June 8, 2016 - From a missionary of Christ in the Backwoods of West Virginia

Well everyone, this is it! My time runs short. I won't spend a whole lot of time on what I've learned these past two years; "8. ...this [email] cannot contain even a hundredth part of what was [learned]...in the space of [two] years"

My mission is very sacred to me, and I am incredibly grateful for what I've learned and who I have become in the last two years. Like the scripture said, there is no possible way to explain how I feel about these last 24 months. I will say that I have a testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel. I've come to know this through the Book of Mormon - which has literally and completely changed the course of my life. I know that Joseph Smith and Thomas S. Monson are Prophets of God, called by Him to do a great work and bless our lives here.

A lot has happened over the course of the last week and a half, so here is my final review! Last Pday we went over to L's house and got to try on his stilts! It was AWESOME! I have pictures. He also offered me the stilts I got to wear for $100 plus shipping. WHAT A GUY! They are usually like $350, so it's an INSANE deal. Also he said that the offer doesn't expire, so whenever I get the money. He's the best. We also went over to the D.'s that evening a little before Pday ended and celebrated T.'s (their grandson) birthday! 18! He's going to SVU too! I think I'm more excited for him to go to Buena Vista than he is lol. That night, Brother V., being the coolest guy ever that he is, brought over Homestead Creamery Chocolate Milk. If you've never had it, it's the best. stuff. ever.

Tuesday morning the milk was promptly gone before studies.... :P IT WAS SO GOOD. It was also like 300 grams of saturated fat, but so worth it. We got the opportunity to teach S.H. that night! We brought the H.'s over. It was a great little lesson. It was really short, but really effective. I've definitely learned the power of brevity and how great of a tool that is. :)

Wednesday I had the chance to say goodbye to all the people in the Soup Opera. I'm going to miss them a lot. D., L., L., A., B., M., and of course A. Such great people. 

Thursday I had my last district meeting and my last exchange! I got to be with Elder Moyle here in Fairmont! It was fun. :) We had a party. During our exchange we had a cool experience while we were walking! This guy called out to us, so we figured why not! We went over to him and started chatting with him, turns out he's a former investigator from like, 20 years ago. We chatted about the Book of Mormon for a while, and he invited us back! His name is P. It was a cool experience.

On Friday Elder Moyle and I had to head to Morgantown to fix the car (I ground the undercarriage pretty hard. It was bad. My bad). While we were there, we got to see C.! We get our car serviced at the dealership that he works at, so that was AWESOME! He's still awesome and funny. 

Saturday was kind of a big day for me. June 4th. I went into the MTC June 4th, 2014. So, you know, two years. That was crazy. I'll tell you what, these two years have changed my life. We also got the chance on Saturday to eat with A.&D.! They took us out to Applebees. It was really nice of them, and they gave me a little gift baggy full of treats for the plane ride. What nice people. I'll miss them!

Sunday we had the chance to eat with the F.'s and the C.'s! #twodinnersforthewin It was really great. Church was amazing too! My last Fast and Testimony Meeting. It was a great last Sunday!

So I finally started packing on Monday. It actually went a lot faster than I thought. By last night I was basically all packed. We also had Zone Meeting on Monday! I got to bear my DEPARTING TESTIMONY! It was CRAZY! That's when it started getting real. Craziness. C. also got adopted, so now he is OFFICIALLY C. D.! WOO HOO! 

Tuesday I said goodbye to L., R., C., D., C. Jr., A. (I'll explain), the H.'s, and the H.'s! C., D., Ch. Jr, and Ch.' 9 year old daughter 'd., who is ADORABLE, took us out to lunch at Applebees! I have pictures of them too. It was a great time. We had a lot of fun, and it was a total tender mercy to see them before I left.

Well that was my last week and a half! Two years! Tonight C. will be baptized, tomorrow morning I head down to Charleston, and Friday morning I fly home. Thank you ALL for your support. I love EACH ONE OF YOU!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

May 30, 2016 - Heat, Humidity, and Week One-Oh-Three!

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a great week. It's been great to hear from all of you! Thanks for all the emails. I appreciate it!

Let's jump into the week here! On Monday we had some plans fall through, so we figured we'd call some former investigators who's hospice worker asked us to contact them a few days previous. We gave them a call and they invited us over! The H.'s are really neat, nice, kind, awesome people. They are really really really sick though, which is unfortunate, but they have strong resolves haha. We shared a few scriptures out of the Book of Mormon and picked them up as New Investigators! 

