Hello Everyone!
Another week, another set of incredible miracles! Let me share a story with you.
A few weeks ago, I started praying for a family to teach. Then we received a text message from the church’s automated system. It was from Jose, who requested a visit. We went to the address thinking that there would be one guy there, but he lives with his brother, his sister, her spouse and two children...YAY!!!! Anyway, we are still very much in the middle of this story, because everyone progresses in the gospel at different speeds.
Rodrigo, the other brother, is absolutely flying! Last week we dropped by their house before church to see if they would follow up on our invitation to come...no one answered the door. This week we decided to do the same, but with more of a defeatist attitude. So, we knock on the door and Rodrigo greets us in slacks, a white dress shirt, his hair gelled, and says, 'Hi sisters, are you ready to go, my car is out front. Oh, do I need to bring my Book of Mormon with me?' We were FLOORED. Just the words car, ready, and the fact the he was dressed in actual church clothes puts him in a VERY small minority for our little branch! We are so excited!
He stayed for all three hours, and loved our lesson on Missionary Work in the Gospel Principles class. So cool! Also, it turns out that he and our new convert Lazaro are from the same tiny town in Mexico and are cousins or something! Weirdly awesome small world!
He is reading and praying on his own. The other day he said, "Sister Levanger, I know we are supposed to fast, but can you tell me why?" After I gave him the gospel reasons and my own personal reasons he said, "Oh, that makes sense, I'll do that." Again, floored!
The mission really is a place of miracles and they happen every single day. I am so lucky to be here. Part of me wishes I could stay forever. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for the opportunity I have to be missionary. It is a true honor.
Love you all,
Hermana Levanger
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
May 23, 2011
Hello Everyone!
Wow, it is really hard to compete with a baptism, I feel like I don't have anything new to report! My life is heavenly; I'm happy, safe, and anxiously engaged in the work of the Lord (just like last week and all the weeks before!). The life of a missionary is unique: we are living in the world but completely cut off from everything worldly. I forget that my family and friends are living normal lives. People are watching TV, going to movies (Did anyone else know there was a new Pirates movie?), graduating from school, and moving on to their next adventure. Weird.
On my end, I can happily report that our Branch is doing incredibly well. Attendance is much higher each week, as we have really been working with the inactives, and even the strong families are feeling a stronger bond to the branch. Lazaro was sustained as a member of the church yesterday, and Hermana Dollahite and I gave him a baptismal remembrance book we put together with pictures. We also pasted a bunch of testimonies in it, because we had everyone at the baptism write their testimonies while Jose and Lazaro were changing. When we gave him the book he got really teary-eyed, and I was afraid for a moment that he was going to cry, but he just said 'thank you' in his sweet and always deadly sincere voice and sat down for sacrament. What a disciple of Christ the Lord allowed us to find and work with.
This week we also had a branch activity, which was a HUGE success. We had it on a Wednesday night and almost every single person in the branch came, which is quite a feat since half of them can't drive! We had a great lesson about the Armor of God (see above photo!), ate delicious food, and then played charades - the Scripture story edition! It was so funny to watch our branch president building Noah's Ark in the air, Hermana Eguiluz doing the butterfly stroke while jumping across the room to portray parting the Red Sea, and Jose Araoz shielding his eyes from the bright brilliance of the first vision! So funny!
We contributed brownies-ish to the activity. I say brownies-ish because we signed up for brownies and I wasn't paying attention when Hermana Dollahite bought them. She bought three snack-size brownies (because they were cheaper) when we needed three regular size brownies! So funny! So as I'm standing there in front of this pan that is only half covered in brownie mix, laughing my head off at the fact that our activity is the next day and we have no time to buy more, I remembered that she also bought a chocolate cake mix (for emergencies, she says). Now if any of you know anything about Hermana Dollahite, the first thing you should know is that she is a CHOCO-HOLIC!!!!! It was not a happy moment for her when she realized she was going to have to donate her precious chocolate cake mix to the cause! (I tried to calmly explain that she still had six Three Musketeers bars and that we could get another cake mix on Monday!) I made up the cake mix, poured it on top of the brownie mix, baked it, frosted it, and prayed that it was edible. Turns out everyone loved the gooey brownie-cakes! Another point for the Lord's side!
