8-26-13

This week was great! We just realized that we have been so blessed lately, and have been able to extend and set a baptismal date every single week that we have been together out here!!! Peter Pu is about to get baptized this coming Saturday and we are so excited about it!!! He told us the other day that he wanted to move it up to Monday, but we told him that we still had a few more lessons this week, and that we still had to have his interview! He came to church this week on his own, and not only that, but he also brought a friend of his that he has known for a while from school. He gave us her address, and we realized that it was Angie, one of the Chinese girls that we had taught the other week and then had lost contact with! He had invited her to come to  church with him and to come to his baptism, and she accepted! We were so blessed, and we are so excited about the fact she is now interested again, and that she is wanted to meet with us! We are so blessed lately! It has just been such a testimony builder to me that when you really put a hundred percent to the Lord he gives you like 300 percent back! He only asks us to work as hard as we can, and then he gives us even more then we could ever ask for. I wish that I could understand a little more fully the love that our heavenly father has for us! I just sit and ponder ever night so confused at the fact that he loves me through all of my imperfections, and for all of the mistakes that I make daily! All I can ever do is just sit and pray with a thankful heart that he continues to bless me and to help me on this journey that we call life! Me and Elder Fajardo have been talking a lot lately about the goals that we need to set for ourselves to make sure that we don't ever fall back into the ruts that we were in before our missions. Elder Fajardo goes home a transfer after me, and so it has been a blast to be able to talk and to understand each other. We both had a lot of the same issues back at home, and a lot of the same strengths also. So we have been so blessed to be able to grow close and to be able to learn how to work together and stay close to the lord! He has a very special spirit about himself, and he has really taught me to follow the spirit and to receive revelation for both myself and for the missionaries that are in our stewardship. I went the other day and bought a revelation journal, and it has been a blast to be able to have a question that I need answered and be able to take it to the Lord and receive and answer about it before I ever get off my knees usually. I have never felt this close to my Savior before I met Elder Fajardo! I have truly enjoyed our companionship. It is now week five though, and we are really worried that we are going to get transferred. We have begged President to leave us together since we are having so much success, but who knows. I guess we will just have to wait and see, and just keep praying that we will be able to have one more!

Deniella has been doing really well also! We are a little worried though, because she is wanting to push her date all the way back to December because that is when her mom will be here from her home country! We have no problem with her wanting her mom to be there, but we both have just seen in the past that when investigators push their dates back for whatever reason, that satan gets to them, and they end up not getting baptized. She is way too solid to not get baptized!! We really want to see her get baptized and be able to receive the holy ghost! 

Well I have got to get going. We are so late, because we just had a big brunch for a zone activity this morning! We have been trying to get our zone to be a little more unified! 

I love you all so much! I have been so thankful for all the prayers that you have sent up in my behalf! My back is feeling much better since I had the shot done, and they said that in the next few weeks is when it will take full effect. I love this work sooo much! I wish that this could last forever! I hate not being able to just serve 100% of the time, but we do have zone leader responsibilities that we have to take care of. I will keep everyone posted next week and how Peters baptism goes! Please know how much I love this gospel! I would not trade anything in this world for the experiences that I have had the past 4 weeks! I love this work way too much! I am going to find a way to work with the missionaries back at home as much as possible! I was so excited to hear that we are getting elders cause that means I can return the favor that Travis Cook gave to us and drive them around all the time!!! Thanks again everyone. The Gospel is true. Don't you ever forget it! I love the Book or Mormon and know that it is 100% true! Thanks again!

Love
Elder Shelley

8-19-13

Dear Family!

I am not sure what is going on, but something is going on that is for sure! The Lord I guess just has a plan for this area and for me and Elder Fajardo that we are still trying to figure out! This week we found three more investigators, and added another baptismal date for the 21st of September with a young man named Harry! He is Chinese also, and has just been in the states for a few months. he doesn't believe in God, but he told us after meeting with us that he can feel Him as we talked to him on the streets! I was on exchanges that afternoon with one of the district leaders when we walked into him! He was walking down the street, and we stopped and talked to him. He said that he was willing to meet with us, and that he was just a little busy that day getting ready for school and such. So we set up for the next day, and had an amazing lesson with him! We were able to set a baptismal date with him that first lesson, and he even came to church with us yesterday! He went to Walmart Saturday night, and bought a clip on tie with a blue polo and a pair of black jeans! He came all dressed up and really enjoyed church! He told us that he really enjoyed it, and that he is planning on coming back next week! It was so awesome to be able to be apart of his life and to be able to be the one to find him! This is the first investigator that I was able to find on my own efforts and be able to get him to the point where we has a date and seems really solid! We are so excited to have the three dates here in this area! 

