Week 33: Blessings, Blessings, Blessings!

HELLO EVERYONE!!!

Well this week just flew by! I hope you all had an awesome week last week and you were able to share some of the light of Jesus Christ with someone!!

Okay, I want to do these thank you's individually, but that would be a TON of people to thank! So. I'm sorry, but please let this suffice...

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF THE BIRTHDAY LOVE!!!!!!!!!

Seriously. To roommates, to ward members, to friends, to family...just thank you :) thank you, thank you! It was a great day to be a missionary!

I don't have a ton of time, so let me quickly sum up some of the great miracles we saw this week :) PS in the Bible Dictionary it says that "miracles are the physical evidence of the Messiah among us" (thanks Sister Hymas! haha) that's just super cool in and of itself. I can testify to that!

So. This won't sound like a miracle at first, but just bear with me. This week started out pretty rough. We were working so hard. We were talking and teaching and testifying to EVERYONE. Everyone we saw. We were inviting to baptism, just trying so hard to find those the Lord has prepared. On Friday morning, we had one person on date (Brenda), and not really anyone progressing super quickly to a baptismal date. We decided that we had to do something different. So we made a covenant with the Lord in prayer. We promised to go tracting (knocking doors) down this specific street for a specific amount of time and open the Book of Mormon with everyone we talked to and testify of the truthfulness of our message about Jesus Christ. In return, we asked Heavenly Father to bless us with a family we could teach and invite to baptism and put them on a baptismal date. We did what we said we would do and the first door we knocked, we were able to share the message of the Restoration and explain the purpose of baptism and now we have 3 new investigators preparing to be baptized on February 14th :D we are so excited!! Heavenly Father answers prayers.

Saturday was just a miraculous day in and of itself!! We met with a recent convert and her nonmember daughter. Nothing went as planned. haha We taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ (teaching the member) and when we got to the baptism part the mom just turned on her daughter and started just testifying of how Satan has a hold on her and is pulling her, getting her not to be baptized because he's deceptive....and how much potential she has if she would just follow the Spirit and follow Jesus Christ. Then we had some crazy experiences with the Book of Mormon...the Spirit was so intense, we were all in tears!!! and now she's on date for the 14th of February as well!!

ANNNNND biggest miracle!!! Brenda is now baptized!!!!! It was a wonderful service and she's just glowing. She loves it, loves how she feels :) I love her!! I love everyone!

Okay, sorry, sorry, this email makes no sense. Haha oh the joys of rushing....haha

Anyway, I love you, miracles are all around us!! Keep an eye out for them!

I love being a missionary!! Jesus Christ lives. The Book of Mormon is true. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Lord's kingdom on the Earth. Life is so good :)

I am so blessed to be here!!

Have an awesome week!

Con todo mi corazon y mi amor,

Hermana Shumway

Brenda is baptized!!

Birthday party! Thanks Noheli!! :D

Week 32: Feeling the Power of Prayer

HEYYYLLOOOO!! I hope you all just had such a wonderful week last week!!

First big news: Angie and Shania are BAPTIZED!!! So so awesome :) I love them so much! When they came to the church to get their baptismal interviews, Angie's other daughter Jasmine came with them so we gave her a church tour and she totally felt the Spirit! She is not on date for baptism - YET - but I have faith as she sees the joy that Angie and Shania are feeling and the positive changes it has made in their family, she will want to experience the same thing and come closer to Jesus Christ through baptism as well :) We're excited to continue working with her.

Little side note about church tours: I get SO intense during church tours!! Like suuuper intense. I need to loosen up a little bit. haha anyway, I get so intense cuz I just feel the Spirit so strongly and powerfully. Sister Mendoza jokingly says that I "scare the Spirit into them". I just know Jesus Christ is REAL! The sacrament is so important and baptism is CRUCIAL!!

Big news from this week. We got in a car accident. We are all okay, so please don't worry, but it wasn't just a little fender bender. We were all amazed that no one got hurt. So we've been pretty busy filling out physical paperwork and paperwork online. But the day after the accident, we had an appointment with Angie and Shania and we were talking about missionary work. One of the commitments to extend at the end of that lesson is "Will you pray for the full-time missionaries?" So we extended that invitation and Angie immediately said "Oh yes! I already do, especially for your safety!!" Tears welled up in my eyes and the Spirit whispered to me: "That is why you're okay." I know I say thank you for your prayers every single week, but really. I am SO grateful for your prayers. I know that because of your prayers, we were protected in a scary situation. I am also so grateful for the members here in Garden City. They have been SO helpful in driving us to the places we need to go since we don't have a car anymore. The Relief Society President and her husband came to the accident site and stayed with us until everything got figured out. I have felt the love of our Savior so much this week. I know Heavenly Father hears and answers every single prayer. I love Him. I know He loves me and all of you, too :)

We have another baptism coming up this week on Saturday!! This will be another busy week preparing for that and helping Brenda be ready :) We are so excited!!!

I love you all so much. THANK YOU for your love and prayers :)


Con todo mi corazon y mi amor,

Hermana Shumway

Yay Angie and Shania!! :D We love them!

                                             The sound of water running in the church :))

Week 31: Sister Mendoza....."my first born in the wilderness."

