Well everyone!

This has been a crazy week. It definitely has not gone the way that I expected it would. This last Saturday I boarded a plane headed for Japan, and from there, it came back to the United States.

I want to let you all know that I am fine, I just needed to come home for a little while. I love you all, and I am incredibly grateful for your support. All of the prayers, fasting, letters, and even reading my blog. I know that I have been blessed with all of you in my life. I hope to return in a few months, but in the mean time I am just getting back to life in the real world.

This Gospel really is incredible, and I am extremely grateful to the Lord for the opportunity that I had to share it with others. I know with all of my heart that it is true. I know that through the young boy Joseph Smith, the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored upon the earth. Because of the faith of President Joseph Smith, we have all been given the opportunity to receive the fullness of the gospel. I know that we are guided each day by the spirit of God. Through the Holy Ghost we are guided, warned, comforted, and so much more. I am eternally grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost. I am grateful for the help that I have received, and for the direction from this third member of the Godhead.

Over the last two and a half months, my testimony of missionary work has grown tremendously. I know that missionaries are called of God, and they are individually assigned to serve where they are needed, where God has prepared them to be. I know that the Lord places people in the lives of the missionary to help form them, and make them the best missionary that they can be. I am grateful for all of the people that i had the opportunity to meet on my mission. I am grateful for all of their examples, and all of their stories. I have grown so much from each of them.

I have a firm testimony of the devine authority of our prophets and church leaders. I know that they have been called of God, and not a day goes by that they do not converse with God. I know that through the words of the prophets we can be guided with all of the struggles in our lives. I know that the Lord guides His church through the prophets. I know that the commandments of God are not just rules given to us in order to make us miserable, they are not to hold us down. But really they are to make us free. I know that we can all be freed from sin, and from temptation if we are just willing to heed the counsel of God.

I know that the Atonement of Christ is real, and probably the most important part of this Gospel. I am so grateful for Christ's willingness to follow His fathers will, and atone for each of our sins. I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to take advantage of the atonement. I know that as I do so I am growing closer to our Lord and Savior. I am grateful that the Lord has given me this gift, so that I too may return to the celestial kingdom. I know that I can not do it on my own so I needed this gift. I know that if I am "perfectly repentant" that I will be able to live with my family for all eternity in the highest kingdom.

I am grateful for all of the lessons that I have learned in the past two months, and I hope that I can continue to learn. I know that I have made the right decision and I am grateful for each of you for supporting me. Mahal ko kayo!!

Andrew Leonard

First week from the Pinas!

Wow! These last few days have been insane. We landed and the six of us from the Provo MTC walked outside to wait for our ride. We waited outside, in the blazing hot sun, for an hour..in our suits. I wanted to get right back on the plane and go home. Ha ha. Joke lang..but! It was hot. After the hour we were finally picked up and brought to the mission home. President Sperry and Sister Sperry are just so nice! We sat for awhile and talked, got to know each other, had an interview, ate lunch, it was just fantastic! After that they told us that we were a day earlier than any other group...and so they did not know what to do with us. They had a bunch of the missionaries that were leaving coming to the home to have their final interviews/"talk" before they left at three in the morning. So! They were not sure what to do with us. We ended up going out with the AP's and getting a tour of the place. That was nuts. The streets here are insane. Pretty much the lines on the road are just for decoration. And they just fill in the gasps. There is not a speed limit on any of the roads and the rule is the biggest vehicle is first. No one obeys the traffic signals, and iIm pretty sure it is the coolest thing I have ever experienced. 

We woke up the next morning, had breakfast, and had our welcome devotional with president. After the meeting we went to the transfer meeting. I was called to serve in the Caloocan area, and my new companion is Elder Millano. He is the coolest guy. He is from a province in the Baguio mission, and he has been here on the mission for 7 months now. He does not speak almost any English...as hard as that is, it is exactly what I had been praying for. He speaks enough that we can get along, but about 75 percent of the time I have absolutely no clue what is going on. He is a very humble, hard working guy. So far we get along really well. He said that I pick up on the language really quickly...lets hope that is true. I really need it! 

