Dinner with Cousins

This Evening Angela (Strickland) Jones fed dinner to Elder Shumway who was on splits. She sent the following note to us:

Wendy and Scott,

It was an honor to feed your son tonight!  He is a wonderful missionary, we feed the missionaries often in our little ward here that is more like a branch.  After feeding all types of missionaries you know when you have a solid one with a solid testimony, Elder Shumway fits the bill.  He is working hard and is tired from it.  You should be so proud of your son.  

When I asked him if he knew how we were related he said, "I think through some aunt on my Mother's side."  It made me chuckle,... he had no clue who I was.  I tried to explain it in terms of his Great Grandmother Donna and my Grandmother Nellie and he just looked at me and said "OK" So I pulled out the Blue Johanson Book, and then a light bulb went on.  He said, " Hey, I have seen some of these pictures in my Grandma's house."  As we talked a little more about our relation, I could tell there was still some doubt about how close my  family "really" was to the Clark family.  So I finally looked at him and said," Hey you know your sister Sheralyn; MY sister is Sharilyn!"  Finally a REAL  connection and all the light bulbs turned on.  He knew about the kids in the wheel chairs, and especially about Madeline, the feisty one in the wheel chair.  He also knew about the tough girl cousins, "the 5 girls who play street hockey." (Michelle's girls). We  had a wonderful visit, We didn't get the chance to exchange any stories about my Grandma, but we just had a wonderful visit.  

It didn't hit me until he left, but I am so thankful for all the the Johanson Reunions and for how close the Johanson cousins have been.  I really started to reflect on how excited Nellie and Donna must have been  to see us sitting there together, family, although we had never met, talking about the work of the Lord and Family; the two most important things in this life and the life to come.  It made me realize what a strong legacy of Faith our Grandmothers left for us and I only pray that I can do the same for my children. So thank you for raising a great son who came on mission and gave our family the chance to feel his spirit and allow his spirit and testimony influence  my young boys.  

Love,

Angela, Tann, Samantha (7) Payton (6) Landon (4) Jacquelyn (1 and asleep in her crib)

Good News, Bad News

Scott wrote:  Elder Shumway, I will be speaking in the Singles Ward Sunday about Missionary work. Do you have any suggestions for me?

  That is cool that you are speaking in the singles ward.  When Elder Bowen of the Seventy came to our mission, he made a good point. Everyone talks about the "full time missionaries"  when they refer to the full two-year or 18 month missionaries.   But Elder Bowen  helped us notice that these missionaries don't serve for more than two years at a time. Two years is a very short amount of time.  Plus,  each missionary is transferred in and out of different areas throughout their mission.  I have personally averaged 3 months in every area I have served in. 

So, who are the REAL full time missionaries??     The members in each ward are usually going to stay in the ward they are in for way more than three months. Even in singles wards.  THEY are the full time missionaries in their wards because they will be there full time. THEY should be considered the full time missionaries.
  
     Today I found out that A_____, the investigator we had in Moore, is getting baptized on Sunday.  I have permission to drive up to Midwest City (where the YSA building is)  and attend her baptism. 
I'm super excited!  She will be the best member ever!!!   

      We had a great week this week. Sundays are our hardest working days in this area. My companion went to teach the soldiers on Fort Sill with the other two elders and I went to both Lawton wards with another missionary. When my assigned ward started, we had 7 non-members come to church. it was hectic!  I love the members who take the time to stop and talk to the investigators and invite them to dinner and things like that.   That is where the real missionary work happens.   We found some solid investigators this week too.  It was great.

   Now that I've shared the good news, let me share some BAD news that you will not like.   On Wed  Jan 2, 2013  we were on our way up to the city for ZLC.  As we passed Fort Sill I was pulled over by a state trooper.
 ( The not very nice cops).  I was speeding but I didn't even realize it.  He gave me a pretty big ticket for  $226.50.   I was going 72 in a 60 mph zone.  But it was right before the speed went back up to 70 mph!   SO  Dad. I need your help, because I am broke.   I promise I will re-pay you when I get home.  .....and get a job.....  

Hopefully,... your broke son.....Elder Shumway

Christmas and a Transfer!

  Last week I went to go buy a Christmas tree for our apartment. So I went to this place where the boy scouts were selling trees. Guess where the trees were from? !

Our tree looks pretty good with lights and presents under it. I'm excited to open the packages I've gotten.

    .

    I am getting transferred on Wed. so I don't know what we will be doing on Christmas day or what time I will call you. But I will be sure to call your cell phone.  Tell Aunt Stephanie I said congrats!!  

   

    I will be serving with Elder Hardt (Heart) in Lawton, OK.  That is in the same zone that Texas is in. I will be able to go to Texas on exchanges.  There is still a lot of work that needs to be done in Texas, and some of the missionaries down there are struggling. When Elder Ali'ifua left me, he went to Texas to help some missionaries out. There has been a history of slacker missionaries in Texas, but a few years ago, it held the record for the highest baptizing area in the mission.  So there is a lot of potential there!!

    I am sad to leave Moore.  We have an investigator (A____ who is so close to getting baptized! She just wants to think about a date while she is on vacation over the next few days.  I hope I can come back for her baptism.  I am going to miss teaching her. 

 Building the trust of others is so important! I like those scriptures you sent. I can see how that has worked with A___. You can tell when investigators trust you by the way they act in lessons and if they keep commitments.  It is also very important to build the trust of the members. We saw that a ton in this ward when we told them what our goals were and our vision for the area.

    This week  has been so busy. We spent two days with some seinor missionaries, moving new stuff into our apartment and moving other stuff out because the AP's are moving into our apartment by Wed.  The AP's were too busy to help us because they are opening up a new sister missionary area in the south zone. The Moore first ward will have the AP's and the Sisters in it.  We are starting to see the big wave of missionaries begin to come!!

      Elder Naisbitt (my trainer) goes home tomorow. It is sad to see him leave. I love that guy.  He'll be home for Christmas.  He lives in Hooper UT,  a small town outside of Ogden.   We are going to visit him in the mission home tonight before he leaves in the morning. 

      Good stuff is happening!  There is always work to be done!     Time is flying by for me!  This was probably the fastest transfer of my mission.   Elder Hanes and I had a lot of fun together.

                           I'll Talk to you on Christmas!

              Love Elder Shumway

Elder Foy

I saw Elder Foy!  

We stopped by the church to get some papers from the AP's who were at their Ward Halloween Festival. I was standing by the door in the gym when Elder Foy walked in. I saw him and recognized him but I didn't know who he was (he had some 5:00 shadow). I stared at him as he walked by. He glanced at me and then did a double take and stopped to ask me if we knew each other.  Haha! It was funny.  It didn't take us long to figure it out. (my name tag gave it away)  Our roles were reversed; he was in street clothes and I was the missionary. It was crazy! He was only there for a couple of days to visit family and we were only there to pick up a ward roster.  What are the chances?

Thanksgiving Week

This week was super busy!  We tried working very hard to accomplish our goals early in the week because of Thanksgiving, but even after a full week of effort, we fell short.    Thanksgiving day was a blast though.  We had an exchange with the assistants on Wed and they spent the night that night.  In the morning, we went to one of the nearby high school turf fields and played in a multi-ward turkeybowl.  There were times when the game got very intense. Some of the members would argue with each other about the rules or what actually happened.  Okies get very intense when it comes to football.   

After that game, we went to a park by President Taylo'rs home to play football with he and his family. That game was way less intense.   I played on the line with President Taylor. There was one play in the game where Elder Hanes slipped and fell when he was going up against President on the line. President Taylor fell on top of Elder Hanes and pretended like he had tackled him.  It was very funny. 

   

          We had a Thanksgiving dinner with some members in our ward at about 2:30 and then right after that, we had another dinner with a Seinor office couple and some other missionaries.  I ate way too much!    I was so stuffed!

          
        It is cool to see how true the scriptures are and how accuratly thay apply to our lives today. Every week I watch scenes from the scriptures play out before my eyes....as we work with investigators, and ward members. It is unbelievable. But I gain a lot of insight from the scriptures.  I love the scriptures.   

             

  Love Elder Shumway

Elder Bowen Visits!

This week was great!   All of the Zone Leaders met at the Moore stake-center for our meeting with Elder Bowen, of the Seventy. The meeting was very motivating. He expects a lot out of us.

      Elder Bowen came the next day to inspect our CLEAN apartment.  President Taylor came the morning before and joined us for companionship study. It was great!  He wanted to inspect our apartment before Elder Bowen came.   He told us that Elder Bowen was going to check everything, even our planners and also the area-book.  But when Elder Bowen came the next morning with his wife and President and Sister Taylor, they just looked in our closets and cabinets and bathrooms and then talked to us. It was awesome!   He asked us some questions and he taught us about the importance of keeping our apartment like the temple; in good, clean condition so that is can be a place of revelation during planning and studies. A place that that keeps us apart from the world.   It was cool. Then he gave us each a hug, but it wasn't like any usual man-hug. It was like he was my Mom or my Grandma. He hugged us for a long time.  The spirit in our apartment was SOOOO strong and you could feel the love radiating off of him.

     The next day we went to Norman where we had Mission Tour Conference. It was sweet. Elder Bowen gave a 4 hour training without any notes. All he had was his ipad (scriptures).  He was very bold with all of the missionaries.  He was not afraid to call anyone out.  That is exactly what our mission needed. There are lots of missionaries who are starting to slack off. Mostly because there are so many young missionaries in our mission.  And there are going to be way more young missionaries added soon. The zone leaders are responsible for the growth of each missionary in the zone. We have to hold them accountable to help them all rise to their potential, to become leaders so that they can train or be a district leader or replace us.   I had an interview with President Taylor this morning and that is pretty much all that we talked about.

      We had a baptism this Sunday!! His name is Andy. He is a funny guy. He just recently started dating this girl like 5 days ago and she sat in on a lesson with Andy and also came to his baptism. Now SHE wants to be baptized!!!!     We have been focusing on working through peoples "networks."  The people who are interested in the gospel have friends. (A lot more friends than we have.) So we work through the people who have connections.  like Andy and his Girlfriend. We just need to be sure that she is converting for the right reasons. 

     I'm excited for Thanksgiving. We will be playing in a Turkey-bowl with President and Sister Taylor, their sons and some other nearby missionaries.   It will be fun.  

       We are Improving a lot in working with the ward and the branch. Good things are happening!

                           Love Elder Shumway

New Missionaries!

 When I first arrived in the OKC mission, there were 114 missionaries. When I was still a newer missionary, we moved from 114 to about 124 missionaries.  When I was in Norman, there were some inspired changes made where President Taylor split the mission from 5 zones to 8 zones. He thought that it was better to have less people in each zone so that the ZL's could have more personal ministering opportunities with missionaries in their zones and more proselyting time in their own areas. 

 Little did he know that there would be a flood of 86 new missionaries coming to our mission between Dec 2012 and March 2013. 

  But now President Taylor is relying on the Zone Leaders to help figure out where all these missionaries are going to go. We need 43 new areas to put them in. 43 new apartments. 43 new phones and we need to decide which companionships will have cars / who will have bikes and  which new districts will be formed! 

 It is pretty crazy.  Good things are happening but it is going to be hard work trying to work it all out smoothly.  The mission will have doubled since I came here. We will have about 216 missionaries in the OKC mission by the end of March or April.     I think the Lord is hastening his work.

        We've been working hard with our investigators. Some of them have dropped us and don't want to continue taking the lessons. It is always sad when they do that.

        This transfer ends on Wed. Elder Ali'ifua is getting transferred to Wichita Falls, TX. The same area I served in.  On Wed I will be getting Elder Hanes as a new ZL companion. I know Elder Hanes very well. He was a spanish speaking missionary in Norman when the tornado hit. We helped do clean-up together.  I'm going to miss Elder Ali'ifua. He has taught me a lot. He goes home in about a week and a half to sign his scholarship to play football at Utah State.  You should look for him on TV next year!

       

                  My address is:         2204 S Santa Fe #201

                                                    Moore, OK   73160

-Love Elder Shumway