On a General Conference High

Hey Y'all!

Happy General Conference weekend!
Wasn't it a wonderful General Conference?  If you missed any part of it, definitely go watch it online! I felt so uplifted and so motivated to go and share the goodness of the Gospel!  I am excited to review my notes; unfortunately I left my notebook at the church, so I will have to wait a couple of days. :(

Several of my favorite talks were given by: Donald L. Hallstrom, Dale G. Renlund, Mervyn B. Arnold, David A. Bednar, Stephen W. Owen, W. Christopher Waddell, D. Todd Christofferson, Gerrit W. Gong, & Jeffery R. Holland.

Conference definitely had to be the highlight of the week.  We had kind of a tough week, but I am ready to go and get after it for this week! 

Mon. March 28:  We played chair soccer at the church for P-day.

I grabbed a haircut, too.

We had four appointments set up for tonight.  And then, it ended up 0 for 4..... :(

Tues. March 29:  We received a media referral today; it has been a while since we have gotten one, but we are so grateful for it.

We found a Bangaldesh woman today while tracting - another soul found from another country.

Brother Basham was going to come with us to an appointment with Jim Fleming, but Jim had to reschedule.  Brother Basham still took us to Golden Corral and proceeded to tell us all of his mission stories.  It was cool.

Becky flaked out while we had Brother Huffman with us. 

We presented Myra and Roxanne with a new Baptismal calendar (something that shows when we will teach what lesson, and when they will be baptized.)  We moved their Baptismal date to April 23.  We also taught about following the Prophet. 

We had a cool visit with Brother Steedman - if you remember I once said it was my goal to make him laugh. (he's a very blunt character) Well, I think something better happened.  The Spirit touched his heart, as I felt prompted to compliment and point out how Brother Steedman resembles the Savior by calling his individuals/families he home teaches "his friends."  I noticed as I said this, he got teary-eyed.  It was a real cool experience and I felt like I need to share it with you all!

Wed. March 30:  We had two appointments fall through today.
We met Damian, a cool guy, who has quite the story, and all he wants is to give his daughter the best future he can.  His heart was humble and was ready to listen to us.
We had a lesson with Jim Flemings on the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  He had heard the word, "Atonement," before, but the restored truths and knowledge we know the Atonement to be was a lot more hopeful and uplifting than what Jim previously knew it to be.

Brother Lawerance

We visited Brother Lawerance - his time left in this life is short, but he seemed glad that he had lived a good life.
All three sets of missionaries had dinner at Bishop Williams' house.  We then worked in Bishop's area, and after many people saying, "not interested" without even letting us speak, we finally had a good thing happen!  While walking down the road, we spotted a young man walking, as well.  We stopped and talked to him and he just flat out says, "Hey, I have a lady for you to go see."  His name was Seth and he, too, was interested, as well!  It was a wonderful miracle after much rejection.
We also spotted Brian at Virginia Western Community College while we were biking by.  He's alive! He's been busy on vacation, but we were able to get his new phone number and set up a return appointment. 

Thur. March 31:  District meeting was really good today, even though I was fighting some of the worst allergies I have ever been through.
We had a lesson with Sister Hale - she's so excited for Conference.  Brother Cowling came with us to that appointment.  Brother Cowling also came with us when we contacted the media referral.  Her name is Wanda; she requested a "Lamb of God" DVD and a Book of Mormon.  She knew we were good people, and we kept expressing we wanted to help bless her family.
Myra and Roxanne had to cancel.  :(
The Miller's also took us out for Chinese food.
We had a really spiritual visit with the Bells.  Sister Bell opened up and mentioned, at this point in her life, she hasn't needed to rely on God as much as when she first joined the Church, having just been divorced and having Cancer at that time.   This troubled me, because I really hope we can help her understand we always need to rely on God, no matter what the circumstances are and we can be close to God even if we are not going through trials. 

Fri. April 1: April Fool's Day.
We were able to visit with Sister Augustine and Sister Bowman because we had Brother Winkler with us.
We also went to see James Maxfield.  To our surprise he came out, handed us the Book of Mormon, and said, "I read.  Don't come back, and don't call me again."  However, something was missing from his statement.  I didn't sense any real intent or sincerity.  Nothing against James, but I can see why he doesn't believe in the Book of Mormon if he didn't read looking to receive anything.
We did our weekly planning.
We had a lesson with Garrett & Gary on The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We invited Garrett to be baptized on May 21st.  He and Gary want to come to a General Conference session tomorrow.
Brian had to cancel our lesson. :(
We had a lesson with Becky, David and John.  We read 2 Nephi 31 with them, and invited them to be baptized on June 4th.  Becky wants her uncles (who are members) up in Covington to baptize her.   

Sat. April 2: 6 hours of Conference was awesome!

We were able to get Garry and Garrett to come to the Saturday Afternoon session.
Then with the help of Brother Laymon, Johnathan came to the Priesthood session.  Johnathan and Courtney have been sick this past week, but Johnathan was able to get better just in time for Saturday, and really wanted to get out of the house.  What better way than Priesthood session!
Priesthood Session was a really good turnout.  It reminded me of Priesthood sessions back home! 

Sun. April 3:  Elder Jolley and I were able to walk around and try to talk to people; the stuff floating around in the air is kicking my butt though!  Elder Clawson gave me the idea to stand over a boiling pot of water.

It was the best I've felt all weekend. 

Conference was really good today, but we weren't able to get anyone to come - not even Myra and Roxanne or Brian. :(
We had Dinner with the Blevins and Jack Turner.
Then we had a visit with Jassim...

Jassim

...we forgot he was going to feed us dinner, so we were pretty full last night after double dinners.

He fed us some really good Iraqi food! 

I wish I could talk about how awesome General Conference was forever, but I have only a limited amount of time!

Some good quotes from this weekend:

"Some things can only be learned by faith." -Dallin H. Oaks. 

"No matter our age, we are called to go to the rescue." - Mervyn B. Arnold

"Discipleship is a form of leadership" - Stephen W. Owen

"He (Jesus Christ) is the greatest leader, because he is the greatest follower." -Stephen W. Owen

"If we choose Christ, we will have made the correct choice." -Thomas S. Monson

"Remember who you are, and what God expects you to become." -Thomas S. Monson

I love you all.  If you love me, please go review as many Conference talks as possible! 

Love, Elder Brenchley