Up until now, my Mission President has pushed all of us missionaries to be the "boots on the ground" mission he expects us to be. We have learned to go go go and tract tract tract and teach teach teach teach. And then all of a sudden we can't. We have been asked to isolate. No more knocking on doors, no more in-person lessons, no more member meals! What do we do?!
Luckily, President Picket is a genius and gave us a list of ways we can still be missionaries from our apartments. The main window to the outside world is through Facebook, and I have LOVED seeing so many hundreds and thousands of stuck-inside missionaries flooding Facebook with scriptures, and questions, and testimonies. It is amazing. Heavenly Father has provided us a way to continue sharing the Gospel with the world, even if it's not actually face-to-face. We have already seen miracles happening within the mission of missionaries who have been able to find, teach, and prepare people for baptism all on Facebook! This is the Lord's work. This is His vineyard, His work won't stop for anything, and He is working right along side us.
In other news, we had transfer calls on Saturday. I will be leaving this wonderful area of Loudon and head over to the other side of Knoxville into Dandridge Tennessee! I am so excited but so sad at the same time. Loudon has definitely stolen my heart and it will be so hard to say goodbye. But the Lord needs me in other areas of the field, so I will go!
With this whole isolation thing, we have had the opportunity to have a handful of lessons over the phone, and I think it's been amazing to still be able to recognize and point out the Spirit in those lessons, even if we can't see the other person, and they might be miles away from us. How amazing is the technology that we've been blessed with? How amazing is it that the Lord has prepared us for times exactly like this? How blessed are we to know that there is a living prophet who will continue to guide us through these times?
I LOVE this work. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Come Follow Me lesson this week on the allegory of the Olive trees. The Lord really does love us. Our progress is His project. I will hit my half way mark this week and it has really been hitting me how quickly time has flown by. It hurts my heart that I have only a few short months left, and I feel like I have so much more to do!! But I will go where the Lord needs me to go, I'll do what He needs me to do, I will say what He needs me to say, and I am working my hardest to be who He needs me to be.
I love you all, I love my mission, and I LOVE THE LORD!
-Sister Shumway
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