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| Me and my awesome new companion, Hermana Whitney |
Monday: Last day with Hermana Escobar. I was so sad, it was a hard day. But it was also a VERY busy day. We started studies at 7:00 so we would have a bit more time to do everything. We then went and emailed for a bit. After That we went to the mall and I got my ears pierced. Yep, I am nearly 20 years old and I just got my ears pierced for the first time, Hermana Escobar talked me into it. It didn't hurt at all and I think I am going to like these a little bit. We then did a little shopping at the mall because we found some cute stuff on a super good sale. I got some fun earrings that will be great to have. After that we drove to Valparaiso and ate at the pretzel shop and got cupcakes while waiting for the chiropractor to open. He adjusted both me and Hermana Escobar and we both left there feeling really good. We then drove to the Church building to use the computers there to finish up emailing and some other things we needed to do before Hermana Escobar left. When P-Day ended, we went to our first appointment with a branch member family. They fed us and we had a really good time talking with them. They were so, so sad to see Hermana Escobar leaving. There were a lot of tears and pictures. We then hurried over to another branch member family. That was absolutely heart breaking. They all were so sad to see Hermana Escobar leaving.
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| A wonderful branch member family saying goodbye... |
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| Saying Goodbye to Dear Hermana Escobar on Transfer Day |
Tuesday: Tuesday was our crazy and sad day. We got everything loaded up finally, our poor car was soooo packed. I don't think I could have gotten anything else in there, and I know how to pack a car, my Daddy taught me well :-) We ran by the English Sister's apartment to get someone's transfer journal and then made our way north through Chicago to transfers. The transfer meeting was really good. It was so crazy for me to see only 4 new missionaries come in because I came in such a large group. Poor Hermana Escobar was having a really hard time during the meeting because her muscles kept spasming and hurting so much. We had to walk out a couple times. I was able to massage some of the knots in her arms a little bit and it made me so happy and so sad to be able to help her out one last time. Then it came time to move things all over the place and say goodbye. Saying goodbye to Hermana Escobar was one of the hardest things I have had to do on my mission since saying goodbye to my family. We have become so close and I am going to miss her so much. But I am so excited to have Hermana Whitney as my new companion! We stopped by the mission office for some supplies, things for Hermana Escobar, and to drop off her cousins' birthday present (Hermana Escobar has a cousin in the same mission!). We then started on our long drive back to Indiana. We did just a little bit of shopping at Walmart and then took Hermana Whitney and her stuff home. We unloaded the car, got her a little situated, and then went a did some Facebook contacting and then headed to our appointment with a hermana from the branch. She has been out of the country so I didn't really know her at all so it was a good evening getting to know her. She made us some really good Mole (pronounced mole-A and is made from chocolate, chiles, peanuts, and bananas, it is a spicy and sometimes sweet sauce that is normally served over chicken.) We shared a message with her and her less active grandson about missionary work and shared Mosiah 28:3. It was a really awesome first day with Hermana Whitney and I can tell we are going to have a great transfer together!
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| Nice to find out that District Meeting was in Valpo today instead of in Griffith... |
Wednesday: My first full day with Hermana Whitney as my companion was really good. We had some good studies and then drove to Griffith for District Meeting. We walked in but couldn't find where our District was so I called the Elders to ask what room they were in. Elder Angeletti told me, "the one where we had Zone Training Meeting." I was so confused because we didn't have Zone Training at the Griffith building. Then he was like, "District Meeting is at Valparaiso today." And we were like WHAT?!? He said that they thought they had texted us about it, but we didn't get a text. So we grudgingly got back into the car and drove clear over to Valpo. We got there just in time for the last 30 minutes of District Meeting. It was good though. We learned about ways we can work better with and involve the members more. After that we drove home and had lunch hour before spending some Facebook proselyting time at the library. We then drove into Chicago Heights to work for the afternoon. We did a lot of stop-by's. A lot of people weren't home but some were. We went to potential new investigator's house. He was home and stepped outside to talk to us for a minute. He went off for a long time about how great he thought it was that young people like us would go out and help make people happy. He explained that he is super busy and doesn't really have time to listen to us now, but maybe someday. He was really nice but it just breaks your heart when people don't feel the need to listen to your message and they don't realize what they are giving up. But he has a seed and someday he will want it. We also tried to find some less active members but a person at their address told us that they don't live there anymore. After looking for a some other people, we headed home to have dinner and language study. Hermana Whitney made us pasta and we had a good rest of the evening talking and studying. Today was kind of hard for me though. I missed Hermana Escobar sooooooo much! It really does feel like my best friend and my sister has been taken away from me. Her and I became so close and now I hate not being with her. It is one of the hardest things about my mission so far honestly. It is a similar feeling to when I left my family. But I know it is the Lord's will though and He really does know what is best for us and more importantly for the people and for the area. I am excited for this new adventure with Hermana Whitney!
