FAMILY, CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

FAMILY!!!

This past week was so incredible!!! And can I just say that talking to you guys was absolute heaven!! I miss you all to pieces but am so happy to see you all are doing so great! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!!

Gee Whiz Facts of the Week:

1. Oh boy … so this week, during a lesson with an investigator family, we asked to finish the lesson with a prayer. We asked the investigator if they would say it, and I couldn't hear the response, but the investigator was looking at me and talking, so I thought we were just having a normal conversation. So I just kept smiling and nodding my head at them (a typical conversation) and then all of a sudden they said Amen. Yup, they had been saying the prayer the whole time and I had been smiling and nodding my head to every word of their prayer.

2. I ate the sticker on an apple ... woops!

3. My companion was robbed in the markado (a bunch of outdoor stores all squished together)

4. It is Summer here in Piura right now … and burning hot!

So we had a great events for Christmas this week!!

1. We got to sing in a park called Plaza de Almas as a Zone! It was on Christmas Eve and there were so many people!!! We sang a bunch of Christmas hymns and then finished it with a bang singing Feliz Navidad and I Wanna Wish You a Merry Christmas! It was just great! 

2. With some ward members, we went to the house of the father who has the sick son, and the ward members gave him a priesthood blessing! It was such an incredible experience and you have to remember that this is an investigator family! We haven’t even really taught them yet, but the father had so much faith that the priesthood blessing would help his son! Such an incredible experience!

3. An investigator family invited us to eat Christmas Dinner with them. But the tradition here is to eat a huge meal at midnight on Christmas Eve … ssooooo we couldn’t eat with them. But we stopped by to wish them a Merry Christmas and I sent you a pic of the meat they had!! SOOOO MUCH MEAT!

Also, we have new investigators! It’s great because they are references from less actives so hopefully they can help us with their friends and accompany us to the lessons! We have contacted of few of the references and they are so excited to learn more. WE LOVE REFERENCES!!!

Honestly I just have to say that I loved being able to preach the gospel during Christmas. Man, it was hard being away from my family and from the snow (it is so hot here), but I feel so blessed to be able to share the message of our Savior with the people of Piura. So many people wanted to listen to our message this week. It was AMAZING!!! It is like all of their hearts opened up and they wanted so badly to hear about Christ and what he did for us. I love my Savior, and to be able to testify of him to the people of Piura is an experience I am never going to regret!

A missionary friend mentioned something that her mission is doing for the new year. All the missionaries are taking to the time to write a letter to Christ. What an incredible idea. Give it a try! 

I wish you all the happiest New Year’s and cannot thank you enough for your support! Make 2015 a year to remember! Do a little more for your neighbor, share the gospel, and change bad habits to good. We are so blessed to have this glorious gospel! Make every day a good one and have no regrets!

I love you all and thank you all for your support!!!

XOXO – Hermana Shumway

The pic is a little blurry ... but hopefully you can see all that delicious meat!

Carlita (our darling investigator who so badly wants to get baptized ... hopefully soon) with her parents - they are the family who cooked the incredible meat in the picture above and invited us to their Christmas Eve feast!

Some snapshots at our Zone Christmas Party

And ... another snapshot

Caroling in the park - saw two of our less actives Grecia and Gustavo (in a BYU Idaho shirt all the way down in Piura)

Our Christmas Eve caroling as a zone ... so fun!

A little festive fun for our study area

Today we had an epic water fight with another zone ... it was so much fun!!! (The pic is of just my zone)

My most favorite, heavenly meal ... Lomo Saltado! YUMMY!!!

MIRACLES, MORE MIRACLES, AND THE WARD CHRISTMAS PARTY

(EMAIL SENT DECEMBER 23, 2014)

Family!!!

Oh my heavens, I cannot even believe that I get to talk to you guys in two days! Holy toledo ... I am so excited!!! And it sounds like you guys are doing so great!!! Love you all and have the greatest Christmas!

This week was a week of miracles!

Miracle number one - A few days ago we had Lunch with the Bishop. We asked if he had any references for us that we could contact during the week and he gave us a family. After one of our citas with an investigator, we were walking to our next cita and remembered that we needed to contact this friend of the bishop. We decided to pass by really quick before our next cita and we were walking down the street and an person we had contacted in the street about a month ago stopped us and begged for help. He broke into tears, and told us he needed God. He told us his son was diagnosed with a rare disease and the family was heart-broken and didn't know what they were going to do. He asked if we would just come in and say a prayer for the family to help them! We walked in and about 20 members of this family were sitting together crying and mourning for this sweet 12 year old boy. My comp and I said a kneeling prayer with the family and shared a little about the plan of our Heavenly Father. We sang Silent Night, and the father asked us if we could stop by their son in the hospital and offer a blessing. We said that we would ask members of the ward to offer it and we will be visiting them this Christmas. This was an absolute miracle for us. When we had contacted this Dad, he did not want to talk to us and literally had no interest at all. But in this moment he had so much faith and such a desire for our Heavenly Father. The spirit was so strong during the kneeling prayer and the family couldn't stop thanking us. This is just such a miracle that this even happened because honestly, without the reference of the bishop, and our random desire to pass by and visit the friend, this experience would never had happened. Everything happens for a reason and I know without a doubt that Heavenly Father is guiding this work. This family would like us to visit again, and are possibly future members of the church! What a miracle!!

Miracle number 2 - 12 investigators came to our Ward Christmas Party!! 12!!!!

Miracle number 3 - Walter Romani came to church! This is an investigator that we have been praying and fasting would come to church! He always gives us excuses, but this last Sunday, he showed up with his daughter! A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!!!

This week we also got to sing in the mall with two zones of the mission (about 35 missionaries)! It was so much fun!!! We had a special musical number where a few of us missionaries sang in English and Spanish! It was just so great and President came with his family too!!

Also, we had our Ward Christmas Party and that was so wonderful too! A tradition here in Peru is to eat Paneton (like bread with fruit snacks in it - so weird but amazingly so delicious) and Chocolatada (like hot chocolate) and we did that as a ward! We also had Santa Claus and a bunch of activities and a program of the birth of Christ! I just love the members! Overall we are busy and enjoying this wonderful time of Christmas here in burning hot Piura! I love it!!

I am so grateful to have this time to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that he lives. I know that he is our Savior and Redeemer. I love my Savior with all my heart and I hope we can all remember him this Christmas and that he is the greatest gift of all. I hope we can all think of what we can give to him in return this Christmas whether it be an act of service, love to others, or sharing the gospel! I love this gospel and I love being a missionary!!

Thank you all for your support and prayers!! Have an incredible Christmas!!

Hermana Shumway

Sorry my letter is so short this week!! I will tell you more in two days!! LOVE YOU FAM!!!

Tell the Saffells and Wrights thank you for their letters!!!

Hermana Fernandez and I with two of the awesome missionaries (dressed up as two of the Wise Men) in our zone - Elder Lucas and Elder Garcia

The ward members recreating the Nativity ... it was so incredible!

Our zone with Presidente Rowley and his wife

Having some fun with the elders in our district

My comp and I with Presidente Rowley and his sweet wife

Holy hannah ... eating this frozen yogurt was like a little bit of heaven!

Total happiness eating this delicious creation!

FISH BONES, SPIDERS, AND PRIESTHOOD BLESSINGS

(EMAIL SENT DECEMBER 15, 2014)

Familia!!!

Sounds like you are all doing so great!

This Week’s Gee Whiz Facts:

1. We ate some delicious fish with a member family earlier this week, and by the time we all finished the meal, I looked around at everyone else’s plate and say they all had piles of bones. Looked down at mine and realized I had none. Woops! Pray for me.

2. Was teaching a less active family about the BOM, and the mom was doing great with her reading recently. We asked her if she had any questions and she said, "Oh, I don’t understand any of it, but everyone should read it, it’s great!" For some reason that was so funny to me! We love their family!

3. Primary Program was this past week. SO CUTE! Didn't understand it, but it was still so adorable!!!

But I seriously feel like this week has flown by!!! And in T-minus one week and a half I will be talking with you guys over Skype!! SO crazy! I cannot wait! So I have some incredible news! My sunburn has healed completely! And that is a miracle. So mom you remember that one time I got super burnt after skiing and had blisters all over my face. Yup, that was Tuesday morning (Sorry parents, SUNBLOCK is now a every day thing, I PROMISE)! But my face was in so much pain, I couldn't sleep, and I didn't know what to do medicine wise because everything is in Spanish and I couldn't understand the instructions. So … I decided to ask for a priesthood blessing. That night the elders in our ward came over and gave me a wonderful blessing ... and it was a miracle!!! The next morning, the blisters were almost completely gone and I felt almost no pain in my face. Priesthood blessings are so real. After a couple of days my face was back to normal, and after many cold showers I feel great now! I can absolutely testify of the power of priesthood blessings. It was such a blessing that the burn healed that quickly and I just feel so blessed to have the priesthood.