Deniella is doing so well also! She went to the visitors center with us, and has just been doing so well! I love the fact that she has just changed totally and now has a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon! She said that she finally decided to pray about the both of them, and she said that she totally had an answer come quickly and that she can't deny the answer! She has been coming to church every single week for the past month or so and she is basically one of the gang now! She loves the members here in this area and is basically a part of the ward already! She has been fellowshipping our other investigators and asking them if they want to sit with her and to go to and from class together! It has been such a blessing!

Peter is still doing really well. He added a vest to his suit dress this week, and everyone complimented him on how well he looked and that he was starting to look like a Mormon. hahaha I guess Mormons come to church in a three piece suit a backwards Yankees hat and toms for shoes! He is so funny. He feels embarrassedthat he has some gray hair already, and so he doesn't want to take his hat off in front of the other members. The bishop is totally ok if he wears his hat to feel more comfortable and so he is going to keep it on for now. We will see how it goes after he gets a little more used to the members and makes some friends. He went to the YSA sports night that we have every Tuesday, and really enjoyed it. he is a really good basketball player and has just been loving this ward! We are really excited for him. Not this Saturday, but next will be his baptism. He has quit all of the word of wisdom issues and has committed to pay his tithing and all of that! He is so solid it blows my mind!

I love this work so much! Me and Elder Fajardo send our love and our support your way and want you to know that we pray for you every day! We are so thankful for your prayers and for the blessings that we receive because of the time that you put in our behalf. We are really hoping that we are able to stay together next transfer. Elder Fajardo has been here forever and so we are not to sure what will happen. We are just trying to make our numbers so high that president can't help but keep us together!!! I have such a testimony of just being completely obedient and working as hard as possible, and just seeing miracle after miracle!!!! We have been so blessed and just can't even begin to explain the miracles that have come because of the diligence that we have put forward! The Lord is just making things happen and I can't even explain the joy and excitement that has entered my life because of the work that is happening out here! We are working so hard, and just trying everything we can do exactly what the spirit tells us to do, and then to do it RIGHT AWAY!!!  We have just seen miracle after miracle out here, and I am so thankful for the lord, for the joy that he has put into my heart! I have just been so happy lately and just loving the work! Thanks again for all the support. It has been so awesome to be apart of the hastening! I love you all so much! Please keep me posted on everything back home and I will do the best to do the same! 

Much love!

Elder Shelley

picture: Mackay and Elder Fajardo

8-12-13

Dear Family!

Well unfortunately, I do not have a ton of time to email today because of a few technical difficulties that happened with the internet here at the chapel!.. We finally got it all figured out, but there were a ton of missionaries that needed to email still, so we just played basketball while we waited for everyone to get done. So I am going to have to try to speed through this week as fast as I can!

    We have had one of the most miracle filled weeks of my entire mission! I can't even explain the miracles and blessings that we saw this week. We found another 5 new investigators, and added two more dates to our indicators! We have been so blessed to be able to really increase our number of investigators. We literallyhave had no time to find, but the times that we have taken to find, the Lord has just blessed us like crazy! We have a date with a young man named Peter who is Chinese and had absolutely no christian background when we met him! He has since prayed and told us that he knows that God is real, and that he is listening to his prayers! It has been such a blessing to be able to see his progression! His date is going to be on August 31st! A young lady named Deniella is our other investigator, and she has a date for the 14th of September. She has been investigating the church for the past three months. She hadn't been making much progress, but we had a life changing lesson with her the other day, that changed each and every single one of our lives! It was completely impossible to deny the spirit that was in that room! We challenged her on the spot and she accepted. It reminded me a lot of Marlin Jefferson's lesson that first time with Elder Roberts. Elder Fajardoand I have a really good relationship, and because of that have been really blessed with people to teach, and with having people progress in the Gospel! 

