First Chicago Snow !!!

We received this email letter from Allyse today.  Their P-day was moved to Tuesday this week because of Veteran's Day yesterday, and the public libraries were closed so they couldn't email.  Enjoy this letter and photos from Allyse:

Hermana Meanea's beanie

made for her by a ward member

Hi Family & Friends!

How are you all? Thank you so much for all of your love and support. This has been a great week here in Chicago!

November 4 - Tonight we were able to go and teach the Restoration to a referral. The lesson went well, she is very open and accepting. At our Noche de Hogar (FHE) one of the members gave us beanies she made, I am sure they will be a big use to us in the upcoming weeks and months!

Hermana Meanea and the
fall colors of Chicago...

November 5 - Today we went to try and contact a former investigator. A little girl, 3 or 4 years old, opened the door and we asked if her mom was there. She went to go and ask and came back saying no. We asked if she lived there and she said no after thinking for a minute.  Taking a hint, we said thanks and left. I had always heard about rejections like that and now I have my own story! We gave the car to the other Hermanas and they didn't have the bus passes so we walked everywhere today! It was one of those nights where I wished I had a Garmin to know how many miles we walked!

November 6 - Today we had District Meeting and it was good. We had a lesson about prayer and I gave a spiritual thought about working with the wards in which we serve. We then had a mini Zone meeting where our Zone Leaders introduced Moses 6:32 as our Zone Title of Liberty. They also asked us to commit to tracting for one straight hour each day and promised us blessings if we obeyed. So, that night we went tracting. We got 6 PNI's (Potential New Investigators)!!! It is super scary knocking doors and just talking but it is good for me!

Hermana Toney & Hermana Meanea
excited about a baptism commitment

November 7 - Today we had another lesson with the referral. Guess What?!?!?! She is on date for baptism after only 2 lessons!!! I can't believe it! We asked her and she just said yes! There is still a lot more we need to teach and a lot more she needs to do and understand, but, she is on date! She also has a son that will probably be on date soon too. We also taught two other investigators that have been on and off because they are the ones who's father in law was kidnapped and they still haven't heard anything. It went well, especially because we had a member with us. It was long because they asked so many questions! They really expressed a desire to come to Church.

November 8 - So today was huge! We got on Facebook for our one hour of proselyting online and saw a message from our mission president saying that our mission gets iPads!!!!!!!! we should be getting ours on November 21! The work truly is hastening! I am so excited. I also gained a strong testimony of having prayers answered today, even if they are simple, sometimes silly, little things.  If we truly pray with a sincere heart, Heavenly Father hears, AND, answers our prayers!

November 9 - Today was kind of a rough day because all of our appointments and plans fell through. Especially because our 2 hour long Missionary correlation meeting with the Bishop and Ward mission leader to plan how we can work well with the ward was canceled. We did a lot of stop-by's but no one was home or wanted to answer. But that is OK, we will have days like that sometimes.

The chapel that our Chicago Midway
Ward meets in for church

November 10 - Today we had Church. It was good and I understood a good bit of it. Sadly, our investigator that is on date didn't come to Church which means we have to push her baptism back from November 30 :( Also, our MCM that was rescheduled to today after Church was canceled again. It is hard when you try to work with the ward like we have been asked to do and it just doesn't work out, but we will get there! Tonight we went to visit the investigator who didn't come to Church and there was a guy there. Before this, we thought that a husband or boyfriend wasn't in the picture just because it didn't seem like it. But, he is her husband and they let us in which surprised us because she had kind of been avoiding us and we thought we were going to get dropped. We ended up teaching the Plan of Salvation part one to their family. The husband was so serious and accepting. He answered questions and gave commentary! At the end of the lesson he said he would prepare to be baptized, a soft baptism invite, and the whole family said they would read and pray! He then, with the help of my companion, gave the closing prayer.  We think he was even crying a little, the Spirit was so strong! After that he stood up and asked when we could come back!!!! Gold! I am so excited. They have a great desire and seem sincere!

My first Chicago Snow!!!

