MY BIRTHDAY, TEMPLE DEDICATION, AND MORE MIRACLES

FAMILIA,

Well … I AM OFFICIALLY 20 YEARS OLD!!! I CANNOT believe it! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your birthday wishes!! You are all so incredible! It definitely was unforgettable. I feel so blessed for all of your support and love from the USA and also for the love shown to me from the incredible people in Algarrobos! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

A cool fact of the week is the people here are so into Soccer! We know what is happening in the game because EVERYONE SCREAMS and SHOUTS as we are walking down the street if someone makes a goal or does something bad! I think it is an international cup or something right now in South America and everyone is showing off their futbol spirit! It is too great!

So this past week a few super exciting events happened! First off, THE TEMPLE IN TRUJILLO WAS DEDICATED!! And what an incredible experience that was. Saturday we watched the broadcast of the youth from our stake performing for President Uchtdorf at the Temple Cultural Event. OUR YOUTH started off the event and were amazing!! Youth from our stake and other youth from all over Peru showed off their incredible dancing talent and it was so special to be part of that experience. They sure know how to dance!! Our pal Jimmy was a spectator during the show, and many youth from our ward went!

And then Sunday, we got to participate in the dedication of the temple. President Uchtdorf dedicated the temple, and the whole experience and emotion from everyone here in Piura and Trujillo was amazing.  There are now TWO TEMPLES IN PERU!!! It is an incredible blessing and it brought me and my comp to tears just to be a part of this historic event.

This week we are struggling a little with Grabiel. We thought that everything was going alright, and he even had his baptismal interview and it went perfectly! But after his interview, we have passed by many times and can never find him. He is also going to his friend’s church and is struggling between the beliefs of his friends and our lessons. His baptism is in two weeks, and we are worried we might have to move it out. This week was a little rough for him and us. We honestly can’t figure out what we need to do. We are going to be praying a lot for him this week! Oh and we are teaching his brother-in-law Percy again! 

Family Alcalde is just amazing! They came to the broadcast of the cultural event for the youth and they also made me a cake for my birthday! It was so sweet of them! We have been passing by a lot these last few weeks and our relationship has grown so much! I think I have transfers next week, and will have to say goodbye to this incredible family! But they are set on getting baptized, and have started working on their wedding papers. They love the church, and we are working on helping them to get to know members! But the story of how we found this incredible family and where they are at now just blows my mind. It all started one SUPER sunny day, the second door we knocked, we found Hna. Maria and presented us as missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She timidly invited us to pass by another day, we passed by, and now they have a baptismal date and we have fallen in love with their family! We love them, and it is going to be hard to leave them.

Also this past week I had an experience that I wanted to share. A few days ago we were walking down the street, determined to get to our other appointment. We passed by a chica that was watering the dirt, we said hi and kept walking by. I felt so strongly that we should talk to her, but disregarded it, listening to the story my comp was telling me. About 10 steps more, it hit me again that I needed to talk to her. I said to my comp, "Wait one sec", and turned back to go talk to the chica. I told her I just wanted to present who we are, and as we got talking and I asked if she had time right then for a quick message. She invited us in, we met her mom, and her mom told us that in the city where they lived before, they had listened to the missionaries, but when they moved they lost contact with them. She told us she will always be grateful for everything they did because they helped her through a lot of trials. She told us she had been waiting for more missionaries, and it is a miracle that again, we are in her house teaching her and her family! We set time for another appointment, and will pass by later this week. But when my comp and I left, we couldn’t believe it! We had been looking for families, and found one!!! They are incredible, and are very excited to listen to us! IT was a miracle!!

This next week I am about 99% positive that I am going to be transferred. I will let you know how it goes, but this transfer is going to be really tough. I HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE with this area, and our investigators, and the dust and dirt! We’ll see what happens, and I’ll let you know in my next email.

I know this church is true, I absolutely know it. Every day I feel so incredibly blessed for the opportunity to trudge around in the dirt, sunburned from head to toe, teaching about this incredible message. It is something I LOVE now and I LOVE BEING a representative of my Savior Jesus Christ.

