Hey Lila! My week went really well. I really like my new comp. he's awesome. Did you watch the new guardians or the the old one? A new puppy! That sounds really cute. I fall asleep in stake conference sometimes too. 

Love Elder Shumway

Happy Monday everybody. Hope everybody is doing well. It's been
another week here in Vineland. Elder Martinez has packed his bags and
is now in California. My new companion in Elder Bucheger(boo-hey-ger).
He is from Colorado spring, Colorado and has been out for a little
more than a year. He is a great missionary! I'm really excited to work
with him this transfer. Some great things are happening in our area.

One of our most progressing investigators who's name is Annaka is
doing really well. I don't know if I've ever talked about her too
much. But she is really great. She was a referral from a member. She
is 16 years old and is really interested in the church. We've been
teaching her for about a little more than a month. She at first said
that her parents weren't open for her going to church or even being
baptized. But a few lessons ago she said her parents changed their
minds and said that she could. So right now she is on a baptismal date
for May 20th.

Our other investigators are going pretty slow. Ishmael is no longer
interested and Robert has been a no show for a couple of weeks. This
week we have been walking around a lot. We've also been riding bikes.
We were able to talk to a lot of people. One time we were riding our
bikes and this black car rides by us and yells that they used to meet
with missionaries in the past and want to again. So we got their
information and will be seeing them sometime this week.

Anyways that's it for me. Everybody is welcome to email me back. I hit
my 20 month this past week. Have only 4 months left on my mission.
Hope everybody has a great week!

Love Elder Shumway

Hey dad. My week did go pretty well. I am excited about this transfer.
Thanks for wishing us luck on bike riding and walking. We will be
doing that a lot this week. It is a lot easier talking to people when
your not in the car.

I heard Andrew came around. He is a nice guy. That's too bad his bike
broke. That was nice of you to give him a ride home in the truck. Wow
Briggs is going to Uganda huh? That's pretty crazy. Two brothers went
to Africa.

The NBA playoffs must be in full swing. I always get excited about the
draft. Hopefully the Cardinals get somebody good.

Sorry to hear about uncle Gerry. I'm sure he's in a better place now.
He now doesn't have any more problems. That's good that he dies
peacefully in his sleep.

I just sent the package today and will hopefully be home in the next
few days. Say hello to the carpenters for me. They were always good to
me. I'm excited for the volleyball team. Every time someone talks
about them they seem to be doing really well, hopefully they go deep
into the playoffs. I am on moms icloud now. Good luck with working on
the truck. Yep only three weeks until Mother's Day!

Love Elder Shumway

Hey mom. I did have a wonderful Sunday yesterday. It was a beautiful
day. I was confused with those pictures that you sent because of where
you were sitting. We would always sit in the front behind the deacons.
But then you said it was stake conference and then I understood. I got
scared a little bit thinking someone might have taken our seat. I did
speak in stake conference two years ago. Long time ago. I did get the
video of Sam in the choir but the quality is super bad. Did you notice
that I joined your iCloud group this past week? The video in there is
crystal clear. I'm sure you were all ready to get out of there after
being there for so long. Sounds like you all had a great Sunday.

I did and Cindy for the chocolates. Yes I have had some. They are
pretty good. Speaking of Cindy, remember when she sent me some freeze
dried stuff? She sent me some cake and blueberries. I didn't really
like them and I've kept them this whole time and this week my new
companion Elder Bucheger found them and he loves the blueberries. He
has asked if I could get some more. I think I might.

Elder Bucheger is really nice. We get along really well. He's really
easy going. He does have a brother on a mission. He's in Honduras. Our
week was pretty good. We are out of miles already for the month and
will have to be walking a lot this week. We've also been using the
Spanish elders bikes to get around a little.

Have they started construction on the school yet? Are you excited for
the new school? And seems like a new job there too. It can be hard to
be nice to people all the time. I'm sure people appreciate your
niceness.