Tuesday we had the opportunity to teach C.! We are finishing up his lessons. We have 3 more lessons to teach in the next 9 days and his baptismal interview will be in the next few days! Woo hoo! His baptism will be on June 8th, the day before I leave. #tendermercies. We also had the chance to visit Brother P. and read the Book of Mormon with him! That was a good experience. He's a funny guy.

Wednesday we had service at the Soup Opera that morning, and we served 110 people! A new record! I think the most we had served before this was probably like 80 something. We were super busy. I also said goodbye to B. and M., they are going on vacation and having surgery done, respectively. I forgot to get a picture with them though. My bad! I'm sorry! Tons of pictures will come this next week though as I say goodbye to everyone. We also helped Sister C., a member of the ward, hang a clothesline between two trees that were COVERED in Cicadas. It was NASTY. I hate those things. We have industrial-strength insecticide at our apartment, provided by the church, and that takes care of them pretty well around where we live. :)

Friday was a slower day, we got the chance to see both Brother P. and Brother R. F., whom we go see on a bi-weekly basis. We also saw R. on Saturday too, and committed him to come to church, which he did! It was great. Saturday evening we taught Sister S.H., a former investigator from a while ago, with Brother H.'s. We taught the Restoration, the Spirit was strong, and we set her on date to be baptized on July 9th! Woo Hoo for miracles! Also on Saturday night we got to watch a cool Firework show going on as the finale to the "West Virginia Three River's Festival" that had been going on since Thursday right near our apartment. It was pretty sweet.

We had a great Sabbath Day! I hope yours was great. We had a great sacrament meeting on Studying the scriptures, not reading them, the power of fasting, and relying on the Holy Ghost. It was great. 3rd hour was also fantastic! We had a combined 5th Sunday lesson that was GREAT! It was a panel about keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. I know that if we keep the Sabbath Day Holy that the Lord will bless us with renewed strength. It's a PROMISE! No exceptions. :)

Thank you all for your support of me! I love you all! Have a wonderful week! Talk to you next Wednesday!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

May 23, 2016 - The Power of Fasting for Another Week of Miracles

Hello everyone! As you can tell by the title, I'm super excited about how well this week went. We've had a seriously amazing week two weeks in a row! I'm humbled and amazed to be a part of such a wonderful work and see the hand of the Lord in really everything we do. I attribute all of this success to the fasting and prayer that Elder Casey and I have been doing, as well as all the fasting and prayers from our friends and family. Thank you all for helping us and the Lord in making Fairmont what it should be! 

So, jumping into the week, on Monday we were not able to teach C., but instead we did see some great other blessings! We decided to go try a former investigator, Sh., who lives near C., and we picked her up as a New Investigator! That was a cool experience. We have a lesson with her tonight. Later that evening, we were walking along a street toward a referral and this lady stopped us and started talking with us about wanting us to come over! It's always the best when the people stop you rather than you stopping them haha. We set up an appointment for the next day, which she ended up cancelling. But don't worry, she comes into play later in the week. To end the night we went with Brother C. and gave a blessing to the H.'s', some semi-actives in the ward. The middle son had bronchitis, poor kid.

On Tuesday we were able to see our favorite Brother Ru. We watched some videos with him until he fell asleep, poor guy. He had a tiring day apparently. We were also able to teach Brother P.! He was full of things to say this time around, but it was a fun visit with him. We also ate with President H. who made this delicious stuff called Texas Beef Skillet which is DELICIOUS. Like, seriously though. 

Wednesday I headed up to Mannington with Elder Furrows! That morning I did My Plan, and also we had District Meeting! All 6 of us were assigned a Christ-Like Attribute by Elder Moyle to give a 5 minute principle on. I taught about Faith! I'll attach a picture of the "Cycle of Faith" That I used that I learned from President Salisbury. We had some fun up in Mannington, taught a few lessons, walked around a bunch, ate a huge Stromboli that was delicious, etc. It was a good day.

But nothing could beat Thursday! We had Zone Conference on Thursday. My very last one! Crazy. It was amazing though. President Salisbury is an amazing teacher. He's one of the greatest men I know outside of my family. I've been honored to get to work with him over these last years. Also, a shoutout to my best friend Ryan! Congrats on your 21st birthday man. :) Party hard and go get a Root Beer or something. We Mormons know how to do it! We also were able to eat with the C.'s, a relatively new family. That was really good. :) They made really great food, and we might be going golfing with them next Pday if everything works out! :D That would be a ton of fun! That night we were also able to go and see Jo., an investigator, and his Mom De. They had been without power in their house for a while and she was trying to get a hold of Bishop, so we went over there to make sure everything was okay. We set up an appointment for the next day!

