The Best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear!

We had a wonderful Christmas being able to SKYPE on Christmas morning with Sister Leavitt, in Russia.  She looks great and still has her same crazy sense of humor.  She leaves Tuesday on her last VISA trip, so she will be home in less than 90-days.  Wow, time is flying by!

Here is Sister Leavitt with her companion having their candlelight Christmas Eve dinner.

С РОЖДЕСТВОМ!!!!!!!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!  I hope that you all had a very merry Chirstmas. I know that we did here. This week was a little crazy because Sister LeBaron had her visa trip and that just meant that I had to stay in center with the senior couple for two days, and it also meant that we had to pack all of our meetings into the first two days of our week.... So that's how Tuesday went. Just crazy and busy and wonderful. Also on Wednesday we helped one of our members wallpaper from 11 in the morning until 8 at night with only a half hour for lunch. It was a long day, but it was worth all of the hard work because he was so happy. I forgot to take a before and after picture to show you all, but it turned out so good! So Then the rest of the week nothing that exciting happend. On Friday I went with the Neilsons to try and find a Christmas ham... that was an interesting adventure, but good news is that we found one and it was so delicious! On Saturday we had a missionary Christmas party and we ate ham and potatoes and chips and salsa and cake ( the coolest christmas cake I have ever seen that a member made for us!). We did a christmas program and read the Christmas Story together, then each companionship shared a talent or a game. For our talent I told a tongue twister.. the only one I know "A tooter that tooted the flute tried to tutor two tutors to tute. Said the two to the tutor is it harder to tute or to tutor to tuters to tute?" Then Sister LeBaron touched her nose with her tongue. It was a complete success. Also one of the Ukraniane elders sang a traditional Ukraniane song and then threw rice all over the floor... it was a complete shock and we were all laughing so hard that some of the elders were even crying. Then on Sunday we just went to church and that was fun. Then Sister LeBaron and I had a candle lit dinner. It was so fun. We made BBQ chicken and garlic potatoes and homemade rolls and broccoli. Then after dinner we got to watch ELF and then we got to call home, which was the best Christmas present of my entire life! It was so much fun to see my family and talk to them and it made me so HAPPY!!! 

Anyways, that's the news I have to share about this week. I hope that you all had a great week!

Love,

Sister Leavitt

Teacher say's every time a bell rings another angel gets it's wings!

Merry Christmas in deed.  And might I add that we are also "pretty darn tootin" excited to SKYPE with her on Christmas.  This is the picture she sent this week of the tree she made with lights for their apartment.  Isn't it beautiful? Enjoy her email and have a great week.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I love Christmas! It is my favorite time of the whole year... A little different in Russia though because they don't celebrate Christmas when we do in America. They Celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January. And they don't even give each other that many presents for Christmas. Instead they give each other presents for New Years... So it's all sorts of confusing, but it means that we get to celebrate even more because we will celebrate American Christmas on Sunday and CALL HOME! and open our Chirstmas presents and stuff, then the next Sunday we will celebrate New Years, and then the next Saturday we get to celebrate Christmas again. I think this is what you would call a win win win situation. Because then I just get to have 2 Christmases and I love that day! So I'm really excited. It's also fun because we have been doing a few Christmas lessons with people and it's just so much fun to talk about Christ, because really without him, we wouldn't even have anything to be joyful about. So... JOY TO THE WORLD THE LORD HAS COME!!!!

So, this week was so much fun and it went by so fast! I want to tell you about a cool thing that happened. So once a week we have district meeting, and it takes us about an hour and a half to get to our meeting and then two hours to have our meeting, so it really cuts down on the amount of time that we have to work on those days, so in the morning I prayed that we would have the opprotunity to teach some one while we were traveling to our meeting, and we did! Sister LeBaron sometimes gets car sick when we ride for so long on those bumpy marshrutkas, so we sat in the very front and as we were going this man that was standing next to us started talking to us and we ended up talking to him about alot of things. He was kind of strange and a little rude and maybe just wanted to pick on us in the beginning, but it ended nicely and he even invited us to come to this meeting with him for this company he just started working for.. probably some king of pyramid thing, but still... it was nice of him. Also that company is called like sunshine products and it is based in provo utah and it was started by mormons and when he found out that that's what religion we are he got even more interested. So we'll see if that goes anywhere.

We put up a Christmas tree this week! We just taped it onto our wall. It's just made out of Christmas lights, but it makes it feel like Christmas time. We also decorated our living room with paper snowflakes and we cut out a nativity scene from an ensign to hang up. So we're ready. This week Sister LeBaron has to get a new visa, so we are just working Tuesday and Wednesday and then leaving on Thursday. And then when she gets back on Saturday we have a Christmas eve party with all the missionaries, and then on Christmas day we will have church, just like normal since it's not even a holliday here, and then at night we will get to call home, so those are our plans. I'm pretty darn tootin' excited if I do say so myself. So that's all. I hope that you all have a very merry Christmas time.

Love,

Sister Leavitt

Is that you Santa Claus?

We are always glad to hear when she is feeling better, she really hates to be sick and stuck at home.

Well Hello! It was sunny today in Volgograd Russia! And it made me so happy becaue it hasn't been sunny here in more than a week, and sometimes I just really miss the sun in the winter. So now that that's been said, let me tell you about my week. It was pretty boring, but a few really exciting things happened. Like, on Tuesday we had a meeting with one of our members and he has two birds and he just bought one of them and hadn't named her yet and so he decided to name her after me, so now her official name is Leavitt. :) Also we got to see Katya and Alexander this weeek and we sang Christmas songs with them and took some pictures and taught them a lesson and it was just fun and so that was also good. The rest of the week however was just kind of boring. Sister LeBaron and I both got some kind of stomach sickness and we were home Wednesday, Thrusday and Friday. I was so bored out of my mind that I took to deep cleaning our kitchen and living room. So our apartment is really clean now, and that's good. Friday we got transfer calls, we found out that we are both staying here in Volgograd, so that will be fun. I was actually really really really really really really disappointed when we first found out and I cried a little bit, because I just have been feeling a little trapped here in this small city so far away from everyone, but then we went to chruch on Sunday, and I felt the love and the spirit there and now I am actually really excited to be staying here and serving here for another 6 weeks over the hollidays. I feel so blessed all of the time and I just can't believe how blessed I am to be serving the members in this branch. They make my heart leap for joy everytime I see them. I wish we had chruch everyday so that i could see them all more often! Anyways, that's what happened this week. Sorry so short, but nothing really cool happens when we have to stay at home. I hope you all have a wonderful week and invite the spirit of Christ into your homes at this christmas time. Remember that He really is the reason for this wonderful season.