I would love it if you would transfer some money into my other
account. I am planning on burning a suit if I stay here. Cause there's
a family here that will let me do it in their yard. My suits are fine.
The two that I came out with don't fit me anymore. I do have that new
gray one and have a makeshift blue suit. I also have another grey one
that I got at the Salvation Army for about $10. It's ripped up though
so I'm not really wearing it. I plan on burning that one. My shoes are
fine. They are pretty beaten up. Especially the doc martins. I don't
want new ones cause I only have four months left. I'm going to be
sending my big winter jacket home today. I'll see if I can fit some
more winter stuff in it as well.

Tiffany Coon got married? Again? I thought she already got married
before I left? We have found a few people. We were riding our bikes
down the street and this woman in her car stopped us and said that she
used to be taught by the missionaries and wants to again. So we got
her information and will be going over sometime this week.i live it
now that I am the one planning it. I have more responsibility and I
like it. Definitely have more freedom. Yep only three weeks until
Mother's Day! Super excited! Have a great day.

Love Elder Shumway

Hello Dad! Happy Easter! So I am staying here in Vineland for another 6
weeks. Don't know who my new companion is yet. I am crying inside for
future opportunities here! Easter went really well. We spent most of
the day with members. Many of them wanted us over to eat their food.
Also elder Martinez burned one of his suits.

I heard that nba playoffs are about to begin. I wonder who's going to
win it all this year? I'm most glad that the WF volleyball team is
doing well. When is fathers and sons camp Out? Hopefully it won't be
very dusty for you guys and you have fun.

Love Elder Shumway

Mom
Happy easter to you too! Yesterday was a good day. Looks like the egg
hunt was fun. I do remember when grandma Shumway would do those Easter
egg hunts. Those were a lot of fun. I did get the chocolate from
Cindy. It was sent to my apartment here in New Jersey. I might have
given her my address sometime in the past. The type of chocolate is
Harry London gourmet chocolates. She is a great friend to us. I
haven't really eaten any of it yet. There's a lot of it. Sounds like
some great gifts for my siblings. I think you spelled goggles wrong
though. I thought that was funny.

Garage sale! I remember having a couple of those. I remember them to
be not so fun cause we had to wake up early and it was usually cold. I
got the picture of Sam and Lila in those snazzy looking suit coats.
Yeah a whole group of missionaries is pretty special at the Easter pageant.
 Wow 23 years! That's a great milestone. Congratulations and happy late anniversary.

Oooohh the choir. I'm sure yours sounded great. I sang in the choir
too and we sounded pretty good as well. Sorry to hear that nursery was
a little crazy cause of this new boy crying. I'm sure he'll grow out of it
though.

Well we were able to go to the temple with Armondo but we weren't able
to see him actually get baptized. My recommend doesn't expire until
June so I've got a couple more months.

Yeah Ishmael hasn't really shown any more interest. Not sure what's
happening with him. Don't have a lot of other people truly progressing
towards baptism. We have a few potential people who could be baptized.
We will keep working with them though. This week we will be doing a
lot of walking around probably. Also a lot of missionary work. I do
get a new companion  Tuesday. I'm pretty excited! I am staying in
Vineland another transfer.

So trace is going to the Idaho, Napa mission huh? Good for him. Is he
speaking English?

6 weeks left until summer! That's exciting. I remember the end of the
school year being exciting cause you know that school is almost over.
Only 4 Sundays till Mother's Day. That's not that long. I'm pretty
good with money right now. What do you mean transfer some money into
my accounts?

Easter Day was pretty good. We spent most of the day with members.
Elder Martinez wanted to say goodbye to some members and to also burn
a suit which is mission tradition. How was the ham with all the
fixings?

I can find some more pictures for you. The video was when I was on
exchanges with one of the zone leaders and we were with a member and
the elder fell asleep. We were just busy with different things last
week. I'll be sure and send a weekly email out today.

Love Elder Shumway

Hey everybody! Hope everybody had a great easter yesterday. Our Easter
went really well. We had a great choir perform during sacrament
meeting. I was able to be in the choir and we sounded really good. So
I'm sorry that I haven't sent out a weekly email over the past few
weeks. So to update everybody on what's happened. Ishmael one of our
investigators who was doing really good is no longer interested in
meeting with us anymore. Robert has been taking a break from us cause
the next step for him is to get married and they still aren't sure
when and how they want to do it. Armondo is doing really well. He was
able to go to the temple and had a great time. His mom unfortunately
got in a bad car crash and her car was totaled. Please keep her in
your prayers. She wasn't hurt but her car definitely was and now they
have minimal transportation.

