Maycee Leavitt CYFSN

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Can You Feel? So now podcast, I'm Justin Barton, and once again, I am spoiled out of my mind to be able to sit down with amazing young men and young women who are recently returned missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints, and just be able to talk to 'em about their experiences and things that they've learned on their mission.

And this person I'm speaking with now is somebody a. Don't think I've ever met. Until just three or four minutes ago when we jumped on Zoom, and I'm excited to learn more about her and get to feel that amazing missionary spirit that will come out of this. This is Maycee Leavitt and Maycee, why don't you just take a minute, introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about where you're from, a little bit about your family, maybe some things you enjoy doing.

Deal. My name is Maycee Levitt. I grew up everywhere. I was born in southern Utah, St. George. I spent some time in Oklahoma and went to a lot of my high school in Houston, Texas. So Houston, Texas is where I call home, but then moved to Cedar City, graduated high school [00:01:00] there, went to a year of Utah State up in Logan, Utah before my mission, and now my family lives back in Houston.

I am the oldest of three kids. I love anything outdoors. I love skiing, hiking, backpacking, anything that gets me up in the mountains, which Houston can't offer that. But

You call Houston home. Why is it that you call Houston home?

I, that's where I grew up the most. I spent fourth to my end of junior year here, so I feel like most of my growth and learning and developing was in Houston.

So there was quite a bit of movement around, it sounds like some of it was when you were pretty young, but what did moving around a lot do?

What did that do to help prepare you for maybe changes and stuff like that you experienced on your mission?

Totally. I think the first few moves, I was pretty young. I don't have a great recollection of the emotions and everything that happened, but the move from Houston to Cedar City, it was December of [00:02:00] 2020, so it was the middle of right when Covid started.

It was in the middle of my junior year and I was very upset. And then moving to Cedar was very hard, very different atmosphere in Cedar City than there is in Houston, Texas. So it left a lot of period of reflection and honestly a lot of loneliness, which led to me spending more time with my savior and reading scriptures.

'cause I wasn't out hanging out with friends, which didn't seem like a great thing in the time. But looking back at it, it was a great period of relying on Jesus Christ through prayer and scripture study.

Where were you assigned to serve your mission, and what were the approximate dates that you served there?

So I was called to the Washington Spokane Mission, and I started my mission August of 2023 and finished four days ago.

So you are very recently home from your mission. How cool is that?

I [00:03:00] am

Is culture shock getting home worse than culture?

Shock of arriving in a town called Spokane, Washington?

For some things it is. Being home is very weird feeling. You go from living a very determined and set purpose every single day knowing what you're supposed to do and coming home, having to find that again. Find where I'm supposed to be is the next step, and so it is.

It's a very different adjustment from going to the mission rather than coming home, but both are good.

Yeah. Now you mentioned that when you moved from Houston to Cedar City, you felt a lot of loneliness, but contrary to what I would've been, I think as a junior in high school, instead of isolating and disappearing into yourself.

It sounds like you spent a lot of time with the savior. Talk to me about , why you made that choice and how that has helped you develop that relationship with your [00:04:00] savior.

It's definitely a conscious choice because in Houston I was one of the only members. Of the church in my school. And so the seminary kids and the members, we were all very tight knit.

And so I was used to being very independent and relying heavily on my testimony. And then going to Cedar City, there's a lot of members. The member population is very dense. And so I felt like I didn't have to rely on that as much. There wasn't as much temptation at school. But then I started to lack on the things that I knew strengthened me, and it was then that I realized the strength that comes through going to the temple and reading the scriptures and prayer which has led to a lot of blessings now even on my mission, being able to strengthen that again and even more.

I love how you said that you recognize that you're getting lax on those things maybe because the culture was such [00:05:00] that it was a church culture in the social life of things. It wasn't just a you didn't have to go to church to be around church people,

why did that cause you to go lax rather than. I don't know, button up your shirt and be more prim and proper.

That's a good question. I just think I didn't have to work as hard to have a testimony it seemed, because everyone was just talking about church and that was just a part of every conversation.

So I didn't take independent opportunity to strengthen that testimony, if that makes sense.

Yeah, it totally makes sense. In fact, that's one of the reasons why I live in the Spokane, Washington area. I was born in like the Salt Lake area, moved to Mesa, Arizona, which is basically the Salt Lake area in Arizona.

And about 10 years ago, my family made the decision we're gonna go somewhere that's not quite as that way so that we aren't lax and complacent with things Now. [00:06:00] You mentioned that in Cedar, everybody just talked about the church. What have you learned about the difference between talking about church and living with Jesus?

Oh man, I learned a lot. I think it's very evident the difference because obviously there's joy in the gospel of Jesus Christ. That joy is, it increases as you increase your personal testimony. And just because you talk about Jesus Christ doesn't mean you are becoming like Kim, right? There has to be action behind that and there has to be an effort and a desire to do that,

So Maycee that was powerful.

Just because I talk about Jesus doesn't mean I'm becoming more and more like him. Dive a little bit deeper into that. What actions and things have you taken throughout your life, whether it was in that move to Cedar City or whether it was on your mission that you realized, I can't just talk about this, I've gotta do some things, and what [00:07:00] types of things do you do

on my mission

It was made very evident. Because you invite people to do things and they're, especially towards the beginning of my mission when I was trying to figure everything out, I realized that I sometimes was inviting people to do things that I wasn't doing myself, and I was like God started calling me out on it.

He is really? You're not doing that. You might wanna check on that. And then you apply that, the invitation, you're expend extending to other people and you realize that the blessings and the invitations really are from God. And , you don't ever see Jesus in the scriptures say something that he didn't do himself right?

He always extends invitations for things that he does. So

yeah, I love that. So do you mind sharing what's an example of something you were inviting people to do that you weren't actively doing in your own life at that point, early in your mission?

I would say prayer was the biggest adjustment as a [00:08:00] missionary, being very intentional about the prayers that I offered because as a missionary you pray all the time, and I realized that I didn't really know how to pray or the importance of prayer.

So when I would invite people, even members, like we'd invite an inactive member to be intentional about their prayers, and I'm like, am I being intentional about the way I talk to the God of the universe? Or am I just casually spewing out random things? It's meant to be thoughtful.

So how has prayer changed in your life?

You grew up a member your whole life. You prayed . Morning ate the meals at night, at all your church activities before and after. All these different prayers that you were saying. What changed while you're on your mission, when you realized I'm not being very intentional in this.

When you realize that God answers specific prayers more specifically. I think that was a moment that I was like, if I ask for specific [00:09:00] things or specific guidance for a friend or for myself, then God will give me a specific answer. But if you ask a vague question, you're gonna get a vague answer.

And I think that's something that made it click more in my head. The importance of being intentional about the things I asked for.

Can you give an example of a specific prayer that was answered that made you go, oh wow. God really does answer prayer specifically when I ask specifically.

There was a week or two where me and my companion, we were struggling to find. Finding is a constant need as a missionary and probably the most frustrating, but fun things ever. And we weren't finding, nobody was interested and we were just getting frustrated. And so we decided to pray and fast to be able to have opportunities to testify specifically about the plan of salvation.

It was something that we had been studying as a companionship. We wanted to have opportunities to testify at the plan [00:10:00] of salvation and God's love and mercy towards each of his children. And then the next week or two, we had every single contact we had. People were asking questions about the plan of salvation and wanted to understand God's purpose for them.

And we still didn't find a million people, but we found opportunities to testify specifically. It proves to me once again that God is very mindful and in the details of what we ask for,

you mentioned that, you're going through a period of time where just people weren't talking to you, you weren't able to testify.

It just felt I'm gonna put words in your mouth. What's the point? Why am I even here? How do you get through periods of time like that in your mission when you're just like, I'm working so hard, I'm doing all these things, and there is nothing happening. How do you push through those, or how do you receive strength to get through those?

If you have your focus on your purpose as a missionary, but even when you're not a missionary, your focus on your covenants and the relationship that it allows you to have with your [00:11:00] father in heaven makes everything worth

it,

are given to

best and for our gain. And when you have that perspective. Maybe the weeks of finding and you're not finding anyone, maybe that's the time that God needs you to focus more on you rather than giving your all to someone else. And so keeping your focus on Jesus Christ, that makes it all worth it.

What does that look like in those times to focus on you and on the savior rather than giving everything to somebody else?

Oh, putting more effort into personal studies. If you're wanting to focus on your own relationship with Christ, taking time to be with him is the most important thing.

And something that I think a lot of missionaries overlook is the power of personal study.

Okay, so you mentioned that, , when you made that move to Cedar City, you eventually turned to Jesus, spent time with him, and throughout your mission several times, you continued to [00:12:00] develop that.

How has that relationship with Jesus, evolved over the last couple of years in your life?

Oh wow. That's a loaded question. My relationship with Jesus has been completely transformed. I thought before the mission, I knew who Jesus Christ was. I knew what the atonement was and what it allowed me to do and become.

Over , especially the last 18 and a half months, I've come to know that I didn't know anything and I still don't know anything. It's a constant journey of becoming and deeply understanding his sacrifice and his life and God's plan for us, and I can't even explain how my relationship with Jesus has changed it.

, But all I know that. He does live, and it has been manifest to me over and over again that our relationship and our covenant relationship with him is the most important thing [00:13:00] ever.

Why is it so important to have that perspective that this covenant relationship you have with Jesus is the most important thing?

When we make covenants that there are specific promises and blessings for each covenant we make, and to realize and recognize that those blessings are being manifest in coming to pass in my own life has helps me realize the importance of them. Because if

you don't have the spirit with you. It's a completely different ballgame. Life is really hard when you're living in an environment without the spirit, and I think that is the greatest blessing that comes from a covenant relationship with God is the access to the spirit, and it's strengthening and enabling power that comes through Jesus Christ and Spirit.

What experiences did you have of your own, or perhaps was maybe some people you were working with where you saw that relationship with Jesus maybe it wasn't strong enough and you felt like [00:14:00] you were, trying to remember how you put that It's a dark place if I'm not with Jesus, I think is what you said, or a hard place.

Talk to me a little bit about your own personal experience with them.

So a time period without that relationship with Christ

where it may have felt distant? Yeah.

Especially before my mission there was a time period where I surrounded myself with environments and people that didn't allow the spirit to be with me.

As I prepared to go on a mission, I started to recognize the need for that spirit in my life again, and being able to have that experience and then going into my mission and seeing people having the same experiences and seeing that need for the spirit has allowed me to better understand that Jesus Christ changes everything.

The idea that we cannot live very far from him. President Nelson, when he says, in the coming days, it will not be [00:15:00] possible to survive spiritually without the directing, comforting and guiding power of the spirit, . That is so true. If you take one step away from Jesus Christ, then that spirit, it diminishes and life gets really hard and it's not worth it.

It's not worth it to live in a way that the spirit can't speak to you. And so having those experiences has really helped me connect with people and help them see the blessings of keeping commitments and keeping covenants.

Thank you for sharing that.

You said that before you. Decided to prepare for serving a mission, that you were hanging out with people that maybe weren't examples of the light and truth that comes through the savior. How and why did you eventually say, you know what, I'm gonna serve a mission coming out of maybe an environment that wasn't supportive of that?

I think the Lord, he kept poking at me and nudging me to serve a mission for months [00:16:00] and months before that. And I think it was his way of preparing me to recognize the difference of the spirit with the gospel and without the gospel in my life. And so then to be able to recognize that as I prepared, just focusing on the blessings of the gospel, I think is the biggest thing.

All right. So Maycee, as you look back at the last year and a half what personal attributes did you see that changed and grew the most while you served a mission?

Oh man. I like to think that I increased in patience

With myself and with others. You're tested a lot with patience on both sides on a mission, but I think the biggest thing that has increased in my life is confidence. Confidence in myself, and also confidence in God.

Talk to us a little bit about the confidence in self and confidence in God and how that has changed.

I talked about before how covenants and that relationship [00:17:00] with God changes everything. But when you're eight years old and you're baptized, you don't really understand the significance of being bound eternally with God. And over the last 18 months, through my studies and through prayer and through seeing other people enter into covenants with God, your perspective changes of why.

