Crazy Busy Day

Elder Shelley is hiking Table Rock today. His email came about 1pm and he had already done 2 hours of service, did wash, and went to the store. Then they are headed hiking, to dinner at 5, to teach a lesson at 6, another lesson with a recent convert at 7, visiting members at 8 and then at 9 they have to be back home to plan for tomorrow.

They are teaching two ladies that live in their apartment complex. I am going to cut and paste the next bit right out of his letter. It is interesting how I can turn almost any topic into something related to the gospel. Cynthia knocked on our door and asked if we had internet service and I was like no but wait we don't even have anything that works off wifi. Cynthia was like what, do you know what the internet is. And I was like ya we get to visit sites like mormon.org and LDS.org and then she was like what is LDS and then we talked more and she left with a copy of the Book Of Mormon. We have been able to teach her a couple of times and started teaching her room mate Jennifer and we prayed for the flies in her place to quit bugging her and she hasn't seen a fly in her house since then. Prays are answered. 

This is a photo of an 8 foot horse that a guy he meet
restored for a Shakespearean play. The is really cool he is
from Shelley Idaho.

P-day fun! He has learned to solve a rubrics cube.  
Alex will  be so proud for him...

Crazy Pork he made...

Soy sauce, honey, BBQ sauce, lemon juice, garlic powder, chili powder, hot sauce, pepper, and hot chocolate powder as well, it turned out pretty good. He marinated it for a couple of days and then I reduced the extra sauce down and  had rice with it as well. I can't wait for him to come home and cook for me...Not

OEM Zone Conference

Central Point Zone

One Pillar Down...

Not Elder Shelley's week for biking!

Elder Ricks and Elder Shelley at a baptism  

He crashed on his bike three times this week. Only one of the wreaks were his fault and that one did the least amount of damage but he destroyed the rim of his bike.  Luckily the guy that he wreaked in front of gave him a new rim so his bike is all good! But he tore out two pairs of pants and burnt his leg when he fell.

Aug. 26, 2013

Elder Shelley has been very busy this week.  His mission covers some of Jacksonville and a little bit of Medford.  He is getting a lot faster on his bike because of the big area they have to cover. His leg muscles are getting big.  He said that it has been raining some and it is hard to ride a bike with his long rain jacket.
They didn't get a chance to go to the pear farm.  He was a little disappointed because tomorrow is the last day of picking so it doesn't look like they will have a chance.  The next picking is in Nov. if he is in the same area he might have a chance then. He is getting really good at making pan fried chicken and gravy.  They have been eating it a lot lately.
There was a new missionary training up in Eugene.  Elder Shelley said it was amazing and he got a lot out of it.  He got to see some of his friends and a lot of the people from his district. Elder Aragon was way excited to see Elder Shelley.

Amazing Sunset...

Jacksonville Area

Elder Shelley is in the Jacksonville area and is doing good.  He is close to a Pear Farm.  He is going to pick on the farm with an investigator on Tuesday.  He is really excited for the new area.  It isn't as smoky there so he can get out and go tracking.  They are in an all bike area.  So he has been a bit tired and his back has been hurting from all the biking they have been having to do.
Elder Shelley said "Elder Ricks is really nice. It is weird to be training someone. I have to be on my best behavior because I have to teach him how to work hard and be smart. Missionaries do things really differently so it is weird because Ricks hasn't gotten into his own mode of teaching. I am trying to work with him and teach him to be himself and teach from the heart."

They had a really cool experience this week. They were able to find a guy that is trying to make so changes in his life. He was talking about how he wanted to go back to church to one of his coworkers that day at work and they knocked on his door within minutes of him getting home from work. It was a really cool experience. They are hoping that he will let them come back.

Before Elder Shelley left the Grants Pass area he got to see his friend from High School Elder Riley Johnson and play baseball with him.  He found out the Elder Tanner Barnhill got transferred to the new Salem Mission so he wont get to see him until after his mission.

Elder Shelley has a new address.

1828 West 8th Street #8

Medford, OR 97501

6 Months/Transfer Day

So today is Transfer Day and he is being transferred to the Jacksonville, OR area.  The Jacksonville area is bigger than Grants Pass.  It borders Grants Pass and Medford.  Elder Shelley's new companion will be Elder Ricks.  Elder Ricks has been out for 6 weeks.
Elder Shelley has been out for 6 months. It is a tradition that if you are in one area for 6 months you burn a tie.  The photo is of him burning a tie.  It is not very common to be in the same area for 6 months.

Elder Shelley said that he really enjoyed Grants Pass.  

He made a lot of friends and is going to miss the area a lot. 

District/Zone Aug. 2013