1-13-14

Dear Family and Friends, 

Well my exit interview I guess is actually tomorrow.. Haha I guess I need to start reading the paper work a little bit better! I told mom the wrong time, almost went to Oakland just to be told that my interview is the next day haha me and paper work hasn't always been the best! Hope I do well in college! hahaha 

So last night we had one of the biggest miracles of my entire mission! Zhen Guo got BAPTIZED!!!! It was a rush into the font, but he was SOO ready! He bore a powerful testimony at the baptism, and said some life changing things to me that I will never forget! I look forward to telling you all about this young man, and all the changes that he has made! It was a true miracle that he decided that he finally believed everything that we taught, and to make the decision to be baptized! One of the less active guys that we have been working with is in the picture, and even spoke at the baptism. Me and him have gotten really close, and he is planning on going on a mission! He has a lot of things that he needs to clean up and fix, but it is going to happen! We have been working with him every single day this past week and a half, and I wish that you could see the changes that he has made. He is a very special young man to me, and we plan on staying very close and continuing to help him to stay on the path and get out into the mission field! I love missionary work! I know that it does NOT stop here! It is going to be an eternal calling, and that tag will only come off physically, but it will forever be imprinted on my chest! I have created a list of key indicators for myself that I intend to accomplish each week. I hope that missionaries are ready for some crazy referrals, cause I plan on talking the church up to everyone I meet and helping them to understand that this is the path that they need to take! Once a missionary, always a missionary! I have been praying for the past month or so that I can continue to do what I need to to continue the spirit that I have. I know that we get a little boost of it when we are missionaries, but I don't believe the Lord is going to take that away from me. I will just keep doing missionary work! I am really going to miss it! 

I need to sign off cause there are so many things that we need to get done in the next few hours! We have 4 lessons set in a 3 hour block, so we are going to be super busy tonight. Then I still have to pack up the rest of my stuff.. It's crazy what I have picked up in the last 2 years.. Now I know why my parents attic is so packed! Years and years of acquiring things is crazy!  It will be fun to try to make it all work out. The hardest part is over though! I have gotten all of my 85 ties packed up, and they are straight and flat so that they won't be messed up! Ya know you've got to have your priorities straight! 

I love you all sooooo much! I hope that you know just how much I have loved to stay in contact with you and to be so close with you in all sorts of different ways! Thank you so much for the love that you have shown me and the support that has come my way. I know that it is by no means easy to take that time to write, but I am so thankful! I want you all to know that I have a testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ! I know he lives. I know that he stands at the head of this Church under the direction of our all knowing Father in Heaven. They love us all so much, and want us to be successful in all things. I just hope and pray that they will see my work as a missionary and will accept it and consecrate it! I have been blessed to meet so many great people out here in California and I wouldn't be the person that I am today without them! I love the Lord and I LOVE this work. It truly is the work of salvation! Love you all and I'll see most of you either Wednesday or a few days after! Have a great week, and a great rest of the New Year!

Much Love,

Elder Mackay Dale Shelley

Pictures: Zhen's baptism

1-6-14

Dear Family and Friends! 

This will be my last big email to everyone. This next Monday will be my exit interview with President Meredith. It is pretty early in the morning, but I will be with another elder that is heading home, so I will sit and wait while he has his also. We will probably grab some lunch together out in Oakland and then head back to Walnut Creek. We will then have some time to check our emails, and send a quick one home, so you can all still email me if you would like! or even better would be to hand write a letter and send it my way! That would be a great way to end my mission with a lot of letters! haha Just kidding you don't have to. After that though, we will be back with our companions to do whatever we have time for, and then we will go back to work for the last three hours of our missions. It is so crazy to think about it actually coming to an end. I have been a missionary for a long time now, and it is going to be so tough to say good bye to it all. Tuesday in our mission we will drop our companions off with their new comps, and then me and Elder Hatch (name of my temp companion) will be together for the rest of that day. Usually we would have a temple trip with President, but the temple is closed that Tuesday, so we will be going to the temple this coming Thursday actually so that is something to look forward to. I have no idea what we will do for the afternoon, but in the evening we have a nice dinner with the Meredith's, and a testimony meeting between missionaries, so that is going to be really nice. The assistants usually show up around 8 and we have root beer floats and then head off to our bed rooms that we are assigned to. Then we wake up and get around and we are taken to the airport. President is going to be driving me and one of the Sisters to the airport, cause we are the first to leave, so he will take us and drop us off. I am excited that President is going to, so that I can say good bye one last time to him! 