I have got to get going this week, but I promise I will make time next week to write more! We have zone conference tomorrow and so we are really excited for that! This past week we were able to go to the temple as a companionship since Elder had a recent convert that received his endowments and went through the Temple! It was amazing to see the changes in the temple and the changes that they have done to the inside of this temple! I loved it so much and we were both just so blessed to be able to be apart of it! I know with all of my heart that the church is true, and that Christ is the head of it! I loved the head stone for Grandpa because of the bottom! What a moment in time that we will always remember! I know that Families are forever, and that is just such a great memory to know that we will all see him again when this life is over! I love you all so much, and just wanted to remind you all that we need to keep reading our Book of Mormons, because that is going to be the thing that gets us all through the hard times! Love you all so much and thanks for the Emails!

Love,
Elder Shelley

Pictures: 1. Beautiful picture of the Oakland temple

               2. Pier 39 in San Fran

               3. Eating a corn dog at Fisherman's wharf

               4. clam chowder in a bread bowl on the wharf

 

8-5-13

Sorry- I don't know what is up with this computer hope I can get an email off! 

Well this week has been the most crazy, most miracle filled, most exhausting week of my life! I swear zone leaders in this mission don't ever sleep! We have so much to do, and our zone members are all so new, that we are constantly doing trainings and exchanges and trying to get all of our missionaries to have the vision that we have as zone leaders! Our District leaders are amazing though!!! We have the ex assistant as our district leader, and he does such a great job! He is so spiritual and really has a great love and faith in the work! We have a few district leaders that have only been out for about 3-4 months, and so they aren't totally sure how it all works, so President has us doing a lot of different trainings and just trying to help them out as much as we can! I love my job though! Elder Fajardo is without a doubt the hardest working missionary that I have ever worked with! He is always thinking of what he is going to do next, and never takes time to even think about anything but the work! We have a ton in common. He loves to snow board, wake board, drive fast cars haha I can't even name half of the stuff. The best part about all of it is, is that we both have the same style of teaching, and we both love to work with the members. Because of all the crazy training and things that we have been doing, we really only had about an hour or so this whole week to be able to do any finding activities or tract. But the Lord made up the difference for us, and we were still super blessed to be able to find 4 new investigators!!! They are all four Chinese actually, which is way cool because none of them even believe in God. Miracles happen though, and they are totally willing to give what we say a try.  We have been so blessed this week I can't even explain the way that I have been feeling the past week. I have never been this happy and have never felt the spirit this strong, and I have never received revelation like this either. Being a zone leader, we are expected to be very close to the spirit and to be able to receive revelation about each of the missionaries and each of the Districts, and for our own area all at the same time. Elder Fajardo has really been working with me on how to follow the spirit exactly and not ever pass up an opportunity or a prompting that comes my way! It has been a real challenge to have to always be following the spirit, but it is such a blessing because that is what we are supposed to be doing anyways our entire lives. Haha None of this is probably even making since... This room is so loud in here since we email in one of the family history centers in the church building and there are a ton of Elders and sisters here that love to talk and laugh and yell. So please forgive me if none of this email makes since!

I am so blessed though!!!! Not only in the spiritual ways, but the personal ways also! There is even an Dickey's BBQ here!!! One had just opened in Brentwood when I had left, and I was able to go a few times. So me and Elder Fajardo are trying to save up our money so that we can make a trip over there and get a rack or two of their ribs!!! Their Brisket is really good also, so that is definitely a place that we are going to be saving towards!

