The Legendary Kurd and the Worst Food in Greece

Elder Muller & Elder C.
Olympic Stadium

Monday, March 25, 2019

Hey, guys! It has been another crazy week in Kato Patisia, and today is National Independence Day! I am feeling very Greekly-patriotic today, of course.

TUESDAY, March 19th: We had to speed walk from Syntagma to Megaro Moussikis. Luckily, we were only a few minutes late to District Council and lunch. But now, I can say that I have speed walked from Embassy Road to the Finlayson's home, lol. District Council was okay. We talked about Zion's Camp and the lessons we can learn from it. We hung out with our friend S. He went with us to visit a member who lives like two minutes from our house but is a widow. S. is great and is so willing to help. He is trying to quit smoking and likes to hang out with us because when he is with us he doesn't feel the desire to smoke.

WEDNESDAY, March 20th: I realized that some parts of Athens are really peaceful and nice...and not...Kato Patisia...if you guys lived here, you would be laughing with me, hahaha. We had a great lunch of rotisserie chicken and salad, and we dropped off some food to a member's home. We saw S. and then went with him and the sisters to visit another friend. 

THURSDAY, March 21st:: We went with a friend to show him where the Friendship Center is and then ran into S. there as well. We had to go to the mall and check out smartphones. I'm not sure if I have mentioned in here yet or not, but we are getting smartphones next transfer.  

FRIDAY, March 22nd: We started the day by getting separated on the metro, which was pretty weird. It took a while to get a phone and find out where Elder C. was, but we were able to meet up again just fine. It's the weirdest and scariest thing when you get separated from your companion. Later in the day, we had to sprint to the soup kitchen in Omonoia to make it on time. Luckily, it was all downhill, but it still felt good to run and then jump in a bus for the last few meters, haha. We had a lesson with S., had studies, and finished the day.

SATURDAY, March 23rd: We had football with our friends and members, and I was able to talk to an Albanian guy about baptism, which was pretty cool. Football almost always brings amazing teaching opportunities. We also had family home evening at the church, and S. came. It was great.

SUNDAY, March 24th: Well, a mission goal was accomplished, and I did translation in the Greek Branch. So, I sat in the back and translated the Greek talks into English for the visitors. It was really easy because I was blessed with two non-native Greek speakers, haha. I also learned the word for pigeon when I went home because there was a little embarrassing moment during the meeting when I didn't know the word, haha. We went with the sisters and a friend of ours and her boyfriend and had a great time. I was able to give our friend "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." We then chilled with our friend G. and went to the old Olympic Stadium in the evening. The sunset was breathtaking, and the space around the arena is beautiful.

MONDAY: Today is National Independence Day in Greece, and so everything is closed, and EVERYONE is outside with the whole family. We went to the Acropolis Museum with all of the missionaries and a member for a tour of the museum. It was really cool. After the tour, we got stuck in the tourist part of town and ate literally the worst food that any of us have ever experienced in Greece. It was frozen and fake and nasty. But, we got good gelato afterwards, which made up for it. 

Love you, guys!

- Elder Müller

P.S. Study 2 Nephi 9

Check out the missionaries singing together!

Editor's Note: Elder Müller was not able to upload any pictures this week, so here is a selection of extra pictures from past weeks that have not been posted yet:

Olympic Stadium

Another Week in Kato Patisia

Monday, March 18, 2019

Hey, guys, just FYI, the proper pronunciation of "Kato Patisia" is Kah-toe (like a crow screeching and then the thing attached to your foot) and Pah-tee-see-ah.

So, I don't have a planner anymore after an unfortunate experience in Syntagma on Saturday, lol, and I forgot to bring my journal to emails today. So, I don't really have a weekly email to write. 

We had good lessons with less-active members and with investigators. We got yet another investigator who would like to be baptized from the sisters, lol. They are so amazing that they pretty much keep our teaching pool full with THEIR finding!!!!

We had dinner two times this week at embassy families. It was an adventure the first time to get there with the Piraeus elders, haha, and we were almost an hour late because the bus didn't come. The second time was last night, and we went with Sisters S. and C. to a home with five children and one on the way.

