Hey Carson. Congrats on those wins. Do you think you'll make the
playoffs? Block schedule at school this week. That sounds like fun. Those two hour classes
are killer. I did not enjoy them myself either. But high school goes
by so fast. I went super fast for me. Summer is almost there. Just
keep working hard and doing what's right.

Mom
Happy Easter. Unfortunately my air mattess is out of commission right now. We
are down to one air mattress because I was ironing yesterday and the
mattresses were by the bed and I set the iron in the board and it's
near the mattress and it burned a hole through it. I must have not
realized what I was doing. I didn't get much sleep the night before.
The reason is because we found 7 bed bugs here in this apartment now.
So we had to dry all our clothes and bedding and leave them in the
car. So I slept on the air mattress with no pillow or blankets and
neither did any of the other elders. So last night I had to sleep on
the floor with no air mattress cause I burned a hole in it and I have
no pillow or blanket cause we can't bring them in cause they will get
contaminated again! It's been a very stressful week.
Anyways.......yeah that video is funny. Actually it was Elder Torres
who did it. I am super tired. It is hard to wake up because it's still
super dark outside. I don't understand daylight savings, it's super
dumb. We have not gotten our apartment back.

You can just go ahead and send the package to my apartment. I will get it
eventually. We go over there to get mail every now and then. I will
definitely need the money. Everybody here is broke cause we've been
having to buy things to get rid of these bed bugs.

It is interesting about Elder Murphy. I'm sure they'll do just fine.
She was a really prepared person for the gospel. Elder Gibbons was
involved in her baptism.

I'm glad that you are enjoying your time off from school. Yep time is
going by fast. I realized the other day that in the 18th year of me
being alive I've been open my mission longer than I've been home. I
wonder why the sisters cancelled dinner. We would never cancel a dinner
appointment here. I think that's super strange, idk they are sisters.
They do some strange things. Lucky the Easter pageant! That is super
good. Was it the same as last years?

I'm sure Dan's excuse for no cats is that heads just keep falling off for
some reason. I'm glad that they are cat free too. What are they going
to do with the new litter? It's good that Courtney is still trying
hard. Companions are sometimes hard to get along with. That's to bad
about Andrew. I will definitely email him and talk with him. I'm sure
he's having a hard time with that broken arm. And he's also not the
most social able person ever. That's great that Derrick is going to
minnesnowda (Minnesota). Good luck to garret too. I'm sure kammy is
excited for him cause she went to chile too.

It's a pretty good looking car. I like it already. Sorry about the
seat belt breaking. Hopefully it will be the only problem. Dad also says that
it needs an alignment. That shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Yes I have heard about the attack in Brussels. It super sad. Good
thing that they are expected to live. I've seen some pictures on
mormonnewsroom and they are really cool. Nobody here has really talked
to us about it that much.

1: The teaching is going better. This week was a better week. I don't
like to say it but Elder Gibbons can be pretty lazy sometimes and
doesn't like to go out and work. That's kind of why the teaching
hasn't been so great this transfer. A little buddy told us that he's
probably going to get transferred. So hopefully I can get a new
companion that likes to work.

2: I like living with four elders, but I would rather in a larger
apartment that has more than one bathroom.

3: I tried to cut my hair, but it was so bad that I just buzzed it. I
think I did a one. It was super bad.

I'm pretty confident that I will stay here. One of our zone leaders
Elder Clark mentioned that I would be staying.



Lila
Hey Lila. My Easter was ok. So what's happened so far in the book? Is it your favorite? I'm excited for this package. Elder Gibbons is ok. This week we found more bed bugs in the Spanish elders apartment and I'm not to happy about that. That's great that the sister missionaries will be coming over during priesthood session. What are you going to do? Mmmmmmmm yum kneaders. That's a good place. The sandwiches are still pretty good. My favorite restaurant in Wilmington is also a gas station and it is called wawa and they are all over the mission. Love you too.


