.PNG)
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Missionary Mammas email group- Nov 29, 2014
Preface: the MM email group was chatting about how their missionaries don't always eat healthy, how little amount of money they have and what they could do to help them - short of sending more cash. This converstation evolved into the following notes. Made my day as a missionary mamma!
From Heidi: Thank you. How is your son doing, Lori?? Do you know when they raised the amount?
>>> Thank you, too Melissa. I think I need to send him a cookbook. Mark was a really good eater before he left, he went through a ton of fruits and vegetables; but they do cost a lot of money! And milk. Here, he drank almost a gallon a day. If anyone has great meal ideas, send them my way and I will send them to him. I do realize that planning for meals is not his forte. YET.
>>> Heidi,
>>> He is doing really well. Thanks for asking. I met your son while I was there. For those of you readers that don't know, my son had a bycicle accident and broke his collar bone in four places. He had to have surgery. Long story short, the mission president gave us the option of either bringing him home, having the surjery done at home or me going to Florida, taking care of it there and staying with him until he was well enough to return to full missionary work. My son did not want to come home so I went there. I spent 6 days being my son's companion. It was amazing!
>>>
>>> Lori Hedin
>>> MM to Elder Caleb Hedin
>>> Tampa, Florida mission
>> I am so glad you could go, and happy that he is doing so well. I know that's something we all worry about- an accident. I'm glad it was "fixable."
>>
>> Heidi
> Lori Hedin, my son Elder Leavitt in Tampa FL wrote a bit ago and mentioned about Elder Hedin- I just now put the two together! Elder Leavitt along with his current companion Elder Wing had the opportunity to be with your son for just a few days before you came and before his surgery. He mentioned what a cool person Elder Hedin is and that he hopes all is going well for him and with his surgery. He also mentioned how "weird" it was to see him with his mom. LOL! Love it!
>
>
> Makayla Leavitt
> Makayla,
Yes!! I met Elder Leavitt! When I arrived in Tampa early that Sunday morning, My instructions were to make my way to the apartment where Caleb was staying which was Elder Leavitt and Elder Wing's apartment. The two of them took good care of my son for a few days. I was so grateful for them. All the missionaries thought it was very weird to see me there and believe me, it felt just as weird for me to be there. It was a very rare and unusual experience. Please thank your son for me and let him know that the surgery was successful. Elder Hedin is feeling great and healing well. When I left, he was put with Elder Wing and then just last Monday was moved to the Citrus Ridge area on the very east border of the mission close to Orlando. He is living in Davenport and I believe he said his companion is Elder Rands.
Lori Hedin
Very glad that he is doing better!! It tickles me pink that another MM was close to my Elder! I will pass it on to Elder Leavitt about Elder Hedin!!
Makayla
From Heidi: Thank you. How is your son doing, Lori?? Do you know when they raised the amount?
>>> Thank you, too Melissa. I think I need to send him a cookbook. Mark was a really good eater before he left, he went through a ton of fruits and vegetables; but they do cost a lot of money! And milk. Here, he drank almost a gallon a day. If anyone has great meal ideas, send them my way and I will send them to him. I do realize that planning for meals is not his forte. YET.
>>> Heidi,
>>> He is doing really well. Thanks for asking. I met your son while I was there. For those of you readers that don't know, my son had a bycicle accident and broke his collar bone in four places. He had to have surgery. Long story short, the mission president gave us the option of either bringing him home, having the surjery done at home or me going to Florida, taking care of it there and staying with him until he was well enough to return to full missionary work. My son did not want to come home so I went there. I spent 6 days being my son's companion. It was amazing!
>>>
>>> Lori Hedin
>>> MM to Elder Caleb Hedin
>>> Tampa, Florida mission
>> I am so glad you could go, and happy that he is doing so well. I know that's something we all worry about- an accident. I'm glad it was "fixable."
>>
>> Heidi
> Lori Hedin, my son Elder Leavitt in Tampa FL wrote a bit ago and mentioned about Elder Hedin- I just now put the two together! Elder Leavitt along with his current companion Elder Wing had the opportunity to be with your son for just a few days before you came and before his surgery. He mentioned what a cool person Elder Hedin is and that he hopes all is going well for him and with his surgery. He also mentioned how "weird" it was to see him with his mom. LOL! Love it!
