Tag: Missionary work

Forever Friends

Catherine and Tim Frodsham

It has been one month since we completed our missionary service in Athens, Greece. As newly weds, we came into the relationship and our mission with separate friends; his and hers. During our 18 months of service, we have made numerous mutual friends, friendships that will last forever, friendships that we have forged together.

Here are missionaries at our last zone conference.

We made many friends in Athens. Catherine befriended Kelly, a sales clerk on Monastiraki Square in Athens, and invited her to share dinner in our apartment. She came, and listened in on a missionary discussion with Kostas. Though she hasn’t attended church yet, she has been attending institute every week. We fed Mahmoud many times in our. apartment and worked with him on self-reliance and finding a job.

Her hair dressers and her nails lady have become fast friends, and cried at her last appointment.

Even at our favorite local restaurant, Catherine always gave the waiters a hug and a large tip each time we came for dinner. They would see us through the window as we approached, and give a hearty wave. It was more than just the money, we spent the time to laugh and talk with them.

Catherine is always on the lookout for those in need on the street. At a strategic intersection on our way to the church, a refugee offered to wash windows while one waited at the stop light. It was a long light, so he could wash two or three windows during the wait. We had the cleanest windshield in Athens. There was also a man who waited outside the grocery store, and was there every time we came to shop. He was the kindest man, with a jovial smile and would tease me every time we came to the store entrance. It was winter and I was always in a polo shirt. He would hold his arms and shiver every time he saw me, and I would feign excessive heat, wiping my brow and fanning myself. Catherine left him 50 euros the last time we shopped and he was nearly in tears.

There were three apartments in our building. Our Landlady lived on the first floor, we lived on the second and the daughter and son-in-law lived on the third. We conversed well each time we met on the stairs or in the ground floor parking. They even invited us to share their Easter meal with us, which we mentioned in our Easter post.

We befriended many members of the branch. Aliki was baptized not long after we left Athens. Gogo is the oldest member of the branch. During one of our branch celebrations, she did a traditional Greek dance. Normally, dancers would throw glasses or ceramic dishes to the ground, shattering them during the dance. Gogo was throwing plastic cups during the dance. Jimmy is an excellent pianist, but his mother could never get him to play for Sacrament meeting. Catherine just needed to ask him once. He played the Sacrament hymn that Sunday, and has since played for the services.

We love the missionaries, whether in our home or at church

One of the greatest joys of serving a senior mission is working with other senior missionaries, and for us, both in the mission and in the area office in Frankfurt. We love these dedicated couples and senior sisters and look forward to many reunions after we return.

On our last day as missionaries, we hosted an appreciation event for all of the people and organizations we had worked with over the last nine months, and who collaborated with the church over the last two years. We have to come to love these dedicated people who follow the light of Christ, even though many of them do not really know what this means. Many we have invited to visit us if they ever make it to the western United States.

We love these new friends. We have served by them and with them. They remind us that, even in a world in turmoil, buffeted by the adversary and his legions, there are many stalwart people who follow the light of Christ and are his hands of comfort and service.

Tags athens, Greece, Mission, missionary, Missionary work, missions, service

Mission

Our Ukrainian Refugee Friends

Post author By Catherine Frodsham
Post date May 3, 2025
No Comments on Our Ukrainian Refugee Friends

Catherine Frodsham 3 May 2025

This is Tatiana and Ilya Chekaramit. They are Ukrainian refugees that live in Athens Greece. He has a doctorate in Agriculture Science. They lost their large home and their farm in the Ukraine war. They live in a very small one bedroom apartment with two small single beds, a little desk, an old computer, three small old wooden chairs, one shelf, a little sink in a kitchen closet area, a drawer with a zip lock bag of old pictures, one small fridge and a hot plate. They have no table for meals, no TV and no music.

They don’t speak Greek or English. They are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints and have been sealed together. Our Athens branch had a temple trip and 4 people went with our Senior sisters. They went. They were so happy to go.

I remember one Sunday maybe a month after we came from Lyon, France, we were still getting to know the branch members. It was a fast & testimony meeting. Ilya got up and walked up to the front and he didn’t stay at the pulpit, he stood behind the half wall in front of where the branch presidency sits. He bore his testimony in Ukrainian. I was not even aware of that because I just assumed it was Greek. Brother Price stood up after and started to sob and he said we just witnessed a miracle. I asked Bro. Price what he meant and he told me after the meeting that these two wonderful Ukrainian Refugees come every Sunday and they don’t understand Greek or English or any other language. They understand their covenants. We had witnessed a miracle in our little Athens branch.

Family photos. All they were able to save from the war

They understood the importance of the sacrament and partaking of the sacrament each Sunday. I would watch for them to come through the door. If I was playing the keyboard they would come and give me a hug before taking their seats. I LOVE THEM. We communicated – not through words but through love. I knew they loved me, and they knew I loved them.

Ilya had a stroke a few weeks ago. While Tim and Elder Kanellis went to his hospital room to give him a blessing, I waited with Tatiana in the waiting area, and we talked through google translate on our phones. It was so hard because some words do not translate so we knew, kind of, what each other was saying.

Luckily Ilya has recovered enough to go home. He can walk some, but he is very weak. It is too hard to come to church so the missionaries take the sacrament when they can. It is a harder life here in Greece. Most of our members do not have cars. Everyone has to walk, take buses or the metro to church. It even takes us an hour to drive to the metro and then go all the way down in Athens to church. It is a struggle for all members to get to church.

