Interviews and Fire Alarms‏ & Re: Ali is called to serve......‏ March 30, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been a really good week. Elder White and I are getting along great, and we are working really hard with each other. To the point were we are both tired all day long every day, and we crash once we hit the bed at the end of every night. We have found some really solid investigators through personal contacting this past week, along with 17 other lessons. We would say that is pretty good for not having a single investigator when I got here just two weeks ago. Hopefully we can try setting one or two baptismal dates this next week. 

On Tuesday, we had interviews with President Cusick. It was really short like most of my interviews are with him. After interviews, we started biking to our next appointment. Along the way, we met a woman named Jennifer, and we started walking with her to her class that is on the USF campus. We probably walked and talked with her for a good forty minutes about the restoration and the Book of Mormon. She is super interested in the things that we have to share with her, and really wants to find out for herself if these things are true. We are meeting with her tomorrow night again, so we will see how that goes. 

Wednesday wasn't that fun of a day. My bike chain ended up snapping on me. But luckily we weren't too far away from the church, so we just walked back and got a ride to the Bike shop to fix it up. It cost a little bit of money, and I really hope that I don't have to go back again. I don't want to put any more money into this bike since I'm not keeping it, but it still is in poor condition. I just need it to last for a few more months.  Talking about being in a full bike area, the assistants are having the entire mission go on full bike for the next two weeks. Not a single missionary will be driving. We will see how well that it plays out in the mission, but it doesn't effect Elder White and I since we are already biking around all of the time.

I don't have any time left to write more at the moment, but the rest of the week was filled with getting to know some of the less active members, and finding more potential investigators. On Friday night, being near a college campus, there are always parties going on all weekend long. Everyone gets drunk, and a bunch of college students decided to pull the fire alarm in our apartment building at 2 am in the morning. So we didn't get that much sleep Friday night. 

I know that the Plan of Salvation is true, we had a really good lesson yesterday with a recent convert helping her to better understand it. She was really confused about it all from the combined Relief Society/Priesthood class, in which the teacher went to in depth and was too intense in his teaching, that it left all of the new members and investigators super confused. I loved teaching about the plan of Happiness, especially when it come to the atonement, Spirit world, and the Celestial kingdom!

I love you all, and I hope that you have an amazing week!!!

Love, Elder Leavitt

Re: Ali is called to serve......‏:
Elder White's first name is Spencer.

What school do you think will be the greatest sacrifice?  I have been reading through my Patriarchal blessing a few times, and it says that a good education will be given to me, but not with out a great sacrifice. If i'm looking at it in that sense, then from what I know, SUU would be where I should probably go. I'm not sure how I am going to pay for anything though. Both at SUU and Dixie, I will probably just ride a bike for transportation if I can get a decent road bike. 

You will have to send me some pageant pictures of Kiera. I bet that she looks cute! That is awesome that Kiera and Ben had a good time with their date. You and grandma sure are the best for making sure that they both had a good experience. I love you both!

I'm glad that you and Kiera were able to get the letter off in time, and I will pray that she gets accepted. It probably would be stupid of me to earn that scholarship and not go to SUU, so maybe taht is what I should do right now. I honestly don't know, and I wish that I had the resources to research the two schools for myself while I'm out here.

Thanks for all that you do. I love you tons, and I am so blessed to have such a great mother. I can't wait to listen to the words of prophets and apostles this week. It is going to be a blast!

