12-31-12

Dear Family,

    This will probably end up being pretty short just because we are having our new years eve party this evening and we have to get some things done before hand. So I guess that every year on new years the mission gets together in zones and watches two movies. Obviously the are rated G haha but it should still be fun. We are going to be watching how to train your dragon and brave. Should be a good time. Elder Makaya hasn't seen either of them and so he is looking forward to getting to see it. They don't have many movies on his island and so this is definitely a treat for him! I am excited to be able to take my tie off and get back into a pair of jeans! hahahaha

    Christmas turned out great! The family that we ate with loves to throw parties and so I swear the whole ward was there! That house was packed with people and little kids running around it was sooo much fun! The food was great. They had ribs and tri tip and bbqed chicken and just a ton of stuff that they cooked on the grill! It was a good time and we were able to talk to a lot of people at once so it was a good time. Felt like we were all one big family and everyone really enjoyed it!

    So skype sure went well right?! Man it was super tough to see Kailei but that was for sure a huge blessing that I am soo thankful that we were able to do it. I didn't like the saying good bye part but other then that she looked so good and sure has a love and a testimony of the Savior doesn't she!?!? HAHA but at the same time she hasn't changed much! She is still pushing herself to the limit and freaking out about having so much to do and so little time to do it! It was so good to be able to feel like she was sitting next to us and just laughing and having a good time like our family always does! Elder Makaya said that we sure seemed happy and he was super impressed with Kailei's testimony and the spirit that radiated off of her!  I told him that I had one amazing family and a sister that just blows my mind!

     I am glad everyone in Utah is safe and having a good time. I hope Uncle Mark is recovering fast and everything there is going well. They have written to me a few times but I am so bad about writing back to people, I sure hope they know how much their letters mean to me and how thankful I am for them! Dad you know you have no business on a snow board! Your going to break your butt! Just be careful! My truck is not going to fix itself and if you aren't able to walk and lift it's just going to sit there!... well with Kadon getting his permit soon that may be the best thing for it until I can get home and fix it! =P  Glad to hear that you enjoyed yourself snow boarding Kadon! We will definitely have to hit the slopes if there is still snow on the ground in February of next year! That will be way cool. I know Luis wants to try out the board too so maybe we will road trip to Flagstaff or something together!

     Colby is doing soooo well! She has come to church two weeks in a row and has really been enjoying the lessons and beginning to pray! She prayed in front of us for the first time this last week and her prayer was so humble and so sweet that we felt the spirit sooo strong. She did bring up a few concerns that may or may not have to push her date back a week or two but she has so much faith and wants to do this right that she came out with a few problems and is willing and prepared to receive help in over coming them! She is such a smart girl and has such a testimony we love to go into her home and watch her love for the savior grow and her testimony become strong. To see her go from no knowledge to a little more each time is something that only a missionary can really understand! We love to see it. 

     Well this week was a bit slow compared to past weeks because there were so many people out of town, but we still were able to get in with our main investigators. Reina and Dena Roberts are progressing sooo fast! From our first lesson where we just sang and talked to them about the true meaning of Christmas and keeping the savior in our hearts to the message of the restoration, they have come to get sooo excited about the restored gospel! We messed up and forgot books of Mormon at the apartment, but were able to bring them by that next day. They were so excited to read it that I wouldn't be surprised if Reina had it finished by the time we go to teach on Wednesday! hahaha We are hoping to set a date here with them in a week or so. We want to set it now but the spirit for some reason has prompted us to share the message of the plan of salvation first! We will work with them though and definitely keep you posted!

      That is exciting about Carly! I told Elder Wilson who was companions with Elder Albretson when I was in Walnut Creek. When I told him that Carly Anderson got her mission call he looked at me like I was the weirdest person in the world and ask, How do you know Carly?! haha I reminded him that she was my cousin and he just laughed and said, That is still weird to how small of a world this all has been. I am proud of her and know that she will definitely be a great missionary!

      Glad to hear that the Baileys are doing well. I wish that I could go to the Philippines with them this summer! I miss those people so much. haha Teaching Colby and her mom give me a little taste of it but not enough. It's still hard to have had to leave. Those people have such a dear place in my heart that not a day goes by that I don't think about them and about all the friends and missionary friends I made there! I do miss President Schmutz the most though. What an amazing man. I learned more from the 4 months I served under him then I did in all my years of seminary and church alike. He changed my life and I owe that man a lot! I hope you are all planning on going to their home coming because if not I am going alone! hahaha they come home like three or four months after me so I am going to go see them again!

      Well I need to get going but thank you all for your testimonies and for your excitement last week as we skyped. The kids are all getting so big! I love this gospel and I am so blessed to be able to share it to people here in this area. We have been working super hard and I can't imagine the blessings that the Lord could send that he hasn't already! We are excited to see about what happens here this Saturday as the transfer calls come in. We have no idea what is going to happen but are excited to be able to see the change and the miracles that the Lord has in store for our zone! Love you all and pray for you so often! Thanks and I love you!

