Long Dreaded Farewell to a Wonderful Hermana Companion, Exciting Welcome to New Companion...

My new companion, Hermana Pearson and I

Buenos Dias Queridos Familia y Amigos! It has been a really good week. I can already tell that Hermana Pearson and I are going to work really well together. She is super bold and fun and exciting and I am excited to learn a lot from her and I think we will balance each other well. We had a really good week with some good teaching and finding!

Last Monday: We had a SUPER busy P-Day today! I can't believe that today marked 11 months that I have been out on my mission, although I honestly didn't have time to think much about it because we were so busy. We did our studies and emailed for a bit and then went to a branch member's house so the hermana could cut and straighten Hermana Whitney's hair. I was happy because I got to play blocks with their adorable two girls the entire time! That evening we had white tamales, basically Mexican hamburgers, with a branch member family. We visited another hermana who also had food for us and we had a great visit with her. Her and Hermana Whitney saying goodbye was one of the hardest things! We then went home, packed and cleaned and enjoyed pizza from Domino's delivered to us thanks to my family who ordered it from Utah!

Newly Arrived from the Mexico City MTC,

Hermana Shipp with me.

We went to high school together,

it is great to have another missionary

 serving in Chicago from Cedar City!

Tuesday: Today was the dreaded day :) We got up and got ready and I helped Hermana Whitney with her few last minute details. We then loaded up the car, it was a lot less full this time then when I took Hermana Escobar up! We left the apartment by 8:00 and drove north. We drove through the city and once again there was hardly any traffic at all. We got to transfers. It was so bittersweet. It was so fun to see so many people and be able to talk to them and catch up. But it was also so sad to be saying goodbye to the departing missionaries. I got to see Hermana Tara Shipp, from Cedar City, which was super exciting. She has Hermana Boushka as her trainer so I know that is going to be super good. After the transfer meeting there was the usual mess of trying to talk to everyone and move luggage around and find new companions. In the mess of it all, Hermana Whitney and the other departing missionaries left for the temple before her and I even got to say goodbye to each other!  :-( I was so heartbroken but I guess that just means that it wasn't goodbye and that we will definitely see each other again! :-) We got all of Hermana Pearson's stuff loaded up and then headed south to Indiana. We enjoyed driving and talking, getting to know each other better. We went to Chicago Heights and saw a family that we are teaching.  They were getting ready to leave but we were able to make an appointment for the next day so that was good. Then we went to the trailer park and taught a couple who are investigators. We taught part of the Restoration but it was kind of rough because they believe that all churches are good as long as you worship God and that you can't know that there is one true Church. We testified and invited them to read the Book of Mormon and pray. That is all that we can do right now but also that is what is going to help them the most. We stopped to get some groceries and then went home and had dinner and got to know each other some more as Hermana Pearson started unpacking.

Holding a SUPER tiny turtle named Steve

Wednesday: We had some good personal and comp studies this morning. We then headed to District Meeting and Hermana Pearson was squealing with delight the whole time because she saw the mall, Chick-Fil-A, Chili's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Target, and so many other places that she is so happy about having in her area. We had our lesson with the family we had scheduled to teach yesterday. It was so good even though it was a little crazy with the kids running all over the place and wanting palletas and throwing temper tantrums and such. We taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the girls really seemed to understand and like it. They had been reading in the the Book of Mormon again and asked what they should read next. We talked to the hermana again about baptism, all of her girls want to be baptized (one of them was like, "Mom, I want to be baptized!") but the hermana would like some time to discuss it with her husband before we set a date. This family has so much potential and I love them so much and pray that we can help them accept the Gospel as a family. Before we left we got to see and hold their cute little puppy and the tiniest turtle I have ever seen!

Thursday: Today was a good day of weekly planning. That is what we did for most of the day but it was so good to get it done because it is always so nice to know what you are doing the next week and to not have to spend forever the night before planning. We did studies in the morning. I had a REALLY good personal study reading at talk from Elder Holland called, "The Miracle of a Mission" and I also read Alma 26 which was super good and just what I needed to hear! Weekly planning was super long but really good. I just took time telling Hna Pearson about all of the people and just really trying to plan for them and their needs. We also made some really good cake mix cookies, you have to have treats for weekly planning! It was also kind of awesome because any time I had to call someone or talk on the phone to set up appointments I could definitely see how The Lord is helping us. In the evening we went to MCM at the branch mission leader's house. Hna Pearson really liked driving through Gary. It is just so fascinating but also really sad. MCM was really good, we were able to discuss some of the people we are working with and to have help and suggestions with them. After MCM meeting they fed us tamales which were really good. I was able to talk with the branch mission leader's wife for a while and it is kind of neat to see how members really do become so comfortable with the missionaries and really like them. We then drove home, driving past the building where the Jackson 5 had their first ever performance. It is really sad to see because in any other place in the US that would be like a historic landmark, people would flock to see it. But because it is in Gary it is forgotten, run down, and barely has a little sign to say what took place there.