>
>
> Makayla Leavitt
> Makayla,
Yes!! I met Elder Leavitt! When I arrived in Tampa early that Sunday morning, My instructions were to make my way to the apartment where Caleb was staying which was Elder Leavitt and Elder Wing's apartment. The two of them took good care of my son for a few days. I was so grateful for them. All the missionaries thought it was very weird to see me there and believe me, it felt just as weird for me to be there. It was a very rare and unusual experience. Please thank your son for me and let him know that the surgery was successful. Elder Hedin is feeling great and healing well. When I left, he was put with Elder Wing and then just last Monday was moved to the Citrus Ridge area on the very east border of the mission close to Orlando. He is living in Davenport and I believe he said his companion is Elder Rands.
Lori Hedin
Very glad that he is doing better!! It tickles me pink that another MM was close to my Elder! I will pass it on to Elder Leavitt about Elder Hedin!!
Makayla
Re: Successful Adopt-A-Grandma - Nov 24, 2014
Hey, I'm glad yet you got the letter this week. I need to get better at writing more often, but that should come as I develop a better attitude about writing in general. But I'm working on it. :)
Things are going pretty well with Elder Ware and I for the most part. We get along well, but he likes to be nit-picky about things that I do. I get pretty frustrated with some of the things that he says to me sometimes, but I don't let it effect me at all. He's a hard worker. I thought that I sent you his address last week. Sorry. His address is 441 Covington Circle, Stansbury Ut, 84074. We do have some pretty good plans for Thanksgiving this week. We are going over to two recent converts homes for lunch and dinner, so it should be a pretty good day. He says that he doesn't need anything, but you can send him a tie and whatever else you'd like. I don't mean to tell you my list for Santa, but if I could get a watch, that would be great. Mine cracked and broke a few months ago when I was in University Park. Maybe even a Bluetooth key board for the IPad, but that's not necessary. About the December lesson, Elder Ware just says to "Fear No Man". I wish that I could read the Power of Everyday Missionaries, but I know that there is some good stuff in there that you can use. I also like the Mormon Message "Sharing our Beliefs". That reminds me, I absolutely love the new video that just came out this week.mits called "The Refiners Fire". You'll have to watch it and let me know what you think about it. ;)
That's so cool that Kayla got her YW medallion. You will have to send me her email address so that we can keep in touch. I haven't talked to her at all yet since I have left home. Talking about leaving home, I come home in less than eight months! I am 2/3's of my way through the mission. It's crazy to hunk about it, so I'm not going to dwell in it any longer.
That is so cool that Lainee has hat ambition to do the times table chart. You will have to let her know that I love her too. She told dad to write it on his email! :)
I so wish that I could see Lexie in Suessical. Is it being recorded so that I can watch it when I get back? Tell her that I love her too, and to break leg tonight! Not really tho.
I sure hope that Kiera had a good time with Josh, and the other two boys. Sounds like she is having a lot of fun and enjoying life! Love her too!
I love you and dad tons as well. Thanks for updating me every week on the things that are going on. Talk to Ya next week.
Love, Elder Leavitt
Back in St. Petersburg!!! and William and Felix - Nov 24, 2014
Dear family and friends,
These past two weeks have been so busy, so I'm sorry that I didn't write anything last week. This email will briefly go over the crazy things that have happened since I lady wrote to you all.
So last Monday, I get a phone call from the assistants while shopping at Walmart, and they asked me if I would be willing to go to Port Charlotte. I guess a missionary there was going home, and they needed me to go and fill in for him. I really didn't want to leave because I loved the New Tampa area and Elder Wing and I got along great. We were just getting to know the members there and had some good working that was just getting started. Later on in the day, I received a phone call from President Cusick asking me how tough that I am? He also asked me how I did in St. Petersburg when I was being trained by Elder Whaley. President Cusick then told me that I would be going to St. Petersburg with Elder Ware. I still didn't want to leave the New Tampa area, but I was more excited than before. Elder Ware is a hard working guy, but now I can see why President asked me how tough I am, because sometimes he is pretty difficult to get along with. The rest of the day was spent packing my bags since I would be leaving first thing Tuesday morning. His companion was only out in the mission for five days before he went home. I guess that Elder Ware has had a hard time with seeing companions go home, because out of his five companions he has had, three of them went home while serving with him.
