Writings from West Virginia: First Week of Training!

Hello friends and family! I don't have a whole lot of time to write today, we are headed up to Bluefield for Zone Pday and we have to leave pretty soon. Let's get started!

After emailing on Wed., we went back to the apartment so that Elder Larson could pack! The Hillsville elders came down to hang out with us and keep us company. They made Cinnabons, and we all got sick off of eating them, haha.

The fun part of Wed. was later that night! We got invited to go to mutual! They were playing Human Foosball and needed all the help they could get. We got to play around there for a while and had a lot of fun. It's no Songkran, but hey, we have fun too!

Thursday was transfers day! We got to Princeton about 7:30, and hung around there until 8:30. Played around with the Zone Leaders, watched to guys load 3 .50 cals into the back of their truck, etc, all in a days work in West Virginia!

The transfer train (two 15 passenger vans and a huge moving van) picked us up at 8:30, and we started out trek to Charleston! I got to see some former companions and friends of mine, and we got to have some fun. Transfers are always an exciting time.

The way transfer meeting works, is the first thing they do (after a prayer and song) is have the trainees line up and the Assistants call out their name, where they are being trained, and by who! I was the first one of the elders to be called! I almost bowled him over when I hugged him. I was so excited!

Elder Bean is from Sequim, Washington! A smaller town on the peninsula of Washington. As very Northwest as you can go. He says you can see Canada from his window! How cool is that! Super cool. He is learning really quickly. He is an awesome elder.

We got started right away! We rode in the transfer train from Charleston to Princeton, where we jumped in our car and headed back! We didn't even have enough time to stop to drop off Elder Bean's stuff, we just went right to our dinner appointment with the V's! They made us some awesome steak, and stuff, and then Brother V. drove us to D&D's house!

We had a great Restoration lesson with them. D. is rapidly progressing, and it is awesome to see it happen! He is on 2 Nephi after a week and a half of listening The Book of Mormon, and can tell me all about what he listened to in previous chapters. It's awesome. He's awesome. It's all awesome. People like D. are what make missions worth it. If he was my only convert on my entire mission, it would be worth it, just because of the change I see him making. In a year and a half, he has come so far. In his words, "Before, I couldn't WAIT for them to leave, now I can't wait for them to come back and teach." WHAT A GUY!

The highlight of Friday was being able to introduce Elder Bean to the F.s, who immediately liked him, and taking A., Sister F.'s son, to go see J. with us! We also had a great Restoration lesson with her! Sister B. and her daughter S. also happened to be there by some divine intervention, and they were able to help J. understand all about our church. She is really progressing too and wants to be baptized! May 10th is still her date.

Sunday was also a really awesome day! Church was amazing, the speakers were inspired, and we got to go out with Brother Wh. and see tons of people! I am really running out of time, so I'll just do the highlights.

We were able to see some less actives, R. and V. They needed a good visit, but just live too far out for us to go see them on a consistent basis. Luckily Brother Wh. knows him really well, and felt inspired to go see him. We had a great conversation with them and encouraged them to return to church and stay strong. I think they will. I really do.

We saw Sister B., Sh., and J. AGAIN this week too! Along with Ch. and S.! They had offered to feed us, and we brought Brother Wh. along! We had a REALLY good lesson with them, J. and S. (who are sisters). It was.... revelatory. :D

Our final visit was to D. and D. (Again :D) with Brother Wh.! Didn't teach an official Preach My Gospel lesson, but had an awesome talk about eternal marriage with them. They really want to be sealed, and that should happen next year! It's going to be great. We are excited (as always) about them.

Thanks for taking the time to read my email! I hope it inspired and uplifted you, as I was uplifted by experiencing it! Make this week the BEST EVER!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson