Lessons From Roberto

It has been an INCREDIBLE week here in San Justo, one of those weeks where you just keep thinking, "What did we do to receive so many blessings? Do we really deserve this?"  I really feel the reality of what it says in Jacob 5 where "Lord of the vineyard went to work with His laborers." I have felt Him working alongside us this week, guiding us to the the right street at the right time to find that awesome family, strengthening us when we are tempted to get discouraged, and showering us with his spirit. 

This transfer has already been a totally different experience for me in a lot of ways, the main one being that I'm no longer the baby girl!  I feel the responsibility of directing the area, making many of the decisions, and making sure that we're in the right place at the right moment and that we take good care of our investigators.  As we were walking along yesterday afternoon, I jokingly turned to Hna. Bird and said, "Okay senior comp, it's your turn to make the decision." and she said, "No way, I'm loving being the junior companion!"  But seriously, our companionship is so great because there literally is none of that, we are just the greatest TEAM working together to do Heavenly Father's work.

So here's some of the great things that have been going on this week:

Hna. Bird really is the greatest.  The first fews days were kind of quiet and "official" as they always are when you get with your new companion.  But we became great friends super quick and are always laughing about something.  She reminds me ALOT of Hayley (my dearest roomie) with her kind of "serious" outward appearance, who's actually one of the funniest people ever underneath the intimidating face.  It's so interesting to me how two companions can be so different (she and Hna. Castillo are SO different in so many ways) and yet both can be so amazing and  so loveable.  The goal is for us to stay 3 more transfers in San Justo together until Hna. Bird goes home (I don't think it's going to fly with President because I'm getting kind of old in this area). But seriously, we both have this wonderful, exciting feeling within that the two of us were meant to do incredible things here in San Justo together.  

And serioulsy, Heavnly Father has great things in store for us.  This weekend we have the baptism of little 8 year old Brisa, the daughter of Stella, a recent convert from August.  Stella is kind of like another 8 year old in a 35 year olds body, and she has really struggled to stay active, but we absolutely adore them and they are two of my dearest friends. Preparing Brisa for her baptism has been an incredible experience for Stella and it's really helped her get active in the church again.  And Brisa is just the cutest thing!  She always has to help her mom say the closing prayer at the end of our lessons, it's funny how kids just grasp onto gospel principles so much faster than the adults sometimes.  "Of course we should talk to Heavenly Father! It's not hard mom!"

We're also still really working with Rosi, Jesus' little sister.  She is just SO ready, and she knows the church is true. I think she just got scared off by the stake youth activity that she went to.  So pray for Ros and for us that we will be able to teach with the Spirit to touch her heart.  We're also working with Ruben, the guy that's in Berta's baptism pic.  He is THEE greatest, and the most loveable little Argentine ever, and he too knows that the church is true.  But Ruben has intense fear of this little thing we call commitment. And yes, Heavenly Father is a God of commitments and the Church of Jesus Christ is a church of commitment.  So we're taking baby steps with him kind of like they do on "What about Bob." Seriously, he kind of reminds me of Bob!

Super cool experience.  On Saturday, we went to the huge main park in San Justo where people are just swarming everywhere, listening to the bands, shopping in the little craft fairs because we wanted to invite alot of people to church.  Hna. Bird went down one side of the sidewalk, handing out cards, and I went down the other, but I had this little problem in that I kept getting stopped by little grandpas who would sit me down and want to tell me their whole life story.  And you know me, I could sit in a park listening to Argentine grandpas all day, so I was definitely behind on doing my part of the "contacts."  Side note about contacts: we invite 100s of people to church every week and I've never know any one to actully come. But Sunday morning, we were sitting in gospel principles with our little class full of investigators, and the Bishop knocked on the window. We went out, and he said "Theirs a man here looking for you guys." We went out to the lobby and there was sweet little Roberto, one of the grandpas I had been talking with the day before!  He was covered in sweat from walking 45 blocks in the blazing 10:30 sun, but it was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. He came to all the classes and Sacrament, and when I asked him how he had liked it at the end, his eyes filled with tears and he just said, "Gracias, gracias.  Te agradezco." Obviously little Roberto was really needing the light and peace that the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings, and he found it in the bright little San Justo chapel. 

A Fresh, New Start

New Years was absolutely wonderful, Hna. Castillo and I went to spend the night with the Hermanas in Ramos Mejia, and a Peruvian hermano in their ward had prepared the HUGEST meal I've ever seen for us to eat in our apartment.  We had a great time together, and then it was kind of magical to wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of low thunder starting up and then growing to a roar as the fireworks went off in every direction, echoing among the sky scraper type buildings in Ramos Mejia.  These people were doing fireworks in tiny narrow streets between thirty story buildings! Super crazy, but super cool to watch. New Years day was absolutely dead in San Justo, but we went to lunch with the bishop and all of his extended family to have some DELICIOUS asado, empanadas, and the Argentine works.

