Farewell Zion, I'm Facing My Tent Toward Babylon!

Farewell Zion (Buena Vista)

Hello everyone! As you can probably see, I am leaving Buena Vista! After 7 1/2 months, I am heading back to West Virginia, to a city called Fairmont! It is about 15 minutes away from Morgantown, WV, which happens to house West Virginia University, commonly known in our mission as Babylon! So, hence my title, I'm facing Babylon! I'll be with Elder Jolley, a relatively new missionary who's been in Fairmont his whole mission so far. 

I don't have a lot of time, and not a whole lot happened this week, so sorry if this is short!

We had a ton of exchanges this week! It started on Tuesday, when I was with Elder Curtis here in Buena Vista. We had a great time! Elder Curtis is from Mesa, AZ, and he is AWESOME. He's been out for 3 months now, but he is a really mature, great guy. He broke both his legs two summers ago, which halted him from coming on a mission for 4 months while he recovered. We had a blast together! 

We met back up with Elder Wasden and Elder Hugentobler on Wednesday for a Worldwide Missionary Broadcast. The theme was "We teach repentance and baptize converts." We also got to hear from some amazing people! Specifically Elder Andersen and Elder Bednar were my favorites, but we also got to hear from Sister Oscarson, Elder Clayton, and Elder Nielson. It was fantastic! They talked a lot about working with Less-Active and Part Member Families. I am excited to use my new gained knowledge to move forward the work! Right after that, Elder Wasden and I parted ways again to go on an exchange with the Covington Tripanionship Elders, Elder Norman, Goold, and Higgins! I was with Elder Higgins down here in BV. He's a great guy, and we had a lot of fun together. 

On Thursday, we received a text from President Salisbury about the impending storm. He wanted to make sure we were all safe and ready, because we weren't sure exactly how big the storm was actually going to be. We spent most of the day inside planning.

Friday Snowstorm Jonas hit! We were stuck inside for both Friday and Saturday because, "if it's unsafe to drive it is likely unsafe to walk." Which was totally true. The roads were HORRIBLE because apparently BV only has 1 Snowplow for the entire town! Luckily most of it is cleared now. We watched a lot of church movies, studied, slept, played some Ping Pong, etc. Yeah it got boring, but it was alright! We made the best of it. I was excited to get back out and work.

Church was cancelled Sunday because of the snow and ice, which was lame, because that was my last Sunday! We went to church with the YSA Elders, and apparently because of the storm they only had sacrament meeting, and just 1 meeting, instead of 6 for each ward, so basically it was the entire YSA Stake taking the sacrament at the same time. That was pretty cool. It was a really good meeting too.

Monday I was on exchanges with Elder Malin from Amherst up here in BV! He is a fantastic Elder too, he'll be high in leadership, I know it. He's solid and amazing. I'll miss him!

Thank you all for your support of me! I love you all! Have a GREAT WEEK!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

Between snow storms #blizzard2016

Only about 10" right now! #blizzard2016

Cutest shoveler's in BV! #blizzard2016

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

Hello everyone! I'm running out of time, so lets jump into this!

On Monday we were able to sit down with G. and T. and have a good lesson with our Elders Quorum President! The lesson was more directed to T., although I think G. was listening. I hope! She accepted the challenge to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, but wasn't too sure yet on the baptismal invite. It's alright though. I know it!  

Tuesday I headed up to Charleston with Elder Jacklin on exchanges! We had a TON of fun. Taught a ton of lessons too! They rock it up there! I got to meet three people that I got word of last night got baptized! The work of salvation is hastening! In the words of Elder Bednar, "Will we keep pace?" They certainly are up there! 

Wednesday was great! Up in Charleston, we got to pick up a New Investigator and invite her to take the challenge to read, ponder, and pray about the Book of Mormon! She was a pretty cool lady! After the wonderful 3 hour drive back, Elder Wasden and I got to see Sister B. and her family! We set up to come back Friday morning.

Thursday was AWESOME! We picked up 2 New Investigators this day! Also taught an 8 year old, that we don't count as an investigator because her father is a member, and he was there too! So 3 non-members and a less-active. It was a great lesson. Elder Wasden and I had never taught kids before, and we were teaching an 8 year old (P.), 9 year old (L.), and a 13 year old (G.). And P. & G.'s dad, D. (L.'s Uncle). We went really basic: 1) God loves you. 2) God tells prophets what he wants you to know and they tell you 3) Joseph Smith was a prophet that tells us God loves us. It went pretty well I think! We also had our quarterly interviews with President Salisbury on Thursday! He taught us all about how to ask for a fellow-shipper the right way, by revelation. It was pretty cool. I'm excited to use it!

