Week 74

 It was a great Christmas week, and it was sweet being able to talk with y'all!   Well I probably told you most of what happened this week, but I will write a few other things that happened this week.   On Christmas Eve we were able to go over to one of the senior couples in the ward.  All of us Elders went (seven of us) and we had a nice night at their house.  They wanted us to go down to sing to a less active family that lives right by them that they had been working with for months.  We were able to sing a few Christmas carols and it was a great experience.  The spirit was very strong as we sang and you could tell that they were touched.  At the end they even invited us to come back and visit them whenever we are up there!  On Christmas Day we had a great Christmas breakfast, and there was a baptism held which was really nice!  We had an awesome dinner later on as well!  

  Later on in the week we were able to visit one of the Recent Converts that lives in the area.  We had tried him a few time but this time we were actually home.  He was super cool guy and he said that he had saw another member at the store earlier on in the day.  It's amazing to see how the lord will send people to those are in need, and those who need to come back to the gospel.  We only saw him for a few minutes but he asked us to start coming over more and going over all the lessons again.  As well he promised to come to church in the morning.  And sure enough in the morning he made it to church, and was able to enjoy a great Christmas program that we had.  

The Perez's

Other than that were went to Memphis this week to open a new apartment, and deliver a  bunch  of things to other missionaries. We basically played Santa Claus this week delivering packages and all that good stuff.  The Memphis trip was great, and on Christmas Eve morning we were able to eat with Presidente Perez y his wife which was sweet!  We are always busy and constantly on the run as office Elders, it has been fun getting to see all of the areas in the mission!  Other than that just another great week on the mission!!    Have a great week, love y'all!

Con amor,

Elder Geddes

Week 73

Transfers/Leaving  Jonesboro

Jonesboro District

Oscar and family

  

The Lopez Family

   This week overall was just really crazy!   It all started off saying goodbye to everyone in Jonesboro on Monday and Tuesday.  Oscar (Claudio's son) y his wife took us out to dinner on Monday, and then Claudio y his family took us out on Tuesday night.  It was so sad to have to leave them, and they were all super sad that I was leaving! They are seriously like my family here, and I was so grateful for the opportunity to be part of their family.  It was basically Christmas for me that day with them!  We  were also able to say goodbye to a bunch of other members and as well say goodbye to the Ester kids, as well as Tina y Takiya.  It was hard to leave all of them as well.  Seeing their progression was amazing, the spirit no doubt touched the heart of each and every one of them.  Then on Wednesday Sister Boudrero drove us down to transfer meeting, she was so amazing and helped me so much while I was in Jonesboro! There were just so many amazing people in that place.

Ester family

At transfers President had asked that all missionaries would attend the meeting.  He announced that worldwide this would be the last transfer meeting ever.  So for now on it sounds like we will get a transfer call and then have to find a ride to our next area, should be pretty cool!  When President started announcing the transfer list he said that "Memphis Spanish North Area" would be closing down.  I was pretty shocked and had no idea where I was going at that point.  Then he announced that I would be serving in North Little Rock as an Office Elder.  I was pretty surprised, and I my new companion Elder Lundell was at the Memphis transfer meeting so that's why they had me go their first.  Also in my new area Elder Geddes and I are in the same ward, it's pretty awesome!  Everyone was all confused when I introduced myself.  

  Basically since that time we have been on the road all week delivering furniture to missionaries, closing down several apartments, and do other similar stuff to that.  We have already had to go to a ton of areas in the few days as an office Elder.  I'm actually replacing Elder Hunt (from Cedar Hills) who started his mission in this area and had been here for almost a year.  So far we have been to Glenwood, Quitman (twice in one day), Dardanelle, Morrilton, Choctaw, Jacksonville, Maumelle, Conway and passed through many other mission areas.  It has been cool kind being able to work with all the missionaries and getting to know them.  I'm also looking forward to working a lot closer with President Wakolo.  This week it looks like we are going to Memphis to do more moving, opening an apartment, and all sorts of other fun stuff.  My first Sunday here was good and Javier Ramirez (former Elder Ramirez) surprised me and visited me at church which was awesome!  Well that about sums up my week, this new responsibility is going to be completely different from what I've been doing before, but it should be good!  I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas, and I'm looking forward to skyping with y'all!

Love ,

Elder Geddes

                        

                Boudero Family

My man Freddie!

 

      

    

         

Week 72   
Happy Baptism!

