TOO MANY DIFFERENT EMOTIONS ...

Shumway Crew,

To start … YOU ARE KIDDING ME RIGHT??!!! SO PROUD OF YOU MCKAY!! You are just the coolest kid with your acceptance into BYU and possibly a kajillion scholarships from UofU. Tough decision to make but I know that both schools are INCREDIBLE! You just keep blowing me away champ ... CONGRATS! Oh ... and also HAPPY BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK LOVEY!!! I will bring you home something from Peru … yeah! I hope it is a good one! THE BIG 18!!!

The question mark key does not work in this sweet little computer so sorry about that.

Gee Whiz Facts -

1. A little kid, in all seriousness, came up to us in the street and asked us if we could take out her blood. Apparently she thinks we do that as missionaries.

2. A little girl asked how long it takes to get to Hermana Parks house from my house. Hermana Parks told her it takes about 12 hours. The little girl then happily said, “Oh perfect, then you can travel by donkey!” #OhHowILovePeru

3. People think that cough drops are caramels here in Peru. Who knew!

Alrighty … so this week we were jam packed with activities. First ... we had SUPER great intercambios with Hermana Dorado and Hermana Richan. They are both probably the sweetest people I have ever met. I helped Hermana Dorado out in her area and Hermana Parks stayed with Hermana Richan in ours.

Also we had a Hermanas Training this last week with ALL of the Hermanas de la Mision. I led the meeting and it was fun to be present with all of the incredible sisters. We started the meeting singing “As Sisters in Zion” and many were brought to tears. The spirit was so strong and it was such a testimony to me that this is the work of the Lord. After that a few hermanas shared a few special topics with everyone and my cute comp was included. She explained Como Comenzar a Bautizar and we showed an example to all of the hermanas of how to teach it. It was so fun! Also, a few friends of Hermana Rasmussen came to visit and shared their powerful testimonies with us. I just wish I could help you feel what I felt during this meeting … but the spirit was SO STRONG. I don’t have a doubt in my mind that this church is true. By the end of the meeting I just felt overwhelmed with emotions and during the closing mission hymn I started to cry. It just hit me that I only have a few more weeks of this incredible, precious time as a missionary and I couldn’t contain my emotions. I love this work.

Some great news is Angelo and Lucas came to church!! It was a bummer that Kati, their mom, couldn’t come, but her sons did! And they liked it! Lucas was pumped that he received Jello in primary and Angelo has set a date to play soccer with the young men. Great right!! We actually had a pretty special lesson with them this last week. Angelo has not seemed that interested in our message lately so last week we prepared a lesson specifically for him, focusing on a story from the Book of Mormon. We started out the lesson asking them if they had read their scriptures, Kati said yes (she is in 1 Nephi 7) and Angelo said no. We asked why and his Mom said she just has to tell us the truth. Angelo won’t read because he is worried that if he reads he has to get baptized. Apparently he thought that we were trying to force him to get baptized. We explained that our purpose is to invite others to (1) repent, and (2) to be baptized (yup, we were bold). But the most important part is we INVITE … and the person has the chance to choose whether or not to act on it. And the truth is, most don’t feel ready for those two steps, so we share the tools to help! By praying, reading scriptures, and going to church they will feel ready and prepared! We then explained in Alma 49 (what we had planned for him) about a group of Nephites that prepared themselves to fight against the Lamanites and in the end they won the war! We invited Angelo to do the same, to prepare now, and we promised that if he does so, he will be ready for baptism. That sounds a little complicated, but it was incredible how our preparation for this lesson was exactly what Angelo needed to hear. HE CAME TO CHURCH! This was a huge step for him and he is now reading his scriptures. Prayers really do get answered!

Overall, this week was a whirlwind of emotions but I don’t have enough time to explain it all. But I just had so many moments where the spirit testified of the truth of this message.

Someone shared with me this week something really cool, “At some point in our life all of the material things will go away, and the only thing left is us and God.” So what we should all ask, if that happened today, how is your relationship with God! Love that!

Well, I have to go but I want you to know … I KNOW THIS CHURCH IS TRUE!!! It is the same church that our Savior established when he was on the earth. With a living prophet, apostles, revelation, and priesthood power. It blesses and changes lives.

I love you all and cannot believe how fast this is going!!!

Until next week,

Hermana Shumway

P.S. Thank you family for the awesome Valentine's Day package with homemade valentines ... it was seriously the most wonderful surprise! I LOVE YOU!!!

On the way to the Hermanas Training - WE LEFT OUR APARTMENT SO EARLY!