Love, your son,

Elder Leavitt

Temple Terrace Ward!!!‏ & Re: new companion!‏ -March 23, 2015

The beginning of this last week was pretty tough since I had to say goodbye to everyone in St. Petersburg. I did get to spend some more time with the Marble and Landers family before I left. My new area is the Temple Terrace Ward. It is in the same building that I left from before I went back to St. Pete. I already know the area pretty well, but it is going to take some time to get to know the members more.  My new companion is Elder White, and he is really cool. So far we get along really well and I look forward to what this transfer will bring to us. Elder White is from St. George and he graduated from Desert Hills last year. He has now been out on his mission for nine months.
If you want to send letters, my address is 13510 N. 42nd Street, Tampa Florida, 33613! I will respond as quick as I can, but it might take me some time. :)
The work here is really slow right now, but hopefully it will start to pick up soon. We have had some pretty good street lessons, and a few lessons with recent converts. So it's been pretty good.
The very first day here in Temple Terrace we were biking to the church at 8pm at night. We were about two blocks away and we heard a pop. I didn't  think much of it until I felt something hit my hand. It was then when I realized that I just got shot with a BB gun from some college student across the street. This area is pretty awful with it being close to the college campus. Especially on the weekends.
Friday and Saturday we spent a lot of time biking around trying to get to know the members. Elder White has only been here for six weeks, so he doesn't really know anyone too well. We are going to work on getting to know them more and starting to work with them. We did have some really awesome lessons with people we met on the street. One of them, whose name is Lee, ended up coming to church yesterday and stayed for the YSA ward Sacrament. We later tried to call him and we think that he blocked our number already. We will try again to see if he is interested, but we won't let something small like that hold us back. I think that it would have been better if we could have stayed with him for Sacrament meeting, but there are certain restrictions in this building for some reason that they don't have anywhere else.
Well, it's time to get back to work. I love you all and I wish that I had more time to write to you. Take care! Until next week.
Love, Elder Leavitt

 

Re: new companion: Well, OF coarse I was FaceBook Stalking and saw that you are now with Elder White in a new area!  He looks like a fine companion!  I hope that the two of you can jump into some great service and love those you serve!!

You are expecting this:
-Where are you at now?

Temple Terrace Ward, Right next to the New Tampa ward I was in before and in the same building.
-address

13510 N 42nd Street, Tampa Florida, 33613. It is the church building and also the Mission Office. I am not serving in the office though.
-Is it very far from where you were at before?

It is about 30-45 minutes from St. Pete.
-Is it a bike or a car area?

It is a full bike area right now, and I didn't realized how many problems that this bike has that I have now. I am going to see if I can't get by on it, or see how much it will cost and go from there. I just need it for these last four months. So we will see.

-Where is Elder White from?

Elder White is actually from St. George. He graduated from Desert Hills High School last year, and his dad helped design the high school.
-What is his family address?

3138 S. 1420 E. St. George Ut, 84709
-What are his hobbies?

Reading, watching history channel, studying WWll, ROTC, 
-What is his favorite food?  treat?

Steak wrapped in Bacon, Skittles
-How long has he been out?

Elder White has been out for nine months. He came out at the same time as Elder Hicken did. So he will hit his year mark this summer right before I get home.

Transfer #15‏ & Re: Spring break 2015‏ -March 16, 2015

So this past week has been really great. Last Monday we had a really fun day going to Celebration Station for p-day where Taylor works. We had Elders Anderson and Farley come with us, and we raced go-karts and played mini-golf. We then went and had an awesome FHE with the Lander's family. We spent some good time reading through the scriptures together and doing fun activities.

Tuesday we had a Zone Training, and we also received our iPads back. It is so much easier to plan and report on the Areabook app than it is on pen and paper. I am really thankful and blessed to have the great opportunity to use this technology to Hasten the Lord's work. There are so many good things that they can be used for. We then went to Steak-N-Shake for lunch and showed the waitress how to make a paper airplane. She was so stoked to learn how, and now the Sisters in Seminole are teaching her, and they are going to set a date with her this week hopefully. The rest of the day was spent on exchanges in Gulfport with Elder Farley and we taught the Book of Mormon class together.

Friday and Saturday was spent doing service and giving blessings. We helped on of the Sister Investigators move for a few hours, and that took a lot of work. We then went and visited with a recent converts mother. She is so sweet and I love her so much. We found out that she had had a stroke on Wednesday, and the reason that she texted us was because she wanted us to come over and give her a blessing. It is so neat to see her turn to the Lord and the Preisthood for guidance and healing. I had the wonderful opportunity to be able to give her the blessing, and I know one thing for sure. They weren't my words that were coming out of my mouth. It is such a blessing to be a servant of the Lord and that he can be able to work through me to bless the lives of others. 

