It's like laughing in your sleep when nobody understands the scenes....

I almost died of shock, she actually sent a couple of pictures to us!  Yippee!  This week's letter is great to hear how they celebrate Easter in Russia.  Have a great week and enjoy the pictures! ~ Mamma K

This looks like they are in the mission office. 

Sister Leavitt and her companions.

Happy Easter Everyone! So I want to tell you a little bit about how the people in Russia celebrate Easter. First of all they all wake up at like three in the morning to go light their candles from the eternal flame at the Proveslovnic churches. This flame is lit in Jerusalem on Friday, or Saturday, I can't remember which, and then taken to all the different parts of Russia. So they light their flames and then they visit friends and family all day. They make these muffin bread like things that have frosting and sprinkles on the top and they give them to all of their friends, and while you eat them you are supposed to remember the body of christ and his ressurection. Also, instead of saying hello people say, "Christ is risen" and then in return you say, "in Truth his is risen." So that's pretty much it. They have a really deep religious backround here of being proveslovnic, so holidays like Christmas and Easter have a lot of spiritual significance to these people and they all celebrate. I really admire them for the way they celebrate because the holidays that are about chirst are really about Christ and they just celebrate him. I really love it!

So work this week was interesting. Sister Kuhn got food poisoning, so on Wednesday we stayed home. I excersised twice that day because I was so bored. I think in missionary work, there is nothing worse than having to stay home all day. Anyways, so also on Friday I had to get registered again so we spent a lot of time at the police station. But besides these times we got to work hard this week. We met some pretty amazing people this week and I pray that they will open their hearts and accept the message of the restored gospel because this message truly does change our lives.

Our investigators have been hard to reach lately, I don't remember if I told you about Karina being in the hospital, but she has been for two weeks, but she's now home, so hopefully we'll get to teach her again this week. Also our other investigator Elena has been out of town because her daughter is about to have her first baby and she has been helping with that. And then our other investigators either haven't been answering their phones or haven't been home when we've tried to visit them. It's been kind of weird these past couple of weeks, but I hope and pray that our finding will lead to new people to teach and we will be able to find some new priesthood holders that will help strengthen and build our branch here. Well that's pretty much it. I am loving my life as usual and I am so happy all the time when I am doing this work! Really, there is nothing better. I love you all and I'll talk to you later.

Love,

Sister Leavitt

Look into my eyes..it's easy to see one and one makes two, two and one makes three, it was destiny!

So never a dull moment with Sister Leavitt, even when she has a "Normal" week,  Thank you to all "Scrums" friends that take good care of her.  Have a great week. ~ Mamma K

Oh.. and skittles, just leave your address in a comment here and I will send it on to her.

Why hello there,

So this week went by so fast and slow and I'm not even quite sure what happened. Well I do remember that we couldn't even meet with our investigators this week because they were out of town or in the hospital or sick or they moved to Ukraine, or they wouldn't answer their phones. So that's how that went, but we met some really cool people when we were contacting this week. One of them was name Victoria and she was so fasinated with the book of mormon. Unfortunately she told us that she would call us when she read it, so we'll see how that goes. Then this week we helped one of our members fill out applications for scholarships to attened BYU Hawaii, I am so excited for her becuase she's just so wonderful and I want her to be able to go there and learn more and then come back to russia and help the people here. But, today we are having a missionary p-day party at the mission home, so that should be fun. Sister Nichiprova is making us breakfast and lunch and so it should be quite a treat! Yesterday my companions and I sang in sacrament meeting. Oh, and President Nichiprov came to our branch yesterday too and talked right after we sang and he told everyone that the sisters are so beautiful and can sing so well, and told them everything good about us and then told everyone to be like us. It was so funny. I almost started lauging out loud in the middle of sacrament meeting, but then I just thought that wouldn't be the best idea because well first of all it was sacrament meeting and second of all my mission president was staring right at me. Well after all of this excited news, I think that's about all! So sorry nothing exciting happened this week, but ya know, sometimes life is just normal. Well I hope  you all have a fantastic week.

Sister Leavitt

P.S. I got a package from Bridget and Stickers this week and for that I say thank you very much! I can't wait to make some chocolate chip cookies! YUM! And I also got a few letters, so I will be writing people back. Sorry if I haven't written you back ever even if you wrote me a long time ago, like skittles, I'm just a bad letter writer, but I'm trying to be better.