Things are going ok. It could be a lot better. You can read in the
letter I sent to mom about why. I'm glad things are going well over
there. You mowed grandpas lawn all by yourself? I bet that took a while. Is Coleen still
living there? Mom sent me a picture of the Altima. It's a good looking
car. Those are hopefully the only problems that it has. We didn't have
an Easter egg hunt unfortunately. We were hunting for different
things. Good job for Carson in getting the golden egg. Yum that sounds like a delicious dinner.
Thanks for trying to invite Teryn I'm sure he didn't have family time
on Easter. Wow garret is leaving this week! He'll do great. Mom didn't
tell me what everybody got. That's great that Mackenzie spoke in
church and also that the ward is still growing. I am also looking
forward to conference. I love conference. Im sure I will get a lot out
of it. Sounds like Carson is doing well at volleyball. Im trying to
take car of myself. The bed bug problem is not fixed yet. Anything new
in the sports world?

Good afternoon. So this week a lot has happened. A lot good and a lot
of bad. So to start off I will explain the title of this email. We are
teaching a lady who is a less active. She is super awesome and we've
been teaching here for a little bit and she loves Michael Jackson. She
is like the head of his fan club. She told us that when his 45th
birthday rolled around she headed the party and was able to sit across
the table from him. And her walls are covered with Michael posters,
pictures, toys. I will send pictures.

Also this week we had a basketball tournament at the church.
Unfortunately we couldn't play cause the rule is that we can't play
with members on any day except pday. We really wanted to play but
couldn't. We did get an offer my the guy in charge. He new that it was
a rule but he later asked us that if we played how much trouble would
we get in? We told him we would probably get in a lot of trouble and
said thank you but no thank you. It took a lot of me to say no.

So some bad news this week. So we are living with the Spanish elders
right now while our apartment is being treated for bed bugs. We tried
to be super careful about giving them to the Spanish elders.
Unfortunately on Saturday the day before Easter we found six of them
under Elder Steils bed. Elder Steil has been getting bitten like crazy
and we now know what from. So we had to clean everything and dry
everything so we could kill them if they are in our laundry. But we
couldn't bring them back into the apartment because they would get
contaminated again. So Saturday night we got to sleep with no blankets
or no pillows. It was not fun. Yesterday I accidentally pierced a hole
in one of our air mattresses while I was ironing my clothes. So last
night I got to sleep on the floor. Today we are able to go back into
our apartment cause the treatment has been completed and we shouldn't
have any more bed bugs. So tonight I'll be able to have a good nights
rest.

The church is true. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. Love you.

Elder Shumway

Good morning mother. I have kind of found a bed. We bought air
mattresses and they are actually pretty comfortable. Way better than
the floor. That was Elder Torres who threw the ball at my face. I'll send you another
video of him trying to be funny. It was really funny. We have not
moved yet. We are pretty sure we are going to move. Today the
apartment is going to get exterminated. You could just send it to the
mission office and I will get it is a week or two. I doubt that Elder Gibbons
will get anything. He did get a package from his grandparents with a lot of goodies
and money. Thanks for including him he really is thankful.

Haha yeah. I knew about  Murphy before. Elder Gibbons knows her pretty
well. He's worked with her after she was baptized. And yes Elder
Murphy did have a part in her baptism. He did tell me about them. I
didn't know that it would lead to this.

Sorry you are back at work. School sure is winding down to the end.
Crazy how time goes by so fast. I hit my seven month mark the other
day. It went by super fast. Yep not to long till we get to talk again.
The stretch between Christmas and Mother's Day is easier than the
stretch from Mother's Day to Christmas. I'm excited to talk to you
guys too. Man taco salad sounds delicious. Wow to new sisters that's cool. I
can see there pictures on my lds tools. Thanks for feeding them. It's
such a help when member feed the missionaries. Money is super tight
and we have to budget our money and it really helps us out when we are
fed.

How did the cats leave Dan and Kristens house? Did their heads fall off?
 Not to many people came to the party .
Seems like the family is growing up a lot. Sorry Courtney is
struggling with her companion. It's hard when you don't get along with your companions.
I've gone through similar experiences with my companions. I've really
learned a lot of patience out here and also the concept of enduring to
the end. That's awesome for Tate and Derrik. They will be great
missionaries. Make sure to tell me where they are called too. That's
okay for Derrik. State side missions are the best! Wow Garrett Severtson is leaving.
Where is he going again? Somewhere in South America I think.

Yeah you should just buy the car. Sounds like a good car. And those types
of cars do pretty well. How in the world isdid the tracker still passing
the emission test? It's so old! At least Carson got the radio to work
and it can be a little more enjoyable. Carson should be excited to
drive it cause it is a chicken magnet! A job would be good for him and
at Costa vida, yum.

