12-23-13

Dear Family, 

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

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

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

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

Much Love,

Elder Mackay Shelley