Double P.S. Hey skittles, maybe if you could tell my mom your address at home so I could send you your letter, because I think you won't be in school anymore when it gets there, that would be great. Okay, that's really all now. Peace Burnice.

Faith and Trust and Pixie Dust!

When you hop into your nice warm shower this week, be thankful you have a shower...Poor Sister Leavitt has to live without a shower for 4-days.  She recieved her Easter package I sent her, who would have thought a new Easter skirt would be the best gift ever?  I guess living in the same clothes for 6-months you would appreciate something new.  Enjoy her letter this week  ~Mamma K

Well, this week was new and exciting! So on Monday Sister Cunningham came to work with us for a few days while her companion went on a visa trip, so that was exciting because we got to work with four sisters and that is just like my very own special treat. We split up and went contacting and I went with Sister Cunningham and she is a fire cracker. She's brand spankin new in russia, but even though she doesn't understand anybody she would just start testifying! She's so cool. So then on Wednesday I got sick and our mission mom made me stay home... kind of boring, but I made some soup and pancakes, so that was fun. On Thursday I went on a Visa trip to Ukraine where we ate really good pizza and I got to pee in a hole in the ground which is always exciting. Mostly that day consisted of a lot of bus riding. We rode on the bus for 10 HOURS!!! But it was fun because I just talked to the other missionaries that I hadn't seen for a while the whole time. Then on Friday I was super sick. I think probably becaue of the 10 hours spent on a bus the day before, so I slept the whole day on friday. I woke up for a little bit and watched a church movie and then I slept more. Then Saturday my companion Sister Labaron was sick, so we stayed in most of the day again. Sunday we watched a little general conference and taught a lesson to our investigator Sergei who is a dancer and then the day was over. The End. What a week. I kind of felt lazy by Sunday night and I am so excited to get out and work my skirt off this week. The zone leaders called last night to let us know that they are coming on splits tomorrow, so that should be fun. OH! One bit of exciting news! They are turning our water off today and it won't be back on until Thursday... and that's for the whole city of Tagonrog, so this should be one interesting and smelly week... bahah! But I'm excited for it. Oh, update on Karina because I don't think that I've given on update recently. So she is doing good, but she won't commit to baptism because she has already been baptized and she thinks that our church is wonderful and everything, but she also thinks her church is too. So that's where we are. Makes my heart a little sad, but I'm not giving up because the first time I met her I said outloud afterwards that she would get baptized someday and I wanted to be there when she did. So that's the plan still. Well okay, I think that's it. I'll let you know how this week goes with no water. And when you turn on the warm water this week to take a shower, just think of Sister Leavitt and how she doesn't get to take a shower until Thursday...  I love you all!!

Sister Leavitt

I'm a block of Wood?

Russia does things a little different when it comes to death.  But that is all just part of the adventure, Right?  Enjoy her letter this week, and I actually posted it on the day it came, now that is a first.  :)

Holy Moly! What an amazing strange week. We have been so busy and having so much fun this week. So to start things off I just have to tell you a funny story. So our next door neighbor died two days ago and when people die here they just leave the body in the house for a few days and everyone they ever knew comes to visit them. So all day today their door has been open and there's just this dead lady laying in the living room and all of these flowers everywhere. Bahahaha! This shouldn't be so funny, but for some reason it just seems so funny to me. Okay, that's all. So I got two new companions this week and they are both so amazing! We laugh so hard together!   Okay, another funny story, so we were teaching our investigator Elena this week, who by the way has a baptismal date, anyways so we were just talking to her about how her Book of Mormon reading was going and she said she just finished the story about Nephi going back to get the plates from Laban and then being commanded to kill him because it was better that he die than everyone suffer. Then she told us this story about how her son used to do horrible things and he was hurting so many people and when he was doing those things she told her daughter that she just wanted to cut off his head so that a lot of people didn't have to suffer and after she read that in the book of mormon she said, "look! God commanded him to do what I wanted to do!" Baha! Talk about applying the scriptures to yourself. But don't worry, she didn't kill him and she said that he's been doing a lot better lately. And also we told her that killing people is bad. haha, she's so funny! Anyway, there are some funny stories to make your day a little bit better! I don't know what else to say, Oh, okay. One more funny thing. I guess I have been losing a little weight while I've been here because my mission president said, and I quote, "Wow, Sister Leavitt, Looks like the mission has been doing good for you." Bahah! oh my he cracks me up. I wish you could all just meet him. Well that's all. I love you all and hope you had a great general conference weekend! Talk to you next week!

Love Always,

Sister Leavitt