Week #99 - "The Last Melonnnn..."

On Saturday night, Elder Nielsen and I found out we are going to be
staying together in Arlington for my last transfer. It's so crazy to
think that i only have 1 transfer (6 weeks) left to serve as a
full-time missionary. I'm going to try and make it my best transfer
yet. I'm excited to finish my mission in Arlington. It's a great area
with a lot of work to do. We have a couple people we need to get
baptized before I go home.

This past Tuesday was pretty crazy. We got asked to help out with some
service in the morning. We were helping some family members of a man
who had passed away, clean out his house. The only thing is, he was a
hoarder. Boy oh boy. You know you're in for a treat when you show up
and the lady in charge says, "alright, lets get you guys suited up and
you can head in." Umm.. excuse me? Suited up? Yeah, we had to wear
hazmat suits to go in and help. They took a pic of us after we
finished, I'll attach it. Let me tell you, those hazmat suits are like
sauna suits. I was dripping sweat. It was great to be able to help
them out though because they definitely had a huge task ahead of them.

We had some good visits with Kevin and his family this week. We met
them at the park a couple afternoons during the week and played some
ball with them. (Just an additional note, I still have yet to lose to
Kevin in H.O.R.S.E. we have probably played 10 games) Kevin has been
on fire lately, he's been reading and praying daily. It's so awesome
to see the great example he is to his family. We have also been
working with our friend, Eric. He is AWESOME! He's been meeting with
missionaries since 2014 but this week he agreed to a baptismal date of
June 10th. Which just happens to be his mothers birthday. Not only
does that day have significance to him, but that is the exact day I
will have been a missionary for 2 whole years. It's also my last
weekend in the mission. You know how cool it would be to have Eric's
baptism my last weekend here? So cool!! I'll keep you posted.

Well, with it being my last transfer, does that mean people will come
out of the woodworks and email me? I've always heard that you get
emails and letters for your first couple transfers, then everyone
takes an 18-month break, and writes you your last transfer.😂 I guess
we will put it to the test. HMU🤙🏼

I hope you have a great week. Always remember D&C 122:7

Warmest regards,
Elder Leishman

Ps. Shout out to my bro, Mckay, for looking like a stud at prom! 🕺🏻

Week #98 - April 🌧🚿 Bring May 🌹🌷

As I look at the forecast for this next could days, all I can see is
rain. Rain, rain, go away, come again ... in two months after I'm
gone. Haha I actually love the rain. Just not when I get proselyte in
it. It does make for some fun mission stories though. For instance,
when I was with Elder Arritt in Fair Oaks, we were out on our bikes
getting ready to head home for the night. We hadn't been biking for 5
minutes when it just started to down pour on us. We still had a 15
minute ride left. Needless to say, we were sopping wet when we got
home. Luckily, Elder Nielsen and I have a car so we can stay a little
more dry. The good thing is that there will be a ton of beautiful
flowers that start to blossom in May because of all this rain! 🌼🌸🌺

It was a wonderful week this week. Last pday we spent some time at
Great Falls. I had gone there earlier on in my mission and had a
blast. We had a great time this week as well. The weather was perfect.
Just a little overcast and not too humid. I really enjoyed it.

On Tuesday, we had interviews with President Huntsman. Interviews are
probably my favorite days of each transfer. It's so refreshing to sit
down and talk with my mission president. He's the best.

We have been able to teach our investigator, Kevin, and his family
everyday this week. They love having us come by and visit each day.
This week, Tuya (Kevin's wife), was able to join us for almost all of
the lessons. She has been progressing well. Who knows, maybe Kevin's
baptism was postponed to give his whole family an opportunity to be
baptized with him? That would be perfect. Kevin is a huge example to
me. He has been texting us each morning with scriptures that he read.
He is so prepared.