Every single person needs to make that promise with God. And confidence comes through Jesus Christ. And so as I have come to know him and the blessings he promises me, I am able to walk forward with confidence knowing that I am bound to the source of all power and all joy.

I like how you use the word bound to the god of the universe. Why is that so important for some to recognize and realize, and why is it so important in your life to just own that fact?

God is not just somebody who is up in the clouds waiting for us to get up to his [00:18:00] level . He is right beside us. There's a reason that in the scriptures, a lot of times in the Book of Mormon the phrase in the midst is used, right? Jesus is always in the midst of his people. And so when we have that covenant relationship with God, he is in the midst of us.

He isn't up in the clouds so far separated from us anymore. Not that he ever is even before covenants, but , those covenants bring us closer to him. It is a beautiful thing. It's so powerful to know that the God who created everything created a way for us to access his power and mercy, and then to be able to share.

So , as you look back to 18 and a half, 20 months ago, however long it was, between the time you received your call, till you got on your mission, what were some of the biggest fears that you had that were valid and what were some of the biggest fears that you had that you made a mountain out of a molehill?

Before the mission, I was [00:19:00] pretty reserved. So I would say when I thought about the idea of talking to everyone on a mission, I was like, oh my gosh, how am I gonna do that? That's so scary. Like people are mean, and I feel like that's pretty valid. I people can be scary and that's a big change. 'cause in normal day-to-day life, you don't talk to everyone about Christ and his gospel.

And a modern day prophet, you don't do that. And then a challenge, something I exaggerated . That's a tough question. I feel like I'm a pretty independent person, so living on my own and being separated from family wasn't super, super big of a deal, but maybe just not being able to have.

Free time free and use my time the way I wanted. I thought that was gonna be really hard because I can't just go on a hike or go skiing whenever I want.

Talk to me a little bit more about the valid fear of talking with [00:20:00] everybody, of running into people who may not respect what you're choosing to do with your time. As you look back at those times, was it worth it still to put up with that or is that something that you wish you could change?

I learned to love to talk to everyone. Like throughout my mission, it became so fun. You never knew who the person was that you were gonna talk to next, what their story was, what their experiences with the spirit were, or how they were, have been prepared to receive the gospel or at least a portion of the gospel.

And so it became a not valid fear. As a new missionary, it's gonna be scary. I definitely didn't keep and hold onto that fear throughout my mission, which I'm thankful for.

No, I love that. And I love how you said, you know what, it was valid, but it became a strength. Makes me think of ether 12:27 where if I'm humble.

And I put in the work, [00:21:00] Christ will make those weak things become strong unto me. Did you see other instances in your mission where weak things became strengths to you as you humbled yourself to that?

I would say so. Like you said, it takes a lot of humility, which is a big thing. You think, you figured out what it means to be humble and then another situation comes up and you are not humble.

I would say there were lots of experiences where I was, the Lord was able to use my weaknesses as strengths, .

Are there any verses of scripture that were , like thematic to you on the mission where it just seemed to come up over and over again?

I would say , there were two or three that I always felt could be shared with people because they're so universal, but also so personal when you read them. One that I found at the beginning of my mission. It was there the whole time I just found it. And it's Enus one, verse [00:22:00] four. And you think about Enis experiences or his experience pleading with the Lord. And I love how he.

Talks about his experience and he says, I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for my own soul. And you think about the word mighty, it's very strong and forceful. And so he was praying so urgently. But then you look at the word supplication, and on my mission, I came obsessed with looking up the definition of words.

And supplication is a humble request for help. So you see these contrasting words, both. Mighty, also humble. He knows that he needs answers and guidance. He's asking for it very urgently, but he is also humble and accepting and knowing that God's will be done.

That's awesome love. And so I think that's very

impactful.

Yeah. Now, what made you get obsessed with looking up [00:23:00] the definitions of words? Is it a companion or a mission president who, or somebody who was like, Hey, let's look up what the definition of this is. Or was it just natural curiosity on your side?

I think it was a little bit of both. So I'd never really read the scripture or studied the scriptures before the mission.