On Friday we were able to teach Sister M. with her Father, whom we both picked up as new investigators! She's very protestant, but lived in Utah for around 6 years a while back in various places, and is curiously interested in finding out about what we believe. She is on a search to find the, "true church that God accepts, like it says in the Bible." I've never seen that Bible verse, but whatever gets people interested! :D 

Saturday we got to help out with the baptism that the Sister's had! Brother H. got baptized. It was a good experience. We had a few people that were able to go. Brother P. gave a talk! His very first one! It was awesome. :) He did a good job. He's come a long way! We were also able to go out with A.&D, some former investigators who like missionaries, to dinner! They took us to Muriale's, the nice place in town. I got a really good pasta dish. Mmmm delicious! They also gave us the best salads ever. Seriously, I need that recipe, I don't know what was in it, but it was AWESOME. And complementary bread. Explains why it was so expensive now haha. It was really nice of them and we had a good time together. They're awesome people. Oh I almost forgot to mention! There are these little devil creatures that apparently only come out once every 17 years for six weeks called Cicadas. To me, they are pure evidence that God lets bad things happen and that the devil still has some power in parts of the world. These things are DISGUSTING and there are THOUSANDS of them. BLAH.

Sunday was a great day! We had a good church service, great talks about the Sabbath Day. We got the opportunity to teach about the Restoration in Gospel Principles! That was a lot of fun. There were a ton of people there in class. It was great! That evening as we were walking along the same street as Monday, we got stopped by O. again! It was awesome. She is super elect. We taught her really briefly on the sidewalk and picked her up as a new investigator too! Great end to the week. She's a recovering addict, and has been looking for the church. We told her about the Addiction Recovery Program in Morgantown and she was really interested. Great things are happening!

Thank you all for your support and prayers. I dearly love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

May 16, 2016 - Tendinitis, Two Miracle Baptisms, and Four New Investigators!

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic week! WE SURE DID! :D Seriously, it was a great week this week. We saw some AWESOME things happen. I don't have very many photos this week because I left my camera at our Ward Mission Leader's House on Tuesday and then they went camping so I didn't have it until Saturday. I took two selfies for your enjoyment though. :) On Monday we got to see C.! It was a great lesson, and we also moved his baptismal date to June 8th, provided the Stake President can be there (That's who C. wants to baptized him, President H.). So as long as President can be there, I get to see someone baptized the day before I go home! That's pretty cool. :) I'm a lucky guy.

Not a whole lot happened on Tuesday. My left foot started to hurt and ache a little bit (this becomes important later), and I had Strawberry Rhubarb Pie for the first time in my life! It was actually really really really good! Very tart. But also sweet. Anyway!

Wednesday we did service at the Soup Opera as usual! It was fun. The ladies there are really funny. Later that day we were also able to pick up a New Investigator! His name is Cu. He's a former investigator of around a year ago, and when we went and knocked on his door, he let us right in! He's super elect and interested, too! It was a really cool experience. We taught him the Restoration and invited him to be baptized! Really cool experience. We also tracted into this guy who is very Catholic and wanted to tell us so. :) He's very proud of the company he works for. Apparently they build wells in Bolivia. What nice guys. He asked, "the second richest corporation in the world is the Mormon Church, but what do they do with that money? Do they help the poor and those in need? Why don't they help these people?" I just smiled. 

Thursday was a great day! Happy Birthday to my awesome uncle Hank! He's OLD! On Thursday we walked. A lot. Like, it was bad. I guess what was bad was that I didn't drink nearly enough water. Neither of us did. Put ourselves through mild heat exhaustion. My body was a little more used to the humidity than Elder Casey's was, so it hit him a little harder than it did me. We turned in a half hour early and I called people and scheduled things while he took a cold shower and got comfortable. Earlier that day though we picked up a New Investigator named J.! He was a referral from the sisters from forever ago, and we finally were able to contact him after months of him not being home! Elder Casey taught him the Restoration while I distracted his mom who kept interrupting with stuff. :) Also, my foot had gotten progressively worse up to this point to the point where I actually had a limp! So I finally figured I'd do something about it (typcial boy, I know) and Dr. Brower (our mission doc) said that I have Tendinitis! Lame. I was told to pop the Aleve twice a day and call him back if it didn't get any better (thankfully it's gone now).

