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

A Missionary's Christmas

So, How about General Conference?  It was Awesome!
As always, I want everyone to tell me their favorite conference talks!  I think all the talks were great!  I really enjoyed, "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus" by Claudio R.M. Costa.

What's your scripture of the week to "ponderize?"  (Brother Durrant)

Mine is 3 Nephi 7:18 

18 And it came to pass that they were angry with him, even because he had greater power than they, for it were not possible that they could disbelieve his words, for so great was his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ that angels did minister unto him daily.

But, so many talks answered so many questions I had as I went with the format, "Seek~Receive~Act."
ALSO: I was jumping for joy as Elder Dale G. Renlund was called as an Apostle.  If you all remember, he came to the Mission last year in October.  His and Sister Renlund's teachings were awesome on that Mission tour.  So, now I can say I've met two Apostles face-to-face.
I was also really excited to hear Elder Ronald A. Rasband and Elder Gary E. Stevensen have been called.  If you noticed, there was a lot of different themes, but I also noticed how often the Brethren recognized the newly called Apostles!  They are truly called by God, and I know these men are Prophets, Seers, & Revelators.  I could feel it when I shook hands with Elder Chirstofferson & Elder Renlund.
ALSO, BIG shout-out to the moms!  Woohoo.

Also: Betty and Debbie watched the Saturday morning session at the Butler's, and we were able to join them.  They both loved it!  Betty, after each speaker, remarked, "Oh, he's GOOD!"  or
"He was GOOD!"  or
"They're all GOOD!"
We assured her and bore testimony that they were all inspired by God!


As for the rest of the week:

Mon. Sept. 28:  We were able to play basketball with all the Elders.
I had some time to write some actual letters today!
We had dinner with the Trotman's and they gave us a referral for a co-worker they've been working with!  Woo-Hoo!  It's awesome to see the members keep commitments as well!
We had a great lesson with Betty and Debbie on The Ten Commandments, and really went over obedience.  The Porter's came with us.

Tues. Sept. 29: Mission Leadership Conference
The whole day was great!  It's always fun driving in the van with some great Elders!  It hurts to take a whole proselyting day, but we try to make it as effective as possible by calling/texting to set up appointments!

Wed. Sept. 30:   Brother Alvstead and we met with Randy today.  He's been reading the Book of Mormon, and his step-son, Charles, was there, so we introduced the Book of Mormon to him, and then read a chapter, as well.  We're really pushing to get Randy to General Conference.
We also got to meet with the Carter's, a really cool couple in the ward.  Brother Carter is the big 1st baseman for SVU.
We had dinner at the Knudsen's, and Sister Knudsen is a super star - she went and picked up Sister Lund, a less-active Sister for dinner, and we were able to have a great lesson after dinner and committed each one to watch Conference.
We taught Betty and Debbie the Law of Chastity.  It's always fun.  But, they are both such great people - they totally agreed, and have seen the blessings of that throughout their life.

Thur. Oct. 1:  We had weekly planning.
Today was a tough day - we got in with the Ramirez family at the very end of the night, though!

Fri. Oct 2:  We had zone meeting in the morning.  They were calling for a hurricane to hit, so we were worried for everyone driving to Lexington.  But, the hurricane didn't show up, I guess.  I got to go on exchanges with Elder Thompson in Clifton Forge, and we taught a great guy named, Tom.  He's totally going to be baptized, soon!

Sat. Oct 3:  We had to exchange back quickly, so we could make it back for Conference.
We watched the morning session with Betty and Debbie at the Butler's and got lunch, too.  When Sister Neill F. Marriott spoke and said, "I come from the Deep South of the United States," Elder Johnson and I turned to one another and said, "Yeah, you do!"   
Southern Pride!
We watched Conference the rest of the day at the church.  We went out and about, but weren't able to get anybody to Conference.

Sun. Oct. 4:  We took Brother Flores to go see Tammy, but she was not there.  So, we swung by Randy's to see if he would commit to come to Conference.  He gave us an, "I'll try."  He didn't end up coming - so sad to see him not come.
The Hand's and the Porter's had us over for lunch in between sessions.
We watched both sessions of Conference at the church.
Then we tried people like crazy after, and were able to get a few return appointments!
We saw George!  He's still alive, and more than happy to meet with us - he finally quit his 2nd job, so he's a lot more available now.

