Training!

I just learned that I will be training a new companion beginning Dec 17th.

PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!

I just received the package you sent! (It only took 9 weeks to reach me, but it doesn't look tampered with.) I can't believe it cost $22 to send! That's a LOT of tacos in the street.

It said "Happy Birthday"...so I might just wait to open it on the Savior's birthday, since it is getting close. Thank you, Mom!

(This is a glimpse of our entire apartment. It is one room with two beds, two study desks, and a kitchen sink. We have a small bathroom off one side. We feel really lucky to have TWO sources of running water in our apartment. Most of the homes we visit only have one source of running water.)

I haven't gotten used to cold showers yet. My comp HATES it when we don't have money to buy gas to heat the water. I just shower with the cold water, but my comp uses our iron to heat up a bucket of water, then showers with that. I did it once or twice, but found it just made me dirtier.

This past week we didn't have much success because it was the day of the Virgin of Guatelupe. All of the Catholics go crazy, so we couldn't leave our apartment the entire day. They love fireworks here. In celebration, they are constantly shooting off fireworks, from morning until late at night. They also shoot mortars off of every house top...but they don't explode into beautiful colors....they just explode. It looks and sounds like I am living in the middle of WWII.

We were walking down the street one evening before the holiday, and one of these mortars was shot up in the air above us. When it exploded, a burning piece of it almost hit my companion. It was pretty funny because he literally had to duck out of the way.

Merry Christmas!

Love, 

Elder Shumway

Our little Branch

Well the Spanish really clicked this week and the work is going good. We ate the most spicy thing I have ever eaten in my life this week! It was like a beef soup with beans. I ate two bowls but I was dying because it was so hot!

We had our first baptism this week and it was pretty cool. The font was full of nasty water so we spent the morning trying to drain the water but the pump didn't work. We used buckets to haul all of the water out of the font, then cleaned and scrubbed the whole thing. It was kinda fun. But then the boiler didn't have any gas so the water was super cold. It was cold for me (doing the baptizing)....and I didn't even have to get immersed!  Our investigator, Rodrigo didn't mind too much because he was so happy. I had to baptize him twice because the first time he tried to come back up super fast because it was cold, but the second time was good.

Church is different here. Our church leaders are late to church and it seems the presidency doesn't have any idea what hey are doing, so when we went to confirm Rodrigo, they all looked at me to do it. But my comp told me that the branch president does so I hadn't memorized the words. My comp gave him the spirit. Then when the sacrament started there was only one priest to bless the sacrament, so I went up and blessed with him. 

Church is super funny because the member of the presidency that is conducting calls people out of the crowd to lead the music or say a prayer. This week we are trying to get the Branch Presidency to have a branch counsel with us so that we can have more help from the ward. 

We went to visit the Mexico City Temple.

I am not sick at all and the street food is still delicious. Sometimes the members give us fruit that they wash with the  water but it doesn't make me sick, so all is well. Thanks for everything! 

Love Elder Shumway