Missionary work is "Sweet", especially at the Albanese Candy Factory...

Hermana Escobar and I at the
Albanese Candy Factory on P-Day

Buenos Dias Queridas Familia y Amigos! How is everyone doing? Hermana Escobar and I had another amazing and interesting week. Things are going great and I really do love being here and being with Hermana Escobar! Here is my novel for the week. :-)

Monday for P-Day we hung out with 6 other sisters. We ate at Chick-Fil-A and then went to Albanese Candy Factory. After our P-Day we spent sometime proselyting on Facebook because we couldn't afford the miles it would cost us to drive to Chicago Heights.

We live in Indiana and work in Illinois,
so we cross the border all the time!

Today was a terrific Tuesday! We spent the day in Chicago Heights trying to see potential and new investigators. We were able to catch a few people at home and set up some appointments with them. But we still burned through our long list of people to see very quickly. We were able to spend some time figuring out what all Hermana Escobar needs to do to get an Illinois Drivers License because it is going to be too hard for her to get a new Utah one because she can't appear in Utah in person. She gets to take the written and driving tests as well as we get to drive clear to Wilmette sometime to get her passport from the mission office. She is super excited about all of that (sarcastic face)! We had a crazy story happen at the DMV. We were getting ready to leave and Hermana Escobar was getting ready to back me up. As I was getting ready to back up, she yelled "Hermana" and I looked at her to see her holding a HUGE wad of cash. At first I was really confused where it had come from and then she explained that she had just found it lying in the middle of the parking lot. We went to take the cash in to the DMV office and as we were doing so, the Secretary of State police officer as well as some other people we had been talking to earlier told us we should just keep it because it wouldn't do anything to turn it in. We insisted and went back inside to turn in the money. As we were waiting in line, a little girl came up to us and asked if we had found a big wad of cash in the parking lot. She explained it was hers and she had been in charge of holding it for her mom. We gladly gave it to her because you could just tell that she was telling the truth. As we walked back out we explained what had happened and all the people that had told us to just keep it were amazed and very impressed with us. It was really cool and we were so glad that there was never any question to us of what we should do, it really made an impression on a lot of people! Tuesday night we had a dinner appointment with a member. She made us really good enchiladas and I found out she is the sister of an Hermana that I used to visit a lot in Midway. It was so neat to have that common ground with her and I could completely tell they were sisters. We played the Plan of Salvation game and it went great.

We spend a lot of time in the car
as we travel to our assigned area

Going for a pattern, today was a wonderful Wednesday. We had a really good District Meeting about "Talk with Everyone" and "Teach when you Find, Find when you Teach". Hermana Escobar and I learned about a lot of things we can better implement as a companionship. We then ate our little sack lunches at the Church and checked Facebook for a couple of minutes and then headed to Chicago Heights. Unfortunately the appointment we had wasn't home. So instead we decided to put into practice exactly what we learned at District Meeting. We went tracting and started teaching as soon as someone answered the door. Chicago Heights is kind of difficult to knock because it is mostly black and white with pockets of Hispanics here and there. You just have to pick a random street and go for it, hoping there might he Hispanics there. That is one thing you definitely learn on the mission is to look for clues that signify that Hispanics live there (the biggest give away is Christmas lights hung up, if so, you know it is Hispanic!). This particular street happened to be completely white Lutherans. We got rejected at every house. It was so hard and sad, especially when they told us things like "You don't focus enough on Jesus" (His name is on our name badges!) or "I'll be praying for you that someday you may see the light and learn the truth". It was a tough street but I learned so much from it by watching Hermana Escobar. She is truly such a powerful teacher and testifier. She shows love and joy and really connects with people and is able to follow the Spirit so well, it was amazing to watch and I hope to learn to follow her example. We then had a dinner appointment with a member and it went really good. We played the "Scale of Righteousness" game with her, her son, and her two grand kids and it seemed to make a big impact on them. As we were getting to leave, she told us about a less active that she used to see with the Elders sometimes. She said she hadn't seen her for a while but that she lived just a few blocks away. We told her we would check with the Elders and see if they were working with her. Since we had a little extra time we decided to just stop by and see this less active member because we were right there. We got on the Area Book app on our iPad to check the address and see if the Elders had met with her recently. As I was driving there we saw from the area book record that the Elders were actually scheduled to be in an appointment with her right then! We were so glad that we checked before we knocked on the door and awkwardly found them there when we were in their area without permission to stop by one of their less actives. We headed for home and creepily texted the Elders telling them to tell the less active member hello for us. They were very confused about how we were stalking them :-)

Thursday was interesting. We had apartment inspections and that went well because our apartment was nice and clean. We then worked on weekly planning for several hours. After spending a little time at the library on Facebook, we went to our eating appointment with a member in Whiting. She made us some really good food, it was weird because it was almost all Americanized; we had ham, potatoes, rolls, and then...pinto beans. The beans helped it feel more normal :-) We had a good little lesson on "the scale of righteousness" and how the power of repentance allows us to change. We then hurried to MCM because we were late and it was in Gary. Hurrying was hard because the road was not a road, it was actually just potholes hooked together by a little bit of asphalt. We were trying to hurry and my poor companion was extremely nauseated from the food (she is allergic to gluten and a TON of other stuff) and the ibuprofen she is taking (which she is also very allergic to) because of her ridiculously painful and messed up back. Needless to say, it was a very interesting drive. MCM was good, except for my companion was also pretty loopy from all of the Ibuprofen so that was really interesting. We then thankfully made it home so that Hermana Escobar was able to rest.

We had a VERY busy day on Friday! We literally spent all day running from appointment to

Uncle Paul, this photo is for you. Since you enjoy water
towers, this is one that we often pass by in our area

appointment. It was so great to be so busy but we were sure exhausted! Our relief society president really wanted to come out with us so we met up with her and then drove to an appointment with a investigator. She is very Catholic and doesn't have too much interest in changing. But her husband is Christian and does have interest. The only problem is that he is never home so we are trying to teach his wife so that we can teach him. But when we got there with our relief society president, the husband was there and so we were able to teach mainly focusing on him. We shared the #BecauseofHim video and talked about Christ and about the Book of Mormon and how it is evidence that all of this is true. We then went to another appointment with the relief society President, this time a family that is less active. We shared the video again, it really has been such a powerful tool for us to use. We talked about the Sacrament and how it is such a gift for us. After that lesson we hurried and took the relief society president back to her car and then hurried to an appointment we were pretty late for with our investigator and recent convert family. They are the cutest little family. A father and his daughter were baptized at the end of March. We are working a lot with the mom to help her recognize how this is the true and living Church. She is very actively involved and attending two churches right now and is finding it difficult to receive her answer. She fed us some really good pasta and carne and then we shared the Restoration video. It was a powerful lesson and it was going really good. Then her pastor came in and the mom had her daughter hurry and hide the Book of Mormons that we had been reading from. #exasperatedface  We have taught the mother so much and she believes it is true, she is just waiting for her answer and is a little scared to take that step, but she will get there. Next we got in a little bit of Facebook proselyting time before going to meet with a Chicago Heights ward member who speaks Spanish and who we had set up an appointment with.  It was going good and we had been talking with her, getting to know her, for just a couple of minutes when she was like, "It's been great to meet you and all  but we are going to have to reschedule, I have other company. " We were kind of kicked out of her house and we were both kind of confused about it, but that is okay because we go back later. We then had a great dinner appointment with a member and her kids. We had a great, if not kind of crazy, time talking with them. They are a great family and I really enjoyed being with them.

Hermana Escobar as the "novia"
during a skit for the branch activity

Hermana Escobar and I have officially decided that everyday is interesting with us, and Saturday was no exception. We did our studies and the drove to Chicago Heights. We tried to contact some PNI's but they all said some other day. We did a little bit of Facebook proselyting and then went to our appointment with a less active family. When we knocked on their door someone who lives there told us that they had just left to walk their dog. The crazy thing is that we had just confirmed with them an hour before and the Hermana even said she was making us food. We waited for a while and tried calling them, but nothing. 

It was really strange and kind of sad, but we just headed to the 

The Elders serving in our branch
in their skit costumes for the
branch activity

chapel to help everyone get ready for the branch activity. It was a branch talent show and it was so

 much fun. A lot of people participated. There was some amazing singing and us missionaries ended up doing 2 skits. One we wrote because they asked us to and the other was one that Presidente saw of some other missionaries do and thought it would be great for us to do. It was called, "Querido Juan" which means "Dear John" :-) It was super funny and a little bit awkward, especially for my companion, the novia (girlfriend) of Juan, our District Leader. It was a really fun night.

Sunday Hermana Escobar happened to check the phone as we were getting ready to start studies and we found out that we had a meeting at 9:00 with the leaders of the Branch and President Cabrera of the Mission Presidency. We had enough time to hurry and get ready and then run out the door to the meeting. It was a really good meeting and President Cabrera really got everyone excited about participating in missionary work. He suggested we start holding a branch Noche de Hogar, he mentioned how successful it has been in Midway in the Chicago Stake and I was quite proud. :-) The rest of Church was good and then we went home and did studies before going to Presidente's house for dinner. It was a nice end to the week.

Time really is starting to go by faster, it is kind of crazy! I hope you all are doing good. Please remember how much I love you and miss you! Have an incredible week!

Hermana Allyse Meanea

A Week of Changes, Shrimp, Passing Out, and Joy!!!

WOW Amazing Family and Friends! This has been a crazy week and a lot has happened! Everything is so incredible, I love it! I love my new companion and my new area, it is so fun and interesting.

Dominos for our last night together.

I guess we will start with last Monday. After emailing for P-day we went to Giordano's together as all of the Hermanas  serving in our ward. It was fun and great to just be all together and be able to talk together one last time. We also went to the post office so that Hermana Jones, Hermana Black, and I could all mail boxes home. It was pretty funny that I sent home far more than Hermana Jones who has been out 18 months and is now going home! That afternoon I worked on packing and then we headed out to try and see some people so I could say goodbye. We had a miracle happen with one of our very interesting investigators! We hadn't seen her for a while, she hadn't been there for our appointment and she hadn't been answering her phone calls for a week, all of which was so unlike her. We left the our house a little later than we had been planning but still hoped that she might be home this time.  As we were walking down the alley between her house and our house, she walked right past the alley on her way home! We got to her house at the exact same time that she returned home from being at her daughters house for several days. If we had gone any earlier, we would have missed her!

Eating Camarron!

Another part of the miracle was that because she was just getting home she didn't want to talk for long, which was so great because she does like to talk normally and we didn't really have time. She was so sad to see me leave and made me promise to come back and visit her, she also gave us juice like always she always has done for one last time. We then tried to contact another one of my favorite investigators but she wasn't home :-( We then went to a member's home and they were so amazing. The dad gave a little family home evening about missionary work and how even if we don't baptize in a area, we are planting seeds and are in the service of The Lord. They then had a very special dinner for us...camarón. In English that is...shrimp cocktails!!! Thankfully the sauce was strong enough and Heavenly Father is so amazing to bless me that I didn't taste the shrimp and I was able to eat it all! What a tender mercy from Heavenly Father (if you couldn't tell, I can't stomach shrimp)! I had a great night with them and it was so sad and hard to say goodbye, but I will be back. That night I just finished packing and we ate Dominos that my family had arranged to be delivered to our apartment for my last night there with Hermana Black.

Hermana Black and I one last time...

Tuesday morning we got me all ready to go and then waited for the Westchester Hermanas to come get my luggage and the other Hermanas from our ward to pick us up. Thankfully we were able to find a place for all of my stuff. It is incredible how much you collect being in an area for six months!  At the transfer meeting I said goodbye to Hermana Black and we moved all of my stuff to my new car. Hermana Escobar and I then started the long drive home to Indiana. We are definitely not in South Side Chicago anymore. We left the city and drove through fields and open space, something that I haven't seen in 7 months! I love my new companion, she is so fun and energetic and happy. I am so excited to be serving with her and I know there is a lot I will be able to learn from her! We unpacked my stuff a little but and then

Welcome to Indiana Hermana Meanea!!!

headed out to a lesson with a less active family. It was a great lesson completely led by the Spirit because Hermana Escobar and I didn't have much time to prepare and we have never taught together before. They are a super sweet family and their son really wants to come back to Church, pray, and read his scriptures so that he can have "the Force". For dinner that night we got Elotes. An elote is corn, mayonnaise, butter, and chili powder. It sounds a little gross but is actually really good! That night we had a pretty intense nightly planning session and we made companionship goals for this transfer. It was a fun first day and it is going to be an amazing transfer!

My new comp, Hermana Escobar

The info about my new companion and my new area. My companion is Hermana Escobar from Provo, Utah. She just turned 20 and has been out on her mission a transfer longer than me. She is super outgoing and fun and energetic. I am so excited to be with her and to learn from her. Our proselyting area is half of a Spanish Branch's area. It is a HUGE geographical area! By comparison, my old area in Midway was pretty big by Chicago Stake standards, but it has NOTHING on this area!!! We cover a 1/3 of the Stake, and it is a huge stake. Our area is at least 70 miles wide and 50 miles tall!!! We live in the middle of our area, but we actually do most of our work in Illinois. So that means that everyday we take the 25 mile drive, about 45 minutes, to where we work. We have so much car time in this area, definitely another big change from my last area!  We only have 3 active families, 3 less active families, and 2 recent convert families in our proselyting area to help us find investigators.

Toto, I don't think we are in the
South Side Chicago anymore...

On Wednesday we did some studies and then went to District Meeting. It was a good meeting, we learned about how we can best use #BecauseofHim and how we can share Preach My Gospel with the members and extend commitments to them. After District Meeting we did some Facebook proselyting and then went to the library so that we could download the #BecauseofHim church videos on our iPads so we can use them in teaching this week. I hope you all heard about the amazing social media initiative the Church did this past week. As missionaries we were highly encouraged, and we did, get highly involved in this. It was a lot of fun to go throughout the week seeing what we could do to share what is possible #BecauseofHim. We then met with a Spanish speaking member of the English Ward in our area. The Stake President has asked us to work on developing a relationship with the Spanish speaking members that attend the English ward so that we can work together in the area. She was great and we were able to share the #BecauseofHim video with her and she is definitely going to be a big help to us. After that we drove to another member's home for a dinner appointment, but no one was home. :-(  We got Taco Bell instead and then made our long drive back home.

The sky is so big and beautiful and open in Indiana

So Thursday was great! We had basically all of our appointments cancel, but that is okay! We drove clear to our area in Chicago because we had scheduled appointments, but then the appointments canceled. Because we already used way too many miles than we are allowed (because it is not possible to stay within the miles allotted to us because of how far we live from our working area) so we sat in the car for several hours and did our weekly planning. It is kind of hard and a little frustrating coming into a new area. I just want to know everyone, I want to know the area, and I want to be able to help with the planning, but it is coming along. We then got a text from one of our investigators. Her mom is in a nursing home and she asked if we could go and see her mom for a bit. Happy for the chance to serve a little bit, and take a break from weekly planning, we drove to the nursing home. It was a huge place but we finally figured out where we were going and put on the gowns, gloves, and masks that we needed to enter her room, we looked great! She is a very interesting woman. We talked with her for a bit and helped her with just some little things. After about 20 minutes with her I started to get that particular sensation that happens to me when I am in hospitals and other medical buildings. I got really hot and started to lose my vision and hearing, just a slight problem!  I knew that if we didn't get out of there really soon, I was going to pass out right there in the nursing home, something I really didn't want to happen. Hermana Escobar was able to explain really quickly to her that it was time for us to leave while I was doing all that I could to stay conscious. Thankfully I was able to stumble out to the car, all the while with my companion wondering what in the world was going on with me. Needless to say, I don't think that I will be able to do anymore volunteering at nursing homes! My only regret is that I was so out of it when we left that I didn't have us take a picture in our hospital clothes! We then drove to a member family's home. We had a really good dinner with them and then shared the #BecauseofHim video and had a great lesson with them. Her mom lives with them and she is not a member so we were really focusing on teaching her and helping her feel the Spirit. Hermana Escobar completely followed the Spirit and we had a very powerful lesson with them and invited the mom to Church. They all seemed really touched.

A Beautiful Welcome to Indiana Moon...

Friday morning we had fun making cookies and brownies to take around to different investigators and less actives. We then drove to Walmart to see if by some miracle they had Hermana Escobar's wallet. Sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning, she lost her wallet (she claims a gnome took it). We completely cleaned and went through the apartment and car...twice! It is nowhere. After learning that Walmart didn't have her wallet we called and took care of all of her credit cards and then talked with Elder Taggart, the mission vehicle coordinator. She is either going to have to jump through hoops and fill out all of this paperwork to get a replacement Utah drivers license because it is a little difficult for her to appear in person right now, or she can apply and test for an Illinois driving license. Either choice is going to take about a month so that means I am now the official driver of the companionship. It was a little scary at first because our area is so big and I really don't know it at all yet, but I am getting a lot better now and really enjoy the driving. We were dropping off some of the treats that we made when we got a text from our one investigator who's mom is in the care center that we visited on Thursday.  She asked if we could have our scheduled lesson with her at the nursing home with her mom instead of at her house.  This was a problem for us because of my little dilemma, we didn't think it would be a good idea for me to pass out while we were teaching them in the care center. The solution? We went on emergency splits with the English sisters from the area. It actually worked out because our investigator is more comfortable in English and we will probably have to pass her off to English missionaries anyway. So I spent the afternoon with Sister Buckmiller and we did a lot of stop-by's. We were trying to contact some of the less actives on their ward member list and it was so sad to meet people who wanted absolutely nothing to do with the Church anymore. It breaks your heart because you know what they pushing away. But we had a good time together and it was a pretty comical situation. The lesson with our investigator went well for my companion, and they even taught the receptionist at the care center too. I was so sad to have missed it but it sounds like it went really good, especially because I didn't pass out!

Saturday was another interesting day, I am just starting to accept the fact that all days are interesting on a mission! Hermana Escobar had a chiropractor appointment this morning so we drove there and back, it is about an hour each way, and I LOVED the long drive. We then returned home and did studies and worked some more on weekly planning. After that we took some pictures to put on Facebook for #BecauseofHim and for our profile pictures. We then spent some time on Facebook, proselyting and teaching. We really tried to do all we could
 on Facebook because we already used so many

#BecauseofHim on our car

 miles going to the chiropractor and back, not to mention how much we use just normally, that we couldn't drive to our working area today. So we did all of the work we could on Facebook. Facebook really is an amazing blessing to have as a missionary, it makes it possible for us to contact and teach people when we otherwise many not have had the chance. That night we washed the car and used window markers to write #BecauseofHim on our windows so that we can try and reach as many people as possible tomorrow.

Happy Easter!

On Sunday we had another busy day, which is always good to have, especially on Easter Sunday!  We had a meeting with the branch presidency and the Elders also serving in our branch. We discussed the less actives and investigators we are working with. The branch really wants to work with us and have people to visit and work with, it is so great. Hermana Escobar and I taught the Gospel Principles class about Prophets of God. We had two of our recent converts there as well as a member we visited this past week who brought her mom who we also taught and invited to come to Church. We then had Relief Society and then Sacrament Meeting. Going to Church in a branch is so interesting, it is soooo small!  We have about 30-40 active members, it is so different from the Chicago Midway Ward and from my home ward! The Branch President had me get up in Sacrament Meeting and introduce myself and give a little testimony. It was a beautiful Easter Sunday and the talks were very powerful about Christ and all that we have, are, and do is #BecauseofHim. Hermana Escobar and I handed out little eggs we had filled with chocolate and HLJ (Hace Lo Justo = Choose the Right) rings and had written #GraciasaÉl/ #BecauseofHim on them. Everyone loved them and though it was so cute. After Sacrament Meeting we had a little meeting with the Relief Society Presidency to talk about how they can help us with the people that we are working with. We then hurried to an appointment, but our investigator wasn't there so we just left the cookies and brownies we made for her. We then had another appointment cancel so we went to stop by our other recent converts/progressing investigator. They were home and let us in. We shared the #BecauseofHIm video and talked about Easter and about Christ. They are such sweet people. The husband and daughter were just baptized on the 29th of March, the husband passed the Sacrament for the first time today, and we are working with the Mom. She believes it is true but currently attends and is very active in 2 other churches and so we are helping her to see and understand this is the only true Church and how she is ready to accept this Gospel. We then went to another appointment with less actives where we again shared the #BecauseofHim video. They liked it a lot. Their 12 year old boy has been reading in the Book of Mormon and even asked us where he should read next! We then went home and had studies. I had a wonderful time studying about Easter and the Atonement. It just became so much more real to me. Christ is real, He truly is our Savior. He really did live and die for us, and He lives again! It was such a beautiful Easter Sunday and having this incredible opportunity to share glad news of Easter and of the Atonement, on Easter Sunday, with the people of this area, truly made it a very special day for me!

Have an amazing week everyone! I love you soooooo much! Thank you so much for all that you do! Don't let the joy and peace that we felt from Easter Sunday, dissipate. Our Redeemer lives and that means that we can have this same peace, joy, and happiness year round because the blessings of this knowledge are everlasting! I love you and our Savior loves you!

Eternal Love,

Hermana Allyse Meanea

A Police Story, Member Service and Transfers...

Hello Incredible Family and Friends!!! WOW! What a week! I am sure that you are all super curious to here what happened with transfers, but you will just have to read my entire letter to find out, hahaha!!!  :-)

Last Monday for the rest of P-Day we didn't do too much. We tried to stop by some people that evening but no one was home. We had a great Noche de Hogar with a member family. There was a lot of people there, members, an investigator of the Elders, and less actives. We talked about things we learned from conference and what they really meant and how they applied to us.

On Tuesday, we basically got to do service all day long. We went and helped a member family clean

Hermana Black and I dressed
as twinners accidentally one day,
we both walked out of closets
basically wearing the same outfit!

out and fix up a house that they used to rent out and now want to sell. We had to clean a ton of stuff out of the house, garage, and backyard. We then had to sort through an enormous pile of trash and toys and other random stuff to separate everything out. It was a long day but it felt so great to be able to serve and help and do some physical work. That night we went to the Noche de Hogar with the Trejo another member family in the ward. There was quite a few people there, including some investigators of the Elders. We taught the Restoration and the Elders came in partway through and helped us to teach it. Needless to say, by the end of the night, we were VERY exhausted!

Wednesday we had District Meeting where we learned about planning and teaching simply. We then

Chicago Midway Ward
Missionary District

had another day pretty full of service. We went back to the same house the we have been helping with and helped with the final details before the inspector arrived. We painted a fence and swept. We were then able to talk with some of the other ward members while the inspector was there and we had a great time laughing, listening to them tell stories. The inspection went pretty good for them. It didn't pass yet but that is because they have to go back and repaint some things because the inspector didn't like some of the colors (don't ask me what kind of building inspector it was, I though it was insane when we did a walk through afterwards and saw what he wanted fixed). For the rest of the day we did some finding and tracting.

Thursday was pretty much a weekly planning day. We did borrow the car from the other

One of thousands of cart vendors
that just go through the streets
selling all kinds of things

Hermanas in the ward for a few hours and I have a really funny story about that. So it was about 5 pm, not even close to dark yet, and we are driving through our area, enjoying the use of a car for just a few hours. We decide to try and see if an old referral was home because he lives in a part of the area we don't make it to very often (even though it is just 8 blocks south of our apartment) because it can be a little sketchy because it is right next to Western Ave. We get to his street and pull into a parking spot, after which, a police car drives past (which is pretty typical). After talking with each other and looking around from inside of the car for a minute we decided not to get out and leave the car (it is a super nice car because it is brand new and the other sisters just got it on Friday).  We decided to go somewhere else instead of trying to contact this referral. So we pulled back out onto the street, a ways now behind the police car. We turned onto a main road, still behind the police officer, and drive for a little bit before the officer pulls of to the side or the road and we drive past him. He then pulls in right behind us and turns his lights on to pull us over!!! We are both completely stunned because we were doing nothing wrong. We pull over and both officers make their way up both sides of the car. Hermana Black and I were freaking out, having no idea what is up, plus this is Hermana Black's first time ever getting pulled over as the driver. One officer walks up to her window and is like: "Um, what are you doing?" and sweet Hermana Black who is scared out of her mind blurts out exactly what we are doing, if not in a kind of not great way: "We are looking for people!". The officer gets this confused and stunned look and is like: "What?!?!"  My dear companion, realizing how bad that sounded, held out her name tag and was like, "Oh, we're missionaries". The police officer was like, "Oh, you're missionaries huh? And who were you looking for?" My companion explained we were looking for a guy named Israel Uribe and he asked why we were looking for him and we explained that he had been referred to us because he might have interest in learning about our Church. He then asked who told us to go see him and we explained we didn't know, just that he was a referral and then the officer asked why we pulled back out onto the road after pulling over and we had to explain that we had decided not to go see the referral. At this point he was like, "Oh, OK. We just wanted to make sure you were OK because we didn't know if you were really, really lost or buying dope.  But you shouldn't be down here it is really dangerous and if you ever have to come back here, you should come much, much, earlier in the day because it is bad here and there have been a lot of shootings here recently." So, yeah. That is my story about how 2 white girls in a really nice brand new car shouldn't be together in our area. We were both still shaking a half hour later and we promptly told the other Hermanas that we would no longer be using the car, it is just too nice and stands out way too much in our area! That evening we went to a lesson with a couple of investigators. We had a good lesson with them reviewing the Restoration. We will be passing them back to the Elders to teach (who originally found and taught them) because she can only meet at 8:30 at night and she lives in a pretty dangerous part of our area so it is not really possible or safe for us to teach them that late at night, especially because we don't have a car.

So, remember that talk a few years ago by Elder Nelson, "Ask the Missionaries, they can help you!"? Well people really take that to heart, which we love because we do love to help people. Like on Friday for instance, us missionaries were wedding reception decorators. We spent the morning setting up for a couple of our ward members' wedding reception. We had a lot of fun helping them.  We then had studies and we were supposed to have a lesson with an investigator, but she wasn't there and hasn't been answering her phone which is very unlike her. So we hope to get back in with her soon. We spent the rest of the afternoon looking for former investigators to see if they had interest to learn more. No one was really home though because it was a Friday afternoon and it was a really nice day.

The Wedding and Mariachi Band

Saturday, transfer call day. We had our correlation meeting with the ward mission leader. It went pretty good. He talked about how he wants everyone to work harder and more with the members, something everyone always needs to and can work on. We then did a little bit of proselyting, it was so warm today (80 degrees) and I can already tell that summer will be interesting, before we went back to the Church for the wedding reception we helped to set up for. It was fun to be at the wedding reception and this time we got to be waitresses and serve everyone their food. Seriously ask, the missionaries will help you! :-) The wedding reception was fun because it was a Mexican wedding reception, complete with a for real Mariachi band, it was super neat! That evening we got THE text: "You WILL be receiving a transfer call :-)". Can you guess? Yep, I am leaving Midway :-(. I am so sad to be leaving, I love the area and the people so much. But I am so super excited for my next big adventure. Any guesses where to? Drumroll please...I am going to Indiana! My companion is Hermana Escobar. I have met her a few times and she seems awesome. I am way excited for Indiana too. It will kind of be the complete opposite of my area now but I am excited for the change. I will miss The City so much, but cornfields are nice too. It will be really interesting because I have been in the BIG city for 7 straight months now, it is weird to think of going back to something that is similar to home! But like I said I am ready and super excited for this change!

I am going to Indiana!!! (my sweet companion made this sign for me)

An awesome member family
that I will greatly miss!

Another awesome member family

We had a good Sunday. At Church I was able to say goodbye to a lot of people and get pictures too. Because it was Fast Sunday I was able to bear my testimony and I hope my Spanish was a little better than when I bore my testimony 5 months ago when I first got here! After Church we went to a member's house for lunch because they are leaving town tomorrow and do there won't be a Noche. They wanted to say goodbye to me and I to them so they threw together a little party. It was a lot of fun and I loved just talking and enjoying being with them. The rest of the day we spent doing studies and I worked on packing, it is amazing how much stuff I have accumulated in 6 months!

A great member of the ward

Other ward members who have
taken great care of me

Me and a cute girl in
the ward that I played
with during Gospel Principles

Sweet Family and Friends, I love you all so very much. Thank you for all of your love and support. I am so excited for this next step in my adventure. I hope you all have an amazing week!

Hermana Allyse

"Things happen in this park...", & "Hermana, there's a dog!" week of memorable mission experiences

Hola a mis querida familia y amigos! This week was...interesting! Every single one of our appointments this week canceled and fell through. That made for a bit of a tough week, but that is okay because it means it can only get better from here and everyone has to have those weeks sometimes!

On Monday we had our Zone Activity and it was a lot of fun. We went to a park, colored Easter

Easter Egg Coloring...
Missionary Style!

eggs, and played soccer and kickball. It was so great to be able to be with everyone AND to be able to wear real clothes, although it was really weird too! We had one funny thing happen to us. Us Hermanas were talking as some of the Elders played soccer. Two random kids came up to us and asked us where we were from and what we were doing because they had "never seen so many white people there before"! We explained who we were and they were like, "Oh, OK. Just be careful, things happen in this park!" It was just so funny because we were just a lot of people and I don't think that park had ever seen so many! That night we had our Noche de Hogar with a member family. It was great because both sets of Elders ended up being there and a less active that used to be in our area that we love so much, was there too.

Tuesday we had Zone Training Meeting and it was super good like always. We learned a lot about the Doctrine of Christ and how it really is at the center of our message and how we need to use it to paint the big picture for our investigators and everyone else we are working with. We also learned about teaching simply and having faith to find people. That afternoon we went to do some service to help an Hermana move but it wasn't too organized yet and there weren't any other women so we couldn't even go into the house with the Elders to help. The Noche de Hogar with another member family was that night and our same less active was there again too!

We had a nice long day of finding on Wednesday, we did a lot of tracting. I have a fun story to tell

A wonderful church
member who watches
out for us missionaries.

you about 2 sister missionaries and a big dog, every missionary needs at least one of those stories right? Well, I got one! We were knocking doors and everyone here has gates around their houses. For the most part, these gates are normally unlocked. So, to knock the doors, you open the gate and walk up to the door. We did that at one particular house because it was only held closed by a little rope looped over the top. I was working on closing the gate when Hermana Black said, "Hermana, there's a dog!". I turned around to see and saw this big black dog walking calmly towards us. Hermana Black said again, "Hermana, there's a dog!" and I knew we needed to get out of there. I slipped back outside the gate and Hermana Black followed. Right as I was closing the gate again the dog got there. As soon as we were outside the gate, he turned ferocious and started jumping and barking. It was scary to get the rope back around the top of the gate because the dog was right there trying to bite me, but if I didn't get the rope looped, he would get out and we would have a bigger problem. As I was trying to get the gate closed without getting my hand bitten off, a window right next to the gate opened and a kid poked his head out to see what was going on. I explained that we hadn't realized there was a dog and we were just trying to knock on their door. Tons of people here in Chicago have dogs and they proudly display signs saying, "Beware of Dog", all except for this house! I finally got the gate closed and the rope hooked back in and Hermana Black and I walked away with our hearts pounding a good bit. It was such a tender mercy to me from Heavenly Father that the dog approached so calmly until we were outside of the gate, we were definitely protected and now I have a fun missionary-dog story! The rest of the day was very uneventful compared with that! We went to the one appointment that was still scheduled and confirmed with one of our investigators. We went with the a member and our investigator wasn't there. It was a little frustrating to have every lesson cancel, but that is missionary life sometimes!

This is how we missionaries
improvise when we don't have
the kind of baking pan we need!

Thursday was Weekly Planning. We got all of our planning done and also tried looking for some people, but no one was home. That was basically what that day consisted of.

On Friday we had a lunch appointment with member. She is Cuban and makes us the most amazing food, and a lot of it! Needless to say, we walked out of there with very full stomachs! The rest of the day we tried stopping by and seeing different people but no one was really home. That night we got to go to the baptism of a kid who just turned 8 that Hermana Black knew in Chicago 2nd. That was a lot of fun to be there.

Saturday we had General Conference! I had been looking forward to this all week like I am sure all

Riding the CTA bus to the
church building to watch
General Conference

of you were. Us missionaries watch it at the Church and for the most part it is just us there. For the first session they broadcasted it in English in the Chapel and then had headsets for the few Spanish people there. We then had MCM really fast and then Hermana Black and I helped member with her English class while the other Hermanas went and got Subway, they brought us back some too. For the second session they tried switching it up and putting all of the missionaries in the back of the gym with a little TV and metal chairs :-) But when the broadcast started, it was in Spanish so while they were trying to fix it, someone pulled it up on their iPad for us all to at least hear. But the iPad wasn't loud enough,

Hermana Black and myself watching General Conference

BUT, that morning I had the idea (inspiration now that I look back!) to take my little speaker with me, for some random reason! So while they were fixing the TV, we were all able to listen with the speaker I had brought, it was really neat to me! That night we got a special treat to go and visit a less active member. Even though she isn't in our area any more she really misses us and texts us sometimes. She is going through a really rough time and really needed to talk with someone. The other Hermanas weren't available so we got permission to go talk with her for a while. It was so great to be with her again and she was so excited!

Sunday we had more wonderful General Conference. I absolutely loved the Sunday morning session!  We heard some great messages in all sessions, and I am so excited to be able to go back through and read the talks and study them. I really liked President Uchtdorf's talk on gratitude, it was really good. Elder Holland was amazing as usual too! In between the Sunday

sessions an Hermana from the Westchester Spanish ward brought food for their missionaries and she was nice enough to share it with us, so we ended up having lunch too. After Conference we went looking for some less actives and potential investigators.

It was a good week, made even better with General Conference. I hope you all were able to feel our Father's love and His individual counsel for each one of us. I hope you all have an amazing week, I love you and thank you so much!!!

Eternal Love,

Hermana Allyse Meanea