Elder Chandler Leavitt: Week 24 I'm being Transferred!

I will be in Columbia, just 19 miles out of Downtown Baltimore.

As my time serving in the wonderful branch of Frederick comes to a close this week, I'm so grateful for the experiences that I have had so far, the people that I have met and taught, and the changes that I have seen. After spending almost 5 months with these amazing people, I have grown to know Frederick as my home, and I am so grateful for this opportunity.

Saying Goodbye to the Alvarez Family Today

So, the time has come for me to go to a new area! I will be serving in Columbia, Maryland, just outside of Baltimore. Columbia is in Howard County, the 2nd richest county in all of the United States. I have heard that it can be tough, the people have all that they believe they need, but I am so excited to serve there! I am so excited to meet new people, talk and teach, and continue to serve in this Gospel. I will be serving with Elder Ence, from St George, Utah. He started his mission in the Dominican Republic but got a rare disease and came to this mission! He has been out almost a year now.

I will miss my companion, Elder Baca.

I will also miss my other companion Elder Chiaco.

This week was great, we have been finding a lot of new people to teach! Most of them have been ladies that we have passed off to the Sisters, so they are teaching them now.

Elder Dutson, one of the Assistants to the President, came out with us this week for a team-up. He came out with me on my very first weekend, and we have been good friends throughout the Mission. I spent Tuesday-Thursday with him and Elder Chaico and Elder Baca worked together. Elder Dutson leaves in a few days to return home from his 2 year mission, so I got to spend a few days learning so much from someone who has been out so long and knows so much. It was such an amazing experience!

A miracle we had was that on Tuesday, Elder Dutson and I decided to knock on a door of a man that I had met a few weeks ago named Artemio. He wasn't there, but someone named Elmer answered and said that we could come over on Monday. So we now had 2 people that were interested in the house. That night, when we returned to the apartment and talked about our day with Elder Baca and Elder Chaico, they talked about a man they had met that said they could come back next week as well. As we talked about it, we started to realize that about 20 minutes after we had knocked Artemio's door, they had knocked on the exact same door, but talked to a different guy named Carlos. So we now have 3 different people that live there that are all interested in the church, without even planning that out. We all thought it was so cool that within 20 minutes we had met different people that lived in that same house, and that we had both decided to knock on that door!

I've been thinking a lot about the transition from a trio back to having just one companion, and I have realized that my entire mission, I should have a trio...because I should always have the Holy Ghost with my companionship. The Holy Ghost must be present or nothing works, I have learned that over and over again on my mission. I'm so excited to go work with Elder Ence in Columbia and have the Holy Ghost with us to help!

Well, this week I start my new journey in Columbia! I'm so excited and so grateful for this opportunity. Thank you for all the support!!

- Elder Leavitt