4-29-13

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been a week that I will never forget for quite a few reasons! We had so many different activities this week full of service and service and service and service, oh and some teaching and study! hahaha Mormon Helping hands was this past Saturday and man did we have a job to do! We cleaned up a creek bed that runs through the city of Brentwood. They told us that they just wanted us to clean up the trash and the things that were caught in the weeds and things like that. Didn't sound to hard right? Well when we got there you should have seen the creek bed. It was nasty! The water was green and filthy and honestly we were afraid to even get the water on us for fear of growing a second head! haha But we worked along the bank anyways. As we were walking down we realized that there were quite a few shopping carts that had been pushed into the water. I have such a love for nature and for things like this that it was really hard for me to understand the reasoning or thought process of someone to push a cart into the creek. But anyways, we created human chains, with me on the end of course, dangling over the water with a rake trying to grab hold of the carts and pull them out! We were able to pull about three or four carts out that way, but after almost falling in a few times we decided that that was probably not the best way! Someone in the ward, I think it was Brother Sudweeks, ran home and got a few grappling hooks and we were able to use those to grab onto the carts and other things like spare tires and things and pull them out. It was actually quite a fun time! There is an old Salmon Ladder that was built back when Salmon would run the creek and we were down cleaning that part too with a few of the fish and game guys who were trying to restore the ladder and get it all fixed up. It was actually a really cool job. We were working for a while when one of the guys asked me to come help him out. He was turning this big wheel that was like a boat wheel and as it turned it opened up the walls of the ladder so that the fish could get up. He said that he was tired and couldn't turn it anymore and so he asked us if we would turn it. Well Elder Peralta turned the thing for like 3 minutes and then said forget that your turn! All I could think about was camping as a kid and fighting over who got to turn that crank and lift the trailer. We would all fight till it got hard and then it was dad's turn! hahahaha Well this was the same thing! Thankfully years of trailer lifting experience paid off! haha I turned that wheel non stop for 10 minutes and finally the man told me that we were almost there! My shoulders and arms have never burned so bad!!! hahaha At the end the guy came and told me that I must have worked quite some crazy tough jobs or that I had old farmer arms! I took that as a great compliment, and thought that Grandpa Shelley sure would have been proud! haha I don't know how people work jobs like that 24/7 though its been three days, and I still feel the burn in my shoulders and back! Guess I'm not in as good of shape as I thought!

   Well after the helping hands, we jumped in the car and headed over with the Sudweeks and a few other members to help the De La Gardie family move! We had spent two days over there already moving the small stuff and basically everything that they didn't need to live for the next few days, but Saturday was the day to move all the big stuff. We moved the fridge and the beds and the dressers and TVs that I share were from the 1800's, they weighed a ton- it's  crazy not having Elder Makaya as a companion anymore! He may have been lazy in the weight room, but when it came time to move someone or to lift a heavy object he was right there with me! Elder Peralta (bless his heart =P) couldn't lift much of anything and so me and the young men's leader were the one to lift all the stuff down and up the stares for three hours! hahaha After it was all said and done we had been working and serving for over 8 hours! crazy stuff!

    We also had service for one of the less active people in our ward. They had about 3 thousand bricks in their back yard that they wanted to get rid of, but didn't want to pay anyone to take them out, so they called us! I have come to understand the true meaning of that shirt I used to wear about the elders moving service! It's not the Elders Quorum, its the Elders/Missionaries! haha We have moved and moved and moved. That we did with Travis Cook and the bishops son Max and that took us a good 5 hours too and we didn't even move all the bricks! We had to get to Colby's lesson and shower and all that stuff first! I have earned my keep in this area I think. I am not so sure I am thankful anymore for Elder Nelson's talk "ask the missionaries they can help you" Talk! We can help, but we thought that was going to be helping their friends be baptized! hahaha Just kidding we were glad to help and it got the calluses back on my hands so I was pleased! 

