Dear families of the missionaries in the West Virginia
Charleston Mission,
As you know, we have just finished our “White Christmas” here in the
mission. We hope your missionaries told you about all the things we
were doing to bring this about. We started the last week of
September and finished the end of December. Each companionship was
to teach and baptize someone in that length of time. We talked about
the importance of the missionaries becoming white themselves, in that they
should try to be obedient and be better than they ever had before, so they were
worthy of finding an elect person to teach. The “white” in this
Christmas gift was not just a baptism, but the missionaries becoming better
themselves. We have seen so many miracles because of their desire to
be better, to work harder, and to have faith that they could do this.
There are 66 companionships and 10 couples right now. We baptized 85
wonderful people during that time making it more than enough to cover every
companionship. We were working as a mission and as a mission we
succeeded. Not every companionship saw a baptism, but they
contributed to the overall feeling and work and they are just as successful as
the ones who did baptize. We prayed every day at one, besides the
other prayers we do, just so everyone felt connected and God knew we were
serious.
We also hit another goal we have had for a long time, that being to baptize 30
people in a month. For some missions that is a week, but here that
is a great month. Well, in December we finally reached that goal as
well. We had 31 baptisms. We are very thankful and happy
and we want you to know how pleased and grateful we are for your son or
daughter who is serving here. The missionaries as a whole are more
obedient and hard working than they have ever been. They know the
Lord is behind them in this work and that angels go before them, preparing the
way.
We want to thank you for supporting them so much through these last few
months. Thank you for your prayers and for your encouragement to the
missionaries. Thank you for writing them on a weekly basis and
lifting their spirits. They love their families and love it when you
get involved in what they are doing here. Learn to know the people
they are teaching and pray for them to truly allow the Holy Ghost to teach them
and help them. Those who study the gospel really have to make some
major changes in their lives, so encouragement is always welcomed.
Again, thank you for allowing your missionary to be a part of this mission time
with us. We do truly love them and want them to love the doctrine of
Christ so much that they will be changed forever. May the Lord’s
blessings be with you and your entire family this New Year.
Love and best wishes,
President and Sister Pitt
Encl: Some of the miracles we saw during “White Christmas.”
White Christmas Miracles
Elders Dumke and Klain - Charleston AP
Marcie McDonald watched a MSNBC special on the church. She felt the Spirit
prompt her to call her friend Shawn Long, who was a member of the church.
Unbeknownst to Marcie, Sister Long has recently been reactivated. Marcie asked
her if she could come to church with her the next day. She came and loved it,
came for a few more weeks and then approached us and asked if she could meet
with us to learn more about the church. We taught her first lesson in Sister
Long’s home and set her with a baptismal date for 18 days later. She was
baptized on her scheduled day, and now her husband has joined the church and
they are on their way to having a Celestial Marriage.
Elders Mero and Maxwell - Charleston ZL
The Cottrells were found by the Montgomery Elders while visiting a part-member
family in theit area. The Elders found out that Sister Cottrell was also a
member who had been less-active but wanted to come back to church and had 4
children that she also wanted to have the gospel taught to. After receiving
there address they found out that it was out of there area and they lived in a
area where there were no missionary's serving. So we got a hold of the Beazers
a senior couple in Flatwoods to go over and teach the first lesson. After a few
short lessons they were set on date for Dec 16. They then were continued to be
taught by the Charleston Zone Leaders and the Beazers until all four children
were baptized on Dec 16. The family is now super active and loves coming to
church and the kids love family scripture study and prayer. It was amazing to
see how Lord led us to them and how much of change this awesome family has
made!
Elder Mears and Bishop - Huntington ZL
For about 12 years Elaine has been very close to a family who are members, the
Kirby's. After many years of numerous meals with the missionaries and countless
spiritual thoughts, Elaine started to consider the idea of becoming a Mormon.
The was about 5 years ago. Well in November Elaine asked to be put of the list
for the scripture of the day that we send out every morning. We had our first
lesson the very next day. By the second lesson Elaine was sure that she wanted
to get baptized and she set a date for the next month. At this point she hadn't
told her parents that she was even considering being baptized and she was
afraid to tell them. Well after a couple lessons she made the decision and told
her parents that she was meeting with us. Well her parents weren't very happy
about that at all. Over the next few weeks before her baptism, her parents for
consistently trying to talk her out of it. Elaine held strong to the her
testimony during everything that happened and was baptized on Dec 16th. She has
been very actively involved in teaching the primary since before she was
baptized and now she is beginning to prepare to serve a mission a year from
now.
