THE FINAL COUNTDOWN ... THREE WEEKS UNTIL LA NOCHE BLANCA

Shumway Crew!

It is always the best hearing from you sweet people. First off, I just want to tell you all that FHE with the Ashton Family looked like a hoot! Those cute little guys are getting so big, and man, your dodgeball war looked pretty epic! And all of my Darling Shumway Crew … I LOVE YOU ALL!! 

We are doing wonderful here in Chulucanas. The people sit outside enjoying their delicious mangoes every day ... the sun is FLAMING ... and our legs are covered in dust every day. I heard you got some snow … would you mind sending me a few flakes? But really … all is great here in the land of Chulucanas.

Gee-Whiz Facts of the Week:

1. Because it’s mango season ... and without fail ... when we knock doors from 6:00pm-8:00pm ... we receive a mango from someone. They might not want to listen to us but they are willing to give a mango! The people here are so sweet!

2. I had a cold this week. Ugh.

3. We made cookie dough together this week … just bringing a little bit of America here to Chulu.

This week was another energy-filled, happy week! Me and my comp are just so happy all day long and many people are a little shocked by it at times. I LOVE MY COMP!!! She is a superstar and we are just working hard and coming home whipped. This week we did a lot of following up with our investigators. 

Raul is struggling a little. He has not come to church, and is praying for answer and says he doesn’t feel anything. Is reading his Libro de Mormon but doesn’t know what to think at this point. Pray that he gets an answer because we need a miracle at this point! 

Orieta is probably the sweetest person ever. We showed up to her house for our lesson and she had the seats all set up and ready for us. We gave her a Libro de Mormon and she is ready and excited to read it. She believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet, but it is just hard to accept a different religion in her life. And she didn’t come to church either.

Merliy and Fernando and the WHOLE Crisanto FAMILY. Yup! We are now teaching many of the family members. They are the ones that came to the Noche Misional. They liked it so much that they had plans to come to church the following Sunday, but never came. But the great part is we are now teaching his parents and they are ready to be baptized. They listened before to missionaries, but stopped because he had many health problems. Now he is a lot better, and they are realizing that they need this message in their family. Their names are Paula and Fernando. So now it’s a family thing!

Reina and her family are struggling at this point. They have not been keeping up with their commitments and have never come to church. In fact none of our investigators have come to church. We are teaching great people that love what we share, but then no one comes to church. And to get baptized, the investigators have to come to church at least three times. This is our challenge in this area. We have fasted the last two Sundays for this, and so far we have no one. And now we are down to the final three Sundays before the NOCHE BLANCA, meaning … if no one comes to church next week then we won’t be baptizing anyone for this incredible night. It is a little stressful but we are not losing faith.

Each day as we leave our apartment we tap our White Christmas sign that is above our door and we are trusting that if we do our part Heavenly Father will help us. To help us not lose faith we share a miracle with each that day in our nightly planning. Every day we see miracles and most of the time we don’t recognize them … so we are looking for the miracles E-V-E-R-Y D-A-Y!

We also had Zone Meeting this week to help motivate us to keep on working hard. I know that the leaders of the mission are so inspired. And I know that the leaders of this church are inspired. It is an incredible work.

Keep going strong. Don’t lose faith, and never lower your beliefs for the world. This message is true, and it is exactly what we need to be happy. There is no other way to feel real, pure joy.

Something that really touched me this week was seeing my new convert Leandro bless the sacrament for the first time. This work is real and incredible!

I LOVE YOU ALL!! Off to another week!

XOXO, Hermana Shumway

My little friend ... PANCHO!

He's my little pig convert ... love that cute thing!

Zone Meeting ... me and Hermana Thomas

Zone Meeting ... me and some of the other gringa hermanas

Zone Meeting ... all of us together

Making cookies ... yummy!

I LOVE MANGO JUICE!!!

A pic of my feet after ... get this ... JUST THE MORNING! This isn't at the end of a long day ... it is how they look by lunch time! #piuralife

How we decorate our room ... Christlike Attributes ... all the things we should aspire to be

Photos of all of the sister missionaries that have served in Chulucanas ... I made three new additions that show me and my comps

Look what is above our DOOR ... WHITE CHRISTMAS! A reminder as we prep for the 12 of December NOCHE BLANCA. We tap that every day as we leave ... BOOM!!!

Riding on the bus

Chilling outside at one of the local Catholic churches

AT THE ICE CREAM SHOP!!! Our second home ...

Birthday celebration of Andrea

This is Harold  ... we have a cool handshake and everything ... and he is too cool for me

Look what the Coke bottle says ... "Hermana" ... that's me!!!

BEING HAPPY, FINDING INVESTIGATORS, AND SEEING MIRACLES

Shumway Crew,

Gee Whiz Facts of the Week:

1. You know you have had a busy, tiring week when:
     - You make an egg for breakfast in the microwave and find it at night still sitting there because you forgot about it
     - Can't even sing the closing hymn in sacrament meeting because you fell asleep
     - Everything is funny ... even when it's not funny
     - You love prayers during the lessons because you get to close your eyes for at least 15 seconds

2. I am still the same Sister Shumway that spills on herself whenever I eat. I might have just happened to spill the entire mango juice we had for lunch all over my skirt ... some things never change.

3. Everyone gives us mangoes after the lessons. It's mango season and it's just the best!

4. You should all read the book "How Do I Know If I Know?" by John Bytheway ... it is incredible! It has helped me so much with my testimony!

I don't even know where to start. This week, no joke, was probably one of the happiest weeks I have ever had in my entire mission ... and it is all due to my companion Hermana Thomas. We have laughed way too much and are just thriving off of this transfer together. She is a doll and is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. We are calling this transfer "Cambio de Milagros" because we are just seeing so many miracles. I think she is my lucky charm because it has been an incredible week in our area.

To start ... we have found 12 new investigators ... and that includes a group of three sisters whose mom is member but has been inactive for years. We have just had one lesson with them, but they are darling. Their names are Nayeli, Xiomara, and Angela and they are 15, 13, and 12 years old. They listened to the missionaries before but couldn't go to church for their school. But they can now go so we are very excited for these three darling investigators!

Also, we accidentally contacted family of Raul, our 23 year old investigator. We contacted them, scheduled an appointment, and when we went to go to the appointment we found it was the same house as Raul and it was his Sister and her husband! Definitely a miracle! So now we are making it a family deal, and little by little his family is starting to listen too! Raul is still hesitant because he hasn't received an answer yet, but we told him to not give up, and to keep praying! He said he won't come to church until he receives an answer, which is a major challenge, but WE KNOW IT WILL COME! We just all have to be patient and we are praying it comes soon.

Elva, our sweet older investigator, is still going strong. She hasn't gone to church yet, which is hard, but little by little we are getting her more excited to go. She said she would be baptized, but she is scared too. Still hasn't accepted a date, but loves listening to the lessons. She says she feels different, and happier!

Our new investigator Orieta is also a doll! She is older, and lives alone because he husband passed away. Her daughter is there to help her at times, but she just feels alone. Her son actually listened to missionaries in Switzerland (crazy right?) and she wants to learn more about the church. We have taught her two lessons and she says that she knows Joseph Smith is a prophet ... and she KNOWS IT. She said she also feels happier and more at peace when we come! WE LOVE HER! Next lesson we are giving her a Book of Mormon next lesson. She fulfills all of her commitments and is so sweet!

Overall, many people are accepting the gospel right now. IT IS A MIRACLE! When I said my comp is my lucky charm it seriously is true! But honestly, these are the blessing that comes through obedience. We help each other be as obedient as we can and we are seeing miracles because of it!

Our hardest challenge is that no one is coming to church. We ask them all to come and even go and pick them up, but then no one comes. This last week we fasted that we would know how to help them come and also that we will find more investigators for the 12 of December (Noche Blanca). We went to go pick up about five families and none of them came. It was definitely hard but we aren't letting that get us down! Missionary work was never meant to be easy!

But one of the biggest miracles is that a family we have been teaching, Merliy and Fernando, came to the Noche Misional this last week! They randomly showed up, and we couldn't believe it! We were even thinking about leaving them, but never could do it because it didn't feel right. They are now starting to progress little by little and we just feel so thrilled and blessed. It is a miracle!

So this is the Cambio de Milagros! We are excited, working hard, being obedient, and letting our Heavenly Father do the rest!

This work is incredible! HERE WE GO IN A BRAND NEW WEEK!!! You are all the best, LOVE YOU and never stop being good.

XOXO, Hermana Shumway


Me showing that I am ruler ... which means you are OBEDIENT TO THE DOT. The missionaries took it and I thought it turned out cute. Ha!

My pal that just went home. ELDER VASQUEZ, probably one of the funniest people I have ever met. 

Picture with the branch president and his family

My new companion Hermana Thomas ... I just love her! Here we are at the juice place we go to almost every night. The fresh mango juice is a killer. IT IS SO GOOD!

District Meeting ENGLISH CLASS: This is what happens when you tell every Latin to each say a sentence, draw it, and we create a story in the end! It was so funny!!!

The egg ... oh man we have fun together even when we are super exhausted

Recycling the 8 feet tall Christmas tree you sent me last year ... YES THAT IS THE SAME TREE! It is our reminder of the Noche Blanca that we are doing for Christmas!

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!!!