Combatting ANTI with the B.O.M.

Hey Everyone!

How's everyone doing?  Wonderful, I hope!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Father's Day!

It's been another rainy/sunny week here in Charleston.  It's hard to keep up with which day it will be.

{One of the funnier marquee signs I've seen on my mission}

Some highlights this week:

Mon. June 15:  Brother Walbeck and his family took us to Cracker Barrel for breakfast!  Brother Walbeck's in-laws were out from Utah, and his mother-in-law was Elder Jacklin's elementary school secretary, and currently works with Elder Jacklin's mom. 

We went with our investigator, Dustin, to the batting cages for P-day.

Dustin

It took me a bit, but I finally was able to find my stroke; it's been about a year since I've picked up a bat. (I tried to attach a video of one of my batting rounds, but it was too big for email.) 

We had a member-present lesson with Rodney and his fellowshipper, Brother Hawes.

This past weekend we got to call two incoming Elders, prior to them entering the M.T.C., who will be joining the WVCM July 2!  We have 25 new missionaries coming in this next transfer!

Tues. June 16: Tough day, not a lot of success; we had multiple appointments cancel.  We also got drenched with rain. 

We had dinner at the Brown's tonight; amazing Philly Cheesesteaks!

We had a lesson with Lissa, with Brother Foote attending.  We helped her understand Tithing.  She's on a low income, so it will be a trial of her faith to pay tithing, but she's willing to see the blessings come from it.

Wed. June 17:  We had a zone wide specialized training.  It was awesome.  We are making a huge push for a change of the mission culture for both new missionaries and current missionaries.

We also went on exchanges with the Assistants.  Elder Markowski came with me to Charleston - we had a great time.

We taught Ricky - he'll read the scriptures in Spanish, and it helps him understand the lesson we are teaching a lot better. 

We also had a great lesson with Kelsey!  Kelsey is awesome!  This past week, Kelsey was receiving some ANTI from family and co-workers, SO what did she do?  She went and read 30 pages of the Book of Mormon that night!  BOOM!  #nomatch4K

We were also able to teach an investigator named, Jason.  It was sad - he's just a sad guy.  We promised the Book of Mormon could bring him much needed happiness.

Thur. June 18:  I had Zone Leader training from Elder Markowski.

We keep missing out on catching Jason (Brother Soram's brother) at home, but we talked with Brother Soram about what we were planning on teaching him.

We had a lesson with Tom and we laid it out there; what our purpose is.  He likes the idea of Baptism, just not the steps to get there.  So, we're going to give him some time to think about it. 

We went down to Montgomery and the Minnich's took us out to eat.

We talked to Amit during his break, and he said he'd be at church on Sunday.

Brother Minnich came with us to the Kirk's and we went over the Baptismal interview questions with Zach, and he feels like he's ready. (WE DO TOO!)  We scheduled his Baptismal interview for Sunday after church.

Fri. June 19: We went on exchanges with the Beckley elders today!  (Did I mention how they made Beckley 1 & Beckley 2 into just one area, and named it "Beckley?") 

{Back to my old Beckley pad}

Elder Ence & I

I went down to Beckley with Elder Ence (DL), who's been there since I was there!  We, however, didn't ever make it over to my old area. :(  It's all right!  We taught three lessons!  And went to dinner to my favorite place in Beckley; LAVASH!  Tyler Gilger (whom I've mentioned before), their investigator, took us there!)

Sat. June 20:  After exchanging back, we went to help Brother Beck move some stuff, and taught him about The Ten Commandments.  His nickname for me is, "Cletus."  IDK. 

We had an awesome dinner and double lesson at the Cottrel's tonight. (Brother Cotrell is our ward Mission Leader). We had our investigator, Kelsey, there, plus Jordan (the Assistants' investigator).  They are like best friends now, and are helping each other along the investigator road!  We had 14 people there around the table.

The Cottrel's, Kelsey, Jordan, and us - sorry it's blurry

We had a lesson with Rodney to close the night.  He's determined to come to church tomorrow.