Tim and I went to say goodbye to Brother and Sister Chekaramit last week. Our mission is coming to an end, and we are going home. My heart hurt seeing the conditions they live in. They were so happy to see us and had us come in. Since they only had three chairs…Ilya pulled up a plastic stool and sat on that. We had brought food for them, and I helped Tatiana put it away. She was telling me about her big house and now look where we are and she smiled and shrugged her shoulders like, Oh well!

I am in awe of these stalwart pioneers. No matter what, they hold on to their testimonies of our Savior Jesus Christ. They keep their temple covenants and their baptismal covenants. They love others. They are happy and know who they are. They know God loves them and that possessions are not what brings happiness. They are grateful for their lives and know they will live with Heavenly Father again if they endure to the end.

I want to be just like them. I love this son and daughter of God. I will always remember them and will look for them when we all return to our Heavenly Father. I am grateful to call Tatiana and Ilya, our eternal friends.

Tags bible, christianity, church, faith, Greece, jesus, Missionary work, temple, testimony, ukraine

Mission

Easter in Greece

Tim Frodsham

For my family, the celebration of Easter has always been an Easter egg hunt on Saturday, Easter baskets Sunday morning and a special Easter program at church. The real celebration in the west is Christmas. Weeks, or even months before December 25, we begin our selection of Christmas presents, choose a tree and decorate it as a family. Christmas letters, Christmas cards, gifts, baked goods and other treats to neighbors and fellow saints at their doorstep. Christmas hymns and talks at church throughout the month and the preparation and delight of Christmas morning.

Christmas in Greece

Eastern or Greek Orthodox Christians do it differently. Christmas is a subdued affair compared to the western commercialized extravaganza from October through December, although there are strong traditions. Christmas celebrations in Greece run from 6 December, the name day of St Nicholas, to 6 January, the Epiphany or baptism of Jesus.

The Karavaki involves decorating a wooden boat instead of a Christmas tree. Greece is a maritime nation, and the boat symbolizes the prayer for the sailors to return safely home.

Kallikantzaroi are evil spirits that appear during the 12 days of Christmas, from 25 December to 6 January. They climb down the chimneys to instigate their own kind of mischief. To foil them, a yule fire is kept burning the entire 12 days.

Agios Vassilis or Saint Basil is the Greek version of Santa Claus and is tasked with bringing presents to the children. His birthday is 1 January, which makes for an interesting New Year, Christmas mix.

Kalanta are Greek Christmas carols which are sung Christmas Eve by the youth, in the streets and door to door. The expectation is to give them a little cash for their performance. We did not know this our Christmas in Greece, and I am sure there are a few youth disappointed in those stingy foreigners.

Smashing the Pomegranate. When leaving for church services on New Years, the husband puts a pomegranate in his pocket. He re-enters the house, right foot first, then turns around and smashes the pomegranate in front of the house. The bigger the splash and the better the seeds spread, the better the new year will be.

Some of the traditional breads and treats prepared during the Christmas season are Christopsomo or Christ’s bread, Vasilopita or St Basil’s cake. Cookies such as Melomakarona, Kourampiedes, Melomakarona and Kourampiedes.

The Epiphany is the final celebration of the Christmas season which commemorates the baptism of Jesus.

In General, Christmas celebrations are powerful, but subdued. Other than the Christmas singing on Christmas Eve, we did not see a large outward expression of Christmas. The big celebration is Easter

Easter

Much of the Easter description and some of the pictures below are borrowed from a presentation by our Mission President, David Nelson. The Easter celebration begins well before Easter Sunday.

First is Apokries, which essentially means, “No More Meat.” It is a 3-week prelude to the 40-day Great Lent prior to Easter. Lent is a time of solemnity and fasting, so the Apokries is a time of indulgence: Eat, Drink, & Be Merry! Costumes and masks offer anonymity and freedom of expression. These festivities date back to Ancient Greek feasts organized to honor Dionysus, god of wine, fun and fertility, as a celebration of spring and nature’s rebirth. Red and white Easter bracelets are worn through March, then put on a tree on April 1st and hang on a tree branch for birds to use to make their nests.

Τσικνοπέμπτη or “Thursday of the Smoke of Grilled Meat” is a BBQ feast where the Greeks roast a pig. This occurs the Thursday of the second week of Apokries. Lent is considered meat-free (but not dairy-free), Wednesday and Friday are days of fasting in the Greek- Orthodox Christian tradition, this makes Tsiknopempti one of the last opportunities for people to eat meat. The last two Saturdays of Apokries and the first Saturday of Lent are also times to remember the dead.

Clean Monday: 40 days before Easter, begins the days of Lent. It is a traditional day of house cleaning, began when women would clean their pots of grease from cooked meat, in preparation for the Lent fast. This is also a day for flying kites. We saw stores filled with colorful kites, though not many were flown while we were in Greece because of the weather.

Images of Kira Sarakosti (Lady Lent) from David Nelson

Children bake or paint the figure of a seven legged women, then break of a leg each of the seven weeks till Easter. The last leg is cut on Holy Saturday and hidden in a dried fig or walnut. The one receiving it is lucky.

Lazarakia, sweet, spicy Lenten bread. From David Nelson

Eight days before Easter, is Lazarus Saturday, celebrating the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Tradition holds that in order to escape Jewish persecution, he fled to Larnica on Cypress. His traditional burial sight is the Church of St Lazarus and there are unique celebrations on Cypress for this day.

Holy Week

Palm Sunday, celebrates the Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem. Greeks are allowed to eat fish on this day, commemorating the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

Tuesday of Holy Week, Athenians gather to hear the Hymn of Kassiani, or Hymn of the Fallen Woman. It is heard only once a year.

On Holy Wednesday, children go out to gather grape leaves from the freshly budded vines.

