Wednesday, March 15, 2017

It's been a pretty crazy week!

First off, we had our transfer calls again this week and it looks like I'm going to be hanging out for another 6 weeks in Branson! Really excited about that but Elder Powell is getting transferred over to Arkansas which stinks cause I thought we would have another one together but he is going to be with one of my old comps so he will have fun! I'm getting Elder McArthur as my new companion and I don't really know him but I'm excited to get to know him!

So, I was blessed to have another Tornado experience this past week! We were driving past the church when all of a sudden the sirens started going off and it started raining and hailing like crazy! We went to the church and a couple of the other Elders were already there. We had to hang out in the church for a couple hours while it all went down. The safest place in the building is the baptismal font so we were told to sit in there for a while until the worst part was over. We made it was a good time! Also, a couple days later, we had a huge snow storm happen here. It was the most snow Branson has seen in awhile. Then, the next day, a less active family had their house catch on fire and we had to help clean up with that. It was so sad.

We have some good stuff happening here in Branson so I'm excited to be staying another transfer. We had and investigator come to church on Sunday that we have been working with for awhile and she has accepted a date to be baptized! I love the work here. Hope all is well with everyone.

Love,
Elder Leavitt

We did some service at a  city skate park 

Strike a pose

Snow day

Tornado!!

The refugees taking cover at the church. We barely made it!

House fire :(

Monday, March 6, 2017

Hey Fans,

To start off, I'll give you all the address to my new apartment so you can hurry and send off all those letters you have! 825 Lost tree dr apt.8 Branson,MO 65616. We had a moving crew of ward members and missionaries show up at our old place to help out with the moving process. We got everything into the new apartment and we've organizing the place for a couple of days now. It's a really nice apartment so we've been loving it.

We have been teaching this Recent convert family named the Milachs and they are seriously some of the most converted people I have ever met... they are just soaking up the gospel like nothing else. We got to go to Kansas City and attend the Temple with them! It was super cool to be there with them for their first time. We also got to visit Liberty Jail and the Independence visitors center while we were there so it was a fun little road trip. The senior couple serving here, The Williams, drove us up there and they are so dang funny. It made the trip that much better.

We have been finding a few more people for our teaching pool right now and they are quite promising. I found out that someone we found and taught in Bentonville got baptized this past weekend! It's exciting to see that the work continues on even if we aren't there but the things we were able to help them with will forever impact their lives. There is a quote I heard once that says," The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy." I'm not trying to make a legacy out here but it's true that whenever we step outside of ourselves, we can truly help others if we so desire. I love this gospel! I'll throw my address in one more time just in case you forgot it. 825 Lost tree dr apt.8 Branson,MO 65616

Love,
Elder Leavitt

Hey, we are the Elders  and welcome to our crib!

The Kansas City Temple

Visitors center pic with The Milachs, and Bro & Sis Williams

Liberty Jail

There's a lion that hangs around our complex. I was lucky enough to get a pic.

Monday, February 27, 2017

Hey Everyone!

The weeks just seem to be flying by so fast lately! It was a pretty eventful one for us too. I got to go on an exchange with a Greenie in our district. His name is Elder Tanner and I say Greenie but he is also 6 foot 8 and weighs over 300 hundred so he's got me beat on that. We got to spend a couple days together here in Branson and we switched back comps when we went to Springfield for interviews with President and Sister Loveland. Had some super good chats with both of them. They are both power houses when it comes to giving counsel.

We've been trying to get our members involved with missionary work a lot lately. We had a member that is super missionary minded set up a lesson with the lady he rents from who has seen missionaries in the past. We went over to talk with her and she was WAY contentious, so we just sat and listened to her go off and didn't say anything. When we talked we refused to have any kind of contention and when we did that, she calmed down a whole lot and actually had a conversation with us. It didn't go any further than a nice christian talk but it was a testimony builder to me that the spirit can not dwell in a place of contention. The holy ghost can not be with us if there is any kind of contention in our homes or in our relationships with others. It takes two to bring in the spirit of contention so we get to choose to fall into it, or not. I saw the blessings of keeping the holy ghost close to us this week.

Hey we are also getting a new apartment this up coming week so hold your horses with all those packages and letters you are wanting to send me. I'll get the new address to you next week. Love ya!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

Out here in the sticks doing work. Haha!

Branson baby!

Monday, February 21, 2017

Another Monday

It's been a super good week. I got to drive back down to Bentonville for MLC and it was so great to reminisce on the good times spent there. The meeting was great too. I got to reconnect with some old mission friends which is always a joy. I also got to go on exchanges with Elder Kealer this past week and we had a super good time together! I got to go and see some of the people I taught and the members I remember from my past life in the Bentonville area.

We had a super cool experience the other night. So we have been setting dates with our members for them to do missionary work and a family set a date and had us over for dinner with two of their friends and their family. Plot twist: They are both deaf and the husband is going blind so we had to watch others communicate with them through sign language. When it came time for us to share a message with them, we planned on one about the atonement of Jesus Christ and Elder Powell and I were able to remember signs from earlier and we taught the whole lesson in sign language with minimal help! It was so cool! We were really blessed and they are actually interested so we ordered some stuff to help us learn the lessons in sign language. Really excited about that.

