1/3 done

Wow.  1/3 of the way done with my mission.  

I forgot you asked if I washed things the same- here we have a better open top washing machine (better meaning it actually washes!)  And we have a contraption that almost completely dries the clothes.  It spins the clothes super fast and the water shoots out of the bottom!  Then then only need to hang dry a little bit.  I´m gunna miss having all of my clothes be hand wash only.

This has been miracle week.  God is pulling on Oprah´s favorite things!  Our area is really hard- the people are so stubborn.  In our ward, we had two baptisms last year, and the standard for the mission is 2 baptisms a month!  My companion works harder than anybody I´ve ever known.  And I´m learning so much from her and the area.  We had a baptism this week, and we´ve found so many people ready for the gospel this week- it´s crazy!  

One of our investigators that we´ve been teaching for 3 weeks is changing her life.  She went to church with us last week, and when we visited her on Saturday, she told us all the great things that happened this week- and how she was just happier all around, and how she KNEW it was because she went to church with us.  She said she has never felt so comfortable in a church, and she wants to bring her daughter!!  She´s reading the manual for sunday school to be ready for next week.  When I asked her about her faith in Christ- she started crying as she testified who He was in her life.  She smokes, and when we started to talk about the word of wisdom she gasped and was told us that just yesterday she thought that she needed to quit, because God doesn´t like it.  Even though she works late, she went to our baptism at 8 in the morning (EXTREMELY early for an Argentine) and said that she would be next.  THE GOSPEL IS AMAZING!!!

Our baptism is Victor an abuelito de 72 years.  He´s a traveling anthropologist, cultural professor or something.  CRAZY smart.  Grandpa Dale would love him!  He´s been to practically every counrty in the Americas researching and working in excavicions.  He teaches quiphu.  A language that uses blocks of color.  The ancient inhabitants of the Americas used this to write aroung the same times as the Lamanites.  In the photo of Christ visiting the Americas, theré´s a woman with quiphu on her dress.  He has photos of ruins that look the same as church paintings of the lamanites.  (BUT; he knows the Book of Mormon is true by the holy ghost- he just likes the proof)  His jokes are exactly like Grandpa Dales. They kill me.  Right know he´s in Paraguay for 3 weeks.  

I´ve never felt so loved and blessed by our Heavenly Father.The best way to receive blessings, is to obey the commandment exactly. Go to church and take the sacrament.  Read the scriptures.  Pray, pray, pray. Tithing and word of wisdom.  The more our faith stretches to fulfill the will of our Father, the more he will bless us!  I love you guys, and I know everything will work out.  I´m praying and trying hard to serve my best. 

- Hermana Shumway

If you can´t it´s perfectly fine, but can you put a little bit of money in my account?   I used my personal funds for living expenses when my old companion didn´t have anything. the district leaders lost her reimbursements wich were half of her monthly allowance.

                                   Victor

3 Cerritos!!

I feel like I´m in a completely different country from my 1st area!!! Its like i´m back in the United States, except 100x prettier!  Our apartment is actually a guest house behind someones extremely big and nice house. Our area has a lot of mansions.  Everyday we have to go through their house to get to our house behind.  They aren't members, but they are the nicest people on the planet.  And, their couches and chairs in the front room are leopard print! I have yet to tell them that it´s my spirit print.

It's soo much harder in this area (and I have to start wearing makeup again), but I´m learning so much- especially with things I was struggling with before.  The lord knows what he is doing with his revelation!  The ward here is a lot smaller (50 or so actives), and I had to give a talk, teach gospel principles, and teach the family home evening lesson Sunday night.  In this week alone I`m making leaps and bounds in the language- and FINALLY using the subjunctive tense.

For p-day today we went to the Teleferico which is like a ski lift up a mountain, and hiked down.  IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL.  I feel like Grandma and Grandpa.  The only 2 times I´ve done something fun for p-day has been hiking.  And I eat fruit everyday for breakfast, and talk about the church with strangers all day.  We went with the elders in our zone. But they left the trail and got lost.  They called us and were really stressed out, and all we did was make references to Lehi´s Vision.  They didn´t like that very much.  Its been 2 hours, I hope they found their way back!

Then, we went to McDonalds. ¡¡¡¡¡¡MCDONALDS!!!!!!!! It´s like I never even left home! (it was like 100 pesos, but the food looks exactly like the picture!  And the fries hardly had any grease)

I thought it was going to be really weird being in the same ward as our Mission President- but it´s actually really fun!  His kids remind me of our family.  His 11 year old is crazy like Marissa!  His 14 year old is just like Dallen.  There is a daughter my age, and a son Nicole`s age out on a mission.  (he has another kid who is 16, who I guess could be like my cousin or something)

And, I got your letters from Thanksgiving!  And, when I have letters the Elders give them to me when I´m in the offices, not only at zone meetings- so it´s a lot faster!