    Well I know that everyone is going to want to know how Jon is doing, so here we go... I don' t want to go into much detail about it because it was not a very enjoyable experience but I will give the overview of it all. On Friday afternoon at Colby's lesson we were told by Sister Kurtz that Jon had called them and had told them that he had gained his testimony and had received his answer about the church! He was very excited but also very nervous and so he asked them if it would be ok if he came over and shared it with them before he shared it with us as missionaries. They were honored and excited that he felt so comfortable to ask them that. So we were so excited for him We wanted nothing more then to be there as he shared it, but knew that that was not an option. That night though we got a call from Sister Kurtz at 930 that Jon had gotten there at 630 and did not leave until 845! His "Testimony" was about how the church was false and that Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon were the Devils Tool of leading people astray. He tried to convince Colby that I and all the other missionaries in the world were liars and deceivers and that she had made a horrible mistake by joining a church that he claimed she knew nothing about. We went over Saturday night to his house with him not knowing that we knew about it. He did the same thing to us but went very in depth about how we had tricked Colby and Tyler into the church by only teaching them the simple things so that they couldn't know the whole truth. He ripped into me as a missionary very personally and told me that I was very good at what I did and that I was full of the devil and that I had lost my Salvation because of the things that I was teaching people. He questioned me in who I was as a person and told me that the person I am is exactly who Satan wants me to be. I was full of the spirit as he was talking and looked him in the eye and told him that I would put my salvation on the line for the things that I am teaching people! He had nothing to say to it other then he hopes that I haven't gone all in without knowing what I was doing. We told him that he was always welcome at church if he needed to feel the spirit, or ever realized how  big of a mistake he had just made. This is where the situation gets really complicated... He told us that he still planned on going to church every week! I asked him why he would go to a church that he feels so strongly about in a negative way!? He told me that he is going because its a larger congregation of people that he feels he needs to save! I was so upset with him and so hurt that he had used us the way that he did and that he had lied and played us that we had a really quick closing prayer and we left! I called President after we dropped off Travis and discussed it with him. He counseled me to call the stake president and the bishop because Jon has threatened us that he is going to be getting up next week to bare his testimony over the pulpit to the ward. He has been dropped by the entire mission as an investigator and will no longer be able to meet with missionaries. The ward priesthood leaders were so upset about it all because of how he had lied to everyone and had only come so that he could learn how the church ran and operated so that he could do what he could to bring it down! He was pulled in with the bishop and told that the church allows visitors and will not kick anyone out, but if he spreads ANY false doctrine or tries to get people to listen to him he will be asked to leave. Sure enough though right after church in the hall he had gotten the attention of a less active by telling them he was an investigator and that he had found out that the book of Mormon was false. Thinking he was helping the less active guy wanted to go to lunch to try to help him. Me and Brother Sudweeks had been trying to get the bishop out of a meeting to get Jon out of the church but couldn't get to him. So finally Brother Sudweeks took our member and I went and talked to Jon- I told him that he needed to get out of the church and to not come back. He had over stayed his welcome and had done exactly what he had been told not to. Of course he twisted what bishop had told him trying to make what he was doing ok. He went to the bishops office and had a half hour talk with him. Bishop is a really nice guy and told him that if he ever comes back he is to keep his mouth shut and to not say a word. If he speaks to a single person he will be asked to leave and if he doesn't leave the police will be called... It was a really hard end to something that we had spent so many months and so many prayers and fasting experiences to help this poor lost man! In the Philippines I have felt the presence of Satan through the black magic and the crap out there by some people, but I never thought that I would feel this close to him in the states. After our lesson on Saturday, I was so full of a spirit that was not our own, that I came home and just hit my knees. I prayed and prayed just begging for the spirit to come back into my body and to be able to feel peace and happiness again! It was a really weird experience, and when I finally could feel the spirit again I stood up and it had almost been an hour! Elder was already in bed, and was asleep. But I felt better! I felt stronger from it and I felt like this was something that I was meant to go through! I am not happy that I had to go through it and even more unhappy that it is FAR from over, but this has been such a learning experience. The Priesthood leaders have been proud of the way we have handled it and have told us that they have our backs at any point in the day if anything happens and we need help or support. They love us out here and it has been great! I am so thankful that I have a strong testimony of this Gospel!!! I am so glad that I could honestly tell him that I would gamble my salvation on what I am out here teaching! I meant it too! A few years ago... maybe I would not have been able to say that, but I said it and I stand by it! I know that this church is true! I felt a spirit in that lesson that was not the spirit that I had felt in lessons in the past! This gospel is so true, that Satan is putting wolves in sheep's clothing. Like Brother Sudweeks told me as I was able to talk to him about all this last night; "we have terrorists all over this world right now, why wouldn't we have spiritual terrorists also!?" It is so true! These are the final days! We are going to be put in situations where we have to stand up for who we are and who we represent! I am so thankful that Grandma reminds me of that every single week! It seems like a small thing to jot down, but I have remembered that and because of it, have been able to stand for who I represent at times when it was hard! But I give my testimony to all of you at this one of my most challenging points in my life, that I KNOW Jesus is the Christ! I KNOW that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God! I KNOW that the Book of Mormon is the word of God along side the Bible! I KNOW that Thomas S. Monson is Gods Prophet today and that he guides our church and that with out him, we would be in a world of lies and contention and wolves in sheep's clothing and have to try to deal with it all alone! I LOVE this church! I LOVE my Savior and I will stand next to him through the thick and thin! This I bare in my savior's name, even Jesus the Christ! amen.

