Baptism!!!

Elder Geddes, Elder Hasbiullin and Ludmilla

Hey everyone,

Well the baptism was perfect! The sun was shining that morning and when we got to the church, Ludmilla was already waiting for us to get there. About 40 people showed up which was really great. It helped that there was a ward picnic planned after the baptism. There were a few investigators there which is also always a good thing. I thought we were going to have some problems about half way through the program though. I was sitting in the front row by Ludmilla and a woman was giving a talk about baptism. She was talking about 3 different points of baptism and was using a yellow flower to represent each point. As she would talk about the point, she would hand the flower to Ludmilla. About 5 minutes into the talk, Ludmilla started to cough a little bit. She coughs a lot and always uses the same excuse that she likes to drink milk with ice, ha. Anyway, she started coughing so much that she had to leave the room. We could all hear her just coughing up a lung outside of the room and a couple ladies went to help her. After about 5 minutes, one sister stood up and said, let's say a prayer for her. She offered a prayer and asked God to give Ludmilla at least a few more minutes of perfect health so she could be baptized. A couple minutes later, Ludmilla came back in the room and didn't cough one more time after that. It turns out she has allergies to certain flowers and these were just the wrong ones. Anyway, it was a pretty cool little miracle. Next it was time for the baptism. I was a little nervous once again but was confident I could do it. We got in the water, which was a little lower than it could have been, and I said the prayer. As I leaned her back, she stopped as her head started to go under, but her whole arm and even part of her head wasn't under the water. I didn't want to have to do it two times so I just used a little manpower and shoved her under. It worked perfectly and we didn't have to do it again. A couple of the members said they thought I was going to whack her head on the back wall of the font but all was well and she was baptized. She bore her testimony after the baptism and told us about how last year on June 19th she was crying in sorrow, but this year, she was crying for joy. It was pretty special. She didn't come to the picnic with us, probably because of her grandson. Maybe she went to visit his grave or something. All in all, it was a perfect baptismal ceremony.

The ward picnic wasn't as cool, ha. They had a bus take us out to this spot in the woods where there was a lake and spots to sit and cook food and stuff. A few of the members, including Anatoly, a 60 something year old less active guy, just stripped down to their little skimpy swimsuits and went for a dip in the pond. The missionaries and the other people who didn't go swim all played soccer for a while. Anatoly came and played after he was done swimming, barefoot and in his boxers. It was... weird. We had some hot dogs and juice and sat around for a while talking to the members and our investigators who were there, then it was time to go home. Everyone got a bit sunburned and was pretty wiped out after that. The AP's were here to do splits with us. They started with us after the picnic and were with us all the next day. I would say that I was pretty disappointed with the splits they conducted. Our AP's are Elder Khussainov and Elder Nutt. Elder Khussainov served here in Veronezh and was the zone leader before me. He's a little hard to get along with and has gotten worse since he's been ap. He's kind of on a power trip and it's not cool. He started out the splits with a sarcastic, negative attitude, complaining about our food, our meetings, the sleeping situations, and anything else he could think of. I was very disappointed with the example he showed as a leader. I worked with Elder Nutt. He's a good guy and a good Elder, but I can say that I didn't learn anything from him either. He has been on his mission for 2 transfers longer than I have. I feel like I speak better Russian than he does and was more capable of getting a quality contact from someone. Both AP's got us a couple of crappy contacts that we could have lived without. They were trying to show us the example of talking to absolutely everyone, but when it is a 70 year old man who is obviously drunk and probably doesn't have much of a home, I'm not sure they are the ones we need to be talking to right now. Anyway, I was happy to have them leave. I remember my other two splits I have gone on with ap's, and I can't tell if it was that I was so young and incapable that I just thought they were the coolest people in the world or what but I didn't get that impression this time.

This was all on Saturday. On Sunday, my companion gave the gift of the Holy Ghost to Ludmilla. I was in the circle as well and it was a very powerful spirit felt by all in the room. Confirmation is one of my favorite ordinances in the church. Hearing the words, receive the Holy Ghost, then feeling a very powerful feeling of love and happiness is about the best way to strengthen your testimony there is. It was an awesome meeting.

