A True West Virginia Experience!

Howdy Ya'll! It's been another great week! I sure do love it here in Buckhannon. This is probably the best place to be "born" (meaning trained) ever. The Lord sure knows exactly what I need and when and where I need it.

So, starting off, last P-day we went shopping with the Elkins Elders up in Clarksburg! Boom! It was waaay fun! Unfortunately, I forgot my wallet at the Stake Center, so no shopping was had for me. :( But that's alright! I got my wallet back. :) After that, we went to Texas Roadhouse with the Elkins Elders and the Buckhannon Sisters! Woo hoo! Food! I probably had 10 to 15 rolls. Oh yes. It was awesome.

That night I headed over to Elkins to go on exchanges with Elder De Graff! Tuesday was a pretty fun day. Elkins is a nice place! For the most part, we did some less active work which wasn't very fruitful, but that evening was where it got good. We went Home Teaching with the bishop! Bishop Bennett is a funny guy. The main event of the evening though was going to Home teach Brother G. He is a very old Vietnam Veteran, but still a sharp, witty, and funny guy. We found him sitting on his couch, unable to get up. He's super sick. We have a good meeting with him, his brother, and his wife. Near the end of our visit, he says, "Bishop, I'm glad you guys stopped by, because I was going to call you and ask for a blessing."

So, since I always carry Olive Oil around my neck (Necklace that Kyle gave to me and Vial that Ryan gave to me), I had the chance to anoint him! It was a really cool experience, but then, Elder De Graff gave the blessing. It was a great blessing, started off pretty normal, with God loving him, keep yourself worthy, all that stuff. But then, Elder De Graff commanded him to "heal rapidly." and that his health will improve so quickly that people will think it's a miracle. Which it was. He didn't take up his bed and walk, but the confirming spirit after that blessing told us that The Lord was going to sustain Elder De Graff's blessing. Ohhh yeah. It was awesome.

Wednesday we had Zone Conference! we got to hear from President Salisbury for a long while! He's a great guy, and we discussed a lot of things. Mostly about the difference between accomplishment and going through the missionary motions. That was kind of the over arching theme of the meeting. It was really fun. Because it's a Zone Conference, rather than Zone Meeting, the MorganTown Zone missionaries came down too! It was really fun to see Elder Nielson, who's serving in Masontown. I came out with him!

Thursday was an awesome day. Note, this part may not be suitable for people with soft spots for pigs. :) We butchered a hog! Sorry animal lovers, but it was awesome. Don't worry though, it was quick. Brother L. shot it in the forehead, and Elder Fielding cut it's throat. I got to help skin it! It was really interesting to see where bacon and ham and pork and stuff came from. The Word of Wisdom being fulfilled at it's finest right there. I unfortunately forgot to bring my camera with me that day, but most of you probably don't want to see the pictures anyway, haha.

On Friday we had a great lesson with A! We taught her the Restoration and delved real deep into Eternal Families and being sealed for eternity. She was fascinated by the Salt Lake Temple picture we showed her. It was awesome. Elder Fielding says she is, "the most elect person I think I've ever taught on my mission." She is totally ready to receive the gospel. When we came over, she had marked up tons of 1 Nephi and her Restoration pamphlet. How awesome is that? No investigator ever does that!

On Saturday we had the Ward Picnic! Where we ate the hog! Loads of fun! Volleyball, Cornhole, all sorts of food! N., the girl we baptized a couple weeks ago, actually brought her two non-member siblings! Al & L! We are going to try and start teaching them! Then we can eventually bring their whole family into the church! How awesome would that be?

Saturday night was fun! We had Mya's birthday party at The Loudin's house. It was a great time. The Loudins are right up there with The Chapmans. I love them! It was great fun.

Sunday was fun! It's always good to partake of the sacrament. That's always a highlight of the week that you can count on. It was a great experience.

