There is a lot to share from the past couple of weeks! Hopefully what I write today will be somewhat decent.
Last Wednesday (or maybe it was Thursday) Elder Mallonee and I decided to go to this area which is very near the center of Birmingham. We had planned on stopping by a few people and then doing some street contacting afterwards. The first guy we ended up stopping by was this dude named Ernie. We had invited him to church the week before and had said he would join over zoom. We stopped by and buzzed his apartment. We got talking for a few moments and he said he couldn't meet with us. As we were headed on to the next, he called us on our phone and told us to come back. He had felt rude for not letting us come in. We got up there and he told us he only had 5 minutes and that he had to get back to work. We started a much longer conversation than 5 minutes 
He kept asking really good questions about the Book of Mormon and why we came out on our missions. About 2 hours later we wrapped up and invited him to read the Book of Mormon. Ernie has a desire to come closer to Christ and find more peace in his life through the Savior. He also has got a lot going on right now with various health and work challenges so if you would pray for him that would be awesome!!
A week ago today I had the privilege of waking up a 4am and watch virtually as my younger brother, Alec, got set apart to be a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Jackson joined in virtually as well and that was just a super awesome experience. One I won't forgot. I am very grateful for Alec and for the family I have been given here upon the Earth :)
A few days ago Elder Mallonee and I went on an exchange with our District Leader. We had to bus about 1.5 hours and then walk 20 minutes to get there. That's definitely a new experience for going on an exchange for me haha. It was pretty eventful. Our first bus got us just right outside of Birmingham and then we had to catch another bus south westish to Redditch. We got to the stop and waited for our bus. Nothing. We checked google maps and everything, and nothing said that the bus was delayed, so we have just assumed to this point that it never showed up. There was another bus coming in a little bit but we had some time to spare, so we talked to a few people and went and bought a quick snack. I got a Cadbury Oreo chocolate bar. Heaven. Chocolate here is absolutely amazing. Especially Cadbury.
Soon enough the time came to board our next bus. This one decided not to show up either... We had just waited about an hour for this next one but it didn't show. I prayed silently that we would be able to catch this bus so we wouldn't be late. Eventually, we just decided to catch a different bus (a route that had been coming about every 5-10 minutes) to the train station and then train down to where we were going. We still might be able to make it on time this way. Seconds before we were about to board the bus to the train station, the bus down to Redditch appeared!! Thank Goodness! It stopped, but as we made our way over it up and left us. (SIGH) A little frustrated we decided to just go to the train station anyway. A few stops later we got in a little bit of a traffic jam and we saw the bus to Redditch in front of us! We talked about getting off this bus and heading up to that one, we just didn't know how long it would wait for us. The traffic cleared up again and the idea faded into a dream as the Redditch bus drove off into the distance. I thought to myself 'Was that God answering my prayer? Is He that merciful? Was that our only chance?' I decided right then that if I ever got an answer to prayer so clearly again in my life that I needed to act on it, immediately.
Lucky enough for us, and for everyone who has ever existed, God is very merciful and loves giving His children many chances and attempts. The traffic got bad again and we AGAIN came near to the bus to Redditch. This was our 3rd chance to board the bus and you bet I was going to take it. We snagged our stuff from our benches, ran down the stairs and out of our bus. We booked it for the next bus. As we were within 20 feet or so it starting pulling away and I ran even faster towards it (Thanks to my Dad and Coaches Bonner, Porter, and Nixon for making us run in practice). I stepped a few feet on to the road and just starting knocking on the window The bus driver noticed us and kindly let us on. Haha what an adventure. When we were on the bus I realized I had only packed 1 pair of socks. That night, after our labors, I took my socks off and washed them in the kitchen sink with some dish soap. Thanks for teaching me how to do the dishes Mom :D The socks were mostly dry the next day.
Anyway, God gives His children many chances. He is merciful and is wanting for us to repent and return to Him. He provides a way, even if that way is not always how we imagine it.
-Elder Shockley
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