Christmas is Coming!

   Christmas is coming up quick! Not too many people are interested during the holidays to even bother with mormon missionaries. But this is the perfect time of year to share our message that is centered on Jesus Christ. My new comp (Elder Fransen) and I have been trying to use catchy phrases to catch people's attentiion, such as: "This message will help bring that Christmas spirit into your home."

   We have also done what we call the down town walk, where we walk the entire two blocks of Elk City's down town area while people are out shopping. We just OYM (Open your Mouth) at everyone and we and hand out Mormon.org cards. It's fun but we've noticed that if we do it for too long, then people walk in and out of stores when we walk by to avoid us on the sidewalk. haha!

          I just found out that our mission is "the belt buckle of the Bible belt."  Apparently it is the hardest mission in the States. President Taylor also told my comp, who is district leader, that our area is the hardest area in the Oklahoma City Mission. And I've been here my whole mission so far! jeez. At least this areoa will make be a better missionary because we have to be humble and have Faith. We plan on getting at least two baptisms by the end of this transfer. 

     We had a cool thing happen this morning! While we were doing comp study, the phone rang and we didn't know who it was. The man on the phone said that he had a son who is 11 years old and was baptized into the Mormon faith when they were living in Hawaii. They have moved to Sayer, OK and it is in our area. The man is not a member but told us that every church he has investigated has always made him realise that the LDS church is the one he knows is true. He gave us his address and number so we set up an appointment to help him quit smoking and baptism may be near! It is awsome!  My comp and I were freaking out after the call. haha!!

Merry Christmas! Luv y'all!

--Elder Shumway

1st Transfer and a New Companion

On Wed I recieved my new comp! I didnt go to transfers in the city. Elder Naisbitt and two other elders in the district shoved all their luggage into our little truck and went to the city leaving me and Elder Yu in Clinton for most of the day. When my new comp and Elder Yu's new comp arrived it was very exciting! My new comp is Elder Fransen. He is from Idaho Falls. He is a district leader as well. He reminds me a little of Alex Harris and we're already good friends. We're having fun.
    Elder Naisbitt went to the Norman first ward, about one mile away from the OU campus. He's excited to serve there, mainly because there are cuter girls in the city to look at. (haha.) His new comp is one that was in my MTC district. If you look at my MTC pics and find the Elder with glasses and a big head (kinda looks like the kid off home alone). His name is Elder Hansen. Elder Naisbitt will learn a lot serving with him. I hope the do well together.
    Elder Fransen is a very good missionary. He's always looking for opportunities to teach anyone and every one. Always.  He is a very fun guy to serve with. I enjoy making him laugh.
  I'm still in Elk City and have tracted out almost the whole town! We're hoping and trying to have two baptisms this month! And maybe one or two next month.
    I want to corrdinate a time where you would like me to call on Christmas. That way it'll be a lot easier to fit it in with plans. I'm sure you know. Well I'm excited for Christmas! I was gently transitioned into a slightly different pattern of life by getting a new comp. After getting used to how Elder Naisbitt and I did things it is a little hard adjusting to someone who likes to do things a little different. But it's all well.

   So through Christmas (hint, hint) and possibly until February I will be at the following address:

220 Ridgecrest Dr #E-59
Elk City OK 73644
    Hope y'all are doin' well. Luv ya!
                    -Elder Shumway

Dear Little Cousins...

Being on a mission is a lot of FUN! It is also hard work. I don't ever get to sleep in or play video games, but that's OK. I get to ride my bicycle every day and that is fun! I also get chased by dogs a lot. The other day a dog almost bit me, but my companion rammed it with his bike tire and we got away.

Oklahoma is as flat as a pancake. If you ever get up high, you can see for miles and miles. Oklahoma is also covered with RED dirt! The people here are very proud of their red dirt.

On Thanksgiving we ate a meal with some members. It felt like a normal Thanksgiving, but there weren't as many people as we have at my house. But last year I was so sick with the flu on Thanksgiving that I didn't eat anything all day. This year it felt great to enjoy a nice turkey dinner.

Our Mission President didn't want us to do any tracting on Thanksgiving so we wouldn't make anyone angry by disrupting their family holiday, so my comp and I bought a Pumpkin pie and some Cool Whip and ate it all Thanksgiving night. YUM!

 I can't wait for Christmas! There is a big park in Elk City that has lights everywhere in it. We drove by it a couple days ago. There are a lot of people that walk through the park and ride on a double decker bus around it. There is also an awesome carasell that people take rides on like the one we rode with Donovan in Seattle.  We're thinking about walking through the park and talking to people and getting some of the free hot chocholate they give out in the park this time of year.

My comp and I are best friends. We're having a great time.

Thanks for your support!

-Elder Shumway

Turkey Week

 I came home from a 24 hr exchange and there were two packages and like five letters for me on my desk! It was awsome! Thank you guys SO, SO much! (I NEVER thought I would ever look forward to mail, but getting something in the mail is AWESOME and can make a missionary happy all week!)

I'm going to try to write back to all of the letter writers, but don't know how many I will be able to actually finish and send by tonight.  Grandma and Grandpa Clark sent me some stuff. They are awesome. I need to write them back.

