Sleepy Thoughts-- and something about a "Τελεικός Οδηγός"?...

You know that feeling you get right before going to bed where you just know it's going to be a good night's rest?

Ohh boy, I am feeling that. I am looking forward to laying down and getting some sleep.

But yet again, I should make some remarks since, to be honest, this email is just as much for you as for me. I write emails even the weeks when at times I feel there's not much worth sharing, or its all over the place. It resembles a 1,000 jigsaw puzzle. I find it important to express yourself. Maybe you find my expressions useful, maybe not. But again, it is just as much as for you as for me.

Where do we begin to even begin? It's difficult to figure out where, as it needs to be so brief due to a lack of time.

– Let me stop stalling –

I might sound like a broken record, but I've really enjoyed the opportunity to speak in Greek while in Athens. It seems it's taken me 17 months to get to this point, but I've begun to enjoy the opportunity to use my language (even if it is VERY wrong at times, ευχαριστώ για την υπομονή σου, Τάσο χαχα!)

We went to the Acropolis Museum for Preparation Day and we had the best teacher! Upon the invitation from Tasos, a member here in Athens, we went through the entire museum and had an absolute blast learning about all the Greek history and mythology-- in Greek! It was very fun! Quite honestly, it was one of the highlights of my mission, I feel I can't do it justice in expressing how special it was. I'm forever grateful. I thought I would be 'Greeked out' for the rest of the day after that, but the feeling of  'language exhaustion' never came.

I really want to take credit for the strength to be here and to try to communicate in a language so foreign to me. I could even attempt to lie, but I literally would fear God striking me down, or worse, taking Greek completely from me. Cause it's been his gift to me that I even get to try and invite others to Christ in this place.

I do not have the strength to learn a language. I don't have the strength to speak nothing-but-Greek for many hours at a time. Furthermore, I can promise you I do not have the strength to translate for Sunday School. And still, it might not be perfect and I would need help from a friend.

Alas, έγινε.

And if you can recall, roughly 2 months ago, translating put me at the world's edge. But here we are. And there's joy to be found in this language.

Without help from God, I know none of this is possible. I begin to forget where we began, and see myself, and others, doing things that-- and I can probably quote-- "I could NEVER do that in a MILLION YEARS."

Sometimes we can find ourselves peering at the mountain of progress shouting, "I could NEVER get to the top of that."

And yet the thing that never ceases to amaze me is those that are ready to pick up their bags and start making their way up.

Oh yes, our shoes are going to get dirty and heaven forbid, it might start raining.

But the most perfect mountain guide walks behind-- just out of direct view but prepared to carry you if that's what it takes to get you to the top.

"I'm prepared to help you each step of the way, you just need to lend an ear, alright?"

Don't know if that analogy made sense, but for me it did.
Regardless, my point is, I'm so grateful for that help. I would have slipped so hard on my face and wouldn't have been able to stand up if not for God's outstretched hand.

This week, frankly, has been grueling. Not just for my companionship, but for the entirety of the Zone. However, I deeply appreciated Elder Bonney's perspective on it. Let me explain.

This week was difficult. It was hard to meet with friends. Elder Bonney and Schnieder even did 4 hours of finding in one go and didn't get one single phone number. Elder Bonney and I have spent so much physical time traveling to try and be in 4 places at once (turns out you can't, unfortunately).

Elder Bonney compared it to something called "The Wall".

When you run, or do anything, there's a certain point where it feels that you've hit a brick wall. It feels like there's no progress and every step is like pushing an unmovable object.

Once it's been pushed past, you begin to see the success in that work. But you need to push past that wall. Keep pushing. You've got this.

He said that these type of weeks might be a similar thing. The climaxes of difficulty might seem like a hinderance, but can you imagine how much it might lift other moments?

For example, I've had the chance to translate for a large group of people. Oh my gosh. It was hard. I messed up so much. I was shaking despite one of the visiting members saying, "I always stress when I translate and yet you seemed like you were keeping you cool!" I wasn't keeping my cool in my head, that's for sure.

Now, compare that with a one-on-one Greek conversation with a close friend or someone you know.

That is nothing compared to a stressful translating situation.

The hardest of moments make the hard moments easier. For that, we can recognize their purpose.

It's still always hard. It will be hard. But leave it to God. The best thing I can do is trust a perfect being.

I don't have any time left today, but I hope something made sense out of all this!

I love you all, and wish you a pleasant week! The weather was rainy, but what wonderful sunlight came through today! What a blessing!

Πρεσβύτερος Ντίλαν Χάνσεν