Let it Snow!

Here is her email this week.  Same ole Courtney!  We can't wait until next week to hear all about Christmas in the MTC!

HOLY MOLY!!!  Have you looked outside? have you seen all the snow? Well I don't know if there is a lot of snow where you are, but here it has been snowing nonstop since yesterday morning! Crazy! Anyway... So I was trying to think of things that happened to me this week, and I can't really remember anything. Nothing terribly exciting has happened I guess. This week I have been trying to grow closer to Christ and it's working. I love Him and all that He has done for each one of us. I was sitting in relief society this week and the speaker said, "Really, What would Jesus do?" And so I just thought that was a good though, and it reminded me of Kandace... so when you don't know what you should do, just think "Really, what would Jesus do?" and then I bet you'll be able to make a good decision.

Well if you are thinking to yourself right now, "That Sister Leavitt is such a weirdo." then it's okay, I've been a little sick this week and my head is a little bit... foggy. On Sunday there is nothing I wanted more than to run home, hop in my mom's bed, watch the Polar Express and have mama K make me some homemade chicken noodle soup. But I decided against it because I love being a missionary and I haven't even gotten to the good part of teaching yet. So I'm holding out. I'm going to Russia !! Hooray! And if all stays the same then I only have three weeks and I'm out of here! Hooray! I'm getting pretty excited about that. Three weeks is nothing.

Well here at the MTC they put up Christmas lights all around and so every night sister ward and I go strolling through them. We sing songs and laugh and talk about the day. I think that is my favorite thing i do all day. I look forward to it so much! I love Christmas time. I miss all of our family traditions and the smell of poppyseed bread cooking, but Christmas time here has proven to be good. I can't wait to see who is going to come and talk to us! I have a feeling it will be President Monson. I'm sure he heard that I'm here and so he probably wants to come see me... Okay, maybe not, but that would be pretty cool.

Oh, one last cool story. I was talking to the newer missionaries the other day and one of the elders said that he loved the feeling of the MTC because the spirit was so strong and it was like we got to live in the temple. I've always wanted to live in the temple because it is so peaceful there and I love it. So I guess the MTC is as close as I will ever get to living in the temple. And for all of you who are contemplating whether or not to serve a mission... Just think, you too could come live at the MTC and feel like you are living in the temple. Well that's all... nice story Hanzel. Well I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week. MERRY CHRISTMAS! From me to you and hugs all around! And remember, never suppress a generous thought... "Really, what would Jesus do?"

I love you!

Sister Leavitt

P.S. Bridget, I'm sending you a small something to mama k's house, so you'll have to go there and get it!... :)

Joy to the World

We have been out of town, so here is last week's email.

Hello!

So this week was good. The highlight of my week started on Thursday when a maintenance worker was in my room and stepped on my glasses, which were under my bed?, and broke them. So I know that doesn't sound like good news, but it is fantastic news because on Saturday Sister Ward and I got to go to the eye doctor and pick out new glasses! Yep we got to ride in a huge van to the nearest eye doctor place and pick out new glasses, which they made right there so I got to have new glasses that very same day! Well let me tell you a little bit about my new glasses. They are brownish red on the outside and bright blue on the inside! So I look cute and kinda businessy when you look at me, but little do you know that I feel like I'm in the ocean all the time because I see bright blue all around me. It's fantastic. I had a photo shoot with them, so I 'll send some pictures. The picture printing place was broken yesterday, but I'll try to ge them to you soon.

Alright, other news... How about Russian news. I would like to take a minute and tell you about how cool Russian grammar is. First of all Reflexive verbs. I already told Sneaks all about it, but they're these cool verbs that refect back to the subject of the sentence and make it so the verb is being done to the subject of the sentence. It's kind of hard to explain. But by adding a sya to the end of a word, it makes it reflexive. It's pretty darn tootin cool. Okay, so something else funny about Russian is that sometimes if you were to put what you are saying back into English it would sound so funny, kind of cavemanish. Example: Boy tall. See they don't have words for is and are so when you take them out it sounds funny, and they don't have a word for the... So crazy, but it makes it shorter, except not really because all of their words are really long... Well one last thing. The say BOT (vot) or behold all the time. Like "Behold I saw a rabbit..." it's funny makes me laugh every time. Well then end about The Russian Language. One funny story though. This week I was practicing reading with some of the Russians and one of the Elders started laughing because I was reading like a 6 year old, but I am so old. It was funny, and true. Sometimes I feel like the kids that I used to tutor because I have no idea what's going on.... But I'm getting better and as of last week we started speaking Russian every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday all day. 