This week was a little bit of a challenge for me.. I have been a little under the weather, so it has been a little tough to push hard. But the huge blessing is that we finally taught 20 lessons in the area! We have gotten to 18 three times, but have not been able to get above that since I have been here. It was so good to be able to finally reach that goal that we have had for a while! It's been a great feat for us! I am so amazed at the way that the Lord can make things happen like that. Even though things have been a little tough, and I have been sick, he still pulls through for us and blesses us with the things that we need. I love this work so much! 

So Tyler was baptized this past Saturday! It was such a great day! The Spirit was really strong the entire day, and especially at the baptism. The bishop had invited us and Tyler and his girlfriend Courtney over for dinner right before the baptism and that was super fun! We played bingo, which is the family tradition when the missionaries come over, and of course I won!! hahaha Just kidding that sounded super prideful, but I did win haha. It was really fun. Tyler is about as competitive as I am, so it was fun to play with him. he was mad that he lost by one number! It was a really fun way to help him feel comfortable and enjoy the day. The baptism went as smoothly as we could have asked. His parents didn't come, but Courtney's whole family was there, and so that was really good for him. He had ACL surgery a few weeks back, and so he had a really hard time trying to come back up after he went under the water. I did my best to help him, but when a 190 lb guy is falling in an opposite direction it was pretty tough. Everyone thought that water had gone up his noes, and was giving him a hard time about it... He was all good with it though, and had a really good spirit about him after it was all over. He is an amazing young man! He has helped me to find a few things in the natural health medication with a few of the things that I have been struggling with lately with some pretty bad parasite flare ups, so that has been a HUGE blessing to me! It's amazing how the Lord puts people in your path that can help you in more ways then you would ever imagine! I am so thankful that my Father in Heaven knows me personally, and has enough love for me to be able to help me endure that pains and the struggles that I go through. He knows us better then we even know ourselves. My Dad helped me today to realized just how much power I really do have! Some times I forget that the power of the Priesthood truly is the power of God and can perform miracles for yourself as much as they can for others! I have been focusing on everyone else around me, that I have tended to loose focus on taking  care of myself also! It's time to take it easy on all the crappy food I have been eating, and get back to a good healthy diet that is going to keep me going strong. 

I have been asked to speak in church this coming Sunday about the Prophet Joseph Smith and his role in the Restoration. It's going to be a missionary topic Sunday, so that is going to be a joy to be able to share my testimony on my last Sunday as a missionary! I have loved this ward so much, that it is my honor to be asked to speak. Alison Gipp will be speaking with me, so that is going to be really cool to speak with one of my recent converts also. It will be a great last week full of lessons, and great memories! 

I am so thankful for the time that I have had to spend as a missionary! I have had the time of my life both in the Philippines, and in California. I have been tried and tested, and I hope that I have shown the Lord how strong I am, and how dedicated to his work I am! It has not been a perfect two years, but I am tired and my knees are callused from hours of prayer and pondering! I am so thankful for the Man that he has helped me to become. I was such a child when I first left for the Philippines, and now I look back and just smile at the changes that have taken place. I am so excited to be able to show you all who I am now, and show the love that I have developed for the Lord and this work. It is truly a revelatory work, and I am so thankful that I have been counted worthy to receive that revelation and grow this close to my savior. I have never had to rely so much on someone else, that it has taught me great humility. You can't be a missionary and work off of your own strength. It's just not humanly possible. I thought it was at first! I tried for a long time, but finally came to the realization that it just wasn't worth the struggle. The Lords path, is the right path, and I am thankful for his Atonement, because that is the thing that has allowed me to be able to begin to walk that path! For some reason the Lord has seen fit to save me from the life that I was living, to be apart of the work of Salvation. I have a testimony of this work! I know that the Savior Jesus Christ stands at the Head of this church, and of this mighty missionary force. I am thankful for a family that loves me unconditionally, and that is there for me even through the hard times! They never stop surprising me with the Love that is rendered. They are my greatest blessing in this life. I am thankful for amazing Friends who have stood by me the entire journey! Luis Herrera has never given up on me, even when I wasn't a very good friend. He and his family deserve more blessings then humanly possible, and I pray Heavenly Father will give those to them!  When all is said and done, the most important thing to do is to preach the Gospel. Spoken by the Mouth of Joseph Smith himself, I will join that group and preach the Gospel till I am blue in the face! I love this work so much, and even though it is about to come to an end full time, I will forever be a missionary of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know he Lives. I know that he loves each and every one of us and knows us personally! He suffered and died for us all, and through that selfless act, has given us the opportunity to live with our father in heaven once more! I will forever be in his debt, and am trying to do anything and everything I can to make sure that I help in hastening the Work of Salvation! I love you all so much! Thank you for allowing me to write to you while I have been a full time missionary! I hope to keep in contact with you all even after its all come to an end. Thanks for your support and the letters and emails you have sent! I will see you all in a little over a week! 

Much Love,

Elder Mackay Dale Shelley 

12-30-13

Dear Family and Friends,

First off I just need to make sure that everyone knows that next weeks Monday, will be my last "real" P-day. The next Monday I will be having my exit interview with President Meredith, and will be in Oakland for a few hours of the days. I will still email at some point, so you can, and should =P still email me, but I will probably only have time to email a quick one home. I'll see you guys a few days after that anyways, so it will all work out. 

This week was an interesting one for us. We had a lot of cancellations due to the holidays, but actually were still able to see a lot of miracles so that was a huge blessing to us. We had been struggling to get lessons with the people, and so it was starting to get pretty taxing, but at the end of the week, we were surprised to see how the week had ended. It was not by any means a record setting week for us, but it still didn't turn out too bad! The one thing that we struggled the most with, was the fact that we didn't get to open our mouths to as many people as we do walking down the street. President Meredith has us starting a new key indicator that we are going to be turning in next week of "OYM" as open your mouth. Basically that means that we are going to be required to speak to 20 random people each day per companionship. Now that could be through tracting, or street contacting, or anyway that we can talk to people. It is going to be pretty tough though, cause it is really crazy to think about how many people that we pass on a normal day! We have a ton of people that we see around the college, but for some reason, we still struggle to talk to the 20 people that President would like us to. It is super weird to me. I have no fear anymore about talking to random people, but at the same time it's different.. I have been working on it super hard. I have a HUGE goal of making sure that as a companionship to talk to 140 people in a week. I really am going to push for that. The most we have gotten, is 85 and that seemed like it was super tough. It will all work out though. We will make it happen some how! 

So the tough news of the week, is that Tyler was not baptized this past Saturday because of all the family opposition that he had been getting.. The good news though, is that he has set the expectation with them that he IS getting baptized this coming Saturday whether they support him or not. I am really proud of him! He has been keeping it from them for so long, and he finally came out that he was getting baptized. His parents were more mad then I have ever seen parents, and threatened to kick him out of the house if he went through with it... Thankfully miracles do happen, and they came to him and told him that if he pushed it back one week that that would give them an opportunity to discuss it as a family, and that they would be ok with it. So our prayers have finally been answered, and it has been a huge blessing to see the Lord do his magic! It is so great. I am excited! He has asked me to baptize him, and we have invited President to come to it also! We don't know what his schedule looks like, but at the same point, we are hoping that he will be able to make it. Tyler has been through so much, and we thought that it would be really special for him if the Mission President and his wife showed up to support him. It would be great if it happened! 

Love you all so much. I am kinda out of things to say, cause I just spoke to you on Christmas! But I do have a testimony of the Gospel, and am very thankful for all that it has done to change my life! I am really pleased with the person that it is helping me to become! I am no where near where I should be, but I am starting to be proud of myself! I love this Gospel, and love this church! Thanks again for all that you do, and for the love that you have shown me over the past few months/years! 

Much Love,

Elder Mackay Shelley

12-23-13

Dear Family, 

Sorry that my Christmas Card was so lame.. We were trying to get it all figured out to get one printed out at CVS or something, but it was a little expensive, and we needed to save some money for food and all that stuff. Hope that you enjoyed it, and that you will be able to know just how much we love you and think about you! 