It is amazing what a difference the gospel makes in someone's life. I am surrounded by hundreds of examples of people who have and live the gospel, who had and don't live the gospel, and who have never had the gospel. The way their lives are going and the difference between them are absolutely astounding. God truly blesses those who live and keep His commandments, and I have seen this in the most wonderful (and also the most heart-breaking) of ways. Being a missionary is HARD, but I can absolutely testify that it is vale la pena (worth the pain). I am living a blessed life and I hope to stay here and do the most good I possibly can for as long as possible.
I love you all,
Hermana Levanger
PS My e-mail will be on Tuesday next week due to Memorial Day, and the Library being closed.
Monday, May 16, 2011
May 16, 2011
Hello Everyone!
It’s time to tell you about Lazaro--especially since he was baptized and confirmed yesterday! What an amazing adventure it is to be a missionary!
We first met Lazaro on April 17th, at Stake Conference. He is from Mexico, but has lived here for the last 22 years (he also has a good job and a car, which is AMAZING!). About two months ago, he was visiting a friend in Mexico. His friend is a member of the Church, but only decided recently to be active after about twenty years of in and out. While they were down there, they went to the temple and met some missionaries who gave them the referral center number. When Lazaro got back to the States, he called the number and we got the referral (since we are the only Spanish missionaries in the area). Well, if you will all remember when my companion Hna Gallegos got transferred and we were missionary-sitting another sister, that is when we got the referral! Suffice it to say, we kind of dropped the ball, because we called the number and when it didn't work we put it on the back burner to stop by later that week (imagine our embarrassment two weeks later when we finally checked the address and put two and two together!).
Meanwhile, God is not that patient! Two of our English missionaries, Elders Thompson and Hall, were visiting a less active member in the community where Lazaro works. Lazaro came running up to them and told them that he really wanted to take the lessons because he had learned a little in Mexico. Then, he saw Elder Thompson's name and said, "Hey, one of the missionaries I talked to in Mexico was an Elder Thompson too." It turns out, Elder Thompson's BROTHER is serving in Mexico and he was the one who gave him the referral number! Amazing! Of all the places in Mexico and of all the Florida mission areas and missionaries, these two brothers were the ones to find him! It was so cool! Like I have said before, God not only does nothing by accident, He also has a wicked awesome sense of humor!
At this point, we stepped in and took over the teaching, because it needed to be done in Spanish. What a powerful experience! Our first lesson was April 22nd. The spirit was so strong it was literally moving the walls of the church. We walked around the church building and taught the lesson using the pictures. We committed him to a baptismal date that first night and he cried. Amazing. Twenty-two days and some of the most powerful lessons of my life later (He ended up teaching us about prophets and had zero issues with Word of Wisdom, Tithing, Fasting, anything.) we had his baptism. IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!!! The last baptism in the Branch was in December and we had that convert, Jose, do the baptism. (Jose is on the far left.)
We were so nervous for Jose, but we should have been nervous for Lazaro! Jose got all the words perfectly, but Lazaro would NOT go down! He kept floating to the top and grabbing Jose's bicep. It was so funny! Everyone in the branch was laughing, but it was still so spiritual, and exactly what the Branch needed. Entonces ('so' in Spanish), yesterday was my first baptism. Lazaro, a man truly converted to this gospel and ready to commit to living by it's precepts for the rest of his life. I can honestly tell you that I did nothing. I fell like I was the paper pusher in this experience! Fill out the BCR, fill up the font and put together the program, because Lazaro taught himself and is a true disciple of Christ starting on an amazing journey. What an experience, and what an honor. That is what real missionary work is, when you are simply the tool getting the details in order, and the investigator and the spirit do all the real work.