It has been so crazy to be serving back in the same ward that I served in a year ago! Because it is a YSA/College ward, there have been a lot of people who have moved out, and have moved in, but I still recognize a few of the people, and they all kinda recognize me! Haha I get a lot of weird looks like, I know you, but I can't figure out from where. They have all been so loving though and have really accepted me back into the ward. Elder Fajardo has been here for like 9 months already, and so they all know him and love him a ton! I am really working to get to know all of their names so that I can get on a little more personal basis and to let them get to know me! The bishop is actually the 1st counselor from when I was here and we worked pretty closely there, and so he still remembered me which is good. We have just been loving the work and are so excited about the work and helping this YSA ward just take off! This is easily one of the best wards in the Mission and I am so blessed to be able to be here! I love this side of the Bay, and I really love being able to serve in the English program! I have been able to use my Tagalog a little bit the past few days actually though, and so that has been a huge miracle! We have 2 set appointments this next week with Filipinos that we tracted into and I spoke in my horribly broken Tagalog! They seem pretty solid though, so we will see how that goes! Between English, Tagalog, Cebuano and Spanish we are going to tear it up out here! Elder Fajardo is fluent is Spanish and I can speak the other languages enough to make people surprised and usually invite us in so that is good! We have a ton of blessings that the Lord has given us so that is a huge blessing! We work so well together that we are expecting miracles in this area! 

Next week I will talk more about our investigators, but I have got to get going. I have another Dr. appointment for my back.. They want me to get an epidural I think it is spelled, but I have to go see one more doctor and then talk to the mission nurse before we make any plans. I have started to feel a little better, but I still can't move around too great, and so they are going to try to get me a little relief. I know everyone is going to ask about Elder Fajardo, so here ya go! He is From Massachusetts about 15 miles from Boston! I asked him if he knew Rockwell, but he didn't think so. He speaks Spanish and served here in this area with Elder Jones! He is a great missionary, and I am so stoked to be able to work with him! We are going to light this area up and just have a ton of success! Thanks for all the emails and letters! 

I LOVE this work soooooo much!!!!! I can't even explain to you how amazing it is to feel the spirit working through you for not only yourself, but for others also! It is such an amazing experience to be the leader of so many missionaries! We have the largest zone in the entire mission with two full stakes under our lead! It has been crazy but such a miracle to be able to see all this come to be so successful. We had a little drop in our over all teaching numbers, but that we think has some to do with the transfer week, and the fact that we have a lot of new missionaries! I love you all so much. Remember that I have a strong testimony of the gospel! I got back in contact with Naushel who is the man that we were teaching a year ago. They hadn't been in contact in about 6 months! He said the he is going to try to figure out a day next week that we can meet again! There is a reason that I got called to come back to this ward, and now I just need to figure it out! I love you guys! 

Love,
Elder Mackay Shelley

7-29-13

Dear Family, 

Well the news finally came on Tuesday of this week. President called me that evening to discuss a few of the elders in this district to try to get an idea on where he needed to put them, and who was able to be in a leadership position. We talked for a little bit about what I thought and then at the end He just asked me how I had enjoyed Walnut Creeks YSA ward a year ago. I didn't think anything about it, but told him that I loved it and that I wish I would have spent more time there. He just kinda chuckled and said great cause I'd like you to go back there this Tuesday! He said I am splitting the YSA and family ward into two areas and would like you to go and cover the YSA ward out there. I told him that I would love to! He then said that he was also giving me an honorable release as a district leader and thanked me for serving in that position for the past 10 months or so. Ha that made me think back cause it surprised me that it has been that long that I have been a District Leader. I thanked him for the kind words he had said and told him that I was excited about the new area. He told me at that point that I would be the Jr companion, and that I would be the Jr Companion Zone leader out there! I will be serving with an elder named Elder Fahardo. He has been out there for like 9 months already so he will know the area really well, and will be able to focus really well on making sure that I learn how to be a zone leader as fast as possible. With all of the changes that have been happening in the mission, President has been asking a lot of the zone leaders to step up and do a lot of the training for the different missionary meetings and things like that so it will be a big change. There really is never any down time as a Zone leader and so that will be crazy, but good at the same time. The days that are the hardest, are the days when you are just roaming around trying to figure out what to do and there probably won't be very many of those days anymore! Elder Santiago is going to be staying in this area, and will be follow up training one of the other Tagalog Elders. He is really excited! It is a huge compliment to him on the work that he has done, and he has really been working hard to learn the area, and to become the best missionary that he possibly can! I have a lot of faith in him and know that he is going to do great! Elder Perez is actually transferring all the way across the street into the other Tagalog ward that Elder Peralta is in. He will be follow up trained by Elder Cabral who is Elder Roberts trainy who is from here, but speaks Tagalog so that will be really really good for him! He still lacks a little bit of confidence in himself, and so having a trainer who will speak pure Tagalog to him will really be a big step! They both are going to do big things in this mission, as they continue to work hard and be diligent! It is going to be a great experience for them to not have me around to train them. Some times they just expect me to save them if they slip up on something or if they don't know what to do. This is really going to make them stretch and they are going to have to step it up really fast! Elder Santiago cried this morning as we had our last companionship study and I bore my testimony to them, and thanked them for all of the hard work and the good times that we have had. We have all three gotten very close over the past three months, and it will be hard to leave, but it will be good for them to have to start relying on themselves and to not be able to just expect me to save them. I am so proud of them, and I know that we will see each other again if not in the mission, then after for sure! I have a feeling that this will probably be my last transfer move. I have 4 more transfers, and I feel like I will probably be in Walnut Creek for those last four. But who knows. It's all up to the lord, and he is going to make the final decision anyways! It was pretty cool to talk to President two weeks ago and have him know already that he was going to be moving me. He said that my switch was one of the first that he knew for sure was going to happen. He said that he knows I am needed out there. Maybe we will go find Noushil and Hope again and we will be able to get some of my formers out there to start learning again. We will see. I am so excited for this switch to get back to the English program! I love the Tagalog ward and the challenge that it was, but I am ready to be able to teach to my full ability and to truly follow the spirit in lessons and be the missionary that I have been become!

