Writings from West Virginia: 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