 

Love

Elder Shelley

12-24-12

Dear Family,

    Well the holidays are here and we have all been working like crazy here in our district! So for the past two transfers me and Elder Makaya have had the goal of teaching 20 lessons in a week which is the mission standard of excellence.  That is a super high goal and we had yet to have a week that we taught more then 14 or 15. We decided that we were not going to stop or be happy until we did it! We wanted to do it before one of us got transferred and so we have been working like crazy to get more investigators so that our number of lessons would go up! We have been trying so hard and praying even harder that we would be blessed enough to be able to turn in 20. Well this week has been a week to remember here in the mission field! Over this last week we have found 4 new investigators and have really been super blessed! By Saturday night we had taught 19 lessons!!! We only needed one more on Sunday so we didn't think that that would be a problem. We usually teach at least 2 or 3 on Sunday so we were super prepared to exceed that goal! Well on Sunday at 830 we had been dropped by so many people that we were getting a bit discouraged  because it didn't look like we were going to be able to get to 20. Well we were running around going door to door asking to share Christmas messages with people just to be able to get that final lesson. No one would open the door though. We were on our way home when we both just looked at each other, ha honestly didn't even say a word but flipped the car around and went to one last house of a less active guy that hadn't let us in in like 4 weeks.. We went up to his door and he opened and was just like "Elders merry Christmas! Come in come in!" We taught our last lesson of the week at 910 and pulled into the apartment at 929 right in time to not be late. The District together found 10 new investigators which is over double what the entire zone found!!! I was so proud of our district and ourcompanionship. But obviously it was not us at all. The Lord had blessed us more then we could ever imagine and we are so thankful!

     Well family I got your boxes and so did Elder Makaya. We are both so thankful for such an amazing family and want everyone to know that we have a testimony of the gospel and that we love you all! Thank you so much and I will see you over the computer tomorrow hopefully if all works out! haha I will check my emails tonight around 11 while Elder Makaya skypes so please give me the final time of when I need to get online to talk to you and Kailei. I will be getting offline after that to go visit a family and will come back on to talk to the family for my hour at 3 oclock my time. Not sure what that is your time. Please give me all the times that I need to know though so that I can be sure to be on and ready! Thank you all so much and I love you so much!!!

Love,

Elder Mackay Shelley

pictures: 1. Mackay in front of the of the Oakland, California Temple

              2. Mackay and Elder Makaya with their tree and stockings

         

12-17-12

Sorry, half of this is yellow! This is how Mackay sent it to us, and I'm not smart enough to fix it. At least there are pictures this week!

Dear Family,

     Since Kailei stole my time to skype I guess I'll have to move it... hahaha totally kidding our member is so flexible it's not a big deal! Let's plan on me calling in at 3 then so that everyone is already there and that will also give Kailei time to talk and some give for her companion to figure everything out. Not a big deal. Elder Makaya has to call home at midnight on Christmas eve. Well I guess technically that is 12am Christmas morning! hahaha should be a great day to only get 4 hours of sleep. We found a ysa aged kid who was willing to let him come over and use his computer. That should be a good time.

     Well first off I just need to make sure that everyone knows that I have the most amazing family of all time!!! We had to go to the mission home on Friday after Elder Makaya's dr visit to pick up our new car (more details on the way). We walked in and there were Christmas boxes piled from the counter to the roof! Elder and Sister Lyman had just left that morning to go home and so the mission home was a little bit in panic and not running on all cylinders!  So we had some extra time to help, so we helped organize the boxes. I found one for me and saw that it was from grandma and grandpa! Thanks by the way! Then next to it I saw one from mom and dad and kadon then saw that it was for Elder Makaya. I said elder this one is for you. He got kinda upset with me and said elder that's not funny!... I said no seriously look it has your name on it! He seriously jumped over the table and grabbed the box. He said elder it is for me and it's from your family! I could tell he was holding back tears and said I have never gotten a package on my mission!... When we came home he ripped it open and went through it super fast! I got him to leave the wrapped boxes for Christmas but we played with that stuff for over an hour! He kept saying wow this is so nice this is so nice! Thanks for sending that to him. He was like a 7 year old Christmasmorning!

      So just so you all have the story, yes we have a car now. Elder Makaya had his elbow checked out and found out that he broke it! It's not a terrible brake and thankfully the bones are still in line so it won't have to be casted or surgery so that is a blessing. But he also can't ride a bike with one hand so they gave us a car for the next month, month and a half! That has been such a blessing since it has been seriously cold and rainy here.

       Peggy has not contacted us for over a week now. She is in contact with our member that she is friends with but won't return our calls or texts and hasn't been coming to church. We are going to be dropping her date tonight if we can't get a hold of her. It is always so hard to see someone that you thought was so solid back away from the church. She knows it is true, I just don't think she is prepared to make the changes that she needs to make to be baptized. I still have faith that somewhere down the road she is going to be baptized. The seed has been planted and elders or sisters down the road will harvest her. haha

      Colby is making steady progress. She is really trying to grasp the concepts that we teach her. She has been given a lot of mixed info from her parents since one is catholic and one is lds. She has a really open mind though and is really praying and studying it out with us to see what she believes it true!  That is all that we can ask of her. She is going to start coming to church next week hopefully. She is a ref for basketball and so she works on Sundaysbut is trying to get the hours of church off. We hope to set a date with her this evening during our lesson so wish us luck!

      My back is doing much better! It still hurts a lot but at the same time is making progress. I have one more appointment with the chiropracter tonight and if its not better in a few weeks I may have to go get an mri just to make sure I haven't done too much damage to it. It will all work out though. The work has really been moving forward!

