800 Hygiene Kits for the Refugees - Cyprus trip - Jan. 26th, 2016

Hello from Greece,

I’ve spent Thursday through Sunday in Cyprus. The Assistants and I went on Thursday to begin exchanges and visits with missionaries. Aside from interviews, I did companionship study with one companionship and then daily and weekly planning with another companionship in Nicosia, Cyprus. It was good to observe their efforts and guide in little ways.

On Friday evening I picked up Lee at the airport in Larnaca and we were able to spend that evening with Elder and Sister Jacobsen from St. George, Utah. Elder Jacobsen serves as First Counselor in my Mission Presidency. He's a retired football coach and teacher and has been invaluable in his service and devotion to keeping the mission operational in Cyprus. With all the banking, visa and apartment issues that arise there, I would almost have to live there half of each month were it not for Elder Jacobsen attending to things. We are looking for a way to bring the Jacobsens over to Athens so that the rest of the mission can meet him as part of a zone conference soon.

On Saturday Lee and I drove back up to Nicosia and did zone training for all the Cyprus missionaries most of the day. That night we had the baptism of a Greek-speaking Romanian man. He will actually be a member of the Larnaca Branch, but chose to travel to Nicosia to use the one baptismal font in Cyprus, rather than go out into the ocean. The ocean water would have been warmer. The water in the font could not be heated, (even though the senior couple in Nicosia had used every available pot and pan to heat water on the stove and in the microwave). So when Marcelo stepped down into the water he began to hyperventilate. It took some tense moments and a lot of encouragement for him to agree to go forward with the baptism. It was only at the urging of his two Romanian friends, one who is a member and the other who is not, (the non-member friend was calling, “do it for Jesus!”) that he went ahead with the service.

Happily he survived, and he bore a sweet testimony afterward. He was confirmed in the Larnaca Sacrament meeting the following morning.

Sunday involved traveling between Larnaca and Nicosia, Cyprus for two different Branch Conferences wherein I reorganized the Branch Presidencies, held the sustaining vote for all local and general church leadership and then set apart the newly-called officers after each meeting--all before dashing off to the next meeting. We finished by racing from Nicosia back to Larnaca to set apart the newly-called District President (who had traveled one and 1/2 hours to meet me there) before we raced to the airport to catch our flight home. 

By the time I landed in Athens in the gathering dark, I had almost cleared my head, but Lee and I were just missing Alinda and Marie. I've become addicted to having them around. The "forced" family dependence of this experience is one of the sweet blessings of this mission for me, but it will probably be the curse of their future. I'm afraid I'll be a very needy, whiny father in my old age, unable to be happy if my daughters don't live close by and don't come sit with me daily and say nice things, even if they don't mean it... :)

Bill O. Heder
Greece, Athens Mission

I flew to Cyprus on my own this weekend to meet President Heder and do some specialized training in Nicocia with our missionaries in Cyprus. On our way to the hotel there is a massive pond that is called Salt Lake, and there were thousands of flamingo's in this shallow lake. We later found out that they migrate there for the next 3 months.  I wish I could have gotten a better picture for Alinda, she is crazy about flamingo's.  We had some great meetings with the missionaries, we watched the Worldwide broadcast that was just for missionaries all around the world.  We watched it with our Athens missionaries last week when it was broadcast live from Salt Lake, but Cyprus does not yet get satellite broadcasts so we have to play it later for them from the Internet.   The girls did not go with us on this trip, but they managed pretty well at home even though they had to take a bus to church on a cold morning.  They will be glad to have testing week over. Here they have a 3 hour exam for each one of their classes. It has kept them busy. We have a great senior couple who is doing Seminary with them and they even have a temple trip to Spain planned in April. 

A highlight for the weekend was the baptism of Marcello, a man from Romania who speaks a little Greek but had a Romanian friend that spoke English and Romanian and the missionaries could teach with his help translating.  Missionaries in Romania are also available on skype for teaching lessons.  Marcello was worried about getting baptized in the sea because he thought it would be too cold but after 3+ hours of filling the font in Nicosia, with the senior missionaries carrying water in buckets, bowls and pans from the kitchen where they microwaved, used the oven and stovetop to heat water, the water in the font was still cold. Elder Potter told me that he thought he might not go through with it. But he splashed some water up on his face and neck, and Elder Potter said, "lets just do this quick." One of his friends from the back corner who is also learning the discussions called out, "Do it for Jesus!" And he did.

He was so happy when he came up out of the font, I don't think he even noticed the water temp. anymore. Nothing better than the smiles you get from someone after they come up out of the waters of baptism.  