Okay, well what else... Oh, the BYU mens chorus came and performed on Sunday, it was amazing. Oh and I have the best roommates in the whole world. So on Saturday Lexi got married and I warned them that I might be a little sad on Saturday. So Sister Watts got me the best surprise ever... Mint Oreos! Yep, she asked her dad to get some for me and they all wrote me a nice letter and gave me a package of mint Oreos. It turned out to be an okay day :) Oh, and this Sunday Sister Watts and Sister Harrison and I are singing what child is this in sacrament meeting. One funny thing... What child is this in russian means what's with kid for... Bahaha! Ok...

Last little bit, as most of you know I love Christmas! Last Christmas Lexi and Bridget and I made a chain in September to count down. Of course then we thought it looked so good that we never took it down, but the point is I love Christmas. And yesterday I was thinking about Christmas and an Oakcrest song popped into my head and was stuck there all day so I thought I would share it with you..."Faith is the power that gets us thourgh each hour. Obedience is the price that brings joy to our lives, the spirit is the key that unlocks the door to eternity. And love is always in season and CHRIST is the reason." I hope that at this Christmas time you will all take a few minutes to read about Christ's life. I know that some of you don't know much about Christ or even believe in Him, but I know that He is our savior and Redeemer. I know that he is the reason. I know that Christ is our brother, and he is one of my best friends. He brings with him joy and peace and love. JOY to the world the lord has come! Merry Christmas to you all! I love you and I am so grateful to know you!  

Love,

Sister Leavitt

PS I found out that if you want to send me a package for christmas that the last day the MTC with be accepting them is the 22nd.. just so you know. Also thank you grandma White and Aunt Cheryl for your presents. I haven't opened them yet, but I can't wait to open them on Christmas morning.

It's a Great day to be ALIVE!!! Week Seven

Here is Sister Leavitt's email for the week.  We will be out of town next week, so we will not be able to post her email next week, but then we will all get a double treat the following week, just in time for Christmas! 

Hello Everyone! 

It really is a great day to be alive! Can I just tell you all how much I LOVE Christmas time? Well let me tell you I love it just as much as I love tacos. And that's alot of love. Well this week Was wonderful. Yesterday my district and I spoke Russian ALL day! Yep, all day and it actually went well. We had new missionaries come in last week, so that was a ton of fun. Also we are getting native speakers... today. That means they are from Russia . Some of them were at breakfast this morning and I talked to them. It went okay. They could understand me but laughed a little at my "English Russian" that's what they called it. Anyway, there are 9 of them that are coming in and 2 of them are going to my mission! AND! One of them is a sister! Hooray for life! I love that I'll know a sister already when I get to Russia , I was feeling kind of lonely not having a buddy to fly with. Oh and my departure date was not changed this week... So maybe it will stay the same now.

I cannot CANNOT Believe that my dearest friend Lexi Loueez is getting married on Saturday! WHAT THE! Absolutely crazy. But I will be sending you a surprise today, so I hope you get it before you leave, if not then would my dearest friend Bridget please give it to her? That would be the best.

So last night I got a letter from my other dear friend Calamity who is serving in the England Leeds mission. In her letter she had a joke that she wanted me to say it goes like this.. "Does it smell like up Elder?" (other person) "What's up Elder?" Bahahahaha! So funny. Anyway I was telling my roommate, Sister Hannah Haymond this joke and she thought it was so funny that her nose started bleeding right there. On the spot. So I tell you this because if you want to use the up elder joke you should be aware of the consequences that could follow the above joke. Use caution and care and remember to laugh at the end if no one else is laughing.