They ware is super excited to have me back, and I am thrilled to be here again. I always thought of how cool it would be to go back to my first area, but I never did think that it would actually happen. Since I have been here for the last two weeks, we have set six baptism dates. It has been so great to see how well the work is going here in this area. The two most solid dats set right now are with Felix and William. They have changed so much since we first started meeting with them. They came to church yesterday, along with four other investigators. I sent you a picture of them both. Both of them absolutely loved coming to church, and they are so ready to be baptized.
We have recently made some new changes in our area, and we decided that we are no longer going to spend any time street contacting. I guess setting aside to street contact, because we will still talk to everyone that we see. It's just not that effective. You want to be in places where people choose to be, instead of them being forced to be there. So we now just going off of referrals, and we have had some pretty cool experiences. There have been so many miracles that I can't even remember them all. On Saturday night, we went and saw a less active who hasn't been to church for a few months. Her name is Amanda, and her daughter Angelina was baptized not too long ago. During our evening planning on Friday night, we were trying to figure out who to go and see for referrals. We prayed about who to go and see and I felt that we should go and visit Angelina, and Elder Ware felt that we should go and see Amanda, so it just confirmed that we were supposed to be there. Before we go into her a persons home to ask for referrals of family and friends, we pray specifically to know how many people that we will receive from them, and we felt that we could get four. As we got out of the car, Amanda was just leaving on her bike to pick up Angelina. We grabbed our bikes off of the back of the car and went with her. We did talk to a few people, but no one was interested. When we returned to her home, we told her about the number of referrals we felt that she had for us, and then we said a prayer. At the end of the prayer, she said that she had four different names for us, and they were all families. I can testify that God never lies, because each time we have done this before, we have hit of succeeded the number we had. She called all four of those names right then and there, and set up times for us to come by and say a prayer with their family. We went and saw two of them that day, and set up return appointments. It was so amazing! After we left, Amanda called her sister to tell her what happened, and now her sister wants missionaries to come and visit her. Amanda then came to church yesterday for the first time in a few months, and she gave us seven more names of people that she wants us to go and visit with her! Amanda is the referral queen. It was really cool to see all of this happen, and to be part of the Lords Hastening the work as we work alongside members.
I love you all tons, and I hope that you have a great Thanksgiving week! Oh, almost forgot, be on the lookout for the new Mormon Message, "He is the Gift". It is super good, and make sure that you share it with everyone!
Love, Elder Leavitt
Sent from my iPad
Re: le miserables - Nov 17, 2014
How did the move go?
-The move went pretty good. I have a lot of junk that I didn't realize that I had collected. Elder Wing should be sending a package home for me. So you will have to let me know when you get that. Thanks. If the girls don't see the bible apples to apples game, you can give it to the family for Christmas from me. If not, oh well, everyone can still play it.
My new address: 4618 1st street north #213B, St. Petersburg FL, 33703
Are you teaching any contacts that you left behind before?
-As of right now, we don't have any of my old contacts that I we are visiting with right now. Elder Ware likes to go off and do his own things sometimes. Hopefully we can try seeing them to gage if they are willing to progress now or if they aren't quite ready yet.
Was the Ward the same? and if so were they happy to see you again?
-So most of the ward is the same, but there are plenty of new faces that I don't know right now. Quite a few people that were here when I was, have ended up moving somewhere else. Everyone that knew me before were surprised and happy to see me back here.
How is your new companion? Where is he from?
-My new companion is Elder Kaleb Ware. He from Grantsville Utah. He has been out on his mission for seven months now, and this is his first area, and I am his fifth companion.
What is his famlies address?
Did they tell you how long you may be with this Elder or do you think this will be like a normal transfer time?
-When President Cusick called me on Monday, I asked him if this was a temporary thing or not, and he said that nothing is temporary in the mission. At I could be here for a few days, weeks, or until the end of my mission. So I guess we will see what happens from here on out. President Cusick also told me that there is a good chance that I might be in the office again, he liked having me there and I already know the ropes of how things work ther.