On Friday we were blessed to pick up M., a New Investigator who was a referral from the sisters from a few weeks ago. She's a funny lady. We were able to go see her with Brother M., our Elders Quorum President, we were also supposed to see her and her husband, but his health is bad and he was asleep, so we taught really briefly out on the porch and left her with a pamphlet and Book of Mormon. What a great experience! We also ate dinner with D., a member who lives 30 seconds away from us. We placed a Book of Mormon with his little brother who isn't a member. Maybe something cool will happen there!

The weekend went really well! Saturday we were able to teach Th. real briefly. He's a great guy, but just can't catch a vision of why he needs the gospel in his life. He thinks of our meeting more as therapy for his anger issues and if he would just READ he'd be AWESOME. Oh well, it will come in time. We also contacted the H family, two former investigators whosw health is not doing very well. Their hospice worker had stopped us a few days before and asked us to go over there to visit them, because, "they liked it when the Mormons used to come by." So we did! They're a nice family. Going back this week sometime. We also had the great opportunity to eat delicious tacos at the Hicks and enjoy talking with them! That night we got caught in a rain storm super far away from our car, so we quickly returned, but not in time. Alas, my hair was DESTROYED. I was beside myself. But then I got over it.

Sunday! We were able to teach M. again, and we were also able to teach her with her husband P.! Brother M. came with us again, and it went really well! They are very friendly. They are very happy with their church, so we'll encourage them to read the Book of Mormon and see what happens. He's also very talkative, and so is Brother M., so we didn't get to teach hardly anything, but we got just enough I think to prick his curiosity. After that we ate at the C.! They made some delicious Italian Dressing Chicken. Mmmmmm.

So let me tell you about these two miracle baptisms! So we had a part-member family in our ward, the L.'s, E. is a member, his wife M. and his stepson A. were not. Five or Six weeks ago she finally got to a point in her studies of wanting to join the church after two years of being married to E. So we were in the process of setting things up, and we finally got an appointment set for Wednesday the 4th of May (best day). Unfortunately, E.'s mom, out in Utah, got rapidly worse in her health and the doctors couldn't do anything more for her. So unfortunately that Wednesday they got an emergency flight out to Utah (all 3, M.'s younger daughter stayed home) so E. could say goodbye. While they were out there, M. contacted the sister missionaries in Orem and had them started teaching her. They set a baptismal date for that next Wednesday! 6 days! Isn't that just a miracle? :] After involving President H. (mission counselor, knows them well), President Salisbury, the Orem Mission President, the Orem Sisters, their fellowshippers the V.'s, and really EVERYONE BUT US, they got baptized! They were confirmed right after the baptismal service on Wednesday just to speed things up, and just so everyone out here could participate, they Facetime'd it! How great is that. So thoughtful. So now it's our job to help them learn the gospel, get them to church, and get them to the temple. I can't believe it. So many miracles, wouldn't you say?

:) Thank you everyone for reading! I appreciate it. I love every one of you! Have a wonderful week! See you soon!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

May 9, 2016 - The Last Skype Call!

Hello everyone! It was great to see you yesterday! (Well, most of you... ;D) I hope you are all doing well. You all looked and sounded great! I am running out of time, so I'll jump into the week!

Last Monday we were able to teach C., like normal. We went over the Articles of Faith, 4 in specific, with him to teach him a couple of the commandments from the lessons in Preach My Gospel. It went really well. He is on date to be baptized June 11th! Can't remember if I mentioned that last time lol.

Tuesday was an easy day, we got the opportunity to see R. and watch some videos with him, and Brother P. and read the Book of Mormon. Not a whole lot, but those two guys are awesome. Wednesday though! Happy Star Wars Day! :D That's like my favorite day. We also had the opportunity on Wednesday to do service at the Soup Opera. The ladies that we volunteer with there are awesome, they said they want to make a big special lunch for my last one haha. They are awesome. I'll have to take some pictures.

Thursday - Happy Independence Day Mexico! :D On Thursday, we got the opportunity to teach M., our minister and elect investigator! He taught us some awesome things about the Pauline Epistles and how Paul teaches the doctrine of the celestial kingdom in like every epistle. He also talked about how Jesus used Rabbinical techniques when he taught the multitudes. I think we taught about the Book of Mormon... :P It was a great experience. We also did service with a less-active member, J., and went out afterward to eat with him. He's a really energetic, funny guy. 

