Buenos Dias a todos!!! It has been a crazy good week! A lot of changes and adventures but so wonderful! I love my new area and companion. We had a lot of fun and it is going to be an awesome transfer!
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| Gatito the Cat with Hermana Allyse |
Monday was my last day in Griffith! It was definitely an exciting one so that is great! We did our studies then headed out for our P-Day. After emailing for a while we started our day of shopping and browsing. We had a yummy lunch at Portillo's. As were coming out of Old Navy is when our day got real interesting. This couple approached us and at first we were scared they were going to rob us or something. The lady was holding a cat and she explained that they had found it on the side of the highway, about to get run over. They had saved it and called the animal shelter which told them they would take the kitten. They asked us to take the kitten to the animal shelter because they didn't have a car to get there and it was clear up in Crown Point by where we live. The whole thing seemed a little bit suspicious to us and I wasn't sure if us transporting an animal in the mission car was allowed but Hna Pearson really wanted to help the kitten, so that is how I ended up with a baby kitten on my lap, both of us scared out of our minds (me because I didn't want it peeing all over me) heading to animal shelter in Crown Point. We got to the animal shelter and immediately found out that we had probably been scammed into taking a little baby kitten. The animal shelter didn't have any room and hadn't had room for a long time. So now we were two sister missionaries stuck with a baby kitten and our p-day hours quickly running out. The lady at the animal shelter gave us the number of the police department to call and get the address of the Merrillville animal shelter but nobody would pick up so we had no idea where to go. We called Elder Bringhurst and Elder Angeletti as if expecting that they would have a solution for us. They mostly just laughed but didn't have anything real good for us. We were completely at a loss when the English sisters texted to see if we could meet up because they had a surprise for Hna Pearson. Figuring we had a pretty big surprise for them too we met them at the library. While waiting we named our furry little kitten "Gatito" and took pictures. The Sisters showed up and were very surprised but wanted nothing to do with it. Then I had the perfect solution pop into my head (it really was revelation, proving to me that Heavenly Father really does love and care for His missionaries even when they think they are doing a good deed but then it doesn't turn out at all as planned). A girl we knew from the English ward was the perfect solution! We called her and she said her parents wouldn't let her have it, but because she is such an animal lover, she told us to bring the kitty over and she would find it the perfect home. We quickly did so and that is our end of our pet for an hour story! We went back to our regular P-day activities and finished p-day with a little bit of emailing and then headed to Chicago Heights. On the way there we got a call from the girl we left the kitten with who was super excited to tell us the end of Gatito's story. She told us she had walked up and down the streets for an hour and a half trying to find her a good home. She finally found one girl, about her same age and just like her who was willing to take the cat in. So, Gatito now has a loving home and the ward member girl has a new best friend and a missionary opportunity. It just really goes to show that the Lord really is in control and even when people try to cause problems, the Lord has a way of making things better than ever before! We stopped to get a car wash and were really confused when Hna Pearson tried to pay for the $3 usual wash we get and instead the machine went crazy, punched in a wash code, and then told us to pull forward. Not knowing what else to do, we followed the instructions. Afterwards, as we were vacuuming our car, we found out why the car wash had wigged out. One of the car wash attendants, a younger guy, came out and asked how we had liked our car wash. It had been a really nice car wash and was probably worth around $15-$20. We told him it was great and asked how it had happened. He said he had seen us coming in and decided to give us a free car wash. :-) #SisterMissionaryProbs. We then went to a wonderful branch member's home for dinner. She made some really good food, including these like mashed bananas that were from the Dominican Republic and were super good. I also got to help her on the computer a little bit which was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed being with her and when it came time to say goodbye, it was SO hard! I am going to miss her so much. We got home, our traditional Domino's pizza, courtesy of my family, was delivered and I finished packing.#TypicalTransferNight #LostSleepICanNeverGetBack :)