Well as you can see from my title that you probably can't understand, it was officially my last week here in Jonesboro.  Even though it was the last it was an amazing week to end off my time here!  I'm sad to leave, but I'm so grateful for the oportunidad I have had to serve in this area.It has been amazing!  I have seen so many miracles here, and the people here are awesome!  I got the transfer call this morning, and I'll be going back over to the Memphis side!!  From the looks of it, I'm most likely going to the same area that I was in before.  I'm sad to leave here, but I'm looking for to what's ahead on the other side of the river!!  

For the week it was a great week filled with seeing Claudio about every single night!  He was really looking forward to the baptism, and excited to make this great change in his life.  Elder Heaton and Elder Doty came out for the interview!  It was great to see Heaton as always.  We planned the baptism for Saturday night, and on that night Claudio entered in to the waters of baptism!  I was able to baptize him, and it was an amazing experience.  His whole family came out to support him which was awesome!  As well as former Elder Hernandez came out from Texas for the baptism.  That was really cool, because Hernandez and I found him.  The next day Claudio was confirmed como miembro de La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos dias!!  It was kind of funny, the person who was confirming him didn't realize he was doing it until we all started walking up.  His wife told us that she had told him, but he had understood that he was going to be a witness hah!.   At the end of the day all went well, and the baptism was well attended by the Spanish members, and Claudio was really happy.  

 It's been an awesome journey with him, and I have no doubt that the spirit can change anyones heart.  When we first met Claudio he didn't even want to touch a Book of Mormon, or know anything about Jose Smith.  Now he is reading the Book of Mormon daily, and knows it's the word of God.  It has been a testimony builder for me of being patient, and waiting for good things to come.  As we became friends with him and the family a constantly sharing the word with them, the spirit filled their home and they could very clearly see a difference.  We are so grateful for him and his family.  They honestly feel like our family, They even have Christmas presents wrapped for us under their tree! haha!  I'm going to miss them, but I'm looking forward to the progression of the rest of them, as they see the example of Claudio as he receives blessings from living the Gospel!  We are so excited for them, and I'm glad I was able to see him Baptized before I left.

  On another note we had our Christmas Zone conference in Little Rock which was awesome. We watched a really good video on the Cokeville miracle of the bomb that exploded at the school but none of the kids were hurt.  President Wakolo was late getting to the Zone Conference because he was called the week before to go to a special training for mission President's in Salt Lake.  He was 1 of 6 Mission Presidents out of the whole world who was called to go to that training.  That training will go out to train the rest of the mission president's.  I know that President Wakolo is a man called of God, and I'm so grateful to have such an amazing man like him as my mission president.  

Sounds like you had another great week, and I hope the next one is the same!  I love y'all!!  

Con Amor,

Elder Geddes

  

Week 71

Made ties with Sister Maples (She's in her 90"s)

  Just another amazing week here in the great city of Jonesboro!!  The week started off on a pretty good note when we went over to see Cla.  As you are know we are really good friends with him y his family.  Well in the last week he hadn't been to church, and we hadn't seen him very much.  So in this lesson we decided we were going to ask what has been going on, and what are some of his doubts that are holding him back.  When we get there we talked for a little, and then we went to start the lesson.   He then told us how he saw the text inviting him to come see the baptism last week.  He told us that he had decided that he wanted to be baptized on the 28th, but hadn't told us, and he felt that he had missed the ship.  We then let him know that we have another baptismal date for the 12th and asked if he would prepare for that date. He was really excited about that, and said he knows he needs to take this step of faith because he hasn't seen grand changes in his life.  That was a huge answer to many fasts and prayers and we have been seeing him basically every night reviewing all of the lessons.  I can already see a great difference when we are teaching him, and his desire to learn has skyrocketed.  One of the nights he told us that since he decided to be baptized, and has had us over every night, there is a lot more peace in the home.  They have been able to sleep well which they hadn't able to do.  That was so awesome to hear, and it's been a great experience seeing him progress in the Gospel.  He came to church this week and it went really well!  I know that the lord answers prayers, even though it might not be instant, but he always does.  We are excited to see him every night this week, and keep preparing him for his baptism.  

