Monday, April 25, 2016

Wow, this past week has been just crazy with everything we have going on. This past Tuesday one of the zone leaders wanted to do exchanges with Elder Udy so I was left in the area to figure somethings out. Luckily, we had a ton of referrals that needed contacting and some appointments that went really well. We are starting to get the hang of this whole two wards thing. I'm starting to remember some names and faces and I'm getting Tulsa down pretty well. I've met most of the people that we are teaching so that has kept us really busy. The New Haven ward  had a ward party this past Saturday. It was an international dinner and everyone brought food from different countries and we had a ton of people come out for it. There were a lot of new people there so we got a couple of potential investigators from it that we are excited about.

This past week, one of our part member/less active families had a new baby boy and they named him Johnny. They wanted to bless him right away so on Sunday, a small group of Priesthood holders ,including me and Elder Udy, got to bless their baby in Sacrament meeting. After the blessing, the non-member father told us that he wanted to get his life together for his new son so he wants to start coming to church. It only took a little baby boy to affect the life of a father. We are hoping that we can start teaching him now that he is more open to the idea.

Things have been getting a lot better in Tulsa. We are starting to get into the swing of things and we have definitely seen the Lord's hand in that aspect. I'm thankful for his watchful care and I'm glad that he is going to continue to lead us as we get things together. I love you all and I hope that you witness the Lord's watchful care this up coming week.

Peace and Blessings, 

Elder Leavitt

Elder Udy and I having dinner at a members home.

This is called the center of the universe. You stand in the middle and you can hear your voice echo but no one outside can hear you. Its kind of crazy!

Monday, April 21, 2016

I made it over to the land of Tulsa, Oklahoma this past week and let me tell ya, I thought I was driving into Las Vegas when we pulled into the city. They look exactly the same so I'm going to feel right at home here. I got my new companion Elder Udy and we started to get along right away so this is going to be a great transfer here. We've been pretty busy the past couple of days. We just found out the night before transfers that they were taking the missionaries out of an area and they are going to give the New Haven Elders another area to be over. So now we are the missionaries for both the New Haven ward and the Riverside ward. Things have been crazy with trying to figure out how things are going to work out with this new change. A lot of meetings to get things settled and going to church twice yesterday really made it easy to go to sleep last night. It's good that we have been staying busy and we are both excited for this opportunity to work with both wards. It's going to be tough but we are enthusiastic about it.

Not much has really been going on. I'm just trying to remember names and faces and that has been a lot of work with just that. We do have a couple recent converts in the New Haven ward that we met with. One of them is a 9 year old girl named Maria she is part of a part member family. They are all super nice but some of them just aren't ready for the gospel. We are hoping that as we continue to teach Maria, that some of the other family members will feel the spirit working on them and they will have the desire to change. Our other recent convert is named Kamal and he is Syrian and super cool. He doesn't know a ton of English either but I'm use to that, given my last companion. He has a sincere desire to keep learning and we are hoping to get him to the temple and give him the priesthood here soon!

All is well in Tulsa and I'm really looking forward to serving here. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. I love you all and I pray that you will continue to feel the loving guidance and comfort of the Holy Ghost work through your lives. This is a precious gift that we should use and be grateful for daily. I've seen the blessings that come to others lives as we follow promptings given to us. Have the faith to act and the humility to learn. Have a blessed week!

Love, Elder Leavitt

P.S. This is my new address so feel free to send me anything! It's greatly appreciated :)

5315 S. Harvard Ave.

Apt. L

Tulsa, OK 74135

Duck lips with our ward mission leader :)

Hiking last week with my zone in Fayetteville

Monday, April 11, 2016

A lot has happened this past week so it's pretty insane. We got our transfer calls on Saturday and it looks like I'm moving on. I'm leaving Fayetteville after being here for 6 months.  I'm going over to Tulsa, Oklahoma which I'm pretty excited for. I'm going to be in the New Haven ward and it's suppose to be a sweet area. My companion is going to be Elder Udy. We actually came into the mission field at the same time so we know each other a little but I'm stoked that we get to be companions. He actually trained Elder Rooto and he loves him so that's a good sign. I'm sad to leave Fayetteville because I've been here forever and I've loved the people here but I'm ready for what's next. Elder Rooto is leaving the area too and he is going into the Marshal Islands branch we have in Springdale and he's excited for that. There are a couple of families from his home island that live there that he can talk to but now he is going to have to learn marshallese along with English.  He's nervous for that but he's ready for it.

This past weekend we had the baptism of Billy Declue. He was so excited for it and there were quite a few people who showed up for it. Brother Rownak, our Ward Mission Leader, baptized him and it was a tender moment for him because they have become pretty close friends. Billy asked me to do the confirmation yesterday in sacrament meeting and that was a spiritual moment I'll never forget. The ward has been amazing with the fellowship and love for Billy so I'm not worried about him at all.  

I've learned a lot from Fayetteville and it's going to be a hard place to leave but I know that I have been called to Tulsa by an inspired mission president acting on the promptings of the spirit. I've loved the work here and I'm eager to get to work in the New Haven ward. I know you are all just dying to send me mail but hold on to it until I can get my new address. Love y'all

Love, Elder Leavitt

Address update:

Elder Austin Leavitt

5315 S. Harvard Ave

Apt L

Tulsa, OK 74135

Billy's baptism featuring Bro Rownak and his twin daughters.

We went to go visit someone and they weren't home. They made the mistake of leaving chalk on their front porch! 

One final fist bump from Tina at the old folks home.

Monday, April 4, 2016

Yes, it is true. After many requests, we have been given a new vehicle while our other one is still getting looked at! It's one of the older trucks in our mission but driving around in that bad boy has been such a blessing to us. We've been able to get so much more done now that we don't have to bike. I'm counting my blessings!

General Conference this past weekend was so inspiring! Billy ( our investigator preparing for baptism here soon) came to almost every single session of it including the priesthood session. It's a pretty cool story too. So he plays the organ for this one guy that he's really good friends with and he told him that he would come play with him for some people during conference. He wanted to come to conference really bad but felt like he should keep his word. Part way through conference, Billy showed up! He said that he was playing with his friend when all of a sudden, everyone mysteriously started getting sick so they dismissed everyone there to go home and get better so Billy got to come! All he said was," The Lord works in mysterious ways." That's the truth.

One of my favorite talks this conference was Elder Gary E. Stevenson's talk on the Priesthood keys. This past week, we had the opportunity to give so many priesthood blessings to people that desperately needed it. We were able to see the power of these blessings work through them and the results were incredible to see. Listening to his talk only strengthened my testimony of the priesthood and the blessings that come from having it restored on the earth. We no longer have to ask,"Where are the keys?"

I love you all and I love hearing about how well you guys are doing. Hope you all have a great week and in the words of our Prophet on the earth today," May we ever choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong."

Love, Elder Leavitt

Finally a vehicle!

Basic white girl bathroom mirror selfie ;)