Sunday night we got to go to the Chapmans! We played Cornhole, talked, ate, and had a great time with them. We were playing Cornhole (super fun game) with Caressa Chapman (Roy's daughter) and ​some of Roy's grandkids (Caressa's nieces and nephews), and Caressa and Elder Fielding got super competitive. At the end of the final game (Which Caressa and I won, by the way) Caressa tossed a little bit of water on Elder Fielding. In turn, he dumped the pitcher of water on her. It was really funny. Thinking it's over, we go inside to talk to Roy, and then Caressa comes up behind Elder Fielding with the pitcher of water and rushes at him from behind. He sees her through the reflection in the window (You might be able to see the window in the right side of that picture with Roy) and jumps up, and flips around to stop her. She throws it all over him. Inside the house. I caught a little bit of it. Roy was not pleased. We thought it was funny though. :)

That was my week! I hope your alls week was great too! I love all of you!

Keep writing!!! Keep praying for me!!!

Love,

Brax

Every church has a "First" on it. Somebody had to be second.

A river in Elkins. It is beautiful.

The missionary board created by the Elkin Elders. I love it. (edited for privacy by mom)

Our Ward Mission Leader. Yea, he's amazing. Nice hat. :)

For you mom. I knew you would love this porch.

Brother Chapman and I in an awkward photo. Yea, I got soaked.

Sister Chapman and I in awkward photo number 2. The Chapman's are the best.

2 Nephi Chapter 10. Go read it!

Selfie for my mom!

How I mark my scriptures.

Slow week, but we're keeping our heads up!

Hello everyone!

So, we had a slower week. It was alright though. We had a really awesome week last week, so it was natural that we would be a little slower this week. A lot of appointments/potential investigators fell through, so blegh. That's alright though! We have a lot of people to try this week ​though! Just keep praying for us!

We did have a good experience yesterday with the C family, a part member family, she is on bedrest for her pregnancy, which she is almost halfway done with. She is having some complications, so we can go over and talk with them for a little while. We got her to talk about her teenage years, where she left the church. Elder Fielding and I know that she will eventually come back, because they can totally tell that when we come over, The Spirit is there, and we know that they want that, they are just unsure for right now. Keep the C family in your prayers. 

We had exchanges on Tuesday! Elder Ostler, our Zone Leader, came down to Buckhannon with me! It was a really great time. He went home from April to June a couple months ago because he tore his ACL, and while he was there he heard a couple of Hank's CD's! That was fun to get to talk about Hank with someone out here. He's becoming a pretty big name it seems like! Elder Ostler is a great missionary. We had a lot of fun together!

We helped a member in our ward, DeWaine Linger, dig a hole on Thursday. Yup. That's it. A hole. No, just kidding. This Saturday we have a ward picnic, and one of Roy Chapman's sons (Jeff) is providing a pig for a pig roast! So we helped Brother Linger (who is cooking it), dig this pit to cook it in. Ground out here is not like ground out west. There is so much more clay down under the dirt. It's hard to dig, but it was fun! And now the pig will be so much better knowing that we helped dig it's oven. :) Sorry, that's gross.

I had the chance to confirm N. yesterday (Sunday). I had been thinking about it pretty much nonstop for the past week, just thinking about what I should say. I wanted it to be a good blessing, but I didn't want to cross over into Patriarchal Blessing territory, making too awesome of promises and stuff. Hank told me when I was first ordained an Elder to never be timid. I hold the Priesthood power of God. The very same power that created this universe, and that put me here. I can't do that (yet), but I still hold some pretty awesome "powers".

So, during the blessing, I just let the Spirit take over, with a few things I had been prompted to say earlier. I promised her that as she would keep herself worthy, she would always know what direction she was to take in her life and eventually what direction she was to take with her family. It was a pretty awesome blessing, and I can say that because I did the talking, but The Lord did the speaking (Oh snap, that was deep). :)

Anyway, I love you all! Thanks for praying for me, and keep at it! I know that it works. Hope you all have a good week!

Write me!

Elder Brax Johnson

Our favorite hangout.

Our luxury entertainment center.

The front porch view from our favorite hangout. Don't be jealous mom, some day you can visit. :)

A shout out to my brother in Thailand. This is for you Ryan!

Good mornin'!

The Turtle, Cutting Wood, and The Baptism!

Hello friends and family!​ Guess what, we had a baptism yesterday!

Isn't that so exciting? More on that later in the letter.

Last Monday we went fishing again! There's not a whole lot to do in this town, and we don't really have the miles to go up to Clarksburg, so we usually go hang out at the Chapman's pond and chat with them and steal their bass (just kidding, we put them back). We caught a turtle though! It only took us 4 weeks! We were super excited! It was a great time. Totally worth all the painstaking hours trying to catch that thing.

