April 22, 2013 Souls and Soles

Thank you so much for helping out from where you are and for getting the scriptures and everything ready for me. If you need help with paying for the missions being served by you and Peter I want to help out, though I can't do much the Lord will help me help you. That is so great by the way that Peter wants to and has excepted on going on a mission. Its hard and many challenges will come his and your way but trust me, its worth it. There is so much joy that you see while being on a mission and living the gospel so much more strongly. The hearts of men are sometimes the hardest thing to change but when they do it is the most memorable thing you will see and experience. I have had the privilege to do all of this only through the grace of the Lord, not just talking about the scripture but that the funds for me to be here are from God himself.

Last night I got into a conversation with a Masonite about the chapters in Revelations and the meaning of the 7 headed beast and the lady riding it. I personally have not read much on it and am working on it but I was able to describe some of what I though was going on. In the end I could really understand that this man was lost and that he was finding some partial truth but not the fullness, he has not yet understood the complete truth. The concerns and questions that he brought up all could be answered in the Book of Mormon which just testified to me about the importance of it and the beauty that we have it to help us understand all of that truth. Satan is real and powerful. He has deceived many people and continues to do so but through the conversation that I had with this man I understood that not all other churches, or groups I'm not sure if Masonite are a church or what, teach such truth and aren't all bad. Not so sure about satanic churches. The truth truly was scattered and has been twisted in many different ways which is sad and hurtful to see how Satan has taken something so precious and beautiful and eternal and tore it up and desecrated it. It"ll be tough to forgive him for that one.

My shoes have died. I looked at them yesterday and was wondering why my feet hurt so bad and found out why. The soles have now fallen apart and the rubber is super thin. There is about 2 mm between the ground and my foot. That also explained why my feet got instantly wet when I stepped in a puddle. Some members were so kind to me and helped me out, buying me a new pair of shoes. Only the shoes that would fit didn't have shoes laces and the store didn't sell them either, weird, so they gave us a discount and I have to go get some at WalMart. Its kind of cool to look back on this shoes and see the work that I have done. I pray now that the Lord will except it.

The work here isn't going all that fast and we are always fighting to find more people to teach. We have been focusing on members to do the finding and help us out but so far not a whole lot of fruit has come from that so we are now switching our tactics and finding members that we can teach. Our mission President's wife said that it is better to be teaching someone than no one.

I love it here and though it seems hot here and will get hotter my body is getting used to it, I think, and its doesn't seem to hot. I don't start sweating till its about 95, kind of cool. I love you all and pray all is going well.

Love your Elder Leonhardt