I HAVE to talk to everyone! Ordinace Invitations & Transfer News

Hermana's Pearson & Meanea, P-day at the Beach!

The Valpo Zone at the Beach for P-Day

Hola! Buenos Dias! Como estan? Happy Birthday to my amazing brother, Tayson! He can officially do magic now, although the whole official thing has never stopped him before! :) This has been a super amazing week. Busy and crazy and wonderful! We received transfer news on Saturday, but you will have to read through my novel to get to that! :-) 

Last Monday we had a great P-Day. Sister Kershaw and I got up at 6:00 and went for a run together. It was so nice and I especially liked not having to run in circle after circle! We had a good pace and it felt great. We then came back home and got ready. We did our studies and then finished getting ready before heading out to the library to email and then bought a few groceries. We ran our food home and then made the hour drive to the beach in Michigan City for our Zone Activity. We all had so much fun just enjoying the beach, playing ultimate Frisbee, soccer, and volleyball. I especially loved playing soccer and had a lot of fun and wasn't too bad at it :) Some of the Elders brought a little grill and everyone cooked the meat that they had bought. We took chipotle Swiss burgers and they were AMAZING! It was so amazing to just enjoy being on the beach with everyone. It was a pretty cool day so it just felt great. Sadly we had to leave after a few hours and head home. The Rensalear Sisters headed towards home and we changed real fast before heading to our dinner appointment.  The Hermana made us some super good enchiladas and then we had an awesome Noche de Hogar with her family and another family about agency and freedom. We started playing a really fun cat and mouse game with the two families but then we had to leave so that we could get home on time. It was a super fun evening. 

Hermana Meanea with a wonderful doctor that has
helped numerous missionaries in the Indiana area

Tuesday we went and did a little bit of Facebook contacting and proselyting and then headed for the doctor's visit in Griffith.  After that we headed to work in Chicago Heights. We made a lot of stop-by's but no one was available for us to teach. We went and saw a family that we have been teaching and were able to have a quick little lesson with them reading Moroni 10:3-5 and explaining how they can know that this is true for themselves. We went to the family who's daughter we are teaching.  We played the Plan of Salvation game, it went really well and she seemed to like it and feel more comfortable with us. We went to the library to update our iPads to iOS8.

Wednesday in District Meeting we talked a lot about how to begin teaching and the Restoration because President has asked that our District Meetings go in conjunction with our companionship studies. Hermana Pearson and I also gave a little class on cutting people off, in a completely loving and respectful manner. Sometimes it just has to be done because people talk, and talk, and talk. It was funny and useful so it was great! We took a district picture - the Zone Leaders, and then Hermana Pearson had a serious craving for Red Robin so her and I went there for lunch. It was really good, I had a guacamole bacon burger and enjoyed it. Back at home we did studies and then planning. To finish the evening we went and helped a branch member in her store. She fed us rice, beans, tamales, and guacamole and then put us to work chopping peppers and onions. I had a lot of fun serving and helping her, and getting to wear jeans made it even better. Towards the end of the night a really nice lady came in and was buying some things. She was talking with the branch member and asked her if we were Mexican or guerritas. Our branch member told her we were guerritas and she came over to talk with us. She was super nice and told us all about her family. She is half Mexican and half Spanish (as in from Spain). She married a Tai/Chinese, one sister married and Irish guy, another sister an Italian guy, and another sister a Mexican. What a crazy cool family! As she was finishing up talking with us, I felt like I should contact her. But we were holding and cutting peppers behind the counter and it just felt awkward so I didn't. Then she was talking with the branch member at the register for a while, but I didn't go contact her then either and she left the store. I thought I had missed my chance but then she came back into the store for something else and I realized that I was supposed to contact her and the Lord was giving me second chance after second chance. As she was waiting for the branch member I started talking with her and she started asking us about what we do. I explained and then asked her if she would be interested in having some missionaries like us come over to her house and explain more. She said yes and then also told us she would love for someone like us to visit her sister up in Chicago who is going through a really rough time right now. So we got her number and now have 2 really legit referrals. It was such a testimony to me that I HAVE to talk to everyone and that I should never postpone a prompting. But also that the Lord provides second chances for us!

On Thursday we started by cleaning the apartment for 2 hours. It took a while but we were able to get the entire apartment spotless and now it feels so good! We had apartment inspections really fast, 100% as usual, and then had our studies. For lunch Hermana Pearson made us cube steak and I "made" mashed potatoes. We went and did some Facebook contacting and then returned home for some weekly planning. For dinner we went to a branch member hermana's house and she fed us chicken tostadas and we shared a message about how covenants protect us. We invited her to prepare to go to the Temple and receive her endowments and she told us she had been thinking about it and that she would prepare. We then drove to Chicago Heights for our Noche de Hogar with a couple of branch member families.  We prayed and sang together and then the host hermana gave a short little lesson about the importance of family and of family home evening. We testified and spoke a little more and then we closed with a prayer. After that we played the cat/mouse game we learned with a couple of other branch member families. Everyone had a lot of fun with that! We then had some arroz con leche that the hermana had made. It was a good night and everyone seemed to enjoy talking and getting to know each other better and I was so happy it worked out and I pray that maybe it can touched some hearts.

Friday we were able to have a really good lesson with the potential investigator we contacted at the Popcorn Festival. We taught her the Restoration and she seemed to really understand and to think about what it all meant. I definitely felt the Spirit strongly as we were teaching her, testifying to both me and her. We invited her to be baptized and she said she would when she had learned and understood everything. We invited her to put October 25th as a goal and that we would help her work towards it. After seeing her we went and did some proselyting on Facebook and then went back home to do a little bit of weekly planning. We had a couple hours of that and then headed to Chicago Heights for our appointment with a family we have been meeting with, but unfortunately the hermana was sleeping so we weren't able to teach them. We tried a lot of other stop-by's but no one was home, that is what happens on a Friday evening. At home we finished up weekly planning and Hermana Pearson made us a super good dinner of baked chicken and amazing mashed potatoes. 