We went to dinner with Tyler and Courtney his girlfriend. We went to Applebees, and it was a great dinner. We talked a lot about his baptismal date this Saturday, and it's looking a lot better. His parents have been giving him a ton of flack for it, and so he was going to go and talk to his parents that night, and see what they were thinking about his date. He is really getting to the point though that he would rather just move out and get baptized then keep going through all this heart ache and struggles with his parents.. It has been tough for us also, cause we have to keep him following the Ten Commandments of honoring his parents, but at the same time his parents are holding him back from making the biggest decision of his life!! We are stuck between a rock and a hard place, cause he NEEDS to be baptized so that he can have the spirit to help him through all of this, but at the same time, he wants to make his family happy! It's been a tough week with him.. Please just keep him in your prayers, and ask the Lord to soften the heart of his mom. His dad is at the point where he just doesn't care anymore, but his mom is livid that he is even thinking about it. So we will need ALL the help that he can get! Keep him in your thoughts and prayers, and we have the faith that it will happen! 

Well I am struggling to type much more! I broke my left pointer finger this past week playing dodge ball, and so it is really tough and has taken a while to type out this email. It's hurting quite a bit so I'm going to wrap this up! I sure hope that this week you will all remember the true meaning of Christmas, and think more about the Savior then anything else. He is what the Holiday is supposed to be about anyways right? So here is the challenge for the family, and for anyone else that wants to do it also. On Christmas Eve when everything is crazy and everyone is excited about the next day, I want everyone to settle down for a few minutes and have a small testimony meeting for anyone who would like to participate. Bear testimony of the power that the Savior brings into our lives! Bear testimony of how much you love the Savior! We have an amazing family, but fast and testimony is only a month, and we don't always stand up and bear testimony. I have learned one thing on my mission, and that is to never pass up an opportunity to bear testimony to those who need it most! Mom, Dad, Jason, and Lissa, Grandma, don't pass up the opportunity to bear testimony to your kids and grandkids. Especially on the day that is set aside every year to be about Christ!  One of my favorite memories of Grandpa, was that every time we skyped, he would take time to tell me that he supported me in the work that I was doing, and that he knew that I would have success and that he loved me! That small but powerful testimony will stay in my heart for the rest of my life! You don't have to be at church, or in a missionary lesson to bear your testimony. We should be baring testimony to our kids every day and helping them to know how we feel about the Gospel! My parents were good at that! They may not have said it in words persay, but they said it in their actions! Every time my dad went to bless an older lady in the ward, or to put in long hours on Saturday night, so that his Sabbath could be a day of rest like it's supposed to be! My mom putting in a few time jobs worth of calling hours, on top of cleaning the house and running around with me as I competed with band and sports all my life! Every foot pain I ever felt I know that she felt them with me! Every surgery she was right there with me making sure that I was as comfortable as possible! My parents were right there the day that I found out the hardest news of my life.. Coming home from my mission that I had worked so hard to go on had come to an end. I still remember the words of comfort that came my way as I was in a recovery center still losing pound after pound. They were there at the airport to releave me of my 20 pound shoulder bag that I couldn't even hold up on my own. I will be eternally grateful for the parents and family that I have! One day I will figure out a way to pay them back for all of the things that they deserve from me! 

My Testimony for this Christmas season is that He lives! Our Savior Jesus Christ lives! He knows and loves each and every one of us! He stands at the head of this great work, and gives us the strength to continue. Elder Packer our area 70 spoke to us a week ago and said, "the missionary work of just being an example to our neighbors is over! It's time to go out and invite. To commit, and to save!'' That is such a true statement! Everyone knows who were are, and knows our standards, but are not going to act upon it until they are given the opportunity to do so! I am so proud of my brother and all the hard work that he gave this past week to help the missionaries out. I love the Book of Mormon! I am pleased to say that I entered the Philippines with a blank copy of it, and have used it and tested it many many times! I am pleased to say that the pages are browning, the words are fading, the inside pages are inked up and written on! I have used this book in every phase of missionary work, and I LOVE it!!! I have a great testimony of this work. I hope and pray that everyone can see change that has occurred in me! I am by no means that kid that left for the Philippines, or the boy that left for California. I hope that you will see a man get off that plane in a few weeks. I have worked my tail off this past 6 months so that I can say that I ran it all into the ground and didn't leave anything behind me! I want the Lord to be able to know that I did everything I could! It hasn't been a perfect two years. I can say that honestly that I made a lot of mistakes, but at the given time I was doing the best that I could, so I am proud of myself! I am super tired though. I think that that is a good sign of hard work. Elder Hill said that he has never worked this hard on his mission. We work like dogs, and leave nothing back! I love the Lord, and I love you all. Please have a great Christmas and remember who you are! 