1: I always need money really. As for razors and deodorant and things
like that I'm just fine. I've been sent so many I don't really know
what to do with it. I basically just tell my companies if they need
any they can have some.

2: This week we helped some investigators who we aren't teaching yet
stack some wood.

3: We put them in the dryer. We are being super careful about bed bugs. We
do not want to bring it to their apartment. Thankfully since we've
moved out we haven't gotten bitten at all.

Haha that is a really funny video. I guess copper likes Pluto more
than he likes Mickey. To bad they can't win any big money. At least
they got a hundred dollars for it.

Love you too
Elder Shumway


Hey Lila. Not much happened this week. We are going to get rid of the bed bugs
today. We are still living with the spanish elders. Sorry you have to go back to school.
That must not be fun to be sick. But hey you only have one quarter left and then
summer. That's not fun being sick during spring break. This week we
weren't able to do much cause we have spent a lot of time with our
partner and trying to get things set up about moving and treating it
and cleaning it and not trying to bring them to the Spanish elders
apartment. We really aren't teaching too many people. We are teaching
this man named Darin. He's super nice and likes talking with us. Elder
Gibbons is just fine. He's still super good at playing the piano. One
thing that we did was we got slurpies at 7/11 Friday. Cause on that
day you could bring anytime container you wanted and fill it up and it
would only cost $1.50. So I got a milk jug. Love you too

Hello. Hey bed bugs are super hard to get rid of. And when I was working
for bishop we never worked with bed bugs. I'm not surprised that Jimmy has
a beard. He used to have one. Sounds like he is doing well. That's a
pretty good trade for Cardnals. They needed to get rid of him cause he's to injury
prone and another great pass rusher would really help the cardinals.
Man sounds super hot. It's cold here again. I thought it was going to
warm up. This past weekend it snowed a little bit. Have fun mowing
lawns at Grandpas. I did see that video of Cooper. Mom sent it to me. That's really funny.
Mom says that you've decided to buy the Altima. Is that right? Yep I
hit the 7 month mark last week. Good for the Dbacks. I'm excited for
their next season. Nice job at teaching those nine year olds in primary. I'm
super excited for  general conference too. It's like the Super Bowl for
missionaries. You take care too

Good afternoon everybody. So this week was interesting. We are still
staying with the Spanish elders right now cause our apartment still
has bed bugs. And it looks like we are going to stay here for another
week. The bug man came today and started to treat the apartment and
told us that there's two steps to it and that will happen in about a
week. At least we are getting rid of this problem.

So on Friday 7/11 was offering a deal where we could bring any size
container we wanted and fill it up with slurpy and it would only be
$1.50. So we all went on Friday. I filled up a gallon jug that used to
be filled with milk. Unfortunately I didn't finish it all because it
was too much. I have a picture to go with it too.

I did get to go on exchange it's Elder Clark who is one of our zone
leaders. He's super awesome. We had a lesson with a young man. And we
were helping him with the addiction recovery program. He openly told
me that he has a problem with pornography. We had a great discussion
and he is trying to get worthy enough so that he can go on a mission.
I just think it's amazing how the Addiction Recover Program is so
centered on our savior Jesus Christ and our father in heaven. And how
we need to give him our burdens and our addictions. It's very similar
to a mission. I have to give it to them. I can't do anything by
myself. I've learned that it's impossible without their influence.

This mission experience is teaching me a lot of things and it is
helping me strengthen my testimony of the gospel so much. It's
interesting how when you lose yourself in the service of others is
when you find your true self. I encourage everybody to serve and maybe
if you feel like you need to go on a mission cause that is the best
way to serve.

Love you and stay safe,
Elder Shumway

I'm still dreaming of bed bugs unfortunately. We recently saw one on
Thursday climbing up our wall while doing weekly planning. We were
super paranoid about it. Ever time I'm in my apartment now I just feel
itchy. Mostly because we are paranoid and stressed out about this
situation.

Friday we told our mission president about it because we had zone
conference. He told us that we need to get out of there are go live
with the Spanish elders for a little bit so we can get this problem
takes care of. So we are, unfortunately there is a nice soft carpet
for me to sleep in at night. It's not very soft. Just some advice to
future missionaries if you run in with bed bugs just go hard at trying
to get rid of them. I have no sympathy at all for them. Anyways this
is he bad part of the week.