 

Love,

Elder Shelley

pictures: 1. pull up contest with Brayden Sudweeks

              2 & 3. moving bricks

              4. sign that Mackay felt described him! (not true, but funny)

4-22-13

Dear Family!

This has been one of the craziest weeks of the mission it seems like! We had interviews with President Meredith this past week and those are always such a great experience! We discussed my exact release date, and we have decided that I am going to extend for 6 more months! Ha just kidding- all though that would be awesome. We have been praying about it and I know that Mom and Dad have too, and we have decided on Jan 13th of 2014. It is about a month or two sooner then we had planned, but that is going to get me home in enough time to start thinking about school and to be able to start working here and there to get financially prepared for the years to come. It was a really hard choice, but it feels right every time I think about it! I thought about telling everyone that we had decided on the date of like Feb or March, then just have Luis or someone pick me up at the airport and surprise everyone, but I like the idea of all the family at the airport! 

We have really been working hard this week. We are going to be losing about 4-5 lessons a week because we have a few people moving out and a few recent converts that are going to be reaching their year mark and not be recent converts anymore. We really need to be able to find new investigators and some less actives to teach or we are going to have way too much open time on our hands!... Free spaces in the day are never fun cause you feel like you are just kinda running around with your head between your legs and not knowing what to do! So we have really been working hard to find people. We have gone through the ward list and the less active lists and have been really focusing on getting more lessons! It is a slow process, but it is so worth it in the end. It has been pretty crazy lately, well at least since interviews. President called me early this week and asked me to step into the other room! haha That can only mean two things, it's either about you, or about your companion, but either way, your companion is not supposed to hear the conversation. haha It was about Elder Peralta and it was a good thing. We are going to be getting a few more FFilipinos then usual and so he really needs trainers for them. Elder Peralta speaks Tagalog fluently and so even though he has been sent out English speaking, president needs him to train one of these new guys. He wanted to know if I thought that he could do it and I told him I have no doubt that he could do it and that he would do it well! I asked when he would need him to train and he said next transfer on the 7th!... We have only been together for like 2 weeks and he is already planning on taking him away from me!.. We get along so well and have so much fun that it is really going to be a bummer to see him go. Plus that usually means that I am going to be here in this area for at least another transfer or two! hahaha I am going to outlive Elder Makayas record! I hate to see him go, but I know that he is needed! President hasn't prayed about it though so there is always hope! Maybe I will try to cancel out presidents prayers!!!! hahahaha Just kidding whatever the lord has in store for us I will accept!