On Holy Thursday, these grape leaves are used to make dolmadakia, which is rice wrapped in the leaves. Greeks may also visit a church for a small bottle of olive oil which has been blessed. They then apply this oil to their children’s hands, feed, forehead, etc.

Children dye hard boiled eggs red. The egg symbolizes the sealed tomb, and the red signifies the blood of Christ. One egg is saved until the next Easter season. On Saturday, last year’s is taken to the church and cracked. The prosperity you will see the next year depends on how well the egg was preserved. Also on Thursday, They make butter cookies called Koulourakia and breads called Tsourekia and Tsourekakia. These are not to be eaten before the end of Saturday.

Holy Thursday evening is the longest service of the year, depicting one of the darkest times in the world. It consists of a reading of 12 lessons depicting the crucifixion and burial of Christ.

On Good Friday is a candle lit procession through the streets, following the “Κουβούκλειο” (Kouvoukleio) depicting the coffin of Christ.

It starts inside the church where a picture or statue of the crucified Christ is lowered into the coffin. It is then taken outside the church for a procession through the streets, with men, women and children following with candles.

Great Saturday is the day between the crucifixion and resurrection and is the day for the tradition of the “Holy Fire” in Jerusalem. for 1200 years, tradition has that divine light descends into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Today, the “Holy Fire” is distributed by air to all Eastern Orthodox nations from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and is then brought to each parish before the day is over. People gather before midnight at their church, most waiting outside. The flame is brought out, usually into a darkened cathedral, and the fire is spread from candle to candle. People then pour out of the cathedral to light the candles of those waiting outside, so all are lit before midnight. At the stroke of midnight, the day of the resurrection, fireworks and music celebrate the coming day.

Almost as impressive is the stream of people, walking to their homes carefully preserving their lit candles. The flame from the candle will be kept burning for days, weeks and even months to remember what happened in the tomb Easter morning.

Easter day is for celebration. Families gather for traditional meals, games and family time. After our church services, I enjoyed a traditional Greek Easter meal with family in our building.

Young Lamb or Goat is roasted along with kokoretsi (lamb offal, or parts of the liver, heart, kidneys and tongue, wrapped in the intestines). As I walked home from the metro station, I saw families, out in their yards, turning the lamb or goat and the kokoretsi. It is definitely an acquired taste.

For many Greeks, these traditions are their only link to knowledge and faith in their Savior. Their faith requires little other veneration and works other than these Christmas and Easter traditions. There is much more to say about Greek Christmas and Easter traditions, but our focus here is to show the power of these traditions in the lives of the Greek people, and how tradition can strengthen and maintain our own faith.

Family Traditions

As a family, we built traditions through the years. We held a simple shepherd’s meal Christmas Eve. Placing a sheet on the living room floor, we brought out simple foods, crackers, cheese, figs and other dried fruit. My children looked forward to that as a highlight of the Christmas season and brought the tradition into their own families. We focused on giving, baking gifts for friends and neighbors, serving and being mindful of others. My eldest daughter’s most powerful memories are from just such an experience.

For Easter, we followed the normal traditions of Easter, egg hunts, the Easter bunny and of course, church services, but as I have watched the Greek people celebrate the resurrection, I wish we had done more.

Traditions are powerful. One of the reasons the church is making little headway in the eastern orthodox countries is the plethora of tradition. Traditions bind individuals, families and generations together, and to their faith.

We need to harness the power of traditions, not only as families, but as a church. The brethren are emphasizing the celebration of Easter, and for good reasons. Traditions are most powerful in binding people to true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Tags christianity, Easter, faith, Greece, jesus, lent, Missionary work

Mission

Our Area Presidency

Catherine Shaeffer Frodsham. 14 March 25

Tim and I have had the wonderful experience of meeting and talking with all members of the European Central Area Presidency in the last few months. They are President Ruben Alliaud, Jack Gerard 1st counselor and James McConkie III second counselor. They are all wonderful men with wonderful wives. It is a joy to be around them.

Elder McConkie was the first to come just before Elder Stevenson and his wife came to Athens. He came to make sure everything was in place and ready for the visit of our sweet Apostle. Tim and I were asked to pick up the McConkie’s from the airport and take them to their hotel. We had a very pleasant chat in the car as we were traveling. They are such kind and engaging people. Sister McConkie made me feel as though we had been friends for awhile. They came to church the next morning and both spoke to our little branch. They have such a way with speaking and motivating people around them and bearing testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. Sis. McConkie spoke of being thirsty and what that feels like. She told some sweet stories of quenching our thirst and then related her talk to how we should year to quench our thirst of the Savior and knowing Him and seeking Him. I wish I had her talk to post here. I need to take better notes….

President McConkie

Then we get to President Alliaud. Tim and I got a call right after we had just returned home from visiting a refugee camp near Ioannina. We spent a couple of days there visiting the Habibi group that our church funds to help refugees with food, clothing and teaching languages and skills so they can learn to be self-reliant. We were tired and we thought we have nothing his weekend except church so we can just rest and catch up on sleep and some projects we were working on. Late that night, our mission president, Pres. Nelson, calls us and asks are you guys home? We said yes. “I need you to pick up Elder Alliaud from the airport and then go pick up our branch president and take them to a sisters home so he can bless a room in her home. She will be translating the temple endowment in Greek.” Pres. Alliaud had been given a letter from Pres. Russel M. Nelson, our prophet to do this right away. So Tim picked up our branch president and then went to the airport to get Pres. Alliaud. They then went to this sisters home and Tim watched as they blessed a room in this sisters home. She can only use that room to do the translating. The Lord has things done in such a special way to keep the endowment sacred and special. We have a room in our church building upstairs that had also been dedicated for the translation of temple ordinances. Then Tim took our branch president and Pres. Alliaud around to visit members of our branch.