Well in other news my district is trying out for the Christmas talent show We're going to sing a Russian Folk Song called Katiosha... I don't know how to spell it in English... But that's close. So we're going to sing that song and we made up a little dance to it. The elders love it. :) But I'm trying to work something out so that we can record it... We'll see but all of you may be the lucky viewers of this remarkable talent... Hooray!

Well that's pretty much it. I'm just doing the same old things. Oh and YES I did put the wrong zipcode on those little cards with my address... Woops! Hopefully Mama K can get the right one for you because I can't remember it right now. Also just FYI one of my teachers, Brother Delemare, is Abrielle Davies cousin... So that's pretty cool. Well Peace out A town Word to your Mother.

Love Always

Sister Leavitt

PS I am so happy! I love my life!

Never a DULL Moment....week six

Here is this weeks letter.  What a wonderful way to spend Thanksgiving!  Hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends.

Hello!!

So this past week was Thanksgiving. Elder Holland came to speak to us with his entire family. His grandkids even sang for us. It was so amazing and it made me so happy that they would spend their holiday with us at the MTC. We got to do a fun service project and I had a blast doing it. We cut out school bags for those school kits we are always collecting stuff for. I missed home a little on Thanksgiving, but there really is no other place I would rather be than here doing the Lord's work so overall it was a very splendid and happy day. Oh, that night we had a thankful fireside and a bunch of missionaries got up and said what they are thankful for. One said, "I am thankful for smiling, it's my favorite." It made me smile so much because I love smiling too! It's my favorite too!

On Saturday morning the alarm went off and I was trying to turn it off, I thought that I was facing the side of my bed that the alarm was on, but really I was facing the side of my bed that was next to a brick wall. So I smacked my head on the wall and got a huge goose egg from it, but it was funny and I helped me wake up really fast that day. They turned the Christmas lights on and I was joyous about that. Sister Ward and I took a stroll through the lights so that we could enjoy them and we sang Christmas songs as we walked along.

On Saturday I was stretching before gym and this sister in my zone, Sister Holmes, let me put my hand on her shoulder so that I wouldn't fall over and So I just thought you would want to know that the people in my zone really "support" me. Bahaha! Really though they do.

On Sunday this sister played an amazing arrangement of "I Stand All Amazed" on the piano during Relief Society. It made me realize just how amazing our Savior is and how much he has given us at this time. In am so amazed at the love and support he gives me each and every day. I know that Christ lives and loves every one of us. He has given me so much and I am so grateful for him and His atonement. I learned this week that a testimony born from the heart, with the power of the spirit is always understood. No matter what language it is given in. I have become convinced this week that I am here in the MTC not only to learn the Russian language, but more importantly, the language of the spirit. When I can learn the language of the spirit and be able to speak with it, it is then that I will truly be able to touch hearts and change lives. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of mistakes, but I know that I am slowly learning the language of the spirit. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is truly the Church of Jesus Christ and with the knowledge that we gain from this gospel we can be happy and have joy in our lives right now and throughout eternity. Our Heavenly Father loves us and I can't wait for the day when I get to live with Him again and live with my family forever. I love you all and I'll talk to you next week.

Love,

Sister Leavitt 

Happy Thanksgiving....week 5

Here is her letter this week.  In her email to me she said it is kinda strange to be so close to home at Thanksgiving and not be able to come home.  She LOVES the MTC, and she and her district have decided to try out fot the Christmas Day Talent Show, they are going to sing a Russian song.  She is excited to do that.  Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Here are some pictures that she jus sent home for you to enjoy too.

This is her district in front of the Provo Temple. 

And this is Sister Ward and Sister Leavitt at the MTC.

Hello!!!

Wow! I can't believe that it's already Thanksgiving week. This means I have been here for oh 5 weeks or something. I have had to clip my fingernails twice and I my idea of sleeping in is sleeping until 6:30 instead of 5:40. I've also grown accustomed to having to make up fun games to keep myself entertained. But most of all I have learned what I am truly grateful for. I have to say that since being in the MTC and not getting to listen to music since I've been here I am 100 times more grateful for music and I miss it so bad and I go around all day singing songs because I just want to hear music. I am also grateful for mondays because on mondays I get to make everyone's beds and it's my favorite. I get so excited. I am grateful for my family and friends who send me letter and make me feel so loved. I am grateful most of all for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the joy it brings to my life. I know that I would not be a happy camper at all if I didn't have the gospel.

