a day late.
So this is a day late. All thanks to President's Day... no library = no computer. no computer = no email. So sorry about that.
But first things first. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHUCKS!!! I thought she might like that little shout out. hahahah.
I have lots to tell you though. This week has been insane in the membrane. To start: Clank. Good choice of a date. Super cute. Loved the picture. Her dress was pretty retro. I liked it. And the Rex story, THAT'S RIGHT. bam. he loves me the most. And he remembers that whistling is our thing. hah. I miss that little boy though. Parlos y Sister (Shaye). I love you, but if I don't get an email soon I might be upset with you. Addie. Your food story was awesome. bahahaha. I laughed pretty hard at that one. Scott. I thought about you all day on Saturday. We went and visited this guy named Bob. He was a WWII Vet and he LOVES flying remote control airplanes! He had over 20 different ones that he built himself. But since he's getting old, he's selling them and such! But when we walked into the room where he keeps them all I thought, "Scott would love this place." They were super cool. I should be sending some pictures within the next couple weeks. But he's way cool and had tons of stories about the war and about being a pilot and about flying his planes. It was fun. Momma. I'm glad you enjoyed the dance. It sounds like Shaye has taken my place as tag-along. I hope she enjoys it more than I did. Don't get me wrong, I loved spending time with you but chaperoning is just not my favorite. Daddio. Did you get everything squared away with the garden? What's the weather like back home... wait, don't tell me. It is freeeeeeezing here. It warms up just enough for us to think spring is around the corner and then BAM. we get a day of ice. lame.
Okay, so for the rest of my email I'm going to share some awesome stories and things I find funny with ya'll. 1. This old guy in our ward calls us either "lady missionaries" or "elderettes". Elderettes is my favorite. 2. I'm gaining weight. I have a really hard time pushing away from the table. The food is good and it seems like I am ALWAYS hungry. My skirts might not fit soon... Hopefully spring comes soon! Then we can go running or something. (now you all know it's a big deal... I want to go running.) 3. We went to this fundraiser for the Special Olympics called The Polar Bear Plunge. People here are crazy. What they did was they would donate like $10 and then they would run into this pond. Outside. It was 30 degrees outside. And the water was even colder. But they just ran in and then ran back out. But seriously. They're crazy. It was so cold. It's all for the cause, I guess. 4. Yesterday I worked on a farm. I led a steer. Now I'm practically a 4-H pro. Except for the fact that I'm still afraid of cows and horses and basically all animals. But it was pretty fun. They had a miniature horse too. It was the weirdest thing. It was like a giant My Little Pony. But it was a horse. Not a pony. They made sure we knew that. 5. Sister Randall and I worked REALLY, extremely hard last week so we could accomplish this goal that I came up with (well I got it from the Best Two Years, but we changed it a little bit). We decided at the beginning of the transfer that we were going to break a mission record. Well, WE DID IT! With a LOT of prayers and the help of the ward, we broke a mission record. The record was 17 Member Present Lessons in one week. Well, that's not the record anymore! We got 19 Member Present Lessons last week! It was suuuuuuper crazy and took a TON of work, but it really paid off! And it was a ton of fun! I am a firm believer of what President Hinckley said about missionary work. He said (something along the lines of) anyone who has done missionary work knows that there is a better way [than tracting]. That way is through the members! And I can testify of that! When the members get involved the work REALLY starts to hasten and things start coming. We were able to get 7 new investigators this week-- thanks to the members! So all of you members that aren't on missions: HELP THE MISSIONARIES! Do some missionary work! Don't be afraid! Think of all of the blessings you have received because of the gospel. Now think of somebody who needs those blessings! And now-- TELL THE MISSIONARIES! I promise you, they LOVE referrals! And there's a promise in D&C 18: 16-17 that you will receive greater joy for bringing someone else into the gospel. So just do it. It's rad. 6. We had Zone P-day last Monday. That was a BLAST. We played dodgeball for like 6 hours straight. The next day I was SO sore. It was rather pathetic. And this Monday we had District P-day. We played with Nerf Guns for like 4 hours straight. Way fun. We don't mess around here in the Columbia Zone and the Jeff[ereson] City District. We, like President Clark always says, "work hard and play hard." 7. This week we have two huge things coming up. We (hopefully) have a baptism this Friday! This man's name is Larry. He is so awesome. He's 63 years old and is a Vietnam Vet. He is so amazing. But he is going to have cataract surgery tomorrow and has been sick for the last couple days, so PLEASE pray that everything goes well and that he will be able to be baptized on Friday! But he's bound and determined to get baptized as soon as he can, so we're pretty darn excited for him. If it doesn't happen this week, it'll DEFINITELY happen next week. But we're really hoping for this week so we can help the mission get back on track with our goal! The other huge thing we have this week is a Church Tour (more like an open house, but whatevs)! We have been working really hard to spread the word about this, and I'm praying that people will come! There have been quite a few people who have seemed really interested, but then there have been quite a few people who have seemed really NOT interested. So I'm praying that people will come and feel the Spirit because when people feel the Spirit, they want to know more. And they want to feel it again. And then they are open to be taught, so I really hope people come!
That's about it for this week. I have three questions though, Mom. 1. Could you possibly get me some prescription sunglasses? I would like to be able to have them for when I drive. (hopefully that's soon! After this transfer I can train, which would be awesome!) 2. Could you send me a jump rope? A good one. A Durbin jump rope. Please? 3. Could you possibly send me a few pictures of the whole family please? And just some pictures in general. I miss everyone's faces! And I want to see what's going on!!
I love you so much! The Gospel is true! Remember. Missionary work = blessings! Everybody wants blessings! Do some missionary work!
I love you! Love, Sister Sadie Leavitt