Happy News!

Hello everyone! I hope your Monday has been just fabulous! I spent way too much time getting those colors right. :P 

My week was great, and I want to tell you about it! Let’s get in to the highlights of what we did, shall we?

So last week we picked up a new investigator named R. He had investigated before, but wasn't really keeping commitments and so the missionaries dropped him for a time to hopefully let him realize that he really needs this gospel in his life. We had set up a return appointment for that next Tuesday, and we went to go see him then! It was a pretty good lesson. We talked a lot about the true church of Jesus Christ, what it would have in it, what it would entail, things like that. We weren't sure how much was getting through, but we left him with a Restoration pamphlet and said we'd get with him to set up another appointment. (We aren't done with him yet!)

On Wednesday we had a cool experience! The J.'s, A. and C., offered to come with us to an appointment we had with K. (from last week. Another Sunday miracle!). Unfortunately, K. wasn't home! I hate it when that happens. Luckily, our backup was right around the corner, so we went over there, hoping and praying that he would be home. He was! His name is S.. Elder Numbers and I tracted into him a while ago (like, my first week) but had only ever been able to catch him in sporadic bursts and never sit down and have an actual lesson with him. This time, especially since the J.'s were with us, we were committed to having this lesson. We taught on the porch about the Book of Mormon, it's importance, and how it testifies of Jesus Christ. He had never really heard of the Book of Mormon before, so this was a brand new experience for him! He seemed to really enjoy it, and the J.'s were rock stars. S. used to play football up at SVU, at the same time A. was playing basketball, so they immediately connected there. They also invited him and his wife and kids to our dinner appointment on Friday!! THAT WAS SO COOL. They are the coolest family.

Thursday was Zone Conference! It was also Elder Brenchley and Elder Numbers' year mark! Happy year mark elders! Anyway. Zone Conference was great. We had the blessing of having the Assistants stay at our apartment the night before, so that was really fun. We even got to bed at a decent hour! Woo! President Salisbury was great. It's always great to see him. He's a great man and I look up to him a lot. I hope to someday be as big of a spiritual giant and stalwart righteous man as he is. 

We talked a lot about helping people make and keep commitments and having and building faith like in Alma 32. It was a really good meeting, and we got to hear from Elder Christofferson (video) at the very end, President Salisbury played a 20 minute clip from this past most recent Mission President and Wives conference at the MTC. It was about how faith and repentance are an upward cycle that build on each other and how it all relates to the Atonement. I am so thankful for my Savior's sacrifice and how it means that I can be changed both body and spirit. It really was a great meeting.

After the meeting I had the opportunity to go down to Lynchburg with Elder Hallewell on exchanges! We went on an exchange last transfer, so I am really starting to get to know this awesome and amazing elder! He's only been out 2 months, but he is still absolutely wonderful and committed. He is and will be a great missionary!

Coming back to BV on Friday, we had a great lesson with B. and D.! Miracle of the night there: they both prayed! B. said the opening prayer and D. said the closing prayer!! It was so cool because D. told us that she would never pray out loud. Ever. She'd pray and does pray in her heart, but never would out loud. Well the Spirit worked on her and she did! It was an amazing prayer too. Really all we did that lesson was answer questions, mostly about church. They always have quite a few!

Our ward had their annual Pool Party we were invited to (obviously not to swim) on Saturday! We invited all the people we could and prayed someone would show up. Turns out, Randy brought his two kids! That was awesome. They had a ball swimming in the pool, and we think it was really good for Randy to be there. Tons of the members of the ward went up and talked to him and gave him some really good fellowship.

Later that night, we had another lesson with B. and D., this time actually teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Well, the last half, being the Gift of the Holy Ghost, The Sacrament, and Enduring to the End. It was a really good lesson and they committed to come to church on Sunday! They were all ready, their friend Sister B. had gone and bought D. a dress because she didn't have one, aaaaaannnnnddddddd

THEY CAME TO CHURCH! Yes. It was quite the process getting them there, but they came! They had a great experience too. It was a fantastic Sunday. The speakers were just awesome, Brother B. taught a great Sunday School Gospel Principles lesson, and Brother B. did a great job with the combined lesson. Really blessed! I'm so thankful for the Spirit being there to teach them during those meetings. You could feel it. It was palpable! :D I'm still just on Cloud 9 after that.

