The Christmas call

We didn't get an e-mail this week because it was Christmas the day after p-day so we got a call instead. It was so fun to talk to Jess and he sounded so good. It is always nice for a mom to hear their kids voices because you can tell a lot from their voice. He is settling in well and enjoying the work. He is looking forward to a transfer in hopes of a companion who is a little more excited about the work as well. It is a hard mission and he finds himself getting a little discouraged at times because the people are so entrenched in tradition but he is committed to work hard. He said he knows he is planting many seeds that he knows will someday grow strong. He misses his brother and sisters but says he isn't homesick to much anymore. He told us he was most excited about the little video we put on his Christmas i pod showing otis. We were all able to be on the phone with him even though Liz and Megan were at home. Rob, Emily and Bob and I were all together and we conferenced the other two in. Jess was pretty excited because he didn't know if it would work. They had a really nice Christmas party at the mission home so he had another long train ride to get there but he had fun. They ate Christmas breakfast at the senior couples home and then will go there again on New Years Eve night to stay the night. I am really grateful for the senior couple taking such good care of them since they are so far from the mission home.

I am going to post some pictures of the kids taken on Christmas so Jess will have a record of what went on while he was gone. We just got some new pictures of the twins as well and some of Alex so this will be a picture post.

Russia is still FREEZING

Hey everyone,


Well, I am officially in Russia. I say that because the thermometer has dropped all the way down to -27C. I'm not really sure what that is in F, but I do know this: 22C is a comfortable room temperature... -27 means that is 49 degrees colder than comfortable... THATS COLD!!! I honestly thought I knew what it was like to be out in the cold, but what I failed to remember is that when I was out in the "cold" I was usually just walking from the house to my nice warm car, then from the car to the nice warm school, or store or something. Now yesterday on the other hand, I was walking around for a good 40 minutes in -16, looking for an apartment. My face was just burning and my feet were FREEZING! I haven't gotten my winter shoes yet, which I will be doing shortly after writing this letter, and so needless to say, my feet were cold. We got to the meeting which was with a couple named the Minakov's. They are the nicest people in the world. She has been a member for a long time, he isn't a member because he can't stop smoking. Hopefully we can help him get through that. Anyway, she was downright upset that I was walking around in the shoes that I was. She brought them in and showed her husband, lectured me about how I need winter shoes and then left. She came back with a pair of old ratty "bob-socks" the socks that the old grammas wear. These socks look like they are made from the old grammas back hair or something! Sister Minakova actually put the socks on my feet for me, over my other socks. She then went and got her husbands brand new winter shoes and told me to wear them until I bought some new ones. I told her I would be buying some today so she made me promise to get some with fur in them. Then they fed us. As she was dishing up some delicious mashed potatoes, she told us she made fish soup but heard that it wasn't allowed for us to eat fish. I'm not sure if it is or not but we went along with it. Apparantly she only really thought it was not allowed to eat fish soup because she brought out a tray with big chunks of fish, skin, bones, and all, and dished us both up one. I ate it heartily! It wasn't as bad as it could have been but the thought of it wasn't too fun as I was chewing fish skin and bones. I survived though. Something interesting that happened this past week, we were walking around one night at around 8 o'clock and a couple guys stopped us and asked for help. There was a drunk guy passed out on the ground and they couldn't wake him up. They didn't know him so they couldn't call anyone or anything to come get him. They needed to find somewhere for him to be so he didn't freeze to death. That is a problem here, people get so drunk they pass out on the street and freeze to death in the night. Anyway, we called an ambulance which took over 40 minutes to get there! When it got there, one little girl got out! There was no crew or anything, just a small nurse. I was really interested to see how this situation would be handled so we stayed to watch. She broke out some smelling salts and tried to get the guy to wake up. They didn't work so she grabbed his ear and twisted it really hard, when that didn't work she started slapping him in the face! Ha, I guess their goal is to wake the guy up so they can just drive away. If the guy is able to stand up, they are out of there because they really don't have anywhere to take the guys. This guy wasn't waking up at all, he sorta tried to put up a hand to stop her from slapping him (remember, it's probably around -15C and the guy had already been out there for a while, the nurse was wearing a rubber glove... OUCH!) Finally, they loaded him in the ambulance and took him away. Crazy.


I think that is about all the good stuff that has happened to us this week. We are getting a lot of lessons with the members still so that is good. We still don't have any real progressing investigators but I'm hoping we can find some people. I really want to help the 23 families in our branch who are part member spouses. The hard part is that they have gotten used to living that way and don't really see a reason to change.


