The Holidays

Our Zone Conference was inspirational and Zone Christmas dinner delicious. We always look forward to President and Sister Quinn's visits.Thanks for all your work, Sister Marriott.


Christmas Day:
Christmas morning the Elders and Sisters got together at our flat. We exchanged gifts and the Elders opened their packages from home. We had a great time and lots of laughs. Our neighbors, Al and Jan came over for a visit and brought us coaters from Sydney.


Then we went to the McCreary’s for our Christmas Day Water Fight. I saw that they had filled large regular balloons and got hit with one. I knew right then the fight wasn’t for me. The rest of them all survived and Sister Wood, Alison, baby, and I enjoyed the entertainment.



The New Zealanders in our Branch had a large Christmas Party at the Church. All the missionaries were invited. We all had lots of good food, good company, and good memories.



We are very blessed. We also got to share our family's Christmas through phone calls and blogs.

Christmas Message

We would like to share the following Christmas message with our friends and loved ones. It is taken from the First Presidency Message in the Friend. December 1972.

“When Jesus was born on that holy night long ago, our Heavenly Father’s love was showered upon the people of the earth. He sent His greatest of all gifts, His Only Begotten and Beloved Son, so that we all may someday return to our heavenly home. The best way we can show our love for Him is to live His teachings and to obey His commandments, for He said, ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments.’



At this special time of year may you feel the joy of Christmas, remembering Jesus as you see the lights of Christmas, as you sing the music of Christmas, and as you sense the hurry and busyness of Christmas. May love be mirrored in your hearts as you reach out and give of yourself with love to all those around you.”




We love you all and wish you a very Merry Christmas.
Love, Elder and Sister Shumway

2008 Shumway Family Christmas Letter

December 23, 2008
Dear people who still remember who we are:
At one point in my life I had big dreams of putting San Juan County on a strict financial budget, but I don’t think many people supported my views of “saving for a rainy day”. After that dream disappeared I signed up to save Australia from its spiritual demise. Interestingly, I have found the people in this country to be very tolerant of my religious views, but have been advised not to share my conservative politics with anyone. I suspect that is a good thing. My lovely wife and I have found joy in the work, and are contemplating signing up for another 18 month tour of duty. Since we no longer watch TV and basically only have one topic of discussion we are kind of out of touch with the rest of the world. However, we trust that since our departure from the USA just over a year ago, that the economy is none the worse for wear and the Republicans are still in control.


Sister Shumway wants me to share a little information about the “Literacy Project” we are involved in. About March of 2008, she had this idea that we should develop a program to help some of our aboriginal friends to learn to read and speak English. That was good, but being a little bit crazy, she wrote a grant which the Church accepted and funded. That was good, except that the proposal she wrote would normally take MIT seven years to develop, using an entire department of resources full time. President Quinn felt sorry for her and so he sent her two wonderful sisters to help in the project. Since that time we have been working 24/7 (well, almost) to put out a product that is really exciting. Several influential groups, such as Charles Darwin University, Sandover Schools and Central Desert Shire have reviewed it and are very excited about its potential as they begin utilization of the new resource. We will all be very pleased when we can quit sitting at our computers day and night and once again have a life. Next time Sister Shumway has a big idea she can hire a hundred employees or divorce me. Her choice, but I know which one I would pick. Sister Shumway adds: We have been greatly blessed by the Lord and he has sent us what we need, when we have needed it, including help from back home with some wonderful literacy bags, toys, supplies, etc. God has helped and guided us through the process.
I would like to share a few irrelevant minor points of interest;
Camel tastes a lot like stringy beef, kangaroo tastes better when cooked with the hide still on and the innards still in, but even then it somehow reminds me of a pet rabbit, and crocodile tastes like chicken going bad.
We have yet to find any poisonous spiders or snakes that are less fearful of us, than we are of them. However, I am happy to report that while I was out bush in a little Aboriginal community I accidentally stepped on a toy snake and it made me scream like a boy from San Francisco.
Whenever we approach most of the people here they reply “She’ll be alright, mate”, or “no worries, mate”. At first this “mate” thing really bothered me, but as time goes by I find it rather pleasant to have so many “mates”.
Our children are far away and have discovered that they really don’t need us. That’s ok, because it costs way too much to send Christmas presents from Australia. I believe we are experiencing double savings as we faithfully serve here in the outback. #1, we aren’t spending anything on Christmas and #2, we trust that the investments we made in the stock market a year ago are growing exponentially while we are away.
During the summer in Alice Springs, it is very hot. During the winter in Alice Springs, it is less hot. It is now summer and Christmas will be slightly over 100 degrees. Merry Christmas to all, especially to those of you who have seen snow in the last two years.
After an intense 18 months as missionaries, Sister Shumway wants to go back home and teach for a few more years. I committed to apply for a job as a Wal-Mart greeter, but she put her foot down; so I guess I am just going to go home and be “a kept man.” She will soon learn that I have rather expensive tastes, but I guess that is what Social Security is for.
Well, May, the month we are being required to return to reality is fast approaching, and we have much to do, and so without any further deep thoughts we wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.
Love,
Jim and Lynda Shumway
P. S. Laura is enjoying some great successes in the school where she teaches. From our perspective, 10,000 miles away, her sweet children Christina, Jared and Analisa are very close to perfect. Mike has made and lost about one million dollars this year, but he still has the best band in Utah and he’s on his way to his second million. Lisa and Shawn are very happy in their new home in Michigan. Their marriage is very blessed with 2 beautiful children. Shawn is busy making a living. He spends a lot of time with his work in Europe. I’m sure this helps to hold their happy marriage together. Arah had her tonsils removed about December 17th. I’ll bet Steve enjoyed a few days of blissful silence. Arah’s wonderful mother-in-law took good care of her and their perfect son Gavin for several days. Then Lisa surprised them one morning, knocking on their door. She came to take over those responsibilities and to get even for the way Arah had helped to paint Lisa’s new home. Arah started feeling so much better that she will probably be able to eat soft jell-o by Christmas morning. Julee and Zeb added a lovely little daughter to their family in October. With now having a boy and a girl I think they are happy with life. Ayden is a handsome blonde haired boy whose complexion is a lot like his mothers, but Siarah Lynn is rather dark complected and looks a lot like her dad, except that she is beautiful. We can hardly wait to see all of our wonderful grandchildren and look forward to most of them and their parents meeting us in Hawaii in May. The parents are coming along so that when the grandchildren get tired and grumpy someone will be there to take them off our hands.
Keep the faith, and if you are thinking about sending best wishes, or anything like that, skip the thought and just send money.
Love again,
Jim and Lynda

The Literacy Project Moves Ahead

Unforunately, these boys don't go to school (long story.) They do come by our flat on a regular basis and get some help with our literacy materials.
There are some wonderful things happening with the project, many of DVDs finished, networking has begun, and production is continuing. I will post a detailed blog on the subject next week.

Thanksgiving in Alice.

All twelve missionaries were invited to a wonderful American Thanksgiving dinner. The Jacksons and the Bartons put it together for us, complete with decorations, turkeys, pies, and all the trimmings.

We all pitched in on food, but the Jacksons and the Bartons prepared the bulk of the dinner. This was the first Thanksgiving dinner I haven't cooked since I can remember. We followed with fun and games and a chance to share what we are thankful for. It was a Thanksgiving to remember.

The missionaries were sooo excited about the meal. Here Elder Harding assures us that he's just getting started. He was! The second plate was close to the first.....and then desert.....!

This is quite a crew!

Time for pie!


The next day we used Skype video conference so we could share a portion of the Utah Thanksgiving with the family there. We loved that everyone could get together and we could be a brief part of it. We have much to be thankful for.

Hellos

Great things are happening in Alice! We got FOUR additional missionaries, putting the grand total at twelve. You are probably wondering why. First we had already gotten the sister missionaries to help with the project and now 2 missionaries, Elder Edgar and Elder Robbins are reopening Tennant Creek, a largely aboriginal community of about 5,000 people that once had hundreds of members. Along with Elder Robbins came Elders Porter, Bakewell, and Harding. With this increase in Alice Springs, much more time can be devoted to the out bush areas without neglecting Alice Springs.
President and Sister Marriott, and their daughter, Sister Stein, and her husband, had all the missionaries to the chapel for a pancake supper. I’m not really a pancake fan, but these were from a New Zealand recipe with a wide choice of toppings: fresh strawberries, fruit, jam, real maple syrup, whipped cream, ice cream, or sugar and lemon juice. It was quite a delicious meal, only to be topped by Presidents Marriott’s inspired message to us afterwards and a moving testimony meeting. We all feel very honored and blessed to be here, doing what we are doing, at this time.

Good- Byes

Here is our last mission picture with Elder VanderDoes. One thing that you can always count on, especially on a mission, is change. It seems there are always difficult good-byes. We remember at these times, how blessed we have been to know and associate with such fine young men. We hope they will always consider us family and continue to stay in touch. We wish them the best life has to offer.

Saying good-bye to Elder VanderDoes as he goes to his last transfer. The Bird mob came to say good-bye too. He's home now.


Alison, Chris and the baby came along too. They mean a great deal to all of us.

Elder Collet came back with his parents to say good-bye to all of us. It was wonderful to see him again and meet his parents.

The Bartons, Jacksons, and missionaries got together at Chris and Alison's for a Family Home Evening Send Off for Elder Collet.

Not One, Not Two, But Three Times!

They say if you see the Todd River flow three times, you'll be a permanent resident. We have had some amazing rain. An yes, we've seen it flow three times! Notice the kayak. You don't see that everyday down the Todd. We love the rain because it keeps the temperature down and greens everything up.

Zone Conference

We had yet another inspirational zone conference last month. We look forward to each visit. President Quinn is a truly inspired leader and Sister Quinn is a wonderful support. We are blessed to have such great mission leaders. Pres. Quinn spent some extra time with us on the project. He gave us some wonderful counsel and direction; and as a result things are moving along very well.
He shared with us a video called “Celebrate What’s Right with the World,” an inspiring piece by a photographer for National Geographic. It’s full to fantastic shots and great thoughts. We watched it again later the next day. I would like to share a few quotations from it that might be beneficial to you, as they were for us. If you want all the notes, let me know and I’ll email them.
“We all have teachers, mentors who show us what’s possible.”
“I won’t see it until I believe it.”
“The more I believed, the more I would see it.”
“We live in an ever-changing possibility curve; perhaps we can’t control it, but we can learn to ride it…. How open to possibility does our perception allow us to be?”
“Vision controls our perception. Perception controls our reality.”
“As I celebrated what’s right with the world, I began to see how to transform the ordinary into something exceptional.”
“By celebrating the best, we are allowed to fall in love with it.”
“We should not strive to be the best in the world, but the best for the world.”

Recent Highlights

These young boys come by our flat regularly. They are recent converts. They love to sit down and use some of the phonics programs we have written. Here they are watching “The Sounds of Alice,” a photo story for teaching phonics written by Sister Lovegrove.
The Alice Springs Branch held a very successful Multi-Cultural Night a few weeks ago. Besides local people from Alice Springs and out bush, and of course the U.S., we had people from New Zealand, Tonga, China, Korea, and the Philippines. Everyone brought a pot luck dish from their country. Many shared talents and information about their native land. Below, a New Zealand war dance is being performed.
Some of us are checking out a live witchity grub. No one had the courage to eat it.
Some of my English students came with friends and family. They seemed to enjoy themselves.

The Literacy Project

We are working hard to complete all the new literacy programs. I had a second trip to Alcoota School. The principal and one of the teachers spent one of their vacation days there to learn about the phonics, literacy bags and other materials we are sharing with them." This is a good test of the materials. Last time I checked with the principal, she was extremely pleased with the way things were working and "filling in the holes" for the students.

Storm in Alice

An amazing storm hit Alice with no warning at all a few weeks ago. We were without power for two days, but fortunately no one was injured.

Lots of trees were uprooted or blown over and clean up crews were busy for days. A few of the trees hit cars, houses, fences, and powerlines.
Hail and wind pound the parking lot in front of our flat.

A sister in our branch was driving down the street with a friend when the storm hit so she decided to pull over and wait it out. No sooner did she stop than a thought came very distinctly to her and she repeated it to her friend, "Something is telling me to move forward." She did so immediately, as her friend looked back. A huge piece of twisted metal sheeting came flying through the exact spot she had just moved from. The Lord can save us so much trouble in our lives when we listen to him. If he says to move forward, move forward.

A Trip to Alcoota School

On Friday, September 20, we drove to Alcoota to introduce our project to the principal. The experience proved to be yet another example of how the hand of God works in our lives.
We met some amazing staff: the principal, Ann Roberts, Roshanna, and Margo. On our tour, the first things I noticed as I entered the primary classroom were two large phonics charts. I told Ann how impressed I was and she said that she knows how important phonics are, but she hasn’t been able to get the money to have the teachers trained and get materials. Then I showed them my phonics program and she was thrilled. She loved the Magic Letters and the Alice Alphabet. I converted all the Power Points to shows that were compatible with their Office 2003 and she had me copy them to the server so that they could be accessed by all the computers in the school.
The secondary classroom has a state-of-the-art whiteboard with a touch screen connection to the computer that projects onto it. She said that they are getting one in the primary room as well. She plans to project the shows we gave her for group work and have the children work individually on the laptops they have, and are getting. She said she just hasn’t had the time to develop materials for the white screen like she had wanted. I showed her my collection of educational Power Points that my students had helped write as we studied various topics. She was thrilled and requested copies of those, as well. She is looking forward to receiving all of the shows on DVDs so that the students can take them home to practice.
They loved the literacy bags and said they would use them in the classroom. The children love reading and having stories read to them. They have a limited library so this will add greatly. She was thrilled with the mini units in each bag. We will send out and bring back the bags as they are used and needed. Ann plans to start holding early morning get-togethers with parents and children and use the literacy bags for group read aloud stories and activities. Gradually they will have community members take over the story times.
She loved the MacMillan Readers from Blanding, especially since I gave her explicit comprehension lesson plans to go with every second grade story and files with phonetic spelling lists.
After about an hour she left to visit with some government officials who had come to see her. When she came back, she said she had impressed upon them the importance of educating the adults and they had agreed to bring in a building for a men’s center and a women’s center. When I told her I had brought two language programs that will be on DVDs so that community members can get together and teach each other, she was thrilled.
She mentioned that key men in the community have been requesting classes for learning English. She sent us over to the Shire office to see if they could give us space for the men’s class until the building is brought in and set up.
When we got to the office, it was closed but as we were leaving town, just a half block away, we came across the two key men from the office that we needed to talk too. We introduced ourselves and the project. They took us back to the office to have a look, and Kyle, a fluent, literate Aboriginal member of the community agreed to start conducting the classes there. They were both very positive about the idea.
At that point we realized we returned to the school with books we had meant to leave there. We were introduced to Jane, a teacher from Mulga Bore who had come to see the Alcoota teachers. They were showing her our new materials with great enthusiasm. She indicated that she would be thrilled to get them in her school and we assured her we would be sharing them with her as well. We explained that we wanted to help both communities in any way we can. We promised to return this coming week with more materials and make further plans.
Is it possible that God, who loves His children, can use His missionaries, by placing them in the right place, at the right time, doing the right things? The answer is a resounding YES! Friday, September 19 was a great day. The project was launched. All day long we watched one important door after another opened for us and realized that we had once again witnessed the Lord’s hand in this project.

Blessings from Heaven

Two weeks ago we had Branch Conference and District President Parsons attended. Sister Wood, Sister Lovegrove, Elder Shumway and I shared with him the things we are working on for the project. He was quite excited and saw that much of what we are generating could be used in Darwin as well the rest of the District. He asked us how he could best help and we told him our greatest frustration is the limited resources we have for technology and how much time is required on my new laptop alone since it is the only one with the capability to do much of the work. We told him that whatever he was inspired to do would be what we need.
Two weeks later he emailed me with the announcement he had come up with the money for a high-powered Apple with a special video graphics program. We will use it until we are finished and then return it to the NT District. I can’t begin to explain what a blessing this is.
At the same time, Brigham Archibald, a nineteen year old young man in our branch, has come onboard with the biggest computer I have ever seen. It has quad CPUs and 4GB of ram and huge dual hard drives. He will be converting the Power Points to video, and then to DVD. From there they will go to Sydney to be duplicated, thirty at a time.
Bro Harding and Bro Murray will be using their computers to help with the Gospel Fundamentals DVDs. and Bro Packy has started coming over on a regular basis to help with the Power Points. Things are coming together through the blessings of the Lord and people who are willing to help Him.

Teaching English

One of the highlights of the last few months has been teaching English to some wonderful, talented, and highly motivated friends. They are amazing. Feng, Ping and Sky are the original members of the class and have completed the first course. Toa (left front) just joined us and is starting the new course.
(front left to right)Helen, Emma and Sahra sometimes attend. Helen usually goes next door to the sister’s class. The class is making great progress. Often one or more of the students come early for a Gospel lesson and most of the time, they all stay after for a Gospel lesson.
While the students learn English and grow in Gospel knowledge, the sisters and I make and use the Power Point lessons that we are converting to DVDs for the out bush family literacy project. These students will be able to use the DVDs for review and practice and we get valuable experience using what we have developed.

Anson Wade's Baptism

I have been so busy lately I have let too many things go without a blog. These are things I want to remember and share, so I am going to post several blogs in a row, mostly pictures. First I want to share an important baptism: Anson Wade's. He is an amazing young man who recently moved here from New Zealand to live with his sister and her husband, plus other family. With the love and support of his household and the teachings of the missionaries, he has grown in the Gospel and been baptized.
Family Home Evening with Anson and the Hardings

More Family Home Evening--complete with some great music from Brother Harding

Anson Wade's baptism was a great experience. Here he is with his borther-in-law and his sister

A large number of the branch turned out in support. Brother Wade continues to learn, grow and use his priesthood.

Literacy Bags and Project Update

The literacy bags are very close to ready. The whole branch has pitched in and helped us put them together.
We had two work sessions where community and branch members all pitched in and organized the books, bags, files, and activities.

We have been working with members from out bush who are going to help implement the program in their communities.

I don't know how we ever did without Sister Wood and Sister Lovegrove, but they are tireless in their efforts and are accomplishing miracles.

I hope we will be ready to take the beginnings of the program out bush this week.

Once again to all those in San Juan County, Utah who have contributed to this project: We can't thank you enough. Everything you sent is wonderful and will prove to be very worthwhile.

July Update - Just a Little Late?

Things are going very well here. The sisters’ flat is finally completely set up, my DSL and phone are moved, we are completely moved in, and everyone is busily engaged. Things are quite wonderful with the leadership and the new sisters. We feel that many doors are being opened to the people who have needed to be taught for quite awhile as well as new people who are now being taught.
The sisters have begun teaching a language conversation class of their own with two Korean young women who are on a lower level than the Chinese and Korean students I am teaching. The sisters and we are visiting and teaching as much as we have time to, but this project is very demanding.


The closer I look at it, the more work I realize there really is. The voice recordings on the Power Points seem to take longer than we thought. Hopefully, as we become more experienced this will speed up.
Sister Lovegrove’s organizational skills are proving to be quite valuable, along with her Australian voice and educational background. Sister Wood is an extremely dedicated, hardworking, pleasant person who is eager and able to learn and accomplish whatever she needs to.

To Our Grieving Friends in Blanding:

Words cannot express how saddened we were to hear of the tragic plane crash and loss of three of Blanding’s finest. Kim Acton, Eric Johnson, and Brian Bayles will be sorely missed by their families, friends, church, and community. They were wonderful family men, faithful Church members and leaders, community leaders, and successful businessmen, with exemplary histories of selfless service. Jim and Kim were kindred spirits enjoyed many happy times together. We send our love, our prayers, and our deepest condolences to the families and the community. We are grateful for the plan of salvation and the knowledge that we can be together forever as families. We pray for the Lord’s comforting spirit and his guidance for all in this time of tragedy.

New Missionaries and the Boxes Have Arrived!!

We said a sad good-bye to Elder Collet and Elder Hardester. Elder Collet has been a powerful force in Alice for over a year. He made a lasting impact and will be missed by many. We were happy to start to get to know Elder Hardester and are sure his enthusiasm and positive attitude will be of benefit wherever he goes.

We are thrilled to have Elder McKnight return to us as our new Alice Springs Zone Leader. He brought with him Elder Pawtui. Elder McKnight is already making a powerful impact and Elder Pawtui is eager, hardworking and dedicated.

There has been so much to do, I really didn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel; but now I do. President Quinn has sent two senior sisters here to Alice Springs. They are both delightful. One, Sister Lovegrove, is a retired elementary school teacher and librarian. Not only that, but she is Australian. So now we will be able to produce American and Australian versions of the reading and language programs. Sister Wood is from America and she can help me with the American version. I can’t fully express how thrilled I am to have them here and how enthusiastic, talented and inspired they are. It is no coincidence that a refurbished flat two doors down from us came up for rent just as they were coming in. Elder Shumway and I have moved into that one with the help of the other six missionaries.

We are so excited! Christmas has come early and the boxes from Utah are here. We will be putting the bags together as soon as the books get here, which should be any day now. The first thing we will be introducing in the Family Learning Centers will be these bags and toys.
President and Sister Quinn were here for zone conference so they came to our flat to see the materials. We are all very thrilled with what is here. We are so grateful to all those who made it happen.