Happy Birthday

Hey everyone,

I'm 20! I decided that for a mormon boy, the age of 20 isn't real. You leave on your mission when you are 19 and come back when you are 21. Nonetheless, this is going to be an awesome year. This has been kind of a crazy week but a really good one. We had some bad news though and one of the sisters in our zone had to go home. Tuesday morning I was talking on the phone to the lady who handles our registration here in Veronezh. While I was talking to her, she got a call from moscow and I could hear her talking in the background, sounding very surprised. Then she picked up the phone and said, "Elder Geddes, Sister Corbet needs to leave now! Her mom just died." My stomach dropped. I had no idea what was happened or what was going on. The worst part was that since I had sort of overheard the news, I couldn't call anyone else to ask about it. I had no idea what I was supposed to do and so I just sat tight the whole day waiting for someone to call me. I figured that maybe President would call and tell me I needed to get a ticket for her to Moscow or at least fill me in on the news. We went about our whole day and I was just sick, thinking that Sister Corbett had gotten the worst possible phone call a missionary could get. To make matters worse, she had just set a baptismal date with a 17 year old girl the night before. Well nobody called me all day, so finally I called the Lowry's to ask what was going on. First of all, I had gotten some bad information. Her mom didn't die, but she was dying. Her mom has been battling cancer for a long time and I guess her kidneys and liver are beginning to fail. Sister Corbett had already gotten on a plane earlier that day and was in Moscow, with plane tickets to Canada set for the next morning. She had around 3 months left on her mission and it is unlikely she will return. I felt bad because it all happened so fast that I didn't get to say goodbye. Nobody felt the need to let me know, which was also annoying because I had worried all day that her mom had maybe been in an accident or something and I could just picture Sister Corbett getting that phone call. It is still very sad but I'm glad she will get to see her mom before she dies. Things like this put the plan of salvationtion into perspective. So right now, we are a sister down. Her companion, who happens to be a greenie, is now without a trainer. That could put a twist on transfers. Also, the reason we have a picnic today is because it was my birthday yesterday and Sister Corbetts in a few days. She wanted to have a combined birthday party for us. Pretty sad. I imagine it would leave a sort of unfinished taste in your mouth to have to leave your mission like that. I hope everything is okay and the family is handling things well. Everyone do me a favor, be safe and healthy for another year.

Other than that news, the rest of the week was really pretty good. We had two meetings with new people this past week, both of them we are excited about. Just last night we met with a woman who just walked into the church. She is a haircutter and we don't know who but someone was getting their haircut and told her about the church. She couldn't find time for a few months after that to visit but she finally found time. We got to her house last night and she had prepared a full meal, macaroni with some sort of beef soup stuff to put on top. She gave us fruit instead of tea because she doesn't drink tea either! Anyway, she and her daughter in law were there and we just answered their questions and got to know them. She had so many deep questions, a lot of them were really not important and I just wanted to say, that's not important! but we tried to answer them. We said next time we want to talk about where our church came from so that we will be able to actually teach her a lesson next time. She loved what she had to hear. She even teared up when we told her we use water instead of wine for the sacrament. We told her that in all actuality, the wine Jesus used was probably just grape juice anyway and she about jumped out of her chair and said I knew it! We can't wait to meet with her again soon. Her daughter in law was interested as well but not as much as the mother in law. She asked us how old we were and I said, actually I'm 20 years old today. She jumped up, grabbed a little wicker basket, filled it up with fruit, candy and cookies and gave it to me as a gift. She's a really nice lady.

My birthday was awesome. I was surprised how many people remembered and gave me a call to tell me happy birthday. Even a 80 something year old grandma that we sometimes take the sacrament to called me. It made me feel really good. President Woolley called me that morning to tell me happy birthday as well. Not to mention my package from mom. I don't know where to start with that. I have been eating maybe 5 animal crackers at a time so that it will last a little longer and I'm just not ready to open the Reeses Pieces quite yet. I opened the box the night before my birthday, partly because I just couldn't handle it anymore and partly because I knew I would be more in the mood to eat candy that night rather than at 6:30 the next morning. Oh well, I waited as long as I could. We went and did service at a home for children with tuberculosis, however you spell that. We knocked out a foundation of an old fence. It wasn't too hard but it started raining really really hard towards the end so we had to end a bit early. Then we went to McDonalds and ate lunch. All in all, a really great birthday.