Tuesday was the dreaded transfer day. :-( I am definitely going to miss Griffith, it has been a great 6 months! We woke up and got ready and I got all of my stuff out to the car, I had a lot more than I was planning but it wasn't as bad as I feared :) We were on the road by 7:30. Things moved pretty fast until we got north of Chicago. I really enjoyed driving that familiar drive, especially because it is probably the last time I make it! Then we hit a lot of traffic and we bounced back and forth between surface streets and the interstate, trying to get there on time. We ended up getting there like 5 minutes late, which was really like right on time. I enjoyed seeing and talking with everyone while Hna Pearson went to her trainer's meeting. It was a good transfer meeting. We found out that we get to see Meet The Mormons next Wednesday, before the rest of the world which is super exciting! I had been hoping there would be some way we could see it. Then it was time for me to say goodbye to Hna Pearson and her baby (trainee). Although we found out she really isn't a baby at all. She has been out a total of 9 months, serving in Mexico and Salt Lake. This is her third time being trained so that will be interesting for Hna Pearson! I will definitely miss Hna Pearson. She has been so great to serve with these past 6 weeks. I also said goodbye to my mom (trainer), Hna Toney. She goes home tomorrow and it is so weird to think that my trainer is going home! I spent the next little while moving things from car to car so that eventually I was able too get my stuff in my new car and then Hna Conover (my new companion) and I headed north. I was immediately designated the driver because Hna Conover doesn't have her driver's license. I had way to much fun driving our cool Chevy Cruze up to where we live. We stopped at the Sprint store to get our new cell phone activated and the contacts moved over. We then did a little bit of grocery shopping at Walmart and then went to the mall to get Panda Express for lunch and so that I could meet our investigator that works there. We went home and took some of my stuff in and ate lunch before heading back out. Our apartment is pretty nice. We stopped at our apartment complex clubhouse, yes we have a clubhouse, to use the internet to sync our area books and check our Facebook messages (we commonly use Facebook to message members of the ward that we are working with or help us, and we also message the investigators that we teach to confirm appointments and remind them of studying assignments). After that we tried a stop-by before going to a member family's home for dinner. They are some awesome members and are actually the parents of investigator that I met in the mall, and the grandparents of the daughter of our investigator who turns 8 in October :) I really enjoyed talking with them and getting to know them. We had a really good dinner with them and then talked about teaching the Restoration of the Gospel. We gave them an example and had them role play a little too. With Hermana Conover being new in the mission, it was a very different dynamic for me to be in an appointment and lesson where I am very obviously the senior companion and it all kind of rests on me to understand and speak Spanish. It went a lot smoother than I was thinking and I definitely felt the confidence and direction of the Spirit. After seeing them we did some stop-by's without much luck. We then went to Dunkin Donuts to finish out the night. One of our golden investigators works there. We also actually ran into a English member family leaving as we came in and it was fun to talk with them and introduce them to our investigator. Our investigator is super awesome and insisted that we take 6 donuts and a juice each, there is a reason sisters in these areas are called "Gurnee Gorditas"!!!
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| Hermana Meanea with her new companion Hermana Conover |
Wednesday we had District Meeting and it was really good except for getting chastised in front of everyone. We were about 4 minutes late because I am new to the area and didn't know how long it would take to get to the Church. So the first thing that Elder Escobar (our DL) talked about was how we need to be on time. Oops! But the rest was really good we mostly talked about how we can use activities to strengthen the members and find people to teach and planned for the activity we are going to have Friday night. After District Meeting I was able to help both Hna Kohlase and Hna French with different problems their iPads were having. I really enjoyed being able to figure out the problems and fix them for them. We then went to Avocado Express for District Lunch.The food was super good and we had fun all getting to know each other. Hna Conover and I then returned home, did language study and Facebook contacting. After that we had some stop-by's and then went and taught a new investigator. It was a rough lesson because of the fact that her granddaughters were running and screaming all over the place. We taught her the Restoration but I am not sure how interested she is. She just really wanted to talk and to actually have someone listen to her. She has a lot of problems right now and just really needs peace in her life. I promised her that she could find peace through our message and she agreed that we could come back and teacher her more. It was really interesting being in a lesson where the person really focuses on me because they know that I am the one that understands and will talk back to them! We tried a couple other stop-by's and then went home for dinner.