Last thing, we got to meet a really cool family last night too. The R's. They have some severe health issues and can't come to church. Bishop asked us to go over there and check up on them and see how they're doing. I don't know if I've ever met more humble people! They joined the church around 15 years ago, were sealed last year, and are approaching the end of their mortal journey, but they thank God for every day that he gives them, and it’s really cool to see. Brother R.'s cried as he bore his testimony to us, and even I teared up a little bit. We talked about trials in this life and trusting in the Lord. Just wanted to throw in a little shout-out to some amazing and humble people. :)

Well, that was my week! Thank you all for reading it! I really appreciate it and am really thankful for all your support of me! I love you all! Have a great week, and make it the best one yet!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

This script is on my bathroom wall - "For I am a Son of God" 
(click on the link to watch the video)

The Assistant came for a visit!

Selfie for Mom

Miracle Sunday!

Hello everyone! It's been another great week in the Buena Vista area! We are seeing some really awesome things happen! We've really been trying to be obedient to see the miracles that the Lord has in store for us here!

Lets jump into some of the highlights we had this week!

Tuesday we were able to go on exchanges with the elders in Clifton Forge, Virginia! Elder Brenchley and Elder Rasmussen (The District Leader) worked up in Clifton Forge and Elder Thompson and I worked down here! Elder Thompson is a great and goofy guy that goes home here pretty soon! He is a hard worker though. 

On Tuesday evening, I finally got to meet a LA (less active) family the missionaries before had been working with, but because of scheduling conflicts we were never able to meet with them! The F.s are a great family. Brother F. is an incredibly smart, intelligent individual who knows the Bible better than almost anyone I've ever met! He can just pull out and quote scriptures like it's nothing. We are working with them to build their testimony back up so that they can come back to church and start enjoying the fruits of the gospel again!

Elder Thompson and I also had the chance to meet a kid named C. with our awesome member Brother F. C. and his cousin K. were investigators that the sisters over in Lexington had, and they passed them on to us when they had moved. We had never been able to actually meet C. though, so we weren't sure where to take it! Turns out that he's a YSA, so we handed him over to the YSA Elders. We did learn in our quick lesson though that he reads in the Book of Mormon every single night and has been for a couple months! It's even cooler because he hasn't had any contact with missionaries for over two months up to that point. The Lord takes care of those who want to follow him!

The highlight of Wednesday was the church tour! It's always such a great experience to do it. We do it in coordination with the Rockbridge Elders, Elder Kelly and Moser, and they had one of their investigators there! He is working toward baptism and we have full confidence in him that it will happen! Keep working L.!

We also got to meet a great family on Wednesday. The mom and her two kids were outside in the backyard playing, and we walked up and started talking to them. She had a lot of questions and she related a lot of her husbands questions to us. What was funny was that every question she asked could be answered by the Restoration lesson and the Plan of Salvation lesson! Unfortunately they were going on vacation that week so we had to wait until this week before we can teach them. Here's hoping for this week!

Friday night was pretty cool. We took an awesome member, Brother A., with us as we went to visit Sister C., who we've been working with for a while. She is still moving along, even if we wish it were a little faster sometimes! We have faith that one day she will come back to church and take the sacrament!

Saturday we had the awesome chance to teach B. and D.! What a powerful lesson it was. We invited them to be baptized, but they still weren't sure on account of D.'s son still giving them a hard time about joining the church. D. started to cry and express to us how hard it is to deal with this trial. I read out of Mosiah 24 with them, the story of Alma and his people, and testified with all of my heart of the power of the Atonement, and I started to weep. It was amazing. They are such a blessing to teach! We are still trying to get them to come to church, but once they do, boy, it will only be up from there! We can feel it.

