Bus Stop Inspiration, worn out boots, and puntos culminantes del pelo...

Hair Cut with highlights!
(Mission appropriate of course)

Amazing Family and Friends!!! How are you all doing? I am sure you are all as incredible as always! It was a really good week in Chicago, I think! Honestly, all of the weeks just start to blend together and by the time I get to P-Day again I can't remember all that happened the past week. But it really was a good week, the weather was amazing and we had many opportunities to share the Gospel, so it was great!

On Monday after emailing we went grocery shopping and Hermana Black and I were on our own for the rest of P-Day. We went and got some tacos for lunch and then we went to a hair salon so I could finally got my hair cut, it was in desperate need of some attention. I got it cut and some highlights put in. Nothing too crazy but I like it a lot and it is fun. That evening we knocked some doors and then went to our Noche de Hogar with a member family. A REALLY funny story happened there! We were eating after the lesson and the their daughters asked me if I had gotten highlights put in. I told them yes and they told me that I was pretty with them. Another church member that was sitting next to me who speaks English and Spanish, has a special relationship with those girls and loves to tease with them. Without even thinking he quipped back about me, "Yeah, pretty ugly!". It was so unexpected I didn't even realize what he said at first. Then it dawned on him and he was horrified he had said that! He started apologizing like crazy but I couldn't stop laughing! It was so funny and I honestly loved it because it meant he was comfortable enough to tease me and it reminded me of home and family! He felt really bad but I finally convinced him that it was just funny and I really enjoyed it!

Tuesday we had a pretty good and interesting lesson with one of our investigators. We read in the Book of Mormon with her and she is in the Isaiah chapters of 2nd Nephi now but she seems to be doing pretty good with them. She wants to invite a friend to listen to us and go to Church because that friend is struggling right now and she thinks we could help her, so that is super neat!  We were talking about life plans and needless to say she says some crazy, fun, and interesting things. It is always an adventure teaching her!  That night we had our Noche de Hogar with another couple of member families. They asked us to teach so we read and discussed Ether 12 with them.

These boots WEREN'T made for walking!
I feel like a real missionary now that I have
 completely worn through a pair of shoes!

On Wednesday we had a really good District Meeting. We learned about how vital the Doctrine of Christ (the Gospel of Jesus Christ) is and how we can and should be implementing it in all that we teach. After District Meeting we were able to have a surprise stop by lesson with one of our investigators that we haven't been able to really contact for a while. It was pretty good, we taught the Restoration and set an appointment for next week so we hope that he will continue to have real desire and interest. We did some tracting and then went to a member's house for dinner. The food was amazing and we ended up have a member present lesson too because we shared a scripture and a lesson with her daughters, who aren't members, who were there for dinner too. We then tried to catch one of our investigators that we haven't been able to teach or contact much for a super long time. She wasn't home so we tried a few more people and then decided to take a bus to another part of our area to work. While we were waiting at the bus stop, I had the "thought" (really inspiration now that we look back!) to go and try to contact our investigator again. She was home and let us right in! We were able to teach her and her family the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a great lesson and she responded and participated more than I have really ever seen her do before. She was very apologetic that she has been so busy and that we have kept trying to meet with her and she kept canceling because her kids had stuff going on. She still really wants to learn, she had someone tell her she should stop taking the lessons but she said no because she wants to learn what we have to teach her!

Thursday was our Weekly Planning Day and that is what we spent most of the day doing.

A "selfie" as a companionship...
so maybe it is a "companionshipie"?

We had a few appointments but two of them fell through. The first one was a couple and they weren't home when we went there, we later found out they had canceled with us over Facebook. We did some more Weekly Planning and then went to our lesson with our investigator that we had left the bus stop to check for the second time the day before. We read in the Book of Mormon with her and her kids and they seemed to like and understand it well. We then had another appointment with some new investigators but they live in the basement of a house, the gate around the house was locked, and their phone wasn't working so there was no way for us to see them. Later that night we were able to get a new phone number for the them so that will help us get back in touch with them.

On Friday we had a great appointment with a less active member. We were able to talk with her for quite a while and she also fed us which is always nice :-) She was baptized several years ago but it was mostly because her husband was a member and she wanted him to be happy and have peace in their family. She now recognizes that she wants to have her own testimony and do this for herself so she wants us to help teach her everything again so that she can learn for herself. That afternoon we finished up weekly planning, did some tracting, and went looking for former investigators and potential investigators.

