Well, this is it! The last email from Elder Leishman!

Tanner's Homecoming will be on Dec. 16, 11am at the Stake Center on 12101 South 700 West, Draper, Utah.  We will be having treats at our house afterward.  We would love to have you there!


Hi Everyone.

Well, I guess this is the last letter of my mission.  I'd like to give a last testimony for anyone who reads these.  I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth.  I know that God loves every single one of us, and even though we don't know why things happen, He does know.  I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet.  I know that because the Book of Mormon is the word of God.  I know that because I read the book, and I prayed about it, and God himself, through his Holy Spirit answered me.  I know that I was called by a Prophet to serve a mission.  I know that the Lord needed me in Colombia in this moment.   I know that Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God.  I know that he receives revelation for all of us.  If you have any doubt about any of these things, please just read the Book of Mormon and ask God in prayer if it is true.  You won't need to know anything else.  I love you guys, I love the gospel, and I love Colombia.

I honestly am going to miss Colombia with all of my heart.  I've had a lot of incredible experiences that have made me grow to love this country more than I can express.  I can't wait until I can come back here and be able to enjoy more of the wonderful creations that God has made here. 

   

I want to thank everyone for your support.  I love all of you and can't wait to see you all soon.

Love - Elder Leishman

Week 100!

Hey mom!  Yeah it's pretty freaky.  WEEK 100!!! What the heck???  Haha I'm kind of sad, because I'll be pretty much travelling all over the place this week, and then next week is just like 3 days in my area and then I go to back to Bogota for trainings. This week is a little weird, I'll probably explain more next week but we are pretty much spending the next 2 or 3 days in Bogota, then we need to go to Ibagué (my last area) for a training with Elder Falabella and then we go back to Neiva (current area) so I guess I have a few days left in the mish to work. CARAMBAS. 

But yeah I really don't have much to talk about, not a lot going on.  Just trying to get some last good work in.  Also, I got super cheap all the sudden and haven't bought any clothes yet with the money I pulled out but we'll see, haha. Love you guys!  See you soon!

Week 99!

Hey mom! Its pretty weird.  I probably only have this week and next week to work and the rest is just trainings for real life.  Also, weird fact, the oldest missionary in the field just ended his mission this week...so I am officially the missionary with the most time in the mission right now (even more than the president, haha) so that's a weird feeling.

Today we went back to the Desert of the Tatacoa.  It was pretty cool, this time we brought the whole zone too so that was fun.  It was pretty much the same thing we did the last time, but with more people.  So this pic is super cool though.  There was this HUUGE concert here this week called "mago de oz" to neiva.  We obviously didn't get to see them, but I definitely got a t-shirt.  So I was sporting my dope new mago de oz shirt, and all the sudden some of the band members showed up.  So you KNOW we snapped a pic with them :) hahaha, it was pretty cool.  They're pretty famous it was wack, haha. I honestly have the best luck in the world.

The other pic is the zone (at least those that went). If you cant see me, I'm the one holding Elder Barrett.  Good times. 

Love you guys! Sorry the letter isn't very interesting...I can literally just tell you the details later. 

PEACE AND LOVE.

Week 98!

Hey, Mom! Sadly, not much to talk about here either.  Just trying to finish up well.  We played some soccer and frisbee today.  I was sweating like crazy.  Then we went to the mall and ate some food.  Pretty average Pday.  

This week we didn't really have a lot go down.  We have been trying to visit more member to try and get references.  And, well, we got references. But we just didn't get the chance to teach them so we didn't find a lot of news.  The area has been going through a tough spot, so we are trying to pull it out of this funk.  It's honestly a really killer area, I don't know what's wrong.  

  

Things are good though! I'm dying of heat, and probably going to continue dying for the next few weeks.  LOVING LIFE.

Sorry for the short letter, we got to the internet place a little late. Love you guys! Talk to you next week.

Week 97!

Hey, Mom! So far so good!  Jorge did indeed end up getting baptized.  It was a super cool spiritual experience.  

Yesterday being fast and testimony meeting was really cool.  Pretty much Jorge's entire family got up and bore testimony and talked about how happy they were.  Then Jorge's son got up and bore a killer testimony.  He got real emotional (he's like 12, but he's kind of an old 12 year old) and it was just a really cool experience.  Everyone felt the spirit and was real happy. I have pics, but this computer doesn't have a place for me to send pictures so yeah that sucks.

Other than that, I've just been workin' my butt off to try and make sure I end the mish well. It still hasn't really settled in so I'm  just trying to make sure I end on a good note.  We've been  contacting like crazy, and haven't really been seeing the results that we want, but we are still working.  

Thanks for the letter mom! You're the best. Sorry it's so short...I'm low on things to talk about.  Hahaha

Week 96!

Hey, Mom! Good news! My last comp´s name is Elder Gamez.  We were Semi-comps for like 2 weeks last transfer so its all good we already know each other.  He is from Washington (the last name comes from Salvador).

This week was a lot better.  We had leadership counsel which is always hard because it is so long, but I survived.  We had a real good time too.  The mission is getting changed quite a bit these days so it's kind of weird to see everything change as I'm ending.  

I left the meeting with a cool new motivation to work harder.   It's been good.  It's helped quite a bit. We had a super powerful lesson with an investigator named Jorge.  He's been going to church for over a year now, but just wouldn't get baptized.  We had a little talk with him, and he decided to get baptized this weekend.  He really is awesome.  It was a good testimony for me because the Lord understands everyone's situation and will humble his children in any way that he wants to secure the salvation of his children.

Yeah, transfers were tough.  It was weird to say by to Elder Stearns since I may or may not see him again in the mish.  WACK.  It was sad to say by to some other friends from the zone too.  It's all good though, transfers always come around.

Love you guys a ton!  I hope you have a good week. See you soon!

Week 95!

Hey mom! Things have been cool here.  I have to confess.  I pulled a BUNCH of money out today.  Some of it, the church will pay me back for...but a lot of it...I bought some cool clothes with.  The clothes are cheap here so I was kind of just buying my Christmas clothes here.  Like, a real nice pair of jeans or khaks for like 15 bucks, or t-shirts for like 8-10 bucks.  So if I take it too far, just tell me.  I'll have to send some pics, because I got some pretty cool stuff. :)  Preparing myself to be a "YSA," hahaha.

This week was tough, we had very little time in our own  are to work because we were all over the zone doing interviews and exchanges and stuff but it was okay.  

Out of nowhere on Saturday, President Nelson had a surprise transmission for all the missionaries from our area, South America Northwest  (Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela). We all thought he was gonna rip us a new one or something, but he and and Elder Stevensen and some of the area presidency just gave some really cool talks.  Pres Nelson analyzed a bit about Christ´s ministry in the Americas and compared it with the Bible. Super cool.  Lots of interesting stuff.

Sunday we were super worried that no one was going to come to church, but God saw our efforts and helped some miracle investigators come to church, and even some members brought friends to church that we got to teach. LOVIN' THE BLESSINGS.  I'm really hopin' that this week (AFTER the 6 hour bus ride back to Neiva) we get some time to work.  I need to really just take advantage of the time I have left.  

Love you guys like crazy! Keep it real.

1. Clothes hunting, trying to help Elder Stearns find his style

2. I didn't have a baptism, but the sisters´ convert asked me to baptize her, haha

3. I don't know if I already sent this one, but the other day we walked by a house and the lady had a big ol' turtle, so we asked if we could take a pic with it and she said yea.  Classic.