Also, we had another service project this week. We cleaned a house which is actually their chapel in different area. It hadn’t been used in a couple months, so the scary news is I think there were at least a kajillion spiders ... big ones ... inside (have no fear, I didn't know how to say spider in Spanish so I didn't scream a lot when I saw one, because in reality, I didn't know what to do) but it was so much fun to clean it with my zone (I sent a pic)! 

Currently, we have no new investigators but our current ones have been making so much progress!!! Licet and her mom are still taking lessons, and her mom said that when she feels something, she will join the church. We ask her every time if she has prayed about our message and the Book of Mormon, and she says no. We are praying that she will do that and feel the spirit because once she knows the Book of Mormon is true, everything else is true!! That is such an important step! So keep her in your prayers that she will feel the spirit from our lessons and will pray to know if what we are teaching is true! 

Also Family Montinegro is our current investigator family! They are incredible and have so many questions! But that is so great, because they have such a desire to know if what we are teaching is truly the truth. We have a lesson with the tonight, and we are teaching them the Restoration! We hope and pray that they will feel the spirit, and understand how much happiness the gospel brings! They are such an incredible family, and mom, the kids LOVE the stickers you sent with me! They are just so great and we can’t wait to see where it goes in the future!

Oh and yesterday we had a meeting with our Area President! He is the presiding authority over many Latin countries and we had a huge multi-zone meeting with him with the wards and missionaries. It was incredible!! And the crazy part was he randomly called up our bishop (out of like 15 different wards) to come and share about his ward council. AND THEN … he called up all of the ward council members, INCLUDING the missionaries! So my comp and I, and the other elders in our ward walked up in front of everyone and our bishop shared our progress as a ward council. Oh man, my heart was POUNDING!! We all joked that if they asked for a missionary to speak, I would do it, because I don’t know Spanish so it would be more entertaining! Hahaha – it was so crazy, but I didn't have to end up speaking! But it was great to share our experiences as a ward with the different zones. 

Overall, I am doing great and very busy!! Every day is exhausting but so amazing! I love this work! I know I say that all the time, but I have felt so much joy from being a missionary!!! Right now I am trying to finish the Book of Mormon before the end of the year and am currently in the end of Alma reading about Moroni and his incredible testimony and power as a leader. I love the Book of Mormon and I challenge all of you to read that every day and cherish that time. We are so blessed to have that incredible book.

I love you all and hope you have the greatest Christmas in a week and a half! Do what’s right and no regrets!! 

XOXO – Hermana CHUMway

Cleaning the dirt and grime from the chapel ... and Spider Armageddon!

Holding hands with the nutcracker in front of the local mall

CHICKEN FEET, MY FIRST BAPTISM, AND SERVING IN THE SUN

This week I thought I would start with some Gee Whiz Facts:

1. I saw chicken feet lying on the street the other day

2. I accidentally told someone I was sick in the mind, meaning to tell them I was feeling sick (woops!)

3. One of our investigators thought that Dia de Reposo (Day of Rest - Sunday) was our P-day

4. I love Piura!

So to start … WE HAD A BAPTISM!!! It was our sweet investigator Jorge! My first baptism and it honestly was absolutely perfect. He was so nervous, but after the baptism he just had so much peace and couldn't stop smiling. We are so thrilled for him. I sent you some pics of that day!

To answer your questions from the past few weeks, we have two investigator families and about four other investigators. We actually had a miracle this last week with one investigator family. So as you know, we are teaching English classes and a family that we contacted in the street a few weeks back has been attending the class every week. But you have to know that this family is not taking lessons about the gospel because they said they are strong Catholics and don’t want anything to do with another religion ... only English classes. So this past Sunday, during a typical Sacrament Meeting, as we are singing a hymn, this family … AMAZINGLY … walks into the chapel and come and sit down by us. It was INCREDIBLE! They said that is was just because their daughter wanted to be with her friends (who are members) and that they would only stay for a little bit. They ended up staying for all the classes AND in Relief Society the Mom offered to bring two milks to our Ward Christmas Devotional. It was so CRAZY!!! We did not think they would ever listen to our message, let alone come to church, but we have a cita with them today (teaching the Restoration) and they can't wait to come to church the next week. It is a miracle! So they are a new investigator family. 