Monday was the beginning of a very hard couple of days. We had all of our meetings cancel on us and even had a couple of investigators kind of fall out of the books. We had the same thing happen on Tuesday and are quickly realizing that we will need to spend some serious time on the streets and on our knees to find some people to teach. I just don't know what to do exactly. We are struggling to find investigators. This just goes to prove my theory of how the mission goes. You have absolutely nothing, but if you work hard and don't give up, the Lord will send you someone. For a while, things will be perfect and you will have plenty of work to keep you happy, but after you baptize that person, you are back to nothing. I have been in Veronezh over 7 months and have seen this cycle happen not only to me but to all the companionship's in the zone. It's a trial of faith and dedication so all you can do is put on your shoes and get to work. That's what we'll be doing for the next little while.

This week, we received two mini missionaries from Kazakhstan to serve in our zone making our zone the biggest in the mission. We now have four sisters and four elders in Veronezh, with 2 sisters and 2 elders in Lipitsk. The mini missionaries will be here for the rest of the transfer. The one in Lipitsk has only been a member for a few months, and the one here has been a member for a number of years. Neither one of them know much about how missionary work is done, but they will learn quick. I am praying for guidance and help to be a good leader and a good example to all these people. I hope I am doing a good job and that I am not a burden to the zone.

We have a zone conference on the 2nd of July and the sisters have a baptism on the 3rd, so those are the events keeping me going this week. It will be an exciting and fun week next week, hopefully better than this one has been so far.

President told me last transfer that this will be my last in Veronezh, we'll see if he holds to that. I'm trying not to think about it because it can be pretty detrimental to your work if you just think about where you will serve and with who you will serve next. I can honestly say though, after Ludmilla's baptism, I am ready to leave Veronezh. We'll see what president decides to do in a few weeks though.

Anyway, it sounds like things are going good back home. I'm glad you are all having a good time and doing well and staying busy. I forgot that last Sunday was Father's Day, so happy fathers day to all the fathers in the family, especially mine. Hope you all have a good week! Love you all.

Elder Geddes

A trip to Colorado

We had a trip to Colorado this week with the whole family except Jess. It was bitter sweet without him and there was a large hole that was very noticeable. We had a good time though all the same. Megan and Mica and the kids left Iowa and the rest of us left from Soda and met Friday night in Fairplay Colorado. We stayed in a cabin that sat right on the top of a mountain and was just breathtaking. It snowed almost everyday we were there but it was fun to just sit and watch it and know we didn't have anywhere to go. We played games and told funny stories and ate until we were sick, it was great. We played with the grandkids and watched our kids parent them. We stayed up way to late and got up way to early and had naps mid morning if we wanted. I don't think we have been that relaxed in a long time and it felt good. We spoiled the grandkids and then let their parents deal with the aftermath, which by the way, wasn't all that bad. We found new games and watched a lot of HDTV and movies. We remembered lots of stories from childhood, some memories were better than others, and laughed until our sides hurt. The sons and daughter-in-law probably wondered what they had married into but laughed nontheless. It was a great relaxing time for all and we are already planning for next year when Jess can laugh right along with us and add his stories to ours. Here are a few pictures to document our good time:

Joy through serving the Lord

Hey everyone,

Well, I am just a happy guy right now. Things are going so well and I have had the best past couple of days. Mostly all of my happiness is coming from the fact that I met Ludmilla. She hasn't stopped amazing me every time we meet. She asked to meet with us every day so that she could be ready for baptism on the 19th. We finished teaching her everything we are required to teach, then we went through the baptismal questions with her. She answered them all so perfectly, but we still had to have her talk to President Woolley, but that is later in the letter. Anyway, after the lesson we had with her, which was with a member, the member was talking to me and asked something about when I will leave Veronezh or something. Ludmilla thought that I would be here for my whole mission I think so that was news to her. Ever since then, she has been a little worried about me leaving. She sticks close by my side like a puppy when we're together. She told me that I'm already like a son for her and that especially since I will be the one to baptize her, that makes us family. I agreed with her 100% and will definitely miss her when I have to leave Veronezh. She has told me a lot of interesting things about her life that just show me how God has been preparing her for this decision her whole life. She is so excited for her baptism. She says it will be a day of black and white, a day of death and birth. Remember that her grandson was hit by a car two years ago on the 19th of June? She of course will be sad about that memory but is so excited and fully understands that baptism is truly a rebirth. She told me a little more about her grandson. She said that he was always afraid of cars, and when he would see a car coming down the road he would grab his grandma's hand and hold tight. Two years ago, he saw a car coming down the road, but he also saw a two year old boy playing in the road. I have no idea where that little boy's parents were but her grandson ran out in the road, pushed the two year old out of the way and was hit by a guy driving over 90 km an hour down a residential road. He saved the two year old boy. I told her that her grandson is a hero and that I know for a fact that he is in the kingdom of God right now. She agreed.