Thank you for all of your support, have an incredible week, and do what’s right! It is so worth it, I promise!

Until next week,

Hermanita CHUMway!

The long awaited pic … Happy Birthday Hermanita Shumway!

The elders and ward members surprised me with a little fiesta!

And ... yes ... I have a video to show how this all came to pass. But let me tell you ... it was TOO GREAT!

My comp hiding the balloons the night before (she didn’t think I would notice)

My sweet comp decorated the room while I was sleeping

And then put notes on every balloon! She is a doll!

Jimmy LOVED his ring! He was always telling us how much he wanted a HLJ (CTR) ring and right before he traveled to the youth event in Trujillo, for the dedication of the temple, we gave him his ring! He literally was beaming!

And in this photo of our hands Jimmy told me he would turn his hand over to the whiter side so that I don't feel so white! I just about died of laughter because I still stand out like crazy. HA!

Oh … I just had to include photo of his Jimmy’s cousin Wilder … MY LITTLE BEST FRIEND. This kid is nuts, but adorable!

Our sweet pencionista Yolo

 She made me a cake for our lunch!! She is the cutest!! WE LOVE HER!!

 Look how incredibly beautiful!

Celebrating my cumple with Family Alcalde ... I love this family so much!

They have the "Family - A Proclamation to the World" we gave them in their living room. And they also have their photo of Jesus Christ front and center. So great!

 I had to snap a quick pic with their doggy Tom

Looking outside of our room ... I love it here!

Snapping a few pics with my comp

We definitely have fun together

Starting off our P-Day with some jumping pics ... woot woot

BIRTHDAYS, BAPTISMS, AND BLESSINGS

Family!!!

First ... I don't have a lot of time so I am going to try and write REALLY fast. HAPPY FATHER’S DAY DADDY!!! LOVE YOU SO SO SO MUCH!!! You are officially the best Daddio in the whole wide world! And … HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARITON!!! Love you champ and I hope you have the greatest B-Day. You are a stallion and are going to do incredible things in your life!! LOVE YOU!!

This week was great!! First off, we had a lesson with Family Alcalde that went really well. We finished teaching the Plan of Salvation, and we were so nervous for this lesson. It has a lot of new principles that many people have never heard, or are a little confused about when they listen to us. But with a lot of prayers said in my head during the lesson, THEY LOVED IT, and have set a goal that they are going to do everything they can to be a eternal family. It went so well that we felt the urge to place a baptismal date and marriage date with them this lesson. We had mentioned it before but we officially placed a date this time!! They have set a goal to be married at the end of July and baptized the following day. Such a miracle!! Also, they came to church Sunday!! And that was a miracle because, the Dad, Jhon, told us he couldn´t come, but he ended up coming with his whole family! We took a pic too that I will send it to you!

Also, Grabiel has a new baptismal date for 5 de Julio. I probably won't be here, which is going to be a little hard, but I am so excited for him! I am almost positive that I will be transferred the next transfer. But he has progressed so much and is set on getting baptized this date.

Also, the son of our pencionista got his mission call!! Felipe will be serving in the Colombia Bogota Mission and leaves in September!! We are thrilled for him and he could not be happier! He will be an incredible missionary. 

This week is the dedication of the Trujillo Temple! Saturday we will all be watching the Cultural Event in our Stake Center, and then Sunday we will be part of the dedication! It is so exciting and everyone here are sooooo thrilled! It is such a blessing because now they will have a temple so much closer ... only 5 hours away compared to the 16 hours to the temple in Lima.

Want to hear a miracle? It is colder here!!! And now I am even using my cardigans. If that isn’t a miracle I don't know what is! Ha - that is definitely a Gee Whiz fact!!!

Well, I love you all and just wanted to end by sharing a scripture with you that I love and really touched me this week. It's in 2 Nephi 26: 24. I love my Savior so much and I can't even comprehend all that he has done for me.

I know this church is true! I LOVE THIS GOSPEL!!! Thank you all for your support!