Also, this past week, my comp was so sick and literally could not talk ... which meant I had to teach all the lessons! It was a week I will always remember and amazingly I was able to do it! I have no idea if the people understood anything I was saying, but hey, it was a great experience!!

The sad news of this week  is that I am a RED TOMATO. Literally. Yesterday, the reason I couldn't write is because we had a service project in the morning. My comp and I had no idea what we were doing and, assuming we were going to clean the capilla, we didn't wear sunscreen. SUCH A BAD IDEA. We ended up cleaning an entire street that had so much trash for five hours in the SUN! Mom and Dad, I am going to have cancer when I’m older. I always wear sunscreen, but this day of course I didn't think to wear it. But have no fear, we pray for our skin in every companionship prayer and we will be A-Okay in about a week. But oh my heavens, I wish they had told us that we would be outside for five hours. All of the missionaries are SO RED right now! But it's all good!

Overall, I am doing so great and my Spanish is coming along! Like I said, it is really hard to be away from home right now. But, it has been such a blessing to focus so much more on my Savior, and share his incredible story every day. We have seen incredible things happen and so many more people that are willing to listen! I love being a missionary and I feel so blessed to have so much support from all of you!!! Have the greatest Christmas and remember what should be our main focus. The birth of our Savior was the greatest gift to the world, and I cannot tell you how grateful I am for that gift! I love this gospel, I love all of you ... so keep being incredible and do what's right!

XOXO – Hermana Shumway

Our Christmas Tree complete with decorations we made ... THANKS FAMILY ... WE LOVE IT!

My companion, Jorge's Mom, Jorge, Jorge's Dad and me ... BEST DAY E-V-A-H!

Some more pictures of the yummy food here in Piura

The day I became a red tomato

THANKSGIVING, TEACHING, AND LOVING LIFE AS A MISSIONARY

Family!!! 

I hope you are all doing so great!!! Happy Thanksgiving! Ha - I hope you ate SO MUCH delicious food!! Oh and can you let the Ashton's know that I received their darling card of sweet baby Benson (hopefully I spelled that right!!)! What a treat that was! Tell them I love them so much and miss their family, and that the picture made my day! Oh and I sent a card home with Hermana Cardon for you guys! Hopefully you will get it around Christmas!

So this past week had its up and downs! We didn't have the baptism this week. :( Jorge got a little scared and decided last minute that he wanted to move it to a different week. This was so hard to hear for my comp and I! We were so excited for him to be baptized and become of member of this incredible church, but we know that everything happens for a reason and that hopefully this week he feels more comfortable! He is so incredible, and he knows the church is true. We have moved the date so hopefully he feels more comfortable by then! Please keep him in your prayers! There is so much joy in the gospel and want him to feel that and be apart of that!

We have a sweet 14 year old named Lizet that we are teaching! She is the investigator that gave us a lot of references and approached us in the street wanting to hear about the gospel. She is so wonderful and I think one of the sweetest people I have ever met! We LOVE HER!!! She and her mom are taking the lessons and they have been so receptive and willing to learn more. Lizet has been coming to church with us the past few Sundays, but we really want her mom to come too! So hopefully this next week we can get her to come! We feel so blessed to be able to teach them though, they are great!

We also are teaching Family Ramonì! They are wonderful, and we love them so much!! The only hard part is they haven't come to church yet. Every time we teach them they say they feel so much joy and they feel the spirit, but they don´t understand the importance of going to church. So we hope that they might surprise us one of these Sundays and be sitting in the congregation ... but for right now the lessons have been going so wonderful with them! 

Overall, we have had a great week! The only hard part is many of our less actives don´t want to come to church! But we know that we can´t give up on them, and are working hard to help them feel the desire to come! 

I love being a missionary! This church is true, and I can´t even express how much I love being a member of this church! So much joy comes from the gospel!! I wish I could say it was easy being a missionary, but that wouldn't be true. But what makes it worth it is seeing how people find so much joy when they hear our message! They change their lives, and desire to do whats right, all because they want to feel the peace and love that comes from this church! Thank you so much for your support and prayers! They mean the world to me and I love you all so much! Always do what´s right and be willing to share your testimony! I can promise you that there is always someone that needs to hear what you have to say in you share it!

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Love Hermana CHUMway!

Me with the other elders who all started our mission together - first cambio down!

Celebrating my comp's birthday

My comp holding the birthday letter I wrote in Spanish ... she could understand most of it

Picture 1 of the yummy food our pencionista makes for us

Picture 2 of the yummy food ... so good

Picture 3 ... everything she makes is amazing

 Taking a break with funny faces

MOTOS, MY EYES, AND A BAPTISM

Hola Familia!!!

