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| Memorial Day BBQ in Indiana... |
We had such a fun P-Day on
Memorial Day. We went with the English Sisters to one of their member's
family's barbecue. We had a great time just talking with everyone and
enjoying that kind of atmosphere, you don't get that very often as a
missionary! It was so warm today too, one of the first really humid days
of the summer, I think I am in trouble! :-) Monday evening Hermana
Escobar was so wiped out from the whole day, so I left her with Sister
Goff who needed to pack for transfers, and I took Sister Spackman with
me to an dinner appointment with a member. After getting lost and a
crazy rain storm, we finally got to their house and had dinner. It was
some super good carne asada. For the lesson, I was basically on my own.
The family knows English but the mom is definitely more comfortable communicating in
Spanish so I taught in Spanish all by myself. It was such a good lesson,
I truly felt the Spirit working through me. I had no idea that I could
speak and understand that much Spanish until it was up to me to have to
be able to. It just felt so good and the lesson on repentance was
definitely the one the mom needed to hear because she is so worried
about her own children. It was just so amazing because I could
definitely tell that I was following the Spirit and my mouth was being
filled as I opened it. It was neat because the lesson that I shared was not the one
we planned to share when we planned for it during comp study because Hermana Escobar couldn't go.
So we planned to play the Plan of Salvation game, but then the pieces
weren't there that we needed. So then, I decided on the Scale of
Righteousness and talking about repentance, and that is EXACTLY what she
needed, even though I didn't realize they had taught that to this
family several months ago! It was so amazing to see how Heavenly Father
can work through us when we are so open to His direction (and in my
case, desperate! :-)
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| Memorial Day Wagon Ride |
Tuesday we helped the Sisters at
their burnt out apartment. We tried to pack up as much as we could and
bring it to our place. I spent the rest of the day going through and
organizing and cleaning (or attempting to) everything. We had a really
good lesson with a member family that night and talked about the "Big
Picture" which is how the steps of the Gospel lead to Eternal Life and
the three basic things we need to do each day (prayer, scripture study,
and attending Church) to progress on that path. It was a good lesson
with them.
Wednesday we had a good District
Meeting where we talked a lot about the importance and power of using
the scriptures in our teaching. We also talked about acting with urgency
and making sure we keep our lessons 45 minutes or less so that they are
powerful and the Spirit is there. This is a very big challenge in the
Spanish program especially, but we have definitely been working on that
this week. We then had a fun District Lunch at Culvers, it was super
yummy. Next we decided to stop by a member's home because it was their
daughter's day off and we wanted to see if we could talk with her
because the parents wanted us to teach her. She wasn't home so instead
we talked with the mom a little bit and taught her a lesson about the
Gospel and the "big picture". It was super good for her and definitely
gave her an excitement of missionary work and the desire to share the
joy and knowledge that she has with others. We then spent the rest of
the day helping the Sisters finish up at their apartment. We got
everything out that they want and now we just have to wait and see what
the Church wants to do with some of the salvageable furniture.
On Thursday morning we made the
trek to LaPorte to the Chiropractor. He helped Hermana Escobar who had
been in a lot of pain. But, it is like a double edged sword because that
relief literally lasts for about 5 minutes and then it is like double
the pain. :-( We stopped in Valparaiso on the way home and dropped off
all of Sister Goff's laundry at the Valpo Sisters apartment so that
they can wash it for her (one of their members bought them their own
washer and dryer!) and then we drove to Chicago Heights for our
appointment with a member Hermana. She made us some super good soup and
then she got to work on Hermana Escobar. Her son, who is an athletic
trainer and studying massage therapy, gave Hermana Escobar an intense
massage on her arms (they have been numb and tingly and she hasn't been
able to use them very well, plus they hurt a lot), that helped her get
feeling back. Then the Hermana gave us all of this Mexican natural
medicine to try for all types of things. Hermana Escobar is so desperate
at this point that she is just trying it all!
Friday we went to Chicago Heights
and taught a less active Hermano. We talked about the
importance of the Book of Mormon and it went really well. It is really
neat to see him really start to trust us and have the desire to change
and to come back. We invited him to Church but he says he just doesn't
feel ready yet, so we will work on that! We then went to our Doctors
appointment with the neurologist. He said that everything had come back
negative from various tests and their was nothing wrong with her. After
examining her, he just ordered more blood tests, for her to get a
medical work up by a doctor, and to come back in three weeks. It was
just so exasperating because everyone says nothing is wrong, but with
the insane amount of pain she is in, it just doesn't make sense. That
afternoon was super rough on the both of us. We tried to do weekly
planning but it just wasn't working. Hermana Escobar was just in so much
pain and so worried and unsure of everything. We called and talked with
the Sister Training Leaders and then went to the church building and
the Elders gave her another blessing. It was a really good blessing and
basically just told her to have patience, not exactly what she wanted to
hear, but what she needed to hear!
On Saturday morning we went with
the English Sisters to do some service at a dog kennel for one of their
members. She is paying for 10 dogs to stay there but the owner has just
stopped taking care of them so the sisters have to go and do it. We had
to clean out their kennels and feed them and everything. It was so sad
to see them there, obviously not having been taken care of in long time.
Hermana Escobar and I then drove to Chicago Heights to help a Hermano with his Facebook. He had told us that he wanted to make it more
appropriate and uplifting. Hermana Escobar mostly helped him, there was
some pretty interesting stuff on there that she had to help him hide! We
then went to the Hermana who has helped Hermana Escobar earlier this week. She gave Hermana Escobar a back
massage and more medicines. Then her son massaged her shoulders and made
it so that she could actually lift her arms!
Sunday was a rough day at Church,
mostly because my companion almost passed out and was in so much pain.
It really is killing me to see her hurting so much and not be able to do
anything about it. But, we had a less active family come to Church and I was so excited because they came early to
come to classes, which they had never done before! They had asked us for
the number for the branch president the day before and when they showed
up to Church, they told us that they had talked with Presidente and
were going to start Temple prep classes! The man and woman have been
engaged for over a year now and now we find out it is because they want
to be sealed in the temple! So now they are trying really hard to take
the steps to make that possible! This is so exciting because we have
been trying to work with them so much and to help them. We didn't' have
anyone else there so we were able to go to their Temple Prep class with
them and kind of help out in there. The afternoon was spent with Hermana
Escobar resting and I studying. I then took Sister Spackman and we went
to our dinner appointment with Presidente and his family. It was good,
once again I realized how much Spanish I really do know when it is all up to
me!
So that was our week, nothing too
interesting. I feel so sad for my poor companion. Neither of us know
what to do but we are just doing our best to do as much as we can with
what we have. We don't have answers yet, but we are just moving forward.
Come What May and Love it! I love you all so much and truly thank you
for your prayers, especially on my companion's behalf. I know that we
feel them constantly supporting us through this rough time. We have
faith that we are in God's hands and that all of this is for a reason,
we just can't wait to figure out that reason! Have the most amazing
week! I love you!
Most Spiritual Experience this
Week: Definitely the lesson that I taught Monday night. I felt the
Spirit in the lesson and recognized truly how my mouth was filled with
words, because I had no idea what I was going to say beforehand.
Something I Learned in Personal
Study: Jacob 3:1-2 - Jacob is talking to the pure in heart and giving us
comfort and peace in the knowledge that as we look and pray to God in
our afflictions, we will know that He is aware of us, has a plan for us,
and that everything will be alright. Definitely something good that I
learned this week!
Eternal Love,
Hermana Allyse Meanea
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