Then the dreaded Tuesday night came, we got the call that said Hna. Castillo would be leaving, bravely handled it for about three and a half minutes, and then burst into tears.  But Wednesday we got up ready to take on the new adventures.  Our investigator friend Angel, drove us in his taxi to the offices, we had the amazing transfer meeting which is always bursting with energy and nervousness, and I got my new companion, Hna. Bird!  She has a lot more time than me on the mission, but we basically are sisters (in appearance as you noted Mom) and in alot of other things.  She is super fun and nice, I'm really excited for this transfer.  She's from Thousand Oaks, CA. It's a little bit wierd being with a North American companion, and I refuse to speak English with her when we're walking along because I'm so scared of losing my Castillano!

Hna. Castillo was called to be one of the traveling sisters, and then it just so happend that their first assigned area was San Justo!  Super wierd to be there with her AND our new companions, and kind of frustrating when we were planning for the following day, and she had to act like she knew absolutely nothing about San Justo, so I was left to plan for two days and for different companionships all on my own as the three of them watched me struggle a little. But enough of complaining, it was one of the best experiences ever as I learned from one of the greatest missionaries I've ever known, Hna. Waite. I'm beyond excited to apply some of the things that she has taught me, and I'm filled with this energy and desire to bring Heavenly Father's children to Him.  Hna. Bird has been in companionships where she got really accustomed to not having very much success, and it will be a great learning experience helping her realize that there is success and there are precious souls ready to receive the gospel in EVERY area.  

We found a TON of wonderful people to teach this past week.  The other day we were walking along and saw the most adorable little family all spiffied up waiting for the colectivo to come to go out for a day at the park.  We stopped and talked to them, and as I testified to them that our message would bless their family, the little mom kind of teared up.  We set up an appointment and went to visit them yesterday.  And WOW, are they prepared.  The dad, Jonny loves God but has stopped going to church after trying with many different Evangelical churches because he couldn't seem to find a church that was his idea of what the church of Jesus Christ should be.  Both of them are really excited about their new little family, (they have one little one year old named Juaquin), and are planning to get married really soon.  The mom, Jorgelina, is so sweet and kind, and they just listened to our message with shining eyes.  As you can imagine, we came away from the lesson walking on air, and I know that Heavenly Father prepared them and led us to them at just that moment. We never would have found them knocking on doors because they live on the third floor of an apartment complex.  Heavenly Father truly is guiding this incredible work.  

Jesus is doing amazing and is getting ready to start his mission papers! Woohoo!! And Mom, you also asked about what we do in church.  Funny enough, we went to help in the primary for the first time yesterday, and it was the funniest times.  We were in charge of Sharing Time, and when I got up to talk about "I am a Child of God" I asked 7 year old Facundo, "So Facu, do you think us who are here right now are the only ones who are children of God? Are your friends children of God?" And he shrugged his shoulders and said in his adorable Argentine accent, "I'm pretty sure they are. But I don't know, I'll have to ask them." We all chuckled, but I was touched by the image of Facu asking his friends if they are children of God and then sharing with them the beautiful truth that YES, they are most definitely children of God.  THAT is why I'm here, to help people know that and feel of His love.  And I love it so much!

I love you all, and hope you have an amazing week as you start this fresh new year full of amazing blessings and opportunities that Heavenly Father has in store for us!

Happy New Year!

Wow, it was soooo good to see your beautiful faces and hear your voices and basically BE with you for those 40 short little minutes on Christmas.  Thanks for making it an incredible experience for me and for being the best family in the world.  I loved feeling of your love and joking and laughing with you as though I was there for a little while.  And on a random more shallow note,  you are all SUPER beautiful people. For hours Hermana Castillo couldn't stop talking about how beautiful my Mom and sister are, how handsome and charming my dad is ( oh Tim!), and how HANDSOME and manly my little bro is.  ;) But seriously, thanks for letting me share my experiences with you and especially for letting me share my testimony.  It was a phone call I'll never forget.

As far as life goes here in San Justo, it's pretty great.  The only thing that's not so great is the little feeling that constantly gnaws at my stomach knowing that every day is one day less that Hermana Castillo and I have together. On Thursday, we had our weekly planning and the usual companionship inventory, and when we got to the part where we talk about eachother's strengths, we started bawling like little babies.  It's been three amazing transfers together, and now we'll see what new adventure Heavenly Father has in store for both of us! When I remind myself that this mission isn't about me and that I'm out here to find and teach Heavenly Father's wonderful children in Argentina, I'm happy and excited again. 

