"Oh, It Is Wonderful."

(Elder Hansen sent this email on August 12 but I forgot to post it. Sorry! - Mom)

Alrighty. I don't have a lot of time tonight but we got some stuff to get written down and shared!

We just got back from celebrating Tasos' birthday, and it was an absolute blast. We are down in Athens for exchanges, and we took the moment to visit him. Elder Crossely, Elder Xanthos, and I went. It felt like old times. I want to say I haven't laughed that hard in a while, but I recall last P-day with Elder and Sister Fronk, and I was dying of laughter. I don't know if I've cried laughed since Athens. It was so wonderful. Both moments. Spyros and the senior missionaries were at Tasos' as well, which was wonderful as well.

I don't have a lot of time, and I still have things from Cyprus to include! And pictures! So I'm gonna do something that I don't like to do; I'll do a list. But maybe the lack of context will keep it more interesting.

Let's go!

- We met with this young woman who had lived in Idaho for an exchange year, and her best friend was a member. So she came back to Cyprus, where she was from, and we spoke for an hour at a cafe. That was the most involved I've ever seen someone during a lesson. We had a super deep discussion about who God is, and she really wanted to understand what we believe. Next time we met, we had a getting to know you lesson. It was a bit backwards, but it was super cool. She had an Orthodox background, and her knowledge was really high. It was very fun. Never have I ever talked about the nature and who God is so in depth during a first lesson. Teach to needs, I guess!

- We met with another young women from Bulgaria that was a self-proclaimed prophet by saying things such as, "Christ SPEAKS through ME," in a very emphatic tone. She wanted to come to church to make sure we were "of Christ" and not stealing people's money. Unfortunately, she went back to Bulgaria before then. I was kinda looking forward to it, would have made quite the story.

- Elvira's friend, who we had been teaching, testified to us the change Elvira had during our time teaching her. We were informed she was a bit of a fireball and it was hard for her to leave something if she got offended. "Leave it!" Elvira said to her friend once.

"I was shocked! She really has changed!" she said. It was wonderful.

- It was my last time at Cans for Kids, and the organizer was not being happy about it. "Find yourself back in Cyprus, alright? We'll miss your zeal for the work. You work hard." I didn't have the heart to say I would probably finish my mission in Thess (Thessaloniki). I honestly will miss it, and I couldn't help but feel that. A chapter of my mission had ended.

I have more, but I'm gonna save it for when I have more time. They really deserve a full story.

So we flew from Cyprus into Athens, got to hang out there for a day, then began the 4.5 hour drive to Thessaloniki. It's honestly one of the most beautiful drives. I really do enjoy it. I've done it 4 or so times now in my mission, and every time it is its own adventure. Elder Xanthos really likes driving it.

Honestly, I'm really enjoying Thessaloniki. The members are good fun, and-- my goodness, I've missed the GREEK! It's such a pleasure to speak with people again. I didn't realize I would miss the experience of trying to figure out what the heck someone just said.

Something super beautiful that shocked me this last week is how much the work is progressing here in Greece. I feel like I'm in a different country from the first time I came here. Elder Xanthos and I actively go out with the intention of finding not one, but multiple people. The first time we went, we found 5 people in an hour. It was really cool!

I told our mission President, I don't need to adjust my expectation much when going from Cyprus to Greece! The work is very busy in Cyprus, but Greece feels like it will catch up sometime in the near future. The gap is not so big.

I really like how Elder Fronk framed Greece. Greece has always been the crossroads of Europe. And, it still is. We get to meet people from all around the world, and the gospel is spread to those places they go. During Sunday School, we read the scriptures in 4 different languages out of necessity. It was so cool.

I have more details from just the first week, since it was so crazy, but I'll have to close off here and save it for the next one I guess.

But as I said in the beginning of this email, we are actually back in Athens. We drove down to do exchanges, and will be here until Thursday. I'm kinda sad to be out of our area that long, but it's really out of necessity. We'll keep having lessons online.

What a wild ride. And I haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet!

I love you all, and have a wonderful week! The weather is lightening up a little here, but it's still pretty killer!

Elder Dylan Hansen