Tuesday, July 9, 2013
May 5, 2013 Lesson on Faith
Well its Hot. I sweat nonstop and drink water continually and am
still dehydrated. Its just dry down here, very, very, dry. The work in the areas
that I am covering are polar opposites. One area is doing well and we are
finding people to teach out of the woodwork and the other its like pulling teeth
to get to the tooth underneath then using the jackhammer to get it out. A little
rough but that only encourages us to cherish the moments of opportunity we get.
My companion and I have learned a lot about charity and compassion over the past
couple weeks mainly through the service that we have been able to do. We see
people that are struggling so much and finding themselves in a pickle where they
begin to lose hope. I will forever remember the looks on those peoples faces as
they stand in the background wondering how they are going to make it through all
of this, thinking in their mind that God has forsaken them. I just pray that God
will show them a sign of the direction that He needs them to head in and that
they can feel His reminding presence again. I can also remember their faces
after we get there and help them with their projects and moving their materials.
With every box you move you can see their shoulders relax a little more as the
burden is slowly lifted from them. Eventually when you get to the end you see
them feel that calm embrace from the Lord that they have been so longing for,
looking as if they have jumped into a pool of cool water feeling refreshed. The
memory of those faces will blot out the remembrance of the looks of sorrow. I
will never stop to pray for those people that they will receive the help they
need and that the people nearby them will find the courage and motivation to
help.
As I was in church yesterday we were talking about the Holy Ghost and the
impressions he leaves on people and how some of us have felt his presence in the
past. Talking about it it reminded me of an experience I had a couple years back
when I was swimming at the Baxter's pool. I was standing on the edge of the
diving board getting ready to jump in when I thought of the story of Peter and
Jesus Christ walking on the water. I thought that if Peter could do it through
his faith why can't I? I began to think to myself about the faith that I had and
the faith that Peter had, the only difference was that Peter was looking at the
Lord who was already walking on water so he had his example and the evidence of
his faith. He knew it could be done and that faith turned into knowledge. So for
me to accomplish this my faith had to turn into knowledge and I had to Know that
when I jumped off I would stand on the water and that my knees wouldn't hurt to
bad from jumping onto a surface. I began to picture the scene of Christ and
Peter as if it were happening before me and putting myself in Peter's shoes
stepping off and standing. By this time I thought I knew that it would happen, I
pictured it in my mind and could see it. It became knowledge to me. I jumped and
I landed.... and at the bottom of the pool I remember myself looking up at the
surface thinking "what went wrong?", "why wasn't I just there on top on the surface
rather than down here where I am now cold and wet?" "What happened to my faith? Do
I have faith? Did I believe in Christ strong enough that a miracle like this
could be performed?" And many more questions rose up in my mind. I thought back
and right before I jumped I had a thought come into my mind, a thought that what
if it didn't happen. I shrugged the thought off and continued. Again I had the
thought right before I hit the water. At the bottom of the pool I realized that
my faith wasn't wrong nor was my experiment but that I neglected the thought of
the other side, that wasn't knowledge or true faith. I didn't know for sure. I
then had a feeling come over me, a feeling of warmth and humility. I know that I
shouldn't have been testing God and that I did have faith but that it wasn't my
purpose to walk on water. As I rose to the surface the feeling I had grew larger
and larger. I knew that I had more to work on with my faith and that I needed to
hit the drawing board again and begin again by reading, praying and going to
church to strengthen my faith.
I wouldn't encourage you to do the same thing that I did, especially at
this time of season but try and figure out where your faith is and how you have
felt the spirit in the past. I love you all.
Love Elder Leonhardt
May 6, 2013 Bee Attack
Wow allot of excitement and sad things going on. I hope everyone
stays safe and those that are injured get better. Grandpa and Grandma are always
in my prayers and I will do all that the Lord will allow my to do on my end over
here. God bless them. I pray that my family will be protected and taken care of
and so God will.
Ethan's job sounds awesome! I might have to go up there and create problems
to see him. Just kidding. I hope he stays safe. Also if you could, you should
see if you can get another vest from him because I want one for work out, of
course that is for when I get home. Eternal prospective, not wanting to come
home, I like it here.