Christmas Day was absolutely wonderful for many reasons in addition to talking with my beautiful fam.  The day before in the Christmas devotional, President had asked us to make Christmas a sacred day and spend our time doing what Jesus would want us to be doing.  We really took that to heart and spent the entire day from morning to night (apart from talking to you) going to as many houses of members and investigators as possible singing Christmas carols at their doorstep and then going in to share a quick spiritual message about Christ.  And we were completely surprised by the effect that those little visits had.  Time after time, the members or investigators would come to the door and just cry as they listened to our little Christmas hymn.  We felt the "Spirit of Christmas" just bursting from our hearts as we went from house to house, and I felt that I was truly representing Jesus Christ on His special day.  It was truly a sacred day for us. 

We have been blessed to find lots of wonderful people to teach this week, the challenge is still just getting them to church so that they can progress towards baptism. And I have a renewed desire to teach FAMILIES again, so we're going to be focusing on finding and teaching families.  I'll let you know how it goes. 

Everyone here has been in a sweaty frenzy buying fireworks and food for New Year's, and yep, it looks like we'll have another HOT Monday night with triple the fireworks that we saw on Christmas Eve from what I've heard.  I love the busy hustle, colectivos crammed with people, familes all getting together.  That's one thing I love about Argentina, the crazy amount of people that get together as families, and the obsession with families. It reminds me of us crazy Leavitt's.  :) And it creates a great environment to teach about the plan that Heavenly Father has for families through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.     

Well, gotta run, but love you all sooooo much.  Talk to ya next week!

Love, 

Hermana Leavitt

Santa Comes to Buenos AiresToo!

. . .  And he's been leaving us little miracles every day!  

Okay, we all know that Heavenly Father is the one sending the miracles, but this week has been such a blessing where we have seen little miracles and had a ton of fun. I lie on top of my sheets at night, sweating from the heat but grinning to myself because Heavenly Father answered our prayers yet again throughout the day, proving that He knows and loves His children.  Just a list of some of the wonderful little moments that we had this week:

1.  After deciding that we need to vary our contacting methods, we determined that every time we were on a colectivo we would have a real conversation with someone and set up an appointment to visit them. For some reason, both of us have this weird morbid fear of talking with people on the colectivo even though we talk comfortably with them in any other setting.  But on Tuesday, we got on our first colectivo of the week, Hna. Castillo gave me a little wink nodding to an open seat by a lady fanning herself, I took a breath and sat down next to her. "Man it's hot!" Was the only thing I could think of to say to start talking with her, but Heavenly Father helped me with the rest, and we ended up having a wonderful conversation for the five minute colectivo ride, I took down her address, and sent the elders in her area to go visit her.  Not sure why I shared that little story, but I guess it was the first miracle of the week that Heavenly Father helped me overcome my weird fear of talking on colectivos.  

2.  On Friday, we were walking along humming Christmas carols (Hermana Castillo taught me the cutest little Peruvian Christmas song that we'll sing for you on Skype) when a car pulled up next to us and this chubby jolly man inside said,  "Hey, are you the Mormons?" "Yep we sure are!"  "So what do I do if I want to learn about your church? Can I go to church, or can you guys come to my house? What do I need to do?"  It was one of those moments where you're thinking, "Is this really happening? People told me about things like this, but what in the world?!" We were beyond happy and set up an appointment to go visit him the next day.  We went and had a lesson with him and his name is Angel.  He's a little bit of a baby seeing as he's 53 and lives with his parents, but we got to teach all of them and they're a cute little fam, even though they're super Catholic and super set in their ways.  And then I found out that Luis, Angel's 85 year old dad, used to be a piano professor in Germany but can't play any more because his hands tremble.  So after they "coaxed" me into playing for them (NO ONE has pianos here and I'm always itching to play), Luis was our best friend.  I don't know if they're in a place to progress as investigators, but we'll see. :)

3.  We finally found Ailen (our 16 year old investigator who's mom has cancer and we had an AMAZING first lesson with her about eternal families).  We would stop by all the time and she was never there, but we finally found her home and she is excited to work towards baptism in January.  The only thing is waking her up and getting her to church on Sunday. :) Oh how the Argentines love their sleep.  I never imagined how 9:00 church would be the greatest stumbling block in opening the door to salvation! It serioulsy is the hardest thing that we struggle with, but I'm determined to help my dear folk of San Justo find a way to wake up on Sunday morning. 

