Elder Sam Shumway

Hey everyone! This week was super cool! Sorry about not writing an email last week. Anyway I'll start this one off on a sad note... our newly baptized member never wants to see us again so that's not very fun. We'll see what we can do about that...... This week we also had zone conference and it was all about teaching to baptize and to find the people who are ready to make covenants with God.  On a happy note we found some really cool people who hopefully will progress and be baptized. We also had 3 random people come to church cause a member brought them. They said they weren't interested in converting but hopefully we see them again and change that.... SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: Through my personal studies. I've started to realize how necessary baptism is. One verse I love share is John 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. Making covenants with God is how you grow cl...

hey everyone! Elder Shumway here! back with another exciting week of fables and tales from the crazy place of California! This week was transfers and I am now in Simi Valley. For reference I'm about 15 minutes from Los Angeles.  I was also able to meet a whole area of people who are being taught. I also got a new companion, his name is Elder Raff and hes pretty cool. hes missing part of his finger which was pretty interesting the first time I noticed.  Hope everyone is doing well. I'll write a better email next week. Here's some of my memories for yall!

Today we were able to meet a legend in the mission! Theres this old man who goes by "Cowboy". We saw him at In n Out and of course we had sit and talk with him. He was definitely an interesting gentleman to talk to but he had some wisdom for us. Shoutout Cowboy for the title of my email today.  This week was interesting because I'm probably getting transferred and I came to the realization that I might not see my friends that I'm teaching ever again. This also includes past companions and my current companion who's going home. I'll definitely keep them in my thoughts and prayers throughout my Mission. This realization definitely does not stop the grind. Me and my companion have found more friends this transfer than all my last ones combined. It's a bittersweet feeling that I'm sure many missionaries can relate to.  We also had stake conference this week.  SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: This week I have been taking Elder Uchtdorfs advice and "nourish the roots...

And just like that! 6 months on the Mish. Lots of ups and downs but ive learned so much from missionaries, members, and people that we find and teach. The real world can be scary at times but with Jesus Christ we can find hope! This week we did a lot of exchanges. We also sadly had to take our three friends off date for baptism but was able to put one of our new friends on date for February 16th!  I don't have a lot to write this week but I'll be better next week.  SPIRITUAL THOUGHT: I'll keep this one short but this one is really special to me. For missionaries it's a struggle to get our friends to sometimes. Many people are scared or lazy and make up excuses to not come. Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament as a gift for us and as missionaries we hope to share the blessing of Baptism to all, and for that to happen people need to come to church. My invitation is to reach out more and find someone you might not know at church and go talk to them. Or better yet, invite ...