Talk to a missionary.

Thank you for the sweaters, they fit and thank Collette for sending one as well and thank you both for the stamps they came just in time. I am going to try and make a video for you and save it on my gmail account and then you can go on and take it off of there, probably next Tuesday or so. I can't think of anything that I really need other than regular t shirts/long sleeves or shorts that I could wear, I don't really need them but I only have two sets.

Dear Home,

This week was a good one. In one of the wards that I serve in they had a Christmas party with tons of food, literally they backed up a dump truck full of food and just dumped it on the floor. Food fight and food slip 'n slide all day, just kidding I wish. There was a lot of good food though and the little kids ages 2-12 or so did a reenactment of the nativity and it was very cute. I miss playing with little kids and holding them, that's probably the hardest part of this job. I miss playing with my nieces and nephew. Anyways on with how my life is soon going to be over soon since the Mayan Calendar is done on Dec 21. I was able to teach the lesson of the Plan of Salvation to a family of 4 kids, parents Brittany and Mario around 30 and kids all under 8. Everyone has questions about where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. This knowledge gives me a lot of comfort and is one of the things about the Gospel that I hold dearest. It has effected my life seeing friends and family members pass away and I have helped that same comfort come into others life as well. Brittany and Mario have a large desire to be good parents and give their kids that guidance that they will need, this helped them have some of that comfort as a parent to think of God not only as a God but as our Loving Heavenly Father who only wants us to grow and progress in life. I was also able to teach this same message to a 60 yr old lady named Gladys. She lost 11 family members with in the past 3 years, not just distant relatives but kids, husband, brothers and sisters, parents and such. She wants to know the purpose of her life and why she is still here. Our goal as missionaries is not to convert everyone but to share the messages of Jesus Christ and bring that joy into peoples lives. One of the members from the church came with us and and the two of them hit it off, my companion and I didn't talk for the first 15 mins we were there, we knew we made a good choice in inviting her to come. Gladys is doing better and is going to see a lot more members of her family this month. I was also able to have a meal with a ward family named the Potters and they invited their nephew over named Josh who is 30 and with in the past 10 years lost both of his parents and now lives on his own. We talked a little about this and he wanted to learn more. He had a native American background, Cherokee I believe, and how the believes of them and the "Mormon" faith believe. Also a cool thing to look up if you have the time. I was informed that they had found Israelite blood in the Indians that live in Ohio, some of them that is, and some of them their names translate in to plate keepers, was not found by anyone of the church. My companion and I ran into a man that had read some work about the Mormon Church that was not published by the church, anti, and explained some weird conceptions about the church and our believes. If you want to know about a church read something that is the foundation of the church, The Book of Mormon and the Bible. Talk to a missionary. Talk to someone who is active in the church because some that are kicked out are soar and don't understand the purpose of why, those still active know their wrong and fix it, that's why they are still active. Its just like if you wanted to know something about the Catholic faith you would go the the Pope or a Priest not someone that was once baptized as a baby and never went to the church. I love you all and hope that the Holiday session goes well.

Love Elder Leonhardt