Hello family and friends!
It's a great day to be alive! It's an especially great day to be
a missionary! I am loving it out here in Wytheville. The work is progressing,
the weather is warming up, and things are just great!
Lets get started with the week!
After emailing last week, The Hillsville Elder's and us headed
up to Bluefield for a Zone P-day! We got there a little late, and the main
event of glow in the dark Volleyball was over, but a whole bunch of elders were
playing two hand touch Rugby, so we joined in on that! It was great.
Headed back from Bluefield, we stopped by Sister B's' moms
house. A cool surprise, Ch. and S. were there! Her mom isn't doing
too well, and doesn't have very long left. We stopped by and talking about The
Plan of Salvation and I gave her a blessing. In the blessing, I told her that
The Lord and her Heavenly Father are ready for her to come home, and that the
time is soon approaching. I pray that she will hear the gospel in the life
after. I do have the utmost trust in my Heavenly Father that everything will
work out. Her story is far from over.
On Tuesday, we had double dinner appointments! It was crazy, but
they were both delicious. In the first dinner appointment, we had Stuffed Pasta
Shells (I think there is a name for them that sounds really Italian and starts
with M, but I forgot)! We were at a less active/part member family's house, and
she (the non member) wanted to feed us dinner! That just shows that hard work
and diligence pays off, because 14 weeks ago, every time we'd come to visit her
husband, the member, she would always go into the back room or somewhere else.
Never would stick around. She also sent us home with Banana Pudding!
The Second Dinner Appointment was with one of our good recent
converts, who fed us a dish from her childhood! It was some real Southern
Cooking, but I liked it!
We ended the day with The G. family! Another Recent Convert
family, they live in humble circumstances, but their love for each other and
the gospel keeps them going. They are an inspiration! They need a lot of
prayers for their situation, but it is improving! They are seeing the fruits of
living the Gospel.
On Wednesday, we did our first bout of service! M. had
us help him on his farmhouse land, getting it ready for the spring and summer.
The project was so big that we also enlisted the Hillsville Elders to come and
help! After the project, he took us out to Cracker Barrel to eat! It was a good
experience, we got to talk to a bunch of his workers that were helping and also
the Cracker Barrel staff about who we are and what we do! Fun fun!
Thursday morning was The Food Kitchen again! A good experience,
as always. I got to scoop the baked beans onto the plate after the Pulled Pork
Sandwich was put on, and then handed it off to Elder Larson to throw on some
Coleslaw. Delicious Southern Cooking! It's always a good experience to get to
meet the people that work with us, and the good people that come to eat food.
Most of them come from very humble circumstances.
Friday was when the week really started to pick up for me!
Friday morning we had Zone Meeting! Elders Bingham and Trujillo and Sisters
Erickson and Francis taught a great Zone Meeting about The Atonement, teaching
more simply, and becoming more effective at planning!
In regards to having a good morning routine and getting to
studies on time, they shared this quote from Elder Holland:
"At 8 o'clock you have an appointment with The
Godhead."
Have you ever thought about your scripture study that way? As I
was thinking about this quote, I realized how true it is. The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints is based and surrounded on the principle of
continuing revelation. Reading the scriptures is often how our Father in Heaven
speaks to us! We would always try our utmost to be at an important interview or
class, but do we put the same emphasis on our appointment with God? Let's
change what we need to change so that our Father in Heaven can help us find
more opportunities to share the gospel!
After Zone Meeting, we had exchanges! I headed to Princeton with
Elder Bingham! For those of you who don't know, Elder Bingham and I were in the
MTC together, although in different districts. He's my Zone Leader now! How
crazy is that? We had a lot of fun teaching and contacting, and also had some
great opportunities to talk about our lives in the past 9 months. It was a
great opportunity.
Back in Wytheville on Saturday, Elder Larson and I went to go
see R. and J.! Using what we learned in Zone Meeting, we had an amazing
lesson with them where we taught them The Restoration! It was awesome!
Sunday was a busy day, as they usually are! In Sacrament
meeting, we had the chance to hear from N., a girl who recently
returned from her mission (just last week in fact!) She gave an amazing talk on
The Atonement and a great testimony.
After a lengthy Ward Council meeting after church, we headed
down to a town called Ivanhoe to see D., Brother Wh.'s 1st cousin! We
have been meeting with her regularly for the past couple weeks, and this week
she committed to come to church! Brother Wh. and us will be going to pick
her up Sunday morning! Elder Larson and I are pretty excited about her future.
She is living proof that you can come back from the grasp of addiction and the
devil's temptations. It's a great story!
That is the meat of the week! Thank you everyone who took the
time to read this. I love and appreciate all of you! Have a great week, and
make it the best you've ever had.
Love,
Elder Brax Johnson
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