Elder Hawes and Hansen - Morgantown University
Brad was one of the most prepared people to join the church. He served in the
Military and as part of his training spent a few days in the wilderness. His
only travel companion was a member of the church. During their time in the
woods, they discussed many principles of the gospel. After returning to
civilization, Brad made the resolve he would contact the missionaries. He had
been studying on
Mormon.org for the past few
weeks, and began living the Word of Wisdom and other commandment. He was
planning to attend church for the first time the Sunday before meeting the
missionaries. He met the Elders and a member while they were tracting and was
baptized just 2 weeks later, even bearing testimony at his own baptism. It was
definitely one of the most amazing Christmas for us all.
Elder Collett and Olsen - Russell
Aaron Artrip is an 11 year old son of a Part-Member family. He has a
brother who's older who also got baptized a while ago and has been trying to
get baptized for over a year now. His mom is a member, and his dad isn't
so it was a lot harder to get him to church, and to make everything work out
right. He was so close one time, but they went on vacation and seemed to
get out of the habit of coming to church and we thought all hope was lost for a
little bit there. Luckily we were able to continue to see them occasionally and
keep their hope and fire burning just enough to have the smallest desire to
keep going, and for them it seemed like they didn't even think it would be very
soon for him to be baptized because his grandpa was the only one he wanted to
baptize him, but he wasn't worthy to.
Just the week before Christmas we got a call from them that Aaron could be
baptized on the 26th, basically setting himself with a baptismal date, because
a different uncle was going to be in town who was an active, worthy member,
that was coming to visit for a week or 2. From that time forward we've
been working with him constantly, and with only a week to set up the baptism
and get everything ready we had a lot of support from the ward and from his
family and were able to get everything taught, and ready for the baptism.
Now it seems like a weight has been lifted from that family and it's just
a lot easier for them to do what's right. It was definitely a miracle
that he was able to be baptized so quickly and out of nowhere. Without
his family being an example to him and being the moving force behind him making
the decision it really helped him to want to be baptized and is now a member
with the Holy Ghost!
Elder Hess and Holmes - Martin
This White Christmas has helped bring some serious Miracles to pass here in
Martin, Kentucky! The greatest miracle of all was the opportunity that we had
to bring Brother Amos Conn into the church! He was so elect and knew from the
first moment we talked to him that he needed to be a part of this Gospel. On
the first day of the transfer (Nov. 14) the ward was having a Thanksgiving
dinner. A less-active was at the party and asked us to come over to her house
that weekend because she needed help to cast out some evil spirit that she
could feel. We went there on that Saturday and helped her out, and that is when
we found Amos. We met him on November 17 and he was Baptized on December 14. It
was such an incredible answer to our prayers and a true miracle given to us
from God.
Elder Makemson and Cluster - Clarksburg ZL
One White Christmas Miracle that we had was with the Norton family. We had been
praying every day that we might be able to baptize during the months leading up
to Christmas, and the Lord blessed us with one of the most amazing and prepared
families I've ever known. I know that the Lord hears and answers our prayers
and knows each one of us perfectly.
On one Preparation Day, Elder Makemson and I were inside playing a board game
when we got a referral sent to us on our phone. We had just finished trying to
contact a media referral a few days before that didn't end very well. We were a
little discouraged because of that and so we didn't get super excited when this
referral came. We didn't even have an address that we could go to because the
man lived off of some unknown route. Thankfully we had a phone number that we
could call. We called it up, and a very nice man named Ron Norton answered the
phone. He asked if we could meet up and set Chick-fil-a as the meeting place.
The next day we met him there at lunch time and found out that he was a very
friendly, clean shaven middle age man. We could tell that he was happy to see
us, so of course that made us really happy to see him.
We went inside the restaurant and he offered to buy our meal. We thanked him
and began to think that this might be too good to be true. We picked out a
little table in the back and whipped out our copies of the Book of Mormon. He
told us a little about himself before we really got started. We found out that
Ron had been Catholic all his life, but became somewhat disillusioned by his
church when they started to endorse political stand points such as who to vote
for. So, him and his new wife started going to a community church, but they
felt like something was missing. The spirit, ...along with Glen Beck... lead
him to
Mormon.org. There he studied the
Gospel Doctrines and messages from living prophets for over a month.
When he felt the time was right he sent a message through
Mormon.org saying that he wanted to meet up with
us.
We tried to teach him the basics, but he had already gained a solid
understanding of those. When asked how he felt about everything he said "I
feel like this church is like a New Catholic church. It's exciting
and I want to learn more." That's all we needed to hear as missionaries!
Right then and there, inside a busy Chick-fil-a restaurant, we
set him on date for baptism and he accepted.
The next week we went over to his place to meet the family. We then met his
wonderful wife and two kids, age 13 and 5. His wife was raised Baptist and
didn't have the same knowledge of the LDS church that Ron had. Still, she said
that she wanted to learn as did their 13 year old son, so we set them on date
for baptism as well.