Hopefully this week I won't have too many pics with eggs in my hair! Hahahaha ... but if so, stay tuned for next week, it is going to be great!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

XOXO Hermana Shumway

Happy Father's Day Daddio ... I love you so much!

Last picture as a zone with Presidente Rowely and his wife before they leave in a few weeks

Well lookie who I found ... my old comp Hermana Salamanca!

Me and my comp Hermana Ore posing for a pic

Our final room inspection with the Rowleys

Look what we did to our wall ... Yo trato de ser como Cristo (I'm trying to be like Jesus)

My comp was dying laughing and had to to take a picture of me with my orange backpack on while I was in the middle of planning

I just love my orange backpack ... it's nifty

The Alcalde Family ... they are so wonderful!

The Castillo Family ... they are crazy and I just love them to death!

Our investigator Grabiel and a few of "my boyz"

These little dudes are the hood of the block and are my best buddies ... I am teaching them English and they are teaching me how to be cool. Ha!

PACKAGES, PRAYERS, AND PREACHING THE GOSPEL

Shumway Familia,

Well, it´s always great hearing that you are all doing superb! LOVE YOU ALL!!! Mom, I got your package and I JUST LOVE YOU GUYS!!! Your cards and every single thing in that package absolutely made my day! Yes … I did start crying when I read your cards, and saw the pics of Parks and Cass. Man, I just love you guys!! Thank you!!! I will be giving Jimmy and Ximena their little presents this week!

Oh and I have to know, what’s happening with the NBA Finals?? AND THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WEEK IS ... MY HALFWAY MARK IS TOMORROW! I literally … like literally … cannot believe it! I still feel like a little newbie in the mission, but I am now on the downhill run. And can I just tell you that I feel like I have learned so much in the last nine months?!! There have been a lot of rough times, even more happy times, a lot of sweat, faith, and tears. But I am so extremely grateful for each day that has passed! And now I have the incredible opportunity to have nine more months of it! I LOVE THE MISSION!!! Time goes by so fast in the mission … so extremely fast! And I love every minute of it!!!!!!!!!!

This last week I mentioned that we celebrated the birthday of my comp. It was SUPERB … and the highlight was the FHE we had with a member family of our ward. We had a FHE in their house and they brought out a cake for my darling compi. And … remember how I mentioned the tradition that they throw eggs? Well, the poor thing blew out her candles and the war commenced. She was DRENCHED in eggs. The photos explain it all! It was a great birthday!

Here is the little update on our investigators:

Family Alcalde - They didn’t come to church yesterday because they went on vacation. We had a FHE with them earlier in the week and the lesson didn’t go as smooth as we had planned. The Dad and Jhon both had a lot of questions and were doubting a lot. It was rough. But the other day we passed by to see how they are doing, and found their son Jhon. We talked with him for a bit, and he is incredible. He told us it just all makes sense, with all of our lessons, and Joseph Smith, and everything. He told us that they had gone to a lot of churches before, and his Dad, Jhon, said that they are set on sticking with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because it just all feels right! We were absolutely thrilled to hear this comment. We were nervous that we were losing them and we found out that they couldn’t be more happy! The only obstacle is marriage. But we have a date set for the end of June. And … I think that the beginning of July they are going to take the incredible step of baptism! Anything is possible if we trust in our Heavenly Father, right? Many prayers are being said for this family! WE LOVE THEM!!!

Grabiel told us this last week that he is going to show a little courage, and is set on being baptized. He knows that his family might not be 100 percent thrilled with the idea, but he is set on it! We have almost taught him every lesson, and he had an interview for his baptism and everything. AND THEN... Saturday he left to Lima for a week. Which means, that with the lack of lessons, and no interview, he won’t be able to be baptized the following week. I just about cried. He is so close, and we feel like everything obstacle is being thrown in his path. BUT, hopefully the following week after my birthday. The dedication of the temple in Trujillo is that week … but we are going to try to make it work! 

Also, this week we tried to contact everyone in our path and we found some incredible new investigators! The hardest part is finding them, when they are available and home, but we really found some great contacts! This week are going to contact every one of them! 