Friday: We started today with studies of course. I enjoyed reading in the the Book of Mormon and highlighting the references to the Doctrine of Christ. I am also working on being better about writing in my study journal. My goal is to have it full by the time I go home, I got a long ways to go!!! :-) For comp study we planned out our lesson for a hermano we are teaching from the "Your Four Minutes" General Conference talk. We were able to go and teach a hermana we have been seeing for quite a few weeks now. We had a little lesson with her about prayer, really simple, and then taught her to pray so that she can pray on her own. She isn't doing very well with her health and her family doesn't help her at all. It is so sad, they leave their kids with her all day long and still make her pay rent to live in their house. It breaks my heart to see things like that. But hopefully having the Gospel in her life will bring some peace and comfort. We went and saw a lady we found and taught last week. She was happy to see us and immediately invited us to sit down to teach her. We read in the Book of Mormon and talked about how we can know for ourselves. We invited her to read and pray and she said that she would. We then drove to the 20's and walked around a little bit trying to find different potential investigators. We got a few people telling us they were no longer interested or had moved away.  We saw this hermano sitting on his steps and we started talking to him. He wanted to know why we believed in Jesus Christ if there are so many bad things happening in the world. We explained a little bit and then told him we could share more. He said that we could but that he didn't believe in God. Hermana Pearson then got all bold and was like, "Pues, tengo que regresar y ensenarle entonces!" (Well then I have to come back and teach you then!) It was awesome how bold she was and it was so perfect for him. Sometimes you really do just have to be bold and personal with people, let them know that you are a person, what you believe and why they need to hear your message.

Saturday: I had a really good personal study today about the principle of accountability. It made me think about how I need to live my mission now based on what I want to have done and who I want to have become at the end of my mission. It is process that won't just happen all at once on the last day of my mission. After studies we went and did Facebook contacting at the library and were able to message back and forth with one of our investigators for a little bit. We drove to Chicago Heights and tried to see a couple of PNI's before visiting a less active hermana. She made us some really good food and we really enjoyed talking with her. Her and Hermana Pearson immediately loved each other so that is really good! We shared the Mormon Message, "Mountains to Climb" and she liked it a lot. We then had our lesson with a family that has recently become active. It went really well, we shared the "Dare to Stand Alone" Mormon Message. They liked it and their son really liked the idea of Heavenly Father being with him always, especially at school (he is the one who was just ordained a Deacon a few weeks ago). They also told us that they are all coming to Church tomorrow so we were super excited.

Sunday: We had personal study today and I had a really good time studying some more about agency and asking myself how I want to look back at my mission on the last day of my mission. It is a question that really makes me think and ponder! We then headed to Church. Hermana Pearson couldn't believe that it was possible for our branch to be that small. Today was a pretty normal size Sunday which is really sad because there were so many there last week, because of the food after church. Everyone was so excited to meet Hermana Pearson. I think that she is going to be so good for the branch, a breath of fresh air, bold and loving. The family that we met with yesterday came to Church which made us super happy! Sacrament Meeting was of course good. We were also given a TON of food!!! When we walked out of the Church building, it looked like we had been grocery shopping :-) That afternoon we were able to teach an investigator about the Book of Mormon and it went really well. She had family over and everything but told us we could still teach her because she wanted to make time for God. We read in the introduction and explained and testified about the Book of Mormon and she said she would read and pray and would try to come to Church. We went to meet with the PNI we found this past week while street contacting. He was outside and we stood there for a little while and were able to answer some of his questions like "Why are bad things happening in the world?" and use the Book of Mormon to explain this. He seemed to like talking with us. He has some awesome questions and told us that he would read and pray. He doesn't believe in God as of right now because of everything he sees in the world, but I think that will change. He has so much potential and we are so excited to teach him! After that we went to dinner with a branch member family. We enjoyed talking with them and eating dinner. We shared a message about how the Book of Mormon answers questions of the soul and invited them to share a couple of Book of Mormons. We were also able to talk about how we want to have regular Noche de Hogars and about how we want to serve the members.

It was a really good week. Like I said I am really enjoying studying the principle of accountability and understand how it applies to each of us in our lives. We all are accountable to the Lord for the blessings, challenges, and experiences that He gives us. A question that we all need to ask ourselves is, "How will I feel when I look back over my life and see what I have and what I haven't become?". No one likes to live with regrets, especially for eternity, and I think keeping this question in our minds is the best way to live life to the fullest and to be please when we are able to account to the Lord about our lives. I love you all soooo much and hope that you have an awesome week!

Hermana Allyse

with awesome members and other missionaries from the Midway Ward
at the Chicago Temple for Baptisms for the Dead,
a real payday for Hermana Whitney
right before she completed her mission!