So, please fill me in on what you liked from Conference.
There' s a saying that General Conference is a "Missionary's Christmas!"  I think it should be like Christmas to everyone!  And lucky us, we can review, re-watch, and re-listen to these talks over and over again!
I know Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God.  The Twelve are Jesus Christ's chosen apostles.  Let us continue to "Follow the Prophet!"  He knows the way! ;)


Love You All!

Love Elder Brenchley

Did You Know I Was Called on a Spanish Speaking Mission?!?

Hey Ya'll 

Wasn't Easter and Conference just the best?  What a great combination! 

What was ya'lls favorite talks?  I really want to know!  I haven't picked a favorite talk, yet.  But I have a favorite Ssssion!  Saturday afternoon by far! All 6 talks were so great! It may also have to do with the fact, that I've personally met & shook hands with 2 of the speakers (Elder D. Todd Christofferson, and Elder Dale. G Renlund, (both came to the Mission)

I really loved each of the talks!  And It helped me feel a lot better because I was really uneasy after some people opposed The First Presidency and The Twelve Apostles!  How sad was that?  They sound like they need our prayers

As for my weekly report, I've got a lot to say, in a short amount of time.  

Elder Olsen

Elder Olsen has to get packing, so I'll bullet point my days:

Monday March 30:

• Radford Elders came down for P-Day for fishing and basketball. (No fish caught)
• Had FHE with Jodie and Katie and their family; it was a little bit of a struggle with all the kids going crazy.  Now I know how my parents felt. :)

Tuesday March 31: 

• We spent 4 1/2 hours today on Huckleberry Ridge Rd. (Shows you how long and spread out the roads are here) looking for a former investigator and a referral.  We found the referral, but couldn't find that former investigator.  We did find two solid potential investigators, and taught the 8 minute Restoration to one, and got a return appt. with the other!

Wednesday April 1:

• April Fools Day!  No fooling around though!  I went on an exchange with Elder Higgins up in Radford.  He expressed he's kind of done with the area because not a whole lot is happening. (he's certain he's getting transferred next week)  But, we were still able to work real hard today! We had 7 great ITL's (6 on Campus @ Radford University) 
• Also taught their only investigator, Kenny, who is preparing for Baptism. 

Thursday April 2: 

• Taught a Less-Active named, Sister Briggs.  She's showing sincere desire to go the temple.  She got really emotional.  Lesson in Swortzel's home
• Tire went completely flat, Bro. Swortzel helped us (actually did it all for us) with that. 
• Dinner @ Katie and Jodie's, lesson on 3 Degrees of Glory went good.  Jodie's starting to get everything!

Friday April 3: 

• Zone Conference in the morning
• Received a referral, which we contacted and got info
• Taught Ricky, Sam, & Dustin.  They are just being stubborn and won't open and read the Book of Mormon. :(

{Dustin, Ricky, Sam, me, Elder Olsen}

 

Saturday April 4: 

• Conference was great!  Great turnout to Priesthood Session! (the free pizza helped a lot!)
• Knocked one door I felt we should knock!  It was the right door; a young, single mother, said she would read the Restoration pamphlet, and we could come back.

Sunday April 5: 

• Easter! 
• Conference great!
• Easter dinner @ the Sunberg's!  What a Meal! 

Monday April 6:

• Met an old lady with Alzheimer's today.  She talked our ear off for a half hour, and wanted to give us a hug.  She was so sweet!
• Bro. Brown came with us to an appointment, which fell through, met a former investigator, and set-up appt.
• Service and dinner @ Miller's.

Tuesday April 7:

• District Meeting - our last as this current District 
• While knocking some trailer park, the three people who answered were all Hispanic.  Searching my brain for my 2 years of High School Spanish, I was able to ask them their name, and what time is it?  Then just started saying words like, Casa! Perro! deniro! Jesu Christo! Miraculously enough, we had an El Libro De Mormon in the car and got a return appt. with a man named, Juan!  The other man, Lupe, took a Spanish Restoration pamphlet.
• Had dinner @ Lafon's.
• After Lafon's, went over to Sherwood's and we were able to teach his daughter, Monica and her friend, Rylee (both 16.)  And picked them up as new investigators.  They said they hadn't found the right church, yet.
  
