Missionaries Dream about Getting a Text like This!

Well hello!

It's August, and that really makes going home soon really hit me hard!  Oh dear!

There was an amazing miracle that happened this past week that I'll start off my email by sharing.  After teaching Sister Amber Booher, we were sitting in our apartment planning for the next day, and we received a text from her. 
It said,
"So.....I have been thinking and praying about this.  I have waited a few days to actually ask.  But I was wondering if we could maybe move the 27th to the 13th?"

She wants to be baptized on the 13th instead of the 27th!  We totally believe she's ready for it, too!  It also means I get to be here for her Baptism!  She is awesome, and is currently in Mosiah 20 or farther with her B of M reading!  And also, yesterday we had three investigators at church! (Sister Booher being one of them!)  But, also we had three less-actives at church.  But, then throw in there all of their kids and there was a total of 14 people at church who we'd invited this past week!

Elder Shirley and I also taught the 3rd hour in church, and we had our first ever Botetourt Branch Social with a "Linger Longer" dinner. 

The Branch took a picture for the history book's sake!

As for the rest of the week!

Mon. July 25:  We went to the batting cages and checked out the mall. We had dinner with the Willmott's.
We talked to Ryan Lampkins and knocked some other neighborhoods.

Tues. July 26:  We met a nice Baptist couple; both career Military.  They are so very nice - they took us on a tour of their house to show us their grandkids' pictures and Military accomplishments. They talked our ear off!
Austin Smith wasn't there for our return appointment. :(
We went and dropped in on the Smith's, and talked to Sister Smith mostly.  She was talking about how everyone in the world needs to be L.D.S.  She also said she needs to be a better example to all the kids she has.  We invited her back to church and to read Mosiah 4 (Mosiah 4:10) -  if you believe all these things, see that ye do them.
Also, we got to teach Sister Amber Booher about Baptism/Confirmation.  The Gentry's came with us.  Then the Gentry's took us up to the Gentry's/Cummings' house for dinner!
We finished the night with a lesson with Mike and Cyndi St. Clair (they live downstairs from us!  Cyndi is very good friends with Amber, and after hearing how much Amber loved church, Cyndi wanted to come to church, as well!)  So, we were able to make it through most of The Restoration lesson - they love to talk a lot!

Wed. July 27:  Jocelyn Pinnell wasn't there for our appointment, and we haven't heard from her for a bit. :(
Brother Hensley came with us to see Sister Harris and we were able to catch her as she was coming in.
We also had a lesson with Sister Booher.   This one was on Tithing.

Thur. July 28:  We saw Sister O'Neil and her husband. You bet!
 

We tracted a road right by the golf course.

We felt the Spirit prompt us to go by and try to see the Guffey's (a really awesome family we taught a couple of times).  We caught Karen Guffey right outside on her porch again.  We had a fun talk with her and her daughter, Martha. We then followed up with what we talked about the first time; we asked her if she prayed. She said she always prays. We then asked if she had specifically prayed to know if our message was true? She said she hadn't specifically prayed yet. She mentioned she prays for her family. We asked what she wanted for her family, and I can't remember where in the conversation, but at one point, she asked her daughter, Martha, to go inside. Karen didn't want her daughter to see her cry, because then Karen started getting emotional.  She expressed how it's hard and she's trying to hold her family together and doesn't want them to know/experience what she is going through. I testified I know now, more than I ever did, how great the power of the Gospel is on the families. She appreciated our visit and is totally fine with us coming back!

Fri. July 29:   We had district meeting in the morning, and Elder Shirley & I taught a portion on Accountability.
Elder Shirley hit his 1 year mark as a missionary, so we went out to Applebee's to celebrate.
 

The Book of Mormon left on the porch for us to take back. ;)

Paul, a potential investigator, left the Book of Mormon we gave him on his porch, for us to get when we came for our appointment, in a ziploc bag (at least he was considerate of possible rain damage) with a note that said, "Not in line with my Baptist doctrine."Me and Elder Shirley looked at each other, with a smile and said, "All we taught him was the Doctrine of Christ."
We had a lesson with Andrew Ireland, and Brother Gentry came with us.  He's Andrew's friend.
We taught the Law of Chastity lesson to Sister Booher with the Morse couple sitting in.
It was Brother Hensley's 40th birthday, and he had us over for dinner.

{Bro. Hensley didn't really care it was his birthday}

Brother Hensley then went out with us and we saw the Hodges family; we had a cool lesson on prayer, and committed them to pray together as a family.

Sat. July 30:   We went and tracted around a referral we had on Tims Orchard Road. We found a pro-golfer named, Scott Griffeth. He was a real cool guy, and was very open due to the fact that he's seen a lot of corruption in churches we went to growing up.
Brother Plaster came with us to see Sister Amy Gregory. She's really awesome! She committed to come to church next Sunday with her granddaughter.
We also had a lesson with Sister Amber Booher on scripture study and the Sabbath day.
We went and saw the Smith's again. We also taught Lillie, she's a 17 yr. old girl who will be living with the Smith's permanently now. We were able to teach all of them the importance of studying the Book of Mormon. Then we invited them, really boldly, to come to church the next day.
Brother Jacob Dalton fed us dinner; he made some good stuff on the grill!

Brother Jacob Dalton

We had a good discussion on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He also talked about his previous experience coming to church. He said it was a lot different from his church because he has been in churches with rock bands, and what not, throughout his life, so we talked about the principle of being reverent in a sacred meeting.

Sun. July 31: We went earlier to church so we could make a slideshow for our third hour lesson.
In PEC, everyone seemed to be on board with getting Sister Booher to the temple within 30 days of her August 13th Baptism.
At church, we had Sister Booher and her two kids (Lazerous and Lillieth), Cyndi and her two kids (Zoey and Lydia), and then the Smith's (and their four girls), Brother Keeton, and Lillie.
The Linger Longer was great!
After church, we were able to stop by to see Chuck Wilde. Let's just say he loves the Mormon missionaries, and his wife hates us.

It was another great week! I only have 3 weeks left! Everyone, continue to pray for me to finish strong, and especially pray for everyone we are teaching!

Love You All!
Love, Elder Ryan Brenchley