A True West Virginia Experience!

Howdy Ya'll! It's been another great week! I sure do love it here in Buckhannon. This is probably the best place to be "born" (meaning trained) ever. The Lord sure knows exactly what I need and when and where I need it.

So, starting off, last P-day we went shopping with the Elkins Elders up in Clarksburg! Boom! It was waaay fun! Unfortunately, I forgot my wallet at the Stake Center, so no shopping was had for me. :( But that's alright! I got my wallet back. :) After that, we went to Texas Roadhouse with the Elkins Elders and the Buckhannon Sisters! Woo hoo! Food! I probably had 10 to 15 rolls. Oh yes. It was awesome.

That night I headed over to Elkins to go on exchanges with Elder De Graff! Tuesday was a pretty fun day. Elkins is a nice place! For the most part, we did some less active work which wasn't very fruitful, but that evening was where it got good. We went Home Teaching with the bishop! Bishop Bennett is a funny guy. The main event of the evening though was going to Home teach Brother G. He is a very old Vietnam Veteran, but still a sharp, witty, and funny guy. We found him sitting on his couch, unable to get up. He's super sick. We have a good meeting with him, his brother, and his wife. Near the end of our visit, he says, "Bishop, I'm glad you guys stopped by, because I was going to call you and ask for a blessing."

So, since I always carry Olive Oil around my neck (Necklace that Kyle gave to me and Vial that Ryan gave to me), I had the chance to anoint him! It was a really cool experience, but then, Elder De Graff gave the blessing. It was a great blessing, started off pretty normal, with God loving him, keep yourself worthy, all that stuff. But then, Elder De Graff commanded him to "heal rapidly." and that his health will improve so quickly that people will think it's a miracle. Which it was. He didn't take up his bed and walk, but the confirming spirit after that blessing told us that The Lord was going to sustain Elder De Graff's blessing. Ohhh yeah. It was awesome.

Wednesday we had Zone Conference! we got to hear from President Salisbury for a long while! He's a great guy, and we discussed a lot of things. Mostly about the difference between accomplishment and going through the missionary motions. That was kind of the over arching theme of the meeting. It was really fun. Because it's a Zone Conference, rather than Zone Meeting, the MorganTown Zone missionaries came down too! It was really fun to see Elder Nielson, who's serving in Masontown. I came out with him!

Thursday was an awesome day. Note, this part may not be suitable for people with soft spots for pigs. :) We butchered a hog! Sorry animal lovers, but it was awesome. Don't worry though, it was quick. Brother L. shot it in the forehead, and Elder Fielding cut it's throat. I got to help skin it! It was really interesting to see where bacon and ham and pork and stuff came from. The Word of Wisdom being fulfilled at it's finest right there. I unfortunately forgot to bring my camera with me that day, but most of you probably don't want to see the pictures anyway, haha.

On Friday we had a great lesson with A! We taught her the Restoration and delved real deep into Eternal Families and being sealed for eternity. She was fascinated by the Salt Lake Temple picture we showed her. It was awesome. Elder Fielding says she is, "the most elect person I think I've ever taught on my mission." She is totally ready to receive the gospel. When we came over, she had marked up tons of 1 Nephi and her Restoration pamphlet. How awesome is that? No investigator ever does that!

On Saturday we had the Ward Picnic! Where we ate the hog! Loads of fun! Volleyball, Cornhole, all sorts of food! N., the girl we baptized a couple weeks ago, actually brought her two non-member siblings! Al & L! We are going to try and start teaching them! Then we can eventually bring their whole family into the church! How awesome would that be?

Saturday night was fun! We had Mya's birthday party at The Loudin's house. It was a great time. The Loudins are right up there with The Chapmans. I love them! It was great fun.

Sunday was fun! It's always good to partake of the sacrament. That's always a highlight of the week that you can count on. It was a great experience.

Sunday night we got to go to the Chapmans! We played Cornhole, talked, ate, and had a great time with them. We were playing Cornhole (super fun game) with Caressa Chapman (Roy's daughter) and ​some of Roy's grandkids (Caressa's nieces and nephews), and Caressa and Elder Fielding got super competitive. At the end of the final game (Which Caressa and I won, by the way) Caressa tossed a little bit of water on Elder Fielding. In turn, he dumped the pitcher of water on her. It was really funny. Thinking it's over, we go inside to talk to Roy, and then Caressa comes up behind Elder Fielding with the pitcher of water and rushes at him from behind. He sees her through the reflection in the window (You might be able to see the window in the right side of that picture with Roy) and jumps up, and flips around to stop her. She throws it all over him. Inside the house. I caught a little bit of it. Roy was not pleased. We thought it was funny though. :)

That was my week! I hope your alls week was great too! I love all of you!

