Week 35 I Love To See The Temple

Washington DC Temple

This week we got to have our semi-annual Temple Trip!! Every 6 months, we get to take a trip to the Washington DC Temple, which I got the chance to do in January and now last week! The temple is incredibly beautiful, I can't even explain how amazing it is to see and to be inside of! I'm so glad that we got to go there, it really sets the tone for the next 6 months before we get to go again!

So because of that trip and a bunch of meetings, not a ton has happened this week! But, last Sunday, we got invited by one of our investigators to a birthday party for his little nephew named Jerrick! We got to go over and eat dinner with them, meet all of his family, and really built such a good friendship with them! It was so cool and we were so happy to be able to go to it.

Victor has been doing well, we are still having such a hard time getting them to come to church, but he is super awesome and loves to have us come over and loves to read the pamphlets and the scriptures that we leave for him!!

This week will be the transfer call, so by next week I will know what is in store for the next transfer!! I feel like with the new President, there won't be a lot of changes, but who knows?? He might surprise us! I hope to stay in Columbia, but I know that the Lord will send me where he needs me to be!

This week I started reading completely through the New Testament and I am loving it!! I have learned so much in just a few days, and it has helped my understanding of the Gospel so very much! I'm so grateful to be able to have time to study it!! Here are a few things that I have loved from it:

I love how it talks about Repentance in Matthew 5:10-12. And in the footnotes it mentions that repentance is a change of heart or mind! It is not simply just saying a prayer and God will forgive you. Your mind or heart, whatever is making you choose the wrong, has to change! It is a physical and spiritual change that we must go through to be able to fully repent, and I'm so grateful for that gift! That no matter what, if we change ourselves, we can be forgiven!

Another thing that I noticed is the fact that is talks about if we are persecuted in his name, he will protect and bless us. As members of the church, many times we have been persecuted in his name! As missionaries it happens every day, and sometimes, especially here in Columbia it is super hard! People don't treat you as well as they should, and they look at you as problem kids that are walking around selling stuff. But, I've learned to be patient and try to look at every single person as God would look at them, and it has helped me SO much! If we are persecuted in his name, he will protect and bless us no matter what!!!

I'm so glad that I have the opportunity to be a missionary! It is truly the most wonderful experience imaginable! Sorry for a shorter email this week, but I love you all!

-Elder Leavitt