Oh ya, I have a terrible haircut right now. I cut it way too short. It's not as bad as my companions, because the machine broke halfway through his. He's lucky it looks as good as it does, but we're not sure what to do since we have no money right now. We had to buy an ironing board and a cutting board and stuff and the office doesn't like to help out with things like that these days. Oh well, we will be getting our new money any day now, so we survived another month. My companion eats like an animal so we have to buy a few more groceries than we used to.

It has been raining nonstop for the last couple weeks, so it has been pretty cold. I hope it warms up soon but I know it will just get too hot.

Well, I've kind of got to hurry because we have to buy a little dessert for the picnic. Thanks for everything, for the letters that made for a happy after birthday day. I love you guys and will talk to you next week.

Love, Elder Geddes

Turning 20 W/year mark right behind

Hey everyone,

First of all, I just wanted to tell you a little bit about how awesome my companion is. I never would have admitted it, but I was a little more tired than I thought when I got him as a companion. I still have a strong desire to do this work but I noticed I had forgotten some of the little things they teach us in the mtc. No matter how hungry we are or tired we are, my companion always wants to try to visit one more less active or talk to a couple more people on the streets. He is an awesome example to me and has helped me rekindle my fire. That being said, this was a hard week! A very good week but a very week. I don't know if it's the fact that I'm nearing my one year mark or what, but this past week, I had a few different times where I felt like I have done the same exact thing every day for the past year and I have a whole year to go. I think this is exactly why I was blessed to have a greenie as I hit my year mark. I'm not saying I'm discouraged or burnt out or anything, I'm just saying, missions are hard. Anyone who has ever served a mission could probably say that there were days on the mission that you just thought you couldn't take it anymore. You just have to keep going and almost always at the end of the day you look back and realize you had a pretty awesome day. We have had a bunch of lessons already this week, mostly with members but still, they have been some good lessons. I am going to focus my second year on becoming an excellent teacher. Right now I'm not sure how I would rate myself as a teacher, but I hope to become one of the best. There is a quote in Preach My Gospel, I can't remember who it is by, but it says something like the best teacher is someone who can take things that might be hard to understand and teach it in a way that a child could understand. That's what I want to do.

I realized today that I forgot to write about the 9th of May. It's a huge holiday in Russia to celebrate the day Russia fought off Germany I think. Anyway, they throw a huge parade and everyone celebrates like crazy. I wasn't too impressed with the parade though. We got there a little late and had bad spots to stand. The parade isn't like ours at home either. We all gathered around Lenin square in the center of town and watched soldiers march and tanks and stuff drive around a bit. It would have been cooler if I could have seen anything that was going on. I'll send some pictures of it. Finally towards the end we had worked our way to a spot where we could see a bit better. It was pretty cool, just not what I expected.

I am making a lot of progress with my Russian I feel like. It's really nice to have a companion that speaks perfect Russian and good enough English to help me out. I like to think that I speak as good of Russian as he speaks English, although he has been studying English for a lot longer than I have studied Russian so of course he knows probably more words than me but he still makes mistakes. The other day we were talking and he said something about his jelley button, I had just taught him the word for belly button not too long before that, ha, it was pretty funny. Speaking of the word belly button, in Russian, the word is пуп pronounced poop, haha. Anyway, I am really falling in love with the Russian language. It is so rich and deep. There are a million different ways to say pretty much everything and each different way has it's own special meaning that can add that much more to what you are trying to say. I'm not sure how I'm going to do it yet, but I am going to keep working on Russian forever so I can master it someday.

Zone conference got postponed until next week. Elder Manzhos or something like that, will be coming next week to Veronezh with President Woolley. I think he is from the area 70. It will be really cool. Then the week after that we will be going to Moscow to see Elder Perry speak. There will be a missionary meeting Saturday morning and something else on Sunday. I'm not sure exactly what will happen but the rumor is that we will be staying overnight in Moscow so we can go to the meeting on Sunday as well. That would be pretty cool.