      We had zone conference last week and man was it amazing!!! The spirit that we all felt was out of this world and we all learned so much! We are really focusing on raising our vision as missionaries and trying to help our districts grow and feel the spirit more and more in their lives. It has been a really stressful week with trying to plan some trainings that I have been asked to do and then district meeting and going on splits with other missionaries. haha it has been a big job being a district leader! I hope that this is as far as the Lord has planned for me to go leadership wise because I see what the Zone leaders have to go through and it is nuts! I am definitely a prime example of the lord not calling the qualified but qualifying the called! He knows that I am in need of help and blessings and I love receiving them! Me and Elder Makaya have been trying to keep track of all the things that the Lord has blessed us with and it blows our minds how many miracles and blessings the Lord has seen fit to give us.  I love this work sooo much and am so happy that I have had so many experiences serving the Lord!  I have been able to share stories from the Philippines as well as stories from here in Cali!  I am so blessed to be able to have served in two countries and to be able to enjoy the cultures and the people. I love teaching Colby because I have gotten the opportunity to talk with her and her mom about the Philippines and to enjoy their stories and their experiences as well as share a few of mine with them!  Such a tender mercy of the Lord!

      Well family, I love you all sooo much! I love the Lord, the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and all the things that our Heavenly Father has blessed us with! I hope that we all can remember the true meaning of christmas this holiday season and enjoy being together as a family both in person and through skype! I wish that I got to see Kailei, but hey Mothers day is coming soon and she will be there on the screen then!  I can't wait!!! I have such a testimony of the Savior and his teachings! He has blessed me and carried me through so many hardships but has givin me the opportunity to grow and progress through the gospel and through out life! Thank you all for your examples and for the love you have sent my way! I got Uncle Mark and Aunt Pams Christmas card along with Sarah Welches families and have really enjoyed seeing all of the families joy and love this season! Remember who you are and who you represent and I love you so much!  I am not sure how email is going to go next week with Christmas eve and some things that we are going to be doing next week but I hope to be able to at least get a short email off so that we can confirm skype and things like that! love you all so much!  God Speed!

 

With so much love,

Elder Mackay Shelley

pictures: 1. roasted chicken Mackay fixed for dinner

              2. Merry Christmas from Antioch, California

              3. True companion love!

  

12-10-12

Dear Family!

    Thank you all so much for the emails and the news about all the missionaries preparing to enter the field! Please pass my love on to all of those guys and if they have time tell them to drop me a line or two! I am sooo excited to watch the new stream of Elders and Sisters enter the mission field armed and dangerous! That is a line our mission is using knowing that the Lord is arming his missionaries with the tools and the traits they will need to really be amazing missionaries! We start to see the new missionaries start to come in mid February or so. We are so excited!

     Peggy is doing ok. She set a date for baptism with us but is really struggling with the idea that she has to get baptized again. She was pretty offended when she heard that we don't recognise her baptism as by the proper authority. She is praying really hard about it and trying to get an answer. She is struggling with the WOW and had to be living it by last night to have the date go through. She didn't come to church either so we are a little worried about her. She didn't answer her phone this morning when we tried to call and schedule appointments so we will see how all that goes.

     We are super excited to start teaching a new girl named Colby. (yes like the cheese!) She is a Filipino girl who is 19 and has a less active mother who has been coming to church for the past few weeks. She is very interested and wishes that I spoke Tagalog because she said that would be fun to take the lessons in her native tongue. Dang Cebuano! hahaha I can understand her when she talks to me but she can't understand when I reply. It was something that she had in common with us though so that really broke the ice well. We talked a lot about the Philippines and about my experience there. She enjoys reading the bible but never really felt like the catholic church was for her. She made the decision that Saturday coming up after finals that she was going to really investigate the LDS Church and then make a decision from there. She is as Golden as Golden investigators get we think. We will see how everything goes, but we are preparing to set a date with her for the first of the year!  The Lord has blessed this area soo much and we are so excited that he has allowed us to be the missionaries that were here at this time. We have no idea how long we will be together but we went on exchanges with the zone leaders last week and they said that the spirit that is in our apartment and our companionship is night and day from our first transfer together! That was so good to hear because we have really been working on our relationship and helping each other to grow and to progress. Thank you all so much for the prayers and the support!  We really felt them.

     Tyler Heath is still doing so well! He has yet to miss an hour of church since he was baptized and is really enjoying it. He is going to be given a few families and a companion for home teaching and you should have seen the joy that came into his face when he found out that he was going to get to go and teach people like the missionaries do! We talked to him about maybe serving a mission but he is really attached to his family and gets really home sick. We talked to him about a service mission in the area and to not give up on the idea of it. He liked the idea of serving people and teaching them but not having to leave home so in a year that may be what he does! We have seen such a change in that young man it is amazing!  We are so blessed to have been here to watch this transformation!

