Well this week has been something else for sure. On Monday we drove to the mission office and dropped off Elder Christensen; he got transferred to Carlsbad so that's neat. I think I said that in my last week's email, but anyway, we also had a district activity with the people in our new district. Elder Rose is a new Elder in the district and he is from Texas and was originally called to the London England Mission. Our district leader is Elder Webb and he is super cool. He has been out for a long time and is such a great leader. On Tuesday, Elder Elliott and I went to the mission office at about 5:30 to pick up our new companion. His name is Elder Judd and he is from a small town in Arizona called Pima. He was originally called to the London England mission so that's kinda cool. We are basically the England district in California, haha. Elder Judd was feeling pretty sick the day he got here so he went to bed kind of early when we got back to the apartment later that night.
On Wednesday Elder Judd still wasn't feeling well and at first we thought he was sick and had some kind of virus but it turns out that he ended up telling us that he was having some really bad anxiety. His anxiety was so bad that the first day and a half, everything he ate and drank, he threw it up. He called Sister Reeves that night and also his parents back home and he really felt like he needed to go home. On Thursday, we tried to get him more situated. We helped him unpack and went grocery shopping with him, but he was still super anxious. He called some more later that night. On Friday, we got a text saying that we were going to take Elder Judd back to the mission office and he was going to go home :( It was sad to see him go. He really was a hardworking kid who loves the gospel but the effects of anxiety are physically, mentally, and emotionally just hard to deal with, especially with how bad he had it. We were able to counsel with him, and our district leader and zone leaders were super kind and understanding with him. I feel bad that he had that anxiety and had to go home. We all have our different trials throughout life.
Saturday we went on exchanges with the district leader. He came to my area and went with me. We were able to help this lady move in to the apartment across the road from us. Brother Yang took us to this place that had really good breakfast food. Then after dinner we went and knocked on this lady's door that Elder Webb (our district leader) knew in this area. She answered and we set a meeting with her for later today. So that's good. We didn't have any lessons set up for Saturday so we ended up just going around to some members in the ward and introducing ourselves. Sunday was good. It's always good to have the Sacrament; it just brings a renewing feeling. Throughout the week I probably drop about 5-7 lbs and then gain it back on the weekends from Brother Yang, the members and all the dessert. It's kinda funny, haha.
Anyway, Ether 12:27 says, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." This has been a scripture that has helped me a lot throughout the week. Not only can Christ help us heal and not only can we be forgiven of our sins, but we can truly overcome everything and, like the scripture says, weak things become strong unto us. For example: we are all susceptible to physical death, we will all die. It is a weakness we all have, but because of Jesus Christ we will all have a body again. Not only that but we will all have immortal bodies; that is a weak thing made strong. The natural man in me was having a hard time with my companion, but when I turned to Jesus Christ I was not only able to tolerate him but to love him. I know that we can all have experiences like this and I know that Elder Judd can and will one day triumph over his anxiety.
It's been an interesting week for sure, haha. Thanks for all your love and support!
Elder Shockley
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