Hermana Meanea with her La Familia misión

Hermana Meanea with her La Familia misión

Hermana Meanea with her La Familia misión

Saturday started with personal study and it was super good. Yesterday I finished 3 Nephi and today I finished 4 Nephi so that made me excited. We made the Tres Leches cake for the Hermanas, it turned out really good! We then drove to Chicago Heights to meet with the hermano we have been teaching, but as we arrived he called and told us he wasn't able to meet until later. So we went to our backup plans and went through our entire list of stop-by's. We were then able to meet with the hermano and had a good little lesson with him. He was really happy to meet with us again and to talk. We shared Omni 1:26 and talked about the Sacrament and invited him to come to Church.  After the lesson we drove home and had leftovers for dinner with the Rensalear Sisters. They then rode with us to the General Women's Meeting Broadcast in Valpo. The Stake Relief Society had set up the gym so cute with refreshments and decorated so pretty and nice. It was super fun. Rather than sitting with the other missionaries, I went and sat with a couple of the hermans from our branch and talked with them for like a 1/2 hour, all in Spanish, and it wasn't awkward, it just felt natural and nice to converse with them in Spanish. We all then went into the chapel to watch the broadcast. But, people had forgotten the translation headphones so there was no way to get it in Spanish to the branch member hermanas in the chapel.  A couple of the hermanas went and watched it in Spanish in another room on a tv that the branch Presidente had set up. But one hermana from our branch really wanted to stay with all of the other women of the Stake and asked us to sit beside her and help her understand. We started doing  that but it wasn't going to work out. Then I was able to get the broadcast  in Spanish on my iPad and we went and found some earbuds in the library and the hermana was able to sit there and listen in Spanish with all of the other women listening in English. The meeting was super good, I just felt so loved and connected! Unfortunately partway through the meeting, the broadcast on my iPad kept cutting in and out because the internet was really slow. So the hermana eventually had to go into the other room to finish watching it in Spanish. After the meeting we talked with other people a little bit and then started the drive back home. That is when we got our transfer call, even before a transfer text, from President Woodbury himself! Ahhhhh! He told me that I am being transferred to Gurnee 3rd to be companions with Hermana Conover who just finished her training! Ahhhhh! I am greenie  busting in Buffalo Grove! I definitely wasn't expecting that. Then he talked with Hermana Pearsoon, she is going to be a mama! She is getting a greenie!!! The rest of the drive home was spent in excitement  for her, she is way happy! We gave the Hermanas the cake and then they headed home. The rest of my night was spent in tears, laughter, talking, and a little bit of packing. I am so heartbroken to leave this area, these people, this  companion. As much as I loved Midway and it was really hard to leave, leaving Griffth is a million times harder for me! But the Lord must want me in Gurnee, so here I go!

Hermana Meanea with her La Familia misión

Hermana Meanea with a
wonderful hermana from the branch

Sunday was a hard day filled with a lot of goodbyes :-( We got up and went to the Church for MCM and then had Church. One of the families we have been working with didn't come :-( But another hermana was there and she received a calling as second counselor in the Young Women's! I was so excited because I have see her come so far! When I first got here, her and her brother were completely inactive. As we have worked with them over the past 6 months we have really seen them change and come back, she even told us she is thinking about a mission!!!!!!! It is so amazing to see people change through the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I said a lot of goodbyes and took a lot of pictures. The Branch Presidente had called us last night asking us to prepare talks for Sacrament Meeting but we ended up not having to give them because the other speakers took long enough :-) We went home and had lunch an personal study then we went and had dinner with a branch member family at the home of another family, who are members of the English ward but are Chilean. It was a lot of fun, they grilled brats and chicken and we loved just talking with them and enjoying the evening. Especially when they would tease us. The rest of the evening was filled with studies and packing!

So yeah, super good week. I am way excited for this new and exciting adventure! I hope that you all have an amazing week and I can't wait to tell you all about this upcoming week. I love and miss you all!!!

Eternal Love,

Hermana Allyse Meanea

P-Day with a GA, Amazing Birthday and Year Mark Week!!!!

My first visit to the famous "Bean"
in Downtown Chicago

Good Morning Amazing Family and Friends! Well, it happened, I have officially been out on my mission for a year now! It is sooooo strange to think about :-) But it was a super amazing week and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Last Monday really was one or the most incredible days! We woke up a half hour early so we could get out the door an hour earlier after studies. We went and emailed for a little bit. We then left to drive to East Chicago to catch our train. But there was an accident and traffic was at a standstill and we definitely wouldn't make it by staying on the interstate. By taking a different route, we got to the station right as the train was pulling in. We found a parking spot real close and ran in the station, up the stairs, and onto the platform just in time. We definitely shouldn't have made it on that train but Heavenly Father was watching out for us! We had a great ride to Downtown Chicago and then a beautiful walk from the station to the Shedd Aquarium. We were standing in line, a pretty long line, and I happened to look back and saw a face that I recognized. It took me a second to realize who it was. Elder Hamula, the member of the First Quorum of the 70 that toured our mission last week, and his wife! We went back to stand in line with them and talk with them. They really enjoyed talking with us and it was so cool to just stand in line with a member of the 70 and hear about their life! They talked about their different experiences as a general authority and about their 3 kids who are all on missions and were emailing them right then. They loved showing us pictures too. Eventually we made it to the front of the line and Hna Pearson and I decided to go ahead and pay the $40 so that we could see the aquatic show and all of the exhibits (because the Illinois free day only got you into the gallery). But when the Hamulas heard about it, they insisted on buying our tickets!!! 

With Elder and Sister Hamula
 of the 1st Quorum of the Seventy
at the Shedd Aquarium in
Downtown Chicago

Then Elder Hamula gave us permission to see the movie that came included with the ticket! We spent the next hour touring exhibits with them, I just couldn't get over the fact that we were chilling with a member of the Seventy at the aquarium on our P-Day! We went and saw the aquatic show which was really neat with dolphins, sea lions, and beluga whales. After that we separated from the Hamulas and went to touch Sting Rays, see the Wild Reef, and the Jellies exhibit. We then went up to watch the 4D movie about sea monsters with the Hamulas and that was fun, especially because Elder Hamula really enjoyed it and it was fun to watch a member of the 70 have so much enjoyment in a movie, as a missionary! Sorry, I keep talking about that but it really was just so mind blowing to me that the Lord blessed us with such a tender mercy! It was definitely an awesome birthday present! :) After the movie we said goodbye to them and then went and ate in the cafe overlooking the lake, went and saw the penguins and the beluga whales, and looked at a Caribbean Reef exhibit. We then left the aquarium and walked downtown to meet up with some other Hermanas. We were with them for a little bit then Hna Pearson and I went and emailed in front of the Bean to finish up P-Day before we had to catch our train back to Indiana. Barely catching that train as well, we finally made it back to East Chicago. Because our appointment for dinner canceled we went and saw some less actives in the area that the Elders are working with and then we drove home. It was definitely one of the best P-Days ever!