It is General Conference
time of year, so this is my
favorite General Conf Meme

Saturday was a pretty busy day. We had MCM and it was good. It is always nice to be able to talk about our investigators and less actives and receive suggestions and ideas for them. After MCM we got an opportunity to serve a little bit.  An amazing member in our ward who we work with a lot is taking an online Institute English class and needs a speaking partner for her assignments. She asked us if we would help her and we of course jumped on the opportunity! She has really good English but it was fun to read the Scriptures with her and help her understand some of the words and phrases and talk about it all in English. That afternoon we looked for some people and then went to a birthday party for one of the Elders' investigators whose father lives with some of our former/potential investigators (confusing right?).  A family from the ward invited us
 to the party because there were going to be a lot of investigators there, and food. :-) We had mole and had a chance to talk for a little while.  Then one of the members took us and her daughters to the Church for the General Women's Meeting. WOW! Wasn't that an amazing and powerful meeting? It really focused so much on how vital and important the covenant of baptism is. I can definitely say that I felt the Spirit strongly in the General Woman's meeting. It was so powerful and beautiful. Just knowing that so many woman were connected at one time for one purpose. I could really feel Heavenly Father's love for each of us.You could really feel the strength, love, and power of all of the women gathered all around the world and it was so amazing!

We had a pretty normal Sunday. We went to Church. During Gospel Principles we got a surprise text from some of our investigators who used to come to Church all the time but then just stopped and we haven't really been able to contact them since. They let us know they were on their way to Church! We were so excited when they got there with all of their kids. In Sacrament Meeting all of us missionaries sang with the choir because they had asked us to help them out with our "strong voices" so that was fun. We were able to talk with the wife of our investigator couple and they explained how they have just been so busy. But, she said she recognized the peace that she had felt when they were coming to Church and we were teaching them and how she needed that back in her life so hopefully we will be able to see them a lot more. That afternoon we had studies and then went looking for former and potential investigators. It was the most gorgeous day, almost 60, and we didn't need our jackets. Everyone was outside grilling, fixing their cars, and riding bicycles and they were just so happy. It was a great afternoon on the south side of Chicago!

Sorry, I am long winded, I know! But it was a great week. Spring finally seems to be coming poco a poco, the Work is going great, and we are sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, how can it not be amazing?!?!  I also have loved my personal study so much lately and I am really enjoying doing a really in depth study of the Book of Mormon. It is so amazing what you can learn and apply to yourself from it. This week I really loved 1 Nephi 10:17-19. It talks about how Nephi was desirous to know for himself the things he had been taught by his father. Nephi gave us a pattern that we can all follow.

I hope that you all have a wonderful week and remember how much I and our Heavenly Father love you! I love and miss you all! Thank you so much for everything!!!

Eternal Love,

Hermana Alllyse Meanea

St. Patrick's Day and the "Green" Chicago River, Popsicles, 60 degrees and SNOW (again)!

St. Patrick's Day at the Chicago River
dyed green in downtown Chicago

Buenos Dias Querida Familia y Amigos! I hope you all are doing good! We have had another wonderful week here in Chicago.

On Monday we had a great P-Day because we were able to go downtown. I always love being in the downtown, there is just such an excitement and energy there. We saw the Green River (no, not the one in Wyoming or Utah, but the Chicago River dyed green for St. Patrick's Day) and went to The Bean. We also went to Chinatown for a little bit and that was neat. That night we had our Noche de Hogar with a family in the ward. It actually ended up being a party for one of our recent converts so that was fun because we had pizza and cake.

At "The Bean" in downtown Chicago

Tuesday was my 6 Month Mark!!! Ahhhh! Can you believe that it has been 6 months? Time on the mission is just so warped and I have just resigned myself to the fact that I won't ever understand it. It seems to have gone so fast and so slow, all at the same time! We had a great lesson with one of our less-actives. She really opened up to us, told us her concerns, and asked us to come every week so that she can learn more about

I love photos in front of the famous Chicago
Theatre in the "Loop" of downtown Chicago

the Gospel! We of course told her that we would love to do that and are really excited for her. Hermana Black and I then had some Chinese for lunch and then had a great lesson with one of our investigators. We taught the Plan of Salvation with little drawings and it went really well until we got to Judgement. That scared her and she told us she believed it but it scared her because she wanted to do what was right to be ready for it. She loved the idea of the Celestial kingdom and said she wanted to be there with us and her family. We are excited for her because she seems to really like learning about the Gospel and she is progressing well. We then went looking for different people, former investigators and less-actives. We "chased" one lady down because I felt like we really needed to talk to her. It was neat to recognize that inspiration. Although nothing visible came from it at that moment, a seed was planted. We also had a good Noche with another member family that night.

On Wednesday we had District Meeting. It was good. We talked about how we can work with the ward and concentrate on the things they would like us to do. Hermana Black and I also gave a lesson on contacting and it went really good. After District Meeting we had District Lunch. We went to this little Salvadorean restaurant that had papusas and they were sooooo good! Papusas are like thick tortillas that have been fried with things stuffed inside of them, like beans and cheese. It was super good and really fun to be with everyone. That evening we went and helped the Relief Society set up for the Relief Society Anniversary activity. We went to the activity too and it was fun.