Well about my week... The older districts in my zone left this week so that's exciting! The new district comes in next wednesday and I am so excited for that. We are getting 26 new missionaries but we don't know how many elders or sisters yet, so I'll let you know. Tomorrow night is the first night that sister ward and I will be speaking in all Russian when we teach... I'm kind of nervous for that, but it will be great. Also my departure date changed again to the 10th of January... Yep, so that's weird, but it will be good. I miss my first name so sister Haymond and I started calling each other Sister Hannah Haymond and Sister Courtney Leavitt just so we can hear our names. I figured out the secret to making time go fast at the MTC... All I have to do is work hard every day and then it goes by faster! Great trick. I've decided that I don't know how I'll do with the cold in russia ... I already think it's too cold here! Yikes! And last of all I heard this great quote this week..."Live your life in such a way that when your feet hit the ground in the morning satan thinks 'oh crap, she's awake'", so that's my challenge to all of you this week. :) Well I love you all! Have a great thanksgiving and I'll talk to you next week!

Love,

Sister Courtney Leavitt

Hello World...week 4

Sister Leavitt had such a great Birthday yesterday,  who would have thought a bag of Mint Oreo's would make her day!  Enjoy her great letter, and see if you can answer her joke.  Keep those letters coming to her, she looks forward to hearing from all of us!

Good Morning Starshine, the Earth says HELLO!!

So this has been another amazing and spectacular week. I thought that this week I would tell you a little bit more about my companion Sister Ward. She is from Orange County California and has two sisters and a mom and a dad. Both of her parents served missions in South America so she speaks spanish pretty well. She's super cool and can fit her entire hand into her mouth. She wants to be a kickboxing teacher one day and she went to BYU for 3 years studying elementary education. For my birthday she got me the coolest present. She got me a tour of the MTC kitchen! It was so cool and I got to ask them questions and look at all of their cool gadets and learn how they do everything... Pretty much I just loved it more than words can explain. She is so amazing and I feel so lucky to have her as a companion.

Well last Tuesday night Elder Bednar came to speak to us. That makes 3

Apostles in a row! So that was pretty fun. I learned a lot more about loving and serving this week. I learned some more Russian. I have been learning how to describe my family. My mom is loving, my dad is kind, my sister is joyful, my older brother is funny and my younger brother is on a mission. That's what I can say... I think that sums up our family pretty well.

Yesterday was my birthday and it was pretty much amazing. The elders in my district got me a present which consisted of various items from  the free box, a peice of gum, some nyquil, and chocolate, (oh also some nasal spray, but they advised me to not use it and to throw it away, so I did.) I got a lot of cards and letters from my friends and my family and they all made me so HAPPY! So thank you very much. Let's see, I got mint oreos from my family, so it was pretty much the best birthday ever. It was mostly just a normal day, I went to classes, taught an "investigator", ate spaghetti for dinner, had a jello eating contest..., and just had fun.

Some random things that happened this week... I saw Isaac Haupt in a picture hanging in the MTC and I also met Jacob Haupt's other cousin that is here in the MTC. Oh and I learned a new joke, a loaf of bread was flying an airplane and it crashed... see if you can figure that one out... the elders told it to me.

Well I love you all and I hope you are all doing well.

Until next week,

Sister Leavitt

Three Weeks In....

Here is Sister Leavitt's email this week.  She sent us pictures and we had to scan them in to share, so  enjoy her letter and pictures!  She sure loves all of you!

Hello Everyone!

So Today is my third p-day here! Can you believe it? Three weeks have already passed! So this week I thought I would tell you about the possessed drinking fountain. By my room there is a drinking fountain that is possessed. The water pressure changes all of the time and by the time I am done filling up my water bottle my hands are soaked. So kinda crazy. This week has been so amazing! Last night I finished memorizing the first vision in Russian! It was quite an accomplishment for me. Sister Ward and I got to teach "investigators" two times this week and it was amazing. We have truly been blessed to be able to be companions. She is so amazing!