     Christmas is around the corner and the Lord is prepared to give us the gifts that we need and ask for. Are we all prepared to give the Lord the gifts that he deserves? Our family has been so blessed the past year and a half from the time that Kailei left for her mission. I feel like we all need to pay him back for the things that he has given us and so my challenge to you all is to think about all the things that the Savior has done for you personally, and then to think of what you are going to do or what gift you are going to give the savior! He gave his life for us that sacred night in the garden and on the cross. The least that we could do is to serve him and to be the best we can be. Look around for those that are less fortunate than we are and do something kind for them. What ever it may be start thinking today what you would like to give the Lord for Christmas. I am so very blessed to first of all be alive and second of all to be back in the mission field. I have been through a lot of struggles and hardships but through out it all the Lord has carried me through the worst of it and has supported me through the times that I needed to grow! I am so thankful for the opportunity that he has given me to stretch and to grow. I would not be the person that i am today if it was not for the challenges and the struggles i have been through. I would still be the same old kid that i was in high school. I have such a testimony of this Gospel and love it so much. I wish that I could say that I was always faithful and that I never questioned it. But even through all those questions and all those trials I have come to know for myself that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true Gospel on this earth! Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God and through the things that he went through we are able to be free from the bands that Satan has placed in our paths. We have the fullness of the Gospel at our finger tips! Please take advantage of that and do everything in your power to receive the blessings that come from this church! I want you all to know how much I love and miss you. But I know that even though we are miles and miles away, we are all together through our faith in Christ! It binds us together and makes us strong! Stay true to the faith and remember the true meaning of Christmas is my prayer and testimony!

 

With all my love,

Elder Mackay Dale Shelley

12-3-12

Dear Family,

    Well we had another great week here in the mission field. We started this week out with not much at all. We only had Peggy as an investigator but she has been super flaky and we haven't been able to meet with her for almost two or three weeks... We were planning on having to drop her which would mean we would go down to not having a single person to teach! haha You better believe that we were on our knees for quite some time asking the Lord to bless this area and us as missionaries to find those people that he has been preparing to teach. As I was looking at the map of the area I was really trying to figure out where we needed to go to tract to find people to teach. I remember right before I left President Millet had shared an experience with me of his mission that came to my mind. He had talked to me about expecting miracles in missionary work and that as long as we were worthy and prepared for it the Lord would give us miracles. Well I got back down on my knees and asked the Lord to give me a miracle and help me to know where we needed to go to tract. I went back to the wall where the map was and looked at it again. I stared at it for what seemed like an hour but was trying really hard not to loose faith and to expect the miracle! Sure enough as I was staring at the map I heard very clearly the words: W. Country Club! Elder Makaya was in the shower at the time and so I just kinda sat there and waited for him to come out. When he got out I told him that I wanted to go tracting on that road and he just kinda laughed and said there is no way I am going back there again! I guess about 5 months ago he had tracted that area and had been told not to come back by quite a few people.. I was a little nervous but knew that I had to do what I had felt and tract that road. He was pretty upset that I had asked him to go back but said that he would do whatever I felt if it was truly from the Lord. Well we went back and sure enough we were yelled at and swore at for the first 30 houses.. There were even a few people who recognized Elder Makaya and got really upset. We were about to go home after 2 hours of going at it. I told him I wanted to knock 5 more houses and he said ok. Well guess what! We knocked 5 more houses and found 5 houses of potential investigators even setting up appointments for this coming week with two of them!  We then went home in silence after spending 3 hours tracting.  When we got home Elder Makaya looked at the paper of where he had tracted and told me to come look at it. When I read what was on the page I was filled with the spirit. 5 months ago Elder Makaya had knocked that street but had stopped tracting right at those 5 houses. Guys we almost stopped tracting exactly where they had stopped 5 months earlier but the Lord was with us and helped give us the strength to knock those last five houses. We are not sure what will happen from it but the one thing I learned was that when you do expect miracles they come! President Millet if you read this thank you so much! I know that you are an inspired man and that you were meant to share that with me before I left! So thanks again!

     Tyler is doing so well! He received the priesthood yesterday at church and has been working with his parents trying to get them to church! They are not very interested but his dad has come out of respect for his son two weeks in a row to see him get the holy ghost and the priesthood! I sure am proud of him! He is really working hard!

     Peggy came to church also!!!!!!!!!! We taught her finally in a members home Saturday evening and the members then invited her to stay for a high priestsdinner and indexing night. She stayed and met all these great members who friendshiped her and invited her to church! They made our job so easy! We were going to set up appointments with her for next week and when I asked her when we could meet- she told me that she had already scheduled them with members and told me when we were going to be meeting!!! hahahaha I have never been told by an investigator when we were going to teach them and so that sure was an experience and a blessing! We tried to set a date with her Saturday but she brought up the concern that she had already been baptized and didn'tthink that she needed to again. We ran out of time to talk to her about it and why she needs to be baptized in our church by our men because of the dinner but we are sure that we will be setting a date for the end of December here this next week. We have been so blessed as missionaries here in this area. The area hadn't had baptisms in over a year and we are looking to have two before the end of the year. We have a goal of 1 in January too so we will be working sooo hard to find more people and strengthen our numbers! Thanks for all the prayers!

    I need to wrap up but thank you all so much for your love and for your testimonies! They have gotten me through some pretty hard times here in the mission field but they have been good times full of growing and experience. I want you all to know that I truly believe in the church and that Jesus Christ truly is the Son of God! I know that the Book of Mormon changes lives when it is read with an open heart and when it is taken seriously! I know that the Lord blesses and takes care of his missionaries and that he brings them home with honor! I am so proud of Kailei and her service you have no idea how much I talk about her and the experiences that she is having also in her area of the Vineyard! I know that through the spirit of our father in heaven people are able to find the joy and the truth that they didn't even know they are searching for! I have never felt this close to my savior or had this much faith as I have gained on my mission. I love the Lord and am so thankful for his guidance and his direction that he gives to me! I love you all and pray for you on a daily basis! Stay strong and remember that the Lord is in charge!