Sounds like you guys are doing INCREDIBLE!!!! Thanksgiving IS THIS WEEK! Eat lots of food for me and if you are with the McCleskey’s tell them I love them and say hello!!!! Mom, to answer one of your questions, yup I got your package!!! And I cannot even thank you enough for everything! I didn’t have time this morning to go through all of it, but from what I was able to see, THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING! You are all the absolute greatest and I feel so blessed to have such an incredible family!! The Priority Mail Envelope hasn’t arrived yet but they said hopefully by December for the stuff from the CCM. And I am going to send a pic next week of the food I eat! Our pencionista is incredible! So stay tuned for food pics!

So guess who was my companion for a day this past week??? Hermana Cardon, Kayla Cardon’s sister who is in your YSA ward!!! She is my Sister Leader and is absolutely incredible! She ends her mission in a week, so I was her last intercambio! She is an absolute doll, and it was heavenly being able to speak English and talk about all of our experiences so far on the mission. She is an incredible missionary and gave me such good advice! Seriously, it was the best 24 hours of my mission so far!! I just love her!

Also, funny story from when I was with Sister Cardon. So we were contacting and we found this family just standing all together outside of their house, so of course ran over to talk to them. It ended up that the only person interested was their son, about 23 years old. So we sat down and had a quick lesson with him. I was sharing some of my feelings about the gospel and THE ENTIRE time he was looking at me and smiling. I assumed it was because of my Spanish, because it’s a typical reaction when I start talking :)! But nope! Right as I finished talking (more like pouring out my soul, people!) he says, "You have the most beautiful eyes." And I just lost it! It was the funniest thing ever, and he seriously had not paid attention to a single thing in our lesson! Hermana Cardon tried to bring it home by sharing her testimony and he said the same thing about her eyes! Yup, we ended the lesson with a sweet little final testimony and hustled out the door! We busted up laughing afterwards! It was too great! What a little rascal, he wasn´t even interested … but it was a great experience!

Oh and some big news is we have a BAPTISM this week!!! Wohooo!!! It is our investigator Jorge, and he is so excited! He is the sweetest thing and his mom is so happy that he has made the decision to be a member of this wonderful church (she is a member). And my companion and I feel so blessed because he hasn´t been interested in listening to the missionaries, until the last few months, and so we all are so excited that he has made this decision! We can´t wait!

Overall, we are having some great success with the families we are currently teaching! Family Ramoni (the family of Water, Norfidia, Gaby, Luz) are incredible and are so willing to hear our message. The only thing is they are a little scared every time we talk about baptism so we hope that after time they will come to realize that is more of a blessing then a scary thing! But overall, they seriously are so amazing and I hope that they realize how much of joy comes from the gospel!

Another thing I want to share with you is a great quote I found in Preach My Gospel. It says:

"Regarding one’s testimony, remember, that which one willingly shares he keeps, while that which he selfishly keeps he loses... teach and testify. There is no better combination."

To me that is so powerful! The only way we can grow our testimonies and MAINTAIN our testimonies is if we SHARE them! So my challenge this week is SHARE your testimony! Whether this Sunday, or during the week with your friends, just SHARE what you believe! From experience, I seriously am always so scared to testify, because my Spanish is so bad, but I want you all to know that every time I do testify, no matter how weak or bad, I feel stronger and more confident!

I love you all A MILLION KAJILLIONS and thank you so much for your support!! Always do what’s right and have the greatest Thanksgiving!!! 

XOXO – Hermana CHUMway!

Riding in the moto with my comp (our typical form of transportation which is basically a motorcycle with a little cabin for people to sit in) 

P-Day at Chili's eating some yummy American food ... HOSANNAH!!!

Hermana Cardon and I ... she is seriously awesome

Zone Conference

PICS, MIRACLES, AND MORE MIRACLES

Hola Familia!! 

