A Wild Week

 Just last night we knocked on a door and a lady answered. We did our door approach and then she asked "Are you part of Mitt Romney's campain?"   Of course we told her no, but then she just turned around, walked back inside and shut the door.  Ya, we get political feedback every now and then. I think usually the people who don't like Romney always bring it up.

   This week is a lot cooler than it has been. It's a nice 96 degrees out. I never thought that I would think it was cooler.  I miss the good old 60 degree weather in Oregon...with some nice, sprinkly rain. I could use some of that sometime soon.

    Our zone had four people baptized on Saturday. It was awesome!! Zone leaders report numbers every Sunday night. Things like how many new investigators found, less actives at church, baptism dates and who was actually baptized.  Last night I was talking to the spanish district leader about the baptism dates in his district. He told me that one of their dates had dropped because one of their investigators broke up with her boyfriend who is also an investigator. No one knows where she went. Mexicans get in family arguments easily. She must have told her family something bad about him, because some drunk Mexicans drove by him a couple nights ago trying to shoot him. He got shot all the way through his shoulder. He is still alive, and he still has a baptism date.   But Satan is trying to get him.  It's a crazy story huh?

    The south side of OKC is super ghetto. There are a lot of gangs there and trigger-happy Mexicans.   Only a tiny bit of the south is in our area.

    On Friday night we recieved a call fron the assistants telling us that there was a lady in one of the hospitals in our area who wanted us to give a blessing to her step son. We showed up and met her in the ER waiting area. Her son had been involded in a car wreck. The car he was in swerved, rolled 6 times and was hit by a semi.

 We had to wait two hours for the doctors to let us know when we could go in to see him. Finally we were able to see him and give him a blessing. His head had been damaged so badly that we weren't allowed to put our hands on his head. It was a sad sight to see. He was very bloody and had lots of wires and stuff hooked up to him. he had a bolt (like the one frankenstien has) going into his skull.  We put our hands on his arm and gave the blessing.

 His Mom has been texting us and updating us on his health. He went through seven hours of surgery the next morning and the doctors said it was unlikely that he would live, but he is still alive and now they are saying that he might walk out of the hospital when he's better.  Isn't that crazy?!

  

   Love Elder Shumway

Military Church

  This week we had an LTM (Leadership Training Mtg)  Tues through Fri. It was from 9 am to 4 pm each day. I learned a lot!!!! It was fun because I was able to see E Naisbitt and E Lott and all my other real close pals in the mission. I am so proud of Elder Lott. He  has been trainning for the last three weeks and I hear that his greeny is super solid. Maybe I will be a great-grandpa soon.  

During the four days of the LTM, Elder Lott's greeny (E Apadale) was running the area in Norman where I served. He was with another new missionary who had been out for about 8 weeks. Together they set 3 new baptism dates in the four days we were at the LTM!

    On Saturday, the Assistants came to pick me up. Each Sunday the AP's go down to Fort Sill army base (just north of Lawton OK) to teach lessons to the members and non-members on the base. They have a sacrament meeting in a big classroom on the base. I went this week to help them teach. E Fransen also went with us. We spent the night at the Lawton ZL's apartment and on Sunday morning we went to the base. 

  It was a cool experience. They have a sacrement meeting that is way laid-back. The group leader (like a branch pres.) wasn't able to get a video to work for the spiritual message of sacrament meeting so he called on us missionaries to give talks! We had like five minutes to think of what we wanted to talk on. I gave my talk on Faith, based off of Alma 32: 21 & 27and James 2: 15.  I felt good about the talk when I was done, especially since it was imprompu.  

After sacrement meeting, the four missionaries each taught a class on our own. I taught the third lesson about the gospel of Christ.  The lesson was very hard to teach to a bunch of non-member army dudes...and they all looked the same with their camo uniforms and buzzed heads. It wasn't the best lesson I've had.

After church there was a baptism for two of the soldiers. I conducted one of the baptism interviews for one of the soldiers. We watched them yell and march in the heat over to another building where the Church of Christ has a nice chapel and a ghetto baptismal font. I was asked to give another unexpected talk on baptism and the Holy Ghost before the baptism. Then they were baptised in the weirdest font I've ever seen. It wasn't even below ground level. It was raised.   Then they were confirmed.  It was a cool Sunday. I enjoyed going to Fort Sill and I will probably go again. 

   

    I hope y'all are doing good.

                -Elder Shumway