Thursday we had a great lesson with an investigator that we have been teaching for a few weeks. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and he is already basically living most of it. He doesn't smoke and said he would drink very rarely and would have no problem stopping that. He, just like everyone else here, has the question about why coffee because he says he isn't addicted to it. It is always a hard thing to answer, especially in Spanish, but we did our best and he said he will try to stop. He is so ready for baptism, he just needs to come to Church, hopefully next week he can! The rest of the day we spent weekly planning.

Buidling a New Chicago...
with the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Friday was a GORGEOUS day here! it was almost 60 degrees and it was just so great, especially because it was a walking and finding day for us. We spent the entire day walking around trying to find potential investigators and less-actives. It was so nice even the ice cream vendors were out. Hermana Black and I got Mango Popsicles to celebrate!

Saturday was another walking and finding day. I really love being in a walking area and just walking so much. We see and meet so many people. That afternoon we went to the birthday of one of our recent converts so that was fun. We also had a lesson that night with two new investigators and we actually taught it with the Elders. They had taught them a few days ago because they met them at one of their investigator's houses. We taught them about the Book of Mormon together so they could pass them off to us because they live in our area.

Not December...March in Chi-Town!

On Sunday. guess what?!?!? It snowed! We had Ward Conference and it was good. Unfortunately none of the three investigators we were hoping to have at Church came, we will have to work on that. The rest of the day we did studies and then walked basically our entire area try to find a lot of different people.

So it was a good, pretty normal, missionary week! Thank you so much for all of your love and prayers, it really does mean the world to me! Have an amazing week everyone!

Hermana Allyse

Thank goodness for Trains and Vinyl records...

Buenos Dias Amazing Family and Friends!!! ¿Cómo están?

My Mexican Blanket

This was a good week. It started to warm up just a little, we worked really hard, and we are missionaries serving in Chicago so that just makes it good! It was a little tough because all of our appointments canceled, for various reasons, but that is OK because it gave us plenty of time to go finding, tracting, and contacting!

Monday we spent the rest of P-Day at 26th Street. We ate at a little place called El Pollo Feliz and then spent a lot of time at the discount mall, shopping. :-) The discount mall is this huge building that just has hundreds of little shops inside. I found some neat things. I got a couple of soccer jerseys, Mexico of course, and a Mexican blanket. Everyone is pretty nice and we did get some discounts because they recognized us as missionaries and because we spoke Spanish. That night we were supposed to have an appointment with one of our investigators, at the Church and then they could attend the baptism that the Elders were having. She never showed up unfortunately. We went to

One of the Soccer Jerseys
I picked up from the
26th Street Discount Mall

the baptism and it was so great! It was so exciting to watch someone that I have seen the Elders working with since the beginning get baptized. I played the piano for the service. I didn't do a very good job at all. I definitely regret all of those years of piano lessons and not practicing or trying at all! I wish I could just play the piano! Oh well! The great thing about the baptism is that one of our other investigators, who is amazing and who is so ready, was able to come to it!!! We were so excited, we were beaming! It was actually a miracle that he made it on time. When we had invited him a few days previously he wasn't sure if he would make it on time. He said the earliest he could be there would be about 7:30. The baptism was supposed to start at 7:00. But, knowing Hispanics + being Mormon = a lot lot later than scheduled, we told him to try anyways. Miracle of miracles, that night about 6:55 a train went through. The church building is literally right next to the tracks and so this prevented a lot of people from being able to get to the Church, including the person being baptized, for about 10 minutes.  The train finally finished passing by and a few people were able to get through. It looked like our investigator might not make it, but then a second train came through! Because of this second train and needing time for the investigator getting baptized to get ready, the service started really late and our investigator was able to walk in just a few minutes before the actual ordinance! Hermana Black and I were sooooooooo happy! He seemed to really like it and we hope it helps him a lot!

Tuesday was a finding day. We walked a lot, which I love doing, and looked for former investigators and less actives. It was a really nice day and I just enjoyed walking so much, it just feels so missionary-ish and it is great! Our landlord was also able to come fix our sink for us. It stopped draining, which is just a small problem! We had tried Drano and stuff like that but nothing worked. Our landlord only speaks Spanish so it was interesting trying to tell him what we needed help with and then to work with him, but it all worked out and got fixed so we are happy! That night we had our Noche at member's house and it was good. We learned about repentance and then had good Mexican food so it was a great end to the day.

Wednesday we had a surprise 3 hour lesson with one of our new investigators. We hadn't been able to see her for several weeks and so we stopped by trying to find her. She was home and let us in. It was very obvious that she just needed to talk so we just sat and listened. All we had to say was the occasional "sí" or "verdad" or "que bueno hermana!" and she talked for almost 3 hours! We were able to share a scripture, Ether 12:6, about faith and we talked about that for a while too. She has so much faith and now we just need to work with her on developing that faith in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ! The rest of the day we spent working on finding potential investigators, people that were found previously that said they might have interest in learning more about the Gospel.

