Elder Braden Shumway

Good morning. Yes I am in the move. I'm excited to go to a new area
and meet new people. I will miss the people in Pottsville a lot, I'm
glad that I was able to serve here. I definitely have made some life
long friends. Glad the weather is nice over there. It's pretty cold
here. There is a couple of inches of snow on the ground right now.
Yesterday we saw someone slide across the road and hit a guard rail
pretty hard. Thankfully everyone was ok and all that was lost was the
bumper. Congrats to the bulldogs for getting the championship! I'm
excited for Christmas too. Very exited to Skype with my family. It's
less than two weeks now. I always enjoyed those school Christmas
concerts. I'm sure Sam will do well. That's a great message by the
speakers yesterday. There are times when those decisions present
themselves. I to need to sometimes make better decisions, I think
everybody does.

Thanks for the sports updates. I wish the Cardinals would do better!
I've heard that the cowboys have a really good team this year. Good
job for the Giants! I'm glad people are wondering how I'm doing. Tell
them that I say hello and thanks for thinking about me. If there are
comfortable with it they are welcome to email me. I will respond.

Love Elder Shumway

Happy Monday everybody. Hope everybody is doing well and is staying
warm. There has been several days this week that it has snowed and it
has been fun. I do get a little more wet than I would like, but I do
enjoy the snow most of the time. I however do not like to drive on it.
Yesterday the roads weren't salted after it snowed and I was a little
worried about us. As we were driving to an appointment we saw a car
coming the opposite way of us crash into a guard rail! Thankfully
everyone was ok and they just lost their bumper. After that we tried
to go a little slower.

It's been hard to say goodbye to the people here in Pottsville. I am
truly going to miss this place. I've gained some great friends for
life. Sister Gibson is doing ok. She wasn't able to come to church
yesterday she said she was sick. We saw her yesterday and I was able
to say goodbye to her. I told her to keep listening to the
missionaries and to keep doing the things they ask her to do.

I know where I am going and who my new companion is. I am going to a
place called Cambridge, Maryland and my new companion is Elder Fifita.
I am very excited to go there. I've heard some great things about the
area and also about my new companion. I'll email next week and tell
you how things are going.

Love Elder Shumway

I'm glad you guys enjoy the videos. I am being transferred. And I do know where I'm going. I'm pretty sure I'm going to Cambridge, Maryland and my new companions name is Elder Fifita. I have taken a few pictures of the neighborhood and my apartment already. I'm excited for the packages that I will get. I will most likely get them tomorrow at transfers. What will my siblings be getting for Christmas?

It was good to say goodbye. It was also pretty hard. There are some great people here that I am really grateful for. Sending some things to people would be great. I will give you some addresses. I'll keep it to 5. I think people would really like a towel, Lori really likes hers.

Sounds like the choir did really well. It's is fun being in a choir. I look forward when singing in a choir. It's also a lot of fun when you sound really good. I'll see what time for Christmas. I don't know what time they have church in my new area. We can discuss time next week.

Good luck on getting up in the morning and going to church. I'm glad that I haven't been able to wake up that early for church here. I think the earliest it's been here was at 9:30am. I'm sure everyone will get used to it eventually. How's president Derrick doing?

I will miss the baptisms of some sisters. That's ok, I'm glad that I was able to be used in this short period of time. I will sure miss them. Mason has been avoiding us for the most part and it doesn't seem like he has any interest anymore. I don't think that I will reach out to him.

It is easier to play games with older people. Catchphrase is a lot of fun. You did tell me you got the other game that Caleb Call has. I remember playing that game and laughing a lot and having a great time playing it.

Yes it was me who cut my hair. Elder Ostrom did have some part of it, the part of making fun of me part. People at church also made fun of me but I quickly got it fixed. It looks a lot better now. I think I have made the decision of what length to cut my hair from now on in the mission.

I'm really jealous of your guys' phones. I don't have the best phone right now. It can't do a lot. I'm also really liking apple products. Mainly because of my iPad, it's a lot more faster than ordinary tablets I've come to find out. I want to see if I can trade in my iPhone 4s I got from Jon and see if I can get a deal on a 5 or a 6.

Your rolls are delicious. I miss them a lot. Especially your rolls dipped in honey butter! I did like the treats in my last package they were really good.

Haha I'm not surprised that you do go on my Facebook page. I don't post a lot of things. I didn't when I was back home. I guess I'm not too into social media. There's a lot of bad stuff in it and sometimes I just don't want to be apart of it.

Yeah I will miss Elder Ostrom. He will also miss me too. He has said many times. He says it with a serious face too. Hopefully his family in Arizona can meet you guys one day. Yep Elder Lake is going home very soon. I think it would be good for you to go to his homecoming. Then maybe you can see what I had to deal with for 3 months. Haha just kidding....kind of.

I do have memories of grandpa. I'm grateful for his example. I do remember that time he bore his testimony to us. I'm glad that he was able to do that. I miss him a lot and think about him every now and then.

Seems like sister Whiz is doing ok. Tell her I say hello too please. I assume everything has been going right with her. I pray for her recovery.

I'm excited for Christmas too. I look forward too it every year. Especially these past years when I've been out. It's probably the best Christmas present I can get to Skype with my family. I'll try and look for who ever is taking pictures. Transfers can be a mess sometimes and a lot is happening and it's quick so I'll do my best. I also did here that there's a lot of missionaries going home and coming in.

Have a great Christmas break! Have fun in the snow. There snow here in Pottsville right now. Don't know how much I'll get in Cambridge since I'm pretty close to water and also it's more down south so we'll see. I would like another pair of pants. That would be awesome. I'm running out of pants that are still in good shape and fit me. I have about 2 1/2-3 good ones. Thanks for giving me some money in my account too.

Love Elder Shumway

This message was from Lori the Sunday before transfers