November 11 - Today we had our first Snow!!! It was cold but we put on layers and went tracting in the snow! What an experience! We also had a Noche de Hogar tonight. We found out 30 seconds before it started that because some people brought non-members, they wanted the missionaries to teach! Hermana Toney did everything! She was incredible. I shared the First Vision and then bore my testimony. It went well and the Spirit was there so that is all that matters. We then had a little party because it was one of the girl's birthday. They turned on Cha-Cha slide and it was so hard not to dance! It was fun though.

I cannot thank you all enough for your love and support of me and my family! Thank you for your prayers and letters and emails! I love you all so much and miss you tons!

Yo se que este Evangelio es el plan de nuestro Padre Celestial. El quiere que vivimos con felicidad y volvimos a El. El Libro de Mormon es la palabra de Dios y podemos aprender todas cosas necisitamos hacer cuando leemos lo. Nuestro Padre Celestial y Jesucristo nos aman mucho.

Have an incredible week!!!

Hermana Meanea

1st Letter from the Mission Field!

Hi Family & Friends!

I am here, in Chicago, in the US, and it is awesome!!!! I have so much to say but not a ton of time!  So here is a breakdown of the days since my last P-day in the Mexico City CCM...

10/25/13 (Friday) - We had infield orientation where we learned about finding, teaching, working with members, and planning and goal setting.

10/26/13 (Saturday) - Our last work day in the CCM was good, really hard to concentrate though :)

10/27/13 (Sunday) - Today was our last Sunday in the CCM. In Relief Society we studied President McConkie's talk on teaching from the last general conference, it was soo good. We had Sacrament Meeting and Elder Allen, head of the missionary department was there! He conducted a little focus group with my Zone and then gave our fireside tonight. We watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration and it was incredible. I didn't remember it from before but it really touched my heart and I felt the testimony of the Restoration and of Joseph Smith.

10/28/13 (Monday) - After two hours of sleep, we got up, got ready and packed, and got on the bus for the airport!!! Finally I got my bags checked and we got through security and I was able to call home! You all know about my contacting experience with the Spanish family I met on the flight from Mexico City to Dallas. The plane to Chicago was good and when we got to baggage claim there was our Sister Training leaders, APs and President Woodbury and Sister Woodbury there to greet us.  They are all soo nice! There was a group coming in from the Provo MTC at the same time. That group from Provo (English Speaking Missionaries) immediately got on the train and went contacting in "The Loop" in Chicago while us "Mexicans" as President Woodbury calls us went to the Temple for photos and then the Mission Home to start interviews with President. The Fall colors here are so incredible! It is the perfect time right now, I am so glad I didn't miss them! My interview with President Woodbury was good, he just got to know me and welcomed me here. Sister Woodbury then took us to see the Bahai temple and then Lake Michigan. Then, we had Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, the real deal from Illuminades(?). It was soooooooo good!!! Hna. Woolf and I then spent the night in the home of some members in a house that was built in the 1920's, it was so neat!

10/29/13 (Tuesday) - We had some training and got a lot of information then it was time for the transfer meeting. My companion in Hermana Toney and we work in the Midway Central Area of Chicago.  She is so nice and such an amazing trainer! She is from Lehi, Utah and has been out 7 months. Then, we got in our car with another companionship of Hermanas we share the car with and traveled through Chicago towards our areas. We stopped at Walmart so we could do a little food shopping and it was so weird doing it completely for just me! We then went to our apartment and it is so fun, I love it! I unpacked a little and then we had a Noche de Hogar (FHE) with the T. Family. We read the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 19 & 20, and they had me pray. Then we had dinner, Pasole soup. It was such a fun thing.

