A Week of Changes, Shrimp, Passing Out, and Joy!!!

WOW Amazing Family and Friends! This has been a crazy week and a lot has happened! Everything is so incredible, I love it! I love my new companion and my new area, it is so fun and interesting.

Dominos for our last night together.

I guess we will start with last Monday. After emailing for P-day we went to Giordano's together as all of the Hermanas  serving in our ward. It was fun and great to just be all together and be able to talk together one last time. We also went to the post office so that Hermana Jones, Hermana Black, and I could all mail boxes home. It was pretty funny that I sent home far more than Hermana Jones who has been out 18 months and is now going home! That afternoon I worked on packing and then we headed out to try and see some people so I could say goodbye. We had a miracle happen with one of our very interesting investigators! We hadn't seen her for a while, she hadn't been there for our appointment and she hadn't been answering her phone calls for a week, all of which was so unlike her. We left the our house a little later than we had been planning but still hoped that she might be home this time.  As we were walking down the alley between her house and our house, she walked right past the alley on her way home! We got to her house at the exact same time that she returned home from being at her daughters house for several days. If we had gone any earlier, we would have missed her!

Eating Camarron!

Another part of the miracle was that because she was just getting home she didn't want to talk for long, which was so great because she does like to talk normally and we didn't really have time. She was so sad to see me leave and made me promise to come back and visit her, she also gave us juice like always she always has done for one last time. We then tried to contact another one of my favorite investigators but she wasn't home :-( We then went to a member's home and they were so amazing. The dad gave a little family home evening about missionary work and how even if we don't baptize in a area, we are planting seeds and are in the service of The Lord. They then had a very special dinner for us...camarón. In English that is...shrimp cocktails!!! Thankfully the sauce was strong enough and Heavenly Father is so amazing to bless me that I didn't taste the shrimp and I was able to eat it all! What a tender mercy from Heavenly Father (if you couldn't tell, I can't stomach shrimp)! I had a great night with them and it was so sad and hard to say goodbye, but I will be back. That night I just finished packing and we ate Dominos that my family had arranged to be delivered to our apartment for my last night there with Hermana Black.

Hermana Black and I one last time...

Tuesday morning we got me all ready to go and then waited for the Westchester Hermanas to come get my luggage and the other Hermanas from our ward to pick us up. Thankfully we were able to find a place for all of my stuff. It is incredible how much you collect being in an area for six months!  At the transfer meeting I said goodbye to Hermana Black and we moved all of my stuff to my new car. Hermana Escobar and I then started the long drive home to Indiana. We are definitely not in South Side Chicago anymore. We left the city and drove through fields and open space, something that I haven't seen in 7 months! I love my new companion, she is so fun and energetic and happy. I am so excited to be serving with her and I know there is a lot I will be able to learn from her! We unpacked my stuff a little but and then

Welcome to Indiana Hermana Meanea!!!

headed out to a lesson with a less active family. It was a great lesson completely led by the Spirit because Hermana Escobar and I didn't have much time to prepare and we have never taught together before. They are a super sweet family and their son really wants to come back to Church, pray, and read his scriptures so that he can have "the Force". For dinner that night we got Elotes. An elote is corn, mayonnaise, butter, and chili powder. It sounds a little gross but is actually really good! That night we had a pretty intense nightly planning session and we made companionship goals for this transfer. It was a fun first day and it is going to be an amazing transfer!

My new comp, Hermana Escobar

The info about my new companion and my new area. My companion is Hermana Escobar from Provo, Utah. She just turned 20 and has been out on her mission a transfer longer than me. She is super outgoing and fun and energetic. I am so excited to be with her and to learn from her. Our proselyting area is half of a Spanish Branch's area. It is a HUGE geographical area! By comparison, my old area in Midway was pretty big by Chicago Stake standards, but it has NOTHING on this area!!! We cover a 1/3 of the Stake, and it is a huge stake. Our area is at least 70 miles wide and 50 miles tall!!! We live in the middle of our area, but we actually do most of our work in Illinois. So that means that everyday we take the 25 mile drive, about 45 minutes, to where we work. We have so much car time in this area, definitely another big change from my last area!  We only have 3 active families, 3 less active families, and 2 recent convert families in our proselyting area to help us find investigators.