4.  We had the most glorious ward party on Friday night, despite being VERY different from our cozy little Highland 23rd ward parties.  They cleared out all the chairs from the Sacrament hall which serves as cultural hall as well, set up long tables (leaving plenty of space for dancing) and cranked up the music to welcome everyone in.  We got there at 8:00 because that's what time it started, but Argentines aren't exactly noted for their punctuality.  So you can imagine what it's like for MORMON Argentines. :)  At 9:30 we said the opening prayer (our bishop got permission from President Carter to let us stay out until 10:00 that night) and everyone broke out their personal tuppers of rice salads, noodle salads, and whole giant chickens, Bishop walked around the tables tossing big chunks of fresh bread to everyone, and we just went at it, having a good old time, everyone sharing food.  We left before the dancing began, but found out that the party lasted until 1:00 in the morning.  The best part? Three different members brought friends to the party and brought them to US to introduce them and set up a time to come visit them.  The wonderful San Justo ward is really catching the spirit of missonary work and getting excited about sharing the gospel with the friends.  And for us a missionaries there is nothing more precious than a member referral.  It was like Christmas morning meeting those three friends.  

In other news, I'm sooo excited because President has set up a wonderful Christmas Eve day for us.  At 5:00 in the morning we will head out in colectivos to go to the temple!!!! I have been dying to go, and the Buenos Aires Temple is so gorgeous and freshly done over.  Then we have lunch as a mission (it's a miracle to see the whole mission together) and the special musical program that our little musical group has been preparing for weeks.  We had practice again today in the morning, and Hna. Carter has put together some IMPRESSIVE presentations.  Maybe not QUITE like the MoTab Christmas Concert, but still pretty special. I'm beyond excited. Then we get to talk on Sunday!! Woohooo!

Well fam, I hope you have a glorious, cozy, happy week before Christmas. Eat some layer bars and snowball cookies for me, and don't forget to give Sash and Tia something for Christmas.  How blessed we are to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives, the real reason for celebrating this special time.  Love you all!

Love, 

Hermana Leavitt

Merry Christmas from Hot, Happy Argentina

Merry Christmas!


It sounds like life is busy and happy celebrating the Christmas season at home! Life is busy and happy here in San Justo too, and it's been a good week where I have learned a ton.  After a rush of teaching and preparing baptisms for Jesus and Berta, it was as though the work kind of came to a screeching halt, and Hermana Castillo and I were left looking around asking, "Sooo, what's next?"  We have been finding many people to teach, but finding them for the return appointment and helping them progress towards baptism has been more of a challenge.
But we haven't lost the faith that Heavenly Father is preparing souls in San Justo who are ready to learn of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  On the contrary, last night we were able to talk through many things that we need to improve in order to be the kind of missionaries that He needs us to be.  I'm excited that we've started this new week, and we're determined to work the pavement off the streets of San Justo until we find those who are waiting for us.  
Sorry that the letter is short this week, it will be better next week!  I love you all so much and am so grateful for my incredible family and the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we all are so blessed to have.
Love, 
Hermana Leavitt

Sometimes He lets us wait

Happy December Leavitt Fam!

Yes it gets hotter with every day as it gets colder there in Highland, but we listen to Josh Groban and MoTab Christmas, and I feel the Christmas spirit just as strongly.  Perhaps even more than before in my past Christmas'! It sounds like everyone is happy and well even with crazy Costco and Madrigal Feasts and gigs and such.  Hermana Castillo and I have set a goal to only talk about family and home and our past lives on P Days, so today we've been excitedly telling each other about all our Christmas traditions. 

SPEAKING OF . . . oh my goodness mom and dad, you blew me out of the water with the Christmas packages.  Cutest story about that.  I had told Hermana Castillo that my mom would most definitely send her a stocking for Christmas, and she was so excited about opening a stocking on Christmas. Last Tuesday, we went to district meeting in the offices, and afterwards we went to the mail room to pick up letters.  Elder Dorius handed me my two packages, and then said, "And Hna. Catillo, these are for you."  When he handed her the two big brown packages with "Companera de Hermana Leavitt," her mouth just dropped open.  "Oh. . . my. . . gosh.  Oh. . .my . . .gosh. Para mi? (for me?) Para MI? (For ME?) Noooooo. . . voy a llorar. Voy a llorar. (I'm going to cry. I'm going to cry.)"  She really was on the brink of tears.  Her family won't be able to send her anything for Christmas. So mom, thank for all of your thought and care and kindness and for making my companion so happy.  She's like my perfect little angel companion, and I was so happy to see her so happy.  All week she's been saying, "Oh Dehna (that's how she pronounces your name) Oh Dehna, I love you with all my heart."  

This week has been . . . an incredible experience.  I really learned the value of exercising faith in Heavenly Father and trusting that, while He may not always answer right away, He will ALWAYS answer. Hence the title of my email. This week was definitely one of the most challenging weeks I've had, with rejection I had not yet experienced, and a lack of success that Hermana Castillo and I are definitely not used to.  To make it a little easier I'm going to give you the low down through my letter to President.  I copied the idea of Sister Peterson (Ali) and put my additional commentary in bold:

Hi President!

Thanks so much for your encouraging words in the Sol.  I too know that success in the Lord's work is possible because, well . . . it's the Lord's work! How could it not be successful? He is in charge and He has souls ready to accept us, I have ESPECIALLY learned that this past week.  Hermana Castillo and I started out the week really excited to work super hard and complete all of our key indicators before Saturday because we knew that we would have the Capilla Abierta all afternoon and night on Saturday.  The "Capilla Abierta" was a program that a senior missionary couple brought to South America.  It's an opportunity for the members to bring their friends and family to the church in a non-Sunday setting to feel the spirit of the chapel, fellowship with members, and learn about the Gospel. The way they've set up the program, it pulls on all of the most beautiful, simple principles of the Gospel and presents it in a really understandable way. It's super professional and impressive with beautiful displays and a mini Christus statue that they bring to the chapel and everything. Our ward, the San Justo ward, was luckily chosen by President Carter to host the event. So for weeks the ward has been preparing, cleaning, and we've been inviting like crazy. It ended up being a huge success and really pulled our ward together in the spirit of missionary work.  Anyways, back to earlier in the week.   But we soon discovered that Heavenly Father had different plans for us.  We walked and walked, talked with everyone, scheduled CPVs, set up lessons with members to accompany us, and time after time, we got rejected, appointments fell through, and for the first few days, we came walking into the pencion with absolutely nothing to show for our exhausted bodies and tired minds. Seriously, I don't know what happened to our dear people of San Justo this week, but we felt like we were in a different country with the way the people acted.  Usually a "rejection" is something like this: "Hi! We'd like to invite you to our church services! We're missionaries from the Church . . ."  interrupted with "No my love, I'm busy and can't listen right now. Next time for sure." or "No dearest, but keep doing what you're doing.  You're both beautiful!" and we move on our way.  But this week we had real door slams, yelling to get off their property, cruel jokes, etc.  (if a missionary in Russia read this right now, they'd probably roll their eyes and say, "Oh please, that's nothing."  But for US it was a shock. The amazing this is that Heavenly Father really strengthened us, and I felt the pure love of my Savior every time that I remembered that he had already suffered the same little sting of that rejection for me.  

But the cool thing is, the feeling of discouragement never settled in to cloud our vision.  Every personal and companionship study in the morning was a joyful experience, and we set out every day with a smile and faith in our hearts.  And in the night when we had faced yet another day of rejection and had taught barely one measely little lesson, we said to ourselves, "Heavenly Father is going to answer our prayers.  We've been working hard and we're being obedient, and He is going to come through."  Miraculously, in the afternoon when it's often easier to get discouraged in the heat, we had smiles and were filled with this energy.  

On Friday, we began to see the fruits of our diligence,  and Heavenly Father led us to the door of an incredible young woman who is so prepared for the Gospel and who accepted a baptismal date.  Her name is Ailen and she is amazing.  She is 15 years old, her mom is suffering from cancer right now, and Ailen is really looking for peace in her life.  We shared a little of the Plan of Salvation with her and invited her to be baptized.  She accepted without hestitation. That night we randomly discovered a PILE of antiguo investigators registros in a hidden closet, and made plans to walk and work until we found the people who the Lord had prepared.  And we found them! 

The Capilla Abierta was absolutely wonderful, and even though it lacked people at certain hours, the members really felt the spirit of it and we received 42 wonderful referrals from them! (I think it also has to do with the fact that Elder Dressler and Perroti are capos and really made them think.)  We're excited to contact those referalls of oro and teach with members!  

The week was topped off with the beautiful baptism of Berta, being led to more people to teach and helping people prepare for baptism on the 29 and the 5 of January. Sunday, we walked and walked and it was crazy how none of OUR set plans worked out, but we practically bumped into the the people who Heavenly Father had prepared.  I learned from this week that Heavenly Father really does listen to our prayers, that He ALWAYS keeps His promises, and that sometimes we just have to have a little patience and continue to show our faith and diligence before we see the results.  I love being a part of this work and seeing the miracles that Heavenly Father provides every single day! 

Love, Hermana Leavitt

Well, that's the story of the week. It was truly a wonderful experience.  I came to learn a little more of the reality of Jesus Christ's Atonement as I suffered a teensy tiny smidgen of what He suffered when the people He loved rejected Him. Never once did I feel alone in the work, and Heavenly Father provided the miracles AFTER we provided the faith.  