Much Love,

Elder Mackay Shelley

12-16-13

Dear Family,

This week has been one that has sure made me sleep well at nights! haha We have had a ton of things happen that are way out of the norm, so it has been a little bit of a struggle. But, it has been a blast to be able to serve, and to make sure that we continue to help the elders and sisters that need it. We had an elder get emergency transferred to the Hayward zone to help a set of elders drive, cause they lost their wallets, and they both had their licences in them. So we had to drive to Oakland and borrow one of the mission trucks, and then come back out to Walnut Creek and load up his stuff, take him out there, and then unload, go back to Oakland to drop off the truck, and then come all the way back in our car to make it to a super last minute lesson that we set up! All in all I'm not even sure how long it took, but I felt like I was loosing hair the entire time! We got it all figured out, and were able to make it in time for our lesson. 

Elder Hill has been doing pretty good. I am struggling a little bit, just because he isn't as fluid with the teaching as I felt like elder Fajardo was, but at the same time he has a lot of power that he brings with him from time to time. The investigators seem to really like him, so that is all that matters. We have been having a lot of success lately. We dropped one of our dates for the 11th, but had a miracle happen the next day that replaced it! We got a call from a set of sisters that serve in a part of our area, that has been teaching a young lady for about a month now. She has a date for the 11th set, but has been wanting to go to the YSA Ward lately, so they are going to be switching her over to us this next week. It's crazy how much the lord blesses us with people to teach, so that we can continue to bless others the way that we have been able to bless a few others at this point. 

 

I wish that we could get Tyler's parents to support him! They have been a super big hindrance, and it is starting to get to him lately... We almost lost him this week, because of the pressure that they have been sending his way! He is one that we have been trying to get to recognize that even if they don't support him, that he still needs this in his life. We want them to support him, and to be there next to him, but if they are going to hold him back from it, he is going to have to make a decision for himself what will be the best. His girlfriend Courtney has really been working hard on him too and sending him daily quotes and scriptures for him to read. We found out a few nights ago that he hadn't been reading his scriptures for the past few weeks, and we helped him to recognize that that could be a huge reason for why he hadn't been receiving answers to his prayers! You have got to be reading your scriptures daily along side of prayer, or you are not going to be able to feel the spirit as well as you could if you had been reading! It was a good thing for him to recognized, cause he was able to see the difference in the way that he had been feeling. He was starting to get angry again, and just not wanting to meet with us, but once he did, he felt the spirit again, and so he was able to recognize just how real satan is! He will get at you if you don't put Heavenly Father first! It has been a good last day or two to be able to teach him, and be able to see the difference in his life. He came to church, and is still preparing for the 28th. Just trying to get his parents to support him a little more. It will all work out! 

Deniella is really trying to work towards her date too. She is just still struggling to get an answer! I kinda wonder if she is still worried about it, or if she is just worried about telling everyone that she got one! We shall see. I am really hoping that she is going to be able to come out with the fact that she has received a spiritual witness, and that she is going to keep working towards the date of the 28th also. It may be the 29th, cause she doesn't want to share a day with Tyler haha. We will just keep praying for her, and see how it all goes! 

Well it officially is under a month till I come home.. I am really getting to the point where I am starting to get excited about it. I am stoked to be able to come and see everyone and spend time with you again, but it's just so hard to even think about not being here with these people that I have grown to love. I honestly never though that I would say that I love California, but I love it here. Don't think I could live here, but man has this last year and a half been amazing! I have met so many people that have just changed who I am, and changed the way that I see the world! I don't think I will ever be able to forget these times. Part of my heart will always reside here in the bay area! This will be the place where my testimony was formed, and transfigured into what it is today! I wish I could truly put into words the way that I am feeling, but it just isn't happening.. My journal has turned into the large plates of Nephi, because I just have never felt this happy in life, and so I have no idea how to write it, to make it even come close to the way that it really is! I have changed in ways that I didn't think I would ever change! I feel closer to the spirit then I have ever felt in life before also. One of the best parts of my mission, has been the fact that I have learned how to much better follow the spirit! I feel it almost all the time, as long as I don't do something that drives it away. That is probably the thing that I get the most frustrated with, is the fact that I still struggle with even the smallest things that make the spirit leave for small amounts of time. I know that we all do that, but it has just got so frustrating to struggle with it, and not be able to ALWAYS have the spirit with you! We have it most of the time, but judgmental thoughts come into your mind, or you aren't exactly obedient, and the spirit by command can't be there! It has been a good lesson to learn! I love being a full time missionary! I can't believe that it is about to come to an end. I will miss it for the rest of my life! Thankfully missionary work is always right around us, and that is going to be the thing that will keep me going strong! I look forward to still being a missionary at all times when I am home. 

