Week 73 in LA--Technical Difficulties

Hello Everyone!  My email never sent due to technical issues. So here comes a double email!!!

[Last Weeks] 

This week Nazi got Baptized!! We spent like the whole week running around trying to get everything done. She is an awesome lady for sure. 

Her baptism was on a Thursday. She was super happy and grateful for all of the people waiting while she changed it was super funny.  But besides the baptism there isn't anything to update on. 

[This Week] 

So this week we had the Kohut's baptism. They are a great family. We also had transfers and Elder Leavitt and I stayed together. We had to find five different sizes of jumpsuits that took a long time.

At the baptism the father decided to wait to be baptized. He has really started taking the discussion and he was the happiest of the entire family. 

On Sunday it took a little to get them all confirmed but it did take a little but of time. 😂

Later that night there was a cool fireside with music and conversion stories for President Galorath and an Elder. It was a really good week. See you all soon! 

Here is Elder Leavitt's letter home (he gives a little more detail than Zach):

Hello beautiful people that I love! 

     This week was a splendid one! Very busy indeed! But I'll stick to the highlights. So on Saturday the Kohut family was Baptized! What a miracle that Amelia, the oldest daughter, suggested they all come to church. What a miracle that they all wanted to come as a family! What a blessing that Borys, the dad, who is a strong Greek Orthodox Christian allowed, and supported them in the decision to be Baptized! What a blessing that the Ward has brought them in and befriended them like none other! And yes, what a miracle that we could find jumpsuits for all 5 of them! Everything went very well the day of and they were all happy and excited, but it seemed that Borys was the most excited! Brother VanSlooten Baptized them all. Lena (mom) sent us a text on Friday that said:

"Ha! I just asked Christian if he is excited for tomorrow. He said, "yes! But we aren't done after that! We still need them to put their hands on our heads". So sweet & true" That is so true! On Sunday Brother Weatherford confirmed Lena, Brither VanSlooten Confirmed Amelia, Brother Devor Confirmed Roman, Bishop Green Confirmed Annelise, and Elder Cox confirmed Christian! What a beautiful thing the Priesthood is. I'm so lucky to be here right now! 

     I'm out of time, but that was what is important! Oh and Nazi is going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead this week! Have a great week, may your hammer be mighty! Go love someone who needs it! 

Love Elder Leavitt

Pictures

1-3 Kohut family

4 Last week at Nazi's baptism

Week 72 in LA--Fantastic Week

Hey!

I hope you are ready for a photo dump because I have a lot of photos to send to you. It sounds like life is good and stuff. Elder Leavitt and I are staying together another transfer in this area, we have another baptism this week. I will send a weekly and another email to you with a bunch of pictures I am on a computer now so it will come soon. Have a great day. **Sadly, nothing more came--no email and no pictures. I received all of the pictures I am posting from Elder Leavitt's mom.**

Elder Cox

Email from Elder Leavitt (his mom shared it with me):

Hello beautiful people that I love!

     What a week! It has been full of miracles, I'm sure I'll miss some of them. On Wednesday we got a giant magic sponge and some other cleaning supplies from Daiso and scrubbed the entire faunt! On Thursday we spent 2 hours before the baptism boiling 6 big pots of water over and over and dumping them in the faunt as it filled up because it wasn't very warm... And then Nazanin Hashemi was Baptized! Elder Hertz gave a talk on Baptism in Farsi and all 5 of us sang I Know That My Redeemer Lives in English and Farsi. A friend of hers came from Downtown to baptize her, Sister Olsen gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and everything was just perfect. The Spirit was so strong! And on Sunday I was able to confirm her a member of the Church of Jesus Cheist of Latter-day Saints, and give her the gift of the Holy Ghost. It's the first time I've ever had that pleasure. What a blessing it is that we have the Priesthood and can perform ordinances in Christs Name with his power! 

