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

CONQUISTAR, HAIRCUTS, AND MY LAST WEEK IN THE LIMA MTC

Helllooooooooo FAMILY!!!!!

Sounds like things are once again superb at the Shumway Home!! LOVE ALL OF YOU!!! Keep being incredible!!!

So to start, I HAVE ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT HERE!!! WHAT?????? Early Tuesday morning Hermana Shumway will be headin´ to go preach the gospel in Piura!!! So nuts! And just a heads up that this may be my last email for about a week and a half! I am not sure how soon they will let us email when I get to Piura. So just try not to forget that I LOVE YOU GUYS for a week and a half, alrighty? I seriously cannot even express how excited I am to actually start serving! My Spanish is definitely not incredible, and I am still learning so much, but I just know that it is going to be the most incredible thing sharing this incredible work with the people of Piura! 

This week has been really great at the CCM! We might have a little too much fun here!!! Earlier this week my district and I were studying new words, and each of us were supposed to think of a new verb and a hand sign to go with it to show the class. I thought of the word “conquistar” because that means to conquer and I thought that would give us a little motivation that we can TOTALLY CONQUER any trial that comes at us. My hand signal was crossing my arm over my chest... no idea where that came from... and I demonstrated it for the class. THE NEXT PART WAS HILARIOUS. Slowly, everyone started pounding their chest and said conquistar ... and then ... conquistar, CONQUISTAR, CONQUISTAR. No joke, we all started, in sync, pounding our chest and chanting CONQUISTAR! It is officially now our district cheer. When we play soccer, are studying and need some pumping up, or just randomly, we will all start chanting! Oh my heavens, it is HILARIOUS!! That probably makes no sense, but hey, I thought I would try to explain it!

Another highlight of the week is I cut an hermana´s hair (don´t freak out fam) because she really wanted shorter hair, and me being so willing to be SERVICEABLE, offered to give it a go! I HAVE NEVER LAUGHED SO HARD IN MY LIFE!!! I was terrible, and I had no idea what I was doing ... but have no fear, I constantly kept reminding her that all was well in the back of her head. I tried to remember all the things my hairstylist would do to my hair but pretty much I just winged it. My favorite person on planet earth, Hermana Frame (an hermana in our room) held the trash can and I did the cutting. The great thing is it doesn´t look to bad! Just a little random layers here and there, and a few uneven spots, but she is still smiling so it must not be that terrible!

Also, I sang at one of our devotionals. SURPRISE!!! I seriously was scared to death, and was not planning on doing it ... but they needed someone for a musical number, so me and Hermana Frame offered to sing a duet, and then our district would join in in the chorus. It ended up being a lot of fun, but a little frightening singing in front of all the missionaries! But always a great experience!

At another one of our devotionals, we ended up watching a devotional from the Provo MTC, and it was Elder Uchtdorf speaking. One of the highlights was when he talked about the apostle Peter and when he denied Christ 3X. And then he talked about how Peter from that point on, desiring to never experience that moment again, became one of the greatest missionaries. The overall point was what kind of witness are we? Are we like Peter when he denied the Christ, or the incredible witness he was after that moment?

Two other great one-liners:

     - Develop a reputation as someone who is fearless.

     - If you want to punch Satan in the mouth, preach the gospel.

I also want to let you guys know that I placed my first Book of Mormon today!!! It was our P-Day, and as a district we made the goal to proselyte as we were going to the store. So ... we were walking to the store, spotted a few people, and we all got super nervous and I  wanted to act like I wasn´t scared, so I grabbed my companion, Hermana Robinson, and we walked over to a lady walking her dog. We got rejected really quick … BUT, me being the determined person I am, wanted to try again. So my comp and I walked over to a man talking to his friend that had her little kid with her. We were just talking about super basic things, and then we slowly eased in to who we were and what we believed. We started talking about the Book of Mormon and it really surprised him when he heard that it testified of Christ in the Americas. He then became super interested, wanted to learn more, and we gave him a BOM! It was one of the most exciting, thrilling moments I have ever felt! And the gift of tongues is so real too! I was able to talk a lot and bear my testimony, and that is a miracle in itself! I just cannot wait to get to Piura and experience this every day! I absolutely know it will be hard, but it is the most wonderful feeling when you share this gospel with the world! I JUST LOVE THIS WORK!! If anyone is doubting whether or not to go on a mission—don´t. I just love this gospel!

