Did You Know the Going Rate for Raking Leaves is $100?

HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS WEEK!

1. Sister Betty McGowen and Sister Debbie French are progressing so well!  They are getting baptized on Nov. 8!  Sister McGowen went up on Sunday and bore her testimony! 

2. The fireside went great!  174 people came!  Plenty of non-members as well! (including B & D).  It flowed very well, and the Spirit was really strong! 

3. Transfers!  Elder Johnson and I both staying!  This will be three transfers together in BV! 

4. MLC and zone meeting this past week was awesome! 

5. Six Baptisms and three Confirmations this week in the zone!  That makes 10 Baptisms and 7 Confirmations for the transfer totals and the last two weeks!  Miracles! 

Picture Perfect!

Beautiful Fall Pics!

 

Well, now to the day by day...

Mon. Oct 26:  P-Day.  

We got free haircuts from Sister Carter!  The Carter's are awesome!

Then we drove down to Lynchburg - they have a Ross!  #tendermercy  I got two ties!  Then we played some indoor soccer with the all the Lynchburg missionaries.  The reason we went down to Lynchburg is so we could interview one of the Amherst Elders' Baptismal candidates.  So, we were able to do that after soccer and changing our clothes.  Elder Johnson interviewed him and it was his first interview he's conducted!  Their investigator got Baptized on Sunday!

We also had to partake of something else Lynchburg has to offer, that I've never seen anywhere else on my mission...... Panda Express.  YUM!   

Tues. Oct 27:  Click Day! 14 months a missionary! 

We drove to MLC in the "Party Van!"

 

MLC was awesome; focused on teaching the doctrine simply!  I absolutely loved the Spirit there, and I felt like I contributed to the council. 

Elder Caldwell was in Charleston for the day, so he came to MLC!

 

On the drive back, down in Princeton, WV, President Salisbury bought all of us dinner (Roanoke zone leaders, Pembroke zone leaders, Christainsburg STL's, Roanoke STL's, and us).  That was a fun experience; just to chat with President and Sister Salisbury over dinner with all of us missionaries.

Wed. Oct 28:  It felt really good to get back to a full proselyting day.

We taught George a lesson on the importance of reading the Book of Mormon - he simply won't progress if he doesn't read the Book of Mormon, and meet with us.

We also saw Janet briefly - she was ready to give back the copy of The Book of Mormon, and we kept asking her if she's prayed about the Book of Mormon.  She hadn't.  We boldly told her, "You can't say it's not for you, until you pray to God about it."  

We contacted Randy and set up a lesson for Thursday at the church. (see Thursday)

We also had the Ward Chili Cook off!  Yum, Yum! 

Thurs. Oct 29:  Weekly planning.

Randy bailed on our lesson today, and called and rescheduled to Friday. (see Friday) 

We had a lesson planned with Joel and Kelly" where we would drive to their house, and they would follow us to the Siegel's house for a lesson.  As we were driving there, we saw them zoom past us.  We were like, "Wait, no!"  We tried to chase them down in the car, and remind them of the appointment they were running away from.  It was to no avail. :(

We met with the Armstrong's tonight.  Brother Armstrong is a Farmington native as well.  His parents, Brent and Gloria Armstrong., live up on the mountain, and are in our stake back home!  The Armstrong's have two kids serving in Utah right now.  Their son is in Ogden, and their daughter is in Salt Lake North (Davis County).  Their missions touch!

Fri. Oct 30:  Zone meeting went great today!  

Our wonderful zone.

From left to right, back to front  BACK: Elder H. Rasmussen, Elder Goold, Elder Anderton, Elder Fidel, Elder Kitchen, Elder Kelly, Elder Whiting, Elder French, Elder Malin, Elder Hugentobler  MIDDLE: Elder Johnson, Elder Brenchley, Elder M. Rasmussen, Elder Tunell, Elder Ward, Elder Underhill, Elder Moser, Elder Hallewell, Elder Tupou, Elder Vai, Elder Hill, Elder Ostler, Elder Thompson  FRONT:  Sister Lively, Sister Pugh, Sister Moeai, Sister Ford, Sister Banks, Sister Harrison, Sister Flake, Sister Skanchy

  

The zone responded really well to teaching simply and using the Book of Mormon more! 

Randy bailed again......

We taught Jorden Garrett about Baptism.  His concern is that he got baptized by his grandmother as an infant. 

Sat. Oct 31: Halloween.

We were able to teach Betty and Debbie, and we went over the Baptismal questions.  Debbie is deathly afraid of interviews.  We went over them, and helped her understand they're not that bad.

We were encouraged to not be knocking doors late tonight on Halloween, but to try to schedule appointments instead this evening. 

We were able to see two older couples in the ward. 

The transfer info came in!  Elder Johnson and I are staying! 

Sun. Nov 1: Day of the Fireside! 

Betty came to church, and got up and started walking with the assistance of Brother Butler.  We thought she was excusing herself and leaving, but she just kept walking right up those steps to the pulpit.  She talked about how she's read the Book of Mormon, knows it's true, and the Church is true, and announced she will be getting Baptized next Sunday.  You could hear many joyful gasps from the congregation.  She also gave us missionaries a huge shout-out!  

We had a great Gospel Principles class on The First Vision and Restoration of the Gospel.  The Hand's brought their friend, Sean.

We had dinner at the Walker's house.  It reminds me so much of home!

So, the Fireside...all this preparation, and setting up, advertising, and scheduling finally came into one piece!  President Jones (Stake President) conducted it, and it went great.  The Spirit was very strong, and you could feel the Spirit testify of us being children of God.  The musical numbers were "on point," the testimonies powerful!  Refreshments afterwards were quickly gobbled up, with so many people!   

Mon. Nov 2:  We had a visit with the Camden's.

We had dinner with the Lowry's - they fed us Cow Tongue!  I'm just glad they showed me the picture after I was done eating!  It was good!  The picture was not! 

We helped Brother Lowry with some of his Home Teaching. 

Betty and Debbie's Baptismal interview went very well!  Our District Leader, Elder Kelly, hushed their fears, and Betty laughed afterwards, "I talked more then he did!"

Tues. Nov 3:  We had a lesson with Brother Adam Walker, he's recently moved to the BV ward with family, and he wants to get reactivated and go to the temple! 

We were trying people today, and we talked to this one lady, Barbara, who was two doors down from the Walker's. (There's like three Walker families in the ward.  It's hard to keep up).  And we asked if we could rake Barbara's leaves - she allowed us to do so, and we had a blast.  We called Sister Walker, and asked if her boys could come help us out.  Barbara's husband, Buddy, rolled up, and was so thankful he gave us a $100 dollar bill!  (Now, I've fought on my mission to give back money to people who offer it to us, but this was insane!  He would not take it back no matter how hard we tried!)  

We are thinking about putting it in his mailbox, but is that rude to keep refusing his money?  If we don't give it back to him, the "Benjamin" will definitely be going to Fast Offerings, not in our pocket!  We were able to teach Barbara a little bit about Baptism.  What we really want (rather than payment) is for them to come with us to church or let us share a message. 

We had a great lesson with Betty and Debbie about service and the Priesthood. 

I bought steak last Monday (on sale at Food Lion) and, oddly enough, everyone has been giving us Dr. Pepper lately.  So, we used that as a marinade.

That steak was so good!

 

Well, that's my week in a nutshell!

I just wanted to bear my testimony on how simple the Gospel is.  We need to always get back to the basics and be reading and praying.

I love this work! 

Love, Elder Brenchley

Keep me updated!