Chi-beria #2, Sister Black & Spanish!

Sorry this is being posted many days late. Allyse is in the middle of Chicago's 2nd deep freeze since January 1st, it is the coldest winter on record ever in Chicago, and our Hermana Allyse is in the middle of it.  We are grateful that she keeps reassuring us that her apartment is so warm and cozy that she is fine.  As you will read, they are basically under "house arrest" as she calls it for Monday and Tuesday.  If you want to read more about the deep freeze in Chicago, here are a couple of links to get the idea:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-extreme-cold-chicago-met-0127-20140127,0,3642307.story

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/57458069-68/minus-chicago-chills-cold.html.csp

And if you want to see some cool photos of what the super cold looks like in Chicago, here are links to those:

http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-ugc-weather-photos/

http://galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com/chi-winter-in-chicago-2013-photos/

Now, on to Allyse's letter...

From: Allyse Meanea
Date: Mon, Jan 27, 2014 at 11:26 AM

Hna Toney and I with a
wonderful member family

Hola a Todos! Como estan? This has been quite the week! I started on a fun new adventure with a new companion, Hermana Black. On Tuesday we went to the transfer meeting. We watched all of the new greenies get their trainers and then everyone just leaves with their new companions. It was hard to say goodbye to Hermana Toney because she has been so amazing for me and I have gotten so comfortable with how it was. But, one thing I have definitely learned on my mission is that this Gospel is a Gospel of change, so, it makes sense that we need to change companions occasionally to learn and grow. There can't be any comfort zone as a missionary! So we changed companions and then us four Hermanas went and got Hermana Whitney's (Hna Jones' new companion) luggage, ate at Subway, went shopping at Walmart, and then they took us to our apartment. We did a brief planning session and introduction to the area then went and tried to find a referral we had received. The lady we talked to had never heard of the person we supposedly had been referred the phone number didn't work so it looks like it wasn't real. We then went to the Noche de Hogar with the T.... family. We read from Genesis and then ate.

Hna Toney and I with our teaching
tool iPad Mini's wearing the PJ's
that Hna Toney's Grandma made

Wednesday we had District Meeting. After that we practiced a song because it is Missionary Sunday in our ward this week. Us 8 missionaries are singing and Hermana Black and I are speaking. The Hermanas then took us home and we had lunch and then did Facebook contacting. Next we tried to contact some people and did some tracting. We set up one appointment with a man for Saturday.

Thursday we went and contacted M.... R......., an investigator we hadn't seen for a while because her brother is really sick in the hospital. She was good, her brother is still really sick and so we set an appointment for next week. We spent most of the rest of the day in weekly planning. We then had an appointment with a less active but we she didn't' answer her phone or door. We later found out she didn't have her phone so she didn't know we were there.

Hermana Black and Hermana Meanea

Friday we had a lesson with another investigator, M.... C......... I can honestly say I took the lead in that lesson and spoke more Spanish in a lesson that I had my whole mission so far! We taught the 10 Commandments and I was even able to talk with her about her concerns about the virgin birth of Christ. It went pretty well and it felt so amazing to know that I played a big part in teaching a lesson. We then had a lesson with a recent convert/less active. I shared a scripture, Omni 1:26, and we talked with her a bit. We then tried to contact some other people but with no luck.

Saturday we went to the appointment we had made while tracting, but no one answered the door. :-(  We then went to the train station and renewed our bus passes. Next we tried some potentials but they weren't home. We then went to MCM (missionary correlation meeting).  I was a little nervous because I knew I would have to talk the whole time we were sharing our progress record because I knew the people. But, it went pretty good. We then went and saw a less active family. They were so nice and we shared a scripture with them. They are less active because they have to work on Sundays, that is a big problem here for a lot of people and it is really sad because they are so great, they just can't come to Church.

A very cold day in Chicago!

Sunday was a day I had been really nervous for because I have a hard enough time giving a talk in English, let alone Spanish! But, Church was good. We even had two investigators come to Sacrament Meeting. I gave my talk and spoke for about 10 minutes, in Spanish! I read most of my talk but I wrote it all by myself and one of our Zone Leaders said it was really good and only had a few tiny grammar mistakes! After Church we mostly did studies and worked on area book because it was honestly too cold to go out without a car and we were advised to stay inside.

I love my new companion, Hermana Black. She is so nice and we get along really well. This is definitely a new, and exciting, adventure. I know that I am going to learn and grow a lot this transfer. Thank you so much to all of you for all of your love and support! I hope you have an amazing week and don't think about our high's here in Chicago being around -18! I love you all so much!

Hermana Meanea

Dreaded Transfer Week...

Hello Everyone! How are you doing? This week was a really good week.

Hermana Meanea's
Weekly "Selfie"

On Monday night we had our Noche de Hogar with the C....... family. It was good. We read in the Book of Mormon and one of the recent convert families came so that was wonderful.

On Tuesday we walked A LOT! We went all around our area trying to find less active members that no one has seen in forever. That is a big problem with our ward. We technically have 400+ members but less than 100 attend Church. The main reason is because a ton of people will move but not tell anyone so their records just sit in our ward. That was the case with all of the people we tried. They no longer live there, but we definitely got a great workout! We also had a Noche de Hogar with the N.... family that night. It was good. They brought a non-member and we tried teaching her with the Elders that were also there. But it was pretty obvious she was just trying to discount whatever we said and didn't want to listen to us, so that was sad. But, it just isn't her time yet.

Hermana's Meanea & Toney with an investigator

Wednesday we had District Meeting and it was really good. Us four Hermanas then went to Panera Bread to eat together, potentially one last time. It was super good and fun. That night we had a lesson with R....... D....., one of Hermana Toney's recent converts. We took a member with us and it went pretty good. We went over the 10 Commandments the member was great with talking with him and reminding him of the covenants he has made. We then had a lesson with S....... and her family. Her sister was also there and we had the N......... Family come. It went really well. We also went over the 10 Commandments with them, emphasizing the importance of going to Church. They are doing pretty good but aren't able to come to Church right now so we are working on that.


Thursday we had an appointment with Hermana M, a less active. She is a really neat lady and is only less-active because she takes care of her grand kids during the week and can only work on the weekends. We talked about Heavenly Father and she opened up to us a lot about why her family isn't coming to Church so now we can start working on them. She fed us Chilaques and eggs and they were SUPER good! We then had an appointment with R...... M...., an investigator we haven't been able to meet with in a while. It went well, we taught the first part of the Plan of Salvation. Because we are expecting Hermana Toney to leave next week, she has been having me do a lot more on the phone and in lessons. It is really hard but I know it is helping me so much. The rest of the day was spent in weekly planning.

REAL Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

Friday we splurged a little bit. Hermana Toney and I went to Giordano's, the go-to place for Chicago deep dish pizza. It was super good and a fun treat. We then spent the day finishing weekly planning and working on our area book.

The Saturday before transfers is a day where all missionaries treat the cell phone like a snake. Sometime during the day you receive a text saying either: "You will NOT be receiving a transfer call," or "You WILL be receiving a transfer call." But you have no idea when it is coming. We had a lesson and lunch with an active member. She made Carnitas and they were amazing. I pretty much love all of the food I have eaten here! I was basically in charge and gave the lesson. I shared Mosiah 15:10-18 and talked about it. It really well, they are so patient with me here and have no problem correcting and helping me with my Spanish! We then went tracting for a while. It was snowing and everyone thought we were crazy! We got some good potential investigators and a few doors slammed in our faces. It was great to get out and do something so missionary-ish! Finally that night we get the text and guess what it said?!?!??!  "You will NOT be getting a transfer call"! We were shocked and so excited! But then, 5 minutes later we got a text saying: "you WILL be receiving a transfer call." What? We were so confused. But then another text came saying disregard

Hermana Meanea's exasperation
with transfer texts & calls!

everything. Apparently both of those texts had gone to the whole mission! A while later we got another one saying, "For real: You will NOT be receiving a transfer call.". Once again we were so excited. Then, a few minutes later we got another saying: "Real deal: You WILL be receiving a transfer call". At this point we just didn't know what to think. We didn't know what was happening until 9:30 that night when one of the assistants called and told us Hermana Toney was being transferred to the Chicago 5th Ward. Her new companion is Hermana Woolf, my CCM (MTC) companion. I am getting Hermana Black and everyone says she is awesome. I am so sad to be losing my "mom" but I am also super excited for this new adventure, and really nervous too!

Hermana Toney with the kids
of our investigators

Sunday we had Church and M...... and I......, some of our investigators, came with their kids so that made us so happy. We then did our studies. That night we went and visited the N........., a member family that is so incredible and who we love so much. They fed us, of course, and Hermana Toney shared a little lesson about Temples because they are working on getting sealed. She then gave her one of her nametags. This is a missionary's way of saying they will stay in contact and a sign of gratitude and love. It was really sad to watch her say goodbye to them because this family is so amazing.

It was a great week because we contacted a lot and got some great lessons. I am so sad to be losing Hermana Toney but that is the mission! I know that this will be a great new adventure and I am going to grow and stretch SO much! Thank you all for your love and support in everything! I love and miss you all so much! Have a great week and have some adventures!

Eternal Love, Hermana Allyse Meanea

Survived "Chiberia", back to missionary work...

Hello Family and Friends, before you get Allyse's letter this week, I had just wanted to share this with you...

A week ago when it was so cold in the mid-west, a guy made a 30 second video showing just how cold it was in Chicago.  It was pretty amazing to see (keep in mind you are not seeing snow in this video, that is cold air): http://videos.komando.com/watch/4816/viral-videos-chicago-is-brutally-cold-right-now

Now that it has warmed up to a balmy 24 degrees this week in Chicago, Hermana's Toney and Meanea are back on the prowl...

John

From: Allyse Meanea
Date: Mon, Jan 13, 2014 at 10:08 AM

Hello Family and Friends! We made it through "Chiberia"!!! It was soooo cold but is warming up a lot now which is nice. This week was a pretty normal week so I don't have a ton to write about but I will try!!!

Hermana Meanea on the streets of
Chicago wearing the necklace sent to her
by the Whites of her home ward.
Thank you Brother & Sister White!

Last Monday after we finished emailing and getting our shopping done we spent the rest of the night in our apartment. They even canceled the Noche for that night because it was soooo cold. Honestly I have never felt cold like that. Even being out for just a couple of minutes was just painful. It really feels like actual needles stabbing you! On Tuesday our mission president told us not to leave our apartment unless we had a car because it was still so cold and an Elder had gotten frostbite from being out for just 5 minutes! So since we share a car with some other Hermanas we mostly spent the day together going to their different appointments and working a lot on converting our huge area book to the iPads. We did have a Noche that night. It went well. We taught the Plan of Salvation with the Zone Leaders because we both had investigators there. It went well, they had questions and we were able to help them overcome some confusions they had.

Wednesday was finally a more normal of a day because it was actually above negative temperatures. We spent the day trying to find a lot of people, doing stop-by's as we call it. But, no one was really home. We were able to catch our investigators that are on date at home finally. But they were walking out the door and couldn't talk to us then. We were able to stop by a less-actives and she let us in. We had a great talk with her and shared Omni 1:26. She gave us Quesedillas - Salvadoran style. These quesedillas are nothing like Mexican quesedillas. They are a kind of sweet bread made with cheese and were really good!

Thursday is weekly planning day. Weekly planning is such a long and sometimes arduous task, but it definitely pays off when we have specific plans for the next week. We also had an appointment with an investigator. We taught her the Restoration again and she seemed to understand pretty well. We taught that with emphasis on authority because we want to try and help her understand we aren't just there for bible study which is a mindset a lot of people have out here and trap that missionaries sometimes fall into. We are there to convert them to the true and restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and we want them to realized the difference and importance of this message.

Hermana Meanea at a church building for Zone
Training, which is the same church building that
she was able to attend Sunday Services at this
past summer while visiting Chicago with her
family on vacation, but before her mission began.

Friday was great because we had Zone Training Meeting which is basically Zone Conference. President Woodbury gave a great lesson on the Brother of Jared and how it shows the cycle of the Doctrine of Christ and how we apply it to ourselves, investigators, and less actives. Just like the Brother of Jared, he taught us how we need to see the hand of the Lord in our lives.  The rest of the day we spent finishing weekly planning using our iPads to plan specifically for the people we are working with. The mission is trying to go paperless so we are trying to figure out the best way to use our iPads in planning. That night we then ventured out to find our ward mission leader because we were supposed to have MCM, missionary correlation meeting, the next day but his phone wasn't working. Because it had been raining all day and has been warmer, we actually pretty much waded to his apartment. There were huge puddles of ice water the whole way there so it was an adventure!

Saturday we had MCM.  On our way to the MCM we were waiting for the bus.  A mother and her kids walked past. So I walked up to her said hello, asked her how she was and then asked her if I could giver her a card. I gave her a pass along card and explained who we were and what we were sharing. This was all in Spanish by the way, pretty okay Spanish because I have practiced :) She then looked at me, said she was Catholic and only spoke Spanish and then walked away. Ouch! Oh well, I tried and did it all on my own! I totally got rejected but it was fine because I tried!  At the MCM we discussed the missionary work in the ward. They are trying more and more to get members involved. It is a slow progress, just like I am sure it is in your wards, but they really are trying and always encouraging everyone to support the missionaries.  We then did some more stop-by's trying to find people. We stopped by some good potential investigators and they seemed really happy to see us. They were getting ready to leave right then but said we should come back another day.

P-Day Zone Activity of Volleyball

Sunday was good. 9:00 Church is really beating up the attendance of the entire ward. It is also really hurting our investigator attendance. But, it will get better and we know that the Lord will open the way for people to make it to Church.  The rest of the day was spent in studies and area book.

I love and miss you all so much! Missionary work is not easy but that is because the Atonement was not easy for our Savior. Salvation is so precious that it takes a lot of work. But I know that everything we go through in this life is going to be more than worth it when we are able to live with our God and our Savior and our families for Eternity. I cannot comprehend how incredible that will be. But I know I want it more than anything and that I am willing to do anything it takes to get there! Have an incredible week! I love you all!

Hermana Allyse Meanea

A 20 lb. Torta + Week Long Snowstorm + Crashing a Wedding = January 6, 2014 Email!

Side note from John... Today the high temperature for Chicago was a Negative 14 degrees.  With the wind chill figured in, it would actually feel like a negative 43 degrees!  Baby it is cold out there in Chicago!!!

Now on to her letter....... John

Four Hermanas taking on downtown Chicago

From: Allyse Meanea
Date: Mon, Jan 6, 2014 at 11:05 AM

Hello Family & Friends! Happy New Year! It is 2014! This has been a pretty good, COLD, snowy week!

On Monday (last P-day) we got some shopping done and then had our Noche de Hogar (FHE). Everyone bore testimony of how their year had been and their goals for next year. I talked about how it had been a year of BIG changes and how I had made the goal to be a more consecrated missionary to the Lord. They gave Hermana Toney and I a gift. They had made us hats and scarves, it was so neat!

The next day we had a New Missionary Training Meeting. It is a meeting where all of the missionaries who have been out less than 12 weeks, and their companions, receive training. This time only half of the mission, about 100 missionaries, was involved vs 3/4 of the whole mission for the same meeting last transfer! I drove us up to the meeting (across the city). We had to leave kind of early and we drove into downtown as the sun was coming up across the lake and shining on the buildings, it was so incredibly beautiful!  The meeting was amazing! The theme was on being a consecrated missionary and I am definitely going to work laying my fear on the "altar of sacrifice" to the Lord. We then drove home. It took almost three hours! The snow was bad, the roads were bad, and we went between 5-10 mph the whole time. Back at home driving in Cedar on snow packed roads was hard enough for me. But truly a blessing from the Lord out here is that I no longer freak out driving. I actually enjoyed it and we were able to be safe.

The Missionary Skit...
Those are our ZL. It was so funny!

Our Ward knows how to throw a party!

We drove straight to the chapel and made it there about 5:45 pm, 15 minutes before the big ward New Year's Eve party was supposed to start. Of course, when you combine Mormon Standard Time and Mexicans, no one was there yet, including those in charge. We waited for quite a while, not too concerned because that was typical. Finally, after a side trip to McDonald's for fries and smoothies, people started to show up and the party got underway. It was so fun! There were games for the kids and they had a little dinner so the missionaries could eat before they had to leave. We had some investigators attend as well. The big dinner wasn't until later which is tradition. Us missionaries did
really funny skit too. It was a great night, we even had some investigators attend as well. . As we were leaving the New Years party, the ward gave each missionary companionship a present. They gave us each a HUGE 20 lb. Torta (sandwich)!!!

Hermana Toney and I with our 20 lb Torta!!!

Our ward's New Year's Eve Party

Wednesday was a little dull after such a crazy Tuesday! We had District Meeting which was good. We learned about setting goals, go figure :) We also found out our DL was getting transferred that night to be a ZL up north, so that was a little sad. One of the Elders in our Zone gave everyone Rosca. It is a Mexican tradition for New Year's. It is the pastry that has little plastic baby Jesus' baked into it. Everyone takes a piece and whoever gets the baby Jesus has to host the party the next year. We then went home and did weekly planning the rest of the day. because we were supposed to be getting a mini missionary the next day and didn't want them to have to sit through an entire day of weekly planning. We did go over to a member's house because they invited us to have Pozole for New Year's.

The snow that had fallen from Tuesday - Friday.
 It continued snowing the rest of the weekend
 so you can imagine now!

Thursday we were supposed to go and pick up our mini missionary. Mini Missionaries is a neat program they do in the mission. Youth are able to spend four days and three nights being a missionary with the full time missionaries over the Christmas break. Unfortunately our Mini Missionary canceled at the last minute, so we didn't get one. The rest of the week we spent walking and on buses because the other Hermanas had a mini missionary and we thought one of the seat belts in the car was broken so we couldn't ride anywhere with them. That day we had a lesson with one of our investigators. We talked about the 10 Commandments and it went really well. We then finished the night with weekly planning.

Friday was a VERY cold day! It was the one day this entire week that it wasn't snowing. Which, of course, meant it was super cold! We went walking and taking buses everywhere, but, no one was home or would answer. We finally got into one recent convert home and shared a message. By that point we were so cold we went home and had dinner and worked on converting our area book to the iPad.

Saturday was our "Menos Activos" day.We were able to find someone who even Hermana Toney hadn't met yet (Sister Toney has been in this area for almost 8 full months now). She was super nice and we found out she isn't even really less active because she is just gone to Mexico so much, and her husband was even a bishop there. We then rode buses to the church. There was a baptism that night for a 8 year old girl. I played the piano for part of the baptismal service.  After the baptism there was a wedding reception going on in the church for the daughter of the Stake Patriarch. They invited all of the missionaries to stop by the reception to eat (they know that missionaries will take free food whenever they can get it :). So we ate dinner at a wedding reception, it was great!

A COLD Chicago Sunset from our apartment window!
Even though I miss the mountains,
the sunsets here are amazing!

Sunday we got up and got ready to leave because our ward block meetings changed to 9:00 am. Back at home it would have been really hard to get up so early. But out here because you are up at the same time every morning no matter what, it wasn't too difficult. We left the apartment at 8:00 and waited for 45 minutes for the first bus we need to catch, in the snow and wind. It was great because everyone was looking at us like we were crazy and this one random guy tried to pick us up three times! We were then waiting for the second bus we needed to catch for a long time as well. Finally, some members on their way to church saw us and pulled over and gave us a ride to Church. It took us and hour and a half to get to church, we were 20 minutes late :) The meetings were good but of course not too many were there. The storms were so bad (another ward canceled their services) and it was early (especially for Mexicans). But testimony meeting was great. Everyone was talking about how amazing missionaries are and how the ward members need to support us. We then went home and did our studies and worked on our area book.

Today is COLD! Everyone has been talking about it. They told us to fill up our gas tanks last Saturday because if we didn't' the gasoline would freeze in the car today! Last night the Assistants texted and told us not to leave our apartments unless we had an appointment and a car! So yeah, it is cold! How exciting and what I experience! Life in Chicago as a missionary, I love it!

Thank you so much to everyone for everything that you do! This is not just work for missionaries. It is the work of the Lord and everyone plays a part! Have a wonderful week and remember how much I love you all! Be strong and safe!

Hermana Allyse Meanea