this week was a large shocker for me.

January 22, 2013

Dear Home,

I am not moving this transfer and will be staying in the same area for at least another 6 weeks so feel free to send messages this way for awhile longer. The letters are coming, tell those in the ward that sent me letters that they should be coming soonish, some I have written and just not sent and some I still need to write, not much time to do writing.

Well this week was a large shocker for me. We were able to teach many lessons with people which was great but there is much more so I'm just going to start off with the biggest one thats on my mind. So this man named Ben that we have been teaching for sometime now opened up a little more to us and told us some stuff that I definitely did not want to hear but had to know. The gang that he said he has been apart of was the Mexican Mafia and he was pretty high up. He made them lots of money in his past and because of his stroke he has been uninvolved in the action for the disability he has. He can't move his left arm and his left leg is still very weak with little motor works.

But once you're in a gang its sometimes hard to get out once you know that you don't want to do it anymore. He doesn't want to be involved anymore. They want him back and when he gets better and can do stuff they are going to come for him to get back in, but he doesn't want to. He is a changed man. They have already shown interest in getting him back in. The day they come and ask him are you IN or OUT he has prepared to say No. Its BLOOD in and BLOOD out. Meaning my most favorite person to teach right now and most spiritually inclined person I know has a death date. To be honest I am scared for him. I love this man very much and want what's best for him and I know that the Gospel is exactly that. Since he has been meeting with us he has turned his and his family's life around. And some thug is going to take this opportunity away from him. Not ok by me. I would, if I got the chance to, step in front of a bullet for him. Sorry mom but I would.

We have been able to sit down with this family named the Chapman's which is kind of cool how we came in contact with her again. So on an exchange with another missionary we went to this door of a person that used to be interested in the church, a place that my companion stopped his efforts on meeting with them because he had never been able to meet her. A young man opened the door and let us in to say a prayer with him. His father spoke only Spanish so at the end I referred the Spanish missionaries to that house.

When they showed up and lady named Rosa was there and agreed to meet with them. They taught a lesson and she decided to get baptized on the 9th of Feb. She wants her family to be taught to in English. So they referred her back to us. We met with her and found out that she has been taught by missionaries for the past 1 1/2 years but not recently.

She has been remarried to the actual Jason Born. This guy is a BEAST. He knows like 5 languages including Iran, Arab, and another middle east one. Oh and does tons of hand to hand best of the best combat and works in the mental devision of the Air Force .

He is also very interested in the church because he works with a couple that have challenged him to read to Book of Mormon. Rose is way more interested in the church now as well and when we asked her about being baptized she said it WILL happen on the 9th. I love teaching them.

They have a punk 15 yr old too that I have made it my goal to break him and be more receptive to us and his parents. Sorry mom and dad if I was ever like that when I was young. Not sorry to my siblings because that was my way of testing you to see how you would react, most of you failed...but I'll give you a second chance ;)

Oh and Rosa apparently has sold her soul to the Devil in blood and paper and claims to be possessed by demons but she is still cool to teach. I don't believe she is but its a cool story.

I have started to see how this life style as a missionary should somehow be transfered over to when I get home because there is so much goodness and blessings from this, not that I am going to live perfectly like this forever but the spiritual aspect needs to be a large part of it. Always strive to do missionary work. I have learned a lot about members and how terrible they are because of their lack of work. We are full time teachers, members are Full Time FINDERS. Help out the missionaries in your area.

Much Love for 70 and above, Elder Leonhardt