There is a member here who had a birthday on the 25th of may, then went to the temple right after that. She promised that we would have a birthday dinner and celebration for both of our birthdays when she got back and it finally happened yesterday. It was so much fun. We brought Ludmilla, the other elders were there with an investigator and the sisters were there with an investigator. We all pitched in for the groceries and had a good dinner. Somehow it turned into my birthday party more than just a fun get together. There was a cake with 20 candles, a happy birthday poster that everyone signed and I even got a couple presents. Ludmilla signed the poster and directed her note to you guys, mom and dad. She said she takes a bow to you and is thankful for the fact that you sent me here. She said you can be proud of your kind loving son and that you can know that there are people in Veronezh who love me as a son. I thought that was pretty special. I'm going to keep that poster forever. I found that the biggest downfall to staying in a city this long is that I have grown to love so many people here. It will be so hard to leave when I finally have to. I don't know what I'll do. While we were together, we had Ludmilla call President Woolley to talk about some things. We told her she would need to do that and she was so nervous but so happy at the same time. She understands the process of repentance and was excited to do it the right way. After she got done talking to president, he talked to me for a minute and said that both he and his translator were touched by her spirit and were so glad that we had the opportunity to teach her. After her phone call, she was just so happy. She knew she had taken one more step towards true repentance and she could feel the love of God in her life. It was such an awesome night. The other elder's investigator who was there hit it off pretty well with Ludmilla. It was really good because she has been struggling herself to make a decision to be baptized or not. I know Ludmilla will be a key instrument in the Lord's hands in bringing people to the gospel. She's amazing.

The baptism will be this Saturday at 9 in the morning. We are having it early because there will be a ward picnic later that day. It will be a pretty special day for everyone. Our ward mission leader wanted to do the baptism in the river, which I was kind of happy about but we ended up deciding to do it in the nice font that we have in the church. I think that is best in the end. I will take lots of pictures to send to you guys. Have you gotten the pictures I've been sending lately?

Elder Hasbiullin is still doing awesome. He's pushing me to be the best I can be as well. We taught 22 lessons this past week, my personal record. President has asked us to try to get 20 lessons a week now. It will be hard but if it is something our leaders have asked us to do, then it's possible. We are on track to do it again this week too.

Well I was glad to hear you all had a good time on the trip. I can't say it was exactly fun to read about all the fun but I'm happy for you all, ha. Next time I hope to be there. A year is nothing and it is already going by faster than I can imagine.

I have been sweating more than ever lately. It has been in the 90's and humid as ever. That kind of weather just drains your energy and makes you smell like an animal, but what can you do. We even got one of our lessons canceled because they said it was too hot! She said she was on her way home but that she had to stop and go to her sister's house because she wouldn't have been able to make it all the way to her house in the heat (it's not that bad by the way) I just thought that was a funny excuse. Today is a lot cooler which is a relief. I haven't slept under a blanket in quite a while.

I have one hamburger helper left and still lots of my crystal light juices. I really like those, unfortunately so does my comp. But there were plenty in there to share so it's okay. The a.p.'s will be coming to Veronezh this weekend to do splits, it should be pretty cool, they'll be here for the baptism. Anyway, I think that's everything. I love you guys and am glad you all got to write me. Thanks for everything. Talk to you next week.

Elder Geddes

Another Baptism

Hey guys,

Well, I'm not really sure what letter President Woolley sent you but it seems like it was a little old. Those 6 elders and 2 sisters came in at the beginning of this transfer. We just got one new sister for the next transfer to replace Sister Corbett who had to go home, and one sister got transfered into my district. I am staying in Veronezh for one more transfer as the zone leader. I'm pretty sure I will get to come out after this transfer but I'm really glad I got to stay one more. My companion is awesome and yesterday, Ludmilla asked me if I would baptize her. I was very humbled and honored to have her ask me. I know the Lord uses his missionaries to bless the lives of those who are ready to accept the gospel. I'll get to Ludmilla in a little bit though.