The tourist season is about to start up too so it's suppose to get pretty busy here in Branson. We should be sending some referrals out to other missions from all the people we get to talk to! I know that this gospel blesses the lives of those who take it serious. This is a living gospel. Love you all and hope ya have a blessed week!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

A place in Arkansas that sells giant ice cream cones...super good!

While doing service at a museum, Elder Kealer had an accident with a whole bottle of vinegar. Haha!

Monday, February 13, 2017

Well friends, it's been another great week in Branson.

I'm starting to remember everyone's names and who we are teaching now so things have been going a whole lot smoother now! We met up with a lot of our investigators to kind of get a feel for where they are and how we can better help them out. We have a couple named Darwin and Annette, and they love the church so much! it's just that dumb smoking thing that we see all the time here so we are working to help them over come that and when they do (cause they will) we are going to be right there to help them get baptized.

We met with Lisa again this past week and she is doing great! She has been doing better with not smoking so we are hoping that she will continue to endure with that. We also met up with a kid that's less active in our ward that we want to get back to church. His name is Kyle and we went and talked to him the other day and he loves basketball and he has a hoop outside his house. I told him that if I beat him in a game of HORSE, then he had to come to church with us. He agreed. Ladies and Gentlemen, I've never been apart of such an intense game of horse before. After a battle of the ages, he finally missed and had to come to church... well he didn't end up coming so that was a bummer.

So, funny story: Just hanging out on pday when all of a sudden I get this picture of my mom with some sisters in my zone... Apparently my mom planned a trip to Branson while I was in Bentonville and then I got transferred here!!! Don't worry friends, we didn't meet up but she was here and some sisters got to see her without me. Crazy huh?

Well, thanks for all the love and support from everyone. Since it's Valentines day tomorrow, it's important to remember the ultimate act of love that was performed for all of us. Hope y'all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

My mom with the sisters. They had no idea who she was!

Branson beauty

Caught Elder Powell studying

Valentines stuff...from my ninja mom

Monday, February 6, 2017

Branson is the realist...

I still can't believe that I'm back here! The past couple of days have been filled with reunions and meeting old friends and making new ones. It's been just super weird seeing all of these places again and remembering old memories I've forgotten about. Needless to say, it's been a pretty happening few days. My companion, Elder Powell, is a stud too. It's a lot of pressure to take over an area after only being out one transfer but he is killing it.

I've been going through the routine of trying to learn all the names and faces of the people we are teaching and the members around here. We've got some solid ward members and we are teaching some awesome people. My first night here, we went over to a members to teach a lady named Lisa that has a date for the end of February and she is great! She is almost done with the Book of Mormon and she is reading the "Teachings of The Prophets" series cause she loves the church. She just needs to quit smoking and she is down to less than 1 cigarette a day so we are praying for her!

I'm super happy to be back here in Branson and Elder Powell and I are teaching great together. He is super humble and ready to learn more about being a missionary and I'm learning a lot from him. Also, our address is 1053 State Highway F unit #12 Branson, Missouri 65616 but we will be moving to a different place March 1st so hurry and send all of those packages you've been holding on to! Love ya!


Love, Elder Leavitt

Please enjoy this awkward missionary picture with Sister Blackwell

Jorge bought us dinner our last night in Bentonville

Last picture with Elder Nauta

On transfer loop someone lost a bike on the freeway. We had to run and get it and caught some of the action

The Marcums in Branson feed the Elders lunch every Friday

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

 My Friends... What a week it has been.

I've got some pretty exciting news for this upcoming transfer. I'm heading back to Branson, Missouri!!! I don't know if you guys are as excited as I am about this but I am just ecstatic about the thought that I'm going back to my first area. It's not going to be the exact same ward, it's actually going to be Branson 1st instead of Branson 2nd but they are right next door so I'm going to be able to see a bunch of people I know from the beginning of my mission. I was only a greenie back then so it's going to be so cool to work in the same area. I hope I've learned a bit since I've been gone so I can't wait to get to work. Also, I'm going to be split training again! His name is Elder Powell and I'm going to finish up the training with him so no one really knows much about him. I'm excited to see what happens. It's super sad that I have to leave after all the progress that has happened here but I'll make sure to stay in touch. There is a lot of good people here in Bentonville and I'm glad I was able to serve here.

I'm going to miss teaching Wesley so much! We had another lesson with him this past week and it was just as stellar as the rest of them. He is still working towards being baptized and it's all looking promising right now. He is dating a girl that wants to be baptized so bad but her parents won't allow it. He has been telling her everything and she is turning 18 soon so we will be teaching her any day now. There are a lot of prepared youth here and it's all because of the good examples of the kids in our wards. They are high class missionaries.

I'm going to have to say goodbye to our recent converts later today which is going to be hard but they are all studs so I'm not worried about them. They are all going to do great things in their lives and they have a super supportive ward to keep an eye on them. I've learned a lot from Bentonville but I'm excited to go back to my mission birth place. I'll make sure to give you a full update on things in Branson on Monday. Love ya!

Love,
Elder Leavitt

A lesson with Wesley

Teaching our friend Tim how to fix his car

A member sent these pictures of Elder Leavitt. He had the flu and was sent to another Elders apt who was also sick. She checked in often and kept me updated. Love knowing he's being well cared for!

Best two years...long two days!

Monopoly

Fevers broke and they opened the doors to let in some fresh air. The chickens took this as an invitation to come on in!