Week 67

This week we had lessons with charitini! And she is really progressing! She is wonderful in the lessons and came to chruch and our Christmas activity! It was amazing!

We also this week decided to do a Christmas finding activity by going caroling at a big square! And it rocked!! It was sooo fun!! Many people stopped and listened and took photos! It was great!! 

Also big news. Nathaneal has decided he wants to get baptized! So we will continue with lessons. He has been coming to church and all the acitivities and even caroling with us missionaries. So thats fun!! I am sorry I will keep it short this week but I love you all and wish you all a wonderful Merry Christmas! In church last sunday one of the speakers asked this question and I want to ask it to all of you. What gift will you give the Savior this year? I think this question is a very personal and beaitiful way to really think of the Savior as we celebrate His birth!

I love you all!

Merry Christmas!!!

Sister Ramsay

Week 66

This week we had two trainings. We had a training that was about self reliance and it was really good! We will be helping members and investigators with that and help introduce a program that a senior couple will help them with. And so that was really nice! We also had another conference that was through skype. It was for all the trainees to get together and be able to evaluate how things are going so far. It was really fun! We also had a few lessons this week with Xaritini. She is doing really well! We had a lesson with Carmen on Sunday and Xan made us dinner. We were so happy to see Carmen! She is amazing! There is a picture of her at the bottom of this email. Her and Xan and her doll-baby.(She named the doll Franko).

This week we also had a the opportunity to be outside by the main square and do the banner. So, we what we did was we talked to people and gave out cards and talked about the Christmas video and we have now two new investigators from that. And so that was really cool! 

Its been a good week! I hope you all have a great week!

Love you all,

Sister Ramsay

Week 65

This week we had MLC, which is Missionary Leadership Conference. It was really good! We were there to represent the sisters. And we were later asked to teach some of it to the Zone. So in Zone Training we taught. And it was very fun! We learned a lot from it! We talked about the spirit and how we can prepare with it, have a good climate with it, and know how to adjust to our investigators needs through it.

We also went out to do some finding with the banner. That was fun! We put a big banner of Christ outside and handed out Christmas themed pass along cards. It was good because the church has made a video of how we can "Light the World" and I love it! Doing a good deed everyday until Christmas!

This week we also visited two members and had some more lessons with Xaritini. She has now a baptismal date. So thats exciting!:)

One of the members was Mary! We helped write down her conversion experience. It was soo beautiful. One of my favorite quotes from her is,"God is the Big Doctor. He has healed me, and He can heal you."

We also had dinner with the branch President and his family! It was so fun! They are converts of about 8years. They work really hard! We love them so much! His wife, SIster Karamboulas is wanting to do a musical item for Christmas so we will help her get a choir together for that. I love them all so much!! I wish you could all be here to see these people and hear their life stories. They are amazing! I love this gospel and how much it really blesses lives!!

You are all amazing! Have a great week!

Love you,

Sister Ramsay

Week 64

This week we had two major activities for both branches.

On Friday we had the activity with the English branch. We had a magic show by a group of people who came from America to serve and help with the refugees. One of the members of the group is a professional magician and so he does magic shows for the children and he also wanted to do one for the members and missionaries here in Athens. It was so cool! After the show we had a devotional by another group of people who came to serve the refugees. And they shared some of their thoughts and feelings of service. It was wonderful to hear it!!

On Saturday we had the Greek branch activity. One of the members, Diana organized it with the youth. And so all of the youth did a little play for the members and friends that came. And then we had games! It was so fun! We also had a mini vegetables and fruit building contest. It was hilarious!

On Sunday we had a special Sunday school class given by a senior couple named Stays. They are humanitarian missionaries and they go to different countries helping out the situation with the refugees. They started of by reading Deuteronomy 24:19-21 and it talks about how when you are in the fields you wont always get all the fruit or olives from the trees or the vineyard. But thats ok. Because God wants it to be left for others to be able to have as well.  I like that even at the end of the verse 19 it promises blessings of when we leave it for the others to take. It is cool because God is saying I can bless you, when you think of others and serve them. And I have seen that in missionary work for sure. When we do all we can to serve people around us, may it be small or big, it makes a difference. It was a great Sunday school lesson.

I hope you all have a great week!

I love you all,

Sister Ramsay

Week 63

This week we had a few lessons with an investigator that the sisters taught 2years ago. Her name is Maria. In case you havent found out already Maria is a very common name in Greece. Almost every woman is named Maria. haha:)

Anyway, she is sweet. We are trying to help her learn more about Christ and be closer to Him.

We also had another lesson with a lady named, charitini. I had taught her inThess! So that was cool! She now lives here in Athens. She also invited a friend to a lesson with us which was so fun! He became a new investigator of ours! And she invited him to church!! But unfortunately he wasnt able to come and she was a little sad about that, but it was really neat to see how much she valued the importance of church attendance.

This week we also had a Specialized Training. It was so good! It was about "our call" as missionaries. And how we need to be bold about our calling, like Peter was. In Acts 5:29-42 It talks about Peter and John and how they were bold in their calling as representatives of Jesus Christ! I really like the last verse. It says they, "Ceased not to teach and preach of Jesus Christ." I love that because they werent afraid of their calling. Even if they were imprisoned or mocked for it. They stood by their testimonies! And so can we! I love this quote that says, "We need to be fearless in proclaiming the truth!"

In the Training President Heder also talked about Courage and he shared a quote by C.S Lewis, "Courage is the form of every virtue at the testing point."

He then shared the story about the strippling warriors and how they grew up as farmers. And so they had no experience with swords and fighting. So, it must have taken a lot of courage to go to battle. But what a blessing they were to their families and example they were to all of the people around them. As you read about the story you can see the true commitment they had with God and what they valued more than anything else. And its the same for us. We have been called here to preach and as we remember that commitment we made with God to share the gospel we are blessed with more blessings than we can imagine!

I hope you all have a wonderful coming week! Especially with Thanksgiving coming up:)

I love you all!

Αδελφή Ράμση

Week 62

This week we did a lot of contacting and finding. So, we went and started talking to people at a really big square. And we usually go with another set of elders and bring a banner, which is a picture of Christ. But one time it started to rain really bad. And another time we went to the square and an insurance company advertized with a massive vissual effect...(see picture below).

And so we just kept on trying and we really did end up seeing little miracles here and there. We met a lady named Dora (which means gift in Greek) in the metro and she was so sweet and wanting to know more about the gospel of Jesus Christ! It was so wonderful. We also visited some members this week! They are the best! And Carmen came to church this week! She really loved being there:) She had a smile on her face the whole time. And the members really took her in and reminded her of the family she has there! It was beautiful!

We also now teach Young Womens, which is so fun! We love being with them and supporting them.

Something really cool - One of the investigators I had in Thess moved to Athens and she came to church this sunday and wants to start back up with lessons. So, that was really neat!

I love Athens and the people here! I know the Gospel is true! And that we need Christ in our life!

I love you all!!

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Ramsay

Week 61 Kostas

This week was really amazing! We had a lot of little miracles! Kostas was having a hard week, but it was so wonderful to see his determination to be baptized. He really wanted the blessings of baptsim! And on Saturday he was baptized! The heater broke and so the water to fill the font was really cold, so we had to try to boil water and fill it with hot water! It was kinda funny. It was really a very spiritual and touching moment. He really loved the baptism and was so happy afterwards! The following day on Sunday he recieved the Holy Ghost! He had been so excited! It was just so wonderful to see! It is hard to explain in words how I felt seeing all of this. He really changed and wanted to start a new life with Christ. It was something so beautiful! I was really honored to be apart of that! I know that God is our Father and that Jesus Christ is our Savior. And that Christ atoned for our Sins. I love being here and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ!

We also had a lot of people (potential investigators that we met on the metro) come to church! It was really fun seeing them all there!

Well,  I hope you all have a fantastic week! And enjoy the snow....cuz out here we dont have that;)

Love you all,

Sister Ramsay

Boiling hot water for the baptism!

All the missionaries with Sister Sankoh:)

Week 60

How is everyone?

Happy Halloween!!

This week went really well! We had a few lessons with Kostas preparing him for Baptism. He is really excite about being baptized! We also went to see a few less-actives this week. And one of them came to church this sunday!! It was so nice to see her there! She was so happy there and enjoyed being there! The members here are the best!! I love them sooo much!!  

We also saw Betty again this week with her family! She accepted the invitation to be baptized! And wants to continue having lessons:)

We also went to a baptism this week! It was Nadia's baptism!! She turned 8! We taught her some lessons before her baptism to prepare her. She is a very sweet girl!

We also had a couple, who came to visit and see family. They are from Brazil but live right now in Bonstetten. So, that was really cool!! I got to talk to them about Switzerland. 

Well, Have a great week!! 

Love you all!

pics:

Sister Cigolini super cold! Our landlord hasnt turned the heating on yet.

Puppy.

Halloween!Thanks mom!

Week 59

This week was amazing!!

We went last week on Monday to the Zoo! The zoo was sooo fun! We got to see a dolphine show, pet a cheetah, and hold lemurs! It was so fun!!!

We also had two baptisms this week from the elders. For one of them we helped a member give a talk for the baptism and she did so well! Mary is so cute! It was her first talk.

We also had two lessons with Kostas this week. And he is progressing! He had a difficult day with his friends asking him why he felt he needed to get baptized. But what was really cool was that night he went home and read from the Book of Mormon and felt the spirit. He called me on the phone and started to describe his feeelings but couldnt. He said he felt God's love! It was wonderful to see him really desire the blessings of baptism!

This week we got a new sister from Italy!! She is soooo sweet!! We love her so much!! She has really good Greek already and puts her heart in the work! She is wonderful:)

We also met a man named Fernado this week on the bus. And he called us that night to meet up and talk about the church. It was so cool. It is always so neat to see how the Lord works with us!

We also had a lot of rain this week! 

It was a really good week! 

I love you all!
Sister Ramsay

Week 58

This week we had three lessons with Kostas and it went really well! He is progressing and we changed his baptismal date to the 5th of November. And he fells really good about the date. It was really sweet to see him at church and a member came up to him and asked him when he was getting baptized and he proudly said the 5th of November.

We also had Sisters Conference this week and so all the sisters got together and we had a conference with Sister Heder. It was really wonderful! We discussed what we had learned so far on our mission and how we could apply it after our mission. It was really neat to be able to think how much this mission has prepared me for my life back home.

We had Zone Conference the next day and the theme was the Holy Ghost. It was so refreshing to hear about the Spirit. I am grateful for the guidance of the Spirit and how it has testified to me of the truthfulness of the gospel.

This week we also had a  training for when the new misionaries come. We will be receiving 9 new missionaries and so I will be training with my companion Sister Leuzinger.We are both really excited for this opportunity! The new sister is from Italy. And its cool because we bith were trained by the same sister that was from Italy and now we both get to train together a sister from Italy. hah

We also went to our investigators wedding this saturday. We were her missionary bridesmaids! It was really fun going and seeing an African style wedding. In the church they had drums and loud singing. She was realy happy about us being there to support her. And it was fun to be able to talk to all the people about us being missionaries.

 I hope you all have a great week! 

Love you all,

Sister Ramsay

Week 57

This week was really great! We had two lessons witth Kostas! He even came to church on Sunday! On the way to church he was talking to us about wanting his baptism sooner. It was cool, because we had planned to talk to him about changing the baptism date to an earlier date. He loved being at church and watching Conference! Kostas is awesome!! This Sunday Nathaneal came to church too! He loved Conference and will come again next Sunday. He has read a lot of the Book of Mormon and is almost finished. We also saw Joseph this week! He thought the video of Jopseph Smith was inspiring. He really felt the spirit in the lesson. Overall it was a really good week! Conference really was uplifting and inspiring to watch! I love the gospel of Jesus Christ! I know it is true!

In two weeks we will be getting three new sisters:) and Sister Jansson will be going home. Time is going by so fast! :) 

 Have a great week!!

I love you all,

Sister Ramsay

So sorry!!! I will have to send pictures next time!

Love you all :)

Week 56

How is everyone?

This week was really good! We had a lesson with a man named Kostas. He was a referral from the church headquarters. He really wants to change and come closer to Christ. This week we had two lessons with him. And in our 2nd lesson we taught him the Plan of Salvation and when we told him about the Celestial Kingdom and how if he is faithful he can be with his family forever and see them again. He started crying and said he wants that really bad. Both of his parents have died and so hearing this was something that brought him so much joy and peace! I know the gospel is a message of peace and comfort! God loves us and wants us to all be able to come back to Him!

We also taught a lesson to Joseph. He is from Nigeria and I met him on the bus and gave him a card but didnt have enough time to get his number but he that evening he had called us! It was so cool. (That usually doesnt happen) And so we had a lesson with him and just a few days after he called to thank us for the lesson and told us how much he loved that we invited him to pray about the things we taught him! It was so wonderful to see how much joy the gospel does bring!

We also got to watch General Conference this weekend and that was amazing! It really brought the spirit!

I am so grateful for the Savior and all that He has done for me! He loves us all and wants to help us and lift us up! I know it is only through Christ that we can go back to our Heavenly Father!

I love you all,

Sister Ramsay

I will send pictures next week...

Oh we also changed church buildings..both branches in Acropoli are now going to the Halandri building. This sunday it was soo amazing to see all the branches together at church. It was so heart warming to see all the memebers ineteract with the other members:)

Week 55

This week we went to do service and help the Salvation Army. That was a lor of fun! There were a lot of people there that day! 

We went to go see Mimicka's art gallery. (She is a member) And it was so fun to go and support her and see some of the other members go and support her too.

We got to see Raisa this week! We decided to sing to her a hymn and she loved it! After the hymn she bore testimony of Christ being her Savior. It was wonderful being able to see her and see how firm her testimony is!

This week we also went finding a lot. (Which means we were put talking to people pn the streets about our message). It was pretty cool. I met a man named Joseph on the bus ride back home and we talked about the church and then I had to get off and didnt have enough time to get his number, but I was able to give him a card with our number on it and a website of the church. And the next day he called us! Usually people that have our number dont call us...we usually have to call them. So, that was pretty cool!!

We also had a Service emergency, so we missionaries and members that could attend went to the church to help make refugee health kits. We made 1500 kits within those 2hours. It was really amazing to see how much we could do! We also had a lesson with a lady named Florida. She was so nice! We were able to talk to her about the restoration and she said she would read the Book of Mormon and pray about our message! We also had a Fireside this sunday! The fireside was soooo goood!! It was done by a couple from America, who are serving as refugee aid missionaries. And they both had studied the old testament and Hebrew before their missions and taught us things from the Bible and Christ. It was sooo inspiring!

I hope you all have a fantastic week!!

Love you all,

Sister Ramsay