Love,

Sister Leavitt

So this is Christmas, And what have you done, Another Year over, a new one just began!

Sister Leavit has a way of making the best of my week.  She will bring a smile without fail every Monday.  Love you Courtney!

I don't even know what to say about this week. There are a few major events that I suppose I should mention. Like the fact that last tuesday we went and visited this member of ours who I love visiting because she always makes us the best food when we go over. So we taught her a lesson about Thanksgiving and gave her the turkey of thanks that we had made for her. Then there was a surpirse because she started telling us about how our branch is moving buildings at the beginning of March and how they are supposed to move into a building that has a night club and strip dancing... She just kept going on and on about how no one would come to church and about how all you would ever hear is "BOOM BOOM" coming from the club. So then the next day we went and visited one of our other members and she also mentioned how the chruch is supposed to be moving, but she was really excited about it because where we will be moving to is a nicer building and visible to more people and she thinks that moving there will allow people to notice our church more and just stop in to see what we're all about. Anyways, so after that Sister LeBaron and I decided we had better go and check out this new building, so we did and we dicided that we are for moving... But we'll see what happens.

Also, an interesting thing happened on Thursday night. So we have been meeting with one of our inactives Ludmila, for a while and reading the book of mormon with her because she wants to try and finish it by the end of the year, but she has a lot of questions. So we met with her at the chruch and the meeting went really good. Then when it was over we were walking out, and we have to go out the back way during the week, and there are these tile steps that we have to go down and there isn't good lighting... and she fell down the steps and landed right on her head. It was horrible. Immediately she had a giant goose egg. When I felt it, it was so big that it filled the whole palm of my hand... So we got her up and walked her to the hospital that is just across the street from our church. They got mad at her for just walking in... They told her she should have called an ambulance, but she said that was a silly idea, since we were just across the street. Anyways, she told us to leave after that because she just had to wait for a long time to be looked at. I don't know if she's mad at us or what, but when I called her later that night she just said, "everything is okay", like 5 times and then hung up... We'll see. 

Everything else was just pretty mellow this week. Alexander is doing well! Katya is the same, she just has so many questions all of the time! They are still the best though. We watched the “Testiments” this week with them and Dasha, their 3 year old, even watched the end with us and when Christ appeared to the Nephites at the end she let out a gasp. It was really cute. 

Life is just pretty good. I love serving a mission and sharing my testimony with others. We are trying so hard to find new investigators and spead the good news! Maybe since it's getting to be the holliday season people will want to hear more about Christ! That is my hope. I also think we will try caroling... because I love singing. Well, that's all. I wish you a very happy Holliday season!

Love,

Sister Leavitt                  pictured with my companion Sister LeBaron

Thanksgiving+Baptism+Zone Conference= BEST Week Ever!

Thankful that she had the BEST week ever!  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too. Enjoy the pictures that Sister LeBaron sent. Till next week.

 The Elders catching the Mission President

Alexanders Baptism

Hello! My name is Sister Courtney Catherine Leavitt, and boy do I have a story for you. It all started with last Monday it was a p-day so that was nice, then in the evening we did what you do on Monday nights, Family Night! For family night we did a Thanksgiving lesson. We talked about grattitude and how we should express our grattitude to those around us. We made everyone turkey cards and on the back we wrote all the reasons we are grateful for them. We also talked about Christ and how we should always be grateful for him and his atoning sacrafice. We made rolls and a peach pie for everyone to try. Everyone just about died when they tasted the rolls. Seriously, they went crazy for them. I never even knew that a roll was anything that special, but aparently it is to someone who has never tasted one before. 

Tuesday was a pretty normal day. One of our members came over to our apartment and fixed our bathroom lights because one of them got broken and then I tried to fix it and actually made it all worse. So our Brother Kamo came and made everything all better and now we don't have to shower using a flashlight for our light. 

Wednesday was so GOOD!! We just had meetings all day, we had one with one of our less actives that we have been working with. She is so cool. She has a goal to read the whole book of mormon by the end of the year and so we have been helping her do that. Also we had a meeting with Alexander and Katya on Wednesday night. They were busy the rest of the week, so this was kind of our last booster lesson before Alexanders baptism. We talked all about what would happen and what he needed to do. Also we just played with his kids for a minute. The discovered their new favorite game called sit on Sister LeBarons legs and then she moves them up and down and they just bounce all around. They love it so much! (Note: Sister LeBaron was only a little bit sore the next day.)

Thursday was THANKSGIVING!!!! We got to get together with all of the 10 missionaries in our zone and eat a delicious thanksgiving feast prepared for us by our senior couple missionaries. It was a blast, after we ate we just played uno and talked and sang some songs. Really, it was just like being at home with my family.... If I had 6 brothers... But it was so fun. I loved it. I love thanksgiving so much. All the Russians kept asking us what we even do for thanksgiving and we just told them we eat a lot. They thought that was funny. But it's true. That's what we do. And HOLY MOLY!!! Elders can sure eat a TON of food! 

Friday we had some last minute prep work to do for the baptism, like making programs and calling people and cleaning the font and making cookies and stuff like that. It took our whole day to get all of it done! But it was so worth all the hard work!!

Saturday was Zone conference. It was fun as usual. We got to build puzzles and... my favorite part was when the zone leaders talked about trust and they had our mission president fall straight back into the AP's arms.... I was so nervous that they wouldn't catch him and then we would have to find a new mission president, but luckily they caught him and so that was the best news. We also watched this really cool video clip about this runner in the 1992 olympics who tore a muscle when he was running in one of his races. He was favored to win even, and boom, just stopped because he was in so much pain. Just when the medical team came to help him off of the track he stood up and started walking to the finish line because he was deterimined to finish the race. His dad came running down from the stands and helped him the to the finish line... I was crying a little by the end. I can't remember the name of the runner, but I suggest you all get on youtube and try to find it, because it was so good! So yep, then Saturday night was Alexander's Baptism! He was so happy and smiled the whole time. I am so proud of him and all he has done to be able to get baptized! It was such a miraculous moment and I will never forget it. Katya came and her whole family came too. The spirit was so strong and I hope that everyone that was there could feel it. The water was dirty because that's just how Russian water comes out, the services started 20 minutes late because Katya was running home for something they forgot, but none of that even matters. I am so happy and I know that Alexander is happy too. On Sunday we were able to see him recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost too. AHHHH! How cool is it to be a missionary and see people have might changes of heart? So cool. I am telling you!!!!