Sunday was a great day. The week had been feeling pretty long, and I don't have those weeks very often, but I was ready for a break. Being able to sit down in the pew in the chapel and just feeling the load fall off for that brief hour was great. Taking the sacrament is such a blessing in my life! I invite all of you to consider what the sacrament means for you. So much peace and comfort can be found by taking the sacrament. When we covenant to "take up [us] the name of [Jesus Christ]" we are also taking his yoke upon us. Do we remember that his yoke is easy and his burden is light? Sometimes I think we need a little reminder.

Sunday evening was a miracle day! We had the chance to go to a Stake Priesthood Meeting that night, but we decided that we would stay out and try to hit the rest of our goals. Going to the meeting would have been a great thing to do, but we felt like for our area, we should work. So we did! And we were blessed! We stopped by a former investigator's house to talk with him, and he told us, "you know, I really enjoyed your visits, but they just stopped coming over. I would really like you to come back over to teach me some more!"  Wooo! We set up a return appointment and went on. Later, we were walking down a street and this shirtless younger guy was outside fiddling around with his Camaro. We stopped and talked to him, and had a great first lesson, right there on the street! Set up a return appointment, and he basically gave us a referral to teach his fiancee with him on our appointment on Wednesday! The Lord really blessed those who strive to do what He wants them to do. I bear testimony of that.

Sure do love you all! Thank you all for your kind words and support of me. I couldn't do it without it! Have a great week, and make it the best one ever!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

Best Mom ever. :)

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Transfers and New Missionaries!

Hello friends, family, one and all! I hope you are all doing super well and having a fantastic week! I hope your Sunday was amazing too!

Well, lets jump into the week! 

For Pday last week on Wednesday, after emailing all we did was hang out at the Institute building with some of the other missionaries in the area and play Ping-pong and board games. It was a blast! Just took it easy. Taking it easy is good every once in a while, you know?

Wednesday night was CRAZY! We needed a trailer to attach to the van that was taking us to Roanoke, where the big van would be, but we couldn't find a trailer! The trailer that we usually use was out of commission, so it was a mad rush to find a trailer that we could use. After being up later than I wanted to be up (believe me) we finally located a trailer in Lexington! Thank goodness for miracles! After coming back to the apartment, I was up really late getting everything ready for the big day tomorrow!

Thursday was a lot of fun! Because our ENTIRE district was either getting transferred, going home, or training, which means they were going to Charleston to pick up their trainee! So, it was just me that would be staying in BV, but that wouldn't work, because I needed a companion! So I had the awesome opportunity to go to Roanoke and spend the day there with Elder Millard, the Zone Leader there, and Elder Steed, an awesome missionary and one of the hardest workers I've ever met! Roanoke was AWESOME. It's the biggest city in our mission, so it was crazy to walk down the streets of downtown. You all have to understand, I haven't been in a downtown with a population of over 20,000 people in over 14 months. It was a little bit of a culture shock to me! I can't imagine what it will be like to see Utah again! Utah is just basically one big city (in Davis, Salt Lake, and Utah counties anyway, haha). We did have a lot of fun though! A former-less-active-turned-active named C. took us out to a whole bunch of areas. He's a really awesome and cool guy. Unfortunately, we were stuck in a traffic jam for an hour and a half! It was insane. We were going crazy. We thought about getting out of the car and contacting people in the standstill, but we decided that may not have been the best image for people when they think of missionaries, haha, so we decided against it.

Everyone coming from Charleston arrived in Roanoke about 6 that evening, and we all loaded up and headed to BV! I got to meet all my fantastic new missionaries in my zone. I was just so excited that whole time! Shoutout to Dad! Sister Ford, the new trainee in Lexington, is from Eagle Mountain! Apparently, as she told me, it has gotten a little bigger since I've been there! That is awesome. I'm excited to see it someday!

Friday wasn't a super big proselyting day, we were Weekly Planning, talking to our district leaders, and taking Elder Brenchley and the brand new YSA elders, Elder French and Tannell, shopping so they didn't starve! 

Saturday was really fun. We had the chance to go down to Forest, VA, near Lynchburg, to train Elder Walker on his new duties as a District Leader! I've known Elder Walker since he came out on his mission, back when I was in Wytheville. Now he's been out 7 1/2 months! How time does fly. He is going to be a fantastic district leader and I am really excited to be working with him.

