The weirdest things happen in WV...

Hi everyone!

After signing off last P-Day, Elder Fielding and I went and met up with some missionaries up in Clarksburg, about a 40 minute drive from here, Elder Hadfield and Elder Chavez, our Zone Leaders. We also met up with some other missionaries from Bridgeport, Elder Payne and Elder Esplin. Elder Esplin actually served with Elder Fielding when he first arrived here in Buckhannon. We went to a store called Gabriel's with The Bridgeport Elders, where I spent Mom's hard-earned money on some $4 ties. Really cool. I'll get pictures later. (I'm bad at pictures)

After that we went back to our Clarksburg Stake Center and played some basketball and talked for a couple hours with The Bridgeport Elders and our Zone Leaders. They're all really cool guys. It's really fun to see other Elders, because the only contact you have with them is over the phone.

On Tuesday, we had District Meeting! ​Elder Fielding is our District Leader, so everyone came down to Buckhannon! In our District we have:

Elder Fielding and I (Buckhannon I)

Elder Mortensen and Elder De Graff (Elkins I)

Sister White and Sister Wonnacott (Elkins 2)

Sister Adcox and Sister Escujuri (Phillipi)

Sister Pearson and Sister Campbell (Buckhannon 2)

Yeah. Lots and lots of Sisters. Elder Mortensen makes up for it though. He's like... two of me. Really teddy bearish though. He came up and hugged me at District Meeting first thing because he was so happy to have another big guy in The District. lol.

Alllllrighty... the meat of the week. So, Thursday night we get a call from our Zone Leaders, they met these two amazing people while at a member's house that night - A and R. They live down here in Buckhannon and wanted missionaries to teach them, so they called us because they live in our area.

So, he gives us this reference, and we call them right after we are done with our Zone Leaders. We are talking to A, and she sounds way excited to get taught by the missionaries. We decide to meet tomorrow, Friday, at the church. They just want a place where they can feel "accepted and loved."  Which is exactly what the ward will do... Elder Fielding and I are praying for them.

We also got a referral from the sisters on Friday as well. Her name is N. She's been dating a member for the last 3 years, and her family life has been hard. We had a potluck dinner right after church (a thing they do every 5th sunday of the month) and we were talking to her... and Elder Fielding set her a date to be baptized on July 27th. Before that, we tried to get an appointment with her, and this is kind of how the conversation went:

"We'd love to come by and teach you sometime. Would that be alright with you?"

"What do you need to teach me for? I already want to join!"

She's super ready. She's been studying the gospel with her boyfriend for the last 3 years, so she was already prepared. Amazing!

Yesterday I spoke in church. I had my first 7 minutes planned out (like, written down like I did for my farewell) but I was supposed to speak for 10, but then our Ward Mission Leader, Brother B. (hilarious guy. amazing accent) didn't want to speak, so he told me to go for 15. So I went for 20. The Spirit was so strong. Apparently I called a few people (not specifically pointed them out) to repentance/to be a better person. Whoops. Elder Fielding said to me afterward, "I'm a pretty forward and bold guy, but I would've never said that." I don't even remember half of what I said. Bishop asked me to replicate it so he can put it in The Ward Archives. Apparently the Spirit needed some people called to repentance, and he chose the new, unlearned, 18 year old to do that. The Lord works in mysterious ways, right?

So that's how my week went! If any of you guys have questions or just want to send me a message, my email address is Johnson.braxton@myldsmail.net.

I meet my new mission President on Thursday. It will be great.

Keep praying for me! Prayers really work! I promise that.

I love you all!

-Brax

 Our apartment.

 Nearby our apartment.

 Shout out to my mom!

 Yes. It's green. :)

 More green. :)

 Buckhannon, WV :)

 Carl Junior's younger brother Hardee. :)

My first few days in Buckhannon, WV and the pregnant cow.

Hello from Buckhannon, West Virginia! I arrived here safely in West Virginia last Tuesday, stayed at the mission home from Tuesday into Wednesday, and then was off to Buckhannon that afternoon.