Well, that's our week. It was busy and crazy and we are so tired... But it was worth it and we are just so happy. I love my life.

Love,

Sister Leavitt

It's MY Birthday Tomorrow!

What a wonderful gift Sister Leavitt received for her Birthday early.  And yes….I guess I am a little crazy, but at least I’m not alone in the family!  Have a great Missionary Monday!

So first things first I just wanted to remind you all that tomorrow is my birthday. And for my birthday I already got everything I will ever want. Now with that being said, let me tell you about the birthday present Heavenly Father gave me this past week. It was Friday night. It had been cold and snowy all day long and honestly that kind of weather is not my favorite (good thing I'm in Russia huh?). So we had an appointment with our investigators Katya and Alexander set up for that afternoon at four. It takes about an hour to get to the part of the city that they live in from our house, so we set out and on the ride there I just kept thinking about everything that we had taught them, and how much they have learned and changed since I had first met them. I also thought about how lately Alexander has been a little obsessed with learning English lately, which is a real damper when we are teaching people because then they just try to speak so much english to us, when we just want to speak Russian, so they'll actually understand, and with him lately I just had been feeling a little bit of sadness in my heart that this was happening. So I just said a prayer in my heart that Heavenly Father would help me to know if he really is ready for baptism, and also to help us to know how we can help their family. So we got to the lesson and everything was going so well. One of the kids went down for a nap when we got there and the other one just played quietly by herself the whole time, and they usually just run around and be crazy the whole time we are there. It was so perfect because it was a great setting for the spirit to testify. Anyways we started teaching the lesson. We have taught them just about everything, we just had to tie up a few loose ends and explain some things a little better so that the principles of the gospel would be clearer. We just read the Articles of Faith with them and reviewed the baptisimal interview questions with them in order to do this. As we were reading the questions Alexander would answer them. When we got to the question that asks "Do you believe the Church and the gospel of Jesus Christ have been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith?", the spirit was so strong. And when Alexander said, "yes", I felt the spirit telling me that he really did. Then at the end I just asked him why he wanted to be baptized and he then bore such a strong testimony about what he has learned from us, and what he has learned from the members of the branch. He said that of any church he has ever been to, this church is the only one that has really ever helped him. After he said this I wanted to cry and scream and hug him, but because I knew that none of those would be very appropriate, I just smiled really big. I think that this moment on my mission and in my life for that matter, was the strongest I have ever felt the spirit of God. I haven't even been able to stop smiling these past few days because when I think about that moment my heart is just filled with joy. That scripture is absolutely right "how great shall be your joy if you bring but one soul unto me." I have such great joy in my heart right now, and so that is the gift that Heavenly Father has given me for my birthday.

Now, I just have to say thank you to my family for their birthday presents also, because on Saturday at district meeting I got the best surpirse ever called a birthday package from Kandace! In it, it had letters from my siblings and pictures of my family and when I was reading what they said and looking at all of the pictures I just felt so blessed and so loved and I am so grateful for my family. I am also so grateful that they are so crazy! All of the missionaries were looking at the pictures and they all asked me, "is that your mom?" and I said, "yep" and they said, "she's a little crazy huh?" and I said, "of coursre and that's just the way I like her." I love my family so much! Even if we are a little crazy.

Also I have another funny moment to share with you. Every week on Wednesday nights we have sports night and we just play ping-pong and workout on some of this workout equipment that is in our church building. So we were having sports night and Sister LeBaron and I were practicing our waltz. Only we aren't even good at the waltz and so one of our members stepped in and danced with me and taught me how to waltz. He even counted for me... It was funny. But maybe you had to be there. Well, I think that's about it for this week. I hope you are all happy, and don't forget to celebrate and eat some cake tomorrow for my birthday. I LOVE YOU!!!!

Sister Leavitt

Hot..Hot...Hot...We Got IT!

Oh…I am so Grateful for Missionary Mondays!  She just always brings a smile, followed by a giggle to my morning!  Her Birthday is next week and she did get her package and is waiting until next week to open her Mint Oreo’s…it’s the little things that she loves so much!  Have a great week.  J

So much happened this week. So I will just skip all of the small talk and get straight to business. Last Monday all of the Missionaries in our zone got together and carved pumpkins and made delicious food and had a fun Halloween party together. Sister LeBaron and I carved a pirate pumpkin, it turned out pretty cute. We put it in our apartment to decorate and within 3 days it grew some fuzzy mold. It was pretty disgusting, but it looked really cool, kind of like a realy pirate, so we took a few pictures and then threw it away. I also have some really cool news! So last week we set a baptisimal date with our Grandma Zoya. She is so cool! Sometimes she doesn't understand what we are talking about because she has been a member of the russian orthadox church her whole life, but evertime we talk about eternal families her whole face lights up. We talked to the other missionaries about it, and they said, well maybe at her age she will never be able to completely understand everything here on earth, but after this life the missionary work will go forth and she will understand. She's just so cool I love her so much! She will be baptized on the 26th of November with our family. I am so excited for that day!

I also have a funny story to tell you all. So this past week we met with one of our less actives. We taught her about strengthening ourselves against satan. One of the ways that we mentioned that we can be strong is to go to the temple. (sidenote: I'm pretty sure she has ADD, and a bad case of it. The whole time we were teaching her I kept thinking "this sure reminds me of special education..." Because we would start talking and she would take it somewhere completely off topic...) Okay, so temples. After we said that we asked her how long ago she went to the temple. She said, "Oh, I can't even remember. Hold on let me find something..." then she puts in this dvd. Sister LeBaron and I thought that it was just going to be pictures from the temple or something. But nope. Wrong. It was a movie of her at some sort of work party about 5 years ago. She was just eating fish and playing at the beach with all of her work friends. About half way through the movie I looked at sister LeBaron and asked, "Wait, what does this have to do with the temple?" And she said, "I have no idea..." Haha... So that's how that lesson went. It was funny, but surprisingly the spirit was really strong the whole time, so that's a plus. And a pretty big one I might add.