Well it's time to end this one. I feel like it is larger then usual. Haha the sister missionaries that are usually here emailing haven't gotten here yet, so we have been able to focus and get a good email out quickly before we get distracted with talking! haha Guys I love doing what I am doing! I am so thankful for all that you have done for me! For those who helped mom write letters for my 12 days of Christmas, thank you sooo much! I have gotten through a few of them, and they are treasures to me! I am so thankful to everyone that has helped me over the years to become the person that I am. You all deserve a personal spot in the Celestial Kingdom for putting up with me in High School! Thanks for never giving up on me! I will be forever grateful to you all! I love this Gospel! I love the Lord! The Scriptures will change all of our lives if we will just allow them . Don't forget what the true meaning of Christmas is, and remember to pray for those who don't have what we have! Love you all! Talk to you next week! 

Love Elder Shelley

12-9-13

Dear Family,

What a great change! My new companion's name is Elder Hill, and he is great! He is from West Jordan Utah, and he has only been out for about 9 months. He is a great missionary and is really powerful and strives to always follow the spirit. The best part is that he understands his imperfections, and is always striving to fix them! We are both trying to dignify our language, cause we have picked up some slang on the mission that isn't very good. I am fine outside the apartment, but need to work on it all together!  It will be good to have someone that is willing to work on it together! I am pretty excited about this next transfer! We work pretty well together, and have 4 dates at the moment! Anastasia is doing sooo well, and is going to be baptized on the 21st of this month! We just need to keep in constant contact with her, and things will all work out. We are still working with Tyler too. He hasn't been in contact with us the past week, and so we have been a little nervous about it! We have a lesson with him today, and so hopefully we can talk to him and see how things are going and why he has been ignoring us for a while! Hopefully his family hasn't gone too crazy on him! They are not loving the fact that he wants to get baptized to say the least! They are going to all extents to prevent him, so we have been fasting and praying like crazy to try to help him get through it! I am just hoping that he is able to keep his testimony through all of this! 

So I have to tell you about the best Christmas gift I have received on my mission. I went up to the mission home this past week to exchange a car for one of the sisters. Being Christmas time, as zone leaders we get all the packages and take them back to all of the district leaders to distribute to all of their missionaries. Well as we were getting the gifts, Elder Hill said that I had something. It was just a plastic bag tied in a knot so that I couldn't see inside. I didn't think much about it, and so I just tossed it into the pile of everything else. I had gotten a box from Grandma Shelley also, so it was very nice. We got everything in the car, and Elder Hill asked who had sent the plastic bag to me. It didn't have anything other then just my name on it, so I was a little curious. When we got back to the apartment I pulled it out, and opened it up. Inside was a note, that said, "I know it's not much, but It's all I had to thank you." It was signed by Elder Makaya, and inside were 2 T-shirts with his Island's name on them, one just plane green, and the other red with a picture of the beach and the island's name. Also inside were 2 pairs of flip flops that also had the Island name on them. I couldn't help but cry, as I remembered that I had told Elder Makaya that I wanted a pair of flip flops from his island back when we were in Brentwood together! He told me that it was to much to ship them, and so I just never really talked about it again. I don't think the shirts had ever been worn, and the flip flops were brand new! I have no idea where or how he got the money to get these things to me, but the note that he put in the bag was the greatest Christmas Gift I had ever received! What a humble and truly Christlike young man he was! When I get on email this week, the first person that had sent me an email was him! He had to have sent it the first day he got home and was asking if I had gotten my stuff from him. There were three emails asking me if I had received them. He doesn't have a computer at his house, and I know that he had to have traveled quite some distance to email me those three different emails! I had no idea that he was that thankful to me! I knew that we had become great friends in the mission, but this was a huge deal to me. I am so thankful for him and for the hard work that he put forward to finally become a senior companion for the last three transfers of him mission. He really was a great guy, just had lost focus for a little bit. He ended his mission strong, and he will forever be remember for his loving heart, and his great big laugh and hugs. I miss him already, and hope that he is enjoying his home life! 