Friday I had exchanges with Elder Moyle! I can't exactly remember what we did, but I know we had a lot of fun whatever it was! We did get to teach Brother P. about the Priesthood and watched some more videos with R. Elder Moyle is our new District Leader from Star, Idaho, he's been out for 6 months, and he's a great Elder. We have a ton in common, so it made it a lot of fun. :)

Saturday it was my WONDERFUL MOTHER'S BIRTHDAY! Happy Birthday Mom! ;D You are the best. 

As for teaching, we got the opportunity to teach one of the sisters investigators (long story), J., at the Cracker Barrel. It wasn't a very good teaching environment, in fact it was a horrible teaching environment, but it was a good experience with some good food! Elder Casey and I also had the opportunity to teach D., one of our investigators. He had a ton of questions and we were finally able to get control of the situation and teaching experience enough to leave him with the challenge to get his own answers from the Plan of Salvation pamphlet we left with him. He's an awesome guy. Really funny.

Sunday was Mother's Day! Happy Mother's Day to all those awesome moms out there, especially my mom and aunts and grandmother. I love you all! Not a ton happened on Sunday except for eating WAY to much food per the request of the two lunch & dinner appointments we had, and talked to a really high born-again christian guy who tried to convert us. It was funny. Skipping was wonderful too, like I mentioned at the top. Ya'll are the best! 

I love each of you dearly. Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

May 2, 2016 - A Short Week!

Hello everyone! This week was great! It was a short week, but we still saw a lot of great things happen! Starting on Tuesday, we were able to go and eat dinner with the sisters and Bishop and his family! Sister B. always makes really delicious Cambodian food, so that's always a plus. Tuesday night we had our last visit with the C.s'! :( They are officially moving to Masontown, a different elders area. Oh well. They are going to get to be blessed by some other missionaries. :) We had a good little testimony meeting with them and made them some really cool promises by the Spirit. We'll miss them!

Wednesday we had the opportunity to go to the Soup Opera and serve the people there! It was also transfers on Wednesday, so we had Elder Furrows with us while Elder Carter walked the Green Mile and we waited for Elder Moyle to arrive. :) They made some DELICIOUS Mac & Cheese. We also had the opportunity on Wednesday to visit a less-active, M., with Brother H.! He's an interesting fellow. Really fun to talk to and really funny, but he definitely has his problems. Good guy, regardless.

On Thursday I started MyPlan, a new missionary-specific thing rolled out by the Missionary Department in Salt Lake that helps you create a plan for your life after your mission! Over the last few days, I've learned a ton about how much I've grown as a missionary, and about my future as outlined in my Patriarchal Blessing! If you don't have a patriarchal blessing, I would recommend receiving one as soon as you possibly are ready for one. They are AMAZING! It will give you direction that you will need throughout your life. Later that day we were able to teach T. again, whom we started teaching on Monday! He is still super amazing and elect. We followed up with his reading and questions he had about the Book of Mormon and the church. We also visited Sister D. with her home/visiting teachers the S.'s, and encouraged her to stop smoking. She is getting there. As of a couple weeks ago she is officially active! :D

District Meeting was on Friday! That was a really good meeting. Our new District Leader, Elder Moyle, is an awesome Elder who's been out for 6 months and just arrived in Mannington. He conducted a great District Meeting about Chapter 1 of Preach My Gospel. We also had the opportunity to teach D. again! He didn't accept a baptismal invitation, but that's alright! Sometimes Elder Casey and I are super excited about something he says and feel super hopeful, but sometimes we're just like, "ah... what the heck D.!" It'll be a process, but he's a good guy.

We had a wonderful Sabbath day yesterday. Fast & Testimony meeting is always a wonderful meeting, we are really blessed to be in this church. :) It was a wonderful end to a great week. Thank you all for reading this! Sorry it was so short, but know that I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

April 26, 2016 - A Great End To A Transfer!

Hello everyone! I'm running WAY out of time, so this will be really concise, sorry! I do have a lot of pictures this week, so hopefully that makes up for everything. I know, be surprised! I actually took a lot of pictures this week! :D

To start the week off, last Monday, we taught C.! He is coming along just great. His adoption court date will be June 6th, which means he will most likely be baptized on June 11th! Woo hoo! He is a great little kid. 