Saturday night we were also able to teach B. and D.! They have recuperated from their run in with unfavorable material, and are doing really well! We are excited for their progression and seeing the changes that they are making. I am really blessed to be able to know them and their awesome personalities. We had a great lesson on the Plan of Salvation with them, and I think they really believe. They are still studying and praying about the Book of Mormon, so if their health will let them get to church, it will be no time before they become members!

Sunday was a special day! It always is. Church was great! Elder Brenchley was able to bear his testimony on the power of this work and his witness of the gospel! We talked to a lot of ward members, introducing him, and it just reminded me how absolutely amazing this ward is. How lucky we are that we get to serve here among all these awesome people! 

That night we got to teach a man named C.! Elder Numbers and I found C. one day while we were going to an investigators house. We was sitting on the porch, talking to the investigator, so we started talking to both of them, and invited C. to learn about the gospel! We gave him a Book of Mormon and Restoration Pamphlet, and then we were on our way. Lame missionaries we were, we didn't get his address or his phone number, so we lost contact with him! Through some awesome miracles, we were able to find out the general location of his house and started knocking (this is now Elder Numbers' last week). First house we try, we found him! It was great! A week later (yesterday), Elder Brenchley and I go over there and teach him an awesome Restoration lesson. He doesn't fully comprehend it all, his beliefs are pretty ingrained, but he does have a strong faith in Christ, and that's all we need to build off and help him see the light of the gospel.

Thank you for taking the time to read this! I sure do love every single one of you, and I hope you make this week the best week ever! Stay strong, remember that the gospel is true, above all else! 

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

Best Photo Ever!

Transfer Week!

Hello everyone! This has been quite the long week! Super super busy. Transfer week is crazy when you are in this position. It's your job to figure everything out! Haha. Anyway, aside from that, we had a really awesome week! (FYI: I am staying, Elder Numbers is headed to Charleston, WV!)

Tuesday was our second to last district meeting! That's where all the fun pictures of our district came from. We sat in the woods in a big circle and taught each other out of Chapter 6 in Preach My Gospel, which is the chapter about Christ-like Attributes! It was a lot of fun. I had the attribute of Knowledge, which was great, because I love to learn! (Seriously though, The Bible Dictionary is one of my favorite books in the Quad.)

On Wednesdays, the Buena Vista and Rockbridge ward mission leaders and missionaries come together and do an awesome church tour at 7pm! The church has a ton of pictures in the hallways, and so after watching a short but awesome video in the chapel, we take the people on a tour and teach the Restoration as we go! How exciting is that? I love being creative with ideas like that. Then we come back into the chapel and watch "Because of Him" from Easter of 2014. We get to go again tonight and I'm super excited!

Thursday was a slower day, but we did end it by going to see B. and D.! They expressed come concerns of not knowing enough and wanting to learn more before they are baptized, so we told them we'd go as slow as they'd need. We taught an overview of all the lessons and taught the Restoration. They really liked it and told us they'd continue reading the Book of Mormon and pray about it and Joseph Smith! Woot woot!

Saturday we did get a scare! Sister B., who is awesome and really great friends with B. and D., called us. She said that B. and D. told one of their relatives that they were going to join our church. He promptly drove an HOUR to their house, opened up their computer, and showed them completely false and distorted anti-Mormon literature. Some people are really really dumb. Anyway, it really upset B. and D., and so Sister B. spent a few hours with them after he left clearing up their misconceptions and new false ideas. B. now still wants to become LDS, but D. is taking things a little slower, because this relative somewhat threatened them with being able to see his family if they join the church. All this is going to do though is strengthen B. and D.'s testimony until it is unshakable, so in a way, I guess I am grateful for people who do that, because it may make B. and D. move slower, but they be all the more stronger because of it.

Sunday was great! After going to church with the YSA's (my last time! D:), we headed to Lexington to see the sister's investigator get baptized! D!. He has an AWESOME beard, I gotta say. It's sweet. He'll be a fantastic member of the church! And it was the sisters last Sunday together. Sister Christopherson, who is getting transferred, just got done with training, so it was really cool for her to have a baptism right before she left, something that they've been hoping and praying for a while now. Just shows how amazing faith is!