My companion is Elder Fielding, he's been out for 17 months, and has been here in Buckhannon for coming up on 6 months now. He's a great guy who has taught me a lot already about how to teach and how to work.

My first full day in Buckhannon was really eventful! This was last Thursday. Right after companion study, we got a call from a daughter of a recent convert who needed some help moving houses. This was my first taste of the West Virginia. They also had us move all of the heavy stuff. Mainly, The fridge, the freezer (both of them still fully loaded with food), the oven, and some drawers. Unbelievably heavy, but super good workout.

That night, Elder Fielding told me we had an appointment with two investigators, Roy and Loise. We were going to teach a lesson, and then have dinner with them. When we got there, Roy was nowhere to be found, and Loise said that he was looking for one of his pregnant cows. They live on a huge farm with tons of animals, by the way.

So, Elder Fielding and I go out to see if there's anything we can do and help him in any way we can. Well, they had already found the cow, and she was in labor. Yeah... lol. My first full day I watched Roy help a cow give birth. It was actually really cool, but also mildly disgusting. The calf was apparently too big for the cow, so Roy had to help get the calf out by pulling it out. Yeah. Pulling the calf out. Poor cow.

Anyway, after that interesting experience we go inside, where we decide to have dinner and the lesson at the same time. He says we're just answering questions they have, so it should be really easy.

Well, we get talking, and it's my first day, so I'm super quiet and not saying anything, but I notice that Elder Fielding is teaching a whole lot of really deep and sometimes blatant false doctrine. Yeah... After like 10 minutes of this and I'm freaking out, Elder Fielding challenges them to be baptized, and here is Roy's actual words;

"Well, you see Elder, I can't do that, because I was baptized in 1963!"

Elder Fielding, Roy, and even Louise a little start busting a gut, and I'm so confused.

SURPRISE! They are super active members of The Church (yeah, since 1963) who feed us a lot. I got pranked on my first day. :P Should've seen it coming. It was really funny though. Great experience.

Not a lot happened the rest of the week. Just a lot of UITLs (Unplanned Invite-To-Learn) where we give them a card and ask if they want to know more. We need at least 5 a day per companionship.

Anyway, hope you all are doing well! See you all next week!

- Brax

A visitor from Thailand. :)

This handsome young elder on the left is Elder Johnson. Braxton's best friend, cousin and brother. He visits the blog from Thailand where he is serving. We LOVE You Elder Johnson! Crazy name tags! :)

Welcome to Buckhannon, West Virginia Elder Johnson

He only  had a few minutes to check-in today and tell me where he is at. We will hear more from him on Monday.

From Braxton:

President Pitt is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. So caring. We stayed at the Mission house on Tuesday night. We had an interview together and it went really well. I think he likes me. :)  We stayed at the mission home in Charleston and had a really awesome stew for dinner. Then we had interviews.

Wednesday was transfer day. All the transferred missionaries came to Charleston, and then got sent out. I introduced myself (as did my whole group). Elder Spencer (One of the AP's. He's really cool) announced to everyone I was going to Buckhannon with Elder Fielding. Everyone started whispering. :P After a 2.5 hour drive, we got to Clarksburg, where Elder Fielding came to get me. He was on splits with our Zone Leaders, so he wasn't at the Church. My "brother" (also trained by Elder Fielding) Elder Espinosa was my escort until I met Elder Fielding. We went to Walmart, I got some food and a pillow, then we went home and unpacked, then we went to visit some less active/recent converts.

Elder Fielding is a really cool guy from Bountiful. He's been out for 17 months, and is a crazy hard worker and super super fun. We get along great, he likes Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. He's been in Buckhannon since February, so he knows the area really well.

Today is not my P-Day, so I'm only allowed to tell you I'm alive today. :P P-Day is on Monday.

--I asked him why everybody was whispering.