So elder Martinez will be leaving Vineland  tomorrow and will be going
home Wednewday. My new companion is Elder Bucheger. Don't really
know a lot about him. He is from Utah and has been out for about a
year. Very excited for this next transfer. Hope you all have a great
week!

Love Elder Shumway

Hey mom.  Sunday was pretty sweet. Church went really well. I spoke in
church and so did Elder Martinez. We also sang in the choir. We had
Robert come to church yesterday. Glad to hear nursery is still going
well. Food is always something good to bring to that class. So you're
in charge of some scout stuff huh?

I got the picture you sent of dad. Looks like he was enjoying his time
there. GECKO BURRO! That stuff is so good. So  Saturday was a day full
of cleaning? I think the weather is getting hot. You are getting older
also. But it gets hot every year. I did get the video of the floor repair.
Hope that can get done soon. Sorry Carsons prom plans aren't really working
out. Hopefully everything will go better and he will get a girl to ask.

Yes we did go to the temple  Saturday. We weren't able to see
Armondo get baptized cause Elder Martinez' recommend had expired. We
got a ride from a member. I guess the young men's is excited to have
him there. Haven't really asked. He has a few friends in it so that's
nice. Ishmael is doing ok. He called us and said that he doesn't want
to meet with us anymore. He said he wants to take a break. Nothing too
exciting or unexciting really. Just the temple.

I haven't gotten any chocolate from Cindy yet. Hopefully it will come
soon. Thank you for the money. It's always nice to have some extra
cash. The new Easter Video is awesome! We've been able to share it
with a lot of people recently and everybody really enjoys it.

I'm super excited for Teryn. I'm glad everything went well for him
going through the temple. I'm grateful that so many people were there
to support him.

Yep only one week till transfers. Yeah I'm probably going to be
staying here for another transfer. I haven't heard from Paul lately. I
have his number but he doesn't have mine. I didn't know Sister Jensen
served in Vineland.

Glad everything is going good back home. Yep I'm down tot he teens of
weeks. I would be lying if I said I'm not excited to go home. I'll be
sure to send out a letter today. I do like the videos and pictures I
get throughout the week. They are nice.

Love Elder Shumway


Hello! Happy Easter! Super excited that the Dbacks are doing good.
Hopefully they stay competitive throughout the season. Playoffs for
the NBA should be starting up soon right? Suns are in rebuilding
right? Hopefully in a few years they can get pretty good.

I remember brother Jones. He's really nice and was a great teacher of
the mission prep class. Glad to hear that Jane is still around. Has
she graduated yet? Mom has been sending me some videos of Carson
playing volleyball. Also some things about stats. Seems like he is
doing really well. Hope you guys have a lot of fun  at the fathers and
sons camp out. I always enjoyed those. Geronimo should be fun for Sam
too. I never was able to go but so many people talked about it. The
area is doing well. We just got a new ward mission leader yesterday.
And this guy is awesome! Super excited to work with him. Armondo
really liked the temple. We also did a session which was really nice.
Ishmael has gone south, he wants to take a break for a while. I'll be
sure to send some pictures.

Love Elder Shumway

Hi mom. Armondos baptism did go very well. We had quite a number of
people attend his baptism. He does have the support of his family. He
lives with his mom and sister and they are both members and are
returning back to the church. It has been pretty nice weather. Neither
of us performed the baptism. A member performed it. Ishmael is doing
well, he can to church again yesterday. Robert is MIA. He hasn't
responded to a lot of our stuff. He had a fight with his girlfriend
and it did not go well. So we aren't sure where he is right now.

Thanks for answering my questions from last email. I'm glad you were
able to meet Lori. I'm excited that Lori can go back with Jon too. I'm
sure he's lonely. Did she say when she is going back? Haha sunscreen
is for whimps huh? I think I remember saying that once upon a time.
I'm sure he's a little sunburned though. I remember the seals very
well. They stunk super bad.

So I have gotten the videos of Carson playing volleyball. Their team
looks like it can be pretty good. Speaking of long clips I was able
get Teryn's mission call video which was like a minute long. The video
was pretty bad quality though.

That must have been super hard and frustrating about the milk. Hope
everything turns out ok. That must have been super hard for you guys
to put down daisy. It makes me super sad. But I know that she is
better now. Glad puggles is doing ok. She is a really good dog.

Women's conference sounded like it was really nice. I was able to
watch president Eyrings talk the next day. I liked that one.

I was super excited to hear about Jed. He'll get to experience the
east coast as well! And teryn is going to chihuahua! That's really
exciting! Great to hear that Garrett is doing good. I think about a
lot of those boys sometimes and wonder what they are up to.

The new TV looks really nice. I'm sure everything will work out fine
with General Conference and Mother's Day. Easter is around the corner.
I honestly would like some money. I am collecting too many things
already on my mission. Probably in the next couple of months I am
going to be sending more things home. My new suit is working out
great. I want to buy one more sometime.

Yeah I talked to Paul this week. It was good to talk to him for a bit.
I was in Atlantic City for exchanges with some elders. I miss him a
lot too. He said he got the gift and he really likes it. I'm excited
for this weekend too! Really excited for General Conference!

Love you too mom

I'll be sure and say hello to Carson



Hello. Happy Monday. That's really awesome that teryn is going to
Mexico. It should be great for him. I'm really excited for him. One of
the missionaries that we are with a lot has family from chihuahua.

Mom did tell me about the kitchen floor. That does sound like a lot of
fun to me. Mom told me too that you had gotten a new TV. It looks like
a nice one. Sorry about your frustrations about the vehicles. I am
grateful for all the work you do on them. Very sad news about daisy. I
am pretty sad about it. That's good that puggles is ok for now.

Mom told me a lot about volleyball too. She also sent me a video of
him playing. He seems to do very well on the court. That basha game
seemed like a close one. Too bad they lost at the end.

Things here in New Jersey is ok. My companion is being a pretty big
jerk. The baptism did happen as planned and went smoothly. The next
transfers are  April 18.

 I did enjoy the package that Cindy sent me.

Wow Sam is getting pretty big. I'm excited for him to be in the
priesthood. He is growing up pretty fast it seems and so does all my
other siblings.

Love Elder Shumway

Hi everybody. Hope everybody is doing well. Elder Shumway here in
Vineland, New Jersey. This week has been pretty good. The weather has
been pretty nice to us. Spring should be coming up soon. This week was
really awesome! We had a baptism on Saturday! Armondo got baptized! I
will send a picture. It was a really good baptismal service. Lots of
people from the ward showed up to support him. The ordinance went
really well. After Armondo was baptized he gave everybody a thumbs up.
He is a really good kid. This Wednesday he will be receiving he
priesthood and also a temple recommend. As well as his mom and sister.
We are really excited for all of them.

Ishmael is doing really well. We have him on the stop smoking program
right now and he is doing really well. He came to church yesterday for
the 3rd time! He is doing really well. Robert is doing ok. We haven't
had a lot of contact with him recently but we will try our best to get
back in contact.

Hope everybody is doing well back home. I know that this gospel is
true and that the church has been restored. I know that when we go
through trials and hard times it is because we need to grow and can
grow. I'm grateful to be on a mission.

Love Elder Shumway

Sorry to hear that your spring break went by really fast. Seems like
you guys had a lot of fun though. My week went pretty well. I am
staying warm. I think this last week will be the last cold week we
have hopefully. I'm ready for spring and not having to wear a sweater
anymore. In this next month or so I will be sending more warm things
home.

