fruit cake is no longer a gag gift

How did your Christmas goat?  That´s actually just a really bad pun
because I´m super stoked that we ate goat for Christmas.

And watched a pretty fun dog fight.(They run wild)

 It was probably one of the best Christmases I´ve had- and there´s a
couple of other personal stories that will have to be told in person
when I´m back.

I have decided that I´m going to always wear a watch for the rest of
my life because my watch tan is SO RIDICULOUSLY good that people who
see it are just going to be jealous.  And I just don´t want to be the
cause of a bunch of envy.

This week was a little bit crazy.  In the beginning of the week had to
wake up at 4:30 in the morning to go to a 2 zone Christmas conference.
And we stayed up really late organizing the trip.  Our zone is
geographically the biggest in the mission because we are a bunch of
little branches entering Bolivia so it was crazy rounding everybody
up.  I only slept 3 hours- but  I was only a little tired.  We
played white elephant gift exchange and our mission president´s 11 year old son kind
of rigged it a little bit so I got to go last and pick whatever gift I
wanted.  (Because  we became really good friends when I served in his
ward)  Then he made fun of me because I stole a Barcelona jersey only
because it came with a cool artisinal bag and a wooden carving.

The next day we worked our butts off because we were excited to be
able to work and not sleeping caught up to me and I almost died but it
was worth it because we brought 10 new people to church and 9 of them
have baptismal dates and they are families!!!!!  Best Christmas
present ever.

After we skyped, we got to know a little bit the member who lent us
her computer.  (because it wasn´t in our area, we didn´t know her, we
were really grateful for her letting us into her house- and everyone
loves listening to scriptures)  She had suffered a stroke a while back
and was a paralyzed in half her body and couldn´t say more that a few
words if she tried REALLY hard.  She looked a bit sad.  We watered all
of her plants, shared a little Christmas message and then tried to
understand her.  We told her we would sit as long as it took for her
to talk- she started crying and the words slowly came out.  I think
it´s been a really long time since she´s had anyone try to communicate
and not only talk to her.  Through hand signs, little words, and the
spirit she was able to express her concerns and problems in her life
right now and we were able to offer her the best cure that we had- The
Book of Mormon.  We committed her 10 year old son to read to his mom
everyday.  The Elders in her area are going to give her a blessing as
well- but I know that there isn´t a better way to feel peace in this
life, then having daily scripture study.

It made me think back a lot on the beginning of my mission.  When I
couldn´t communicate with everyone.  But I´m really grateful for those
hard months because I feel like there are a lot of people that just
want to be understood- and I now know the importance of helping them.
The importance of our Baptismal covenant to ease the burdens, comfort
and cry with those who need it.

On Christmas Eve as we were re-gifting what our family sent us- we
were in the house of a less active family that were so touched that
they wanted to give us something too.  Here they aren´t usually a lot
of presents but normally the families have a little tree that they put
fruitcakes under to eat Christmas day.  They didn´t have very many-
but they picked the biggest one that they had and give it to us.  And
all we had given them were a couple of pouches of Scooby-Doo fruit
snacks to their kids.

It doesn´t sound like that big of a deal but it gets me chocked up
every time I think about it.

The world is full of a bunch of really, really wholesomely good people
who just want to help others.  I feel so blessed for having received
love and service from so many selfless people- and knowing my Savior
better because of it.

I hoped you all had a really Merry Christmas.

I wanted to share this scripture with you when we talked, but here it
is now: D&C 123:17.  If we are really, honestly doing everything that
we possibly can we never have to worry.  There is peace in trying
harder than you think you can.

I love you all.

Missionary Disneyland

Basically I´m ridiculously happy.  Being with Hermana Erikson makes me
feel like I´m starting my mission and not finishing it. She was one of
the first people that I met in the MTC. And I really, really, really
love teaching an area to someone.  It´s like taking someone to
Disneyland for the first time and getting to explain everything.

This week we were leaving the house of an less active convert family
and when we were already a couple houses away, one of the little kids
ran to us with a bag of 4 humitas.  Which  are like vegetarian tamales
and freaking delicious.  And a couple of mangoes because everyone here
just throws them away.  It was a little bit weird because in this area
it was one of the first time that someone has gifted us food.

We then went to a visit a family that we had recently met that are
really great.  They had read  what we left them and were excited to
learn more.  We explained about the Restoration, priesthood, and
Joseph Smith and they understood really well. It was a really
spiritual lesson.

When we asked If they would like us to ask for anything specific in
our prayer she asked if we could ask that they could find a way to
have food for the next day.  She told us that her husband had left
about two months ago and they haven´t heard from him.  And her job was
finished until the next planting/harvest season in February.  Nobody
in her family had eaten that day, ant it was 8 o´clock at night. She
didn´t say it in a begging manner, but humbly.  A lot of people think
that prayers from the missionaries are more powerful.

After the prayer we gave them the 4 little humitas that we had and the
couple of dirty mangoes.  It wasn´t much but I´ve never seen someone
so grateful in my life.  She looked like she was about to cry- and
when she started to protest we cut her off, said our goodbyes.

Sometimes the Lord works miracles in really strange ways.  I have no
doubt in my mind that God organized everything perfectly that day
because he loves his children.

One night when we got back home there was a HUGE frog in our bathroom.
But there isn´t really much more of a story there.

The last half of the week it´s been well under 100 degrees.  I´ve
celebrated by drinking hot chocolate.

In missionary heritage I´m now a grandma because my daughter now has daughter.