This was kind of a slow week, but we still were able to have 9 lessons. We had a lot of our less active lessons fall through, and none of our recent converts were able to make it to our lessons with them. Basically all of our lessons were with investigators, or with a few less actives. Sister Amporias didn't come to church again yesterday, and it looks like Elder Santiago is going to drop her this next week if nothing improves and if she doesn't show more of a desire. She was doing so good for a while, but has since just kinda fallen off the cliff. They are going to lay it on the line with her this week about taking things seriously and not just listening to us because she likes to talk about God and Christ. We will see how all that goes. They are going to keep in contact with me through email and stuff so I will be able to hear how everyone out here is doing! 

June has kinda plateaued as well. We are worried about the whole financial support thing, and they are really going to ask him about why he is doing this. We have planned for the bishop to come to one of the lessons also and to talk to him about how it is going and why he is looking into the church. He just bought a flight to go back to the Philippines about a month after his baptism, so it kinda seems like he was just trying to get money from the members to get back home. He is still meeting with us a few times a week and coming to church, so who knows. He may pull through and just be going through a tough time and needed some help. We just need to make sure that he is sincere about it all before we baptize him and have him make covenants that he doesn't fully understand! We just keep praying for him and hoping that he will open up to the spirit, and be able to make it the rest of the way to the 13th! He is getting so close we would hate to see him fall away at this point.

Well I have got to head out! We are going to try to go out to pier 39 and do some site seeing, but we have got to get to Oakland to go pick up some money for a few things that we need to deep clean our apartment! Thank you all so much for your examples and for your amazing spirits and testimonies! I love to receive your letters and emails each week and to watch as everyone continues to progress together in this Gospel. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that he performed an infinite Atonement for us that allows us to repent and come closer to him every single day! I am so thankful for Joseph Smith and the sufferings he went through to get us where we are at today! I love this great work, and I love being a missionary! The end is coming up WAY to fast, and it scares me half to death. I don't want this to ever end! Like it always says, we leave our families for 2 years or 18 months so that others can be with their families for eternity! I am so thankful for my family who loves and supports me through this wonderful work of salvation that I have been so blessed to participate in! There is nothing that I would rather be doing at this stage in life then preaching the Gospel! My parents have been the best and the greatest support to me and I am so lucky to have them! Thanks mom and pops for your love and support! I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers and your love for me! Till next week in Walnut Creek!

Love, 
Elder Shelley

pictures: 1. Mackay and a family in San Fran (doesn't he look like a giant!?)
              2. Mackay and Elder Santiago
              3. Mackay and Elder Perez