Monday, December 28, 2015

I hope everyone had an amazing Christmas! The members here took care of us, especially the Richardson family. They had us over there all morning and let us take part in all their Christmas traditions. They have 12 kids and most of them are still in school so it was a full house, which kept it in the Christmas spirit. It was awesome talking to the family and it seems like all is well back home. We ate dinner over at an older couples home with all the elders and they were like," Want to watch some cool videos?" And then they whipped out these old home videos of them hanging out with David A. Bednar and his family back when they lived down here! Apparently they were in the Stake Presidency together and they are still super close friends. It was pretty interesting seeing an apostle water ski and coach basketball. Thank you to all that sent me stuff for Christmas. It was very thoughtful of you.

The past week has been full of street contacting and trying to get people to remember the true meaning of Christmas. One night we were walking around talking to people at the Christmas lights and we ran into the Dugger family. That's the family off of 19 kids and counting. I wouldn't have even known that if an Elder didn't say something. We heard that they live around this area. We got to meet them and we gave them a Christmas card and talked for a while. It was pretty cool.

Michael is having his Baptism interview tomorrow and if all goes well, we will be having his baptism this Saturday. We are so stoked for him! We haven't been able to get in contact with Jo lately and we are hoping it's just the holiday craziness. We are hoping he is still doing good. Anthony and Norma and their little girl Mickayla came to church yesterday. They didn't want to read the Book of Mormon but after we taught a surprise Gospel Principles lesson on the Scriptures, they asked for a Book of Mormon and said they would start reading. What a blessing in their lives and it all came from coming to church one Sunday.

Thank you for all the prayers and support in my behalf. I can feel the change happening in my life as I serve and continue to learn. Love you all and have a happy New Year.

Love, Elder Leavitt

The crew out contacting

Some of the Dugger Family. (19 kids and counting)

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Hey everyone sorry about the late email. I forgot to mention last week that I would be at a mission conference all day yesterday and wouldn't be able to email until today. So I'll let you know how the past week has been for us.

Michael is all set for baptism! We taught him the last couple of lessons this past week and with everything we said he just said, "If that's what I need to do, then I'll do it." We are beyond excited for him and all he needs is to have is his baptism interview and he's all set.

Jo has been off smoking since last week and he just needs to have it completely out of his system so that we can get him baptized as well. They have gained really strong testimonies of this church so we are praying that they will be able to over come their earthly struggles so that they can be spiritually blessed.

The other day I had one of the most amazing experiences of my life. So, us and the other elders went to lake Fayetteville to try and talk to some people and show the Christmas video. I went with Elder Constandse and no one would talk to us. We saw this lady out on a dock and we felt like we should talk to her. We went up and started talking to her and when Christmas came up in the conversation we mentioned the video and started to watch it with her. Halfway through the video she starts bawling. Afterwards, we have a really deep talk about the spirit and she said to us that she was about to jump into the freezing lake seconds before we showed up and talked to her. She gave us all her information, took a Book of Mormon, and said she would read it before the missionaries in her area came to see her.  I know that there are no coincidences in the Lord's work. We were there and she was there at the exact moment that God wanted us to be there. If we hadn't listened to that prompting to talk to her, who knows what would have happened to her. I'm thankful for this time I get to be a part of His work.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and I hope all is well with all of you. Always look for the ones who are ready. Love you all and wish you the best!

Love, Elder Leavitt

Monday, December 14, 2015

This past week has gone by so fast and so much has happened that I'm really excited about! It's been in the 60's for the past week and everyone has been telling us that if it's this warm now, then January and February are going to be brutal. I don't know how I feel about that.

I've got some good news on Michael! We visited him last week and we taught the word of wisdom. He said that he doesn't smoke or drink coffee or alcohol but he said he does drink tea. When we told him that he had to stop drinking tea to get baptized all he said was,"I've got some tea in the fridge and when I run out I just won't make anymore." So he is determined to stop that and we officially set his baptismal date to January 2nd. He came to church yesterday and was so excited to tell everyone about his date. He is practically part of the ward family now. Everyone loves him! We are hoping that the next couple of weeks go by smoothly and everything works out.

Jo Szot has also committed to be baptized on January 2nd too so we might have ourselves a double dipper! He was struggling with the smoking thing at first but he really wants it so we are hoping that he is able to quit the awful habit and be baptized.

We are teaching a little girl named Hazel Holt and I think I've mentioned her before. She came to church yesterday with a less active lady in our ward. She went to primary for the first time and absolutely loved it! We hope that we can get permission from her dad to start teaching her the lessons and we are hoping to set a date with her soon.

The work is so fun to be a part of and I'm thankful for it everyday. There are so many people hid from the truth because they don't know where to find it. It is my goal and hope that I can find those searching and I challenge all of you to keep your eyes open for those who are spiritually ready for this gospel. Love you all and have an amazing week!

Love, Elder Leavitt

Merry Christmas!

We found this confederate cemetery out in the middle of nowhere.

This is how crazy warm it has been! Don't worry I wasn't driving!

Elder Foster from the second quorum of the Seventy and his wife came to visit.

Monday, December 7, 2015

Things in Fayetteville are moving along great. We have been doing tons of service lately. The other day we spent almost all day moving a family out of their house and into a ghetto apartment on the top floor of the building. Needless to say it was the roughest move of my entire life. We get to rake a lot of leafs for people and it's a good way to meet new people because no one is going to turn down having there yard raked for free!

