Monday, August 29, 2016

Alright pretty stellar week this week! We had a ton of really cool experiences and blessing so I'm going to have to try and wrap it all up into one email for ya!

Larry Green was baptized this past Saturday and it was one of the most spiritual moments of my mission. He asked if I would baptize him just a couple days before the baptism. I've never met a man so ready for the commitment and cleansing of baptism. There were a ton of people that showed up for the baptism and there was even a surprise guest! Spencer Dye (known before hand as Elder Dye) showed up for the baptism because he heard about it and he was one of the first missionaries to teach Larry. It was really cool to get to see him again and talk for awhile. I'm really excited to see where Larry's life is going to take him as a new member of the Church. He's going to do amazing things!

So we have got a couple new investigators this past week that we are really excited. One that we are pumped about is Preston. He came to church last week and loved it so we invited him to play ultimate Frisbee with the Elders quorum and so he came and then he came to church again yesterday. He said that he made up his mind about being Mormon and that he would talk to us later. He texted us and said that he was ready to take the discussions. We are going to see him later this week with a ward member who got home from his mission last week. We are excited to see how it will go.

I'm so thankful to be where I am and to be here at this time. This past week has really been awesome and I know that this work is the Lord's. I love y'all and hope all is well back home.

Love,
Elder Leavitt

He did it! Larry's baptism

Majestic companion pic

Monday, August 22, 2016

Since you heard a lot from me this past Wednesday, I'll try to put in as much as I can into this email haha. So, I went and picked up Elder Olsen on Thursday and we've been doing great ever since! He's from Utah (Surprise there) and he's excited to serve so we have been able to get a lot done these past couple of days!

On Saturday, we had the baptism interview with Larry and everything went just perfectly! He is going to be baptized this coming Saturday if everything plays out like it should! Larry has overcome so many obstacles because of the sincere desire that he has to be baptized. I'm really excited for him! The Bishop is going to be baptizing him and he asked me to witness and give a talk so I've got some assignments to take care of now!

Yesterday at church, Kamal (our Syrian recent convert) received the Aaronic priesthood and we were able to stand in the circle for that. It was such an amazing experience. After church, we went over to a members for dinner and he was telling us how excited he was to fulfill his duties in the church as a man holding the priesthood. Hearing him say all of this in his broken English and Syrian accent really made it an incredible experience. He's preparing to get his Temple recommend here soon too so hopefully we will be going to the temple with him!

Pretty exciting couple of days if I do say so myself. Seeing the eagerness of others to come closer to Christ has really made me step back. I've had this truth with me my whole life so I don't know how it feels to be without it, but I know that this Gospel changes lives. I've seen it. I love y'all and hope all is well!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

Improving my bowling game for pday.

I actually got this bowling shirt for free. 

Elder Olsen is in the white shirt.

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Another awesome week here and a crazy one cause we received our transfer calls last night! Which explains why I'm sending out my weekly on a Wednesday. Of course, Elder Porter will be leaving tomorrow and he will be on the next plane home. It turns out I'll be staying but they are splitting the wards again so I'm only going to be serving in New Haven now and no longer Riverside. I'm pretty bummed about it but I'm just glad I get to stay another one. 6 months in Tulsa! Also, Fun Fact for ya: I'm going to be training again this next transfer! Really pumped about that. I'm Going to be killing off an Elder and welcoming another into the life of missionary work all in one day. I'm going to be training Elder Olsen and I'll be picking him up tomorrow morning. More details about him to come once I figure them out. It's going to be another great transfer here.

We met up with Larry this past week and we set everything up for his baptism which should be next Saturday! If everything goes alright with the interview, we should be golden with him. Also, We were sitting in church looking for some of our investigators, and the Bryan's (the part member family I mentioned last week) come walking in and smile at us like they were so happy to be there. And we were happy to see them! He is still on track for his baptism coming up soon but he is in the Riverside ward so it's going to be sad turning them over but we will hopefully still see them every so often! 