10/30/13 - (Wednesday, first full day as a missionary in the field) You just go. No easing into it or anything, you just go to work! We had all of our studies. We do this great thing where we get up at 6:30 and exercise for 30 minutes. Then, I have an hour to get ready while Hna. Toney has Personal Study and then we switch. This way we have plenty of time and aren't waiting on each other. Then we have 2 hours of companionship study because we are training. Then an hour for language study. Next we did Facebook which was so weird! (The Illinois Chicago Mission is one of the early adopters of using Facebook to contact people to teach). We had a lunch appointment with Hna. R.. She is a very sweet, 90 year old, very deaf. We had amazing food and she just wanted us to eat more and more, I think I had 20 tortillas! We shared a scripture with Hna. R. and left. We contacted a referral and set up an appointment. We were able to go an visit two "lost sheep". Lost sheep are investigators that we have lost contact with. We set up return appointments with both.  One of them dropped off of our map because her father in law was kidnapped in Mexico and is being held for ransom. So the family has been working really hard to get money to pay the ransom to find out if he is still alive and will be released. Ummm, yeah, wow! Hna. Toney acted like the was pretty normal but I was flabbergasted! We shared a scripture and then were getting read to go and she asked if we could read more! It was great!

10/31/13 - (Thursday) Happy Halloween! Today I dressed up as a Sister Missionary :) We had lunch with Hna. I. today.  She is Cuban and we had the most amazing food! It was sooooo good! Hna. Toney's mom had arranged for a candy basket with Halloween balloons to be delivered so we went back to the apartment and got that. Then we had Facebook contacting. We went to see Hna. E. and her girls, who are recent converts.  We saw the girl's Halloween costumes. Next we went to a Panaderia and got cookies and brownies to have while we were in the apartment tonight doing weekly planning. We had to be in by 7:00pm because tonight is a night for other people to go around knocking on doors :)

11/1/13 - (Friday) Today was Zone Conference. It was wonderful! It was with Elder James B. Martino (http://www.lds.org/church/leader/james-b-martino) and I learned a lot of great stuff about working with members and working with our might and mind. He used the story of Alma and Amulek to illustrate the importance of having the right Amulek for our investigators. After ZC we went and saw Hna. M, a less active, and she agreed to come to Church and bring two of her sons.

11/2/13 - (Saturday) In the middle of studies we found out our MCM, Missionary Correlation Meeting, with the Ward Mission Leader was changed to 10:30 am, in half an hour! So we went to that and discussed what we had done this past week. We then had an appointment with Hna. M where we taught the Plan of Salvation part 1. I would introduce each topic simply and then Hna. Toney went into more detail. It went pretty good!

11/3/13 - (Sunday) We studied this morning and then had Church at 1 pm. Relief Society was first. It was good but I didn't understand a lot (the Chicago Midway Ward that I serve in is a full Spanish Ward, so all of the church services are in Spanish). Then we went to Gospel Principles and learned about the Law of Chastity, I understood a good bit. Then we had Sacrament Meeting. I bore my testimony in Spanish and it went really well. Hna M. came to church with her two sons and they all liked it a lot! We spent the evening trying to contact some less actives but either no one was home or their gates were locked.

I love you all so incredibly much! Thank you for your love and support and prayers!

Yo se que este Evangelio es la uniquia manera podemos volver a Dios y vivir con felicidad. Nosotros somos hijos de Dios y El tiene que much amor para nosotros. Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador y puede nos ayuda con todas cosas!

Hermana Allyse Meanea

Editor's Note - As this is a public blog, and to protect the privacy of those people with whom Hermana Meanea works with in Chicago, individual names that Hermana Meanea writes about will be replaced with initials.

 

Hermana's of my Zone at the CCM In Mexico City

Scripture Case I got from Mexico City

Early Morning Flight from Mexico City to Dallas

I love the fall colors at the Chicago Temple!

Chicago's newest Spanish Speaking Missionaries at the Chicago Temple
 

Illinois Chicago Hermana's fresh from the Mexico MTC

Bahai Temple in Chicago

Authentic Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

My Casa!

My dormitorio...

My armario

Our Halloween Treat

A surprise shirt from my mom that I received at zone conference mail call...

A couple of updates on Allyse about her trip to Chicago and photos from the mission home for you.

