May 28, 2012

Hello Everyone!    Greetings from Largo in St. Pete, Florida! I can't believe that I am saying that, but it’s true! I am here again! It is so weird!!! I love it though. I can't tell you all how loved I feel right now. I have been squeezed and kissed so many times that it’s a miracle my upper body is still intact. There have literally been tears shed (on both sides). I'm so happy to be home. I have not felt this loved in such a long time. Another huge plus is that I am in the greatest quadranionship (quad-companionship) of all time! We hug each other all the time, and actually TALK to each other. I love it.    I am serving with Sister Beck (yes, when I say both our names I feel really weird, "Hola, somos las Hermanas Beck y Levanger" ('y' means 'and' in Spanish) soooooooo funny!!!). She is way cool. She is from Alpine Utah and has only been out for a little while but spoke Spanish before leaving on her mission so was only in the MTC for three weeks. She is really excited about being in St. Pete- hey me too! The other companionship, which is basically our companionship right now too, is also awesome! Hermana Franc is from Saratoga Springs Utah. She was adopted from Bolivia though, so she looks like a native. Hermana Guerra is from Chile and speaks perfect Spanish. She got to the mission field the same day as I did, but she didn't go to the MTC so she will be going home in September. I have wanted to serve with her since the moment I met her. Dreams really do come true!    I know that right now we are on clean-up duty, and might be for the next five weeks as well. That is ok though. I know God has a purpose for me being here and that I will figure out what that is as we go. I am so grateful to be a missionary and to be at this wonderful point in my life. I am so thankful for the people I am surrounded by and the joy that I feel each day. I am so grateful for each and every one of you and for the love and support I feel from each of you. Thank you for being in my life. Love you All! Hermana Levanger

May 21, 2012

Hello Everyone!    I honestly cannot believe that I am writing what you are about to read. My fingers are moving and the words are coming on the screen, but I am still in denial. Ok, here it goes, I am happy to report that I will once again be serving in the Largo Spanish Branch in St. Petersburg, Florida! That's right, I'm going back for my last six weeks! This means that I will spend a total of 13 out of 16 months in that blessed place. Unfortunately, since I left there have been a number of problems and illnesses with missionaries in that area. President Summerhays and the Lord have decided to call me back there so that I can train three missionaries on the area, all of whom will be serving there for the first time, and all of whom are sister missionaries! I will be serving in a traditional two-person companionship with Hermana Beck (I love her just for her awesome name!) and will be serving and working very closely with another companionship of sisters Hermana Guerra (a native who I LOVE) and Hermana Franc. Hermanas Beck and Franc both came out recently, only three transfers each. Hermana Guerra came out with me, but didn't go to the MTC so she finishes her mission in September. I am soooo excited to work with these wonderful sisters for the last six weeks of my mission, what an honor.    I am a little sad to be leaving Naples, I will admit. I was asked to bear my testimony yesterday and it was sad to look out on those beautiful faces and know that we have so much love for each other after such a short time. I was truly humbled and honored in my service here and know that the area and I are both better for the experiences I have had here. We have worked so hard to help this ward recover, and I truly believe they are moving in the right direction now. The Lord has determined that an extra boost of the priesthood will be exactly what they need, so they will now have four Elders working here. I am very happy for them. I begged the ward members to work with the Elders and discover the true love and joy that is in this great work, I know they will all see many miracles in the weeks and months to come. This picture is of the Relief Society in Naples:

   Right now I am a little scatter-brained trying to coordinate the work here in Naples, pack, ship my bike home, and re-start the work in the two Largo areas without actually being there or having those cell phones! The joys of being a missionary! I can certainly say without reservation that I will not be bored in my last six weeks! I fully intend to come home on my feet, but barely. There may or may not be a stretcher involved somewhere along the way! I look forward to recounting all of my wonderful experiences and miracles with all of you each week. I love this work so much, it is the greatest joy of my life. I love being a missionary with my whole heart and soul.    I love you all!        Hermana Levanger

May 14, 2012

Hello Everyone!    I have both a lot and very little to report on this week, funny how that happens huh? On Thursday of this week we had our Zone Conference. I had the impression that I would be giving a talk that day, and sure enough, I was asked to give a talk on a Christ-like attribute at the very beginning. I spoke on diligence and used part of a letter my Dad sent to me over a year ago about how a missionary determines their own happiness based on whether or not they are giving their best. I think it went really well. I felt unprepared, but that is what we do as missionaries, we preach the gospel with no advance notice!    After a very long zone conference in which I believe we all felt the need to repent and do better on several things, I was surprised with another opportunity to speak. Apparently this is the last zone conference we are going to have before I go home. As it is the last opportunity, I was asked to give my farewell testimony. Talk about a weird experience! I still remember when Cam gave hers. It feels like that was yesterday, and now here I am giving mine! It was truly an out of body experience for me. I didn't know what to think. I told my fellow missionaries that I love them, that I am proud to have them as my peers and that they are the best missionaries in the entire world. I talked about how I have discovered the family that I didn't know I was missing while serving my mission, and that I would be grateful for the rest of my life for the experiences that I have had here. I talked about how I had found wonderful friends during this last year-and-a-half, and that I was a better person for the examples and friendship of others. I talked about what an honor it was to wear my name tag every day and represent the Savior in His work. The whole time I was thinking, "This isn't real! I still have a TON of time left! This can't be happening to me!" How quickly the time goes. I can't believe it, but my mission is coming to a close, and I'm just not ready for that to happen yet. The other missionaries now look at me as the 'dying missionary.' I used to be the young missionary! Oh well, life goes on, and there is a new generation of missionaries to take my place. This work will not be stopped! Until they forcibly shove me on the plane though, I will be working my hardest to represent my Savior the best way I know how!    As for the rest of the week, I honestly have very little to report. I was very ill this week. Yesterday I had a fever of 103 and had to break the Sabbath for the first time in over a year to go to the pharmacy and pick up the three prescriptions the mission doctor prescribed. (I'm not going to lie, I am going to miss having a doctor that I can call at any time and get great advice and drugs for free!). Despite the severity of my illness, I refused to miss church, so I took a shower, put on a face mask, and went anyway. I know I'm stubborn, but you all still love me right? I am feeling a bit better today, I still have a fever, but the drugs I have are really good, and they are doing their job. Check out the greatest street sign on earth!

