December to Remember

This is our second Christmas in Athens.  We have decided we missed out last year because of being new to the country.  We have found there is a lot to see and do in Athens.  

We have spent more time going to places we have not been before.  We have gone into churches and watched quietly to see what happens inside these beautiful buildings. 

We went to visit a sister in our branch and to get to her home we walked to the metro, rode the train, got on the metro from the train and then walked 20 min. to her home.  It was a lovely day and a beautiful walk.  We went past many big mansions and homes. 

My perspective on making visits to others has been broaden!

One day we went to Ithaca Laundry that has a mobile laundry unit and bagged traditional Christmas cookies and warm clothing for homeless and refugees.  They also handed out very big large warm blankets for those sleeping out on the streets. 

Traditional Greek Cookies called Melomakarma ( full of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg) and Kourabiedes that are a shortbread rolled in powdered sugar.  

The Nativity and Bounce House were at a metro stop with shops, food, and bumper cars.  Many of the different areas have a Christmas village.  The one near us has an ice skating rink. 

Sculptures are in most of the parks and everywhere else. 

Our apartment for Christmas

One day we wandered down around a new metro stop and saw this fun street. 

Christmas Day

The missionaries came to our apartment for brunch, gift exchange and program.  We had a wonderful time.  They are off to their next meal appointment. 

It has been a wonderful Christmas for us.  We enjoyed zoom calls with family, letters and emails sent from ward members and friends, dinner appointments, piano recitals, quiet times, scripture time, health and well being and mostly a time to remember.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is what makes us recognize all we have that is important.  We are glad to be missionaries and be involved in helping to make the world a better place in partner with so many dedicated Non Profit organizations. We know it is the members of our church that make this possible.  We have tried to remember.  We love Greece and the Greek people.  The language, not so much.  

Wishing all the best in the coming year.  Christ truly is the answer. 

Zone Conference, Thanksgiving and Delphi...

 We had a combined zone conference where all the missionaries either drove or flew into Athens for a preparation day to Delphi, meetings, a Thanksgiving celebration and brand new missionaries from the England MTC.  It was a very exciting time!

Ancient Greeks believed that Delphi was the Navel of the Earth, a place seen as a spiritual focal point for all Greeks; it included many sanctuaries and the most prestigious oracle in all of ancient Greece. This is where Pythia, the high priestess, uttered the divine advice of god Apollo to mortals who travelled from across the world to seek a prophecy. Apart from Greeks, the Oracle was visited also by foreign leaders and dignitaries who were anxious to know the will of Apollo on important state affairs.

It was a beautiful cloudy day filled with lots of tourists.  We visited the museum and then toured the grounds.  Afterwards, we went to the little village past Delphi where we ate a delicious meal.  

The Menu

None of us were brave enough to try the Ewe, goat, rabbit stew or rooster in wine sauce.  We had a delicious salad and chicken in a cream sauce. 

The next day we had Zone Conference and wonderful presentations and talks. The best was just being together with everyone.  We are spread out over Greece and Cyprus and usually see each other on zoom.  We were all uplifted and edified by our mission leaders and Zone and District leaders. 

The next day was a day of service and Thanksgiving.  We cleaned the church, organized the rooms, cleaned the windows, pictures, floors, bathrooms, etc.  Then we gathered for a turkey dinner courtesy of our branch president's wife who got it for us.  

The missionaries all brought food they had bought or made.  The best part was that it wasn't Thanksgiving in Greece and it was easy to go shopping.  Best deal ever. 

The next day we gathered at Mars Hill and the new missionaries were able to share their testimonies in Greek.  They did a fabulous job even though I don't speak Greek.  You could feel their sincerity.  Pictures were taken where it has been said that Paul preached and everyone found out who was training and their new companion. 

Then it was off to their new places in Cyprus, Crete, Thessaloniki and Athens.  We will miss the missionaries we have had but are excited to get to know all the new ones.  We are grateful we don't have to think about transfers!

In Preach My Gospel it reminds us that it is just as vital as what you do as it is to who you are and who you are becoming.  I am grateful for all we have been able to learn and hopefully we are becoming better followers of Jesus Christ.  It is hard to tell at times but that is our hope.  We love being missionaries no matter what.  Smiley face inserted here. 