Saturday night we received the transfer emails, and Elder Stephens is staying in St. Petersburg training a new missionary. I am being transferred to another area. It a super small transfer meeting, so I have my predictions of where I am going. Probably to Brooksville or Citrus Ridge. I will find out on Thursday at the transfer meeting. I am really bummed about leaving St. Petersburg. I have really grown to love the members and the work here in St. Pete. I can't tell you how blessed that I am to have gotten the chance to serve here again, and I am glad that I could spend eleven months of my mission here. Now the Lord needs me in other places, and I am excited to see what is to come next. It will be a good change for me. It was super tough to say goodbye to all of the members at church yesterday. Especially after I gave my testimony. I will have to come back and visit this ward again and everyone here.

I don't have too much time left. But I just want to say Happy Birthday the best dad ever!!!  I love you so much!!! You are such an amazing example to me and you have taught me so many things. Thanks for everything you have done. I am so blessed and honored to have such a great father!!!  LOVE YOU TONS!

Love, Elder Leavitt

Re: Spring break: That sounds like such a fun week that you had with the family. I am really glad that you were all able to enjoy spring break together and have a good time. 

Elder Stephens and I will no longer be companions any longer. He will be training a new missionary for the next two transfers and I am moving to a new area. I will let you know next week, but you will probably find out before I get the chance to tell you because of Facebook.

Charley and Kathy's Wedding!!!‏ -March 9, 2105

Dear Family and Friends,

First off, I just want to say Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister, Kiera!!!! I can't believe that you are turning 17 tomorrow.  I want you to know that I love you so much, and I wish that I could be there for it. You are such and amazing and incredibly talented person. Your such a great example to me because of the love and kindness that you show for others!  LOVE YA TONS!!

There really isn't too much to write about this past week. Not too much happened. We did have a fun BBQ dinner with Gulfport Branch on Wednesday. Elder and Sister Smith, a Senior Couple down there pulled it all together at the last moment and we had a good turn out for a short notice. Then after that I stayed down in Gulfport all day Thursday on exchanges with Elder Stuart. We had a pretty good time together.

Jordan, (the investigator that came to church last week), has dropped us for the time being. We kept on trying to get in contact with him throughout the week and he never responded. Then on Friday we finally get a text from him telling us that he needs some time to think things out. He said that church left him with an odd feeling and that he was confused. Elder Stephens and I think that it might have been when President Emery came and talked about Priesthood keys. Even though that is exactly the same way that Christ had established the church, it can still be a bit confusing to some. Hopefully we can keep on meeting with Jordan and Sharee again. They are such great people. Please keep them in your prayers. Thanks.

Guess what else happened this week. Charley got married to a member here in the St. Pete ward. Charley was the one that was baptized at the end of December, and he had been dating this member for the past few months. It was so exciting to see them get married. For their honeymoon they are going to visit the Orlando temple. It is so great to see how well that Charley is doing, and he is going to do great things in the church. I love him and his New York accent so much. He really is such a cool guy. 

There's not anything else that I can think of to share at the moment. We just need to find some more people to teach this week so that we can get the members to be more involved. It's awesome because so many of them are really wanting to help fellowship.

This Saturday we have transfer emails. So we will be finding out if Elder Stephens and I are staying together for another transfer or not. Hopefully we will be staying together again.

Love you all!!

Elder Zwick Zone Conference‏-March 2, 2015

This past week has been a pretty amazing week. We had such a great zone conference with Elder Craig Zwick of the Seventy. We spent all morning and afternoon with him, plus we had a Ward Council training with him that night. I just loved being in his presence so much. I was able to learn so much from him, and  from the experiences that he had to share with us. I have learned a lot about the doctrine of the church this past week from Elder Zwick, and from the Stake President, Nathan Emery. They are such great guys and I just enjoy listening to them. Elder Zwick talked to us about how a member of the Quorum of the Twelve will go each week, usually on Thursday morning to assign mission calls to people. I found it really fascinating. We were also taught how we need to "simplify and intensify" in lessons. Sharing a short principle, then a personal experience, followed by a scripture and then a testimony, and you end it right there. It bring the spirit into the lessons so much stronger. Yesterday at church President Emery came and talked about the keys of the Priesthood and who has them. It will take to long for me to write out everything that I learned from him. He came to set apart our new Elder's Quorum President, Brother Marble. I just love Brother Marble and his family so much, and I am excited to work with them even more now that he is in the ward council.

Last Monday while we were emailing at the Library, we got a phone call from Brother John Flowers. He is a member that I got close with when I was here in St. Petersburg the first time. He called us asking if we would come and give his dad a blessing in the hospital. Not even five minutes before we arrived in his room, he had passed away. It was his time, and the Lord was calling him home. It was a good experience to be able to be there and talk about the wonderful Plan of Salvation with him and his sister.

So Jordan and Sharee are doing great, other than Sharee being sick this past week. We were able to meet with Jordan and we set a baptismal date with him for April 11. Hopefully I am still here in St. Petersburg for it.  He came to church for the first time yesterday and loved it. He had lots of members who came up to him to help him feel comfortable and welcome. I know that when Sharee comes, that she will receive the same welcome and love it as well. 

Last night at Taylor's house, we went over planning on going through the new member lessons with her. But she surprised us with having one of her coworkers over. We started teaching the Restoration to her, and she had loads of questions for us. She seemed sincerely interested in learning more, and Taylor is always talking to her at work every day about the things that we teach. It was an awesome lesson, and we are going to try to meet up with the both of them again this week.

Love,

 Elder Leavitt :)

Porter Baptized/Stacy Visit- March 2, 2015

That is so cool that you got to go on a quick trip down to Arizona with the family, and then you all get to go to Disneyland to watch Kiera perform. I hope that you are saving some fun for when I get home!  :) 

I'm glad to hear that you are still finishing Preach My Gospel with the family. How far into it are you right now?  My goal is to finish it before the end of my mission, going through and doing every single activity and all of the scripture studies. I don't know if that is going to happen, because I started going through from the beggining when I hit my year mark, and I am only in Chapter 3, Lesson 3 right now. I haven't made it to far. Maybe if I can at least get to the Christlike Attributes in Chapter 6 then I will be good.

It was so fun to see your cousin Stacey for a few minutes. We probably only talked for about 10-15 minutes before we had to head upstairs to do our daily planning. I'm glad that she was able to send you the pictures. She said that while she was in St. Petersburg, she didn't get any cell service, so she must have sent them to you when she got back to her hotel.  It was past 9 o'clock when we met up. Elder Stephens and I had just pulled into the parking lot and started walking to go inside the building. Then I hear someone calling out my name from across the parking lot and that's when I saw Stacey. I kind of forgot that she might be coming so it was a nice surprise.  I don't know if she had a hard time trying to find where I lived or not. She was staying in Brandon which is about a 45 minute drive from St. Petersburg. She did bring us a bunch of food and gift cards. It was so kind of her to do that. I still need to write her a thank you card. But that might have to wait because I want to write Kiera and Dad a letter first this month before I write anyone else.

So the Zone Conference with Elder Zwick was pretty great. I did talk to Elder Hicken, and he is actually in the same Zone/Stake as me. He is serving up in Hudson right now. He told me that his sister just got engaged that she is getting married in May. He seems to be doing pretty well.  It was cool to catch up with him.

That is so cool that you were able to go to Porter's baptism and to see all of the family down there. I do remember Bethany, she is one of the only missionaries that I really remember seeing before I came out here on my mission. It was really fun to have her and her companion over to have dinner with us. Just thinking back, did we have a nonmember or less active with us when they came, or was it just our family?

So I wrote a short email to Belle right now, but I will write her a letter to send off to her. Do you know what her email is? The one that I have is Belle@justarebel.com.

I love you bunches. and I hope that all is going well for you and your new calling. I will continue to keep Britton and Kaycie in my prayers as well that things will get better for them. See ya in 20 weeks!

Love ya tons.

Love, Elder Leavitt