To start, I want to say I love hearing about all of your stories and the things happening in your lives!! Sorry I haven´t been responding about all of those great things. Parker, SO SO SO SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!! You and Cass are darling and I am absolutely thrilled for you guys! LINDSEY PETERSON is going on a mission!!!! Ahhhhh, when you see her please give her a big hug from me and tell her I am so excited for her! She will be an incredible missionary!!! And Mom, you are incredible!! All of the work you do for your job is amazing, and the big change in employees is such an exciting step for Allegiance! And Mr. Downs. OH MY HEAVENS I LOVE THAT MAN!!! So happy you got to chat with him for a little!! Seriously, it sounds like you guys are just so busy and doing such great things! Lovey, I hope school is going great for you and you are feeling okay!! Love you so much!! Chariton, what ever happened to writing me?? Just kidding, but seriously I would love to hear about you and your dates and school!! I love you champ! Parks, love you to the moon and back! Thank you for your letters and I am thrilled for you!! Justin and Emily, you guys just are the cutest and I love you way too much!! Hope law school is going great for you Emily!! I bet you are just killing it! And Justin, hope school and work and all of those great things are going well!! Love you guys so much!! Mom and Dad I love you guys so much too!! Thank you for your support and letters!! 

So, this week has been great!! So busy, but so great!! To start, we had a member of the Seventy come and speak to us. His name is Elder Evans and he was an incredible speaker. He pretty much just laid out that we need to work harder, and dedicate all we have to this time as missionaries! He also shared about how repentance needs to be a very strong focus in our lessons with our investigators. He wanted us to understand that for a member to repent and be baptized requires a complete change of heart. And that we make such sacred ordinances when we are baptized. It seriously was just such a powerful talk and made me want to work so much harder! He also stressed the importance of finding references from members and our investigators. And he promised us that that night (after the meeting) in our proselyting we would find references. What a promise!! And guess what happened!! My comp and I found someone!!

So here is what happened. So like normal, we went out to meet with our investigators that night and none of our citas fell through, so we got super frustrated because we had hoped we would find references! And then... as we were walking around a park looking for families to share the gospel with, a 14 year old girl came up and asked us when we were going to visit her family?? It was so crazy!! We had never met her before, and she shared with us that about a year ago missionaries had visited with her and her family but I guess they stopped coming after a while. When she saw us and remembered the sister missionaries and wanted to know when we were coming to visit again! So we set up a visit for the following day. When we went and met with her the following day, we decided to ask her for references. She gave us 5!!!! It was such a blessing! Seriously I couldn´t believe it! Such a blessing. 

Also, we were going to have a baptism this weekend but we are probably going to move it to the next week. Our investigator Jorge is incredible, but he needs a few more lessons and we want to make sure to not rush through them! Also, our other investigator that was going to be baptized can´t anymore. Her parents, who are not members, don´t think that she is ready. It is so sad!! She has such a desire to be baptized! But they said that maybe in December she can do it! So we will shoot for that.

Overall, things are going really well! We are preaching the gospel and trying so hard to find more people to teach every day! Please pray for us to find new families! We want to share this gospel so bad, because it is such a blessing!! Seriously, I don’t know what I would do without the gospel. I love this work!! Share the gospel with everyone around you! We are so blessed to have the church in our life!

I love you ALL!!! Do what´s right every day and always trust in your Heavenly Father!! 1 Nephi 7:12 

XOXO – Hermana Shumway


Noche de Postres (Dessert Night) ... we baked brownies and a carrot cake!

Just another hot and sweaty day in Piura ... sending my love to you all!

KNOCKING DOORS, PREPARED INVESTIGATORS AND LOVIN' LIFE!

Hola Familia!!!

Another great week has flown by! Oh my heavens, I have two months in the mish!!! That is so nuts! I am loving it here and this week has been so great!!

As you all wonder every week … how is my Spanish? Well, this week I was able to understand A LOT more!! My comp is so patient with me and pushes me to speak as much as I can. The best part is when we are contacting in the street and my comp says the next person is mine and right when I start speaking the same thing happens every time. The person starts with a smile and then their face slowly moves to a confused look, a no idea what was just said type of look. Well, the language will come one of these days! :)

Right now we are teaching about 7 families! We found one of the families as the sister was washing her car out in the calle. We introduced ourselves like normal, and when we started talking about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith she was shocked and said, "Oh yeah, I had a dream about him." WHAT??? Talk about a prepared investigator!! She wanted to learn more and invited us in to her home. She invited her brother and cousin out (keep in mind that they are all about 60 years old and the sweetest group of people) and we taught them the first lesson. The spirit was so strong!! I could only speak a little bit of Spanish, but I testified of what I could and we asked if we could come again! Now we have taught them three lessons, and they are GOLDEN investigators! They are reading their Book of Mormon and are so sweet and excited to learn more! Oh and in the last visit, they invited two of their family members to listen to the lesson. WOW!! Maybe by the end of December we will have 5 more baptisms?? Cross your fingers!!

