It's hard opening a city

Hey guys,

Okay, right off the bat I'll start with the cool story for the week. So one day we decided to mix things up and go straight out in the morning and contact at like 8 o'clock. We went out and started to talk to people and noticed that there were tons of people at this one bus stop. We wondered what was going on so we asked and found out that the president would be making an appearance and a speech and so the city was bussing people there to watch. Sometime last week were the presidential elections. From what we heard, President Nazerbaev received 95% of the votes! Everyone loves him here, but wow, I don't know if I can believe that one. Usually they have elections every 7 years here, but this one was different. President Nazerbaev was elected president until the day he dies! He's pretty much king of Kazakhstan now. He's already been the president for 20 years and he will probably be around for another 20 or so. Anyway, we decided it would be a once in a life time thing so we ran home, grabbed our cameras and ran back to the bus stop. We got on one of the last busses and got a free trip to the location of the speech. There were lots and lots of people there and we didn't really know what was going on, but we ended up getting in a pretty good spot. We were pretty close to the aisle where President walked down the red carpet. My comp got it all on film because he's really tall. It was pretty cool. He gave his speech in Kazakh, then in Russian. The whole city was pretty much just partying the whole day. There were open air concerts and food all over the place. It was pretty cool. I've never even seen the president of the USA but I've seen the president of Kazakhstan. Cool huh?

Well this week somehow went by really fast, as usual. I don't understand it. There are some days when I look at my watch and see that it is about 3 o'clock and I think, there is no way I'll be able to make it through another 6 hours of this. The next thing I know I am laying in bed thinking, how did I make it? I can definitely say that the Lord is strengthening us and helping us get through the days. Not that we are just here to endure our time, but even when we have a successful day and get good contacts, all day out on the streets talking to everyone you see takes its toll. I think all four of us have had a moment or two when we thought, that's it, I can't do it anymore. Mine was this week. We had a day with two lessons planned, one at 4 and one at 6. I was so happy, I thought, no problem, contact until 4 o'clock, take a break and teach a lesson, conctact for an hour, take a break and teach a lesson then finish off the day with an easy 2 hours of contacting. At about 4 o'clock we went to the branch to meet the guy, he didn't show up. We called and he didn't answer. I thought, oh well, it's not so bad, just two more hours and we'll get to teach a lesson. I was able to contact for the next two hours with a good attitude and desire. Then at 6 o'clock, we called the investigator to say that we were almost there and she said that she wouldn't be able to meet with us afterall. I just wanted to sit down right there and quit for the day. I didn't see how I could possibly go another 3 hours. It just didn't seem possible at all. I had actually that morning read in the Book of Mormon about the sons of Mosiah, how even they at times were discouraged. It says that the Lord strengthened them when their hearts were depressed and they wanted to turn back. I said a little prayer and just asked for some strength, to just make it to the end of the day. Off we went. We continued to talk to people and continued to work. That was one of those nights when I layed in bed and thought, how did I make it? Another miracle about the whole thing is that each morning at 6:30, I am able to wake up, and get out of bed without problem. I am so beat by the end of the day but the next morning I am able to jump up and do it again. This has been a trying month for me but I think I have grown, even in this month. I know I'll make it through this next two months and I'll be a better person for it. I really want to see some success here of course. I think it isn't out of the question to see some people get baptized before we leave, I really want to see some success. I know that most of what we are doing is planting seeds for the future, but it would still be neat to see some fruits.

The weather changed from winter to summer overnight almost. One day we were in scarves, hats, gloves, everything. The next we were just in our coats without hats and gloves, the next day we wore our suit coats and the next day we wore short sleeve shirts. We have played basketball at a nearby school a couple of times, last pday we played and this morning we already played. It was fun and some good exercise. It is actually getting hot here which is something I never thought I would say. Winter was long but it ended quick.

We have some cool things coming up. This weekend the Moores will be coming up here from Almaty. They are going to be taking us out to dinner on Saturday after our district meeting. The place we picked out is a 20 something story building with the restaraunt on the 23rd floor. The floor of the restaraunt rotates so that you can see the entire city. It's actually not that expensive so it will be really awesome. They will be with us at church on Sunday as well. Then the next weekend the ap's are supposedly coming up here too. We don't know which day exactly, but it will be a good change for a day or two. After that, the next thing will be Mothers day, calling home for the last time. Sometime in the middle of May, I think the 14 and 15 or so, we will be going down to Almaty for zone conference where Elder Schweitzer from the 70 will be there. After that it will be my 21st birthday, followed by my 2 year mark on a mission. Lots of cool things coming up.

It sounds like everyone is doing pretty good. I'm always happy to read about all the funny and cool things that happen at home. I hope everyone has a good week and lots of fun times. Love you guys.

Elder Geddes