Sun. June 21:  HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Well, NO ONE showed up for Father's Day to church (that's an exaggeration!  But, attendance was significantly lower!)  We had three investigators at Sacrament Meeting: Kelsey, Lissa, and Amit.  It was really disappointing to not see Rodney, and especially Zach.  We'll now have to move back the Baptism interview, which might move back the Baptismal date. :(

We taught Kelsey about the Word of Wisdom, and she was more than happy to give up sweet tea!  Brother McGill was with us, but that didn't keep us from talking to this awesome man sitting on his porch in Kelsey's neighborhood.  His name is "JJ," and we're going to start teaching him this upcoming week!

Well, just a huge shout out to all the fathers out there!  Thank you for all your great examples in my life!  I Think my favorite quote about fathers is: "Fathers, teach your children the Gospel, and when necessary, use words!" 

Thank You!  Thank You! 

I especially am grateful for my Heavenly Father, and how gracious he is to me.  He loves ME, and he loves each of YOU! 

Keep sharing the Gospel, everyone!

Love,  Elder Brenchley

WV's Summer Heat and Humidity = Legit Weight Loss Solution

Hey Everyone!

Hope Ya'll are keeping cool!  I know I'm sure not!  It's been in the high 90's and sometimes 100's and anywhere from 40-70% humidity!  But, I can't complain; all I want to eat and drink is water and otter pops, and I'm always sweating, so I've been losing weight here and there.  I love being in Charleston; I get to see the gold Capitol building every single day, we have so many people to teach, and so many people to work with.  I feel very blessed as a missionary.

Mon. June 8th: Happy Birthday, Dad! 

Well, us missionaries in the Charleston 1st ward got together to go bowling on P-day, and the bowling alley was closed!  We went shopping to Gabe's instead! (similar to a ROSS store).

We were able to teach Kelsey with Bro. McGill.  We taught the "Gospel of Jesus Christ" lesson, and it went great!  She is so elect! 

We were also able to teach Rickey (the less-active from Paraguay) - we officially got his records to the Charleston 1st Ward.  We read with him in the Book of Mormon, and he taught us some of the Plan of Salvation terms in Spanish. 

 

Tues. June 9th: We were blessed with a media referral.  It was for a lady named, Tammy.  She requested a Bible.  We delivered the Bible and also taught the Restoration.  We have an appointment tomorrow with her and her two daughters next Tuesday (16th).

We taught the Soram family.

Bro. Mahajam, one of the ward missionaries, took us down to Montgomery.  We have taken on that area until there will be enough missionaries in the mission for Montgomery to have it's own set.  We don't mind at all = More work for us!

We taught Sharon, a real nice lady, who has a sense of Homemaking.  She's been one of those "Eternal-gators" (investigating since 2009).  She's willing and able, she just needs to kick some bad habits, and some friends. 

I was finally able to teach John & Madison, our investigators that I knew about months before I got to Charleston. (They're THAT awesome!)  They moved down to Smithers, which is in the Montgomery area.  John and Madison made dinner for us and Bro. Mahajan, then we watched a video on temples.

Wed. June 10th:  We went on exchanges with the Williamstown Elders today.  Elder Boer (who I replaced in Floyd back in February) came to Charleston, so we had a lot to talk about.  We stayed busy teaching four lessons.

Our 1st lesson was with Tom; we taught the Law of Chastity - he said he had concerns about it.  Elder Boer is as bold as a tiger; he explained it was a commandment, and Tom will be missing out on blessings for disobeying God.  To top it off, as we were leaving, Elder Boer told Tom he needed to take down his Victoria's Secret magazine poster from the wall in order to live the Law of Chasity.  GO ELDER BOER! 

Bro. Thomas picked us up to go teach Kelsey.  She is still going strong!  She just has an issue with the inconsistency of all the different missionaries coming to teach her (me & Elder Boer this week, Elder Jacklin & Elder Thackary last week).  Best concern/issue Ever! :)  She's just going to have to deal with all the missionary exchanges we go on as zone leaders.

Bro. Beck (the area's most recent convert) came and gave us a ride to teach the Ratliff's - what great people!  Bro. Ratliff (we are encouraged to call everyone, "Brother" or "Sister."  He's a regular at church, so the title's definitely set in with him) is almost there, to the point where his testimony is greater than that want for one cup of coffee he has in the morning. 