Athens Marathon the Authentic

 

Map of the Athens Marathon Route and Incline

On our way home from church on Sunday, we altered the route we usually walk and went down one of the busiest streets in our area.  We walked for a mile along the Athen's Marathon path.  It was truly exciting to see runners from all over the world.  More than 70,000 runners from 140 countries ( record number) were registered to run either the classic route or the various other parallel road races hosted that weekend.  20,322 runners registered for the marathon portion. No qualifying time was necessary but you needed to be 18 years old or more. 

The route covers the same ground that the Athenian messenger Filippides ran when he brought the news of victory from the battlefield of Marathon 2,500 years ago.  The finish line is in the Olympic Stadium, named the Kalimarmaro stadium, and the birthplace of the modern Olympic games held in 1896.  

It is also the same course used in 2004 Olympics held in Athens.  Ed win Kiptoo from Kenya was the winner of the 4th Athens Authentic Marathon.  It was a new record of 2 hours, 10 min. and 34 seconds.  

  

There was a band playing Rocky, Chariots of Fire and other inspiring familiar numbers. 

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize?  So run, that ye may obtain.  1 Cor. 9:24  Our lives are lot like marathons.  We are able to run only as good as we have prepared.  Marathons are very grueling as evident in many of the faces that I saw as we watched.  They are also very motivating.  Back in the day, I prepared to run the Moab 1/2.  I knew I needed to be serious because I didn't want to be embarrassed and not able to finish the race.  I was grateful for my friend that I ran with because she kept encouraging me.  I ran behind her for some of the race, just trying to match her pace and stay up with her.  I am glad we don't have to run the marathon of life alone.  

Good-bye fans; hello blankets!

The seasons are changing but there are no changing of the colors of leaves here in Athens.  I am seeing postings of so many beautiful colored mountains in Utah and am quite jealous.  I have traded my summer clothes for fall and winter.  I have started carrying a sweater.  It makes me look more Greek...only many are wearing coats.  Can I just say I am grateful that we are not going to go through another summer in Greece.  

We bowled on Pday for 2.50 euros a game.  What a deal.  

Market day.  The egg man knows us now.  The fruits and vegetables are locally grown. 

If you look at the trees, you will see they are growing in the road.  

We went to a Women's shelter for refugees.  It was wonderful to see Ukrainians, Africans, Syrians, etc. all talking and sharing space together.  

It is local Elections in Athens.  The candidates were speaking at many of the local parks outdoors.  

We went to a Mexican restaurant that was good.  I got shrimp tacos and Kim got  avocado salad with real chunks of avocado.  That was heaven. 

Our entire zone went to Temple of Poseidon for Pday.  Many of us have been before and there isn't a lot to see but we just had fun being together.  These are our mission leaders and their daughter.  President Nelson served in Greece as a young missionary.  He said he could get in free when he was a missionaries and there weren't 5 busloads of tourists. 

The temple was a very strategic placement where you could see approaching ships all around.  

These wonderful Elders brought me avocadoes from Crete.  They grow them there but they must not export them because they are so expensive in Athens. 

Our wonderful zone.  We love these missionaries.  We are few in number but so happy when we can all be together.  We have 4 missionaries in Thessaloniki, 2 in Crete and the rest scattered in Athens.  We have missionaries in Cyprus but they are a different zone and the mission home is in Bulgaria.  We have not gotten to meet the Bulgarian missionaries except for our awesome APs.  

We went to a new taverna at the end of the day.  Most Greeks don't eat until 9 p.m.  We went to a very Greek restaurant and had to ask what the dishes were.  

My dish was the specialty of the day.  It was beef on a bone with vegetables.  I was visualizing lots of veggies with a little meat around a bone.  I think the green flakes must have been the veggies. 

It was a lovely evening and we all relaxed after a very busy zone conference.  

It was a wonderful two days that we spent with the missionaries having fun and having meetings that were motivating and inspiring.  We need those times because it can be very discouraging in Greece.  Our branch is small and spread out.  I think missions are hard and it is times like the past two days that help all of us hunker down and try to do better.