The next morning was Sunday and Tim and I picked up Pres. Alliaud up from his hotel and took him to church. He spoke to us and it was so touching. I wanted to write things down to remember them. Here’s what he said:

He said that he gets to see the Apostles and the first presidency often and they attend the temple together. The leaders were having lunch together. President Nelson our sweet prophet was eating soup. President Alliaud said President Nelson always eats soup. Pres. Alliaud said that was amazing you announced 20 temples in Conference. He said Pres. Nelson didn’t even flinch or stop eating he just said, you haven’t seen anything yet. The best is yet to come.

Pres. Alliaud said a lot of older people look back at the past and talk about things long ago. The First presidency looks to the future! He said when they sent to the temple he saw 4 wheelchairs lined up – the first presidency and one for Elder Holland. He said sometimes they act like they are racing each other. Elder Alliaud said Elder Bednar calls Elder Holland “Lazarus the 2nd”. Because he was brought back to life! He also said Elder Holland gets up at 4 am and has a two hour dialysis treatment every morning then he goes to work. Elder Holland is amazing. We have such strong leaders in the church.

Elder Frodsham, President Stimagkiotis, Gogo, President Alliaud

About 6 weeks later, Pres. Gerard and his wife came to visit Athens on a mission tour. We all met at Mars Hill for a testimony meeting. It is a tradition in this mission that all new missionaries and those going home bear their testimonies on Mars Hill right next to the Acropolis. It is special to be there on that high mountain near the Acropolis and know that the Apostle Paul stood right there to preach his sermon “The Unknown God”,

It was that time that Aubri and Ben were visiting with us and they were able to go to Mars Hill and hear the testimonies and meet our fellow missionaries!!

How blessed we are!! I am grateful to be a member of this church. It is true and we are led by men of God.

Tags christianity, Greece, Missionary work, missions

Mission

Athens – Mars Hill

Tim Frodsham 8 March 2025

Serving as a missionary in Athens, Greece, we periodically trek to the Areopagus, or Mars Hill to welcome new missionaries to Greece and bid farewell to those returning home. We hear instructions from our mission president and on occasion, from an Apostle or another general authority. Powerful testimonies of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Greece was a hotbed of Christian evangelism in the meridian of time. Paul wrote two letters to the people of Corinth, two letters to the people of Thessalonica, another to the saints in Phillipi. He wrote two letters to Timothy, who was leading the church in Ephesus, now in modern day Turkey, but Timothy himself was of Greek and Jewish descent. He also wrote a letter to Titus, who led the saints on the island of Crete.

In the time of Paul, the Areopagus was the legal center of Athens. The supreme court of Athens tried criminal cases including murder, civil cases, and ruled over religious matters as well. Philosophers such as Socrates debated the issues of the day at this the philosophical and religious center of ancient Greece.

It was here that the Apostle Paul boldly revealed to the people of Greece, the unknown god. Luke summarized Paul’s speech in Acts 17, as there is no way our loquacious Paul would have given a discourse to the council in under three minutes.

Paul was not there to give a sermon, it is most likely he was on trial. In verse 19: “And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?” They took him to the Areopagus, which implies he did not stroll up the hill willingly.

Elders Kanellis, Xanthos and Fronk,
Sister Kristensen

Paul was an apostle of controversy. He was accused in Thessalonia of turning the world upside down. In Ephesus, he was a threat to the god Artemis

In 339 BC Socrates was on trial for “impiety” and “corrupting the young.” He didn’t “acknowledge the city’s official gods, and also — here it is — that he was introducing new divinities.” Paul’s defense over 400 years later was brilliant. He did not introduce a new god, but declared to them one that they already worshiped.

Today, the Greek people embrace their Orthodox faith, or at least the traditions inherited from millennia of Christian worship in this historic country.

Greece has never seen a reformation, a renaissance. The people here have never searched for the hidden God of the Old Testament, and Jesus the Savior that was missing from the New. The first convert in modern Greece, Rigas Pofantis, was baptized in 1905. Not much more occurred until a visit by Church President Ezra Taft Benson, when church leaders organized a small branch in 1965, which was reorganized in 1967. The Greece Athens mission was established in 1990 and the first meeting house in Halandri in May of 1999. In 2016, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the quorum of the 12 visited Greece. For a time, Greece was in the Adriatic South Mission, and is now in the Bulgaria Greece mission, which comprises Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus.

In the 1990’s, there were six branches in Greece: The Greek Athens branch, the Thessloniki, Pireas, Faliro, Haldndri, Omonia. Today, after COVID and the exodus of saints after the Greece entry into EU, there are two small branches in the country. One in Athens, presided over by a native Greek convert, and in Thesssaloniki, where a senior missionary serves as branch president.

Something will happen to arouse the people of Greece. The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, will awaken the people of Greece to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Houses of the Lord now dot the world, and in the not to distant future, one of those dots will be in Greece, dedicated to the once unknown God.

We love the people of Greece. They are warm and engaging. From store clerks to people on the street, we enjoy the interaction. They are a good hearted people, and we will miss them terribly when we return home.

Tags Greece, Maars Hill, Missionary work, temple

Mission

Zone Conference Feb 25

Tim Frodsham. 2 March, 2025

Every six weeks, give or take, the Athens Zone of the Greece Bulgaria Mission gather for a conference. This comprises all of the young missionaries in Greece: Four young missionaries in Thessaloniki, six young missionaries in Athens and four young missionaries on the island of Crete. Also attending are senior couples and a duo of single sisters who run the office in Athens. The conference is small, but this thin leaven does incredible things. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Romans 1:16

President and Sister Nelson, Hornbarger and Christensen

We start out at Mars Hill to hear from missionaries who are arriving as well as departing.

