Hello, sorry I'm a little late. Been pretty busy. When I got this
email church was already over.. I am late because we went out with the gardners. They were the last senior couple in Pottsville and they are visiting and wanted to take us out to lunch. Bro Garder is related to us. I used to be with them a little while I was in Reading. This week has been cooler over here
too. Actually pretty chilly. Some people are already wearing jackets.
We are gonna have to be wearing sweaters soon. I was only sick on
Wednesday, I got some food poisoning I think, but I got over it pretty
quick. Feel much better now. I hope I don't get the flu this season.
It hits pretty hard here.

I heard that women's conference was really good. Brandon has a
girlfriend huh? I think I know who it is. They were kind of a thing
before he left. Is she the girl that looks like Elsa from frozen? What
kind of game did Brandon and porter go to? Football? That's a neat
story president Utchdorf gives. Interesting how things work out and
what people turn into down the road in life.

Sam is 11 now, that's great! Jump street is pretty fun. I remember
going there too. The boys didn't like the bbq pizza? But it's sooooo good!
They are crazy. Haha that's funny that same would thank you for
birthing him.

Yes I have a new companion, Elder Ostrom. Things are going really
well. Yep we have pretty similar hair cuts. Some people have said that
we look like we could be brothers maybe. He did ask me if I could cut
his hair. I am getting better at it as I continue to cut my hair. Is
he a hard worker? Well he is, he's new to the area so he doesn't know
a lot of people, so it's mainly me doing the work right now but he'll
warm up to the branch soon. He is from American Fork, Utah. We do get
along well. Elder Lake went to Seaford, Delaware. I was not sick at
transfers. It only lasted for one day, Wednesday.

Well we are going to have to change masons date to be baptized,
because it supposed to be happening Tuesday and nothing is prepared
for it. Will talk to him about it. My leg is healing up fine. I cut it
while moving some wood with nails in them.

Now that Jon is baptized I don't think much will change for us going
over there. But when he starts working again I think it will change
some what then. We actually didn't fill th font up, the bishop of the ward
did it for us and I don't know what he did to make it not contamiated. I don't know the real
reason why the water is contaminated. Lori does like her wedding
gifts. She's told us we aren't allowed to us them cause they look too
nice. They are on her stove right now. What cord? I got a package from
Cindy and a package from you. I would love if you would invite them to
the airport. The debt card works, I have already tried it.

Thanks for feeding the sister missionaries, I'm sure they appreciate
it. We have been invited by Jon and Lori to watch conference at their house.
We will probably watch most of it there and maybe some at the church.
Not sure yet.

Love Elder Shumway

Hello Lila. Was only sick for one day, so it wasn't too bad. I am feeling better. My new companion is good. His name is Elder Ostrom. He is pretty cool. How did your talk go? I'm sure you did great. 

Love Elder Shumway

Hi dad. Sounds like a fun week this past week. Seems like Sam had a
good time at his birthday party. Thanks for all the pictures. Mom
filled me in on a lot of what happened. I'm sure Sam enjoyed the time
spent with you in taking him to Joes and Joes BBQ. Thanks for all the
football updates. Really appreciate those. The super bowl is coming up
this weekend(general conference). I'm really excited for that. Thanks
for feeding the sister missionaries, I'm sure they are very thankful.
What do they mean by knock out the wards? I'm glad Carson is working a
lot. It's good for him. That's a good job to do, to go and prepare
people's yards for the winter. Thanks for all you do.

Love Elder Shumway

 Temple dedication and lunch with the Wojcicki family

To answer the question, it was Saturdayand it was great. On Friday
Lori and Jon got married and then the next day Jon got baptized. Will
send pictures with this email. Everything went great with both of the
ceremonies. It was funny cause when they were in the process of
getting married they were about to exchange rings and Lori turns to us
and says," elders I forgot he ring in my bag, go get it!" We ran out
of there and were able to find it and bring it back. It was pretty
funny. Also Saturday we went to Kutztown, PA to baptize Jon. We
would usually go to reading but they needed to prep that building for
the temple dedication the next day. Funny thing about the Kutztown
building is that it's water is bad. We aren't allowed to drink from
the drinking fountain because the water is contaminated. The baptismal
water needed to be treated in order for Jon to be baptized. It all
worked out well. Something else that was great, Jon has a daughter
that was able to be with him this weekend. He hasn't been able to be
with his daughter for the last year and a half and for whatever reason
he was allowed to have her for this very special weekend. This weekend
was probably the best on in my mission.