Friday I was down in Timberlake with Elder Underhill! I've been with him before on exchanges. He's great! A lot of fun. Not a whole lot happened with him, but I can tell you he can cook really well! On Saturday I accidentally left Timberlake's phone in my pocket, so Brother A. drove us ALL THE WAY down to Timberlake AGAIN. He's a saint. Say a prayer of gratitude for Brother A., because he's the best!

The Sabbath was a great day! Didn't get to do a whole lot, it didn't seem like anybody was home, but we tried! We showed President and Sister J. and their family (Our Stake President) the "I'm Gonna Find My Cousins" from the 2014 RootsTech hosted by Elder Andersen. If you haven't seen it, it's HIGHLY recommended. :) We also showed them the New Year Video. They make really good chili.

Anyway, gotta go! Love you tons! Thank you all for your support of me! Have a great week, and make it the best one ever!!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

The YSA Elders like to play practical jokes on us, so...

I'm famous!

Elder French! He's the best!

How we responded.

MLC and Zone Meetings!

Hello everyone! I totally kinda forgot what we did this week.... so this might be kinda short because I can't really remember anything haha! I need to start bringing my journal to the library on Mondays with me.... that would probably be a good idea. Eh, hindsight is 20/20!

Last Monday we took it easy and played some board games with the YSA Elders. We ate a delicious dinner with the T. family! (All my friends are coming back!) and taught J. on his porch about the Book of Mormon! We really need to get into a better teaching environment with him. We discussed on Monday the possibility of going to a members home to have a lesson, and he actually seemed really open to that! We have been texting him daily scriptures, and he seems to really enjoy them! I think he will start progressing really soon. He was almost at church this week! 

Tuesday was MLC! That was a blast! Elder Wasden and I were up at 2:45 that morning and headed out the door around 3:30. We picked up the Roanoke Elders (I got to see Elder Brenchley!) and The Pembroke Elders and we were off! MLC was fantastic. For those who aren't aware, MLC means Mission Leadership Council, where we as leaders of the mission come together to council and discuss about the needs of the mission. There was some really good discussion and I got a lot out of it. A lot of it was about the difference between a goal and a vision, and how they are not the same thing. We ate a delicious lunch of West Virginia Style Hot Dogs and chips, and President Salisbury gave each elder there a tie! How nice of him. :) I got a cool black one that when it catches the light just right it looks like it has stripes on it. We finally rolled into BV again around 10:00 that night. What a long but awesome day! It really is a blessing to be able to get to be instructed - and to be part of the instruction - by such great people.

We had our first exchange on Wednesday! I was with Elder Curtis from Lexington here in BV. He is a really great Elder. I love him! He has been out for just around 2 months now, but I always get it mixed up because he just seems so much more mature than I was when I was at 2 months. We had a blast together. He is from Mesa, Arizona and wants to be an aerospace engineer. How cool is that? I'll tell you what, it's super cool. We got to teach G. and his wife T. that night! We picked T. up as a new investigator by teaching them the Word of Wisdom. I know, kind of a weird first lesson, but they had so many questions about it, I figured we would just go ahead and teach it to make things simple. They loved it! They, or specifically G., wasn't quite ready to live it yet, but I think someday they will be.

Thursday we exchanged back and then literally all of the rest of the day was spent planning for the next week and planning for Zone Meeting the next day! The guess the funnest thing we did that night was go to Lexington to set up everything. Nothing too crazy!

Friday we had Zone Meeting! It actually went super well I think. I was really happy with it, at least. There was a lot of good instruction given and I think the zone got a lot out of it. We talked mostly about helping our investigators attend church by inviting them in such a way that their excuses are gone and they will have a wonderful experience at church. After that, Elder Goold and Elder Norman, from Covington, came down to BV with me while Elder Wasden and Elder Higgins went up to the Clifton Forge/Covington area! We had a blast together. Triple Companionships are always a ton of fun because there is never a dull moment. I love both of those elders! They're both fairly new in the mission, but they know why they are here and love to work hard.

Saturday we were able to see B. and D.. B.'s arm was really hurting her, so Brother T. took us over there to give her a blessing with him. We had a little lesson about trials and being healed from the things we struggle with. B. continues to progress and be amazing! Sister H., our Relief Society President, told me yesterday that they have a calling in mind for her. Woo hoo!!!