     We also taught the Kohuts a few times, and boy those kids are awesome! Christian, the 8 year old is so funny, and he always has the right answers! They just had their baptismal interviews today and they are ready to be Baptized on Saturday!

     This past Saturday we went to the temple on a bus with our ward! It was so cool, every quarter they rent a bus and go to the temple together! This time a man named Ted Ball joined us. He is a friend of Bishop Greens and he was in Elders Quorum last Sunday. Now, every time we do something as a ward Brother Mckeown goes around the room to ask every single person if they are going, and when he got to Ted Ball he laughed! But Bofher Mckeown assured him he really could come and enjoy the temple grounds and the VC. Sure enough he signed up to go, and on the day of he was the first one on the bus! When we got there we snagged the bus driver and gave him a tour of the VC even though the power went out (at which point we used the flashlights on our phones to show him the rooms in the back.) And Bishop took Ted around. Turns out the power was gone all the way down to Torrance! And I'm out of time! I love you all and hope you have a splendid week. May your hammer be mighty! Go love someone who needs it. 

     

Love Elder Leavitt 

P.S. Elder Cox and I will be staying together for another transfer and it's going to be great! 

Pictures

Hike from last week's P day

Nazi's baptism

P day run

Week 71 in LA--Crazy Packed P Day

Sorry we had crazy packed p day. Nazi is going to be baptized on Thursday and everything here is great. The other family is doing great as well. Elder Leavitt and I get along fantastic and I'll talk with you soon. I got a hair cut today and it looks good. 

This is what his companion, Elder Leavitt, sent home to his family, "Hello beautiful people that I love!

     I apologize but I have little time because of a 5 mile hike in the pouring rain! It was so worth it to get out of the city for a few hours! But this week on Thursday our dear friend Nazanin will be baptized! She is so prepared! Her husband wants to be baptized but can't while he still has refugee status in Indonesia, because if he got sent back to Iran very bad things could happen. 

     We also had a Zone conference which was incredible, and I learned a lot, but I don't have time to talk about it. 

     For some reason this week we saw quite a few animals such as raccoons, possums, and coyotes. My natural instinct was to chase the coyote... so that happened. I must go now! Love you all! May your hammer be mighty! 

Love Elder Leavitt"

He gives a few more details than Zach does. 😂😂

Pictures

1 Haircut

2-4 Helping build the stable/manger for the ward Christmas party

Week 70 in LA--January is Raining Blessings

Hello everyone!!!!! Super sorry I didn't send an email last week. Because of New Years we had to be in on time so I ran out of time! But this week has had so many crazy blessings that I have to share them with you all!!

Monday we played tennis and pickle ball and went bowling with all of the Farsi missionaries. It was so much fun to relax and hang out with all of them they are all great Elders. 

Tuesday we had a big meeting with the leaders of the mission which is called MLC (mission leadership council). We had a ton of discussions about how to help the mission become better. We overachieved all of our goals for December and we are working hard for this month. Elder Leavitt told me that I would love MLC and he proved right, it was so much fun!!

Wednesday we had a meeting with all of the district leaders and gave them a cool training on how to be more productive in missionary work. Then we proselyted the rest of the night!

Thursday we had a lesson with Nazi. She walked into church my first Sunday here  and we have been teaching her ever since. We had a super good lesson and we set a baptismal date with her for January 17th which is super soon! She is super prepared. 

Friday I went on exchanges with Elder Yi, it was a lot of fun and we got a lot of work done!

Saturday we had a Visitor Center trip with Nazi. She really enjoyed it! She is just so cool and she made a couple new friends down there!  

Sunday we taught a family after church and after the lesson we set them on date too! For the 26th of this month, one of them said they aren't ready yet so we have 5 more! 

Thanks for all of the support, have a great week

Elder Cox

Pictures are from New years eve with our roommates the farsi elders and our wonderful Mexican dinner! And some apartment fun playing with foam balls!