Time marches on

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all your letters, I really love hearing from you all. I forgive you for emailing President Woolley mom, haha, I wasn't too embarrassed. I'm sure you aren't the only mom that has ever done that.

Well things aren't going exactly as I had them planned for my first week with my new companion, but all in all, I am very happy. My companion is an awesome kid with a real desire to work and help the people. He speaks Russian really well and has already taught me a few words. We have continued to speak Russian all week, partly due to the fact that we are with Elder Khussainoff, he has helped out so much, thanks to him we have set a solid pace for ourselves and our companionship to speak Russian to each other. We are still in a threesome and it is not always the most fun. We have been switching off working in both of our areas and sleeping in both of our apartments, it's not exactly ideal but we have made due. It's been pretty fun but I think we are all ready to get back into normal companionships. His companion had visa problems getting from Kazakstahn to Russia, which is why he is late coming. We think he will be here either saturday night or sunday morning. I can't wait. Being senior companion is a little harder than I thought it would be. Like I said, we are kind of lacking in the investigator area. President wants us to get 15 lessons a week and I know we can, but I really want to get lessons with different people. Elder Traasdahl and I seemed to meet with the same people week after week. That doesn't help anyone. We are going to be focusing a lot more on finding new people, along with getting our lessons in. Yesterday we did some finding and got a couple of good contacts. It was another testimony to me of how Satan tries to slow down the work. We spend a lot of time on the bus since our area is so big so it is important that we always try to talk to people on the bus. Sometimes it is just plan awkward and not fun because Russians don't talk on the bus. Anyway, I was feeling kind of sleepy and was sitting by a lady who was about 40ish and I was feeling like I just didn't want to talk to her. As I was starting to nod off to sleep, I decided that I just couldn't make excuses and needed to talk to her. I just asked her if she had ever heard of the book of mormon and told her a little bit about what it was and where it came from. She was really interested! Enough to even offer me money, a lot of people just think we are trying to sell the book. Anyway, I told her it was free and that we were just trying to help people have a chance to read it. I told her I would call maybe tomorrow or something and she said, give me a week, 2 days isn't enough to read the whole thing. I really hope she reads it and feels the spirit of the book. Also, we have made the goal to get in contact with every person we don't know from our branch list. We have been calling every number and fining a lot of people have moved or that we have a lot of wrong numbers. That will be a big service to the branch and to future missionaries. No wonder our activity rate is so low since half our members don't even live here anymore! And also it will give us a good amount of work to do as we track down all these people.

Sergey and Inna are.. okay I guess. They both missed church on Sunday. We have only been able to meet with both of them once since their baptism. Sergey needs a lot of support so that he doesn't fall back into the same crowds. We will keep working with him.

I am not sure if the package is in Moscow, I'll find out and let you know next week. I'm hoping to get it soon. We have had more weird money problems so I will be using personal funds to buy groceries today but I will be able to pay myself back in 2 days I think. Sometimes communication is just plain bad between us and Moscow.

That's crazy about the USU thing. What a weird guy. I'm not sure what password you were asking for, so I don't know what to tell you. Everything worked out right? What if I ended up wanting to go back to USU, is it still an option?

I'm glad to hear all is well at home. I'm doing good here and still having fun. I can't believe I will hit my year mark in 2 months, or that I'll be 20 in two months. Time flies. I realized I have already had my mission call for over a year and even went to the temple a year ago. That is just crazy to me. Well, I hope all is well there, thanks again for everything you guys do. I love you all.

Elder Geddes

Letter from the President

I was a little nervous that Jess hadn't written last week so I e-mailed his president to see if things were alright. I got an earful from Rob and Bob about it but I got this nice e-mail which made it worth it.

Dear Sister Geddes,

I tried to call your son on the phone when I read this email, but I didn’t reach him. I did talk with the senior couple in his area. Sister Lowry saw him yesterday. He is fine. He had decided to take his preparation day today because he was receiving a new companion this morning. His new companion is Elder Cecil. Your son is now a senior companion. You need to know that he is an absolutely special missionary. He is all that a mission president wants. He works hard, has a testimony, doesn’t complain, and is a real team player. You can be very proud of him. I expect you will hear from him today. If not please write me back.



Best regards,



President Woolley

Nervous mom, what can I say

Hey everyone,

Well, I figured I could get away with emailing one day late, what with transfers and all, but to my surprise I got a call from President Woolley this afternoon and he said, "Elder Geddes, I got an email from your mother, she's worried about you". At least I know I am loved but for future reference, wait until at least day two to email the president

Anyway, we picked up my new companion from the train station this morning. We will be in a threesome for a day or two while Elder Khusainoff's new companion is stuck in Kazakstahn trying to get a visa. Hopefully he will be here by Sunday though, threesome's are no fun. My companion is named Elder Cecil. He's from Sacramento. He is one transfer younger than me and is very energetic and enthusiastic. We have spoken Russian all day and will hopefully keep that going throughout our service together. I can't wait to get to work with him and revive this area.

Last Sunday I had the chance to be in the circle to give Sergey the Aaronic Priesthood. What a sweet experience that was to help him take one more step toward being a strong solid member of the church. Elder Cecil and I will be working closely with him and with Inna to help them along the way.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. We met with all the people Elder Traasdahl wanted to meet one more time before he left and then we had to spend pretty much the entire day Wednesday packing his stuff. I took the opportunity to clean the apartment really well. That's another thing I hope comes from this new companionship is a little bit of a cleaner apartment. I never understood why it bothered you so bad, mom, that I would always leave my coats, or my sweaters, or my clothes or just random stuff all over the place until I was companions with Elder Traasdahl. For some reason the guy doesn't belive in hangers or something because he had a pair of pants in ever room, shirts draped over every chair, and ties (still with a knot in them) all over the apartment. It is pretty annoying, isn't it. Anyway, Wednesday night when we went to the trainstation to drop off Elder Traasdahl and Elder Waite, four members and one investigator came to see them off. It was pretty cool that they care about the missionaries that much.

We will be moving into a new apartment pretty soon since we found one right by the branch in the same building as the other elders. President wants us all to live as close to the branch as possible so we are signing the contract tonight. Our landlady will be sad to hear it. She loves us to death. Every time she would come to pick up the rent, we would clean up real fast so when she got there she saw two american boys in shirts and ties, studying from the scriptures or other books, listening to some low classical music, ha. Also, all of our neighbors like us too. We have a bunch of old grandpas that stand outside our building and smoke and shoot the breeze and they always say hello to us and goodbye. One time our land lady came to the building while we weren't there and she said the old guys explained to here that of course we weren't there, we leave every day at around 11 o'clock. I thought that was pretty funny. I like our apartment a lot, especially since we live right by the mcdonalds but this one we will move into is nice too. It's a bit smaller but it is brand new and so we will be the first to live there. Also, it is 5000 rubles a month cheaper, so that's nice.

I still didn't get my package yet, maybe if it comes today or tomorrow to Moscow, Elder Tanner can bring it with him when he comes down here. I didn't even know it was St. Patricks day until later that day and I just happened to be wearing my green pants with my green tie, so I was safe. Molodetz mom, for doing all your phone stuff by yourself, how come you got a new phone? That's really cool that it hooks up to your car.

I am still feeling healthy as ever, of course with the exception of a few days here and there. Namely the morning after "The Ultimate P-day" If you remember me telling you about the ultimate pday and how the priesthood makes a big meal, I am starting to doubt that day. Last month it was hot dogs and macaroni noodles covered in butter. I figured it was just an off month. Last night was Greshka and nasty meat with a side of grease. Oh well, I have learned that anything becomes edible with just a bit of ketchup and mayonnaise.

Kind of a short boring letter but hopefully things start picking up real soon. I am so glad to be with my new companion and have a fresh new chance to get things done here in Veronezh. Thanks for everything, I love you guys and will talk to you next week.

Love Elder Geddes

Hello everyone,

First and foremost, Sergey and Inna were baptized and confirmed last weekend!! It was such an awesome weekend. I felt a lot of things over those couple days that I'll never forget. I found out I would have the chance to baptize Sergey, so I started getting a bit nervous and excited. We showed up on Saturday and were waiting for our baptismal candidates. I was feeling so scared and excited for them, hoping that they came through. Sergey was the first to come. That was the first time I really noticed the physical changes that were beginning to take place with him. His face had more color in it, he had a big smile, and he was wearing a suit and tie! I'm sure a combination of quitting smoking and the gospel fire helped his face to have a bit more color. Anyway, we still waited for Inna and she finally came. We got some pictures and went and got changed. Sergey's pants were way to big but we got them figured out. It was so cool to see him in his baptismal clothes. I even tied his tie for him since he didn't know how. We went and listened to the talks for the program then went downstairs to the baptismal font. Elder Traasdahl baptized Inna first and I had been going through the prayer in my head over and over again. Finally it was my turn. I got in the water first, followed by Sergey. We got ready and I closed my eyes for just a couple seconds to calm down and allow myself to feel the spirit. I said the prayer perfectly with as much power and authority as I could muster and then dunked him. And just like that it was over. He and his mom were both so happy. Later that night as I was writing in my journal, it really sunk in as to what I had really done that day. I had performed a saving ordinance for a 16 year old boy in Veronezh Russia. I would have never known about Sergey had I not been called to serve here, and yet I was able to participate in his first step toward eternal salvation. Of course, he still has a long way to go but he's that much closer to receiving the gift of eternal life. I was also able to participate in the circle the next day as both of them received the gift of the Holy Ghost. What an awesome feeling.

The rest of the week went by really fast. Yesterday we went to Lipitsk for Elder Traasdahl to do a baptismal interview with a lady. We actually had to go to a small town village thing where she lived. It was like stepping back in time. I was just joking as we were walking down the street and said, is this her house? Referring to a crooked old cement shack. The sisters said, yep. We knocked on the door and stepped inside. It was warm because they had all 4 burners on the stove going along with the actual oven itself with the door open. All I could think of was how dad told me that uses all the oxygen up, but luckily there is big gaps in the door frame and the windows are really drafty so hopefully they are getting enough oxygen. This woman was from Armenia, she spoke fine in Russian but for some reason she didn't understand very well. That's the reason she didn't pass the interview... oops. I'm glad Elder Traasdahl was smart enough not to pass her. She had some things that you can't just ignore, like the fact that she's not really married to her husband, and she didn't know some pretty crucial things. I'm afraid some missionaries overlook some things when giving interviews. It was crazy to see the conditions people live in. They had a terrible terrible outhouse out back of their house. Most houses around had some old wells in front of their houses.

I'm not sure what else big happened this week, we are in kind of a bad situation as far as investigators, we have been less than effective in the finding department. That will be something that will change starting next Thursday when my new comp gets here!! We just got a call from President Woolley. It was a bit surprising to say the least. Elder Traasdahl is being made AP for his last transfer... don't ask me why. Not that I don't feel like Elder Traasdahl is AP worthy but both he and the current AP are going home next transfer. That's weird to me. That means that I get to stay here in Veronezh. My new companion is Elder Cecil. He is one transfer younger than me, making me the senior companion. I will have a lot of work to do to try to get our area going again. I already have some big plans of things we will be doing different in this companionship. So, after three transfers, I will say goodbye to Elder Traasdahl. There were some good times, and there were some bad times, and there were some really bad times. All in all, I am still going to say that I learned from him. I learned a few things not to do, I learned some things that work, and I learned that I can keep my cool in some of the most trying circumstances. I know how to control my anger while still getting my point across. Elder Traasdahl had some good qualities. He was actually a pretty good leader. He remembered to do things people asked them to do, his only problem was that he has a really short temper and he takes everything very personally. I'm excited to get a breath of fresh air with Elder Cecil. I have only talked to him a few times but he seems like a really good kid. He was one elder that I thought would be a lot of fun to serve with. I'm pretty sure he speaks Russian really well for how young he is, he had a native companion for either one or two transfers. Anyway, I'm really excited about things right now.

Sounds like things are going pretty good back home, what am I going to drive when I get home? How is the blue car holding up? My birthday is coming up isn't it, weird. I think you will never go wrong by sending me oreos or packets of food mix. We have lots of taco seasoning at our apartment, even a big thing of Lawry's seasoning salt. Elder Traasdahl's mom sent him these things called pasta-sides. I used to buy them in wal mart when I was at school. Those were good, but I can't remember if they make enough for two people. Things get shared so if you find things that make enough for two people it would be the best. Hamburger helper was really good. I still have some spaghetti sauce packs. We really enjoyed those muffin mixes. Anyway, I haven't been disappointed once by the packages you send so don't worry too much. I feel like I am accumulating a lot of stuff so it might be smart to send me disposable things. I guess I won't send anything home this week since I won't be leaving Veronezh but someday I will.

I hope the session winds up on time for you dad. What's the economy like these days? That's cool that you guys saw Marie. She is a nice girl, so Aaron is still sick? I thought he just had to lay off the dairy or something. I need to write him and see how he's doing. I haven't heard from him since he told me about his problem. That's too bad.

It is slowly but surely becoming spring here. The sun is coming up in the mornings and staying out all day almost until 6 o'clock or later. We got a bunch of snow a few days ago but it is really nice weather. There are a lot of pretty places here too, there is an investigator we have that lives out in a pretty foresty area. Well, that's about as much as I can think of from here. Things are good, I'm happy and I'm glad I'm here. I love the work and I love learning all the stuff I am. Sometimes I feel like I'm just not the man for the job but other times I feel the support of the Lord helping me out. Thanks for everything. I love you guys and hope you have a good week.

Elder Geddes

p.s. I have a better picture of all four of us where Inna isn't closing her eyes, just not on my camera. The brown water is in our apartment. It's just like that sometimes when they shut our water off and turn it back on. The old guy just looked super Russian. I feel like if you turn it black and white or something it would look cool! Enjoy! Oh, and can you send this to Kayla please?

Mission Experiences

Hello everyone,

Wow, mom, I can't believe you! Ha, I hope you are okay and nothing serious happened, you need to be more careful! There is a girl here teaching English and she was recently with her friends taking pictures outside. She was walking backwards to try to get a better picture and slipped and fell forward. She tried to do the same thing and save her camera instead of her face and she had the biggest fat lip even the next day. She knocked one tooth loose but as far as I know it is fine. Anyway, the moral of the story is, prioritize. You need to save your face before you save your phone or camera! It sounds like you are having a good time there other than the fall, so that's good. Say hello to the kids for me.

Well I just got back from Moscow again this morning. I can't remember if I told you but our zone conference was yesterday in Moscow. It was so much fun and so spiritual. We had Elder Schweitzer of the 70 and his wife speak to us. I got a lot of motivation and promptings from the spirit of how to be a better missionary. I love when we have such powerful meetings like that. After the conference, Elder Traasdahl had a zone leader meeting so me and some of the other companions of zone leaders went out to do some contacting. We did some Dan Jonesing if anyone knows what that is. You probably would recognize the painting of Dan Jones if you saw it where he is standing up in front of a bunch of people just preaching. We did that outside the metro. We split up into groups of two and one person would yell for a few minutes while the other person was trying to talk to the people who were interested. It was scary but a lot of fun. Also, it wasn't that effective so we only did it for a few minutes. The trains were actually pretty good, I slept really well on both of them. We got back this morning at around 7:45. I thought for sure I would get the package you sent me but for some reason I didn't. I think the next chance I have to get it will be in about 2 1/2 or 3 weeks when my companion goes on a visa trip, if we are still together. Transfers will be at around the same time and a lot of stuff could happen. I'm not sure if president will just leave me and Elder Traasdahl together since it will be his last transfer or what. Anyway, I'm excited to find out. Our baptisms are still on but we had to move them back a week. They had a holiday called men's day so people got off of work and school for monday and tuesday. For some reason, that means they have to work on saturday so we had to move it to next saturday. That will be good though, it will give Sergey a few more lessons so he has a better understanding. That's really pretty much all that has been going on this week. I still have those times where I feel very inadequate and feel like I'm not doing anything here. I have never wanted to quit and I never will but I just have been having to work through some down times feeling like I just wake up every day to do the same thing but I think these two people getting baptized will help me realize that work is getting done. Also, we have reactivated a woman! I forgot to tell you about her. Her name is Anna and she hasn't been to church for a really long time. She has nothing against the church but her health isn't all that great. The solution to the problem though, was that she just didn't want to travel all the way to the branch building alone. We worked through the branch council and finally have gotten the branch president to start picking her up every sunday and taking her with him. It has been two sundays in a row now and I am pretty happy about it. It's things like that that help me push through the not so fun times. Anyway, that's about it. I hope you are all doing well. How are you hanging in there dad? Are you about sick of being in session? Hopefully Megan and Mica are having a good time in Vegas. Have a good week everyone and I'll talk to you later. Love you!

Love, Elder Geddes