We finished the night by teaching Rodney - we taught him about Baptism.  I think he might be a little "lax" with the whole situation.  But, if he can get out of his tough financial situation and kick the smoking habit, he'd be baptized! 

 

Thur. June 11th: Brother Soram gave us a call and said to come over because his brother, Jason, was home.  We've been trying to meet Jason forever, so we can get the whole family (Jason, Trayleynor [Jason's wife/girlfriend?], Joansen (age 9), Jayden (age 6)) on board for Baptism.  We basically got permission from Jason to continue teaching his family, and try to catch him once in a while. 

We had a lesson with Dustin, and Bro. Atkinson came.  Dustin finally read from the Book of Mormon!  He's really okay where he's at right now, but we're going to keep meeting with him, and see if we can get him to come to church!  He's been in the church before (for Saturday morning basketball).

Bro. Hawes drove us down to Montgomery for a lesson with Amit.  He's the "Malhotra's nephew, and has been investigating the Church for two years.  It was a refresher lesson, and he committed to come to church! 

Next came a lesson with a recent convert named, Bro. Donald Coleman.  He is a great cook.  He made us chocolate milkshakes and bacon cheeseburgers on the spot!  YUM! 

 

Fri. June 12th: Today was a slower day - we planned our week.

We had a good lesson with Lissa on Baptism and Confirmation.

We also had a lesson with Bro. Beck, and showed him Family History. 

 

Sat. June 13th: We spent some good time Finding today!  We ALSO got DRENCHED by a Summer thunderstorm! We only had one lesson today, and it was with Tom!  He's not willing to come to church unless it's Fast Sunday.  We will likely be having a "Make-It-Break-It" lesson with him soon. 

 

Sun. June 14th: We had four investigators at church: Bro. Bill Ratliff, Zach Kirk, Amit, and Lissa! (Kelsey was out of town, going to a Pirates game). 

We talked to the Kirk's, and Zach wants to be baptized as soon as possible!  We taught him right after church and set him on date for June. 28th! 

While we were out tracting, we were invited in by a VERY flamboyant African American man, Dr. Mark Holmes.  He's been a recording artist and a studio producer.  He's worked with Barry Manilow and Dolly Parton, to name a few!  He said he's "saved" and has the Holy Spirit within him, and plays/ sings at multiple churches.  He invited us in, and gave us the best lemonade I have ever had.  We got talking about what we do - he was SO impressed.  He also took us into his studio and played/sang for us, "How Great Thou Art!"  WOW!  What talent!  Maybe we can get him to play in an upcoming fireside.  As we left, he shouted, "Keep walking for Jesus, Honey!" (We'll never forget him).

We taught Kelsey (she got back in town).  She was sorry she missed church, but we had a great lesson on Baptism and Confirmation.  But she told us she wants to move her date back. (she is really nervous - she is very quirky about that!  But, we don't want to rush the investigators into anything, of course.  But there is no doubt, she will make it.) We moved her date back to July 26th. 

We taught Lissa about tithing and fast offerings.

 

Well that was the week!  We got 13 member-present lessons, four other lessons, and for lessons to less-actives or recent converts!  For 21 lessons this week!  We reached our Mission's goal of 20 lessons/week!
 

A teaching missionary is a happy missionary! 

Please help your local missionaries find people to teach!
 

Love,

Elder Brenchley

Ya Can't Hide From the Missionaries on Your Front Porch ;)

Hey Ya'll!

So, it was a good week again! 

Quick Summary: 

1. We found bikes in the basement and started using those.

2. A miracle happened!  We got a referral for this girl named, Kelsey (20's), she is so elect!  She's been to an LDS church before, and has read some from the Book of Mormon!  She is so elect!  She is on date for Baptism for July 5th, and came to church and brought a friend! 

3. We had 5 investigators @ church! 

4. We stayed up until 12:30a.m. helping the AP's with supply orders, and getting everything set up for MLC (Mission Leadership Conference)

5. We had MLC Tuesday and zone meeting Thursday 

 

Mon. June. 1:  We played tennis in the rain with the Assistants and the STL's.

We weren't able to teach anybody today. :(

We stayed up late getting supplies from the mission office, then taking them to the church. 

