Birthday! (Week 72)

Well, another week flew by. Just like that. Lots of fun and good experiences.

Tuesday was my Birthday and we were able to celebrate by helping out at the forest service. We had to dig up a couple of 9 ish foot wooden fence posts from really muddy ground. That was no simple task haha but it was fun. Glad I got to play around in the mud on my Birthday . Then later that night we ordered 3 XXL Pizzas from Papa John's and got some ice cream and some delicious chocolate Oreo Cadbury bars. I ate a lot. Like A LOT. I wasn't hungry until the next day at dinner haha. Why do I do these things to myself? Anyway, good Birthday all in all.

We had a lot of good conversations with people this week. I was on an exchange with one of the Elders in the Zone and we went to a park to do some finding. We had some great conversations and especially with this one dude. We started talking to him and he went straight to how he didn't like what we did. He said that we infringed on other people's beliefs because we were trying to tell everyone that they are wrong and we are right. 

We had a good conversation and tried to help him understand that we invite others to come unto Christ, we don't force them to. He was just caught up in why we just won't let people believe what they want and he kept expressing his annoyed feelings. We told him that we love and respect everyone's opinion but that we are doing as Christ did, sharing the Gospel. We pulled the Book of Mormon on this dude and read 2 Nephi 29:8-9. That got him thinking a lot. Our conversation progressed and got better. He ultimately didn't want to learn more but he did come away saying that he understood us better and his respect for Missionaries and for the Church of Jesus Christ was up. That was neat. It was cool to see someone's heart softened even just a bit. God will be watching over that man and hopefully in the near future he keeps having interactions with missionaries.

We found out today that I am leaving Kidderminster.......... It's kinda sad because Elder Olsen is such a good Elder and we really get along. It has also been fun to serve in the oldest branch in the UK. I will be heading down to Bristol, so we shall see how that goes haha!

-Elder Shockley 

We have a BOOK for you! (Week 70)

Well this past week was another solid week. Lots of learning going on and I'm very grateful for it:)

The highlight of the week was definitely this past Friday. Our mission got to travel down to London to hear from THREE Apostles of God! Elder Cook, Elder Holland, and President Ballard all came to address us. IT WAS AMAZING! It never gets old hearing from an Apostle of the Lord. We joined with the London mission for this meeting as well, and I was able to see Elder Rose! We served around each other for a bit in the Newport Beach Mission so that was pretty neat.

At the beginning of my mission I would say that rejection and even getting bashed was discouraging and a little frustrating. It still can be. But it honestly depends on your view of it all and how you choose to respond. A couple of days ago (a go? No idea) We were making some phone calls and noticed we had received a referral a bit earlier that day that we hadn't yet reached out to. So we gave them a call. This individual seemed welcoming at first but when she found out who we were she decided to be super sarcastic and toxic with us. She expressed her disinterest in hearing a message about Jesus Christ so I replied with, "Oh really?" in a saddened tone. She said something else but then I didn't respond. I just sat there for close to 30 seconds and didn't say anything. After a couple of "Hello?"s I responded and the call shortly ended. Me and my companion were trying not to burst out with laughter at the awkwardness of the situation. It was awesome. Rejection can be fun; it's just how you make it I guess.

Lately we have been trying to broaden the methods in which we do finding. So me and Elder Olsen have started doing a little bit of tracting now. We went for a couple of hours this past Saturday and had some great success. One of the last doors that we knocked on was sweet. This lady answered the door and we introduced ourselves as usual and then got into a little bit of a conversation. She started telling us of how she is already learning about a church from one of her friends. She expressed to us that she wasn't necessarily interested in what we had to say at the time. Nothing was coming to my mind. Then I remembered what was in my hands. I then said, "Well, we have a Book for you." I handed her the Book of Mormon and we expressed how the Book WILL help her come closer to God. I know the Book of Mormon is true, it has changed my life and brings peace and joy into my everyday life like nothing ever before. There is so much to learn on each page when you really take the time to study it.

I'm grateful to my Father in Heaven for this time to be a missionary. I am very blessed to have this opportunity and am grateful for the means by which God helps us grow. Life is what you make it. Even when things don't go as planned (Because honestly, how often do they actually go as planned?) I can still choose to find joy.

-Elder Shockley