We got a new family of investigators this past week! They moved from 2nd ward into our area. The other elders said that they had trouble with them and that they probably won't progress anywhere because they are stuck in their beliefs. We went over and talked with them for a really long time.
We even got them a free couch that they desperately needed. Just from being friendly to them, they have agreed to come to church this next Sunday. We can't push people into church or reading the Book of Mormon. Sometimes we just need to be their friend and lead by example. The blessing will come into their lives and our life as well when we teach as the Savior taught. Through love and compassion.

Michael has been really sick lately so we haven't been able to see him but last time we talked to him, he was still on the right path. Love you all and if you haven't watched the A Savior is Born video yet, I challenge you to watch it and share it with someone who needs it. This time of year is the most wonderful time for missionary work and we can all be a part of it. Peace and blessing.

Love, Elder Leavitt

Elder Anderson and I helping an older couple set up their tree

The package with the decorations came before the one with the tree. We couldn't wait so we improvised!

Monday, November 30, 2015

On Saturday we got our Transfer calls and I am pleased to announce that I will be staying in Fayetteville for another transfer! Elder Anderson is staying too and we were both really pumped about that because we have been serving really well together and we would hate to break up this power packed duo haha! Things have been going great here in Arkansas. The weather is starting to look a little more like the winters I have heard all about. It has been raining a lot lately but we haven't had the first snow of the year yet. I'm going to have to learn how to drive on the ice which is going to be scary. Thank goodness Elder Anderson is from Idaho so at least one of us knows what we are doing. 

Michael is doing better than ever! We went over and taught him the third lesson the other day and he was really involved. We asked him to pray about a baptismal date and he said that he has been thinking about that a lot lately and he said that he really wants to get baptized on Christmas because he thinks that there is no better present than a new start at life so yeah he is golden. He came to church too the other day and he stayed for all three hours. He just loves being a part of the church. He said that beating his addiction will be easy now that he has so much support. You can really see the hand of the Lord working in his life.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be doing the Lord's service in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I encourage you all to support and fellowship those who are new or investigating the church because you never know the impact you will have on their life. Love you all and have a blessed week!

Love, Elder Leavitt

Your basic fall picture

Thanksgiving with the Clark's. Their daughter knitted us scarves

Mission life

Monday, November 23, 2015

This email is coming a little bit later because my email was acting up this morning so sorry about the delay! Wow, where do I begin with this past week! Jo had some troubles with the smoking so we had to push his baptismal date back a week but he is super motivated now so we are hoping he can push through it. We call him every night to check up on him and he has been killing it so far. Transfer calls are this week so one of us might not be here for it which is sad to think about.

Remember Michael from last week? Well, we saw him again this week and now he is praying for a baptismal date! He came to church yesterday and a lady from Las Vegas that just recently moved here and is a recent convert spoke in sacrament meeting and she told her amazing conversion story. Afterwards she came up to us and Michael and flat out asked him if he was going to get baptized. When he said that he would like to she said," Then what are you waiting for?" That motivated him a lot and now he is praying for a date! He loves the church a lot and our ward is very good at fellow shipping which helps so much!

We have been very blessed here in our area and thank you all for the prayers and love in my behalf. I hope you all will continue to help those in need of help and comfort those in need of comfort. That's our job as members of this church. Love you all and stay safe.

Love, Elder Leavitt

Lights of the Ozarks! It looks like Temple Square around here!

Our Zone after an activity

Monday, November 16, 2015

We have been able to see so many blessings this past week! On Wednesday, after our district meetings, the whole zone got to together and went to the U of A campus to talk to random students on campus and pass out Books of Mormon. Together, we handed out so many Books and got the numbers of a couple students! It was fun just going out and trying new approaches with different people to see what works best and it benefited us all. We are planning on doing it every Wednesday now so we are hoping to bless the YSA elders a lot from this.

Now for the inspiring stuff. We have been trying to meet with this guy name Michael for awhile now but we kept on just missing him. This past week we got in the door and invited him to church and he seemed really excited to go. We got him a ride and he came to church yesterday. He was talking about how he needed to get off of some stuff that he was addicted to and yesterday, the couple who run the 12 step program in our ward spoke to us. How convenient! Michael talked with them and he is going to their meeting this week. He loved church and he is willing to progress with whatever we ask him to do so we are really excited for him.

Next is the miracle of Jo Szot. I've talked a little bit about him before in past emails and how he needed to quit smoking in order to get baptized. We gave him a priesthood blessing a couple days ago to help him quit. Well, Saturday was the day that he needed to stop completely. We couldn't get a hold of him all day so we were a bit nervous for him. On Sunday he came to church with the biggest smile on his face. He said he woke up Saturday morning with absolutely no desire to smoke and all day he didn't crave it once. He knew it was because God was helping him because getting baptized is what he needs to do. He will be getting interviewed this week if he keeps this up and we should be having ourselves a good Ol' Fashion baptism next week!

As always, thanks for the love and support! Have a blessed week!

Love, Elder Leavitt

Our Halloween costumes

We found this random thing in the woods so we took a tough guy picture

Hey, what time is it?