  For other things this week we were able to see a ton of great people, and we saw a lot of success on our "super Saturday".  We were able to set two baptismal dates with next door neighbors, one house after another.  It was pretty crazy because the lessons ended up being super similar and the teaching situation was almost identical.  Also Lin. y Jo. were able to come to church for the second time which was awesome!   Also Robert and Andrew gave their testimonies in church yesterday, and when Robert got up he said "I'm thankful for Elder Geddes, he's always there for me when I'm down or feeling sad"  It was the sweetest thing ever!  They are doing great they came to the ward Christmas party, church, and even the First Presidency Christmas devotional on Sunday night.  They are such humble kids, and are just soaking up the gospel.  We are seeing many miracles each day as we work diligently!  I love y'all and hope you have a fantastic week! 

Con Amor,
Elder Geddes                    

                                                       Sister Smith and Elder Geddes
                                            (They received their calls the same day at BYU-Hawaii
                                                              to the samie mission)
                                                                              

                                                                            The Zone

Week 70

The Ester Families baptisms

  It was an amazing Thanksgiving week here in Jonesboro, Arkansas!!  Throughout the week we were able to see many people, and as well continue preparing the Esters kids for baptism this Saturday.  As we were helping them prepare for baptism, there were a few small obstacles in the way, but we just kept teaching them and exciting them for their baptisms.  Earlier on in the week we wanted to confirm with their mother if this Saturday would be good for them.  Before she had always said that she wasn't sure if they are ready, but this time she could definitely see the desire of her kids to be baptized and she said Saturday would be good!  We continued teaching them about every day for the rest of the week.  Then the Zone Leaders drove out from Searcy to do the Baptismal interview.  They all did great, and were so excited for their baptisms! They were more than ready to be baptized, and they are really nice and a lot more obedient than other kids their age.  

  On Saturday night we had the baptismal service, and it went super well!  We had  great support from the ward, When their mother walked in she saw Robert, Andrew, Aaron, y Eddie all in white and started crying, and went to hug each of them, it was a really cool experience.  We then did the Baptismal ordinance, when I was baptizing Andrew I had to baptize him five or so times, because his knees keep popping up, I guess the stubbornness comes naturally with the name (Love you brother ;) ).  After that we had asked a Sister from the ward to give the talk on confirmation.  She gave an awesome talk, and talked about how she vividly remembers the day when their mom (Miranda) was baptized three years ago, and how wonderful it was to see all of her kids being baptized.  The spirit was so strong during that baptismal service, and some of our investigators Linda + Johnson were able to come and see it.  I am so grateful for another November miracle that the Lord has provided us with.  It's really cool, Exactly a year ago was when we had the miracle of baptizing three siblings, and one of their names was Eddie as well and had the same age!!  The next day all four boys were confirmed in church, and Elder Cameron Green was able to do two of the confirmations which was great!

  That was definitely the highlight of our week.  Thanksgiving week was great!  In the morning of Thanksgiving we played a traditional Turkey bowl, and we got to play it on the Turf at the high school football field, It was pretty awesome, and the weather was literally perfect!   Later on we had a wonderful dinner with the Lewis family on Thanksgiving.  And as well later on that night we ate Thanksgiving dinner with Claudio and his family which was super good, but we were stuffed!! Now I'm excited as we go into this Christmas season, it seems like people open their hearts a little more this time of year.  It should be another great week this week!  

  I hope y'all have a great first week of December!  Thank you for the updates, and I love you tons!  

Love,

Elder Geddes

Week 69

Building in Harrisburg

  It looks like winter has begun here in Arkansas, It started getting a lot colder this week.  Earlier on in the week it was raining a ton, but luckily since the day we started bike week it hasn't been the whole time!  Thanksgiving is almost here which is crazy, because It felt like yesterday that November was just starting.  

  It was another solid week here on the mission field.  We had the opportunity to go on  Exchanges with the Zone Leaders.  I stayed here in this area y Elder Ceron went over to Searcy.  Elder Cunningham and I had a really solid day., We were able to talk with pretty much everyone, and find some cool people out of it.  One guy who's door we felt like we should knock on told us "I don't know much about Mormon's, but I know they are always happy!".  We asked him if we wanted to learn more about that happiness y we were able to teach him about the BOM, and he seemed very interested.  It was nice when people realize that the rumors aren't real. He had only known about us from South Park and the Book of Mormon play, but wants to learn more about our religion.   