Don't worry mom, you aren't the only one who thinks it doesn't really feel like Christmas. For me, it is good and bad. I miss the feeling of Christmas, everyone happy and excited for the holidays. The good thing is that I haven't gotten homesick. I am trying to enjoy this Christmas in a way that I never have and maybe never will be able to again, aside from next Christmas that is. There is no commercialism here, people do celebrate Christmas but not like we do. I have been able to really reflect on what Christmas is. It's really nice to remember that this is the time of year we celebrate the birth or our Savior. A babe that was born to be a king. I have been able to think alot about why we would even celebrate someone's birth that occured over 2000 years ago. His birth was the beginning of a perfect life, filled with love and service. In his life on earth, he accomplished the most loving act of service imaginable when he voluntarily suffered for all of us so that we also could have the chance to be born to be kings and queens. I know Jesus Christ is our savior and redeemer. I know there is no other way to return home than through Jesus Christ. While we shouldn't focus on gifts on Christmas, there is one gift that we have been given that we can focus on. My prayer is that this Christmas and all throughout the next year, we remember the birth and life of the savior, the greatest gift of all.


I will probably take a suitcase with me to get the gifts home in, I think that's what other missionaries do. I hope the others got there or else I won't be getting them for quite a while. Thanks everyone for sending stuff and the money, I really appreciate it. I think I might buy myself my own big furry hat or something, we'll see. Thanks again.


I will plan on getting a call from you at 8:00 Russia time Christmas night, okay? I will check my email next week incase something changes but I don't know that we will take the time to write since we will be talking on the phone. Our number is 8-10-4732-53-50-17 I can't wait to talk to you, I hope you all have a good week. Write me an email if there is anything I need to do, that way I will have time to get a calling card or change my plans before friday. I love you guys.


Love, Elder Geddes

Russia is FREEZING

Hey everyone,


Well, it is FREEZING here. It changed all in one day from kinda chilly to what am I doing outside! The worst part about it is that the coldest day we have had yet happened to be a day where we were on splits with the zone leader and his companion. Me and Elder Johanson got to be together, the bad thing is we only managed to schedule one lesson and it wasn't until 7 o'clock that night. We ended up spending a little over 4 hours outside on the streets talking to people. If I thought it was hard to speak Russian, I didn't know what it was like to try speaking Russian while not being able to feel my face! It was a good experience though, and I am happy it finally got to the stereotypical weather of Russia. I thought I had been cold a few times in my life, but I don't remember it feeling like that! Everyone says we will be getting snow either today or tomorrow, we'll see if they are right.


It sounds like everything is going good back home. I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. They will be even more enjoyable when those little girls get out of the hospital so you are able to enjoy the holidays from home instead of a stuffy hospital room. Hopefully soon they will be home.


My Christmas will go like this. Night train the night of the 22nd, Christmas party on the 23rd, night train home. Elder Traasdahl wants to call home Christmas eve night here so that means I can call Christmas night. It will be Christmas morning for you so let me know what time in Idaho time you want me to call and I'll figure out what time. I will keep an eye out for a good calling card but just incase you find a way to call me, I will tell you my number next week so I can make sure I have the correct one.


This past week, we had a lot of lessons. It was a really good week that way. As we have met with more of the members and gotten to know them a little better, I have realized something so amazing. I have always known that the gospel blesses families but that fact has been made even more real to me over the past few weeks. Meeting with the members who are solid, active, striving to raise their families properly, has shown me how happy the gospel makes people. When you walk into gospel oriented homes, you can feel almost a physical difference from those around. You walk up some pretty shady stairwells here in Russia, and it is amazing to take a step from a smoky garbage smelling entry, littered with cigarettes and sometimes other drugs, grafitti on the walls and a burnt out light bulb, into a small apartment full of the spirit. The people with the gospel in their lives have a smile on their face and a light in their eyes different from any other Russian on the street. I think growing up in a town where that feeling was present in most of the homes I spent time in, I probably got a little too used to it. It took me a while out here to realize that that feeling isn't present in every home. It is a blessing to have that spirit in the home.


I love you guys and pray for you evey night. I hope you are enjoying the holidays and remembering the real reason we celebrate Christmas. Hopefully you are staying warm and safe. I'll write you next week and then the next week I will get to call! I'm pretty excited. I'll try to save all my good stories for the phone call. Have a good week, and try to get those little girls home from the hospital! Try to let me know what everyone's schedule is for Christmas so I can have a chance to talk to everyone. I love you!


