The World Cup or apostasy?

How do I even begin to describe the world cup? I cant remember if it was Ays or Sag that asked me when i come back if i will be obsessed with soccer. well ill be honest, my feelings about soccer still havent changed much... what sport ends in a tie?! 

I am however getting more of some brasil pride. you all would not believe how psyco people are here about the world cup. EVERYTHING is green, yellow and blue. during the first brasil game there was NO ONE in the streets and everything is closed. its just one big party.

we had a noite familiar with an interesting family. with that being said it was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life. this guy, Andre invited everyone he knew to hear about the gospel. he is handicapped and im not sure exactly what problems he has but it was made very clear to all us missionaries that he is one of gods powerful leaders. he has a body that doesnt function but yet he is doing more to build up the kingdom than like anyone else. it was incredible to see and be a part of. 

food: ive been really into making fry bread lately, ya know gotta keep my native heritage alive. i have attempted making red mac but they dont have tomato juice, just tomato sauce, i have tried everything to make it like normal but it just doesnt taste the same... also just so you all know i have eaten literally every part of a cow. they make this stew that normally is just the cow foot (how you can eat a foot i still dont know) but when we got there we could tell there was definitely some other crap in that stew. but we were smart and waited until after to ask. yeah found out we ate the stomach and all the intestines too... lovely. 

the first day of the world cup was fun because we got all dressed up in the colors of brasil but we werent able to teach anyone that day, we just had a noite familiar after that was sweet... all about the world cup we turned it into a giant soccer game, i dont know how to explain it but it was a hit. 

our activity that we had in the chuch this week (we do one each week) was a treasure hunt with scriptures, it was so funny. the end was the scripture knock and it shall be opened ask and ye shall recieve. so everyone is running around checking all the doors for the treasure and about ten minutes later bianca (my first baptism here) was thinking really hard and just asked us for the treasure..... ding ding ding. winner winner chicken dinner. 

my comp and i are still good. most likely i will be transfered in two weeks though, so thats really really sad for me to think about. i will miss this area and my companion. have i told you all that my comp is shelby to a T? she even sold marykay before the mish and is always hookin me up. she literally is bertus. i remember when she first came here she was super serious but now thats over. yes, everyone just imagine being companions with shelby... its like the most exhausting thing with all of her energy but its great, and everything has to be pink and she always has a story to tell me about her life, and she never shuts up hahaha, i told ya she was shelby. 

mom i got your package today, im slamming the rolos right now like mad. my comp is obsessed too because they dont have them here.  also right now in the place that we email they have aerosmith blasting in my ears... life is good haha. 

i got grams C letter... thank you!

also i got the package from shelby.... thank you! seriously i have been wanting CTR rings to give to people soooo bad, this was perfect! 

An elder here gave me maple extract so i can make syrup now!

mom could you send me a recipe for bbq sauce and peanut butter please?

everyone wish me luck during this time of the world cup its super hard to teach people every house people are just glued to the tv... the world cup is a religion. if brasil had a game during church i would honestly be surprised if anyone came to church.

Lily still knows everything but still doesnt feel prepared to be baptized... what is this? nah its all good, God has his own timing. 

Well thats about it folks.

I didnt even know it was fathers day because its not celebrated here... but happy fathers dad! sorry i forgot!

Shums

Shpill

I just found out Kelli is having a girl hahahahha yes i died of laughter...
Logan is doomed to a life of girls. After a rough week in Brasil this just
put a big ole smile on my face.

Seriously Kellis email made me laugh. it was good to hear that logan and
nate are going on fishing dates... ha

so my life this week... okay well you know how tired you are when you dont
even want to email on pday, you just want to go home and sleep.

Okay but seirously this week was great we had three baptisms! What what!
remember the story i read in my farewell talk about having friends from the
pre-existence that you need to find and bring the gospel to. well this week
the three baptisms were 100% some of those friends. so prepared and so
awesome.

we have been having lots of noite familiars so thats been sweet, working
with the members a ton. seriously the members here are great and just love
the missionaries.

someone go ask randy rarrick what helped him decide to be baptized because
there is a couple here that i think of the rarricks everytime. Nara is like
my mom here and shes so much like lisa and i just want her husband to get
baptized so bad!

remember lily? yeah she still feels like shes not prepared to be
baptized... what the heck she seriously knows everything!

last week we had a conference with a seventy that was awesome but my
favorite was his wife... she was great but she challenged us this week in
our emails to write to our family and share why we are on a mission so here
goes....

straight up, i didnt want to come on a mission haha i have so many things i
want to do and i thought a mission would just get in the way of things. but
i know now that this is how God is going to teach me how to let Christ mold
me into the person that God wants me to be, not who i want to be.

I am here to give a small, humble sacrifice or tithing of my life to Christ
for his atonement. We are commanded to become like Christ but how can we
become like him if we dont know him? We come to know him by picking up our
cross and following him. but Christs cross wasnt just HIS weight, because
he was perfect, he didnt have weight. His cross was the weight of all other
people. Therefore if we want to truly pick up our cross we have to actually
help pick up the crosses of other people. We have to bear their burdens in
order to know and understand Christ. If we just focus on bearing our own
burdens we will not become like Christ. I am on a mission to help others
pick up their crosses. to feel their burdens and put some of their weight
on my shoulders so i can understand a fraction of Christs atonement.

I remember in may when i was subbing in the 3rd grade in monticello. it was
a long hard day and i was exhausted. as i was walking out of the school to
go home, i remember thinking, a mission is going to be way harder than
this. the days are going to be harder and longer. if you cant hack this
then you cant hack a mission. i remember feeling super stressed and as i
was walking to my car outside of monticello elementary school the Angel
Moroni on top of the temple came into view. i started crying as i realize
any sacrifice is worth it for temple covenants.

however something ive learned is that we dont have to rely on our own
strength, we have the grace of Christ... USE IT! its not just a comforting
thought its an actual power that we can access. like wind or solar power,
the power of the atonement is a physical, tangible power that will help us
if we align our will with Gods will.

there is my shpill for the week (how do you spell shpill?)

the weeks are passing super super fast. i cant even believe it.

conference was great to see some of my mtc friends

i dont really have much to report this week because we had a conference and
then a lot of the time was spent preparing and teaching for the baptism. so
yeah sorry.

this week is going to be interesting... its the start of the world cup so
yeah basically we arent going to be able to teach anyone for a month...
walking around in the roads all day is going to be a blast! (sarcasm)

i cant believe how big brew is now... hes so dang cute. it will be fun
coming home to 2 nieces and 2 nephews.

soak up the sun for me... im just in brasil freezing... who knew?!

imari... what the heck it still doesnt feel real to me shes getting
married. but i want pictures! i dont think i will believe it until i see it
hahaha.

well i think thats about it for this week. sorry its short!

beijo
Sister Shums

THANK YOU!

okay well i sent an email asking for the skype name of my sisters but
psychhhhh i just got an email from my pres. that i only get to skype for 10
minutes so i will just skype mom and dad and maybe you guys can facetime in
and i can see you some how, i dont know. my mission president is freaking
exhausting me.

Okay well this week will definitely be one that I remember forever. So S.
Claret and I have been really focused on being exactly obedient and working
so so hard. We are probably a little over the top and semi crazy with
things but we know it will bring miracles. well...

this week was awful! okay not awful but we were working so hard and having
seriously ZERO success. We kept saying we are just proving our faith but
towards the end of the week we were starting to drag and it was starting to
be exhausting the fact that nothing was working. Saturday night we were so
fed up that we finished off the night binging on hot dogs and milkshakes.

Lily didnt come to church and therefore will not be baptized, we found out
other investigators were only willing to listen to us because they liked my
accent, basically everything fell.

however we were still super obedient. during this we prayed for out goal
for baptisms for this upcoming month and we both came up with 8 and were
shocked because this is a crazy high number.

so yeah we were even more discouraged after this week of being more
obedient and working harder than ever and coming up with nothing. well God
always answers prayers...

Sunday, after no investigator came to church we were still discouraged but
we went to look up a less active and when we did we found three families
there, 6 people that we taught... completely the pure in heart! such a
miracle they have such a sincere desire. when we asked them to be baptized
they told us that they had already been baptized so we explained again
about the priesthood authority. they were like oh! yeah that makes sense,
we didnt have the authority so it doesnt count in gods eyes.... what the
heck?! we never get that kind of response!

after this we went and watched 17 miracles with the family i love, andressa
her sisters and all of them. it was POWERFUL! remember the dad who smokes
and came to church that one time? well he was there and after the movie he
talked and gave the last prayer... it was so amazing.

okay but about the movie, dont even worry that i was bawling through the
whole thing almost #noshame

and after when it shows the pictures of the people and talks about them,
with every town it mentions in utah they would ask me if its my town. well
when it got to jens nielson and bluff i was able to tell them about it and
i realized then and as i watched the film how grateful i am for the
sacrifices people made so that i could have the gospel in my life. i told
them about other stories and things about the pioneers and told them how
their actions today will affect generations because the actions of the
pioneers affected me, the spirit was so strong there it was a miracle.

after as we were walking home Sister Claret turned to me and said you are
so blessed to have such a great legacy, my parents dont even accept me
being on a mission let alone the gospel... BOOM put my life into
perspective.

So i just want to say THANK YOU mom dad and grandparents for teaching me
and giving me all the opportunities i have in my life.

Anyways i just really gained an appreciation for my ancestors and my family
this week especially being with S.C. who NONE of her fam is members she has
no one and so i am so grateful...

peace out my fam... skype ya soon!
Sis Shums

our binge on hot dogs and milkshakes.... and what can i say? Brooklyn will
always have a place in my heart.

CALVES!

Why helllloooo there! Im so jealous to see snow! even if it is only like an inch. 

Ays, i cant even describe to you how incredibly jealous i am that you got to go to my future husbands concert. im glad you aprove of him though and good to know he will be accepted in the fam.

for those of you who are confused my future husband is scotty mccreary. 

so this week... what can i say, i LOVE my comp.yes sag she is from brasil. i dont know how to spell the city so im not going to attempt but its the city of cheese and she is going to teach me how to make cheese bread... life doesnt get any better right?

i started out my experience of brasil semi frustrated at how different the work was from ny but now i realize it was just because of my comp and leaders. now that i have an awesome comp and an awesome dl life is great and the work is actually the exact same. 

we are going to create a new branch mission plan and get the members pumped to help. s. claret and i are so obedient but we have SO much fun together, she is already one of my best friends. 

dad she tells me i have problems like you always do when i dance hahaha. no i have not grown up yet.

its interesting because you would think a mission would make me more mature but i think it is doing the opposite. the tiniest things bring me such great joy and happiness. i act more like a kid everyday i think. and still when a lady starts breast feeding in public i start laughing... immaturity at its finest. 

but the obedience has brought miracles. this week we went to teach Lily. i have been teaching her since my first week here and we clapped at her fence and she comes out of her house and says, i received an answer to my prayers that i need to be baptized. well there ya go.its marked for may 10th 

the elders had a baptism so we took her and her sister to watch. but they live really far away and are old so we had to walk slow so we knew we were going to be late but everything here starts late so i didnt think it would be a problem but i called elder lapray just in case to tell him to wait for us and he said okay (i had to speak in english so lily wouldnt understand) well we were almost to the church when another elder calls and said she had already been baptized... WHAT THE HECK?! we walked all that way so she could see a baptism. things NEVER start on time here! i was so angry but when we got there elder lapray said that his comp didnt know how to baptize so it was better that she didnt see, it would have scared her hahaha #18yearolds

this week was way good though we have started doing a lot of noite familiars with the members here and our less actives and investigators and it helped a lot. yesterday was the most we have had at sacrament meeting since ive been here! 

I dont really know what else to say except yes chey i got your letter and mom i just got another letter from you and the story about grandpa in the hospital is so funny... thats just like him i can just picture him drilling the nurses and asking a how many acres are in a section (im also really proud that i knew that)

but other than that things are pretty normal. sag and ays i will try to swing something to skype you guys! 

oh and i have to tell you all... because i walk so much now i have calves!!! okay they are still tiny and nowhere near Shumway standard yet but im hoping with time... if i had only known in high school that all i had to do to build calve muscles was walk around with scriptures i would have ha. 

over and out

Sister Shums

The view from our church... 