On Monday morning after her flight arrived in Dallas from Mexico City, she cleared customs (with a broken wheel on one of her suitcases) and got her bags re-checked and made it over from the international terminal to one of the domestic terminals to catch her flight to Chicago.  For some reason her plane was delayed a few minutes, which gave her just enough time to call and talk to us again (this time for about 10-15 minutes at about 8:45 a.m.).

Allyse related to us a story of her first real missionary efforts (as I can remember it from the phone call).  Each of the missionaries had been given a pass along card and challenged to place it with someone during their trip.  She said on her flight from Mexico City to Dallas she got to sit next to this awesome Spanish family.  She said she knew that is who she was suppose to talk to, but she was nervous the whole flight.  When the plane landed in Dallas and the passengers disembarked, she said she was scared, but she did it anyway.  She walked up to the dad, introduced herself and told him that he had a great family.  She explained that she wanted his family to enjoy the same eternal happiness that she had with her family and she handed him the card and explained what she was talking about.  She said she was shaking the whole time, but it turned out awesome.  She said the dad introduced her to all of the members of the family and they spoke for a while before going their separate ways.  Allyse seemed pretty happy about the experience.

Yesterday (Tuesday) Alice received a text message from an unknown number.  In that message were the words "I am here, I love you!" along with two pictures.  I have attached those two photos, one of them is Allyse with her mission president, President Paul Woodbury and Sister Woodbury, the other picture has what we are assuming is her first companion in the field (we don't know her name or where they are assigned).

We thought you would like to be updated on Hermana Meanea and see the first photos of her to reach us from Chicago.

Thanks again for you thoughts, love and concern for Hermana Meanea

John & Alice

Hermana Meanea with President and Sister Woodbury

 

Hermana Meanea with her companion and President and Sister Woodbury

Allyse is on her way to Chicago!

Dear Family and Friends (this is John, not Allyse speaking),

We just wanted to share an update on Allyse, we were blessed to be able to speak with her this morning from the Mexico City Airport as she was awaiting to board her flight to Dallas.  We had been waiting since 2:30 am to hear from her, and once it got to be 4 am we figured that she hadn't been able to call, or that she wasn't able to get the payphone to work for her.  Her flight was scheduled to depart at 4:15 am.  So when we received a call at 4:12 am from 525-525-990-241 it only took Alice like 1.3 seconds to answer it!  While Alice and Allyse were excitedly speaking back and forth, Tayson bounded up to our room in seconds (Emily was already present).  I couldn't figure out why Allyse wasn't on her plane, so while they all spoke to her on speaker phone, I was looking up the travel plans to make sure I had the times correct.  Mexico City is in the central time zone, and with her departure scheduled at 5:15 am, that would be 4:15 our time.  So I broke into their conversation and asked Allyse why she wasn't on her plane.  After some back and forth about flight times and the current time, we discovered that in Mexico they had their daylight savings time change yesterday (Sunday, October 27th), which means that Mexico City is on the same time schedule as we are here in Utah for one week.  That would have been nice to know at 2:30 this morning as we anxiously awaited a phone call from Allyse!

Anyway, we had a really good conversation with Hermana Meanea for 38 minutes until her flight started boarding.  She is flying in a group of 11 sisters and 2 elders that are all heading to Chicago.  I felt really bad for all of the other missionaries that she is traveling with, as Allyse was the only one that was able to make the Mexico payphone work to call home.  We were blessed to get to hear from her, as the families of her traveling companions were not able to hear from their missionaries.  I am sure they will be able to call to their homes from Dallas in a few hours.

Allyse is doing well, she had a great CCM (MTC in Spanish) experience and is now excited and anxious to begin the next phase of her mission.  She sends her love and really appreciates all of the prayers/support and communication from her family and friends.  It was really awesome to hear Spanish words pop up during her English phone conversation.  I guess that means that her mind is beginning to work in Spanish.

Thanks again for all of the love and support of our Hermana Meanea!