• 3 members of the District are leaving: Elder Olsen, Sister Zschoke, & Elder Higgins
• 3 new members are coming: Elder Boyd (my companion, who was just serving in Blacksburg YSA, short move) Sister Banks, & Elder Degooyer.  I was so excited, especially for Elder Degooyer coming - he was my last zone leader in Charleston, and I think he's just what the doctor ordered to turn Radford area around!  Such a great missionary! 

Well, that's all foks!  I'm expecting to hear what everyone's favorite Conference talk is! 

Love, Elder Brenchley!

Servin' in the Rain

Hey Ya'll!  How is everyone?  How 'bout Conference, right???  I loved it!  Conference was great!  I took notes on every speaker!  I've never done that before.  But I'm so glad I did!  I enjoyed the talk on getting to sustain the prophet of God by Russell M. Nelson. What was y'all's favorite talks and why?

Anyway just thought I'd let you know real quick about the whole Mark and Civi situation.

The Good News: Civi and Mark are no longer living together. 

The Bad News: The reason why is because Mark is in jail.  And now Civi has a new boyfriend living with her named, "N."  Oh BOY!

Anyway here we go!

Sept. 29, Monday:  P-Day.  Got a sweet Haircut today!  It looks good! (I think)  I bought myself a West Virginia and Marshall T-Shirt at Wal-Mart today!  It's not to late to jump on the Marshall band wagon!  WooHOO (5-0) 

I love talking to people about sports and connect with them - and then say, "Thank you!  As missionaries, we don't have time to keep tract of sports because we are working all day." - and then that leads into a invitation to learn about our church!  It's great!
Then we got to play basketball with Bro. Laxton" from the ward and his co-workers.  Reminds me of back home - a bunch of older guys just jacking up THREES like nobody's business!  I met some cool people, including a guy named, Troy who played basketball for Marshall University!  He was raining those tres! 

Sept. 30, Tuesday:  Today was exchange day!  We did companion exchanges, so I was with Elder Carter today and Elder Morse was with Elder Johnson.  With Elder Carter, we covered the Beckley area today.  It was a very new experience for me!  It was great - we visited some less-actives and did some knocking.  We had dinner with a WONDERFUL couple, the VanNatter's.  They're younger and are so great!  He's into sports and an R.M!  He's been inactive though, but with the missionaries teaching his wife, he's definitely wanting to come back!  They'd be such awesome members! 

Oct. 1, Wednesday:  We had district meeting and correlation with the ward missionaries, Bro. & Sis. Brooks.  We visited David Lily, who is all for being baptized again, but he doesn't understand exactly why baptism by proper priesthood authority is any different than his other two previous baptisms.  Here's an update on Bro. Snuffer: we visited him tonight and talked with him to see how we was doing.  He's doing a lot better physically (sits up in a wheelchair and can move his hands and legs) but not so well mentally.  He's not completely there, but he's slowly recovering.

Oct. 2, Thursday:  Zone Meeting today!  I have some great Zone Leaders!  They emphasized Chapter 8 of Preach My Gospel which is "Use Time Wisely."  We only have so long on our mission, and even less time actually proselyting, so we need to always be making the most of it.  Also, we discussed planning more effectively and to continue to pray always!  AMEN to that!  We met with two older folks named, Shirley and Dole.  Dole has read the Book of Mormon and has a good understanding of us Mormons.  He sure does talk a lot, so it's hard to teach a lesson with him always chatting.  Then we met with one of our rock star investigators - his name is Bill.  He's living all alone at home and does very well in life.  He is so open to hearing us teach him.  We taught him the Restoration, after teaching him the Plan of Salvation a week earlier.  He committed to read the Book of Mormon and to pray!  Can't wait to see him again!