In time the answer that the church is true came to the whole family in the form
of their 5 year old son Brody. They came in one day to find him praying on his
knees for the first time. When they asked him what he was doing he responded
that he was praying about his new church. At that point the spirit touched
their hearts, and they knew that the church was true.
The day that all three of them were baptized was a wonderful day that none of
us will forget. It was amazing to see the change in them through the light that
came into their lives. They were happy and we were overjoyed! I will never
forget the Norton family and the love that the Lord showed to us by having us
teach them. The church is true. I know it and the Nortons know it.
Elder J. Johnson and Guthrie - Richlands
Matt Hardin was a media referral that lived in Grundy WV. When matt was 7 years
old he bought a Book of Mormon at a library sale for twenty-five cents. He read
it and by the time he was 14 had collected a small library of LDS literature.
At age 23 he contacted the missionaries via
mormon.org a
few months ago. We made an appointment and traveled out to see him. Matt
accepted to be baptized on the first visit and was excited to do so. He was
completely receptive at every lesson and kept every commitment diligently. He
was baptized three weeks from the time of our first visit. His baptism was a
magnificent experience for everyone who attended. matt gave us a small thank
you note that said:
Elders, thank you for your time and efforts in teaching me the principles of
the restored gospel. I have known the church was true and spent many
years without the blessings of membership and the covenant of baptism. Thank
you once again, for now i can take my rightful place among the saints."
Matt was a true miracle and will bless the lives of many.
Elder Blaser and Kleiman - Gallipolis
This White Christmas was one of the best journeys we have had on the mission.
While teaching Jeff Golden we learned so much from him but we also learned a
lot about ourselves teaching him. He was hanging with a Member in the ward and
we invited him to play Basketball , he then started asking questions about why
we were out on missions what we believed, For 6 weeks he came to church and he
made his decision on getting Baptized but had to tell his family. His family
was not receptive to the fact he was becoming a Mormon, They kicked him out,
his brother stopped talking to him for a bit and their friendship isn't the
same. yet he knew the Church was true and he couldn't turn away from his
testimony he received. Jeff was baptized on November 10th, A White Christmas we
will never forget. When I asked him how he received his final decision, he said
"How could I deny this if it brings me closer to my Heavenly Father."
We are grateful for Jeff Golden and his decision this White Christmas
Season.
Elder Solomon and Morgan - Blacksburg University
Katie Scalia is one of the elect that we're always looking for as missionaries
and was definitely an answer to our White Christmas prayers. One of her
friends had invited her to Institute one night. We were able to catch her
afterwards and ask her if she would like to learn more about our church.
She obviously accepted. Over the next several weeks we taught her
everything and she absorbed it all. She just wanted to learn. She
said that everything we shared with her "just made sense." She
was baptized November 3rd. She's now busy trying to convert all of her
friends. I'm sure that many other baptisms will come because of her
commitment to this gospel. May we remember the blessings that are ever
secured through prayer.
Elder Havertz and Chavez - Bluefield
Danny Meade is an amazing man. He is married to a wonderful member of the
Church. About a year and a half ago, the Sisters started coming by to visit the
Meade's regularly. Most recently Elder and Sister Green have been coming
by to teach them. After returning from vacation he made the commitment to be
baptized. We set him with a date on Monday and he was baptized that Sunday.
Brother Meade is a very charitable man and is always looking for a way to help
others. In fact after he was baptized he bought an entire Christmas dinner for
a less fortunate sister in the ward. He didn't want any recognition for the act
so he had Elder Anderson and I deliver the food. I'm sure he'll be an example
to so many others in the coming years. He already is an example to me.
Elder and Sister Clifton - Hazard
Katie referred herself on
Mormon.org after
attending the branch for quite a few weeks. She awaited missionaries to come
into the area, so she could be baptized.
I want to tell you about Katie Smith's baptism. We had a nice program all
planned although I was concerned that we wouldn't have enough Priesthood there.
I called a couple of Brethren and was assured they'd be there to 'cover
the bases'. Then it started to snow-very lightly. Apparently snow
creates real problems for the members here, especially those who live up
narrow, winding 'roads'. We then got a text from the Elders saying they
would be there. Thank you for allowing that. It made all the
difference. As it turns out, the only people who decided to brave the
weather were the Elders, President James and his wife (who spoke on Baptism),
Sister Little the R.S. President, us and Katie and her mother...she came and
was very gracious. The baptism went well and President James decided we
would confirm her then thinking that there may not be many in Church today.
An inspired decision!Katie is a remarkable young woman. She has a
strong testimony and will be a great asset to this little Branch. We feel
blessed to have been able to play a very small part in her decision to be
baptized.Thanks again for allowing the Elders to attend. I don't know how
we would have managed without them.