As we were playing with the kids before dinner started, it reminded me of all of my childhood memories playing with the missionaries and stuff. The sisters gave an amazing lesson after dinner, and we all made it home safely. I don't really remember much else that happened this week.

Love you guys!

- Elder Müller

Transfers, Zone Conference, and Temple Dedication

Monday, March 11, 2019

On the way to Zone Conference

Hello, lads!  

It has been an extremely busy week with lots of literal running to make appointments (well fast walking for me and running for my companions with shorter legs than mine, hehe).

TUESDAY, March 5th: Transfer day! We got to church early in the morning and had interviews and watched The Safety Zone. Literally watch this thing, and you will know that the Church is true. I was with Elder N. for one glorious day. We smashed out appointments with investigators and then ran to get to the baptism of K. on time. K. is a friend of the missionaries who has been unable to be baptized because he needs his parent's permission. He finally received permission and so was baptized! My new companion arrived, Elder C. from Germany.

Baptism of K. (No more Mediterranean Sea! The church building in Athens has a font!)

WEDNESDAY, March 6th: We once again got to church early for our Zone Conference. It was pretty good, and we had a whiteboard in the evening of just pure miracles. I met this lady named A. She walked past with her boyfriend and friend (E. and J.) and had ignored my attempt to get them to come answer the question, "What does family mean to you?"

I turned and was speaking to K. and saw her standing there when I turned around again. I started a conversation and explained that we can feel God's love through our families. Despite the bad things that we do, our mother still loves us, and that's not possible unless that love comes directly from God. She agreed absolutely and continued by saying that we need to repent because it is not enough to keep doing the same bad things over and over again and to expect forgiveness for them. It was an incredible conversation, and after she wrote on the board “Love,” I told her that we do these whiteboards to find the one man or the one woman that the Lord has prepared for that evening and told her that she was the One.

I gave her a Book of Mormon and bore my testimony that she would feel the Spirit if she would read it. She was so sincere and grateful and promised and expressed a strong desire to read it. She was hesitant to give me her phone number because she works so much and didn't think that she would be available to meet up. K. took over that conversation, and I started speaking to her friend J. and we just clicked right away: music lovers, nerds, but both amazingly attractive nerds (CAN I GET AN AMEN? ;) jk jk). It was just such an amazing experience, and the Spirit was there so strong when I was speaking to A.

THURSDAY, March 7th: We had an appointment with A. in the morning, and he is still absolutely insane. We had the Friendship Center, and that was, well, a less than pleasurable experience. We had Weekly Planning and then had about an hour and a half of just straight nothing or finding. So, we knelt and said a prayer and asked to know what to do and for miracles. As we were finishing the prayer, our phone rang with a friend who said, "Hey, let’s go out and talk!" Miracles are so real, lol. We had a great conversation about the temple and just so many beliefs that we have.

FRIDAY, March 8th: We had the Soup Kitchen with the sisters and then had gyros for lunch—not together; don't worry, we aren't apostate [Editor’s note: Elders and sisters are not supposed to have dinner appointments together alone while they are serving their missions.]. We went out with a guy Elder C. and I met a month ago in front of McDonald's, named A. He's from Romania and is just chilling in Athens. It was interesting. We also met with our friend I. and invited him to be baptized. He says that he is still waiting for an answer. 

SATURDAY, March 9th: We played footie with the lads, and there was almost a full-on fist fight on the pitch, lol. I learned how to receive a ball without it bouncing away from me, finally!!! We ran into N. and A. (recent convert and investigator), and that went well. We then were running 40-minutes late to a referral from the Zone Leaders. After getting lost and finally finding the road (very near our apartment), we called the guy to let us into the building, and as we started climbing the stairs, we heard "Families Can Be Together Forever" and were like, "What the heck is going on?"

