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.

Monday, October 3, 2016

I made it over to Bentonville this week and have been loving it the past couple of days! I've got my new comp Elder Maddox and it's been so much fun. He's been telling me what things were like back in the real world and I don't even recognize half of it anymore haha. He told me finna is the new word to say so I've been trying it out lately. HA! Also, I don't know if you know what Spike Ball is but Elder Maddox is #1 in the nation at it. He's been teaching me how to play so we are going to be doing that for p-day today. I'm actually serving in two wards again! It's going to be the Bentonville 2nd ward and the Central Park wards. I've already met members from both areas and it's really bumping here. It's going to be great!

Conference this past week was so perfect! A lot of powerful talks this time that really gave me a lot of new perspective. Some highlight talks for me were Elder Andersen's talk on all of us being puzzle pieces in the Restored Gospel and Elder Ballards talk about remembering why we are a part of the church in the first place. Very inspirational conference!

I said all my hard goodbyes to the people of Tulsa and have just been spending all of my time lately saying hey to all of our new investigators and ward leaders. I don't think I have any new updates for ya. It's so cool serving in the heart of the mission and I haven't been here long but I know that there is a reason I'm here right now. I love you all and hope that as we continue to study the words of our leaders that we will continue to learn what is expected of us and what we can do now.

Love,
Elder Leavitt

Also, the new address is:

1100 NW Lincoln Ct apt. 4 Bentonville,AR 72712

Do a good deed, send a missionary some letters :)

Dinner with Elder Maddox at a members home

Our traditional Conference breakfast :)