Oct. 3, Friday:  After having a wonderful weekly planning session, we went to visit Civi, where we found out that Mark is gone, but now she has a new boyfriend living with her already.  Hmmm.  But, Elder Johnson and I have talked it over, and I have appreciated all the advice from home (Thank You!), and we think that the best way to approach this situation is to focus on the importance of families in God's eyes.  If we can explain to her how important and sacred the family is in God's eyes, we hope to have the Spirit touch her heart that way.  After a long day of looking, we met with a great lady named, Rita.  She is so into family history and we were able to give her a family history packet. We have a lesson with her for Wednesday with the ward Family History Consultants!  Can't wait! Then we met with a part member family, the Upton's.  Well, just Sister Upton and her mother-in-law, Ronnie, her husband, and one of our investigators was not feeling well.  But, we basically sat down and asked, "How can we help you, Sister Upton, to help Ronnie come to church and help him work towards baptism, and later down the road that temple marriage?"  We did not go in there with that game plan at all.  But, the Spirit directed us to do so.  So, now we have her ALL-IN to help him as well!  The man is the head of the household, but the woman is the neck! 

Oct. 4, Saturday:  Conference!  Woo-Hoo!  We had to wait an extra two hours here, since it didn't start until 12:00 here.  However, one low light of today was sometime last night, or this morning, our car got broken into (while parked at our house!) and unfortunately, my camera and Elder Johnson's sunglasses were stolen. (I couldn't believe it, first my camera case, then my actual camera).  Surprisingly, they didn't take the GPS which was in plain sight, but went through the glove compartment to find my camera. that was inside a sock (it's new "case").  That's tough luck right?  Ah well, luckily we were both safe and the car wasn't damaged too badly. (just some scratches where they pried the door open.)  To watch Conference, we went to the church.  It was just us missionaries from the district and the Bishop and his wife there.  I guess everyone was watching it online.  From the Saturday sessions, I really enjoyed Lynn G. Robbins talk on God's law will never adjust to man's law.  And Chi Hong (Sam) Wong's (I think?) talk on members being missionaries, too, including the great story of the man who had to be brought through the roof to see Jesus.  Then from Priesthood Session, President Uchtdorf's talk on "Lord, Is It I?"  Such a great talk on humbling ourselves and deciding where our treasures lay.

Thankfully we were able to keep the Priesthood Session tradition of going out to dinner. But this time, I will just have to send my notes on Priesthood Session home to my mom instead of reporting on it to her right after!

Oct. 5, Sunday:  More Conference!  Love Conference!  I took notes on every single speaker at conference!  It made it so much more enriching!  My Favorite Talks from Sunday were Richard G. Scott's talk on the 4 Tools to having a house built on the Gospel.  Then, David A. Bednar's talk for non-members.  It was a different approach, but it was so good!  Elder Johnson and I hope to, and already have, shared this talk with our investigators.  We hope they watch/listen/read this talk so they can get an understanding why we want them to enjoy the same happiness we do! 

Oct. 6, Monday:  We went to see "Meet The Mormons" for our P-Day!  We all headed up to Charleston to watch it at the stake center via secured link that President Salisbury received.  It was such a great, spiritual, uplifting movie!  I encourage all of you to go watch it! 

We spent the rest of the day driving back and forth from Beckley to Charleston, then Charleston to Beckley - about 1 hour and 45 minute drive.  With the time we had left, we had to file an incident report about the car break in and robbery.  With that we had to delay emailing until Tuesday.  We had an excellent dinner with the McGrady's and delivered a message about eternal marriage and how they are now preparing to go the temple since Brother McGrady was finally baptized after 44 years of coming to church.  The lesson was so awesome and both me and Elder Johnson were able to bear testimony of the blessings of families being together forever!  After that we went to go play basketball - it got cancelled! :( It reminds me of most of our appointments - but, in a way, I'm glad it did.  It was pouring buckets outside!  I had the great idea to go the local grocery store in Beaver and help people put stuff in their car, while we held our umbrella over them, so they wouldn't get wet.  We got drenched!  But it was worth it - so many people were so grateful for our kindness.  And it was great to make people happy! One woman was so grateful, and kept telling us, "Thank You, Thank You!" and then out of no where she asked, "Do you have any literature?"  Uh... Yeah, we do!  We gave her a Book of Mormon and got all her information, and she invited us to come teach her!  Service does pay off!  

Sorry the email is a day late! 

Hopefully everything is good back home!  Love You All!  I want to hear what your favorite Conference talk was! 

Love, Elder Brenchley