The young elders and sisters provide most of the training, focusing on precepts from “Preach My gospel”.

Our mission president Nelson focused on building branches and eventually wards and stakes in a sustainable way. After decades of missionary work in Greece, there is one small branch in Thessaloniki, and another in Athens. Several decades ago, there were five branches in the country.

Recent converts have been migrants and asylum seekers, who have been led to receive the gospel where they could not in their own country, but most are transient and bring little long term strength to the latter-day church. What is needed is strong, permanent members who serve as branch presidents, bishops, relief society presidents and other leaders. Leaders who prepare the this country for a temple.

This is The Church of Jesus Christ. We are commissioned by our Savior to spread his gospel: “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”Mark 16:15

Tags bible, christianity, church, Greece, history, jesus, Missionary work, missions, Zone Conference

Mission

Calling Senior Couples

Catherine and Tim Frodsham. 14 February, 2025

Happy Valentines Day! When I married my first love, LaNae, we planned from the beginning to serve a senior mission, something I had contemplated even since my young mission service in Quebec, Canada. My financial plans, retirement funds, timing for retirement, revolved around serving missions. We wanted to serve at least three, with a year or two in between to visit children and grandchildren. The best laid plans of mice and men. Just a few short years before my planned retirement, LaNae passed away. At the time, single men, well aged such as I, were not allowed to serve missions, and I started looking at other options.

I considered serving as an ordinance worker at the temple. Again, the single man question reared it’s head. A young acquaintance of mine with some disabilities and never married, served at the temple. On his 30th birthday, he was told he could never serve in the temple again. It turns out that at the time, single men over thirty could not serve as ordinance workers. One exception was men that were married in the temple and then widowed. I fit that exemption, but in good conscience, I could not serve knowing that other single men, much more worthy than I, could not work as ordinance workers in the temple..

I did work as a temple engineer. Each Saturday, to allow the full time staff weekend time with their families, I would come to the temple early, greet the night shift guard at the temple door, and then wake up the temple. Turn on and check lights, monitor and log the air conditioning and heating systems, check the chemistry in the baptismal font, wake up and check the audio visual systems for each endowment room and continue the checklist. The walk through took about 2 1/2 hours, and I would spend the rest of my shift indexing, answering the phone, responding to problems, and if all was quiet, walk the temple and converse with the temple workers. At that time, it was the best way for me to be His hands.

Ten years after loosing LaNae, I am on a full time mission with Catherine. From the time I met my second love, we talked about serving a mission. In fact, no desire to serve a mission would have been a deal breaker for each of us. We submitted our mission papers as soon as Catherine finished the semester teaching seminary and were well into our mission on our first anniversary. I wonder at times why it took 10 years to meet Catherine. We could have several missions under our belts by now. I have asked the Lord many times why it is that those who are the most willing to serve, who would make wonderful leaders, missionaries, mission presidents and bring about much righteousness in His kingdom cannot due to circumstances beyond their control, request the call. He has a much bigger picture of His children than I, and though they cannot serve a mission, He will use them and challenge them in other ways.

In the first years of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith and Brigham Young would call missionaries from the pulpit during church meetings, even during General Conference. These were not 18 year old boys, but fathers and husbands. They were expected to depart within weeks, or even days. These missionaries left wives, children, farms, businesses, civic and church responsibilities to answer the call. Many had no idea how their families would survive financially while they served. I have nothing but admiration for these early missionaries. It was their mission and their faith that converted my ancestors in England and Switzerland.

Would we have such faith today? How would you, a senior couple surrounded by comfort, children and grandchildren, respond to a call from the pulpit? Could we, with a notice of a week or two, pack up and travel to the other side of the world? “Could we?” is the wrong question. For most of us, the more relevant question is “Would we?”

Humanitarian missionary training conference in Vienna

According to the unofficial statistics I found, about 1/2 to 1 percent of eligible seniors serve missions. Increasing that to even 5 percent, one couple in 20, would mean 5 to 10 times more senior missionaries serving the Lord around the world. In Athens, Greece, we had a humanitarian couple, yours truly, and two senior sisters serving in the remote mission office (the mission president and the official office are in Sofia, Bulgaria). Last month, two more senior couples came to serve in Athens and the whole dynamic of missionary service changed. These wonderful senior missionaries have been called to branch positions, providing a rock of support to our faithful but inexperienced branch president. Visits to members, active or not, are bolstering the faith and the faithful in this historic part of the vineyard. There is a synergy and a spirit of camaraderie and dedication among we seniors.

Rather than a surprise call from the pulpit, we have options to choose when we are going to serve, the length of our service, and to some degree, where we are going to serve. We have cell phones and internet to stay connected with our families, and jet planes to take us home for those events that cannot be missed. I listed all the reasons to serve a mission in my “Serve Now” post, so I won’t list them again. The delightful senior sisters in the office, whom we lovingly refer to as “The Angels of Athens” say it best. “Who wouldn’t want to be us?”

Bulgaria Greece senior missionaries in Ioannina, Greece

However, I need to add a word of caution here. You have no set schedule and few set responsibilities. You are your own boss and you have to be self starting and self-motivated. There is more work to do than you can imagine, but you have to find it and make it your own. Our own mission has been divided into two parts: Serving in France as WSR or welfare self-reliance missionaries and in Greece doing humanitarian work. Very different missions, and in both cases, we invented our mission. We dug in, looked around, asked around, and most important, we laid it before the Lord. If ever this verse of scripture is relevant, it is while serving a mission. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs, 3:5,6. Our paths have been directed as we have served as His hands.

