Baptism!

Elder Grover, Elder VE, T. and Elder Muller
September 15, 2018
Limassol, Cyprus
Photo cred: Elder Fleming

Monday, September 17, 2018

Hey, guys! It's been an interesting week with lots of firsts for me!

TUESDAY, September 11th: We saw our Cypriot parents and talked about tithing. We had a little bit of a difference in opinion there, but we were able to talk openly like always. I love them so much. 

WEDNESDAY, September 12th: We saw J. this morning. His wife had a fall, so he was pretty distracted during our meeting. They are thinking about going back to England to be closer to their children and grandchildren. We saw N. and made the program for T.’s baptism. We went to Bible Study and got invited to a wedding. lol! Oh, Elder VE. tried the Green Detox from Nuovo for the first time today. He was afraid because it is mostly spinach and obviously green, but he loved it. 

THURSDAY, September 13th: We had the baptismal interview with T. and the Zone Leaders. They forgot the Baptismal Record to fill out, so while they did the interview, we got that sorted, lol. In the afternoon, we went to go see a guy named H. We got there, and he woke up from his hangover nap. He had us sit down—we were in his daughter's room—and he had no shirt and was cradling a giant stuffed heart with arms and legs, lol. He proceeded to tell us about how he was at the club the night before and about the girls there, so we stopped him and were like, "Mate, you are 45, married, and have 3 daughters. What on earth are you doing?" So, he told us all about his um..."personal life/frustrations" for an hour. We just rebuked him and told him to repent in a very loving but stern way. 

FRIDAY, September 14th: We saw our traveling evangelist friend, M. He is from North Carolina and is just blessed and praises Jesus, lol. We had a good lesson with him and stumped him with the baptism for the dead scripture in Corinthians, lol [Editor’s note: 1st Corinthians 15:29]. I also translated Elder Fleming’s talk for T.’s baptism. I had Elder VE. check it, and I only made two mistakes on a first try for the whole talk! I was pretty happy. We had transfer calls, but nothing changed in the entire mission!

SATURDAY, September 15th: BAPTISM DAY!!! The baptismal service went well, and we were even able to have Elder V. Skype in from England. T. was really happy to see him. The Mediterranean was absolutely amazing!!!!!! T. was so excited to get baptized that when we were explaining how he should hold my arm, he tried to dunk himself! LOL. Luckily, I was able to catch/stop him from going under. I managed to not mess up the words in Greek (εξουσιοδοτηθεί). We were able to see ΑΓΑΠΗ ΜΑΣ! P. came with his wife G. from Larnaca, and it was great to see them. Lunch after the baptism was soup as requested by T., and Sister Riser came through, and the soup was really good, lol. We went to TGI Friday's for a celebration dinner and ate huuuuge burgers. It was a great day, all in all, haha.

T. and Elder Muller
Photo cred: Elder Fleming

Elder VE and T, Elder Muller, and Elder Grover
Photo cred: Elder Fleming

The oil rig in the distance behind where the baptism was held!
See photo at the top of the blog. You can see it in the far left corner
Photo cred: Elder Fleming

SUNDAY, September 16th: We had a record breaking 27 people in church, and T. was confirmed! I taught Sunday school about Job. That went well. After church, we went with everyone up to a park and had a picnic. I pretty much only ate desserts, hahaha. Then, one of the visiting Russian couples we had at church called the Larnaca sisters (they were in Larnaca the week before), and the Larnaca sisters called us and the Risers. The couple had gotten stuck somewhere. Only the sisters’ phone was able to contact them for some reason, lol, so we were going through them to talk to the stuck couple. All we needed to know was where they were, but nobody would tell us, haha. So, we spent an hour driving around the city with the Risers and never did get to them before a tow truck pulled them out of some sand.

MONDAY (today), September 17th: I slept.

Thanks, guys!

Elder Müller

TGIF celebration burgers
Elder VE

TGIF celebration burgers

TGIF celebration burgers
Elder VE

Elder VE made me breakfast after I had already eaten breakfast.
So I had two breakfasts!

Elder VE and their friend, J.

Elder VE and their friend, J

Elder VE and their friend, P.
P. and his wife came from Larnaca for the baptism

Elder VE and their friend, P.
P. and his wife came from Larnaca for the baptism

Elder VE and their friend, P.
P. and his wife came from Larnaca for the baptism

Elder VE and their friend, P.
P. and his wife came from Larnaca for the baptism

Elder F. and their friend, P.
P. and his wife came from Larnaca for the baptism

Elder F. and their friend, P.
P. and his wife came from Larnaca for the baptism

Elder N. and their friend, P.
P. and his wife came from Larnaca for the baptism

Elder Muller and their friend, P.
P. and his wife came from Larnaca for the baptism

Elder Muller and their friend, P.
P. and his wife came from Larnaca for the baptism

An attempt at making a cake in loaf pan
This for the pot luck

It was a little expired!
(But it was also in the wrong kind of pan!!)