Also we got news of who is being transferred. Elder Lake will be
leaving Pottsville and going to a new area. And I will be staying in
Pottsville and getting a new companion. In this mission you have no
idea where you are going or who your new companion is until you get to
transfers. There's is an element of surprise in all of this. So
tomorrow I will be getting a new companion.

Love Elder Shumway

Hi Lila. My week went really well. Yep had all sorts of stuff happen this weekend. We were super busy. Sounds like you had a great week too. Mom told me your getting some really bad grades. What's going on? Hope you can do better in school.

Love Elder Shumway

Thanks for all the football updates. I've heard recently of a lot of
controversy of the NFL players not standing for the national anthem.
We try not to talk to people about that here. Usually leads to an
argument. Yep everything went really well last weekend. The wedding
and baptism was a success. As well as the cultural celebration and the
dedication of the temple. It was cool when president Eyring was
talking about how he was baptized in Philadelphia, he seemed to get a
little chocked up about that. Did ALA win their homecoming football
game? How did you get stuck selling tickets? Mom told me a little bit
about your Saturday. That's great that the ward is trying to get to
know each other better. I'm sure you guys had a lot of fun.

What's going on with baseball?

For transfers, I am staying in Pottsville and Elder Lake is leaving.

Love Elder Shumway

Mom

Yes I did have a very exciting week. It has been one of my best weeks
while I've been on my mission. I was pretty happy that day. I feel
like I'm doing a good job here and the Lord is blessing us. The tie
that I was wearing was one of elder lakes. Lori wanted me to wear that
one. Jon has 2 girls, but I've only met one. The youngest. Loris
parents are great. Loris mom stresses a lot about stuff. They are from
the San Diego area. Thank you for the package. Hopefully I can get it
tomorrow at transfers. I'll be sure to give Lori and Jon their
weddings gifts. They will really be grateful. I am getting a new
companion. We usually get transfer calls Sunday evening. Instead
we got them this morning. They changed it because of the temple
dedication. I will be staying in Pottsville and elder lake will be
leaving.

No I don't love sushi. I ate both raw fish and California rolls. It is
really weird to eat seaweed chips. It is very salty. I do not
recommend anybody to eat it, because it is gross.

The appointment with Mason went well. He said he felt really bad for
leaving us hanging. He's taking us out to lunch today since it will be
elder lakes last day in Pottsville. He still wants to be baptized. The
trouble is he works Sundays now and can't come to church until he
gets them off. We have set a date for the  Sept  27thr and we are
hoping that nothing goes wrong this time so he can be baptized.
Rochelle is doing awesome. She was able to get a temple recommend this
last week and also went to a session of the dedication. We did some
service for a man in the branch who is a contracted and needed some
help cleaning up one of his projects. I got a cut on my leg from it.
It was pretty great.

Colten leaves Wednewday huh? That's great. I'm sure he will love
his mission. If you get a chance tell him that I love him and am proud
of him for serving a mission. Hopefully his suits fit him real well.

I'm glad Carson is working. That's good that he is earning money. I'm
glad he's saving it too. Seems like he went through quite a change. I
remember when he wouldn't save any money. I'm glad he's been blessing
the sacrament too. That's a great opportunity for him. I'm very happy
that he is trying to be better. What's making him do these things?
Seems like a 180degree turn from the last time I knew him. Thanks for
reminding everyone to write me. Lila wrote me last week, but
unfortunately I didn't get it until after Pday was over.

Man I didn't know Lila could be such a nerd. Haha just kidding, that's
great she's getting really good grades. She will definitely do well in
later years in school.

Sam is going to be turning 11 huh? Wow he's getting so big right? Next
year he will be a deacon and receive the priesthood and pass the
sacrament. Does that make you feel old? Sounds like he'll have a fun
part too.

