Heder Mission Moments: Humanitarian Aid project for Refugees in Athens

Hello Family and Friends,

This week was good, but hard for me. I was thinking about Brooks' Homecoming without me; and Austin playing in Nebraska without me. I was concerned about what my girls were missing out on because they were not home in Utah with their friends to begin the new school year.

It all started after school on Friday when it started to sink in for the girls and they realized that they would not likely be hanging out with friends here on Friday nights--because the friends they had found thus far were planning parties etc. . . .So we went to the church and helped on a humanitarian project with the missionaries. There is a tremendous need here right now and we are learning how we can help the homeless shelters , refuges and orphanages. The senior couple over humanitarian aid said that the government has cut back any funding so severely that the people working in the orphanage are not even getting paid most of the time. But the workers go anyway just because they don't want to abandon the children. It is so sad, the girls and I are doing some research to see what we might be able to donate.

So Friday night we helped put newborn kits together and several other kits for children etc. , that felt good. I took a bike ride on Saturday because I was still thinking about Austin's season opener game and again my heart got a bit heavy. I was focused again on what I was missing; the sacrifice of leaving most of my family, what I loved and was comfortable with, and moving to a new country etc... it all kind of hit home.

Please don't get me wrong. I absolutely love what we are doing here and I love the missionaries. But this was one of those days when I realized how very far away I am and I found myself wondering why these great experiences (Austin's football and Brooks going to college and me being on a mission in Greece) had to happen at the same time in my life.

On our P-day the girls and Bill were watching a disney movie but I decided to go exploring on my bike, (seriously so many cool little roads covered with trees) after my bike ride I still wasn't settled and felt like I should walk down this beautiful green park way that runs through the neighborhood, and just practice some Greek words. I saw an older gentleman who was trying to carry a big office chair. It was far enough away that I first thought I would turn around and go home, but I am always looking for opportunities to talk to the Greek people. I decided to keep going and I went up to him and asked if I could help him carry the chair. He seemed very surprised but said "yes."

Amazingly he spoke English and we ended up having a great conversation in English as we walked back to his apartment. When we got the chair up to his apartment he took my hand and said 3 times very gratefully, "No Greek would do that." He's wrong of course, there are probably a couple of Greek people who would have helped him--but he was sweet and very grateful.

He is a musician. He plays classical guitar and was a professor at a University Music Conservatory in Greece. He had lived in America but moved back to Greece for his daughter. After 30 years here he still considers himself an American. So inside his apartment he had a beautiful 7 ft Steinway. He told me that his daughter played the piano and had studied in Boston at the Conservatory for Music. He said he would like to meet my daughters, he said he would play them a song if we would share some music with him also.

So, I have my first Greek neighbor friend to take cookies too. Yeah! In reaching out to help him carry the chair the favor was returned to me because I was able to focus on what I was gaining (while giving) as a missionary here, it felt good. I can now cheer for Austin during the games instead of crying (hopefully) and not sit and wait for Brooks to answer my messages.

One of our senior couple friends who just returned home to Scotland (the Howells), wrote me a note, "On occasion I too have had the kleenex close by and worked on getting my heart to understand the bigger picture. . . " Another friend said, "perhaps you have a greater power on BYU's team from Greece than being in person." (I don't mind taking some credit for that last catch).

Speaking of that catch, (which was totally awesome) I was just thinking about how we prepare in our lives to be and do many things, and most often the preparation can be very difficult or just mundane and repetitive. Mitch Matthews had practiced jumping and catching a thousand times; like when Alinda prepared for a music competition by playing the same passage of music hundreds of times. But then there are those rare and beautiful moments when it all comes together. The work and sacrifice we didn't want or welcome puts us in a moment when it is all worth it. And we will never forget that moment or that JOY. (sometimes I also think that when temple work is done or baptisms are preformed here on earth, that there are spirits on the other side of the veil who have also sacrificed, endured and struggled and waited as well, and they are also having that kind of moment.)

My prayer now is to know who I should talk to and who I might be able to give a card or a Book of Mormon to, with the missionaries phone number on it. I give out one or two cards every time I go shopping or to the school etc. At first it was a little hard to just be so open and forward with everyone, but now I just go for it. I like it when they ask about my badge that gives me a reason to talk to them.

While at the store this week it seemed like everyone had leeks in their shopping cart, great big leeks (like big green onions). So I thought I like veggies, and we should try them. We made a big stir fry and they were great. Also, there are lots of other weird shaped things to try next time. Which reminds me, there is this tree in the backyard and it had some sort of fruit on it and I have been watching it and as the fruit has gotten bigger I have figured out that we have a pomegranate tree, yeah!

There is a very big Greek Orthodox church over by our house and everyday morning they ring the bells every half hour. However one day someone was either getting married or someone died because this guy with a very big microphone was wailing some song for the whole day. We left home laughing about the agony in his voice, but when we came home he was still wailing. Maybe it was singing, but WOW I need to find out what that is all about.

Elder Tornar, (one of our elders) has the strongest French accent I have ever heard, I have to pay close attention even when he is speaking English. Even his Greek sounds like French Greek. He saved a baby turtle from the road near the church house, so I brought it home and we made him a nice home in our backyard. This is our 4th turtle pet. For turtles, they disappear surprisingly fast. We've already lost the other three somewhere in the grounds! They're out there hiding somewhere. I was raking pine needles in the terraces behind our house and though I raked a big rock, but it turned out to be a turtle. (but I've already lost him again)

Lots of love to all of you,

LeeAnn

We are leaving for a Mission President Seminar in the morning and President Heder says he will write next week :)