Catherine Frodsham 28 March 25
In October of 2024, Elder Stevenson of the Quorum of twelve Apostles visited Greece, speaking with members and missionaries. During his visit, Elder Stevenson shared a meal with an official from the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR). Elder Stevenson explained in profound detail the four pillars of the Church of Jesus Christ: Live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Invite all to receive the gospel, Unite families for eternity and Care for the needy. He ended with care for the needy and bore powerful testimony of the humanitarian work done by the LDS church.
Pres. McConkie of the Central Europe area presidency came a few days before Elder Stevenson to set things up and meet with priesthood leaders. His wife Lauren came and she is delightful as well. Tim and I were asked by our Mission President to please pick up the McConkie’s from the airport and take them to their hotel. It was fun to meet them and visit as we drove them from the Athens airport. They asked about us and our mission and how the seniors are treated and the blessings of serving as senior missionaries. They had not been home more than 4 days in Frankfurt Germany in the month before they came to Greece. They are very busy and do many things for our Area. They came to church with us in Athens and both of them spoke. Sis. McConkie is such a pleasant, beautiful, kind and loving sister. Everyone loves to listen to her because she is like your best friend. Pres. McConkie is the same. That night all of our missionaries came from Cypress, Crete and Thessaloniki to be here to meet President Stevenson on Tuesday. Monday our mission rented a bus to take all of us to Corinth. Isn’t that so cool that we live only an hour away of CORINTH where Paul taught the Saints.
We had to drive up two missionaries that needed to do a medical exam to renew their visas. So we met every one in Corinth. Then we had to leave early to drive our mission president and Sis. Nelson back to Athens. Tim and I had been working with a man named Manolis from UNHCR -. Pres. Stevenson wanted to know if there were any Humanitarian projects that he could be involved in by giving them a plaque or a thank you, etc. So we had given them several ideas and waited to see what he wanted to do.
Manolis of UNHCR has been working with the church for several years, but Elder Stevenson’s visit opened doors we had only imagined. Not long after his visit, two ministries of the Greek government, the Hellenic Police (National police force) and the Ministry of Migration and Asylum approached Manolis for help from the church. As a result, we are implementing a series of projects to bring bedding and hygiene supplies to tens of thousands of refugees.
Elder Stevenson ended up wanting to have dinner with Manolis (who is not a member of the church but has contacts within the government) The church likes to establish friendships with the governments so that down the road, when we want to build a temple they know we are friendly, kind and helpful to a country. So at the dinner was the Stevensons, the Nelson’s (mission president and wife), The McConkie’s, Tim and I and Manolis. It was so interesting to listen to Elder Stevenson bear testimony to Manolis about our church and why we do things. He bore testimony about family and our Savior Jesus Christ. Why we do humanitarian work throughout the world. I wish I had a recording of all that he said. I was in awe. He looked right into Manolis’s eyes and touched his soul.
We had to hurry because Elder Stevenson was supposed to drive across town to our church building and speak to all of the members and missionaries in Greece. There were about 30 missionaries young and old and about 40 members and friends that came. So Elder Stevenson, the Nelsons and the McConkies got in their car with their driver. I wish they would have taken Manolis. I think he would have felt so special. But Manolis , Tim and I got a taxi to drive us to the church. They beat us but they had a driver and one thing we have learned in Greece is – if you hire a taxi they get paid by time and distance- ugh. Our taxi driver was going so slow because of time. We should have thought to pay him 20 euros more to get us there quickly. So we rush in about 9 minutes past 7:00 and the missionary choir that I AM LEADING had just stood up. I run up to the front and Sis. Christensen handed me my binder. I smile and we begin! hahah! It was great. We have very talented missionaries.
(Note, we are nearing the last month of our mission and are cleaning up and publishing posts that have been languishing in the drafts folder. Since Elder Stevenson’s visit, we have worked extensively with Manolis of UNHCR and have developed a fast friendship. We will miss him and many others we have worked with in Greece)
Latter-Day Saints 