Thursday: We had a nice full morning of all of our studies. I had a really good time studying about Zion in preparation for Zone Training Meeting. In companion study we planned our lesson for one of our investigators and then for language study we read in el Libro de Mormón together. We then had our lunch hour and then started weekly planning. I made our list of all of the people we are working with and then said the "big prayer", it took 20 minutes which is pretty typical. We then started planning for the rest of this week and next. It is taking a lot of time because it is my first time doing it without Hermana Escobar and I am doing all that I can to make sure that no one falls through the cracks. After some time of that, we went to the library and did Facebook contacting. We the drove to the chiropractor so that Hermana Whitney could get some relief for her pretty messed up back. After a very interesting scenic and back roads tour of every small town from Valpo to Hammond, including Gary, (thanks to our GPS) we arrived at our appointment with a branch member family just in time. It was such a good appointment with them. We ate and talked and laughed. They really are the most amazing family. The three girls are so cute. One of them was eating all of this lettuce and then decided she was a rabbit so she went and got a tail and acted like a rabbit. It was so fun! We had a great lesson with them and shared the "Your Potential, Your Privilege" Mormon Message. They really liked it and we talked about how we have so much potential because we are children of Heavenly Father and how we can't ever forget it and we need to help others recognize it as well. We then had a good discussion with one of the hermanas of the branch about how we can help strength the other hermanas of the branch. After that really good appointment we hurried back to Gary for MCM. It went really good. We had a really good, long report to give the branch mission leader so that made all of us really happy. His wife then fed us tacos and Hermana Whitney and I and the Elders who had just eaten a huge deep dish pizza gladly accepted the food, even though we were already stuffed, because that is what you do as a missionary. We then went home and and completed our nightly planning.
Friday: After having studies we went to Chicago Heights to meet with an investigator. Unfortunately he wasn't home because he had to go work so instead we went and visited an investigator and her kids. It was so awesome because when we first got there she told her kids that she didn't have time to meet with us right then. But her children pleaded and told her that we were bringing the word of God, of course she had time to listen. Mind you these kids are 8-14 so that was really neat! We were so amazed and excited to see that not only had the kids read the chapter we left them, but they had highlighted things they liked too! We taught them the Restoration using the pictures in the pamphlets and they really liked it and understood it. It was a really good lesson and it felt like Hermana Whitney and I were able to teach together with a lot of power and unity. We almost were able to put them on date for baptism, but the mom understands what a big commitment that is and wants to wait just a bit so that she can know this is the right path for her and her family. After teaching them we went to see an old investigator of Hermana Whitney's that we had been trying to get in with for a while. She was home and let us sit down and teach her the Restoration. Again, I felt like the lesson went really well and she agreed, although a little hesitantly, to a baptismal date! We then went to our lesson with a part member family we have been working with. It was...well...frustrating and sad. The hermana (our investigator) gave us watermelon and we were talking with her about her husband Francisco (recent convert). She told us how he has lost all desire and excitement for Church and just doesn't want anything to do with it, they haven't been to church in almost a month. Whenever he hears that we are coming over, he leaves. It breaks my heart to hear that because he was so solid. Then things got even worse when one of her evangelist friends showed up and sat in to listen. She was a fighter and wouldn't let us get in a single word without telling us how we were wrong. It was so frustrating and sad. It breaks my heart to know that I have a message that brings such joy and happiness, but that I can't share it sometimes. Needless to say, it was a rough lesson as we tried to read the testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith. It got a little better when Hermana Whitney and I sang "I Am a Child of God". But I still left that lesson so sad for that family. We then headed towards home, stopped and worked on contacting some people via Facebook for a little bit, and the went home and had dinner, language study, and did some more weekly planning.
