Week #80 - 🎄Happy Birthday Momma❤️ (oh merry Christmas too...)

It's been a very exciting week. I have loved every minute of it (except when I was sick). Last Monday we had a good pday. Mostly just played some basketball. Got some good games in. I have definitely lost some of my game since being out here... the struggle. It's like I try and do a move that I know I could do before the mission and my body just won't cooperate. Oh well. It will come back when I get home. On Monday night, the Najera's (family from my ward in manassas) were in the fairfax area and took elder Arritt and i out to dinner. It was awesome to see them again and we had some Guapos

On Tuesday we had a half mission Conference. There was a general authority presiding. It was Elder Randall K. Bennett of the Seventy. It was a great conference. He talked to us about how we can start "helping" our investigators instead of "hoping" they do the things we ask them. It was a great time and I learned a lot. Our conference started at 10am and went till 5pm. Pretty gnarly but it was great. He also talked about how we can be more consecrated. It really sparked a desire in me to be 100% consecrated for the rest of my mission. Make sure I'm focusing on the little things so I can be endowed with power from on high 🏼

On Monday night I started to feel a little sore throat coming on but I took some precautionary measures and took some medicine. Tuesday night, before I went to bed, it was a little worse. But sometime during the middle of the night on Tuesday I just got hit my a train. It's like someone took a match and burned the inside of my throat. No bueno. But, I prayed for to pain to go away and it has slowly but sure gone down.

Thursday night we were privileged to go to the Temple Visitors Center with some investigators and Brother Johnson (our old WML who is now in the Stake presidency ) . It was a great time. The lights up there are breathtaking. Like easily 10 times better than last year. I really enjoyed the time up there. I was freezing cold though so I got all bundled up and brought some hand warmers. I love having a visitors center so close!! 

The weather has basically gone to "Regina George" and back. (Reply to this email if you got that..) Some days are great and some days are freezing...☃️️and it's been a little too cold to bike so we have busting out the good ole walking shoes and have been pounding the pavement. It's been so much fun except for the fact we have to stop working at 8pm the other night so we could walk home and make it by 9pm. We were 5 minutes late.... let's just say it was a long walk home. 

We had a great Sunday. One of Our investigators, Edwin, came to church. He's awesome. He's a retired pediatrician from India. He's a nice guy. A lot of lessons are what he likes to call "discussions" but are closer to debates but hey, at least he came to church this Sunday. He enjoyed it. We also had some good lessons with our investigator, Yolanda, this week. She is awesome, I love Yolanda. She's is currently baptist but has gladly been keeping her commitments. We read from the Book of Mormon with her this week and talked about how when we know the Book of Mormon is true, we know Joseph Smith is a prophet and everything else falls into place after that. I really feel a sincere love for her and for all of our investigators. Now it's just up to us to apply the things we learned from Elder Bennett and "help" them come closer to Jesus Christ. 

I'm so excited for Christmas this week which just happens to be my moms birthday. I'm probably one of the few missionaries that get to talk to their mom on her birthday as well as Christmas and Mother's Day  I love momma Leish. I'm a huge mommas boy and I have missed not being with her for the past 18 months but I'm so grateful for all the things she has taught me. I have definitely seen all of them translate into my mission (especially the laundry and my OCD for cleanliness). I can't wait to see her soon. So Happy early birthday momma

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas. I'm so thankful for the added emphasis on service this Christmas time. Now get out there and serve those around you!  Remember the reason for the season🏻(baby Jesus) 

- Elder Leishman

P.s. Here is my address is you want to send me a Christmas card

5242 Lyngate Ct. 

Burke, VA 22015

5

Week #79 - Back to "C'Ville" 🙏🏼

So many real things have happened this week. I don't even know where
to start. Last Monday we went into DC. It was a blast. We walked
around some of the monuments and went to see the White House. I always
love going into DC. It is a really fun pday activity. I love seeing
the city and all the tourists that come visit. Well, I guess I'm kind
of like a tourist as well... lol. We saw the World War II memorial
which was probably the highlight of our trip. It's amazing to think of
all those people who have sacrificed for our freedoms. God Bless
America!

