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. |
 |
| 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
