Week 42: "There's no place like - homa....?" - Noheli

elllll ohhhhh ellllll (LOL) at the subject line - Noheli is so silly :)

So, big news for today is....I am going to OKLAHOMA. Transfers are Wednesday and I will be heading out to Guymon, Oklahoma. I will be follow-up training Sister Rosell!! Follow-up training means that she was trained by another sister for 6 weeks and I will be finishing her training! It will be interesting because I know I won't be the same as her other trainer and I'll also be teaching her how to speak Spanish! It will definitely be super different than training Sister Mendoza! But it will be so fun and Guymon is like the farthest area from the mission home so I'm stoked for all the adventures that await me there!!! :D Sister Mendoza is staying here in el Jardin de Eden and Sister Wilks (another sister Sister Hymas trained!) will be her companion. They will get along so great and will continue to work miracles here :)

I realized the other day that I feel like I haven't told you very much about Garden City. So let me break it down for you, now that I'm leaving it :( PS I'm super sad about that. haha 

Tyson has a meat packing plant here so TONS of people from all over the world come here to work there. There are tons of people from Somalia, Burma, and lots of other Asian countries! Its interesting because whenever I hear people talk with any kind of accent my mind automatically kicks into Spanish mode and I have to like consciously keep speaking in English, even though they don't even really speak that language! It's weird. haha 

PS it also really smells like poo sometimes, especially when it rains, because of all the vacas!! cows. There are TONS of cows. And a lot of people are truck drivers - they drive the cows from the feed lots to the plant....to, ya know....

Garden City has 4 water towers. Which I don't really get. They pump the water UP. Just so it can go back DOWN....? Someone enlighten me on how that works. :) I mean, I get it because there's no water flow cuz it's suuuuper flat, but I still don't really understand. There really is only one hill in Garden City. And of course it is RIGHT by the church so that makes for an awesome bike ride :) in skirts. when it's windy. haha I love it :)

I know the Savior walks these streets and dusty roads of Kansas - this truly is holy ground :)

Now for the insane miracle of this week. :D

Update on Elizabeth: her mom would not give her permission to be baptized or for us to even continue teaching her so :(( is all I have to say to that. 

BUT the Lord provided 2 other precious souls who were so prepared. A family in the ward, the Macias family, have 2 foster girls in their home, Kiki and Starry. The Macias family is a powerhouse family. A few weeks ago, Elder Walton, one of our Zone Leaders came up to us and said "hey, have you ever talked to the Macias' foster girls about baptism?" and we were like "NO!! What are we doing!?!" haha and when we told Sister Macias about it she said "Sisters, I just was thinking about that this morning. I think they are ready." The Spirit, man. :) They have been coming to church for a couple months now. Anyway, so we had dinner with them just this last Tuesday - like 6 days ago - and we talked to them about how they liked church, how they felt in the Macias's home, how they enjoyed reading the Book of Mormon, and Sister Mendoza invited them to be baptized for THAT SUNDAY - 5 days from this invitation. They accepted excitedly!! Sister Macias was quick to remind us about the legal complexities, telling us that permission from their mother and also their social worker was required. So we went ahead with the baptismal plans, with the faith that the permission would come before Sunday. Saturday night, we still hadn't heard back from the social worker. The girls were interviewed anyway :) the Elders (our District Leader and Zone Leaders) wanted to make sure we did EVERYTHING in our power to make sure these baptisms happened so the Lord could see our faith and make a miracle. Saturday night, we started a fast with the girls (their first time learning of it AND doing it) which continued into Sunday. The baptism was scheduled at 1:00...the font needs 3 hours to fill....we had to confirm the baptismal program with the members....still no permission for it to actually happen. Can you say 4th quarter? haha we were praying SO SO SO hard. The Zone Leaders went ahead and filled the font - they have such great faith. I am so grateful for their examples when I waver!! And finally....at 12:15....the social worker called Sister Macias and the baptism was on :D I don't think I can describe the JOY I felt when I heard that news. I almost just fell to my knees in gratitude. So many steps into the dark, so many leaps of faith....and the Lord made a miracle happen :) Kiki and Starry were baptized and so many members of the ward were there to support them. It was such a special experience.

The Lord does come through. We must trust Him. This is His work, we must do it His way. With unwavering faith in Him. Miracles happen. Christ lives :) That experience yesterday taught me that He is here, laboring among us, WITH us, every single day. 

How grateful I am for the miracles I've witnessed here in Garden City. There are so many more that the Lord has in store for me in Guymon. :) 

Con todo mi corazon y mi amor,

Hermana Shumway

HUGE mason jar with a member of the ward - can some
pomegranate jelly in that, Daddy!

Sister's Conference in Dodge City with Sister Mendoza,
Sister Murphy, Sister Murphy, ME!, and Sister Deppe!

Baptism pic's with the Macias family and all the faithful
missionaries who made it happen :))