TEACHING, REJECTION, AND TOTAL HAPPINESS

(EMAIL SENT JANUARY 19, 2015)

Hey Fam!!!

Oh my heavens, this week has flown by. We have been busy, busy, busy but it has been so great!!

Gee Whiz Facts:

1. My comp is learning English. Here are some great quotes from the week:

" I am immersion in water." - She spilled water on herself

" Que arriba, hombre." - Her version of What’s up in Spanish

2. A little kid in our ward drew a pic of Hna. Fernandez and I before Hna. Fernandez left for her new area. It ended up with me being a huge giant, and a tiny baby Hna. Fernandez. Yup, that explains me here, A GIANT.

3. I am in love with alfajores (I hope I spelled that right). If you dont know what that is, look it up and make it. They are Mmmm, mmm, good.

Sounds like you are all doing superb!! Mom and Dad I love you to pieces, thank you for your emails!!! Tell Grandpa Shumway I say Happy Birthday!! And Brothers and Fam - thank you for the little notes!! MADE MY DAY!! I love you all to the moon and back! Hope you are all doing superb!

So to start, we have three investigators with baptismal dates! Cosme, Miguel, and Sergio. Cosme is our new investigator, and boy is he incredible. He has a lot of questions, and many doubts, but he is so willing to learn. We had a lesson early this week with him, and his friend who is a member, and it did not go too great. We were all over the place, and he had a lot of questions and overall the spirit was not there. But we scheduled another lesson. We prayed really hard that he would feel the spirit and feel that it is true, and the truth is we went into the lesson pretty nervous because we had planned to challenge him to baptism. So the lesson started (we were teaching about the Restoration) and it started out okay. But then we got to the part about Joseph Smiths experience in the Sacred Grove. My comp explained the basic details of Joseph Smith (14 years old, had a question, went into the woods to pray, etc.) and then looked at me to say what Joseph Smith wrote about this moment (I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head...). It had been a long time since I had said it in Spanish, and so I seriously thought I would forget it. But it was incredible. Amazingly I said it all correctly, looking at Cosme straight in the eyes, hoping he would feel it is true. After my comp and I both testified of that experience in the Sacred Grove and of Joseph Smith ... Cosme started to cry. I seriously have never felt the spirit so strong in my entire life. It was amazing. We then testified of the Book of Mormon, challenged him to baptism (worried he would say no) and he said, YES. It was incredible. So now he has a baptismal date for 28 of Feb. We are thrilled and I hope he continues to desire to learn more! We seriously feel so blessed to have three people that are preparing to be baptized. I know that sacred covenant will be such a blessing in their lives, and we cannot wait for February. Miguel continues to progress and is so great. Sergio has had a few family problems lately and is struggling a little but wants to learn more. But overall we feel very blessed, and so excited!

Right now we are trying to learn about our new area in San Ramon. This week we visited a lot of less actives, and have received a lot of help from the ward too. But we decided the other day that we wanted to find new investigators in that area. So we knocked on SO MANY doors, preaching this incredible gospel, and the truth is we were rejected ... A LOT. But, we found a few new incredible investigators. One is called Diego. He is 20 years old, is catholic, but his uncle and aunt are members. He is studying in a catholic school right now, but wants to learn more about our religion. We have a lesson scheduled with him later this week! We are super excited! We have a few other lesson scheduled with other new investigators and I will let you know how it goes next week!

Overall we are doing superb. I love my comp, she is hilarious and loves to work hard. We have a goal to talk to 150 people this week. And we absolutely are going to do it!!!

My counsel for the week is to read the Book of Mormon EVERY DAY. I have grown to absolutely love that book. We can always learn something new and be uplifted! I KNOW that book is true, and I love testifying of it.

It is burning hot here right now, every day is a new adventure and workout, and I have grown to LOVE drinking water. Ha, I seriously have never felt so happy in my entire life!!!

I love you all SO MUCH!!! Keep doing what’s right. Trust in your Heavenly Father. And look for opportunities to serve and share this amazing message with the world.

You are always in my prayers!!!

XOXO - Hna. Shumway

Sending my love to all of you!!! (especially Grandpa Johnson - three fingers up from Peru)