The next day, Tuesday, we were going to see the P.s, but C. Sr. had a Kidney Stone! I've never seen such a tough man in so much pain. Poor guy. Apparently it was 2.5mm wide. In his own words, "I'll never make fun of childbirth again. Something the size of a bb broke me." Hahaha, he's so funny. I probably shouldn't be laughing though. Elder Casey has had Kidney Stones before, and apparently they are nothing to play with. We did end up stopping by for like 15 minutes and shared a Mormon Message with them. It was good. Also on Tuesday though we met a guy named D.! We were walking along a back street and he asked us to come over to his garage and help him move his motorcycle. So we did, got talking about religion, and set up an appointment! More on that to come.

Wednesday we did the Soup Opera. Not a whole lot happened other than that though.

Thursday was a good day. We had the opportunity to teach Brother R., our long-term investigator who is a Methodist Preacher and is currently going to school to get a different job so he can actually investigate fully the gospel (and eventually join)! We chatted about his conversion to the gospel and how he feels about where he is. He showed us the newest book he is reading from Deseret Book, "To Become Like God," Yeah, he's elect. We also had dinner with Brother P. that evening. His daughter is a Returned Missionary currently in Utah, and he's a great guy. I'll tell you what, he made this Cookie-Crust Vanilla-Pudding Fruit-Topped DELICIOUSNESS for dessert. I need to get that recipe. We also made posters with the sisters for the Fair Saturday!

On Friday we had District Meeting! It was great. We all gave 5 minute talks, I spoke on the Book of Mormon, and it went really well. We also had our return appointment with D.! It went well. He talks a LOT and had a LOT of questions, so we stayed.... longer than we are supposed to (whoops!), but he is an awesome guy, we are blessed to be able to teach him. He is one of the FUNNIEST guys I have ever met. It's awesome. We also spent most of the day running around EVERYWHERE trying to get ready for the Fair that was on Saturday! It was CRAZY. Everything worked out though. (See pictures)

Saturday was the Spring Into Action Fair! It was AWESOME. There were a lot of booths there of a TON of fun stuff, and we had the most important booth there! We had 3 posters, one on Family History, one on Temples, and the big one on the Book of Mormon! We also had a TV that was set up to play a "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" Mormon Version that kinda worked. We actually met someone and got their contact information in the first 20 minutes! It was awesome. We also got transfer calls that night. I'm..... STAYING!

Sunday was really great. Church was a great experience, we had some good discussions in all the classes. Lots of focus on Temples, mostly I think because the Stake had gone to the temple the day before, so it was fresh on everyone's mind. We also taught Brother P. about preparing for the rest of the temple, because he went to the temple on Saturday with the Stake!!! He had some really cool spiritual experiences too. So. Awesome. After leaving his house, the headache that I had had since the end of church was to the point where I could hardly see straight, so we went home, I drank a lot of water, and was going to rest for 15-20 minutes (this was 2:30). Woke up just after 5! But hey, no headache. It was great. We ate at the H.'s house and had a good discussion with them about strengthening our testimony, and we ate some delicious homemade pizza. We ended the night with the P.'s who dropped the bombshell that they are MOVING! :( Up to Masontown. Lucky Masontown elders, they get the best referral ever. Oh well, I still love him!

Yesterday we had another District Meeting where we all sat in a circle, shared our favorite scriptures, and then had a testimony meeting afterward. It was powerful and awesome. The Spirit was really strong. On that spiritual high we went to Brother F.'s house to do some service with him and his nonmember grandson! That's why we were there, to hopefully chat with him about the gospel. He wasn't terribly interested, but oh well! We still had fun hitting sidewalk with big sledgehammers. :) But the highlight of the day came when we tried T., a potential/former investigator! We had been previously unable to get in to the house with him before this, but somewhat surprisingly, he let us right in! It was awesome! We started by getting his background and religious history and then he asked the perfect question, "So I guess that's what I believe. What do you guys believe?" >:D The Spirit was perfect as we started to teach. We explained prophets, Christ and His church, and Apostasy. He readily accepted all those truths. We then taught about Joseph Smith and the First Vision and at the end there was a perfect "air" that you could see about him, "That would be nice, if it were true," he seemed to be saying. We talked about how life changing that would be to know that Joseph saw what he said he saw. I think he thought we'd end it there. BUT NO. The moment was perfect, and we introduced the Book of Mormon and testified that it is a witness that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. It was the most powerful lesson I've ever had on my mission. He accepted a baptismal invitation, and during our appointment on Thursday we are going to give him a date. It's going to be awesome.

So, I apparently was not going to be concise haha. :P It doesn't really work for me apparently haha. Well, thank you all for your support. I love you all dearly. Have a WONDERFUL WEEK!

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

April 18, 2016 - Fairmont is on Fire!

Hello everyone! Before the email today, I feel like I should mention that my aunt Angela Smith passed away unexpectedly Sunday morning, leaving behind her husband, and two kids (15 & 12). The whole situation is hard for the family, but especially for her husband and children. If you could help out the family with anything that you can offer, it would be much appreciated. 

Thank you all for your support! Elder Casey and I had a great week. The title of the email will be treated on later, but suffice it to say that Fairmont was literally ON FIRE yesterday! It was intense. I have pictures.

Starting from the top of the week though! We taught C. last Monday about Faith and Repentance! He was a little.... energetic.... so we cut the lesson short. President D. gave us obscene amounts of delicious food, so that was good. :)

It was Sister M.'s birthday on Tuesday! Hype! Happy Birthday Sister M.! We got to reap the rewards of the special day at coordination because the H.'s made cupcakes! In these cool silicone cupcake things too.... yeah! :D We were also able to teach Brother P. and read the Book of Mormon with him. He is a great fella! To end the night we taught The P.'s, C. and C.! They are doing alright! We followed up with their reading and asked them some questions about what they need to change and how they felt. They aren't quite connecting the dots yet with what we're going for so they can get it into THEIR heart, but we're praying that it comes soon.

On Wednesday we found a New Investigator! Yayyy!!! Her name is S. We had met her the week before, and we decided to follow up with her at her house. Lo and behold, she was outside and we chatted with her on her front porch for a little while! We are seeing her tonight and teaching her the first lesson. :) Woo hoo! We were also able to do service at the Soup Opera on Wednesday and have some fun there with all those great people. It was a good day.

Not a ton happened on Thursday. We did get some cool really spicy hot dogs from a little hole in the wall place called Yanns. Apparently he only sells 77 dozen a day and when he runs out he closes up shop! He only does it as a hobby haha, there were signs everywhere saying that you'll get kicked out if you ask for Ketchup or Relish or Extra Chili lol. People are funny. He's usually closed by noon-1pm, so we had to go fast!

Friday we had exchanges. I was with Elder Furrows up in Mannington. He's a funny guy. We taught one of their investigators, J.. That was an interesting experience. On Saturday, back in Fairmont, we were able to go to dinner with some non-members that really like the missionaries, A&D. They took us out to the Poky Dot, a fun, retro, 50s style restaurant. I wasn't SUPER impressed, but it was still good food. And it was free, so all the better! :D They are a really fun couple.

So Sunday Fairmont was literally on fire! A couple buildings right outside downtown caught fire and were shooting some serious smoke into the sky. It was intense. That happened around 4/5pm. Crazy stuff! Church was really good! Brother P. was sick so he only came for his temple recommend interview, and he'll be going to the temple on Saturday with the Clarksburg Stake! :D He is awesome. We also got put on Primary duty with Bishop and a couple other guys because they had their Visiting Teaching Conference, so all the women were needed elsewhere. It was..... interesting. I could just see a movie cover in my head of Bishop with curlers in his hair and most his hair is messed up with like two kids on him and a horrified look on his face as the front picture with a couple other guys in the back getting attacked by demonic little 4 year olds. :P We also ate dinner that night with the C.'s, an awesome member family. 

That was my week! Thank you all for your wonderful support. :) I love you all! Have a wonderful week! Pray for my Uncle R. and his kids. They need it.

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

April 11, 2016 - Fasting & Learning How to Study (Only Took Me 22 Months!)

Hello friends and family and everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful week! Conference still lingers in the air. The feeling that you get from listening to modern day prophets and Apostles just isn't found anywhere else in this world. I hope that we won't lose sight of the direction that the Lord and His servants want us to go in over the coming months. Let's lengthen our stride and move to a higher plane as believers in our Savior. No matter where you are on that path, you can always move forward!

Okay, enough preaching. :) Here's how our week went! We were able to teach Brother L. on Tuesday and read the Book of Mormon with him. We discussed the importance of scripture study and keeping the commandments of God. I really like the book of Jacob. He's fairly straightforward with things. The next day, Wednesday, we were able to teach Sister V. about the Book of Mormon and try to strengthen her in her testimony. That morning we also did service at the Soup Opera, which is always a great time. Everyone who volunteers there is just so funny and awesome. Good food too. Sometimes the people get a little sassy.... and sometimes you get a little sassy back....  but you just try to be Christlike and give unbiased and loving service, because that's what it's all about!