We get really into our noite familiars... haha we are children.

okay so here for easter they have these giant chocolate eggs that are a big deal... coolest thing ever. well i waited forever for one to go on sale and it was the greatest day of my life.i dont know how to explain how awesome these things are.

Don't Worry I Didn't Die

Okay yesterday was a holiday so i didnt get to email... sad that people celebrate christs atonements with drinking and all sorts of sins...

Kelli CONGRATS! I am so stoked... another Nov. birthday in the fam. and what? Laik is prego too? if i gathered right from mavs email. 

mom for the package all i want is a lufa and the little green ctr rings to give to kids here... i dont need anything else but i cant remember if i told you about packages here or not? this is the dl when sending packages here put that you spent no money and its misisonary supplies so i dont have to spend 500 freaking dollars. when i send packages i have to put that i spent way more money too so i dont have to spend 500 freaking dollars.

okay im being dramatic but really all the american missionaries have told me this is the best way to do it. 

what do i say about my new comp... I LOVE HER! She is the cutest thing, always in cardigans. she looks like a little brittish girl, sag would love her! 

seriously my portuguese has already improved so much with her. she also is trying to learn english so we only speak english in the house... its great! 

seriously though having brasilian comps that want to learn english is the best because they will repreat anything you tell them. I have two americans in the district from texas that are big tony romo fans and so i had her go up to them and say tony romo is awful and brings shame to number 9 hahaha it was so funny. 

i really dont have a lot to say and not a lot of time to say it. we went to another city this morning for zone meeting and i only have a little bit of time but let me just repeat... I LOVE MY COMP! Sister Claret. She joined the church 4 years ago, is an only child and her parents arent members... wow. 

she is constantly getting packages and letters from her boyfriend (and ive only been with her for a week) and im sitting there like yeah, well my mom sends me postcards! haha no mom i seriously love them. 

about mothers day, ays it will be skype. no one has apple products here. and so i have no idea how i will be able to talk to all of you because my comp said for christmas they only got 40 minutes... LAME! 

thanks for doing my taxes dad, i forget im semi a real person. and its actually a curse that i look brasilian because then people start speaking super fast and i just smile and nod. 

i met a lot of crazy people this week... sis. claret and i were dying. seriously im always laughing with her! 

Allysondra lied and said she was going out of town so she couldnt go to church... the elders saw her with some friends, score.

not much is new except i also spoke too soon about it cooling down, its back to heat. oh great!

my last pday with cidrao last week we went to the beach here... i attempted to take the same pic that logan took when he was in the philippines except im not lucky enough to have my best friend in my mission with me to take the pic haha

sad i missed another easter! but my easter last year was probably my favorite... i was in dc and had 3 investigators and one less active to church with me. ha funny that i had more "success" not as a missionary. 

Sag im pumped for you to be in kentucky soon. seriously the time that i learned and grew the most was when i was outside of utah, not as a missionary... DC. you will learn how to weave the church into any conversation in a non-weird preachy way and it will be epic and nate will have a lot of missionary opportunities with dental school too im sure. and dont worry im already planning on visiting you for like a week.

chey funny that bry said she loves my bed... i do too. probably the comfiest bed in the house, someone go take a nap in it for me! 

okay well im kinda over emailing for the day. its weird not emailing on pday and i feel like im wasting a lot of time right now... there are souls to save!

xoxox

sis shum

Put a your a Hands in the Air

Someone tell Peanut congrats on his mission call for me! The BYU reunion
sounded so fun! im so jealous and that pic with dad and Brewer on the field
like the pic of dad and Logan on the field is SO cute! I cant believe how
chubby his now! Oh and Brew is getting fatter too ;) ha jk dad thanks for
trying on some bling for me though. Did you guys talk to Senator Hatch? Did
he pretend to remember mom and pretend to remember me? No he better
remember me i brought him lunch almost everyday!

My money is on dads tomatoes doing better than logans...

Chey... Sometimes i think sending me to NY first was a cruel joke too haha
but i will go to both reunions for sure. but if i had to choose... NY shhh
dont tell my mission here haha

Sag... quit with the law school that ship was sailed when i went to DC and
learned how not cool being a lawyer is.

Im glad gramps took the surgery like a champ... lets be real though, did i
expect anything less?

By raise of hands who started crying when Pres. Uchtdorf started talking?
that would be me...

I wish i could say something that would make this day easier for everyone
back home but words dont change things that have happened. at the beginning
of this weekend i thought, great every April conference will be a sad
reminder. then i realized what a tender mercy it actually is. every year it
will be hard but we get to listen to the consoling words of a living
prophet!

Elder Uchtdorfs talk is what did it for me... i absolutely loved it, i
couldnt even take notes i just sat there thinking and listening.

this week as i was fasting and praying the words, Christ weeps with us kept
coming to my mind. death isnt just a trail people have to go through and
our Father in Heaven and Christ are just watching to see how we will handle
things... no, it hurts them just as much as us, if not more and they are
crying too. Remember Christ already felt the loss before us. while thinking
about this i rememberd the story of Alma and Amulek. All the followers of
Christ were burned and Alma and Amulek had to sit and watch. They had the
power of God, they wanted to badly to stretch forth their hands and save
these good people from their pains, but the spirit constraineth them from
helping. Alma says, the Lord receiveth them up in glory unto himself, in
glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing....
Yes, Alma knew what was waiting for them and knew it was so much better but
did it make it any easier for them to watch? Absolutely not.
Its the exact same thing with Christ and our Father in Heeaven. They want
so badly to reach out and take our pains away but sometimes they have to
watch us suffer. They know its for our own good but i think it pains them
just as much as us to watch us go through trails and i know they are
weeping with us.

With that said i thought it was so interesting how SO MANY talks in
conference talked about covenants. Whether it was about obedience to those
covenants, making covenants such as baptism or even going to the temple,
family history or eternal families many discussed the importance of
COVENANTS and the temple should always be our focus and not the vain things
of the world... i loved it!
It reminded me of our theme in NY that says the TEMPLE is the goal #NewYork

I also loved when Elder Perry spoke about growing up and how it was like
the celestial kindgom having all his family so close and i thought the same
thing. All of my grandparents live within walking distance and many of my
cousins too! I really did have the perfect childhood except for evil
parents who let the mean rooster chase me around... im still traumatized by
that by the way...
okay youre not evil, only that lack of judgement was.

So on Friday night my comp asked me about americans watching tv on sunday
because she heard we all watch football. i replied yeah depends on the
family. she asked about me and i said yeah, i dont think its that bad... we
watch as a family... well Elder Nelsons talk slapped me in the face.

When he spoke about watching football on Sunday my DL and I, who is also a
Cowboys fan, looked at each other and said oops. Seriously, like Elder
Hales spoke about i realized i have had, selective obedience, in things or
as i like to call it, if-thats-the-worst-im-doing ovedience, where i think,
well if thats the worst things im doing im pobably doing pretty darn good.

yeah it so doesnt work like that...

My Pres wanted all the missionaries to watch conference in their native
language no matter what so im happy i was able to understand it all! The
americans just went into another room in the church to watch it. Can i just
express how incredibly awkward i am! It was me and we have 3 other
americans in my district here... it was me and three elders. I seriously
didnt know how to handle myself i felt so awkward and was so weird.... pray
for me when i get home because im going to need all the help i can get
haha.

it was fun having a little american party though. we all made american
treats and every time they mentioned the US or we saw a US flag we all did
little fist pumps #merica

I think if i didnt have conference this weekend it would have been a really
hard week for many reasons. one is that we have just about no one to
teach... literally all our investigators dropped us. Luis, the awesome boy?
his dad wont let him meet with us anymore.
Remember Fran? My perfect investigator that has such a strong testimony,
attends church, reads the BOM everyday and the only problem is her husband
doesnt want to be legally married? Yeah we had lunch there on Friday and
she was so excited for conference. when she didnt come we went to her house
and she told us to never come back...
broke my heart.
dont know why.
wanted to cry.

I am doing absolutely everything in my power to be obedient and help the
people here but it just seems like im having less and less success. I guess
as long as God is sending ble3ssings back home though its okay, people have
their agency.

There has been a lot of losses around this weekend so im super grateful we
have conference and can listen to a living prophet!

com amor,
Sister Shumway

Pics: Our American party... please just notice the hand gestures... Elder
Vernon: thumbs up, always has a smile on his face #18yearolds
Elder Rodgers: Spiderman... missionaries are freaking weird
Elder Lapray: Peace... he thinks hes cool but i know secretly he was
thinking about the Bachelor hahaha

Saturday morning the young womens session was broadcast here and i watched
in english alone.... it was fabulous!

everyone said its worse here but i think its better. its just the same
except instead of pepporoni its linguissa which is a million times better!

Oh The Portuguese

dont even worry that about 5 minutes after i sent my email last week i
found powdered sugar here... which is RARE! Yeah you better believe i came
out of retirement and made some cinnamon rolls asap. i also learned how to
make maracuja, a fruit here, (i dont know what it is in english because ive
never seen it) mousse which is to die for! sag, you say i need to learn how
to make everything but everything im learning i dont think you will even
eat haha. and yes with all this the diet went out the window. lets be real
though i dont even know how to go on a diet.

its funny that people say a mission is the best place to develop and
improve talents but i think the only talent im improving is baking haha.
parents... i think this is a sign i need to go to culinary school?? jk ill
go to real school first. (i would put quotations on real but i dont know
how to on computers here)

Dad it is really funny that you mentioned the fact that you have a football
thing to go to at BYU this week because this week it hit me... this year is
the 30th year anniversary for the national championship right?! Seriously
if they do something cool for the reunion like go to a bowl game in Cali
again this year I am going to be so sad i missed it! those were the bomb.
and i am super jealous i am not going to the spring football thing this
weekend with you (assumming you would let me come) haha. anyway if there is
a cool reunion, try on lots of super bowl rings for me will ya someone?
Okay so remember that miracle last week about those girls and one boy
coming to church? Well we had such an amazing lesson with them. they read
the book of mormon and understood everything! Well saturday we went back
for a lesson and the girls gave us these excuses why we couldnt teach them
anymore but the 12 year old little brother still wants to be taught...
later that night we saw one of the girls going to a different church. heart
breaking.

However, the 12 year old boy, Luis. He is something special. He understands
everything, answers every question and is just amazing. As we were teaching
him the plan of salvation he said it was all really familiar to him but he
didnt know how. then he gave the prayer and oh boy was it powerful. that
kid is special i know it, i have never seen anything like that.

Fran... the investigator with the autistic girl. she is just perfect. she
reads, comes to church fasts, she is basically a member. its just her
husband wont get legally married... so frustrating! we are going to do a
fast with her though to hopefully soften his heart.

the work here is so interesting... you would think because its brasil it
would be a lot easier. well the south of brasil is not brasil. my comp who
is from sao paulo says the church is SO different here. my branch in NY was
bigger than my branch here.
yeah, people here will let you come in and teach them but they dont keep
commitments and the members dont understand a whole lot as well.

for example in other places during sacrament meeting its normal to sit as
families... nope, not here they all sit with their friends and talk and are
on facebook during the sacrament. and its not just one or two families its
everyone! they constantly have parties in the chapel, not for the church,
like personal parties... what is going on here?

one thing i dont like here is that there is such an emphasis on senior and
junior companions here. in ny i dont think i ever heard someone say
anything about it. i mean with sister blosil obviously we could assume she
was senior but it wasnt said every single day. here it is a BIG deal. even
if she is being disobedient my pres says i have to follow her... WHAT THE
HECK?! its a little rough going from a place where you feel like you know
how to be a missionary and coming here where you just feel like a baby.
ughhhhh and i can see how it is affecting the work!

my comp is really really trunky. she constantly talks about going home,
having kids and getting married. but my president thinks that is a good
thing. have i told you all how much my president talks about marriage?!

ok... let me just tell you, and yes this is all true. my pres tries to hook
up missionaries. not after the mission, now! straight up and he thinks we
all need to marry each other within like a month of getting home and its
just the strangest thing i ever did see.

but what can i do? i just try to learn the language... Logs i finally got
your letter, yep took more than a month! and you said the first month was
complete confusion?? ive been here more than 2 months and im still in
confusion! and im pretty sure portugues is easier than tagolog. ill admit
it, Logan is smarter than me.... wow the mission really changes a person
huh? i cant believe i didnt die as i typed those words.

ive been studying the book of abraham a lot lately... it helps me keep an
eternal perspective.

so you know how i have my problems with smelling and tasting? well i feel
like here i smell more and taste less.... i dont know if its just because
things are dirtier here so the smell is really strong and i eat the same
thing everyday so im just used to it? who knows

it was Clebers birthday this week... he is an RM and helps the missionaries
with anything and everything, hes the bomb. birthdays are such a big deal
here, i love it!

it was also another members this week too, Gabrielle... they are such a
cool family and its so funny because they NEVER eat beans and rice...  but
this is the pic of her and her cake, oh and my pretty boy DL is in the pic
too. can i just tell you how great it is to have an american DL that i can
speak english to? especially one that will talk about the Bachelor with
me... hes got some great opinions about Emily hahaha.

Sag on a scale of 1-10 my portugues is a 4

i know this email is overall somewhat negative but i promise i love it
here, and sagan tell nate that no, the time isnt dragging it is 100%
flying... way too fast, i have way too much i need to do. i am so grateful
i have been able to see so much growth in my comp. there are still a lot of
things that need to change but the Lord wont punish me for her doings, i
just have to do my part.

how stoked are you to have general conference this weekend? seriously cant
wait!

alrighty im peacin out for the day... be good my friends.
Sis Shum

I Don't Poop Cookies

I am SO over cookies.

Im pretty sure people here think i poop them or something because now they
always expect me to have them. Then i decided i would start making brownies
instead. well then people started thinking i poop brownies and always
wanted them. so im done baking for awhile (did i seriously just say that?).
oh and when i say people... i mean elders.

i got a letter from horse this week and it made my day to have something
familiar... 2nd ward brasil missionaries represent. when will i be too old
to call him horse? at least i have a few friends who arent married yet...
keep holding out Lsha and Lindsey, youre some of the few left!

i also wrote a letter to sis. jones. i hope she got it.

last monday we had such an epic noite familiar. there are 3 sisters here
who are all members but only one is active and they all have a crap load of
kids.
there are constantly a bunch of extra kids there too and most arent
members. so it was all centered on kids and it was way cool we read in 3
ne. when christ has all the kids come unto him. it was just epic to be
sitting there with like 15 kids sitting around you reading the scriptures.
after it was raining and i went outside with them to catch toads... so much
fun!

Kids, however are definitely the hardest for me to teach. you would think
it would be the easiest because they are the most patient with my portugues
but its just so frustrating because I LOVE teaching kids but because of the
language barrier i feel like they are getting jipped. im not able to make
it as fun and interesting as i would like. i miss my little 2nd graders and
all my swimming lesson kids so much!
and no mom this does not mean im going to be an elementary school teacher.

With that being said... there are still some things i can do, without being
able to speak portugues, for example distracting crazy kids in sacrament
meeting. yesterday the elders had a family come to church with like 6
kids... i have never seen anything like it! The kdis were jumping over the
benches running around, the poor mom was just exhausted and embarrassed.
All the members just sat there judging and the elders were oblivious or
just ignored it.
In that moment i learned one of the reason for sisters. i went over there
and with my big bag of supplies i was able to quiet the kids with games and
activities... i am so your kid mom.

in ny i learned how to play the card game magic and i am learning how
beneficial that knowledge is now. one of our assistants is obsessed but
like no missionaries play so he loves that he can talk about it with me.
because of this i was able to convince him to call me when the visa-waiting
missionaries got here on tuesday because guess who came... ELDER KNOWLES!
remember the little 18 year old in the mtc who didnt know who to mail a
letter and would always talk politics with me and kept me sane? yes he is
here now and it was so great to talk to him and he updated me on what is
going down in the US but thats a whole other email that i probably shouldnt
write haha.
and if any of you are judging and thinking this is sketchy let me just
emphasize the 18 year old part and the fact that he also updates me on his
girlfriend and her mission... #dontjudge

Something i love about the south of brasil is that everything is closed on
sunday... they all observe o dia do senhor... except one little thing, go
to the only true church!

Allysondra, well she didnt come to church so we moved her baptismal date
AGAIN so frustrating. Yesterday we were walking down the street after all
of our investigators said they werent coming and we were so frustrated. we
decided to hurry and go talk to a referral that we have tried to talk to
before like 3 times. when we got there the mom randomly said, my 15 year
old daughter wants to go to church! her cousin and brother did too....
#MIRACLE

seriously the work is getting so much better. we are working SO MUCH harder
now. God is answering my prayers! I realized how much humor changes things.
now that i am able to speak enough to actually be funny my comp is doing a
lot better and the work is so much better. we had 6 member presents in one
day! i dont know how that is compared to the rest of the mission but i know
compared to what i have seen here and ny its a LOT!

this morning we had such a great comp study. as i was talking about
enduring to the end and grace and what it truly means she just started
crying and told me that i answered a question from her patriarchal
blessing. the spirit is SO powerful! many times this week i would think of
a scripture to share or something that needed to be said but i didnt know
how to say it in portugues. as soon as i would think it my comp would say
EXACTLY what i was thinking... unity is real people.

this week we met a less active who couldnt remember my name so decided to
call me sister grande...
you better believe the diet started right then!
and yesterday one of the young women asked me what was on my face (it was a
zit and NO ONE has zits here).
yeah i thought maybe i should re-think the whole not wearing makeup thing
and then i remembered that i would either sweat it all off or the rain
would wash it all away... the mission life.

dad i most definitely just have to grit my teeth sometimes but life gets
better each and everyday. its just 100% not about me and im realizing that
more and more!

Bry and Brew are so dang cute i cant get over it... what a littly fatty
brew is! and bry... im so glad she talks as much as me, that means she is
awesome! Mom is rolling her eyes right now and saying, well you havent
learned to be humble yet have you? mom its a JOKE!

ays i realized i havent responded to some of your questions you asked in
the letter so here goes. yes i am most definitely ready for the cold, when
it rains it gets pretty cold and its the greatest. the kids are so dang
cute i just adore them. pdays there isnt anything touristy because its a
small town in the middle of nowhere but there is a beach that i will go to
soon. normally you live with other missionaries but we are the only sisters
so we have the house to ourselves thank goodness. its actually really nice
so dont stress.

Sagan... i will read Harry Potter when i am done with school so in like 50
bajillion years.

well thats all folks... keep on keepin on. love ya!

Your fav sistaahhhhh,
Sister Shum


pics
this is what the end of a day looks like here in brasil... not pretty
this little guy has become my buddy... he always gets his head stuck and i
have to help him

Dad I am SO your child! I swear this picture is not staged... somethimes
when your comp says a long prayer and you cant understand it and you are
spent you take a little snooz...

10 commandments in the middle of the city!

My Traumatic Experience

So after e-mailing last week we went to a salon. I cant even describe how pumped I was to go to an actual salon.. even though they are everywhere down here. Even though I just wanted to trim my hair i was so excited because its brasil and hair is a big deal. Well im sitting there waiting for the lady to start cutting my hair. I had already explained i just wanted 2 fingers (thats how they measure it) cut off from the bottom, no layers, no nada. Well i look over at my comp and i see the lady take a waching to her hair. seriously, a wacking. as soon as i see this im thinking, no this is so not happening. i realized that the only thing in between this lady who i barely can communicate with and my hair is scissors... seriously not happening! before i could jump out of the chair, i heard, snip. well... there goes my life. i wanted to cry in that moment because i look over and see sis. cidraos hair cut into the worst mullet you ever did see. i cant even begin to describe how bad her hair is now. thank heavens mine wasnt as bad. she cut more off than i wanted, about 3 inches.... well.... in some places, it was SO crooked! I had to go home and even it all out myself and when all was said and done 5 inches of my hair was gone. I wanted to cry. My comp bawled though and i dont blame her, i almost was in tears for her too because she had such long, thick pretty hair before. I fixed it as best as i could but a mullet is still a mullet. 

Something I love about brasil: Paderias... bakerys! seriously the bomb and i look forward to it ever monday. apparently im the only sister who isnt gaining weight down here... im determined to keep it that way. 

we also went shopping for the first time last monday and no my sisters, i didnt buy anything. however i found the CUTEST store here, sagan you would die it is called Hering and is like a mix of jcrew and anthro... i will definitely bring ya back a present :) 

Allysondra: so she has a problem with coffee but when we taught her about the Word of Wisdom she was bound and determined to stop. Yesterday when we asked her how she is doing with it she told us she had only had one cup of coffee that week. Want to know where she had that cup? The members that are fellowshipping her gave it to her in their house! Seriously people... they just dont get it. Her baptismal date got moved to the 29th though because she definitely needs more time. She is amazing but the support from her mom just isnt there yet. 

Something cool is when i got to the area, sisters had only been here for one transfer before so its so similar to Bushwick trying to open up this area. 

Another cool thing is last transfer Sis Faldmo (my best friend from the MTC) was in a trio with sis. cidraos old comp sis marinho and another sister who was really difficult. She told me if it wasnt for sis. marinho she would have died. originally though it was supposed to just be sis. faldmo and sis. difficult but last minute they decided to separate sis. marinho and my comp and put sis marinho with sis. faldmo... why? because i got my visa! 

its been so interesting to see the reasons why i got my visa but even more cool to see why i got my visa WHEN i did. I for sure was meant to go to Bushwick first and then come here when i did. 

So we taught Philipe (the Garrin twin) the Restoration and it was good, he actually talked during the lesson! But after I guess he told Andressa, his so called wife, the 19 year old that takes care of me, that he just doesnt like church :(

This week was interesting in our casa... for some reason we had lots of little friends come visit us. Okay thats a lie, not little friends... BIG friends! Seriously, one morning there were all these little green bugs everywhere! not okay! i really do not like bugs. and i speant the morning standing on a stool. surprisingly though, NY was worse i think. it helps that our casa is above a bunch of businesses so its harder for things to get in. 

the night the sister training leaders came we went home and i see a black furry thing on the ground and assumed it was a dead mouse because it wasnt moving. i went to pick it up and throw it out... nope not a mouse, a bat!  it was still alive but something was wrong with it because it would barely move. i tried to help it but im pretty sure it ended up dying.

Okay something interesting, last week the stake pres. came and talked about facebook, about the many dangers but also the way it can be used for good! It hit me hard because i know what missionaries are doing with facebook, and i knew i needed to do my part here more and i will start having people i meet add missionaries there. Okay probably only one missionary there who semi speaks portugues but you never know right?

well after i vowed to do this better. 

anyway, a lot of people here ask me about music because they love american music. I always tell them about sis. blosil. well yesterday we went to teach a recent convert and they had their laptop out with youtube up when we walked in and guess what they were watching? sister blosil singing! what made it even weirder was that it was a video of her singing in ny as a missionary and there were other missionaries there too that i saw... seriously freaked me out. technology is incredible. 

yesterday i spoke in church and all week i had decided i was going to speak about pride. so i was reading the talk by Ezra Taft Benson, Beware of Pride and at the beginning he says, may i commend you faithful saints who are striving to flood the earth and your lives with the book of mormon. i had never noticed that before. why was i so intrigued by this? because he has another talk called, flooding the earth with the book of mormon. that was the talk that basically inspired the whole BOM movement when i was in Bushwick. president. benson used the same words when talking about pride too. then it hit me. i dont need to talk about pride, i need to talk about the BOM because it is literally the answer to ALL problems!

not much more to report... okay there is just no time... love you all!

pics: making donuts with some recent converts

tending to the sick... the bat!

Cookies, not Cooks

Okay well I am now being forced to write letters because I now only have 45 minutes to email... not cool. Oh wells.

So CONGRATS to Nachy... wow feels like just yesterday we were going to Truck Stop after math class to get recees pieces and chicken strips and then going back to the college to do the homework and hiding our food from people haha good times. Weird, I was in 8th grade... I feel so old!

Im with Cheyna... I think Denalli should shave his head and him and Brew can take a twin pic.

Grams I got your letter! It made my day to hear that the Jazz are doing good... seriously Hayward is a boss... I have been pumped on him since they first got him. I hope your leg is doing better as well!

Also someone tell Gramps good luck with the surgery... im jealous i seriously love surgeries... morphine is the greatest.

An elder here was re-assigned and served with Dayton, I asked him if he actually talk and when he said yes you can imagine my surprise. I think the most I ever heard him talk was when he got mad at me and cortney for putting his pic up in NAPA for employee of the month. I just literally LOLed remembering, I did some funny stuff in high school but that was one of my bests :)

Ays wants to know if I go shopping here... nope I wont until Im closer to going home so I dont have to pack it all around. There is definitely some cute style here though. There is a guy here who makes the CUTEST boots for 100 reals which is like 45 dollars more or less that I will be getting. Seriously, custom made boots with real leather... such a steal. Other than that the clothes are all from the US from like the 90s. People are rockin hollister.

Cookies are still a gold mine here but people refuse to call them cookies, they call them cooks and it drives me nuts... whatever.

Do you all want to hear some good jokes?
Dad: there will be lots of people who speak English... FALSE, I have yet to meet one.
Stetler: Oh people like sisters more than elders... FALSE, they like that elders have the Priesthood and think we are worthless. Some people in the ward wont even feed us, only elders.
Every person who has served in Brasil: You will LOVE Guarana... yeah they failed to mention it tastes like COUGH SYRUP! But they drink it all the time, its so awful.

2 things I dont think I will ever get used to, Guarana and all the hugging and kissing on the cheeks... NOT OKAY, I HATE people touching me, seriously I cringe every time.

Okay funny thing: So last monday we went and taught a less active and where she lives its not well lit and the roads are dirt. Well its raining, so its cold and everything is muddy and the roads are rivers. Well as we were going home we couldnt see a thing and just kept tripping in all the mud... it was fabulous.

The language is still bad but obviously it gets better with time. Constantly when missionaries compare me to other missionaries I say, ITS HARD FOR SOME PEOPLE! (My sisters better be dying of laughter right now). Seriously a Friends quote turns any day right around. No its definitely carma though for all the years I was so impatient with people for not knowing whats going on and not learning things faster and now thats me.

I got a new DL, hes American so now in our branch we have three americans and then my comp the only Brasilian. Hes good, hes like Garrin though and doesnt know how to talk haha.

Oh this week we were also told that we can only listen to hymns or mormon tabernacle choir, (this is directed towards the siblings because i know the parents dont know whats going on with technology) so if any of you have some free time (which i dont really expect because you all are busy with school, moving, kids or jobs) but if you do then if someone wants to make me some CDs with some sweet songs that would be much appreciated. Also, if someone wanted to send me a DVD with the mormon messages in Portugues that would also be more greatly appreciated... people love to talk here and the only way to shut them up is with some type of filme.

Mom, if you could send me a portugues personal progress that would be great, I work a lot with the mocas here. also pics of my baptism would be fabulous. Maybe one with me and Logan in white and one with me and dad since he confirmed me. I dont even know if we have pics like this.. i honestly dont remember much from my baptism except aysia telling me if i sin after i am baptized bad things will happen hahaha.

Okay after that long list of demands here is more of my week... we had the most people at sacrament meeting since ive been here, a whopping 65!

Remember the dad I told you about last week that came to church and I was so excited about? Well he came because he had stopped smoking. I found out this week he started again and he didnt come :( So sad because his fam is the bomb. Honestly, his wife is a saint.

Their daughter Andressa totally takes care of me. She constantly feeds us at her house, goes to lessons and fellowships everyone and has the cutest little boy. Well I found out this week she is only 19... what?! Seriously my mouth dropped to the floor. Well, her husband isnt a bmember and we had a family night with them and he agreed to be taught... im so stoked. They remind me so much of Cheyna and Garrin. She bosses him around and He is just quite and nods and their son is hilarious and 2 years old so they remind me a ton of them.

We are teaching a girl named Allysondra and she is so sweet. She turned 15 this week and we went to her party. She is going to be baptized on the 22nd!! WAHOO! She has read everything we have given her and jsut loves Joseph Smith, its epic.

The work is semi better with my comp. She punched a wall this week ;) one minute she is crying, the next shes yelling and the next she is laughing. Shes bi-polar. Well not really but i think so sometimes. I dont know how to deal with emotions. When she is crying i feel like the most awkward person ever and dont know what to do. I usually just go into the kitchen and make her some cookies and call it good.

Okay so last few things because I have like no time anymore. send mail to my address here, not the mission office. it takes me like a month to get those, i get the letters here normally in 2 and a half weeks. Also, if you send packages write on it, missionary supplies because then i dont have to pay an arm and a leg to pick it up.

Okay the work is real... we had a lesson with Fran about tithing and it was cool to finally be able to speak enough portugues to really share my testimony and tell her how a few weeks ago my parents and i were fasting for something and then find out a few weeks later about the thing we were fasting for (yeah super vague but i have to be ha sorry) we are going to fast with her for her husband to agree to be legally married. the spirit was in that lesson so strong and it was so cool.

seriously, ive never been so grateful for prayer in my life. my comp doesnt talk to me much and is usually mad at me so i spend most of my days praying and i wouldnt survive without it. its real and its powerful and God wants to bless us we just have to ask!

I hope you all have a good week! Amo voces!

PS Sagan... on a daily basis I say, AH stupid metric system... seriously I feel like Rachel and dont know whats going on with it.

PSS the pic of the parade of carnival shows the macumbas... this crazy african religoin that is sketch up the yin!

Be Meek and Lowly of Heart

So the title of my email is what my transfer theme was (I like to have transfer themes now, thanks to Sis. Blosil... it makes things more fun). Lets just say I have learned a LOT about being meek... oh boy have I! Going from one mission to another is rough because things are SO different. Obviously, I loved NY and I loved President Calderwood so adjusting and loving another place and president has taken some work.