Elder Geddes and Elder Cunningham

  We were also able to go see Lin.y Jo. a couple times this week!  The second time we had a super good lesson on Temples, while talking about Baptisms for the dead y eternal marriages.  It was a really good lesson, and she was super interested in being able to do those things.  I asked her what she needed to do to be able to partake of those blessing y she told me "become a member and be baptized again!" That was cool to see that she really understands why baptism is so important. It opens the gate for eternal blessings. She is getting a lot closer as she learns more and more about the church.  As well Jo. was able to come to a YSA dinner/devotional that we had last night, and he really seemed to enjoy it!  

  We are still visiting the E. kids!  It is going really well, and we were able to teach them several lessons this week.  The grandma has been listening in the whole time, and she seems to be interested as well.  All the kids were able to come to church again this week and seemed to love it!  They also came out to the Thanksgiving dinner that we had.  All the kids wanted to help clean up, so they all stayed after the activity to clean up tables and chairs.  We are really excited for them as they continue to prepare for baptism. They are such great kids!  

  Another cool thing that happened this week was that Tina y Takiya were both able to give their first talks in Sacrament meeting this week!  They did very well, and their testimonies were awesome.  After they were both able to get their Patriarchal blessing, and the cool thing was that it was Patriarch Williams who gave me my Patriarchal blessing.  It was really cool to talk to him again, and as well he gave an awesome talk in sacrament meeting.  It's been amazing to see the continual progression of Tina y Takiya, and how much happiness and blessing that the gospel has brought into their lives.  

  The mission life is going great, and we are excited for this Thanksgiving week.  We might end up turning into turkeys with how much food we are going to eat!  I know that as we live in Thanksgiving daily (Alma 34:38) we are truly going to see how much the lord blesses us each day.  I'm so grateful for all the blessing that I have, and the wonderful life I have been blessed with.  I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love,

Elder Geddes

Week 68

   This week was an awesome week, especially this past weekend!!  Once again we were able to see Lin. y Jo. a few times this week with Elder Cameron Green.  We had  some really good lessons with them y then on the second lesson with Linda we were asking her a few questions y she told us that when we first came God told us that we were his servants y that she needed to listen to him. Then when she came to church she told us that God had told her that this was his church.  With that in mind you would think that everything is super solid y that we are good to go.  She has some obligations in her other church that are holding her back from being baptized into the church. She knows that we are there to help her realize  there is only one true church.  Hearing what God says to our investigators is always a testimony builder for me, y just amazing to see the work of the Lord in the work and the realness of it.  We believe this is just a small hurdle, but that soon she will be able to make the proper decisions in order to receive all the blessing that God has planned for her!  We are really excited to continue to teach them. 

 The highlight of the week was this past weekend!  On Saturday we were able to see an inactive/lost member (Mir.) that we had found just last week.  We had a really good lesson with them on Saturday y we talked about the importance of the hope in God y applying the principles of the gospel in to our lives.  Even more importantly having her kids grow up int he gospel to give them a great environment to grow up in.  She said she definitely wants that for her kids, y then she called them out to the living room (5 of the 7) y asked them if they wanted to go to church.  They all raised their hands, and were super excited about going.  The next morning a member picked all 5 boys up, y brought them to church.  At church they loved sacrament, y they were thrilled to go to their classes!  One of the boy's (Andrew) was so excited when I told them that they get to go with other kids.  They are such good kids as well as super behaved.  After church we talked to them, y they said they loved their primary classes y that they already met new friends.  As well as their mom Miranda was able to make it to the last hour even though she had worked early that morning.  

  I was talking to her after y she told me that when she walked in she could just feel peace, y that the spirit was just so strong.  It was the first time in 3 years that she had been to church.  She went to Relief Society y shared her experience, y how grateful she was that the missionaries found her y that she was able to return.  After church "Elder" Green y I took all the boys back, y when we came back Miranda was still there.  She was talking with a member y then she was telling me later that she just didn't want to leave, because she felt so good there, She said that she didn't want to be anywhere else.  She ended up staying for a while after, and we were able to set up an appointment with them tomorrow so we can start teaching her kids.  It's amazing the miracles that the Lord provides in the mission work.  We are looking to help them prepare for baptism, and receiving the countless blessing that come from living the gospel.  

  The work is amazing and there is no doubt that the Lord is fully involved in all aspects of missionary work, Especially as we strive as a mission to reach our November goal.  I love being a missionary and to be a instrument in the hands of the lord.  I hope y'all had a great week.  We are looking for an even better week this week!  Have a great day!

Love,

Elder Geddes