It is a good time to be a servant in the vineyard, and I have never been more grateful for my calling as such. I always knew that the teacher usually got far more out of the lesson than the students, but I have never had such a testimony of that until I saw up close that the more I teach this gospel the more I fall in love with it and believe it with such surety that the powers of Hell could not convince me otherwise. What a gift I have to be a missionary.
I love you all,
Hermana Levanger
Monday, May 9, 2011
May 9, 2011
Hello Everyone!
Today is another Monday, another P-Day, and another day to rejoice in the lives we have been given. What a great day! Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk to my Mom and then my Dad and brother Erik for Mother's Day. It was so nice to hear their voices and feel the love they have for me. I know there are so many people out there loving and supporting me. What can I say but, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I feel your prayers and thoughts as you go about your days and deal with the trials and joys that life brings.
This last Saturday was Judgment Day; the day that we find out what is going to happen for transfers. We are assigned an area and a companion for six weeks, and the last Saturday of that six weeks we find out if we are going somewhere new or if we will have a different companion. It is a little stressful and intense! We (Hna Dollahite and I) weren't that surprised to find out we would be staying here and staying together, since President had promised us that when he talked to us a week-and-a-half ago. Hna Gallegos is staying in Tampa, which is sad, but good for that area. She is an amazing missionary and I hope I get the chance to serve with her some day.
The Spanish-speaking sisters are going to have some BIG changes this transfer. Two are going home, so we are going from sixteen sisters in six areas (meaning four tri-panionships and two regular two-person companionships) to fourteen sisters in seven areas (meaning ALL in companionships)! The new area is over in the middle of Florida and pretty inland compared to the others. I'm so excited for all of the changes and growth that this mission is seeing. We won't lose any other sisters until September, and then not until December, so the fourteen of us should be able to really focus and get a lot done!
The work here in St. Petersberg is moving forward rapidly. We have really strengthened our Branch the last six weeks and had the highest attendance in Sacrament yesterday we have had since we got here! We also have quite a few people we are helping towards baptism and there are miracles coming at us from every direction! What an amazing life I have!
I have decided that there is a big advantage to not knowing anything about being a missionary before you get here. I came to this area with big dreams and high hopes, and I refuse to listen to others when they say it is one of the hardest areas and the work is stagnant. NOT TRUE! These are the best people in the entire world and the work is exploding! We truly don't have enough hours in the day to get it all done.
I am living a blessed life. I can't wait to tell you all about my adventures each week every Monday. The people are amazing, my companion is wonderful, I have never been more happy in my life, and I am absolutely in God's hands.
I love you all. Have a wonderful week. I will include stories, pictures, and wonderfulness next week!
Love,
Hermana Levanger
Today is another Monday, another P-Day, and another day to rejoice in the lives we have been given. What a great day! Yesterday I had the opportunity to talk to my Mom and then my Dad and brother Erik for Mother's Day. It was so nice to hear their voices and feel the love they have for me. I know there are so many people out there loving and supporting me. What can I say but, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I feel your prayers and thoughts as you go about your days and deal with the trials and joys that life brings.
This last Saturday was Judgment Day; the day that we find out what is going to happen for transfers. We are assigned an area and a companion for six weeks, and the last Saturday of that six weeks we find out if we are going somewhere new or if we will have a different companion. It is a little stressful and intense! We (Hna Dollahite and I) weren't that surprised to find out we would be staying here and staying together, since President had promised us that when he talked to us a week-and-a-half ago. Hna Gallegos is staying in Tampa, which is sad, but good for that area. She is an amazing missionary and I hope I get the chance to serve with her some day.
The Spanish-speaking sisters are going to have some BIG changes this transfer. Two are going home, so we are going from sixteen sisters in six areas (meaning four tri-panionships and two regular two-person companionships) to fourteen sisters in seven areas (meaning ALL in companionships)! The new area is over in the middle of Florida and pretty inland compared to the others. I'm so excited for all of the changes and growth that this mission is seeing. We won't lose any other sisters until September, and then not until December, so the fourteen of us should be able to really focus and get a lot done!
