Monday, November 21, 2016

Happy Monday!

We went on exchanges with the Assistants this past Wednesday which is always a good time. I got to go out with Elder King and we had a lot of fun teaching together. We talked with everyone we came across so we had some really positive responses and some awkward moments as well haha. It's all part of the job.

We also had interviews with President and I always love getting a little bit of time with President and Sister Loveland. We talked a lot about the zone and they said that there is a lot of potential that is coming out and that's always something you want to hear.

Really cool experience! So we got a media referral this past week for a couple named Harley and Autumn and here is their story. Harley just got out a prison a couple weeks ago and while he was there, there was a member in that he became really close friends with. He realized that every single night before this guy would go to bed, he would pray and then read this book and he got super curious. When he asked him about it, the member started teaching him about the Book of Mormon and about the church. We got referred to him when he got out and we met him and have had 2 lessons with him already. He is awesome! He has committed to be baptized in December so we will see how things work out. He's all about change and his wife is semi interested but she'll come around sometime. I'm really excited to keep teaching him. Really great guy!

Also, George came to church again this past Sunday. He has been reading a lot and he had tons of questions. He had quite a few on the Word of Wisdom and we answered all of them and he was super satisfied with everything we taught. He told us that when he was 18 he was a body guard for Ludacris but quit. He said he was happy he quit cause if he didn't, he would have never found the church and met us. Super stoked about him. We are meeting up on Friday and that should be good!

A lot of blessings have been poured out on us this week. I know that as we recognize the blessings in our life, the happier we are. If you are not happy, give a prayer of pure thanks and then go on with your day. I promise it will change your outlook. I love y'all and hope all is well!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

Shout out to mom for the new suit! 

You don't see that everyday

Bentonville square all lit up

Monday, November 14, 2016

Hey Fans!

It's been a great couple of days with the new comp Elder Czirr. He's been out one less transfer than me so together we should know what we are doing. We've been hitting it hard the past couple of days trying to get him around to all the investigators we have. I have some really high hopes for this upcoming transfer. We are getting along great so it makes the work that much better!

Yesterday was just a day of miracles for us so lets talk about that. 1st off, a less active that we invited back to church actually came and he was so happy!  He has been going through a lot of hard things in his life lately so he's been taking a step back from things. He came yesterday and he was so happy! His name is Steve and we are going to see him again this week.

In one of our wards, we had a primary program and that was amazing of course. So, a member named Brother Miller brought his friend George to church and George was soaking everything in like a sponge. He's been searching for the truth in his life for a long time and one day the spirit reminded him of Brother Miller. They knew each other in high school and George knew he was a mormon so after not speaking to each other for 5 years, he called him up. He loved everything about church and we are hoping to meet him this week! He said he has a crazy schedule but he will let brother Miller know when we can all have dinner together.

We have been looking for an Investigator named James for awhile now. He was the most solid investigator in this area and right before I got here he got evicted and no one could find him. Well, he showed up to church yesterday and said that he is ready to be retaught everything and be baptized! We are going to be seeing him a couple times this week now.

The Lord is truly blessing us and it's getting us both excited about the work. Only being devote to the will of God and being apart of His work can bring this kind of Joy into your life. I know this to be true. I hope y'all have a blessed week!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

We did a service project at a ranch. Enjoying nature!

We went to a cool museum on pday. This is our album cover pic.

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Hey y'all it's been awhile!

So its another one of those transfer weeks this week which is why I'm emailing on a Wednesday. We got the calls last night and it looks like I'm going to be staying another one in Bentonville! Sadly, Elder Maddox won't be staying another one. He is actually just a skip across the way to Rodgers so I'll probably still see him like every pday which is great cause we still need to play Spike ball. He is actually going to be serving with Elder Chapman for his last one. He will be killing off my trainer which is crazy! I'm going to be getting Elder Czirr (Zeer) this next one and I've seen him a couple times but don't know much about him so we will see what happens!

We had a pretty great week this week though! A highlight was that President Loveland came out with us last night to visit an investigator that we had an appointment with. We got there and he wasn't home but his mother-in-law answered the door so we taught her instead! She committed to read the Book of Mormon and it was pretty cool. As we were leaving, our investigator pulled up so we taught him there too and it was a super solid lesson on the importance of the Book of Mormon. We are planning on going back and teaching both of them soon.

I'm looking forward to seeing what this next transfer has in store. I have developed such a strong testimony on the fact that God knows who he needs and where he needs them. You don't have to be a missionary to see that the Lord is directing you and leading you to places and people that He needs you to influence. Love you all!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

My zone

Huge event we went to and talked to SO many people.

Monday, October 31, 2016

Hey guys! Another successful week in Bentonville.

This past week, we got to take a charter Bus up to Kansas City to go to the Temple there and it seriously was exactly what I needed. It was cool to see a lot of missionaries I haven't seen in a long time there too so there were some great reunions. The temple there is so beautiful and I received a lot of amazing revelation there.  Also, the Liberty Jail site is super close to the temple so we got to go on a tour over there too. We didn't get home until later so it was just a whole day of the temple and hanging out on the bus. It was a great trip!

In other news, this weekend there was a baptism in our district and we got to take one of our investigators there. His name is Micah, he's 15, and lives across the street from our apartment. The missionaries have been talking to him for awhile and he loves church and everything. We took him to the baptism and he was just asking the whole time when he could be baptized. We have a date with him for November 12th if he shows that he is committed and ready. We are hoping that all goes well!

