Week 1 in Jacksonville. :):)
Hey Family,
Just so you know, my new address is 325 W State, Apt 5A
Jacksonville IL 62650
:) I can't be missing any packages or letters! :) No sir.
Okay, so I'm just going to get right into everything. I love this place so much. Go ahead, ask me why. (I'll just pretend you asked) 1. THEY HAVE SIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES that we have to go to because there is a deaf school here and like 15 of our members are deaf. Legit. too legit to quit. So, Mom, your dream came true. I get to speak sign language on my mission. (There are also French speakers and Spanish speakers in our ward as well... so it's quite the experience) But they have an interpreter for all of our church meetings. I'm pretty stinking excited. 2. It's gorgeous here. I can't wait for the leaves to change colors. It's seriously going to be the prettiest area ever. I'm stoked. 3. There is a lot of work to do, which means we're always going to be busy. Which is ALWAYS good. :) 4. The people here are fantastic. And Sister Spencer is from Bunkerville. Boo yah. Dad, you were right; you'll always meet someone who knows Bunkerville. 5. It's just legitimate. I told the assistants that I want to "die" here, so they should just not even think about ever transferring me. hahaha.
Okay, so I'll go through my week. Monday- Wednesday were super hectic, trying to get everything packed and such. And saying good bye to everyone in the ward plus Sister Furch-- she went home for medical reasons. I was super sad about it. But this will be so good for her. So that was just an emotional roller coaster. And I don't like those things, so those three days were super long.
Wednesday, we got here and the Elders helped us move into our apartment. We live in an old hotel. Kind of cool. :) And then we tried to get all settled. Then we went to Sign Language Class. :) Seriously, I'm never going to get over that. I love the fact that I get to learn sign here. But after sign class we went and met some of the ward members. I was telling Brother Leonard where I was from and then someone was like, "Are you a Leavitt?" it was dark so I couldn't really see, but I answered and was like, "uhh, yeah..." And Sister Spencer (Andrea) was like, "Are you Kenyon and Marianne's daughter?" And I answered in the affirmative. And then she was like, "well you're not Addie. You can't be Sadie." And I was like, "yeah, that's me." And so then we talked about how she used to babysit us. So that was kind of interesting. I felt bad because I didn't remember her at all. But I have to give myself some credit because I was like 0 then. hahah. Because she didn't even know that Clancy was alive. hahaha. It was really cool.
Then on Saturday we went to a Burgoo. (I don't know how to spell it.) Basically you just go hang out with people and eat this delicious soup. It's a winner of an activity. We met most of the ward there. And quite a few nonmembers. It was really fun. Oh we went to the Relief Society Broadcast on Saturday. Talk about amazing. I love President Monson so much. He's such a champion. His talk was so personal. It was amazing. If you didn't see it, watch it.
Sunday we went to church. And that brings us straight to Monday. Here we are. We have been visiting quite a few people, trying to get investigators. We have 2 a the moment. But that's two more than the Elders that left had, so we're pretty happy about it. hahaha. One of them is named Mary and she's almost 100 years old. And she is the cutest thing ever. She's been investigating on and off for over 25 years. So hopefully we can teach her something different and help her to get baptized. That would be the coolest thing ever. :)
My new companion is named Sister Willmore. She's from Logan, Utah. She's just barely 20. She's taller than me (surprise, surprise). And she's pretty chill. She likes to talk a lot, so I don't ever really have to say anything. It's kind of nice. hahaha. Except I talk when it's missionary stuff.
Everything is so good. I am so happy. I can't believe that I have hit my halfway mark. Gross. It makes me really sad. It's okay though, I have 9 more months to share the gospel and that makes me so excited. I love this gospel so much. I know it is true. I know that it brings true and lasting happiness. I love you all so much. I'll probably start sending pictures via snail mail again. We only get an hour on the computers here. I love you so much. I'm glad that you all had wonderful weeks. I hope and pray you have awesome weeks this week. Happy Conference. :) It's the best.
Love,
Sister Sadie Leavitt