Εβδομάδα 50: kissed mid prayer LOLZ
新年快樂!! 恭喜發財!!
well 1st off, HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!! 🎎🏮🐉⛩💮👘🎉
It was a good one, this week :)))
I just gotta share how amazing and thankful I am for the miracles technology brings! I've recognized 10 fold how this is absolutely a tool the Lord has blessed us with to bring about His work in these Latter days.
In D&C 90:11 we can see, "For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ."
I'm witnessing this prophecy be fulfilled full time, with a front row seat, everyday. Particularly with our friends we're teaching right now! Lemme explain.
I just gotta share how amazing and thankful I am for the miracles technology brings! I've recognized 10 fold how this is absolutely a tool the Lord has blessed us with to bring about His work in these Latter days.
In D&C 90:11 we can see, "For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ."
I'm witnessing this prophecy be fulfilled full time, with a front row seat, everyday. Particularly with our friends we're teaching right now! Lemme explain.
Kourosh, Nafas, and fam
So first, our wonderful Persian family! They are so so close to their baptisms and always ask about it, I love it! We have been able to skype in a senior sister, Sister Karr, into our lessons which we are so incredibly thankful for AND especially her Farsi speaking abilities. We have been a little worried that maybe they aren't fully understanding the lessons we have with them because we mostly use google translate (and we all know how "good" that is haha). But after getting an update from Sister Karr our worries were eased. We didn't tell her they'd be getting baptized soon and she told us after translating through the baptism interview questions with them that they have a strong testimony and knowledge and are already so devoted! Music to our ears. We love their family! We were able to help the husband, Kourosh, address this huge pain issue he's been having that has effected half of his face and also prevented him from attending sacrament meeting. We took him to the dentist and they were quick to check things out and see giant holes in a few of his teeth, and also rotted out wisdom teeth. They removed them right away so hopefully that should solve that problem and that pain. Being here makes me extra grateful for the dental hygiene we have back home. I didn't realize that could ever be so non existent!
So first, our wonderful Persian family! They are so so close to their baptisms and always ask about it, I love it! We have been able to skype in a senior sister, Sister Karr, into our lessons which we are so incredibly thankful for AND especially her Farsi speaking abilities. We have been a little worried that maybe they aren't fully understanding the lessons we have with them because we mostly use google translate (and we all know how "good" that is haha). But after getting an update from Sister Karr our worries were eased. We didn't tell her they'd be getting baptized soon and she told us after translating through the baptism interview questions with them that they have a strong testimony and knowledge and are already so devoted! Music to our ears. We love their family! We were able to help the husband, Kourosh, address this huge pain issue he's been having that has effected half of his face and also prevented him from attending sacrament meeting. We took him to the dentist and they were quick to check things out and see giant holes in a few of his teeth, and also rotted out wisdom teeth. They removed them right away so hopefully that should solve that problem and that pain. Being here makes me extra grateful for the dental hygiene we have back home. I didn't realize that could ever be so non existent!
Jhoe
Here's the follow up on our Cebu friend from last week! So Jhoe works on a ship that's constantly going back and forth between Athens and Thess so video calls with him can kinda be a hit or miss. With the help of Elder Anderson, and his companion Elder Nacionales (bisaya speaking elders), we have been able to follow-up with Jhoe and help him come closer to our Savior and also have him be taught in his native tongue! I think it's pretty funny because a lot of times Jhoe will just be privately messaging or trying to video call me and I keep rerouting him to the group chat we all have haha. No bad intentions here tho as far as I'm concerned haha, I've had enough of those and know when I gotta peace out lol. Anyways, since his signal is spotty, I've been able to just share mini spiritual thoughts and some scriptures with him and have small basic conversations. And then the elders save the day and start talking to him in bisaya while we just watch it all happen and get an update after haha.
Here's the follow up on our Cebu friend from last week! So Jhoe works on a ship that's constantly going back and forth between Athens and Thess so video calls with him can kinda be a hit or miss. With the help of Elder Anderson, and his companion Elder Nacionales (bisaya speaking elders), we have been able to follow-up with Jhoe and help him come closer to our Savior and also have him be taught in his native tongue! I think it's pretty funny because a lot of times Jhoe will just be privately messaging or trying to video call me and I keep rerouting him to the group chat we all have haha. No bad intentions here tho as far as I'm concerned haha, I've had enough of those and know when I gotta peace out lol. Anyways, since his signal is spotty, I've been able to just share mini spiritual thoughts and some scriptures with him and have small basic conversations. And then the elders save the day and start talking to him in bisaya while we just watch it all happen and get an update after haha.
On Friday our lesson ended up working out perfectly! The good weather Jhoe, as well as us, were praying for so he could have a clear signal and video call for longer worked in our favor! The elders joined in and were able to teach him the Restoration! Besides the fact that Sister Vennerholm and I could not understand a thing, we couldn't help but recognize Jhoe smiling the entire lesson, it made our hearts so happy. I know it's such a little thing but it was really cool to just watch the Jhoe's reaction as the elders taught him. We were able to contribute to the lesson a few times when the elders gave us the go and share our testimonies about families, prophets, Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon. We are hoping we will be able to meet with him in person again soon so we can actually give him the Book of Mormon that we have been testifying so much about! Following the lesson, we stayed on with the Elder Anderson and Nacionales to get the update on how the lesson went. They said it went really well! And that Jhoe tried to tell us Noah's Ark was built in the Phillipines haha, not sure where and why that was brought up but I thought that was pretty funny lol. I was also really happy to hear that the prayer Jhoe gave at the end was really good! He'd been telling me privately, "you teach me to pray" and I had promised he we would!
