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