We didn't rake as many leaves this week but we did teach some great
lessons. It was sweet. We have a couple investigators that are
progressing so we will have to see if we can help them take the step
of baptism. I'm ready to get the fair oaks are bumping!!! 🛁

I had an awesome opportunity to meet up with the Hunt family this
week. My family and I knew them from Las Vegas, they moved out here
about a year ago and I have been trying to cross paths with them for
my whole mission but haven't been able too since I haven't served in
the oakton zone. Well, now I'm here and we had an awesome time
visiting. They are awesome. I'm so grateful for the wonderful examples
they are to me!!

We had Stake Conference this weekend. And if you all remember a couple
weeks ago I told you how my ward (fair oaks) got moved to the
centreville Stake? Well, at Stake Conference this weekend, they
divided the centreville Stake with 15 wards and made a new Stake. The
new stak is called the Gainesville Stake, it takes up who half of the
centreville Stake. So with that shift I'm now permanently back in the
centreville Stake till I get transferred. I'm excited to be back in
the Stake that I spent 8 months of my mission in. I love this place,
it's going to be cool going on exchanges within the Stake as well.

I'm so excited for the Christmas season. There is something different
in the heart of each person that I talk to during this time. You can
feel the sprit of Christmas or the spirit of Christ flowing through
the air. Make sure you all check out the new #LightTheWorld video and
share it with someone. Have a great week. I love and miss you all!!

- Elder Leishman🕴

Some pictures from our trip to DC last week.

Original copy of the Book of Mormon that was printed in the early years of the church.  It was so delicate, but so sweet to see that God's word still stands to this day!

Week #78 - "How much do you charge?"

Well, I don't have a ton of time to write this week because we went
into DC today. But elder Arritt and I had a great week. We spent a lot
of time taking leaves. I now have found some muscles in my shoulders
that I never thought would ever be sore. But raking was a blast. It's
so nice to get out of missionary clothes for a while and do some
service. We were raking for an elderly lady this week when her
neighbor comes out side and says, "can I have your business card? How
much do you charge?" I then proceeded to tell her that we do it all
for free and man you should have seen her face. It's like she won the
lottery. We set up a time with her to come back and rake her leaves as
well. #LightTheWorld

We also got caught in a gnarly rain storm the other night. We were all
the way across our area on our bikes when it started to down pour, I
wish I would have gotten a pic of what I looked like afterwards. I
don't think I had a dry article of clothing. It was freezing cold and
I was soaking wet but it was probably the best night of the week. So
much fun. I definitely don't wish that upon anyone else though...

We also had our ward Christmas party. I love Christmas time. Our ward
had a dinner and we invited some of our investigators and a couple of
them actually came. It was awesome. The food was awesome and I even
got to take a pic with santa!!! "OMG SANTA, I KNOW HIM" it was fun.
The spirit is always so strong during the Christmas season as we
remember the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. I hope you all have a
great week! I'll send more next week. Peace and Blessings.

A visit with Santa at the ward Christmas party.

Week #77 - 🚁/ ✈️

It's been a super eventful week. It started last Monday when elder
Arritt and I were able to return to our previous area in Quantico and
go on a tour on the marine base. We set up a tour before we figured
out that we were getting transferred out. We were specifically in the
aviation section of the base. One of the members in the ward flys an
aircraft call the Osprey. It's basically like a hybrid
airplane/helicopter (hence the email title). Man, it was probably one
of the coolest things I've ever seen. It's used for many different
things but one of the main things is joining the presidents helicopter
when they pick him up and take him anywhere. Anywhere the president
goes, they take one of the osprey helicopters. The wings of this thing
are able to fold up and it can fit into the back of a cargo place. The
propellers can rotate 90 degrees so it can be flown as a helicopter
and an airplane. It's one of the most maneuverable aircraft in the
world. It can also carry like 25 passengers. It's pretty sweet. It
would have been awesome if he took us for a ride but, no dice...(trust
me, I asked😂) I'll attach some pics.

We had a good week getting to know all of our investigators. Elder
Arritt's bike got ran over by one of our investigators lol. But no
worries, it's all worked out now! I actually really enjoy being on
bike. It gives me an opportunity to exercise throughout the day, I
like it. But we had an awesome week with the help of the amazing
members. We didn't teach a lesson this week that didn't have a member
present. It was pretty awesome. I think we taught 6 or 7 member
present lessons. We finally met all of our solid investigators. Now
it's time to find some more 😜

We had a great thanksgiving. It's so crazy to think that my holidays
as a missionary are slowly winding down, there are only a couple left.
Pretty gnarly. But I'm so excited for what's in store. It's almost
like I just got a second wind in my mission and I'm able to push
through to the end.