Souliers, Miners, Hardys, Dinkelmans, Frodshams
Life Long friends – Senior missionaries in Lyon, France

We are not assigned over the pulpit to serve missions, but the obligation and the need is no less paramount. Over the years, the church has and is moving away from obligatory assignments. Home Teaching is now ministering. Ward budgets, building and temple funds come entirely from tithing funds. It is easier to attend temples than ever before, and attendance is neither required nor tracked. The church is following the council of D&C 58:26-28:

“For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward. Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.”

The Frodshams and Snyders in Paris, France

Serving a senior mission is not compulsory, and we are all the more blessed for following the wise and gentle council of our Brethren and choosing to serve.

Cathy here, I can’t even imagine being called over the pulpit. That was definitely a sacrifice. Our mission is a sacrifice but not like the early saints. Tim and I have thoroughly enjoyed serving our mission(s). At times we have had to be very proactive and look for ways to serve. Our mission presidents (Pres. Lepore in Lyon, Pres. Soulier in Lyon and now Pres. Nelson in Bulgaria/Greece) are so busy with all of the young missionaries. We Seniors need to be offering time and talents and helping to further work of gathering. It takes prayer and an open mind to see what needs to be done and to be available to answer a call at 10:00 pm to go give a blessing or pick up a missionary or mission president at the Airport. Service is never convenient whether you are serving a mission or serving at home.

I can honestly say yes, I have had bouts of homesickness- even with tears but then I look at my sweetheart and know we can do this and we can do it well. We are giving ourselves to our Savior Jesus Christ at this time and happy to be here in Greece. Now that we are about 4 months from returning home, we feel as though there are so many things we want to do before we leave. It is going by fast. We hope our children and grandchildren have been blessed by our service. That was one of the reasons we came to the mission field.

Both Tim and I had talked for years with LaNae and Zane about serving a couples mission. Our children all knew how important that was for us. We are grateful each other wanted to go right away after we were married. WHAT A HONEYMOON it has been!! Serving in FRANCE and then in GREECE; this was a 2 for 1 mission and we are so grateful to be disciples of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Seriously – WHO WOULDN’T WANT TO BE US?

Note: We wrote this post before learning that Jason Soulier, President of the Lyon France mission had passed away. We love him and pray daily for Sister Jennifer Soulier.

Tags christianity, church, faith, france, grandchildren, Greece, lyon, Mission, missionary, Missionary work, missions, Soulier

Mission

Mavrovouni Refugee Camp, Lesvos

Post author By Tim Frodsham
Post date February 3, 2025
1 Comment on Mavrovouni Refugee Camp, Lesvos

by Catherine and Tim Frodsham 3 February 2025

In the five months of our mission in Greece, we have visited with non-profit organizations talking about refugees, homeless, ROMA and other populations that are vulnerable and at risk. Through all of this, we never visited a refugee camp. The camps are closed to all visitors, and most NGOs (Non-Government Organizations, non-profit organizations to those in the USA) who work with the refugees establish community centers within walking distance of a camp. They supply food, legal help, education, recreation and other services to asylum seekers within the camps.

On Lesvos, a Greek island in the North Aegean Sea, the Mavrovouni refugee camp is located on the sea shore within view of Turkey. We visited with staff and volunteers of CMA (Crisis Management Association) who have rare access to the camp and staff a small dentist’s office and the only pharmacy in a camp housing 4000 refugees. The pharmacy is the size of a small RV, and receives orders to stock the pharmacy once a week on Thursdays. I watched as a young teen mother carrying her baby, stop to pick up her prescription just before the pharmacy closed. I will never forget the worried look on her face as she was told that her prescription would not be available until Friday, two days away.

The dentist’s office, in a nearby now familiar trailer, had two chairs. Doctors and other medical personnel volunteer to work in the camps and many bring their families to vacation while they serve. There was no one in the office at the time, the Christmas season and winter months that follow bring few volunteers. We talked to staff and volunteers from a number of NGOs, and to a person, they are caring and dedicated to serving the one. We got to know Teresa and Efi from CMA as they walked us through the camp and met with us throughout our visit. Their cheerful enthusiasm was surpassed only by their focus and enthusiasm for lifting the one.

As we toured the camp, we watched a woman approach Efi with a question. She was looking for a volunteer organization where she could wash her clothes but she could not read the English and Greek on the paper she was holding. Efi took her gently by the arm and led her along the path until she could point out the container where the NGO was housed. I was impressed that the woman trusted EFI enough to approach her with a question, and that EFI showed such love and tenderness as she led that woman to her destination. They could not speak the same language, but the language of love, acceptance and care speaks louder than words.

It is not all roses and happiness in the camps and among the migrants in Greece. The disposition, motives, honesty and aspirations of the migrants entering Greece are as varied as the migrants themselves. The Greek ministries of migration work unceasingly to find and detain the criminals, child traffickers and aspiring terrorists who are also infiltrating Greek shores. There are legal, moral, violence and other problems in the camps, but most who have entered Greek shores seek safety and some sort of life. We talked to one of the organizations who rescues migrants on the Mediterranean, and they informed us that attempts to cross the sea do not slow when conditions are dangerous, when boats are turned back, when rescue vessels are forbidden to search for floundering rafts on the high seas. They come because they feel they have no choice. The danger they face on the ocean crossing is small compared to the danger they faced in their home country. Refugees pay 700 Euros or more, even in the cheap months. We do not know what some pay during the best weather. The migrants are definitely being exploited. How very sad.