It was a tough week lesson wise, but the lessons that we did teach were amazing! I was on an exchange with one of the zone leaders Friday and Saturday in our area and it was such a great experience. The spirit that was working through us was life changing. We had without a doubt the best lesson so far with Jon! He told us that he feels like the spirit is trying to answer his prayers but that he just is having a hard time figuring out what it is telling him to do. He told us that he has been getting excited about his prayers and about his studies. We had so many great opportunities to point out the spirit in the lesson and he even told us that he felt something different in the room that night! I have a feeling we are within weeks of finally having a baptismal date with him! We are so excited. He is so prepared and just needs to take that leap of faith and be ready to take this next step! I love doing this work. It is such a blessing to be a missionary in this time and part of the world! I wouldn't change and trade it for the world!

The BBQ this past week was awesome! I had just finally gotten the hair back on my right hand from grilling and now I am hairless again! haha it's ok though, it's kinda like a trade mark I guess. We cooked so much food it took me almost 2 hours to get it all cooked. It was really fun though. We played sand volleyball at the members house and basketball as we cooked! It was kinda funny though. It brought back a lot of memories of playing catch with dad and having him have to pause the game so that he could check the meat! Great memories great memories! The zone wanted the hamburgers first, which made the grill way too hot for the brats... hahaha I had a few black ones, but they still tasted the good. Nothing wrong with a few black ones! That is what happens when you try to feed like 30 people with one grill! haha

I am not sure if I told you that we moved apartments finally and that has been the biggest blessing! I am so thankful that we now have carpet that I can walk on. Now that I am writing this it feels like I have said this before so I'll stop and if I haven't and your curious just let me know and I'll give you more info!

I am drawing a mental blank right now about the other things I was going to tell you about... So I am going to end this like I do with all, with my testimony! I love this gospel so much and am so blessed to be involved in it! I really really wish that I could stay a missionary for a few more years. I enjoy not having to worry about anything but missionary work. I like not having to worry about making rent or paying bills or having to worry about anything. We are so blessed to be able to enjoy these two years and to focus all our efforts on finding those people that are searching for the gospel! I love doing what I do. It has brought me more joy then anything else in this world. I have changed so much and I plan on never going back to being the person that I was. I have made eternal friends here in this mission both missionaries, members, and non members. I will be eternally grateful for all those people that have had an influence in my life. You know who you are and so I hope that I don't need to mention any names. Thanks to all you for getting me to this point and for the support and the love that you have shown me since I have been out! I love receiving letters from old friends and from family! I know that every Wednesday or Thursday I am going to have a letter from Grandma! I enjoy that weekly letter and it's always such a blessing to look in the mail and see a letter knowing that someone sacrificed a few minutes to drop me a line! It is amazing. Again I love doing what  I do. I know that this is the true church of Christ and that he is at the lead. It's such a blessing to have this church be restored on the earth. I love to teach about the apostasy and the restoration and have peoples eyes just light up and have it make sense to them! I love helping people and hope that when I get home I will be as good of a member missionary as some of the young men have been here. After working with the ward mission leaders that I have, that has become my dream calling! I would love to be able to still be in the middle of the work and be able to help the elders and sisters find those that are in need of the Gospel! I love it and I love all of you! Thanks again for all that you do and enjoy your next week. I love you so much!

 

Love,
Elder Mackay Dale Shelley

pictures: Laying on the clean carpet in his new apartment

              Doing service in Antioch, CA with Elder Peralta

4-15-13

Dear Family,

Just an fyi, this is going to be a tad short... Today for a big zone activity we are going to one of the members house in the stake and are going to have a big BBQ and play sand volleyball and basketball and just have a good time. I was asked to be in charge of the meat and to figure out with our district and one other to buy, prepare and cook the meat. So it has been a very busy week with all that to do on top of our missionary work and things! We all decided that we would put up 5 dollars a person and so we came out with 60 dollars to feed 30 people! With that I was able to go and find a bunch of sales and deals and was able to buy a huge tube of ground beef that I pattied 54 burgers bought 45 brats and 40 hot dogs and another bbq sauce and seasoning that this is going to be a great activity! We were really excited to be able to find all the deals and for me and Elder Peralta to enjoy shopping together! I just love bbqing too as most of you all know. We will be doing that at about 2 o'clock today! So we need to go and get it all figured out.

This week has been such a busy one with finding new investigators and  prepare for interviews this week with President Meredith! This is our like every three month interviews with him and so we had to get the plans all made in the zone to figure out which church was best for everyone and to figure out which day was best and all that. I love interviews with president so much! He has so much love for us as missionaries that we just love to enjoy that one on one time with him! I am excited because of all the craziness that has been going on with me and with my companions that this is going to be really good to be able to talk to him and to express my feelings and all that. We will also be talking about my release date and when we feel would be best for everyone and for me especially. I will let you all know when we have decided next week, if we have decided for sure on when it will happen.

We were so blessed this week to be able to find two new investigators!!! One of them is the wife of one of our less active members and so it is going to be like killing to birds with one stone since it will be really good for him to listen to all the lessons again and to try to remember how he felt so many years ago when he was a kid and had a testimony. She has been kinda in and out of the spiritual thoughts and messages that we have shared with him over the past few months and she finally sat down with us for the first time this week and said that she would let us teach her. She isn't super interested in the gospel as of now, but she has an interest in just kinda the things we teach people. hahaha She is going to get a kick out of it when she finds out that what we teach people is the gospel!!!!=D man I love missionary work! haha

The other person is a younger couple that just moved into the ward about a month ago. He is a member and she is too basically. The situation is very very complicated, and also is kinda private and so I am not allowed to share much, only that we have set a date with her for the 17th or something in September. I have a feeling that I will not be serving in Brentwood at that time haha and honestly Elder Peralta wont be probably either. But we are thankful for her testimony and for her willingness to listen to us. We are going to be trying to get the date moved up so that we can start working with them to get to the temple! They are such a fun couple! He drives a huge truck and they actually just got back from a big hunting and fishing trip that they went on together! Haha they had pictures of them both just like covered in mud from head to foot but having smiles from ear to ear! haha I hope my future wife will get down in the dirt with me and a gun and be able to smile through the whole thing! It looked like it was a blast! haha

Well that was kinda our week in a nutshell. Elder Peralta is an amazing missionary and I am so blessed to have him as my companion! He has such a humble spirit about him and he just loves everyone he meets and they love him back! I am so blessed to have him as my comp for the next few weeks. Hopefully we will be able to stay together for at least one more, but I have already been out here for 5 transfers and so we will see. Haha Elder Makaya emailed me and told me that if I stay one more that I will tie him for his record of 9 months in one area! We shall see. Usually I have a feeling around this time if I will be staying or not, but this time around I am not sure at all. haha We will just have to see about this one. Thanks everybody for their emails and for their letters! I have been so blessed the past two or so months to be getting letters in the mail box! Sorry that I have only been able to write back to a few of you.... It has been really busy. We finally got to move apartments this week too! Our new one is sooooooooooo nice and soooooooooooooooooooo clean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it. I have a picture of me laying on the floor just enjoying the fact that I am not afraid that I am going to grow a third foot if I walk barefoot. haha long story! Love you all. I know that this church is the true church of Christ! I love the fact that I get to preach it every day and that I get the opportunity to help people in their lives and to help them to feel the spirit more and more each day! I am so lucky to be able to wake up and to put my name tag on each morning and know that I truly am a representative of Jesus Christ! That means more to me then anything else! I love you all and I love my mission! It has been a struggle at times, but it truly has been the best little over a year FOR my life! I can't imagine who I would be if I hadn't chosen to go on a mission! I Know it, I live it, and i do LOVE it!!!! Thank you all so much and I will write again next week!

 

Love,
Elder Shelley

4-8-13

Dear friends and family!

Well this has been an absolutely crazy week full of surprises and change! Elder Oba has since been transferred away from me and they have brought in Elder Peralta to be my new companion! He is Filipino and is from the Philippines! haha I love him already! I wish that he spoke Cebuano, but hey he speaks Tagalog and is willing to help me try to learn as much as I can while we are together. We are not sure what the future has in store for us since this was an emergency transfer and that there are only four weeks left. I am sure that we will be together for at least one more after this, but only time can tell. If I stay here one more transfer, I will have hit Elder Makayas mark of nine months in Brentwood! That is so long, but at the same time I can hardly believe that I have been here for so long. Time has flown by and I really don't feel like we have done even close to the work that could be accomplished. There have been so many things changed and surprises that I'm not even sure what is going to happen. We just know that we are going to do our absolute best, and we are going to serve the Lord!

Just on a good news note, we have been given a car for the next week or two so that I can get to my doctors appointments without having to steal a car from the other missionaries. They don't like to put sisters on bikes in this mission and so I would have to take the zone leaders truck and that just really complicates things. I wanted to tell president that my sister spent a few transfers on a bike and that she came out of it ok! =P

We had a really good lesson with Jon this past week and really put it on the line for him! We went through the baptismal interview questions with him so that he would know what he would have to answer if he were to decide to be baptized. He was able to answer and explain everything perfectly other then say that he had a testimony of Joseph Smith and Pres. Monson. We told him that we had been praying about it and we knew that if he would fast with us starting Saturday nightthrough Sunday's conference that he would be able to gain a testimony of modern day prophets, but that he needed to do it with an open heart and an open mind! He said that he would try it and that he would watch the two Sunday sessions of conference. It really didn't seem like his heart was truly in it, but we testified and I felt very prompted to share with him what dad had said about him to me in one of his emails. He said that Jon was going to be a great leader one day in the church because he had tested the gospel and had really put the time in to know it. That actually really meant something to him and he was touch by your kindness and thoughts. That was a very special moment in the lesson. Unfortunately on Sunday he text us and told us when we followed up that President Monson couldn't be a prophet of God because all he did was tell stories and make jokes.. He said that he should be giving prophesies and tell the future so that we could prepare ourselves. He missed completely the reasoning behind his stories. I called him that night and talked for a while about the savior and his teachings. I reminded him that the savior taught in parables and that president Monson was doing the exact same thing! He understood kinda, but still just kinda had a chip on his shoulder. We shared the scripture that talks about by their fruits ye shall know them. We challenged him to study President Monsons life and that we would come over on Saturday again to discuss what he learned. Me and Elder Peralta talked to each other about it, and decided that we think its time to take a few steps back from Jonand let him realize the difference that is going to happen if he walks away from the  church. He is going to miss the spirit and is going to want it back. We are going to go and possibly drop him if he has not made a few changes about his feelings or if he is not willing to change. I am so sad to see him go, but we feel like this is what is needed at this time in his progression.

Conference was truly amazing wasn't it!? We were able to go to the stake center and enjoy the spirit of the times. I absolutely love to see and listen to the men and women called of God at this time of the world that speak to us and give us such great council! I forgot my notes today to talk about what my favorite parts were, but I do remember how powerful President Monson's talk was. I loved the humor that he used, but also the seriousness that he used as the time was needed. HahaMom you stole my thunder! You said that there was hope for me and Spencer! That is exactly the thoughts that went through my mind as I had a vision in my mind of looking through that garage window to a garage full of fire and smoke! Haha what a terrible example I was to my cousin! =P but as I listened to pres.Monson talk about his experience I realized that me and Spencer are going to always be able to look back and laugh at the crazy times when we almost burned down my parents house! The time that we got my truck stuck in the mud hunting, The time we broke Kadons baseball bat, the time that we broke moms window while Jon was over, and all the other times that we will not be mentioning in this email hahaha! (There are too many people that are getting this that think semi highly of me!) But we are going to be able to laugh about all that stuff later in life and be able to have learned hopefully at least a lesson or two from it! I also really enjoyed Elder Perry's talk. The part that really stuck out to me is when he talked about how our Heavenly Father cannot create anything that is not perfect! Heavenly father is the Father of our spirit and so because he created our spirit, our spirit is perfect. Now our bodies on the other hand were created by our parents. Not that my parents aren't perfect, because they are, but our bodies are imperfect because they were created by another imperfect body. To put those two together, we have a perfect spirit inside an imperfect body. That is now our quest to dig down deep and to pull out the perfection of our spirits out of our imperfect bodies! Our brains, being apart of our imperfect bodies, I realized are going to create and come up with imperfect thoughts. We need to open up our souls and to start thinking with that. Trying as best we can to remember and bring back the attributes that we once had in the spirit world and to make those our attributes here on the earth! I thought that that was so key! I also loved the talks on marriage. Talking about having each others pass codes and not having any other relationships onlineor with others that we would not be comfortable with our spouse seeing or knowing about. I thought of Kailei and Brad and how happy they look in their pictures and emails that I have received. How special and important it is to be able to say that you love someone so much that you never have another thought about anyone else. That is so awesome and I am so happy for them!

I have got to get going here in a few and so I wanted to leave you all with my testimony of this gospel! I love it so very much! It has become the one thing in my life that is like gold to me. It is the one thing that I would never allow to be taken from me. I have grown so much in the past year of my life that I look at pictures from the beginning of my mission and don't even recognize myself! (not even because of the weight loss) My testimony of the Savior has become unshaken. I am still tested and given trials every day which scares me, but I know that I can never give into them because we are going to be accountable for the answers that we have received and I know that I know this church to be the true church of our heavenly father. Christ created it, and we are keeping it going. We have such an important job to do at this stage in our lives and we need to do everything in our power to make sure that we are prepared for the final days! Thank you all for the support and prayers. My health has improved quite a bit the past week or so. It's not great but it is workable and that is all I ask. Thanks again and I love you all so much!

Love,

Elder Shelley

4-1-13

Dear Family,

Thank you all so much for the Easter emails! What a treat that truly was to be able to hear from you two days in a row! Easter is such a amazing holiday and one of my favorite days to be a missionary! I was counting my blessings every single day of this past week thanking Heavenly Father that I am no longer in the Philippines for Easter! For those of you that have been reading my emails for the past year you will understand what I am talking about so I am not going into any details! But its been such a blessing to really study the life of my savior and to focus mainly on the last week of his life. We shared that last week with so many families and felt the spirit so strongly in my life. I have been so blessed as a missionary to be able to testify of the risen Lord and to bear powerful testimony that he lives, and that he loves each and every one of us! He suffered for our sins and saw each and every one of our faces as he was in the Garden. I heard a really good thought the other day, that I'd like to share real quick. One of our members told us this so obviously this is not doctrine, but that he has always thought about it and thought that it was a cool though. I thought so too. He told us that he has always thought that time literally stopped as the Savior began that portion of the Atonement. Having time stop, gave him the opportunity to literally see each of our faces individually and to have that one on one time to show us his love! Think about that for just a minute. I have always wondered how the Savior could have suffered for all of us in such a short time frame. Well to think that he has power over everything, including time, what love it must have been if he literally stopped time so that he could suffer for each of us equally and to have the time to see our faces and know us personally! He already knew us before this life and I can just see him and the love that he had for us as he thought back to the relationship that we probably had and then did what he did for us in that Garden! It really puts things into perspective and really makes you love the Savior just a little bit more! I hope that he understands my love for him and that my love is enough to pay him back even a little bit for what he went through for me to be who I am today!

Dinner with the Stones was so nice. Their parents are in another ward, and so two other missionaries that we really enjoy were at dinner also! We had a really good time and lots of good food. They knew that I am not allowed to eat pork anymore because of my health and so they even cooked an entire turkey also along with the ham! That was something that really meant a lot to me! So much love. The Easter baskets that they gave us had a few things that we really needed like toothpaste and deodorant, and then also had some treats that we like. I got sunflower seeds and Reese's in mine. Elder Oba got other things that he liked. It was so nice of them and we felt so loved!

Jon went to the temple with us on Saturday actually and it was such a special experience. The LDS and Catholic church came together and put on the production of Lamb of God! I love that music so much! Made me sad a little bit because Kailei sang one of the songs on her CD so I thought a lot about her then also. It was so perfect though. Jon enjoyed it and said that he was glad that he came. He even brought one of his friends from work with him since it was on their way home. His friend said that he had already seen it and that it was just as good as he remembers. He is catholic and so he thought it was neat that we all came together to put it on. The singers were so good. The hall that the ISC has in it is so awesome too. The music was great and it was just an all around great evening. Travis Cook came with us and actually drove and so that was way nice of him. I love that boy so much! Blessed to know him. Well because of the temple we were not able to actually sit down with Jon to talk or teach anything so his testimony writing will hopefully happen this week and we will be able to meet with him after conference. I hope he is able to make priesthood session at least! He has to work and isn't sure that he can make it back by 5 but is going to try. It would be good for him to be able to be there.

Well on the topic of conference, I have a challenge for all of you! It is basically the same as every other conference challenge out there, but it is so important! I have such a testimony of conference ever since my mission and I know that it can literally change our lives if we allow it to. Conference, like missionary work, is a revelatory work and can be the means of receiving amazing personal revelation for our lives! I know that it was the key for me in the Philippines to get over my home sickness and to get to work. It was also one of the many keys to Marlin Jefferson getting baptized in Hayward! I know that if we will just go into conference with a list of needs and even wants that we will walk away with every question and need taken care of! The Lord loves us and has been inspiring these men and women to speak on the things that each and everyone of us needs. You will not be forgotten. You will not be left behind! Through the direction of the Holy Ghost, we will be able to receive things for our lives that we may not have even known that we needed. But we have to be prepared. Just like everything else in life, we have to do our part and let the Lord do the rest! He will guide their mouths and their words and we will all walk away so spiritually fed that we will be able to make it in this crazy mixed up world for six more months if we have prepared ourselves correctly. If we don't, like it says in the scriptures,"I the Lord am bound when you do what I say. But when you do not what I say, ye have no promise!" Guys please do what we have been asked to do! Prepare for conference and be ready to receive revelation for our lives! You will not regret it! The Lord through the prophet has promised us blessings for those that prepare! So why shouldn't we prepare!

I have got to get going. We are going to go bowling as a district! It's weird to think that me and Elder Oba are the only elders in the district! It is so amazing though! These sisters are so prepared and are such fire balls! All three Brentwood areas have someone being trained at the moment! It is crazy! I love this work and I love to be a leader in such a powerful mission! I hope that I can only begin to do the things that the Lord has in store for me! I love this work and I love being a missionary! It's the hardest thing that I have ever loved to do! I have made life long and eternal friends that I will stay in contact with forever! I have grown closer to Christ and my father in heaven then I ever thought that I would. I have such a respect and a deep love for the Prophet Joseph Smith. We will never be able to repay him for the things that he did for us and for this great church! I love you all so much and am so thankful that we are an eternal family!  

 

Love,

Elder Shelley