The good part is that Jachin who had the seizure last week is doing
better. He still is suffering from a concussion. From it he's lost
some memory. He doesn't really remember having the seizure or even
remembering that we were there. But he's doing better.

We had a lesson with an investigator of ours. His name is Darin. He's
super awesome. He loves Joseph Smith! He is on the verge of being a
golden investigator, he just needs to come to church. I'm super
excited about him right now. We will definitely be trying to get him a
baptismal date soon. He's been investigating the church for a while
and is a super knowledgable guy. He's a free mason and we told him
that Joseph Smith was one as well and now he loves him even more. So
that's a good part about this week.

And that's about it. Lot of our time this week has been taken up by
this bed bug problem. The mission office has basically told us that we
are most likely going to move out of our apartment into a new
apartment and I'm super excited about that too.

Love you, be safe, and don't get to hot over there in Arizona.

Elder Shumway


Dad,  All is going pretty well. We are playing basketball right now. It was
quite an experience. I was trying to stay calm. Other people were not
keeping calm. Sorry you were so sick. I wish I could go see creed.
Looks like a pretty good movie. Unfortunately I've never really been I
Philly. Good for the Dbacks. Hopefully they will do well this year. I
miss sports so much. I saw that Calvin Johnson is retiring. That's
sad. The Cardinals are smart like that. Hopefully they will win the
Super Bowl next year. Wow she's getting married? That's crazy! I will
keep up the work.

Carson,

No way the radio in the Tracker works! That's awesome! I wish I could have figured it out when I was
driving it. Good job at doing well at volleyball. Good luck at the
Higley game. Hope your doing great too.

Sam,

Hi Sam. Lost another one! Gross all bloody and at church! What are you
going to do during spring break? Good job getting your bear. You have
a great week too. Love you.

Lila,

Hey Lila. Lucky your in spring break. Good job at doing well on your
Galileo tests and being able to go to amazing jakes. I eat 
sometimes to much at buffets too. Amazing jakes is super fun too. Lucky you get to
go to the movies. My week was not too fun. It's not to cold anymore. I
do like Elder Gibbons.
Love you too

Mom,

I'm glad that you have spring break. Sounds like Carson is enjoying

volleyball. Hopefully you guys can find something to do this spring
break.

Yeah he sisters sure are lucky. So let me tell you something. We still
have bed bugs. One was crawling up the wall last Thursday while we
were weekly planning.Fridayy was zone conference and we told President
Stephenson and President Anderson about it. They are both in the
mission presidency. President Stephenson already knows about our
problem and they told us that we need to get out of there are move in
with the Spanish elders for a little bit. We cleaned and cleaned our
apartment and sanitized the things that we were going to take. And for
the past couple of nights I and Elder Gibbons have been sleeping on
the floor in the Spanish elders apartment. Not fun! So this week
wasn't to fun for me.

Great job on going to the temple. Keep going. The temple in Philly
looks awesome. I've only seen pictures of it. Looks like the building
outside is all finished. And they just put up the holiness to the Lord
the house of the Lord sign.

No new car yet? That's too bad. Hopefully everything is okay with his
family. Hopefully you can get something soon.

I did get the package. Those cookies were delicious. Elder Gibbons was
thankful too for his stuff.

Yeah that is a crazy story last week about calling 911. Well I wasn't too scared. In the ways of
training there's not much you can do for a seizure in the case that I
was in. You basically just have to let them go and make sure they
aren't banging into anything that can hurt them. With his concussion
he's lost some of his memory. He doesn't remember having a seizure or
remembering that we were there, or going to the hospital. He lives
with them cause that's the only place he can. I think his mom left him
and his dad is in jail and he lives with his grandma. And houses like
this are all over here in the ghetto of Wilmington, Delaware. I was a
little scared, but not too much.

Elder Gibbon is really good at the piano. I don't have any piano skills. I did
know that I was recording him. He doesn't really have any family that
writes him except for his dad and other missionaries.

Day light savings is weird and unnecessary! I don't understand why
they do it. The weather has been really great.