The work here in St. Petersberg is moving forward rapidly. We have really strengthened our Branch the last six weeks and had the highest attendance in Sacrament yesterday we have had since we got here! We also have quite a few people we are helping towards baptism and there are miracles coming at us from every direction! What an amazing life I have!
I have decided that there is a big advantage to not knowing anything about being a missionary before you get here. I came to this area with big dreams and high hopes, and I refuse to listen to others when they say it is one of the hardest areas and the work is stagnant. NOT TRUE! These are the best people in the entire world and the work is exploding! We truly don't have enough hours in the day to get it all done.
I am living a blessed life. I can't wait to tell you all about my adventures each week every Monday. The people are amazing, my companion is wonderful, I have never been more happy in my life, and I am absolutely in God's hands.
I love you all. Have a wonderful week. I will include stories, pictures, and wonderfulness next week!
Love,
Hermana Levanger
Monday, May 2, 2011
May 2, 2011
Hello Everyone!,
Well now that I have philosophized on missionary work for the last several weeks, I think it is high time I tell you a little bit about missionary life!
Being a missionary is an ADVENTURE! Every day we set out to do the same thing, and we come back at night with completely new stories and adventures! Every day we wake up at 6:30, say our prayers and exercise until seven. Then we shower, eat breakfast and prepare for the day until 8. From 8-9 we have Personal study, 9-10 Companionship Study, and 10-11 Language Study. Usually at this point we will have lunch and then leave our apartment no later than 12 and return around 9 or 9:30. This schedule is different on Wednesdays when we meet with the other missionaries in the zone and Sundays when we have church. The bane of my existence is Thursdays: Planning Days! Mostly because we have to spend several extra hours inside planning the work instead of doing the work! It's ok though. I know why it is so important, even if I don't like it (kind of like singing hymns before comp study and nightly planning!)
The people I get to work with here are incredible. Right now we are working with a part-member family, who might just be my favorite people on earth! We usually meet with them on Mondays, so we will get to see them tonight. I have to tell you about last Monday though! So we go to the house and do a little chatting with Elizabeth (the wife/investigator), Jose (the husband/less-active member) and their universe-also known as their 2 year-old daughter Adrianna. Anyway, so we talk for a while and watch one of those really short living scriptures on Alma and Abinadi so that they can all have a visual of the doctrine of Christ (the lesson we are planning on teaching). Anyway, the movie ends and I talk about the parts that I liked and then look over at Hermana Dollahite to have her take over teaching the actual lesson while I keep Adrianna occupied. Well, the little traitor is already playing with her and gives me no inclination of stopping anytime soon! So there I am sitting on the floor with my English and Spanish scriptures open to 2 Nephi 27 and two waiting Peruvians staring at me... So I say, "Do you both have your Book of Mormon? Tonight we are going to talk about the same thing Alma, Abinadi, and every prophet teaches, the Doctrine of Christ." And then I taught it. For about thirty minutes. By myself. Completely in Spanish. Nuts. I loved every second! I love this little family so much, and I really hope that Elizabeth will follow through on her Baptismal date commitment for June 4th, because she is so ready. However, one of the reasons I love her is because she is SUPER stubborn, and she really sticks to what she believes in. I look forward to every single time I get to talk to her and her family.
Oh to be a missionary, we get to see the most ridiculous, funny, touching, and wonderful sides of life. Hna Dollahite has really had her eyes opened to the humorous side of God by spending so much time with me. For example: The very first time I ever in my life saw Tropicana Field (Oh did I not mention that the Tampa Bay Rays' Stadium is like ten miles from my house? Yeah, really funny God.) So Saturday we are driving around minding our own business trying to find some lost members when out of nowhere we run into the Trop, at 2, just an hour or so before they play the Angels there. I'm pretty sure God and Hna Dollahite laughed at me for a good 45 minutes as I wallowed in the depths of despair! Luckily, we saw a lot of miracles that day too, which made up for it...mostly.
