Hello Everyone!
In my mission President’s letter today, "I feel such strong desires for your present and lifelong happiness. That strong feeling for your happiness has been present as a constant companion ever since my call. I feel certain your happiness will be my desire for the rest of my life. I know that one key to your happiness is to stay in the right spirit."
What a wonderful man. I am so blessed to have as my mission president. He really loves us and worries for our safety and happiness more than anything. I found it so interesting though, as I read his words, that I have the same feelings...for our investigators, members, and converts. What I wouldn't give to secure the happiness of those we have the opportunity to serve. It helps me to see just a fraction of what Jesus must feel for each of us, those He is called to serve.
There is such a special bond of love and hope formed you and those you serve. I know the feelings I have will be with me as long as I live. What a blessing it is to work with such wonderful people. I assume, although I don't have the personal experience yet, that it is something like the love a parent has for his children. I was told the other day that it doesn't matter how much a child loves their parent, they can never love their parents as much as the parent loves them. I wanted to disagree, but I thought of the love my Heavenly Father has for me, and knew that I could never measure that love. The wonderful gift we as missionaries have been given, is the opportunity to feel a small part of that, which small tiny part nearly fills me to bursting.
As for the work here in Largo, things are really flying! We have three baptismal dates set with another possible three this week. The dates are for September and October and may not happen this transfer, but they will happen, and they will be strong when they do. My favorite thing is that all six of them are members of part-member families! We love adding to and completing familes! One of the most pure and wonderful joys of missionary work is seeing a family come together in the Gospel.
There are four sisters from the branch going to the temple this Saturday to receive their endowments! Amazing! We have been talking about getting patriarchal blessings for our members and having a group of men go to the temple in October. When that happens, the number of endowed members and the number of Melchizedek priesthood holders will have doubled since we got here. This Branch is going to be meeting in the chapel by the end of the year, and be a ward by the end of next. I love being a part of it.
We also had our third 'Branch Family Home Evening,' which has now become a regular monthly event. Only this time there was a roaring crowd of 50 people! The whole branch turned out for it! It was packed, we ran out of food, and there simply were not enough chairs and places for everyone...but nobody cared! It was an evening spent together as a family, and everyone left feeling closer to their home-the Largo Branch. I got the ones I could to gather for the above picture after the event. I’m not in it because I took it!
Words simply cannot express the joy I find in this work. I get to spend every day with the greatest companion in the world, Hermana Dollahite, I get to serve the greatest people in the world, the Largo Spanish Branch, and I get to be a missionary in the greatest mission in the world, the Tampa Florida Mission. I wish it could last forever; I really feel like I could do this the rest of my life.
I have never been more happy or tired or fulfilled. At times I feel as President Eyring did when he said, "when his body begs for rest, he gives himself this rallying cry, ‘Remember Him!’ Whenever we remember Him, it becomes easier to resist the temptation to want to rest from our labors and to endure to the end of our tasks." I often want to rest, and my body sometimes begs for mercy, but I simply say, 'Press on,' and somewhere somehow the strength comes.
I am so grateful to be a missionary and to be serving Our Lord and Our God. I am so grateful for the love and support and prayers that I feel from each and every one of you. Thank you for remembering me, writing to me, thinking about me, and praying for me. I need your love, it keeps me going. I hope you all know how much I love each of you, and how often I pray for your health, safety and happiness. Thank you for being my family and my loved ones, and for giving me up for this year and a half to be a part of a different family. I love you all more than I could ever say.
Love you All,
Hermana Levanger
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