Tuesday was a good work day. We did a lot of stop-by's and were also able to teach the daughter of the returning members who is going to get baptized soon. When I first got here, we thought she was 9 already, meaning she would be a convert baptism. But she actually doesn't turn 9 until November so she won't technically be a convert baptism but it still incredible because this entire family has had a change of heart and is just doing amazing! We also saw a family that we are teaching and took their daughter a little present because it was her birthday. That evening we were able to see a less active hermana, and talk with her and share a message. It was a great day!

My Birthday Ice Cream Cake from DQ
that we enjoyed at our District Meeting

District Lunch at Noodles & Co for my Birthday

Wednesday, September 17, 2014: To think back to a year ago is crazy! Being set apart by President Orton, a final breakfast at BK with my family, flying out of Cedar, several flights later landing in Mexico, and arriving at the MTC. It is so hard to believe that all happened in one day. And now I am here, a year later, looking back. At that point a year ago, I honestly didn't know if I would make it this far. I couldn't see myself this far. But now I can't imagine not finishing this out. All in one instant, a year ago seems so long ago and so close! But today was a super good day! We got up and got ready then drove to Valpo. We went to the chiropractor's and he helped Hermana Pearson feel a lot better and adjusted me too. We then went to Dairy Queen and picked up the ice cream cake that my incredible family ordered for me for my birthday. District Meeting was good, we talked all about the things that we had learned from Mission Conference. At the end of our District Meeting we ate the DQ Birthday Cake and then played pinata baseball because we didn't have a bat to hit the pinata in the traditional way :) After that we had District Lunch at Noodles and Company which was SUPER good. Hna Pearson and I then drove home, making a quick stop at the cupcake shop to get some cupcakes :)  We did some teaching and contacting on Facebook, did our studies, and went to find the potential investigator we met at the Popcorn festival. We followed our GPS to her address and were astounded to find it was inside a gated, private community. As a Spanish missionary, I cannot tell you how strange that was for us. It wasn't too hard to get into the community and we found her outside watering her garden. She was happy to see us and we set up an appointment for us to come by and teach her. We then drove to branch member's store and helped her for a while.

Hermana Pearson made a special
Birthday Breakfast for me!

Saying Goodbye to my sweet former
companion Hermana Escobar

Thursday, September 18, 2014: WOW! So this is what it feels like to turn 20 and join the "2 done club" all in one day! It was an AWESOME birthday! My sweet companion was so amazing, she woke up, decorated the apartment, and made me breakfast, bacon and chocolate chip pancakes! We had studies and I got a call from a branch member. Her and her girls wanted to sing happy birthday to me before the girls went to school. It was the sweetest thing ever! Another branch member also texted me wishing me a happy birthday. After studies we went and ate at Olive Garden. It was super good and fun to be there with Hna Pearson. We went and got her Plan of Salvation laminated, proselyted on Facebook, and did some weekly planning. We then headed to our birthday dinner with a wonderful family of the branch. On our way there the hermanas serving in Rensalear texted us asking for the address of the family we were heading to. Both of us wondered why and thought maybe they were trying to surprise me for my birthday. We showed up and there was Hermana Escobar opening the door! I was so excited to see her. But then we found out the real reason they were there. They were on their way home from a doctor's visit in Chicago when Hna Escobar got the call that she is going home tomorrow because of her health :-(  I wasn't surprised but I am so sad. She just hasn't been getting better since we were companions. She is disappointed about going home but knows it is the Lord's will. So as soon as she got that news she knew that she wanted her last supper to be with this very special family. We were able to eat tacos and talk with her a bit and then they had to leave. Everyone was so heartbroken, she is going to be so missed! The rest of the time with the family was awesome. Hermana had made tacos at my request, they sang and we ate cupcakes, their daughter made me a cute card and gave us tons of scriptures! I just love them so much, they are definitely my mission family! After having a great time with them we went and had MCM at the Church. It was good and our new ward mission leader ended up having to kick those same boys out again so that was fun. We then went home and I opened all of the wonderful presents from my amazing family and friends. I so appreciate all of the love and birthday wishes that I received, they mean the world to me! Thank you soooooo much! It is so crazy to think that I am not a teenager anymore and that I have been on my mission for a year now! It was an amazing day and these next 6 months are going to be incredible!

From Crown Point, IN to Napa Valley, CA!!!
Ragnar Running with my Ragnar Family!

On Friday in honor of my mom and brother starting to run the Napa Valley Ragnar this morning, I got up, got Hna Pearson in front of the glass doors, and went for a little run out in our parking lot. There was a beautiful sunrise and it just made me feel so connected to my mom, it was great! We  drove to Chicago Heights and tried to see a few people, with no luck, before heading to eat with a branch member hermana. She had some really good food and had even gotten me a balloon and a birthday gift. We enjoyed talking with her and just enjoying being with her. After being with her we went to see a lady and her family that we are teaching. It ended up being just a stop by because she was super tired, having not slept for more than three hours in the last 36 hours. But she was happy to see us and asked us to pray for the husband of her sister in law who had an accident and was in bad shape in the hospital. Our appointment with another lady we are teaching cancelled so we looked for some more PNI's before going to see another family that we have been working with and they have now been coming to church over the past couple of months. We shared our lesson about prayer and the Spirit was very strong so I hope it was something that touched their hearts and helped them. We had fun talking with them about different things and their son giving us a bunch of random food because he found out it was my birthday yesterday :-)

My wonderful companion Hermana Pearson
and I in our mission car

On Saturday we had a nice busy day working in Chicago Heights. We were able to see a lady we have been teaching and we just talk with her which is nice for her because she just doesn't live in a good situation and we are really the only ones that care about her :-(  It rained a lot too and so it was fun to stop by houses in the rain and see everyone thinking about how crazy we were! We stopped at home to have dinner really fast before driving to Valpo for the adult session of Stake Conference. It was a really good session, really motivating and inspiring for both us and the members. Afterwards was the best part though because President Woodbury gave Hermana Pearson a blessing. She has not been able to sleep at all these past 5 weeks and it is really wearing on her. He gave her an amazing blessing that helped so much. We had left for home when we got a call from the Rensalear Hermanas telling us that they got permission to stay with us so that they didn't have to drive home and then right back up in the morning. We went back and saw President Woodbury once again at the Stake Center. After Hermana Pearson had gotten a blessing I had been kicking myself for not asking for one too because I had been wanting one for quite a while. Just wanting some comfort and counsel. So I got a second chance and asked him. He gladly gave me one and it was so incredible. It was just what I need to hear and really strengthened me! The Priesthood is the best! We then drove home and had the Rensalear Hermanas sleepover at our apartment which was a lot of fun.

