So this week ended kind of weird and
not the way I wanted it to either.
Because of some reasons my companion
decided to go home and will be leaving sometime this week. We talked
a bit about it and why. It seems like it is the right choice but what
I'm scared about is he will not come back to finish his mission. I
wasn't sure how to respond to it nor what to think, it caught me off
guard. I was praying about it last night and I don't know how God
responds to situations where people make a difficult wrong decision
that is going to hurt a number of people and they are going to regret
later. I was thinking first that God simply would state that it is
their choice and not be so worried about it. Then I thought that what
if God does care a lot about it and is often pleading for us not to
do something because of the pain it will bring; therefore provokes
tears. If it is the second one I don't know how He does it. It hit me
a little hard last night thinking about it and I can't comprehend
what it is like for God to have this happen with many more of His
children. He is one strong man to be able to do that. That is what
makes Him God.
Had a lesson with a recently baptized
lady who wanted to do some family history. When we met at the Family
History Center with a specialist she shared the really old family
records she brought. The records connected family members going back
to 1830! It was so cool to see family brought together. I would have
to say that I got bit by the family search bug. I want to do research
on my family history as well. Family history means a lot more to me
now because it is a way to find where you come from. It connects us
with where we came from. It excites me even more believing that
families can be together forever! I can't wait to see my ancestors
and get to know them. That's one of the reasons I went out to Utah
before I went on my mission because I wanted to get to know my older
siblings better. Because of the age difference I didn't know them
very well, but I do now! I think...
One of the people we were teaching went
through something sort of tough. Her name is Kolbi. She is in high
school. To explain her complicated background, she is friends with a
member of a youth in a congregation we cover. She didn't live in the
area but not far away either, then moved far away. Her family is torn
apart, parents divorced bitterly, and mom is dating a guy they don't
like. They don't like going home so they spend a lot of time at their
friends house where we met her. We started teaching her and she loved
it! We wanted her to meet the missionaries where she lived so we
arranged a time for them to met. Oh yeah she wanted to get baptized.
Right before she was going to meet the other missionaries her mom
calls her up and says we need to talk. Her mom tells her she can't
meet them/us anymore, can't get baptized, can't hang out with her
friend (the one that introduced us to her), and they are moving in
with the boyfriend they don't like and are being forced to do so. She
was not happy because they don't like the atmosphere around the man.
She, her siblings and her dad decided to take their mom to court to
have the court change so they can go live with their dad. Court was
Thursday. I fasted that everything would go well and it did. Their
parents have 50/50 custody. She is going to live with the dad on
weekends so she can go to church. She was happy about it and so were
we. I was worried that they were going to be put in a position that
they didn't like and live unhappily but God provided.
Taught a religious professor the other
day as well about the most amazing parts of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. We taught about where we go when we die,
how fair God is in allowing everyone an equal opportunity to choose
right and wrong and to be happy. He loved it and had a lot of
questions and we found out a reason why we got on the subject because
it wasn't something we planned on talking about. A family member died
recently. That explained the interest and the questions. We had no
idea but later we heard that he approached a professor that is a
friend of his and a member of the LDS church with the biggest smile
on his face. Hearing that the conversation we had made his day made
my day. I love it!
And I love you too!!
Love Elder Leonhardt
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