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!!!!!!