Heder Mission Moments: Two baptisms in the Aegean Sea in Cyprus

Today I was sitting with my two assistants as they taught a second lesson to a young lady brought to church last week by an elderly Greek member of one of our Branches here in Athens. She works in the physical therapy office that he worked in until retirement, and he's kind of a grandfather figure who she trusts.

It was a privilege to watch two great young men teach, and watched an intelligent, educated professional go from just hearing about Christ as our Savior, then the apostasy and restoration, and then about Joseph Smith--and then a challenge to be baptized.

The challenge was simple: "when you come to know that these things are true, by that same Spirit that you have already felt witnessing to you about the Book of Mormon, will you follow the example of the Savior and be baptized by someone holding the authority of his priesthood?"

She accepted. It doesn't get much better than this. I guess it would have been slightly better if her old member friend hadn't answered a phone call right in the middle of the prayer... but other than that, it couldn't get much better. Some people need to turn off your phones!

Speaking of phones, I was calling some of the less active Greek members to get acquainted, and got hold of a man who told me that he had been a Branch President at least twice before. He told me he had decided not to come to church any more when he got passed over for bishop. The fact that there isn't a bishop in the whole country doesn't seem to matter. I think he lost some marbles at some point, but I'm going to go visit with him tomorrow anyway. He seems way to fun to pass up the chance. Besides, trying to keep up with these old men is good for my Greek.

We put our Assistant, Elder Leppard on the plane home this morning. He saved our lives when we came to the mission, then asked to extend for a month, and finally we had to let him go. There is something absolutely awesome about a young man in this day and age who is wholesome, humble, hardworking and consecrated. He was a blessing to all of us. He was completely worn out physically and emotionally, but he was powerful spiritually. We just got a call from him as he was driving to some stake priesthood training with his mom and dad in Birmingham, England. He won't be resting anytime soon.

Life continues to fly by and we continue to be awed by the pace. It's hard to remember a day when I finished my list of tasks, but that's a good thing.

My love to all.

Bill O. Heder
Greece, Athens Mission

Hello there,

Tonight I am all in a puzzle about what we are going to be able to do for the refugee situation. Alinda went on a field trip today to the National Archaeological Museum with her Humanity class. She loved it, pretty cool to have history jump out and be live and in person. Anyway, she said that they had to walk through some of the area where there are many refugees. The are putting them in soccer arenas etc. and it is quite a tough situation. Most are just moving through Greece to other parts of Europe. Most of the Syrians have some money and can get passage out of Greece but the Afganistan and Pakistan refugee people have little to no money. Alinda said it was really sad, many tents made with sheets etc. and one lady was passing out potatoes, many hands and not enough potatoes. This is what is making me frustrated tonight.

We had a wonderful and hopeful meeting a couple of days ago where we talked with some of the Europe Area presidency and other specialists in this field about giving aid to the refugee situation. The church in Salt Lake wants to help in the efforts and we have been looking at how best to do that because nothing gets through customs without taking forever and being taxed coming and going. We need to find groups that are licensed and work through them for the distribution of food, blankets, stoves, etc. Our humanitarian aid couple has some contacts and leads and we were planning on directly buying the food etc. and getting it to the agencies here in Athens. So here is the new twist. The government does not want anyone, groups or organizations to help the refugees and they are threatening to arrest the people or organizations that help. They just want the refugees to leave. The government here is lacking a moral compass and I told President Bill that I had no problem going to jail for awhile if it meant we could help!! We are praying for an answer and doing more research on how to help with legal channels to give support as soon as possible to these refugees. Tomorrow I hope to go visit where some of the refugee camps are located. I know its going to break my heart. I must stay positive, we will find a way to help.

This last Sunday as I was talking to several different individuals in the Acropoli Branch about there challenges and concerns in their lives right now. My heart was so full of love, concern, and gratitude for who they are and the sacrifices they were making to improve their lives. I found myself choking back the tears and the spirit was so strong especially as a young man named Angelo shared some of his current challenges. Angelo is such an amazing person. He has been in Greece for 7 years and has 3 children in the states who he does not see very often. I was asking him about how he was doing with work etc. He told me about being on a semi-professional baseball team when he first got to Greece and was a singer in a band, but 1 1/2 years ago his life changed as he found the missionaries and the gospel. In talking with him about some of the challenges in his life right now, he said, "I have many worries, but because of the gospel I do not worry." He told me how things were starting to work out, and he was starting a new job. He has such great faith, true conversion and is a great example to the people of Greece right now and he replied that he was trying to be a good example so that his friends would want to hear his testimony of a better way. He shared that his musical friends have noticed that he is different, happier, and they are asking good questions.

Angelos trials and his approach to them made me think about what we have been sharing with our missionaries. We tell them that they might not be able to control how people treat them, having people reject their message, yell at them, not have time for them etc. These things they cannot control but there are things that they can control: heartfelt prayer, dedicated scripture study, language study and companionship study and planning. For us maybe better planned family home evenings, Sabbath Day observance etc. These things we can control and we need to commit to the simple ways that our faith is strengthened, but just like Angelo we take courage in the things that we can control and then the stresses of life we can take in stride. ie. work, school etc. Angelo chooses to live with hope, he is a happy man standing at the church door greeting people, He has the courage to be faithful and to do what Heavenly Father would have him do, no matter the price.

Love, LeeAnn