And so then when I started to study and dive deeper, I realized that a lot of the words were used repeatedly or in different circumstances. And I was like that, why did they use that word? And then you look up the definition and it changes the context and what you get out of it. But I also had a few companions that were very into it, and so it got me intrigued a little bit more.

Is there a word that you can think of that you went and looked up the definition of that it changed everything in your understanding of a certain concept?

Oh, 100%. I was actually talking to my sister who's serving a mission right now, talked to her today, and we were talking about Alma 36.

Alma's talking about his experience with repentance. And he uses the word [00:24:00] exquisite two times in two very different situations that you wouldn't think you would use the same word. It's exquisite pain and exquisite joy.

And so exquisite. One of the definitions is intense or sharp, and then another definition it listed was beautiful or refined and those kinds of things. And so we see that before repentance, Alma's pain was intense and sharp and painful, but then after repentance and turning to God that joy was exquisite and beautiful.

And so I love how the same word is very different meanings, but it's beautiful. So

that is beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. And I'm definitely going to think about that more as I ponder this, the exquisiteness of it. . All right. So Maycee, as you look back, was there like a theme of your mission, maybe mission president or mission leadership brought into your mission that [00:25:00] really helped you focus and be more of what you feel God wanted you to be on your mission?

, So I served under two mission presidents. I had to change exactly halfway through my mission and . The theme with the first mission president continued with the second mission president. So I was like,

I need to work on something. And it was giving our heartfelt all, giving our whole soul to God and his work

And what does that mean to you to give your heartfelt all under your

whole soul?

Being completely in, giving everything you have both feet in the water, both feet in the boat, , and not looking back.

And how do you envision that being something that you can carry forward into the rest of your life?

Oh, I've been thinking a lot about that. Anything that I begin doing, I give my all to it. That's something that I learned on my mission, especially from that reoccurring theme, is that if you're gonna do anything, give it your all [00:26:00] there. There'll be so much growth.

Yeah. So what's the next thing that you think is in front of you that you gotta give your all to,

oh, probably school. It's coming up. It'll be good though.

Yeah. So before your mission, you'd said you had a year of school. Is what you wanted to do before your mission, has that changed at all or evolved at all because of experiences you had on your mission?

A little bit, but not too much. I studied interior architecture and design before the mission, and I still want to do architecture, but I'm gonna go the civil engineering route.

So why do you think you made that change from interior architecture to looking at civil engineering?

There will hopefully be more opportunities for jobs and a little bit better pay with interior architecture and design. It's an art major, so I have to take a lot of freehand drawing and I'm not good at that. That's not my forte. I'm hoping with engineering it will be a little less art and a little more [00:27:00] architecture.

So do you see yourself more as a analytical type person rather than a creative type person?

I don't know. I have a little bit of both. I like the straight lines and then create from that. I like the house plans that are very neat,

All right, so Maycee, before we start wrapping up, is there anything else that, any other experiences or lessons learned that you feel would be important to share with us right now?

I think one of the big things that. Has changed or how my perspective changed over my mission is recognizing that every single person that you meet as a missionary and even in real life, they're placed there by God for a specific purpose.

Whether they're prepared in that moment or not, you were destined to meet them and to testify and to allow them to feel the spirit. [00:28:00] And I think that will be helpful going forward into real life too, knowing that each person that God grants me the opportunity to come in contact with I can help uplift them and help them feel God's love in any way.

Because nothing is coincidence anymore. It's all part of God's plan.

That sounds like that could be a total game changing perspective to look at everybody I run into. There's a purpose for that. It may be a tiny purpose, but there's a purpose for it. How has that shifted the way you look at somebody who may have been invisible to you before?

I think it's so beautiful because on a mission, we talked about it, talking to everyone, but there will be people that you see and you're like they don't seem like they would accept the gospel yet. But then your mindset changes and you say no, but they are a child of God. And , they have followed the promptings of the spirit to get to this exact point, and you have as well.

And so to utilize that opportunity to help them [00:29:00] feel God's love and that in turn helps you feel of his love as well. It's all just a beautiful, intertwined, perfect plan, and we often overlook it

yeah I haven't ever really put it in that type of , words, or thought about it that way before.

Thank you for helping open my eyes just a little bit. Maybe God put us together like this for that purpose for me. Thank you. . All right, so this project is called Can You Feel, so now it's based on Alma chapter five verse 26, and what I'd like to do is just read that verse and then ask you a series of three questions from that verse.

And see what your take is on this. So the verse reads, and now behold, I say to you, if you have experienced a change of heart, and if you have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can you feel so now? So Maycee, what does that change of heart look like? Have you experienced a change of heart?

Oh, I 100% have experienced a change of heart, and for me, that looks like having no more disposition to do evil. I [00:30:00] want to do everything in my power to live worthy of my covenants and to be able to receive God's greatest blessings. And so going forward, I hope to continue to keep the habits that I've formed on a mission and do the small and simple things that bring great and marvelous miracles into my life.

And I love that verse. It's a good one.

It is a good one. It is a good one. So the next phrase is, and if you have felt to sing the song of Redeeming love, what does that mean to you? , How can you apply that into practical living?

You feel God's love the most when you're spending time with him.

And so if you're going to sing the Song of Redeeming Love, then you need to be feeling that and doing the effort to be able to do that. And it's like what I said earlier, acting on the habits that I've created, and to be able to continue that momentum.

[00:31:00] What I'd like to do here is let's jump into a time machine. Let's go forward, I don't know, five or 10 years in your life. And you and I were gonna get out of the time machine and we find you sitting there and maybe that desire that you had to have no more disposition to do evil, you're not doing the small and simple things.

You're struggling at the moment. I want you to sit down with yourself and coach yourself and help you remember how you feel now so that they can once again feel. So now

It all begins with remembering the before of how you felt and then remembering what's happened when you changed. And right when you dismiss the fact that God has changed you, that's when you become weak and you become unable to move forward.

And I love Elder Holland has a BYU devotional talking about casting away our confidence and the spirit's manifestations to us. And it's our duty to [00:32:00] not put those spiritual experiences behind us. Don't deny it because life gets hard. And when life gets tough, you have to take a little bit of extra time to reflect and to slow down and remember God's blessings that he is given you and what got you to this point and how you can feel that again.

I think that what you just shared there, Maycee, is really wise. When life gets hard, what I want to do is accelerate and try and punch through the hard as fast as I can. But you said slow down a little bit. Take a step back and connect and see where that goes. And I usually don't do this, but I want to ask you, what type of experience do you have with that when life gets hard that you backed off and took it a little bit slower and was able to get through that hardness?

I'm not great at it myself either. It's easy to give advice, but it's harder to act on it. I would say when I'm feeling the most anxious on my mission, I always took five minutes [00:33:00] to read the scriptures and to pause and to reflect, and that's something that I definitely need to continue to do in my life going forward too.

Is when life gets hard or I'm feeling anxious or frustrated to pause and to remember my purpose and the covenants I've made and the strength promise to me.

Thank you for helping once again, teaching me a little bit and I really appreciate that. Before we close out, are you willing and desirous to share testimony of a couple of principles that may be on your heart right now

oh, I would love to. I have come to know my savior, Jesus Christ over the last 18 and a half months, more than I could have ever imagined. I have come to know his ability to change us and to change our hearts and our desires, and there is so much joy in serving him, and I'm so jealous of all the missionaries getting to serve right now because you have so much [00:34:00] purpose and find so much fulfillment.

I know that as I continue to live my covenants and continue to draw closer to my savior, I'll find the same fulfillment I did on my mission. I know that just because I don't have a tag on anymore, I know that the tag is etched on my heart forever. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and I know that through him all things are possible.

I know that Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet of God, to restore the gospel of Jesus Christ and restore the priesthood so that we could experience God's greatest blessings in our families and with those we love the most. And I know that because God is loving and he is merciful. He provided a savior, and that through Jesus Christ, we can live with our Father in

heaven again, and find a fullness of joy. And I can say that in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Thank you so much, Maycee Levitt. That was a [00:35:00] fantastic conversation. I was uplifted by it. It was very meaningful for me. I hope it was helpful and meaningful for you also.

100%. Thank you so much.