I don´t have a lot of time left, but overall just know I love you and am doing great!! I wouldn´t want to be anywhere else! And my mission scripture Alma 26:12 has been a blessing every day!

Next email you get, I will be a missionary in Piura!! So crazy!!! I love you all and you are always in my prayers!

Grandpa J. - I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART!!! You are getting three fingers up, spelling I LOVE YOU, from here in PERU.

XOXO – Hermana Shumway

FAMILY, INSPIRED COUNSEL AND MY COUSIN CALLED TO PERU

FAMILY!!! Holy toledo I love you guys! I know I say that every email and you probably are sick of it but when I only get one time a week to hear how you guys are doing I have realized how lucky I am to have such an incredible family!!! LIFE IS SWELL here in sweet Peru!! It was another typical week here in the CCM. Eat ... study ... and sleep! All GREAT things!

To start, GENERAL CONFERENCE WAS INCREDIBLE!!!! So many inspired talks! Here are a couple of my favorite quotes:

Lynn G. Robbins

Seek not for the praise of men, but seek for praise from God.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

The church is not for perfect people, it is for people to be perfected through Christ.

Dallin H. Oaks

Kindness is powerful.

Jorg Klebingat

Something like that! LOVED HIS TALK!! Acknowledge and face your weaknesses, but do not be immobilized by them.

Jeffrey R. Holland

If you don’t help those around you, but pray for forgiveness and help for yourself all the time, then your prayer is in vain. And another favorite, I may not be my brothers keeper, but I am my brothers brother.

Robert D. Hales

If we found ourselves upon Christ, we will not fall, we will not fail.

I LOVED CONFERENCE!!! Also, in Women’s Conference President Uchtdorf said a phrase I absolutely loved. He said ´Return to your heavenly home with honor´ -- what an incredible phrase. As missionaries we always talk about returning to our home with honor, but I never thought about returning to my HEAVENLY home with honor. That is something I hope we would all strive to work for. I just love that! Conference was definitely the highlight of my week and we are so blessed to have that chance to listen to our wonderful prophet and so many other incredible speakers!

Things at the CCM are going so great! My Spanish is coming slowly, but surely! I am one of those people that just wants everything to come quickly and be ready to teach, but I know that I need to be patient and rely on the Lord’s timing.

This morning for P-Day we went to the temple again and I have a story that really hit me hard. As my companion and I were waiting at the temple to go in, there was a huge group of women that were waiting as well. We started talking to each other, and we commented on how wonderful it was that such a large group was coming to the temple and how happy they were! One of the sisters then said that it was a group of 60 people, coming from Arequipa. They mentioned that they got on the bus yesterday and traveled 16 hours to the temple and felt so blessed and overjoyed to be there. Not once did they complain and the WHOLE TIME they were all beaming with smiles! This group of people set such an example for me! 16 hours, all through the night, just to get to the temple! My companion and I could not help but get teary eyed when we heard their story! I couldn’t help but think that we are so blessed to have temples so close to us, and I think we definitely take that for granted! I just love the desire this group had to go the temple and desire to do what’s right! I am sure they had to give up so much just to get there and I felt so blessed to share that experience with them!

Sounds like the family is doing incredible though! Parker, I love you and sounds like everything is going so wonderful with Cassidy! KEEP ME POSTED! Everyone else sounds so great too! Chariton, CONGRATS!!! No surprise there that you got a touchdown! You have always been such an incredible athlete! McKay -  LOVE YOU! Justin and Emily - love you!!!!!