On Sunday he skyped into as much of sacrament meeting as his signal allowed and was saying, "this is where you feel Spirit of God". A to the MEN Jhoe haha. Elder Anderson updated me on the bisaya convo that was going on in our group chat saying, "I asked him if he prayed about the truth of the lesson that we taught him and he said basically that he's been praying for other people to know the truth..." hahaha man he is great. Trying to get his friends in on this spiritual goodness already! I video chatted with him for a little and asked him what he felt when he prayed and he told me the Spirit makes the hair on his arm stand up haha. So I said, "you mean goosebumps"and he nodded saying "yes goosebump!" What a guy he is. We helped him recognize that he is feeling the Holy Ghost and when he feels those good goosebumps feelings it's God answering his prayers. Basically Jhoe is a really awesome guy, a joy to talk to, as well as teach. He has no problems talking about God and seems very open and willing to learn. Which, as missionaries here, is a real energy boaster that there are people prepared to hear the message of the Restored gospel after getting shut down by Greek people all day long. But, maayong kinabuhi... η ζωή της ιεροποστολής 🇵🇭🇬🇷 (it's a good life... the mish life). And I love it.
Λεμονιά
Our 84 year old little greek grandma is doing fabbb. Well as fabulous as an 84 year old that is being forced to move out by the end of the month can be I guess you could say. Her spirit is so tender and she radiates love I wish I could have! Despite her difficult situation right now, she always finds joy in reading the words of the Book of Mornon that bring her much comfort. We had a little surprise for her and skyped in our friend Luke, or previous Elder Albertson, who she absolutely adored while he was serving here. She was just so smiley and on cloud 9 seeing and talking to him again. Λεμόνια immediately started to choke up and cry after we finally had to hang up the call with Luke. Its another thing to witness an older lady cry let me to you, it was so sad. Missionaries truely do have a lasting impact (good or bad) on the people they come in contact with. It's incredible the connections that can be made in such a short amount of time. I could only imagine how hard it must be for her to always have to say goodbye. We read Mosiah 24:13-16 with her, one of my favorite go-tos to lift people's spirits, and all she could say following reading it was, "αυτό είναι υπέροχο" (that is just wonderful). She loves reading the Book of Mormon and we love reading it with her :) I said the closing prayer upond her request and in part of the prayer I was asking for her family away from her to be blessed and taken care of and Λεμονιά just leans over and kisses me saying "αχ αγάπη μου!"hahaha. I was not expecting that and did my best to keep my cool and finish the prayer but it didnt help Sis V was holding in her laughter too! Never thought I'd get kissed in the middle of prayer before haha. Funny memory for sure.
Our 84 year old little greek grandma is doing fabbb. Well as fabulous as an 84 year old that is being forced to move out by the end of the month can be I guess you could say. Her spirit is so tender and she radiates love I wish I could have! Despite her difficult situation right now, she always finds joy in reading the words of the Book of Mornon that bring her much comfort. We had a little surprise for her and skyped in our friend Luke, or previous Elder Albertson, who she absolutely adored while he was serving here. She was just so smiley and on cloud 9 seeing and talking to him again. Λεμόνια immediately started to choke up and cry after we finally had to hang up the call with Luke. Its another thing to witness an older lady cry let me to you, it was so sad. Missionaries truely do have a lasting impact (good or bad) on the people they come in contact with. It's incredible the connections that can be made in such a short amount of time. I could only imagine how hard it must be for her to always have to say goodbye. We read Mosiah 24:13-16 with her, one of my favorite go-tos to lift people's spirits, and all she could say following reading it was, "αυτό είναι υπέροχο" (that is just wonderful). She loves reading the Book of Mormon and we love reading it with her :) I said the closing prayer upond her request and in part of the prayer I was asking for her family away from her to be blessed and taken care of and Λεμονιά just leans over and kisses me saying "αχ αγάπη μου!"hahaha. I was not expecting that and did my best to keep my cool and finish the prayer but it didnt help Sis V was holding in her laughter too! Never thought I'd get kissed in the middle of prayer before haha. Funny memory for sure.
We had a record breaking 12 kids (aged 2 months-9) in nursery/primary this week! We only have 5 kiddos in our little branch so it was quite crazy to say the least. I got to help entertain them by teaching them "Είμαι Θεού πεδί' (I am a child of God) and then printed out coloring pictures of the temples for them, it was pretty fun although pretty chaotic with the age range.
Leadership calls... didn't know they were happening this week nor were we prepared to know the next transfer yet! Sister Vennerholm and I will both be STLs next transfer! BUT she'll be shipped over to Cyprus and I'll stay here in Thessaloniki. All good things come to end I suppose, but I'm glad we still have a week left together! Biggest news of it all is SISTER KRUGER IS COMING UP TO THESS TO BE AN STL WITH ME!! I've had sooo so many flash packs from our short 6 weeks together from last summer in Larnaca and the pure bliss and the joy I felt serving side by side with her and how great of a team we make! So yeah, not gonna lie. I'm pretty excited I'll be back to being with one of my most favorite sisters!
Power scripture for you all. 3 Nephi 11:14-15
"Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come."
A sacrifice Elder Holland described as the "most majestic manifestation of pure love ever to be demonstrated in the history of the world". I testify to you that Christ LIVES and that His love for us in infinite and eternal.
Have a great week everyone, love you all!!
Love,
Sister Gale
Sister Gale
PICS!
1 Thessaloniki fam
2 waiting for the bus, sis V is always cold haha
3 nursery/primary
4 windy day
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