A Police Story, Member Service and Transfers...

Hello Incredible Family and Friends!!! WOW! What a week! I am sure that you are all super curious to here what happened with transfers, but you will just have to read my entire letter to find out, hahaha!!!  :-)

Last Monday for the rest of P-Day we didn't do too much. We tried to stop by some people that evening but no one was home. We had a great Noche de Hogar with a member family. There was a lot of people there, members, an investigator of the Elders, and less actives. We talked about things we learned from conference and what they really meant and how they applied to us.

On Tuesday, we basically got to do service all day long. We went and helped a member family clean

Hermana Black and I dressed
as twinners accidentally one day,
we both walked out of closets
basically wearing the same outfit!

out and fix up a house that they used to rent out and now want to sell. We had to clean a ton of stuff out of the house, garage, and backyard. We then had to sort through an enormous pile of trash and toys and other random stuff to separate everything out. It was a long day but it felt so great to be able to serve and help and do some physical work. That night we went to the Noche de Hogar with the Trejo another member family in the ward. There was quite a few people there, including some investigators of the Elders. We taught the Restoration and the Elders came in partway through and helped us to teach it. Needless to say, by the end of the night, we were VERY exhausted!

Wednesday we had District Meeting where we learned about planning and teaching simply. We then

Chicago Midway Ward
Missionary District

had another day pretty full of service. We went back to the same house the we have been helping with and helped with the final details before the inspector arrived. We painted a fence and swept. We were then able to talk with some of the other ward members while the inspector was there and we had a great time laughing, listening to them tell stories. The inspection went pretty good for them. It didn't pass yet but that is because they have to go back and repaint some things because the inspector didn't like some of the colors (don't ask me what kind of building inspector it was, I though it was insane when we did a walk through afterwards and saw what he wanted fixed). For the rest of the day we did some finding and tracting.

Thursday was pretty much a weekly planning day. We did borrow the car from the other

One of thousands of cart vendors
that just go through the streets
selling all kinds of things

Hermanas in the ward for a few hours and I have a really funny story about that. So it was about 5 pm, not even close to dark yet, and we are driving through our area, enjoying the use of a car for just a few hours. We decide to try and see if an old referral was home because he lives in a part of the area we don't make it to very often (even though it is just 8 blocks south of our apartment) because it can be a little sketchy because it is right next to Western Ave. We get to his street and pull into a parking spot, after which, a police car drives past (which is pretty typical). After talking with each other and looking around from inside of the car for a minute we decided not to get out and leave the car (it is a super nice car because it is brand new and the other sisters just got it on Friday).  We decided to go somewhere else instead of trying to contact this referral. So we pulled back out onto the street, a ways now behind the police car. We turned onto a main road, still behind the police officer, and drive for a little bit before the officer pulls of to the side or the road and we drive past him. He then pulls in right behind us and turns his lights on to pull us over!!! We are both completely stunned because we were doing nothing wrong. We pull over and both officers make their way up both sides of the car. Hermana Black and I were freaking out, having no idea what is up, plus this is Hermana Black's first time ever getting pulled over as the driver. One officer walks up to her window and is like: "Um, what are you doing?" and sweet Hermana Black who is scared out of her mind blurts out exactly what we are doing, if not in a kind of not great way: "We are looking for people!". The officer gets this confused and stunned look and is like: "What?!?!"  My dear companion, realizing how bad that sounded, held out her name tag and was like, "Oh, we're missionaries". The police officer was like, "Oh, you're missionaries huh? And who were you looking for?" My companion explained we were looking for a guy named Israel Uribe and he asked why we were looking for him and we explained that he had been referred to us because he might have interest in learning about our Church. He then asked who told us to go see him and we explained we didn't know, just that he was a referral and then the officer asked why we pulled back out onto the road after pulling over and we had to explain that we had decided not to go see the referral. At this point he was like, "Oh, OK. We just wanted to make sure you were OK because we didn't know if you were really, really lost or buying dope.  But you shouldn't be down here it is really dangerous and if you ever have to come back here, you should come much, much, earlier in the day because it is bad here and there have been a lot of shootings here recently." So, yeah. That is my story about how 2 white girls in a really nice brand new car shouldn't be together in our area. We were both still shaking a half hour later and we promptly told the other Hermanas that we would no longer be using the car, it is just too nice and stands out way too much in our area! That evening we went to a lesson with a couple of investigators. We had a good lesson with them reviewing the Restoration. We will be passing them back to the Elders to teach (who originally found and taught them) because she can only meet at 8:30 at night and she lives in a pretty dangerous part of our area so it is not really possible or safe for us to teach them that late at night, especially because we don't have a car.

So, remember that talk a few years ago by Elder Nelson, "Ask the Missionaries, they can help you!"? Well people really take that to heart, which we love because we do love to help people. Like on Friday for instance, us missionaries were wedding reception decorators. We spent the morning setting up for a couple of our ward members' wedding reception. We had a lot of fun helping them.  We then had studies and we were supposed to have a lesson with an investigator, but she wasn't there and hasn't been answering her phone which is very unlike her. So we hope to get back in with her soon. We spent the rest of the afternoon looking for former investigators to see if they had interest to learn more. No one was really home though because it was a Friday afternoon and it was a really nice day.

The Wedding and Mariachi Band

Saturday, transfer call day. We had our correlation meeting with the ward mission leader. It went pretty good. He talked about how he wants everyone to work harder and more with the members, something everyone always needs to and can work on. We then did a little bit of proselyting, it was so warm today (80 degrees) and I can already tell that summer will be interesting, before we went back to the Church for the wedding reception we helped to set up for. It was fun to be at the wedding reception and this time we got to be waitresses and serve everyone their food. Seriously ask, the missionaries will help you! :-) The wedding reception was fun because it was a Mexican wedding reception, complete with a for real Mariachi band, it was super neat! That evening we got THE text: "You WILL be receiving a transfer call :-)". Can you guess? Yep, I am leaving Midway :-(. I am so sad to be leaving, I love the area and the people so much. But I am so super excited for my next big adventure. Any guesses where to? Drumroll please...I am going to Indiana! My companion is Hermana Escobar. I have met her a few times and she seems awesome. I am way excited for Indiana too. It will kind of be the complete opposite of my area now but I am excited for the change. I will miss The City so much, but cornfields are nice too. It will be really interesting because I have been in the BIG city for 7 straight months now, it is weird to think of going back to something that is similar to home! But like I said I am ready and super excited for this change!

I am going to Indiana!!! (my sweet companion made this sign for me)

An awesome member family
that I will greatly miss!

Another awesome member family

We had a good Sunday. At Church I was able to say goodbye to a lot of people and get pictures too. Because it was Fast Sunday I was able to bear my testimony and I hope my Spanish was a little better than when I bore my testimony 5 months ago when I first got here! After Church we went to a member's house for lunch because they are leaving town tomorrow and do there won't be a Noche. They wanted to say goodbye to me and I to them so they threw together a little party. It was a lot of fun and I loved just talking and enjoying being with them. The rest of the day we spent doing studies and I worked on packing, it is amazing how much stuff I have accumulated in 6 months!

A great member of the ward

Other ward members who have
taken great care of me

Me and a cute girl in
the ward that I played
with during Gospel Principles

Sweet Family and Friends, I love you all so very much. Thank you for all of your love and support. I am so excited for this next step in my adventure. I hope you all have an amazing week!

Hermana Allyse

"Things happen in this park...", & "Hermana, there's a dog!" week of memorable mission experiences

Hola a mis querida familia y amigos! This week was...interesting! Every single one of our appointments this week canceled and fell through. That made for a bit of a tough week, but that is okay because it means it can only get better from here and everyone has to have those weeks sometimes!

On Monday we had our Zone Activity and it was a lot of fun. We went to a park, colored Easter

Easter Egg Coloring...
Missionary Style!

eggs, and played soccer and kickball. It was so great to be able to be with everyone AND to be able to wear real clothes, although it was really weird too! We had one funny thing happen to us. Us Hermanas were talking as some of the Elders played soccer. Two random kids came up to us and asked us where we were from and what we were doing because they had "never seen so many white people there before"! We explained who we were and they were like, "Oh, OK. Just be careful, things happen in this park!" It was just so funny because we were just a lot of people and I don't think that park had ever seen so many! That night we had our Noche de Hogar with a member family. It was great because both sets of Elders ended up being there and a less active that used to be in our area that we love so much, was there too.

Tuesday we had Zone Training Meeting and it was super good like always. We learned a lot about the Doctrine of Christ and how it really is at the center of our message and how we need to use it to paint the big picture for our investigators and everyone else we are working with. We also learned about teaching simply and having faith to find people. That afternoon we went to do some service to help an Hermana move but it wasn't too organized yet and there weren't any other women so we couldn't even go into the house with the Elders to help. The Noche de Hogar with another member family was that night and our same less active was there again too!

