Christmas in Alice

We had a very memorable, great, Christmas in Alice Springs. It started with an inspirational Zone Conference put on by President and Sister Quinn. Afterward, we had a delicious Christmas dinner and then a bowling/game/video party. The Branch had a Christmas Party on the Friday before Christmas with tables of good food, Christmas carols, and skits. We were invited by the Kaesler family to Christmas Eve dinner and by the Jackson’s for Christmas dinner. They were both quite the feasts and we really enjoyed getting to know the families. We all got Christmas presents from the branch president. Then on Friday, we celebrated again with the Clarks’ with a fun, make-your-own-pizza party. It is amazing to us that with all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, these families took the time and expense to think of and bless the lives of the missionaries. This is a very good branch. Just before Christmas, we visited the yard of the Christmas Decorations Winner with some recent converts. We truly felt the spirit of Christmas everywhere we celebrated.

We also enjoyed a Christmas day water fight, which Elder Shumway lost badly, partly due to the fact that he trusted his own teammate (not Sister Shumway) who dumped several gallons of water on him when his back was turned, and partly due to the fact that he seems to attract persecution. The weather was comfortably warm and we were blessed with a heavy rain a few days before Christmas.

The highlight of the month was the blessing of reaching the district goal of 16 baptisms. I will tell you more about this in detail in another blog. Our Christmas blessings were great, and came complete with a tree donated by the Bartons.

Be a part of it.

Hey Mom and Dad,
We wanted you to feel like you were a part of things for Christmas so here are a few clips. We missed you very much, but are glad you're where you are!





Christmas Eve




Christmas Morning



Stockings

Christmas Letter 2007

December 24, 2007

Dear Family and Friends:

It is not by choice, but by commandment of my “Senior Companion” that I send this greeting or salutation. As you know, Sister Shumway and I are now serving a mission in Australia. We are in a small City (Alice Springs) in the very middle of the Continent. We are 1000 miles from the Zone Leaders, and 1000 miles from our Mission President. How Sweet It Is! Many blessing have come into our lives. We moved from Blanding, (the city I love) to the Wasatch Front, where every car on the freeway is out to kill its neighbor and every breath you take puts you in peril of lung cancer, and where they still live the Law of Moses, (An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth). We moved there to be with our children and grandchildren. Sister Shumway thought it was great.
We were there for about 4 months, long enough that the children were truly thrilled when they watched our airplane slowly disappear into the sunset. Some positives that have come out of this are:
• We no longer have to paint, clean, garden repair, finish, refurbish and sell real estate that we purchased in partnership with some of our children.
• The next time we move, it will only involve three suitcases apiece.
• Laura no longer feels obligated to ask us to baby sit for her three children, who are beautiful and doing very well with their social life and school. Also, fortunately for Laura, she won’t be able to have me repair any more $10 leaks that turn into $500 leaks under the touch of my masterful hand.
• Arah and Steve no longer feel obligated to allow us to spend a few minutes with Gavin (4 almost), who would really rather spend time with the neighborhood kids.
• Mike no longer depends on us to entertain his girlfriend Emily, (who is a beautiful girl) while he is away with his band or Texas Hold’em?
• Julee and Zeb no longer have to worry about Ayden (10 mo.) learning to say grandpa and grandma before he can say dada, or mama. While we have been serving the Lord, Ayden has learned to walk, and we didn’t have to witness his crying every time he fell down.
• Lisa and Shawn no longer have to deal with any of Keely (4) and Ben’s (8 mo.) grandparents bugging them, because all four of us are now 10,000 miles away. What a beautiful thing it is! Keely is now in full control of her entire household and Ben has learned to crawl.

*Check all their Blogs out to see how they are doing.

Our Mission is going well. President and Sister Quinn are marvelous. They let us cover our own gas, groceries, apartment (they call it a flat here in Australia) and utilities, along with anything else we may stand in need of. They haven’t complained even one time about the cost it has been to us. Honestly, we will be forever grateful to them for allowing us to be called into this amazing mission. We have met some wonderful people and been privileged to be see several investigators come into the Church. The Elders in our District are amazing young men. Our District Leaders (we actually have two of them) and their two companions are hard working, gifted and inspired. We truly love them.



We have already had a memorable Christmas in Ankgula (see blog), been able to participate with the baptism of 14 wonderful souls, started a literacy class and enjoyed sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with several others. We testify to all of you that Christ is our Father in Heaven’s gift to us and it is only through faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end that we can fully take advantage of the supreme gift of all. We wish you all the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for all eternity.
In closing, we are thrilled to be where we are, doing what we are doing. We are too busy to miss any of you….and maybe we will just stay. After all, how else can we spend Christmas day sweltering in the sweat of 100 degrees? “Merry Christmas, Mates! No worries!”

We love you all,


Elder Jim and Sister Lynda Shumway

P.S. If you would like to serve in Australia start filling out your papers right now and apply for your passport It takes about 10 months of being prodded, poked, shot and radiated by the medical profession to prove you really want to spend a few months here. Then there are the extensive missionary forms on the computer that have to be filled out. (PLEASE don’t forget your username and password once you’ve set it up!) After this the Bishop and Stake President can then verify that you a “member in good standing” who might not embarrass the church too badly. Also, be sure and get your fingerprints to the FBI, have local and state police clearances done early and get your International Driver’s License. I guess the rule is… if you have ever had a parking ticket don’t bother to apply. It is amazing to me that the Church asks every “Senior Couple” (why can’t they call us “mature couples” or “just couples”?) to think about a mission….. and then demand a doctoral degree, perfect health and a 6 digit bank account before they will even consider us for the calling. Whatever happened to the old “If ye have desire, ye are called to the work”? --Elder Shumway

What’s this about a six-digit bank account and doctoral degree? Do you know something I don’t know, Elder Shumway? And by the way, it’s not a sweltering 100 degrees. It’s a most comfortable 75 degrees. We haven’t used our AC for three days and nights. --Sister Shumway

Not again!

December 20th was our 39th anniversary. True to form, I completely forgot and my husband remembered. He had the Elders set up a surprise KFC dinner at our flat. When we came in and they started serenading us, Elder Shumway could clearly see I was still in the dark, so he had to say, "Happy 39th!" Now I have an assignment for all of you: starting on Dec. 15th next year, I need to start receiving some email reminders of our 40th coming up! Thanks to a wonderful husband for 39 great years!

Christmas at Angkula

On Sunday, December 16, we went with the Branch President and missionaries to have a special sacrament meeting the members, recent converts, and friends in Angkula. These are an amazing people who have caught the vision of Jesus Christ and the gospel. They have shared the message with friends and family and as a result missionaries are teaching and the church there is growing. These converts are good examples to us all.
Afterwards we had a big Christmas dinner and then a baptism. It was truly a spiritual event and a Christmas we won't forget.
To add to the blessings of this month, six months of dedicated work on the part of the Elders culminated in the baptism of eight more wonderful people. We see in the children the seeds of leadership and greatness, and in the adults, priesthood leadership and strengthening of the church. We are so grateful that their relatives and friends opened the door so they could be taught.

Why I am thankful families are forever!

This blog is a little out of order, but I wanted to post some pictures showing the good times we had in California, Idaho, and Lehi with the family before we left. Isn't is a wonderful thought that we can say good-bye happily because we know we're coming back home, in time? We are so thankful for such a wonderful family and we are so grateful that we are sealed together for time and all eternity, so when we say good-bye at the end of our lives, we'll know we'll be back together again, in time.

Pictures From The MTC

The MTC was a great experience and helped us prepare for our mission. There were outstanding returned missionaries who taught out classes. We met wonderful people who were going all over the world to spread the gospel message. We wish everyone well.

Now it's getting hot!

Now it's getting hot! I think for the next few months, four to be exact, weather here is going to be like Phoenix or Las Vegas. Fortunately we're in air-conditioned houses and cars most of the time. We are teaching several families that seem to be very receptive. The other day when we went to the reptile museum, we met a lovely young woman got an appointment to teach her this coming week. She is on the staff of the museum and showed us the reptiles we got to hold. You'll see pictures on our blog later when I finally get my DSL.
Speaking of the DSL, after a week of waiting to receive my modem, I heard from Big Pond. It seems that they hadn't been able to process my order because of some sort of a computer error. While I was on hold they figured out how to fix it. (They couldn’t have done it earlier?) So it's going to be another week or two before I finally get my phone, as well as my DSL. Check past blogs in a week or two. I'll put up some slideshows then.
I have started teaching literacy to several people. I'm just getting a feel for where I have to start, which usually seems to be the very beginning. I think the material Mrs. Brewer, a first grade teacher at Blanding Elementary, sent me on my flash drive will be a great help. I also have a wealth of material from my teaching. I will also be using the Church literacy program, but for right now it is too difficult. I'm trying to come up with the way to reach more people more efficiently. I'm sure I’ll come up a way; I just haven't figured it out yet. We are both quite convinced there's a very important work here for us to do. We hope that we are able to discover just what it is and how to do it, and be prepared for the task. So far it has been quite interesting to watch events, things and people come together in a way that leads us to remember God is very mindful of all of us.

Here's a spiritual thought for the week on hope:“When we have hope, we trust God’s promises. We have a quiet assurance that if we do the works of righteousness we will receive our reward…..As you strive to live the gospel, you grow in your ability to abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost….You increase in hope as you pray and seek God’s forgiveness.” True to the Faith, pages 85.

Elder Shumway’s Message: A war isn’t won by standing back and watching the enemy launch their arsenal of weapons in your direction. Instead, it behooves each of us to gather our weapons of righteousness, put on the protective armor of God, identify the weaknesses of the adversary and then intelligently charge into the battle with “faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God.” We each have our battles, and they can all be won. LUV, Dad

Because 2 People Fell In Love

The whole family all got together just before we left on our mission. What a great time! The family devotional we had one evening that week is something we will always treasure and something that will sustain us on our mission. As we look at these pictures we think, “This is what life is all about. We are truly blessed.”

Here We Are

Adelaide is a beautiful city. We spent three days there getting training from some amazing people. It was great to see President and Sister Quinn.



So far, we really like Alice Springs and have spent a lot of time touring the City in a state of being completely lost!. The weather has been warm and pleasant, the general landscape and climate seems somewhat similar to Blanding, (20 degrees hotter) though the town is about six times the size.. The branch is very friendly and supportive of missionaries. Our flat (apartment) is pleasant, clean and just the right size. The couple we are replacing, the Edmonds, trained us for two days. They have been doing a wonderful work here. The four elders we’re working with are extremely impressive. We have met most of the investigators, and many of the aboriginal members. We're very excited about working with them. We'll post pictures as soon as we have our DSL. On the next posting I’ll share a few thoughts and things we have learned. –Sister Shumway.

P.S. from Elder Shumway – Riding on the opposite side of the road has been a harrowing experience for my passengers. Following Sister Shumway’s map reading skills has been a harrowing experience for the driver (me). So far, there are no new dents in the vehicle, and I have been able to keep our identification from other drivers, as they politely sound their horns in a state of mild road rage. The GPS system I left at home is much more polite than my designated navigator has been thus far, when I have to take the blame for her inability to read a map. Our relationship of love and trust is growing by leaps and bounds, because I have become a Saint, and am far ahead of her in the area of forgiveness.

We are still trying to find ourselves and our calling in some ways, but are truly thrilled to be in “Alice” with some great Elders, and a wonderful Branch, with an inspired Branch President. Our little Branch also brags the unique privilege of housing a general authority (Elder Jackson, quorum of 70, and Area Authority) who is often in attendance at the Branch, therefore presiding. The Church is still true. Keep the faith, and pray for those we meet, and yes, even those we run into.

Getting Started

We have just completed our weeks training in the MTC. It was an amazing week. One of the senior couples said it was kind of like trying to drink from a fire hydrant. Sometimes we felt like that because there is so much to do and so much to learn. I feel like as long as we listen to the spirit, and take one step at a time, we’ll learn what we need to learn and do what we need to do. Returned missionaries taught most of the lessons, and it was pretty exciting to learn from them and admire how well they knew the gospel and the lessons. We got to spend Saturday at Arah's and one last time together.

Mike came to see us off at the airport. We had a good visit. It was very nice having him there with us. The entire flight was 26 hours, including two layovers and one diversion to Sydney. We met several interesting people on the plane and were actually able to discuss the gospel with them. One of the men Elder Shumway spoke to agreed to read the Book of Mormon. We will get back with him later. Pictures later, after we get DSL.