MANGOES, CHOOSING HAPPINESS, AND GETTING READY FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE

Hey there Fam!

Soooooo … hopefully I can write down everything in time! McKay ... Holy smokes, you guys are beautiful! Hope Homecoming went great! And you guys went fishing!!! Looks like a blast! And sweet Lizzy with her BYU shirt – so cute! Em – Congrats on the job … YOU ARE INCREDIBLE!!!! You are just too smart, that is so amazing!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

So just one gee whiz fact to share this week ... I HEARD SHAKE IT OFF by Taylor Swift today!!! We were eating lunch and it came on ... and I secretly inside was dying it was so great. I remembered that moment when we were all in the car heading to go miniature golfing and I freaked out when the song came on and scared Dad and Mom to death. Good times.

This week we started it out with a Noche de Hogar (FHE) which went SUPERBLY!!! We had planned to have it in the house of a recent convert Carola, and we showed up not expecting many members to come ... and BOOM ... it was PACKED!!! About 20 people were there and that is like the whole Sunday sacrament meeting which is pretty incredible! Many of the youth and single adults showed up too and we had fun learning about The Gospel of Jesus Christ. I taught the lesson, put them into groups, and asked them to each cover a different principle of the gospel, draw it, and then find a scripture to share about it. The pics turned out to be so great (sorry I don't have a pic to share) and they all taught their principle PERFECTLY! Then we ended playing a game called THE BOMB ... and we ended the night laughing and having the best of time. I shared a little bit of America with them and gave them all Jolly Ranchers. It was a success! 

The next few days we spent time finding new investigators. I think I mentioned it but many of our investigators haven´t been progressing lately so we are constantly looking for new ones. We are still working with Maribel and she is doing great but hasn’t got around to reading her Book of Mormon yet or praying to know if it is true. We are helping her though, step by step. She says she feels happier so that is good!

Also, in our time searching for investigators we struggled to find a certain contact we had contacted a week before. We were looking and looking … and finally the people told us the house doesn’t exist. My comp and I looked at each other and the member that was with us got pretty frustrated because we had spent a lot of time looking. But then a thought came to my head and I said, "Maybe Heavenly Father didn't want us to find them just yet, and really just wanted us to find the people around the house." We then started to contact all the people that we had passed by and found two great families! And it just taught me a lesson that we can look at every situation in a positive way, no matter the circumstance. When you look at things in a happier, positive way … life is just so much better! 

Also, we ended up contacting a family on our list of contacts, and found one of the girls that has been coming to our English classes. Her name is Estefany and when I saw her I couldn’t believe it! Her family is very Catholic but she wants to learn more about the church and loves going to the activities. She is a cutie-pie so I will let you know how it goes with her!

It is getting hotter and hotter in Chulucanas! Man … it is sooooo hot! But that means it is also mango season here and everyone gives us mangoes … so that is just great and seems to cool us down.

I love this mission business. Lucero and I walk and walk and walk and walk so much! We are exhausted but we are finding new investigators and are just thrilled to be here! She is a little fireball that has taught me so much in our one week together! She is a recent convert that is going to change the world. 

ARE YOU ALL READY FOR CONFERENCE!!! I challenge all of you to make a list of questions for conference, and I know they will get answered! It is something that has helped me so much in my time here in the mission! What an incredible time! Gotta love Conference!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Until next week,

Hermanita Shumway

My mini-missionary Lucero is such a doll and I just love her a whole lot!

CHALLENGES, NEW AMIGOS, AND MAKING COOKIES

Familia,

So I have some sad news. My sweet comp got transferred this last week. It was not expected and it kind of blew us away when we found out it was happening. Hermana Bryce got transferred to the area of Ficus and is going to finish her training there. To be honest it was a major blow. I would have loved to train her all the way until the end because any trainer would love that, right? But everything happens for a reason. She has been having many health problems so it actually will be good for her to be closer to the clinic instead of having to travel by bus all the time. The poor thing suffered a lot and it was hard ending my training so fast. But the mission more than anything else has taught me that everything happens for a reason. And I just have to trust in that.

So you are probably all asking now, “Who is your comp?” Well ... I officially do not have a comp for now. I am with a mini missionary that is a member from Paita. She is going to be my pal for the next bit and she is just the sweetest thing. She is 18 years old and has been a convert since January. Her name is Lucero. Pretty much she is one of the strongest people I have ever met and has passed through many trials to get to where she is at … and I just know she is going to be such a strength to this area.