Now I just have one bit of useless information that I know will make you laugh. So we spent the night at the senior couple's house this weekend because we had district conference, which is kind of like stake conference, but different in that there aren't so many people. So while we were there we just started talking with Sister Neilson, the wife of the senior couple, and she was telling us about this time that they went to China to teach english and about all of the crazy things that China does. Then she told us the most shocking thing I have ever heard in my whole life. She said that when the olympics were in china they didn't want to build bathrooms for everyone, so they just bought a pair of depends for everyone... Talk about gross!!!! That would be the most disgusting garbage load of my whole life! Anyways, I hope that just made you proud to be an American. 

Also, the wearther here has already turned cold as the devil. Seriously though. This morning when we woke up it was Negative 12 degrees Celcius.... That's so cold!!!! So today we taped all of our windows closed so that the cold wind will stop making our apartment so cold. Also I put on a hat for the first time this season and put on my leggings and wool socks and long skirts... YIPPEE!!!! This is going to be a fun winter. I just know it... At least I keep telling myself that. Well, I love you all and wish you a very merry week.

Love,

Sister Leavitt

Beware of the JABERWOCK my son...

Here is Sister Leavitt...and NO this is not her Halloween costume.  She is showing off her new WARM boots!  Here letter this week is awesome!  Enjoy, and I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!  ~ Mamma K 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

This week was so good! On Saturday we went to this cool museum that has all of these displays and pictures and statues and stuff of WWII. It was so interesting because the history of this city is so rich and just looking at and reading and seeing all of these things mady me appreciate these people so much. When the war happened this whole city was destroyed. There was only one tree left standing by the end. People would find mice holes in the dirt and then dig them up so they could eat the mice... It was horrible. But they made it out. They lost a ton of people, but they made it. It just helped me understand why russians are the way they are a little bit. I think that they have to have a little bit of a hard outer shell because of all of the horrible and hard things that they have been through, but really after you get to know them they are so kind and would do anything to help you. I love Russians. 

I have one good story to tell you all this week. And it all starts with my hat getting stuck... Okay, no it doesn't, but I was just trying to shake things up a little. Really it starts with getting ready for churh yesterday. So while we were getting ready Sister LeBaron and I decided that we really wanted to do a musical number in sacrament meeting because we always want to and then we just never do. So we got to the branch building a little early and practiced I know that my redeemer lives. She played the piano and I sang it. I decided to sing it in Russian because... well, everybody here speaks russian and I thought it would be better if they understood what I was saying. This was the first time I ever sang a song in Russian all by myself in front of a group of people, so I was a little nervous. But we practiced and it sounded good, so we just went for it. So sacrament meeting starts and the spirit is just so strong from the beginning. Then the first speaker gets up and gives a talk about Jesus Christ's Atonement. Perfect. Then there was another talk about fasting, which was really good too. Then we did our musical number and by the end there wasn't a dry eye in the place, including me! I know this may surprise you because I don't cry very much, it surprised Sister LeBaron that's for sure. But I couldn't even help it because I was just looking out at the faces of all of these people that I love so much and who have sacraficed so much, jobs, money, and even families, to be a member of this chruch and to do what they know is right; and I was just looking into their eyes and seeing their testimonies, their faith, and their love of the Savior and I was just overcome with love also. Because I truly to know that Jesus Christ lives! I know it with all of my heart. And he loves us. No matter who we are he loves us. And that testimony that is within me is why I am here. I am here to help others find the hope that I receive through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That's What it's all about. I love my life. I love this gospel. I love Christ. And I am grateful everyday that I have the opportunity to share that love with others, and show Christ that I love him by serving him. 

I am so happy, and I love my life!

Sister Leavitt

I had a dream once!

Sister Leavitt sure makes life FUN.  Wouldn't you just love to be her companion?  Enjoy!

Holy moly!!! What a week! I have to say that this week was pretty amazing! Yep, it sure was. I loved it. We taught a lot of lessons this week, and as a missionary, teaching lessons is what I love doing the most, so that means it was a good week! We have been working with the cutest Grandma of one of our members. I love her so much! Her name is Zoya. She has been through so much in her life and has had so many tragedies, but she is just so spry and as lively as ever. Her husband died a while ago as well as her two children. She always just says, "I am alone." But she does have one fantastic granddaughter who has been helping her and giving her hope. We taught her the plan of salvation this week and she told us about a cool experience she had once when she saw her husband after he died and he was young and he didn't say anything to her, he just looked at her and she has never been able to forget that. She loves him so much still and she was so happy to hear about our lives after this one and what will happen to us. Oh, I just love her so much. As for the other family we have been teaching, well, they are still so wonderful! We change their baptisimal date to be in three weeks. This probably means that I won't be here, but I'm still holding out. We will find out transfers on Friday. But yeah, besides those two investigators, I don't have much to tell you all about. We have been working hard and doing the Lord's work the best that we can. We just try to make people happier than we found them, and if we can do that, then at least we're helping in some small way, even if they don't want to hear more about our church.

I do have one funny story for you all. So this week we were walking home for lunch and there was this tree with really really red leaves on it and I wanted one, so I went to go pick one off and this guy walking by says, "don't partake of the fruit." It was so funny, we just all started laughing... he was only a little drunk. And God loves me. So that's good. Also we made brownies today, so that's something else. And... that's all. I love you all!

Love,

Sister Leavitt

GO or Don't GO, But Don't GO Slow.

I almost forgot to post Sister Leavitt's email, we got a missionary home on Wednesday.  She let me know in my email that a member brought her a pumpkin and she is so EXCITED!  She was going to bake it and make pumpkin cookies this week.  The little things mean soo much!  ~ Mamma K

Well, this week was pretty uneventful. Although Sister LeBaron and I have now organized a revolution in missionary work. You see these past couple of weeks have been pretty lame as far as lessons go, so this brought us to the conclusion that we should organize a revolution to get the missionary work... well working here. We have set up and devised a plan to have our members help us. Because our members here are so amazing, but I don't think that they realize just how much we rely on them for help in doing missionary work. Basically without the help of the members there wouldn't be missionary work. So the plan is to teach all of our members with in the next two weeks about testimony and how they received their testimonies and how it all started from someone telling them about our church... There's more to it than that, but in short after that we wave our magic missionary wands and sprinkle a little pixie dust and do a voodoo dance and magically we will have more members here in Russia! Isn't this a great plan!! We have started sharing this lesson with members and so far so good. In three weeks, for the next fast meeting our branch is all going to fast together that they will all have the opprotunity to share their testimony, or serve, or invite one of their family members or friends to meet with the missionaries. So that's the revolution, and don't be surprised if you hear about it on the news soon.

