Kiev Temple Dedication

These are some pictures of a Russian Temple called Temple of the Savior. I didn't want you to think this was the Kiev Temple. Someday he will send pictures of the Kiev Temple when he gets to do a session there at his next visa trip



Hey guys,

This week has gone by so fast! We had a great time in Moscow at our training meetings and have been trying to work on the things we learned there. One thing they focused on a lot was asking inspired questions during lessons and really listening to the answers. We got home late Friday night. The next day was Kaluga day! It was cool. We really didn't remember that it was Kaluga day but we were buying groceries and could hear some loud music. We decided to go check it out and found out there was a big stage set up in the center of town with a bunch of dancers performing. We stayed for a while and got to see a lot of really neat cultural dances. I made some cool videos so you will be able to see how it was. It was raining the whole time. Even though we had umbrellas we got pretty wet. Anyway, Saturday went by fast. We woke up early Sunday morning and met all the 7 members at the train station and headed to Moscow for the temple dedication. We were really glad to have so many people come from Kaluga, it was really important that as many people as possible saw the dedication. When we walked in and sat down and waited for it to start, the screen was showing video footage of different temples around the world. I felt so good and then I remembered that we had to show our temple recommend to get in, meaning it was like we were in the temple. I remembered the feelings I had as I went to the temple over a year ago. I had kind of forgotten what the spirit felt like, especially in such a high dosage like we got on Sunday! It was such a warm great feeling. You can't help but KNOW that the temple is the house of God and that this is his church on the earth today. It was a great experience. We went to the second session so we didn't get to see the cornerstone ceremony, but the dedication was great. President Monson was there along with Elder Uchtdorf and Elder Nelson. There were other members of the 70 and also the president of the temple and his wife. The talks were great. Elder Lawrance, I think he is in the area presidency or something here in the East Europe area, anyway, he gave his whole talk in Russian. It wasn't very understandable at times, but it was pretty impressive. I remember when Elder Nelson came to Veronezh to dedicate that building and he bore his testimony in Russian. It was really special to the members I'm sure. President Monson put his translator to the test, as much of his talk was unscripted. He did a great job. Elder Nelson led the Hosanna shout, a lot of people, myselft included, kind of got left in the dust. I didn't have my handkerchief quite ready and I was trying to do it in Russian so I got a little off. It was cool anyway. They had a choir from Moscow in the room and they sang a few songs. They did a really good job. It was just really cool. After that, we had some time before our train so we went to a Russian temple, probably the most famous, "Temple of the Savior" it's called. It's really pretty, something that would be cool to show my family someday in the future. We weren't very prepared and had no food so we had to go buy some. We found a mall and decided to go to the food court. When we got there, much to our surprise, we found a BURGER KING!! I couldn't believe my eyes. We both got ourselves a nice big double whopper. It was so delicious, but I don't think my stomach liked it too much. I'm still paying for it I think. Actually I think it might just be a seasonal thing. When the seasons change, it always bothers my stomach. Nothing too serious of course, but I have just noticed that it seems to happen when the seasons change. It has started getting pretty chilly here. It has been raining a lot lately which is part of the reason. It all happened way fast though so I think my body is just confused about what's going on. Oh ya, some great news, our shower got fixed finally! I can't remember how much I filled you in on the shower situation but to make things short, we went almost two weeks on 3 showers. We took two showers at our landlady's house and one in Moscow. When we got back, they were finishing up the job. I'm so happy!

From Monday until today, not a whole lot has happened. We have been having a hard time again finding people to meet with. It has been hard to get contacts this week because it has been raining almost every day and people just don't like to stop and chat when it is raining. We had a family night last night at the branch. We had a pretty good turn out. We were really happy to see that a mom and her daughter finally got back from their vacation. We started to meet with them before english club and talk about the gospel. They have a Book of Mormon and they have a lot of questions. Just when things started to go good, they left for almost a month on vacation! But they are back now, so we will start trying to meet with them again. Anyway, things are going pretty good. You're right about President Woolley and his wife, they are great people. They have high hopes for us and are always encouraging us and helping feel loved and appreciated. President really wants us to baptize someone here in Kaluga. I am praying that we will be able to find at least one person who is interested in the gospel. One of my first days in Kaluga a woman saw us on the street and asked for a Book of Mormon. I have been keeping in touch with her this whole time. She just keeps saying that she wants to read more of the book before we meet. Finally a couple nights ago I talked to her and she asked if she could come to church. She will be there on Sunday I hope. Maybe she's the one person that will be interested. If not, we will keep looking.

I'm glad everyone seems to be doing well at home. Thanks for the letters and the support. I love you guys. Have a great week and I'll talk to you next week.

Elder Geddes