But this last week was really great! We made a few new little kid friends … hahaha … and man can I just say that they make this missionary job so fun! They all scream the names of Hermana Bryce and I as we walk down the street and we hand out the stickers we brought from the states (thank you mom and the mom of Hermana Bryce!). I sent a few pics of our new friends and a video of my pal Jesus. He is one of my favorite pals that CAME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY. He isn’t a member but his cousins are, and they invited him! 

Also, this last Sunday we went all out to bring the less-actives to church. They have not been coming and so we scheduled a way to go and pick five less actives up and an investigator. Three of the less-actives came, Jesus (my amigo from the video), our little amigo that is about five years old who just randomly came, and overall it was just the greatest! We are hoping this next week to do the same and hopefully we will get our sweet chapel filled. WE CAN DO IT!!

This last week Leandro received the priesthood too! And gave the closing prayer in the sacrament meeting. He is going to receive a calling soon and it has just been so incredible seeing him progress so much. He even taught a part of the class Sunday in our Principles of the Gospel class! And we constantly have Family Night with him and his soon-to-be family. They are so excited for their marriage in October too! Sorry that was a kajillion different things in one second but he is going to do incredible things in the church.

Our status with investigators right now is like a rollercoaster (I don’t even remember how to spell that word. We find amazing investigators and then they end up not progressing, but then we find new investigators and it just keeps going up and down! It can be frustrating at times but we just rely on the next miracle waiting around the corner … and we just keep on moving on. But a major blessing that we saw this last week was when we found an investigator without trying to. We went to a house looking for a less-active member and we found her mom Marybelle. She has never listened to the missionaries but has gone to church a few times. Hermana Rose, a member that was with us that day, is her friend and asked if we could share a message with her. She invited us in and we got to know her a little bit. Then we asked her cute little son (we call him Amigo (the pic with the kid that is shirtless with stickers on our head) who could say the opening prayer because he wanted to choose. He picked his mom … she started to pray and then just burst into tears as she was praying. She could hardly say anything and when she finished she poured out her heart to us. She and her daughter have been struggling A LOT recently and she needed us that day. We shared with her about the power of faith in her Heavenly Father and his plan and scheduled another visit. Now we have had a few lessons and she is PROGRESSING. Still is a little nervous to listen to us but she said she has just felt so much peace lately. But for me it is incredible how our Heavenly Father guides us to those that are prepared to hear this message. It was not our intention to find her and whether or not she keeps on progressing, it was an unplanned miracle. #MissionMiracles

Also, remember how I said we are trying to reactivate the youth of this area? We are doing it!!! It is just a few for now but they are coming! Last night my comp and I had a Noche de Hogar (FHE) planned with a group of the single adults from the branch. My comp ended up sticking with a member and packing and I taught the lesson with another member. It went so well! We taught about the Restoration and saw a video about it. They all opened up so quickly in the lesson and by the end of the night it was a real hit! For me it was crazy to think that I can teach a FHE lesson in Spanish too! One year ago I would have never thought that was possible but now I can do it! The Gift of Tongues is so real and I just love being a missionary and preaching the gospel in Spanish.

I honestly am trying to remember what else happened this week but I can’t remember anything else. But it was a great week! It is going to be hard without my last comp, we were finding so many wonderful people, and just excited to strengthen this sweet town of Chulucanas … but it will be good with my mini missionary.

As I was reading my scriptures this week I found one that just caught my eye and I have to share it with you:

Jacob 4:7

Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things.

Love that! I know the scriptures are such a powerful tool that we have in our hands in this time. I love reading these sacred books and I know it is true!

Love you all to the moon and back! Have an incredible week! And CTR!!!

Xoxo, Hermana Shumway

We made cookies with Hermana Rasmussen ... the President’s wife!!!

Our new little amigo - we love this kid!

We ate ice cream our last day together as missionaries of Chulucanas. A member owns the shop!!!

The chickens were just chillin' with us during a lesson 

Me and this girl will be going home together! She is my Hermana Leader of the mission. We had a one day transfer together.

Eating lunch with our District

Leandro looking great in his SHIRT with Andrea and Aixa - I LOVE THEM!!!

Hermana Bryce and Eva Aguilar with me

Me and Eva Aguilar

Pineapple CREMOLADA - soooooo good

Our Branch Mission Leader - THIS GUY IS A CHAMP!

I taught FHE all by myself while my comp packed (of course with a member as my comp). It was with the single adults of our branch ... it was so fun!

STAKE CONFERENCE, OLD FRIENDS, AND A SILLY COCKROACH

Hola Familia!!

First off ... BYU football definitely deserves a SHOUT OUT from Piura!! That is so sick!! And #19 in the polls ... man life is just too great. And Mom ... I am so happy to hear your birthday was SUPERB!! And good 'ole Mi Ranchito ... oh man I miss that food. So thrilled to hear it was GREAT!!! You deserve it mama! And LOGAN!!! I love that guy so much ... tell him I say "Hi!"