Saturday: Today started a with a beautiful rainstorm that lasted through the entire morning. I absolutely love the rain here. It is just so crazy because it comes down so fast that everything floods. We had studies and then drove to Chicago Heights to meet with an investigator. But when we got there he told us he had a problem because someone had asked for his help because their basement was flooding. He told us he would be back in the afternoon so we rescheduled for then. We went to the library and did Facebook proselyting and then had a quick lunch at Burger King. After that we called our investigator to see if we could come by then but he said he was actually at the doctor's for a checkup so a bit later would be better. We then went looking for a lot of old potential investigators that had been on our lists for a long time. We found out that a lot of them no longer lived at the addresses we had. That is sad but also nice because it helps us clean up our records and keep everything accurate. We were able to get a potential investigator out of it so that was great! We were also able to get some return appointments with people for this next week so that was great. Once again we called our investigator again to see if we could pass by and he told us that he was on his way to the hospital in Chicago because he had super high blood pressure and some other things going on. He told us he was okay but felt so bad he wouldn't be able to meet with us. We told him to not even worry about it and that we were praying for him. We then decided to look for some former investigators in the trailer park that Hermana Whitney used to know. We found a hermana and his wife, who are actually the parents of one of our investigators. They were so happy to have us in their home and we spent quite a while talking and discussing. We shared a little message about the Book of Mormon and they told us that we are welcome in their home anytime. They listen to anyone who brings the word of God. They aren't interested in changing...yet, but they were so fun and enjoyable to talk to, we think we can warm them up to the idea. We then went and saw another former investigator of Hermana Whitney's and he was so happy to see us too. We talked to him for a bit, well he loves to talk so he mostly talked and we mostly listened. He is another person who listens to anyone preaching the word of God. He is very nice and we will try stopping by him occasionally. After that we were able to make contact with a potential investigator that missionaries had been looking for for months. He was home but too busy to listen at that point but gave us a time next week we could go back. After that we tried the house of another potential investigator but no on answered. We headed to Whiting and our dinner appointment with a hermana branch member. It was really good. She cooks really good food and made me eat seconds, then we had ice cream too! I was so full :-) but being in the Spanish program, you definitely learn how to stuff it down! We showed her a video about the Temple and talked about the blessings of the Temple. She enjoyed talking and telling us her life story. A lot of people like doing that and as missionaries you learn to be very good listeners. We then helped her set up some fans before we left. Back at home we had language study and then nightly planning.
Sunday: We had a SUPER Sunday! This morning we were able to get in a little bit of personal study before heading to Church. Everyone was so excited to see Hermana Whitney back in the branch and it made my job a lot easier because she knew mostly everyone. Unfortunately our part member investigator family didn't come, which was really sad. But the another investigator family as well as another investigator of ours did come to church, so we were way excited. The Elders also had a few people there so we were able to help them out. For Sacrament Meeting one of the speakers was from the Stake Relief Society Presidency, and she doesn't speak Spanish. So the Branch Presidente asked Hermana Whitney to translate. It was quite the experience. It is really hard because you have to listen and translate what they are saying and say it plus at the same time be keeping up with what they are saying so you know what your are supposed to translate next. It was crazy but she did a really good job! Finally, 45 minutes after Church ended we were able to say goodbye to everyone who was excited to talk to Hermana Whitney again and head home. We had lunch and then did our studies. After studies we called a few people, did some planning, tried to scout out some places nearby we can go knocking, and then drove to our appointment with the Branch Presidente and his family. It was so much fun to be with his cute family and talk with them and watch their two adorable daughters. We had a good dinner and then shared a video about the Temple and talked about the blessing we have from the Temple. Back at home we had comp inventory and then nightly planning.
I am learning, although I always knew it, that change is a part of life. Things cannot ever stay the same because we cannot stay the same and still return back to our Heavenly Father. We are here on earth to change, to stretch, to grow. I absolutely loved the time that I had with Hermana Escobar and I KNOW that we are going to be friends and hermanas for eternity. But now I am so excited for this adventure with Hermana Whitney. I am excited because I know it means I am going to learn and experience new and different things and I am going to change and grow. I hope you all have an amazing week and please know how much I love each one of you and how grateful I am for you in my life!
Eternal Love, Hermana Allyse
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| Shhh, please don't tell my mom I got my ears pierced! :-) |
