February 28, 2011
Dear Family,
Well, tomorrow is March and I can hardly believe it. I have been here in Lithuania for almost a year now! Can you believe that?! The rest of this year is going to go by so fast. I guess I just have about ten more months left of my mission. That is a long time, but it's not at the same time. Hope I can make the most of it!
This week has been alright for us. There were a lot of people that didn't show up to lessons, so that was disappointing, but oh well. We were able to meet with one of our investigators, Pijus, again and that was good. We had a recently reactivated girl come and teach with us and she bore a great testimony about the Savior and how much she loved this church. There was a very sweet spirit there as you could see how much she had changed in coming back to the church. We invited Pijus to be baptized for the second time but he still said that he needed to think about it. I hope that his heart will be softened and that as he faithfully reads the Book of Mormon that he will receive a confirmation that this is God's true church. We also spent a little time at the hospital this week. Elder Whicker has been having some pains down in his intestines, so we set up a time for him to have a Colonoscopy this week coming week on Thursday. So, we will be out for two days as Elder Whicker will have to take some fluid that will clean him out on Wednesday and then he will need to recover on Thursday after being put out. Maybe I will finally get a chance to catch up in my journal and stuff. :) Anyways, I'm worried about Elder Whicker, but I'm sure everything will be fine. I'm so grateful for good health. I haven't gotten sick since the mtc I don't think. I hope I didn't just curse myself! So, that will be happening this week. On Saturday there will be a baptism! You know that family that got baptized here in Vilnius last year like the week after I got here? Well, the father in the family, Brother Skliutis, his dad lives with them and has been coming to church with their family for the past year and none of us thought that he would ever get baptized cause he is super old and we had talked to the family and they would say no... But last week out of the blue, the grandpa told Elders Lindell and Manning that he wanted to get baptized! So he will be getting baptized this Saturday! How great is that?! That is a little miracle. He is the sweetest little man. He fought in WW2 so he tells us the most crazy stories. Anyways, I thought I would share that.
Elder Whicker and I are doing well and I am really enjoying being with him. He does the funniest things and they really remind me of the random things that our family does. He's a lot of fun and I am learning a lot from him. We are trying really hard to get some things going in our area, but it has been slow. I'm really grateful to be here though. I really love this city. You asked about Ignas and Dainus in Kaunas. Well, I told Elder Graham all about them and it will be easy for them to pick up where we left off. Elder Graham was actually the one that started teaching Dainus, so I think that it is a blessing that Elder Graham will be teaching him again. They already had a really good relationship. I will let you know if something ever happens with them. I'm so glad to hear that BYU is doing so well right now!! I wish that I were there to see it, but whatever. There is always YouTube! haha... I love seeing BYU do so well cause I think of it as the Lord's school and the Lord's teams. :) haha... Anyways, I'm glad that they are doing so well. If they go far the tournament, you will have to record some of their games for me!
I am so grateful for this church and the many blessings that I have. Every day I am learning to love it more. Where would I be without a loving family and without God... I hope that none of us take for granted all of the wonderful blessings that we have. God loves us all so much! That's it from me this week, but I hope that the family is doing well and that you all know that I love you! Have a great week!
Love, Elder Leishman
411 days down, 319 days to go!