This past week was...different. First of all it started with me and my
companion getting attacked by Bee's. We were riding on our bikes and there was
no sidewalk on the road we were on. A man had a couple bee hives
and that was the day he decided to collect honey. We didn't recognize that
early enough. Soon my companion was swarmed with what I thought were flies until
they started to come after me and I felt them trying to fly in the back of
my helmet. We tried riding faster and faster and swatting at them. Some got in
my helmet and so I rode with no hands on the handlebar, one hand swatting at the
ones in the air and the other trying to get the bees that where in my helmet out
so that I could ride safely like I'm supposed to do. We eventually got away and
I only had one sting on my hand. It has been swollen for the past 6 days. Later
we found out that there were members driving by as that went on and now there
are a lot of people talking about how they saw these missionaries getting
attacked by bee's. We probably looked pretty funny.
We also have been trying to teach this family who is struggling financially
and needs help. We try to teach them and invite them to church but they can't
because their 6 Pit Bulls have been escaping and the next time they get out they
have to pay a 200 dollar fine for each dog. Not what they want. So one day we
planned on teaching him and he cancelled 40 mins before we were going to meet
with him. We said that we were going to devote an hour to him that day. So we went and built him a fence. Aaron
you can tell Marcus thanks for teaching my how to do it. The fence looks great
and now we can help them spiritually. We've had the privilege to do about 8 hrs
of service this week.
Things are really going pretty good with my companion and I. He surprised
me the other day when he started to plan things future in advance and it made me
happy to see all that he is able to accomplish lately. It makes me feel the way
I think I would feel if I saw my son overcome something great. I wonder if my
parents have ever felt that towards me...probably not, oh well they'll have to
live with it. :) Love you Mom and Dad. And I love you all as well. Take care and
Happy mothers day for all that are in that category!
Love Elder Leonhardt
April 29, 2013 Broke 100 degrees.
I have still not received the video of Aaron falling out of the tree and would
really like to look at it, from the picture of it it looks hilarious. Sounds
like the family reunion went well and all had allot of fun. Its so weird seeing
snow and trying to think about how it feels and what its like to be cold...I'm
pretty familiar with hot. I miss the snow.
This week it has started to get hot. We broke the 100"s for the first time
and while on the bikes yesterday it hit me at one point just how fast the air
takes the moister out of you. I rode by this tall wall on the side that the sun
was shining on and took a deep breath and instantly my mouth was dry. But
other than that my body is getting acclimated to the weather and sadly I'm
beginning to like the warm air. Arizona is starting to grow on me, not sure if
I'll ever really come back.
Went by Rosa"s home the other day to see how see how she was doing and from the
moment she opened the door I could tell that something was not right. Not sure
if she just trusts us allot or it was just so over whelming she couldn't hold it
in. She began to tell us all about what has been going on with her family in
Mexico. Her family down there is in a fight and it all started with the death of
Rosa's dad. Through more research people have the thought that he didn't just
die of natural causes but rather he was tricked into the situation. And who was
suspected to have done it is the one that is taking all the stuff from him now
that he is gone, inside the family, which as you could imagine is tearing it
apart. She expressed such anger towards the whole situation that tears were not
held back. I can't imagine what kind of pain that has to create when it is family
destroying family for material gain. Not right. I gave her some words of advice
and council, showed my love to her and the family and said a prayer with her to
help out. The next day we went back and checked up on her again and she was
doing allot better and seemed as though the situation was almost completely
dissolved.
I have found a trend with the people that I have found to teach and it
seems to me that the trend is we are finding those who are looked at as cast outs and people of
rejection, those that have haunting pasts that creep up in their lives and try
to tear them down again and again. A number of my recent converts are having
trouble with past things coming back up. A few back to drugs, smoking,
family, financial, and lack of happiness. I wonder what it is that I have that
these sons and daughters of God need and why God has chosen me to be apart of
their lives and them in mine. Am I strong enough for them to carry them out of
their situation and protect them from the things of the past, or am I just to
show them a glimpse of joy that they have so long been overdue for. Maybe I'm
just over analyzing this but who knows. I have found such a love for these
people that I'm not sure what else to do when I'm around them other than to
smile and try and get them to laugh. I pray that the Lord will strengthen them
so that they can overcome these addictions. The thing is they have to choose Him
first. In the very last chapter of the first book of The Book of Mormon it
mentions that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom He chooses.
Who God chooses is all that choose Him and the gospel is there to bring the
tender mercies into our lives and we learn to live it and share it for the
edifying of our neighbor.
Other things that I have done this week include 3 hours of service.
Shoveling rock and hauling it off somewhere, it was a rather nice exercise. We
have another 3 service projects lined up for this week and can't wait to get to
them. I love service! and I love you all too!
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