wicked. But then we can read in the bible that the Lord will call prophets and apostles because that is how the only true church will be built upon. You could see the wheels turning but not quite clicking. She's really sweet tho and we'll be back to visit her again soon! It makes me really sad when members go less-active. We KNOW what's true. It's right in front of us. This is where Heavenly Father trusts and hopes that we will follow the path that will give us ETERNAL happiness. My testimony of being converted to Christ and His gospel has become so much more firm. If our testimony isn't built on him and instead on members or a few things we like, it won't last. Point blank. Conversion is a process and we must continually develop and strengthen our testimonies, they're fragile.

Other random things from this week:
-the Greek people refer to the 3 wise men as the 3 "μάγοι" which means "wizards"!  Since they were more than just wise
-There were riots in the center where we normally have lessons so we had to avoid it for 2 days. As in people throwing bombs that can kill someone
-our bike lock backfired on us when it broke and our bikes were locked to the pole and we couldn't get anywhere for a bit
-Vacuum directly translated from Dutch to English is "dust sucker" and "potato" means "earth apple" haha, languages are so interesting
-sent Irini off to the Provo MTC! 1st missionary from Thessaloniki, making records over here ;)

We have a little girl being baptized this Saturday and the branch Christmas party so that's something to look forward to! Really don't know what else is in store for this week so we'll see. But I do know that no proposal will be happening on our watch, our investigators are gonna be set straight haha, wish us luck! 

Oh yeah and then I just have to say how much I love Sister Vennerholm, seriously doing missionary work with a best friend is the greatest thing ever! I don't think I've laughed so much in my life it's great haha. One night we got on the topic of the alphabet song and she thought I was singing it all wrong but then she goes and sings the Dutch and Swedish alphabet and my world has never been so upside down! She'll learn the correct way when she moves over to the states, no worries there ;)

Have the greatest week everyone! Love ya'll!

Love,
Sister Gale

PICS:

1. Our bike lock broke...rip haha

2. Irini is off to bless the people of NYC!

3. Exchanges in Athens with Αδελφή Μπαίρντ!

4. Visiting Λουκία for her birthday!

5. Flying is pretty fun ;)