599 Days left...

Elder Clinkscales left this morning.  He has been called to serve in the Salem mission. They are just opening the Salem as a new mission.  Elder Shelley doesn't get a new companion until next Monday.  Next Monday is transfer day.  So he is with the Zone Leaders for the week.  Which makes life a little crazy.  He really likes the area so he is hoping to stay, but he won't know until Saturday if he stays of goes.

Zone Conference

So it is going good here. Our apartment is really clean, like aunt Peach and uncle Christopher clean. It is weird to have it so clean because everything is so bright.

Zone Conference 

Zone Conference on Tuesday was really good. He also got to see Elder Riley Johnson(one of Elder Shelley's friends he was the swim team captain at Alta the year before Atticus and played water polo with him) he is a district leader and training is Medford, which is only like a 30 min drive from Grants Pass. He also saw another friend that he didn't even know was out there. His name is Elder Jordan Ayre, he knew him because he played Cello in the orchestra. It was crazy to see them again. Elder Shelley is hoping he can see Elder Tanner Barnhill. It would also be cool if they get to serve with each other or at least in the same district or zone.

Elder Shelley wishes he could have talked to his dad on Father's Day for just like 10 minutes. It was really hard for him not to be around his daddy to celebrate Father's Day. He said that Mother's day was hard also but he got to call and talk to her.

He is really liking Grants Pass and the people in the area. He hopes he gets to stay a little longer.

2nd Baptism

On Saturday June 8 they had their 2nd baptism.  President Watts baptized him.  The brother that was baptized brought his mother to the baptism and to church the next day were Elder Shelley confirmed him a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  His mother was very impressed with the baptism, conformation and President Watts testimony. She stayed for all of church and then asked for a Book of Mormon.  They are hoping to start teaching her soon.
Elder Shelley went on exchanges with the zone leaders and had to walk about 7 miles in one day and it was 95 degrees and he got sun burnt.  Not a fun day!
They got invited to dinner at the uncle of one of the teammates that Atticus swam in High School with.  He said he was really cool.
The work is picking back up.  For some reason they had a rough patch for a couple of week but it is all good now.

The newest member of the Church with Elder Shelley and Elder Clinkscales

This was a gift from the Zone Leaders.  They left it on the floor in Elder Shelley's apartment.

Senior Compainon

Elder Shelley is Senior companion. He is really liking Elder Clinkscales.  Elder Clinkscales is 23 years old and from Thomasville, Georgia.  Both of the elders were in the MTC at the same time but because Elder Shelley knows the area and can drive, so he is the senior companion.  A lot of the other Elders in the area were transferred.  He is sad to see them all go.
This weekend was very hard. The ward had some very hard times. Elder Shelley found out that a 17 year old in the ward killed himself.  One of the sisters in the ward mother was very ill on the way to go see her.  She had a seizure while driving and was in a bad wreak that totaled the car. Before she made it to see her mother, she passed away.  An elderly man in the ward also passed away.  A girl that they are teaching who is pregnant with twins lost one of the babies.  He said that it all happened on Friday and Sat.  He is hoping for a better week this week.

Transfer Day

Elder Shelley will be staying in Grants Pass but will be getting a new companion his name is Elder Clinkscale. Elder Aragon was transferred to Springfield. Elder Shelley is a little frustrated. They have been trying to find a lot of new people this week but nothing seems to be working. They probably tracked about 18-20 hours this week, so a lot of walking and biking.

Elder Shelley has had fun this week.  He has played horse shoes, hacky sack, ultimate Frisbee, disk golf, and basketball.  He said that he is getting much better at these game because they play them so much in Oregon.  He can't wait to get home and teach us.

The Phone Call

Elder Shelley got to call home on Saturday May 11, we were having Beckham(his nephew) Birthday party so he was able to tell him happy birthday...It was so good to hear his voice. He will be calling us on Sunday at 3 and we will get to talk to him for an hour and a half.

Mother's Day phone call was bitter sweet.  It was good to hear from him, don't get me wrong but on the same note it made me miss him even more.

It was so good to talk to him, to hear his voice and to know that he is loving what he is doing.  He loves the people in Grants Pass.  He said that he has learned so much and grown up a lot.  He told me that he even makes his bed everyday (that is the only thing that we fought about when he was home and just so you know he has been gone for 2 months and I still can't make his bed.)  

With as much time as we got to talk to him each of us got to have some one on one time with him and then we put him on speaker phone and finished up the time.

It was the best Mother's Day gift I could ask for. 

The View from Elder Shelley's Apartment