Toto, I don't think we are in the
South Side Chicago anymore...

On Wednesday we did some studies and then went to District Meeting. It was a good meeting, we learned about how we can best use #BecauseofHim and how we can share Preach My Gospel with the members and extend commitments to them. After District Meeting we did some Facebook proselyting and then went to the library so that we could download the #BecauseofHim church videos on our iPads so we can use them in teaching this week. I hope you all heard about the amazing social media initiative the Church did this past week. As missionaries we were highly encouraged, and we did, get highly involved in this. It was a lot of fun to go throughout the week seeing what we could do to share what is possible #BecauseofHim. We then met with a Spanish speaking member of the English Ward in our area. The Stake President has asked us to work on developing a relationship with the Spanish speaking members that attend the English ward so that we can work together in the area. She was great and we were able to share the #BecauseofHim video with her and she is definitely going to be a big help to us. After that we drove to another member's home for a dinner appointment, but no one was home. :-(  We got Taco Bell instead and then made our long drive back home.

The sky is so big and beautiful and open in Indiana

So Thursday was great! We had basically all of our appointments cancel, but that is okay! We drove clear to our area in Chicago because we had scheduled appointments, but then the appointments canceled. Because we already used way too many miles than we are allowed (because it is not possible to stay within the miles allotted to us because of how far we live from our working area) so we sat in the car for several hours and did our weekly planning. It is kind of hard and a little frustrating coming into a new area. I just want to know everyone, I want to know the area, and I want to be able to help with the planning, but it is coming along. We then got a text from one of our investigators. Her mom is in a nursing home and she asked if we could go and see her mom for a bit. Happy for the chance to serve a little bit, and take a break from weekly planning, we drove to the nursing home. It was a huge place but we finally figured out where we were going and put on the gowns, gloves, and masks that we needed to enter her room, we looked great! She is a very interesting woman. We talked with her for a bit and helped her with just some little things. After about 20 minutes with her I started to get that particular sensation that happens to me when I am in hospitals and other medical buildings. I got really hot and started to lose my vision and hearing, just a slight problem!  I knew that if we didn't get out of there really soon, I was going to pass out right there in the nursing home, something I really didn't want to happen. Hermana Escobar was able to explain really quickly to her that it was time for us to leave while I was doing all that I could to stay conscious. Thankfully I was able to stumble out to the car, all the while with my companion wondering what in the world was going on with me. Needless to say, I don't think that I will be able to do anymore volunteering at nursing homes! My only regret is that I was so out of it when we left that I didn't have us take a picture in our hospital clothes! We then drove to a member family's home. We had a really good dinner with them and then shared the #BecauseofHim video and had a great lesson with them. Her mom lives with them and she is not a member so we were really focusing on teaching her and helping her feel the Spirit. Hermana Escobar completely followed the Spirit and we had a very powerful lesson with them and invited the mom to Church. They all seemed really touched.

A Beautiful Welcome to Indiana Moon...

Friday morning we had fun making cookies and brownies to take around to different investigators and less actives. We then drove to Walmart to see if by some miracle they had Hermana Escobar's wallet. Sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning, she lost her wallet (she claims a gnome took it). We completely cleaned and went through the apartment and car...twice! It is nowhere. After learning that Walmart didn't have her wallet we called and took care of all of her credit cards and then talked with Elder Taggart, the mission vehicle coordinator. She is either going to have to jump through hoops and fill out all of this paperwork to get a replacement Utah drivers license because it is a little difficult for her to appear in person right now, or she can apply and test for an Illinois driving license. Either choice is going to take about a month so that means I am now the official driver of the companionship. It was a little scary at first because our area is so big and I really don't know it at all yet, but I am getting a lot better now and really enjoy the driving. We were dropping off some of the treats that we made when we got a text from our one investigator who's mom is in the care center that we visited on Thursday.  She asked if we could have our scheduled lesson with her at the nursing home with her mom instead of at her house.  This was a problem for us because of my little dilemma, we didn't think it would be a good idea for me to pass out while we were teaching them in the care center. The solution? We went on emergency splits with the English sisters from the area. It actually worked out because our investigator is more comfortable in English and we will probably have to pass her off to English missionaries anyway. So I spent the afternoon with Sister Buckmiller and we did a lot of stop-by's. We were trying to contact some of the less actives on their ward member list and it was so sad to meet people who wanted absolutely nothing to do with the Church anymore. It breaks your heart because you know what they pushing away. But we had a good time together and it was a pretty comical situation. The lesson with our investigator went well for my companion, and they even taught the receptionist at the care center too. I was so sad to have missed it but it sounds like it went really good, especially because I didn't pass out!