Buckhannon is a really progressing place. four baptisms in the last few months, which is crazy for the entire mission. They were whispering because it's a really awesome place to go. Members help out a lot and I'm in a 2014 All-Wheel Drive Subaru. It's outlandishly nice. We walk pretty frequently too. :)

:) Got to go now. Talk to you on Monday. Love you!

132 #4 Wood Street, Buckhannon, West Virginia 26201

We don't always study! (more photos)

My MTC moment and a bad score on our room inspection :)

Well, only four more weeks of the MTC to go... wait... what do you mean I fly out on Tuesday? WHAT? I've only been here one full week! I can't go yet!

Yep everyone, I fly out on Tuesday. 8:30 am. Wow. I can't believe how time has flown. So much has happened this week. Our old district, before they left, said, "The days feel like eternities, but the weeks will disappear." It's completely true. Days feel like 2-3 days at least, but I feel like I've only laid in my bed 4 or 5 times. Not 10. Crazy stuff.

On Monday Elder Sorenson and I started this thing called TRC. Basically it is when you teach an actual investigator. It's very nerve wracking, but it's fun. It's what the actual field is like, I guess. (I wouldn't know, haha, but I'll know real soon!) We taught Michael, a 20 something young guy who lives in Texas. We talked with him over Skype. That was an interesting experience. His mom is LDS, and, per her request, he started taking lessons from the missionaries. Our last lesson was on Thursday, and although he didn't commit to a date, he did commit to baptism! That made us feel absolutely awesome. :) I'm going to go ask the TRC people if he actual is an investigator, or if he's a member (they do that sometimes, for your benefit) so if he is an actual investigator, maybe I can get the Dallas missionaries over to him. That would be cool.

We are also teaching a man named Carlos (Played by one of our teachers, Brother Holmquost, it's a roleplay) who is coming along great! We invited him to church with us tomorrow, and he's bringing his 6 year old son CJ and his wife Monica! It's fantastic! We're so excited, and we hope he feels the Spirit there. We've invited him to be baptized 4 times now, just so he knows we're serious, and he's praying at night, and reading The Book of Mormon with Monica. We're going to really try and get him to commit on Monday, because that is our last lesson with him.

Other news, on Wednesday Elder Sorenson and I got our new Zone! 8 elders and 8 sisters. 4 and 4 to a District. They are such cool people. 4 Elders, Fortin, Ward, Jackman, and Duren and 4 Sisters, Hopkinson, Kunz, McCormmies, and Yancey, are going to Utica, New York (I told them about Micah*) and 3 Elders, Brown, Bateman, and Watts, and 4 sisters, Tippery, Thomas, Martinez, and Knapp, are going to Arizona, while Elder Wilson (the new Zone Leader) is going to Uganda... by himself. The poor guy. 28 hours of flying. 4 + 14 + 10. The only reason that he's with us is that the Church doesn't have a Swahili program I guess, so he has to learn it when he gets there from the people. He's a really awesome guy.

Anyway, the food continues to get better. It's actually really good. My favorite thing to do is ask the Combo line lady if I can have a bowl of fries. They are delicious. The Chocolate milk is always a plus too.

Don't forget to pray for me! Thanks for fasting for me mom.  I know that it worked. Last Sunday night was really hard. Even though it was hard, I started praying around 11 at night, and while I was praying, I got the most intense feeling of comfortable warmth I've ever gotten in my entire life. It enveloped me. My testimony grew that night more than ever before, and I NEVER skip a chance to pray now.I can really feel the power of prayer working in my life now. I am so blessed to have family and friends such as you guys. 

Thanks everyone for the packages, emails and letters! They mean a lot to me. We have so much food in our room. (so much we got a bad score on our room inspection, because we have no where to put it, so it ends up on the floor, it's in box, LOL)

I love you all! See you on Monday in West Virginia! (Or at least close to it, :D)

- Elder Johnson

*Micah is Elder Sanders. He is from our ward and serving in Utica, NY.