This week, elder Arritt and I spoke in sacrament meeting, I'm pretty
sure my Talk made absolutely zero sense to anyone but me. But I hope
they felt the spirit. I talked about thanksgiving and gratitude. I'm
so grateful for all that the lord has blessed me with. One of the main
things I talked about in my talk was my family. Particularly, my
brothers. I'm so grateful for them. I'd do anything for them. I sure
do love those boys! FOE! But in preparation for my talk and by way of
invitation from another missionary, I have been saying only prayers of
gratitude. Holy cow. It's been such a blessing. A lot of the time I
just sit there and thank the lord for the smallest things in my life.
It's truest opened my eyes to how blessed I actually am. And I came
across a scripture as I was writing my talk that instilled in me a
sincere desire to always be grateful give it a read. D&C 78:19

I'm so thankful for the love and support of you all. have a great
week! Love you all!

- Elder Leishman🕴

(Ps. Sorry if this is all jumbled together, it wrote it in probably 4
minutes with no proof read...😘)

Week #76 - "Fair Oaks 🚴🏼 🚴🏼💨💨"

This week has been absolutely crazy! If you would have told me last
week that I would be where I am today, I would have thought you were
crazy. But, here we are.  On Monday and Tuesday last week, Elder Arritt
and I knew we were being transferred because they were going to close
down our area so we started to pack up our apartment and visit some of
the members we got really close too! Tuesday night, transfer
doctrine came out. It said that Elder Arritt and I were both going to
be transferred to the Fair Oaks Ward and we were going to whitewash
for back-to-back transfers. That's never happened in the time that
President Huntsman has been mission president. So I was pretty excited
to find out I was still going to be with Elder Arritt for another
transfer but still kind of nervous to whitewash again. Oh, and I
forgot to mention, we are on bike now....🚴🏼🚴🏼

Wednesday mainly consisted of packing and saying goodbye to some more
members. We had to make sure we said goodbye to the Gutzwiller Family.
They were such an awesome family and the helped us out so much during
our transfer in the ward. Elder Arritt and I are going to miss
visiting them. We also had to pass off all of our investigator to the
other missionaries serving in Quantico so they can continue to be
taught. It was a smooth transition.

Thursday was the transfer meeting. It just so happens that it was time
for Elder Holdaway to go home. Man, that was one tough goodbye. I had
an absolute blast as his companion. Those two transfers went by in a
blink of an eye. It was super sad to see him go home but I'm really
happy for him and what life has in store for him in the near future.
Shout out to my man Reuben Holdaway, he's a stud and I'll miss him💪🏼

Elder Arritt and I got to our apartment on Thursday and found it to be
completely trashed. Hands down the dirtiest apartment I've ever seen
missionaries live in. So if there isn't enough stress in missionary
work already, why don't we go ahead and add a little more and make our
apartment dirty to give elder Leishman an anxiety attack. Good idea?
Don't worry though, I put a little Leish Lovin on that place and got
it into ship shape in no time. Well, it took a little time. 2 whole
days to be exact. But now we are living better. So shouts out to that
Tilex I used to get all the mold out of our shower....

The ward has been treating us so nicely ever since we got here. Our
bishop is AWESOME. Our ward mission leader is AWESOME. And all the
members I've met so far are AWESOME. I can't wait to continue to work
alongside them. It's going to be a good time here in fair oaks. I
truest gained a testimony this week that the lord gives us trials so
that we can grow. It's something that I've known for a while but my
testimony was strengthened in that particular aspect this week. I know
that I'm much stronger now than I was last week having endured through
the trials I just recently had. I love this gospel!

I hope you all have a great week! Much love❤️✌🏼️


- Elder Leishman🕴

Visiting my main man Mike Jackson before I left Woodbridge area.

Saying good-bye to Elder Holdaway , sure do love this kid!

Week #75 "1 and Done? Likely...."

Well, another week has come and gone and I have seen the hand of the
Lord so much. Elder Arritt and I have been putting in some good work,
we were able to find some new investigators this week and we were able
to teach some lessons with some members present. We have even got some
less actives that we have started working with that we've been able to
find. it's been cool to see the progression of our area from the
beginning of the transfer to where we had absolutely nobody to work
with and now we have a small teaching pool of investigators and less
actives.