Helloooooooo!!

My subject line is from the Book of Mormon!! I love that book!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALICIA TOMORROW!!! I hope you have an awesome day!!
Thank you to Eric for my mini Book of Mormon! I use it ALLL the time. Thank you Chelsea for the amazing package!!! I love everything in it - you know me too well :) Thank you to Melissa for the Christmas package!! And thank you to everyone in my ward who sent me Christmas cards! You are all so thoughtful and I love you so much!

I was suuuper nervous to train at the beginning of this week! I am so grateful for prayer - I can feel Heavenly Father's support and help as I try to teach Sister Mendoza all I know (not very much) about missionary life and effective missionary work! The key is the Spirit!!! :) Sister Mendoza is doing very well and loves working hard - yes, I am so blessed. She wants to do everything right and demolish our goals - let's do it! haha I love her and can't wait to continue working with her and discover how we can best serve the Lord together in this area. Gotta love the mission learning curves!

We have seen SO many miracles!!! We are trying to talk to everyone we see and the Lord is definitely blessing us. We have 6 people solidly preparing for baptism this month!!! Angie and Shania are getting baptized this weekend! We are so excited! They are too :) Brenda is preparing to be baptized on the 24th!! And Jasmine, Ezzie, and Mari are preparing for the 31st!

On Sister Mendoza's first day - Thursday - we had an appointment with Brenda, our second time ever meeting with her. She had been reading in the Book of Mormon and praying the days leading up to this appointment - nothing EVER happens unless they are reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it, the last few days have TOTALLY solidified my testimony of that. Anyway, so we taught her lesson 1, the Restoration. Prophets, Jesus Christ's ministry...Joseph Smith story, all of that. Sister Mendoza's first time teaching it in the field :) At the end of the lesson, Sister Mendoza invited Brenda to be baptized on the 24th of January. Brenda was unsure - she said she still wanted to learn before making that step. She feels like it's right and it's good, but she wasn't comfortable committing. We asked if we could kneel in prayer with her right then and she could ask Heavenly Father if baptism on the 24th is what He wants her to do. She said a wonderful, sincere prayer. We sat in silence. Then she said "okay." super super quietly. She is so sensitive to the Spirit. Then I testified - I don't even remember what I said honestly, I know it was the Spirit, not me. It was SUCH a powerful moment! She was crying, I was crying.

That witness from the Spirit of the Lord is crucial. So crucial. It's not from man, but from God. His spirit communicating to ours. It's something that we cannot deny. I know that this missionary work would be NOTHING without the Spirit. Nothing would ever happen. The Spirit of God is what touches the hearts of the people. I am so grateful I have the wonderful opportunity to testify and bring the word of God, the truth, UNTO their hearts and the Spirit can then bring it INTO their hearts, if their agency allows it.

I am so blessed. :)

I hope every one of you has an awesome week!!! I know we will!

I love you!

Con todo mi corazon y mi amor,


Hermana Shumway

Bye Sister Guillen!! I love you!

Sister Valdivia and I are expecting!! haha waiting for our
trainees to arrive!!

Me, Noheli, Sister Mendoza, and Gia :)

Suuuuuper cuuute puppies!! Did some unplanned
service at this house recently! They are so cuddly and
cute :)

Week 30: Just call me MAMA!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! So crazy that it's 2015! Like...what?

We rang in the New Year missionary style with playing some games with some members. We had to be in our apartment at 8:00pm rather than at 9:00pm so the members set their clocks ahead so we could "ring in the New Year" at least somewhat :) I am so grateful for wonderful members.

Yes, I am TRAINING. So crazy! In the mish we say "I'm having a daughter!!" so that's the reason for the subject. I got the training packet on Wednesday and was kind of in shock. I'm super excited, but nervous. Her name is Hermana Mendoza from Oakdale, California! I can't wait to meet her on Wednesday! Going to learn soooo much :) and have lots of fun!

It was pretty cold this week. I put some feet warmers IN my socks on day. NOT a good idea. They were really nice when we were walking around cuz my feet weren't cold at all but when we got home, they like burned my feet. hahaha it was so funny! I slipped on some ice yesterday when we got out of an appointment and fell right on my back. hahah I just laid on the ground laughing for a few minutes, it was pretty hilarious :) there's tons of ice EVERYWHERE. I'll send a video of how awesome INTENSE the wind was the other day when we were WALKING to a baptism. haha you're all gonna love it.

Someone told me this week that I look like a German Mennonite...that was a new one.
Angie and Shania are still doing awesome :) They are coming to everything they possibly can - sports night at the church, baptisms... - and are starting to plan out what they want in their baptism program for the 17th! We are really excited :) They are so awesome - they are like sponges. Everything they learn whether it's from us or from church they want to and try to apply it immediately.

I love you all so much! Hope you're making some awesome goals for the New Year! Just remember to involve the Lord in your goal setting and He will help you know what HE wants you to achieve this year :) Seek His guidance and His help in all things :) I know He lives and loves us all.

Con todo mi corazon y mi amor,

Hermana Shumway

Ringing in 2015!

My training packet!!

Some yard covered in ice!!

                                     The CRAZY wind. hahahaha......oh my. Good experience :)