1: It's a pretty large apartment complex. I don't know if I also mentioned this.
But sometimes when we come home at night our apartment sometimes
smells like marijuana.
2: Omni 1:26
3: Yes I do feel your prayers.

Love you too,
Elder Shumway

First of all its true I got to call 911 this week. So the story goes,
we had an appointment with one of the recent converts in the ward. We
go over there and say hi. We are there for a little bit when we both
felt that we need to leave and go to the church with him. He says that
would be fine, but he said that he wants to eat first. I really felt
like we needed to get out of there ASAP so I told him that I would buy
him dinner if we could go right now. The house is a mess and the TV
was super loud and there were two high obnoxious grown men there too
who would only disturb us probably. He said ok and he went to get his
shoes. He comes back down stairs and we walk out to the car. As we are
almost to the car he stops dead in his tracks and immediately falls
super hard on the ground. He then begins to have a seizure! Elder
Gibbons runs inside and tells everybody while I call 911. Everybody in
the house comes out and is fracking out. The ambulance says they are
in the way. After he comes out of his seizing he notices that
everybody is around him and looking at him. He then gets up and runs
back inside the house! A little later the ambulance finally came and
took him to the hospital. Not only did he have a seizure he also
suffered a really bad concussion. So that was not fun at all.

The work here is going pretty slow. Not to many investigators, but we
have a plethora of less actives to work with. So we are kind of
concentrating on them right now. Along with finding service
opportunities in the city. Hopefully the work can pick up in the near
future.

So this last Sunday was fast Sunday and it was a little different than
normal. We had one man come up and just let everybody know that
daylight saving day is coming up and he warned in that we needed to
set our clocks right. After that he said amen and walked off. We also
had a man who is deaf bear his testimony in sign language and his wife
translated for him. So that was pretty cool.

So I never told but my companion Elder Gibbons is super good at the
piano. He plays things that are just crazy. I'll send a video of him
playing.

The church is true. On my mission I've seen why things that are in the
church are in the church. The word of wisdom and the law of chastity
are sooooooooo important. And not following these commandments is not
a good idea. I've also learned that my family is so important to me.
Here is see people abuse there kids and just don't parent well at all.
And kids are super disrespectful to us and are swearing and using
really bad language. So the teaching of the church aren't just things
that we should do, it's something that we should want to do because
they are soooooooooooo important.

Love you all, stay safe, i definitely will try here in Wilmington
which is by the way the murder capital of America!!!!

Elder Shumway

Hello Dad. Yeah mom did fill me in on a lot of stuff that is going on at home. Good for Manning to retire, he is getting super old. He can end his career with a super bowl win. What Lakers beat the Warriors? That's crazy.Good for the Suns too. Are they still pursuing Mike Dantonie? Thats probably not how you spell his name. I am getting acclimated. That would be super awesome for you to go to a spring training game. 

So I've gotta tell you a story of something that happened to me this week. So Elder Gibbons and I went to a recent converts home for an appointment we had with him. This guys name is Jachin and he is 19 years old. So we go over there to his house and are there for a little bit and we ask him if it would be okay if we could go to the church so we can have some peace and quiet because his house is crazy. It is a mess and there are two obnoxious grown men who are smoking and obviously high. So he says that's fine, but he wanted to eat before. I wanted to leave right then cause I did not feel the spirit at all in there. I told him that i would buy him dinner if he would come. He said okay. So we start walking out and as we are walking to the car him and I are walking side by side and he then stops and falls to the ground super hard and then begins to have a seizure. Elder Gibbons runs inside and tells everybody that Jachin is having a seizure. They all come out and start freaking out. I call 911 and they said they are coming. While waiting for the ambulance he stops seizing and starts to come back. He looks up and and notices that everybody is around him and staring at him so he gets up and runs back into the house. Eventually the ambulance comes and takes him to the hospital. Turns out that not only did he have the seizure he also got a pretty bad concussion from the hard fall. So that was what happened this week.

Hi Grandpa. Just wanted to email you and say thank you for the funds
> that you gave me. I love it when I get stuff like that. Money is super
> tight here and it truly helps me out a lot. So thank you so much. Love
> you.
>
> Elder Shumway

Hi Grandma. Yeah I was sick for a couple of days, but I am feeling much better. Back to normal. Yeah Debbie is really golden. Unfortunately she doesn't live in our area. Hopefully I will get one like her some day. Petty much my area is brand new to me and we are basically just starting over.