On Sunday we were racing from one end of the island to the other with lots of assignment changes in branch presidencies,  In the Larnaca Branch one of the 1st counselors called was a Cypriot member baptized about a year ago and as he took his place on the stand you could see how happy and proud he was to be able to serve. As he sat down, the missionaries in the front were all smiling, giving him a thumbs up and cheering silently for him. He has a great relationship with the missionaries, they really love him. He and his wife will become some of the strong leaders in Greece. One of the new branch president's is a US government official of some sort, and he is trying very hard to work with the Cypriot government to allow people to look at the records so we can do some genealogy work with the members there.  (The missionaries joke that he is really just a secret agent working for the US government anyway.)

A couple of fun facts about Greece this week:  The oranges and lemons are in their prime right now, (we bought a big bag of clementines and oranges and 5 lemons for $2.50.)  Marie probably eats 6 a day, really.  I had some fresh squeezed orange juice for breakfast at our hotel that was unbelievable, really!  I had 3 glasses :)  and the strawberries bring tears to my eyes they are so heavenly:). OK enough about food. Except to tell you that I made sweet and sour chicken and veggies for our Worldwide training event and because of the color of it, many of the missionaries thought that I had made carmel sauce to put on the chicken. But when they tasted it they really liked it. One last thought: it gets very green here in the winter, especially in Cyprus and last week I heard the lawn mower and it made me chuckle that the Gardner was mowing in January.  

Sister LeeAnn 

Greece Athens Mission

 The Athens Missionaries put together 800 hygiene kits for the refugee's coming into Greece 

Elder and Sister Parry organized this project and got all the supplies

Oranges everywhere - I love it!

Clementines from the Farmers Market, YUM!

Dinner with Elder and Sister Jacobsen

Lunch after watching the worldwide training broadcast

Marcello's Baptism with his Romaian friend and Elder Potter and Elder Deighton

Even after spending 3 hours hauling pots and bowls with hot water to the font, it was still very cold.

Cyprus Sisters

Despina and Eva - our young women in Cyprus

Elder and Sister Reeves 

This tree is in bloom now and it is glorious!

Good-byes are tough, Organizing New Branches and Training - Jan 18th, 2016

Hello Family,

I really am not a fan of airports, at least not when I'm there alone. But this past weekend I've spent far too much time in airports and on planes, without LeeAnn. I flew over to Cyprus for a day of interviews on Friday. We are reorganizing three of the four branch presidencies in the Nicosia Cyprus District--and with a dirth of leadership, changing so many Branch Presidencies means it will effect the District Presidency as well, so there were plenty of people to interview, either to release them or to call them. It's a sweet experience when we have the chance to see people's faith and their willingness to take on significant assignments that will impact their home and family and life for years to come.

All went well, and by midnight I had again landed at the Athens airport, found my car in long term parking, and was driving back to the mission home. But early the next morning I was up packing and preparing to go back to the airport to fly to Frankfurt Germany for District leadership training. It was for District Presidents and Mission Presidents over districts. In Frankfurt I got to walk in the first snow I've seen for over a year. 

It was a full and wonderful day. The training was great and uplifting--and I went back to the airport fully loaded with things I know I can do better. I had only two regrets on the day. The first was that I missed the opportunity to invite our shuttle driver inside the church building to get warm for a minute--just so he would have a chance to feel the spirit of the place. I talked to him as he dropped me off, and I gave him a couple of euros as a tip, but I thought later that on a cold day with snow falling, it couldn't have hurt to invite him inside just to warm up before making the trip back to the airport.

The other regret was that I had been away from Lee and the girls for almost two full days. I've grown quite addicted to having them close by. President Uchtdorf had promised Lee and I that this would be a blessing to our family when he issued our call and I've definitely seen that play out in my relationship with Alinda and Marie. I get to see them almost every day as I get breakfast with them, we get to pray together and I take them to school. I see them most nights and even though we're running frantic all day, on most days Lee makes sure that somehow they join us in our meetings or we have dinner together-- more often now than we ever did before.

I knew I had great girls, but I've learned how truly sweet, intelligent and strong they are. It has been one of the dearest blessings of my mission thus far. 

Bill O. Heder
Greece, Athens Mission

Oh happy day,

I am quite a parallel car park master after my months here in Greece.  You have to be talented and brave to find a parking spot. Either that or drive a smart car. This past weekend while Bill was in Frankfurt I had to park in three different crazy spots in the center of town.  On Sunday at the Acropoli Branch there is only one parking spot behind the church down a tiny alley where you need to pull your side mirrors in when you park.  Sometimes when the owner next door leaves his chain down a couple more spots open up, Kind of funny that you have to leave 30 min. early to find parking.  It keeps you humble :) but most everyone takes the metro to church.  On Sunday I watched Mary one of our newest converts stand in Relief Society as a newly called counselor and conduct with nervous enthusiasm, proud of her new responsibilities.  Loved it.