We met a girl named Am. on Tuesday. We tracted into her, and she was super interested. She didn't have a lot of time to talk to us, so we came back on Friday, and she was super awesome. She's very friendly, and has extended family that are members of the church. She is meeting with us again tomorrow (Tuesday) with her 2 year old son A. and hopefully her boyfriend Z. She is really awesome and Elder Fielding and I have a good feeling about her.

A. & R. continue to do their thing. A. loves church, R. doesn't come. We teach them the lessons, and A. gets super excited and always has questions for us. A. is definitely getting converted to the gospel, and she'll have to make a decision pretty soon. I hope she stays. Elder Fielding and I know that she will eventually convert, we just hope it won't be too long. She's a smart girl, she just needs to figure out life a little bit.

On Saturday we had the opportunity to go to The Loudin's house and chop wood with Brother Loudin! They have a wood-burning furnace that heats their water and house, so they go through a lot of wood. We did that from 10 to 6. We were pretty sore after. But Sister Loudin fed us, so it was all worth it. :)

Sunday was N.'s baptism! It was such a cool experience. She was prepared and ready to receive the gospel, we just had to work with her on her past, but once she realized that she could be forgiven, and washed clean, she was ready. Elder Fielding baptized her, and I will be confirming her next Sunday. She had a lot of support from the ward, which is just a confirmation on how awesome the ward here in Buckhannon is. A lot of people came out to support her. A lot of her LDS friends from up north also came out, so that was neat to see them there to support her in this great step of her life.

That was my week. I hope everything was good back home! Remember to write me!

Thank you for all the support you guys give me. I am immensely grateful for your letters and prayers. They help, a ton. I testify of that.

I love you all! See you next week,

Brax

N.'s baptism

Elder Fielding and I caught a turtle!

Me and our car. Just kidding.

Full moon over West Virginia

Sister Shreeve caught a blue gill

Hanging out with the turtle!

Good exercise, and the consequences thereof

Like my very standard-worksy title? Sounds just like the titles from JSH!

Hello family and friends! This week was pretty awesome! Last P-day, after emailing, we went up to Clarksburg and played some Volleyball and Cornhole with most of the other missionaries in our Zone! It was tons of fun. Sand Volleyball is crazy fun! I took some good dives for our team (I know Aunt Tanya is so proud right now). Spiking is always my favorite part.

That night we were driving to our dinner appointment when we called B to see how she was doing with the Stop Smoking Workshop. She caved after less than 24 hours. We were really bummed out about that. It was really disappointing. We are doing it again with her and her friend T who she referred to us tomorrow though! It will work this time if they just follow the freaking steps for one week! It's literally guaranteed to work. Ryan (my cousin/brother and missionary in Thailand) suggested dumping the contents of a cigarette in water and having them drink it, and it will make them sick whenever they smell a cigarette again! I feel like that would not go over so well... :P

Transfers were on Wednesday! Elder Fielding and I were both staying so it was just a normal day for us. We now have Elder Jackson in Elkins with Elder De Graff. He replaced Elder Mortensen. We also got Sister Shreeve in Buckhannon sisters area with Sister Campbell. She replaced Sister Pearson. We have a really sweet district! Everybody in it is doing so awesome with the work. We are all finding a lot of success.

We taught A & R on Thursday, or at least we tried to. A was in the hospital on Wednesday for some dizziness problems, so she was on medication when we met with her, so she was a little loopy. R is caring less and less it seems like. She just sits around and plays with her cat the whole time. :/ We are going back on Thursday though! So it should be pretty good then. A was sick on Sunday too, so she didn't come to church, which she felt awful about.

We taught N the law of tithing! That was our final lesson with her before her baptism, but we will see her after that. She is ready and excited to be baptized! We are excited for her. She is progressing really well and is super accepting of all that we teach her, which is awesome. She is one of the people you would call 'elect'. Heavenly Father has been preparing her for a while, for sure!