So on Sunday I got to speak in sacrament meeting, or really just share my testimony. I'm pretty sure it was a fail. Either way, it was cruel for the bishop to ask me to do that. Ha, joke lang, but it was napakamahirap! Or very hard..

This place is very different. There is trash everywhere, about a thousand wild dogs and cats on each block, and tons and tons of what they call squatters. Pretty much people will make houses out of everything. Out of trash, and it is very dirty and small. The people here live in very humble conditions, or pretty much in nothing at all. I really do not feel worthy to be their servant. But! I am very thankful for this opportunity. It is like nothing I have ever, or ever will again experience...I am just trying to live it up while I can!

Just to let you know, it is not a rumor...you really do wipe your butt with your hand, and a little bit of water. The worst part is, the left hand is not a bawal hand. They still use that hand in everything that they do. It is kinda hard to be OK with it. I am very glad Sister Sperry gave us all hand sanitizer. Oh! Mom, you should be happy, they have given us vitamins that we have to take everyday. So! You have nothing to worry about there.

Well! I love you all, thank you for the emails. I loved talking to you at the airport. And don't send off any packages or mail yet...I need to ask about that.

Mahal Kita! 

Elder Leonard

Just Six Days...

Wow! Are you sure it has been two months? I'm pretty sure this has all been a dream. There is no way that I have been here for two months. I'm with you dad, I am pretty sure that it was just this morning that I was dropped of here at the MTC. Last week was actually pretty cool. I had the opportunity to be a host. I was there at the curb, watched the elders and sisters say goodbye to their families, and helped them start the greatest journey of their lives. The best part is, I get to do it again tomorrow. It is so cool...it brings back a lot of memories, but they are all very beautiful memories. I miss you all, but there is no other place I could even dream of being. So!! talking about starting a journey, we got our travel plans last Thursday. Are you ready for this?! We will be leaving the MTC in 6 days...next Monday, at 4:30 in the afternoon I will be loading a bus and heading to the airport. We will be taking off at about 7 from the airport, and we will fly to LA. We will leave LA at 1:30 in the morning and our nest stop is Hong Kong!! So sick! We will be there for about 4 hours and from there we will fly to the Philippines. I am so excited..actually, it is a little bitter sweet. You are right Dad, I have gained life long friends. In fact, they are like family. Mom, you received a letter from a sister Walker the other day. We call her mamma, because she is the mother figure of our district. We have all grown close, and it will be hard to leave them, but I am so stoked to finally be out in the field.

 

So the 800 number, how does that work? You will need to send me a dear elder, hopefully today or tomorrow, explaining it so I know what I am doing before I leave here..

 

Yes, I do have my cyprus card. If you could put some money on that it would be fantastic. Maybe $150? I had to dry clean 2 suits...that is a story I do not have time to explain, but another unexpected cost..

 

It sounds like Elder Frosts farewell was beautiful, I really wish that I could have experienced it. It sounds like all of you had very spiritual, but very different insight into it. Can you send me an email in the next few hours telling me when Elder Frost comes into the MTC? If he comes in tomorrow, I will be looking out for him so that I can be his host. I am very proud of Zach for deciding to wear the white shirt. I have grown to appreciate how sharp you look while you are wearing white, even though at times I would rather be wearing a different color. People will take you more seriously, and you will look more like a priesthood holder, someone acting in Gods name, when you wear white. Atta boy!

 

Thank you for sharing those experiences with me Mom and Dad, it means a lot. Oh! Mom, I will be sending you something in the next day or two, if you could pass it on to the Kelleys that would be wonderful.

 

So! As for what my week has been like, nothing exceptional has happened this week, except the travel plans. And, the rainstorm last thursday was beautiful. I sat out in the rain and just watched for about twenty minutes, and to top it off there was a double rainbow over the temple. I did not think much of it, just that it was beautiful. Then sister Schuhmann turned to me with a big smile on her face and told me that that was Gods promise to us that he would not flood the world again. I had forgotten that, and it was a very spiritual reminder for me that Gods hand is in everything, and it was something I was needing that day. I was in an exceptionally fantastic mood that night.

Today was the temple again, it truly is a beautiful thing. I love sitting in the Celestial room, I'm pretty sure that I can sit there and never leave.

 

So, did you say that you were sending photos mom? When will those be here? It is crazy only having a few more days...it trips me out to think about. Well! Enough about that, I am running out of time. I love you all,Ii hope to hear from you soon, and if not, the next time will be on the phone. That will be so weird. Mahal ko kayo.

 

Elder Leonard signing out

Insert creative name here...

Woah!! We are down to two days until I get my travel plans! That means that I am only two weeks away from leaving the MTC! This is the craziest thing in the world! I am so excited, and so ready to leave though. These weeks have flown by, and I am not sure if I feel ready, but at the same time we are all ready. To answer the questions, yes, the language is coming much much better now. I think it is because I have found out how to rely on the Lord and let him take over. The gift of tongues, and the gift of interpretations of tongues are both absolutely incredible. Besides that the MTC is wonderful. The food is only ok, so it is a nice break to go get the temple food every week. Talking about the language, mom, mabuti I show you spell good, and o'o is how you spell yes.

 

I had a cool experience last night in our lesson with brother boyet. We learned in our last lesson that he smokes. So, last night we decided to focus on the word of wisdom. We brought it up, explained to him what it was, and why we have it, and then brought up smoking. He is a night guard and so he spends all night patrolling a facility, and it gets very boring, so he took up smoking. He said that he smokes about 14 sigarilyo a day. We asked him to give up smoking and he told us no, that it was too hard. So we spent the next little while telling him how God can help him, and about how he can ask the Lord for help. We expressed that we had faith in him, and if he had pananampalataya kay Jesucristo (faith in Christ) that he would be given the power to stop. We then asked him again if he would stop and he said yes. I got so excited! I felt so much love for him, and knew that God was happy that he said yes, so I told him that. The spirit was so strong, both kasama ko and I were crying. I just kept telling him that God was happy for him, and that he would be given help. I only wish I could meet the real brother Boyet, he was an investigator of our teacher, brother Nordstrom.

I have not felt love for my investigator that strong before, and he is not even a real investigator. I could not explain it, except I know that God was happy. I know that God hears each and everyone of our prayers, and through His help we can overcome any concern that we have. I am so excited to have real investigators now!! Only a few more weeks.

 

This morning was the temple again. Kasama ko and i decided to go do sealings. We were brought into a room that had been going for about twenty minutes, but they needed more men. We sealed about forty young girls and boys to their parents, and about thirty of them were Filipino names. It felt amazing to be able to serve ang mga tao sa philippines! the people of the Philippines. I have already grown such a great love for the Filipino people, I can not wait to meet them!

 

Dad! That is a nice car, I am so jealous of the kids right now...it sounds like you guys have had a few very exciting weeks, San Diego, the Tetons, what next? Mexico? ha just kidding. I am glad that you guys are having fun. Still can't beat the Philippines though ;)

 

Mom, I am so excited for you and the opportunity that you have to teach the Relief society how to take a picture.

 

Well! I love you all, I miss you, and I can not wait to hear from you. Two weeks!!

 

Mahal na mahal ko kayo!

Elder Leonard

 

Oh....so I have gotten really sick and had to go to the doctor and got an enhaler...that was another $20 total of a cost. So! just keep that in mind :)

Aug. 28, 2012

Pamilya ko!

It sounds like the open house really was beautiful. As I sat in the celestial room this morning I could not help but think about how amazing it is, and how one day I will be able to be there with all of you. I actually had a great experience with the temple this week. 

It started last night. We, in our last hour of class, at the very end of the day were learning about the power of the Holy Ghost in conversion. It did not start out all that great because..well! It was the last hour of the day. My brain was fried and I was just ready to be done. We watched a very great video on the spirit, and then we were supposed to role play. Usually, one of you acts like an investigator while the other teaches you the topic the teacher had chosen, and then we switch. This time was a little different. We were told we could either act like an investigator, or be ourselves. I asked kasama ko if he could be himself when I taught him. I figured it could be fun, and it would be a very new experience. We were also told that we needed to follow the spirit and teach whatever we were prompted to teach. Ok...this whole thing just got much harder. Kasama ko already knows so much, what in the world was I going to teach him? I decided to start of with a personal prayer and then go for it. We are told that if we have faith, and if we will open our mouth the Lord will give us the very thing which we should say. He definitely did that for me. I felt impressed to talk about the power of the spirit, and the ability to feel that in the celestial room of the temple. I wish I had time to tell you all what I said, but it was far too much, and honestly I can not remember it all. But the spirit was so strong, and halfway through I just started bawling. What I said ended up being for me far more than it was for Elder Hansen.

Mom, Ipinadala tayo ng Diyos sa mundo, upang matuto at umunlad. God sent us to earth to learn and grow. I definitely believe that and I have grown to love that over the past month and a half. I am loving being here at the MTC, and learning tungkol sa ang ebanghelyo. Learning about the gospel...It is incredible how the spirit works, and how it can take someone like me, who hated school with a passion, and turn me into something better. I wake up every single morning excited to learn something new. I am praying for each of you guys daily, and I love hearing that all is going well, and that everyone is happy.

Dad, it sounds like your lesson is going to be incredible. You are an incredible leader, and know so much. I always wish that I had you here to ask questions. I have so many questions about doctrine that I wish I could ask you. Maybe I will start writing them down and sending them to you in my weekly letter.

Everyone keeps being told that the grammer in their letters is getting worse as they learn more Tagalog. I just want to apologize in advance for having bad grammer. If you want to fix it you are more than welcome to :)

I love you all, I pray for you daily and hope to hear from you soon!

Elder Leonard

Another one bites the dust

Well! Another week down. I actually do not have much to say about this week. I guess it just was not very out of the ordinary. It had its ups, and its downs, its spiritual moments...and times when I ruined the spirit. I guess I will share this experience with you.

 

It goes back to sunday a week ago. Our district leader was in a meeting with our branch president. He finishes the meeting and comes back in our class, and tells us that the branch president wanted to meet with whoever was teaching the following week. (sunday two days ago) Well! I had taught the very first sunday here, so my hand was staying down....everyone else decided to keep their hands down too. Elder Kauvaka said come on! Someone, hurry, the president is waiting for you. Still, no one. So! I stood up and volunteered for kasama ko and I to teach. We walk in and everyone from the other districts in our zone that were teaching the following week was also in there. He just wanted to give us some pointers on what we could do to have a fantastic lesson. The topic was faith.

Sunday came around and kasama ko and I spent almost four hours studying together and preparing. We had what we felt was going to be an amazing lesson planned. About two hours before we were supposed to teach Elder Kauvaka told us that the guy over our Branch president, President Jenkins was going to be sitting in on it...oh snap! Now the pressure was on. Well, class starts and president Jenkins wanted to know what our district goals were. We explained them to him and he tore it apart. I guess they were not good goals because, "they could not be measured." Wow! Our mga guru (teachers) loved our goals. Well, I was already kinda annoyed with this old man, and then we started our lesson..we said one line and he took over. I sat there at the front of the room feeling like a fool. Who does this guy think he is? I spent all morning preparing. We ended up listening to him teach about faith in christ and what that really is, what it really means, on a deeper level. I was annoyed, so the whole time I answered his questions with a haha I actually AM smart attitude. Yeah, I was totally being cocky, and a bit immature. At the end of the meeting he asked kasama ko to bear his testimony...The whole class was crying, everyone except for me. President Jenkins left and everyone was talking about how spiritual it was, and how they learnded so much.

 

I sat there trying to figure out why it was that I did not have such a great experience. And then it hit me. I let my pride get in the way. I was not acting like the savior, i was not being humble. I missed out on one incredible, very spiritual, testimony building opportunity, all because this man, who has been around a lot longer than me, and knows far more about the gospel, decided to follow the spirit and teach us all something that we needed to hear. I was in a bad mood. I was so upset with myself. How could I be so stubborn and stupid?

 

kasama ko decided to help me out. He sat me down and asked me what was going on. Why was I in such a bad mood? So I explained all of this to him. He turned it on me and helped me realize that I learned something far more important. He helped me realize that this had all happened for a reason, that the Lord needed to humble me, and it was much better here than out in the field. I swore to myself at that moment that I will not let my pride get in the way again. Never again will I miss out on an opportunity to feel the spirit because I myself, was not following the spirit. I love kasama ko. He helped me realize my problem, and turn this whole experience into a positive one.

 

Well, pamilya! It sounds like the family reunion was fun, let Jeff know that he is in my prayers. I also want to thank all of you for the prayers, and for the fasting. I am not worrying about the language anymore. I am doing the best that i can, and the Lord will take care of the rest. He will bless me to know this language when the time is right. It is coming, I am able to say more and more every single day.

 

Mahal ko kayo. Ang Diyos ang ating, ama sa langit. Alam ko po na tagapagligtas si Jesucristo. Alam ko po na buhay si manunubos ko. Alam ko po na totoo ang simbahan ni Jesucristo ang mga banal sa mga huling araw. Nagpapasalamat po ako para sa pagbabayad-sala ni Jesucristo. Alam ko po na mahal po tayo ng Diyos. Alam ko po na salita ng Diyos, ang aklat ni Mormon. Sa pangalan ni Jesucristo, Amen.

 

I love you all. God is our heavenly father. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that my redeemer lives. I know the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints is true. I am grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ. I know God is loving. I know that the book of Mormon is the word of god. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Another week down!

So! This week has been a great week, It started out with last sunday being fast sunday, and then some of us fasted again on tuesday, and then we fasted again on Sunday. So three times in 7 days. before my mission you could not have paid me enough to fast three times in one week. But it has been a very spiritual week. For some reason fasting and asking the Lord for the help that you need is just amazing. This last Sunday was a fast as a zone. We got together on Saturday night and knelt down, all forty of us, and fasted to help with the language. I can already see the improvement. The scentence structure is starting to make more sense, i am memorizing words easier, and to to it off, kasama ko at ako gave our first mensahe to our investigator Brother Boyet...without any notes!!!!!!! We talked about pananampalataya (faith) and magsisisi (repentance). It was not incredible, our Tagalog was very broken, but we were able to get our message across. And at the end i felt impressed to ask him "Gagawin po ba ninyong magbabinyag?" Or, will you be baptized. He said yes!!! So, we are having a "baptism" on September 3 for brother Boyet, and our other investigator said he will pray to know if the gospel is totoo (true), and if so he will be baptized on the 7 of September. Even though they are fake investigators it is still really spiritual and fun to see them progress. I can not explain how amazing missionary work is.

 

Well, i can not think of anything else big that happened this week. Except we hit the half way mark! Only four weeks till we leave? I think that is right, but you kinda lose track of time in this place. I really love it here though, the spirit is always so strong.

This morning was also really great. We went to the temple. For the first time since i received my endowments i did enitiatories, or however you spell it. It was actually really cool, and then i went and sat in the Celestial room for awhile. It is amazing haw you can receive revelation every single time you sit in there. I just can not get enough. And! We eat temple breakfast everytime we go. I actually had a cool experience there too. As i was in line to pay for my food the girl in front of me was paying. She is from Japan and knows less english than i know Tagalog, so you can imagine she is struggling. Well, she pulled out some money to pay for her food...problem. It was not american money. The guy was trying to explain to her that she can not use that but she was not understanding. So! I had the opportunity to jump in and pay for her breakfast. It took her a minute but she finally figured out what was going on. It was really great being able to serve. I am forever grateful for this opportunity to be serving the Lord and my "brothers and sisters." Oh yeah! and to make it better just before this whole thing i was standing in line, singing to kasama ko "have i done any good in the world today." Crazy right?!

 

Anyway! time is up, i will be sending home another letter, but dont send my card back yet, because there is a bunch more that i need sent to me too. I love you all, mahal ko kayo!

 

Signing out,

Elder Leonard

Week Three

Pamilya!!

It is insane how the time is just flying in here. I said i was going to send a letter home with everything else i want to say but i just did not have time to send it. I will send it off today with another letter about this last week.

I really only have time to share one experience this week...yes, it will take a half an hour to tell this whole story. So! On my first sunday here we watched a talk given by Elder Bednar here at the MTC last christmas. In the talk he spoke about what he called the "hostile phase." He explained this to be when an Elder wakes up one morning and is mad at the world. Annoyed with his companion, thinks the teachers are out to get him, does not want to talk to anyone, just all around a really horrible person to be around. And the only way to get out of this was by giving service. We all laughed at this thinking that even though he said it happens to everyone here in the MTC, it surely would not happen to us...right? Wrong! This last monday i woke up in the worst mood. EVERYONE was annoying me. My Kasama, Sister Schuhmann, Sister Walker, like everyone! And the worst part was, i did not care. I was ok with just being in a bad mood. This went on the whole day, and let me tell you, i know it was bad. I had to go back and apologize to a few of the Elders in my district for how i had treated them. Well i was done, i did not want to see anyone. I was in bed before ten...that is how bad it was. As i was laying in bed my Kasama decided to iron my shirt for the upcoming day. He was determined to help me be in a better mood. After ironing my shirt he looked in Elder Kauvaka's closet deciding he would iron one of his shirts too. We only found four shirts and three pairs of socks. We knew that his family did not have money, but we had no clue that it was that bad. I immedietely felt horrible. Both my kasama and i gave him two pairs of socks so that he would have seven total, and it still left me with more than i needed. He asked about the socks and we just told him that we had too many. He did not seem happy that we had done this, but he still wore the new socks the next day :) Well, he still only had four shirts. And not only that, but he is a pretty big boy. He is Tongan, and played line in high school. But! was offered a scholarship to UCLA to be a fullback. Anyway! He sweats a lot being so big so after wearing the shirts once, it stunk. We decided that we were going to get him a few shirts. We talked with Sister Schuhmann and Sister Walker and they decided they were going to help as well. It was going to be a sacrifice, but we were all willing to go in there and spend $20 each to help him out. He is the most giving, helpful, nice, incredible missionary i know. If you knew him you would do anything you could to help him. So we found out where we needed to go to buy the shirts.

We go in there asking if we could buy a few shirts for a guy. She gave us a slip and told us we needed to have it signed by someone here at the MTC if he needed assistance. We told her no, this was our gift to him. We were going to buy them as a gift to him. So! She called up mr mac and just like we thought, it was going to be $20 a shirt. We told her that we wanted three. She said ok and then just walked out of the room. It was a little weird, not going to lie. About five minutes later she comes back in holding a stack of shirts. With a smile on her face, she said that they just happened to have six of the exact shirt that we were looking for. The exact size. We were happy, but told her we only needed three. That is how many we decided we were all willing to pay for. She looked at us and said no, this is my gift to you. My jaw dropped and i just about fainted. I KNEW that the Lord was looking out for our amazing friend Elder Kuavaka. What are the chances? Six shirts in the very unique size that we needed? It was such a huge miracle.

We take them back to our room, in the middle of the day. We knew we would not be caught by him because everyone else in the MTC was in class. As we went to hang the shirts up we realized that none of us had the hangers to do that with. We walked out in the hall and saw that the door to another room was open. Puzzled we walked in and saw a few missionaries we had never seen before. I asked if they happened to have and hangers we could have. Without me even asking they gave us six hangers. Boom! Another miracle!

He has been very grateful to wear these shirts. After a few days we explained the whole thing to him, so that he could see how the Lord was looking out for him. I know that the Lord was looking out for all of us. Not only did it help him, but it helped me get out of my "hostile phase." I sat down for dinner that night and thanked the Lord for the many miracles that had happened throughout the day. For the first time in my life i cried while praying. I know for a fact that the Lord hears our prayers and that he cares for each and every one of us. We have all been placed in each others lives for a reason. To help build the kingdom of heaven, and to bring others, our brothers and sisters, unto christ.

I love you all and i am so grateful for everything that you have all done for me. Thank you for the prayers..keep them coming!

Mahal Ko Kayo,

Elder Leonard

Well Family! I will write as much as i can in the next 26 minutes. I am so glad to hear that you are all doing well. I get choked up everytime i read your emails and think about how good the Lord is to our family, and really to everyone out there. I can not wait to share this message with the filipino people. I lave the Lord with all me heart and honestly tear up all the time thinking about how good the Lord is.

 

This week has been a rough one. I had a mental breakdown...twice...this is ridiculous! ha jokelang! that is how to say just kidding or joking in tagalog. Makes things pretty easy ;) well, this language is so hard and we are all struggling with it so bad. I know it is the Lord testing us, and really humbling us so that we really do rely on him and realize that there is no way that we will ever get this language down without his help. So the first time i had a breakdown i looked like a little baby. I went into an empty classroom with my kasama (companion) and pretty much just cried. One of the missionaries that had been here for 7 weeks came in and helped me feel better. Then my district leader, Elder Kauvaka came in and i talked with him for awhile. I was just feeling overwhelmed and stressed...i asked him to give me a blessing and he gladly did. That night i knelt down to pray and seriously gave a complete and sincere prayer in Tagalog. I'm telling you, the Lord is amazing, i still do not really enjoy the way he is chosing to humble me ;) ha just kidding. I just am not a fan of having mental breakdowns. The second time i broke down was just four days later, i'm telling you, the spirit kinda has turned me into a baby. I was having the same issue, but this time it was my investigator celso, who is not an investigator but is now one of our teachers, anyway! he was there to talk with me and to help comfotrt me.

 

I love using me priesthood! The two sisters in my district had a come apart the other day. The trials of learning the language were just overwhelming to them. Just like it has been with the rest of us. So after one of their lessons with their investigator they just could not take it anymore. My district leader and i took them into an empty room and had them just talk to us. we let them vent for like ten minutes and then offered blessings. First Elder Kuavaka gave sister Walker a blessing, and then i had the opportunity to give sister Schuhmann a blessing. She and i have become very good friends and so she asked me to do it. The worst part is not being able to just give the sisters a hug. You guys know how i am! I love being able to comfort others and help them...but i can not do that anymore. I wont lie, it is a little bit annoying.

 

thank you so so much for the box of food and other stuff. It was so nice to get all of those letters from you. I am so blessed to have you guys and for everything that you are sending me. Please keep it coming, the letters are like gold in this place :)

 

Well! I heard that you are all trying to learn a bit of Tagalog over these next two years. So! Let me help you out. To pray you start with this: Ama po namin so langit. (our father in heaven) and then you say nagpapasalamat po kami (we are thankful) para sa ebanghelyo (for the gospel) para sa pamilyo ko (for my family) nagpapasalamat po kami para sa pagbabayad-sala ni Jesucristo (for the atonement of christ) Paki-basbasan (please bless) po ninyo kami ng patnubay (us with guidance) paki-talangan (please help) po ninyo na maramdaman ng Espiritu Santo (us to feel the spirit) nagpapasalamat po kami para kay Thomas S. Monson (we are thankful for thomas s monson) sa pangalan ni Jesucristo (in the name of Jesus Christ) Amen

 

Just try it out, it is kinda fun to say. You roll the r just like in spanish. And you ng like nang...you guys can figure out the rest. I love you all and know the Lord is blessing you all. Remember to thank the Lord and keep a journal of all of the blessings that he gives you. i will write a letter to tell you guys everything else.

 

Mahal ko kayo! (i love you all)

Elder Leonard

First Week!!!

Family,

Wow! This week has been a crazy experience. I can not believe how different it is here in the MTC. So you show up and all they do is drown you in the language. They start speaking to you and you have no clue what is going on. The first few days are like this. They just talk and talk and talk in Tagalog and you feel overwhelmed and a little bit stupid. I know i am not stupid, that is just the feeling you get as it starts. As the days progressed the language has started to come a bit easier. I can almost say a full prayer in Tagalog and we are teaching lessons. Talking about teaching lessons...i'll get to that later.

 

So my companion and i are like two peas in a pod. Honestly, the Lord was looking out for me when they chose who my companion was going to be. His name is Elder Hansen and he is pretty much legit. We get along so well and we are always keeping the mood light. It makes it so much easier to work and learn when we are having fun...i guess that is just who i am though right? Honestly though, he has had me laughing so hard i was crying and could barely breath. We had to get up really early to do service yesterday morning. We were in charge of wiping down the walls in all of the bathrooms...talk about easy! Well, i took that opportunity to share my wonderful voice with Elder Hansen ;) now that was a ton of fun.

 

So, we have an investigator named Celso. He is from the philippines and hardly speaks any english...and i mean he does not know almost ANY english. So our first lesson was a disaster. We forgot our books and only had one page of notes. This was on friday...so we honestly did not know any Tagalog. I started to say a prayer and totally forgot everything halfway through. So Elder Hansen took over for me and finished off the prayer. IT was super embarrassing. Ansd then we did not know what to say so we both attempted to share our testimony with him. They were short and....not really sweet. But at least we shared something with him. We then struggled really bad but finally set up a time to meet the next day and then ran out. It was very comical and ridiculous. We spent two hours preparing our lesson for the next day and that lesson went a thousand times better. We read everything, but at least we were able to share something with him. We met with him againg yesterday, and we will meet again tomorrow. Hopefully it will continue to get better.

 

My other roommates are Elder Morgan and Elder Kuavaka. They are the nicest roomies in the world. I hear about some of the other issues that the other elders have with the other Elders in their room an dit just reminds me of how blessed i am. I know the Lord looks out for me and has done everything he can to help me and comfort me while i am in the MTC.

 

It has been a blessing to have sister scott here a few times. I love her and am so grateful to have her here. Ask her about our experience with prayer on the second day. I wish i had the time to write it. It was very spiritual and i will never forget. The Lord has blessed me with her being here.

 

Abby!! I am so happy for you. I actually started to cry when i heard that you are getting better and might play for the A team. You are an incredible baller and you deserve to play for the best :)

 

Zach, to answer your questions the only song that they change here in the MTC is we'll bring the world his truth. And the only difference is that it says "we are now the Lords missionaries" instead of "we will be the Lords missionaries."

 

Rachael, Drew, and Creighton!! I am so happy that you might have found a house in Hurricane. I really hope that it works out for you guys.

 

Clairissa, what is going on in your life? Anything change in the five days i have been gone?

 

Jillian, i love you and miss you. I hope you are doing well and having fun with your friends.

 

Mom, i am so grateful to hear that she is doing ok. I hope that you giving them the basement helps relieve some of her stress so she can heal faster. I love you and know that it is the Lord helping you feel peace and happiness.

 

Dad, it is bitter sweet that you do not get to go to Ghana. But i am sure mom is happy to have you home. I love you all.

 

Alam ko po na totoo simbihan ni jesucrist. Mahal Ko Kayo.

 

Don't worry about me. I am happier than i have ever been. I love the Lord, i love this gospel.

 

Love,

Elder Leonard

 

By the way, the food is mostly pretty good, but they are not kidding when they say it effects you...i have not been regular since i got here. Don't worry mom. I only had two glasses of chocolate milk and i will not make that mistake again. It's bad enough without the dairy.

 

Entering the MTC

Andrew Leonard Mission Photo Shoot