I'm staying another transfer in Cambridge. And I am staying with Elder
Fifita. This will be his last transfer. He will be the second
missionary that I "kill"(remember I am not actually killing him, it's
missionary lingo meaning I will be his last companion as his life as a
missionary). This week has been pretty good. I'm sorry I didn't send
out a weekly email last week. To recap on these past couple of weeks
we had set a date to be baptized with a woman named Brittany. She was
a referral from some members in another ward. She is a very prepared
person. At the time we invited her to be baptized she said she was
grateful that we invited her cause if we didn't she would have asked
if she could. Unfortunately she was sick yesterday and wasn't able to
make it to church. Her baptismal date is March 18th.

Other than that not many other investigators are progressing very
well. We are trying to find new people to teach. Hopefully with Gods
help we can find those who have been prepared by him. I know there are
people here who have been prepared and are just waiting to hear the
gospel.

Love Elder Shumway

Good morning. I'm sure it is strange to have church so early. You've
had church at 2:00 for so long I'm sure it's quite a change. How was
porters home coming? Glad you had a great Sunday yesterday.

I got the pictures and videos on Saturday and they were awesome. It
did  seem that you guys got TP'D pretty bad. That must of been pretty
fun to clean up.

So a success was that we got Brittany with a baptismal date. The
disappointment is that John is not keeping commitments and is not
progressing and we are dropping him. The other day he smoked too much
weed and was in the hospital. Then the next day he's back smoking
again. And he told us that he's probably going to go to jail today
cause he broke his probation. The things we do Day to day are
interesting. The work is somewhat slow. The branch doesn't give us
much help. They honestly seem like they don't believe in missionary
work. It's been a little bit of a frustrating weekend. Many people in
the branch have expressed their opinions that this is a dead area and
missionary work can't happen here and we will never have a baptism. We
had branch conference yesterday and branch council with the stake
presidency and someone had made a comment about how the people won't
listen and no one will accept to be taught by the missionaries. I
wanted to rebuke them so much but I held back. I kind of wish I should
have but that might make the branch not like me because of it. Ok
sorry rant over. Glad to hear everybody is healthy and no longer sick.
Right now the weather is wet and windy. The mental hospital next to us
just lost its power. Hope you guys can stay warm!

How did the games work out yesterday? You're so nice to just root for
the team that everybody else is rooting for.

Thank you for the gift cards. I have not received them yet. Hopefully
they will come today or tomorrow. Neither Elder Fifita or Paul have
ever been to Jimmy Johns and I will definitely introduce them to it.
Thanks for sending Paul one too. We will have a great time at chilis.
Yep I am staying here in Cambridge for another transfer. I am going to
be Elder Fifita's last companion. It will be my 2nd time. Thank you
for sending off all of those thank yous to Pottsville. I hope they
enjoyed them. What did you send them? I did get grandpas money. I'm
going to let him know today.

Really glad to hear that Sister Whis is doing good. How's Josh doing?
He's in primary right? I'm sure you do a great job teaching the
nursery kids. I'm sure there are some really cute little kids. There
usually is. And now you have a great partner to work with. Seems like
you enjoy nursery. Do you? It seems like dad enjoys it.

Branch conference yesterday went well. I told you about it a little
bit earlier. John showed up to church yesterday along with another
investigator. John is not really interested anymore. We've kind of
given up on him cause he doesn't keep commitments. I don't know how
Lori's dad is. I'm sure you could find out the information a lot more
quickly than I can. He was a little sick back when they got married.

You did tell me that Andrew I had that calling. I'm glad that he has a
responsibility. Is that in the singles ward? Sorry Lila is not happy
about that. I'm sure she will get over it.

I wish I could have been involved with cutting the tree. I would have
enjoyed that. That's good that dad didn't fall. That would not be
good.

That was the first time I had ever met the Fletcher's. They love the
missionaries. They brought us some delicious food. Yep I'm still
advertising for Anchor pest control. The shirt still works too.

I'm not surprised that porter hasn't changed physically. I'm pretty
sure he will always be skinny. Sounds like he did a great job on his
talk. I'm sure too that his mom was watching over him a lot on his
mission. I guess garret is still on his mission.

Seems like you all are taking advantage of the new gym. It sounds like
a lot of fun. I'm sure you'll do great at your new job next year.
Hopefully less stress and interacting with upset parents. Have a great
week.

Love Elder Shumway

Hi Sam. I'm doing well. It's raining a lot outside right now. I did
like the dive video. Sorry it pooped in your shirt. That's good it was
ok because you had pizza. Was it barros pizza?

