TEACHING, WORKING HARD, AND HAVING FUN

(EMAIL SENT NOVEMBER 2, 2015)

Shumway Crew,

So first off this email will cover more details that I didn't have time to talk about the past few weeks ... NO WORRIES! Sorry for my short last few emails, it's just been crazy these last few P-days.

Alrighty … so my comp Hna. More finished her mini mission. I LOVE THAT GIRL … and man she is going to be an incredible missionary! She received her mission call while she was with me and is going to open it this week. I am guessing Argentina but we'll see. AND SO I RECEIVED MY NEW COMP!! Her name is Hermana Thomas and she is darling! She is from Ogden, Utah and is from the same group of missionaries as Hermana Bryce. So she has about four months in the mission. Pretty positive she is one of the sweetest, kindest people I have ever met. We are ready to take on Chulucanas and show them what we have got! We are very excited!

AND FINALLY ... I sent pics of Canchaque ... the darling mountain town we visited that was quite an adventure. We hiked mountains, explored the village, and ate some good ol’ food after. One of the mountains we climbed was lined with stairs that led to the tippie-top of the mountain. It was like a random, REALLY TALL, skyscraper- looking mountain in the middle of nowhere. It was incredible!!! When we got to the top we took a pic of the valley. Talk about beautiful ... oh man!!!

So as I have been stating in the last few emails, it has been very tricky with our investigators. Our area book is filled with many new investigators that after a week don’t progress and we look for new ones. Many of the investigators I have talked about we have now left. Not sure if I told you, but we are not teaching Maribel anymore. She now hides when we stop by to see how she is, and told us this just isn't going to work out. She is a now a future investigator. But I know that Heavenly Father will prepare her heart for this message ... if it's not now ... I know it will be very soon! 

But ... we have found new investigators. The sweet lady I talked about last week, named Elva, is still very interested in what we have to teach. This last week we invited her to baptism, and she told us she is very catholic and doesn't plan to change that. But as we keep on teaching her it just makes sense. She said she would pray about it. We'll keep you updated.

Also, we found a new investigator named Raul. We found him knocking doors. We had set an appointment with him, passed by, and didn't find anyone home. This last week, when many lessons didn't fall through, we passed by to see if we could find him ... and he was home! He is 23 years old, studying engineering, and his family is Catholic. As we got to know him a little bit he told us that he had the opportunity to help with the construction of a temple in Chile as part of his career ... but he doesn't know much about the church. He told us that for a long time he has wondered why there are so many churches on the earth if there is only one God, and we told him we can help him find the answer. It's found in the Restoration. We explained the lesson and he just seemed to understand everything. We got to the part about Joseph Smith and I prayed the spirit would be there. We shared what Joseph Smith experienced, "I saw a pillar of light, exactly over my head..." and then finished giving a few seconds of silence so that the spirit could testify of the truth of the message. My comp and I then shared our testimonies, saying we KNOW it's true. He told that that this is something incredible, that he has never heard of before. He said he doesn't know how it could happen. We told him that he can apply what Joseph did, and pray and ask his Heavenly Father if it´s true. He said he would do it. We invited him to church and called him the night before to remind him. He said that he had a big family meeting and couldn´t make it, but next week for sure. But I am telling you, he is an incredible investigator and definitely prepared. We want to challenge him to baptism the next lesson.

We are teaching other families, and little by little they are progressing. The only problem is NO ONE comes to church. So we have just got to help them out! But everything is going great! 

As a mission we are all preparing for the La Noche Blanca (White Night), which will be the 12 de Diciembre. As you all know, in the states during this time there is a lot of snow. But here that isn´t possible. So the thought in an idea called the Noche Blanca. This night, every missionary will bring their investigators who are ready to be baptized, and we all all meet up in the Stake Center in Piura. All dressed in WHITE, each investigator will be baptized.  It will be spectacular seeing the large amount of people making this sacred covenant with our Heavenly Father. And that will be our White Christmas Night. 

So right now we have two that are preparing for that night. A mom and her daughter, named Maria and Susanne. Maria has had interest in our message since day one, and is praying right now to know if the Book of Mormon is true. Her husband hasn't listened to us yet, but he always secretly ask her after what she learned from us in the lessons. But her daughter Susanne is difficult to find, but she is also preparing for this night. Their family is very sweet and we have been teaching them for the last few weeks.

Overall, we are busy busy and I can hardly remember what happens during the week! Time is flying, and it only goes faster as we get to work. 

Thanks for your emails and for being the cutest family on planet earth. I love hearing from you guys about all of the incredible adventures back at home. Sure miss you all and THANK YOU FOR ALL of your support! 

I know this is the work of the Lord. I want to ask you guys is strive your best to be obedient and righteous. Our Heavenly Father need valiant, faithful members in this world. 

I LOVE YOU ALL ... have an incredible week!

And put a smile on, life is wonderful.

XOXO, Hermana Shumway

Said goodbye to my trainer this last week ... Hermana Fernandez is headed home

The zone at Canchaque ... such a fun day

Walking the streets with my comp

The best missionaries play just as hard as they work ... it was SO MUCH FUN!!!

I love all of these people so much!

Being cool missionaries

Welcome to my little piece of heaven

Do I look happy ... of course I am!

How did I get so lucky?

FHE with the branch crew  and celebrating the cumpleanos of the cute little girl Teresa ... I love these people!

A WEDDING, MY SPANISH, AND A NEW COMP

(EMAIL SENT OCTOBER 26, 2015)


Hey there Shumway Crew,

Sooooo … here is the past two weeks in a nutshell!

Gee-Whiz Facts:

1. This last week instead of saying "el papa" I said "la papa" ... which is really embarrassing because el papa means "the pope" and la papa means "potato" ... 14 months in the mission and I still am trying to get this language thing down. Oh boy!

2. Tried to explain a Book of Mormon chapter to a member the other day … they had not read their Book of Mormon during the week and so we decided to read with them. When we turned to the chapter they were at, it JUST HAPPENED to be the words of the prophet Isaiah. Oh man … I knew this lesson was going to be a good one. Literally I was feeling pretty good about my Spanish, and then we started reading and I was pretty positive it was in another language. It just ended up being a disaster. But … at least I definitely know what I will be studying these next few days!

First … MY CONVERT got married this last week!! Woohoo!!! Talk about a special night. They looked darling, and happy, and everything just worked out so perfectly. Their marriage took place in the chapel, and Andrea looked beautiful in her white dress, and Leandro as well. What a treasure it was finding this family, and seeing how hard they have worked to get to this point. It just made me choke up knowing they did it, and that we can’t wait for the moment when they can be married in the temple for time and all eternity.

Also, we had a special experience this last week with an investigator. We found her because one day she told us in the street one day that she loved me skirt. She ended up inviting us to her house, and we taught her a quick lesson about what we believe in. Halfway into the lesson we just realized that something was missing, and we ended up asking the member that was accompanying us to share her testimony about families. As she shared her testimony and ended up testifying to this hermana that could be sealed to her family for time and all eternity. AND HER REACTION made me want to cry. Her eyes got huge, and she asked the hermana if she could REALLY be sealed to her husband for forever? We found out that he had recently passed away and she was heartbroken. We showed her a picture of the temple, and it was the sweetest thing seeing how amazed she was. What an incredible blessing it is for us to know that families are forever, and it doesn’t end in this life. We are still teaching her and we will be challenging her this week to baptism. She seems really interested and wants to learn more about the temple. So we found a new investigator!

Which is a miracle because these last two weeks we having been finding many new investigators, but leaving them after a short-time because they lose interest. It has been a tough few weeks but this week we are going to keep at it, looking, and searching for those who are ready for baptism.

Oh and I forgot to tell you all. My sweet Hermana Lucero got sent home this last week. Her uncle passed away and so she went home. My new comp is Hermana More. She is very sweet and loves to work! Her papers are actually in right now!

Oh man, I ran out of time again! Time to get to work and I will write more next week!!!

This next week I will send pics of our trip to Canchaque!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Xoxo, Hermana Shumway


With my little buddies at the wedding for Andrea and Leandro ... my convert!

Don't they look wonderful???!!!!!

It was so special to be with them to celebrate

I love them so much!!!!!

District soccer picture

Me and Hermana More ... she is another mini-missionary of mine who is waiting for her call

BUSY ... BUSY ... BUSY

(EMAIL SENT OCTOBER 19, 2015)


I am so sorry about this but I don’t have time to write an email this week. We had a SUPER great P-day activity and went to a darling hidden town in the mountains and just got back! I will send pics next week! But … the bummer is that I don’t have any time to write my most favorite people in the world because we have to get back to our area by bus.

I PROMISE I WILL EXPLAIN IT ALL NEXT WEEK!!!

It was an incredible week … we found NEW INVESTIGATORS that are incredible (which was an answer to prayers!) … and we had some really special moments this week. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!!

XOXO, Me

HAVING FAITH, TEACHING, AND CLIMBING MANGO TREES

Shumway Crew,

Well … CANNOT believe that another week has gone by. The weeks fly in the mish!

Gee Whiz Fact:

1. Have you ever tried a green mango with salt ... because that’s the thing here in Chulucanas! Right now many mangoes aren’t ripe and that is how they eat them. Nifty right!

This week was an okay week. We worked hard, contacted, and came home exhausted at night … BUT we are trying to find new investigators. We challenged many of them to baptism and many said no. For example, we have been teaching a family for quite some time about the restoration and two lessons ago we challenged them to baptism. They have many questions and told us that they weren’t willing to take that step right now. The biggest challenge with them is they don’t understand why they need to pray about our message if they already know their own church is true. I told them that we want them to find their own testimonies ... and know with certainty that this message is true ... and their Heavenly Father promises to answer our prayers if we want to know the truth. They kept asking more and more questions and finally I just shared my testimony. When in doubt … share your testimony! And I invited them one last time, to pray to our Heavenly Father if this message is true. They accepted and I pray that they try it! It will change their lives if they get an answer! We are going to try one more lesson and see where it goes. But man ... we have been struggling with investigators this last week.

Our sweet Marible is also struggling. She seemed so interested at first but lately has not had interest. We went to go take her to church Sunday, after trying and trying these last few weeks, and when we got there she told us that she is willing to listen and learn from us, but doesn’t have time to go to church. It broke my heart. We are slowly losing her, and we are going to try one more lesson with her to see what we should do. 

Overall, we keep losing investigators. My comp and I are praying for help and that we can find new investigators in our path! We have been contacting more, which is always great, and knocking doors in our area! We have found great people, and are challenging them to baptism their first lesson! It’s bold, but it’s working! Many have accepted, and with faith, they can get to that step! 

Faith has been huge for us this week. My comp and I have lacked that and we were reading in Preach my Gospel that DOUBT and FEAR are the opposite of FAITH. SO … we will NOT DOUBT and will NOT FEAR … because if we have faith our Heavenly Father can help us do anything! I just know if we keep up contacting and knocking doors we are going to find someone that is ready for this gospel! 

Also, we had two activities this week … Meet the Mormons Movie Night and a Ward Activity in one of the mango fields of Chulucanas! Both were a success with many less-actives and new converts present! So that was a major blessing!

Mission life is definitely like a rollercoaster. There are ups and downs and every day you learn something from it and it brings so much joy. I love life!!! Sometimes it is hard and at times you just feel so exhausted it is hard to wake up and start a new day … BUT IT IS WORTH IT!

I love, love, love being a missionary and love, love, love being a member of this church!!!

Love you all!!! Do what’s right!

XOXO, Hermana Shumway

Climbing mango trees!!!

A pic of me scared to death to get down. It doesn’t look high ... BUT IT IS!

My process of going down the tree ... 

... IT WAS HARDER THAN IT LOOKS ...

... and was sooooo hilarious!

Me ready to catch one of our branch members Eva

Trying to take a serious mango pic with my comp ... and this is what you get!

Playing volleyball ... just look at the trees, and the run-down house, and the clouds ... I LOVE PERU!

 Pals from the ward ... I LOVE THIS LITTLE GIRL!

THE DISTRICT!!!

KARAOKE NIGHT, WORKING HARD, AND PASSING OUT

Shumway Crew!

Gee-Whiz Facts of the Week:

1. First off … two of my sweet mission pals went home this last week. Definitely was not easy getting that phone call … and man … am I going to miss them a whole lot! So here’s a shout out to you beautiful girls ... LOVE YOU HERMANA CROWDER AND HERMANA BRYCE!!! Two of the funniest and most wonderful people I have ever met … and they kept my mission life interesting and full of adventures. Love you two!

2. Apparently there was a small earthquake this last week during the night ... let’s just say that Hermana Shumway felt NADA and slept through the whole thing. I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO FEEL AN EARTHQUAKE PEOPLE!!! Life is rough.

3. A sweet little girl named Gladys asked me this week - "So how does it work when you go home … can you marry normal people or do you only have to marry the elders?" Priceless.

4. I passed out today. Long story short ... woke up at 6:00, went to a members house to workout with my pals from the ward, worked out hardcore, sat down after to drink water … woke up a little bit later on the floor with everyone staring at me. I guess I forgot to eat before I worked out. WOOPS! Slammed my head hard on the floor and now have a huge goose-egg. But the funny part is when I woke up the first words out of my worth were, "And you didn’t record it!?" Always an adventure with Hermana Shumway.

It was quite a week! First off ... 3 NEW APOSTLES! I mean … WOW!!! And they bore such powerful testimonies. What a special moment!! And conference is always filled with such incredible talks, but man this conference was just spectacular. And I watched the whole thing in Spanish. Yeah … I still didn’t understand much … but at least a handful of it! It was so wonderful!! Gotta love conference! Many members of our cute branch gathered in to watch it! 

We had a Ward Karaoke Night this week! It was super fun and many members came! We are working on uniting this branch and we hope it’s working! Some sweet converts from our branch Hermana Carola, Luca, and Teresa … which was a huge step for them. We have been trying to reactivate them and they have started coming more to the activities! 

This week we realized we had not challenged a single person to baptism. We have a huge list of new investigators that we have found in these last few weeks … BUT … no one is progressing ad no one has a baptismal date. And our purpose is to Invite Others to Come Unto Christ! So we realized that we need to change things up! We have an investigator named Maribel that loves listening to our lessons but has never followed through with her commitments. We have invited her to come to church, read the Book of Mormon, pray about it, and every time we show up … nothing. So we realized what haven’t we done … and that is invite her to baptism! So this week is the week! We are inviting her to baptism and maybe that will help her understand the end goal! That step is so sacred and so important! I will let you know how it goes!

We have a lot of investigators right now but no one is progressing … but that won’t get us down. We have a NEW week and NEW ideas! This week we have an activity where we are going to watch the movie Meet the Mormons and invite everyone to see it! We pray that people will come – that movie is spectacular! 

So with my goose-egg and all I am excited to head into a new week! This month we are prepping for the wedding of Andrea and Leandro! Did I tell you that he was present in the pic where we are watching general conference! It was so incredible! He continues to progress!!!

Love this work! Love you ALL!!! Tell Jake I say CONGRATS!!! Man I love that kid and I am so proud of him. He will be an INCREDIBLE missionary! And tell Jane, Lisa, and the Ashton Fam hi from me!

XOXO, Hermana Shumway

Karaoke Night ... me with two little girls that I love

And a pic with the Single Adults that I love

When you lose your wallet and use a gum pack that you found as your new wallet ... mission life

General Conference in a members house ... so great

Cute balloon my mini-missionary comp Hermana Chiroque made of us

Paint water balloon fight with the Zone ... our district rocks

Selfie with the sisters

Zone lunch at Chili’s ... muy delicioso!

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!