Also, this last week we had a day when none of our meetings with investigators fell through, so we decided to do contacting and knock on a bunch of doors in the street. We began knocking, and did for what seemed like forever before we got to the house of one of our current investigators. We stopped to say hello, talked to her for a little, and then found out she has a brother who is a member, who lives in her house, and has been looking for the missionaries!! WHY HAD WE NOT HEARD THIS BEFORE?? She called him down to meet us, and he is an incredible man named Julio. He has been looking for the church ever since he moved from Lima to Piura! It was a miracle!! Seriously, we had been knocking on doors ALL DAY and one of our last houses (a house of an investigator) had a member of the church! He was so excited and said he would love to come to church that Sunday! And sure thing, he was there the following Sunday!! He seriously is incredible and so willing to take the lessons again since he has been inactive for quite some time. He is literally the perfect investigator!

Overall, we are working hard and are loving the opportunity we have to teach the gospel every day!! Thank you for all of your support and we´ll see what this next week brings!! I love you all!!! Keep choosing the right and make every day count!

XOXO – Hermana "CH-UM" way!!

TEACHING PIANO, TEACHING ENGLISH, AND THE TOP BUNK

Okay ... so this week has been superb! Seriously last week was so hard for me, and I was really down and frustrated A LOT ... but this week has been so full of happy moments and success! First, I want to start with some cool facts:

- I sleep without a blanket (it is way too hot for one) and I think I almost die every time I try to climb up to the top of my bed (I am the top bunk).

- I am currently the ward pianist. HOLY TOLEDO is all I can say! And yes, I am pretty terrible! Hahaha! The members assumed I could play because I am American and asked if I would play this last Sunday right before sacrament meeting began. And of course, me being the determined human being I am said of course!!! The first hymn was..... The Spirit of God. FOR A BEGINNER IT IS SUCH A HARD HYMN! I am pretty sure everyone in the congregation was laughing because it sounded so horrible but I just grinned and did my best! It was SO HILARIOUS! But they asked me to play so I must have sounded somewhat okay! So I guess you can now consider me the ward pianist!!!

- And it gets even better... BECAUSE ... I am now officially the piano teacher and English teacher every Friday. Can I please say HOLY TOLEDO again! I seriously am so terrible at teaching piano and English, but hey, this is going to be so entertaining! I will definitely keep you posted!

- I finally received the ward letter from September - THANK GRAMPS!! You are the bomb!!

I just love hearing about you guys and seriously can´t even tell you how grateful I am for your support!! My Spanish is coming along! I seriously want to be completely fluent already, but I know that it just takes time! But, it is becoming a lot easier to understand what people are saying so that is progress! 

Also, we have one investigator with a baptismal date!! WAHOO!!!! And hopefully by the end of this week we will have two! The first is Jorge, who I talked about last week with the pic of the temple, and the second (we are crossing our fingers she will want to be baptized soon) is Carla! Both are about 14 years old and incredible people! Carla has parents who are not very supportive, but hopefully they will have a change of heart as we progress in the lessons! They are so hilarious though! My comp and I love their family! And Jorge is doing superb as well! He continues to progress and now we are really pushing him to read his scriptures more. But all in all, he has the desire, he just needs to continue to strengthen his testimony. His mom is a member and an incredible person! Hopefully her influence will help Jorge out a little bit!

Also, I want to testify of the power of prayer. Oh my heavens, I cannot stress enough how much of a blessing it is to kneel down and talk to Heavenly Father every day. Whenever I am struggling, feel homesick, frustrated, or all of the above I know I can pray and feel peace and strength. THIS IS SUCH A BLESSING!! Like I said, this last week was HARD! I was so frustrated, but I can testify that every time I sincerely prayed to my Heavenly Father for help, he has answered my prayers! This week was hard, but I was blessed with many experiences that I have looked back and realized it was exactly what I needed. I know that when I sincerely pray, my Heavenly Father listens, and that has been an incredible blessing this week!

Overall, I am doing great!!! I am happy, my companion is incredible and pushed me to always be better, and I am becoming more a little latina every day! I love you all and can´t wait to hear about your experiences this next week and all the wonderful things you guys are doing! Work hard, STRENGTHEN your testimony everyday, and do what's right!

XOXO - Hermana Shumway

Pictures from our zone activity last week ... such a pretty building!

