Week 79

Elder Geddes and Elder Geddes
They discovered they are 4th cousins!

  This week was a great and busy transfer week!  The new transfer went really smoothly, it helps that it was "T1" which means most transfers took place within the same zone.  It was pretty cool though because on transfer day we were just driving and it felt just like a normal day, because everyone basically got their own rides. 

 Then after many weeks of waiting the delivery went well and I am now a proud "Grandfather"!!  Elder Ceron is training so his "son" came in this last Tuesday.  His name is Elder Santiago y he is from Puerto Rico.  He seems like a great kid, and Elder Ceron is excited to be training.  We didn't know if  Elder Santiago had a license and if he wouldn't have had one I would have had to go to Jonesboro every other week this transfer. He did end up having one, but President still wants me to go to Jonesboro for a few days to be with them.  That'll be a great experience!  With the new training cycle there is more focus on training, so the trainees stayed in the mission home for a couple days with their trainers.  We were able to go to be with them for a little bit of the time for a couple meals, and as well President invited us to come to the last testimony meeting which was a great experience!

  The week involved tons of driving covering places such as Batesville, Brinkley, West Memphis, Southaven, and basically all over the city of Memphis.  We took all the trainees to their new areas on the Memphis side y had to take care of a lot of trio beds.  President did put another trio right next to us in NLR ,so when we go on trips Elder Phillips always comes with us to be an extra driver.  He was with us basically the entire week, He is super cool, and is from Centerville, Utah.   

 Even with us being super busy and being all over the place we were  able to see Hunter two times this week both with members, which was a miracle for the office!  It was nice to bring more support for fellowshipping with us, and he really clicked with one of the members we brought.  He was able to share his conversion story, and it was really powerful.  Hunter was able to set some goals of having more consistent contact, and daily reading patterns, and as well as his member girlfriend Kaitlyn made a goal to pray every night!  That was great, and we are looking forward to seeing them a few times this week.  

  Sunday was a day filled with a ton of great things happening.  Church was really good!  After church  Elder Ceron called me and told me that Claudio had given a talk in church, and that the whole family had gone.  He said the talk was awesome, and he talked to Hna Gaby after saying how she felt about it..  She really liked it, and will probably be getting baptized soon.  It's been awesome to hear about the progression of Claudio, and how solid he is doing, He is getting the Melquisedec Priesthood in a few weeks.  I don't know if I had mentioned this before but Claudio said a few days before he decided to be baptized he had a dream where Christ was hugging him and welcoming him into the fold.  It's amazing how much happiness the gospel can bring into anybodies life, and the true difference that it makes.  Also on Sunday I talked to Yader and they had gotten their endowments in Dallas, and are getting sealed in the Memphis temple.  President has given me permission to go, so I'm super stoked about that.  

  And to top off a great Sunday we went with the ward mission leader to see a Hispanic referral from him.  The guy is named Luis and the WML had actually showed us to him before. because he works at an Hispanic restaurant that he goes to a lot.  He was a really nice guy, and said we could come over.  We go over to his house kind of late at night y knock on the door.  People look out the peep hole but no one answers.  So we leave, and as we are driving down the street Luis calls our WML and said that his wife didn't know who it was so she didn't answer.  He said that we could come back, so we flip around and go to the house!  We meet the family and Luis y Lety were super cool.  I was able to get to know them better, and explain about El Libro de Mormon y the a little bit about the restoration. Even though I was teaching alone, this spirit was definitely my companion that lesson.  It seemed as if everything smoother and I was able to speak really well.   Come to find out they know the Benitez family in Little Rock because she works with her, and had just gone to play Volleyball at our church this last Thursday.  It's amazing how the Lord will prepare people!  They are going to start reading in the Book of Mormon,, and we have another appointment set up with them.  

Thanks for everything, love you lots!  Have a great week!

Con Amor,
Elder Geddes

Sister Boudrero, Nate, and I