Week #15 - In the Field

So this week has been pretty eventful. A lot of stuff went on here in
Falls Church. To begin with, on Tuesday we had an exchange with the
district leader, elder merrell. So elder havens went to elder
merrell's area and elder merrell came to our area. It was fun. We had
a lesson at the Stewart's and invited them to share a copy of the Book
of Mormon and we are going to follow up in a week or so. It's always
fun going to the Stewart's because they are family haha. It's pretty
awesome having cousins in my ward out here.

On Wednesday we played volleyball at the church with a lot of
nonmembers. It's always fun to go and play sports and feel kind of
normal again haha. We have a good opportunity sharing the gospel with
the people that show up as well. Every time I have gone I have a good
conversation with someone about missionaries and the church and what
not. If anything, we are planting seeds that will later be harvested.
Those people will be exposed to the church later on in life and will
remember the Wednesday nights of volleyball and the spirit that they
felt in the church building. Such an awesome thing to think about.

This weekend was awesome because we got to listen to General
Conference! We got to hear from the prophet, Thomas S. Monson. We got
to be spiritually uplifted by all the speakers and the great spirit
that was evident during the sessions. It was amazing to actually sit
down and listen to all the sessions of conference. That was probably
the first time in my life when I have actually say down and watched
and not fallen asleep during conference. It's such a special time to
hear from all of them. My favorite speaker (besides Elder Holland,
because let's be real, his talks are always great) was Elder Robert D.
Hales. He said so many things that I loved, "never deliberately fly
into a thunderstorm" "God always has a plan for us whether it's in
this life or the next" and "if you want my council, be prepared to
take it". I could go on for days on all the things he talked about,
those were just some of the few that really stood out to me.

I'm so grateful for the blessing it is of having a living prophet and
modern day apostles. They receive revelation specifically for our day
and how to better combat the adversary. I want to take all of the
advice they give me and implement it into my life. It would make us
all so happy and have so much joy if we perfectly followed their
guidance. I'm so grateful for the love and support I get for everyone
at home. I can't thank you enough. I hope everyone has a good week!

Elder Leishman