Well fam, gotta run.  But I love you so much, and I hope you enjoy this wonderful Christmasy week!

One More Blessed Transfer in San Justo!

It's a cloudy day here in Buenos Aires, considerably cooler than the last time I wrote, and life is good!  It has seriously been an amazing week since day one.  When I wrote, I was getting ready to head out to central Buenos Aires to do that little singing thing, and it was so fun!  We went to the hospital to suprise the wife of another mission president who is sick, and she was SO happy.  She just cried and cried as we sang our songs and a bunch of Argentine nurses and patients watched our little program.  Then we went to the mission home and had the most delicious, healthiest meal I have had in a longgg time, and President Carter showed us his "Cuaderno de Recuerdos" or "Memory Book" from his mission. It was incredible, and so good to spend time with President who is always so busy. (I'm used to living 5 minutes from the mission home in Washington and being best friends with President!).  The BEST moment came when we were saying goodbye and President shook my hand and whispered to Hna. Castillo and me, "No cambian," meaning that we wouldn't be getting the dreaded news on Tuesday night that one of us needed to report to the offices on Wednesday for transfers!  We are together for another transfer!! Our excitement was kind of uncontainable as we jumped up and down and hugged eachother, and President's red jolly face had the look of a very pleased father. 

I can't describe how very blessed I feel at this moment, first of all to be a missionary for Jesus Christ in Buenos Aires, to have the most incredible investigators and companion in the world, to be in San Justo where the members are so loving and supportive, and to see little miracles every day.  P.S. Hermana Castillo is beyond excited to talk with you guys on Skype, she's been practicing her English.  :) 

Jesus is doing amazing after his baptism, and he's already being an incredible missionary.  As we left a lesson with him and Rosi on Tuesday night, he went to see us out and said, "Okay guys, where are we going? Who are we going to go visit?" We were so pleased with his enthusiasm and the next day, Jesus came out teaching with us.  And boy did we teach him well. ;) JK JK he is amazing all on his own, and he taught about principles of the Gospel with so much clarity and maturity and testimony that I wanted to cry.  He is going to institute with other kids in the stake and is going to start going to Mission Prep on top of that! On Sunday, his first Sunday as a member, he gave the opening prayer (praying in public for people who haven't been doing it their whole lives is incredibly scary) and then Bishop asked him to bear his testimony.  He was so nervous, but testified straight from the heart that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that he's happier than he's ever been.  As Hna. Castillo and I like to say, it was "chiquitito pero poderoso," little but powerful, just like him. :)  I seriously can't believe how lucky we are to get to teach people like Jesus.  

We're super happy about Rosi, his little sis, as well. For a while, she seemed to lose a little bit of her interest, I think because she couldn't get baptized and Jesus got all the attention from members and such.  But we've refocused in on her, and she is doing so well.  She is reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church, and seems so happy. Now the only thing is to talk with her mom and help HER see the blessings of the Gospel.  The good news is that even though she couldn't come to Jesus' baptism, mom was super supportive of it and I think she sees how happy he is, so I have faith that it's only a matter of time before she lets Rosi get baptized.  

Berta, our dear sweet investigator who is missing a leg is doing so well and is going to be baptized this Sunday.  This past Sunday her daughter (who is a member) was going to be out of town so she couldn't help her get to church.  Very few people have cars and colectivo is out of the question for Berta so we made careful plans all week to help her come to church yesterday.  But everything fell through the floor when we waited 45 minutes for colectivo to go help her get ready for church and the hermano who went to go pick her up couldn't wait anymore and had to go give a talk in a different ward.  We were so sad and so desperate, so we ran to the church, found one of the only hermanos who has a car, and he saved the day for us.  We drove with him and a girl in the ward to go get Berta, helped her finish getting ready, and made it back in time for a little bit of Gospel Principles and Sacrament Meeting.  Phew, being a missionary is hard work! :)  But it was all worth it.  Berta doesn't have a very good memory, so she never remembers what day her baptism is, but she is just like a little kid who asks his parents every day, "How many days til Christmas?" asking us every time that we visit, "When's the day? When's my baptism?"

I love teaching investigators who are all so different but have one thing in common. They are all so wonderful and all so very LOVED by their Heavenly Father. I feel the love that He has for them and love to see the smiles and tears that come to their faces when they come to feel it too.   


Thank you so much for your prayers and love. I love you all so much, and I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ because it has changed my life and is changing lives here in San Justo, Buenos Aires!  

Hi my dearest family!