Something that really touched me this week was when we were walking to one of our appointments and said hi to a family that were seated outside of their house. We kept on walking and then heard a little kid yelling "HERMANAS!" We turned back and he ran to us with a handful of bananas. We returned to thank his Dad, and he told us that he just had to give us something to thank us for all we do! He isn’t a member, and we don’t even know him, but this little act of kindness melted my heart. The small things really do make a difference, and it motivated me to look for those small moments to serve others. It is totally worth it!

Well, I have to say goodbye until the next week!! LOVE YOU ALL!! Thank you for all of your prayers and support. It means the world to me! 

Have an incredible week!!

Hermana Shumway

My zone ... and my buddies from the CCM Elder Harris, Elder Haws and Elder Hogge

Birthday celebration for my sweet comp Hermana Ore

The egg smashing tradition is so messy and so awesome

She was such a good sport

SMASHING ROCKS, SHARING CARAMELS, AND FUN TEACHING ENGLISH

FAMILIA!!

Well, sounds like the open house went superb for Park and Cass. And all of my pals!! Tell Mads, Sierra, the Nelson family, and McKay's friends hey!! Love them all!!! And Strom Clark!!! THAT IS CRAZY HE IS HOME. Tell him I say hi and that I hope he is doing superb!

This week was a pretty calm week. Nothing crazy happened, except that I now have a swarm of sweet children that ask me for caramels all the time! They run from FOREVER AWAY just to receive a caramel from me. I don't even know their names and just call them amigos. We are all good pals now. It is the highlight of our day for my comp and I!

Grabiel is still struggling with family things right now. His family and friends don't want him to be baptized, but he does! And he doesn't know what to do. I can't even imagine how hard it would be to have such a desire to do something, but having everyone you love tell you not to do it! We are trying to help him out with many, many prayers, but it is pretty much in his hands now. We set a baptismal date for 13 of June. He didn't come to church yesterday so will probably move his date out a little bit. I will keep you updated. But he literally is incredible!! 

Family Alcalde continue to be amazing. They came to church yesterday and have now accepted a marriage date for the end of June. They are a little nervous with all of the changes that are happening, but told us that they love what they have seen of the church every Sunday, and love what they are learning. We left them a DVD of The Restoration to watch (which also includes a bunch of other videos about Joseph Smith and church stories), and not only did they watch the DVD, but tey then watched EVERY OTHER movie as well. The Dad, Jhon, said that he feels a lot more comfortable with everything after the videos, and it wasn't even our intention to have them watch them all. Talk about incredible! Also, they, for the first time are praying as a family. Heavenly is truly helping us out with this family. And their kids love coming to the English Class!

So ... talking about the English Class we teach ... Hermana CHUMWAY es la maestra! The elders always seem to forget to prepare a lesson... but oh man, my lessons are a hit! I am a horrible teacher (I KNOW ENGLISH … but for some reason I can't teach it very well). Mainly we just crack up laughing for most of the time, but it is so much fun. This past week we learned about colors and clothes -- woot woot! There are about 15 people present every week. And I think the treats I bring every week are a good motivating factor too!

We have our last Multi-Zone Conference coming up in a few weeks. It will be the last with President Rowley and his wife and I can't even believe it. We are sure going to miss them!

This week for our P-Day we celebrated the birthday of my compi!!! She turned 23 years old, and is just the cutest thing.

Also, we heard the news about L. Tom Perry and it just about broke my heart! I love that sweet man, and his family will definitely be in our prayers!

Well, I love you all, wish you all the absolute best in this upcoming week! Read your Book of Mormon every day, pray ALWAYS, and never forget how incredibly loved you all are by your Heavenly Father. 

Until next week,

Hermana CHUMWAY

Just smashing rocks like a boss ... I've got skills!

Me and my comp busy at work

 Today was my comp's birthday so I surprised her and decorated her desk

A pic to celebrate Hermana Ore's turning 23 ... she is just the sweetest person on earth!

El Libro de Mormon (check) ... orange backpack (check) ... positive attitude (check) ... let's do this!