 

Also, I have constantly been told I need to tell more in my emails... well its truth time. I have tried really hard to only be positive and optimistic in my emails. Well the first 5 weeks here... there wasnt a lot of good so I didnt have a whole ton to write about haha. And Ays, the reason I havent sent a lot of pics is because it takes forever and a day to up´load and then I can usually only send 2 with each email. its such a pain!

 

I spent the majority of the first 5 weeks sitting on my bed. My comp wouldnt do anything. I tried EVERYTHING! seriously, any type of motivation I tried... including guilt and bribery. Nothing worked. I talked to people about it but then when leaders would ask her she would tell them it was me who always wanted to stay inside... yeah thats real fun. Who are they going to believe the girl who just got here who doesnt speak the language or the one who does? Yeah thats been lovely.

 

Anyway, last week after she refused to get out of bed I finally just said look, I am trying to learn a new language I need blessings, you need blessings with your family, and the ONLY way to get those blessings is to be obedient! What do you need to make this happen? Well for some reason, this time it worked!

 

Seriously, she apologized and we made a Vision Goals and Plans (a NYS Mission thing) and things got like a million times better... AH YEAH!

 

So a normal day here... we eat lunch with members EVERYDAY. Always, rice beans, chicken or beef and potatoes convered in mayo.

Seriously, because I have no control of what I eat with members (and they get offended if you dont eat a ton) I have gone into health freak mode times twenty. Sister T. in NY would be so proud of me :)

 

However, I baked SO much this week! Chocolate chip cookies are a gold mine here. People LOVE them so we are able to get lessons with people because we make cookies together first, or I just bring some. Its pretty epic.

 

Carnival was this week... well its actually still going on tonight. I HATE CARNIVAL! So we live right in the middle of the city so I have not gotten ANY sleep the past three nights because my apartment is shaking with music. Its ridiculous. At 6:30 when we normally (I say normally because I am already up the past few days) wake up, people are still out partying!

And we ALL know how much I LOVE SLEEP! Its a problem.

 

Mail: Mom I have gotten everything you have sent. It takes about 2 and a half weeks for mail here. I still dig the postcards. Haha you are the most faithful writer ever, I love it! Ays I got yours too... Brewer is so dang cute I cant wait to meet him! You said youre the worst writer but you have written me the most besides mom. Yeah that tells you how many letters I get. Haha jk I am grateful for the emails.

 

Also mom, have you saved all the pics I sent home? Most from NY were from my ipad and so I dont have them saved. PS I havent even SEEN an ipad here! #brasil

 

Mom could you send me small pictures of the porto alegre temple and maybe one or two other brasil temples. And a nice picture of the prophet? It would be really nice to have when teaching... I had it all on my ipad before.

 

Okay so a little more about the work here now. So the members need some serious strengthening, so I thought okay what strengthens people more than anything else. Reading the BOM! So I decided to do exactly what we were doing in BUSHWICK! Everything is being centered on the BOM now. Its so legit. Obviously not everything is the same. For example, we dont have a facebook page telling people what to read each day. Instead we now have Noite do Livro de Mormon. Basically a seminary for adults one night a week because most people here wont read on their own, or dont know how.

I think its so cool how I am able to take things from NY and impliment them here! We are already seeing progress.

 

For transfers everyone in my district is staying here except my DL and my new DL is american so we will have 4 americans and 2 brasilians. Elder Soares (the one Elder Brasilian who is staying) is all stressed about being the only brasilian in the casa hahaha. My comp and him are going to learn some english now :)

 

Normally there are 4 sisters in one pad but our area doesnt have four sisters so i finally dont have to share a bathroom with a million people, I LOVE IT!

 

I honestly do love my companion so much now. Seriously, night and day difference.

 

I HAD A BAPTISM! Bianca, shes 14 and they had been teaching her for awhile but she wasnt progressing, I asked my comp well does she even want to be baptized and she said she didnt know. WHAT? they hadnt even talked about baptism with her?! My second week here we taught her and I asked her straight up. I feel like I get to be much more bold now that I have a language barrier because I cant beat around the bush with extra words. She said yes, and after that lesson she progressed like crazy.

 

She was baptized saturday with a man we found, Arnold and passed on to the elders. On Sunday when she was confirmed they had a lesson in Mocas (young women) about the atonement and Bianca bore her testimony of it and goodness the spirit was SO strong. Ah she is great. Missionaries are shocked here when they find out I have only had 2 baptisms but I dont care. Julia and Bianca have been worth every second of my mission.

 

The baptism itself was a bit hilarious because Elder Vernon, the american that came with me baptized her and he dunked her and I guess he thought she didnt go all the way under so he kept pushing her down and we were all yelling LEVANTAR! (Raise) because I seriously thought she was going to drown, it was borderline torture. Elder Vernon is so great though dont get me wrong... #18yearolds it was hilarious and i will never forget it.

 

MIRACLE THIS WEEK: Okay so there is one family that I just adore! Irma Vanulda. She has 5 girls and she is the gospel principle teacher. In the picture i sent home of everyone on the bus she is in the lower left corner. They are so good to the missionaries and she would do anything for anyone. Well her husband... I just adore him too. He reminds me SO much of dad! Like seriously he just sits there quietly, normally asleep. And is so patient and calm (lets be honest though, dad isnt patient when hes in a city... especially in his truck). He doesnt say much but when he does, he is usually making fun of you. Well the main difference between him and dad is he has been COMPLETELY inactive for a LONG time. His wife has gone through the temple but he hasnt and their family isnt sealed... breaks my heart. So the MIRACLE is on Sunday he came to church! When I walked in and saw him sitting in the corner I almost started crying seeing him there. Oh that family needs a priesthood holder so bad and hes so great he just needs to get things in gear. Now i am certain he will though, he felt the spirit there for sure!

 

Mom send me your pizza dough recipe will ya?

 

Umm I dont really have much else to tell except maybe this week was super awesome because it rained like CRAZY which cooled things down a ton and I was actually able to feel like a normal person. I did my hair for the first time being here, it felt great!

 

Also, we are emailing at a new place and I cant send pics... glorious so i will go somewhere else next week or maybe even later today and send  crap load home :)