Saturday was awesome! We had the Stake Picnic all day! We rode up with the Loudin family to Fairmont (about an hour north), where it was held at a park near a WaveTec pool (Like the wave pool at Seven Peaks). Elder Fielding and I played softball with a lot of the men of the Stake from 10-2. We're very dark now. It was way fun though! I learned I can actually hit a softball pretty far, and I make an alright first baseman! After softball we went and ate food down at the pavilion, and played some football with the MorganTown and Fairmont missionaries! We eventually made our way over to the mini golf area, where we talked and had fun for a while. We couldn't swim at the WaveTec thing, so Sister Shreeve, Sister Campbell, Elder Fielding, and I sat on some benches and observed the happy people having fun times. Unfortunately it got rained out after half an hour, so we started home. But it was a really awesome day.

The next morning I felt the effects of that day. Pivoting in softball so much absolutely destroyed my thighs. I was very sore. I could barely walk, but it was worth it. I'm down 10 pounds since I left! 275! woo hoo!

I hope you all have a fantastic week! Keep praying for me, it really does work. I love all of you! Stay strong!

-Keep writing!!!

Love from West Virginia, 

-Elder Johnson

Getting ready for the day. :)

Keeping the dream car clean. :)

Sending a selfie from the library because mom wanted more pictures.
(Mom - He said he was really dark from playing softball, 
but to me he looks cute, blond and sunburned.)

We hit the Standard of Excellence!

Hello everyone! How are you all today? Mom says that some of you were all worried that I didn't get my letter out yesterday. Fear not, for I still am breathing. Anyway, the reason I didn't get a letter out yesterday was because of transfers. Transfers are this week, and our mission moves P-day to Tuesday so that all the people that are leaving can pack, do laundry, and stuff like that the day before transfers rather than two days before. Makes sense, right? Elder Fielding and I are staying in Buckhannon!

This week was great! We hit the Standard of Excellence! My first time hitting it! I'm not really sure how to explain it, but basically The Standard of Excellence is a goal set by the Mission President of hitting certain numbers during the week, such as baptismal dates, investigators at sacrament meeting, lessons with an active member present, etc. So hitting it means you had a great week!

Last P-day we went fishing for Snapping Turtles. Unfortunately, no Snapping Turtles were fished. Dang guy didn't like our hot dogs. Or the Blue Gill we cut in half. Boo. Oh well, some other time! Today we are going up to Clarksburg to hang out with The Elkins Elders and our Zone Leaders in Clarksburg. Elder Chavez goes home tomorrow! He's dying! Poor guy. We're going to play some Cornhole and Volleyball, so that should be really fun!

We taught A & R this week. R doesn't seem super interested, she just plays with the cat the whole time, but A is. She is getting really excited about the Gospel. They are almost done with the lessons, and then we really don't know what is going to happen. A's mom and dad, who live in Elkins, are actually taking the discussions from the Elkins Elders now! They are getting baptized in September! Isn't that awesome? Miracles everywhere!!

On Friday, we had to chance to see President and Sister Salisbury! President came down to interview N, for her baptismal date. We taught her last Monday The Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Word of Wisdom, and The Law of Chastity. She was super receptive and excited to hear it, and she is ready to be baptized. She is getting baptized August 10th! We are seeing her this week sometime and teaching her The Commandments lesson, and then teaching her Laws and Ordinances after that sometime. Super exciting!

We also taught a lady named B yesterday. She has been an investigator since May, but because she lives so far away (the very bottom of our area) we can only go see her when a member drives us. She came to church on Sunday and really liked it! We're hoping to get her and her daughter J (also an investigator) to Church in the coming weeks together! That would be awesome.

Anyway, B has a really bad smoking addiction. She's smoked for the most recent chunk of her life (She quit in her 30s for 8 years, but started up again. She's in her 50s). To get her to stop, we taught her the Church's Officially Unofficial Stop Smoking Workshop, created by a missionary in 1983 in Dublin, Ireland. 15 steps to stop smoking, and you only need to follow it for 7 days, and boom, no desire to smoke. It's a really cool program, and although she was scared she couldn't do it, we have full faith and confidence in her. The main man of the night was Brother Brock Howes, our Ward Mission Leader. He served in Provo from 02-04, and absolutely killed it in the lesson. He just has a way to make people feel comfortable, he's just such a genuine, nice guy you can't help but like him. He did the majority of the talking, and she followed the steps. All temptation is now gone from her house and car. We had her break the cigarettes in half when she threw them away as a sign of her willpower and commitment to quit. We are seeing her next Monday to celebrate her quitting smoking!