Snapping pictures on a super huge bridge in my area ... over a river that doesn't have any water

FHE, THROWING EGGS, AND OTHER GOOD STUFF

Family!!!

First off ... HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!! And happy end of school (almost) Lovey! Have a superb summer break! And Justin and Emily - you two are just too cute. Parks and Cass - Hope your honeymoon and adorable marriage went SUPERB! Seriously, I teared up seeing the pics of you guys! LOVE YOU!! And Cass you are gorgeous! CHARITON - I cannot believe you saw one of my favorite people in the world. I LOVE YOU LINDS!!! Tell her I say hi! 

Oh and I am so thrilled you got my little package! I LOVE YOU ALL and love hearing that you are all doing great!! Still haven´t received your package mama, but I think this week it should arrive. 

This week flew by - AGAIN!! I seriously cannot even believe that we are almost in JUNE! This year is cruising by. So here is how my week went:

First, we had a FHE with Jimmy and his fam! A few ward members also showed up, and we had a great time playing games and eating Jell-o for dessert - made by our good pal Jimmy! We taught a lesson about Prayer, and I just about choked up in tears as I was ending the lesson with my testimony. I love the incredible opportunity we have to pray to our Heavenly Father. That truly is such an incredible gift we have. In my mish, there has been a lot of ups and downs, but prayer has been such a source of strength for me. 

Also, we had another FHE and threw a little fiesta for Elder Haws for his birthday! The tradition here is for your birthday they throw eggs at you! HA! It´s way too great! I had no idea what was happening when everyone began to throw eggs at him, it´s terrible but so hilarious! He loved it!

Oh and the Family Alcalde continue to progress! We finished teaching the Restoration, and they took it really well! I always get the nerves when I teach that lesson because it can be hard for people to understand at times, but it honestly went so well! I think I was praying the entire lesson in my head that they would understand and feel the truth of what we were teaching. Also, we talked about marriage too. They understand that they need to get married, but told us they are going to talk about it together. But the mom was just beaming the whole time, and her husband too! And their kids want them to get married too! We were so glad that they took it well! We are going to set goals with them tonight. 

But the bummer of the week no one came to church Sunday. Grabiel, Family Alcalde, and our other investigators all said they would come, but no one showed up! We were really bummed. But we know that everything happens for a reason, and are crossing our fingers for next week! 

Grabiel told us this week that he wants to be baptized, and he feels that it´s true. But it is so hard to change the religion of his family, and he doesn´t want them to judge him. That’s the only thing holding him back now! Please keep him in your prayers. But he has been doing great and continues to progress!

There is a lot of excitement here about the temple in Trujillo. Trujillo is about 5 hours from Piura, and the members are thrilled to have a temple so close! Everyone has been going to the puertas abiertas these last few weeks, and a bunch of members spoke about it in church Sunday! And many have said that the prophet is going to come to dedicate the temple in 21 de Junio. It really is an incredible time for the church in Peru! They now have 2 temples! And the youth from our stake are going to dance in the cultural celebration for the temple. It´s so wonderful!

This last Sunday our Bishop shared something in Sacrament Meeting that really hit me hard. He quoted Boyd K. Packer and said - If we truly understand what we are learning, we should see changes in our life every day. That´s not the exact quote, but it was something like that! He went on to say that if we really understand the gospel, we should constantly be changing, improving. We are working for exaltation, and that is not an easy goal. It requires constant changes, and a desire to improve every day! And I just loved that!! 

Well, I LOVE YOU ALL!! Tell Emily Nelson I love her to death, and she is incredible, and Jentry and Rachel too!! Oh and tell MADS I love her so so much!!

Thank you a million times for all of your support! Until next week!

SILTW (Something I learned this week) - Life is so much easier if we are willing to give up our bad habits, and do good. 

SIGF (Something I am grateful for) - Joseph Smith. His faith and courage to ask God for the truth is an incredible example to me! Thanks to a 14 year old boy we have the true and restored church of Jesus Christ. 

XOXO, Hermana Shumway

I wore my nametag out and had to get a new one

Another picture from our service project for Hmno. Fidel

Here he is holding one of his guinea pigs 

 Painting the outside of his home - it was so great!