I LOVE YOU GUYS!  (And tell Sonda I thought of her when I was eating my hamburger about the story from her mission with the rat- miss her tons!)

- Hermana Shumway

My first transfer!

This has been the craziest week of my life.  On Monday, I had to travel to Salta to finish my visa stuff (which is like 2 hours from my area).  I was just supposed to spend 1 night  and return to Perico BUT, the police station was on vacation and I had to stay another day.  In total, I was gone 3 days, sleeping in the apartment of the hermanas of Tres Cerritos (3 little hills), visiting the police stations, and working a little bit in their area. 

Satan was working really hard while we were gone. And we didn´t have time to fix the damage. In three short days (mon, tue, wed), he managed to convince our baptism for this coming week to be baptized in another church.  And our other baptism, decided that she doesn´t want to listen to us any more.  Then  thursday we are inside almost the entire day planning, friday we had to travel far to attend the training meeting of a different zone because we missed ours while I was in Salta an extra day.  Saturday we FINALLY had time to work.  While we were walking to our first appointment- we saw an apartment for rent (we have been looking for a new one for a long time now) so we knocked, the lady showed us right away, we loved it, and decided to move in immediantly.  So there wasn´t and time to work.  

Sunday was the hardest day of my mission so far.  I cried the whole time during the church meetings, and when I had to say goodbye to my converts, members, and les actives.  I can´t express how much I love Perico, and the people.

Then at 11 at night, they called to tell us about the transfers.  My new area is...... Tres Cerritos, Salta! The area I was in for a few days. It`s SOO different than Perico. It´s central Salta. And, our Mission President lives in our ward. His kids and wife acompany us for our visits sometimes. Me and my new compañera (Hermana Alcerro de Honduras) are the only missionaries in the ward.    The houses here are mansions.  There aren´t dirt roads.  There is a McDonalds. The mission offices are in our boundries. I don´t know what life is anymore!

We had to go the the terminal with our compañeras de apartment, and we were in the terminal from 12 at night untill my bus left at 7 in the morning.  We didn´t sleep

.

But, I´m very happy.  The people here don´t have the same humility as Perico, but I know the Savior is going to bless us!  I´m a bit nervous, but it´s going to be a great opportunity to grow!

Love you all, 

Hermana Shumway

 Saying goodbye to  Perico, Jujuy

Last day in Perico con mi compañera Hermana Platino!

This is what it looks like when you don´t have a bed to sleep on in your new place

Milagro

The holidays here were CRAZY.  Which is why I couldn´t write last week.  They changed our P-Day to new years eve, and all the Ciber´s were packed!!!  New years day- there wasn't a single person in the streets (apart from a few sleeping drunks).  All the business were closed, NOBODY wanted to hear from us. 

We had a lot of miracles these past two weeks!  One of them is named Milagro (miracle in español!)  We taught her all of the lessons and baptized her in less than two weeks!  (Normally investigatores need to assist 3 times before baptism- but she was already assisting before we started to teach her!)  She´s 9 years old, and literally the sweetest person on the entire planet.  Her testimony is stronger than most adults!  After she prayed about Joseph Smith, she said her heart wanted to leap out and talk!

 When she found out that I´m from the US, she asked if I ate a lot of waffles and pancakes- because she loves them and no one knows how to make them for her.  We made like 60 pancakes for her baptism!  She was soooo happy!

But, in the mission no baptism is easy and we had problems with the font.  Plumbing is hard.  Cleaning and draining a font with buckets and rags is REALLY hard.  BUT SHE WAS BAPTIZED AND IT WAS PERFECT!! And Adolfo- our convert of 1 week gave one of the talks at the service! 

This week we peeled more potatoes then I have in my entire life.  And when you peel potatoes quickly, white potato juice squirts out and makes it look like someone dripped paint all over you, and that you have dandruff!  We have a family (the family of Milagro) in our ward and almost all of them are less active, and we are trying to help them out.  Every day they peel bags and bags of potatoes for the Papuchero (the man who sells papuchas in the street) (Papuchas are like french-fries, but with mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and either cut up hot dogs, shredded chicken, or sausage.  So, basically crack in a paper cone)  It´s literally a booming business, and they have to work a lot.  

Anyways, one morning we just showed up and told them were were going to help.  Two hours of peeling and peeling dirty potatoes. I´ve never been so filthy and happy!  Normaly when we enter this house everyone scatters like flies when you open a door- but everyone (there´s like 15 of them)  talked to us and laughed at our jokes.  Next time you want to befriend someone-act like Christ and peel their potatoes!

I love you all, and next week is transfers and I´m fairly certain I´m changing- so we´ll see if I have much time to write!

- Hermana Shumway

I teared up seeing that photo.  THANK YOU!!!!

 Christmas

Milagro's baptism

Our name tags after our service

Cotton candy beards