My comp and I posing with the only male we're allowed to be close to

The view from my apartment window

Just a giant iguana chilling in a tree

I'm putting a big smile on my face because this burro was scary--seriously!

At the market with my comp and two other hermanas

The bunkbeds in our apartment ... it's like scaling Mt. Everest each night!

MY TRAINER, HARD WORK, AND LOVING PIURA

This week has been an adventure! To start ... this is so hard. I have heard so many people say that but I never understood how hard it would really be. But the best part of being here is that it is also the most incredible thing I have ever done!! It is such an incredible way to strengthen your testimony because you literally have to rely on your Heavenly Father for everything. And that is why it is so worth it! I have seen so many small miracles that have strengthened my testimony and helped me come closer to my Heavenly Father. I just love it!!

To start, my trainer is Hermana Fernandez. She is very sweet and has so much patience with my lack of knowing the language. I know she is probably so frustrated with me, every second of every day, but I am trying so hard to learn the language so I can help her! She is from Chile and makes the most amazing food. My president is one of the sweetest people! His name is President Rowley and he and his wife are so loving and incredible leaders. They remind me of Mom and Dad ... like almost exactly. They are so wonderful! P.S. Mom, so the skirt I was wearing in the picture with them is not mine ... it is the President's wife. Hahaha! So the story goes like this ... I spilled on my skirt and had to change. Surprise, surprise ... I am the same old Allyse! Had to explain that little side note.

So I am serving in the Piura Central District. Everyone says it is the best district to start in! It is full of dirt roads, people who find joy in everything, a beautiful chapel and hardworking ward, tall apartments, a hot sun, and chicken and rice! I LOVE IT HERE! The people are incredible!!! I want to share a quick story that really meant the world to me this week. One of our investigators, a 14 year old boy (his mom is a member but the dad isn't) is really struggling with reading the Book of Mormon and overall having a desire to become a member. But this past week, when my comp and I were teaching a lesson, we started talking about temples. He asked what they look like and I took out this pack I have of a bunch of beautiful temples in Utah, California, Florida, etc. He was mesmerized!! He saw the picture of the San Diego temple and I told him that it is one of my favorite temple and that it looks like a castle! He wanted to hold it, and seriously could not stop starting at it. I said that it is his if he wants it and he was so excited!! I said (in Spanish) this can be your goal! We have a date for him to be baptized on 22 de Noviembre and he is just so excited to work on the goal to go to the temple! I know I talk about temples a lot, but we seriously do not realize how much of a blessing they are!!! A 14 year old boy cannot wait to finally have a chance to go the temple someday and we have a few just 10 minutes from our house!! The temple is such a blessing and I felt so blessed to see that these last few weeks!

Also, you are probably wondering how my first week has gone with preaching the gospel! Well ... it has been great!! The only thing I ever can do in our lessons is share my testimony, but the people are so sweet and understanding! Also, the ward is so great!! And we have a beautiful chapel right near our apartment! Sacrament Meeting was such a fun experience too! We have no microphone, so the speakers have to talk loud so everyone can hear! Many of our less actives and investigators came to church this Sunday so that was SO GREAT!!! 

Overall, I just feel so blessed to be a missionary! This is SO HARD, but SO worth it! I really want to share so much more with you but I don't have a lot of time. Just know I love you all, LOVE hearing about your life, and cannot tell you how wonderful it was to hear your voices this last week when I was at the airport! Thank you for all of your support! It means the world to me!!!! I can't speak Spanish but I know it will come in time!! Keep choosing the right and continually grow your testimony! It is so important in this crazy world.

XOXO - Hermana Shumway

PICS, PICS, AND MORE PICS!!!

Here are some pictures so you all know what I've been up to since I left Utah:

Me in front of the Lima Peru Temple ... I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!

Just a typical day at the temple with my district ... I LOVE THEM!!!

Me and my MTC companion at the temple

The Lima MTC President and his wife with our district

The Lima MTC ... such a pretty place!

Just chillin' with my comp outside at the MTC

Wearing my Lionel Messi FC Barcelona jersey (shout out to my brother Parker who served in Barcelona) ... REPRESENT!!!

Me with some of the people I have come to love here

A typical meal in the MTC ... SO YUMMY!

In class with our teacher (the hermana in the middle wearing the black shirt)

Landed in Piura ... WAHOOOOOOO!!!

Me with my trainer Hermana Fernandez (she's from Chile) and President and Sister Rowley ... THEY ARE THE BEST!!!

Inside my apartment in Piura