Elder Geddes

Time is flying

Time is flying by so fast that I can't keep up. This letter is a week late so I will be posting another tomorrow, I hope. Since I last wrote, Jess's twin nieces have come home from the hospital and are doing great. Grandma is tired but having a blast, what a great Christmas present. Here are a few pictures so you can see for yourself how cute they are. Of course I am not biased or anything.

Six months out

Hey everyone,
Well, I have made it 6 months on a mission. Crazy how fast it has gone though. I have 18 months left to learn the language, and become a real missionary. I have a feeling that 18 months will be just long enough for me to lose all my hair! Ha, I'm not sure if it's the water here or if it's finally just happening but I think I'm losing my hair, if you know any tips for me or anything that can help, let me know. I asked my mission presidents wife, she said there is some sort of medication you can get in America, but I didn't think that was necessary. After I hung up the phone she called me back just to tell me that men lose their hair because they have a lot of testosterone, so I guess it's a win lose situation ha. It still looks fine if I comb it but the second I can tell that it is getting real bad, I'm cutting my hair like Jason, I'm not sure I can pull off mica's haircut yet, maybe someday but I wouldn't feel too bad about having Jason's haircut. If I pull on my hair, I can sometimes pull out like 9 hairs or something. That seems like a lot. Just pray that I can pull off the bald look!
Well this week has been a lot more productive than any week so far here in Veronezh. We will end the week with something around 17-19 lessons if all goes as planned. That is really good, except all of them but a couple have been with members. We still don't have any real progressing investigators. We need to spend more time finding people to teach but my companion thinks it's more important to have a lot of lessons than spend a lot of time searching for new people to teach. I think he kind of just doesn't want to spend time searching. The other thing is, we lost our area book somehow when we moved apartments. I was pretty upset and he didn't seem to care so we kind of got into an argument. Luckily, we had most of the progress reports we needed out of the book so we still have those. I just can't help but think we could have found someone from way back if we hadn't lost the book. My companion and I got in one more argument about missionary work. He told me he's tired and he's served his time (even though he's still got 5 months left) and I wasn't going to stand for that. I didn't really hold any of my opinion back so we kind of were mad at each other for a while but we got over it and now we will have the most lessons either of us have ever gotten on our missions. Hopefully he kind of woke up and remembered where he is and what we need to be doing. I will be pushing for more searching time this week so hopefully we can find an investigator.
Our Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. There were 18 people there, in an apartment in Russia. I'm still not exactly sure how it worked but it did. We just brought a veggie tray and some ranch. There was some Borsh, some Russian pancakes (pretty much exactly like swedish pancakes) turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and desserts. I ate a ton and we got to go home with a bag of mashed potatoes, some turkey and about 20 bleeny (the pancakes) which was a lifesaver because we had some weird situations with our money... as in we had absolutely none. We had to pay for the apartment and some other stuff and the bank had some problems so we didn't get our money when we should have. Anyway, the leftovers saved our lives and we used my gravy mix to eat the potatoes the next day. The dinner was a lot of fun because all of us missionaries brought a non member. It was a lot of fun to get to know people and find out that, just like us, the thing they are most thankful for is family. Thanksgiving wasn't too hard for me, I enjoyed myself so I wasn't missing home too much. Hopefully I am able to make it through Christmas with the same luck. I'm sure we will be riding a train to Moscow around the 23rd, that's crazy about the train. How does a train just explode? You should probably start getting your plans finalized for who is going to be where for Christmas so we can do the whole phone call thing as efficiently as possible. I'm excited to call you guys in a few weeks. We have zone conference on Saturday here in Veronezh. Since we will all be going to Moscow for Christmas, they decided to have 3 zone conferences, one in Moscow for all the close cities, one in our city and another in a different city that is far away. It will be 10 missionaries including the ap's and the senior couple, and the president and his wife. It won't be as much fun as when we have one big conference but it will be good. Hopefully we will find out the details on this Christmas so I can let you know next week what I can do, then the next week we can finalize everything then the next week will be time to call! It should be fun.
Well I'm glad Thanksgiving was fun for you all, even though it was a bit different. Thanks for everything. I love you guys!
Love, Elder Geddes
p.s. I probably won't be sending anything home this christmas... I don't really know how all that works yet. I will figure out what kind of stuff I can send safely and how much it costs and maybe send something home later. Let me know if there is anything specific anybody wants.