Thursday was Zone Conference! It was sooooo good! President Woodbury talked to us about

Our prize from Zone Conference, a MoTab vinyl record!

doing at least 5 hours of service a week, specifically directed towards members. He gave us some ideas of how to get these opportunities because it can be really hard for members to let us serve them, especially being sister missionaries with Hispanics.  He also talked a lot about the Atonement. He used something that I thought was really neat and I had never thought this way before. We read The Atonement section in the Plan of Salvation lesson together and as we were reading he had us think of it as if we were reading it through 2 different lenses. One lense is as the world would read it and the other is how we understand it having the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. It really hit me how blessed we are because of the understanding we have of the depth and breadth and beauty of the Atonement. Most people don't have the peace that knowledge can bring and that made me want to share this Gospel even more! In our breakout session as a Zone we talked about turning potential new investigators into new investigators. Hermana Black and I also got a special prize because we had been the fastest number reporting companionship in the Zone last transfer. It is an actual factual Mormon Tabernacle Choir RECORD that Elder Crawford found here in Chicago in a thrift store, it is super neat! We also had a really neat testimony meeting about the Book of Mormon that was very powerful. I love these meetings so much because they are so uplifting and recharge my batteries and make me want to go out and be better and work harder.

Because we had Zone Conference the day before, Friday was our weekly planning day. It actually took most of the day just because we had a lot to plan and make goals for. It was a long planning session but we got a lot done and I think it will really help us make this next week a really good week.

Saturday was another big walking and finding day. We also had MCM, our missionary correlation meeting with the Ward Mission Leader. It went well. He really is working hard to get the whole ward going on missionary work, both finding and teaching new people and working on reactivating which is so important.

We had a good Sunday. Church was good. One of the members brought a friend to Church who just happens to be in our area and wants to learn more about the Gospel so we picked up a new investigator! That is always really exciting. We did our studies and I finished the Book of Mormon! I had such an amazing experience taking President Woodbury's challenge and highlighting all of the references to Christ and the Atonement. The word really did become sweet unto me and I learned and had so many things stick out at me that help me in exactly the places I need right now. I am excited now to start it again and take even more time to study more in depth and slowly so I can truly learn and apply the things that I read. We also went to the house of a recent convert because it was her daughter's birthday. We took her some presents because her family doesn't have much. She really appreciated them and it was so neat to see how happy she was.


It was a good week. I tried to work a lot on being a harder worker and also talking and contacting more to people. It is just so hard for me, but I am getting better. "Poco a poco"! Spanish is coming along, I understand so much and am able to speak well enough to get my point across, most of the time :-). Hermana Black and I are getting along really well too. Thank you so much for all of your love, prayers, and constant support! I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing week!

Hermana Allyse

Potential Investigator Dead, Surprise Baby Birth, Stake Conference in Spanish, and more...

Just me, Hermana Meanea

Hola Amazing Family and Friends! It has been a grand week here in Chicago. It has actually reminded me a lot of home in Utah this week because it was beautiful and gorgeous one day and snowing the next! It was a great little piece of home! 

On Monday night we had a great Noche with a wonderful member family. On Tuesday we spent a lot of time looking for former investigators to see if they had interest to continue learning about the Gospel. No one really did but we did have a good Noche that night with another member family. We had a lesson about the Atonement and it was great. 

Wednesday was a really good day. We had a pretty intense District Meeting. We just got a new District Leader, Elder Perez. We spent all of the meeting making goals for the District. I have to admit, they are some insane goals! They are completely possible but will make all of us stretch and work like never before. We also all felt like we were being called to repentance, which is really good because he did it in a good way that just makes all of us want to be better and work harder. We then went on Exchanges with Hermana Whitney and Hermana Jones. I went to their area with Hermana Whitney and we had a great time. We did a lot of walking and looking for different people. We knocked some apartment buildings we found unlocked and got a couple of pretty solid potentials. I had a great time and learned a lot from Hermana Whitney!

Hermana Black and myself ready
for another day of sharing the
good news of the Gospel.

On Thursday we finished up Exchanges by having studies and then exchanged back. While I was gone Hermana Black was finally able to teach one of our promising investigators, so that was super exciting! Thursday was a roller-coaster of emotions because we finally found out how they were changing area borders to accommodate the new set of Hermanas in the ward (that will now make 10 missionaries assigned to our ward) . They cut our area off at along a main road right through a large portion of our area, that is a huge chunk we just lost! Hermana Black and I were heartbroken because one of our amazing investigators lives on the wrong side of that road! We also lost two of our less-actives that we LOVE working with. It was so sad! We were on our way to our final appointment with that amazing investigator when we got a phone call from the Hermanas saying that they had talked with the Zone Leaders and the ZL's said that we could keep teaching him!!! We were soooooo excited! It was a great lesson with him. We read in the Book of Mormon and he understood and applied it to his life so well! He also said that he finally found someone he can trust to work on Sundays so that he can go to Church! He will be able to go in 2 weeks! The rest of Thursday we spent Weekly Planning.