Missionary work is so unpredictable. We have super awesome and successful weeks, and then we'll have a slow week and every appointment will fall through and we won't teach hardly any lessons. The town we are in is full of people who are literaly always working in the oil fields and we can't meet with women unless another male is there but their husbands are ALWAYS working.  We only have three active priesthood holding members in Elk City who work a lot as well. It can be very, very slow sometimes, but we keep on finding things to do like service and tracting.

Thanks for the pictures, Dad. I miss Oregon and the mountians. It is very flat out here. You can see for miles and miles. The only thing that breaks the horizon are oil towers and windmills. haha.

That is very cool about the BOM reading challenge. I'm in Helaman ch 8. I want to finish it before I start over again. There are some cool study techniques that I want to do next time I read it but I plan on reading the BOM throughout my whole mission.

 I will send a longer e-mail next week. We have stuff to do and are always busy. For thanksgiving we have one dinner appointment, but it isn't even in our area. haha! No one feeds us, but that's ok. I plan on having a lot of mac and cheese.
 anyway... luv y'all
      -Elder Shumway          

BEST WEEK EVER!

 This week was the best week of my mission so far. We taught more lessons than we usually do, and we committed three people to be baptized on Dec 3.  It was an awesome week. Last night we had the most spiritual lesson I've ever had on my mission. It was with a lady who knows that the church is true and has been meeting with the missionaries for two years now. We have been helping her try to overcome her smoking addiction and get baptized but she never wanted to set a date because it stresses her out which makes her want to smoke even more. Her smoking has been getting better and we felt like we should set a baptismal date with her and her 10 year old foster child (who reminds me alot of Jackson, the boy that I baptized).
   We watched Prophet of the Restoration with her because she has been taught every lesson multiple times and we didn't want to be repetitive or annoying. That video is very good at bringing in the spirit. At the end of the video the spirit was thick in the air and it was very quiet. We told Michel, her child, that he was old enough to be baptized and asked him if he would like to do that. He seemed like he had been waiting for us to ask him that question and quickly said yes. We committed him to Dec 3 and then turned to Cheyenne and committed her to that same date. The spirit was raging and she committed without hesitating. It was awesome.  My comp was fighting back tears. It was sweet.
  A good week.
        There was an earthquake two nights ago here. I didn't feel it, but all the other missionaries did. Apparently it was kinda big. Today there is an 80% chance for tornados! I'm excited to see a tornado but the weather doesn't look like there is going to be a tornado. But I did see big lightning storms in the distance last night. Pretty cool.

OKLAHOMA CITY — A 5.6 magnitude earthquake shook central Oklahoma late Saturday. What could be the largest temblor in the state's history damaged homes, shook buildings, caused cracks and rattled a college football stadium 50 miles from the epicenter.

Chimneys collapsed through roofs of homes.
Area residents reported glass breaking and items falling from walls.
Several roadways buckled, including Highway 62 and other county roads.

The quake was shallow at 3.1 miles deep and occurred at 10:53 p.m. Central Daylight Time. It was centered about 45 miles east of Oklahoma City. Several smaller aftershocks struck early Sunday.
    

Hark Work!

Oklahoma is as flat as a freakin pancake and so the wind just rages across the plains! If you stand on one of the small hills you can see forever!

My area is dead and I'm in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere called Elk City. Everyone hates us but I don't care what they think. We always get yelled at and it's funny because most people are very uneducated and have a southern accent. One guy told us to go back to Utah ..... (but I'm not from Utah. haha!)

 Me and my comp have a good time. He plays sports and grew up on a huge farm in Utah. He likes to go duck hunting. He is cool. We have had our struggles and we often say to each other,"Guys just arent meant to live together for long periods of time." But we have worked through our issues and we have a good time as we work. Neither of us were transfered so we are with eachother for another six weeks.

Until the next transfer (Thanksgiving) I will be at:
220 Ridgecrest Dr #E-59
Elk City OK 73644

  The work is soo hard here especially in my area. But I'm learning a ton! I'm nowhere near being an awesome missionary yet, but I'm sure that it will come over time.

  

It's pretty awesome knowing that I have been assigned to be a mouthpiece for the Lord and to bring souls unto Christ. It starts with inviting them by helping them recieve the restored gospel through Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, recieving the holy ghost and most important, enduring to the end!! Those doctrines are so important. Everyone, even members can apply these principles into their lives. Our mission prez hits very hard on thoes five doctrines and we teach them through the scriptures to members and investigators.

 

I'm heading into the city (Oklahoma City) where I hope to buy myself a winter coat.

I'm working hard! I love y'all!

Elder Shumway

 As a missionary, I have actually seen situations where the Lord sets up situations or little miracles. One that comes to mind was a time we were in Burns Flat about 20 mins away frome home and a place where only two member families live. We were deciding whether or not to stop by a potential's house before we went home, but we didn't think he would be home because he works as a chef at a restaurant and usually works the dinner shift.

 As we drove by his street we saw his daughter hanging out with her boyfriend on the sidewalk. We passed them but quickly decided to turn around and ask her if her Dad was home. She said that he was supposed to get home any minute. We waited for a few minutes and he came home. We talked and followed up for a little bit and now he is an investigator with a baptisimal date! Little stuff happens like that every day. We just don't notice it all the time.