This week I was also sick for a day and I slept so much! It was so amazing. Then at about 5 pm I couldn't sleep any more so I made Sister LeBaron take me on a walk because I couldn't stay inside anymore!!!! Sister LeBaron also taught me how to knock again! I forgot how to do it because when it's warm outside we just contact all the time and don't really knock, but it has been getting pretty cold here, so we decided to start knocking again. It was  a pretty interesting experience. We started in one old builing and we knocked the whole thing. Then, when we were knocking the very last door this guy walked into the builing and walked up the stairs and when he did that part of the ceiling fell right off and almost landed on me and Sister LeBaron... It was pretty sketchy, but pretty predictalbe for a Russian building. Do you want to know something weird? Well, I'll tell you. All Russian buildings are made out of concrete forms.... yep, they don't even use one spec of wood. They just build them out of concrete and put them together like you would build legos or something.... it's quite strange to me. Anyways, back to knocking. Later we went knocking in another building where we soon found ourselves being attacked by a naked dog!!!! He was about the size of a large rat and had a little ball of fur at the end of his tail. It made me laugh so much that I could barely get out who we were and why we were there. Needless to say, I forgot how much I really love knocking and that will now become the highlight of my life. 

We have to move the baptisimal date for Katya and Alexander because they aren't quite ready.... This probably means that I won't get to see them get baptized because i suspect that I only have two weeks left in this area and then I will get transfered, but we never know. I am kind of sad about this though because it has been such an amazing opprotunity to be able to teach them. I have loved every minute of it. But I think that as long as they get baptized and stay active that that will be all that I need to know that I have helped them, and that their lives truly have been changed through Christ.

Well, that's all of the news for now. I know that you are all probably getting really excited because Cam comes home in two short days! I bet that feels better to say that two short years, huh mom? I wish I could be there with you all when he gets home, but I still have work to do. So, have fun and party without me for now... I love you all so much!!!!

Love,

Sister Leavitt

Short People

Well, I guess since Sister Leavitt just emailed us last Friday, she made this week's email short and sweet.  She sure loves all of you and really LOVES hearing from you.  Her Birthday is only a month away, and Christmas is soon after.  She would love a card or letter to know how you are doing.  Here is her address if you want to write.  I put Jesus stickers on her packages and they get there fine.

Sister Courtney Leavitt

Russia Rostov Mission

Bolshaya Sadovaya 39/4

344082

Rostove-na Donu, Russia

Well, let me tell you how much has happened since last friday..... Well, actually not much has happened. We had general conference this weekend and it was sooooo good. Our investigator came, so that made me happy. Also on Sunday night we got to teach our family and help them get ready for baptism. They are doing well and we love them so much! Oh, on Saturday night we had music night again. It was so much fun. There was a good turn out because they just did it right after general conference. I got to sing I know that my redeemer lives... I love that song. Well, that's it. Pretty uneventful. Well I guess I will just say, Have a great week. And I love you. Don't worry, next week I will have stories for you again. It was just a boring weekend. But honestly, boring was exactly what I wanted. Okay, I love you all. Talk to you later.

Love,

Sister Leavitt

Like the sands in an hour glass....so our the days of our lives!

Holy Cow!  Never a dull moment with Sister Leavitt thats for sure!  We are so glad we don't know anything until it is over.  The Lord is watching over her every minute!

Well, today is Friday. So better late than never I guess. This has been such a crazy week in my Russian life, but I have great news! Heavenly Father Loves Me! And he loves you! Isn't that wonderful? So this past week was, well, like I said, crazy. I finally got my Sister LaBaron back! I love her so much and we are having so much fun serving together. I love teaching with her so much because we just teach so well together. I love doing all missionary work with her, so that's good. We are still getting our family ready to be baptized. So far, so good. If all keeps going well, then their baptism should be in two weeks. We're pretty stoked about that. They are so wonderful, it's been an adventure teaching them, but I love it. Everytime we teach them I feel so happy, it hasn't always been easy, but who ever said missionary work was easy? Yep, that's right, no one said that. So all is well. This Monday I had to go to Ukraine to get a new visa... it was an interesting experience... To make a long story short, we got to the border at 11 am and I got in trouble because of everything with my passport, and so I got to sit in a little room with all of these Russian officers until 4 pm. One of the Elders almost got arrested... that was interesting, but another one of the elders came in to sit with me while they were working on paper work for me and we had such a good conversation about the gospel and so at least that was a plus of the day. For family night on Monday we were at the mission home so we got to have family night with our mission president. It was hilarious. We heard a Flemish Fairy tale and played a game called Bunny bunny. Wednesday and Thursday were so good. We taught some lessons and just did missionary work. Yesterday we taught such a good lesson to this man on the street who was walking with his son, we taught about the plan of salvation, and the spirit was so strong, we are praying and hoping that he will want to know more. Let's see, today was zone conference, which is always so good and tomorrow and Sunday we get to watch general conference!!!!! I'm triple excited for this. I feel like I have been teaching so much lately and I am so excited to just have two days to sit and listen and learn and be filled with the spirit of the Lord. Nothin better. So, that's the news. That's the 411. Life is wonderful. I am loving everything about it. I hope you all have a wonderful 3 days until I get to email you again.

Love,

Sister Leavitt

You will find everything you need if you just believe!

 Here is Sister Leavitt and her Companion catching a train to Moscow.......hee...hee

 Sister Leavitt finally found a boyfriend...he looks "Fat and Happy"

Not sure what this picture is other than a train station in Moscow.

Busy and cheerful….that’s our Courtney!  She let me know that next week she will be on a Visa trip and so we won’t get an email until Tuesday or Wednesday.  She also said she will only have 1-visa trip left after next week….that is so crazy!   Hope you enjoyed her pictures she took while in Moscow.