The temple dedication was great. We finally have a temple! I'm so
happy that I could be apart of it. The cultural celebration was pretty
sweet. Did bring back some memories of our cultural celebration. I do
remember how cold and wet it was. I also remember how much fun it was.
It was in a stadium. They performed in the temple university stadium.
It's interesting cause they are celebrating the temple at temple
university. I'm exited that I get to got to temple more often now too.

No more 16 year old Sunday school class huh? I'm sure you'll miss that class. Now you are
in nursery? Are you excited for that? I'm sure you'll do great in any
calling you have.

Dinner at bishops? That sounds like fun. What game did you play.
Doesn't seem like a lot of people showed up. Were you expecting a lot
of people there? Does the ward seem to not be unified right now? I
could see why. Lots of new faces in the ward.

Plan for this week. Not sure yet, we have transfers tomorrow.

That's
pretty much the only exciting thing right now.

You're welcome for giving Lori your phone number. I'm glad that I gave
it to her too. So we can kind of communicate through the week a
little.

Thanks for the cash in the package, it will definitely help me. It
always does. I don't need anything else right now.

Love Elder Shumway

I'll remember my PIN number.

Mom
Yes I was waiting patiently for my email yesterday. yeah that seaweed
is really disgusting. Elder Lake has a lot of it and he eats it just
like chips. He is soooooo weird. He loves sushi too. I tried it for
the first time a few weeks ago and it wasn't anything special.

Sounds like a pretty fun weekend. Lots going on. I'm glad thatLila, Sam, Annie and Hannah
 are still getting along well. I'm sure Colten did great at his farewell
talk. Nephi sounds like a good topic to talk about as well. I've been
able to read that story many times with our investigators as they
start to read the Book of Mormon. That was smart for Juliet to do
start with his suits bugger. I'm sure Colten is going to gain some major weight. That
southern hospitality will feed him a lot I'm sure.

I'll send you some pictures in this email of last week. It was pretty
fun. They are still getting married Friday. I'm really excited
for them. Her parents should be flying in from California tomorrow.
The best thing that she's fixed for us to eat. She has some really good waffles that
she makes. I'm sure they would love that gift for their wedding.

Well I'm sleeping fine. It's the amount of sleep I get is the problem.
I'm glad you're sleeping well. Headaches aren't too frequent. The last
one I had was on a Sunday and we hadn't had lunch yet.

Nothing from Mason yet. We are supposed to be seeing him tomorrow; I
hope goes well.

That's great the  Flygare twins did well. I'm sure that they had huge Spanish
accents. I'm sure they hardly spoke any English while they were out. That a
scary story about Matts heart attack. Is he doing ok? I'm sure they are
glad that it happened at home and not in Central America.

Rochelle got baptized Saturday actually and was confirmed
yesterday. She is a great person. They puppy is still gone. I'm glad
she's doing well. Not surprised are dogs are still annoying. I'm sure 

they are getting a little old. Sorry you think you're getting old too.

I wonder what bro gale wants to talk to you about?

That's awesome for porter. Sounds like he's keeping busy and doing
good work. I also would love to work in the temple. But not the
Spanish session, that wouldn't work.

Love Elder Shumway

Hello everyone
This week was great.Saturday Rochelle got baptized! And then on
Sunday she got confirmed. Had an awesome weekend! Sorry I didn't write
an email last week. Super busy, we went to the priesthood restoration
site with Jon and Lori. They both loved it. I recommend that everybody
goes there if they ever get the chance. In the beginning of the tour
they show a short video about Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry
translating the Book of Mormon into English. It's an awesome movie.
The actor who plays Joseph Smith is the same guy who plays Christ in
the church bible videos. Also in the movie is the depiction of Joseph
and Oliver receiving the priesthood. It's sooooooo cool.

This coming week is going to be great. Lori and Jon are getting
married! I'm so happy for them. Lori's parents are supposed to be
coming in towntomorrow for the wedding. They are getting married this
Friday. Then the next daySturday Jon is going to get baptized! I
am so lucky to be a part of these awesome people's lives. Then later
that night is the cultural celebration for the temple, which we have
been given permission to watch. Super excited for that, hopefully will
bring back some awesome memories. Then the next day the temple will be
dedicated!

Thanks for all your prayers. Hope everybody has an awesome week.