Thursday I had my very last interview with President Salisbury before the mission home! It's crazy that it's been 8 already. We talked about how to help our investigators Brother P. and his son C.. He gave me some good suggestions that I related to Elder Casey, and we tried it on Saturday (More on that to come)! The next day, Friday, we had Zone Meeting! It was really great. Lots of business to go over. Conduct and procedural stuff mostly, but we did get to role-play the Restoration! That was fun. I also had my Temple Recommend Interview! Woo hoo! Brand new shiny temple recommend. Two signatures too! :D Later that day we were able to teach Brother Plum again. 

On Saturday I had an awesome study and totally learned that you get way more out of studying by topic than by just aimlessly reading. I had a GREAT study on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and learned a ton! I was preparing for the P.s' lesson that we had that night. This is my testimony: If you want to learn as you study, study by topic! :) But like I said, that night we had the Pullings! Sister M. was also there! It was great. :) We isolated 4 scriptures that we left them to read (2 Nephi 25:13, D&C 19:15-19, Alma 43:33, and 2 Nephi 31) and committed them to study them and teach us about them on Tuesday. We're excited! 

Sunday was a great day! The sacrament is an amazing thing. :) Sister D. came to church and Brother P. was able to bless the sacrament for the first time!!! He did a great job, didn't even have to repeat himself. It was a wonderful church meeting.

Well, that was my week! Thank you all for your support. I sure love every one of you. Have a wonderful week!!

Until next time,

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson

April 4, 2016 - Conference Week!

Hi!

 

WASN'T CONFERENCE AMAZING!? I'll answer that - yes. Yes it was. If I could recommend any talk to anyone, it would be Elder Hallstrom's.

 

Here, go watch it: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/media/session_1_talk_6/4828268728001?lang=eng

Never forget who you are! It is the most basic of all doctrine that we teach. It is also one of the most important.

 

We had a pretty good week, too! On Monday we were able to teach C., who is just awesome and coming along great. WE taught him about the answer to the question, "Where do we go after this life?" Portion of The Plan of Salvation. He was actually in Salt Lake for Conference and got to go to the Conference Center for the Priesthood session!

 

Tuesday we had exchanges! I stayed in Fairmont and Elder Carter, our District Leader, came down with me, while Elder Casey headed up to Mannington with Elder Furrows! Elder Carter and I had a great time together. We also got to teach a ton of people! L. P., L. B., and C.! We had an especially good lesson with L. B.. We brought President H. with us, who is a convert himself, so we thought it would be a good experience. We did have a good lesson! We challenged him to spend time in the scriptures every day so that he can earn his own testimony. President H. also left him with an Ensign about gaining a testimony about the Prophet Joseph Smith. To end the night, we taught C. with Brother Ha., and that was a great lesson too! We challenged him to decide what he needs to do to receive all the blessings that he wants in his life. It was a really good day.

 

Wednesday was a little slow, but that night we did rescue a dog from the middle of the road. The police never sent someone to get him though, and we had to get home, so we left the cute little thing with someone else. It was a fun, interesting experience. Got to talk to a few people because of it! Talk with everyone! :D Met a cool Muslim guy too.

 

On Friday we had District Meeting! Elder Carter did a good job. It was mostly a lot of business from President Salisbury that we needed to cover, conduct of teaching and procedural stuff, but we did have a really good discussion on all the points that he had to cover. Lots to learn! We went to lunch afterwards at Pufferbelly's, which was awesome. They have some really good Ice Cream. I also got a wedding announcement from Elder Treven Mortensen! You go brother!

 

Also on Saturday we had a lesson with L. and his home teacher, W., who actually went to school with him, so that's pretty cool. We taught him the Restoration as the first of his official "New Member Lessons."

 

Saturday started with conference! It was so amazing. Too much to really express adequately. I hope none of you had to miss any of it, but if you did, go watch it as soon as you can! http://www.lds.org Don't miss out on the wonderful Spirit that comes with General Conference. It is worth anything you need to sacrifice to watch it. Especially the modern day Apostles that speak to the WORLD.

 

That was the gist of the week! Thank you all for reading! I appreciate it. I dearly love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

 

Love,

Elder Brax Johnson