It was warm enough to open our windows!

Friday was a gorgeous, warm, sunny day! It was so warm (about 35 degrees) that we went out without our coats because it was too warm to wear them! It was a great day! We did some more weekly planning and then went to a lesson with one of our newer investigators. It was a really fun lesson. She is such a fun and interesting lady. We read in the Book of Mormon and helped her understand it. She seems to really like us and our message and wants to come to Church and maybe even get her husband going with her. She couldn't stop talking about her daughter who just had a baby that past weekend. They only thing is that she didn't know her daughter was pregnant until she got a text message with a picture of the baby girl. Her daughter lives right here in Chicago and this lady sees her daughter every weekend. We aren't exactly sure how that works but our only explanation is that it is Chicago :-) She also told me, lovingly, that i have a baby face and then she taught us some of her truck driver self defense moves, it was fun. That evening we had a very long lesson with one of our amazing less-actives that we are losing because of our area border changes. She is so sad to be losing us. We have really gotten close and she loves meeting and talking with us. She talks to us in English so we really are able to have some great conversations. She made us really good carne tacos and gave us a lot more recipes. We are going to miss visiting her so much!

Received a "box of Sunshine",
ironically on a cold snowy day.

Saturday, it snowed! Of course! Just like Utah, i feel so at home! We tried to go to an appointment with a potential that we set up a week ago. It was with an African-American woman and it was across a major road that divides the Latino community from the African-American community. Hermana Black and I were so jumpy the whole time we were over there! We went to her address and it was a business but we couldn't tell if there were apartments at that address as well. We asked a man if he knew this lady that we were trying to find.  He said, "Hate to tell you this baby doll, but China (the name of the woman we were looking for) is dead." We were just like "What?!?!?" We couldn't tell if he was serious, if he had no idea who China was, or if he was trying to protect her. Anyway, it was kind of crazy and we quickly returned home to finish studies. That evening we were able to go to the Adult Session of Stake Conference because the First Presidency requested the missionaries attend because the theme was Hastening the Work of Salvation, something we are involved in just a little bit :-) It was sooooo good and really got everyone excited for the work.

Cool wall art in Chicago where we
walk to see our investigators

Sunday we had MCM which was really good. We planned a lot of activities and ways to get the work moving in the ward. The ward mission leader's family were so sweet and had brought Tinga (spicy chicken eaten with beans on tostadas) for us to eat before Stake Conference. We attended the Spanish session of Stake Conference and it was so great. I was able to understand pretty much everything, granted it was mostly white men talking in Spanish so it was easier for me! It is really neat because our Stake President speaks Spanish and so he was just able to talk without a translator and I think that is so great! It was such a crazy thought to me that i was attending Stake Conference in MY stake in Chicago, Illinois! That is is really neat!

It was a really good week and i am looking forward to this upcoming week to work harder and always try to be better! Thank you so much for all of your love and support! I hope you all have an amazing week!

Hermana Allyse

Goodbye Christmas Tree, and Transfers... or not

We had to send our emailed letters from McDonald's today,
the libraries that we normally use are closed for Palaski
Day here in Chicago, and the Elders locked us out of
the church building (not on purpose, they just didn't
leave the key in the lock box for us)

Hello Amazing Family and Friends! How are you all doing? Life is good here in Chicago. It was a pretty normal, granted as normal as doing what I am doing can be, week here!

Last Monday after our email time, he rest of P-Day was good. We did our grocery shopping and then had some time to write letters and such. That night we went tracting before our Noche. On the second house we knocked this lady invited us exclaiming she couldn't believe we were out when it was so cold, it was actually a pretty mild night. She wanted us to warm up so she asked what we were doing and we told her we were missionaries sharing the Gospel. She invited us to teach her right there! She is really crazy but it was so fun to teach her. She asks a lot of questions and it can be hard to keep her on topic, but it was great! We gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she would read it and invited us back on Friday! We then had a Noche de Hogar with a great member family. That family had actually talked with a recent/convert less active member family about hosting the Noche at their house. It was great because we haven't been able to see them forever.

Tuesday we spent some time looking for former investigators and then had a really good appointment with one of our less actives. She loves to talk and talks to us in English so we actually have some great conversations. She gave us several recipes for Mexican food which made us really excited because those can be hard to get because most the time, Mexicans don't write them down and it can be hard for us to understand in Spanish. We also had our Noche with the another member family and that was good.

Our last District Meeting with
Elder Haggard as our DL

Wednesday we had District Meeting. It was really good but also really sad because it was Elder Haggard's, our District Leader, last. We discussed how to answer questions of the soul and shared ideas of what we have done to help resolve concerns. We also had District Lunch at Hibachi Grill so that was fun too. That afternoon we went around trying to see different people. That night we had an apartment clean check. An Hermana from the ward came over and had to fill out a form for the mission office saying we were keeping everything clean. It wasn't too hard to get ready for because our apartment is just always pretty clean.

