Heder Mission Moments: Alinda in the National High School Forensic's competition and Zone Trip to Mystras

This past week I was able to view US politics from the outsider's point of view. At the National High School Forensic's competition I heard messages about everything from "body shaming" to "the necessity of a personal narrative" (that girl won, and I was happy). From some of these speeches I learned what these youth think about the US Presidential race. One young man energetically urged Socrates' view that human beings are proving themselves unprepared for the responsibility of democracy. Evidently, some 300 years BC, Socrates asserted that mankind was not capable of "popular governance" because giving each citizen a voice meant giving too much power to those not educated enough to use it wisely. He was eventually executed for corrupting the minds of young Athenians because he kept pointing out that what he regarded as the decline of the Athenian Empire, and attributed it to the mob ethic. He had proposed instead a form of representative government where "experts" could be appointed to represent the needs of the people, rather than just whoever could get the most votes from an un-informed public. (I didn't bother raising my hand and asking him to distinguish between "republic" and "democracy" because I was enjoying his argument too much) He painted both likely candidates as people who should never be considered candidates for leadership of an enlightened people, but might gain office in the US right now simply because they might be able to fool enough fools to get there. Another young lady got an applause in her speech about inner beauty. She was giving examples of people like Mahatma Gandhi, who might not have been physically attractive but possessed real qualities of greatness. In contrast she pointed out how Donald Trump is not only "not handsome," but has no other redeeming qualities either... I laughed too, but it's sobering to know that here in Europe, people are watching and waiting to see how "ignorant" the US public really is.

Yesterday Sister Heder and I organized a zone trip for the Athens missionaries. We took them to the ancient city of Mystras in the foothills above Sparta. It sits in the shadow of the mountain where Spartan boys were said to have been taken and left alone over-night. If they survived the night they qualified to be trained as Spartan warriors. (parenthetically, I'm pretty sure that if the boys didn't survive, they didn't get trained as warriors..) Anyway, Mystras is now a series of rock ruins spilling down a steep, wooded mountainside. The valley below is beautiful, with some of the most picturesque olive vineyards I've seen here. We gathered the missionaries under one large tree to get a group shot. We hadn't asked permission to go into the vineyard (but there was NO FENCE and it was SO CLOSE!) so I gathered them and tried to get a picture, but kept worrying that the keeper (who was pruning trees just out of sight) was going to come around a group of trees and see 24 people in white shirts dangerously close to a 1000 year old tree, and come after us with a chain saw.

Bill O. Heder
Greece, Athens Mission

Hello Family,

It has been wonderful to see the girls have so many unique and life inspiring moments here in Greece. These have usually come as teachers and friends from school have asked them many questions about why they would come to Greece during this very difficult time and why they don't act like all the other teenagers etc. Alinda has not been in any dance or piano competitions over here but this last weekend I was so proud and happy for her as she participated in a Greek National High School Forensic Competition. She participated in Duet Actiing doing a scene from "The Crucibles" and wrote an original oratory. She spent many hours noodling over how to express her topic and theme with her coach and finally she was ready.

The themes other students presented included depression, body shaming, FOMO (fear of missing out) Democracy and how it can't work, self-harm.. and on and on. Her coach listened to her one last time on Thurs. and told her she thought she could win the competition. Her topic was "Family Matters." She talked about why we cannot give up on the power of being in and a part of a family, because it's in the family where we learn our individual worth as well as the necessity of respecting and taking care of others; it is the best way to learn how to be our best selves. We saw the first round of the competition and she did great, one of the three judges was very touched during Alinda's presentation and she was crying. Alinda had a lot of students and teachers come up to her to compliment her, and there was a buzz about the girl who was talking about FAMILY !

One of the forensics coaches has asked her many questions about the church and Alinda has come home amazed at the conversations she is having--and wanting to talk about how best to present the principles. Well, as well as she presented, Alinda didn't get into the final 6, (if she would have told horror stories of several Family Nights gone bad it might have had the shock value they were after) but she stood for something that many seem to want to embrace but don't know how. She didn't need to win to touch people. It's like we tell our missionaries, it will happen, the day will come and the church will thrive in Greece.

Sis LeeAnn Heder

Pictures: Visiting Corinth and Nafphlio with our Senior Couple that served in Cyprus and we showed them some of Athens before heading home, GREAT Zone Conference in Athens last week - the missionaries are always so excited for time together especially in Zone Conf. ( you former missionaries know what I mean) , Alinda with her forensic coach, Athens Zone trip to Mystras, group picture and lunch in a olive orchard with very old (1000 year old) olive trees, group picture in Corinth where we stopped and had a meal on our way back to Athens