We also had dinner with the B.'s that night! And B. and D. came over to eat with us! That was a lot of fun. Sister B. makes the BEST rolls. We had a little mini lesson after that with them, just about how they were feeling and what they were thinking. Because it had only been a day since the incident, they were still a little unsure, but we had a good meeting and they are doing really well. We saw them one more time this week, so I'll report on that in a bit.

To end the night Sunday, we were following up with some potential investigators, T. and her son J. As we get to the house, the husband, J., also pulls up! We make conversation and tell him why we're at his house, and come in with him. T. and J. invite us in and we start having a pretty good meeting! J. is just standing in the corner, staring at us. After some small talk, we got into a religious discussion about what we believe and things like that. To be honest, Elder Numbers and I were a little worried. There was a pretty hostile environment in that house emanating from that corner. He did not want us there, and it was obvious. It was cool though, as we went through the lesson, to watch the Spirit soften his heart! We were there for about an hour. After the first 15 minutes, the hostility kinda hit it's high point (right as we got into the religious discussion), but as the next 45 minutes passed by, he got more and more interested. Not super interested, but still! By the time we said the prayer they had committed to read parts of the Book of Mormon and look up mormon.org and lds.org! It was a really cool experience.

Tuesday was a crazy day! Like, really though. We ate lunch about 12:30, then two hours later we got invited to ANOTHER lunch with a member. We weren't going to go, but he said he was going to have a less active and a non member there, so we go! At 5 we had a dinner at the F.s' house (where I attempted the Saltines challenge and failed miserably. [It's impossible!]). They fed us some really awesome chili and we had some fun talking about really spicy foods. Then at 6 we had ANOTHER dinner appointment, with B. and D.! They really wanted to feed us before Elder Numbers left. Needless to say, we were pretty much dying afterwards. TUMS became our best friend. 

That's been our week! Thank you all for taking the time to read this! I hope it was long enough to make up for last week, haha. Have a great week, and make it the best one ever! Love you all!

Elder Brax Johnson

Zone Meeting Week!

Hello friends and family! 

This week has been a fun one! I have to type this email out in 10 minutes or less (preferably less) so this might be jumbled and short. Sorry! Know that I still love you all!

On Tuesday we went to Charleston to MLC! My second MLC already. That is crazy. Time flies by! It was a lot of fun. A blast! I got to see all my buddies and learn from some amazing people (The APs and President Salisbury). President's testimony is one of the strongest testimonies I've ever heard. I want to be able to bear testimony like that some day, just so powerfully that the Spirit just flows from my words. One day! 

Thursday was a fun day! It was Weekly Planning day, so it was really long, but still ended really well. You get cabin fever, getting stuck inside all day! That morning we got to go to the missionary panel again for a second group this time! This group was awesome. They had great spirits and were just so humble and teachable. They asked some awesome questions, and I hope we answered them alright. One kid was at church on Sunday and he came up and thanked us for doing the panel, and that we answered some of his questions. So awesome. The greatest blessing is to know that you were an answer to someone else’s prayer. 

That night we went to see the R. family again! This time with Brother T., our Ward Mission Leader. It was a good meeting, and we gave Brother R. a blessing of healing for his chest cold he's had for a while. It was awesome. The Spirit was strong.

After that, we went over to see B. and D. again! That was great. They are great. While we were there, we asked how their Book of Mormon reading was going. D. said, "Pretty, good. I'm in A-L-M-A." Our jaws hit the floor. It was awesome! We had a great lesson and gave them both blessings as well. Super strong Spirit! We set them on date for baptism for Aug 29th, Brother T.'s birthday.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. I did get to go on exchanges with Elder Trent Kelly, whom I've known since 1st grade! That was a lot of fun. We worked in my area, and had a great time together. Got to talk about the mutual people we know and things like that. Tender mercies all around.

Again, sorry this was so short, but I have 6 minutes before I have to be there. Cutting it close! I love you all!! Have a great week! Make it the best one yet!!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson