A couple of updates on Allyse about her trip to Chicago and photos from the mission home for you.

On Monday morning after her flight arrived in Dallas from Mexico City, she cleared customs (with a broken wheel on one of her suitcases) and got her bags re-checked and made it over from the international terminal to one of the domestic terminals to catch her flight to Chicago.  For some reason her plane was delayed a few minutes, which gave her just enough time to call and talk to us again (this time for about 10-15 minutes at about 8:45 a.m.).

Allyse related to us a story of her first real missionary efforts (as I can remember it from the phone call).  Each of the missionaries had been given a pass along card and challenged to place it with someone during their trip.  She said on her flight from Mexico City to Dallas she got to sit next to this awesome Spanish family.  She said she knew that is who she was suppose to talk to, but she was nervous the whole flight.  When the plane landed in Dallas and the passengers disembarked, she said she was scared, but she did it anyway.  She walked up to the dad, introduced herself and told him that he had a great family.  She explained that she wanted his family to enjoy the same eternal happiness that she had with her family and she handed him the card and explained what she was talking about.  She said she was shaking the whole time, but it turned out awesome.  She said the dad introduced her to all of the members of the family and they spoke for a while before going their separate ways.  Allyse seemed pretty happy about the experience.

Yesterday (Tuesday) Alice received a text message from an unknown number.  In that message were the words "I am here, I love you!" along with two pictures.  I have attached those two photos, one of them is Allyse with her mission president, President Paul Woodbury and Sister Woodbury, the other picture has what we are assuming is her first companion in the field (we don't know her name or where they are assigned).

We thought you would like to be updated on Hermana Meanea and see the first photos of her to reach us from Chicago.

Thanks again for you thoughts, love and concern for Hermana Meanea

John & Alice

Hermana Meanea with President and Sister Woodbury

 

Hermana Meanea with her companion and President and Sister Woodbury

Allyse is on her way to Chicago!

Dear Family and Friends (this is John, not Allyse speaking),

We just wanted to share an update on Allyse, we were blessed to be able to speak with her this morning from the Mexico City Airport as she was awaiting to board her flight to Dallas.  We had been waiting since 2:30 am to hear from her, and once it got to be 4 am we figured that she hadn't been able to call, or that she wasn't able to get the payphone to work for her.  Her flight was scheduled to depart at 4:15 am.  So when we received a call at 4:12 am from 525-525-990-241 it only took Alice like 1.3 seconds to answer it!  While Alice and Allyse were excitedly speaking back and forth, Tayson bounded up to our room in seconds (Emily was already present).  I couldn't figure out why Allyse wasn't on her plane, so while they all spoke to her on speaker phone, I was looking up the travel plans to make sure I had the times correct.  Mexico City is in the central time zone, and with her departure scheduled at 5:15 am, that would be 4:15 our time.  So I broke into their conversation and asked Allyse why she wasn't on her plane.  After some back and forth about flight times and the current time, we discovered that in Mexico they had their daylight savings time change yesterday (Sunday, October 27th), which means that Mexico City is on the same time schedule as we are here in Utah for one week.  That would have been nice to know at 2:30 this morning as we anxiously awaited a phone call from Allyse!

Anyway, we had a really good conversation with Hermana Meanea for 38 minutes until her flight started boarding.  She is flying in a group of 11 sisters and 2 elders that are all heading to Chicago.  I felt really bad for all of the other missionaries that she is traveling with, as Allyse was the only one that was able to make the Mexico payphone work to call home.  We were blessed to get to hear from her, as the families of her traveling companions were not able to hear from their missionaries.  I am sure they will be able to call to their homes from Dallas in a few hours.

Allyse is doing well, she had a great CCM (MTC in Spanish) experience and is now excited and anxious to begin the next phase of her mission.  She sends her love and really appreciates all of the prayers/support and communication from her family and friends.  It was really awesome to hear Spanish words pop up during her English phone conversation.  I guess that means that her mind is beginning to work in Spanish.

Thanks again for all of the love and support of our Hermana Meanea!

Love, John and Alice

Here is Sister Meanea's travel schedule for Monday.... (all times are our times)

3:15 AM - Arrive at Mexico City Airport (now corrected for Mexico Daylight Savings Time Change)

5:15 AM - Depart Mexico City for Dallas (now corrected for Mexico Daylight Savings Time Change)
7:45 AM - Arrive at Dallas Airport

9:15 AM - Depart Dallas Airport for Chicago

11:35 AM - Arrive at Chicago Airport

AMERICAN AIRLINES     28OCT MEXICO CITY    DALLAS TX      515A    845A

AA 1066              MONDAY JUAREZ INTL    DALLAS FT WORT

V ECONOMY                   TERMINAL 1     TERMINAL D

                            FOOD FOR PURCHASE             NON STOP

                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         2:30 DURATION    

                  AIRCRAFT: BOEING 737-800

                            SEAT 20A NO SMOKING CONFIRMED

 

AMERICAN AIRLINES     28OCT DALLAS TX      CHICAGO IL     1015A   1235P

AA 2338              MONDAY DALLAS FT WORT O HARE INTERNA

V ECONOMY                                  TERMINAL 3

                            FOOD FOR PURCHASE             NON STOP

                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         2:20 DURATION

                  AIRCRAFT: BOEING (DOUGLAS) MD-83

                            SEAT 28D NO SMOKING CONFIRMED

CCM Farewell

Whether it's the MTC, the CCM, or the CIA, Allyse sent her last letter from the training center in Mexico, which is included herewith.
Enjoy!

Family & Friends!!!! It has been a week already and not it is almost time for me to leave the CCM and fly to Chicago! The time, looking back, really has gone fast. I am so excited to get into the field and be back in the States! Here is a look at my week:

Friday - 10/18/13

Crazy night! First, going to bed was really hard because there were hundreds of dogs barking! Then, starting at 4:30 in the morning, someone right outside the walls of the CCM started letting off hundreds of fireworks each minute. Needless to say, we did not get a lot of sleep so it was a very long day! Because we have new Zone Leaders now, they are changing the way our Zone does talks. Now everyone prepares and you find out in Sacrament Meeting if you are speaking. Hermana Woolf and I did find out tonight that we are speaking on Sunday, so we could be extra prepared. It only has to be five minutes so I am not too worried.

Saturday - 10/19/13

Today we taught Itsvana, one of our Progressing Investigators, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a lot about Repentance. For our service project we helped clean the exterior of the seminary building. Tonight we practiced teaching with another District, the one in our Zone that got here a week after us. I got kind of discouraged because the Elder I practiced with was really good, if not better than I was with teaching in Spanish. Then, I remembered my Setting Apart and how I was specifically counseled not to compare myself to others. So, now I look at how far I personally have come rather than comparing myself to others.

Sunday - 10/20/13

Today in Relief Society we had a great lesson on Obedience and how it is the key to conversion. My talk in Sacrament Meeting went well, I did feel like I was back to little girl talks though Dad :) It is great here because all of the sisters in my Zone are really close and we always talk and sit together and are so supportive of each other. We had a class with President Pratt about how important the Gift of the Holy Ghost is. We then had a "Chit-Chat" with Hermana Pratt. She kind of chastised us a little about needing to spend more time and effort looking more professional and polished. It ended up coming off a little harsh but I understood what she was trying to say. It was sad to me to listen to all of the girls discount and scoff at what she said. We are here to be different. We need to look on par with the message we are sharing. For our Devotional we had one from Elder Holland at Provo MTC back in January. It was really good, of course! This is the Key to Missionary Success:

Preach MY Gospel = His Gospel, His Way = Obedience = The Spirit = Teach with Power & Authority

We had Curly Fries for Dinner tonight. I am excited to have real curly fries in a week and a half! Tonight we watched Legacy. At home I never realized how old, and kind of cheesy it is. But watching it with hundreds of other missionaries made me realize!

Monday - 10/21/13

Today we taught Itsvana half of the Plan of Salvation and then said goodbye because we thought it was our last lesson with her, then we found out, it wasn´t oops! We then practiced teaching the Law of Chastity to a 10 year old, awkward!, and then to a 19 year old who has "problems" with it, more awkward! Today we also got to play Ultimate Frisbee with our teacher, Hermana Callejes. It was so fun!

Tuesday - 10/22/13

Today, Hermana Callejes brought us a special Mexican treat to try, Grasshoppers! It was so weird! The taste wasn´t honestly that bad but my problem was that I couldn´t get the legs to go down :) We also got the opportunity to do REAL contacting today. There were some workers, who aren´t LDS, working on the fence and Hna. Callejes had us practice contacting them and try to get their address and give a Book of Mormon. The guy my group talked to was way nice but made it clear that he had no interest in our church and had just agreed to listen to help us with our Spanish. It is so sad to know what an incredible, life changing message you have and have someone not want to listen at all! We played Volleyball with some Latinos. One of the Elders tried to give me a high five after I scored. I gave him a handshake instead (that is all we are allowed to do) and he said No and tried to give me a high five again. I told him, "No pudeo, No permite" so he tried a fist bump instead and I had to tell him no again. Then, he just threw up his hands and walked away! Tonight we had a live devotional with Elder Johnson of the 4th Quorum of the 70. It was really good! We learned about how important it is to work well with the ward we are assigned to because they are the people who will be taking care of our converts when we leave.

Wednesday - 10/23/13

We taught our last lesson with Itsvana today. We talked about 2 Nephi 2 which we had asked her to read and then talked about the importance of reading the scriptures and going to Church. We also said goodbye to Hna. Callejes today because she won´t be here on Saturday. It was so sad! She shared these scriptures with us that I loved: 2 Nephi 22:2, Alma 39:15-16, and D&C 6:8. We played Ultimate Frisbee for the last time as a Zone. I can´t believe that it is almost time for us to leave here, I am so excited and so nervous!

Thursday - 10/24/13

P-Day! Last P-Day in the CCM, crazy! The Temple was incredible, so peaceful and wonderful. They have this store there called La Tienda Zarahemla and I got a real Mexican scripture case! Lunch was awesome today. Carne Asada AND Chicken Enchilada Mole. If you haven´t tried Mole, do! It is chocolate, bananas, chili, and peanuts, weird but good!

Thank you all so incredibly much for your love and support! I feel your prayer and strength every minute! I know that this is so hard but this has been an incredible week! I have felt comforted and just plain joyous over the work I have to do! Yo sé que este Evangelio es la manera que podemos volver a Dios. Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador. Él vive y nos ayuda con todas cosas. Nosotros bendicimos muchos porque tenemos la verdad y muy animada compartir este conocimiento con la gente de Chicago! I love you all so much & miss you like crazy!!!! Thank you for everything! Have a great week and I will talk to you all next P-Day from Chicago!!!

PS- The official dates of my mission are September 18, 2013 - March 16, 2015!!!

A picture of La Tienda at the CCM

La Basilica de Guadalupe

Mi Compañera y Yo

My District with our teacher Hermana Callejes

My family at the Mexico City Temple!

Our District Today

Selfie at the Temple today

Post-P-Day Postal Posting!

Tayson: Say that one five times fast!

Here's the letter from Allyse this week, it sounds like she's doing great, and we've been so excited to hear from her.

There is just so much to say and write, I don´t even know where to being.  First of all, thank you all so much for the love, support, and prayers!  I feel them constantly and am so grateful for them! I am going to try and go day by day and see how that works.

Thursday - 10/10/13
It was so amazing to read everyone´s emails! Thank you so much!  Also, that night, I don´t know how you guys did it, but we had hamburgers for the first time here!  After talking with you guys about how much I was craving a good burger, you somehow got the CCM to serve them! Thanks! (posters note, while chatting with Allyse last week we asked her if there was anything she wanted us to send her... she asked if we could send her a good old American Hamburger.  We told her that we would get enough double doubles from In-n-Out for her whole zone and ship them to her.  How awesome that the very evening of our email chat with her, the CCM had hamburgers for them to eat...)

Friday - 10/11/13
For breakfast we had something really good that I hand´t thought of before.  It was really chunky mashed potatoes with green peppers and ham, and it was super good! You will have to try it! Funny Story for the week - We were teaching one of our practice Progressing Investigators today, Itsvana.  It was a Friday, but P-Day was yesterday, so to me, it felt like the weekend had just ended.  So, as we sat down and started talking with her, I asked how her weekend had been.  She had a really confused look so I repeated the question.  It wasn´t until she was answering that I realized, it was Friday, not Monday! Luckily, her and my companion just let it go, but it was a funny oops! We went into that lesson planning on teaching about the Restoration. Instead, she said that she wasn´t sure about our Church because she had prayed and thought in her mind that this was a church of men´s words and not God´s. She said she is already super close to God and doesn´t think she needs a church to do that.  She also went to the temple with a member friend and couldn´t understand why a Church of God, wouldn´t let people into a building where they become closer to God, so it must not be of God.  We were able to have a 20 minute lesson on her questions and doubts without any planning, and in Spanish.  It was great, I really felt the Spirit and felt that it went well!

Saturday - 10/12/13
Spiritual Story for the week, even though every second here is very spiritual:  We were practicing finding the needs of each other as missionaries.  Our teacher gave us 10 minutes to find a scripture to help the person we were working with.  I decided to try the thing you always here about people doing, opening the scriptures and finding exactly what they need.  I prayed asking to be led to the right scripture.  I opened my scriptures and my fingers landed on Alma 10:5-6 & Alma 18:34-35.  These scriptures applied directly to the situations of the two missionaries I was working with!!! I knew that Heavenly Father blessed me with that so that I could see He really is there and watching out for me! Also, today it was fish for lunch and dinner.  For lunch, I got an Empanada because the other choice was fish and I didn´t think they would only have fish to choose from.  I took a bite and found out it was a shrimp empanada!  I almost threw up :)  I held it down though.  For dinner it was tuna salad, I was able to eat it and it was pretty good.

Sunday - 10/13/13
Sundays are always great days here in the CCM!  It is super extra spiritual and I always learn so much! In Relief Society we had a great lesson on Agency and how we get to go and share the knowledge of this amazing fit with others.  Our class with the MTC presidency was about the strength we can have through the grace of the Atonement and it was really good.  We had tostadas for lunch and they were really good!  We also have a ton of study time on Sundays so I loved that! Our devotional was really good.  It was one of Elder Christofferson at the Provo MTC. He talked a lot about how all that I am called to do and go through can be swallowed up by my joy in Christ.  For dinner we had real tamales. They were wrapped in HUGE, like 2´ by 2´´, banana leaves!  We then watched "How Rare a Possession"  It is an older, not the best made movie, but it has an INCREDIBLE story! You all need to see if you can watch it.  It gave me such an immense appreciation and love for the Book of Mormon and helped me see what an invaluable tool it will be on my mission!

Monday - 10/14/13
Today was a super good day! After all of the spiritual re-energizing yesterday, I felt happy and excited, more than usual :)  We had another lesson with one of Progressing Investigators, Itsvana.  We reviewed Moroni 10 which we had asked her to read last time.  She had read it and we had read it together with her in mind and we had a discussion on some of the verses that jumped out at us.  She said she had read 3-5 and had prayed and believed it was true.  Towards the end, I used verse 19 to segway into Joseph Smith and the First Vision.  I then explained the way we come closer to God and Jesus Christ is through Baptism.  I then asked her is she would be baptized, and she said yes!!! Even though it is pretend, it was the most incredible feeling!  The Elders in our District call it a "DUNK" so Hermana Woolf and I walked back into class and said dunk!  We played Ultimate Frisbee with our entire Zone today for gym time. It was a lot of fun.  For dinner, we had jumbo hot dogs and waffle fries, they are on some kind of American food kick this week.  Tonight I started to read the Book of Mormon from the beginning in Spanish.  There is a promise from President Monson that if we do that, and understand what we read, we will find ourselves able to speak and understand better.  So I am reading the Book of Mormon out loud so I can practice pronunciation too and I am already understanding quite a bit!

Tuesday
Today was basically the same as every other day so I don´t have a lot to say, sorry :)  I do talk about the food a lot because it is fun and I know my family likes to here about it.  For breakfast I had this incredible breakfast pizza.  It was ham, cheese, and basil on a toasted hamburger bun.  For lunch I had this really good Mango sauce chicken.  Tonight was special though because were part of a live broadcast devotional from the Provo MTC of Elder Oaks.  It was super good. He talked about how our responsibility as missionaries is to change, achieve and become.  It was really good and spiritually re-energizing!

Wednesday
 I can´t believe it has been a month! On one hand, it has dragged by, and the other, it has soared by!  Today was the same as every other day.  For gym time I played Volleyball and that was fun.  Lunch was super good, verde enchiladas and potato wedges + an Oreo cheesecake thing!  We were talking with one of my teachers today and he said that the first three months are really hard, feelings of wanting to be home are completely normal. But, after three months, he said it was perfect and so incredible.  That helped me feel good.

I can´t thank you all enough for all you are doing for me and my family! This is the hardest thing I have ever done, but it gets better each day!  Thank you for your prayers and love.  I love hearing from you all so much!  I can already feel my testimony growing so much and it is such an incredible feeling to know that I am completely relying on the Atonement!  Yo sé que esta Iglesia es veradera.  El Libro de Mormon es las palabras de Dios y podemos llegar a ser más cerca a Dios con lo.  Yo sé que Jesucristo es nuestro el Salvador y Él tiene mucho ama por nosotros.  Yo sé que todas cosas son posible a través de Jesucristo y Su Expiacion.

Love,
Hermana Meanea

We'll keep you posted on Hermana Meanea's progress... only a week and a half left in the Mexico City CCM until she flies to Chicago!
-TJ Meanea

A "selfie" at the Mexico City MTC

A Mexico City traffic jam on the way to the Mexico City Temple

The plaza area of the CCM in between the buildings

My companion, Sister Woolf, french braided my hair... when I took out the braids, I had awesome beach wave hair!

The Only "Fall" leaves that I can find at the CCM

Return of the P-Day

John: Following is the letter we received from Allyse yesterday (Thursday, October 10th).  She is 1/2 way through her Mexico City CCM (MTC) experience.  Thanks again for your love and support of Hermana Meanea!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Allyse Meanea
Date: Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 1:56 PM
Subject: 3rd Email Home

Wow!  On one hand, this week seems to have gone by so fast, but on the other, it seems to have dragged by so slowly!  It was a good week, still super super hard, but getting better!

Here, we typically teach one of our progressing investigators, we have 2 right now, each day.  We also teach constantly with each other so that we can practice different things.  Saturday and Sunday were 2 of my favorite days here so far.  Conference was amazing!!!!!!!!  I can´t wait to go back and study all of the talks more!!!!  Wasn´t it so neat to hear President Monson talk about the 80,333 missionaries out and know I am One of those!!!  Elder Soares talk really hit me.  I also loved President Uchtdorf saying: "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith!"  I truly felt love, and peace, and joy, while I listened to Conference this weekend.  By the way, were you able to see the LDS World Report on the Mexico MTC after the morning session on both Saturday and Sunday? If not, you should try to find it because it shows a lot of the stuff about what I am living right now!!!  I also really loved Elder Ballard´s talk: "It is impossible for me to fail when I do my best & am on the Lord´s errand."  The Relief Society Meeting was so great too! We got to watch it Saturday night when the Elders were in Priesthood.  On Sunday the sessions were incredible too!  When we watched Music and the Spoken Word I did start crying because it shows all of the pictures of the West and they were all places I have been with my family!!!  I loved Sister Oscarson´s talk on Conversion and Elder Scott´s.  Elder Vinson´s really hit me hard too!  Sorry this is so scattered, there is just so much to say and I don´t know where to begin!

After Conference, we had some Personal Study time.  I was really feeling the desire to have more meaningful study of the Book of Mormon.  I prayed to be able to find the things that Heavenly Father wanted me to read and I started reading where I was at in 1 Nephi 15.  It was incredible! Every verse hit me and the revelation just flowed!!!!!  It was such a testimony to me that Heavenly Father does here our prayers, does love us so much, and does answer us, especially through the Book of Mormon!  That evening, for our Sunday Video we watched The Testaments, which is one of my favorites, and it was the perfect end to such an incredible weekend!

Monday was a pretty normal day.  We taught and studied.  Spanish is coming well.  I am at the point where I can speak and teach an investigator mostly what I want to say.  Now it is just understanding all of the grammar and building up my vocabulary so I can speak correctly and not sound so much like a gringo!!!

Tuesday was one of my hardest days so far!  I was sooooooooo homesick.  All I could think was how much I wanted to be at home with my family.  I was praying all day for the desire to be here and to be doing this work.  I was trying to be perky but I just missed my family.  Tuesday night was such a testimony to me that the Lord is aware of me and wants to help me.  Our Tuesday night devotional was one from Elder Holland from the Provo MTC.  If you think he gets in your face sometimes in Conference, you have no idea!!!!  It was so amazing and exactly what I needed to hear.  The big message was: Don´t you dare come home and not have this change you forever!!!!  This hit me really hard because I have been thinking; once I get through my mission I can get home to my family.  I know I need to change my attitude to think about how amazing this really is. Also he talked about how this is Real Life.  The devotional really impacted me and helped me to understand why I am out here and the next 18 months, I will be useless if i don´t understand why I am here.  It was a big wake up call to all of us!

Wednesday was a better day.  I was feeling strengthened and comforted by the Lord so much.  I know that there is no way I can do this without Him.  I have always understood that we need to trust and rely on the Lord.  But until I got out here,  I have never really needed to rely on Him for all of my strength before.  Now, i am starting to understand.

Today at the Temple was great.  I did it all in Spanish and am surprised at what I am able to pick out.

Here are some random things I have been writing a list that I have wanted to say or ask.....

Did you guys start playing Christmas music & spraying apples and cinnamon stuff on October 1st?

I heard about this movie called Three Amigos, it has Steve Martin in it, that is apparently sooo funny and is about Mexico I think.  It sounds like it might be a fun movie for you guys to find and watch with Clearplay :)

Here is some of the food I have had recently that you should try: Carne Asada (definitely one of my favorites here, it is soooo good!), Chicken Cordon Bleu, Waffle Sandwich (Literally one morning for breakfast we had a waffle with chicken, lettuce and tomato on top of it), and my favorite ice cream is a popsicle that is called Leche de Cajeta.

See if you can find "Holland on Peter" on YouTube.  We watched it and it really gets you thinking.

I love being a missionary! It is just incredible to think that the thing I have been waiting my whole life to be is happening now!!!  I have a for real name tag!  I can´t wait to get out there and invite others to Christ.

It´s time :(  I have loved talking to you guys so incredibly much!!!!  I can feel your love and support so strongly!!!!!  I can´t wait for next Thursday to be able to talk with you more!  I love you and know that the Lord will help us all through this!!!  I love love love love you!!!!!!!

Hermana Meanea

Tayson: This has been another illegal letter-cast from Meanea incorporated!

Thank you all for your support of our missionary!

A really cool painted building in Mexico City

El Comedor (the Cafeteria) at the CCM

Many shops along the street in Mexico City

Me at the computer while I am typing this letter

Mexico Car Wash on the side of the street in Mexico City

My Companion, Sister Woolf, and me as we get ready to watch General Conference

My Selfie at the Mexico City Temple today

Our Classroom at the Mexico City CCM (it is cleaner then it usually is)

A cool thing that they use to move stuff around with

Strawberry Fanta, a small taste of home!

Second P-Day!

Tayson: Here is a lot of literature from our family correspondence. It's a federal offense to read someone else's mail, but we'll let it slide this time... 

John: The latest email from Allyse during her P-day today....  After she responded to the Q&A we were able to "chat" back and forth with her a little bit.  I added those to the bottom of the email.

She said that since she has plenty of time on the computer, you are welcome to email her to her missionary email address at allyse.meanea@myldsmail.net

It was great for Alice and I to hear from Allyse today.  She sent some more photos that I will try to attach.

Thank you all for your support of Allyse!

Love, John & Alice

  

From: Allyse Meanea
Date: Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 8:54 AM
Subject: Re: P-Day #2 Q&A
To: John Meanea

Some answers for you for today...

We sent out last Friday a box with the stuff you had requested, along with some candy and a "District General Conference Kit".  DHL reported that it was delivered on Tuesday of this week.  Did you receive it?

I haven´t gotten it yet.  The post office is onely open sometimes.  I will check today and try to let you know.  Thank you soooo much!!!!

Do you get to go to the temple again today? Please share with us a little bit about your temple experience (last weeks or this weeks or both).

No, we go every other week.  It was great.  For the first time they let us have a headset that does it in English.  The Temple, inside and out, is so incredibly beautiful.  It was a great experience and it was so peaceful.  The drive to and from was so fascinating, I loved it!!!!

How is Sister Woolf?  What is her first name?  Is she from Provo, or one of the towns around the Provo area?  Did she go to Provo High or Timpview, or some other high school?  Where does she fit in her family?  What does she think about a mission call to Chicago?  Why did she decided to go on a mission?  Did she go to college before her mission, or is she right out of high school like you?  If she plans to go to school after her mission, where does she want to go?

I am pretty sure her first name is Shelby.  It is so weird because first names just are not a part of the picture at all out here! It definitely takes getting used to.  She is from  Provo and went to Timpview.  She is almost 20 ( in November) and graduated last year.  She is the oldest of 3, a brother and a sister.  She is excited for Chicago.  The age change got her thinking about it and it just felt alright so she started working on her papers about a year ago.  She did a semester at the U of U last fall.  She wants to move up to SLC and continue at the U.

Even though I am officially 19 now, I am still the youngest by a long shot.  I am the only girl that I know of so far that graduated just this past year.  It is really hard being to young and away from my family for the first time.  All of the other girls have done a semester or two away at college, or even graduated college.

We had all sent Dear Elder letters that week that you left.  From the sounds of it, they didn't reach you before your P-day last week.  What day did you get them (I assume you have received them by now)?

The only Dear Elder I have received is one from Aunt Sherece last Wednesday.  I did get an email from Dear Elder that was a letter Mom wrote, but I haven´t gotten any physical Dear Elders yet.  I will check today.

Is Thursday P-day for all Mexico City MTC Missionaries?
No, they spread them out between Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  It was pure luck that my is on Wednesday like Mrs. Bolton told Mom.  Actually, Elder Bolton and I are in the same zone.  I had been so worried about how to get the packages to him when I got here.  Some Sisters on our first day came and introduced themselves and asked us where we were from.  When I said Cedar City, they asked if I knew Elder Bolton.  I said yes and asked how they did.  He is in their District, in the classroom right next to ours.  We went right in and saw him and I could tell he had no idea who I was :)  But, he was plenty happy when I told him I had packages for him!!!!!

How is washing your clothing going?  Are there enough washers and dryers, or is there a log jam to do your laundry on P-day?
It is going fine.  There are two washers and dryer in my casa we can use.  I have plenty of stuff so I only need to do it once a week on P-day and we have plenty of time today to get it done.

Emily wants to know how your Spanish is coming?

Spanish is good.  Sometimes it makes so much sense and others it makes no sense at all!!!!

Tayson wants to know how your Dutch is coming? (he didn't get much sleep last night...)

Dutch is good, much harder than Spanish.  I can imagine he didn´t get much sleep! I don´t know how he does it all!!!!

Mom says she asked you questions about "Fall" in Mexico City.

That is one thing I was thinking about and missing so much.  There is no difference here.  Could you please send me some pictures of fall there in Utah????

Since we sent you some stuff, and since you received all of those books, you are going to have to pack your suitcases carefully for the trip to Chicago.  Does the MTC have some scales that you can weigh your suitcases with?

There are scales, but it is in kilograms!

With a new batch of missionaries showing up on Tuesday/Wednesday, what was it like to realize you were not the "greenest" missionaries there now?

Actually, you can tell a new school year has started because the number of arrivals has gone way down.  There were only 50 North American missionaries that came in this week.  Still, it is nice to know we aren´t the greenest.  It is crazy to think we are already in week 3!!!

You have referred to the MTC as the CCM.  What does the CCM mean?  Is that MTC in Spanish?

It is MTC in Spanish.  Centro de Capatación Misional México.

Are you receiving too many emails to where you don't have time to read them all?

Not not, at all.  Mostly it is the emails from you guys.  I have a couple from Grandpa Pat & one from Colton Barlocker.

Tayson wants to know if the salt and pepper shakers are just maracas with holes in the bottom?

He must still be really tired huh? Actually, that is something different.  There isn´t any salt or pepper here!!!!

Is there a big central building or auditorium that all of the missionaries there will watch General Conference at?

I think all the English missionaries will watch in the auditorium.  They will have something else set up for the Natives to watch in Spanish.

What is the hardest thing to get used to?

Definitely being away from you guys!!!! I miss you so much!  The first couple weeks I would reach for my phone to text you and let you know something I just did, but no phone! Now I just want to have a phone to text you with! Also, not being able to Google anything!!!!!

What is the best part so far about being a missionary?

Already, I can feel myself changing so much!!!!  I am basically being forced, in a good way, to rely so much more on my Savior, the Atonement, and Prayer.  I can feel it really taking effect in my life and helping me so much!!!!

How is your district doing?

Good.  Like I told mom, these last few days everyone has been a little sick but hopefully getting better now.

Are you writing in your journal every day?

I am.  I know that this is an experience I will always want to look back on!

Did you get the full names and the addresses of the missionaries in your district (I put that information in my journal)? (by the way, my plan if for you to get your cell phone number back when you get home, so feel free to give it out as your number as you make lifelong friends).

Not yet.  I am sure we will, we just haven´t thought about it yet because it seems like we still have a long time together.

What is the coolest thing that you learned this week?

I learned that I can walk into a lesson, have a thought of where we kind of want to go with the lesson, and without any notes or things written down, teach in Spanish for a half hour.  It wasn´t even close to perfect, but it felt so wonderful!!!!

Does your district teacher live there on campus, or does she come to the campus each day?

No, she lives in the city.  She bikes to campus each day.

Tell us about your casa, looks like just you and your companion share a room?  How many rooms are in your building?  How far is your classroom building from your casa?

Yes, right now it is just us, and we are hoping it stays that way :)  I think there are 5 rooms.  Our class is like a 2 minute walk from our casa, which is great because the Elders are like 10 minutes from the classroom.

What do you do for exercise time?  Do you ever do fun exercise as a district?

A bunch of stuff.  We´ve run a couple of times, do bikes and spinning, walk, play ultimate frisbee, and basketball.  We played as a District on Tuesday and it is so fun! Especially because the Elders can´t touch us!!! So it is really hard for them to guard us!

The kids are asking about cockroaches again?

Nothing yet.  Food attracts them so it is recommended to not have food in your casas.  But I have been really careful with mine because I wasn´t about to throw it out and we have been fine!

Your mom is asking about gunfire again?

It is calmed down a lot this week.  There was only one gun battle, some shots, and a lot less fireworks.

Tayson wants to know where in PMG (Preach My Gospel) your district is studying at?

We study everything all of them time.  Yesterday we studied the Plan of Salvation & Restoration.
I love you all more than you can imagine!!! Thank you so much for your support & prayers!!!

Yo sé que Jesucristo es mi Salvador.  Yo sé que Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial.  Yo sé que Dios eschucha a nuestras oraciones.  Yo sé que esta iglesia es veradero.

Hermana Allyse Meanea

********************************************************************************

Email Chat with Allyse (go to the bottom of this email, then read from the bottom back up to this point):

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 10:10 AM, Allyse Meanea wrote:
I just had to let you all know that I just checked and I got the package!!!!!! Thank you sooooooooooo much!!!!  I also just got all the dear elders.  Thank you!!!!! I love you more than you can imagine!!!!!!
I love you all so much!!!! More than you can even imagine.  My companion is ready to go, so I guess I have to say goodbye :(  I can´t wait for next Thursday.  I love talking to you and being connected.  I love you soooooooo much!!! Thank you for EVERYTHING!!!!! Hug Tayson and Emily incredibly tight for me!!!!!

 Bye :(

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 10:49 AM, Alice Meanea wrote:

This has been so great.  I feel like I can make it another week now.  Thank you so much for this time Allyse.  I hope it isn't too hard on you.  We love you so much and I will send pictures and messages everyday.  I can't wait for next week. I love you

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 9:47 AM, Allyse Meanea wrote:

I don´t want to stop talking with you guys!!!! But, it is getting close to time.  I love this so much.  I feel so close knowing we all are looking at the computer screen, somehow connected!  That is so funny about Tayson, I think I got a 91 too?  I heard there is a problem with the government, it is shut down because of the budget or something?

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 9:48 AM, John Meanea wrote:
oh that is a great message from Elder Scott, thanks for sharing.  that is also a great pattern from Elder Bednar.  We will follow it this weekend.  I think instead of you guys watching conference in English, you should go with the natives and watch the Spanish translation...  :-)

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 10:44 AM, Allyse Meanea wrote:

I was also thinking in terms of only four more phone calls, or 3 more General Conferences!!!!  One of each which is coming up soon!!!!  Are you ready for General Conference?  I wanted to share this idea from a devotional we watched of Elder Bednar about studying General Conference talks.

This is his pattern;

Find the Doctrine/Principle

Find the Invitation for us specifically

Find the Promised Blessings

Also, this is a quote from Elder Scott´s devotional we watched.  He had sat down after finishing speaking, everyone had sang and the girl was coming up for the closing prayer when he stood up and asked her to wait a minute, he then said this:

"Remember, the Lord has called you to succeed, not to fail. Sometimes it may seem terribly hard, but he wants you to grow. He will not abandon you. He inspired your call. He knows who you are. He knows what you need. He knows what He wants you to become, and this mission experience is an opportunity He has given you to discover things about yourself you never knewñ capacities you never knew you had, strength beyond what you felt you had, and the capacity to love and serve which will sustain you throughout the rest of your life. Remember, you have been called and He will fit the task to your capabilities. I testify in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 10:35 AM, Allyse Meanea wrote:

One story I didn´t tell you.  This week we were supposed to start teaching one of our teachers and she was going to act like an investigator.  Instead, she wanted us to teach her friend who is kind of a naturalist hippie about the Gospel.  A real person, in Spanish!!!!! We were soooooo scared.  The day came and my companion and I were going to be first.  Our teacher went to the gate to wait for him.  A 1/2 hour later she came back with no Alex, the investigator´s name.  He wouldn´t answer her phone calls or texts and turned off his cell phone.  We were all sad that we had our first rejection but also kind of relieved too :)  The next day he told her his phone had gotten stolen on the bus so he just decided to go home, who knows? Good experience and funny story though!!!!!

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 10:18 AM, Allyse Meanea wrote:

It isn´t normal but it is, I don´t know how to explain it, routine I guess?  Yes, the schedule is pretty normal.  I did wake up the other morning scared out of mind because I didn´t know where I was or why I wasn´t in my bed at home.  That was a really rough way to start the day!!!!!  Yes, there are a ton of super nice Hermanas that I love to talk with.  I haven´t had anything too weird, basically everyday it is chicken and beef.  Yesterday was chicken in mango sauce, it was soooo good.  The weirdest is probably the drink that tasted like toothpaste, the jello with a prune in it, some kind of hot dog with pasta noodles.  Not every night, I think everyone has finally moved past celebrating independence and it is calming down.  I wish I could tell you everything!!!!!!

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 10:14 AM, Alice Meanea wrote:

I hope it improves for you my sweet girl and know that we are sending huge amounts of love and support to you every second.  Is the CCM starting to feel like normal life now?  Have you gotten used to the routine.  Have you made other friends there.  What is the weirdest thing you have eaten?  Is there still gunshots every night?  I want to know everything.

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 10:00 AM, Allyse Meanea wrote:

No, I love the chatting!!!!  No, not yet.  Once I am in my mission, I think I am supposed to email my Mission President once a week.  I am sure he did!  I would love to see that.  I received your letter that you sent on my birthday on Tuesday! That means it took almost 2 weeks to get here, which is soooo crazy to me!!! I sent you guys a letter last Friday.  I am sure it will take some time to get to you! 

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 9:53 AM, John Meanea wrote:

I am glad that you have heard from some other people.  That is wonderful.  As mom said, everyone asks about you.  Everyone is thinking about you, even in my YSA ward! Does us "chatting" with you interrupt you from writing your regular letter?  Are you supposed to write letters to anyone besides your family?  Tayson did a great job updating your blog last week, I will snail mail you a print out of it.  Do we need to write our letters to you in Spanish so that you can SYL to us? :-)

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 8:47 AM, Allyse Meanea wrote:

Yes, please thank Garrett´s mom so much!!!! Between her stuff and prayer, I have been OK and still able to work.  Her stuff also helped a ton with my runny, congested nose that I had!!!!   We are trying to get better at speaking Spanish all of the time.  That is one of the big things here, SYL, Speak Your Language.  I got an email from Colton Barlocker, Brad Lewis, and a couple from Grandpa Pat.  I will!!!!

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 9:42 AM, Alice Meanea wrote:

I will send you all the stories that I can.  I am so sorry that you have felt sick.  I hope the other things you have been taking helped it not be as bad.  We got a notification that your package was delivered yesterday so it should be there waiting for you..  Let us know anything you need.  Do you speak Spanish all of the time? Have you heard from anyone else?  People ask about you all of the time.  Will you have more pictures and a long email for this week?

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 8:37 AM, Allyse Meanea wrote:

That was so funny!!! I laughed at all of your stories and hope that you can send me more!!!!  Actually, this week it hasn´t rained at all.  The mornings are cooler but not cold.  My companion and district are good.  Actually, this week there is kind of an epidemic going around.  It is a cold & stomach flu type of thing.  Our Elders gave me the cold, which I am now almost over completely.  Two of our Elders are still pretty sick though.  I haven´t been feeling great the last few days, my stomach has been sick.  Like I want to throw up but can´t.  I am feeling tons better now though.

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 9:22 AM, Alice Meanea wrote:

The kids are doing good.  Tayson is doing great with being 16. He is off and driving and taking Emily to school.  He had a great birthday.  Emily is still loving swimming and is doing good. I finally got data back on my phone and we have the internet back up at the house so her data usage is better;)  Did you laugh about her letting her whole class use her hotspot to get on the internet?  Are you staying warm and dry?  How is your companion and your district?  Are you staying healthy?

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 8:18 AM, Allyse Meanea wrote:

I haven´t gotten the package yet but I will check today and try to let you know.  I have gotten the pictures and I love them sooooooo much!!!! Tell me everything about the family!!!!!

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 9:14 AM, Alice Meanea wrote:

We haven't received a letter yet.  Did you get our package all right?  I am so happy that the language is coming.  I totally understand about the homesickness.  This is harder than I ever imagined but I know that I am being supported by Heavenly Father and I know you are too. Have you got the pictures that I have sent you.

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 8:12 AM, Allyse Meanea wrote:

I am doing good.  I have good days and hard days and everything in between! The language is good, hard, but it is getting there.  I can talk and say basically what I need to where people understand.  Now the hard part is getting to where I can actually speak correctly with tenses and grammar!!!!  It is getting easier and then I just have really hard times of homesickness but it is better.  I am happy and it is an amazing place to be.  I am going to assume you haven´t received my letter in the mail yet, right?

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 9:09 AM, Alice Meanea wrote:

I'm so excited.  Tell me how you are doing.  How is the language coming?  Is it getting easier? Are you happy?

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 8:08 AM, Allyse Meanea wrote:

I am good but missing you more than you can imagine!!!! This is my computer time.  We go to the temple every other week so I don´t go today.  However long it takes to talk with you!!!!!

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 9:05 AM, Alice Meanea wrote:

Is this your time on the computer? How long do you have? Are you going to the temple?

On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 8:02 AM, Allyse Meanea wrote:

I am here and available and would love to talk with you all if I can!!!

My Breakfast this morning, they have a Nutella Station!!!

Our Room in our Casa (bottom bunk is mine)

My Closet

The tall wall to surrounds and protects the CCM

Headed to Chicago!!! (in 25 days...)

Me at the CCM Sign

The CCM with the "B" of the former high school on the hill in the background

My schedule for a typical week at the CCM