Good morning! I'd like to see Atlanta win too. They seem like a good
under dog team. Patriots have always done well and they seriously need
to stop winning so much! Mom told me you were wanting the packers and
patriots in the super bowl. Hopefully the cardinals will be in the
discussion next year too. Mom did fill me in on a few things. That's
great that the truck locks now. Thank you for doing that. Now the
white truck will be driven by me correct? Mom told me you are now in
nursery with her. Seems like you enjoy it too. She says she likes it a
lot and that there's a lot of cute little kids. Especially the Goodman
little girl. I hope Josh is doing well. I think about him sometimes
and hope he's doing good. Elder Neher off to Hawaii! Hope he has fun
and doesn't get too comfortable in paradise! That seems like a great
talk. We can learn a lot about the brother of Jared. I'm pretty sure
hat the Lord showed himself to him because of his faith. He must have
had a lot of faith. I sure need to work on it cause I definitely
haven't seen the Lord. Thanks for your prayers. I think you know but
I'm staying another transfer here with Elder Fifita. Thanks for your
prayers.

Love Elder Shumway

Hello Mom. This week has been pretty good. Have had some success and some
disappointment. Glad to hear you are all doing good. Thanks for the
videos. Sorry you guys aren't feeling good. I hope you feel better
soon. Thankfully I haven't been sick much during this winter season. I
hope it stays that way. That must have been hard to be in the temple
with that horrible cough. That's great that dad passed out some names.
That makes me happy.

So you sent me some gift cards huh? To where? I appreciate those.
Grandma sent an emailing saying that grandpa will be sending some
money. I will be expecting it in the mail. Ill give him my address. I
got the copper from a washing machine that Jon and Lori had. They let
me tear it apart. I just found time during meal breaks and at night.
Also on Pday. I only did it with Elder Ostrom. He thought it was a
little strange. The crab was a gift from someone here in the branch.
The leg was broken before. I had accidentally broken it before I sent
it. When did the package
arrive? Thanks for hiding it away for me.

The balloons were a lot of fun. Elder Selby is in my district and we
not only spent the night together we spent the day together. It was a
lot of blowing and tieing. Our companionship is doing ok.

I hope and pray everything goes well for Sister whis. I'm glad that
they are getting support for their bills. Teryn is growing his hair
out for the kids huh? Man life will be super rough for Nathan Neher.
It must be hard to be on vacation for two years. I hope he can pull
through. Yeah Teryn told me that his dad was called to Mexico City but
he didn't go. Interesting to think of what might of happened if he did
go on his mission.

I did get the videos. That's too bad I can't get videos over 15 seconds.

Church was back on yesterday. We had a couple of investigators come.
John has gone very down hill. He does have a family but he is really
rebelling against them. Speaking of Lori, elder Ostrom told me that
her dad is not doing so good and might die soon. He told me she is
going to California soon. Fresh orange juice is the best!

all the fresh and easy stores went out of business? I think having a
goodwill would benefit a community.

I agent gotten a picture of Paul's fridge yet. We are going out to
dinner with him toniight Man Andrew is such a ladies man! That's great
he will be getting a drivers license soon. Thanks for understanding
about the no treats. It's really hard not to gain weight out here.
Especially when your in a car area. And I've been in one my whole
mission. I really hope that I can go to a walking area. The new gym
sounds pretty sweet. I'd love to go there someday.

What are you guys planning on your day off from school? What will be
your responsibilities in attendance next year? I'm sure Carson is
happy to get a pay raise. I'm pretty sure he will stay at WF too.

I like my brown shoes too. My black ones are doing fine and my doc
martins are doing good too. They still work. Don't need anything right
now.

Love Elder Shumway

Hello Mom. My week was pretty good. Paul is really great. He checks on us
a lot. Yeah the weather is fine. The roads were pretty bad on Saturday
so we didn't drive. Yeah he talked to me about taking me out to
Mexican food. I'm all for it. But it's not the same as it is back
home. Chilis is pretty good though. Well there are the same
restaurants mostly out here as there is back home. There is a jimmy
johns here. Elder Fifita has never been there. We went to Panera bread
for Elder Fifitas birthday. We probably should have went somewhere
else though. It was pretty good. The order got a little messed up.
I'll send you some pictures of the balloons. So we don't go in
exchanges a lot cause we are so spread out. If we were closer together
we would. When I was in Pottsville I went on several. It usually
rotates who stays in the area.

I'm glad gay Sister Whis is doing better. I'm glad she felt strong
enough to bear her testimony. I'm sure it was a tender moment in
sacrament meeting. I hope for a miracle for her. She's an awesome
person. Haha Bro Papa called out Teryn! That was probably an
interesting experience for him. I hope he can go out soon. I'm excited
to see where he will be called to. He told me that his dad was called
to serve in Mexico City but didn't go. It would be interesting if
Teryn is called to that same place. I'm sure he still has that red
head mop. I'm excited to see what he looks like with a missionary hair
cut. If he is still around Mother's Day I'd love to see him.

Could you send me that last little bit of the Skype call. I'd like to
see it. And those words are true. I am different.

So church was actually canceled yesterday because of the snow. But I
feel like we would still of been able to have it, but that's ok. We
have been teaching these new investigators and it is going rather
well. Yeah the man who's name is John is kind of living with a member
and still living in a homeless shelter. He is trying to help him get
on his feet.

Yep the grey pants fit really well. I'm glad I have them. We did work
at the thrift store last week. I actually was in exchanges with Elder
Selby and we worked together. I didn't know there was a goodwill
there. I didn't even know the fresh and easy shut down. The goodwill
was not there when I was home.

Haha yeah I showed Paul the pictures. I do look really young in them.
I did get him the picture of the cat and me and will be giving it to
him the next time I see him. He has a lot of pictures on his fridge of
missionaries. I'll take a picture of it and send it to you next week.

Thanks for being nice to Andrew. I'm sure he is pretty lonely. I wish
he would've stayed on his mission. Did he say that he might go back
Out? I hope he does. He would grow so much from it. I guess he's
bagging groceries at frys! That's a good job for him! Yeah haven't
gotten many videos recently. I'd love to get some.

I'm going to be sending the Book home today. Along with some other
things. From the contents of the package you will notice that I
haven't changed too much. I think I'll pass on the treats. I'm getting
somewhat close to six months left on my mission and need to focus on
losing some weight. Paul actually has three jobs. One of his jobs is
working in a grocery store. He has another one working in a factory
and another cleaning job. He's very busy. He is very nice to take us
out. I like him a lot too. He told me the other day that I will never
get rid of him. He will be in my life for a long time.

Back to work huh? I hope you are doing well there. I remember how much
it stressed you out. I hope things are better. That's interesting
Carson shadowed someone there. I'm pretty sure to that he'll stay at
WF. He's only got on more year left right? It was kind of like my
situation. Have fun doing some canning.

We have gotten some snow. It is also pretty cold out. Not too happy
about it but I'll take it. I'm excited for the warmer weather later
this week and into next week. No problem for the story. It's a good
one. That's too bad to hear about Lori. I miss them a lot. Sounds like
they aren't having the funnest time. Elder Ostrom is struggling with
him a lot too, I don't know really anything about him.

1: I do like it, the branch is just very small and it's a large area.
2: 0 came to church!
3: He does like to work out. I usually don't, I like to do my own thing.

My brothers did write me. I didn't write back because the letter was
like 2 sentences. I didn't really know what to say. Hope you guys have
fun at the new gym!

Love Elder Shumway

Hey today I got my new brown shoes. They are nice They are rockports. Very similar to my black ones.

I like them a lot too. Thanks, hope you have a wonderful week too. 

So this week was pretty great. On Thursday Elder Fifita had his
birthday. The previous day which was Wednesday, I was on exchange with
one of my former companions Elder Selby and we had this great idea for
a gift for Elder Fifita for his birthday. So what we did is we got
about 300 balloons and spent sometime at night and early the next
morning blowing up all these balloons. And we put these balloons in
his bathroom. There is a lot of balloons. The next morning we show
Elder Fifita to his bathroom and he opens the door and then he is a
little frightened and sees all these balloons. I will send a picture
to show. I hope he enjoyed his birthday.

This past Saturday we had a good amount of snow. On Saturday there was
about 4-7 inches in the ground. Unfortunately church was canceled for
Sunday because of the snow. So that was a bummer, I was really looking
forward to going to fast and testimony meeting yesterday, hopefully it
won't snow again so we can go to church.

I think I told you about our new investigators. We have a man who's
name is John and he is a young 20 year old who is looking to get his
life back on track. Another investigator who's name is Brittany is
doing ok. She's the one who showed up to church a week or so ago and
we had never met her. We are trying our best to stay in contact with
her. She works a lot. She still is really interested in the Gospel. We
gave her a Book of Mormon at church last time and she told us that she
is almost to 2 Nephi. So she is doing well. We have another
investigator we've been teaching who's name is Susan. She is the wife
to an active member. She is doing well. Has a little problem smoking
but is working through it and she wants to quit so she can be baptized
in February. I've heard that a few people that I worked with in
Pottsville are soon going to be baptized. I'm really excited about
that.

Well that's it everybody. Hope everybody is doing well and staying
warm. The church is true.

Love Elder Shumway

Hey dad. Happy Monday. I'm about to play basketball right now here in Salisbury, MD. All is going well, thanks for the football updates. I guess playoffs are in full swing now. Yesterday we didn't have church because it snowed a lot. I'm sure it will be back on next week though. So school and work is back in session I hear. I heard Carson went to ALA for a day and shadowed somebody. I'm excited to hear how he does at volleyball too. He seems like a great player. I'm sure you're excited on getting that raise soon. It's always nice to get some extra money. Sorry your not feeling so well. The weather here is cold with snow on the ground, for now. Hopefully it will melt soon. Things in the area are doing ok. Have a few investigators that are progressing pretty well. Elder Fifita is doing well. He can be pretty trunky sometimes. Paul is taking care of us. I know he enjoys talking to mom too.

Love Elder Shumway

Happy new year to you too. We didn't really have any fireworks. But
there might of been, I'm not sure. Usually I pass out once I go to
bed. I remember those breakfasts sat the Derricks. Those were a lot of
fun. We had to be in at 6 Saturday night. There wasn't many
fireworks.

I can be a crybaby every now and then. My siblings do look a lot
different. They do still act the same though. I hope Teryn is on his
mission by then. Haha porter still looks the same as when he was in
high school! I can believe that.

I don't think that I was his favorite. Things are going ok with Elder
Fifita and I. He has gotten very bossy lately and it bugs me a lot. He
is getting trunky. We do get fed pretty often. It is really nice. We
have church at 9. Church is well. We had more people at church
yesterday, that was nice. We also had two non members come. An
investigator that we've been trying to get ahold of and weren't able
to, so she showed up to church yesterday. The other guy was brought by
a member, which is always the best!

I did get the grey pair. They are really nice, I'm wearing them right
now. So we went to the thrift store Wednesday and we show up and it's
closed. I assume for the holiday season. That was kind of a bummer. We
will probably go for sure this week. It is not owned by members I
think.

Thanks for the update on Sister Whisenant. I pray for her a lot. I
hope things go better for her.

Haha that's funny that everybody was tired yesterday. It will be quite
a change to go to church at  8. It was probably worse being New
Years. We had a pretty good sacrament meeting yesterday. The branch
presidency spoke and they did a great job.

I got all of those pictures. They were awesome. Some were really
funny. Sorry you guys were so hot. Cindy does seem to like you guys.
That's funny about the frozen poop nose.  I'm sure you guys thought it
was really funny when you realized what it was. I will definitely help
with getting Carson back. I do enjoy a good snowball fight.

Wow gecko is really close. That makes me really happy. Maybe we can go
more often now that it's closer. James only wants a plain and boring
bean burrito?! That's great for Andrew! What will he be doing at frys?
Probably not something to physically demanding. Haha church ball. I
remember when he made a couple of threes in a game and we were going
crazy! That was awesome! I miss those times!

I did like my gifts. I will send the Book of today. I had a few things
come in. I got juliets card the other day. Also got a card from the
carpenters. They spelled my name wrong again but that's ok. I sent
them an email saying thank you.  Hold you tell Juliet thank you for
me?  Didn't get too much from the branch. Got some treats from members
and Paul gave us $50. That was really nice of him. Haven't gotten any
new shoes yet.

Our investigators are coming along ok. We got 2 new ones that I just
told you about. Do you know where in Maryland she is from? I think
most sisters feel that way cause they are only 18 months. I probably
won't feel that way. I will probably be ready to go home.

We see many cats walking around and some of them are friendly. My eyes
aren't itching afterwards, I don't know why. Maybe because they are
east coast cats. I don't know who's cat it was. She was just really
friendly so I picked her up. She was purring while I was holding her.
Have fun going back to school and work. I know how much you enjoy it!
I think I'll wait for the oranges. I've been missing orange juice from
grandpas trees.

1: Saw Paul yesterday at church. We are going out to dinner with him
tonight. Have you talked to him recently?
2: Weather is fine. Not too cold. I'm staying warm.
3: It didn't attach? I thought I did attach it.

Love Elder Shumway



Happy new year everybody. I hope everybody had a great new year
celebration! Ours was ok. We had to be in early for new years. We had
to be in by 6:00pm. I think my email that I sent last week didn't
include the Christmas story that my mission president shared. I will
make sure I send it today. Still no snow here. I am ok with that. But
it is raining right now. I'd rather have that than snow. Things are
going pretty well here. Yesterday two non members came to church. One
who's name is Brittany has friends in a ward in Delaware and they said
she should go to church. We've had her information for  a few weeks
now but haven't been able to get in touch with her. And yesterday she
showed up to church which was a pleasant surprise. She cried a lot
during church, she told a member that every speaker that spoke in
church said something that applied to her. It was awesome.  The other
person was brought by a member. His name is John. He's a swell guy.
He's 20 and has grown up catholic and is interested in the church. Wewill teach them in the future.

Other than that not too much has happened. We did got to Seaford, DE
and help some members there move and that was a lot of fun cause they
fed us breakfast, Lunch and dinner. That was a lot of fun.

I'm glad that I can be on a mission. I have seen myself change. I have
a firm testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I also have a firm
testimony of the prophet Joseph smith. I have recently been studying
about him and he is amazing. I'm so grateful for him and his
sacrifices.Love Elder Shumway