Thursday, October 29, 2015

Week 65
Dinner with the Callejas
  This week was a super busy week which made for a great week!  The weather is starting to change as the leaves have been falling and it's been raining a lot more.  My companion thinks it's super cool...he'll be in for a treat in about a month or so.  
  We were able to bring six different members to some of the lessons that we had which was super awesome!  First we were able to see our investigator Re. a few times this week.  The first lesson of the week went pretty well y she really felt that she  needed to improve on reading. We helped her with a few ideas so she would be able to read.  So by the next  lesson later on in the week she had read the chapter that we left her!  This lesson we were able to teach the Plan of Salvation.  We were in a trio with Elder Doty that day, and as well as a member had come with us to the lesson.  We start teaching the Plan of Salvation and it is going super well. She felt that it just made sense that we lived with our Heavenly Father on the earth.  We then talked about Adam y Eve y she said "I heard it was part of God's plan that they were supposed to fall".  Very rare that I have had an investigator that already knew it.  After that she had questions about our purpose on life, and it just led the lesson perfectly.  By the end of the lesson she was telling us that is just makes sense especially that God would give everyone a fair chance to accept the gospel.  We had talked about baptism with her before, but at the end of the lesson we were able to set a solid baptismal date in November!  So that was a great experience as the Spirit testified unto her about the great plan of happiness!  We are excited to continue helping her as she feels she has reached a point of her life where she needs to turn herself over to the Lord.  She was planning on coming to church but unfortunately the morning of her baby was sick y she wasn't able to come.  Next week she should be coming though! 
 On another day we had planned to go to an appointment that we had with a lady we had found y we had brought a member.  We go knock on the door, and they were cooking so they asked if we could come back in  a few hours.  After that it was just about time to head to dinner, but I felt that we needed to knock on this trailer on the corner.  A guy had told us to visit it, but we were not sure if that was even the right one.  Some kids were outside y they said that their mom was inside. We knocked and the mom answered, and was just kind of confused who we were.   We explained that we were missionaries, but she still just had a puzzled look on her face. She had never heard of us or our church before. She wanted us to sit down and tell her more.  We explained to her the basics of what we do as missionaries and what we believe.  Then Elder Ceron mentioned something about eternal families, and she cut him off mid sentence and said "speaking of that my husband and I were about to separate not too long ago, but we decided to wait and endure a little longer.  My  husband told me that he felt that some people from a church were going to come to their house, invite them to church y help them become more united as a family!"  She was telling us how we probably didn't believe her ha ha.!  A few days later we were able to come back and teach her with an awesome member from they ward.  That was super cool, and amazing how God always guides us to where we need to go as long as we are listening.  She was telling us that she thought there was no way people would come,  because they don't know a lot of people here, and the she said and here you are.  God works in mysterious ways!  
  We are continuing working with Cla. y it is going super well!  I've said this before, but recently we can tell the difference in his character and how he acts ,because of the changes he had started to make.  His family keeps telling us how sad they are going to be if I get transferred.  They are super awesome y honestly feel like my Hispanic family here in Jonesboro!  We are hoping to continue helping him get closer to baptism as he continues learning about the gospel.  
  Overall it was a great week, y we are excited to see what is prepared for us this week!  It could be my last week here but with President Wakolo, you just never know what is going to happen!  I love y'all and hope you week is great!  
Good old Green Tree Frog!

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Week 64

Elder Geddes in front of the ASU Librray

Dear Mom (Abuela),
  Congrats on being a Grandmother!!  Your wait has finally ended, that's so awesome and I'm glad to hear that everything went well.  It's crazy to think that I'm an uncle!
  Well another solid week here in the great city of Jonesboro!  We have had some great experiences this week as we did a lot of finding.  One night we were finding in a trailer park y we talked to three guys outside, There is one in particular who seemed to stand out a little more.  We talked to them for a little bit y were able to get all their addresses. Then we were walking in the same trailer park just 10 minutes after y we felt that we should knock on a certain trailer.  We knocked without noticing the number, and it was that same guy we had talked to just a few minutes before!  He told us he was interested to go to church with his family.  It was a cool little experience and we are hoping to see them a few times this week.  
   As well we were able to see Cla. a few times this week.  One of the days his wife y other family took us out to eat which  was super nice of them.  And another night we were able to bring a member to a lesson.  We had a great lesson on the importance of setting goals as we act in faith, and we were able to talk about a baptismal date with him.  He said he would work towards that date, and even told us him y his wife had done some prayers together which was a huge step for them!  That was nice to see some more progression in him, as well as he came to church yesterday.  
  Other than that just had met a lot of other cool people, and we have several return appointments this week.  And to answer your question, yup we eat Southern food all the time.  The classic is  BBQ, baked beans, and some slaw.  The work is going well here, and we are excited going into the month of November as we have a mission goal of 100 baptisms as we did last year!  We are looking forward to seeing even more miracles than last year.  Something I was reminded of this week was a great principle of miracles.  God will never cease to work miracle.,They will only cease to exist by lack of faith.  I know this is so true, and we must continue forward in the miracles we have already witnessed in our lives, and not just be looking for the next miracle.  Instead preparing ourselves by being the best possible instrument in the hand of the Lord. God is so loving y his works are miraculous!  I love y'all and hope that you have a great week!

Love,
Elder Geddes


Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Week 63
Zone with their Trainers and trainees, and Pres. Wakola
  This week was a pretty normal week here in Arkansas, One day we were out contacting some people and one of our investigators that Elder Hernandez y I had was sitting outside.  We hadn't seen her for a couple months so we went y talked to her.  Come to find out she is best friends with Bri.!  That was kind of cool y Bri. has been telling her how awesome it has been, and has gotten her to start reading in the Book of Mormon again.  We are hoping that we will be able to start teaching both couples and get them all progressing!  

We were able to see Bri. y Ja. once again this week, y were able to bring Sister Boudrero with us as well.  That went super well y we taught them the Plan of Salvation.  They are learning a lot and have been reading in the Book of Mormon.  They were planning on church but we aren't sure what happened.  She told us she would explain later, but we are going to be able to see them a couple times this week.  
Elder Geddes, Nikki, Jason, and Elder Ceron
 This week we went over several time and we were able to talk with Nikki.  She has been doing great y she wants to continue to progress even more and asked us if we could come over every day starting next week to be able to help her learn more!  That was super awesome, so we were really looking forward to that.  We hadn't seen Jason. for a few days because he had been working in Memphis.  On Sunday afternoon we went over to stop by y see how everything was going?   Then they told us that they were moving that day :(.  They are moving to Memphis, but we are super sad to see them leave.  They were both progressing so well, and Jason has such a strong testimony, and Nikki has progressed so much, It has been so cool to see.  It was always the best teaching both of them.  We were able to take a picture with them y say goodbye so that was nice.  We will have the Elders in Millington y they can help them towards their baptism.  Jason wants me to come to the baptism so hopefully that will happen coming up in the next month.  That was a little sad for us, but we are grateful to be able to get to know them and are excited that they are still continuing forward.  They are going to receive so much light by accepting the gospel into their lives.  

 Other than just another good Missionary week!  For your questions I do need some more contacts I have one more pair left I think.  I haven't been able to go to the dentist, not really sure who to go to.  And yup our district doubled in size!  We are actually the only Spanish missionaries in the entire zone.  We are grateful for the people we are teaching right now and are looking forward to those who we will be able to find this upcoming week!  

Love, Elder Geddes                                                                                         
Elder Geddes and Elder Lewis getting in a little Golf on P-Day!

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Week 62
La Semana de Conferencia General

The Jonesboro Disitrict 

  What and amazing weekend it was to be able to sustain three new apostles, and listen to the Prophets y apostles that guide and lead us today.  The spirit is always so strong during their talks. We are so blessed to be able to have that guidance for our families in these days with the world and it's constant changing values.  I always love Conference weekend, especially as a missionary.  It's a great time to look back and reflect on how we can improve in our own lives.  

  This week we had a few really cool experiences.  Remember the couple Brii. y Jai. from last week that came to church?  We were able to see them with a member one night and teach them the Restoration.  The lesson went super well, and they are both just so ready to learn, even though everything is super new to them.  We were able to invite them to be baptized, and both of them without hesitation said yes!!  That was awesome and they committed to come to conference.  On Friday night she even text us saying that they would be attending the Sunday morning session.  Unfortunately, 3 o clock in Sunday morning we got a text from her saying she had just gotten back from the hospital with their baby and wouldn't be able to make it, but was hoping we could still come on Tuesday.  That was really cool that she wanted to let us know as soon as possible, and shows us that these things are important to them.  We are excited to see them this Tuesday, and help them to learn more in the Gospel as they progress towards their Baptismal date..
  
Eating with our Investigators

  Another awesome thing that happened is when we went to see Cla..  Right at the beginning he told us that he had been reading in the Book of Mormon.  He told us he had asked God to show him where to read.  He was just kind of flipping the pages, and happened to stop on Moroni 10:4.  He said that stuck out to him super strong and he though it was so cool, because it was exactly what we had been talking about.  He knew he was meant to read that verse,, and says that he knows El Libro de Mormon is the word of God.  It's been amazing seeing the spirit work on him, from starting at not even wanting a copy of the LDM, to receiving a spiritual witness of the truthfulness of it. He was able to make it to Priesthood Session with us on Saturday night.  

  Other than that this week was just a great week, especially the weekend with Conference.  I'm excited to see what is in store for this upcoming week!   

Love,
Elder Geddes
Spyders are huge in Arkansas!