This week I had a special experience on Wednesday. It was quite disturbing at the time but now it makes me rejoice in my Savior and my God! Here goes:
We just got off the bus and rounded the corner of the metro station Attiki and were walking along the back road of the station. We were on our way to an appointment with an investigator. As we walked down the road we crossed the road to the far side from the metro in anticipation of turning at the end of the road. As we walked on this side of the road we approached three young men (about 20) and the tallest of them spoke to us in English asking us if we spoke English. Elder Uhlig said "Yes" and I answered in Greek saying "Nai" because I could tell that they were Greeks from the accent and looks. They continued speaking to us in Greek and asked who we were and we replied that we were missionaries. I could already tell that this conversation wasn't going anywhere and I tried to slowly continue walking. Then one said in a very accusatory tone that we were JW, adding that he didn't like this denomination. We denied that and tried to continue walking when one grabbed Elder Uhlig and the other me by our bags and the third yelled STOP. Surprised we stopped and as we turned they said that we should stay right there and then the short one came up to us and as they were talking he backhanded Elder Uhlig, and as Elder Uhlig stared at him in surprise he backhanded him again, knocking his glasses down. As Elder Uhlig turned to and bent over to pick up his glasses the man that had been holding him kicked him in the stomach. I was watching this in horror and I turned to those people to say or yell something when the short one that had hit Elder Uhlig slapped me in the face. I stepped back still not quite comprehending what was going on. And then Elder Uhlig gathered enough of his wits about him to yell for help in Greek. As he did this one of the young men kicked me in the leg and I wanted to walk away when they grabbed me and yelled "Stay here" in Greek. Then I heard what I thought was Elder Uhlig say to me "Run". As I heard that I thought that was a very good idea, I'd better do that. So I knocked the hand away of the guy grabbing me and I turned and ran, Elder Uhlig right next to me. We reached some people further down the street. The three men didn't pursue us and turned a corner.
Well, the hand of the Lord in this story is the following. As Elder Uhlig and I spoke later in the day we recounted to each other what we remembered. As I told him about his great idea to run he said to me, that he hadn't yelled that but he'd heard it too and he'd thought it was me. He himself had thought that it was a good idea and was proud of me to have yelled it. Well, I know I didn't say anything. And Elder Uhlig is sure he didn't. But we both agree that we heard someone yell "Run". We've come to the conclusion that it must have been the Spirit of the Lord telling us to run so we would realize what we needed to do. And he had to say it audibly for us to recognize it in the time of distress. I know no other explanation. So this is a grand testimony to me of the Lord's hand in my life. I know that he's looking out for me and that he's taking care of us. We need only be worthy of His Spirit's guidance and we shall be led by the hand and He shall go before us and His angels shall be round about us.
One other miracle this week occurred this Sunday. We've had some great lessons with our investigators from Ghana. And we got them to agree to come to church with us on foot. Church attendance has been a big problem for them because of financial difficulties and also a fear of the police. So, we offered to walk with them to church and we promised that they would have no problems if they walked with us. So on Sunday at 12 we met at their house and after we said a heartfelt prayer pleading for protection we headed out. Oh, it was a long walk. Over an hour through the center of Athens. I think we made motley group of seven traipsing through narrow roads and hurrying across large crossroads. However they made it to church safely. They had a great time there and after the meetings we put on our coats and walked back with them. It was a great experience and a wonderful way to end the transfer. We also had an Iranian family come to church (Father, mother and child.) and we had two of our Greek speaking investigators come to church in the morning. So we had 9 people we'd invited attend church with us this Sunday! It was awesome! I"m excited for this area next transfer. The next missionaries better do a good job xD
Well, now I'm going to move to the office this evening. Bye bye Sepolia. Hello paper work... xD I've been called by the mission president to serve as his assistant. That means I help a lot in planning the things of the mission. I assist in training missionaries. I do many administrative things for President Freestone. The truly great part of this arrangement is that I will soon get to drive a car. xD First time in 1.5 years. I'm excited!
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