How is everything in beautiful Highland, Utah? From Mom's email, it sounds like you are all happy and well, which makes ME feel happy and well!  Just a heads up, I don't have very much time today because we don't really have a P-Day today, but I will do my best!  There's one disadvantage to being a piano player in that I am at President's beckon call for any sort of musical project.  Today we are going to capital with a little musical group to do a musical program for the wife of one of the mission president's in a different mission.  She is in the hospital recovering from a stroke, so we're going to go brighten her day with music. The downside is that we came early to the offices this morning to write our emails, will leave, and won't return until 6:00, with absolutely no P-Day, but the upside is that we get to spend time with President and Hna Carter AND have lunch at the mission home which is like a sacred privelege here.  PLUS, I've made friends with Hermana Carter, and when I was talking with her about a little Christmas package that I wanted to send to my family, she volunteered to give it to an RM that will be visiting to bring it back to Utah!  I still don't have all the little gifts I wanted to send you guys, so it's kind of random, but it's something!  So I'll include our address and your numbers so that the RM can call you or get in contact.  

Everything is wonderful here in San Justo.  Of course, the greatest event of the week was JESUS' BAPTISM!! Oh my goodness family, it was the most beautiful thing on earth, moments that I will remember and replay in my mind for years to come.  It was this past Saturday, and the ward came to the chapel to support Jesus.  They are all OBSESSED with him, one because he is a male and the ward needs strong priesthood holders like crazy, and two because he is just amazing and the most loveable, adorable kid ever!  I included the pic from his baptism, and I like the other one of him and Hno. Efrain after the baptism because it KIND OF captures the spirit of happiness that was there.  After his baptism, the Bishop asked him to bear his testimony, and even though Jesus is like a DJ and singer, he is TERRIFIED of having the attention on him with things like this.  But my heart almost burst with happiness as he slowly got up and shyly walked up to the pulpit.  As he began to talk, the fear slowly melted away from his face and he was just about glowing at the point where he said, "I don't have words to describe how I feel right now.  It's like an incredible happiness that I've never experienced before. I'm just so happy."  I can't count the number of times I heard the words "felicidad" and "increible" come from his mouth.  Wow, what a privelege it's been to teach Jesus.  I want to be a part of his life forever and see what wonderful things he does as a powerful priesthood holder, starting with THE MISSION!! You know what I think is going to happen? Cam is going to get called to serve in Peru, Jesus is going to get called to serve in the same mission, and they are going to serve together.  That would be a dream come true.  No matter where he goes, Jesus is beyond excited, which is crazy when I think that he knew nothing about "priesthood" or "missions" or "Thomas S. Monson" two months ago.  The gospel of Jesus Christ has literally changed his life (temporal and eternal) and it shows in his face and in his actions.  How incredible are the blessings of serving a mission and witnessing experiences like this.  They are sacred and beautiful.  

Hermana Castillo and I are still hoping with all our hearts that we stay together in San Justo, but we won't find out until tomorrow night, and we honestly don't know.  President told both of us in our interviews that he trusts us and needs us in the mission, so who knows.  Whatever happens, we'll trust that it is the will of Heavenly Father and He has great things in store for us!  

This week and the week before, an Evangelical preacher came to San Justo to work miracles and preach and prophesy and do all sorts of stuff.  They set him up at the near by university with an insane sound system that reached all the way to our apartment with GREAT POWER, so every night for the last two weeks we tried to drift off to sleep with the shreiking and yelling of, "TAKE out the Devil! TAKE out the Devil!" and crazy things.  Needless to say, we were happy when it ended on Saturday and we were finally able to get a good night's sleep last night.  I love the funny random things that happen on the mission. We also lost our water last week when the temperatures were about 98, so I went three days without a shower and it was the grossest experience of my life.  BUT we took joy in suffering a little bit for the work. :)  

Gotta run now, but I love you all SOOOOO much and I love being a missionary!  Have a wonderful week and a Happy Thanksgiving!

Love, 

Hermana Leavitt

It's been a fantastic week here in San Justo. We just came away from the mission office (it's in Ramos Mejia which is right next to our area in San Justo, so we're super lucky to be so close) and had interviews with President.  It was an amazing experience.  Crazy how different President is from my other two Presidents, and I have to admit that the change was one of the greatest challenges for me at the beginning. But I have learned to trust in this man completely and have learned that I was called to serve in Buenos Aires with this President to whip me into action and teach me COMPLETE obedience for a reason.  And he's not so scary and strict as I once thought.  We had a great little chat and chuckle together, and I think with mine and Hermana Castillo's pleas combined, we've ALMOST convinced him to keep us together another transfer! JK he really has no control over that, it all goes down with what Heavenly Father wants.  But we're praying really hard, always with a humble little "if it's your will" tagged on.  :)

This week has been absolute bliss working with Jesus to get him ready for his baptism that is going to be this Saturday!!! Oh my goodness, I wish I could describe the feelings that come into my heart when we are teaching him.  It's like a swelling and wanting to burst feeling.  Especially when he says things like, "So how long until I can leave for the mission?" Ummmmm.. . . WHAT?!  We're so happy.  