We are working on a wedding of a part-member family!  We already
helped the dad quit smoking- and we are just waiting for all the
paperwork of the wedding ceremony to work out to get him in the water
and be one step closer to their eternal family.  They are already so
excited to go to the temple.

Well, I´ve heard that the time difference is 4 hours.  I will be
calling around 2 o´clock here which I think would be 10 o´clock your
time.  I´m pretty sure that I´m going to skype- but don´t be surprised
if I end up calling.  We are going to try to go to Oran with a member
that has internet.

All of the packages that have been sent have been held captive by the
grinches in the Argentine Mail system (because there are so many) and
will not be released for the mission home to pick up untill after the
holidays.  But I´m sure I´ll get your package soon!

six weeks left.

I asked Courtney what transfers were like.  I knew her companion was going home so I wondered if she had to travel 7 hours back to the mission home with her.

HAhaha.  Well- your question has the most complicated answer. It´s always
different.  But I´ll tell how my transfers went today for example.

La Colonia Santa Rosa, is so special small and incurrupt that it doesn´t
have a bus terminal.  So we have to go to the bus terminal in a neighboring
 town to send my companion off and receive my new one.  It´s also ridiculously hard to leave
my area. Especially at really wierd hours of the day- and normaly they
don´t give us our itinerary until late Sunday night.

  So, we were bugging our zone leaders because we´re really good friends
the whole week that they had to tell us our schedule as soon as they found
out so that we could organize everything well, and actually be able to leave.

They didn´t.  They let us know late, late Sunday night.

We had to leave our apartment at 5;30 in the morning- and we didn´t have any
idea who we could ask to take us.  We called about every taxi driver that
we knew.  Nobody was available.  And to make things worse the 2 female
members who were going to wait with me untill my new companion arrived had
to bail out.  The other members that we could have asked don´t have
cell-phones.  It was 2 in the morning and we literally had run out of
options.

When finally, finally our district president offered to take us. And then
my sweet, sweet district leader called all the members in his area to see
if one of them could acompany me.  And when they couldn´t-  the elders
offered to wake up ridiculously early and wait with me! And, we only had to
make  a really long series of stressful phone calls.

My new companion traveled 9 hours by bus to get to me.  And her bus left 2
hours late so we just sweated (because it´s already ridiculously hot at 6
in the morning here), talked and waited for a really long time in the
terminal with my district leader and his mini misionero that`s from
one of my old areas.

I slept 3 hours.  I thought I would be dying by now, because my internal
clock has gotten really good (I wake up about 10 minutes before 7 everyday,
and my eyes start to hurt at 9:15 at night and I know that we have to start
heading home. )

But I actually feel amazing.  I don´t think that missionaries can feel the
same physical stress as a normal person.

It´s one of the worst things in the world watching someone end their
mission.  My companion LITERALLY gave everything she had her last day- but
it was a super spiritual act that would have to be told in person to do it
justice.

I honestly don´t feel like I´ll be finishing my mission  in a month especially
because MY NEW COMPANION WAS IN MY DISTRICT IN THE MTC!!!!!  I
feel like I´m just starting over.  I´m with my 2 companion that isn´t
latin. (she extended her mission- which is the bigest relief that we won´t
be finishing togather.  Our area doesn´t have a map.  It would be
impossible to learn if someone didn´t teach it to you.)

I kinda like transfers because there is something magical about spending
the whole week talking about everyone that exists in your area.  I really,
really, really love the Colonia.  I´ve never met such hardworking people
even thought they take a 5 hour nap eveyday.

I love my mission.

Sometimes I just want to cry because I´m so freaking happy, and because
it´s so freaking hot and humid every day that I don´t remember what it
feels like to be dry.
Love ya, Hermana Shumway

juggling

Back when I was in my university freshmen English class, my teacher encouraged us to all learn to juggle.  He told us that he knew it sounded crazy, but he promised that one day it would be super beneficial in some way.  

I didn´t follow his advice.  I thought it was weird- and I spent my free time not learning how to juggle.

This week my mission president made me attempt to juggle in front of everyone- and it was super embarrassing because I didn´t have the slightest clue how!

It really made me think back on my English class, and how sometimes the things that sound crazy- are actually worth doing.

I thinks that´s how it is for a lot of our investigators.  They probably think that we are absolutely insane.  Two foreigners telling them that thier salvation depends on reading a book, getting baptized in our little green kiddie pool, and saving up and preparing to make the 10 hour trip to a temple. 

I´m glad I was born in the church.

This week was fun because in our street contacts we´ve been able to talk about the second coming because there was fairly big earthquake with aftershock, a hailstorm, and lots of weird changes in the weather.  It really makes the people think!

This week we had to go to a bunch of training's- so we didn´t have to much time to work in our area.  But the little time that we did have-it was under 100 degrees and we worked our butts off.  Satan creatively tried to stop us.  A dog peed on me.  And I feel in some mud running into an appointment in the dark- but we were so freaking blessed and it was amazing because nothing else matters.  

I love my mission.

On Sunday we took a 45 minute bus ride with the branch to our district conference in my previous area- Oran.  I´ve never been hugged and kissed so much in my life.  

WE NOW HAVE A BRANCH PRESIDENT.  But he´s the only active Melchizedek priesthood holder, but he´s really excited to help us activate and find more.

I don´t know if I´ll be able to skype- it might just be a phone call.  The internet where I am right now isn´t capable to support video chat. But I´ll let you know more later! 

And, we spent P-day out of our area!  So, here´s some photos from this week!

 I love you, I love you, I love you.

photos