As a side note: I turned 20 this past week and it's kind of a crazy feeling... Hopefully it will feel a little more real later on. Anyway, I hope everyone had a great week and thanks for all the birthday packages and letters and emails. Y'all are #1. Love ya and have a blessed week!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

Carving pumpkins at a members home

The ward sang Happy Birthday to Elder Leavitt

Liberty Jail

Kansas City temple trip

Monday, October 24, 2016

Another Weekly Report coming at ya from Elder Leavitt.

A lot of cool stuff happened this week. This past weekend was the Bentonville Stake conference which is always a good time. Elder Larry Echohawk from the quorum of the seventy was there and he spoke at the Adult session Saturday night and the Sunday meeting as well. That man is truly called of God. I received a ton of personal revelation from him. Also, our Stake President, President Keogh (Key-oh), spoke and that guy is going to be a member of the 12 apostles someday. He gave a talk that completely blew me away. Plus, he has this Scottish accent that makes everything he says that much more intense. He is a really powerful speaker and Elder Echohawk was blown away too! Be looking for him in the April General Conference.

Cool Story: Last Sunday after we gave our talks on missionary work, we had a member come up to us and tell us that while we were talking, she thought of her inactive cousin, Lauren.  She lives in our area. She hasn't been active in the church since she was really young and she is currently living with her fiance who isn't a member and they are getting married next October. We went over there and met them last week and set up a return appointment for later in the week. We went over there prepared to teach the Restoration but spent the whole time talking about the Book of Mormon and the spirit was so strong. We invited Chad, the fiance, to read the Book of Mormon and he said,"I would always see this book in the home of all of Lauren's family and I've always felt impressed to read it. I've seen Lauren with it a couple times but I never got up the courage to ask if I could read it, so thank you. I want to know if this is true." Really amazing. After the lesson was over, Lauren thanked us cause she said that they have been going through a lot of hard times lately and it's been awhile since she has heard all that and she needed it a lot. We are going back to see them sometime soon. This is a story that shows that member missionaries are the way to do the Lord's work and it truly does work.

In other news, We are going to be going to the temple this Wednesday as a mission again!!! Super stoked about that. We will be going to the Kansas City Temple so that's going to be really cool and a ton of fun. I love y'all and it's my sisters Wedding this Friday! Everyone tell Mrs. Erin Kirk that I love her this weekend!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

Serving at the Salvation Army

Ward party

Elder Maddox and I

Monday, October 17, 2016

Hello friends and Fam!

First off, we have an investigator that is 95 years old. Her name is Naohma and she is also deaf. She is the nicest lady ever! She doesn't like cooking so every single day she goes to the Golden Corral buffet down the street from her for dinner and breakfast on the weekends. We were over there on exchanges one day this week and after we got done with our lesson she asked us if we wanted to go to Golden Corral with her for breakfast in the morning cause she gets really lonely going by herself. We couldn't say no to Naohma! So we went to breakfast with her the other day and I'll have to show y'all a picture of her cause she is just the sweetest old lady.

We had some really great lessons this past week as well! We were able to find a couple of people that we hope to keep visiting. We met up with Ted again and got to talk a little bit but he had to reschedule for this upcoming week so we hope that goes well! Last night, we went by a recent convert that a member said he hadn't seen in awhile. He has been a convert for a little over a year and a half now and he was going to be going to the temple soon for his Endowments. We stopped by to check on him and he invited us in and just started pouring out all of his concerns and feeling. He's been going through a lot of hard things lately and he still just loves the church but he is struggling with some personal life stuff right now. We were able to talk with him and bear testimony that the Sacrament is the time for us to sort out our lives with Christ. It is what he needs in his life right now. It really brought the spirit and we were all feeling it there. It was incredible.

We actually got to give talks in Sacrament meeting yesterday on member missionary work so we invited all the investigators we have and one named Joel that has never been to church before came! He really liked it so we are going back over this week to talk with him. Everyone needs to go back and read Dallin H. Oaks talk on member missionary work cause honestly, sometimes we don't fully see the impact we can have and how crucial we are to the Lord's work. I hope all is well where ever you may be. Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

Naohma is #1

In a members decked out van

Bentley Jr.

Us and the neighborhood kids in our apartment complex

Monday, October 10, 2016

Things have been going really well in Bentonville! We have been teaching like crazy so that's been a ton of fun. I've met all of the investigators we have and this week we were able to find a couple more people to teach. We are in a car share area so one week we have a car and the next we are on bikes. Going up all these hills has been a grind but I'm hoping it will just get me into shape! It has helped us teach a couple of new people too so that's good.

We got a referral from a less active lady a couple days ago for a guy named Ted. He has been searching for a religion. We pulled up on our bikes at his apartment and noticed an elderly lady getting groceries out of her car. We went over to help her and afterwards she randomly said,"You boys need to come over and teach me how to do that family history you guys are all about." We got in contact with the lady in charge of that and we all are going to the FHC this Wednesday to talk about it! All went well with Ted too. We taught him the Restoration and he is really interested so we are going back this week.

You guys have to look up this place called The Bentonville Square. We go there a couple of nights a week and just talk to people cause there are always so many there. This past week there was a huge fair thing Friday night so we just talked to everyone and passed out so much church material. It's been a ton of fun.

Elder Maddox and I are really working on talking with everyone because something Elder Oaks said in his past conference talk. It was something along the lines of, We don't have the right to judge who is ready to except the Gospel and who isn't. We have taken this to heart and have been working on it but I know that as members, we should all be ready to share the Gospel when the Spirit directs us. We honestly don't have the right to judge how ready they are. I love y'all and hope you all have a blessed week!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

 An office couple (the O'Briens) in our ward left for home this past week. They are the best!

The crew biking home after a night at The square.