Guys I feel like I just need to end with that! That is what the true meaning of Christmas is! Not to give HUGE gifts so that you can been seen as the person that is able to spend a lot, but the person that gives more then he has, just because he has that kind of love! Elder Makaya was a great example to me! I was able to bare my testimony in front of the entire Walnut Creek stake missionaries last night, and it was a joy to me! I love to testify that our savior lives! I know that he does! He has paid the price for my sins, and he is my hero! I'm so thankful that through the Atonement that he performed, I can be made whole and be free of the things that were a challenge to me before! I'm thankful for my Testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith! He truly was a revelatory man, and without him, we would not be where we are today! I'm thankful that I am able to be a missionary during the time that the Lord has decided to hasten his work! I have been blessed to be able to stand boldly and testify that I KNOW the savior lives! I KNOW that he is the son of God, and that through him we can be saved and receive our exaltation in his fathers kingdom! I'm thankful that my purpose as a missionary is to save the souls of those who know not where to find the truth. To bring salvation to the broken hearted, and to being peace to those who have lost their way! This is my simple testimony that I bear in the name of Christ our savior, Amen.

May we all continue to live the season the way that Christ would want us to live it. Thank you all for all that you have done for us out here in the field, but remember to do even more for the missionaries that are out there in the field! Remember to lift where we stand, and we will do wonders in the work! I love you all so very much!

Love,
Elder Mackay Shelley

Picture: Mackay and Elder Hill

12-2-13

Dear Family,

Well I guess the Lord has seen fit for three transfers to be the limit for me and Elder Fajardo. Elder Fajardo has been called else where. He will be transferred as a zone leader out in San Leandro which is next to Oakland. He will be the Senior Zone Leader, and will be speaking Spanish. I am really excited for him, because that is exactly what he wanted. Well he wanted to train in Spanish, but he is still excited about the call. It's going to be crazy to serve with a completely new missionary for the last transfer of my mission. I was hoping that Elder Fajardo would stay for just one more so that we could keep working like we are together, but I guess the Lord has seen fit to call him another way! We will be life long friends, and will see each other soon after, cause we have a recent convert that will be going through the temple right before his mission soon after we get home, and we have promised that we would come back to be there with him!

This week has been a really good one. Probably the biggest news, is that Deniella finally has a baptismal date again! She has started reading the Book of Mormon on her own, and says that she is starting to feel/see the difference. She has picked the date of the 21st of December for herself. We didn't even have to set it for her, she picked it on her own. It was a really cool lesson to see her start to take it seriously and to start to see her make the needed changes to make this happen. I am really praying hard that it will go through, cause that is all she needed to be able to just do great things. She really needs the spirit because Satan hits her hard, and it's hard for her to determine what is ok and not and the spirit will help that! So please keep her in your prayers! She is really starting to do well! 

Thanksgiving was really good. With us being in the YSA ward, we didn't have a ton of options for dinner. But to be completely honest, I liked it. When I was in Brentwood, I think we had four full dinners and like 4 desserts! The members were so loving and kind, that they just wanted to feed us the whole day. Out here we had a nice dinner with the bishop and his family, and then the first counselor and his family invited us over for a little second round of pie which I really enjoyed! The rest of the day we spent with Peter Pu and Harry. We hung out at the institute and played pool and ping pong. Neither of them are Thanksgiving people, so they just enjoyed playing the games with us, and that made it so that we didn't gain a ton of weight hahaha. It was just a very simple Thanksgiving that I was able to take time to ponder on all the things that I am thankful for! One of the biggest things, is my health that I have been blessed with the past few months. Last Thanksgiving half way through the first dinner, I was already having issues and was in pretty bad pain. That was the beginning of all the tests that I went through out there, and so the health that I have this year has been just a blessing to me. I still have the occasional week long flare up, but I will probably have those for the rest of my life. They don't happen as often anymore, and I still pray that one day they will stop completely.  If not though, I can at least look back and say"look at where I was way back then" and know that it has improved! 

