Week #29 - Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a great Christmas. Mine
was awesome. I got to talk to the fam for a couple hours which was
pretty sweet. It's crazy how much they have grown and changed (and
grown mustaches hahaha). It was so nice to talk to everyone and to
meet Louie. I loved all the Christmas gifts I got from everyone. I'm
so glad I have so much support from everyone at home.

This week we had a lesson with two of our now "new investigators". It
was awesome. We had planned to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ but
ended up teaching more about the restoration! They had a ton of
awesome questions that we got to answer. The spirit was so strong in
the lesson so we decided to ask them if they would be baptized. Regina
said, "I've been baptized 3 times already, but if God wants me to be
baptized again in this church, I'll do it!" It made me so happy to
hear that. It's amazing what people will do when they feel the spirit
of God confirming things in their life.

On Christmas Eve, the whole mission went up to the temple visitors
center to sing in a performance. I didn't sing though, I was able to
direct traffic flow in and out of the parking lot. It was quite fun
actually. We got to wear reflective vests and use lightsaber stick
things. I was having a lot of fun with it. Anything or anytime we get
to go up to the visitors center and do stuff there is an extreme
blessing. It's so peaceful up there and you can really feel that it is
heaven on earth.

I appreciate all the sweets and goodies that everyone sent me. I
actually appreciate it so much that I've set a goal for myself at the
new year to not eat any more sugar! I thing over the past two weeks
I've gotten and eaten enough sugar to last me the rest of my mission!
It has been awesome. But now time to cut back haha.

This week I've been studying a lot about the prophet Joseph Smith. Let
me tell you, I have so much respect for Joseph and Emma Smith. The
things they had to go through are motivation to me. One thing I love
about Joseph was that he wasn't this perfect man that a lot of people
believe him to be. He was just an average guy like us, trying to do
the lords will and restore his church. Man, that must have been
difficult. I'm so glad that he had imperfections just like I have.
It's comforting to know he and I have some of the same struggles. I've
have really come to strengthen my testimony of Joseph Smith so much
over the past week. I'm thankful that he restored Jesus Christ's true
church back on the earth today and those same ordinances that Jesus
Christ performed, we can perform today. I know Joseph Smith to be a
prophet of God and I know that he translated the Book of Mormon
through the power of God. I know without a shout of a doubt that this
church is true and I would lay down my life for it! I love this church
and this gospel so much.

Have a good week!

Elder Leishman

With Elder Beatty from Desert Hills HS at the Washington DC temple on Christmas Eve.  The missionaries performed a special Christmas program.  Elder Leishman signed up for "parking patrol" - lol!!

At the Christmas Program held at the Washington DC temple on Christmas Eve

With Elder Merrill (my companion)

Elder Evans, Elder Overstreet, and Elder Cline.

Elder Brady

Elder Cline

With Elder Ma and Elder Grace

With Elder Merrill

Elder Jones

Elder Evans

Week #28

Well, Merry Christmas! I cannot believe it's the week of Christmas!
This is hands down the best time of the year. I'm so glad I get to be
a missionary at this time. This week has been good. We were able to
have some lessons with a couple of our investigators and some less
actives in our ward. They all went well. Right now we aren't teaching
anyone that's super solid, we have a few solid potential investigators
that we are working on but other than that we are trying to find a lot
of new people to teach. It's going to be pretty hard to find people to
teach this week with it being Christmas but I'm hopeful that we will
find some! On a side note, I learned how to solve a rubixs  cube this
week!

I can't believe I get to see the fam on Friday. I'm so excited. It's
been a whole 6 months since I've seen everyone. I can't wait to see
dads goatee and the boys hair. I can't wait to see my beautiful momma
again! It's going to be awesome. And I'm excited to meet my new
brother, Louie. It will be a happy time!

I love this Christmas season. I'm glad I get to labor alongside the
savior in his vineyard. I wish I would have taken advantage of the
blessings of the gospel before my mission. I wish I would have
realized how much more happy I am when I am fully immersed in the
gospel. I'm glad that Heavenly Father has given us agency and let's us
pick for ourself what we want to do. There is so much more genuine
care that comes along with agency on our side as well as heavenly
fathers side. We care more and our decisions and he cares more about
the decisions we are making. I'm grateful for the birth of the savior
and the joy that comes as we remember him. My favorite quote that mom
used to put up during Christmas was the one that said, "Wise men seek
him still." I absolutely love that. We should always have the savior
on out mind and be striving towards him.

Merry Christmas everyone and Happy Holidays!

Love,
Elder Leishman

Week #27 - Fairfax, VA

Well, this week has been pretty crazy. We had transfers on Thursday
and I got transferred to a new area. I'm now serving in the Wakefield
ward. It's in the Annandale stake. I live in Fairfax, VA. I'm kind of
sad I left shirlington after only being there for one transfer but I'm
happy to be in the Wakefield ward. I can already tell that the ward is
pretty sweet! My new companion is Elder Merrill. He is from West
Jordan, Utah. He's been out for about 17 months. This is his third
transfer in the Wakefield ward. My new area is pretty close to the
mission office and the mission home which is pretty exciting. We are
on bike in this area. And it's not super small like the shirlington
ward. This ward is pretty big so we bike everywhere. I'm excited to
get a leg workout everyday!

It's so crazy that we are so close to Christmas. It feels like just
yesterday I was going in the MTC. Christmas seemed so far away at that
time and now it's here. I'm half way done with my first year of my
mission. I'm learning to love my mission. Not because everything I do
out here is fun, but because I know that the things I am going through
will benefit me in my future. I'm excited to be able to see and talk
to the fam next week. It's going to be pretty weird skyping you guys.
Im pretty dang excited though. It's crazy how these mission things
work, you send a teenage kid out and tell him to proclaim the gospel.
Something that he probably doesn't even know a lot about himself. It's
so amazing to think about. I'm so grateful to be out here serving.
I've been tested a lot on my mission and I've been pushed outside of
my boundaries many times. I've been placed in circumstances that are
uncomfortable and challenging and the Lord has helped me through them.
It's through the Lord that I've gotten through all my trials.

I miss you guys, especially during this holiday season. I hope
everyone has a great week! See you next week!

Elder Leishman

At the "6 month" mark on your mission the Elder's traditionally burn a tie.

With Elder Hudson

Week #26

Well, this week was good. We taught a total of 6 lessons this week
which is super good for our area. We were able to put one of our
investigator on date for the middle of January. It's pretty funny. The
guy who is on date is technically not even a progressing investigator.
He won't read the Book of Mormon until he finishes the bible, but he
wants to get baptized? Pretty funny I guess.

On Thursday, I went to this really awesome leadership meeting. It was
with all the zone leaders and district leaders and some other leaders
from the mission. We were able to be instructed on some key things
pertaining to missionary work. Over all it was a great meeting and I
learned a lot. It has been fun being a district leader this transfer
and I'm thankful for the opportunity I've had to teach some of the
other missionaries in our mission. There are transfers this week. I
find out if I'm staying or leaving either tonight or tomorrow night. I
will let you guys know how it goes.

I kind of run out of things to say during these emails when I'm not
prompted to say something specific. So I guess the point I'm trying to
get across is: I'm still alive, same story different day.

I love you guys! Have a good week!

Elder Leishman

P.S. *** An update *** Elder Leishman is being transferred to Wakefied, VA - about 3 hours away from where he is serving right now. We'll have an address later this week for Christmas letters and packages.