Have you heard how Elder Hicken is doing since he had an emergency companion switch as well? I know you two struggled together but I was thinking about him and hoping that things look more positive for him as well.
-Elder Hicken didn't have an emergency transfer. I was with Elder Wing at the time. I haven't heard about Elder Wing and how he is doing. But Elder Hicken is doing pretty good up in Hudson right now. We are in the same zone, so I will probably see him a few times.
I saw a side pic of Elder Ronfeldt and my heart felt for you as you were so looking forward to working with him somewhat again. I like that Elder and I haven't even met him yet!
-Elder Ronfeldt really is a great guy, and I know that he will do great things in his mission.
Do you have a good blender in your new apartment?
-I'm not sure if it is a good one or not yet. I haven't gotten the chance try it out yet, but tomorrow I will.
Sorry that my email is so short this week. I don't have time to write anything. Loves you tons, and tell the family that I love them too!!!
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
Emergency Transfer - Nov 10, 2014
Hey, guess what? I still don't like the situation that I am being put
in, but it just got better than what I was originally told. I just got
off the phone with President Cusick, and he is sending me to St.
Petersburg with Elder Ware. My old stomping grounds! It will be a lot
of fun seeing he members again!
Sent from my iPad
in, but it just got better than what I was originally told. I just got
off the phone with President Cusick, and he is sending me to St.
Petersburg with Elder Ware. My old stomping grounds! It will be a lot
of fun seeing he members again!
Sent from my iPad
Transfer#12 and Re: flyin' by - Nov 11, 2014
Dear Family and Friends,
Sorry I didn't get to writing anything last week, but the last two
weeks have been great! Even with not having a teaching pool to work
with at the moment.
So last Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Barnett. We had a
really fun day together catching up on how we are both doing. He was
one of my MTC companions.
That Friday on Halloween, we drove out to Lake Hamilton, which is over
an hour drive to get there. One of Elder Wings old investigators was
getting baptized, and he got permission to attend the baptism. It was
a lot of fun seeing different areas of the mission that I haven't been
to yet.
So this past week has been pretty crazy with it being transfer week.
Elder Hubers companion went home on Tuesday, so we were in a trio for
the first half of the week until transfer meeting which was on
Thursday. We stayed really busy throughout the week by setting up the
new iPads for the new missionaries. Then we spent a few hours training
them on how to use it. On transfer day, just because we were already
at the office, we decided to sit in he meeting to find out who is
going where. Little did we know that we were getting another
companion. His name is Elder Hedin, and he was just with us for a few
days. Last Tuesday, he got in a bike accident and broke his collar
bone, and now he is in surgery today. He is really cool, and I hope
that all is going well for him with his surgery. While Elder Hedin is
going through his surgery and recovery, he is companions with his mom.
She flew out here Sunday morning to take care of him until he is ready
for missionary work again. It was pretty weird seeing him with him
mom.
So for transfers Elder Wing and I are staying together for another
transfer. I am pretty excited for this transfer with all of the
activities that are going on, and for the potential we have in this
area. Some really cool things happened this transfer. Sadly, Elder
Barnett is no longer my zone leader, but he did replace Elder Hicken
in University Park. He will do a really good job there. Elder Hicken
replaced Elder Ronfeldt in Hudson. Guess where that leaves Elder
Ronfeldt. Yup, he is now my zone leader, and is also serving in the
same ward. It is going to be a lot of fun serving near him again and
seeing him pretty much everyday! We have already spent a few minutes
talking about he University Park ward, and how things have been going
with each of us since we have left.
I hope that all is going well for you. Loves Ya tons!!!
Love,
Elder Leavitt
Sent from my iPad
Sorry I didn't get to writing anything last week, but the last two
weeks have been great! Even with not having a teaching pool to work
with at the moment.
So last Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Barnett. We had a
really fun day together catching up on how we are both doing. He was
one of my MTC companions.
That Friday on Halloween, we drove out to Lake Hamilton, which is over
an hour drive to get there. One of Elder Wings old investigators was
getting baptized, and he got permission to attend the baptism. It was
a lot of fun seeing different areas of the mission that I haven't been
to yet.
So this past week has been pretty crazy with it being transfer week.
Elder Hubers companion went home on Tuesday, so we were in a trio for
the first half of the week until transfer meeting which was on
Thursday. We stayed really busy throughout the week by setting up the
new iPads for the new missionaries. Then we spent a few hours training
them on how to use it. On transfer day, just because we were already
at the office, we decided to sit in he meeting to find out who is
going where. Little did we know that we were getting another
companion. His name is Elder Hedin, and he was just with us for a few
days. Last Tuesday, he got in a bike accident and broke his collar
bone, and now he is in surgery today. He is really cool, and I hope
that all is going well for him with his surgery. While Elder Hedin is
going through his surgery and recovery, he is companions with his mom.
She flew out here Sunday morning to take care of him until he is ready
for missionary work again. It was pretty weird seeing him with him
mom.
So for transfers Elder Wing and I are staying together for another
transfer. I am pretty excited for this transfer with all of the
activities that are going on, and for the potential we have in this
area. Some really cool things happened this transfer. Sadly, Elder
Barnett is no longer my zone leader, but he did replace Elder Hicken
in University Park. He will do a really good job there. Elder Hicken
replaced Elder Ronfeldt in Hudson. Guess where that leaves Elder
Ronfeldt. Yup, he is now my zone leader, and is also serving in the
same ward. It is going to be a lot of fun serving near him again and
seeing him pretty much everyday! We have already spent a few minutes
talking about he University Park ward, and how things have been going
with each of us since we have left.
I hope that all is going well for you. Loves Ya tons!!!
Love,
Elder Leavitt
Sent from my iPad
Hey mom, just wanted to answer your questions real quick, and also a few other things that I didn't want to talk about in my weekly email.
So we haven't moved into a new apartment yet, but I will be moving to a new apartment. A new area actually. The assistants called me when we were shopping at Walmart about two hours ago, and asked me if I would go to Wachula with Elder Hicken. I guess that his companion is going home all of the sudden, so now I have to be down there tomorrow. I think it is pretty stupid and I am not looking forward to going down there. I really want to be up here for this transfer in New Tampa. Right now I'm not in a too good of a mood. I'm just really upset about it all. So I guess we will see what happens. I was just finally starting to get to know this ward better, and I love the work in this area. I guess that I am just really depressed about leaving it here.Did you get into a new apartment like you mentioned you might?
So I did figure out how to cook the pinenuts. I have still been experimenting to see which way I like the most, and which way makes them taste the best.Did you figure out the pinenuts?
I haven't found one out here yet, and I have only had one protein shake so far because we don't have a good blender, but hey, maybe the next area will have a better one.Do you still need a shaker or did you find one there?
How is your bike holding up?
I haven't ridden my bike at all in the last six weeks. So I guess it's holding up pretty well. We have full car here in New Tampa, but we drive everyone else's vehicles instead. So I guess it's not too bad, but maybe Wachula is on full bike. I'll find out soon enough.
I will let you know if there is anything that I need once I get to my new area.Is there anything you need at this time?
Thanks for the loves and prayers. I am so thankful to have them right now at this time!I pray daily that you and Elder Wing are doing well and serving as the Lord needs you at this time! Keep stong knowing we support you from this distance away! Thank You for serving so obediently and making my heart full!
With Loves, your son,
Elder Leavitt
Re: BOO-Week! - Nov 3, 2014
I did get the package that you sent to me. Thank you so much for the pine nuts. I sort of remember how to make them, but I have just been experimenting on how to do it. Elder Wing also got some from his family, but he just puts them in the microwave to cook them. I have also been enjoying the protein shake. Thanks. I might have to see if we can get a new blender or go and get one of those mixer cups with the wire ball wisk inside of it. Elder Wing seems to be doing alright. He hasn't received a phone call from the doctors yet, so hopefully that means it is good news. We are going back for a follow up appointment for him on Friday. This last week, ur days have been spent in the office doing BCR's and referrals. We did go to Riverview to exchange cars with one that is ready to be sold. On Friday, we drove out or Lake Hamilton which is about 75 miles for a baptism of King Chew. He is an investigator that Elder Wing tracted into at the beginning of his mission. So that was pretty fun. It was an all day event, because we went and ate at Denny's afterwards. I am doing pretty well so far. Eric, who we had a baptism date with, he moved to Kissemee this last week, which is out of our mission. So that's kind of a bummer. He still wants missionaries to meet with him tho, so that is good news! I can't think of anything that I need at the moment. Thanks tho. I will let you know if I do.
It sounds like it has been a pretty exciting and eventful week. Tell Kiera at she will had to send me an email when she gets some time about how her Sadies date and dance went. I would love to hear about it from her. I will keep Britton and his family in my prayers. You will have to keep me updated on his condition.
Loves Ya butcher,
Love, Elder Leavitt
Halloween 'Car'nival! - Oct 27, 2014
Dear Family and Friends,
This week has been a great week, and a lot of fun. We had a Ward Halloween activity on Friday night, and there was an awesome turnout of nonmembers and investigators. There were probably around 175 people there altogether. Lots of members decorated the trunks of their cars and passed out candy for the Trunk-Or-Treat. I am not used to being in a ward with so many families that have kids. There was lots of chili to go around for everyone. I think that there were about 20 different pots of chili, and as missionaries, we got to taste test all of them and judge which ones were the best. To be honest, I was hoping that there would be some spicy chili's, but there really weren't any. They did taste pretty great though. Our investigator Eric was able to come to the activity, and he really enjoyed it. The members are great here on fellow shipping and helping people to make them feel welcomed and at home.
Yesterday was the Primary Program, and it is so fun to see the kids sharing their parts that they have memorized. There was this one cute little boy who told the person trying to help him with his part, to back off because he didn't want her help. I guess that he would get a reward if he didn't have anyone helping him, and he really wanted that treat. It was pretty funny.
Really nothing too exciting that happened this past week. We did spend some time in down town Tampa for a few hours for Elder Wing. He is trying to get a few things figured out. Hopefully things will be alright with him.
Other than that, we have spent a lot of time in the office with trying to get things ready for a Senior Couple that are coming in this week. Normally we don't have to worry about any of that, but we have a special project that President Cusick asked us to work no before they get here. They are going to be taking care of all of the apartments in the mission when they arrive here. They are also going to be part of the New Tampa Ward, so now there will be eight full time missionaries in this ward come November.
Thanks for the letters and emails each week. I love you all and pray that things are going well. Take Care!
Love, Elder Leavitt
Baptism Date!!!- Oct 20, 2014
Dear Family and Friends,
This week has been a pretty great week that was full of miracles. On Thursday, the YSA Sisters met a man named Eric on the street in front of the church and they set up an appointment to take him on a church tour. So the next day, we joined them for the church tour for a pass off lesson. I love taking investigators through the church because the Spirit is so strong each time. During the tour, we committed him to be baptized, and even set a date for November 15th. I am so excited to be working with him. It has been a few months since I have had a date set with anyone. At the end of the tour, we asked him to pray. He was really nervous, but finally decided that if he wanted to change his life, that he needed to do it now. It was a very heartfelt prayer. It is so neat to be able to see people pray for the first time. After the prayer, he told us that he felt very calm and peaceful. We then set up a time to meet with him again on Saturday, and taught him the Restoration. It was then when we found out that he has a few issues that he needs to work on before he can be baptized. So we may have to push his date back a little bit, but we will see what happens. We didn't even have to tell him about the things that he needs to work on, because he is already wanting to change those things in his life. When we told him that the Bishop could marry him and his girlfriend, he got really excited about that. We invited him to come to church the next day, and he committed to coming. He didn't come to church, but later Sunday evening, he did text us apologizing for missing church. He got too busy and forgot about it.
Love you all, and I hope that you have a great week!
Love, Elder Leavitt
RE:Mom loves bday! - Oct 20, 2014
Hey Mom, sorry that I didn't write back to you last week. I am so glad that you had a great birthday! I still need to write you a birthday letter, sorry that it is so late. You and dad looked great in your Halloween costumes. I loved it. :D I didn't get Meagan Proffit's address, you will gave to resend that if you can. Thanks. Oh, and Elder Wings address is 230 W 1780 N
Orem UT 84057 United States. He lives about 0.5 miles north of where Elder Hicken does, but they are in different stakes. One more thing, if you could send the protein that would be great. I am using the mission office address for mail now. We are going to see if we can get out of the apartment that we are in because there is too much moisture in the air. There is always this awful musty smell every time that you walk in. All of our possessions are are always damp, especially our clothes and beds, and it is also ruining our books and papers because of how much water is in the air. For some reason, it is less humid outside then it is inside. The temperature is great here, it's been down in the 70's and it feels amazing. The mission office address is 13510 N 42nd Street, Tampa FL 33613.