The trip to Moscow was really fun. We got there early in the morning and just relaxed a bit until the meeting was supposed to be starting. Elder Perry was great. I can't believe how healthy and active he seems for how old he is. I guess he will be turning 88 years old on August 5th (Rob, did you know you shared a birthday with him?) He and his wife were so happy to be here with all of us. We got to go through and shake his hand and tell him our name and where we are from. It was pretty funny, someone would say a city like South Jordon or something and he would reply, "that's terrible!" or "well it can't get any better than that!" It was pretty funny. He said he knew where Soda Springs was at, so that was cool. He got up to start his talk and said that he would be giving his first talk using his new iPad, whatever that is. It looks like a big ipod touch. Then he said, "I hope it works, but I don't trust it" and he held up an old notebook and said, "just in case" His talk was actually just the lesson on the restoration. It was interesting and he had some different insights into things that I hadn't thought about but for the most part it was just the basic first lesson. The cool thing is to think back on the "basic" first lesson and realize that I felt the spirit as he testified of principles of the gospel. He shared with me something I had heard and actually shared with others hundreds of times but yet I was still able to feel the spirit. After the meeting, a bunch of us went to one of the markets in Moscow to find a tie store. We hit the jackpot and found a store with probably a thousand ties in it, all for 100 rubles! I bought 7 ties for somewhere around 20 dollars, and they are all awesome ties! I was pretty happy about that. I want to come home with a nice suitcase full of ties, because you just don't find these in America. My companion from the mtc is sitting at around 45 or so ties that he has bought here. I'm at I think 11 or so. Not bad. After that we just kind of relaxed at the branch building in Moscow. The missionary room there has a ping pong table and a fooseball table and some couches and stuff, it was pretty cool. Our train home wasn't too bad at all.

We got back Sunday morning with plenty of time to get ready for church. It was fast and testimony meeting and it was one of the best ones ever. I was still able to feel the spirit, even though I was translating the whole time. I don't think I have told you, but I always translate the sacrament meetings for the senior couple and for a group of American English teachers. There is some program called ILP and so there are groups of students that come here for a couple of months at a time to teach English. One of them by the way is the girl who sent me that email. We did a couple service projects and they came as well, and they would come to family home evening and stuff too. They were cool but they're gone now. Anyway, I was translating for them and then Ludmilla, our investigator got up and bore her testimony. It was so awesome and all the women were crying. She testified that she knew God had led her to this church and had led her to me and my companion. She shared with the ward the story of her grandson who was hit and killed by a car 2 years ago. She shared an experience that she had where her grandson came to her in a dream and told her she needs to be close to religion. She told everyone that he was killed on June 19th, and that she thought June 19th would be a miserable day for the rest of her life but now that she has found us and has the plan to be baptised on the 19th, it will be a happy day for her. After the meeting, everyone came up and talked to her and thanked her for her testimony. It was a very sweet experience. We have been meeting with her almost every day, give or take a couple days. It has been such an awesome thing to teach her the gospel. She is amazed constantly at the simplicity of gospel truths and has said several times, "why am I just learning this?!" She said she knows it's true because every time we come to teach, she just wants to hear more and more. She is finding so many answers to questions she didn't think had answers. It has been so amazing to watch the small flame of interest she had when we first met her turn into an unquenchable fire. She has found something she has been searching for her whole life and she is excited. Yesterday we didn't have a meeting scheduled with her but she called and said she would be in the area and asked if we could meet her at the branch and teach her a lesson. We taught a lesson about the last three steps of the gospel, baptism, receiving the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. As we were talking about baptism, she asked us a few questions about how it takes place and what exactly will happen. She then asked who was going to baptize her and we told her it was her choice. We went on with the lesson a little further and she stopped us and said, "Well Elder Geddes, it's going to be you that will baptize me. I met you first, and if I hadn't have seen you in the hall, I would have just turned around and left" I didn't know what to say but it was probably the happiest I have been on my mission. I told her I would love to baptize her. I can't really think of a greater thing than to get to baptize someone who I know has been searching for the blessings of the gospel her whole life. It will be a sweet experience that I will never forget.