 

Love

Elder Mackay Dale Shelley

11-26-12

Dear Family,

Well the big news is that Tyler was baptized on Saturday! He passed his interview with no problem and he was sooo excited I wish you could have seen his face. I forgot to bring my camera so I will have to send pictures next week. We were so worried though about the baptism because everything was going wrong! When we got there I was on an exchange with another missionary trying to help them and to give them a few trainings. So when we got there there was another baptism going on. That was no big deal but the thing that turned out bad was that they didn't know that we were going to be having a baptism after them and so they pulled the plug and drained the font!!! Elder Makaya said that he would go take care of it and start filling it again. No big deal it was only going to set us back about 5 minutes so it was going to be fine. Well we were out taking pictures and something told me to go and check the font to make sure everything was going well. When I got back in the 2nd counselor of the bishopric was like ELDER SHELLEY WHY IS THE FONT ONLY AN INCH DEEP???? We ran in to see that Elder Makaya had not pushed the plug all the way down and so it wasn't even filling! I jumped down in and pushed the plug in and turned the water back on but by that time all the hot water was gone and the only thing coming out of the spout was ice cold watter!!!.... haha oh the memories. His family was so good about it though and understanding. We finally got started about 30 minutes late but it all turned out great. When they got into the water you could hear their breath be taken away as they got in the water.  As Tyler came up though he just kinda sat there and said "wow! I am so warm!" Even through ice cold water that they could barely stand before the spirit entered his body and he could feel the warmth! Such an amazing spirit. He asked me to confirm him on Sunday and so we did that. His dad even came to church to see it happen! He hadn't been in a church in over ten years! It was such a blessing. We aren't sure if he will come back next Sunday but we do know that he had a good experience and enjoyed the spirit that was there!

    So I was asked last week if I would speak in church! You all know how I am- I love to speak in church and so when they told me that I would be speakinglast, but that I would only have ten minutes I was a little disappointed.. hahaha I have a hard time keeping my talks to 15 let alone 10! But when we got there I found out that the youth speaker didn't show up- so I thought ok great I will get a little more time then I thought. Well the lady that spoke before me was a recent convert and got stage fright when she stood up there. She spoke for 5 minutes and then sat down!!! My ten minutes turned into 33 really fast!... That is a little longer then I am used to and a little more time then I had material to cover. When I went up, the bishop told me that he didn't have any back ups and to just do the best I could and if we got out early we got out early! Well he must not have none that I am a Shelley and could talk about nothin for hours! haha It went really well. I was asked to talk on the power of the priesthood and how it has blessed my life and the life of my family. I was also given a talk that Pres. Monson gave in April of 2012 and that was an amazing talk. The spirit told me exactly what to say and I was told afterwards that I did a great job. Ha the bishop even came up to me after and told me that he forsees stake president in my future because of my speaking skills!.. I sure hope not haha that is a lot of stress I am not sure I could do!  I was able to tell about how dad taught me young to work hard in my priesthood and to always be 100% in home teaching and serving my fellow ward members! I also talked about how mom and Kailei taught me young to be a mature kid and to honor and hold my priesthood close to me! I was able to talk about the blessings that I received from President Schmutz and Elder Bailey while in the Philippines- that I know literally kept me alive and the blessings that I was given for my feet that has changed my life for ever! The priesthood has always been so important to me and I thank all those men out there that read this letter for their example and for their support for me. You know who you are- so thank you!!!

    Thanksgiving was great! We were fed by three families by the end of the day!!!! I gained 7 pounds.... hahahaha We ate everything from basic turkey and potatoes to tri tip which was amazing and ham and pies and just a ton of stuff. It was a great day and I really felt close to the families and to my companion. The Lord has given us the opportunity to stay together for at least one more transfer and so we are excited about that. I am glad that I am able to say that because two weeks ago I would have been really down that I had to stay with him one more time. But he has taught me so many things and I am a better man for knowing him! I am so thankful for his patience with me and for his humility. We are not best friends but that's ok because we don't have to be. But we are brothers in the gospel and we love our missions and so we get along fine! We just needed to find that happy middle ground and start talking more. It was like pulling teeth to get him to talk but he is starting to come out of his shell a little bit more and I am loving it!

    Thank you all so much for all your love and your support to me! I love you with all my heart. To think that one year ago Friday I entered the MTC is crazy! It has flown by so fast! I don't even want to think about how fast this last year is going to go!.. I am really going to miss this work and this mission! Ha and then to think that I entered the mtc 260 pounds and now I stand at a total of 186 just is mind blowing! The Lord took care of me and I was so comfortable being in his arms! Please stay close to each other and to the gospel! This is truly the true gospel of our savior Jesus Christ and he is the head of it! He is our foundation and he will never fall. Build your life on his shoulders and let him reach down his hand with the love and power of the atonement and let him change your life as he has changed mine! Thank you all so much again and I love you so much!

 

Love,

Elder Shelley!

11-19-12

Hey family!

    So here is the big news!!!!! We are going to be having another baptism on Saturday!!! I realized that I don't think I have even talked at all about Tyler. I have been so caught up in all the negative things that I guess I completely forgot to mention that we have been teaching a 19 year old guy who has been progressing for quite some time now. He hasn't missed a Sunday in about a month and has been working so hard to be worthy of baptism. His interview by the zone leaders will be this Thursday night after they have Thanksgiving dinner and then he will be baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! We are so proud of him and the choices that he has made. His family is completely inactive but have all supported him through his choices and are even going to be at his baptism. His mom and sister are not members so we are hoping that this change in their son and the spirit that they will feel at the baptism will soften their hearts and change their views on the church! I will send pictures next week and share more after the baptism.

    Me and Elder Makaya have been doing much better. I have had to really learn how to be an example through the small and simple things. He is the type of guy that if you ask him to do something he will do the complete opposite just to upset you. But we have had some really good talks the past few weeks ha and a few fights but have come out on top of it all because of the fact that we have one thing in common. We both love the Savior more then we love ourselves. We both want the exact same things from our mission, he just never had the right example or training on how to succeed on his mission. I have been so very blessed to help him through some really hard times and to be able to help him see that through obedience great blessings come. There are still days where I just want to give up and do everything myself but then I think back to the Savior and I am sure that he wanted to step in many of times when the apostles tried to heal someone but didn't have the faith to do it. The Lord let them try though and then used the experience that they had to help them see that they needed to change a few things and to have more faith. I have given him plenty of opportunities to teach even when he didn't feel completely comfortable and he didn't do great, but he walked away learning from the experience. President talked to me and told me how proud he was that I am being patient with him. He talked about the fact that come January is when our mission will start to get in the 18 year old elders that will only have been in the MTC for 2 weeks. He said that they will not know how to be a missionary and that he is going to need people who know how to work with others and to help them without making them feel dumb or inadequate. That scared me a little bit because the idea of training is a little overwhelming to me. I hope that he is not going to call me too quick because I have a lot of things that I need to learn before I feel I could train properly. I know that they Lord will help me through what ever callings I am given!

    Thank you everyone so much for your love and for your support through my mission. I have come to feel of my Saviors love in more ways then I can even imagine. This being the Thanksgiving/ Christmas holiday my mind has been taken back a few times on what I am thankful for. One is that I am so thankful for the fact that I get to be back on my mission. I can't even explain the pain that went along with my first calling in the Philippines but even through all of that and what should have been a very deadly sickness the Lord carried me through it and helped me back on my feet. I am also thankful for a great family that was so loving and supportive as I struggled to regain my strength and my desire to serve. It's a scary thing to return to something that almost killed you the first time but as I was given friends and family that talked me up and gave me great advice I was able to return to the greatest job I have ever had- to be a direct minister of the Savior! He is my life right now and I can't explain enough the joy that comes from serving him every second of your life! I am so thankful for the love and prayers that I feel from everyone back at home. Please know that I return the prayers and ask Heavenly Father every day to keep you safe and to feel his love!

    Thanksgiving is coming fast. We will be spending it with a family in the ward. They are a very traditional Hispanic family and we have heard that they don't have turkey usually so we will see what happens. We will be thankful for the food no matter what it is, because we don't have to buy it or prepare it! hahaha Please have an amazing Thanksgiving and enjoy the time as a family! Just think- Kailei will be home for the next one and then the next one we will all be back together! Can't wait. Hey Preston would be home for next Thanksgiving also- so grandma maybe you could invite him over to fall asleep on the floor again with his shirt half way up!!! =P hahahaha good memories good memories!

    The activity went pretty well last week. No body wanted to throw horse shoes so I only got to throw for like 5 minutes. It was fun though, we roastedmarshmallows and talked about our missions and stuff. It was a good time.

     Guys I love this gospel so much and I have such a testimony of it! I love my Savior and the chance he gives us to become better and become the people we are meant to become! Please stay close to the gospel this Christmas season and stay tune for Mormon.org/christmas that will be coming online starting Saturday! It will be a great opportunity to share the gospel and invite friends and family to check it out so make sure to go online Saturday and get to know the website! Love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Shelley

11-12-12

Dear Family,

     That is way cool about Mesa Marching!!! I didn't get a letter from Kadon this week so if he sent one I never got it. But way to go that is soooo cool I am sure Mr. Brooks was proud! I know that he puts in a lot of work and so do the students! Good for you all. Sister Clawson sent some pics to me. I wasn't able to look through all of them but I saw the one with mom, grandma, unk and aunt lissa and you all looked so good and that was fun to see you. I can't wait till next transfer because that will be the Christmas transfer which means we will get to skype! Lookin forward to that!

      So this is going to have to be a very short email because I have been planning this district activity for our district and it is going to be happening in about an hour and there are still a few things we are going to have to go pick up. There is a member that has horse shoe pits and like a camp ground area with a fire pit and things like that, so we are going over there to roast smores and have hot coco and throw horse shoes. When I found out that they had pits I had to get over there and throw! I need to do something that I used to do at home to relax and refocus. It has gotten dang cold here the last three days. It has been in the 30s every night around 6 or 7 and so I am trying to get used to that. I would love some gloves just like small knit ones or something just to keep the wind off of them and maybe a knit hat if you could That would be great. I thought that I threw my grey hoody in my suit case but must not have, so if that is laying around I could use that also. Mom the protein is great. Thank you. I like vanilla better still but I am using the strawberry also. Thank you for sending that it is really helping me with my energy. 