Sunday was Stake Conference and it was really good. The Renssalear Hermanas just came to our local church building with us where it was broadcast so that we could ride together. Hna Pearson and Hna Ramirez translated to Spanish for our branch members and did a great job. Afterwards we had a really good Branch Council meeting and talked a lot about how we can all continue to strengthen a family, who as of today, is officially re-activated. But it doesn't end there. They have the goal of the temple and we do to and we are going to help them get there! We went home and all ate spaghetti. The sisters then drove home to work in their area a little and get clothes before coming back up to spend another night with us because we have zone activity tomorrow. In the afternoon we studied and did our weekly planning.

It was another super good, amazing, busy, fabulous week! I love being a missionary, it really is the best! There is nothing else on earth like it and I would not trade these experiences that I am having for anything!!!! I love you all so much and really cannot thank you all enough for all of the love and support that you give me! Have an amazing week!

Eternal Love,

Hermana Allyse Meanea

Hola! Buenos Dias a todos!

Hermana Meanea with her red hair highlights

Hola! Buenos Dias a todos!

We had a good, busy, crazy week here. Just like normal!

Last Monday we had a good busy P-Day!  We emailed for a while and then went to the mall. We did our grocery shopping and then I went and got my hair done. It took forever but I really like it! I asked for red highlights and a trim with layers and bangs. They stylist put in so many highlights that I look like a redhead now! It is different but I really like it! :-) We then hurried to our appt with the a member family and our recent convert. We had a really good time eating and sharing a message with them.

Tuesday started out amazing because I was able to go for a run and it was raining just a little bit (it reminded me of my favorite run at the Ragnar in Washington state) and it was perfect! I woke Hna Pearson up and got her to lay down in front of our sliding glass door so that she could see me and then I just ran circles in front of our apartment and it was so wonderful! Before my mission I couldn't stand just going out and running, but now I love it and even crave it sometimes. It just started my morning out really good and reminded me how good life is and that the tender mercies of The Lord are all over! We had to go to Sears Auto Center to get the light on our car fixed, again. Frank, the guy who helped us last time, was there and he told us he would have the mechanics look at it to try and see what was going on. After an hour Frank told us that it was some kind of electrical short and we would have to take it to the dealer, but that the car was under warranty so it should cost us nothing. Yeah! After that fun time we went to Hammond for our appointment with a branch member hermana. She asked us to go and pickup Popeye's for lunch, which we happily did. I think it was my first time really eating Popeye's and it was really good. We enjoyed doing service for her, we got to spend about an hour weeding in her garden which was awesome because it was different. My hands got SO dirty and it was fun to have dirt all over again! We then drove to Chicago Heights for our appointment with a less active family we are working with. We were able to go sit and talk with her for quite a while.  Her husband got home and we were able to share a message about the Book of Mormon. The hermana told us about how she had realized how blessed she was because her daughters wanted to go to Church and her and her husband were hurting their family by not taking them. They told us about how they want to become and eternal family and the husband told us he wants to get the Priesthood! I was amazed at the complete change that has happened with them. Just a few weeks ago they didn't seem to have any interest or desire. It just shows me that I can never judge anyone. Then the best thing happened. We talked to the hermana about how we would love to help them prepare their daughter to be baptized. She said that would be good and that she would talk with the daughter. Then the daughter walked over and her mom told us we could ask her. Hna Pearson explained what baptism was and asked her if she would like to do that. She said yes! We didn't set a date right then, although both of us were thinking about it. As we were leaving the mother asked when we were going to start with the lessons with her daughter. I suggested that we could put a date as a goal for her to be baptized and work towards that date. They agreed to work towards September 26. That evening we took our car to the dealership and after looking at it for 20 minutes, they had fixed it. Turns out that Sears used the wrong bulb and had jammed it into the socket, breaking part of the bulb in the process. Yes, that would cause a problem! So now our tail light should be fixed! :-)

Wednesday we drove back to Sears and thankfully Frank was working so we were able to have a heart to heart with him. We showed him what had actually been the problem, he was disgusted, and gave us a whopping $5 back. But at least the problem is fixed now. We drove to Griffith to pick up a branch member hermana to take her to our lesson with a lady we had scheduled to teach. After a lot of confusion of where the branch member lived and having to drive from Griffith to Hammond, we finally picked her up and got to Chicago Heights. The lesson went really well and the lady we were teaching was sooooooo excited to see the branch member hermana again. They used to work together but haven't seen each other in forever. The lesson was good and I think really helped the lady we are teaching feel more comfortable. We took our branch member home and then drove back to Chicago Heights for our appointment with a less active family. We talked about scripture study and prayer to help their son with his Duty to God.

Thursday was mostly our weekly planning day. In the afternoon we went and taught the young girl who is preparing for baptism about the Restoration of the Gospel with her uncle.  It went good and she is excited to get baptized. We had MCM that night for the first time with our new Ward Mission Leader. It went good and it is going to be really great working with him. We then headed home as the Elders and nearly everyone else in the Valpo Zone headed north to stay the night in Chicago to make the next day easier on travel for the mission conference. But we were to stay in our apartment and do our travel to Chicago early the next morning. As the Elders were leaving us from out MCM, they told us that our taillight was out, AGAIN!!! What?!?!?! So now we get to take it back to the dealer, again, yea!

Elder & Sister Hamula with Hermanas Pearson & Meanea

Friday was the most amazing day! And funny enough, we woke up at 4am and left the house at 5am to beat the Chicago rush hour traffic, and I still consider it one of the most amazing days ever! :-) Waking up at 4am was tough! But we got ready. Hermana Pearson was so sweet and amazing to curl my hair and then the Hebron Sisters picked us up and we headed to Wilmette for a mission conference. We hit some bad traffic but managed to make it there just in time to sit down and quietly read our scripture with everyone else so that we could impress Elder Hamula (a member of the First Quorum of Seventy https://www.lds.org/church/leader/james-j-hamula?lang=eng) when he came in with President Woodbury. After he got there we all got to go up shake his and his wife's hands which was a really neat experience. Mission Conference was absolutely incredible. So many questions and prayers answered, ones I didn't even know that I had. The big theme was "Recommitment". Overall our mission is doing pretty good, but we have the potential to be so much better. We have the faith to serve, but we don't have enough faith to succeed...yet. We need to use Preach My Gospel more. We need to be more obedient, and we need to open our mouths and talk to everyone. It was a chastisement, but so loving that it didn't feel like it. I loved the entire meeting. We then got to eat lunch as a mission, take a mission picture, and I even got sung to with all of the other September birthdays from the whole mission. It was so fun to be with everyone and get to talk and see missionaries that I hadn't seen forever. For the time in between the conference and the fireside we went to help some English Sisters in their area. They gave us some potential investigators and former investigators to follow up with. Hermana Pearson and I ended up knocking a white polish street in the cold sleet while the Hebron Sisters were inside seeing a former investigator that Sister Ripely had known. I  much prefer working with the Spanish people, they are a lot nicer then the Polish people yelling at us :-) We then drove to the fireside in Hyde Park which was amazing as well! Unfortunately none of our members from down in Indiana were able to make it but it was such a good fireside for everyone. After a late dinner from McDonald's, we drove home, finally getting there about midnight. We quickly fell asleep, exhausted after a long, 20 hour day!!!

Hermana Meanea at Griffith Branch

International Noche de Hogar

with her Tater Tots and Fry Sauce

Saturday started with studies and then we headed out to stop at Costco for cups for our branch activity tonight and then to the Church to help decorate. In the afternoon we took our car back to the dealership and Aaron (it can't be good with how familiar we are with these people we are talking with to fix our car!) snuck us right in to have the car looked at even though there was a ton of other people already there. After about 40 minutes, they fixed the problem for good this time (or so we pray!). Apparently, when the Sears people had shoved the light bulb in, they had bent the metal tabs and so the bulb was loose. But the dealership fixed it, along with a brake light we hadn't known was out, and we were out of there! We went back to the Church, finished blowing up balloons, and made our food for our Branch International Night activity. I was pretty proud of the tater tots and fry sauce that I made to represent Utah! :-) It was a really successful activity, we had a lot of people there. The majority of them weren't members so that was really awesome. We all had a lot of fun!

We had another Super Sunday at Church today! The less active family that we have been working so hard with came again and so did another less active hermana and her husband. She is never really ever able to come because it is too difficult with her two year old daughter that has a lot of health problems. All of those people made for a very good Sunday for us! We had studies and then had dinner with the branch Presidente and his family. We were able to discuss with him some of the struggles that we have noticed among members of the branch and to talk about different people we are working with and how they are progressing. 

Griffith Branch International Noche de Hogar

So this was a pretty amazing week! We had some incredible miracles and some fun times. This next week is going to be super amazing as well! I cannot believe that on Thursday I turn 20 years old and that I also hit my year make of my mission, that is completely surreal to me!!! This past year has been incredible, incredibly hard and incredibly amazing! In honor of my 20th Birthday, here are 20 things that I have learned on my mission:

1. The JOY of sharing the Gospel is real
2. The Atonement is not just for sins but is for everything!!!
3. The Plan of Salvation is real and brings real joy and peace
4. The Restoration of the Gospel happened, and is continuing to happen
5. Obedience brings blessing, exact obedience brings miracles
6. Life is good, eternal life is better
7. The Book of Mormon can answer any question!
8. Spanish, yes, I have learned Spanish!
9. I love the city!
10. Missionaries and members MUST work together
11. Independence, self-sufficient
12. Hard work
13. Love for all, despite race, place, or circumstance
14. Miracles and tender mercies from The Lord happen all the time and we need only look for them
15. Heavenly Father loves us, his children, and answers our prayers
16. This is the Lord's work and we must do it His way
17. When we yield ourselves to The Lord, we get so much more back in return
18. The fundamentals of the Gospel are the keys to Salvation
19. All things are possible with the help of The Lord
20. We cannot forget to LOOK UP!

My sweet, amazing, kind, loving, friends and family! I really cannot thank you all for your overwhelming love and support of me for the past 20 years and especially for this last year. I love you all so much and I really am so grateful for you. I pray that all is well with you. Please know that I know this is where I am supposed to be and this is what I am supposed to be doing! I know that I am sharing the true Gospel of Jesus Christ with others because I have so much joy and peace from it, and I want to share that with everyone else. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It answers our great questions of the soul and beings peace and happiness. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. He saw our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and through him, they restored the Gospel to the earth. I know this because every time we teach the Restoration and testify of the First Vision, I can feel the power of the Spirit, it is unmistakable. I love you all so much. I miss you like crazy but am so grateful for this adventure, this opportunity! I love you! Have a wonderful week!

Eternal Love,

Hermana Allyse Meanea

Popcorn Festival and Guarding the Church :-)

Hello from Indiana...

Buenos Dias! It is really hard for me to believe that it has already been an entire week! The closer that I get to my year mark, the faster time really does seem to be going! We had a really good week and things are just going super well!

Last Monday we had a really great Labor Day. We emailed at the Church for a little bit and then one of the English ward members took us and the English Sisters to lunch at a little family restaurant called Maximum's (he had invited us to his Labor Day BBQ, but the thunderstorms changed those plans). It was a lot of fun to be with him and his wife, the English Sisters, and their investigator. We enjoyed talking, laughing, and telling some crazy stories. Hermana Pearson and I finished off our P-Day by doing the shopping that we needed and then went to Chicago Heights to visit with a less active branch member family that we have been working with for months. It was fun to talk with them and they also fed us. We talked a lot with their son about preparing for his mission. He is a miracle. A few months ago he wasn't doing very good things. He is 25 and everyone figured he probably wouldn't be going on a mission. Then his niece got sick and he did a complete 180 and is now finishing up his mission papers and talking to us about missions. We are so excited for him and his family!

Balloons always make people happy,
just like the Gospel does!!!

On Tuesday we had a nice long workday. We were able to teach one of our investigators. She still seems really interested so we are happy about that. We read 3 Nefi 17 for her because she hadn't been able to read. She really like it and understood well and told us she will try to come to Church, especially if we find her a ride. We did some other PNI stop by's and were able to set an appointment with another investigator family. We drove to Park Forest to look for a couple of people but no one was home. We tried to go see another family we have been working with, but they had a lot of people over and we didn't want to risk another run in with the JW's. Another family we stopped by to teach were home but busy and told us we could come back another day. A less active we stopped by was there but his wife wasn't so we set an appointment for another day. We then drove to East Chicago for our appointment with a branch member couple.  They made us some really good food and the hermano really enjoyed talking to us about his mission and showing us pictures and telling stories. We had a lot of fun with them and shared the Hastening the Work of Salvation video and explained how we need the members in this work.

Missionaries armed with price guns!

Wednesday was a really good and busy day! We went to the chiropractor and he adjusted me then I had the fun part of watching Hermana Pearson get adjusted. She was terrified and had never been to a chiropractor before. Watching me get adjusted made her even more scared. Since she didn't know of any problems she had, the chiropractor had her stand there and just by looking at her he could name of several of her problems: rotated forward shoulders showing a lot of knuckles (from swimming), crooked head (this one makes me laugh and her really upset), and loss of curvature in her neck. Then once she was on the table: entire pelvis rotated forward plus one side of pelvis twisted forward and the other back, over-pronating with right foot = tenderness and pain in calf and knee, several back joints stuck together, headaches and a muscle in her shoulder that had been ridiculously tight for over a year, plus a lot of other things too! She was mortified but so happy to have someone that could help her with all of that :-) We had District Meeting and learned about improving our teaching skills. After that Hna Pearson and I had to spend about an hour at the mall because we had to take our car into the shop to get a brake light fixed. As we were heading home we were able to help someone who had run out of gas by going and getting them a can of gas and they were super grateful. We then did our studies before driving to Chicago Heights for our member present lesson with the a couple of families that we are teaching. It went super well! We taught about keeping the Sabbath Day holy and the mom, talked about how she had just started working and had asked her husband what day she should request off and he told her Sunday because it was the Sabbath. So when we then taught that subject it was really neat and meaningful to her. Having the branch members there was really good and they really helped to bring the Spirit and to testify. We then went and helped a less active at her store. We got to use price guns to price and stock things so we had a lot of fun!

Thursday I thought was going to be a pretty boring day to write about because it was a planning day, but a lot of crazy stuff happened that makes this a very interesting day! After studies and lunch we started weekly planning. It went really good. We are going to have a super busy and crazy but wonderful next 8 days! After planning for several hours, and making chocolate chip cookies (okay, putting premixed ones in the oven!) we went to the library and did some Facebook contacting, proselyting and teaching. We drove to Hammond and had dinner with a branch member family. It was really great. The hermana made us Enchiladas Verdes and we loved talking with their girls. We shared the Hastening the Work of Salvation video and then went to our MCM meeting with the branch mission leader at the Church.  As we were leaving the Church we noticed there were a bunch of teenage boys in the gym playing basketball. But there were no adults, the English Elders had left, and then the branch mission leader came back in and told us that his van, that had been sitting next to those boy's truck, smelled like Marijuana. After a discussion between us missionaries (the Elders who serve in our branch, and us sisters) of who should go talk to them, my companion marched right in to talk to them. We went and asked the boys when they were leaving and they told us around 9:30 (it was 9:00). We told them that we were in charge of the building and had to lock up and leave so they would have to leave also. They told us that the English Ward Mission Leader, was going to come and lock up later. Because it was kind of suspicious, and none of them were members except one kid (and he was SUPER rude to Hermana Pearson) we called the English Ward's Ward Mission Leader just to make sure that was true. He didn't answer his cell phone but when we called his home phone, his wife told us he was traveling home from New York City right then, so he definitely wouldn't be in town to lock up the building like the boys had told us he would. So because there were no adults (and especially no priesthood), and our WML was claiming the boys had been smoking marijuana, and they were there in the building really late, we told them they had to leave. After taking their sweet time and several of them disappearing for a few minutes in the Church, they finally left. As we were leaving and locking the building, we discovered that they had gone around and left several doors and windows open so that they could sneak back into the church building after we had left. We then had to go and secure the entire building, also finding out that they had stolen one of the allen wrench keys used to lock and unlock the doors. We could see the boys circling the block every few minutes in their truck waiting for us to leave. Eventually we were able to get everything closed and locked again and we headed back to our apartment.

On Friday I had a lot of fun putting my graphic design skills to use designing an invitation for our branch's Noche de Hogar next Saturday. We did some different stop-by's and also got to teach one of our less actives. He loves to visit with us and to learn more about the Gospel. I truly have seen his testimony and desire to change grow so much since I have been here, it is really exciting! That evening we had a good dinner appointment with a branch member family. We talked about how much we need them in the work of Salvation and Hermana told us about how she is wanting to visit her son's girlfriend with us so that maybe we can share the Gospel with her. That is exactly the kind of thing a missionary loves to hear and it made us really excited.

Always remember to Look UP!!!

Hermana Pearson and I with all
of the balloons we helped to blow up.