It sounds like everyone is excited for the big trip to Colorado. It sounds like a lot of fun. You'll have to take some pictures and tell me all about it. Don't worry, I'm happy here in good ol' Veronezh, I won't get too homesick. That is so sad about Donavan's mom and grandma. I can't believe that. That has to be the worst thing ever to have happen on a mission. Be careful everyone! I have been craving a temple session the last while. Sometimes I feel like there is just too much filth all around, with immoral pictures all over the streets, immodestly dressed women everywhere, I could really just use a couple hours in a perfectly pure and clean house of God. I'm really hoping once the temple gets opened up in Kieve we will get to go somehow, maybe on a visa trip. I'm pretty sure we will be able to.

It is getting really really hot here. It's getting up into the 90's which isn't too fun. Everyone smells terrible on the hot and stuffy buses. To make matters worse, I ruined one of my short sleeve shirts the other day with the iron. I burnt the collar pretty good on accident. I have to wash my shirts almost every time I wear them because they get so sweaty and dirty around the collar. Anyway, that's about all that's been going on here. I'm having a good time and am trying my best to always be trying to be a better person. Thanks for your letters and love. I love you guys, have fun on your trip.

Elder Geddes

The year mark has come and gone

Hey everyone,

Well I have a great letter to write today. I'm glad I get to write because at first I wasn't going to. We are going to Moscow this weekend to see Elder Perry. The president doesn't want us to waste too much time so he asked us to take our pday on Saturday after the meeting that will end around 11:30. I wasn't going to want to find an internet cafe to spend my time in while I was in Moscow, no offense, but I decided to make an executive decision as a zone leader and allow my zone to have 45 minutes or so to write home because nobody was going to write home from Moscow. Anyway, I'm glad to write because I have had probably the best most miraculous week and a half ever. The story is about a woman named Ludmilla. It starts two Sundays ago on May 23. We were all in our third hour of our meetings when I got a phone call from an old grandma in the ward that we take the sacrament to. I ignored the call maybe 3 times but she just usually keeps calling back until I answer it. So finally I went out in the hall to answer the phone and as I was out there, the security guard (nonmember) came walking up the stairs with a lady and he told me she had some questions. I talked to her for about 5 or 7 minutes about our church. She said back around Christmas she was at work (she's a barber) and somebody came in and got a haircut and told her all about their church and how it saved and changed his life. She couldn't remember his name or anything but she remembered his story. She was busy with work and what not so she never found a minute to come visit us. She recently quit her job and luckily remembered the client she had had a few months back and decided since she had some time, she would come see what we are all about. I told her a little about our church and the Book of Mormon. I didn't have a copy on my since I left my bag in priesthood so I told her I would go grab my bag. I also grabbed my companion. We talked to her for another few minutes, explained the Book of Mormon and gave it to her and got her phone number. We said we would call back in a few days to meet with her. She was the one that called us a couple days later. Of course I was excited to get a contact but you never know what kind of contact it is until you meet with so I wasn't too worried about her. When she called, she was pretty upset because she had read part of the book and got to the part where Nephi kills Laban. That is a big hang up with a lot of people and I thought she wouldn't be the first investigator we have lost because of that story. Anyway, Elder Khasbiullin got her to agree to meet with us so we could discuss it a little bit. We met on my birthday, I think I told you a little about that meeting. It was kind of all over the place because she had so many questions. We were able to answer a lot of her questions and get a good meal. We said goodbye and invited her to come to church. Sure enough she was at the church building 15 minutes early. This was the weekend that President Woolley was going to be here so there was a lot of stuff that we had to do. My companion and I were translating meetings between the branch president and our mission president for most of the morning but I was able to sit with Ludmilla at sacrament meeting. She loved what she heard from the talks which were all about temple work. After that, we went to Sunday school with her and she loved what we learned about the holy ghost. We had combined priesthood and relief society and had a good lesson in which she even stood up and shared an example from her own life. After church was over, President Woolley had a fireside about the pioneers. It was about an hour and a half and Ludmilla just loved it all. She told us that she will be at any activity that our church has in the future, so we asked if we could meet with her as well and continue our lessons. We met with her the next day and taught the first half of the restoration. The lesson went well and she asked a lot of questions. We addressed the whole Nephi vs. Laban thing and completely fixed that problem. The spirit was strong but I think Satan tried to put a bump in the road because I felt like the discussion was leading to a baptismal commitment but at the time the spirit was the strongest, Ludmilla's daughter in law came home with a screaming 4 year old kid so that kind of put that out, but all in all it was a really good lesson. We asked when we could come back to continue and she said, you can come tomorrow and the next day and the day after that! So we said, okay, see you tomorrow. That brings us to yesterday. We got there and picked up the lesson where we had left off and taught the rest of the restoration. We taught in unity and with power. At first she had a bit of a hard time focusing and kept bringing up sidetracks but we handled them well and continued the lesson. As we got to the Joseph Smith story, there was a very real and powerful spirit in the room. We decided to watch the first vision from the restoration film and after that we bore testimony to her that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. She sat reverently and listened to what we had to say. We had talked about the steps in the gospel, faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the holy ghost and enduring to the end. She said, well what about baptism? I was baptized as a baby but does that count? We boldly told her that, while people truly believe they are doing the right thing in being baptized, that it was only baptism by someone holding the authority of God that will save her. She asked, who has that authority then? We said, both of us have the authority to baptize. She then said, then I'll probably be baptized by one of you, right? That was such a relief. I knew she would accept the call to be baptized. We have two ladies that are being taught by the sisters who will be baptized the 19th of June and so we extended the invitation to her as well. She immediately accepted. We have another meeting with her tonight. I couldn't believe how ready she was to hear the gospel. Now I understand what it means that the Lord is preparing people for us to teach. Now I understand that there really are people out there searching for the gospel, searching for the truth not knowing where to find it. Now I know that the message of the restoration will cause people to act because they feel the truthfulness of the message. It has been a pretty awesome past couple of days.

