Happy 20th Birthday!!!

pic. from my birthday, this is hermana mechita

Testimony

photo 1. So we went to eat with a member yesterday, and to my suprise, she has a black cocker spaniel, so of course I had to take a picture with it! 

photo 2. it´s super green here, and I love it, and I´m gonna miss is 

This week we had an experience that I really learned a lot from and wanted to share with you. So we have an investigator (Jason) that we haven´t been able to see for about a month because he was on school vacation and he´s not from here, just lives here during the week while he goes to college. Finally though in this week we were able to see him and I´ll be honest, I was pretty excited to see if he´s progressed, read the book of mormon while he was away etc. But through the lesson we learned that no, and after we finished the lesson, he told us that for him, when we´ve come to visit he doesn´t feel anything, when he´s gone to church he doesn´t feel anything, and when he reads the book of mormon, he doesn´t feel anything. That there are other missionaries from a different church that visited him and his family while he was there, and that he wanted to go to the other church. To put it simple, I was pretty upset afterward. I couldn´t believe that he rejected everything after months of teaching him, and I started to wonder if maybe I wasn´t teaching by the spirit. To really hear someone say that nothing is true, it´s pretty hard, because for me, this gospel is everything. I couldn´t understand how it was that he didn´t feel anything when before he told us that when we started visiting him, he started to feel closer to God, but in this time with the other missionaries, he felt farther away from God. But I couldn´t form the words and I knew that that meant I shouldn´t say them, and that we needed to leave him behind. 

The next morning I woke up at 5:30 for who knows why, and the whole situation entered my mind again. I pretty much just felt empty inside, but then I started to think about my own testimony. I remembered an experience that we had in this lesson with Jason. He had told us that he prayed about the Book of Mormon every night and never recieved anything, and that when he read it he didn´t feel anything. I shared with him that if he would pray, and open his book of mormon to a random page and start reading, he would feel the truth. But that he had to be diligent and do it every day. As I was saying this, I was demonstrating it too. The page I fell on I only glanced at, but didn´t read it. But I knew what scripture was there, 2 Nephi 33:10 "And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good." As I remembered this experience, I knew that this only strengthened my testimony that much more that the Book of Mormon is true, and that this gospel is true. The feeling of emptiness left and I was filled with peace. 

I know that if we really strive to gain a testimony to know that this gospel is true, that we will receive and answer with study, prayer, and fasting. I´ve learned especially the power of fasting during this experience too, because I had been fasting to become a better person and missionary when all of this happened. I know the gospel is true, I know that our Heavenly Father loves us, and that He is with us every day. 

I love you, thank you for the emails every week. And sorry that I can´t always respond. I hope you have a great week, and that you can each think about your personal testimony of the gospel. 

Love, Hermana Leavitt

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Guess who has a little bit of time por fin! I hope everything´s going well, and that everyone had a great Christmas. I can´t believe that it´s already hitting 2016, but it´s going to be a great year. So I know that in these weeks there´s a lot that´s happened, but pretty much my mind is blanked out, but everything is going good here in Cacahotán. I have a new companion, Hermana Méndez, she´s got about 5 months in her mission and she´s from Guatemala. She´s awesome and we get along super well. The funny thing is that we´re both pretty shy around new people, so it´s helping me to break out of my shell a little bit I guess and talk with the people here. 

A couple weeks ago I finished the Book of Mormon for the first time in Spanish, and I just want to say that I know that it´s true. The Book of Mormon has a power to help us with any problem in our lives. But we have to study it, every day, to really see this power in our lives. I know that reading it in spanish has helped me so much to be able to learn spanish quicker, and that the gift of tongues is real. I know that we need the Book of Mormon in our lives, it literally changes us to be able to be closer to our Father in Heaven. If you believe, well read it. If you don´t believe me, read it. This is my testimony of the Book of Mormon, but you have to experiment it for yourself to really know for yourself. I know that the church is true, and I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. I know that he forgives us for things that even sometimes it´s hard to forgive ourselves, because I have felt it in my life. Please never forget that we have a Heavenly Father who loves each and every one of us so much, and that the things we pass in our lives will help us to live with Him again if we have our sight set on Him. 

I love you, and I´m so grateful for each and every one of you in my life. 

Love, 

Hermana Leavitt

Surprise, no time, again...

Really sorry about that I have no time, but I hope all is going well, and here are some pictures from this week!

1. I agree with this message, Dengue is horrible and by experience I´ll tell you you don´t want it. 

2. Who doesn´t like to take a selfie when you´ve got a chance? 

Love you! 

Hermana Leavitt

Short again...

 well once again there`s only time for pictures, maybe one day I`ll have sufficient time...

pic 1 yes, we`re in la zona tapachula-izapa, and yes, we`re cold. (hermana dansie especially you`ll understand the irony of this.)

pic 2 a great and spacious field and it`s super beautiful here

pic 3 we tried teaching a hymn in english to our investigator, it didn`t go down too well. 

Cambios! but not for us!

We had cambios today, but not here in Cacahoatán! Hermana Castillo and I are staying here! After this transfer she heads home to Bolivia, it´s super crazy. We´re going to have 4 months together here in Cacahoatán, and we´re super stoked to keep strenghthening this area and ward. 

Yesterday we had a pretty good miracle. So we passed by for our investigators to bring them to church, and no one could. We were pretty bummed, but headed on to church anyway. But about five minutes before it started, another investigator that had said couldn´t come sent us a message that he was a little late but was going to come to church. We´re working a lot with him, and honestly we feel like he´s going to progress a lot. We visited him in the evening and he said he had a lot of doubts because in the classes we used more of Doctrine and Covenants than the bible, and he felt that the church was a lot different than what he was expecting. He´s gone to another church all his life that´s a little different, but, he didn´t tell us he wouldn´t come again, so that´s the upside :)

I love hearing from you, thanks for the emails. Hope you have a great week!

Hermana Leavitt

Fotos!

1. I´m pretty sure it´s a volcano, but I don´t know the name of it... Anyway, it´s super pretty here. 

 

2. A super steep and long hill we had to climb one day. I thought it was fun, my companion not so much...

Cacahoatan is definitely the best place, and I hope I´m here for a while. Sorry it´s not much this week, but love you all!

Hermana Leavitt