And I'm so sorry but I've got to run if I want to be obedient fam!  I love you so much!

Love, 

Hermana  Leavitt

Mountains to Climb (In the flattest place on earth!)

Hi My Beautiful Family!

It is a hot, sticky Monday here in San Justo, I smell like sunscreen and mosquito repellent, and I feel so happy to be a missionary right now in Buenos Aires. Thank you so much for your emails, they are the cherry on top!  

This week has been full of both challenges and miracles, and it's amazing how Heavenly Father uses both to bless us.  On Wendesday we had an amazing conference with a General Authority, Elder Zeballos and his wife, and I came away just bursting with desire to be a better missionary. Plus we got to see a bunch of the other missionaries, something that is always a highlight for me.  There is always a crazy energy present when a bunch of missionaries get together, and I love that "righteousness" isn't "nerdy" here on the mission. The righteous missionaries are the coolest kids on the block. :)

Thursday we had our usual weekly planning, and I got on the phone to call a family to schedule an appointment with them.  We had a lesson with them a while ago, the Spirit testified so strongly, and they said they would read the Book of Mormon and pray as a family, but that they wanted some time.  They are a couple in their 70's and a special-needs daughter.  We were super excited for them, so the response that I got on the phone on Thursday was a complete shock.  The mom answered the phone, and it was like it was a totally different person.  She told me that the Book of Mormon wasn't convincing and that they didn't want to have anything to do with us.  That same day we had a lesson with Rosi and Jesus and met their mom for the first time, only to hear her tell us that Jesus could be baptized but Rosi couldn't until she is 18 years old.  We got home that night, tired grumpy and kind of numb to everything. Elder Dressler our District Leader called us as usual, and all he had to say was, "How's it goin Hermanas?" to cause an eruption of tears. The poor thing just sat on the other end of the line in silence as we cried our little hearts out.  And Hermana Castillo and I aren't the whiny Hermana type, but it was definitely one of the hardest days we've had together, and we finally just had to let it all out.  

So after that lengthy, depressing description, let me explain why it was cool.  After we got off the phone with poor Elder Dressler who sweetly told us to go cry all our tears out, eat some Oreos, and go to bed, we felt much better and had one of the best talks I've ever had in my life. We talked about what we were going to change as missionaries, how we were going to improve, and how we were going to dedicate 100% of our heart, might, and mind to Heavenly Father and His work.The challenges of that day had truly humbled us, and in that moment the Spirit came to teach our humble hearts. The next day I woke up with an energy and an excitement for the work that I had kind of lost in the previous days.  We were beyond obedient in every little thing that morning, went to work, and the miracles haven't ceased.  

Yesterday in church, Jesus and Rosi both came.  Plus Berta and Ruben. Berta is the mom of a member and she doesn't have a leg, so she is in a wheel chair.  Ruben is a friend of the same member and is basically a 13 year old in a 48 year old body.  He hates any kind of commitment, even something as small as an assignment to read one verse in the Book of Mormon, and we have been working and working with him to help him "commit" to anything because investigators have to DO something on their part in order for their faith to grow. We finally helped him commit to coming to church, and when I saw him, Gladys (the member), and Berta rolling up to the church in her wheelchair on Sunday morning, my heart nearly burst with joy. We are working with some incredible people, and the goal right now is just to have the Spirit so that we can help them FEEL that our message is true and then help them ACT and try it out for themselves.  

Jesus is so incredible, and every lesson with him is a joy. When we asked him how he feels about our message and the Book of Mormon, all he said is "Genial" which is basically Castillano for "awesome." 

In other news, it's super hot here right now. Hermana Castillo and I are a little worried because this is just spring weather and people keep telling us that this is nothing.  Both of us are already dying.  :) I drink water like crazy, and getting on a Colectivo to sit by a window and feel the breeze is the most heavenly thing in the world. I'm learning to cook like a Peruvian because Hermana Castillo is the best cook in the world, and this week we didn't have almuerzos with the members for some reason. Basically, life is good, and everytime I read one of Al's emails, I count my blessings and remember how lucky I am to have a fan to turn on in the night.  That girl is amazing!

Well fam, I've gotta run.  Thank you again for you emails and support.  You really are the best family in the world.  I love bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Argentina, because I know how much it has blessed us.  It is real and true and brings real happiness!

All my love, 

Hermana Leavitt