So here are a few highlights from the week:

1. "Nothing funny happened this week" ... so that phrase was said from my comp five minutes before we came to get on the internet. It was true ... until one minute after she said that. I was putting my feet into my shoes before leaving, felt something inside (thinking it was a piece of paper or something) and what do you know ... A COCKROACH jumps out!!! This guy was HUGE!!!!!!! I DIED ... screamed my head off ... and then we both just died laughing. THAT wins for the highlight of the week. #PiuraLife

2. I had my District Meeting by phone this week. My comp was sick and we couldn’t find a member to do splits. Sooooo … the hilarious and super nice elders called me while my comp rested. They asked me to give the spiritual thought and it just ended up being HILARIOUS! Definitely was entertaining. 

3. Favorite Peruvian food right now: Polla a la Brasa. French Fries and Chicken. Mmmmm mmmmm good!

4. They say that a huge rain flood is coming to Piura in these next few months.  Would be such an adventure because we would have to travel in handmade boats and only eat Top Ramen every day ... okay maybe not that bad ... but it seriously is going to be crazy if it happens! It's called EL NINO!

5. And last but not least ... I HAVE ONE YEAR DOWN!!! Time flies when you are having fun. #Iamgoingtomissthisplace

This week was an adventure for my comp and I ... mainly because we are trying to help my poor comp get better. The poor thing has been sick these last few weeks and we are hoping that this week she starts feeling better with the medicine. I feel so bad because she just got here and is already sick! Pray for her please!! But she sure is a trooper.

But our week was filled with a few activities that sure made it interesting! First off, we had a Family Home Evening Night with a less-active family. We thought "Let's make it extra fun and make AMERICAN FOOD". So we made tacos (we miss real Mexican food) and cookie dough. The tacos turned out great with guacamole, crazy hot peppers (teared up every time I ate one), meat, tomatoes, and onions. The cookie dough, started out as normal circles and ended up looking like a flat cake. But it still TASTED GOOD! Ha ... it was really fun! Then we shared a Mormon message and just had a great night with their family.

Also, it was Stake Conference this week ... which means ... I SAW ALL OF MY FRIENDS FROM LOS ALGARROBOS! I sure do miss those wonderful people. Familia Castro, Ximena (my 6 year old best friend), and my pencionista (her son goes on his mission in one week to Colombia). It was just the best! Also ... Leandro came to Stake Conference! It is a one hour bus ride to our Stake Center and it was such a blessing seeing him and his soon-to-be wife walk in together. He loved it too! And wore his white shirt and tie! Also, an investigator that we use to teach came! His wife, Adria, is a member who always comes with us to preach the gospel. Manuel, her husband, has only come to church a few times and has never had any interest ... but this week he came! We stopped by later that night to see what he thought and HE LOVED IT. We ended up sharing a quick message with him and he now is willing to listen to us. I will keep you updated, but it honestly was a miracle because we have not been able to find many new investigators these last few weeks. Blessing from above. Woot woot!

Also, the President and his wife spoke in Stake Conference this week and man they are just incredible. President shared the store about Peter and how he steps out of his boat to walk on water to Jesus. He explained how that was such an act of faith! And then he asked, what are we doing now to "step out of our boats" and exercise faith? We get so comfortable in our everyday lives and at times just need to take that step of faith. Stepping out of our boats, and either sharing the gospel, being a little more obedient to the commandments, or doing something more to follow our Savior! What are we doing today to step out of our boats and exercise faith? Hope that makes sense ... but man it was a great talk! 

I love you all so, so, so much! Tell Ben and Will hi from me and that I am so proud of them for finishing strong! Have an incredible week!

This church is true. I just know it!!

Xoxo, Hermana Shumway

My 6 year old bestie Ximena, with her Mom and Grandma -- I love them so much!!!

Sweet Ximena is just my very bestest little friend here in Peru

Remember Felipe my pencionista's son? He leaves on his mission in one week. And sweet Claudia too. Woohoo!!!

I love hanging out with other missionaries ... looking snazzy in our glasses

I found my old comp Hmna. Ore ... she is such a sweetheart

These people are just the greatest

Here is a pic of our zone from the waterfall hike we went on a few weeks ago

A little girl did my hair -- turned out pretty nifty

We made tacos and cookie dough for a FHE -- yummy!

BAPTISM DAY, NOCHE CULTURAL, AND OTHER SUPERB STUFF

Hola Familia!!!

MAN … WHAT A WEEK!! This week was probably one of the most stressful weeks I have ever felt in my whole mission. But it was so worth it!

