Dear Family,
Hello everyone! Another week has gone by and it is the middle of June! My mission is about 1/4 of the way over! That is just nuts... This week has been a bit more eventful. Transfers were this last Wednesday and....... I'm still in Klaipeda! I was worried that i was going to get moved again, but I was also pretty sure that Elder Graham and I were going to stay together. I was right about that one. Actually nothing changed here in Klaipeda, so Elders Whicker and Porter are still together too. I was really happy about that because I really like those two. The rest of Lithuania totally changed though. We got four new missionaries. Three Elders and one new Sister. They seem so new! It makes me see that I really can speak a little better than I thought. We Had Zone Conference on Saturday in Kuanas so we got to see all of the new missionaries. Zone Conference is always so spiritual and it's great to see everyone. So, anyways I'm still in Klaipeda with Elder Graham and I'm really happy about that. So I'll start with last Monday and go from there. It was Preparation Day, so we all got haircuts and I, of course, look so dang good. :) haha just kidding! But we didn't really do anything else that day other than the normal grocery shopping and emailing.
On Tuesday we taught a new lesson on the street and that was good. We were supposed to have a lesson with Jonas, but he sent us a text saying that he wasn't coming to the meeting... So we asked him if we could meet later or on another day and he never responded. Needless to say we have contacted him every day since then and he has never answered... Thank you for praying for him and for us though. It means so much to me and I know that the Lord has a plan for him. He was doing so well, but we don't know what happened. We figure that he talked to his family and they probably freaked out... I don't know. It was rough and disappointing but all we can do is hope that maybe sometime in the future he will choose to come back. That was the first time that has happened to me so it was kind of hard, but what can you do? We've just tried to keep finding people and do the best we can. I hope everything turns out ok for him. And I know that it will. Everyone has their agency and we are just here to help them find their way. It will all work out. So anyways, thank you for your continual prayers. It means so much that everyone is so supportive. And don't worry, I'm fine. It was just disappointing. So Tuesday during our breaks, we deep cleaned our apartment and it felt so good! You know me and how I like to organize and clean things... haha.. Missionaries have been living in our apartment for the last 15 years so pretty much since the mission opened. So there was a ton of old crap hanging around! Tons of old shirts and ties and pants. Old irons and just a ton of random stuff! We got rid of all of it! I think we got 10 big grocery bags full! We mopped all of the floors, because they don't like carpet here for some reason, and just deep cleaned the place. We even moved all of the furniture! It looked like it had never been moved before to be honest. haha... the whole place looks and feels so much better though. I did get a few shirts and ties out of it though. The ones that weren't 10 years old! Oh and I also found a blow dryer which I was happy about! It will be a nice heater in the winter. :) So, that was nice to get that all cleaned up.
On Wednesday we just had a normal day so there isn't much to say there. I can't remember it honestly... Thursday was a normal day too, but I made Pancakes for the first time EVER that morning! haha, When I was on exchanges with Elder Whicker he showed me a recipe to make them so I decided to try it. It was been one of my goals to learn how to cook better, so I had to start somewhere... They actually turned out pretty good! Elder Graham was really impressed. The only thing is that they don't have any maple flavoring here, so we can't make syrup... as far as I know anyways. Actually, mom, can you send me your recipe for pancakes and syrup next week in your email? Just for normal white flour ones cause we don't have wheat. And also the ones for waffles and french toast and maybe some other easy to make meals that I liked? That would be wonderful! So that was my first attempt at cooking by myself and it worked out pretty good.
Friday was normal, but Sister Dance called me and asked if Elder Whicker and I would sing at Zone Conference because she knows that we both sing, so we picked a song and practiced it that day. Elder Ported is really good on the piano so we made a really cool arrangement to "Where Can I Turn For Peace" and it turned out so good! I have never really listened to that song before, but the lyrics and music are beautiful. So that was a lot of fun figuring that out and singing it in Zone Conference the next day.
So yeah, Saturday was Zone Conference and it was so good. President Dance talked a lot about being more confident with yourself in all ways and that was really good for me cause I really struggle with that. So it helped me to see how I can improve in that area and it will help me for the rest of my life I know. On Sunday we did the normal and went to church. I actually want to share a really cool experience we had that night. So on Saturday night when we were planning out our goals for the next day and how many lessons we wanted to find the next day I really felt like we should put that we would find two new lessons. That doesn't sound significant, but we usually only put one lesson cause that's usually all we find if that! So Elder Graham was like, ok let’s put two. So on Sunday, it was about seven and we had about two hours until we had to go in. We were knocking doors down in a part of our area and we had just finished a dome and hardly anyone even opened their doors let alone wanted to talk to us! So we kind of started walking towards the street and we were thinking that maybe we were just going to go contact or something cause no one was listening. But I turned and looked at the dome behind us and I felt like we should go there. I can't really explain it! But I just looked at it and... I don't know! I just had a thought to go there. So I told Elder Graham that we should try that one and so we went there. We went to the very last stair well and went to the top floor. We always start at the top and work our way down. Every dome has maybe six stair wells and is five stories high. That is a typical dome. So we knocked on the first door and the girl about our age came out and we started talking to her. We can't teach women or girls of any age without another guy with us so we were just trying to give here the churches information or something but she ended up telling us that her best friend could die at any second from cancer! That was random so we gave her a book of Mormon and told her to read it and to read it with her friend. Also to pray with her and we promised it would help. We invited her to English class this week and she said she would come with her mom. So maybe something could happen there. Anyways, it was just a so amazing to me cause that is the first time that I have felt that really happen for me! We always try to follow the spirit, but that was the first time that I had felt a distinct prompting that we should go somewhere and even two put down two lessons instead of one! I'm not at all trying to boast, I'm so grateful that I felt that. I have felt it other times before then, but this was the biggest for me. So we talked to that girl and then in all of the other stairwells tons of people opened their doors! And then the very last door we knocked on this really hard looking old guy and his wife opened the door and we started talking to them. They were hardcore Catholic and were trying to tell us that they didn't need anything else but we got them to let us into their home and we taught them about the book of Mormon and how there really is more and that the church is restored on the earth. I could go on and on about it but it was a great experience. We got them to commit to read from the book of Mormon and we will be going over there again later this week. So anyways, I just wanted to share that simple miracle with you cause I know I need to do that more. It might not seem like a huge deal, but I want you to know that if we try constantly to follow the spirit, we will be lead. We can bless the lives of those around us even if we aren't missionaries. I'm sograteful that I was able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands at that moment. It really was so cool. Ok well that's it for my week! There was a lot that happened I guess.
Love, Elder Leishman
Elder Graham and I down by the pier.
Me out on the beach when we went out on the spit two weeks ago. Cool picture in my opinion!
Haha... From left to right, Elder Graham, me, Elder Porter, Elder Whicker.
152 days down, 578 days to go!!!