So that was the week! I hope you guys all had a fantastic week too! Keep praying for me! I can testify to you that the power of prayer is real. Begin and end each day with a prayer.

I love all of you!

Keep writing!!!

- Brax

 Mornin'! I need a haircut. :)

Sunset in "The Hollers"

Missionary Tan Line. :)

President Salisbury is great!

Hello everyone! How is everyone's week going?

This week has been kind of slow, to be honest. Elder Fielding and I are running out of people to teach! We are praying to find. Pray for us! All we currently have are A & R, and N. ​Ms. N. is ready to be baptized next Sunday!!!, but Elder Fielding and I still have a lot to teach her. A lot. We're going to try and teach The Gospel of Jesus Christ, mixed with The Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity tonight in one lesson. We'll see how it goes.

A & R are... changing. A for the better, R for the not-so better. A is feeling the Spirit... hardcore. She knows that what we are teaching is true, and she told R. that she is questioning their lifestyle because of what we have been teaching her. She also asked the sisters at church what she can do to become an official member of the church. We were starting to distance ourselves from them, deciding to go over only once a week to teach them, but after we found out all this stuff we now have a renewed conviction to teach her. We are praying for them. R. is getting cold to us. She knows that A. is changing because of us, and we don't think she likes us a whole lot anymore.

We walked for... a long time the other day. My feet are quite angry with me. It was good for me though. We got to meet a lot of people and get some real good exercise.

Interviews! On Wednesday we went up to Clarksburg to see President and Sister Salisbury! It was great fun. While people were being taken out for interviews, we had a district meeting where everyone in the district prepared a 5 minute principle. I spoke on having The Spirit with you. It went really well I think.

President Salisbury is great! He was really worried that I was hurt in the car accident, and we got to send Mom a selfie for proof that he made sure I was okay. We didn't get to talk for a super long time, but we did chat for a bit. We get to see him on Friday when he comes down to interview an investigator. Hopefully we get to talk to him then too.

Sorry this letter was on the shorter side! Email me any questions you guys have! I love getting emails from everyone! Keep us in your prayers, and I'll talk to you all next week! I love all of you!

Love,

Elder Johnson

 Testify of the Book of Mormon!

Me and the very cool Elder Mortensen (who is as big as me!)

Beautiful fields of green everywhere!

What the...how did that get in there! :)

                                                        Our schedule...

Elder Johnson with President Salisbury

July 16, 2014

Hand mixing concrete and totaling a car! All in a week's work.

Hello everyone! Another week down! I'm already 4 1/2 weeks into this transfer! I'm been out almost a month and a half! Isn't that crazy? The days are flying by.

Not a whole lot happened this week until Friday! On Thursday our Zone Leaders decide they want us to go on exchanges. I went with Elder Hadfield to Clarksburg and Elder Chavez worked Buckhannon with Elder Fielding. Elder Hadfield is a really funny guy and a real hard worker. We tracted and ITL'd for a couple hours straight. After having dinner and Wendy's with the other Clarksburg Elders, Elder Payne and Elder Esplin, Elder Hadfield and I were headed to a lesson.

As we were on the highway, we rounded a bend, and the truck in front of us starting slowing down. All of a sudden it slams on it's brakes​. I open my mouth to warn Elder Hadfield (I have no idea what he's doing, I'm staring at this truck), when he slams on the brakes too. I lurch forward, the seatbelt catches me, and I just close my eyes. Smash. Totaled the car. The truck we hit was fine. Figures. Little dent. We're both okay though. The only thing that really happened was my head got knocked a little by the side airbag and I had a bruise for a day or two from the seatbelt.

The next day, Saturday, Elder Fielding and Elder Chavez come and we exchange back. Elder Fielding and I went to a members home, J.'s. He is a good friend of the missionaries and asked us that morning if we could come help him pour some concrete. Of course we can!

Well, it wasn't just pouring. We had to move 80 lbs bags of dry concrete over to the holes, dump 2 at a time in a wheel barrow, fill it with water, and start stirring. It was hard work. I was really sore for the next couple days. They fed us though, so all is forgiven. J. is a funny guy.

