MARTINS COVE - 8/3/10

Hello again to all our family and friends,

The last couple of weeks has been like a Tidal Wave of trekkers. This wave has been building to a crescendo all summer and finally hit. But, one more week and the tide will go back out and calm water will arrive. I'm sure it will be like a gigantic let down as all the pioneer activity has been very exhilarating. To see these beautiful young people dressed in their pioneer outfits, pulling their handcarts, trekking out on the trails, doing the river crossings, the woman's pull up the steep inclines, the square dancing, and their spiritual meetings puts you on a spiritual high that is impossible to describe. It's wonderful to see a small sampling of the many virtuous, wholesome young people there are in the world.

I have also been kept busy putting the finishing touches on the assigned list of improvements I would like to finish before our release date which is coming fast. (Sept. 28.) The last major job on my list is placing gravel on parts of the road and parking areas of Jackson Campground which when it rains become very slick and easy to get stuck in. I was fortunate (blessed) to locate a gravel source across the river about a half a mile away and a sturdy old bridge to haul across. I have been very fortunate while serving here because our leadership has pretty much given me free rein to use my experience to accomplish the jobs they've wanted done.

One of the things we are going to miss most about this mission is the missionaries. We have made such wonderful friends and had so much fun associating with them. We hope our friendships will last a life time.

We're very excited to have some of our family members coming this month. We can't wait to show them around. We have had the opportunity to meet many of our extended Leavitt family from all over the country, most of whom we would have probably never met otherwise. It was only our Leavitt name tags that introduced us.

We love all of you and appreciate your love and support.

Elder Leavitt


Hi everyone -- One of the highlights for me during the last two weeks was hearing from a great-great granddaughter of Joseph and Emma Smith. Although she had this great heritage, she didn't really understand or appreciate it because she was raised in a family that literally despised the Mormon Church. She had been lied to her whole life and didn't realize that Joseph Smith had founded a true and living Church. Because she was studying her family history, she was referred to a Mormon Church to do the necessary genealogy research. This was the beginning of her finding out about her Grandparents and her relationship to them.

Needless to say, she was amazed and overwhelmed. She began to research the Church in earnest and ended up being baptized. It really was a miracle as she had to overcome so many ingrained prejudices to be able learn about the Church with an open mind. Her message was so compelling because what she talked about was healing the rifts in families and in relationships. Because of her up-bringing, she was raised in fear, hate and anger. But, she has been able to turn it around and has been able to bless thousands of lives with her testimony of the saving grace of Jesus Christ and his ability to heal broken lives and families.

Her mantra is "Let go, embrace Christ and move on" -- something we can all benefit from.

On our "P" day this past week we went to Saratoga with some Missionary friends. Had a wonderful time. Saratoga is another quaint, little Wyoming town that had a main street with many fun stores. We also visited Encampment which is another very small Wyoming town (Population 59 !) that has a unique display of many buildings that they have acquired over the years, that show what a Wyoming town looked like in the 1900's. The thing I enjoyed the most was a 2-story outhouse -- necessary because of the accumulation of snow in the winter. Finally we drove over the Snowy Range, down into Laramie, where I graduated from College. Snowy Range was gorgeous and I was amazed it was about 50 miles from Laramie but I never visited it when I was in college.

As Elder Leavitt said, the last couple of weeks have been almost frantic, we've been so busy with trekkers. But I have to say our Missionaries have done an incredible job and we can end this trek season feeling good about the work we have done this summer. We have had wonderful evaluations from the trek groups so we know we have accomplished our goal of helping these kids feel of the Spirit of our Lord and helping them to know they can do difficult things.

Although it's a couple of weeks late, wanted to attach a picture of Elder Leavitt on half of the paved road. He worked so hard on it, it's something that he can look back on and know he made a significant contribution here. In the background is Devil's Gate.

Well, the bed is calling to me -- really tired this week. Hope I can get rested up now that we're almost through with the trek season.

Our love and prayers to all of you,

Sister Leavitt aka Peggy