 

Tues. June 2: We had MLC today and it went from about 9:00-4:00.  Since we are in charge of the building, we had to set-up, take down, and lock up. 

We taught two guys on their porch named, Leon and Warren. (porches are a good place to catch people during the Summer!)

Bro. Mahajan (from Bangladesh) came with us for the night to join in on our three appointments.

We taught Kelsey, an awesome referral we got from the WVU Elders.  She's awesome!  She accepted Baptism after we taught her The Restoration lesson. 

We also had a lesson w/ Lissa at Bro. Foote's house.  The lesson was on The Word of Wisdom.  Lissa's good to go! 

We then taught the Soram family about prayer. 

 

Wed. June 3:  We had a lesson with Tom today.  He's hilarious.  I will now be doing a little section of my email titled, "QUOTES FROM TOM.

Top 3 from Wednesday:

1. (Tom bought two crystal glasses for $20 each and split the deal with a lady friend of his.) "She even paid the taxes!"
2. "You want to be a tough guy?  Eat some Mackerel, Man!  I have like a 100 cans, in case the world ends! 
3. (Shortly after #2) "Thinking of which.............. I need a gun!"

We had dinner at the Hales' house, and they did great Member Missionary work; they had invited two non-member friends over.  We were able to talk a little bit about our missions, and why we decided to serve, but before we could share a lesson, they bolted out of there! :(
We visited Brother Beck (he's a recent convert).

Thurs. June 4:  We had zone meeting; I conducted, and Elder Jacklin & I taught portions of it, and then the Sister Training Leader's taught portions, as well. 

{Me and Elder Numbers, a fellow Viking!}

Oh, did I mention that Elder Numbers got called as one of the Buena Vista's zone leaders?   So, we get to see each other at every MLC!

 

We exchanged with the Winfield elders after the meeting. (Basically, we will go on an exchange every week with one of the District Leaders. We have five in the zone).  I went with Elder Rasmussen to Winfield, while Elder Thackary (DL) came to C-Town.

We were able to pick up two new investigators in Winfield! 

BACK IN CHARLESTON: The Elders taught Kelsey in the McGill's home after dinner.  The lesson was on the Plan of Salvation, and she accepted a Baptismal date for July 5th! 

Also, the elders taught Lissa - she's doing so well! 

 

Fri. June 5:  We exchanged back, and then had weekly planning afterwards.

Bro. Thomas (from Bountiful, UT - his wife and 7 kids are still there, and he's out here at the University of Charleston getting his PA degree) came out with us today. 

We taught Tom the Word of Wisdom.  He had red flags with every one but illegal drugs.

We taught Rodney about the Priesthood and Priesthood offices. 

 

Sat. June 6:  We had early morning basketball at the church with some ward members. 

We found a lady today, who wanted to make us a sandwich!  Sure!  Not just any sandwich, but pepperoni and pastrami!  She's interested in Family History.

Ricky, the long lost less-active from Paraguay, is like our best friend now!  We taught him the Plan of Salvation, and he's been reading the Book of Mormon.  He's trying to teach us Spanish, and is willing to come with us in case we ever have a Spanish-speaking investigator.

Leon (from Tuesday on the porch) and his wife, Velma, dropped us, after we talked to them about the Plan of Salvation. :(

We had a lesson with Lissa at Bro. Foote's house!  The lesson was on The Ten Commandments and Law of Chastity.  She's doing so well!

 

Sun. June 7:  We had five investigators at church! (Bro. Ratliff, Tom, Zach Kirk, Lissa, and Kelsey).  Kelsey also brought her friend, Jordan.  Kelsey, Jordan, and Lisa hit it off really well, and sat by each other in every meeting.  Lissa and Jordan were even able to stay for the 8-yr old. Baptism after church! 

We also taught Rodney and Jim today.

Top 3 Quotes from Tom on Sunday:

1. After meeting the Sister missionaries, he turned to me and said, "WOW! Can I get an exchange?"

2. Elder Jacklin was across the chapel greeting the Ratliff's, and I asked Tom, "Have you seen Elder Jacklin?"  Tom responded, "He's probably outside taking a smoke!"  (Really, Tom?  After we just taught you the W.O.W?)

