Guys. . . . I'm having a Baby! ;)

We had transfer calls on Saturday, and I get to be a mom! (That just means I get to train a new missionary fresh from the MTC). Sadly, that means I'm losing Hermana Hall, but she is going to the only Spanish branch in the whole mission where she can practice her mission language 24/7 and she could not be more excited about it! 

More exciting news: it snowed this week! It was actually pretty funny because the first two days this week were cancelled due to sicknesses for the entire county, and then the kids had one day of school, and then the last two days were cancelled for rain/flooding/snow. Those poor parents! 

Our animals of the week: fat goats!!! (Featured in the pictures below) 

Ya know, I am finally starting to feel more on top of my responsibilities as a missionary, I have just had a wonderful transfer with so many amazing and progressing people to teach, a bomb . com companion who was able to work hard and diligently, and I think Heavenly Father knows I am starting to get comfortable. Y'all already know that there's no growth in the comfort zone, and if our existence is supposed to be about eternally progressing and growing forever, we had better spend as little time in the comfort zone as possible. So I am facing a new challenge: being responsible for a great start to a brand new missionary. I am just now realizing how daunting that is. The rest of her mission could depend on how the next 6 weeks go. . . . Uncomfy to think about but I am SO grateful for the opportunity to learn, grow, and become. That's what this gospel is all about. Becoming. I love this quote from Dallin H. Oaks: "In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something."

I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and I cannot even express the gratitude I have towards my Savior for the life He has given me. Life is hard sometimes. It does push us out of our comfort zones. . . . Sometimes waaaaaaaaaaay out, but it is all an opportunity to become the children of God that our Heavenly Father sees in us. 

I love the Lord, I love my mission, I love Tennessee and it's crazy weather, and I love all y'all!

-Sister Shumway 

When it'sMonday and I Still Don't Know Who Played in the Super Bowl

That's missionary life for ya. I didn't even realize the Super Bowl was on Sunday until Saturday night when our dinner appointment asked who we thought would win, and I had to ask who was even playing. . . . . 

This week was wonderful, but nothing super spectacular. Sorry. 

We went to go visit a lady that we had briefly shared the restoration of Jesus Christ's church with, and as we were talking to her and asking if she had any questions and were about to ask if we could set up a time to start teaching her more lessons, she interrupted and pointed at the Book of Mormon I was holding and said "Can I have the book? I want to read it." Oh my gosh it was amazing! I feel silly for not having offered it to her first! We rarely get it the other way around. 

One of the people we are teaching (his name is Jeffrey) has been making so much progress in his testimony of the Book of Mormon and the prophet Joseph Smith. As I listened to him share his earnest, heartfelt, and simple testimony that he knew the Book of Mormon was the word of God and that it was Divinely translated and brought forth for our day, I felt the Spirit once again confirm that truth to me as well. It has been truly amazing to see Jeffrey's countenance light up when we study from the Book of Mormon together.

We had another opportunity to follow up with a lady we met last week and when we talked with her, she was very open and asked us questions about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the Church's stance on drugs like marijuana. We taught her a brief word of wisdom lesson and she drank it all in! I am in awe at how hungry for the gospel so many of these people are! It feels like we can't keep up with the number of people we find who are waiting to learn more about the Restoration!

We also finally got Matthew to come to church this week! We showed up at his door and asked him to come because he can't say no to our faces to save his life haha and to put the cherry on top, church was amazing this week! And Matthew loved the Come Follow me lesson in the Book of Mormon. 

Most of what made this week so amazing was the progress the people around us are making. I don't think anything has made me happier than seeing the faith and testimonies of these people grow as they take steps closer and closer to their Savior. Alma 26:36-37 has been on my mind a lot this week. I will always always love that scripture and Ammon so accurately describes the joy I have experienced thus far. 

I love you all! Thank you for so much love and support!

-Sister Shumway 

The donkeys were probably the most exciting part of the week HaHa 

I Know the Scriptures are True!

Sorry, the subject line doesn't really have much to do with this week, I just had the song stuck in my head and couldn't think of anything else to write. . . . . :)

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. I don't think I can say it enough to express just how much joy I have being here in Tennessee serving the Lord and sharing what I love the MOST with so many other people and watching it change their lives! AAAHAHAHAAAAAHHHHH! I just LOVE it!!!!! 

We had such a fantastic week! I am so grateful for the companionship of the Holy Ghost and I know that the only reason we have had such successful and powerful lessons this week is because of the Holy Ghost. 

But as we have been seeing so much success, we have also been seeing more criticism. One lady came to the door and told us that we were a cult and that we were going to die in our sins if we didn't learn the true nature of the gospel. Ouch. I definitely didn't feel the Spirit testifying of truth to that statement. . . . I am just SO grateful for the Plan of Salvation that has been made known unto us because our Heavenly Father loves us. And we will ALL get that opportunity to learn the gospel, whether it's in this life or the Spirit world, we won't be condemned to Hell for not understanding. Wouldn't that just be so sad if that were the case? 

Okay.. . . I'll lighten up. Here's some funny things that happened this week :) 

- We were tracting and we met someone whose grandkids live in Hermana Hall's super tiny, middle-of-nowhere town of Hotchkiss Colorado! So Hermana Hall totally knew who all of their grandkids were! Ha! What a small world.

- A very drunk guy kept offering us scotch while we were trying to teach his girlfriend about the restoration and book of Mormon 

- I used the phrase "Thanks for answering your doorbell!" . . . . And it was weird because it was an appropriate, accurate statement. . . . We live in a crazy world. 

- My favorite quote from this week: "First Baptist? I thought it was first faith, then repentance, THEN baptism!" HAHAHAHA!! I think of it every time someone tells us they go to the local first Baptist church. 

-We were greeting people at the Branch before church started on Sunday, and Elder Boris, who was standing by the door, looks over at the rest of us with his eyes really big and he says, "President Pickett." We were all . . . "Noooooo. . . " and then President and Sister Pickett walked in! Surprise! Hahaha!!! I loved getting a little extra dose of the Picketts. It was such a fun surprise! 

I just love this work! I know I probably say it too much, but I really really do love it with my entire soul! I love my mission, I love my family, I love the support and the letters and I love the Lord! 

-Sister Shumway 

Hermana Hall and Sister Shumway

Celebrating 7 months

Tennessee in January

It Finally Decided to be January

Hey y'all! 

This week was AWESOME. We had zone conference, powerups, AND a baptism! Quite the week! Also, I guess January finally figured out that it's not supposed to be in the high 60’s so it dropped to the 30’s literally over night. Yikes. 

Zone conference was amazing and the Spirit was so strong. On my mission, I have discovered that 9 times out of 10, when I feel the Spirit, it is a humbling call to action. And zone conference was definitely that. I need to be setting the bar higher and pushing myself to be better all the time. One of the quotes shared at ZC was "How will you ever know your potential if you don't raise the bar?" Don't shoot for the minimum. I need to set my sights higher and I realize that it is time to take action. 

We had powerups (basically exchanges but we both stay in the same area) right after zone conference with the sister training leaders. We saw SO MANY miracles in just 24 hours! The night we got there, Sister Lambson and I went to teach a lady and by the time we left, she had told us that she knows the Book of Mormon is true and that she wants to baptized as soon as possible! Wow! It is amazing to watch the Gospel of Jesus Christ light up people's lives. Also, sister Lambson is amazing and I want to be just like her when I grow up!

We also had a Baptism on Saturday! Scott Crawford's family have all been baptized over the past year. . . . Except for him. He didn't have the testimony that he saw the rest of his family had, until just recently! He approached us and expressed his desire to be baptized so that he could be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity to his wife! It all happened so quickly and six days later he was in the water, making his first covenants with the Lord. The Spirit was, again, powerful and beautiful. 

I don’t have the words to express how much I love the work that I have been called to do. I know that my Savior is aware of and loves every single individual here in Tennessee (and everywhere else in the world) and I wish so deeply that I could accurately communicate that to the people we talk to every day. Unfortunately, I'm not so good at the communicating part, but that's why we have the Holy Ghost! I love this work, I love the Lord, and I love all y'all!!!!

-Sister Shumway

The Cow Named Arnold and a Tornado Warning

Hello family and friends!!!! We have had quite the week! I am growing to love Loudon more and more every day. . . .  even if it does smell like sausage all the time (there's a nasty sausage-skin factory in the middle of Loudon and it is NAST). 

While we were out tracting this week, we met a big, fat bull who we named Arnold. He was really sweet and such a good listener! We also went out tracting during a tornado watch/warning cause why not? Gotta reach that finding goal! LOL needless to say. . . . . we got SOAKED. 

We had so much success and so many beautiful lessons this week. I won't bore you with all the details, but I do want to testify that I know the Book of Mormon is true. It is the word of God just as much as the Holy Bible is. I love both dearly and I thank my Heavenly Father for the peace and joy that they bring to my life. I have cherished the witnesses I received from the Holy Ghost in each of our lessons about the truth that I am so blessed with. I love what Hermana Hall said the other day: "Heavenly Father is too good to us! We don't deserve Him!" He really is way too good to us. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ in my life. I make mistakes every. Single. Day. And I can't imagine how dark and sad life would be if we didn't have a Savior to rely on and seek forgiveness from. 

Thanks for all the support and love!! I love all y'all!   

-Sister Shumway 

Sister Shumway and Hermana Hall

Happy New Year Y'all! 2020!

Heyyo!! Since I didn't get to wish all y'all a happy new year on Wednesday, consider this your belated happy new year!!! Woop Woop!!! 2020!! It’s so exciting! 

Well, as of Jan. 1, 2020, I am officially serving in Loudon Tennessee :) It is quite the place! I am already in love with the people and the Branch (not even a Ward, but get this: we have TWO sets of missionaries for it!). There are so many wonderful people and they just absolutely love to talk. Let me tell you, I have never spent so many hours just smiling and nodding as they ramble on and on and on and onnnnnnnnn. But I love it because the stories and experiences they all share just make my heart grow for them even more! 

Funny story: on Friday, Hermana Hall and I got up and we both though it was Saturday. And we continued to think it was Saturday ALL DAY. Neither of us realized it was only Friday for the ENTIRE DAY. We were so worried because we didn't think we had enough time to reach our weekly goal for finding hours, so we worked like crazy alllllllllll day. . . . And then when we got home, I happened to glance at the calendar in passing and when we saw that it was only Friday, we both DIED. HAHAHAHAHHA LOL!!! So we basically had two Saturdays this week, AND we way exceeded our weekly finding goal! 

As it was fast Sunday this week, I had the opportunity to share my testimony with the branch and I wouldn’t want yuns to feel left out:

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints IS Christ's restored church on the earth today. We have the fullness of His gospel on the earth because He has brought forth the Book of Mormon, blessed us with living prophets, and given us the responsibility of the priesthood. I know that Jesus Christ is at the head of this church. His church. I know that He also knows each and every single one of us individually. With this knowledge, I know that He also guides and directs our lives through our church callings, daily challenges, the people in our lives, the feelings and emotions we experience, the places we go, all to help us grow, change, and most importantly become what He knows we can become. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I cherish the knowledge I have that He loves me. I can't even begin to imagine how empty my life would be without the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I love my mission! I love my family! I love the Lord!

-Sister Shumway

What a Wonderful Transfer

Can you believe it's been 6 months?! I CAN'T.  This has been the fastest six weeks of my life! We had transfer calls on Saturday and I am sad to say that I will be leaving Jamestown and my dearest Sister Burch :( 

I am headed to Louden Tennessee! To be with Hermana Hall!!! She is actually from the same town that Sheralyn and Mitchell had been living in until this week, so we have such a fun connection already! I am so excited for the great transfer ahead! 

I am so sorry I didn't email last week (LOL no I'm not), we had a beautiful Christmas zone conference and on the way home we stopped by a lady's home who we met a week or so ago, and she let us teach her about the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Spirit was POWERFUL. I am so grateful to have him as my companion in addition to the marvelous Starks and Burch. 

The ward also had their Christmas party last week and we were so blessed to witness the amazing Bishop Cook attempt a cartwheel. . . . Somewhat successfully, believe it or not. We also had a family of hillbillies move a couch into our apartment the same night. Needless to say, it was quite the day! 

Christmas was amazing!!!! Thank you to everyone who helped it feel so magical! I love my Savior and I thank my Heavenly Father every day for sending Him to save me. (<-if that didn't sound Baptist, I don’t know what does).

Sadly, we had to say goodbye to Sister Starks on Friday. She has completed her mission and headed home to Idaho to be with her family for New Years! 

This past transfer has been fantastic and the next transfer is set up to be fantabulous so life is GOOOOOD. 

I love everything! I am so grateful for my Savior, my companions, my family, my friends, the gospel, my trials, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ!!! 

-Sister Shumway