Since we had an apartment
cleaning check, we decided
it was finally time to dispose
of our Christmas Tree

Thursday we had a good lesson with one of our investigators. We taught him the Law of Chastity, which is always an interesting lesson. But it went pretty well and he is sooooooo ready for baptism! He is even at the point where he wants it. But, he hasn't come to Church yet because he has to work on Sundays because he is in such deep debt! It is so sad because he is so ready! We also had a lesson with a former/potential investigator. It has been several years since she was taught and she seemed pretty interested when we taught her the Restoration. That night we did some weekly planning.

Friday we tried to have a lesson with one of our really golden potential investigators. We went there at the time we had scheduled the appointment for and he wasn't there. As we were waiting for the bus he drove past and said he would be back in an hour. We went back and he was there but he took forever to come out. While we were waiting for him, his granddaughter had us play airplanes with her, it was cute. He finally came out but was leaving again to go sell things. Ahhhhh! He seems so golden and like he could really progress, but we don't ever get to teach him. That evening we had another lesson with the lady we met tracting on Monday. It was another crazy but good lesson. She had read to 2 Nephi already! We gave her a BOM just on Monday and she had already read everything up to 2 Nephi! We taught her the Restoration and it seemed to really touch her, it was just hard to keep her on topic sometimes because she loves to talk. She said she would keep reading and even share it with her daughter. She is so fun, we love her! That night we had a scheduled appointment with a recent convert/less active, but when we showed up at his door with our member, he wouldn't answer his phone to let us into his attic apartment. That was a little sad because we haven't been able to see and teach him forever.

On Saturday Hermana Black and I had the car that we share with the other Hermanas for the day and we went and vacuumed and cleaned the inside of it because it really needed it and we knew the other Hermanas never had time because they are so busy. We then had MCM and it was really good. Our new ward mission leader is already doing so much to increase the ward mission effort, it is so wonderful. After MCM some of the ward missionaries brought food to feed us so that was fun. That evening we went around trying to contact some people, but no one was home, or answered their door. We were able to contact a family that we have been trying to work so hard with. Of course they were on their way out, but it was contact! We also got transfer texts tonight, and we will not be getting transferred! I am so happy because I love this area and the people here!

I love being out on the streets of
Chicago in a snow storm!

Sunday, unfortunately, we only had 3 hours of Church. It is unfortunate because that means that our investigator wasn't able to come to church during the time that the other ward meets. :-( We then went home and had studies, and then got to eat! Fast Sundays are great, but eating at the end is sure nice. That night we went around trying to follow up with some former investigators. It started snowing again so that made me really excited. There is just something about being a missionary in the snow in Chicago that makes me so happy, I love it!

I love you all so much and can never thank you enough for all of your love and support! I hope you have an amazing week! I love you!

Hermana Meanea

Monkeys (not referring to Elders), Snowballs, Tauquerias, Homemade Ice Cream and Investigators at Church!

Hello Amazing Family and Friends!

It has been another amazing, not too cold, week here in Chicago!

Hermana Black and I at the Zoo

Last P-Day was so fun! We were able

The Chicago Central Zone at the
Brookfield Zoo for a P-day activity

to go to the Brookfield Zoo. It was so fun. It was snowing so hard and was so cold that us missionaries had the entire Zoo to ourselves. Of course that meant a lot of the animals were hiding too, but we still saw a lot and had a lot of fun! That night us four Hermanas went to Pertillo's, a Chicago classic. They have chocolate cake shakes which is a chocolate shake with chocolate cake mixed in, and it was SO good!

Chicago is just an amazing place, I love it here!

I wasn't expecting to see Polar Bears in Chicago!
But with Chicago's record winter snowfall and
cold, it shouldn't surprise me... this guy (center
 of photo back by the rocks) should feel right
at home!

Tuesday we had Zone Training Meeting and it was really good. The theme was prayer which was so amazing to me because that is something I have been working on personally and want to work on with our investigators. I don't think we fully comprehend or utilize the power of prayer. But when we stop and think about it, it is just an incredible gift from our Heavenly Father! For lunch Hermana Black and I went to a tauqueria because it was my 5 month mark. That night we went tracting and looking for some potential investigators. Funny story from this - We were walking on some streets across Western Ave., meaning everyone past that point is black, and we walked past a group of boys having a snowball fight. They stopped to let us past so we said thanks and kept on walking. After we had passed them, some of the boys hid behind a building and started throwing snowballs at us! We though it was quite funny, a bunch of black boys throwing snow balls at two white girls on the south side of Chicago! One of the boys then walked in front of the others and called to us, "Please excuse 'um, they don't mean nuttin'!" It was just a fun experience. They joys of being a missionary on the south side Chicago! That night we also had a Noche de Hogar. The Elders had their investigators there so we read 2 Nephi 31 and talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We had tortas (sandwiches) for dinner. I also ate a chile because all of the members here say that is how you get better Spanish!