It is so interesting to me how the Lord works. I always tell those missionaries in my zone that we need to work hard through the dry spells because the floods are coming. I know that the Lord wants to see if we will continue to work even when we have no real progressing investigators. He wants us to be worthy and ready to accept those who he has prepared himself. We have all been working hard. Nobody has given up, nobody has a poor attitude, nobody is lacking in faith. We have had a dry spell since the 6th of March when Inna and Sergey were baptized. We worked through the dry spell and now, on the 19th of June, 3 people will be baptized. Monday, my companion and I conducted splits with the elders in Lipitsk. I worked with Elder Guynn, my mtc companion. We were talking about our missions and he was telling me about one of his companions who had quite a bit of success. I asked how he would find these people and he just told me, the Lord just led people to him. He said this elder was a very good teacher and was so good at helping people understand. He said what he learned from that elder was that sometimes, the best way to find people is to be worthy and prepared for the Lord to lead those people to you. That is exactly what has happened here.

Anyway, zone conference was pretty cool too. My training went well and it just so happens that it was a lot about having the faith to find. I got to have another interview with president and he expressed his thanks to me for doing a good job. I really can feel his love and appreciation for us as missionaries. His mission is so big that he just can't get everywhere and do everything he needs to do sometimes so he has to rely on others a lot. I'm glad he can rely on me. Also, he was very impressed with my language abilities. He has never really seen much of what I can do but as I got to translate for his meeting with the branch president he was able to see that I really am learning this language. That made me feel pretty good. Tomorrow we will be getting on a train to Moscow. Our meeting starts at 9:30 and we all need to be there by 9 to shake hands with Elder Perry. I wonder if he remembers meeting Rob and me, I'm sure he does, right? ha, The meeting ends at around 11:30 and we will have lunch. After that, it is straight to the market! I'm looking to come back from Moscow with about a million new ties. Rumor is that there is an awesome market where all the elders buy ties. I hope we find it. Then we will get back on a train that night and be home in time for church the next day. We were going to get to stay in Moscow and go to the Sunday meeting with Elder Perry as well but President decided not to have us do that. That's okay, I'm sure he will fill us all in.

Anyway, that is about all that has been going on. I was thinking about what I was doing a year ago. I remember being pretty nervous, not even really tasting my last meal at home (a&w) or sleeping much that night (on the couch, since I wasn't allowed to mess up the beds) I remember that next day being so crazy, finally realizing that night that I would be gone for 2 years. One year has passed and I just can't believe it. It doesn't seem possible that it has been a year. I have learned so much but it feels like I'll never learn enough. I know I will be able to enjoy the second year of my mission even more than my first.

Thanks for the letters, you all have done an awesome job of writing me faithfully for a whole year! I love you guys and am glad you are all doing well. Unless I'm mistaking, I have no clue about this Colorado trip. Maybe I just skimmed over it or maybe you forgot to tell me. Or maybe I just blocked that one out because it sounds like so much fun. Anyway, have a good week. I love you guys.

Love Elder Geddes