Time Flies (at least thats what they say)

At times it feels like Jess has been gone forever and other times it feels like it will be forever til I see him again. I guess it's all in the perspective you take. I know one thing for sure, I miss him, but when you read this e-mail you will see why moms have to let their sons and daughters leave for two years to serve the Lord. There is absolutely no other way to grow and mature this quickly in the real world. These two years will give Jess the biggest head start on life, its invaluable experience. Heavenly Father knew what He was doing when He set it up this way. I am so proud of both my boys for serving missions and I know from experience that I will live through this. I spoke to Jess's mission president and his wife the other day. They called to learn more about Jess and I was so glad to hear that they are excited to be there and that they already love these boys. I will never complain about giving my boys up for two years but thats not to say I won't talk about how much I miss him from time to time. I hope you all will humor me once in a while, I kind of have a one track mind when it comes to my kids. Anyway, here's the last e-mail from the MTC:

Congratulations Em and Jason, thats awesome! I can't wait for those little girls to get here. That will be a lot of fun for you.

Okay, so I got my flight plans! We leave here at 5 in the morning on tuesday and catch an 8:30 flight from slc to Atlanta. We only have a 2 hour lay over in atlanta but we do have permission to call you guys. Our schedule says we will get there at 4:15... I'm guessing that is Georgia time so sometime around 2:15ish I will be calling. I can't wait to talk to you! I am a little nervous though because I don't feel like I speak super well, so don't be disappointed to hear some so-so Russian. Anyway, from atlanta we fly straight to Moscow. It says we get there at 11:00 am on the 19th. That must be Russia time as well. That means it will be about 1 in the morning for my body but I will still have a full day of stuff to do. We are all super excited... except Elder Johanson who will be here an extra 4-6 weeks because of his ankle. I feel really bad for him but If anyone had to have it happen to them, Elder Johanson is probably one that could handle it the best. It could be worse, one of the native Russians here just found out he has cancer in his leg and might be in the states for about a year!

It's crazy that things are actually winding down now. Today we went to the temple for the last time, we all ate breakfast in the cafeteria, it was awesome! I will really miss the temple. I was sitting in the celestial room today thinking about things I've learned from the temple. I came to the conclusion the biggest thing I learned was how much our Heavenly Father loves us. There are few places in the world you can feel as loved as you do in the temple. I decided that in the next two years when I run into tough times, I have a strong testimony of how much we are loved and how mindful Heavenly Father is of us. Also, last night was our last real class with Brother Sagers. He is honestly one of my heroes. He has taught me so many things that will not only help me out on my mission but for my whole life. Little things like how he has never been late, he comes to class with a plan down to the minute of what he wants us to do and each week he interviewed us about class and how we are doing, but he also would always ask if there was anything he could do to help. That is when the real teaching began for me. He told me about goals he set for himself, study techniques he uses and a ton of other things. He asked if maybe I would want to have a copy of his study notes from just a topic (charity) so I could see how he studied then I can have a good starting place. Usually when people tell you stuff like that they forget or you just have to keep reminding them but Brother Sagers showed up with a packet of papers he had copied for me. I love him and am so grateful that he was my teacher. He is an awesome example of serving the Lord with all your heart might mind and strength. That is so cool that you got to talk to President Woolley! I can't wait to meet him, he sounds awesome. Well I guess for my last email from the MTC I want to just end it with a little bit about how my testimony has grown since I have been here. As I came in, things were tough. I wasn't sure about my companion, I wasn't sure about my district, I wasn't sure how I was going to learn this language and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to ever stop being homesick. As I learned more from devotionals, firesides, my teachers, priesthood meetings... I think I have a little more of an understanding of what it means to be a missionary. I know this church is true. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God, that he did see God and Jesus Christ, that he did translate a sacred book, the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon does contain the fulness of the Gospel. The spirit does speak to each and every one of us if we just listen. I have learned that the basic lessons we teach as missionaries will never cease to keep teaching me things. I learned that I have taken this gospel for granted, that I haven't understood what power there is in the priesthood. As I am beginning to understand the importance of all this, my love of this gospel and of the principles taught in it have grown more than I can believe. I can honestly lay in bed at night and think not about how much I want to be home, or how much I miss espn or my family and my dog, but I lay in bed and wonder how on earth am I going to help people in Russia get through such big problems when I have never even known what it means to sacrifice or suffer. I have never wanted for anything. I am in the best family on earth, I have always had enough. The people in Russia haven't. I'm a 19 year old kid with a message. A message that can help these people. I might not know what it's like to have to go without and I might not know what addiction feels like, but our Savior Jesus Christ knows. Alma 7:11-12 says he suffered all the pains and sicknesses, the trials and saddness of his people so that he would know how to succor them. I don't know how to help these people, but Heavenly Father does, and he can through me and all the other warriors out there fighting in this battle for truth. I love this gospel and I WILL NOT WASTE ONE MINUTE of my time in Russia, how can I? There are millions of people that need this message and only one of me. I say those things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Thank you for everything. I can't wait to talk to you next week, and I can't wait to get to Russia and get to work. Mom, have an awesome birthday this week. I love you all.
Elder Jess W Geddes