Thursday we worked a lot on weekly planning. The first weekly planning of a new transfer with a new companion always takes a long time but it sure is helping me to get to know the area and the people. It also took a while because I am trying to help Hna Conover see different ways of doing things, something I am supposed to do as a greenie buster, and especially with planning. We then drove to the Church for our MCM meeting with the ward mission leader. It was a good meeting and we mostly talked about the activity tomorrow and getting all ready for that. Afterwards us and the other Hermanas put on mutual for the Young Women about sharing the Gospel. It went really good and gave me a huge appreciation for Hna Kohlhase (one of the other Hermanas in the ward) and how good with people she is. We taught them things like how to give a friend a pass along card and how to share a brief message about the Restoration. It was a good activity and we finished it up with some minute to win it games so everyone was happy.
Saturday started "Missionary Christmas" AKA General Conference! We had personal and comp study and then drove to the Church in Gurnee. As predicted, there were 20 missionaries watching and maybe 5 other members watching conference there at the Church :) But that was just fine. The first session was incredible! I really felt like President Uchtdorf's talk was just for me, personal and just what I was praying for. Isn't our Heavenly Father just absolutely incredible? He can answer all of the prayers of all of His children in 1 weekend of General Conference. We always can find messages meant directly for us from our loving Heavenly Father. After the first session we went and had lunch at Noodles and Company with the other Hermanas. We really enjoyed talking and getting to know each other better. We got back to the Church and watched the afternoon session. The coolest and most powerful part for me was when Elder Gavarrett spoke in Spanish. My companion was so sweet to let me go into the Relief Society room to watch that one in Spanish (there was one person that showed up to watch it in Spanish). I cannot describe the power, the Spirit, the joy that I felt listening to a member of the 70 deliver his address in General a Conference in his native tongue, and being able to understand that from his mouth. I couldn't have asked for a sweeter tender mercy from the Lord for my last General Conference as a Spanish speaking missionary! After Conference we drove home, making a quick store run for orange juice and a few other things to help Hna Conover combat her cold. We got home, did miles, and we're getting settled in when we got a text from our WML telling us that branch Presidente needed his keys back that we had borrowed from him for the activity yesterday. So we drove back to the Church, because all of the brethren were there for the Priesthood session, to return his keys, got about 15 loaves of bread from a brother that brought a ton of bread, and Hna Conover was also able to get a blessing from the Elders. We then came home and Hna Conover was able to rest.
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| 1st P-day in Gurnee "Selfie" |
Sunday was another amazing Conference day! Unfortunately my companion woke up still feeling just as bad, but at least we were still able to go to Conference. After Personal Study we headed out, getting to the building a little bit early. But I was able to meet and talk with our Branch President and he seems like a great man. He gave me and Hna Conover each a painting of Jesus so that was great! We started to watch Music and the Spoken Word on my iPad because no one had come with the projector yet. We ended up watching the entire thing, along with a couple of elderly sisters, on my iPad. Finally, a couple of minutes after it started, the projector was found and the Elders were able to set it up. It was a super great session and then we had fun eating our soup we brought from home with the other Hermanas. We also ate the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that I baked this morning. The second session was also really good and my companion was so sweet again to let us go sit in the Spanish room to watch the Elder who spoke in Spanish. It was also fun to hear bits and pieces of the Portuguese and to understand most of it. After Conference was over we came home because Hna Conover still was not feeling good at all. She spent the evening resting while I got caught up on my journal and went through our kitchen to see what was there.
So, yeah!!!! It was an awesome week!!!! I love you all like crazy and hope and pray that everything is going well! Fall is starting here in Illinois and it is beautiful! Every time I look around me it reminds me of the unimaginable love that our Heavenly Father has for all of us, His children. That love was definitely reconfirmed to all of us in Conference. I love you all so much! Have an amazing week!
Eternal Love,
Hermana Allyse Meanea
~Illinois Chicago Mission~