The girls and I spent Saturday afternoon with the sisters which is always a delightful uplifting opportunity.  My girls have so many opportunities to learn and see what the life of a sister missionary is all about.  We meet them because Sister Valles is going home on Monday.  On our way into town Alinda announced that by the time she goes on her mission she will be a pro. She has already been to at least 4 zone conferences and many other missionary trainings. What a unique blessing for my girls to see the missionaries' example and enthusiasm for sharing this great gospel message.  Marie and Sister Bakewell are especially close, enjoying many laughs and fun thoughts together.  We found a great Indian food place and as much as we all like Greek food sovlaki etc., the Indian food was a real treat and exceptional food made by a family from India.  We made friends with 2 of the girls that are the hostess and waitresses for their family business.  Sister Valles shared some of her favorite memories from her mission. We also made plans for our New Beginnings program that we are doing for 2 young women that just turned 12. (and Alinda and Marie) We told the parents what we wanted to do and they agreed but they are not always in church and so it has been a battle to contact them to confirm a date. We try to catch them at church, call (no answer) this has not been an easy program to plan and we keep moving the date because we can't get a hold of them.  We remain positive.  

We had a big wind storm the other night. Lining the narrow road that goes into our neighborhood are rows of orange trees and the next morning while driving into our neighborhood oranges were everywhere.  I was laughing because it's one thing for leaves to be shattered everywhere after a storm, but oranges everywhere was odd, colorful and a bit messy.

Elder Nelson gave a great YSA world-wide devotional (you might have seen it already) and I want to end with one of his thoughts from that devotional.  Expect and prepare to Accomplish the Impossible.  ... "Living in the latter part of the latter days, the Lord will ask you to do difficult things.  You can count on it."  Recognizing that being asked to do something that seems far beyond one's capacity can be unnerving, President Nelson encouraged listeners to accept challenging tasks and become an instrument in the Lord's hands. 

Kali Chronia!

Sister LeeAnn Heder

A fun day in the Plaka with the Sisters

Sisters lunch before Sister Valles went home

Chana and her family invited friends over after church

At the airport with Sister Valles

Departing Sisters, Elder Teal's eye surgery and the Refugee situation - Jan 12th, 2016

An interesting week. Elder Teal's eye surgery and recovery in the mission home has thrown off normal routines, and probably forever damaged the relationship between these two assistants and me. (one too many nerf-gun wars between Marie and I... there's no respect left) I'll probably have to transfer both of them to the far reaches of the kingdom where they can't see or talk to other missionaries about what they've witnessed of the Heder family..

I'm looking at a small bronze battle helmet that sits on my desk in the mission office. One Saturday back in August LeeAnn and I and the girls traveled out to Thermopylae ("therm-au-poli"), the narrow canyon where Leonidas and his Spartan band fought to the last man. It's referred to as "the hot gates." Leonidas and his small force of loyal defenders made their stand there against a massive Persian army. When Xerxes' suggested that the Spartans lay down their swords, Leonidas responded, "Come and get them." That phrase is inscribed below his statute at the monument near the battle scene. 

Anyway, the little helmet is a sort of rallying symbol in Greece. It's on flags, plaques, T-shirts, mugs and people's desks. It stands for fighting on, against all odds. I'm not aligning myself politically with Greece's fight with the European Union or anything... but I particularly like this little helmet as we start the new year, because we missionaries want so much to overcome the odds. After 30 years of mission work in Greece we're still waiting for a fully functional branch, a full Greek Branch Presidency, a Ward, a Bishopric... There's a lot we don't have, and a lot that could be lined up against us. But as I look at these young men and women, I like our odds, and in any case, there's no better place to make the fight. 

Bill O. Heder
Greece, Athens Mission

Hello family,

Good things going on in Greece.  Tonight is the first night in at least 10 days that we have not had guests or missionaries coming or going.  We had 5 missionaries a senior couple and 3 sisters and former missionaries and humanitarian volunteers that needed a place to stay and rides to the airport.  We will miss our sister missionaries, they each spoke 3 languages and were able to translate a lot for our Spanish and French members.  Without a senior couple up in Thessaloniki the missionaries will need to take on more responsibility with the Branch Presidency.  Elder Teal and I (and his companion) were at the doctor for the 3rd time in 5 days and everything is healing well and he should be back to normal soon.  The girls are always happy to help the missionaries - lots of laughing.

I was standing in line at the meat counter just the other day and it made me laugh about how I had Bill stop by the store to get more mozzarella cheese for our lasagna dinner and the store was so busy because of the holidays and Bill called me and said he had just picked his number and it was 79 and they were on 24.  That still makes me laugh, no I did not make Bill stand in line that long, we made due with what we had but they do take their cheese and meats seriously.

