Elder Zwick Specialized Training‏ - February 23, 2015

 

Dear Family and Friends,

I don't have too much time to write today, but this week has been a pretty great week. We had a specialized training with Elder Craig Zwick of the Seventy. It was really cool to listen to him and all of the great stories that he had. He talked about his mission in Argentina and the special assignments that he was given. One of which was to design build a church building in a city in Bolivia that had no members there. He talked about all of the things that he had to do in order for that to happen. No matter what trials that he faced, he was obedient to his calling and fulfilling to the best that he could. Another really neat thing that he talked about was the book Preach My Gospel. I encourage everyone to read and study this each day! It took nine years for it to finally be published. During those nine years, not one of the First Presidency or the Twelve Apostles died, and 7 of the 15 were in bad health. It wasn't until it was published that 2 weeks later Elder Haight was taken home, and then a week after that Elder Maxwell also returned to his Father in heaven. We are having a Zone Conference this upcoming Friday, where we will be able to listen to Elder Zwick again. He also told us that we are getting new iPads and upgrading them in the near future. Can't wait until that happens. He also gave us sneak peak of the new video "Because He Lives" that will be released on March 28 for Easter. Be on the look out for it, because it is really good!

Another cool experience that that William, a recent convert, brought his mother to church on Friday night for a church tour and she loved it. Then she came to church on Sunday for Sacrament meeting and really enjoyed that as well. In the past, William had received a little opposition from his family, and he loves them so much. When his mom came, some of the members already knew her a little bit and really helped her to feel welcomed at church. It was really neat to see her there.  

Love, Elder Leavitt

 

 

I have a bike that I am borrowing from the mission right now. I am putting in a little bit of money into it, but not to much, probably around $40-50 because it needs some fixing up. I will just give it to another missionary so that they will have a decent bike for when they get out on their mission. 

So President Cusick never did respond to any of my emails. I think that he would respond better to you are Stacy if either of you were to send him an email about it. His email is markcusick@me.com You already have my address which is 1618 1st Street N, #213B, St. Petersburg. 

I don't quite understand what all of those different things would be. As for direction wise, I was thinking to go with whatever way is the cheapest route so that I can save money. I still don't know what field that I want to go into. Either Medical or engineering? As for transportation, I was thinking about saving up for a decent bike that I could use for the short term. I would just mouch off of you and your awesome cooking for food too!

Re: bike n Vegas!‏ - February 16, 2015

Dear Family and Freinds,

Monday night we had a really fun Family Home Evening with the Lander's family. Brother Landers invited one of his co-workers to come and join them, so that was pretty cool to have a nonmember there. We talked to him about the Restoration a little and gave him a pamphlet to read. Really nice guy and had some pretty good questions about the church
for us, but he isn't too interested in meeting with us at this time. For FHE, we play a really fun game of Family Feud that Sister Landers was in charge of. We will have to play it together as a family when I get home! After leaving the Lander's home, Brother Larson is kind enough to let me borrow his bike until I can find a replacement bike, so we went and picked that up.

Tuesday started off with district meeting and district meeting is huge now. We have 22  missionaries in the district now including a Senior couple, and the zone leaders and sister training leaders.  We did some role playing on how to introduce the Book of Mormon to investigators, and I can't tell you how much that I have grown in my love of reading the Book of Mormon. After District Meeting, Elder Stephens went on exchanges with Elder Stuart down to Gulfport, so that put Elder Haslem and I together. We had a pretty good day that started off with Brother Owen picking us up to go and visit with Colleen. When we first walked in, there was a super strong smell of smoke. I knew immediately that Colleen wasn't keeping the Word of Wisdom, but that didn't surprise me to much. We followed up with it anyways, and she said that she has
been cutting back. As we started off the lesson, we also followed up with her Book of Mormon reading and she gave us the same response that she normally does. She said that she has been reading it, but that she doesn't remember a single thing that she has read at all. She hadn't read through the pamphlets that we had left with her either. Since she really hasn't read anything, we read about the Doctrine of Christ in 2 Nephi 31 with her. To finish off the evening, Elder Haslem and I taught the Book of Mormon class. We taught about how they can strengthen their families within their own homes. Then we read through the Family Proclamation and passed out copies of it that my mom had made for me. Thanks mom for sending them, everyone loved them a lot on now hey are hanging up in their homes.