Love Elder Shumway

Hi grandma. Im glad Colten did a great job yesterday at his talk. He will be a wonderful missionary. And I'm sure he'll enjoy all that southern hospitality. 

We have a wedding here on Friday and a baptism on Saturday. Unfortunately Jon won't be confirmed until the following Sunday cause this Sunday is the temple dedication. 

I love you grandma, Elder Shumway

Dad
Hello good morning. Thanks for all the football updates. Can't believe
it's already starting again. Hope the cardinals can do really well
this year. Mom sent me a picture of Carson with his date. They do look
good. I'm sure they had a great time. Heard you had a busy day. But a
good busy day. I'm glad that Colten is ready to go learn that new
language. I'm sure he will do we'll out there. I think I would laugh a
lot if I was at their homecoming. With all the broken English. I'm
sure they were trying their hardest though. That's great Carson will
be able to have Colten old phone.

We do have a big week coming up. Everything is ready and set up. I'm
very excited about the temple dedication. It's gonna be a great
experience. Things in our area are really good. This area is the most
successful area I've been in. We have been able to get people to
church. Seaweed is very gross. I do not recommend it.

Love Elder Shumway

Mom

Good morning. How was the pot luck last night for Annie's bday? Man I miss Mexican food. Haven't had a lot of it out here. Hope you guys have a fun time at Terrell and Monica's. I'm sure you will, it's always fun to be around family. I think Sam forgot how good it is too. I'm sure he'll be reminded though. Well our plans for Labor Day, today is Pday obviously and we are also going to the priesthood restoration site today with Jon and Lori. Really excited about that. 

You eat at Jon and Lori's almost every night?

A:Almost every night. 

* What does she fix for dinner? 

A: Food. Recently we had some waffles that were really good. 

* How is your sleeping?

A: My sleeping is ok. Wish I could get more. Have developed some crows feet I think from it. 

* Have you been sick since you have been out?

A: I have been sick. The only time that I didn't go out and work was the time that I hurt my neck really bad. I also get some pretty bad headaches every now and then because of me not eating a meal sometimes.

* How are your shoes holding up? I would love to see a picture of your shoes.

A: My shoes are holding up just fine. They are getting broken in. I use them everyday and there are some scuff marks on them and the tread is getting thinner.m

* When are transfers?

A: Transfers are the 20th of September. 

* Do you want to stay in Pottsville?

A: I do want to stay in Pottsville.

* Will you take and send some pictures of you apartment inside and out?

A: I already have taken some. Will take a few more and send them to you.

We are still in contact with Mason. He's been pretty busy lately with work and also school. Don't know if he still has a desire to be baptized. We have an appointment for the 13th right now. That's the soonest that he could meet with us. We'll see what happens with him.

Jon and Loris address is 572 Sunbury St Minersville, PA 17954. Yeah she told me that you are both Facebook friends now. Well with e coin toss thing. Some things have changed. Elder Lake and I will both be best mans and since Elder Lake is most likely leaving Jon changed his mind and asked elder lake to baptized him and me to confirm him. President Murray our branch president will marry them. 

Thanks for the pictures of the twins. They sure don't look any different. I hope you can make it to both of those. Seems like it might be a little difficult. When does Colten leave for the MTC? 

So Rochelle was a Referal a long time ago and she moved away for a little bit and she recently just moved back into our area and we are teaching her. Rochelle is a single woman and she lives alone. She is 54 years old. She's really nice. Is somewhat dislexic(probably spelled that wrong). Is missing teeth. About that puppy, so we go back a day or two after I took a picture of it and the puppy want there. I asked her where it is and she said that someone had stolen it. So yeah, no more puppy.

We are leaving soon for the priesthood restoration site. Will make sure that we take plenty of pictures. 

Thanks for all he updates on the people. How's Sadie doing? Also Brandon Gale? Chance Johnson? 

Thanks for the pig picture. That must have been pretty interesting to watch. 

Yeah grandma and grandpa are really nice to do that. I'm glad that they enjoy doing it. 

I'm glad that work is going well for you. Do I need anything? Well nothing comes to mind right now. I'm doing good. I'll let you know if I need anything though. How much money do I have in my account for my debit card? Have not gotten the converter yet. Hopefully should get it soon. 

Love Elder Shumway