Saturday was another interesting day, I am just starting to accept the fact that all days are interesting on a mission! Hermana Escobar had a chiropractor appointment this morning so we drove there and back, it is about an hour each way, and I LOVED the long drive. We then returned home and did studies and worked some more on weekly planning. After that we took some pictures to put on Facebook for #BecauseofHim and for our profile pictures. We then spent some time on Facebook, proselyting and teaching. We really tried to do all we could
 on Facebook because we already used so many

#BecauseofHim on our car

 miles going to the chiropractor and back, not to mention how much we use just normally, that we couldn't drive to our working area today. So we did all of the work we could on Facebook. Facebook really is an amazing blessing to have as a missionary, it makes it possible for us to contact and teach people when we otherwise many not have had the chance. That night we washed the car and used window markers to write #BecauseofHim on our windows so that we can try and reach as many people as possible tomorrow.

Happy Easter!

On Sunday we had another busy day, which is always good to have, especially on Easter Sunday!  We had a meeting with the branch presidency and the Elders also serving in our branch. We discussed the less actives and investigators we are working with. The branch really wants to work with us and have people to visit and work with, it is so great. Hermana Escobar and I taught the Gospel Principles class about Prophets of God. We had two of our recent converts there as well as a member we visited this past week who brought her mom who we also taught and invited to come to Church. We then had Relief Society and then Sacrament Meeting. Going to Church in a branch is so interesting, it is soooo small!  We have about 30-40 active members, it is so different from the Chicago Midway Ward and from my home ward! The Branch President had me get up in Sacrament Meeting and introduce myself and give a little testimony. It was a beautiful Easter Sunday and the talks were very powerful about Christ and all that we have, are, and do is #BecauseofHim. Hermana Escobar and I handed out little eggs we had filled with chocolate and HLJ (Hace Lo Justo = Choose the Right) rings and had written #GraciasaÉl/ #BecauseofHim on them. Everyone loved them and though it was so cute. After Sacrament Meeting we had a little meeting with the Relief Society Presidency to talk about how they can help us with the people that we are working with. We then hurried to an appointment, but our investigator wasn't there so we just left the cookies and brownies we made for her. We then had another appointment cancel so we went to stop by our other recent converts/progressing investigator. They were home and let us in. We shared the #BecauseofHIm video and talked about Easter and about Christ. They are such sweet people. The husband and daughter were just baptized on the 29th of March, the husband passed the Sacrament for the first time today, and we are working with the Mom. She believes it is true but currently attends and is very active in 2 other churches and so we are helping her to see and understand this is the only true Church and how she is ready to accept this Gospel. We then went to another appointment with less actives where we again shared the #BecauseofHim video. They liked it a lot. Their 12 year old boy has been reading in the Book of Mormon and even asked us where he should read next! We then went home and had studies. I had a wonderful time studying about Easter and the Atonement. It just became so much more real to me. Christ is real, He truly is our Savior. He really did live and die for us, and He lives again! It was such a beautiful Easter Sunday and having this incredible opportunity to share glad news of Easter and of the Atonement, on Easter Sunday, with the people of this area, truly made it a very special day for me!

Have an amazing week everyone! I love you soooooo much! Thank you so much for all that you do! Don't let the joy and peace that we felt from Easter Sunday, dissipate. Our Redeemer lives and that means that we can have this same peace, joy, and happiness year round because the blessings of this knowledge are everlasting! I love you and our Savior loves you!

Eternal Love,

Hermana Allyse Meanea