This week we had a really cool experience with service. So we started out our day with the plan to go to one of our inactives house and teach her a lesson. We planned the lesson and I was so excited to teach it because it was a good one. But we got to her house and she wasn't home. She had forgotten... she went to go dig potatoes instead. So we were kind of far away in a smaller area with not any good places to go contacting or anything, so we had this feeling to just call one of our members that we haven't been able to meet with for a long time because she has just been so busy and always working. So we called her and she was home! She said she was busy though with cooking for a birthday party she was getting ready for. So we told her we could just help her get ready and help her cook. She accepted and we went over to help her. Her niece was also there helping. She's not a member, and felt a little weird about us being there at first, but by the end of our time cooking together we were friends and she thought that it was so cool that we were here. Then yesterday at church our member told us that her niece had said she wants us to come see her and teach her! I was so happy to see the fruits of our service so quickly. We have had a few wonderful experiences like this this past week and my heart is just full of gratitude to our members for wanting to share the gospel, and to Heavenly Father for sending us so many miracles everyday.

Life is so good and I love being a missionary. It's hard sometimes when you have a day where everyone is saying "You believe what?", "Why are you even here?" and my favorite "Oh, I know you... I already know everything. You're just a cult." , yep, sometimes it's hard, but when you just work hard and love the people even if they don't really love you, then the Lord will bless you. God loves all of his children. That's for sure.

Well, I hope you have a wonderful week. I love you all.

Sister Leavitt

One of the Ninety and Nine

Sister Leavitt is doing well, back to work after her trip to Moscow.  She said she is now one of the “Oldest” out in her mission, and that made her realize it will be time for her to come home too soon.  She only has just over 6-months left.  Crazy how fast the time is going. Enjoy ~ Mamma K

When we walk to the bus stop on Monday mornings we pass through this little section where there are a bunch of little stores and stuff on one side and then on the other side there is an empty lot where people park there cars sometimes or just do what they want. But sometimes there is this guy there selling meat out of the trunk of his car. It's disgusting. I never know what kind of meat it is, but it always grosses me out. So I just had to tell you...  Like I said last week we were supposed to have transfers this week and I would be serving with Sister Labaron again, but of course plans changed and so we won't start serving together now until the 27th. We got to meet with our family this week and we did a lesson on eternal families. I love teaching this to people because it always brings a strong spirit and that makes me so happy. I get so happy when I think about this family getting to spend eternity together. That really is God's plan for us and when people know about it, it just makes their lives so much better! So, also we had this family history meeting this week, that was interesting and fun. I'm excited to work on family history when I get home and share the blessing of the gospel not only with those who are here on earth, but who have passed on also. We had a cool experience last night when we went looking for one of our inactive members. We had never been able to get her to answer her phone so we decided to just stop by. It took us a while to find her house and then when she opened the door she was less than thrilled that we had come. But we went in and just started getting to know her and then after a while she said, "Well, I guess since you're here we can pray together." And so we did and then after the prayer she said, "Well, I guess we can read out of the scriptures together too." So then we read out of 3 Nephi a little and talked and it turned out to be a really amazing visit for all of us and the spirit was able to teach us and bless us. I am just so happy that I am able to really be the hands of the Lord here for this time and bless the lives of his children the way he would bless them if he were here. So, things are just going well. We are planning and working hard so that we can find the people the lord has prepared to hear the gospel and things are going well. I love you all so much!

Love,

Sister Leavitt

Pants! What about them? Nothing...just Pants!

She’s BACK from getting a new passport in Moscow!!!!  Glad she has those “Magical Powers” and everything went well in Moscow.  She really does brighten up a dreary week! Can you just hear her singing “Oakcrest Style” for you?  Have a great week.  ~ Mamma K J

So, this week was quite an adventure, but everything turned out so well! We ran around all week and stayed really busy and worked hard. We have been working hard with Katya and Alexander we have set a baptisimal date with them for the 22nd of October, Alexander is so ready. He rocks and keeping the commandments and praying/ reading. He has such a desire to be a better person and learn more. Yesterday we taught them about Keeping the Sabbath day Holy and he said, "oh no, I probably am a sinner then because today I worked on fixing our car." It was funny, he just understands things so well! He would be baptized tomorrow if that were possible, but we are still working with Katya, she has a harder time accepting everything, and so we are working with them to be baptized on the same day, we want it to be something that will strengthen their family, because that's what the gospel does, it strenthens families. Anyways, so they are doing great. Katya crashed their car this week though, that's why Alexander was fixing it, and so they couldn't come to chruch. Bummer.

But in other news we went to Moscow on Friday. We were only there for one day and we were able to accomplish all of our tasks and come back to Volgograd the same night. It was a surprise to us all and when our Zone leader asked how we got back so fast I said it's because I have magic powers of course! (even though Lexi thinks I don't hahaha...) So really I just know that the Lord blessed us to be able to do everything quickly so that we could be here for our investigators.

On Saturday we had music night. I didn't think that we would be going so I didn't plan anything, but then we went and the senior couple that was in charge was so happy and they put me on the program... That is why I am so grateful that I worked at Oakcrest and I just have all sorts of songs stored in my brain for situations such as these. I sang I am a Child of God Oakcrest style. They loved it and so that's all that matters. Well, that's our week. Transfers are this week. I know... they came so fast! Sister Undozjorava and I are still serving in Volgograd, but I will be serving with Sister LaBaron (yep, again! I am so excited!) and she will be serving with a mini missionary. We are excited about having 4 sisters in our area and giving our branch a little boost. Well, that's all. I love you all!

Sister Leavitt

A funny thing happened on the way to the forum....

Oh my….never a dull moment with Sister Leavitt.  I told her to at least take time to take lots of pictures on her adventure this week.  I can’t wait to hear from her next week now.  J

I would just like to second that what Cameron said last week about his dislikes of being a missionary. Being sick is the worst thing you could wish for. It is so boring and all you want to do is go out and work, but if your mission mom finds out you did that, then you're in big trouble! Did I ever tell you about the Russian phobia of getting sick? Well, they are so afraid of getting sick. I swear they get sick more often because they're afraid of it too. It's so funny, but my health has been pretty good, so I can't complain. This week was full of the adventure that I like to call "The things that you have to do when you lose your passport in Russia." I know it's a long title, but I just couldn't put it in any other way. So now I guess I should tell you that YES I did indeed lose my passport in Russia, now I just hope that some weirdo isn't running around the whole world pretending to be me. We have had to spend a lot of time in the police stations this week because of it and that wasn't all that fun. But the police officers were nice. Last night my companion said to me, "well, now we know that if you want to have an adventure, all you have to do is lose your passport in Russia." And it's true. Oh, the police officer said that I could either live the rest of my life in Russia, or go to Moscow and get a new passport. I almost chose the living in Russia option, but then I remembered that in America we have mint oreos and Cafe Rio, and I changed my mind.