Keep writing!!! Keep praying for me!!!

Love,

Brax

Every church has a "First" on it. Somebody had to be second.

A river in Elkins. It is beautiful.

The missionary board created by the Elkin Elders. I love it. (edited for privacy by mom)

Our Ward Mission Leader. Yea, he's amazing. Nice hat. :)

For you mom. I knew you would love this porch.

Brother Chapman and I in an awkward photo. Yea, I got soaked.

Sister Chapman and I in awkward photo number 2. The Chapman's are the best.

2 Nephi Chapter 10. Go read it!

Selfie for my mom!

How I mark my scriptures.

Slow week, but we're keeping our heads up!

Hello everyone!

So, we had a slower week. It was alright though. We had a really awesome week last week, so it was natural that we would be a little slower this week. A lot of appointments/potential investigators fell through, so blegh. That's alright though! We have a lot of people to try this week ​though! Just keep praying for us!

We did have a good experience yesterday with the C family, a part member family, she is on bedrest for her pregnancy, which she is almost halfway done with. She is having some complications, so we can go over and talk with them for a little while. We got her to talk about her teenage years, where she left the church. Elder Fielding and I know that she will eventually come back, because they can totally tell that when we come over, The Spirit is there, and we know that they want that, they are just unsure for right now. Keep the C family in your prayers. 

We had exchanges on Tuesday! Elder Ostler, our Zone Leader, came down to Buckhannon with me! It was a really great time. He went home from April to June a couple months ago because he tore his ACL, and while he was there he heard a couple of Hank's CD's! That was fun to get to talk about Hank with someone out here. He's becoming a pretty big name it seems like! Elder Ostler is a great missionary. We had a lot of fun together!

We helped a member in our ward, DeWaine Linger, dig a hole on Thursday. Yup. That's it. A hole. No, just kidding. This Saturday we have a ward picnic, and one of Roy Chapman's sons (Jeff) is providing a pig for a pig roast! So we helped Brother Linger (who is cooking it), dig this pit to cook it in. Ground out here is not like ground out west. There is so much more clay down under the dirt. It's hard to dig, but it was fun! And now the pig will be so much better knowing that we helped dig it's oven. :) Sorry, that's gross.

I had the chance to confirm N. yesterday (Sunday). I had been thinking about it pretty much nonstop for the past week, just thinking about what I should say. I wanted it to be a good blessing, but I didn't want to cross over into Patriarchal Blessing territory, making too awesome of promises and stuff. Hank told me when I was first ordained an Elder to never be timid. I hold the Priesthood power of God. The very same power that created this universe, and that put me here. I can't do that (yet), but I still hold some pretty awesome "powers".

So, during the blessing, I just let the Spirit take over, with a few things I had been prompted to say earlier. I promised her that as she would keep herself worthy, she would always know what direction she was to take in her life and eventually what direction she was to take with her family. It was a pretty awesome blessing, and I can say that because I did the talking, but The Lord did the speaking (Oh snap, that was deep). :)

Anyway, I love you all! Thanks for praying for me, and keep at it! I know that it works. Hope you all have a good week!

Write me!

Elder Brax Johnson

Our favorite hangout.

Our luxury entertainment center.

The front porch view from our favorite hangout. Don't be jealous mom, some day you can visit. :)

A shout out to my brother in Thailand. This is for you Ryan!

Good mornin'!

The Turtle, Cutting Wood, and The Baptism!

Hello friends and family!​ Guess what, we had a baptism yesterday!

Isn't that so exciting? More on that later in the letter.

Last Monday we went fishing again! There's not a whole lot to do in this town, and we don't really have the miles to go up to Clarksburg, so we usually go hang out at the Chapman's pond and chat with them and steal their bass (just kidding, we put them back). We caught a turtle though! It only took us 4 weeks! We were super excited! It was a great time. Totally worth all the painstaking hours trying to catch that thing.

We met a girl named Am. on Tuesday. We tracted into her, and she was super interested. She didn't have a lot of time to talk to us, so we came back on Friday, and she was super awesome. She's very friendly, and has extended family that are members of the church. She is meeting with us again tomorrow (Tuesday) with her 2 year old son A. and hopefully her boyfriend Z. She is really awesome and Elder Fielding and I have a good feeling about her.

A. & R. continue to do their thing. A. loves church, R. doesn't come. We teach them the lessons, and A. gets super excited and always has questions for us. A. is definitely getting converted to the gospel, and she'll have to make a decision pretty soon. I hope she stays. Elder Fielding and I know that she will eventually convert, we just hope it won't be too long. She's a smart girl, she just needs to figure out life a little bit.