There is this Elder in my district, Elder Stanford, and he's our district leader. Last week when he was teaching an investigator they decided to have a prayer at the end of their lesson and he was saying it and going along and decided to be thankful for the two investigators. He said the first investigators name just fine, but when he got to the name of the second investigator, he couldn't remember his name. So he sat there for a minute and then said the fist name that came to his head... "Thank you for Charzard." Yep, in his prayer he called the investigator by the name of a pokemon... hahahaha! So that made for a great laugh.

I also found out this week that my departure date got changed and I will now be leaving on December 28th, so that's exciting. A whole week early than expected. I actually have mixed feelings about it because That means I have to leave Sister Ward, but I know it will be great.

This week I learned so much. Sheri Dew and M. Russel Ballard spoke to us and something that Sheri Dew said really stood out to me. She said, "God knows who you are and where you are. He knows your mission and He knows exactly what you need to complete your mission." So I just thought that she is exactly right. Our heavenly father does know each and every one of his children and he wants us to become what he know we can become. He knows us so well and he is willing to give us the tools that we need to be successful in our missions. I want to challenge all of you to get down on your knees and talk to our Heavenly Father. Tell him the desires of your heart and ask him what his feelings are for you. Ask him if you are his child. I know that if you will ask, he will tell you. He love us!

Well I hope you all had a great week! Thank you for all of the letters and support.

Until Next Week,

Sister Leavitt

                                Sister Ward and Sister Leavitt, Courtney's companion.

Courtney took this picture and then looked down at the sign "Do NOT touch the Statues"  Ooops, same ole Court!

The sisters are all pointing to the mission they are going to.  Sister Ward is going to the Ukraine, Siter Whiting and Sister Harrison are going to Russia also. 

Sister Leavitt pointing to her mission.  Soo far away.

What a week!

Here is Sister Leavitt's email to everyone this week.  She is loving her work at the MTC and really loves her companion Sister Ward.  She loves you all!

Hello!!!

So I have some very important things to tell you all about. First of all my zone leaders name is Elder Mahoney... Does that sound familiar? Well it should because that's the main character's name on Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium... Well besides Mr. Magorium. So this week Sister Ward and I have been working very hard! We have made so much progress in the language and in teaching together. I feel so blessed to get to spend time with her and work hard with her. I love her so much. She is always serving me and helping me and motivating me to do more. Yesterday was sort of a rough day. We spent the afternoon working on conjugations and cases and writing sentences, it made my brain hurt so bad, I was good at doing it in the beginning and by the end I was horrible which I think was the opposite of what should have happened. But luckily on Mondays we get new sheets! So at the end of the day I got to make everyone's beds for them and it made me feel so much better about life. I love making beds... Oh and we went to choir on Sunday, that was fun. Also in our teaching this week Sister Ward and I have been pretending to be different people we know so we can practice teaching different people. So I just wanted to tell you that I may have pretended to be you this week! Fun! I really am having a blast here! Oh, and on Halloween all the sisters in my zone, which is kind of a lot for one zone, decided to dress up for Halloween. We all wore black skirts and white shirts! Now that's just crazy isn't it. We took pictures so I'll send them to you. I love my district, there are 6 sisters and only 4 elders. I guess they have decided to start sending more sisters to Russia and the Ukraine . That's where my companion and 2 other sisters in my district are going, the Ukraine . Anyway I also wanted to let Grandma Haupt know that I am growing up and getting more mature everyday. I know... Hard to believe that I could become anymore mature that I already was, but it's true. This is the hardest work I have ever done! But I'm doing it with the Help off my Heavenly Father. I know that He is the reason I haven't failed yet! I love you all! Hope to hear from you soon!

Love,

Sister Leavitt

One Week Down!

Sister Leavitt sent her first letter today.  She sure would love to hear from all of you.  Here is her MTC address:

Sister Courtney Leavitt
RUSS ROS
Box 340 0103
Provo MTC
2005 N. 900 E.
Provo, UT 84604

 

Hi Everyone!

Well one week done and only 11 more to go until I leave the mtc. Sometimes that time seems like soooo long, but then I realized that it's a good thing because I will need that long to learn the Russian Language. I have been working my butt of here. Literally :) Sister Ward, my campanion, and I go to this excersise class for sisters every morning. We do pilates and step and kick boxing and yoga... It's so fun, but I'm not used to it so i've been a little sore. We have also been working really hard to learn the language. She's amazing and when she hears a word she can automatically say it! I'm not quite like that yet. I have to sound things out and take my time, but she is pushing me and I'm working hard to understand the language. We have been working on memorizing the first vision. It's amazing the power that I feel saying it in my attempt at Russian. The spirit is always there, I may not even know the words that I am saying at the time, but I can feel the power in them. I know that Joseph Smith was sent to to an amazing work and that through him Heavenly Father was able to restore the gospel to the earth. There is no way I could have gotten through the past week without his help. I was thinking about learning Russian the other day and I was kind of frustrated because I couldn't learn as fast as I wanted to. It was then that I realized that in 3 days I had learned more Russian than Spanish, wich I took for an entire year. That made me feel a lot better about myself. I'm really Happy here. I like working hard and serving the Lord. There is truly nothing better than being in the service of the Lord and feeling constantly uplifted by his spirit. Alright, so just some small things that have happened... I told everyone my joke, joke, joke, Joke and they laughed really hard. Sister Ward said she was just laughing so hard because I was laughing so hard. I played four square. I think I have lost a little of my talent since I last played in elementary school, but luckily everyone is so nice and they didn't really mind. Going to the cafeteria for meals reminds me so much of oakcrest and cooking... It's basically the same set up just bigger. Props to Mama Lu and her idea to change the set up. Well I love You all so much and I hope that you will send me letters! I love letters! Thanks Life Size Bridget and Mama K! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister leavitt

For mom... I forgot my stretchy black skirt and I need some footsy socks and some more gym clothes, like shorts and a few shirts, also and air freshener for our room would be nice. None of this is a big worry to me it would just be nice to have. I love you mom. Thanks for the letter. And give everyone a hug for me! Talk to you next week. I'll mail you some pictures.

Arriving at the MTC

Well, she DID IT!  Sister Courtney Catherine Leavitt has offically entered the MTC.  We left a couple of hours early so that we could all go to lunch and run some errands before taking her to the MTC.  She just wanted a sandwich for lunch so we went to "Jimmy Johns"  She thought that Cameron would get a kick out of the sign on the window..."Free Smells"  Hummm?

She is enjoying every bite and the wonderful sunshine! 

 The "3 Amigos"

 Sisters......nothing better than goofing off with her sister, and they enjoyed their time together doing just that! 

 Okay....so Casey wanted to be part of the goofing off too!

 Us walking down to get some pictures of the MTC before we offically drive in.   

Little did we know that the MTC was under construction and we couldn't get a picture with the offical "MTC" sign.  Oh well, no biggie.  We took a picture for the heck of it with the MTC behind us.

 

 "Courtney Sandwich"  hee....heee!  They loved it!

 Then we did he dreaded drive across the street.  Her bags are soo heavy!  But she is a girl taking her whole life for 2-years in 2-bags...she did good.  

The last "Sister Hug"  Courtney telling Kandace not to cry!  She was in such a hurry to go in she forgot all her paper work in the truck and I had to run it all back in.  We know that she will be an amazing missionary. DUH...it's Courtney!  We will post her P.O Box as soon as she let's us know.  She said to tell everyone that "I LOVE YOU"!  And see you all soon!  :)

My Farewell

I never knew that I had soo many wonderful friends and family.  Thank you everyone for coming out to support me at my farewell.  I am soo blessed.  My talk on "Service" went great, and all my Oakcrest friends did Amazing on our theme song "Come Unto Me"  Here are a few pictures of the day.

 Pickles

 Lexi and Elvis

 

Jake, Grandpa Haupt and Casey

My Oakcrest friends

Aubs and Austin

S

Sneakers, me and Big Daddy.

Austin and all the cousins.

Here are all the shoes from everyone that was there.  CRAZY!

And even "Cry Baby Chole" wanted to join the fun.  Elynn loved stoppin her at the door.  It was a wonderful day with everyone, a memory I will always treasure.