11 Months (Week 46)

I have been set apart as a full time (full-time?) missionary now for 11 Months! Kinda super crazy and it has honestly gone by fast but also slow. Does that make sense? Time as a missionary is crazy haha, but anyway this past week was super solid. We had Zone Conference on Wednesday and it was super sweet! Elder Mark Bragg of the Seventy and his wife came and addressed us. It was just one of those things that you had to be there for. Later on Wednesday, my companion and I were making some phone calls. We called this bro named James. He is a Chaplain (?) at Camp Pendleton military base, just south of San Clemente (If you don't know what I am talking about, it is pretty much a military base that is close to us ). We got into this conversation about what I believe and the Restoration. As I was teaching him about it, he would stop very frequently and say something along the lines of, "Wait, wait, hold on, hold on. So you're telling me you believe that...?" I would answer with a yes that got bolder and more resounding as he continued to question me. It made me think to myself, 'Do I believe what I believe?' The answer is YES. The conversation ended with an unspoken feeling of his uncertainty about what is true. As missionaries love to do, we invited him to read from and pray about the  Book of Mormon. He pondered the invitation and told us about all the other books he has to read and how busy he is and all that good stuff. We promised him some mad blessings and re invited him. Now it's just a hope to whether he'll read it or not. Truth is out there, we just have to be willing to seek it.

On Saturday, we were out knocking on some people's doors. Just on the absolute grind, and as Elder Calhoun, from the movie The Best Two Years, puts it "we had door after door slammed in our faces. Finally we get to this one door.... Nothin." Haha and so it was with us. Nothin. There was this last neighborhood with a couple people that we could stop by and as much as I didn't necessarily want to, we kept going and hit the last few people. Two more doors left. The first of these last looked promising. They even had a micro pond in their front yard, and anyone with a micro pond in their front yard has to be somewhat nice. Sadly, they didn't answer. We walked around to this final door, and to save any suspense that might be building up, they answered haha. It was this less active family and they were super grateful to see us. It made the whole day worth it. That's how it goes. Endure to the end. I like to look at that principle as thrive to the End (especially when you have the Gospel of Jesus Christ), but sometimes it truly is ENDURE to the End.

Anyway, there are a whole lot more experiences to write about but all in all, Jesus is the Christ and His Gospel and Church are here upon the Earth. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us more than we know and are doing everything to see us safely home.

-Elder Shockley

P.S. I gave my companion a haircut last P-day. Shout-out to Grandma Barbs, Sports Clips, and Jackson for teaching me how🤙