Saturday we had a really fun day at the Popcorn Festival in Valparaiso! We left our apartment a little after 6:30 in the morning so that we could get to a member's office by 7:00. We helped him and his family blow up and tie balloons. After blowing up and tying between 300-400 balloons, we watched their 17 year old son tie the balloons to the roof of their office. It looked just like the house from Up, which is exactly what they were aiming for. It was so fun to see, it was a lot of balloons! We helped them set up their little tents because the office also happens to be right on the beginning of the parade route. We were able to hand out balloons to kids as they walked past, and watch the parade, so it was a super fun morning! We had to leave the parade about 1/2 through (we had already been watching for 1.5 hrs so it is a looooong parade!) to walk downtown with a member to meet up with the rest of the missionaries and to man the water booth and contact people. Unfortunately there was some kind of mix up and other people were already manning the water booth, so us missionaries decided to take the next 2 hours and contact people who had gathered at this Popcorn Festival. We all split off and Hermana Pearson and I started our mission to find and talk the Hispanics to talk with. We wandered around for a long time not finding any. We passed by one guy who asked if we were from the Mormon church. Surprised we answered yes and asked him how he knew about the Church. He was from Saudi Arabia but had lived in Utah for 2 years. We talked with him for a bit and he told us the Book of Mormon in Arabic has a lot of grammatical mistakes and that he was done with everything from the Mormon church and then walked away. It was sad to see someone so against it, but it was a contact we made and someday all of these little contacts with the Church will add up and he will want to learn more. It was so fun to be in the fair atmosphere though and to see all of the food and booths. Hermana Pearson had me try an elephant ear. Don't worry, it isn't actually from an elephant. It is deep fried dough with cinnamon sugar on it, so you can't go wrong there! Then as we were walking down the streets, we heard a woman speaking Spanish! We both immediately turned and locked on target :-) We contacted her and her family and they seemed nice and interested. She gave us their address and phone number, and guess what, they live in Crown Point! That is where we live and we have always wanted to try and find people that live around here so that we can branch out and it is closer to home. So now we have a PNI family and well as a place to start looking for other Hispanics!!! That made the entire day worth it to find them! We continued walking and looking, but couldn't find anyone else. Hermana Pearson did buy some popcorn and I got a bag of cookies and cream kettle corn to try as well. We headed back to the member's office and ate pizza with them and the other missionaries.

Driving through our old area in Midway

Sunday, September 9, 2014: Church we really good today. We had a less active family come and we hadn't even been expecting them so that it was really amazing. We also had the Stake Relief Society Presidency visiting in Relief Society, and they don't speak any Spanish, so we helped translate English -> Spanish and Spanish -> English. After Church we had studies and then got to drive up to Midway to see the baptism of some of Hermana Pearson's investigators. It was super awesome because we got to drive through our old area on the way there and it was so fun to see! It was great to be at the baptism and be able to see a lot of the ward members that I loved and served with, especially a less active that I had worked with a lot and love. The baptism was very powerful. After that we drove back to Indiana for our dinner with the a branch member family and the Elders. We had a good time there with them.

My former apartment back in Midway

I love you all so much and, like always, truly cannot thank you enough for all of the love and support that I receive. It means so much to me! I want you all to know that I know that this Gospel is true! We have the truth and the happiness. Because we have this, we have a responsibility and desire to share it! You don't have to be a full-time missionary to do that though! Just always remember how much joy you have because of the Gospel and then you will realize how much you want to share that with other! I love you all so much! Have the most amazing week!

Eternal Love,

Hermana Allyse

Surprise Visitors, Exchanges with my trainer, Successful Branch Noche

Surprise Visitors from Utah

My home ward Bishop and Sister Sardoni

AMAZING Family + Friends! Hermana Pearson and I have had a wonderful week here in Indiana! We are getting a long really well, working hard, and serving The Lord. It doesn't get any better than this! :-)

Last Monday for P-Day we emailed our families and did our grocery shopping.  We splurged for lunch and at at Chick-Fil-A.  I really enjoy the Mexican food that the wonderful people here feed us, but sometimes it is good to have something else.  We had to stop by the mall and do a little shopping.  I needed to get a new pair of winter boots for this coming winter, as the ones that I had last winter I totally wore out!  That evening as we were back at work we headed out to a branch member's home.  The hermana made us some really good, spicy, enchiladas and we enjoyed being with her and her family. Her husband shared a little Noche de Hogar with us and the family.

A new pair of winter boots I purchased because I wore
the soles off of my other pair last winter in Midway

Tuesday we had some good studies and made up our little game for teaching a couple of our investigator families about the Word of Wisdom. We stopped by one of our investigator's and just talked with her for a couple minutes. She still isn't feeling really well so we told her we were praying for her. After talking with her, we went to our appointment with the one of the families that we had made the game for. But before we could even knock, one of the girls came out and told us that her mom said she didn't have time right now because their grandpa was over and he was drunk and they didn't want to make him upset. She told us we could come back tomorrow. So since we couldn't see them we decided to go see another investigator to give her an invitation to the Noche de Hogar on Friday. This is were we have a super awkward story. We get to her house, pray as a companionship, and are walking up to her doorstep when we see some JW's also getting out of their car. Nothing too unusual because there are a lot of them around. We knock on her door and waited when the JW's come up to her house and wait on the doorstep with us! Her son opened the door and we asked if his mom was home and he said yes and that we could talk to her. He told us we could come in so we walked inside but the JW's just moved up on the doorstep. I didn't want to be rude and shut the door in their face so I just left the door partway open and they just continued standing there! The lady JW asked me if the lady of the house was there and I told her I thought so. As we were waiting for her, her son asked me to close the door. So I went to the door, told the the JW's I was going to close it because they asked me to, and then shut the door in the JW's face! I felt kind of bad. After I shut the door, the house phone started ringing and we looked outside and they were calling our investigator from the front porch! At that point, she came out and talked to us for a minute before explaining that she had other people coming over that she had an appointment with. Yep, our investigator is meeting with us and the JW's! #exasperatedface She went and opened the door again and tried to call the JW's in, but they had retreated to their car and told her they would wait. So we shared our little invitation to the Noche de Hogar with her and then got out of there. I was so bummed because she has so much potential.  Hopefully she will feel and experience the Spirit when we are in her home. We went and picked up a member hermana for our appointment with the other investigator family we had lined up to teach today. It went really well. They had Little Caesar's pizza for us, along with some really good Italian bread sticks.  We were able to teach them about the Word of Wisdom and play the little game that we had made. After our lesson with them, we took the member hermana home and then headed home ourselves to make a Tres Leches for our District Lunch tomorrow.