When we got to the door and said hello, he was super happy. I stepped through the door and looked to my left to find FIVE SISTER MISSIONARIES JUST CHILLING IN THIS AFRICAN GUY'S HOUSE!!!!!! Sister Rounds had brought the two sister companionships to this guy's house. Turns out our "referral" is an investigator of the sisters, and they were doing a hand-off lesson because they thought that he lived in the other sister's area. We jammed out to the guy's music, and my face has never been more shocked in my entire life.

"What is going on here?"

SUNDAY, March 10th: We had the Rome Italy Temple Dedication, and it was amazing. That night we had a great whiteboard with everyone. 

MONDAY: We hung out with everyone from Athens and Piraeus, and it was great. 

I love you all!!!

- Elder Müller


Additional photos of the baptism of K. on March 5, 2019:

Friends coming to support K. on his baptism

A happy Elder Z!

Additional photos of the "party" with the Sisters on March 9th:

Party with the Sisters!

Sister Rounds with the four Sisters

A great hand-off meeting with the Sisters!

Miscellaneous Pictures:

New Companions on the way to Zone Conference

New Companions on the way to  Zone Conference

The best chicken ever. Made in 20 minutes by me

Sick and tired Elder N.

Acropolis

Monday, March 4, 2019

TUESDAY, February 26th: We taught bunch of lessons. A recent convert invited his girlfriend/fiancé to take the lessons, and that is going very well. He and she are both amazing!!!! We got transfer calls, and Elder C. will be leaving me and heading to Nicosia, Cyprus. I will be with Elder C. here as co-district leaders. District council about eternal relationships went well, haha. 

WEDNESDAY, February 27th: We did service with the sisters at the Salvation Army and met with Elders Z. and B. and K. before performing a baptismal interview for K. A friend surprised us in Syntagma and tagged along to the interview. It was the first interview that I have performed for baptism, and it was an incredible experience. K. is getting baptized on the 5th of March. We had a lesson at a member's home and then saw D. and left our friend there before literally RUNNING for almost a kilometer to make it home on time for curfew. 

THURSDAY, February 28th: We taught at the Friendship Center and then were finally able to meet with a Greek man that referred himself over a month ago, but we weren't able to meet up with him. He had printed off the first bit of the Book of Mormon and talks with sister missionaries online, and they teach him sort of as well. He is 54 and lives with his mother but is sooo prepared and simply amazing. His very orthodox mother kicked us out of the house towards the end of our explanation about the Restoration, but he said he will meet us again this week.

We met up with K. in the evening because he called us and did not sound very good. He told us he needed to talk. Obviously, we were scared that his parents had decided not to let him get baptized after all [Editor’s note: minors (under 18) need parental permission for baptism.]. So, we sat down at a restaurant, and he started explaining that his dad had decided last minute not to allow the baptism and so he should return the baptismal record to us. He was totally serious, and we were devastated; then, he pulled out the record to hand back to us, and it was signed. This punk completely fooled us!!!!

FRIDAY, March 1st: We did service with Elders N. and N. at the soup kitchen and then had lunch with Sister Rounds, aka mom! We were celebrating a bunch of different things, lol. We had a lesson with our recent convert's girlfriend again, and it went very well. 

SATURDAY, March 2nd: We played football, and it was sooo hot. I even got a little sunburned, which is crazy because last week and at the beginning of this one, we were bundled up in full winter clothing and still cold. We did a very quick weekly planning session and went to church with our friend G. for Family Home Evening. He is a total legend, and he explained to a lady on the metro how we don't annoy people, lol. 

SUNDAY, March 3rd: A friend of the sisters who is going to be baptized in April bore his testimony and smashed it! It was so powerful!!!! Sunday School in the Greek branch was crazy, hahahaha. We went to lunch with the Sisters and K. at a less-active member's home, and then we went straight from there to another meal appointment with Elders N. and N. across the city. D., G., T., and I. had prepared a meal to say goodbye to Elders C. and N. We did some music finding and headed home.

MONDAY, March 4th: We went to the Acropolis!!!!

That's about it, guys. I love you all!!!

- Elder Müller


Lots of pictures of the Acropolis!

The following are pictures from another missionary in Athens: