The Spirit of God like a "FIRE" is burning!

Hi incredible friends and family! We have had another very interesting and very crazy week here. In Indiana. Nothing is ever boring here for sure. I promise that everything I wrote is true! In the service of The Lord, there is never a dull moment!

Monday was another long day in the hospital. Sister Abbott, the mission nurse, and her husband drove down from Chicago this morning to be with us. We were hoping to be released in the afternoon. But then the doctor made his rounds and told us we would be there until at least tomorrow because the VER test that we took on Saturday is only read on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Hermana Escobar and I were both pretty sad to hear that we would be staying another night because we had planning on going home today. But oh well. The nice thing was since the hospital room had WIFI we were just able to sit there and email during our P-Day hours. We talked with Elder and Sister Abbott a lot too. They went and got lunch and brought me back some too. They also got Hermana Escobar a teddy bear. She had been wanting one for a while so she was glad to get it. The Abbotts went home in the early afternoon and we just continued to hang out at the hospital. We did have a visit from our Branch President and his family which was nice. Other than that it was another pretty boring day with no answers about Hermana Escobar's diagnosis. 

Hermana Escobar hoping to get discharged

We spent the first part of Tuesday wondering whether or not we were actually getting out. We had to wait a long time to finally hear that the tests got read and even then the hospital housekeeping wasn't so sure we were leaving. We had another visitor, a Hermano from the Branch. He sat and told us stories about Guatemala and Honduras for a while so that was a lot of fun. Finally in the afternoon the doctor came by and told us all the results had come back, everything was clean, and we were free to go. It was definitely bitter sweet for us because we were so happy to finally be able to leave the hospital, but it was also really difficult to leave without any answers whatsoever. We ended up not leaving the hospital until about 5:00 because we had to wait for a second doctor to give his okay that we could leave and we had to wait for them to put all of the x-rays and MRIs on a disc that we can take to our next doctor. Finally, we were able to leave, with a nice little prescription for Hermana Escobar's medicine. We went and got that dropped off but she was so out of it and exhausted and nauseated that we couldn't wait the 15 minutes for it to be filled. I took her home and let her rest before we went back out to pick the perscription up and get some quarters so that I could do some much needed laundry. That evening we did another mini exchange with the Griffith English Sisters so that I could go and buy us some much needed groceries and supplies for the week. 

Wednesday we tried to be as normal as we could, but it didn't work so well. We did studies and then went to District Meeting. Everyone was so happy to see Hermana Escobar alive and upright. We learned about obedience and it was good. We then went to our next doctor, an orthopedic  specialist. We honestly spent more time filling out paper work and waiting for x-rays then we had with the actual doctor. He took a glance at her x-rays and then told us that there was nothing wrong with her. It was SO frustrating. Everyone we talk to tells us nothing is wrong but my poor companion constantly feels like a bus hit her, has no energy, and is super nauseated. Needless to say, we both, especially Hermana Escobar, were a little depressed after that short doctors visit. I was able to get Taco Bell to help cheer her up before we went home and let her rest. We then drove to Hammond for a dinner appointment with Hermana of our branch. She made us tostadas and they were really good, but Hermana Escobar was just so out of it. She had no energy, no appetite, and looked sick as a dog. We ate a little, were able to work in a short message, and then the member, seeing how sick my poor companion was, gladly let us go home. It was the shortest eating and teaching appointment with a member I have ever had or will ever have, 35 minutes! Once back at home, exhausted Hermana Escobar slept and I cleaned and scrubbed the apartment like none other. 

Thursday morning we had apartment inspections. As soon as the sister assigned to do the apartment inspections saw Hermana Escobar laying in bed sick and heard what was wrong, she gave us 100% and left really fast :-) the rest of Thursday we let Hermana Escobar rest, she is just so exhausted and in so much pain, plus the medicine that helps with the pain but makes her drowsy and a little nauseated. Pobrecita :-(  but I worked a lot on other stuff and tried to stay productive. 

Friday was a bit more of a productive day. We were able to have a good lesson with a less active. We started teaching the Restoration but then moved into the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the basic things he needs to do- pray, read scriptures, and go to Church. He really is ready to change and is making progress. We also had a lesson with 3 new investigators! We went to our recent convert's home to seen his wife (our investigator). He was leaving but was like, "Here are my nieces and nephews. They don't believe in God. Teach them!" So we taught them the Restoration and it went really well. They are interested and were so excited to get their own copies of the Book of Mormon and to read. The rest of the day we were at home because Hermana Escobar was completely exhausted from everything we did in the morning. 

500 Gallons of water a minute dumped into your apartment
makes for some very soggy clothing & personal possessions

Saturday...remember how I am always like, "it doesn't get crazier than this!"? Well today was definitely one of those days, although it started pretty normal. We went to the Chiropractor in LaPorte this morning and it was so good for Hermana Escobar. He was able to realign one of the vertebrae in her neck and immediately her nausea went down and her vision started to come back, so she was super happy!  On the way home we stopped at a little Mexican restaurant, it was okay but not like the taquerias in Chicago :-) We then went home and let Hermana Escobar rest because she was so exhausted and hurting. As we were sitting there talking as she was in bed, we got this text from the English Griffith Sisters: "Our apartment building is on fire...BAD!! WE WILL MORE LIKELY THAN NOT BE SLEEPING OVER AT YOUR APARTMENT TONIGHT."  Oh, okay, WOW! We immediately called 

This WAS one of the nicer apartments in the mission...

them and found out what was going on. The apartment above their's had caught fire, and they (the Sisters) were at home when it happened but no alarms or sprinklers ever went off. Someone came running through the building, yelling for everyone to get out so they grabbed their backpacks and ran out. They then spent the next couple of hours watching their apartment building burn and the fire trucks from all over dumping unimaginable amounts of water on it. Once they found out they wouldn't have any more info for a long time. They called us to come and pick them up because their parking lot was locked down and so they couldn't get their mission car out. We took them back to our apartment and studied for a while until they got a call that they needed to get down there with in 30 minutes if they wanted to salvage anything. We hurried down there and we were allowed 10 minutes inside their apartment to grab all that we could.

Although we feel bad for the Sisters who's apartment
burned, we are excited that they will be staying with us.

The living/sleeping area was pretty destroyed, the ceiling had fallen in. But most everything else was okay, just a lot of water and smoke damage. We were able to get them the essentials and then get out. Back at our apartment, Hermana Escobar and I got it ready for an at least 2 week sleep over :-) That night we had a very special house visit from President and Sister Woodbury. It is kind of scary and very rare that a mission president goes to missionary apartments. But, we do what us Mexicans do best and we fed them! They brought by some sleeping mats, sheets, and towels for the sisters. Yes, it was quite a crazy day and I even forgot to tell you about what is normally the most interesting part of the day... today was transfer call day!  Drum roll please...Hermana Escobar and I are staying together for another 6 weeks!!! I am so excited about it. When President came by he said it was because he figured we deserved it after all we have been through and after seeing how good of care I took of my companion. So we are way happy to have another 6 weeks together!

These Sister Missionaries got out with the clothing they
were wearing and their mission bags, everything else
that they had was damaged or destroyed in the efforts
to put out the apartment fire above their apartment.

Sunday was not quite as interesting as the day before, although four of us getting ready in our little apartment, and very tiny bathroom, was fun. At Church everyone was so happy to see Hermana Escobar alive and back at church. We taught the Gospel Principles but unfortunately didn't have any of our investigators there. There was a younger less active at church so we taught in English and that was weird but good. The rest of the day we did studies and then went to the Branch Presidente's house for dinner. We then taught their family a lesson on faith and obedience with a quote from Elder Bruce R. McConkie being the central theme. It was a good lesson and a nice end to an insane week. 

Having the four of us missionaries in an apartment is an interesting dynamic and will definitely be an adventure. What will eventually happen is Hermana Escobar and I will move out into a new apartment which will be closer to our working area and save the mission about 400 miles a month on our car.  The English Sisters will permanently move into our apartment. So the next couple of weeks will be fun!

I love you all sooooo much and I am so grateful for you and all that you do! I hope you all have the most incredible week!

Hermana Allyse Meanea

Sent from my iPad from the Illinois Chicago Mission

CRAZY Week in Indiana (if 5 days in a hospital is crazy to you, it is to me)!

The lovely view from temporary lodging for 5 days

Sweet Family and Friends!

Remember how I have said before that Hermana Escobar and I have had some crazy adventures and weeks? How I said, "It can't get crazier than that!"? Well, I lied. This week definitely takes the cake. It has been crazy and long. But is all good.  We have definitely experienced, and learned, and felt a lot! I promise that all that I wrote here is true. Believe it or not :-)

Fabulous P-Day. It was wonderful because I was able to spend a lot of time chatting back and forth with my family. We also got some good grocery shopping done. After P-Day we drove over to Chicago Heights for a lesson with a less active family. It was a really good lesson. We discussed Elder Ballard's conference talk about Following a Up and introduced them to Preach My Gospel. Their 12 year old had a LOT of questions. He is so fun and compares everything to Star Wars. When he found out that we don't have TV and aren't even allowed to watch TV, he asked what we did. We told him that we read our scriptures. He was like, "WOW! That is a real Jedi!" So yeah, it is official, I am -real Jedi now because I am a missionary, it's pretty cool! :-)

On Tuesday we had Zone Training Meeting. It was...interesting. It was really good, but also kind of hard for many. It was a call to repentance for everyone, which is always difficult to take, but we learned so much from it. There have been so many problems in our mission with disobedience with the iPads. President Woodbury called and commanded us to repentance and taught us important principles on being obedient with the iPads. While he was doing that, he had us all turn in our iPads and he had Elder Taggart go through and check them. I was so glad that I have been obedient and had nothing to hide or be ashamed of on my iPad! Of course there are always areas I can improve on, and I have some plans to do that, but it was so nice to know that Hermana Escobar and I feel that overall we are doing really well with using the iPads as effective tools but not being disobedient with them. The rest of the afternoon we spent at home for Hermana Escobar. She was able to get a blessing from President Woodbury, and in it he said that she needed to do nothing for a day and a half. So that is what we did. We went home (after a quick stop at Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch of course) and watched the Hastening of the Work of Salvation broadcast. She then slept for the rest of the afternoon and I studied and cleaned. 

Wednesday I spent the morning cleaning, studying, and packing for exchanges. We were also able to get together some clothes and other things to donate to a girl who is leaving for a mission next week and she has nothing. We then went on exchanges with the Hermana Training Leaders. I went up to Midway with Hermana Smith while Hermana Escobar stayed with Hermana Whitney in our area. It was so great because it was like going home, almost back to my old area. We spent the afternoon doing stop-by's of different old potential investigators. Nobody was home. We did have one really neat street contact though. We started talking to this one woman who was walking her dogs. We explained who we were and our message. She thought it was great what we were doing but wasn't really interested. We asked if we could share the Because of Him video and we did right there on the street using our iPad. It was so powerful, she started crying! We were able to talk to her a little more and I felt impressed to give her a Book of Mormon so I did. I explained about it and I testified and it felt so good! She isn't an official potential investigator but we definitely planted a deep seed for the future. 

Hermana Escobar in the hospital with her get well gifts

Thursday...was interesting to say the least! We decided the day before that we would push the time back to exchange with our companions because otherwise we wouldn't have time for studies. So we did studies and then we were getting ready to leave to go to a funeral that we were going to sing at. I received a call from Hermana Whitney, who was with Hermana Escobar, and this is what she said: "Hermana Meanea, I need you to not freak out (Hermana Escobar told her to say that :-) but Hermana Escobar is being admitted to the hospital." I was like WHAT?!?! Apparently she woke up that morning to the entire left side of her body being numb and a excruciating pain from her head to her toes any time she moved, not good.  After talking with the mission nurse and trying urgent care, they took her to the ER and the doctors decided to admit her. I was so worried and so felt so horrible that I wasn't there with her. Hermana Whitney said they were just waiting so she wanted us to go to the funeral and then come down. We went to the funeral, and it was so great to see my old district and talk with my former companion Hermana Black, but I was so preoccupied, all I wanted to do was get back to Hermana Escobar. We found out that the funeral wasn't going to actually start until later in the day, so we just left and drove to Indiana, it was the longest drive of my life. We stopped at the apartment just long enough for me to grab some stuff that we would need and then we got to the hospital. Hermana Escobar had just got put in a room after having an MRI and cat scan. She was doing better because they had given her a good drug cocktail for the pain. Some Elders were able to come and give her a blessing, it was powerful. The Sister Training Leaders arranged for the other Hermanas to cover the Noche they were supposed to have with members and investigators in their area, and they stayed the entire evening with us.  No one had any answers, they were just doing a lot of tests. Our District Leader was so awesome and brought us a pizza because us other three Hermanas were starving. After talking with President Woodbury,  and the decision was made to send the STL's home and we would see what things looked like in the morning, hoping for answers. So Hermana Escobar and I spent a very restless first night in the hospital. We were too anxious and stressed, it was hard to sleep. So, yeah, that was our Thursday!

Hermana Escobar and I at the hospital

Friday, a day we were hoping for answers, came, but the answers didn't come. We were just doing a lot of waiting and sitting and resting. They took 4 different labs of blood to test, but nothing showed up. We were able to get together with 2 other sets of sisters to make arrangements for me to be able to go home for a few minutes, shower, change, and get some other things we needed, and to take our car back to the hospital because it was still at the apartment building. The afternoon was spent waiting for Hermana Escobar to be able to take a full body MRI and Vision Evoked Response test, but it never happened because everything was so backed up in the labs. President Woodbury was able to come see us and gave Hermana Escobar another very powerful blessing. It was neat because in the blessing he talked about how The Lord had intended us to be companions at this time because I was supposed to be able to take care of her. I have definitely been trying my best and don't want to leave her side for anything. In the afternoon she started having a really bad chest pain, but her heart monitor didn't show anything. They took an emergency EKG but nothing there either. It eventually subsided slightly, but just adds to the mystery. This night, some of the Sisters brought us chocolate milk shakes and coloring books. That night was a lot better in the hospital because we were both so utterly exhausted that we slept really well. 

The chair I got to sleep in by Hermana
Escobar while she has been in the hospital

Saturday started early with a full body MRI and X-Rays at 7:30 am. This was the worst time for me because Hermana Escobar was gone for 3 hours and I was alone. I hated not being with her and not knowing what was going on. That time passed very slowly. She finally was brought back and we had lunch before she was finally able to have the Vision Evoked Response test. This one I was able to go with her to. It was kind of funny because she got all of these electrodes hooked up to her head and had to stare at a red dot on a checkerboard screen. We then went back to the room where Hermana Escobar rested for a while because she was so exhausted from all of the tests. We also found out that we would probably be there until at least Monday, waiting for all of the test results to come back. A little bit later a nurse told us there was a chance she could be released that night. But the results never came in, so she wasn't. We did have a visit from our ward mission leader and his wife. They brought us tacos and we had a good visit. That night, at the pleading of Hermana Escobar, we did a mini exchange with the English Speaking Sisters. I really didn't want to leave, but Hna Escobar was very forceful. :-) Sister Spackman stayed with Hermana Escobar and I went with Sister Goff. We ran home so I could grab things and then we slept at their apartment. It was nice to sleep on a bed and to actually sleep the whole night without vitals checks, 5:00 AM blood labs, heart monitors going off, and every other sound that kept us awake in the hospital!

Hermana Escobar and I at the hospital with her stuffed bear

Sunday morning I went to the English Ward PEC and then MCM with Sister Goff. We then had Sacrament Meeting. It was so weird going to a sacrament meeting in English.  It was the first time in 8 months!!! Everyone was so confused about why we were together but it made sense when I explained that we did it so I could take care of the Spanish Branch and Sister Goff could cover her ward. Hermana Escobar and I had our investigator and recent converts come to church so Sister Goff and I went to the Spanish classes to be with them. Stater Goff was so sweet to be so willing to attend the Spanish Branch meetings even though she doesn't know any Spanish. It was good and everyone was so worried about Hermana Escobar. Finally, after church I was able to get back to my companion. I missed being with her so much!  That afternoon we had a TON of visits from the Branch. The Elders came first to administer the Sacrament, but they weren't able to do it for nearly 4 hours because of all the other visitors that flooded in.  They all brought food and little get well presents and talked a lot. Finally the Elders were able to administer the Sacrament to Hermana Escobar and get on their way to the branch presidente's house for dinner. The rest of the evening was spent with Hermana Escobar resting because she was SO exhausted from all of the pain and from all of the visitors. She is semi okay as long as she is on strong enough pain mess, currently Tylenol 3 with codeine. We had a last set of visitors.  It was good and we had a lot of laughing. It was another very long day. No answers yet but we are hoping that she will be released tomorrow! 

Hermana Escobar hoping she can
be released after her 5 day hospital stay

It has been so amazing to me because Hermana Escobar has never stopped sharing the Gospel. We talk to every nurse that comes in. We have given away a couple of Book of Mormons, and even taught the Restoration. We have a super cool story. Saturday night we met a nurse who is actually a member of the English ward. We were talking with our nurse and about how we are from Utah. She was like, "Oh, this nurse that I know is trying to get to Utah!"  We put two and two together and figured that this nurse might be a member :-) We found out that she is the only member of the Church out of 1800 workers here at this hospital! Our nurse introduced us to this nurse member and we talked for just a minute. On Sunday the member nurse came up and found me and told me that she was supposed to get off at 12:00 am that morning but she ended up staying until 2:00 am having a Gospel discussion with her coworkers because her coworkers know us and have seen all of the missionaries going in and out. Now the member nurse is getting her co-worker's contact information and they will be some amazing referrals for the English Sisters! The member nurse came back in early Monday morning and was actually our nurse (she might have requested to be assigned to us) and she spent some time telling us about her missionary experiences and we shared in her excitement. How cool is that?!?! 

So yeah, that was our week. With today being our Monday P-day, we are hoping that all of the medical test results come back today and that the doctors will decide to discharge Hermana Escobar.  Whatever happens, our past week has been crazy. But we have had so many blessings, so many tender mercies. I know that the Mission President telling Hermana to stay in bed for a day and a half was inspired because as soon as that day and half ended, that is exactly when the problem became apparent. If she hadn't listened, what would have happened? Maybe it would have been worse, maybe she would have pushed it to far, who knows? Then it was such a miracle that we were on exchanges and that Hermana Whitney was with her because she was able to take care of things because I don't know if I would have been okay in the ER. Overall, it is such a tender mercy to me that I have been in the hospital since Thursday with no problems. You may remember that I have this problem with medical facilities.  I pass out anytime I am in them. But I have had no problems because I have needed to be here with my companion and my Heavenly Father needed me to be here. Our Father in Heaven is SO amazing! I love Him and know He love us more than we can imagine. I hope that you all have an amazing week and that I have not as quite of an exciting one! :-)

Eternal Love,

Hermana Allyse Meanea

Sent from my iPad from the Illinois Chicago Mission

Spanish Sign Language, Day at the Temple, Skyping home for Mother's Day, and Green Skies...

I love serving with Hermana Escobar!!!

Hello Everyone! How are you all doing? We have had another amazing week here. Everything is just so incredible and I just love being a missionary so much! Here are some of the amazing things that happened this week!

We had a pretty busy P-Day on Monday. We were able to get some shopping done and some other errands. That evening we had an appointment with a member family. The Hermana made us some really good Mole (chicken in a sauce made from chocolate, chilies, bananas, and peanuts) and we were able to have a great conversation with them. This morning in personal study Hermana Escobar thought that we should share President Uchtdorf's talk on gratitude with them. We found out why when we started sharing our message with them. The Hermana talked about how she just didn't understand why all of these hard things are happening to her sister that lives in Mexico. They just found out she is getting surgery because she has cancerous tumors, she lives alone with her son who is disabled, and has no one to take care of her. We were able to share the quote from his talk: "We can choose to be grateful, no matter what. This type of gratitude transcends whatever is happening around us. It surpasses disappointment, discouragement, and despair. It blooms just as beautifully in the icy landscape of winter as it does in the pleasant warmth of summer. When we are grateful to God in our circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation. In grief, we can still lift up our hearts in praise. In pain, we can glory in Christ’s Atonement. In the cold of bitter sorrow, we can experience the closeness and warmth of heaven’s embrace." The Spirit was soooo strong and the Hermana started crying because it is EXACTLY what she needed to hear. You could definitely feel Heavenly Father's love for this precious daughter of His and how He used us to bring peace to this family in this hard time. It was so neat to recognize how even though we didn't know that morning what they were going through and needed, He did and He prepared us to help and comfort them!

Sister Missionary Sleepover!

Tuesday was a good full and busy day. We had a lesson with a less active member. We read in the Book of Mormon with him and it went well. We then had another less active lesson with another Hermano. There weren't any other women home so we ended up teaching him outside because it was a beautiful day. Because it has been a long time since he has been to Church and since he has been worked with before and we have no idea where he is at, we just started by teaching the Restoration. The lesson went pretty good, he is just a little confusing and it was hard to figure out exactly what he does and doesn't remember. After that we went and did some tracting. Not many people were home but we were able to see a former investigator who invited us back another day and we got a potential investigator at another house. We then had a miracle when we were on our way back to our car. We have a goal to talk to EVERYBODY because it can be so hard to contact people while being in a car all of the time. There was this man sitting on his steps with his dog and so we stopped to talk to him. After we tried talking to him he made some signs indicating that he is deaf. Then my incredible companion gets all excited and just starts signing to him!!! She only knows like 10 words in sign language but she was able to use that and the Spirit and the gift of tongues (or in this case, signs :-) to communicate and teach him for 10 minutes! It was so amazing to watch! He seemed to have a lot of interest so we got his info and are going to try teaching him over Facebook. It was such a miracle because I don't know sign language and Hermana Escobar knows very little, but when as missionaries we open our mouths, The Lord fills them (or signs them)! That evening we had a good lesson with a less active family. We read Moroni 3-4 about the Sacrament prayers and discussed the importance of the Sacrament. Hermana Escobar and I then spent our dinner hour getting the car washed, vacuumed, and all ready for our trip tomorrow. We then hurried to our apartment and packed for our over nighter and then drove to the Griffith Sisters apartment for our "sleepover". It was so fun! We had 5 companionships in all and we just had a great time being together and talking. Of course, we were in bed by 10:30, but I am not going to say that we were asleep at 10:30 :-)

Hermana Escobar and I at the Chicago Temple!

Valpo Zone Day at the Temple

 Wednesday, an amazing day, was a very early morning, 5:00, because we had to be at the Temple in Glenview by 8:30. After getting ready, we headed out. I was so excited because I got to drive there and back. I love driving, especially long drives, and especially through the city! The drive up was really good we had 3 other sisters with us and we just had a great time talking and getting to know one another. Thankfully, traffic wasn't horrible, especially because we took the 294 on the outer edge of Chicago, so we ended up getting to the Temple actually a little early. The Temple was amazing. So peaceful and beautiful. Just what you need to recharge your spiritual batteries! We then went to the mission home for lunch and then a testimony meeting about the Book of Mormon challenge. It was such a powerful testimony meeting, I loved it. We then had a class with President and Sister Woodbury. They were under commandment from Elder Nelson to talk to us about Eternal Marriage and the importance of the family. It was a little awkward because we are missionaries and shouldn't be thinking about that stuff. But it is important because that is what Satan is attacking now and we need to be ready to defend it. After a great time with them, I was able to get my interview with President Woodbury before we headed out. It was a really good interview. He really is a man inspired of God to help us missionaries be the best that we can. He helped me out with a lot of things and just helped me feel peaceful and happy and ready to work.

"Temple Selfie"

Our car then stopped by the mission office for a bit because we were FINALLY able to pick up Hermana Escobar's birth certificate and social security card so that she could get her replacement driver's license. We had a fun time just talking with the office staff before we made our long drive home. It took an hour and fifteen minutes just to get south of the city, we hit rush hour just perfectly. And took 3 hours all together to finally get home. Needless to say, it was a very long and spiritually exhaustive day, but such a wonderful and incredible day!

at the Illinois Chicago Mission Office

Thursday was a much more boring day compared with Wednesday. We spent the day at home because Hermana Escobar was in a lot of pain with her back again, sitting in the car for so long yesterday definitely didn't help. We were able to get weekly planning done and I worked on various things and cleaned while she rested. 

Friday we were able to go to Chicago Heights and work. We had another good lesson with a less active Hermano. We read about Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life with him and he liked it and seemed to get a lot out of it. One funny thing happened during this lesson. In lessons with him I haven't talked a whole lot before because he loves to talk and normally talks with Hermana Escobar or a member that we have with us because he knows them better then me.

Special Picture just for my cousin Zac!
Me sitting at my Mission President's desk...

But this lesson I talked a little more and he looked at me one time after I bore testimony and told me that was very beautiful and that I had good Spanish. He seemed surprised that I could talk at all because I had never talked much before. It was just funny because he was so surprised. We then had an interesting, long appointment with our investigator and her recent convert husband and daughter.  She made us some food and we had another fun experience here. Hermana Escobar is allergic to gluten and is trying to get better at not eating it so much. Well this sweet investigator made some pasta and meat, and gave a huge serving of pasta to Hermana Escobar. She knew she couldn't eat much of it because she would get really sick, so, anytime the investigator's back was turned, Hermana Escobar would just load up my plate with her pasta and I would eat it as fast as I could so it wasn't obvious.

Hermana Escobar & I singing
at the Mother's Day Dinner

It was super fun and I ate a lot of good food! That afternoon we were finally able to go and get Hermana Escobar's Illinois driver's license. Everything went well and she passed all of the tests. It was so weird when she took her driving test because I was not allowed to be with her and so we were both separated from each other and alone for about 20 minutes. It was such a strange feeling! That night we then had the Branch activity that was a Mother's Day Dinner. They had a really good turnout. We actually had a lot of people there that were friends and relations of one of our recent converts, so that was super neat. Hermana Escobar and I sang for everyone, Love at Home, and it went pretty well considering there were two tone deaf people singing a duet together! :-)

Saturday was another day where not much happened because unfortunately Hermana Escobar was back in bed again because of a lot of pain and nausea. I worked on various things and mostly just tried to keep her from going crazy because she was stuck in bed all day. 

Screen shot of my Skype call home
for Mother's Day

We had a good, and very emotional, Sunday. We were at Church at 9:00 because we were supposed to have a meeting, but it didn't happen. So instead we just listened to the English Ward Sacrament Meeting. Of course it was mother themed for Mother's Day and there were some good things shared. Then as part of her talk, one of the speakers read the book "I Love You Forever". I don't know if you all have read that, but it is a cute book about the love of a mom. I remember my Mom reading that to me when I was little. That was kind of hard but also really special to hear. Church was good. Sacrament Meeting was amazing because a less active family that we have been working with decided that they wanted to surprise us and so they decided to come to Church! They haven't been in years, but they came today. Then the less active son of a active member came too. Hermana Escobar and I were both soooooo excited! That afternoon we did studies and then we got to call our families over Skype for Mother's Day! It was so wonderful, but that 40 minutes definitely goes way too fast. I am so very grateful for my family and their love and support, and the opportunity we had to talk together! It is so weird to think that I only have one more missionary phone call left to make now (at Christmas)!

Green skies typically aren't good, right?

 We then had dinner at branch presidente's house. The drive there was very interesting. As we drove there, all of the sudden storm clouds moved in, the sky turned green (a tornado warning sign), the wind started blowing so much, and then the rain just started coming down in sheets. It was pretty eerie! In the 10 sec it took us to run from the car to the building, we were completely soaked! As soon as we got inside their building, the tornado sirens started going off. Luckily, nothing developed but it was so interesting to be in the middle of an infamous Midwest storm! It was a good night with President and his family and we had a good time. 

Sweet family and friends, once again I truly cannot thank you all enough for your amazing love and support! I love you all like crazy and hope you have the most amazing week! I love you! Bye!

Hermana Allyse Meanea

Sent from my iPad from the Illinois Chicago Mission

Country Girl driving through Downtown Chicago & on Lake Shore Drive, "Look Upward"

Hola Queridas Familia y Amigos! Feliz Cinco de Mayo!!! I hope that you all have had as an amazing week as I have! Isn't life just amazing? Don't we have so very many things in our lives to be grateful for? I hope you all can feel the peace and joy this Gospel brings, it truly is incredible! Anyways, here is only a brief summary of my awesome week!

Monday was a great P-Day. We had a fun zone activity where we played volleyball and got to be with the other missionaries in the zone. We had a great time and definitely enjoyed wearing our non-pros. That evening we finished up planning and preparing for the coming week.

Martes we had a very long day of doing stop by's. We had a huge list of old potential investigators that we just spent the day going through. Nobody was home so that was a little bit of a downer, but that is okay because we will definitely see blessings from being diligent and doing all that we can to further the work of The Lord in our area.

Wednesday was another busy and full day. We had a great District Meeting. I felt like it was directed right at me and my needs. It is always so amazing to me that when someone is teaching by the Spirit, everyone listening by the Spirit hears the personalized messages and direction that they need. This is true for everyone all of the time, but I have especially noticed it as a missionary. We then had a fun District Lunch at a taqueria. It is so great getting to know the other missionaries because they are so strong and are amazing people. Hermana Escobar and I then had a good appointment with an investigator. We mostly helped her get ready to get her drivers license and she also wanted help setting up an email and Facebook. We eagerly helped her, conveniently adding ourselves as friends on Facebook :) Next we had a good appointment with some potentials investigators. We taught the Restoration and it seemed to go pretty well. They both said they wanted to know for themselves and would read the Book of Mormon. The rest of the afternoon we spent looking for old potential investigators. No one was really home but we did have a miracle at one house. We were looking for a potential but no one was home. As we were getting in the car, there was a man standing next to his truck at another house. Hermana Escobar asked him if we could give him a card. We introduced ourselves and he introduced himself and Hermana Escobar freaked out. It turns out that he was a less active member that the missionaries had been searching for for at least 4 transfers (6 months)! We just happened to find him, talk with him, and set up an appointment because we were out doing what we were supposed to and Hermana Escobar followed the Spirit! It was SUPER neat!

Driving in Downtown Chicago!

Thursday was AMAZING! Wow! Where do I even start? Well, I drove 200 miles today, that made me super happy because love driving. And those 200 miles included Downtown Chicago and Lake Shore Drive, both unintentionally, but that is fine because it was so incredible! So, starting from the beginning, this morning we went to the Chiropractor for Hermana Escobar. That went good and then we started the long drive to the mission office in Wilmette. For some reason, as we were approaching Downtown Chicago, the GPS directed us off of the interstate. Within minutes I found myself driving in the middle of downtown of one of the biggest cities in the US,

Chicago!!!

accidentally! I was scared out of my mind because there was so much going on and some many cars and turns and craziness, but it was so neat! I can officially say that I drove in downtown Chicago, something most people would be okay with never being able to say! After an exhilarating drive through downtown, the GPS put us right back on the same interstate! Don't know why it took us off but I am glad it did, we got to see and experience things we might otherwise not have been able to! Once we finally got to the mission office, we gave a tres leches cake to Elder Taggart, and the rest of the office, as a peace offering for how many miles we drove in our mission car last month. We then discovered that everything Hermana Escobar needed to get a new license was there, except for those all

Driving in Downtown Chicago!

important birth certificate and social security card. But, she did get all of her new credit and debit cards, so now she has money, so that is great!, We just have to wait for everything else to come in. After talking for a while with the office staff, we got lunch at Arby's and then started our drive back home. We decided that since we were in the city, we would stop at a Children's Hospital to say hi to some members that have been there since January. For some reason, the GPS guided us there by taking us 20 miles along the Lake Shore Drive. For those who don't know, Lake Shore Drive from Wilmette to South Chicago is the road that is at the very edge of the city and Lake Michigan, it goes right through downtown, it is crazy busy, and it is very beautiful. It was an incredible drive, and

Soldier Field on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago

especially meaningful because I remembered taking the exact same drive with my family when we were visiting here in Chicago last summer! Needless to say, on all of our GPS detours, Hermana Escobar ended up taking hundreds of photos!!! Unfortunately, the member wasn't at the hospital when we stopped by so it looked like that side trip had been a bit of a waste. But, when you are in the service of The Lord, nothing is a waste!!! As we were leaving the hospital, there was a woman waiting for a ride that we said hello to and started talking to. We had a great conversation and she asked us who we were and what we were doing. We were able to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ being restored and that we have living prophets. She was super interested and gladly accepted our card and said she would look at Mormon.org. It was such a blessing from The Lord that

Lake Michigan as seen along Lake Shore Drive

He really does put people in our path if we are doing His work! We finished the drive home, did a little bit of proselyting on Facebook, and then had studies to finish out the very long but wonderful day!

Friday was an interesting day. We had a lesson with a less active family and the Relief Society President who loves to come out with us. It was a good appointment. We shared 1 Nephi 8 about the Tree of Life and then we were just able to talk with them, the two ladies (one a member and the other not) just had little babies and so the Relief Society President was really able to friendship and just talk with them, it was super good because it is exactly what they needed. Hermana Escobar and I then did some proselyting on Facebook before going home. Hermana Escobar's back was killing her, she couldn't move it all. So we took her home and she spent the afternoon resting and I did random cleaning and work around the apartment.

Saturday was just kind of a weird day because we were unfortunately home all day long. Hermana Escobar was in so much pain that she couldn't move, and if she did move she was extremely nauseated. Needless to say it was a long day and I did all that I could to help my poor comp. I spent the day doing various things around the apartment -

cleaning, working on Area Book, working on my iPad, studying, and taking care of Hermana Escobar. It definitely is not the best feeling of a missionary to be inside all day, knowing you should be out working for The Lord. But if this time for Hermana Escobar to rest helps her heal, it is for sure worth it!

Sunday was a much better day. Hermana Escobar was feeling a little better so that is super great. We had our missionary correlation meeting this morning and that went well. Hermana Escobar and I then taught the Gospel Principles class about the life of Christ. It was great, especially because Francisco, our recent convert, and Sarah, his wife who is an investigator, were there. We were able to fine tune the lesson a lot to Sarah and her needs so that helped a lot, you could definitely feel the Spirit. The rest of Church was really good. The Branch is really small, about 15 women in Relief Society, and around 40 in Sacrament Meeting, but I love them so much and because there are not so many, I am definitely coming to know them and love them. An English ward meets there about the same time we do and there are a couple of super nice members that love to give us missionaries food. Whenever we walk out of Church we feel like we have been shopping because we have plastic bags filled with food. Like today we had eggs, zucchini, bananas, a frozen pizza, and a chives plant. They are so sweet and help us out so much! After Church and a little bit of stress trying to find a ride for Francisco and his family to get home, the ride we had arranged just left without them, but we got it worked out, we drove to Chicago Heights and studied in the car while we waited for an appointment we had scheduled. Then, the appointment called and said he had to cancel. So we drove home, ate, and studied so more. We then had our weekly dinner with our Branch President and his cute little family. It was a lot of fun and then Hermana Escobar and I talked about how Christ and the scriptures are the living water and shared the Bible video about the woman at the well.

My desk/personal study area in the apartment

One thing that I really enjoy about my mission is the opportunity for my personal study time.  I love personal study so much and learn so much every day. That one hour definitely is not enough though! I am reading in 2 Nephi right now and I love in chapter 18 so much. In verses 6-7 it talks about the Waters of Shaloa which are symbolic of Christ an how His way and His words are smooth and are living water vs. the waters of Euphrates that are like the king of Assyria that bring death and destruction. In verse 10 I love the word Immanuel because it so perfectly describes Christ = God is with us. Vs 14 about how Christ is a sanctuary for the righteous and a stumbling block for the wicked is very powerful. One of my favorite verses was 17: I will wait upon the Lord...I will look for Him = I will trust Him and His timing in all things. In verse 20 we learn that if we don't have the Light within us we cannot testify nor teach. We have to allow the Gospel and Christ to illuminate us. Then in verse 22 we learn that when we just look at the world all we see is darkness and depression and we can be dragged down into it. But we learn in the very end of verse 21 that we need to "LOOK UPWARD" to Christ so that we will not be dragged down by the things of the world.

As you can see it was another great, exciting, and adventurous week! I love you all so much and I really do pray that all is going well for you. Have the most amazing week and especially have a Happy Mother's Day to all of the special women in my life you have all been my example and have helped me get to this point, I love you so much!

Eternal Love,

Hermana Allyse Meanea