Our Sabbath was wonderful. Elder Wasden and I studied Lehi's Dream a little bit. It was a great Comp Study. ;D We really did have a great day! Sister B. had us over for dinner along with our friends the H. family and some of her non-member friends that she knows. We played around with her (really mean) cat for a bit and had a really good conversation about the Word of Wisdom with everyone. Sister H. asked us, "What do I say when people ask why I can't drink tea?" We taught her the short answer, "The short answer is that in 1820 there was a young boy.... called as prophet.... translated the Book of Mormon.... received other revelations such as the Word of Wisdom..... you can know if the Word of Wisdom is from God by reading and praying about the Book of Mormon, for if the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph was a prophet, which means the Word of Wisdom really is from God." 

That was my week! It's funny, whenever I say these are going to be short, they are always my longest ones. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed! Thank you all for your wonderful and amazing support of me! I love each one of you! Have a WONDERFUL WEEK!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

Selfie from the library with Elder Wasden

A baking genius. Really. :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (sent December 28, 2015)

Hello everyone! I hope your Christmas was wonderful and that you'll have an equally amazing New Year! We were blessed to see some serious miracles this week, and they are set up so that we will see some serious miracles this coming week! I've really gained a testimony of how the Lord prepares people to find, and we just have to talk to everyone and begin teaching immediately to find them! There are so many people waiting for the gospel. 

Tuesday we had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the Amherst Elders, Elder Malin and Elder Hurst! I was able to work with Elder Hurst up here in BV. He is a rockstar who had been out a total of 5 days when I had been with him! He is awesome though. We had a lot of fun together. We had a great conversation that morning and spent a lot of time in Alma 32 about developing faith. He is really great and just soaks up anything you give him! I also got to practice my teaching skills on him as I taught, so that was fun!

Thursday we had a day exchange with the YSA Elders, Elder French and Elder Harris! Currently, SVU is on break and there is NO YSAs for them to teach. Elder Harris and I rocked it out on one side of our area, while Elder Wasden and Elder French rocked it on the other side. We didn't see too much stuff happen, but Elder Wasden and Elder French saw TONS of success! They seriously set up like 3 or 4 appointments for this week! #sweetness. It should be an awesome week this week! We exchanged back at 5 o'clock and went to the J.s' house for Christmas Eve dinner! They made some awesome Ham, Mash Potatoes, Lots of other stuff, Mac and Cheese (Because you have to have Mac in the South over holidays)! We also had TONS of sugar that night, the J.s' fed us Tim Tam Slams, where you drink Hot Chocolate through a chocolate wafer thingy and then eat the wafer when it starts to melt. Like 30 grams of sugar per round. We did 4! :D Then we went over to the G.s and decorated cookies! MORE sugar! We took some cookies to some of our friends, the C.'s (potential investigators), which they were very grateful for. :)

Friday we had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS! WE started the day with a great breakfast at the S.'s! Super delicious biscuits and gravy. Like, for real though. Mmmm. We got caught in some rain (It was like 60 degrees! So cold! ;D) and hid under a pavilion while planning for the week and talking about random fun stuff. The S.'s again had us back for dinner that night, which was delicious and we got to celebrate Christ's birth with some really great people! Skyping was fantastic! Best Skype EVER! My family is AWESOME! Shoutout to Mom, Emma, Dad, Shay, Bella, Hank (and Maddy, Mason, and Elijah), and Kyle!

On Saturday we had another day exchange with the YSA Elders! Elder French and I rocked it in one side of the area and Elder Harris and Elder Wasden went and saw a TON of success AGAIN in the other part of the area! I don't know what it is about Elder Wasden's faith, but we have like 3 or 4 MORE appointments because of him on that day! Woot woot! This is going to be a GREAT week!

Church on Sunday we had an interesting experience! During Sacrament Meeting, President J., our Stake President, announced that just for this particular week we would be switching the speakers and the sacrament, so Sacrament would be at the end of the meeting! It was strange. It really taught me and showed me how much the Sacrament affects the general feeling of the meeting and how I feel during it! I appreciate the Sacrament so much more. Both President J. and Bishop D. spoke and testified heavily of the Sacrament and the Atonement. It was great! It is great to be a part of this church and to be able to use the Atonement to change every day. 

I love all of you! Have a wonderful week! Make it the BEST EVER!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

Feeding our crew! Hawaiian Haystakes!

Ready to go SKYPE!

My loot (My mom spoils me)

Christmas Day! Buena Vista 2015

Making Christmas cookies!

My stocking! Thank you Emma!

Shout out to Brad!

My favorite Christmas present! The Calendar!
Full of spiritual thoughts, crazy national holidays and important reminders from my mom! 

My amazing Christmas stocking from the S. family!