We did a two day exchange so I got to spend another day with Elder Haslem. We did quite a bit of street contacting today. It was pretty cool and as we talked to a 15 year old kid named Elijah Solomon, we found out that he was a youth minister. He knew the bible pretty well but had some awesome questions about the restoration as we taught it to him. He's aid that it all made sense that there would be a living prophet on the earth today.  never did make it there because we stopped to talk to a 15 year old kid who was skate boarding home. Turns out that he is a youth minister at a church over in Tampa. His
name is Elijah Solomon, and he had a great knowledge of the Bible and had some pretty awesome questions for us. In the evening, we had a brother Marble come out with us for a lesson with Jordan and Sharee. We had taught the Restoraion to Jordan before when his wife was in the hospital, but we retaught it so that his girlfriend could hear it as well. The spirit was so strong during that lesson, especially when we shared Joseph Smiths experience with them. Jordan said that he all
made complete sense to him, and that he got a warm comforting feeling. We then testified on how that feeling was from the Holy Ghost, and explains how the Spirit testifies of the truth. It was great to have Brother Marble there to fellowship with them. I can't wait to go back and share more with them about he Book of a Mormon and Plan of Salvation. Jordan had some great questions about the Plan of Salvation, and I think that he is just going to eat it all up.

We didn't do too much on Thursday or Friday besides giving a bunch of people blessings. I love using the Priesthood so much to bless the lives of others. I know the the Preisthood authority has been restored to the earth, and it is so great to be worthy and have the Lord trust me with this special authority to act in His name.

On Sunday, we had dinner at Bishop Bangerter's house. I love Bishop Bangerter and his wife so much. They both have a great desire for missionary work and want to be involved and getting the members to have the Spirit of missionary work as well. He came out with us to a lesson with Taylor Corey and it was great to have him there.

Love you all tons!

Love, Elder Leavitt

I don't have too much time to write today since it is president's day and all of the libraries are closed today, so six missionaries are sharing this computer down at another missionaries apartment complex. Anyways. 
1- do you need help to obtain a new bike?  

- I am going to call the mission office tomorrow to see if they have an extra bike that I can use for these last five months. Hopefully they well. I don't want to buy a nice fancy bike until I got home.

2- are you using a members bike right now?

I am using a members bike for the time being right now. I can use it until I get transferred, or until April because that is when he wants it back to ride to work during the nice months.

3- if so, if you transfer do you need to leave the bike there and will you be bikeless?

As of  right now I will be bikeless if I get transferred, If I have to I will buy a super cheap bike that I can sell to someone by the end of my mission.

4- can a wal-mart bike get you by for 5 months or do you want something that you plan to ship home?

I was first off planning on shipping my bike home before it got stolen, but now I don't want to spend the money if I have to get another bike. I feel like CTR bikes was a rip off in the first place, and now I regret going with them. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now.

Thanks for all that you do mom. I love you so much. I will have to read through you email next week when I get more time. So I'm sorry if there are any questions that you asked that I didn't respond to.  LOVES YA TONS!!!!!

LOVE, YOUR SON

ELDER LEAVITT

 

Scott just called and said he bought a new mountain bike last year that he has only ridden like twice.  He said you are welcome to use it, if you want it and if mom and I could find a way to ship it, that he would pay for the shipping.  He said you were more than welcome to use it until the end of your mission if you want and then we would have to ship it home.  He said it is a nice one.  Please let me know what you wan to do.

Love you,

Dad.

Ups and Downs‏ - February 9, 2105

Dear Family and Friends,

This week has been quite a busy week with a bunch of highs and lows each day, but altogether, it turned out to be really good for the most part.

Last Monday we had a really fun Family Home Evening with the Marble Family! They were watching Sister Melanie Lorenzo's grandkids so that Melanie could be with her mom, Sister Janet Cruz-Lorenzo all day. Sister Cruz ended up passing away around 10am that morning. I have really fond memories of her and I just love her to death. I remember when Elder Whaley and I first started teaching Sister Cruz and her family when I was first out on the mission. They were a part member family that we had found that wasn't on the ward roster. I had some of the most spiritual lessons ever with Sister Cruz, and I got to see her regain her testimony and see the great faith that she had in our Savior Jesus Christ. I can't tell you how much that the Plan of Salvation hes helped me in knowing that I will be able to see Sister Cruz again. She had a memorial on Saturday morning for her that we went to. It was great to see all of her family there again, and just to be there to help give them comfort. 

For the month of February, all of the district meetings are going to be on the role of the Book of Mormon. Today's district meeting was pretty fun. We had an activity with a lot of yarn strung out throughout the entire church, and the lesson was on holding tight to the iron rod.  After district meeting, Brother Owen came out with us to go and visit with Colleen. Right now, she has a baptism date set, but we aren't sure how solid that she really is. We finished up teaching about the Plan of Salvation to her. It has been really difficult to tell has interested that she really is on being baptized. This week will tell if we continue teaching her or if we are going to drop her.

On Wednesday, we ended up biking quite a bit, but we met lots of great potentials throughout the day that we are going to follow up with. That night, we went to the church to have a lesson with Taylor Corey. During that time that we were having a lesson with her in one of the class room, my bike got stolen from the inside of the church. Elder Stephens and I had put our bikes in the hallway right next to the kitchen. There were people in and out of the church for mutual night, and scouts. Nobody in the church saw it happen, but we came walking out and saw my bike missing.  I was pretty ticked off that someone would come into the church to steal a bike. Now I am in the process of trying to find some transportation for this next week. One of the members here is going to let me borrow his bike until I get another one, so that I am blessed for.

This week we received two church headquarter referrals for people wanting a Book of Mormon. The first guys name is Chris, and we went over and taught him the Restoration and he seemed to be really interested, and we went back the next day and introduced the Book of Mormon to him. He even committed himself to coming to church. Later Thursday night at missionary coordination meeting, we got a Facebook message from Chris saying that he was done taking the lessons with us, but he just felt more comfortable with going to his grandmother's religion. Not much we could do about that besides pray that he will continue to seek for the truth.

The other media referral that we received was for a guy named William. We went and visited with him and started teaching the Restoration to him. Everything was going great until we got up to Joseph Smith's First Vision. That is when we heard a knock at his door. Instantly, I knew that something wasn't right. The guy at the door was his Baptist Preacher, and the first thing that he said is "I heard that you were having a Bible study, mind if I join you?" I think that Williams wife had called him and told him that we were there. We reiterated everything that we had already shared with William, and proceeded to share Joseph Smith's experience.  Afterwards, we asked them how they felt, and William felt really good about it. We told him to pray and ask if this was true. When we turned to the Preacher and asked him, he went off on a rant on how you can't trust you feelings. He then proceeded to tell us everything that we believed was wrong, and just wanted to bash with us. It wasn't the best experience that I have had on my mission, but it sure did strengthen my testimony on the things that I know are true. He kept on contradicting himself several time, and I thought of several scriptures that I could use to bash back, but I just kept my mouth close because I know that's not the best thing to do.

On Friday, we watched Ephraim's Rescue for the Movie night at the church. I think that this is now one of my favorite movies. I loved it so much, and the way that it showed the Priesthood being used to bless the lives of others.  William Cotton surprised us tonight by coming to it. We didn't think that he was in town. He talked about how he liked seeing the gift of healing, and then we talked to him about him meeting with Bishop so that he can receive the Aaronic Priesthood. It made my day being able to see William again. He is such a great guy. He is really nervous about receiving the Aaronic Priesthood though, because he knows how important that it is and he doesn't want to mess anything up. We are still working with Felix and trying to help him quit smoking. He is doing much better now.

So yeah, that was my week in a nutshell. I hope that you all had a great week also.  Love you tons!!!

Love, Elder Leavitt

Re: Missionaries Serving in Santa Clara!‏ -February 9, 2015

 

On Mon, Feb 9, 2015 at 1:25 AM, Makayla Leavitt <leavittmakayla@hotmail.com> wrote:

We get the Elders to our Stake here.  I haven't seen the couple or the sisters.  Elder Elliot just got transferred out this last week.  He was a fun guy.  This past Wednesday in YW we were doing personal progress on Divine Nature.  We had all the girls present stand in front of the chalkboard and everyone write positive qualities about them.  As we were finishing up the Elders  Peterson and new Elder San Dae (from Tiawan) peeked in to say "HI".  So we made them stand in front of the board too!  I am going to email their picture to their families!  Then I had them share a message about divine nature impromptu to our gals!  Elder Peterson did great on the spot quoting an appropriate scripture mastery!  (Kiera helped him finish it! eheh!)

Gotta Love the Elders!

Mom

That's awesome that you get to see them. I don't ever really remember seeing missionaries around when I was at home. The only two times is when your cousin and her companion came over to the house. And then I remember seeing them biking on Sunset one day, but that's just about it.

 I still haven't heard anything back from President Cusick about Stacy coming, and I don't really want to ask him again about it. I'm not sure what to do about it. We are also supposed to be moving apartments by the end of the month, so I will let you know what my new address is when we find a new apartment and get that approved. Our lease ends at the end of the month, so we really don't have too much time left to find a new place.  I will let you know if I hear of anything else from President Cusick about that.  Loves ya tons mom!!! I'm glad that you have had a good busy week. :)
 

Re: Happy Love Month!‏ -February 2, 2015

First things first, I have emailed President Cusick about Stacy Dye coming to visit, and he hasn't responded, and probably won't respond to taht request. I'm not sure why, but I told him directly in my email to him last week. Hopefully I will hear from him this week, but I highly doubt it with it being Transfer week. I'm not sure what to say about it right now.  

Second, I did receive my transfer calls, or emails, yesterday morning. Elder Stephens and I are staying together in St. Petersburg for another six weeks. I am glad to be staying here for another transfer, because I wasn't ready to leave just quite yet.  My address is still the same, 4618 1st Street North, #213B, St. Petersburg FL, 33703. Hopefully we can try getting out of this apartment complex soon. It's not to bad, but there is always someone smoking weed right next door to us.  I'm looking forward to receiving the Valentine's Day box. I know that it will make up for not being able to date anyone. :) Just thought I would through that in there, because I can't wait until I get back for that.  Haha. Don't worry though, I'm not losing my focus. I just sometimes think of things that I could be doing. Especially when it come to being with my family at home.  Luvs ya tons.

I'm glad to hear that you still have a few more weeks left to finish the New Beginnings with the Young Women. You and Lainee will just have to have a mother/daughter date night every Wednesday.

I also think that it is pretty cool that you had Elders Elliot and Peterson over for dinner last week. Did you have any nonmember's there? Or did you just talk about missionary work with them? Mari tells me that she bikes with the missionaries to go to teaching appointments with them. I thought that was pretty cool too. You two can swap missionary experiences together!

I will be sure to keep Dr. Terry and his family in my prayers that things will get better for them. And thanks for updating me on Britton Ship too!

Oh, another thought that just passed through my mind. What do I need to be doing for college for the Fall semester. My thoughts are just going where ever it is cheapest at the moment. At least until I figure out what field that I want to go into.

Sorry that I haven't written too much, but I will be sure to try to write some more in my weekly letter before I send it out.  I loves ya tons.

Love, Your Son,

Elder Leavitt

Transfer #14‏ -February 2, 2015

First off, this letter is going to be short this week, because I only have ten minutes left to write it.

So lets get started. First off, we received our transfer emails yesterday before church.  I am blessed to be serving another transfer with Elder Stephens here in St. Petersburg. I wasn't quite ready to leave just yet, and there are some things that Elder Stephens and I wanted to work on together, so we area both excited to be spending another six weeks together being companions.  

The highlight of my week was having Felix come with us to a few lessons. Felix has had two baptismal dates set in the past, and is mainly struggling with is the Word of Wisdom. We also haven't had as much contact with him as we would have like to have in the past several weeks.  When we finally made contact with him again, we invited him to come out with us to teach a few lessons. He loved it so much, and he told us that he understood everything so much better and felt the spirit there even stronger than he had ever felt before. Then at church yesterday for Fast and Testimony meeting, Felix was able to get some of his questions answered that he has been looking for. He has felt that the church is true, and believed that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God, but it wasn't until yesterday during some of the testimonies that were shared when he finally got his answer. He told us that he now knows that it is all true. He wants us to come back over this week to help him quite smoking. I know that he will be baptized. It is just a matter of time now. He is praying for a date that he will be ready by.

I love the work so much here, and I am excited to keep working in the St. Petersburg area.  I love you all so much!!

Love, Elder Leavitt

Re: 2 Birthdays & a Funeral‏ -January 26, 2015

Hey Mom,

I just wanted to let you know that I did email President Cusick and I haven't heard anything back yet. I will let you know next week when I do.  Do you know when she is planning on coming?  I find out on this Saturday if I will be staying or getting transferred to a new area. Let's hope and pray that I stay here for anther Transfer. 

Yeah, Lexie sent me in a letter a whole list of boys that she really likes. I don't remember who they all are though, but that is funny that she wouldn't let you see it.  I wish that I could have written more than just a page to both of them. We really don't have anytime for anything, and I really don't like p-days because they are the most stressful day of the week, along with Sundays.

Thanks for updating me on the funeral. I have been keeping you and the entire Anderson family in my prayers lately, along with a bunch of others because there has seemed to be a lot of death going on recently. One member that I was working with in Sarasota, Gene Strattman, just passed away this past week. He is the one that wrote you and dad a card several months ago. Then Sister Cruz/Lorenzo is in stage for of terminal cancer right now. She is one of my favorite members and I love her family. I haven't gotten the chance to visit with them again since I have been back in St. Pete, but I hear from Bishop and other Ward members that she was only given a week to live about 1.5 weeks ago.  She will be in a much better place, and I know that I will get to see her again in the life hereafter. 

Don't worry about long letters, I love them sooo much!

But I love you even more!!! As Elder Stephens is helping me keep track of how many days that we have left. I will see you in 177 more days!!! Can't wait!

Love, Elder Leavitt

Taylor's Baptism!!!‏ -January 26, 2015

 

Dear Family and Friends,

Sorry that I didn't get the chance to write to you all last week. There have been some huge changes in the mission lately. There was a great big mission Zone Conference last week where they talked about all of these changes. The only thing was, is that Elder Stephens and I were the only two in the entire mission that weren't there at that meeting. Elder Stephens was really sick last week and couldn't make it out of the house. One of the small changes was that we now only have one iPad for a companionship and we can't email on them any longer. Plus with it being Martin Luther King Jr. Day last week, all of the libraries were closed. So now emailing last week. 

Another change is that we lost 30+ missionaries as the Fort Myers Zone/Stake is now in the Fort Lauderdale mission.  One of my companions, Elder Wing was in that zone and I won't be able to see him again until after the mission.

This week has been full of exchanges. I went on a two day exchange with one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Williams.  It was really cool to be serving with him again. He was my MTC Companion. So we caught up on the mission life, and we got to spend our six month mark from being home together.  Which is crazy to think that I don't have that much time left.  Then after that two day exchange, I went on another one with Elder Stuart the next day, He is a really great missionary that is serving in Gulf Port, just south of St. Pete.

So as you can probably tell by the subject of the email. Taylor Corey was Baptized and Confirmed this week!!! She is so awesome! Taylor has such a great spirit with her, and she was so well prepared when we met her for the first time on December 28th, and less than a month later she was baptized. We have had so much fun visiting with her for the past few weeks and teaching her. It is so amazing to see how much that her faith has grown. She loves the church so much, and Taylor is always talking about it with her friends and co-workers.  We are going to her work today to visit with her, so hopefully we can talk to some of her friends there too. On Sunday, we had Ward Conference, so it was really cool to see Stake President Emery again. He is the one that helped my out with my contacts when I first arrived in the mission. He is such a spiritual giant. Taylor had me confirm her a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and give her the Holy Ghost. President Emery also participated in the circle. I was a bit nervous, but the Spirit was so strong during that blessing. I later asked Taylor how she has felt since she received the Holy Ghost, and she says it is like having a constant hug at all times.

I love you all so much, and sorry that my email is so short. I only have two minutes left so I better wrap it up. I do know that the church is true, and that it does change lives as people follow the example of Jesus Christ.  It is such a great blessing to be able to be a servant in the Lord's hands and to go out and do His work.

Love, Elder Leavitt

Week #75 :)‏ -January 12, 2015

Dear Family and Friends!!!

This week has been a bit stressful. It was supposed to be Felix's
baptism on Saturday, but we haven't had any contact with him ever
since he came to church last Sunday.  I'm not sure what is going on
with him right now, but I just hope and pray that we will be able to
get in touch with him again this week.  I know that he will eventually
be baptized, just not sure when. It breaks my heart and I worry about
him all of the time. Felix really does have such a great testimony of
the gospel, and he really has a desire to change.  I'm afraid that he
has slipped up and is just embarrassed of what happened. I have grown
to love Felix so much, especially when you get him and William
together. They could start their own tv program with how funny they
are. They were both supposed to show up to the Marbles house for a
Family Home Evening lesson, but only William came. We still had a
really good lesson on setting goals, and William is wanting to start
doing family history work online. He has already done a lot of
research and has enjoyed learning so much more about his family. We
then had some fun activites that the Marbles had planned out. The
Marbles and Landers family always have the best FHE's ever, and I'm
excited for tonight because we are going to the Lander's house again.

So Taylor is doing so awesome right now.  We can only visit with her
on Sunday and Wednesday nights, so on the other days we have Facebook
lessons with her.  Only a few missionaries in the mission have
Facebook now, most of them had to deactivate their accounts.  But
luckily, Elder Stephens and I were allowed to keep it because we have
been effective with out time spent online.  During the week, we taught
the law of chastity to Taylor, and she was already keeping it, and
committed to continue to live it.  Last night, Sunday, we went to the
Kennedy's home for a lesson with Taylor. We then taught her about the
word of wisdom, and the only thing that she was really concerned about
was tea. Taylor had already given up coffee over a year ago when she
had to go to the hospital when she combined coffee with a Red Bull.
Ever since then, she has promised her dad that she wouldn't drink
coffee or energy drinks anymore.   Sister Kennedy was able to help
Taylor to know what teas are good and bad for you, and which ones we
are allowed to drink. They both like tea a lot, and Sister Kennedy has
a bunch of herbal tea combinations that she drinks.  They live in the
same complex also, so Taylor can always go to Sister Kennedy when she
has questions and advice. Every lesson that we have with Taylor, she
is always showing us different ASL signs. This past week I have
learned how to say missionary, Elder, law of chastity word of wisdom,
and so much more.  My favorite still is Jesus Christ.  I'm hoping that
I can remember everything that she has taught us so far. We actually
had an opportunity today while shopping at Walmart to talk to someone
who is deaf, and we were able to communicate somewhat with her. It was
really cool. So back to Taylor, it is so neat to see how the Lord has
been working with her for the past few years in helping her to be
prepared for this time right now. First with her world religions
research project, then her family support, and giving up coffee and
tea. It is so amazing to see the Lord's His hand in other peoples
lives, and the blessings that come from keeping His commandments.