But that's that. So this week I have to go to Moscow. Last week school started in Russia and it was the craziest thing that I have ever seen! There was traffic everywhere and all of the little kids were dressed up in suits and dresses... it was so crazy!!! Also I had the opprtunity to go to a Russian Hospital, which is an experience that I never want to repeat, if I get sick while I'm here I vow that I will never go to one of those. YIKES!!!! So, our investigators are doing well, and we are still working so hard with them to get them ready to be baptized, we are also working like crazy trying to find the elect! It's so much fun! But that's all for this week. I love you and your little dog too.

Love,

Sister Leavitt

I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints!

We were excited to get some great pictures that her Mission President sent.  She looks great and of course LOVES her mission.  Well worth the wait!  ~ Mamma K

Hello!

So this week has been so wonderful for me! We have had to opprotunity this week to serve and to teach so much and I love it! I am learning so much all the time about how this really is God's only true church on earth today, and how it blesses the lives of the people who receive this knowledge and work to live by the commandments and doctrine that he has given us. I am so happy about my life and about what I am doing. I have to tell you all that it is such hard work and somedays we walk on the streets and talk to everyone we can, and no one wants to listen or even talk to us, that's the hard part, but the best part is that everytime I bear my testimony to these people, even if they don't accept it, I feel the Holy ghost strenthening my testimony and making me stronger. I feel so much love for the people that I serve here and I am such a lucky girl for getting to serve on a mission. Our investigators are doing well. They each have their own challenges and struggles that they are working on, but we are trying our best to help them overcome these weak parts so that God can make them stronger through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I don't have very much to say today, but I just want you all to know that I know that this chruch is true, I know that God is our father in heaven and that he knows us all and watches over us, and more than that, he wants us to succeed, he wants us to pray to him and learn more of him. I am so grateful for all that He has given me. I love you all and hope that this week you will be able to come to know that God loves you! Have a beautiful week!

Love,

Sister Leavitt

Suddenly I see, This is what I want to be.....

I forgot to post her email last week, so this week is a two for one week.  Enjoy!



Hey Hey Everybody! So I just thought that I would start off my email this week with an inpirational message courtesy of my mission president. I really liked it and I thought you would too. So enjoy the ispiration. Well, this week was really wonderful! We worked so hard and taught some pretty amazing lessons! I just read Cameron's email and I was impressed by his remark about silence... I think I'm going to try that one this week and see how it goes. We had zone conference this week, so that was fun and amazing as always. We did a really fun activity where we got white t-shirts and they put out ketchup and soy sauce and mustard and stuff and then we rubbed all that stuff all over the t-shirts. So the t-shirt was like our bodies all white and clean and the other stuff was like sin. Then we had to use laundry detergent and water and scrub our shirst until they were white again, and that was repentance, it was hard work to get all of that stuff out, but that's how it is with sin, it's hard to get it all out of your life, but once you do, you have a nice white and clean body again. So, for all of you teachers of youth, you may want to think about using that activity... I enjoyed it. Also we had an amazing lesson with Katya and Alexander this week! They are doing so well! We are hoping that they will get baptized some time next month. I have also realized this week how much the gospel is changing my own life, it's strange because I came on a mission hoping to help other people, but I think the person I've helped the most is myself, I am consantly amazed at the things Heavenly Father is willing to do for us if we only remember to ask. I love my life and I love my mission!!! Well, that was pretty much my week, I loved it! And I love you! Good luck with your lives, and remember, if you put the Lord first, then everything else will go smoother. :)

Until next time,

Sister Leavitt

This little Light of Mine

Well, another FUN letter from Sister Leavitt.  Enjoy and have a great week. 

Holy Moly!   This was such a wonderful week in Russia!!! We had such a busy and crazy week, and I can't even believe that it's Monday again already! I was thinking about how I used to hate Mondays in high school because they were the first day of the week and all I wanted to do was sleep, and now I love Mondays becasue they're P-Day and that means I get to take a nap and do fun things! But what am I saying? Everyday as a missionary is fun! So this week I have some good stories for you. So we had a lesson with Alexander and Katya this week and it was the funniest thing of my whole life, so he came to pick us up from the bus stop and we were driving along and his tire blew out! Yep, sure did, so we helped him change it and we were on our way again and then we got to their house and Katya had so many questions because she had been studying English that day and she wanted to know about the word  “THE”... I don't even understand that word and how to explain when to use it. So by the time we got to the lesson we had like 20 minutes and then the lesson ended up being like 40, so that's fine, but then we got back in the car to go back and the battery was dead, so they charged it for like 10 minutes and pumped up the spare tire a little because it was going flat, and then we were on our way. By the time we got to the bus stop it was like 9:10 and we waited and waited for a Marshootka, but none ever came, so we had to take a taxi and we didn't get home until after 10... yep, crazy lesson, but it went well.Then on Saturday we were supposed to have a sports day in the Center branch and then a music night after that, so we got all ready to go and went to go wait for a bus to center, we waited, and waited and waited and after one hour of waiting a bus finally came and then, because of traffic, it took another hour to get to center. So we got to the branch building an hour late and no one was there!! That was weird, so we called the elders and the other people in charge and they let us know that the sports activity had been cancelled. So we called our investigators and told them not to come. Then we just went to McDonalds and had lunch with the Elders because we still had music night and there wouldn't be enough time to go all the way home and then back. Music night was so much fun! Our investigators came and I sang a song, so did some of the members and all of the missionaries sang a song together too. It was  a ton of fun and made up completely for the long day of waiting. But other than all of that nothing too exciting happened this week. Oh, one of the less active members that we have been working with came to church yesterday, so that was very exciting! And today we are going to Mamaev Koorgan... Which is like the Russian Statue of Liberty, so I'm pretty excited about that and I'll send some pictures next week! well, I love my life, and I love you!!!

Sister Leavitt

And I think to myself, What a WONDERFUL World......

Sister Leavitt makes Monday's soo fun!  we may have to send BIG Daddy to Russia to check out what is going on.   Thank goodness for Missionary Monday!

