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

Fresh Steaks Right from the Cow Pasture!

Hey Ya'll! 

The biggest news of the week is I'm getting transferred.  I was really surprised since I have only been here two transfers. 

But, I have been called as a Zone Leader!  And will be serving in the Charleston zone!  WOOHOO!

I'm going back to the Charleston Stake/zone!  

Elder Boyd will be staying here in Floyd, and will also be training a brand new missionary from the MTC.  What a great place (FLOYD) for him to be trained!
I sure will miss these two families:

The Lafon Family

 

Sister Horne and Brother Brown (engaged to be married)

 

As for the rest of the week!

Mon. May 11:  Well, we had zone P-day, and went to Virginia Tech's campus to play on their grounds.  We played a variety of sports.

(The V.T. shooting Memorial is shown back there with the red arrow)

Tues. May 12: We had zone conference today!  It was in Pembroke, VA with lots of instruction from President Salisbury.  I loved it.
We got our truck inspected today, so we gave it a car wash this morning.  Even after the wash, the Vehicle Coordinator couldn't believe how much dirt we had everywhere!  Uhh...have you been to Floyd?
We picked up two new investigators tonight!  Mary & Reginald Clark were some former investigators we met/started teaching.  Brother Ferguson came with us (they are all in their 70's) and they all got along great, and the lesson went really well. 

Wed. May 13: We were able to try lots of people today, including a man named, Bobby.  He gave us a ride somewhere else, after telling us he wouldn't like to investigate anymore.  People here are so friendly, even if they don't want the Gospel.
We had dinner with the Conroy's, and by the skin of our teeth made it back in time for a lesson with Sister Guthrie and her daughter (both less-active).  They both committed to come to church! 

Thur. May 14: We moved a refrigerator, a washer, and a dryer today. Wheww!  The Miller's had us do service for them.
Also, we were finally able to teach Jodie, and had a good lesson with him on his "Iron Rod" (1 Nephi 8) reading.
We went to Branch Council instead of basketball tonight. (I didn't know I was missing my last opportunity to play ball here in Floyd).

Fri. May 15: We had a lesson with Ron this morning at the church.  Brother Brown joined us, and we look forward to seeing Ron's progression.
We were suppose to meet with Alec right after, but he cancelled.
We went walking today and got caught in the rain!

We got Soaked!

We tried contacting two referrals from members today; both were not interested. (The chance a referral takes the discussions and get baptized is way higher if the member has them in their home, and the missionaries invite them to learn there.)
We were able to have a lesson with Keith.  Even with pictures, and Brother Hammond there explaining things, it's just not clicking with Keith.
I got a letter from Elder Caldwell today that had Baptismal photos of Matt in it!

Elder Caldwell & Matt

(Elder Caldwell got to go to our former investigator's Baptism because he is currently serving in an area that is fairly close to our old area, Beckley.)

I had to take a picture of Elder Caldwell's picture of Matt's Baptism, so it's kind of rough, but......WooHOO!

 

Sat. May 16: We went to Sister Young's to do service there.  She had all her kids there, and their kids and spouses.  This place was hopping with tons of potentials!  Every one of her kids is a less-active or a part member family!  We were able to get phone numbers with most of them to schedule a time to go see them!
We had dinner with the Lafon's.  Elder Boyd actually got to Skype with his dad, while I chatted with the family.
We picked up another new investigator today (another former).  His name is Gary, he's Brother Frazier's neighbor.
We got a call tonight telling us one of us is getting transferred.  Big surprise! 

Sun. May 17: It was probably one of the best Sacrament meetings I've ever been a part of.  Just what I needed!  No investigators came, but still one of the best Sacrament meetings; the talks were excellent.
We had a lesson with Sister Huff on covenants.  We're trying to help her understand she's got to keep her Baptismal covenant (take the Sacrament) if she's going to keep future temple covenants.
We had dinner at the Light's; they fed us steaks!  WooHoo!  From one of their cows!  FRESH! President Salisbury gave us a call, and called me to be a Zone Leader and Elder Boyd to be a trainer (indicating I would be getting transferred for sure).

Mon. May 18: I had a final district meeting as District Leader of this district, kinda sad.
After which we didn't have a whole lot of success today.
We also saw Amos tonight; he was drunk, and getting really angry at us - he's just not ready at this time.  Funny thing was, he was cussing us out, and then I told him I was leaving, and he started getting emotional and telling me, "You can't leave!"  Interesting mood swings there!

{Amos didn't want to take a picture, so I just got one with his roommate, Orlando}

Tues. May 19:  We had a busy, busy day!  We taught Brother Crawfor, taught Gary, taught the Banks', and tried people in between, including saying Good-byes. 

Well, that's my week!  Gotta get packing!

 My baseball bat that I will be leaving. :(
(I'd hit rocks with it, hence all the dents)

God be with you!

Love, Elder Brenchley

First Few Days in the MTC

My first few days in the MTC have hit me like a train.  I really didn't know what to expect.  But I am so grateful for everything.  The Spirit is everywhere and very strong.  Us missionaries work all day long!  But it feels good to work in the service of the Lord.  We are learning all we can, and studying hard.

I love my district of 10 Elders.  Four of us are serving in the West Virginia Charleston Mission; including myself, my companion Elder Williams (Grantsville, Ut), (Who I LOVE!) He's a three sport athlete for Grantsville High School, let's just say him & I are getting along real nice!

Elder Numbers ( My Viewmont/West Virginia Brother) 

and his companion Elder Jarman (Sandy, Ut).

The other 6 elders will be serving in the Washington, Everett Mission:

Elder Gonzalez (District Leader) ( Las Vegas, NV)

Elder Kartchner (San Diego, CA)

Elder Howell (Alpine, Ut)

Elder Austin (New Plymouth, Idaho)

Elder Tempest (Centerville, Ut) (Another Viewmont Viking)

Elder Moore (Kaysville, UT) (A rival Davis Dart) :(

We've met our two teachers (Bro. Kimball and Sis. Elsworth).  They are GOOD Teachers.  They also posed as the two investigators our district had to visit with.  Elder Williams & I taught Victor (aka Bro. Kimball).  We got to know him the first day, and then delivered a message on the gospel of Jesus Christ, and taught him about baptism.  He liked the idea of baptism and wanted to be baptized.  We committed him to be baptized!  We will be helping him over the next couple of days to prepare for the waters of baptism. 

We met with our branch on Thursday, and were introduced to our Branch Presidency; President Taylor, Brother Russon, and Brother Neilsen, and their wives.  Each of us told them where we were from, and our testimony.  We went over the MTC rules.  The two counselors then interviewed all of us, and then assigned us callings.  Elder Williams and I were assigned as Zone Leaders!  We are excited for this calling and look forward to serving our zone, and welcoming the new elders next week.

It is official we leave September 9, connect flights in Atlanta, Georgia, then we are in West Virginia!  Other missionaries are so jealous of us - some have to stay up to 8 weeks! 

I love it here at the MTC.  We have our first branch meeting tomorrow for Sunday (where hopefully Elder Williams and I will learn our responsibilities as zone leaders), and then back into the regular work schedule Monday. 

Thanks for your prayers! And I love you all!

-Elder Brenchley