I've been thinking a lot about how awesome the members of the church
are this week. Primarily after we left our bishops house on Sunday
evening. Our bishop and his family are awesome! Unfortunately, their
youngest daughter took a tumble right before we showed up and had a
pretty big cut on her head. With that came a little commotion with
people getting ready to go to the ER, kids cleaning up dinner, and the
bishop needing to correlating with us. But even with all of this going
on, I could still feel the Spirit so strong in their home. It was
amazing. I was taken back for a moment as I just reflected on how
thankful I am for wonderful families, like our bishop, that provide
such Spirit-filled homes. This has happened numerous time over the
course of my mission with a host of different families. They have all
been testimony building experiences.

I was saddened to hear the passing of Ann Francis. She was always so
nice to me when I would see her. I'll never forget her sweet spirit. I
will keep her and their family in my prayers. On the bright side,
grandma Leishman will have someone to hang out with now in heaven.

The pictures this week are from the video that we made with our
district. If you haven't had a chance to check it out on Facebook, go
look it up! It's reposted on my Facebook.

What a wonderful week. Till next, I love and miss you!

Elder Tanner Leishman

Ps. If you could offer up a quick prayer for my guy, Elder Arritt. He
found out this week he needs to return home from his mission for some
medical testing. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers, please. He's a
trooper. I love that kid.

Week #97 - I LOVE MY MISSION💙

Happy Easter!! 🐰🐣

Let me just start off by saying that this was probably one of the most
unique weeks of my mission thus far. There was a number of "firsts"
that happened. Unfortunately, the baptism we were going to have this
weekend is getting postponed for about a month from now. We didn't
find out it would have to be moved till the night before. It's a crazy
long story that I could type out and give you all the details but I'll
save you the time. Needless to say, we are going to be planning a
wedding before his next Baptismal date. 😉 We did spent a lot of time
with Kevin and Benjamin this week though even with the postponed date.
They were and are still prepared and excited for the things that are
ahead. We were trying to find some other ways that we could keep daily
contact with the, so we decided to go and play a little basketball
with them at the park. It was a lot of fun. Kevin isn't too bad of a
baller. We got some good games in but you guys all know the outcome. I
hate to lose, so we didn't 😛 Kevin is awesome. He didn't even let the
postponed baptism get him down. He's excited to get baptized in a
month or so!

Elder Nielsen and I have been trying to be out walking on the streets
and in public areas a lot more so people can see us. It has led to a
bunch of people asking, "Hey, do you guys work here?" or "Where can I
find....?" I never knew people could mistake us so many times for
employees at grocery stores. Funny story. Elder Nielsen was over
looking at some of the fruit in a store and a guy came up to him and
asked him where he could find something in the store (thinking that
Elder Nielsen worked there). He kindly told him that he didn't work
there and the guy walked away. Well, the guy left Elder Nielsen and
walked directly to me and proceeded to ask me the same question....🤔
hmm...sorry sir, I don't work here either.😂 Maybe its the white
shirt, tie, and name tag? What do you think? Being out and about and
not it the car all the time is so much fun. The weather is beautiful
and you get to talk to soo many wonderful people!

As I mentioned last week, we had a mission-wide fireside Saturday
evening with Elder Ronald A. Rasband. This was hands down the
highlight of my week. Let me give you a little back story on why Elder
Rasband was in our mission for the 2nd time this year. My mission
president, President Huntsman, started to work for his dad's company
when he was out of college. His father owned the business and had a
right-hand man, Elder Rasband. So President Huntsman's boss was Elder
Rasband. Pretty cool? President and Sister Huntsman's daughter was
getting married this weekend and since Elder Rasband and the
Huntsman's have been great friends, he was able to come for the Temple
Sealing in the Washington D.C. Temple. They were able to arrange a
fireside in the evening after the sealing for all missionaries and
investigators. Elder and Sister Rasband weren't the only special
guests. Brother and Sister Huntsman Sr. were in attendance as well. It
was probably the best fireside I've ever been too. I kept hyping it up
in my mind all week and it did not disappoint. Throughout the whole
fireside I felt an outpouring of the Spirit. The whole time I could
feel the presence of the Holy Ghost testifying to my heart that the
things the speakers were saying were true. It was amazing. I never
wanted it to end. Even after it was done and all the guests walked
out, I got a little choked up. I was so sad it was over. I could go on
an on about the things that were said. Brother Jon Huntsman shared
some awesome stories about meeting his wife, President Huntsman
growing up, and Elder Rasband and his friendship. Sister Rasband told
a beautiful story about a missionary from their mission getting his
shoes shined. She related it to the Savior. I would do it a huge
disservice if I were to try and explain it, You had to be there.
Sister Huntsman (younger) wins the award for MVP of the weekend. She
is a Saint. She went from being the Mother of the Bride and probably
stressed to level 11 out of 10, to then giving a beautiful talk in
front of 400+ people. Bless her heart. I'm so thankful, I have one of
the kindest, most genuine "Mission Moms" out there. Elder Rasband
helped me have a spiritual experience and once again solidify my
testimony of the Atonement and Resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Let me tell you again, I LOVED THE FIRESIDE! I'm so grateful to have
been blessed with so many amazing spiritual experiences over my
mission. Nothing could compare to the joy and peace that I felt and
was reassured of this week. I truly am so honored each and every day
for the opportunity I have to be a full-time missionary.