Really excited about the new opportunities and experiences that are going to be available to me this upcoming transfer. I look forward to helping another missionary adjust to the life style that we get to live. I testify that this is the Lord's work. We are so blessed to be apart of it. Love y'all!

Love,

Elder Leavitt

P.S. I'm going to be moving back to the apartment I was in before so that address will be  5315 S. Harvard Ave. Apt. L Tulsa, OK 74135. Remember: Charity is the Pure love of Christ :)

Men at work! Digging out fence posts

We did some bowling today for Elder Porters Birthday

Monday, August 8, 2016

Okay, so this past week was a pretty killer one. One of the biggest highlights was that I was able to go out on an exchange with an Elder in my District, Elder Brown. He's a stud and we spent all day being as productive as possible and it was a ton of fun! We were able to give a  couple referrals over to the Spanish missionaries so you know we had some great encounters with some people in the not so nice parts of Tulsa. We ended up getting a new investigator family as well and they want to feed all of us on Friday so that's a plus!

It turns out I didn't mention them last week, but there is a new part member family that we started teaching a couple weeks ago and the Dad isn't a member but he is so ready! He was being taught awhile ago. His job kept him so busy, that he never got to church. He works less now so he is ready to be baptized. He knows it's all true and so we set up a date for him! He and his whole family came to church yesterday and it was great! They are doing really well and we love to go and visit them.

We are suppose to be finding out transfer calls this next week. Our mission President wants to try out something new so we won't be having P-day next Monday. It will be on Wednesday. We will know what our fates are by then so we will talk later.

I can testify to all of you that the power of prayer is real. When it is coupled with our faith and willingness to act, we can receive the answers and know the direction in which we need to go. As always, thanks to everyone that sends me letters and writes to me and stuff like that. I hope everyone has a blessed week.

Love,

Elder Leavitt

Mexican restaurant with the zone

Downtown Tulsa

Monday, August 1, 2016

Hey fans sorry this is going out so late but we have been doing a lot today! Since this is one of Elder Porter's last P-days, we have been doing a lot of things that he wants to do before he goes home. It has been a lot of fun, but now lets get into what has happened this week!

This past Wednesday we had our interviews with President and Sister Loveland and it's always a joy to be with them. It amazes me how much personal revelation I can receive when I sit down and talk with them both for only about 15 minutes each. They really reflect the spirit of their calling in everything they do and I'm glad to have them as leaders and examples.

On Friday we had one of the most powerful lessons with our investigator Larry. We have been praying for an answer to what we needed to do to help him quit smoking so that he could get baptized and the topic of fasting came into our minds. We went and talked to him about fasting for strength to over come hardships and he just started to cry. He told us that he has fasted many times for other people but he never thought to fast for himself. We told him that if he fasted and prayed for strength to over come his addiction, then he would beat this awful burden and we fasted along with him. I've never met a man so ready for baptism and he desires it more than any person I've ever known. God knows his heart so we know He is going to take care of Larry.

We also have a part member family that we teach a lot and one of the kids turned 8 a while back. He has always had a problem concentrating so whenever  we taught, we had no idea where he really was. When he turned 8, the parents said that they wanted it to be his decision to get baptized and not theirs. So this last week we went over there for our usual discussion and he told us that he wanted to be taught and baptized. He was taught the Restoration right then and he took a Book of Mormon. He's 8 so we didn't expect him to read but we went back the next day to check on him and he was beyond excited to see us. He wanted to read the Book of Mormon with us SO bad! We sat down and read quite a bit with him and explained it and he is so excited for the next lesson already!

We are seeing a lot of blessings coming out of the work that we are doing. The evidence of them is beyond the lessons we teach or how many people are prepared for baptism. I'm loving the opportunity to serve! I hope you all are able to see the blessings in your own individual lives as well.

Love,

Elder Leavitt

A member sent this picture to our family after dinner with Elder Leavitt.
So grateful for good people who take care of our boy!