Loves Ya tons.
Love, Elder Leavitt
Thanks for the pin number, the card that I have does end in that number. Thank you! Did you get Elder Wing's Address? It is 230 W 1780 N, Orem UT 84057. We have been able to find a few people, but the teaching pool that we do have is really small right now. Hopefully we can build that up some more. That is so cool to hear that the Girls XC team did so well. I am so excited for them to go to state, and Kiera gets to run it!!! That is so cool! I have always wanted to run at the state meet and course, but never did get the chance. I am so proud of her for making it there. I'm glad that you got the picture from the baptism. It was from some members from Utah!
Loves ya tons!!
Love, Elder Leavitt
Sam Bloxham & Meet the Mormons - Oct 13, 2014
Just wanted to give you a heads up, Elder (Awesome) Bloxham should be coming home soon if he isn't already. If you can, you will have to go to his Homecoming and send my love to him. Thanks!
Dear Family and Friends,
Dear Family and Friends,
This week has been a great week. It started off with going to all of the Zone Conferences in the mission from Tuesday to Thursday. We had to go to all three because of car inspections. We had to inspect all of the cars to see that they are being maintained or if anything needed to be fixed on any of them. It was fun though because I got to see all of the missionaries that I know. The Zone Conference was to watch the new movie "Meet the Mormons". I didn't think that it would be that great. I thought that it would be another "I'm a Mormon" Message, but it was much better than I had anticipated. I have to be honest though, the last segment with the Missionary Mom did make me homesick and a little trunky, but I am over it now. It was really touching. If you haven't gotten the chance to see it yet, your missing out.
On Wednesday, we finally got everything moved into our new apartment. It is a really small apartment, and is all musty smelling when you walk in. As we were moving in, we met one of our neighbors that was moving out. He thought that we were Jehovah Witnesses at first, but as we got talking, he was more interested to what we had to share because we would actually listen to what he had to say. He lives to far away for us to go and see, so we will give him to the missionaries that cover his area.
On Friday, when the Zone Conferences were over and we could actually go out and proselyte, we weren't sure what to do or where we needed to go finding. So we called up the Zone Leaders, Elder Hall and Elder Barnett (MTC Companion) and asked them where are some good areas to go find or what members we could go and see. They didn't help us too much at the time, but we meet with them later in the evening to find out which members are active and who they are working with. Since we didn't have anything to do, we knelt down and said a prayer. We felt that we should walk to the church, and so we did. We talked to a lot of people and handed out a few copies of the Book of Mormon. When we made it to the church, there was a guy there who was going to buy some of the old mission cars and he wanted to test drive them. Elder Jepsen wasn't at the church to help him, so we ended up going with him to test drive the cars. So it was a great thing that we were there at that time to go with him.
Saturday was a great day also. We went street contacting and got some great potentials. As we were talking to a guy at a bus stop, this lady across the street was yelling frantically and asking if we were Mormon Missionaries. With the way that she was yelling and acting, we thought that someone was seriously hurt, but it turned out that one of her dogs had escaped from the house and she wanted help finding it. After the dog was found, she invited us in with her husband and wanted to visit with us. They ordered a pizza for us and feed us dinner. As we got talking with them, we found out that they had investigated the church before. They also gave us a long list of church members that they knew, and it was more than Elder Wing and I know. We later found out from members that this couples had been coming to church for two years every week, but that they hadn't seen them for about ten months. They are what us missionaries call eternal-gators. The husband did end up coming to church on Sunday.
Church was quite different than what I am used to. There are a lot of young families here in this ward. Sacrament meeting sort of felt like a war zone with how rowdy the kids were being. I'm used to being in wards where there are about 3-5 families, but the New Tampa ward has at least 10-15 families. This Ward seems really on top of getting things done, and they have a great excitement to do missionary work.
With Love from Florida!
Elder Leavitt
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)