Well nothing extremely exciting happened this week, just a lot of hard work. I really wonder if I'll get transfered this transfer or if I'll stay in Veronezh for another. Honestly, I'm ready for a change of scenery. I would be fine to stay here for maybe one more transfer but I would also be okay with a move. We'll probably find out in a couple weeks what's going to happen.

So Justin Bagshaw got home huh? Is he the first from that group? There is still Jayde Kowallis, Tony Brown, Rick Berg, I think a few others right? Has he changed at all, other than the eyebrows? What's Caleb doing these days? I can't believe Garett is getting married today! You need to call him sometime if you get the chance and tell him hello for me. That's cool that the whole family was able to be in the temple. Is Katie going to go on a mission or what?

My package is still unopened. I'll admit, there is a tear in the box and I saw a bag of macaroni that I feel like could be a hamburger helper. I also saw animal crackers and what appeared to be a rice crispy treat. I have been tempted to open it so many times but I'm almost there so I figure I can just wait it out. I couldn't help but peek into the tear though. The Lowry's found an opportunity for a service project so the morning of my birthday we will be chiseling out a concrete base of an old fence from who knows how long ago. It should be pretty fun. We got to do service yesterday for that same old guy. My blisters just went away and we got to do it all over again. I was smart enough to ask for a glove this time. Remember how I said we chop the wood? He has a head of an old ax that we just pound into the logs with a sledge hammer. It's pretty fun and I have gotten pretty deadly with a hammer. Well, I busted his ax head, oops. He was pretty unhappy but he had a few other wedges for us to use so we were able to get the work done.

That is pretty funny about the dog. I don't understand what goes through his mind sometimes. He has a little bit of an attitude problem probably. At least he only ate the credit cards and not the cash, right?

Anyway, I'm doing good and I'm glad you all are too. Thanks for the letters, I always love hearing how you are all doing. I'm working hard and trying my best to serve the people here. Next time I write home, I'll be 20 years old! Love you guys.

Love, Elder Geddes

Another Visa Trip (4 more, but who's counting)

Hey everyone,

Well, of course, not much has happened since we last talked. It was really nice to talk to you all, it's just crazy how fast that time went. It should hold me over for another 6 months though. I just got back this morning from Moscow. My visa trip was a lot of fun and everything worked perfectly. We didn't almost miss any flights or busses, although we cut it pretty close to missing our train home. We made it with about 5 minutes to spare though. It's always so much fun to get together with the other members of my mtc district. They are some of the greatest guys ever. They are all working hard and having a good time just like me. It was especially fun now that Elder Guynn and Anderson are in my zone, we rode the train to and back from moscow. When we got back from Ukraine, there was nothing for us to eat so President Woolley took me and a couple other elders to McDonalds to order us all some food. There were a million people in that place but we bravely stood in line and ordered 13 big tasties, 13 fries and 13 milkshakes. It was funny. After we ate, I had a good interview with president. He told me he was proud of the work we were doing and he was proud of me. I can really feel his love for us as missionaries. We will be having zone conference here in Veronezh on I think the 24th and President said I have the training portion of the conference. I have to prepare a 30 minute training on contacting. I'd better start early and not put it off for the night before so that we can all learn something from it.

It sounds like you guys have had some fun the past few days. Is it getting hot there? It was in the 80's in Moscow yesterday. It's getting pretty warm here. That is so cool that Brian got his mission call, tell him congratulations for me and that he'll be a good missionary. I just remembered that Garett is getting married next week, that is just crazy. It didn't look like they are having any kind of reception in Soda, but if you see him any time soon, tell him congratulations and that he better not be an old boring married guy by the time I get back or I'll be mad. What's Matt Hart up to these days? I haven't heard from him in a long time. Is there any other news about people I know? I know there are very few that chose to go on missions but what is everyone doing? Adam, Ethan? Does anybody know? Anyway, I know this is kind of a lame letter but not a whole lot has happened since we talked on the phone. I'm glad everyone is doing good. Have a good week and I'll talk to you next week. Love you.