Easter Sunday was another day to remember. Our sacrament service was
spectacular with some great musical numbers. The lessons we had in
class were edifying and uplifting. Sunday evening we had some of the
most spiritual member visits I've ever experienced. It has been my
favorite Holiday as a missionary. It's remarkable how awesome this
weekend turned out to be. I LOVE being a missionary. There is nothing
I find more rewarding.

Sorry this was kinda long....till next week! 🙏🏼🙌🏼

Elder Tanner Leishman

Week #96 - 🤒 --> 🌊

"I'm going to do what Ron Burgundy was sent to this earth to do; have
salon quality hair and read the news!!" - Ron Burgundy

Honestly, thank goodness this past week is over. It was definitely an
interesting week. I got super sick with a sore throat that I'm pretty
sure turned into strep throat. It totally knocked me out for like 3
days. It was the sickest I've gotten on my mission. Need less to say,
I'm glad this week is over. I'm excited for a new week and I'm excited
to be back to 100%. We've got work to do.

Even though I was sick for most of the week, we were still able to get
a little work done. Remember Kevin and Benjamin I was telling you
about last week? Yeah, they are getting baptized THIS weekend!! I'm
super excited. They are the most solid people I've taught on my
mission. We were trying to figure out the logistics for their baptism
all week and we finally agreed and set April 14th as their date. The
only problem is that half the ward is going to be out of town for
spring break. Hopefully we will be able to pound up enough members to
come and support Kevin and Benjamin. The cutest experience ever
happened when I went over to their house after missing our lessons
because I was sick and on exchanges. Benjamin gave the closing prayer
and he thanked Heavenly Father that I was able to get better and come
back and teach them. Hands down the highlight of my week. I'm SOOO
excited for their baptism!! I'll be sure to send pics next week! 😊

Another investigator we are teaching is a professional videographer.
At recent holidays, he has been helping the missionaries make a video
relating to the holiday and since Easter is just around the corner,
Jeff said we could do another video. So this week we took to the
streets of Arlington with the members of our district and street
contacted people and asked them what the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
means to them. We video taped peoples answers and are compiling it
into a video. Be sure to look for it to be on Facebook this coming
week. One of the members of our district will probably end up posting
it and I'll be sure to repost it. It was a blast talking to everyone
and it was a testimony building experience being able to hear
everyone's responses. I'm sure it's going to be great! We worked
really hard to put it together.

This upcoming week should be exciting with the baptism of Kevin and
Benjamin. But, there is also something else worth mentioning. Remember
a couple months ago when Elder Rasband and Elder Ballard came to our
mission? Well, Elder Rasband is coming back to our mission AGAIN this
week!! He is going to be holding a fireside for all of the
missionaries in our mission and their investigators/less active
members. I'm pretty stoked. It's not common that people have an
apostle come to their mission, let alone, 2 of them. And even less
common, to have one of them come twice. #Blessed

Just an FYI, today I have officially been on my mission for 22 month!!
😳 My mission has been the best experience ever and it's so bitter
sweet knowing I only have 2 months left. Gotta make em count!! I love
and miss you all, have an awesome week!

