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.