3. Elder Jacklin was up front teaching the Gospel Principles class.  Tom leans over and asks, "Can we heckle him or throw stuff at him?" 

Haha
Funny Story: We were trying to teach one more lesson before 9:00 Sunday night.  Well, at 8:45, we try our investigator named, J. (I'd never met him before).  Well, he invites us in, and says, "You got 10 minutes before the Finals game starts at 9:00!"  So, we got to teaching The "Gospel of Jesus Christ" lesson.  As we were half-way done, he flips the T.V. on to ABC, and almost fell out of his chair - the game was already in the second quarter, and had started a lot earlier than 9:00!  Needless to say, he had us close and get out, so he could get back to the game!

Well, the mission is the greatest!

Love you all!

-Love Elder Brenchley

Driving Through Tornadoes

So, headlines for this week:

We conquered the back roads and tornadoes of West Virginia to make it a Baptismal interview! (for more info, read Tuesday, May 26)

We had a wonderful Mission President fireside on Sunday.  I sang a short solo in a musical number us missionaries performed! (read more on Sunday, May 31)

I was so sad to hear about Elder Perry dying this week.  Something I always liked about him was his enthusiasm!  We'd do well to continue to live life with enthusiasm as Elder Perry did!

Our House

4505 Noyes Avenue

Charleston, WV  25304

Monday, May 25:

• Memorial Day/P-Day.  We emailed in the Mission Office because no public computers were open!
  
• We had a multi-district P-Day activity which included: basketball, chair soccer, and practicing our musical number for the fireside. 
• Bro. Hawes took us out for the night to three lessons; one with Valerie, a single mother, who couldn't stop complimenting me on my pink tie.  Another lesson was with Andrew - he's coming along really well and is on date for Baptism June 28th.  He's still smoking, but working on it.  He's getting more and more excited about coming to church.  Then the last lesson was with Rodney.  We could literally go over there any night and he's ready to have a lesson with us.

Tuesday, May 26:

• We helped John & Madison move.  John & Madison are the greatest!  They have both agreed to baptism, come to church 15+ times, and will someday be a General Authority couple.  We just have to get them married!  They moved down to Smithers, which is still our area. 
• We taught the Soram's" - Bro. Soram is a recent convert and he agreed to bear his testimony at the upcoming fireside, so we went over it with him.  His sister-in-law and nephews are not members - they are all from Micronesia.
• Now comes one of the funniest, craziest, fascinating stories of my whole mission.  PART 1: So the Spencer Elders needed us to interview a Baptismal candidate. (Elder Hadfield and Elder Williams are my Davis County homies!  E. Hadfield went to Layton High School, and Elder Williams went to Davis High School; we were actually pretty good friends in junior high). Elder Williams is the D.L., and he can't interview his own investigators, so then the responsibility falls to us for interviewing.  Elder Jacklin's GPS was set to "shortest distance" without us knowing it.  Rather than taking us the fastest way on ACTUAL roads, we were led to a four-wheeler path.  We were literally driving on boulders!  I got out of the car to guide Elder Jacklin, as we hear all these S-C-R-A-P-E-S!  Ooh!  Well, we finally make it out of this terrible road, and what do we see?  A trailer blocking our path!  Somebody was moving their trailer, and it was blocking the one little bridge out of this holler!  Also, we turned to our right, and there's a whole extended family out sitting in their front yard watching their trailer getting moved - and then were also graced to see us bumping down their 4-wheeler trail.  We got out of our car, and they said, "GPS take you here?"  Well, I guess we weren't the first ones to get lost down their holler.  PART 2: We finally got by the trailer moving company, across the bridge, and on the highway towards Spencer.  Well, there we hop in a member's car with the Spencer Elders, and off we are another hour to their investigator's house (after already driving an hour to get to Spencer.)  Well, we were just driving along (Bro. Martin and us four elders) and all of sudden it gets really foggy - we can't see a thing.  Well, then the winds start picking up.  We get stopped behind a long line of cars and we notice ice pellets the size of golf balls are strewn all over the ground.  As we get further up the line, we see trees ripped to shreds and power lines are down.  People driving past say a tornado hit 20 minutes ago!  WHAT????  See, this might be the difference between Utah Mtns. and WV Mtns.  We don't get tornados in Utah.  Well, they finally got the Rescue Squad out there with chainsaws and cleared the path.  We finally got to the investigator's house around 7:30, and Elder Jacklin interviewed, and their investigator definitely qualified.  We got home around 10:00. (smooth sailing on the way home - no tornadoes and our GPS was set on "main roads").