Hello everyone! Hahaha, I just have to tell you that sometimes when I write that I wonder who everyone is and if "everyone" even reads these emails. But even if they don't I have fun writing them! So this week was a crazy week. Last Monday was normal though. We just had family night and taught a lesson about Lehi's dream which of course turned into a huge discussion about soccer and if watching soccer is good or bad. I ended that debate by telling them that I love watching soccer, so if that's a sin I guess I'm in big trouble. :) Our members here are so funny. Okay, one other funny thing about last Monday, We had an investigator who was supposed to come so I called him about ten minutes before had to see if he was still coming, but he said he wasn't and then he asked me out on a date to go swimming... it was an interesting phone call and needless to say we didn't call him after that. Also one of our other investigators texted us last night and asked me to marry him. He was serious about it too... I didn't text him back, but I just thought I would tell you that this isn't the first time! I am getting so sick of it! I don't want to get married I want to teach the gospel! So that's what I always tell people when they ask us if we can go out and drink with them or go dancing... Okay that has nothing to do with the missionary work that we did this week, but it was just and interesting side note to my week. So in other news...

Sister Tunney got transfered this week to Rostov, and that means that 1: I stayed at the Norrungs appartment for two days this week, it was fun because I got to help them plan and get ready for their girls camp and I loved it! And 2: this also means that I have a new companion! And she is so wonderful! She has already taught me so much about how to be a better missionary. She is so good at listening to people and really helping them. She investigated the church for a long time before she got baptized because she felt like the missionaries just had a check list and they just wanted to put a check next to baptism. So she does such a good job at really listening and answering people's questions. For example:  On Thursday night we had a meeting with our FAMILY!! And at the end of the lesson Alexander asked about baptism and what it really means, I answered him by saying that when we are baptized we make a covenant with God that we want to and we will always keep his commandments... I can't remember what else I said, but it led to receiving the holy ghost and then Katya had a question about how we do that and Sister Undozyoriva explained it so wonderfully and by the end the spirit was so strong that Katya was about crying and so was I. So, in short, we are having a wonderful time serving together and I love her so much!

Well, that's all for now, I wish you luck in the upcoming week and I hope all of you who are about to start school are so excited!

I Love YOU!!!

I'm starting with the Man in the Mirror...

 This is the Bird Poop on Sister Leavitt's leg....um I think she didn't like that too much, what do you think? 

 A Beautiful Russian Sunset.

And this is all the missionaries at zone conference.

In case you didn't know, 55 C is 131 F....just in case you need to refer to this information in her email.  Holy Hottness!  But as always, a great attitude.

Okay, fisrt things first, I have to give you an update on our FAMILY!!! First of all, their last name is Zolato, which means GOLEN in Russian, so that's pretty cool, and we had a lesson with them last night and Alexander prayed for the first time! It almost made me cry. They are so amazing! I wish I could just take them home with me! We also challenged them to be baptized after they come to know that this church is true and they said they would and they were actually very interested in getting baptized they asked us how we baptize in our church and what they would have to do. They also said that they wanted to know that this was the right desicion for them before they made it. We told them that it is a big decision and they should pray about it and seek to receive an answer that this is the only true church, and that it was restored through a prophet.I know that they will get an answer that it is true and that they will be baptized after they get that answer. I LOVE the power of prayer and I am so grateful that we can tell people that if they really want to know if this church is true all they have to do is pray and Heavenly Father will tell them! It's the best promise ever and I am so grateful for it because I'm not a very good convincer. I can bear testimony that I know it's true all day, but without prayer, they'll never know. Anyways, that's the first thing that I just had to tell you. So in other news... A bird pooped on my leg this week when we were out contacting. It wasn't very pleasant, but lucky for my Sister Tunney had some wetwipes in her purse, so I just used one of those and wiped it right off. Also we almost died this week because it was sooooooo hot! The hottest I saw a thermometer was 55 Celcius! I have no idea how much that is in Ferenhiet, but near death temperature probably. I could feel my blood starting to boil inside my body! Okay, that was an exaggeration, but it was pretty miserable to sit in these small marshootkas, which are basically like vans, and drive with no a/c to all of our destinations. But good thing I have a really amazing companion and we were able to make the best of it. We laughed and laughed some more. OKAY! other big news that I completely forgot about!!! Transfers are tomorrow and I am getting a new companion! Her name is Sister Undazoriva and she is form Estonia, Russian is her native language, but she speaks almost fluent english. We were together in the mtc and we flew here together and I am pretty stoked to be serving with her! Well, that's about it for today. Love you all Best of luck with your lives!

Sister Leavitt

One step at a time, One foot then another

 Yes...she really is CRAZY!!!  But at least she know's how to have FUN!

 Jumping on the mini trampoline...in a skirt.

Having fun at a "Surprise Birthday" for one of the Elders.

Well, what can I say, she is always so HAPPY!  Hope everyone had a great week too!  Enjoy the pictures, and she better keep them coming :)

So, this week has been another week of missionary work that is for sure, a bummer of a thing kept happening though called a ton of our appointments fell through. It's so weird because we did so well at organizing our week and setting up appointments, but then they just kept not working out. Oh well. We got to work hard in other ways. On Monday night we had a family home evening with some of our members and our investigators and we watched the Testaments. This was such a wonderful decision. By the end of the movie everyone was crying and then Sister Tunney and I bore our testimonies and the spirit was sooo strong, so I challenge you all to watch it. It's only an hour long, so that's not too bad. If you've never seen it, you are in for a good show and if you don't have a copy then get one fast! I love that movie because it just makes me feel so happy about life and about this gospel. I love my savior so much and I am so grateful that I have the opprotunity to serve his children full time for 18 months. So we also had a cool thing happen on Sunday. Our new member, Nicholi he got baptized the week before I arrived in Volgograd, well he passed the sacrament yesterday! I was so excited for him and so happy that he is doing so well. He really is so humble and such a great example to me. He knows that he has a lot to learn, but he tries his best to understand and then acts on the promptings that the holy ghost gives him. I think that is an amazing attribute for him to have because I have found in Russia that a lot of people won't do that because they don't trust their feelings. It's makes my heart so sad, but it's true. But he's not that way, and that is so wonderful. Our family is doing well, we didn't get to teach them this week, which was kind of a bummer because their son was teething, which meant he had a fever and Russians are funny about things like that, and then they went out of town for the weekend, but we are planning on going over there tomorrow. I love them so much and I am so excited to see them! We also found another investigator named Andrea, and he is coming to family night tonight, so I'm super excited about that also. Well, I think that that's about it for this week. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Sister Leavitt

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIDGET!!!!!!