      I am so glad that Pres. Millet enjoyed my letter and that he used it in his talk. I hope that the young men listened to the spirit that comes from hearing about someone like Marlin being converted can bring. It is a life changing experience and trust me if they think about it and can even picture the joy that comes from watching someone you have grown to love so much enter the font, every single one of them will go on a mission. I can tell you personally that there is no better sound then to walk into a church and hear water running!!! My heart has been changed for good since I have come on a mission and I will never be the same person again. I was never a terrible person but at the same time there are so many things that I am going to change when I am home. I hope to be able to help the missionaries change lives like I have seen my own life be changed. I have really enjoyed my experiences while being here. Me and Elder Makaya are not doing well at all. He has not said a word to me in the 3 days and so I feel very very alone but at the same time the Lord is teaching me Chirstlike attributes and so I will grow from this. I had to talk to the zone leaders about him though and about his disobedience that I can't continue to allow him to be this disobedient because my feet have hurt more this transfer then any other in the past. They have talked to him and he is not willing to change. President just wants us to love him and to try to set the right example. They have me teaching him language for an hour a day and he is not at all happy about that. But we will see how everything turns out. I do hope that President transfers him or me though in the next transfer because I have been so stressed that I am getting sick from all the cramps and things that have been happening. Please pray for us to get along. He has been my hardest companion so far but at the same time I have learned more about being a strong leader and missionary from him. I just don't know if I am goin to be able to continue to learn all this for another 6 weeks..

      I was on an exchange with the zone leaders last week and we tracted for 3 hours straight!!!!!!!!!! If you don't know... yea that is a LONG time! In the first 2 hours we had a total of 4 doors open and all of those 4 closed within 5 seconds of opening. But we kept tracting and were determined not to stop until we had found a new investigator for our area! Finally we had a lady who opened the door and was willing to allow us to come back. We ended up teaching her on Saturday and had one of the most spiritual lessons I have had in a long time!!! The member that we brought with us was great and taught a lot of the doctrine with me so that she could understand and so that she could relate to it! WE are excited for her and have big plans for her. She should be at church next Sunday and we are hoping to extend a baptismal date this next Saturday! Her name is Peggy and she is great!

      Guys I love this gospel sooo much! I know that this has been a very hard transfer but at the same time the lord works in weird ways sometimes to teach us the things that we need to learn! We go through hard times to be refined and fine tuned. I am going to continue to work hard whether my companion wants to or not. Thanks for all the prayers and the love! I love you all.

 

Love,

Elder Shelley

11-5-12

Dear Family,

      HE GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brother Marlin Jefferson is officially a member of the church and has the priesthood!!!! I wish that you all could have been there to witness that mans baptism. To see an ex gang member have tears in his eyes for an entire hour straight is a very humbling experience. I hope you can see in my face the joy that I felt as I was there! I have never felt the spirit so strongly in my entire life. I as able to baptize him and he was so awesome! I had to wear a jump suit for a few reasons. One they were afraid that my pants wouldn't stay up when they got wet because I have lost probably another 2 or so inches around the waist and my white pants don't fit anymore. But the main reason was that Marlin wanted me to wear one too because he was still a little uncomfortable in his because of his tattoos on his arms. So when we baptized him he knelt on the ground in the font and we did it face forward.  It was very different from what we normally do but at the same time it made it very very special! When he came up out of the water he just kept kneeling there and kept his eyes closed! I didn't know what to do so I just asked him if he was ok. I was afraid that we had hurt his back.. He said hold on elder, Let me enjoy this feeling for a little bit. Tears were flowing down his face as he knelt there. His mouth was moving a little bit and I asked him about that later. He said that he would have felt so ungrateful if he had not thanked his Father in Heaven right then and there.  We then left the water and stood and watched as his step son baptized his step daughter! As I was standing there I had the coolest feeling! I realized that I was basically standing next to an angel! Marlin at that point was 100% perfect! He was cleaner than any other person on this earth. After she was baptized we were going to go change and Marlin just gave him a huge hug and said Elder Shelley you have changed my life and the life of my family forever! You will never know how happy I am and how much I owe you for coming to my house and challenging me to baptism. He told me that he had told over 6 sets of Elders no over the years but for some reason when I asked him and challenged him for some reason he was not able to say no. He said that he knew that it was his time to make that huge change and to stop smoking. He is talking to doctors to get all of his tattoos removed and to start a new life with his family! November 3 2013 I will be walking through the doors of the temple with him and his family to witness their sealing! He gave me all of his info and told me that he wants to be life long friends and that he wants to spend time with me after I have served my mission! I have never been so touch in my entire life. I will never be the same again.  The area here has not been doing well at all, but I will be able to look back at this day and just feel that same spirit. Nothing will be able to make me forget this amazing day when Marlin Jefferson began his new life!!!