On Saturday we had the opportunity to go to The Loudin's house and chop wood with Brother Loudin! They have a wood-burning furnace that heats their water and house, so they go through a lot of wood. We did that from 10 to 6. We were pretty sore after. But Sister Loudin fed us, so it was all worth it. :)

Sunday was N.'s baptism! It was such a cool experience. She was prepared and ready to receive the gospel, we just had to work with her on her past, but once she realized that she could be forgiven, and washed clean, she was ready. Elder Fielding baptized her, and I will be confirming her next Sunday. She had a lot of support from the ward, which is just a confirmation on how awesome the ward here in Buckhannon is. A lot of people came out to support her. A lot of her LDS friends from up north also came out, so that was neat to see them there to support her in this great step of her life.

That was my week. I hope everything was good back home! Remember to write me!

Thank you for all the support you guys give me. I am immensely grateful for your letters and prayers. They help, a ton. I testify of that.

I love you all! See you next week,

Brax

N.'s baptism

Elder Fielding and I caught a turtle!

Me and our car. Just kidding.

Full moon over West Virginia

Sister Shreeve caught a blue gill

Hanging out with the turtle!

Good exercise, and the consequences thereof

Like my very standard-worksy title? Sounds just like the titles from JSH!

Hello family and friends! This week was pretty awesome! Last P-day, after emailing, we went up to Clarksburg and played some Volleyball and Cornhole with most of the other missionaries in our Zone! It was tons of fun. Sand Volleyball is crazy fun! I took some good dives for our team (I know Aunt Tanya is so proud right now). Spiking is always my favorite part.

That night we were driving to our dinner appointment when we called B to see how she was doing with the Stop Smoking Workshop. She caved after less than 24 hours. We were really bummed out about that. It was really disappointing. We are doing it again with her and her friend T who she referred to us tomorrow though! It will work this time if they just follow the freaking steps for one week! It's literally guaranteed to work. Ryan (my cousin/brother and missionary in Thailand) suggested dumping the contents of a cigarette in water and having them drink it, and it will make them sick whenever they smell a cigarette again! I feel like that would not go over so well... :P

Transfers were on Wednesday! Elder Fielding and I were both staying so it was just a normal day for us. We now have Elder Jackson in Elkins with Elder De Graff. He replaced Elder Mortensen. We also got Sister Shreeve in Buckhannon sisters area with Sister Campbell. She replaced Sister Pearson. We have a really sweet district! Everybody in it is doing so awesome with the work. We are all finding a lot of success.

We taught A & R on Thursday, or at least we tried to. A was in the hospital on Wednesday for some dizziness problems, so she was on medication when we met with her, so she was a little loopy. R is caring less and less it seems like. She just sits around and plays with her cat the whole time. :/ We are going back on Thursday though! So it should be pretty good then. A was sick on Sunday too, so she didn't come to church, which she felt awful about.

We taught N the law of tithing! That was our final lesson with her before her baptism, but we will see her after that. She is ready and excited to be baptized! We are excited for her. She is progressing really well and is super accepting of all that we teach her, which is awesome. She is one of the people you would call 'elect'. Heavenly Father has been preparing her for a while, for sure!

Saturday was awesome! We had the Stake Picnic all day! We rode up with the Loudin family to Fairmont (about an hour north), where it was held at a park near a WaveTec pool (Like the wave pool at Seven Peaks). Elder Fielding and I played softball with a lot of the men of the Stake from 10-2. We're very dark now. It was way fun though! I learned I can actually hit a softball pretty far, and I make an alright first baseman! After softball we went and ate food down at the pavilion, and played some football with the MorganTown and Fairmont missionaries! We eventually made our way over to the mini golf area, where we talked and had fun for a while. We couldn't swim at the WaveTec thing, so Sister Shreeve, Sister Campbell, Elder Fielding, and I sat on some benches and observed the happy people having fun times. Unfortunately it got rained out after half an hour, so we started home. But it was a really awesome day.

The next morning I felt the effects of that day. Pivoting in softball so much absolutely destroyed my thighs. I was very sore. I could barely walk, but it was worth it. I'm down 10 pounds since I left! 275! woo hoo!

I hope you all have a fantastic week! Keep praying for me, it really does work. I love all of you! Stay strong!

-Keep writing!!!

Love from West Virginia, 

-Elder Johnson

Getting ready for the day. :)

Keeping the dream car clean. :)

Sending a selfie from the library because mom wanted more pictures.
(Mom - He said he was really dark from playing softball, 
but to me he looks cute, blond and sunburned.)