We walked by “Laundry facilities” in the camp. Laundry machines, donated by another NGO, consist of spinning drums cranked by hand. We watched two young men laughing and as they vigorously crank the drums, then wring out pairs of pants by hand. Housing is in ‘containers’ which have a curtain down the middle. A family is housed in each half of the container.

We also visited another organization Catherine found online called “Safe Passage”. They retrieve dinghies, abandoned on the shore and used life vests and rope. They take these materials back to their shop and they clean them and make them into earrings, pencil cases, back packs, coasters, bowls, etc. We went to their shop and purchased a large amount of items to bring home to our grandchildren. We want to tell them the stories of the people who have left their countries because of war and oppression and for their safety. They have brought their children to another land where they don’t speak the language or know the culture. They struggle when they get to Greece too. Greece takes their passports and they have to apply for Asylum. Some of them wait for months or years and some are turned down. Then they receive no help. Some do get Asylum and can move to another country in Europe or stay in Greece. It is a very hard life and a life that is hard for us to imagine. We want our grandchildren to know of how blessed they are when they use that pencil case or wear those earrings made out of a broken dingy left on a shore in Lesvos, Greece.

One thing we have learned from our mission is that we are very blessed in America. We have freedoms that a lot of the world do not have. We need to be mindful of others and do all we can to serve those who are in need.

Catherine compared this with conditions back in the United States; children and adults that have never known a day of hunger or wondered where and when the next meal would come from. Children, teenagers and many adults are no happier at home in the Unites States in all of our opulence than the children squealing with laughter among the trailers and container houses in a refugee camp. Children in the simplest of circumstance. Adversity and trial bring strength. Hardship is an integral part of His plan.

Nan, an alternate restaurant where patrons pay what they can

Before leaving the island, we bore testimony to Teresa and Efi about the humanitarian work of the church, that funds for humanitarian work come from all aspects of life. From the richest of businessmen to the tiny child in primary, donating her pennies. We do this because of Jesus Christ. We do this to follow Him.

We are so fortunate to serve in Greece, this beautiful 2nd world country with such a rich gospel history. We love reading Acts and knowing the places Paul is talking about as he went around preaching the gospel. We have been to many of those places. Greece is in our hearts and we will miss this land and this people when we return home.

Tags Greece, Missionary work, NGO, Refugee, Refugee Camp, Refugees, ROMA

Mission

Returning to France

Catherine Shaeffer Frodsham. 19 January 2025

We loved having our young missionaries in Lyon over to our apartment and having their “Amis” (friends) over to have dinner and talk with them. We loved being able to testify of the truths they were teaching. Oh how we loved our missionaries. We consider them our grandchildren!

We kept in touch with them when we moved to Athens, Greece. Elder Tate Last and Elder Enzo Patelo messaged me to let me know that one of our friends who I love with all my heart named YeBei was going to be baptized. I was so excited!!! I had told YeBei that when she was ready for baptism we would fly back. So in October they said come back. I would do anything for YeBei.

I contacted our mission President , President Soulier to see if we could stay in our old apartment that was still vacant since we left. He said check with the office and its OK by him. So we bought out tickets.

A few days before we were to leave for Lyon, the missionaries called me and said there might be a problem. YeBei needed to ask her husband for permission to be baptized. We knew that might be a problem because he was not happy about YeBei meeting with the missionaries and attending our church. He referred to it as a cult. In Preach My Gospel missionaries are told to try and keep peace in families and harmony in the home. When YeBei asked her husband he said no. We were so sad for YeBei. But we went anyway because we had our tickets and our friends were going with us. We had friends from Oregon, the Petrowskys that were coming to visit us in Athens the same time. We said come for a day to Athens and then we are flying back to Lyon for a baptism. They agreed and we were grateful. We rented a car and after we landed we went back to our apartment. I must tell you that it was a bittersweet moment! It was like going home – kind of a weird feeling. I love Lyon, France and we have some very sweet memories there and wonderful friends.

I called our sweet missionaries and they said come to the church building we are meeting with YeBei. So we surprised YeBei and went right to the church, walked in the chapel behind her and she jumped up and we hugged. She apologized for making us come all the way and there was no baptism. We were happy to be there and to let her know we loved her and would support her in anyway we could. It was so wonderful to visit all together.

We went to church the next morning and saw our wonderful special friends in our old ward! It was so nice to see them again. It was wonderful to see Machilo and Munashe and little Elsie! Oh how we love them. Then we say our sweet friend Jeannine Roux who Tim and I love so much. Martine Meyer is so special to me and Teresah and her kids and my sweet Relief Society President Laeticia! Laeticia said her daughter Helena had some news she wanted to tell us. She got her mission call to Washington D.C.!! She is so excited to go. Laeticia and Patrick her husband are going to pick up Helena after her mission and take her to BYU. We are looking forward to having them to our home in Bear Lake when they come. Segolene my sweet, beautiful friend was there! So nice to see her. So wonderful to see our young missionaries there in Lyon!

Then that night I had a dinner at our old apartment and invited the missionaries (6 of them) and YeBei, Machilo, Munashe and Elsie, Martine, Teresah and our friends the Petrowskys. It was a wonderful visit to feel the spirit our good people that we love. I know that YeBei will be baptized. In the meantime, she is involved in the Porte Des Alpes ward and the ward loves her. I am so happy to have met my wonderful friend YeBei. I look forward to the day that we can go to the temple together.