A & D came to Church yesterday! D is our big focus, since at the moment A & R can't be baptized. D is 18, and really interested. He thought church was alright. He said he liked the feeling. He's really interested in the story of Joseph Smith, so we gave him a triple and showed him Joseph Smith - History. We have an appointment with them on Tuesday, so we will asked him what he thought and ask him to pray about it then. He was reading it all through Priesthood meeting.

Interviews with President Salisbury are on Wednesday! Then we get to go out to lunch with our whole Zone! Fun stuff! Not much else to add, so if any of you have any questions, email me! I love getting them!

I love all of you! Keeping praying for me! Some awesome stuff is about to happen here in Buckhannon, I can feel it.

Love,

- Elder Johnson

His only picture this week. Not my favorite...

A New Mission President!

Hello everyone! Happy 4th! Happy birthday Dad! Fun stuff!

Sooooooo what to talk about first. After leaving the library on Monday, we went to... back home. It was a real take-it-easy day. Elder Fielding took a nap and I read a comic book about The Bible and the "Big Book of LDS Secrets" which is a textbook for a class at the Y called "Church History in the Fullness of Times".​ It has some really cool, deep doctrine stuff in it that slips under the cracks (mostly because it isn't pertinent to our eternal salvation, but that doesn't mean it isn't cool to learn about!) Like for example, during the times when Joseph Smith led the battalion, the company found the remains of a skeleton with an arrow sticking out of his chest. Joseph said he was one of the last Righteous Lamanite Chieftains. Zelph or something like that.

Tuesday we said good-bye to an investigator and his less-active wife. They moved up to Pensboro, where they just took the Missionaries out of. Shoot. They were progressing so well. We helped them move on Tuesday for two or so hours, then he took us out to dinner where I ate.... A SALAD (Contain your gasps, Mom, I know you're so proud.) and a philly-cheesesteak. Yummy yummy.

On Wednesday we helped MORE people move. This time it was in, rather than out. The W. family. They hired a moving crew of 4 people, mostly to speed it up and move their 900 pound gunsafe. Elder Fielding and I luckily got there right as they were putting it into place. Dodged a bullet (haha).

Also, if there is ever something wrong with the world; civil war, famine, nuclear war, zombie apocalypse, whatever, I'm totally going to their house. They have tons of things to defend yourself with, a lake, tons of food storage, solar panels, and their house is on top of a mountain surrounded by an electric fence that is constantly running at a high voltage. Total fortress, in the middle of nowhere.

Thursday! We met President and Sister Salisbury! The highlight of the week! They are so awesome and so excited! We drove up to Clarksburg for the "Meet The President" thing at The Clarksburg Stake Center, so all of the Clarksburg Zone and Morgantown Zone came to see him. I got to see someone I came out with who is currently serving in Masontown. I forgot to get a picture. I'm bad at that. :P

President and Sister Salisbury are super nice and sweet. They have a son currently serving in The Philippines, and he gets home next August I think. Apparently he's coming here for a couple weeks, then going back home to Utah.

On Friday we went BACK to Clarksburg for Zone meeting! This time it was just the Clarksburg Zone. Elder Chavez and Elder Hadfield, our Zone Leaders, taught. They talked about accountability and other things, like getting to know your investigators. Elder Fielding taught District Meeting right after Zone Meeting. It was awesome! He talked about the order of things that should take our importance when teaching. Obviously progressing investigators come first. He also talked about how Member Referrals are what get baptisms, because they already have a friend in the Church that way.

After that, we came back to Buckhannon and spent The 4th at the Family C's house with a couple of his kids and grandkids. I learned how to play Cornhole! (Look it up, I want one when I get home. ;D) You basically are throwing beanbags into a hole in a wooden board. Sounds boring. Great fun though!

So, not a lot to report on this week. We taught a less active and her husband, K&J, they had some concerns and we worked through it, and J. came back to Church!! Hopefully she keeps coming. They are thinking about switching Churches, so we are pushing them hard to read and pray. They are so close to their answer, they just need to keep going.

We are meeting with N. and then R & A this week. We'll see how that goes. Hopefully well. Teaching The Restoration!

I love you all! Keep praying for me! Prayer works! I'll talk to you all next week!

-Brax

Zone Leader - Elder Chavez

 Zone Leader - Elder Hatfield

Up to 25 ties! :)

Every missionary needs to exercise!