Last Monday the whole squad was back together again at the Arlington
Cemetery. Elder Simpson, Elder Holdaway, and myself were cruising at
the cemetery together. We took some sweet pictures that I will attach
to this email.  We went to the tomb of the unknown soldier that is
probably my favorite exhibit at the Arlington Cemetery. It just
goes to show how no matter who we are or where we came from God knows us
each personally and he loves us and he has a plan for us no matter
what. Serving here in the DC area and now specifically in the Quantico ward
has definitely got me thinking about joining the military.

Our week started out with a real kick in the pants to me. We had zone
training on Tuesday and the zone leaders announced that the mission is
coming out with some new rules and some rules that are now being more
strictly enforced. One of the new rules is that we can no longer work
out in any gym including The gym in our apartment complex. When I
heard that it was like my whole soul have been taken out and trampled
over by a million buffalo. It was like I was being forced to slit my
wrist and do push-ups in salt water. I remember it had been a rumor a
couple months ago that they were going to come out with this rule but
I didn't believe it (maybe is just me being in denial). But I set down
and talked to President Huntsman a little bit ago and we talked about
this rule and he talked to me about the blessings that come from being
obedient and if we really want the Spirit of the Lord to be with us we
need to be obedient even if it means following rules that we don't
really understand. So all of my exercise goals and physical goals will
have to be reevaluated and I'll have to learn how to make do with the
30 minutes that we have to work out in our apartment now each morning.
Also as just a cherry on top we will now no longer be able to wake up
before 6:30am. Before this rule my companion and I would wake up at
5:30am and go to the gym and make sure that we got a good workout in
but now we have to sleep later which will definitely be tougher to get
a good work out in.

Oh and by the way I'm doing this email on the voice recording
converting it to writing so if there is any grammatical errors or
spelling errors and does not my fault LOL. 😜

And I guess something else important happened this week. I got a
response from President Huntsman to my weekly email that I sent him
and he told me that our area here in Quantico is probably going to be
shut down because we are losing more elders than we are gaining this
transfer and so he is having to shut down six areas. He said Quantico
is likely to get shut down because we already have two other sets of
missionaries serving here. So that is why the title of my email is one
and done because Elder Arritt and I will probably be getting
transferred on Thursday. It's definitely a sensitive subject because I
love it here in Quantico but I guess we will just have to see what
happens.

A lot of exciting things happening this week. I'm so excited for this
upcoming week to see what happens with transfers I've been enjoyed my
first transfer was Elder Arritt. he is a stud is going to be a good
missionary throughout his whole mission. I've been blessed in so many
different ways this week and I'm so grateful for the Lord extending
his open arms to me during the ups and the downs. I love you all, I
hope you have a great week and I will talk to you soon.

- Elder Leishman🕴

Week #74 - November

Man, another week has come and gone and now we are in November. Its so
crazy how fast the time has flown by. I still remember what I was
doing this time last year like it was yesterday. The time of being a
missionary is really so short and so precious. That's one thing that
was reiterated to me this week, "you have 2 years to live it, and a
whole eternity to think about it". Missions are so great.

Elder Arritt and I got some good work in this week. We were able to
find some new people this week and teach a couple different
restoration lessons. We did a lot of work trying to find some
part-member families. It went well and had some success. We got a
couple return appointments and we even found some less actives we can
now start to work with. There was one part member we were trying to
find, so we went and knocked on the door and someone opened up and
said that the family we were looking for had just moved out but she
had just moved in. We asked her if we could teach her a lesson and she
accepted. It was so awesome! We have a return appointment with her on
Thursday, she was pretty golden if I do say so myself!

We went on an exchange with the other elders in our ward this week who
also happen to be the zone leaders. I went with elder McCray. funny
story, about 6 months ago, I was serving as a zone leader in manassas
and elder McCray was in our zone. Now he is serving as my zone leader
and I'm in his zone. It's pretty cool. He's a great missionary and one
of my good friends out here.

Well, not much time left this pday. We had an exciting day today, I'll
tell you all about it next week! Much love! ❤️🙏🏼

- Elder Leishman🕴

I didn't have any pics to send home so I thought I would grace you
with this selfie I just took in my new sweater from Costco! Lol have a
good week!