Monday, January 23, 2017

Well, Well, Well. It's Monday again and you know what that means. You get another one of those updates from Elder Leavitt!

What a week it's been Ladies and Gentlemen. We had exchanges with the Assistants earlier in the week and then later in the week we had interviews with President and Sister Loveland. Both of those days were full of learning. I love meeting with my mission President because I'm so comfortable just talking with him about what's going on in the mission life. Sister Loveland is also super inspired. She always knows exactly what to say when we talk with her. Both are just spiritual giants so I'm glad I have them so close.

We met up with Wesley again last night and this kid just continues to amaze me! He's been reading the Book of Mormon and he's been taking everything in so well. He has some great questions that lead us into some cool conversations.He came to church yesterday and last night, we taught him the plan of Salvation and he loved it all. At the end of it we asked him what his thoughts were and he said,"I've never heard anything like the Plan of Salvation before in my life.... yet nothing has ever made more sense to me." These are the moments that missionaries live for. This is why being a missionary is such a rewarding experience. He's still planning on being baptized in February!

We are still meeting with Chayce as well and he's been doing great with everything he has been learning. He just takes it all in and keeps wanting to learn more. We also are going to start teaching a foreign exchange student that's living with a member. She's been to church a couple times and she told us this past week that she wants to take the lessons. Hopefully we can get over there soon!

I'm getting really excited about the work starting to pick up here on the members end. They have been doing miracles when it comes to member missionary work and we are super grateful for them. Transfers will be this next week so I won't be back on until next Wednesday but I love y'all and hope everyone has a great week!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

Modeling a Jacuzzi tub that was at a service project

Someone admired our display and bought the tub. We helped them load it up.
Hahaha, Arkansas!

Monday, January 16, 2017

Well, I've officially completed my sister mission this past week but lucky for me, I get another 6 months to serve the Lord! I'm really thankful for all that I've learned in this short period of time and I know I've still got a whole lot to learn so I better get on it!

We were seriously so blessed this past week! We have still been meeting with Chayce and he has been progressing so well! We got to meet up a couple of times this past week and we even gave him a tour of the church before Sunday. We were a bit nervous about the word of wisdom with him but we taught it to him and he told us that he quit smoking months ago and has always hated the taste of tea and coffee and wasn't a huge alcohol kind of guy! So, now he's on track to be baptized at the beginning of February if all keeps going well. When we did the church tour, Chayce brought one of his friends named Hailey and after we gave our lesson, she had a ton of questions about the church. Naturally, we taught her the Restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon. She said her dad is super against the church but we invited her to the next lesson we have with Chayce so we will see how that turns out!

We were welcoming people to church on Sunday and the Miller family walks. Their daughter who is a senior this year comes in with one of her friends who wants to learn more about the church! His name is Wesley so we couldn't help but make 'The Princess Bride' references. This kid is incredible! He loves how involved members are in the church and he kept saying that our gospel was a "Living Gospel" that doesn't just ask people to accept Christ and then move on. We went over to the Miller home after church and taught Wesley the Restoration and wow it was such a powerful lesson. One of the best lessons I've been a part of in a long time! Wesley had so many great questions and he is so prepared to know if it's all true. We set a date with him also for February. We are excited to keep working with him.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I have grown to have such a seriously love for the scriptures. They are literally words from God for us. If God wrote you a letter to help you out in your life, would you just let that letter sit on your nightstand or in your living room without actually reading it through? Maybe you'll read a couple words of the letter and then not pick it up for awhile or maybe strive to start reading it and then get discouraged and start over 50 times. If you haven't started a serious study of the Scriptures yet, do it now. The Lord has already provided us with the answers. You just have to find them.

I hope everyone has been having a great New Year! We are super blessed here in Arkansas. Love y'all and hope all is well!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

Dinner in the Hill's home

We met an amateur WWE wrestler named Dusty Gold

Getting prepared to teach Wesley

Monday, January 9, 2017

Well everyone, it was another good week!

We had our transfers happen this week and it's been great having Elder Nauta here. We've been doing a lot of good work lately so it's exciting. So remember Jorge? The guy that got baptized last Sunday? So two days after the baptism he calls us up and says,"Hey I talked to one of my friends and I told him about you guys and I told him to meet you guys and now he wants to meet up! Are you free tonight?" We arranged our schedule so we could meet with him! His name is Chayse. We taught him 3 times last week and he wants to get baptized. He worked this past Sunday but he is quitting his job so he can come to church. Super excited about him!

We also had the confirmations of Jorge and Jenny yesterday and it was incredible to be there with them. They are now on their way to a happy life in the gospel and I couldn't be more excited for them.

I hope y'all have a great week this week! The church is true!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

Transfers

Zone conference meeting

Monday, January 2, 2017

What's up?!? It's the first email of the year!

Wow, I hope everyone had a great time staying up and celebrating the new year! We got to celebrate it by going to bed at 10:30 haha but it's all good. We also had two baptisms yesterday for Jorge Diaz and Jenny Graves! It was such an amazing way to start off the new year. Two people who are both ready for a new start and a new life. I'm excited to see where their paths in the Gospel take them.

We also got transfer calls last night. Since we are losing three zones in our mission, we now have to move in all of these missionaries so we are splitting up the two wards in my area. I'm going to be staying in Bentonville 2nd and Elder Czirr will be going to Central Park. I'm sad that I'm losing that ward but I'm still close so I'll get to see everyone regularly. My new companion is going to be Elder Nauta so we will see how these next couple of weeks go!

I've been thinking about goals to set for myself this upcoming year that will stretch me and help me to be a better tool in the Lord's hand. When it comes to setting these goals, if we have a righteous desire in mind and a determination in our hearts to press forward with it and not just have it die out the second month, we will have the help of our Heavenly Father through it all. Love you all and Happy 2017!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

Jenny's Baptism

Baptism of Jorge Diaz

A hidden Arkansas wooded glen