     I have really been working with Elder Makaya a lot lately. We are trying to get his English better and to get him to work a little bit more affective. President has asked me to really work hard with him and to basically re train him on a few aspects of the missionary work. It is so hard to be put in a leadership position and not have the support of your companion.  I have been trying to work with our ward mission leader and get him to support me in a few things that I am trying to do to help out also and he has told me that I don't have the right to change anything that he has done. I tried to tell him that I am not trying to change anything that I am just trying to try some of the things that we have done in the past and in past areas to help this area get more successful. He chewed me our in front of the entire ward mission and I felt so belittled that I don't even know what to do. Basically every member came up to me and told me to just blow it off that they support me and are so thankful that we are trying to get the work to move forward. I have made myself sick the last day or so with stress and with trying to start to help my companion and this area so that it doesn't completely die out.. I have seen the hand of the Lord more in my mission than I have ever seen it before. I know that the Lord expects a lot out of me and that he knows that I can do it so it is going to be something that I am really going to have to just keep working hard and do my best!  I don't want to let the Lord or president down and so I am really going to work hard and never give up! I know who I am and I know who I represent. That is all that matters. I answer to the Lord and then to the mission president and through both of them I know that I will be supported and be lifted up to reach the potential that both of them see in me. Please keep me in your prayers because they help sooo much! Please continue to learn and to grow in this amazing gospel! I can't tell you how amazing it is to have the spirit directing every aspect of your life and guiding you through things that you could never do without him there. I am so blessed to be a missionary. I strive not to think about the future. I realized that the beginning of this next transfer I would have been out a year if I had never gotten sent home and when I thought about that it was pretty hard to think that I lost an extra three months with everyone and an extra Christmas too. But as I have asked the Lord for support I have felt his hand pick me up and guide me through the hard times! It will all work out in the end and I will be able to over come yet another trial in my mission. I was laughing the other day thinking one of these days I am going to have an easy transfer! I am going to have a transfer where I don't have to struggle where I can just enjoy it! But then I realized all the things I have learned because of those trials and I know that it will all be ok! Thanks again and I love you so much!!!!

 

Love,

Elder Shelley

pictures: 1.Marlin Jefferson's Baptism-Hayward, California (with step-daughter)

              2.Marlin's baptism with Elder Roberts

              3. Marlin's family

10-29-12

Dear Family!

   This has been without a doubt the most stressful last 2 weeks of my life! This area has almost killed me! haha last week I wrecked my bike when a car tried to cut me off but timed it wrong and almost hit me. Thankfully the brakes on my bike were great. I rashed up my knee and right leg a bit, but honestly was nothing like it should have been. The Lord really does take care of his missionaries! The people here in this area do not like the missionaries at all. I have been sworn at and yelled at from cars more then I would ever care to be for the rest of my life! I have even had twice this week a full cup of soda thrown out the window and hit me while I have been riding! WHAT A WASTE OF A PERFECTLY GOOD DP!!!!!!!!!! Honestly, my thoughts on it all is that the Savior was spit on and beat for teaching the gospel and so I can deal with a cup of soda here and there. The worst part though is that I ripped my favorite pair of pants when I wrecked my bike!!!! They were the only ones that still actually fit me! I have been waking up with Elder Makaya every morning at 5:30 to work out since we have a really nice gym in our complex. I have been really slimming down the healthy way and it has been great, all except for the fact that my pants are loose and I had to cut another hole in my belt this morning. haha I love it though- I am really getting healthy and feeling great. My cramps are only happening on a day or two a week basis now because I am healthier and so I am really enjoying that!

 Thanks for all the letters today by the way! Kinzi- I will try to hand write a letter to you this afternoon because I am running low on minutes today on the computer. Aunt Kim keep it up! 

    The big news for today is that in less then a week I will be returning back to Freemont to baptize Marlin Jefferson. We found a member who was more then willing to drive us out there and so that is going to be going through on Saturday! Pictures will be there next Monday for sure! I don't think I have been so excited about a baptism since the Borlause family! He is such a great man and has really done wonders in his life and in the life of his family! Thank you all for the prayers and the support that you have given me and for the prayers his way! I know that he has really been thankful for them and has felt every single one of them!

     The work here in Brentwood is going great! We just finished a week with 12 lessons and so that was a HUGE jump from last weeks 4.. haha Me and Elder Makaya have really set some good goals and are just trying to learn to work together to be able to teach in unity. We don't get along as well as I would like because we are so different and he doesn't pride himself in being exactly obedient but we had a good talk last night and he is willing to try to change. I have a lot of things I need to change about myself too. I have been working on my humility and my patience! He is a great guy, he just needs an example so that is what I am trying to do! We had a ward trunk or treat this past week and it turned out great. We have found 3 new investigators since I have been here and all three of them were there with their families! It was such a blessing from the Lord and our ward is really great with befriending them and helping them to feel comfortable with being at the church.

     Now about my bike... I have popped 5 tubes in 2 weeks which should not be happening, but the people I bought it from refuse to say that there is anything wrong with it. I have been on a members bike the last 2 days so that I can get around till I could buy 2 more tubes today! It has been so frustrating. Plus with it only being a 7 speed I can't keep up with Elder worth anything. The store doesn't allow refunds either so I have to make the best of it. I wish I would have just had you send me my bike from home. It would have been cheaper and wouldn't have had as many problems with it as I have. I can't keep spending this much of your money on tubes. I am not exactly sure what I am going to do, but I need to think of something or we are going to be broke hahaha. Sorry for spending so much, if you have any ideas for me please let me know. I should have just gone to sports authority. They were having a deal I didn't know about- I could have gotten a 27 speed for like $380... Wish I would have just gone there instead of where the church said to look. Its ok though it will all work out.

     Well the computer says I am out of time so I love you all and please know that I know the church is soo true! I have loved my studies the last few days. I have had a lot of questions out of the bible and I don't know the bible at all so I have been doing the Book of Mormon and the bible right next to each other and cross referencing them back and forth and actually found some really cool facts that I didn't know before that I have applied to my tracting speech haha. I love this work and I love the hard times. They are not fun while they are going on but they truly do build us up and make us stronger and learn more! Thanks for the prayers still and for all the emails and letters! Haha I didn't know that there was anything but granola bars in that box mom until I opened it to get one out this morning! It sat closed for two days hahahaha. I guess you tricked me! Love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Shelley

picture-Elder Shelley and his bike