   Last night I took it easy and had a really great conversation with my Mom and Dad. It was pretty funny, because instead of talking like it would be forever until we got to talk again like the other times, we just talked about how soon we would be talking again! It was funny, but really nice. I didn't even get emotional. It was just a nice chat with my parents, almost like we had talked yesterday and would talk again tomorrow! I sure do love them, I have the best and most supportive parents in the entire world. The evening was spent in the home of the Thomassons, the senior missionary couple here in Naples. We had a wonderful BBQ and everyone pitched in and helped. Two of the Elders did have a moment when they were a little unhappy about Floridian BBQs (meaning going outside in a downpour to turn the meat) but they were good sports about it!

   Well everyone, I love you. I am looking forward to working hard this last week of the transfer. Next week I will know where and with whom I will finish my mission. I honestly have no idea what is going to happen, but I know the Lord's hand will be in it, and that I will love every second that I have left. Being a missionary is the greatest thing in the world. I am so lucky to be a missionary at this time and in this great place. I hope each of you takes a moment this week to notice something that you are grateful for, and take an extra moment or two to appreciate it. I love you all so much, and I am so grateful for the gift I have of having each of you in my life. I love you all,     Hermana Levanger

May 7, 2012

Hello Everyone!    Well, once again I made the mistake of responding to individual e-mails, writing my president's letter, and looking at a couple of things on lds.org before writing my family letter...and now I am exhausted from typing, and have almost zero time to write anything of substance! We have been working hard this week to get everyone ready for the ward-wide fast we had yesterday for the Family Mission Plan. I'm not sure how well it went, or how many actually did it, but I hope everyone was involved and has a new fire for missionary work. With all of the families moving out, unless we get going this ward could become a branch, and I would hate to see that happen.     In looking through my pictures I realized there was a very funny story from last week that I forgot to tell you. One evening last week we had a joint dinner with the elders and one of the Cuban families in our ward. This family lives in the estates, which is a nice word for the middle of nowhere, and really far away. When we got there we felt like we had walked into the setting for one of those scary campfire stories (which actually led to the telling of some such stories later on!) but we mustered up our courage and carried on. The family, of course, is awesome and I love spending time with them. They have incredible testimonies. They also have almost every kind of animal a person in the United States can own: cats, dogs, birds, ducks, chickens, turkeys, fish, and even a couple of peacocks! When I heard they had peacocks, I asked if we could see them...big mistake! To get to the peacocks, you had to traverse a miniature farm jungle and avoid the big, ugly, mean turkey! Luckily, we had a tiny Cuban lady, who happened to have a shovel. She mostly protected us! I'm not going to lie. I did not get through the experience without injury, but they were minor scratches and I'm not sure I have laughed so much in my life!

   I hope all of you are safe, happy and well. I love each of you and pray for you every day. I hope that wherever this letter finds you it brings a smile to your face. I would even be okay with it if you had a few chuckles at my expense. (I am sure, at the very least, my dad will!) I live to entertain you! I am so grateful for the love and support I feel from each of you. Thank you for being such a big part of my life. Please take the opportunity today to look for someone who needs a laugh, and do everything you can to be that for them. We all need a good laugh sometimes! Love you all! Hermana Levanger

April 30, 2012

Hello Everyone!,    Well the Choir extravaganza is officially over. I am so excited to be back in my area for the foreseeable future and not have to leave for any unknown reason. It has been a long three weeks. Although, I have had the blessing of seeing at least one of my converts from St. Pete all three weeks. The first week I saw Lazaro and Elizabeth (both getting their endowments in August), the second week Elizabeth came again, and yesterday I saw Elbis! It was such a tender mercy of the Lord to be able to see, hug, and spend a little bit of time with each of them. I truly do love and miss them.    We have a lot of work ahead of us here in Naples. We are having a big missionary push in the ward, mostly because somehow we have to make up for the 32-39 people who are moving out over the next three months. When all the moves are done we may be about the size of St Pete! It is sad to see so many leaving, but I keep trying to see the good in it and imagine who will come to take their place. I am looking forward to really rolling up my sleeves the next few weeks. I know that it will be a lot of work, but what better work is there?    I love you all and have thought and prayed about each of you often this week. I hope all is well with you and that you are safe and happy. Please let me know if there is anything that I can ever do for you. I love you all! Hermana Levanger