Wednesday, May 27:

• Click Day!  9 Months a missionary!
  
• We had a fun district meeting and lunch afterwards.  We have four sets of missionaries in our district, with two Elders and two Sister companionships: Charleston ZL's: us, South Hills: STL's (Sister Charlesworth and Sister Jackson), Winfield: Elder Thackary (DL) and Elder Rasmussen, Teays Valley: Sister Packard and Sister Campbell
• We had a great lesson with Bro. McGill to see Andrew.  He committed to coming to the fireside and church on Sunday!

Thursday, May 28:

• Happy Birthday, Brookelle!
  
• We went to the old Mission Home (since the Salisbury's have moved to a bigger, better home) and anything was "free game!"  We got some cool stuff.  And President Salisbury trained us on how we should house arriving and departing missionaries. (a lot of the stuff we got was for that purpose).
• Bro. Thomas, from Bountiful, UT, took us to a lesson with the Ratliff's.  Bill is an investigator and Virginia is a member.  They've both been to church 15+ times and the only thing holding Bro. Ratliff back is he has just one cup of coffee in the morning.  He had some good questions.  It's not a matter of IF he gets baptized, just WHEN.

Friday, May 29:

{Elder Jacklin, Me, Elder Taylor, Elder Caldwell}

• As zone leaders, we go on one exchange a week with the district leaders.  We have five district leaders in the zone, so we went on exchanges with the Cowen Elders.  I was blessed to go to Cowen with Elder Taylor, while Elder Caldwell, the DL (yes, my former companion), came to Charleston with Elder Jacklin.

 

• In Cowen, Elder Taylor and I were able to teach three people and have good success!

Saturday May 30:

• We exchanged back and had a long drive from Cowen to C-Town (about 1 1/2 hours).  So, Elder Taylor and I had plenty of time to talk and also listen to The Missionary Next Door.  It's a wonderful talk by a Return Sister Missionary about helping church members share the Gospel out of love and fulfill their duty as church members.  I recommend EVERYONE look it up!
  
• We had a lesson with Tom today - he's having a hard time committing to come to church.
• Had a lesson with the Holbrook family.  They are less-actives who have been active for the last two months.
  
• We saw not much happening, as went finding the rest of the night.

Sunday May 31:

• We had Lisa come to church!  As well as a former investigator named, Amit.  He's a member's nephew, and we will start teaching him again. 
• The Kirk" family came, but without their two unbaptized kids. :(  Also, Andrew, J & M, and Ratliff's didn't show up.  :(
  
• We had dinner/lesson at Bro. Foote's house with Lisa.
  
• We showed up early to practice for the fireside.  Our missionary choir, consisting of our district & the Assistants, were singing, "I am a Child of God."  The STL's did a good job of making an arrangement for us.  I had a solo with the, "And so my needs are great" line!  Nothing too big.
  
• The fireside went wonderful; we had the Holbrook's and Lisa there.  Bro. Soram bore a wonderful testimony.  Recent convert testimonies are PURE!  The theme of the program was, Who are You?  President Salisbury spoke but five minutes, and played videos the rest of the program, along with musical numbers and testimonies.  Lisa was crying after and she said she felt peace.  I was also overcome with peace, as The Spirit bore witness to me that I am a Child of God, and joint-heirs of the Kingdom with my older brother, Jesus Christ.  

What a wonderful week!  Everyone also remember what your ripple effect might be to others.  Christ can do wonders through you!

Always remember Who You Are!
The chorus of "I am a Child of God" originally said, "Teach me all that I must Know........."
The current prophet at the time asked it to be changed to, "Teach me all that I must DO."
Presdient Salisbury always asks us this question:
Who are You?  And what are You going to DO about it?


Love, Elder Brenchley