Elder Geddes

Mothers Day wishes from Russia

Happy Mothers Day Mom!

I won't be there to get you your flower after sacrament meeting this year but you should get one anyway and say it's from me. I love you and am so thankful for everything you do for me. I hope you have a great mothers day. Elder Khasbiullin and I sang a song for you but apparently I can't send it through an email, sorry, maybe I'll be able to send a picture instead. I can't wait to talk to you on Sunday! Love you.

Love, Elder Geddes

Busy Missionary

Hey everyone,

Sounds like things are going pretty good on your side of the world, things on this side are going okay as well. I am loving working with Elder Khasbiullin. He's a great elder and without a doubt will be one of the best in the mission. Hopefully when everyone sees how awesome he is they say, wow, he must have had a dang good trainer, ha. Just kiddin. He really is cool though. He wants to work hard and do a good job. I honestly don't have to do a whole lot as his trainer, it's pretty nice. As far as zone leader, it seems like everyone has at least one problem ever day. At 9:00 when we are planning, I get a call from every companionship in the zone pretty much and they all need me to answer some question or call the ap's to find something out or whatever so I never get to eat anymore at 9:30 like I usually did and I usually don't have a chance to even change out of my clothes until 10:30, but it has only been a week so maybe things will calm down this week. I actually really like being the one people turn to, it's pretty fun. I really like to talk to people so it's no big deal that they are always calling.

This week I have been showing Elder Khasbiullin around the city and we have been meeting with our investigators and less actives as usual. Last night we had a meeting with Dennis, that guy who we gave the loaf of bread to. We got to his apartment and he had a friend there with an open bottle of vodka on the table and an open pack of cigarrettes. Both men were drunk, the friend more so than Dennis. Dennis proceeded to tell us how we are just brainwashed little kids who someday need to grow up and figure things out. He is a mess and I'm afraid we can't help him. I especially don't want to keep going over there if he is going to be drinking. He won't allow us to get a word in anyways so I don't think we will continue to visit him. After the meeting, I told my companion that if I ever in life even think about leaving the church, all I will have to do is remember Dennis from Veronezh. His life is so sad, he is so miserable and has actually brainwashed himself into thinking that there is no God and that the church is just a system created by America in order to control the world. Dennis is the best example of being poisoned by degrees I have ever seen. Satan whispered in his ear and is carefully leading him away from God. His flaxen chords have become chains around the hands and feet, and most importantly, heart of this man. I am grateful for the chance I had to meet with Dennis as it has strengthened my testimony of so many different things. I know the church is the only path to happiness. Dennis knew that at one point in his life. Even though he is completely off the deep end right now, he still knows that the church is true and that it brings us happiness, he feels like he has gone to far from the church and can't get back so he has made up excuses and lies in order to justify himself. It's very interesting how God works. My testimony has been strengthened by a drunk man who tried to convince me that I am a worker in a business that we try to call a church.

Anyway, enough about that. After we met with him, we went over to Anatolie's house, the less active guy who Elder Cecil and I stole Cigarrettes from. We had such a nice meeting. Last time we were there, we left him with a list of verses to read from the book of mormon. He said he read through those verses probably ten times. We talked about repentance with him and by the end of the lesson, you could see a slight smile that he just couldn't seem to get rid of. His eyes were lighter and he had life in his voice. That is what the gospel is for. It gives us hope, even after we feel like we are hopeless. He eagerly asked us for another list of verses to study until our next meeting and promised to come to church this Sunday even though the meeting will be at 8 o'clock in the morning. It was a good ending to a strange day.

Okay, you can call me on Sunday. I think 8:30 a.m. would be the most convenient time for people right? Mom, I think I will try to give you a quick call when you wake up so we can figure out the best time. Once you read this email, talk to people to figure out if that time will work and how you will do it okay? Elder Tanner's parents called him today to make sure that works and it worked out, so hopefully it works for us as well. I will have a calling card just in case. I think that is all I have to say for this week, I'm really excited to talk to you all. Think of some good questions so we can use our time effectively okay? We are all going to go over to my apartment right now and make some borshe! I'm excited. I love you guys, thanks for everything. Talk to you soon!

Love, Elder Geddes