ERIN ASHTON HAD HER BABY!!!! Ahhh, and he is beautiful!!! Give him a few snuggles from me and tell them I say congrats!! I miss those adorable crazy boys!

And sweet Jane!!! I miss that little angel! Parker, make sure she is cozy and has enough popcorn okay?? I just love hearing about you guys!!  

Also, so sad about BYU! Poor Taysom. That is devastating! Hopefully he has a fast recovery and the rest of the team can get back on their feet!

MY COUSIN CHRISTA IS COMING TO PERU!!!!!!!!! WHAT????? She is going to love it!!! And I know some elders going to that mission and they are incredible! PERU IS THE BEST!! Tell her to read her Preach My Gospel every day and learn the missionary objective in Spanish!! She is going to be such an incredible missionary! Tell her to write me when she can!!!

ALSO, TELL GRANDPA J I LOVE HIM!!!! I miss him SO MUCH!! Make sure he does not get too buff while I am gone okay! Sounds like he is a crazy workout machine now! :)

I LOVE YOU ALL!! Keep doing what is right, never doubt yourself, and trust in the Lord ALWAYS! We are so blessed to have the knowledge of this gospel! I have realized that more and more these last few weeks! Also, take advantage of bearing your testimony! We do that a lot in our district and I feel like my testimony has grown so much just from sharing it with others! Take advantage of that if you have the chance!!!

Less than two weeks in the CCM for this Hermana … sooooo crazy!!! I LOVE YOU!!! Keep being incredible!

Your little latina – Hermana Shumway!!!

CONFERENCE, TEMPLES AND LOVING LIFE IN LIMA

To my adorable family,

HOLA!!!! I seriously LOVE LOVE LOVE reading your emails!!! You guys are the greatest! Sounds like everything is superb in good ole Orem, Utah! 

So ... General Conference this weekend!! I am so EXCITED!!!! We are watching it on Saturday and Sunday, so that will replace proselyting this weekend. I seriously cannot wait to hear from the prophet and all the other speakers!!! As a district we are all thinking of a question to think about during conference!! Such a great idea!!!! And yes it will be in ENGLISH!!! Hallelujah ... I have no idea how to spell that word ... but I seriously am so excited for that! Oh and we will listen to Women's Conference Sunday night! That will be so great! It really is such a blessing that we have conference! Please take it seriously and don't just nap during that time. It is hard for people here in Peru to even get access to a radio to listen to it. We are so blessed to have Conference and I think sometimes we take it for granted! It is such a great time to be uplifted and recieve answers!

Sorry I don't have a lot of time to write! Today we are so busy!! We went to the temple this morning, we do that every Pday, and I LOVE THAT TIME!!! The temple is incredible, GO AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN! The workers at the temple here sometimes have to travel a few hours just to be there for a little bit. They give up so much to be at the temple, and they have such a love for it! Take advantage of the access you have to temples! It has come to be one of my favorite times of the week!

I wish I had more time to talk about the CCM, but it really has just been another lesson filled week. We are still practicing teaching investigators and I still love the food! My schedule goes: study, eat, study, eat some more, then finally SLEEP!!! I seriously love it here!! I promise I will write more next week about it too!

THANK YOU FOR THE QUOTES MOM!!!! I always take a pic of them and look at them throughout the week! I seriously needed every one of those!! The church is true, and I am so grateful to know that!! And please read your scriptures as often as you can! The words of the Book of Mormon are incredible! I thrive off my time to study my scriptures! I love this gospel, I love all of you so much, and I love that I am in Peru at this wonderful time!!

Be obedient, pray always, and never forget who you are!! I LOVE YOU ALL!

XOXOXO - Hermana Shumway

P.S. Justin, Parker, and Chariton - Be sure to send me tips you have about being a good missionary!!! You guys were so incredible and I want to make sure I am being the best missionary I can be!!! LOVE YA!!!