We had a nice long day of finding on Wednesday, we did a lot of tracting. I have a fun story to tell

A wonderful church
member who watches
out for us missionaries.

you about 2 sister missionaries and a big dog, every missionary needs at least one of those stories right? Well, I got one! We were knocking doors and everyone here has gates around their houses. For the most part, these gates are normally unlocked. So, to knock the doors, you open the gate and walk up to the door. We did that at one particular house because it was only held closed by a little rope looped over the top. I was working on closing the gate when Hermana Black said, "Hermana, there's a dog!". I turned around to see and saw this big black dog walking calmly towards us. Hermana Black said again, "Hermana, there's a dog!" and I knew we needed to get out of there. I slipped back outside the gate and Hermana Black followed. Right as I was closing the gate again the dog got there. As soon as we were outside the gate, he turned ferocious and started jumping and barking. It was scary to get the rope back around the top of the gate because the dog was right there trying to bite me, but if I didn't get the rope looped, he would get out and we would have a bigger problem. As I was trying to get the gate closed without getting my hand bitten off, a window right next to the gate opened and a kid poked his head out to see what was going on. I explained that we hadn't realized there was a dog and we were just trying to knock on their door. Tons of people here in Chicago have dogs and they proudly display signs saying, "Beware of Dog", all except for this house! I finally got the gate closed and the rope hooked back in and Hermana Black and I walked away with our hearts pounding a good bit. It was such a tender mercy to me from Heavenly Father that the dog approached so calmly until we were outside of the gate, we were definitely protected and now I have a fun missionary-dog story! The rest of the day was very uneventful compared with that! We went to the one appointment that was still scheduled and confirmed with one of our investigators. We went with the a member and our investigator wasn't there. It was a little frustrating to have every lesson cancel, but that is missionary life sometimes!

This is how we missionaries
improvise when we don't have
the kind of baking pan we need!

Thursday was Weekly Planning. We got all of our planning done and also tried looking for some people, but no one was home. That was basically what that day consisted of.

On Friday we had a lunch appointment with member. She is Cuban and makes us the most amazing food, and a lot of it! Needless to say, we walked out of there with very full stomachs! The rest of the day we tried stopping by and seeing different people but no one was really home. That night we got to go to the baptism of a kid who just turned 8 that Hermana Black knew in Chicago 2nd. That was a lot of fun to be there.

Saturday we had General Conference! I had been looking forward to this all week like I am sure all

Riding the CTA bus to the
church building to watch
General Conference

of you were. Us missionaries watch it at the Church and for the most part it is just us there. For the first session they broadcasted it in English in the Chapel and then had headsets for the few Spanish people there. We then had MCM really fast and then Hermana Black and I helped member with her English class while the other Hermanas went and got Subway, they brought us back some too. For the second session they tried switching it up and putting all of the missionaries in the back of the gym with a little TV and metal chairs :-) But when the broadcast started, it was in Spanish so while they were trying to fix it, someone pulled it up on their iPad for us all to at least hear. But the iPad wasn't loud enough,

Hermana Black and myself watching General Conference

BUT, that morning I had the idea (inspiration now that I look back!) to take my little speaker with me, for some random reason! So while they were fixing the TV, we were all able to listen with the speaker I had brought, it was really neat to me! That night we got a special treat to go and visit a less active member. Even though she isn't in our area any more she really misses us and texts us sometimes. She is going through a really rough time and really needed to talk with someone. The other Hermanas weren't available so we got permission to go talk with her for a while. It was so great to be with her again and she was so excited!

Sunday we had more wonderful General Conference. I absolutely loved the Sunday morning session!  We heard some great messages in all sessions, and I am so excited to be able to go back through and read the talks and study them. I really liked President Uchtdorf's talk on gratitude, it was really good. Elder Holland was amazing as usual too! In between the Sunday

sessions an Hermana from the Westchester Spanish ward brought food for their missionaries and she was nice enough to share it with us, so we ended up having lunch too. After Conference we went looking for some less actives and potential investigators.

It was a good week, made even better with General Conference. I hope you all were able to feel our Father's love and His individual counsel for each one of us. I hope you all have an amazing week, I love you and thank you so much!!!

Eternal Love,

Hermana Allyse Meanea

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