We were able to help out a group of young ladies that had gone to the island of Lesvos and when they came back we had them for dinner and then got them to the airport the next morning. They had quite an experience to share. We helped get them to the ferry on Christmas day and they began their journey. I thought I would share a little of their story.

 Lesvos is a very large island that is a popular tourist destination with beaches, markets, castles and many charming places but in the last year it has become a place where a half a million people seeking refuge have tried to pass through. They said that there were lots of people from England and other parts of Europe were there wanting to help but a lack of coordination between the various NGO's makes it difficult. Part of the problem is that there are to many short term volunteers and the challenge of managing all of the physical donations pouring into the island but getting the supplies to the refugee's is the biggest issue.   They said that there were almost too many volunteers, which is nice to hear that people are trying to help but coordination and organization is a huge problem.  They tried to help with translation in a station where people would come stand in line hoping to get the right paper work to travel into Greece.  Some would wait all day and still not get help and then just have to come the next morning and try again.  The weather was rainy a few days and it made it very difficult and cold and there was no shelter. All refugees must officially register at the government-run registration center called Moria before leaving for Athens. Many are frustrated and the police that are in charge are not kind and helpful. They said when the volunteers earn the police trust more gets accomplished in a day.  It just broke their hearts how tough the conditions were for so many and communication is the biggest problem and not enough facilities to provide shelter.  

An NGO called Starfish has boats go out looking for boats or people that have capsized. Another NGO called Lighthouse is a receiving camp about 20 feet from the beach complete with a hot tent for drying, a doctor, clothes and food.  They told us about a Eastern European woman who's lived in Greece for 20 years who transformed her home in Molyvos into a huge sorting warehouse for clothing donations.  While they were there a boat with 67 people capsized and most were lost at sea and that was really hard for the workers.  The numbers have slowed down a bit because of the cooler weather but reports have shown that 3 - 5,000 refugee's a day are trying to come into Greece.  Lesvos is the closest island to Turkey and that is why so many are attempting to cross there.  They talked about the shores just being littered with piles and piles of abandoned lifejackets and deflated rafts. 

Maybe many of you have already heard about this on the news but I thought I would share what we are learning and experiencing even though it can be hard to hear.  Of course we all want to do more.  Prayers for better coordination efforts are needed and donating to the church humanitarian aid efforts are the best way to contribute.  They have full time staff at the Europe Area headquarters in Germany making sure the money goes to organizations that will use it for the most good.  We get a Migration Crisis Update at least once a week from them.  I thought I would share just a few lines of some of the reports so you could see some of what is going on.

Much love,

LeeAnn

Sister Heder

Greece Athens Mission

-- Dozens of transport containers have been converted into homes for 1,500 people in the new section of the Jungle camp in Calais due to open today. (Daily Mail)

-- A 10-foot high, razor-topped fence is being built along Macedonia's border with Greece, as a first "line of defence" against the thousands of migrants arriving into Europe via the Balkans every day. (Express)

- The IOM estimates that 3,771 migrants died while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe last year. (AP)

 -- A total of 2,710 refugees arrived at the port of Piraeus on Wednesday morning via ferry boat. Specifically, the Ariadne transported 1,310 refugees from Mytilene, while the Blue Star Patmos transported a total of 1,400 refugees from Mytilene and Chios. (Tovima)

-- Turkish authorities said they found the bodies of 27 migrants, at least three of them children, at two separate locations on the Aegean coast on Tuesday. (Reuters)

 - A barge carrying 25-30 migrants capsized off the coast of Greece early Wednesday morning, resulting in the death of at least eleven of the passengers, including four children and one newborn infant. Fifteen of the passengers were saved by rescuers while another two are still missing, according to Greek authorities. (Breitbart)

-- At least 18 migrants drowned when their overcrowded boat sank in the Aegean Sea on 24 December on the way to the Greek island of Lesbos in the latest tragedy involving refugees seeking to enter Europe. The wooden boat capsized in high waves two miles off the Bademli coast in the Aegean, the private Dogan news agency reported. The Turkish coastguard recovered the bodies including several children from the sea, and were hunting for another two who were missing. A one-year old baby was among those rescued. (AFP)

-- In UK, for the first time in 6 years, the number of people seeking asylum has surpassed 5,000 per month. (RT)

Saying goodbye to 3 of our awesome Sister missionaries 

The humanitarian aid team from America that went to Lesbos

Instruction from President Heder on Mars Hill

Final testimonies on Mars Hill

Sister Indelicato, Sister Huby and Sister Valles

Cotton Candy in Syntagma square

Team Teal ready for his eye surgery

 The walking paths around Philothei are beautiful and make me so happy !