A classic taqueria lunch for my 5 month mark!

Wednesday was actually such a warm day we had to go back home and change our coats and take off layers, it was like 30 degrees! We had a good appointment with a less active and then spent the rest of the day walking around, trying to track down former investigators and see if they are interested in learning more. We got a few potentials from that. That night we were supposed to have a lesson with a really golden potential investigator. This is his story: When we were at the Sister's Conference a few weeks ago, a man just walked into the Church, speaking Spanish, and wanting to know more about the church. He said that his friend was Mormon and had told him he should go to Church sometime, so he did! Hermanas Whitney and Jones (the other two Hermanas serving in our Spanish ward) started talking to him and found out he was living in our area. So they got me and I got his information and told him we would be in contact. We stopped by later that week and he was so excited to see us. He was all for us teaching them right then, but his wife said to come back later because they were eating at that moment. We set an appointment for today (Wednesday) but when we went to it tonight, no one answered the door. We decided we would just have to try stopping by some other time.

Hermana Black and myself after working
in a cold Chicago drenching winter rain all day

Thursday was a rainy, beautiful day. We had a good lesson with one of our investigators. It was kind of a crazy lesson. He had read the chapter in the Book of Mormon we had left for him, 2 Nefi 31, and even had a question. We had a member couple there and they were a big help answering his questions and such. We read 1 Nefi 1 with him and then he asked a question about reincarnation! Him and the member went off and the conversation went from reincarnation to the Spirit World and then to the Law of Chastity. The Spanish was so fast and the topic was changing so much that Hermana Black and I were kind of lost! We were finally able to reign it back in to the Book of Mormon and told him we would prepare a lesson to answer his questions about all of the other topics for the next lesson, that should be fun! We then spent the rest of the day weekly planning. That night we made homemade ice cream because we had randomly found an ice cream maker in our apartment!

Nothing like homemade ice cream and
brownies to warm you up after a cold
wet day on the streets of Chicago!

Friday we had a good lesson with an investigator whom we hadn't seen for a while. She has read a little in the Book of Mormon and was excited to read more with us. We had walked past a member's house on the way to that lesson and when we got out of our lesson we had a call from that member because he had seen us and wanted to make sure we were OK and he also wanted to make sure we had food. We had already had lunch but you can't exactly tell a Hispanic no to food so he brought us some pizza. People here are so amazing! We went tracting too. We happened to knock on one door and started giving our "spill" in English because she was obviously an English speaker. Then she was like, "yeah, I'm Mormon". We had tracted into an English speaking member. This is always a possibility because we don't know where the English members are because they are in a whole other ward English speaking ward and missionary zone. So that was fun!

On Saturday we went and helped clean the Church and then had MCM. It went really well. Hno.

Another Zoo Photo from P-day, it seems
that missionaries are the only ones crazy
enough to go to the Zoo in the middle of
a Chicago Blizzard...

N........, our new ward mission leader, is working so hard and is so interested in all of the work we are doing and really wants to step the ward  up in terms of missionary work. That afternoon we did a stop by one of the investigators, the one whose lesson fell through on Wednesday, to try and find him. He was there, let us in, and asked what had happened with our appointment on Wednesday.  That made us real happy because he remembered the appointment which means he is serious about learning. We told him no one had answered the door when we arrived, and he was surprised about that. We taught them briefly about the Book of Mormon and how our Church services go, because they didn't have much time. But he is so prepared and excited and said they would be at Church the next day before we could even invite them!

My weekly mother required
selfie from the Library on
P-day

The missionaries were really fascinated
with the big monkeys (gorillas), or maybe
it was just warm and dry in the monkey
building so it was a good place to hang out?

Sunday was a pretty long day because we had 6 hours of Church! We went to our 9am ward, we were late because a train decided to go by really slowly, stop, and even back up a few times! Church was good. We didn't have any investigators there but we did have a less active hermana that we are working with there, so that was great! We then waited for our investigator and his wife to show up for the 1pm church services. They were really late but got there for part of Gospel Principles and all of Sacrament Meeting. He had been working that morning until 3am so he was really tired but they came and he seems so golden. We made an appointment for this week and we are so excited to teach him! After being at Church for six hours and spending 2 more hours traveling and trying to find people, we finally got home, ate, had personal study, and then companionship inventory. It was a long day with 6 hours of Church but so worth it to have our investigator and his wife there!

 

The Plan of Salvation makes so much
more sense then me calling these
 monkeys Grandpa and Grandma

It was another great week here. Thank you so much for all of your love and support! I miss you all and love you so much! Have an amazing week!

Eternal Love,

Hermana Allyse Meanea

Valentines in Chicago, sharing the Love of God... with Olympic Ice Skating, missionary style

This is personal study in the laundromat,
on P-day in Chicago while our clothes
are washing and drying.

