Frog Legs Taste Just Like Chicken...Mixed with Fish

Hey Everyone! 

Well, probably the biggest news is that it is transfer week, and surprisingly I'm getting transferred!  This is my second area in a row, that I've only stayed two transfers.  I am getting transferred to Buena Vista, Virginia: home of Southern Virginia University. 

I'll be serving in Buena Vista family ward. They have 6 Buena Vista YSA wards, and they have YSA Elders for that.  I have one of the smallest areas (geographically) in the mission.  There are two church buildings in my area and one is very close to my apartment.  I was told it could easily be a walking area, if we weren't called as zone leaders and didn't need to drive to meetings/exchanges.  And that's legit!

My new companion will be Elder Brendon Johnson (a different Elder Johnson than my trainer).  The funny thing is, me and Elder Numbers (a fellow VHS boy) are swapping places.  He was just in BV, and now he's coming to Charleston to be with Elder Jacklin!

So, as for the rest of the week...it was pretty busy! So, I'll get started!

Mon. Aug. 3:  P-Day.  We played indoor soccer at the church and I got a hair cut (I got a lot of compliments on it, too.)

We had an interesting conversation/lesson taught with a lady, then two younger women walked up, and the original lady we were talking to left, so it was a little awkward.  (Was this a “set up?”)

We taught a man named, Paul Johnson - he's a former investigator, but he's really kind.  We taught The Restoration, and he really liked it.  We're hoping to prepare him for a September 27th Baptismal date.  

Tues. Aug. 4:  I forgot to write in my journal!  (So, I can’t remember what happened this day!)

I'm pretty sure we taught Rodney with Brother Charles Hawes.

{I'm turning into a "Truck Guy"}

 

{West Virginia LOVES trucks!}

Wed. Aug. 5:  So, we went on exchanges with the Beckley Elders.  Elder Allsworth came with me to Charleston.  He's a former Navy SEAL, so he's very well disciplined and ready to work. 

Brother Blessant came with us to see Sister McCloyd, and we had a brief, but powerful lesson on the Book of Mormon.

We then went and saw Andrew.  We taught about the importance of obedience.  Brother Blessant shared the story of the Liahona, which was great. 

Then we met up at the church with Sister McGill for a Family History lesson for Robert Price - she was able to help him out a ton in the Family History library. 

Then the Vest couple picked us up for a lesson at the Ratliff's.  We had a great lesson on repentance and the Atonement.  Brother Ratliff will be baptized some day! 

We finished up the night by having a whiteboard lesson with Lissa on the Plan of Salvation (we drew it out, and it helped her understand better).

Thur. Aug. 6:  Well, today was full of zone leader business. :)

We were able to teach Kelsey with Brother Collet, and then he took us out to McD's after. 

All of our other appointments cancelled.  :(

Fri. Aug. 7:  District meeting was in the morning, and then we weekly planned. 

Trevor Patton picked us up, and we went and saw:

Sharon -  we were planning on teaching Family History, and she was not interested due to a rough family.  This was the first time I've ever taught a lesson the investigator really didn't want to hear.  So, we focused it on the temples instead. 

Deborah Humphries - a member who used to live in WV referred her to Bishop Johnson, and he passed it on to us.  We were finally able to meet with her today.  She is golden!  She loved The Restoration, and accepted a Baptismal date for September 27.  Her friend, Vivian, was also there - she was very interested in our message, and really admired what we did as Missionaries.  She's Catholic and was very repetitive on the fact that she'd already been baptized in the Catholic church, so she didn't accept a Baptismal date.  Hopefully, we can work with that concern.

The McCray's – we taught them in Rand, WV (former home of Randy Moss).

Paul - we read with him.

Sat. Aug. 8:  I will describe this day in three words: Long, Hot, Non-amusing. 

We did make a stop at Dairy Winkle to brighten our day a little bit! 

No one was home! 

Had a lesson with Rodney on church and Baptism, and we had to get extra bold with him to follow through with his commitment to come to church.

Sun. Aug. 9:  Well, we were expecting six at church (Rodney, Brother Ratliff, Deborah & Vivian, Amit, and Isabelle Kirk) 

We only got Brother Ratliff there, but we were still happy with 1 for 6.

We had dinner at the Ingles'.  

We had an awesome experience today!  While we were walking home in Kanwaha City, we stopped and talked to a mother and her 10 yr. old daughter.  Her uncle was Mormon, and she was very interested in our message.  We gave them both pamphlets, so we taught them right there in the street!  The Mom's name was Johnnie, and the daughter's name was Madison.  They both enjoyed the pamphlet, and reading where we asked them to.  We got a return appointment for next Sunday.

Mon. Aug. 10:  They're opening up a bike area in Beckley (which the Assistants asked me to draw the boundaries for, with my knowledge of Beckley), so it was our job this morning to help load their furniture for their new apartment. 

Then we spent a good chunk of our day getting car repairs/estimates/reports.

We went to the Ratliff's for dinner and we had frog legs! 

Frog Legs

Yum!  

{PROOF that I ate frog legs!}

 

Ratliff's

We had a great lesson on prayer, and I asked Sister Ratliff what does she pray for?  She responded with a great, honest answer: "I pray that Bill will be able to come to know this church is true, and be Baptized!"  It brought the Spirit so much, and we committed Brother Bill Ratliff to come to church this Sunday with a prayer of when he should be baptized. 

Ratliff's

Like I said, it's a matter of when will he be baptized, rather than IF.  He's awesome!

Tues. Aug. 11:  We dropped our car off at Firestone today for an oil change, and walked all day!

We talked to a lot of people and got some potentials.  We talked to this one guy who lives close by Camden, NJ, so hopefully he request missionaries up there to come see him. (Maybe it'll be my Couz, Ben!)

So, after walking back to the Firestone, they still didn't have it ready.  We dropped it off at 11 a.m. and came back at 5 p.m.  They couldn't do a oil change in 6 hours???

We had dinner at the Parmley's, then had a lesson with Lissa on faith and repentance.

We had 29 new missionaries (24 Elders, 5 Sisters) arrive from the MTC today!  It’s an even bigger group than last transfer, which was 25.  We had 12 Elders stay at our house.  Wheww! (just 10 last transfer).

Well, I love you all!  Prayer is great!  I gained a great testimony on how prayer can comfort you and relieve you this week!

I know this Gospel is true!

Love, Elder Brenchley