To start … HAPPY BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK MAMA!! You are the greatest … and man I sure do love you best friend! Hope it is the greatest day and that the boys spoil you! Feliz Cumpleanos from Peru! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Second, Leandro got baptized this past week! It was such a special experience seeing him all dressed in white, entering the font. Like I said last week, it has been quite an adventure, and to finally see it all come together was incredible. His baptism was Saturday at night so we prepared the room to make it nice and made the program for the service! I ended up giving a talk on baptism and my comp played the piano for the musical number by Andrea and Aixa (his future wife and 4 year old daughter). Everything went really well, and then when it got time for him to enter the font … I just started to tear up. I couldn’t believe it was actually happening. He was literally glowing … and when he came up out of the water he just couldn’t stop grinning! We ended the service with him bearing his testimony and when he walked up to the front he just started crying. He said that he knows this church is true. He explained that when he went under the water he didn’t want to come up because he just felt so much happiness. He said he has never ever felt that when in his life and he will never forget that. He said he feels different and can’t even explain it. He couldn’t even hold back the tears. He finished sharing his testimony and it was such an incredible moment. Afterwards his future wife, Andrea, told us that she doesn’t know whether to cry or laugh because she is so happy! Honestly it was just such an incredible night. After the baptism we stopped by his house to tell him how proud and happy we are for him and gave him a white Sunday shirt (thanks Mom), tie (thanks to the elders), and a pic of the temple so that he never forgets his goal! Sent a few pics, but man I can’t even tell you how incredible this night was. And he even wore the CTR ring we gave him and hasn’t taken it off. :)

The following day he was confirmed in church and ended up giving his testimony in fast and testimony meeting. He walked into church just beaming in his white shirt and tie. Family … this is what makes this work worth it!

Also, this week we had another Ward Activity! Se llama Noche Cultural. Every organization presented plates of food from different countries and we had judges to judge the best plate and they performed a dance from their country and all that great stuff! It was a real HIT! So many people came and the food was INCREDIBLE! As the Obra Misional we presented the plate from AMERICA (woohoo!) and after thinking forever about what to make we decided to make french toast and pancakes! Classic USA food right? Not even sure if we invented those things but hey … it turned out superb! We made it look like a picnic and everyone loved the food! They also invited a dance group to come and perform Peruvian dances and it was so fun! A lot of less active members came and NEW investigators. Overall, it was a great night! 

Oh random fact ... on our way to our Zone Meeting our bus got stopped by a few police cars. I thought … can they pull over buses? Yup! All they wanted was to check the ID of everyone on the bus. It was super exciting! We didn’t have our IDs so we thought we were going to jail. But the police were cool with it because we are just nice gringa missionaries. But it was all crazy and apparently they were looking for someone. They didn’t find them and let us get on our way. It is always an adventure here in Peru! #PiuraLife

We had a lot of things happen this week and actually didn’t have a lot of time to work in our area … but overall it was really a SUPER great week! 

We are working hard … thrilled to have seen Leandro get baptized … and have set goals to find more Investigators this week! We have a huge stack of Book of Mormons and want to hand a lot of them out this next week in some creative way. We are brainstorming and I will let you know how it goes! Also, we are still working with the two families we found and hope they keep listening. This message sure does bless families. I have seen that in my own family!! 

I love this gospel and I hope you really, really do too. And I know this is the work of our Heavenly Father. I am so thankful that he touched the heart of Hermano Leandro and know he and Andrea are working to get married in the temple. What a blessing that families can be sealed there for time and all eternity! 

New phrase of my comp and I is: WHERE IS THE LOVE? LOVE EVERYONE … and I promise the greatest love you can show them is sharing this message with them. 

Keep on being incredible! LOVE YOU ALL! Make every day better than the one before. And share this gospel with everyone you know. I promise they need it!

XOXO

Hermanita Shumway

Baptism Day for Leandro ... best day ever!!!

Giving Leandro his new shirt and tie

He was so happy and looks amazing in his church clothes

This is what happiness looks like

Being silly as we prep for our ward activity

Noche Cultural - our ward activity "Cultural Night"

Posing for a pic by our cool table with pancakes and french toast

Carved watermelon ... I love the missionaries! Woot woot

Check out our classy skirts - We ALMOST participated in the dance :)

Chilling with all the primary kids

We invited a bunch of ballerinas and Peruvian dancers to perform. They loved hearing us talk in English and pretty much we are all best friends now!

My  little amigo and new best friend Jay. He is AN ANGEL and loves to talk to me!

On P-Day for our exercise we ran up a mountain ... it was great. I love Chulucanas!!!

Later in the day we passed by the handy dandy moto with some chickens #PiuraLife