The experiences we have on our mission have taught us how thankful we are to have been able to get to know wonderful, kind, loving , interesting, strong, spiritual people wherever we go. We LOVE YOU OUR FRIENDS IN LYON!!! THE RELATIONSHIPS WE HAVE MADE ARE ETERNAL!!

Tags Baptism, christianity, church, faith, france, grandchildren, lyon, missionary, Missionary work, missions

Mission

Our Syrian Refugee

by Catherine Shaeffer Frodsham 5 January 2025

December 27, just after Christmas, we met a pleasant, quiet young man, a refugee from Syria, who joined our church last May 2024. Here, we will call him Zain. When he was in Turkey he found Jesus Christ. It wasn’t with our church but he found Jesus. At that time his Dad disowned him. You see in the Muslim religion, leaving the religion can be a death sentence, literally. He can NEVER go back to Syria. He has had no contact with his father since then. He does secretly contact his mother and a couple of his sisters and sends his mother money when he can, but dad will not accept anything from him.

Zain was just laid off when he talked to our branch president, who sent him to us as Welfare Self Reliance missionaries. In some countries where we have more members and leaders, we have self-reliance groups that can help people get help getting resumes up to date and how to get a better job. In Athens we only have a small branch of about 30 members and do not have the man-power to have self-reliance groups. Through the Central Europe Area, WSR couples are teaching 3 self-reliance groups or classes online, starting Jan. 16. Tim and I will be teaching “Emotional Resilience”. All of Europe and even in the world can join through QuickReg online. Although the time difference would prevent some from taking it outside of the Europe Area.

Zain came to talk to us. Before we looked at his resume or his CV as they call it in Europe we sat at the table and I started asking him about his family and his life in general. Here is his story. He is 23 years of age and has lived in Athens for 5 years. At the age of 16, with his parents, two older and three younger siblings, he left Syria for Turkey. While in Turkey he attempted a boat crossing to Greece. He was put in jail for 20 days and deported back to Istanbul. He tried again in 2018 at age 17 1/2 and paid $700 Euros for a place in a crowded dingy with about 45 people on board. They helped each other throughout the voyage, including the landing on the rocky shore on what we think was the island of Leros. The boat included families and teenagers, with several unaccompanied minors such as himself. After several hours at an army base, they were put in a camp for refugees. There, they gave up their passports to apply for asylum. It is better if you are age 17 or younger as you get more help and there are more programs to help unaccompanied minors. He was there for about 4 months.

During that time many more refugees from other countries came to the island. A large group of Palestinians came and caused riots in the camp which had been very peaceful up to that point. He said some of the Palestinians told them to climb to the highest part of the church – the bell tower and jump to kill themselves. It was very dangerous and Zain was moved with other children off the island to the mainland of Greece.

He was welcomed into a shelter for unaccompanied minors called HomeProject and had a safe place to live. They also helped him receive surgery for his cataracts. He later worked at HomeProject as a caregiver, night guard and translator. He learned English from Habibi. (an NGO that the church has funded for several projects). He then learned more English at Global Connect and received his GED certificate there. Global Connect was started a few years ago by Carolyn Rounds. She served as a full-time senior mission for our church in Greece, fell in love with the people and culture and saw a need that she could help. She held English classes and invited the full-time missionaries to come and help teach and tutor her students.

Zain was one of those students. He felt the Holy Ghost through Carolyn and the missionaries and asked to learn more. He was taught and was baptized in Athens 8 months ago. He worked as a translator, care giver and night security guard, but was recently laid off. He gets a small stipend since he does have his papers and is legal here in Greece.

It has been a journey for us, learning about the refugee situation in Greece, visiting soup kitchens, community centers and refugee camps, and then working personally with a young man who has survived it all, been disowned by his family and yet looks at the church and his future with optimism and hope.

He wants to serve a mission, is trying to save money to pay his living expenses and was looking at a start date of late 2025 or 2026. He did not realize that he could get help from the church to serve a full-time mission and would not necessarily have to work a year or two to save up enough money to do that. We are talking to the branch president on Sunday about Zain starting his mission papers. Can you imagine a Syrian missionary preaching about Jesus Christ. He is a strong, powerful young man. He said, “do I need to know a lot, so I can teach?” He speaks English, Turkish, Arabic and a little Greek. What an asset to the Lord’s Army in Gathering Israel!!!

This young man is in Greece with no family, only members of the church who love him. He just went in November to the Frankfurt Temple to do baptisms for the dead. He loves the temple. How special Tim and I feel to be on a mission in this beautiful country of Greece at this time and to be able to help Zain in any way we can. We are in awe of his courage, his strength, his love of family, even his dad who has disowned him. He loves his Savior Jesus Christ and wants to serve as a missionary. He has had many tragic events in his life but says he learns from all of his experiences, even the bad ones.

We met again today January 1st, 2025 with Zain. Tim helped him get his CV or resume all up to date so he can go find a good job. Tim talked to our branch president, Pres. Anastasios Stimagkiotis, and a new MLS senior missionary couple who just came last month. They are the Kannels. He is a wonderful man who has lots of experience in leadership in the church and is now in the branch presidency. Tim mentioned that Zain wants to serve a mission so they are both taking him under their wing to help fill out mission papers and get him on a mission. That makes us VERY happy. Sometimes we have the feeling that we came to Greece for certain people. Zain is one of those reasons. We love this kind young man.

Zain said today as we ate lunch that the difference in our church and any other church and especially the Muslim religion is “LOVE”. We have love in our church. He felt it and wanted that in his life. What a powerful thing to recognize. May we love all people, all religions, all races, the way Jesus would.

May we all be more like Zain!

Tags bible, christianity, church, missionary, Missionary work, missions, Refugee, Syria