Elder Leishman 💙

Benjamin with his baby brother Warren

Week #95 - General conference

What a wonderful weekend we just had. I absolutely loved General
Conference. There were so many great messages and the spirit impressed
on me numerous things I can be doing to be a better disciple of Jesus
Christ. I'll get into more of the details on Conference a little later
on in the email.

Our week last week was pretty busy. So we finally have some solid
investigators!!! We got them passed to us from the Arlington 1st Ward
sisters. They moved to our area about a week ago (pun intended). Their
names are Kevin and Benjamin. They are awesome. They have a Baptismal
date of April 15th. We were able to watch some of General Conference
with them. They really enjoyed it. Kevin loved hearing the words of
the apostles and prophets. They are both looking forward to their
baptism. I'll send an update next week on their progress 😊

I've been super blessed to serve around awesome members my whole
mission. I have developed a strong family-like relationship with a
number of people. I'm looking forward to making more of them in the
Arlington 2nd Ward. But one of my favorite families from my mission
came to Arlington this week and took Elder Nielsen and I out to
dinner. Shout out to the Rickards for dinner. I love the members of
the church in the DC area!

General Conference weekend is like Christmas as a missionary. To me,
the big things that stood out were understanding the promptings of the
spirit and examining our motives. One of my favorite talks was
President Uchtdorf in Priesthood Session. He talked about how we use
our leadership for good and that we should let God direct us. Really,
all of President Uchtdorf's talks this Conference hit home with me.
I'm looking forward to going back and studying them. I also liked S.
Mark Palmers talk. I met him while I was serving in Manassas. It's an
awesome story how I met him, email me and I'll tell you😉

Well, today has probably been the most boring pday of my entire
mission. All the elders in my zone like to play this game similar to
Dungeons and Dragons except for myself, Elder Hansen, and Elder
Duvall. So we play basketball and workout all day. Oh the joys 🙉
here's a pic of us to commemorate!

I'm so grateful for my testimony of the restored gospel! There were so
many faith building experiences this weekend. I love our prophet,
Thomas S. Monson. I'm grateful I got to hear him speak this weekend. I
love and miss you all! Talk soon!

Elder Leishman

Week #94 - "The final area"

Not going to lie, this week felt like it took forever to get to pday.
With all the craziness that goes on with transfers and packing, I feel
like it's been 2 weeks since I've emailed. But, nonetheless, it was an
exciting week. I'm now serving in Arlington, VA. It's completely
different than my last area. There are SO many people! It's probably
going to be my final area because I only have one transfer left after
this one. We have a car in this area which is a blessing and a curse.
It's a blessing because we can get some much more done. It's a curse
because it's terrible finding free parking around Arlington. And to
add to it all, they are super tow-happy! For instance, we parked our
car and we were probably gone for 45 mins max and we came outside and
the tow truck driver had already lifted our car and was about to drive
off with it. I tried to get him to just drop it for us and we would be
on our way but he said he would only do it for $50 (I even tried to
give him my Chipotle gift card but he wouldn't take it). So I'm now
down $50 and have no money to get groceries today lol. Hey, it's
better than having to pay $140 after they tow it!

It's been fun getting to learn the area. We cover downtown Arlington
which is super confusing to try and navigate but I'm getting better.
I've been blessed to meet some awesome members here that love
missionary work. We also just got a new bishop yesterday so hopefully
we can get some great things rolling. My first day in the area we were
trying by some former investigators and met a new lady named Maria.
She is awesome. We taught her the restoration and she loved it. We
shared some spiritual experiences together. we stopped by later on in
the week to give her a copy of the Book of Mormon in Spanish. She was
very grateful! I'll keep you posted on what happens with with her.

My new companion, Elder Nielsen, is a funny guy. He's from Mesa, AZ.
He went to BYU before his mission for a summer term. He's a pole
vaulter. That's pretty unique. I'm excited to work with him. Hopefully
he can get some people dunked.

Yesterday, we went to a baptism of one of the McLean 1st Sisters
investigators. We brought our investigator, Jeff. It was an awesome
service. There were so many people, probably the most I've ever seen
at a baptism. Now we just need to do that in Arlington 😋

All in all, it was a fun week. I'm loving it here in Arlington so far
and I know the lord has so many blessings in store for us through our
diligence and hard work. Time to hit the grind💪🏼 have a great week!

Elder Leishman

Pa. I'll try and send a pic of my new comp and I after we go get hair cuts lol

Week #93 - "Isaiah 52:7"

If you would have told me on Monday that I'm going to be in the
scenario that I am in now, I would have told you that there's better
odds of the Warriors blowing a 3-1 lead..... well....shoot. That
basically sums up my week. Anything bad you can think of in missionary
work, probably happened to us this week. If I had to put it into
perspective, this week was about as disappointing as when we lost the
state semifinal in quadruple overtime and I got punched downstairs
TWICE! Yup, exactly. 👊🏼

It started with our investigator, Tuckie (who was supposed to be
baptized this week), dropping us via the Chinese elders. Apparently
she got pretty offended when we invited her out to church? I'm not
sure there was much else I could do there since coming to church is
one of the most important things we invite people to do. She told the
Chinese elders that she didn't want to meet with us anymore. Hopefully
someday she meets some missionaries again and is welcoming to them.
Then, we found out from a young woman in our ward that our most solid,
progressing investigator had started going back to church with her
mom. She had a Baptismal date as well for the middle of April. Talk
about a jab to the mouth, or two! Hopefully one day, they both can
remember when Elder Williams and Elder Leishman taught them about the
gospel of Jesus Christ and it will ring familiar to them. But for now,
sounds like it's just going to be back to square 1.

In all the chaos and negative of the week, there was some positive. We
had Harry and Delaine at church this Sunday as well as Elisabeth and
Basillio with the twins. Even crazier, we didn't think either of them
were coming. We thought we weren't going to have anyone at church but
there was a miracle and we had 4 investigators there! I asked Bishop
Burciaga if I could bare a brief testimony in Sacrament Meeting as my
"goodbye." I'm so glad i did because all 4 of them were able to hear
my final testimony in the ward. I told them that when they all get
baptized, I'm coming back for it 😊

We found out our transfer doctrine this past Saturday. Tomorrow I will
be leaving and going to the Arlington 2nd Ward. Even with as rough of
a week as Elder Williams and I had in Fair Oaks, I am devastated to
leave. I have been able to learn so many great lessons from Elder
Williams. He is one of the most loving guys I've ever met in my life.
I think back on all the talks during walks, movie quotes, and even
just pillow talk and it makes me so grateful we had those experiences.
He's definitely an uso for life. 🙏🏼 I'm going to miss the Fair Oaks
Ward. Isn't it surreal that you can be in an area for as little as 4-5
months, yet feel like you've known the members you've served for a
lifetime? I'm gonna miss this area, I'm definitely leaving a piece of
my heart in Fair Oaks. The Members in the the ward have been the
biggest blessing to my mission. They probably had a long stronger
impact on me than I had on them and for that I am eternally grateful.
I am excited to go to Arlington 2nd Ward though. I've heard great
things and it's right across the river from D.C. My new companion is
Elder Nielsen. I don't know much about him except for the fact he's
been out for about 6 months. We are going to be grinding my last two
transfers. Here we go💪🏼

You'd think as a mission goes on, this stuff would get easier and
easier. Well, it doesn't. Getting dropped still hurts your heart.
Getting transferred is like leaving home again. And getting a new
companion is always a little nerve-racking. But I wouldn't trade any
of this for the world. I love it so much, I have learned to experience
what "true joy" is over the past 21 months. I will forever be grateful
that I served a mission.

I love and miss you all! Have a great week!

Elder Leishman

I got a pic with Elisabeth, Basillio, and the twins at church
yesterday. Love these guys!