Tyler has been doing soooo well. He had a little slip up on Thanksgiving that caused us to have to push his date back to the 28th.. His parents have really been giving him a hard time about it all, and they pressured him to have a small drink that he didn't want to do, but he did fall into that. He has repented, and is really striving to continue to prepare for baptism. We took him to the lighting of the Temple lights, and he really enjoyed it! There was a music and dance recital that same evening that lead in the lighting, and it was very touching and powerful! The spirit was so strong and he felt it- which is great! He is determined to be baptized in December, and so it was great that he is starting to pick up on the spirit so well. 

We found this great new investigator names Anastasia and she is super solid! She called us last week and told us that she wanted to start meeting with us, and she wanted to come to church. Within the first lesson, we had a baptismal date for the 28th of December, and a commitment to come to church! She came with us yesterday, and said that she felt safe and calm there! It was a great experience to have her there, and the ward really did a good job at helping her feel comfortable and have a good time. 

So here is the big news that made my mission feel like it could have been compete at that point! I hope that I have mentioned, but Peter Pu is back full force in the church and has been doing SOOO good!!! Well last night, we were going over there to surprise him, and to have Elder Fajardo say goodbye to him. We actually caught him right as he was pulling into his parking spot. He came out and was super confused why we were there, cause he has told us not to just drop in on him unless we really need him. He asked what was going on, and Elder Fajardo told him that he was leaving. He was a little confused on how things happen, cause he thought that meant that it would just be me in the area now, and that I would be working alone. He wasn't super excited when he found out that there would be a completely new Elder that was here and would be working with him. But as we talked about it he felt much better. We took a few pictures with him, and he was so funny! He wanted to hold up the Book of Mormon and the bible and show that he is a Christian again! He then got really serious, and told us that he had figured out his priorities lately, and it is as follows; God, Studies, Money! This was a huge deal to me and Elder Fajardo, because that has been our goal the entire time teaching him, is to have him put God before money! It finally has happened, and that was such a great opportunity to hear that. But the best thing that happened, was as we were walking him back to his apartment. Right before he walked up the stairs, he pulled us both into a hug, and said, "Thanks, you guys bring God into my life!" I don't know if you will ever fully understand just how that made me feel. There were tears in all three of our eyes as we went our separate ways! Out of all of my days as a missionary, I don't think I have ever truly been thanked for what we do. Members always tell us that we are doing good things, and that they are thankful, but for a convert to hug us, and to say thanks for bringing God into his life changed my mission completely! I could have gone home that night, and felt like my mission was a success! Peter was someone that had no belief in God, and that has struggled with excepting everything that we teach and believe. So to have him tell us that he was thankful for bringing God into his life, it meant the world to us both. It was a great way to end the Sabbath! 

There is always so much that I could type in these Emails, but I need to do a few more things online before we sign off for good today. It still blows my mind that I am now within my last six week transfer of my mission... I am super excited to be able to get to see everyone again, but all the miracles that we have seen the past few days, has just made me realize how addicted I am to being a missionary! I have never been this happy in my life, and I know how hard it is to continue to do missionary work when you go back home. I have set some pretty high goals for myself though, and am really looking forward to being able to share the gospel with those that I come in contact with. It should be a good time! Thank you all for continuing to keep me posted on everything that is happening! It has been a huge blessing to have all the support that I do. I feel like I am one of the most spoiled missionaries in this mission because of the emails and conversations that I have with all of you on Mondays! It has made my mission a very enjoyable one. I am looking forward to the Christmas Skype that will be coming up soon. It's crazy to think that a year ago Kailei was on a mission! I remember all the cousins had a countdown going for her, and I think she came home about the same point in January that I did! That's pretty cool to me!
I am so blessed to be a missionary at this point in the world. I have made a few mistakes the past week with comments that I have made to missionaries that have been pretty offensive.. I still have a lot to learn, and a lot of leadership traits that I need to master. Everything has been cleared up and feelings have been put back together, but it was a really good lesson to me that the things that we say to others can change their lives in either a good way, or a horrible way. It was a good lessons for me to learn, and I am thankful that I learned it early in life! The mission has changed my life completely, and I am thankful for that! I have such a testimony of the Christlike Attributes that we are asked to study, and am striving with all my heart to be able to learn and apply them to my life! I know that the more like Christ I can become, the better off I will be! I am so thankful for the things that I have learned, and know that I will be a much better person because of it all! Thanks again for everything! I have said this every week, but I do truly mean it! 

Much Love,

Elder Shelley