How I love this work, and how I love all of you. Thank you for your love and support. I pray for each of you by name each night, and I know that there are so many people out there doing the same for me. Have a wonderful week and a wonderful Mother's Day next Sunday. And to all you Mothers out there just know that without you, this world would be chaos. Thank you for the love and adoration you give to your children. I know my Mother is the best there is. I love you Mom.
Love,
Hermana Levanger
Well now that I have philosophized on missionary work for the last several weeks, I think it is high time I tell you a little bit about missionary life!
Being a missionary is an ADVENTURE! Every day we set out to do the same thing, and we come back at night with completely new stories and adventures! Every day we wake up at 6:30, say our prayers and exercise until seven. Then we shower, eat breakfast and prepare for the day until 8. From 8-9 we have Personal study, 9-10 Companionship Study, and 10-11 Language Study. Usually at this point we will have lunch and then leave our apartment no later than 12 and return around 9 or 9:30. This schedule is different on Wednesdays when we meet with the other missionaries in the zone and Sundays when we have church. The bane of my existence is Thursdays: Planning Days! Mostly because we have to spend several extra hours inside planning the work instead of doing the work! It's ok though. I know why it is so important, even if I don't like it (kind of like singing hymns before comp study and nightly planning!)
The people I get to work with here are incredible. Right now we are working with a part-member family, who might just be my favorite people on earth! We usually meet with them on Mondays, so we will get to see them tonight. I have to tell you about last Monday though! So we go to the house and do a little chatting with Elizabeth (the wife/investigator), Jose (the husband/less-active member) and their universe-also known as their 2 year-old daughter Adrianna. Anyway, so we talk for a while and watch one of those really short living scriptures on Alma and Abinadi so that they can all have a visual of the doctrine of Christ (the lesson we are planning on teaching). Anyway, the movie ends and I talk about the parts that I liked and then look over at Hermana Dollahite to have her take over teaching the actual lesson while I keep Adrianna occupied. Well, the little traitor is already playing with her and gives me no inclination of stopping anytime soon! So there I am sitting on the floor with my English and Spanish scriptures open to 2 Nephi 27 and two waiting Peruvians staring at me... So I say, "Do you both have your Book of Mormon? Tonight we are going to talk about the same thing Alma, Abinadi, and every prophet teaches, the Doctrine of Christ." And then I taught it. For about thirty minutes. By myself. Completely in Spanish. Nuts. I loved every second! I love this little family so much, and I really hope that Elizabeth will follow through on her Baptismal date commitment for June 4th, because she is so ready. However, one of the reasons I love her is because she is SUPER stubborn, and she really sticks to what she believes in. I look forward to every single time I get to talk to her and her family.
Oh to be a missionary, we get to see the most ridiculous, funny, touching, and wonderful sides of life. Hna Dollahite has really had her eyes opened to the humorous side of God by spending so much time with me. For example: The very first time I ever in my life saw Tropicana Field (Oh did I not mention that the Tampa Bay Rays' Stadium is like ten miles from my house? Yeah, really funny God.) So Saturday we are driving around minding our own business trying to find some lost members when out of nowhere we run into the Trop, at 2, just an hour or so before they play the Angels there. I'm pretty sure God and Hna Dollahite laughed at me for a good 45 minutes as I wallowed in the depths of despair! Luckily, we saw a lot of miracles that day too, which made up for it...mostly.
How I love this work, and how I love all of you. Thank you for your love and support. I pray for each of you by name each night, and I know that there are so many people out there doing the same for me. Have a wonderful week and a wonderful Mother's Day next Sunday. And to all you Mothers out there just know that without you, this world would be chaos. Thank you for the love and adoration you give to your children. I know my Mother is the best there is. I love you Mom.
Love,
Hermana Levanger
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