Monday, May 16, 2016

Another successful week in the Arkansas Bentonville Mission! Yesterday, Elder Udy and I hit our 

10 month mark! A super cool less active girl in our area found out about it and made us blue

 velvet cupcakes to celebrate. We went over there last night for a lesson and afterwards we had 

ourselves some dang good cupcakes. It's seriously crazy to think that it's been that long but there

 is still so much to do!

This past week we scheduled our usual appointment with our recent convert Kamal. He's the one

 from Syria that doesn't know a ton of English but he's got to be the nicest guy I've ever met. He's

 a Taxi driver so he doesn't make a whole lot but this week when we went over there, he had

 made us lunch. It was a Syrian food called Kshk (kishk) with this kind of Syrian bread and it was

 seriously amazing. It's like this chowder kind of thing that you put on the bread. I'll just have to 

send a picture of it. I can honestly say that when I got called to this mission, I didn't think I would 

be eating Kshk with a Syrian Convert.

In other news, this Saturday is when we will get the transfer calls. I'm hoping that we both end

 up staying cause I've loved it here with Elder Udy but he's already been here 4 1/2 months so I 

guess we will just have to see what happens. I hope all is well wherever you are. Thanks for everything!

Love, Elder Leavitt

A funny sign we saw in a rough part of town

Kshk!

Blue velvet cupcakes! Yumm!!

Monday, May 9, 2016

Mother's day this year just so happened to fall on my mom's birthday as well so getting to talk with her and the family made the day very special. I hope everything worked out for everyone so that you were able to talk with your  families. It was great to talk to my family. They are all doing well and I am so thankful for that.

Other than Mother's day, this week was full of service. We were asked to help paint an Elderly ladies house and help her with some yard work. We were given paint and then they left so we painted the inside of the house while they were all gone and when they came back, they realized they gave us the wrong paint so we had to get the right paint and repaint it all over again! We had other things scheduled so we had to speed paint the whole thing over again. We also went out and helped on a farm a couple days ago. This guy wanted help to clean up his mom's farm for a Mother's day gift so we went around and fed the chickens and picked up garbage and made the place look better for his mom. It was a ton of fun to be farmers for a bit!

This week we had a really cool miracle happen because of our obedience. We drove back to our place and it was about 8:55 and we aren't suppose to go in until 9. So instead of just going in a bit early we decided to walk around our complex and try to talk to some people. As we were walking a Chinese guy walked past us and said,"Wait why are you both dressed up?" So we proceeded to tell him why. Turns out that he has a friend serving a mission right now and he would like to learn  more about what his friend is teaching others. We got his info and we are hoping to see him sometime this next week.

It's amazing to witness the blessings that come through our own obedience. In the scriptures it tells us that every blessing we receive is because of our obedience towards the commandments we are given. We are promised these blessings and as we seek to do what is right and follow the straight and narrow path, we will be able to recognize and receive those blessings promised to us. Love you all! Thanks for everything you've done for me. Keep it real.

Love,

Elder Leavitt

So good to see that smie!

At Zone meeting

I saw this license plate cover the other day, Haha!

We found this dog and pond while we were working on the farm...so naturally we took a pic :)

Monday, May 2, 2016

Just another typical week in Oklahoma! Minus the fact that we had a tornado come right through Tulsa! I know my mom probably doesn't want to hear this, but last Tuesday was my first experience with a Tornado. We were just sitting in our apartment, getting ready for bed when all of a sudden, we hear the tornado sirens going off and we got all these texts telling us to seek shelter. We packed up all we felt like we needed and got out of there since we live on the 3rd floor. We went to the church with some other elders and we went down to the basement and we stayed there for the night. We totally forgot to bring anything to sleep with so we slept on the ground all night. Needless to say, it was unpleasant. The next morning we came out and there were trees and telephone poles everywhere but it didn't do any insane damage. Apparently, it wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be but we were safe and that's all that matters. Really crazy experience and it's a story that I can tell now.

Other than that, this week has been full of blessings and miracles! There was an amazing miracle this past week. I was on an exchange with another Elder in his area and we went to go contact this referral. The guy wasn't home so we prayed and we said that we weren't going to leave the neighborhood until we found the person we were sent there for. So we were going around knocking doors and then we saw a lady down the street unloading her truck. So we ran over there and asked if we could help her move her stuff. We got talking and it turns out that she is our age, a month pregnant, and just moving in with her fiance. We sat outside and taught her the Restoration right there and she loved it! We gave her a Book of Mormon and committed her to read and pray about it. I was just recently informed by the Elders in that area that they went and saw her again and she had read the Book of Mormon and she loves it and she's been praying about it cause she wants it to be true!

Miracles come as we ask for them and as we show that we are willing to seek them out through our actions. I've been able to learn this lesson over and over again as I've seen the hand of the Lord working through my life as I've served. I love you all and thank you for the constant support! I hope y'all have an amazing week!

Love, Elder Leavitt

It turns out that those claw things used for picking up trash make a pretty good selfie stick

Some of the aftermath of the tornado. Crazy!

There is the sweetest non member lady who takes great care of the missionaries. Her nickname is the Tulsa grandma. She leaves cases of ice cream sandwiches and Dr pepper in a fridge for us to come by and get anytime. It was her 92nd birthday on Saturday so we gave her a rose. She loved it!

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 ;)