Wednesday we drove to the District Meeting. But this time, for the first time in nearly 5 months, I was not the one to drive the car! Hermana Pearson felt ready to drive and so she drove all of today. It was the weirdest feeling to me because I have been doing all of the driving straight for 5 months! We had car inspections which went well. We had a good District Meeting where we learned about good finding ideas and also got to use our coloring skills to color a page as we talked about the blueprint of Christ's original Church. After that we had our District Lunch which was really awesome because we had a barbecue. A less active member had given our Elders a barbecue grill so they brought it in their car and grilled us some really good hot dogs and some of the most amazing burgers I have ever had, so good! Everyone really loved the tres leches, so I was happy. We then headed back to our area, stopping to do some Facebook contacting. We were able to go and teach the family about the Word of Wisdom that we had re-scheduled from yesterday. It went pretty well. They told us that they do drink a little bit of coffee and tea but that they will do their best to give those up and follow the Word of Wisdom. We played our little game of where we have pictures of what we can and can't eat and they have to be the first one to hit yes or no, with them and they really liked it. After that lesson we met up with a branch couple so that they could come with us to some appointments.  We stopped at one investigator's home for our first appointment but she had a ton of family over wasn't able to meet with her. We went to our next two appointments and neither was home.  We tried some backup plans without much luck. We even tried calling another hermana investigator that we didn't have plans with to see if we could meet with him but he wasn't going to get home until 8:30. After striking out there, we decided it would be really good to try and see this certain family and invite them to the Noche, especially because we had the members with us and they get along really well. We drove to their house and saw the hermano just getting home. We knocked on their open door 15 seconds after we saw him walk inside. We knocked 4 times and called inside several times, but no one would come. I was absolutely heartbroken because that absolutely sealed the deal that they don't want anything to do with us anymore :-( I think that the member couple that we had with us felt bad for us after that so they offered to take us to Burger King for dinner.

Thursday I really enjoyed personal study because it was a really nice day outside and so we sat out on our little piece of concrete in the sun and air, studying. We had lunch with a less active hermana. We had some really good food with her and also talked a lot with her. At MCM that night we were able to plan with the branch mission leader for the Noche de Hogar tomorrow and discuss all of the people that we are working with. They also fed us dinner and then the STL's got there for us to go on exchanges. Hermana Pearson was able to go back up to Midway with Hermana Kinghorn and Hermana Toney came with me! It was really fun and kind of crazy to be with Hermana Toney again (she was my trainer, my first companion in Chicago)! We drove home and just talked and talked, getting all caught up with each other.

Hermana Toney and I back together again (for a few hours)

Hermana's Pearson, Kinghorn, Meanea & Toney on exchanges

Friday after personal study we actually drove to Valpo for the chiropractor because Hermana Toney told me how much she had been needing one and how messed up her back and shoulders were. The member chiropractor was able to fix her right up. We did some proselyting on Facebook and then went and taught a hermana that we have been teaching for a few weeks now. We read in 3 Nephi 11 with her and she seemed to understand it pretty well. The only problem is that there were wasps all over the place so Hermana Toney worked on keeping them away from us while I read to the hermana. After that we went to the Church to get set up for the Noche de Hogar. Our activity went really well, we had food and watched 17 Miracles. There were quite a few people there and through a lot of phone calls and arrangements, a hermano that we have been teaching came and even brought his nephew who is visiting from Mexico! I think everyone enjoyed it. At the end I got up and spoke for a couple of minutes tying in what we had seen in the movie to our lives, all in Spanish without anything written down or any preparation! It was really neat to just hear the Spanish come out of my mouth through the Spirit. Hermana Pearson and Hermana Kinghorn got there just as the activity was ending. We had to push back the exchange time because the Hermanas had been able to get an appointment with the family back in Midway that Hermana Pearson had been teaching with her recent convert so that she could see them all again. It was so fun to be with Hermana Toney again, one last time before she goes home at the end of this transfer.

Saturday ended up being mostly our weekly planning day. It went pretty smoothly. The big prayer that I said took about 20 minutes and then we were able to plan pretty well for everyone. We drove to Chicago Heights for our lesson with the hermana who had come to the Noche last night but he called and asked if we could come by an hour later, unfortunately we were already halfway to Chicago Heights so we just continued on and sat at McDonald's and worked on weekly planning some more. We then went to the hermano's house but he wasn't home and called to let us know he was going to be a little late. There wasn't going to be any women at home plus we needed enough time for our next appointment so we just had to reschedule with him. We went to see a less active hermana at her store. She fed us some super good food. We were able to help the hermana with some service, being of service is always wonderful.

Hermana Pearson and I with Spencer Sardoni
(he is a legend around these parts as a former missionary)

The formerly famous (not infamous) Elder Sardoni
sharing great council for the final 6 months of my mission.

Sunday we had a meeting at 9:00 with our branch president and President Cabrera of the mission presidency. It was a really good meeting where we talked about working better with the members and getting them excited about missionary work. A less active family that we have been working with came to Church but no one else that we are working with came :-( A hermana from the English ward that meets in the same building came and pulled us out of our combined Relief Society and Priesthood lesson. We walked out the door and standing there, beaming at me, were two people. I was so stunned that it took me a second to realize it was Bishop and Sister Sardoni (my home ward Bishop and his wife)! I couldn't believe it! It was completely surreal to see them there in Indiana. I feel like I have two lives, my mission life and my former normal person life. To see someone from my "former life" was super crazy but really neat. Sister Sardoni and I hugged a lot, Bishop tried to hug me to but I told him I couldn't. Spencer (Bishop's son who served his mission in the same mission as I am in, and has been home for just over a year now) was also there.  It was really good to see him and meet his new wife, she is really nice and was taking pictures of us the whole time. They texted pictures to my Mom and Dad of me with the Sardoni's that they had taken with their cell phone. We were able to talk for a few minutes and then it was time for them to leave and me to continue my work. It was so crazy to hear that after Ronnie Passey gets home next month, I am the next missionary to come home! It was so weird to say, "See you in 6 months!" to them as they left. It was so nice to hear them tell me that they loved me, that I was doing an amazing job, and that they are proud of me. Spencer told me to just tear it up and that is what I intend on doing! After Church we drove to Chicago Heights and spent the rest of the day trying to contact and meet with people.

P-Day Selfie

Wow! I love you all so much! Time really is starting to fly and it is pretty crazy! I cannot thank you all enough for everything that you do for me! I hope that you all have a great week! Remember that I love you and more importantly that God loves you!

Eternal Love,

Hermana Allyse Meanea