It did surprise me that you were with Lori. It made my day. She is
very nice. I hope she's doing well. What did you guys talk about? She
is very nice and funny. Yes they do have Elder Tuttle in their area
now. I wonder how he is now. I've never served around him so I don't
know how he is. Yeah she does call me Elder Russell. I guess she
thinks I look like him. I'm excited for them to move to California,
then we can visit them more! Yeah Jon and Elder Lake would talk about
video games a lot and me and Lori would just talk. I did get the
picture from both you and Lori. It made my day.

Knottsberry farms looked like a lot of fun. I would have loved to have
gone on the fun rides. I do enjoy roller coasters. Lila told me about
a few in her email. Seems like they were a lot of fun. She said that
Sam was the one that was chickening out on a lot of them.

The beach looked like a lot of fun. Even though it was cold I'm glad
you guys had fun. What was the temperature like? I remember the last
time I went to San Diego there was a lot of seals around and they did
not smell very good. I would love to go with you guys when I get home.
Sounds like the boys didn't have a lot of responsibility. How many
days where you in California. Good thing you guys didn't get totally
lost on the way home. I love the pictures already. You guys looked
like you were having a lot of fun. I'm sure it was a lot less
stressful with a smaller family.

I remember going to the Mormon battalion. I think a Shumway was in the
Mormon battalion. I think he was just a private though.

I'm sure Courtney did great on her talk. Sounds like my other cousins
are doing ok. Hopefully Blake and Ashley can find good significant
others.

Sorry to hear about Paul. I have no idea how he is doing. I sent him a
letter a few weeks ago. Unfortunately I have been using the wrong
mailing address. If you could give this to him that would be awesome.
The address is: 26 N Ladow Ave Apt 12-C Millville, NJ 08332. I know he
deals with depression. He'd always ask Elder Fifita and I to pray for
him, I didn't know he hurt his back. I miss him a lot. He's one person
that I am going to continue in staying in contact with when I get
home.

Yes Armando is going to be baptized this Saturday. I'm really excited
for him! The one in the video is not him. There's a missionary and his
name is Elder Soto and the other young man is Alonzo. He is an awesome
young member who comes out with us all the time. So we are actually
trying to change plans for the baptisms. Robert is living with his
girlfriend right now and so we had the idea of having them be married
on the 15th and then he would be baptized the next day which would be
Easter. So far they say that's ok with them. Ishmael would be baptized
on Easter too.

I'm glad you got the names I sent you. Hopefully you can get them
done. There are some baptisms there so hopefully Lila can do those. I
also have two male names with baptisms needed and I'm going to go to
the temple April 8th and get them done then.

Seems like Sister Whis is feeling better. Sorry to hear about Daisy.
There's not much we can do. I'm sure there's a lot of excitement
waiting for both of those calls. I'm excited for them too.

Car issues are not fun. Hopefully everything will go back to normal
and there will be no more car problems.

Yes I did run out of time to send out a weekly email. I'll be sure to
send one out today. Yep 2 weeks until General Conference! I'm really
excited for that! Yesterday was Grandma and Grandpa Shumway's
anniversary! Wow that's great. They were amazing people and I miss
them a lot. They were great examples to all of us.

Love Elder Shumway

Happy Monday everybody. Sorry I didn't get a letter out last week. But
I am sending one out today. We have been very busy these last couple
of weeks. We have some great investigators who are progressing very
well. Armondo who is the 12 year old will be getting baptized this
Saturday. We are also working with 2 other men. One who's name is
Robert. He is a very prepared man. The only problem is he needs to get
married to his girlfriend who he is living with. The other man we are
working with is a man named Ishmael. He is also a great guy. He's come
to church these last two sundays and loves it. He also loves how his
name is in the Book of Mormon. He is progressing very well. But yeah
that's all of our investigators who are progressing with a date.

That's my report for this week. Hope everybody is doing well and
staying cool. Here it has been pretty cold. I'm trying to stay warm.

Love Elder Shumway


Hi dad. It sure looks like you had a lot of fun in California. It was
foggy huh? I think it would be a whole lot of fun to go again when I
get home. Lori is really awesome. I miss her. Yeah she does have a
loud voice and she doesn't care either. I'm glad I was able to meet
her and I do think she will be a life log friend as well as Jon. Hope
you have fun in your meeting. Talk to you later