In-N-Out (Week 11)

 We've had In-n-Out like 4 times in the past week and a half.

Well we have had an eventful week for sure, haha. We had a lesson scheduled with this one lady that we are teaching. We got there and she had people cleaning her house so we went outside. It was like 9726 degrees outside so we decided to shorten our lesson. Then her dog like ran over her little 3 year old child, so basically we rescheduled haha. Before we left we asked if we could say a prayer. She said yes and asked if we could pray for her friend in Iran who had just got her phone stolen. AND then she asked if she could film us praying so that she could send it to her friend in Iran. Maybe that's not weird but it felt really uncomfortable, haha. Elder Elliott said the prayer and she filmed it, and after he said it she told us we forgot to pray that her friend's thief would suffer.  Anyway, I thought it was pretty funny. Later that same day we had another lesson with someone else we are teaching, Alaa. We starting watching Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration with her to help teach her about the Restoration. We used captions so it was very helpful, especially with the language barrier. Every time we go to Alaa's apartment she gives us a huge glass of water and also a tall glass of juice. Well at least I thought it was juice, haha. Our district leader came with us when we taught her last. Afterwards he told us that he was pretty sure that she gave us tea. So basically I have had tea the 4 times I have been over there!  We're going to have to say something next time, haha.

Some members brought us some burritos for dinner one night so that was hype. On Friday, we did exchanges with our zone leaders. Elder Facer came to my area with me and Elder Hardt. In the evening we decided to call people. We also wanted to get a member from our ward to join the call. We had a member agree and so we started calling people. I looked through our area book and saw this person named Candice who we had called in the past. When we had called her previously she had given us the classic "I'll call you back later." This time she was on a long car ride home and wanted to talk to us. Turns out she lives outside of our area. She lives in Henderson, Nevada and the member that we had join us grew up in Henderson. So that was super neat. They talked for like 10 minutes and it came up that Candice's (the person we called) grandma had just died. So we taught the Plan of Salvation over the phone and got a return appointment over Zoom for this coming Wednesday. We are going to get in contact with the missionaries in Henderson and have a pass off lesson. God is in the smallest details in our lives. It is so crazy. He is aware of all that we are doing and all that we go through. He is rooting for us to do our best to choose good. It amazes me.

There were other cool miracles that happened during the week but for the sake of time I will just write those in my journal, haha. Something else that is amazing is that the Temples down here are going to phase 2! Well at least Newport Beach and San Diego. I will be going through the temple here in the next few weeks and my parents are going to come out to be a part of it. So that is awesome! 

The Come Follow Me for this week was in 3 Nephi 8-11. Jesus Christ literally tells us to come unto him so that He may heal us. He is so merciful. Jesus Christ is our light throughout our life, especially during our darkest times. He will gather us, we just have to let Him in and we just have to do our best to hear Him. I invite you all to read the Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ -Proclamation-. It truly is what happened. I invite you all to read and ponder this again before this upcoming General Conference. And wow it's almost General Conference, haha; that is crazy.

Love you all!

Elder Shockley 

Day 90 (Week 10)

Well this past week we picked up a new companion. His name is Elder Hardt. He is a really cool guy! Haha. He is from Coeur d'Alene Idaho area so that's pretty neat. He is also really smart, haha, and knows like everything. He got called to a mission in Chili or Chile or however it's spelled, so that means we also have language study. We have a lot of studies throughout the day but it is needed especially, as I am still in training, haha. There have been a lot of fires in California and the smoke is making its way down to southern California. The sun has been red like, all day, everyday for this past week. A couple of days there was a little bit of ash falling from the sky. On Tuesday we had all of our lessons over Zoom and it was kind of special. It was good because we were able to do a lot, but I definitely prefer doing things in person. This week we had all of our lessons with the people we are teaching fall through, so that stinks, but we'll get back to it this week.

Earlier this week Orange County went up to their next phase in Covid so now we can have church in person. It was so nice to finally have church in person this week. Hopefully the Temples in California will open to the next phase, specifically the Newport Beach Temple or the San Diego Temple. Anyway, it's still a step in the right direction. 

We have started going to some of the Priest's activities and they're pretty cool. A lot of missionary work right now (at least in California) is working with the members. In the California Newport Beach mission right now, there are more people on date to be baptized for the month of September than there ever has been, at any time, in this mission. It is amazing. It shows how amazing God is and how He really is in charge. Covid brought its challenges but that has also provided us with the opportunity to make something out of it. God is hastening His work with technology and with the Members. It is literally awesome. I hope that everyone can continue to make something out of the "opportunities" that Covid is giving us.

Well sorry that the week was kinda lame, but that's how it goes sometimes. 

In Doctrine and Covenants Jesus Christ says, "Be not troubled." This was talking about the signs of the days that we live in now. There truly is peace in Christ. 

Love you all!

Elder Shockley 

Not a lot of time, haha (Week 9)

Well this week it broke 105 degrees twice but that's okay. We picked up a new person to teach and got another new companion! I'll do better next week, I love you all!

Jesus Christ is my King!

Elder Shockley