Water Main breaks are common
in the cold weather here in Chicago
and the result is 2" of solid ice on
side walk for me to show my
Olympic Ice Skating Skills

Hello Amazing Family and Friends!

It has been another great week here in Chicago. On Monday we just finished up P-day by grocery shopping and letter writing. We had a Noche de Hogar that night with the C...... Family
and it was good and Hno. C....... gave a great lesson about how it is the member's responsibility to help recent converts and less actives, not just the missionaries job, a lesson that made us super happy!

Tuesday we did a lot of looking for former investigators. No one really opened their doors though. We also did some tracting and then went to an appointment with a less active, Hna. M........ It was so good. She made us enchiladas, which were amazing, and really good flan. She asked us some questions about tithing and the Sabbath Day. We also talked about the Book of Mormon and read the first chapter with her. She really seemed to enjoy it and it made her want to read. She also said she wants to start paying tithing because she had been thinking about it and it made us so happy to hear.

Wednesday we had District Meeting. We listened to a talk about self-worth and how to apply it to ourselves and investigators. We then had an appointment with Hna. M........, a super sweet less active. We talked about

Yes, this is just kind of a
 random picture. but we
 were just standing, waiting
 for the bus and I looked
 at it and thought it looked
 kind of neat.

agency and she fed us. That evening we had a fun experience. We were looking for former investigators and I put Hna. Black in charge of the map so she could learn the area better. I was just following her along. We stopped at one house and knocked and the door opened and a lady was like"Hermanas! Pasanles!" (Come in). I
looked at her and realized Hna. Black had taken us to Hna. E.......'s house, and active member! She invited us in and gave us hot chocolate and Oreos and we talked. It was just so funny because I hadn't been paying super close attention to where Hna. Black was leading and she was so confused! But it was good because we had a great visit with Hna. E........ That night, finally a miracle happened with family that we had taught a lot and gotten so close to baptism, and then they all of the sudden stopped communication with us.  We stopped by and they were home! They let us in and said they still really wanted to learn, they had just been really busy. We were able to teach them the Restoration and it went super well. Hopefully now we can stay in contact with them and they will start progressing again. We also stopped by a potential investigator's house. He had just walked into the Church when we were at Sister's Conference last week and said he wanted to learn more about the Church because he had a Mormon friend and his friend said he should go to his Church sometime, so he did! He was so excited to see us and wanted us to teach them right there but then his wife said they were eating and would prefer us to come back next week. He seemed to have a lot of potential so we are excited about that.

Thursday we had an appointment with a less active family, the A........... It was good. We got to know them and

Flautas with potatoes

shared a scripture about the Atonement, Alma 7:11-12. They fed us lunch so that was good too. We then had a lesson with Ramon, one of our investigators. It was a super good lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We were talking about Baptism and he started asking questions like, when, how, and who could be there. He is really ready, even if he doesn't think so yet, the only thing is we need to get him to Church. Because of his economical and financial situation right now he has to work on Sundays so that had been hard, but we will get him there! The rest of the day was spent in weekly planning. That night Hna. Black and I made Flautas with potatoes inside and they were sooooo good!

Valentine's Day! It was pretty much a normal day but it was still good. We went looking for some people but no

Valentines Missionary Outfit

one was really home. We then spent some time getting our ward list of actives and less actives ready for our missionary correlation meeting tomorrow. That night we went looking for more former investigators and then went to the Ward Valentine's Day party. We acted as servers so everyone could just enjoy it as couples. It was fun. I tried Chicharron and it wasn't my favorite! I also got the most amazing Valentines package from my incredible family today!

Saturday was a super good day. We had MCM with Hno. N......., our new ward

Lunch at Giordano's for Hermana
Black's 9 month mark. This is the
Tropical Pizza, their version of a
Hawaiian Pizza

mission leader. It was so good. He really wants to get the ward going so much more with missionary work and has some good plans and
ideas. Hna. Black and I then went to Giordano's to celebrate her 9 month mark as a missionary. It was amazing, of course! The rest of that day we spent checking up with former investigators to see if they had any interest to learn more about the Gospel. Most said: "Soy catolico." (I'm catholic) But that is OK because it just isn't quite their time yet!

Sunday was a pretty normal day. Church was good. None of our investigators came but Hna. M........, our less active, came AND she paid tithing! We then had studies and then tried to see some people who didn't come to Church but no one really wanted to open their doors.

Thank you so much everyone for all of your love, prayers, and support! I couldn't be doing this if I didn't have all

Us four Hermana Missionaries
outside of the library where we
email our families from on P-day

of you! I hope you have an amazing week! Sé qué esta Iglesia es verdadera. Sé qué tenemos un Padre Celestial y Él nos ama tan mucho, más que podemos comprender. Este Evangelio trae mucho gozo y paz e mi vida estoy muy agradecida a compartirlo con las personas de Chicago! Hasta Luego!

Eternal Love,

Hermana Allyse Meanea