Photos from the MTC. Thank heavens for name tags. :)

Captured Memory

They found each other! Elder Johnson with our beloved former Stake President who is now in a Branch Presidency at the MTC. Sunday, June 8, 2014.

Saturday is P-day for me in the MTC :)

Dear Friends,

Wow! This week has gone by quickly! It feels like just yesterday I was dropped off. I've been here for almost 4 days now. I am learning so much so quickly. I never understood what Ryan* was talking about with learning things really quickly. It didn't make a whole lot of sense, you know? But now that I'm here, I can tell you that your testimony does not grow slow here. It jumps in leaps and bounds!

So, my companion is Elder Sorenson. He is from Rockland, California and is 19 years old. In my district is Elder Stallings, from Ogden, Elder Carter, from Cedar City. (They are headed to Calgary.) Elders Buttars, Young, and Mullennax are also in our District. They are headed to West Virginia just like Elder Sorenson and I!

We met our District and Zone leaders on Wednesday night. Elder Clarke and Elder Olivera are our Zone leaders until Sunday. Elder Clark WAS our District Leader until Thursday night, when we met our Branch Presidency and Elder Carter was named District Leader.

Speaking of Leadership positions, guess what? Elder Sorenson and I were named Zone Leaders! Woo hoo! Responsibility! We don't technically start until Sunday, which is when orientation is. We get two new Districts on Wednesday, when the new Elders show up. Elder Sorenson and I are over them until Sunday, when we get ready to leave and they get their own Zone/District Leaders.

I thank all of you who have sent packages and letters. I love getting them, and hearing about how life isn't a whole lot different. (Looking at you, Hank*. ;D)

It's alright to be sad that I'm gone, but don't forget why I'm here, to take The Gospel to the people of West Virginia. Remember that, and remember to write, and I'll be home in no time.

I love all of you! Stay strong!

- Elder Johnson

Elder Braxton Thomas Johnson
JUN17  WV-CHAR
2009 N 900 E Unit 150
Provo UT 84602

Jenn's addition:
*Ryan (and Kyle) are his cousins and best friends. Ryan is serving in the Thailand, Bangkok mission
*Hank is his uncle, Brax traveled with him when Hank spoke at firesides, etc. He is one of his closest friends besides his cousins.

Greetings from the MTC 15M-105!

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

I'm all settled into my dorm now. My companion is Elder Sorenson. He's a really cool guy from NorCal. Very redhead. He's going to WV with me! In my dorm, Elder Carter and Elder Stalllings. They are in our District, (so we're with them a lot) but they are headed to Calgary. I told them to say hi to Jake* :)

Our Zone Leaders are Elder Clarke (he's very Russian) and Elder Olivera (he's very Brazilian), they are super cool. Our District Leaders are Elder Prescott, a very large Tongan who is awesome and Elder Clark (different guys) who is freaking hilarious. Very dry humor, like me!

I haven't gotten homesick yet, the closest I got was in our workshop today, teaching investigators and I was ... "wow. This is really happening". :) It was a great moment.

Oh, I forgot, Elder Young, Elder Buttar, and Elder Mullennax - they are in our district, tripanionship and headed to WV too!

Mom, I saw Julene Judd*. She was the second person I met after I left you guys. :)

In orientation with ALL the new missionaries, Sister Nally* had me stand up so she could say hi. haha, it was really awkward, but President and Sister Nally are such sweet people. She wants to chat sometime, lol. :)

Mom, please send me my pillow and blanket, not a huge blanket, but the one I have is scratchy and there is only one pillow and I'm used to two. :)

I hope you guys are having a good day! I hope my blessing helped mom. I love you guys! Annoy the cats for me!

Love, Elder Johnson

Jenn's addition:

*Jake Johnson is Braxton's cousin serving in Calgary, Canada

*Julene is a friend of mine. She served on a former BYU Women's Conference committee

*Sister Nally is the MTC President's wife. She is a friend of mine. She served on a former BYU Women's Conference committee