That's great grandma that you've set a retirement date. I'm sure they will miss you. Thanks for taking the girls out and getting them those things. I love you too grandma.

Elder Shumway

Good morning Mom. This week I have not spent my days in my bed. I probably just slept on my neck wrong last week. It feels normal now. Yeah that was super nice of the Spanish Elders to go see Debbie. This week was very slow. It was slow because we had a four hour zone training on Wednesday and Thursday and that kind of threw a lot out of whack. The weather sure is going to get warmer.

Those are good girls in your class. You probably won't have to much trouble with them. Chocolate makes everything better. King Benjamin Good lesson. He sure says some good things.

The awkward feeling is going away. Slowly but surely. There are a lot of lawyers in this ward and they all make a ton of money and can be pretty snobby sometimes and sometimes ungrateful. Anyways Elder Gibbons just stayed with me for those days when I was sick. I'm sure he enjoyed it a lot. I did take some ibuprofen, but not four. It did help a little bit though. 

Yeah lucky sisters! Not only are they having that baptism there is this woman they are teaching who lives in our area. But they get to teach her cause she had requested sisters. And she's going to get baptized on April 2nd. Nobody really ever requests elders. Our area isn't to big. It's smaller that my last area in Reading. I'll send you a picture of it on a map. We will probably get to go cause the church building is in our area. We aren't really teaching any investigators right now. Here in Wilmington it weird cause all the poor welfare people who live in the city will talk to us and let us in and all that, but they won't keep commitments and they won't come to church cause they don't have a car. But if we go to the rich areas and tract we get a lot of doors slammed in our faces and people telling us to leave cause there's no soliciting here. We try and tell them that we aren't but they don't care. It's just super frustrating, so right now we are mainly working with recent converts and less actives. 

Wow that's crazy that Porter is  already coming home. He's probably ready to come home. And you're welcome for all your new friends on Facebook. Yep 7 months is coming up and I've still got a long way left to go. One thing that I've learned about my mission is that the mission is demanding physically but it's even more demanding spiritually and mentally. 

Thanks for doing temple work. I took for granted the temple back home. I wish so much right now that I can go to the temple. Don't take it for granted and tell the rest of the family that too. We are so lucky to have a temple so close to us and are able whenever we want to go. I will keep sending them. When there's a time that I'm not busy or doing anything I usually go in and see if I can find anybody and then I send them over to you. I will keep doing that.

Sounds like a nice car that you and Dad are looking at and hardly any miles on it. What is a dr from India? Wow less than a thousand for the Honda? That's super cheap. I guess it is pretty beaten up though.

That's great Sis Slade can talk. Seems like she's slowly making progress. Can't wait for the day that she is all better. I guess Sadie has been married for a couple of months now. 

Thank you for paying it off the ipad. I guess when you go on a mission you get to pay for an iPad and get to keep it. I haven't really needed a whole lot. I am excited that may is coming up soon and also conference. Conference is like super bowl for missionaries cause this is the one time that we are allowed to watch TV! I won't break it or losemy ipad. 

Carson looks like he's doing well. Only one video? Lila told me about that gymnastics meet and about their granddaughter. I guess they are good friends now. I'm not surprised that the family is getting small.  A lot of us aren't around. That's awesome to hear about Colten putting his papers in. I'm glad that he's going to go on a mission. 

1: Well we are fighting back with the bed bugs. I'm using the lavender on my bed. We haven't seen any lately so that's good. 

2: They haven't eaten me up yet either. 

3: Elder Gibbons is from Niagara Falls, Canada. That probably wouldn't be a good idea cause his mom is like a drug addict and he doesn't know where she is and if she's even alive. So yeah. 

Love Elder Shumway

Hey Lila. Not much honestly. My new area is a lot different. The city
is super scary. Sorry you were sick on Tuesday. Sounds like you've got a new friend. Sure sounds like a lot
of fun. You're already swimming too? I guess it is already in the 90s
over there. We think we've got rid of them. We haven't seen any for a
couple of weeks. My companion is great. We are teaching this one guy
named Darin. He is super cool. We are gonna see him tonight. My week
went ok and a little scary. If you want to know why you can read dads
email cause I'm gonna tell him what happened.
Love you too, Elder Shumway