Hi Elder Leavitt,
It was great to hear from you. Again, we don't expect answers from you because your time in the mission field is so precious. Peggy and I just loved being at your family's house to Skype with you on Mother's day. You certainly have a fantastic mother, who really loves you.
In Washoughal we were ward missionaries. There were four couples called as ward missionaries, plus the ward mission leader. We had our own set of missionaries. Every other week we would all met together for self training and motivation, and to outline our goals for the next couple of weeks. We would cover a chapter out of the book, "The Power of Everyday Missionaries", and then a section out of Preach My Gospel. I loved the book on Everyday missionaries because it showed how to be an Everyday missionary made simple and do-able.
We found ways to be of service to local community organizations. Three years ago we went to the city and asked them if there were parks or other places the city would like us to help. We cleaned up river front parks, painted fences around the cemetery, help build a walking path in a new park. This was done on a stake level for the community. The first year the city was blown away by the turnout of people, and the amount of work, which was accomplished. The second year the mayor of Washougal declared a city wide service day. It was announced to all churches, and sent out in utility bills. He even came to talk to us, and he could not believe the turnout of the Mormons. Over 90% of those showing up were LDS. Again they tried it the third year, and again we blew the city away with the amount of people, who showed up to help serve the city. They keep asking how we get the people to do such service.
On the ward level we found that there was a banquet/auction being held to raise funds for the animal shelter. Many, many prominent town citizens were there, and we were the servers for the activity. They really enjoyed our service efforts. Again, we were able to raise the visibility of the church in Washougal.
Another ward level service project was cleaning up a yard of a member, who had passed away, and his non-member family needed lots of help to clean the 20 acres up. We invited non-members to come and help us. I believe that I told you the story about the non-member lady I met on that activity. She was working all by herself, and I was able to get several others to all work with her, and to talk about her family. The last week we were there last fall, she had been invited, and attended church. I am hoping that things have progressed with her since we left.
Peggy already has her suitcase packed, and we will be heading out to Washougal this Friday. It has been a great time attending the grandchildren activities and graduations.
Wishing you a great and spiritual day today. We are proud of you, and we know that what you are doing is of upmost importance in the eye of the Lord. Keep up the great work.
Love, Grandpa Dennis
On Monday, May 19, 2014 6:14 PM, Chase Leavitt <cleavitt@myldsmail.net> wrote:
Hey Grandpa Anderson,
It's so great to hear back from you and that all is going pretty well, besides all of the funerals and hospital visits that is. I have been keeping you and your/our family and friends in my prayers and hope that things get better for you soon. It was so great to be able to talk to you and Peggy. I love being able to see and hear from you both.
I am so excited for Andressa for her going to Belgium Netherlands for her mission. I have a friend who is there right now and he is always talking about how much that he loves his mission and the people there.
Were you the ward mission leader up in Washougal, and will you be again when you go back up? When you first were telling me about what you did, I was still in the MTC and fairly new out here, and I didn't quite understand how things worked. No that I do, I look forward to I talking with you more on different ideas and of things that did and didn't work, as well as how things are going. When are you planning on going back up?
Loves ya tons,
Love, your grandson,
Sent from my iPad
Elder Leavitt
Dear Elder Leavitt,Life has again stepped up a notch in things happening. My cousin's husband, Richard Cox, got pneumonia, and passed away. Three days later my cousin, Kendra Scoresby, was having a knee operation, and they believe she passed away from a heart attack. She was only 58 years old.Closer to home, Richard Clark, Karla's husband got the pneumonia, fell and was unconscious for awhile, and in the hospital for a couple weeks. Then our friend, Reid Merrill, was in the hospital, being delirious. So we have spent some time in hospitals, and in running to Provo for a funeral. The positive aspect of the funeral was seeing cousins I have not seen for many years. It was great getting to know them better.As you probably know, Andressa got her mission call to the Netherlands/Belgium mission, leaving Sept. 17th. Monica put together a great YouTube video on applying and waiting, and getting the mission call. We are all excited about her call.It was interesting this week. They got new missionaries in Washougal, and they were calling numbers in the phone, and called to find out who we were. I quizzed them on the contacts we were working with last summer, and it appears that nothing has happened. It looks like we will have to continue our missionary work up there when we get there in June.You asked about the people we have been working with in the shelter. When the homeless come into the shelter, they are allowed to stay week-to-week up to 90 days... that is if they are being progressive about trying to get their life in order. Most are there only 3 to 5 weeks, and they are gone. As such, it is only a brief moment that we have to touch their lives. Several have expressed their want to seek out a religion, and I have passed them on to the missionaries. I have no way of following up on what happened to them. We just keep trying, and hoping that we can touch the lives of some of these people.We absolutely enjoy reading your family letters, and are always praying for you. We love you, and know that you are doing the Lords work.Have a great week.Love, Grandpa Dennis
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