He loved our great work and gave it a successful thumbs up

Ready to go preach the gospel - let's do this!

FHE with Jimmy and others he invited to join us

Two of the little girls that I love so much - aren't they adorable?!!

NOCHE DE CINE, PAINTING, AND KNOCKING DOORS

(EMAIL SENT MAY 18, 2015)

FAM,

First off -- PARKER AND CASS -- you two beautiful people are adorable!!! Loved seeing pics from the wedding! PLEASSEEEE keep them coming!!! I seriously just love you guys and hope your incredible day was perfect ... with rain and all!

This week I wanted to start with a quote THAT I LOVE (thanks mama):

"Do something that is hard each day and smile about it."

Isn't that just superb. If we applied this phrase everyday we would run out of things to be mad or frustrated about. We would learn to look at everything in such a positive way. Definitely am trying to apply this to my mish!! 

We had transfers today. And my compiii and I are sticking together for another transfer. This was such a blessing for us, because we are seeing many changes in our area, and we still have so much to do! 

This P-Day we made good ole' Krusteaz Pancakes with the elders from our ward, and the hermanas that live above us. It was a pretty laid back P-Day, but so much fun! I sent a few pics. 

This week we had a ward mission activity. It was called NOCHE DE CINE. And it was a real hit! We watched the movie Meet the Mormons (If you haven't seen it ... see it ... it´s incredible) and our focus was to introduce the world to who we really are and what we believe! And so many investigators came! Even a group of teenage boys that we randomly contacted in the street as they were playing soccer. And our investigator family - Family Alcalde - came too! THEY LOVED IT. So much that they... CAME TO CHURCH SUNDAY. Can I just say that seeing them in church was such an incredible blessing!!! They told us that they probably wouldn't be able to come, but they surprised us and came, and stayed for ALL 3 HOURS. And the ward members were superb too and helped take them to all of their classes. It was incredible. And tonight we have a Family Home Evening planned with them! The only trial with them is they aren't married. But tonight we are going to put a huge emphasis on marriage and also a little about the Book of Mormon - two things SUPER DUPER important. I'll let you know how it goes!

Our lessons with Grabiel didn't go too great this week. His friends are telling him a lot of bad things about the church, and don't want him to listen to us, so this week he has a been a little distant. It is so hard because he was progressing SO MUCH, and had a baptismal date this last Sunday. But we aren't giving up. We are praying that he will receive an answer to his prayers.

Also this week we thought we would try out knocking doors. It hasn't worked too well for me in the past, but it's always great to mix things up a bit right?? So we tried it out. Many people were real sweet and accepted what we gave them, and then quickly shut the door ... BUT others truly had interest! And we found some real keepers. We are pretty excited, and have set citas with them for the next week!

Something kind of exciting is this week we have a FHE with Jimmy and his cousin. Their goal is they need to bring a friend to the FHE, and we'll bring comida! We'll see how it goes! But they are pretty excited.

Also, we PAINTED THE HOUSE OF HNO. FIDEL. My compii has the pics so I will try to send them when she has a chance. It is too PERFECT and probably the most exciting house in the block. He is pretty tickled by it. 

So I thought that my new little thing for my blog and emails is I can write what I learned this week (SILTW), and something I am grateful for (SIGF)! I thought that would be a groovy idea.

SILTW: Everyone needs to feel loved. No matter who they are, how they act, or their circumstances - EVERYONE needs to feel loved.

SIGF: My family - yeah I know that´s kinda cheesy because you guys are the ones reading this, but I sure do love you guys, and I took for granted my time with you! Cherish your time with your families my friends, they truly are such a blessing.

Well, we are ready to get back on our feet and looking forward to a new week!

LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU ALL!!!

XOXO, Hermana Chumway

Hanging out as missionaries is just the best

And we like to have some fun

Love these people so much!

Slicing up some bananas for our pancakes ... yum yum

Life is good

Pancake success ... we are super duper domestic

Another pic of our pancake and banana feast