We had our monthly movie night on Friday, and we watched one of my
favorite movies "17 Miracles". I love that movie so much, and I will
be honest with you, it did make me tear up a bit while watching it.
Yes, I know that I am a cry baby.  It is so amazing to see the hope
that the pioneers had while suffering so much on their trek to Utah.
Even with their last few breaths before death, their faith and
testimony never faltered.

On Saturday, one of the investigators that the Sisters are teaching
was baptized. Shakila is only in town for about six weeks visiting her
aunt, and during that time she got all of the missionary lessons and
is now a member of the Church. Sadly, she will be moving back to
Virginia by the end of the month, but she has such a sweet spirit
about her. Her baptism was really special, especially when she shared
her testimony at the end.

I love being a servant for the Lord so much. There is no greater
calling than helping others to come closer to Christ.  The Church is
True!

Love, Elder Leavitt

 

Re: January is in swing‏-January 12, 2015

Sounds like a pretty fun start to the New Year! Thanks for keeping me updated on everything. Right now I am good on oils. I still have quite a bit left, and Elder Stephens is enjoying them quite a bit too.  Thanks for the Dr. Mom kit, I have used it quite a bit on my mission. Did you laugh because I asked dad for workout ideas, or just because of the question that I asked both of you?  I will try to figure out what some of those exercises are. I was just thinking of different workouts that would target specific muscles like upper/lower back, chest, shoulders, quads, core, etc. Thanks! I will test the ones that you gave me for a little bit, and I bought some more bananas to go with my protein shakes that I have in the mornings.

Love you tons!

Love, Elder Leavitt

Happy New Year- January 12, 2015

Dear family and friends,

This past week has been a pretty good week. We started off with Elder
Stephens and I going to Tampa for Metro Training Center.  We had a
really good time there learning how we can be more effective
missionaries.  It was really fun because Elder Westover and Sister
Upshaw were both there as well for the training. What they do is take
about 12 missionaries twice a week for two days and have specialized
training's on a bunch of different things Sent from my iPad

On Friday, I went on exchanges to Gulfport and had a great time there
with Elder Anderson. We taught a lesson on Facebook with someone that
was living in England, so that was pretty cool. Elder Stephens and I
both talked to Taylor on Facebook throughout the day as well. We had
committed her be praying to see if January 24th would be the day she
wants to be baptized on.  She told us on Facebook that she has been
praying, and that she feels like that the 24th is the Date that the
Lord wants her to be baptized on.  She is so solid and amazing.  She
came to church again yesterday and loved it, and then we had a lesson
at Brother Kennedy's who lives in the same apartment complex as her.
We had a great dinner, and then we taught her about the Plan of
Salvation, and she said it matched up with everything that she already
believes in.

So we finally got in contact with Felix and William again. Thanks for
all of the prayers. Felix is doing awesome on living the word of
wisdom now! They both came to church and Felix brought his son Malachi
again, and Malachi loves coming to church here.  Felix is going to be
baptized on  Saturday, along with one of the Sister's investigators
who I helped teach a little at the very beginning.  There is so much
great stuff going on right now.  Oh, and Charley bore his testimony in
fast and testimony meeting yesterday, and it was so powerful and the
spirit was so strong.  It is awesome to see the changes in his life in
less than a month that he has made as he has found faith in Christ!

I wish I had more time to write right now, but we still have a lot to
do today before preparation day ends.  I love you tons!

Love, Elder Leavitt