Love, John and Alice

Here is Sister Meanea's travel schedule for Monday.... (all times are our times)

3:15 AM - Arrive at Mexico City Airport (now corrected for Mexico Daylight Savings Time Change)

5:15 AM - Depart Mexico City for Dallas (now corrected for Mexico Daylight Savings Time Change)
7:45 AM - Arrive at Dallas Airport

9:15 AM - Depart Dallas Airport for Chicago

11:35 AM - Arrive at Chicago Airport

AMERICAN AIRLINES     28OCT MEXICO CITY    DALLAS TX      515A    845A

AA 1066              MONDAY JUAREZ INTL    DALLAS FT WORT

V ECONOMY                   TERMINAL 1     TERMINAL D

                            FOOD FOR PURCHASE             NON STOP

                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         2:30 DURATION    

                  AIRCRAFT: BOEING 737-800

                            SEAT 20A NO SMOKING CONFIRMED

 

AMERICAN AIRLINES     28OCT DALLAS TX      CHICAGO IL     1015A   1235P

AA 2338              MONDAY DALLAS FT WORT O HARE INTERNA

V ECONOMY                                  TERMINAL 3

                            FOOD FOR PURCHASE             NON STOP

                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         2:20 DURATION

                  AIRCRAFT: BOEING (DOUGLAS) MD-83

                            SEAT 28D NO SMOKING CONFIRMED

CCM Farewell

Whether it's the MTC, the CCM, or the CIA, Allyse sent her last letter from the training center in Mexico, which is included herewith.
Enjoy!

Family & Friends!!!! It has been a week already and not it is almost time for me to leave the CCM and fly to Chicago! The time, looking back, really has gone fast. I am so excited to get into the field and be back in the States! Here is a look at my week:

Friday - 10/18/13

Crazy night! First, going to bed was really hard because there were hundreds of dogs barking! Then, starting at 4:30 in the morning, someone right outside the walls of the CCM started letting off hundreds of fireworks each minute. Needless to say, we did not get a lot of sleep so it was a very long day! Because we have new Zone Leaders now, they are changing the way our Zone does talks. Now everyone prepares and you find out in Sacrament Meeting if you are speaking. Hermana Woolf and I did find out tonight that we are speaking on Sunday, so we could be extra prepared. It only has to be five minutes so I am not too worried.

Saturday - 10/19/13

Today we taught Itsvana, one of our Progressing Investigators, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a lot about Repentance. For our service project we helped clean the exterior of the seminary building. Tonight we practiced teaching with another District, the one in our Zone that got here a week after us. I got kind of discouraged because the Elder I practiced with was really good, if not better than I was with teaching in Spanish. Then, I remembered my Setting Apart and how I was specifically counseled not to compare myself to others. So, now I look at how far I personally have come rather than comparing myself to others.

Sunday - 10/20/13

Today in Relief Society we had a great lesson on Obedience and how it is the key to conversion. My talk in Sacrament Meeting went well, I did feel like I was back to little girl talks though Dad :) It is great here because all of the sisters in my Zone are really close and we always talk and sit together and are so supportive of each other. We had a class with President Pratt about how important the Gift of the Holy Ghost is. We then had a "Chit-Chat" with Hermana Pratt. She kind of chastised us a little about needing to spend more time and effort looking more professional and polished. It ended up coming off a little harsh but I understood what she was trying to say. It was sad to me to listen to all of the girls discount and scoff at what she said. We are here to be different. We need to look on par with the message we are sharing. For our Devotional we had one from Elder Holland at Provo MTC back in January. It was really good, of course! This is the Key to Missionary Success:

Preach MY Gospel = His Gospel, His Way = Obedience = The Spirit = Teach with Power & Authority

We had Curly Fries for Dinner tonight. I am excited to have real curly fries in a week and a half! Tonight we watched Legacy. At home I never realized how old, and kind of cheesy it is. But watching it with hundreds of other missionaries made me realize!

Monday - 10/21/13

Today we taught Itsvana half of the Plan of Salvation and then said goodbye because we thought it was our last lesson with her, then we found out, it wasn´t oops! We then practiced teaching the Law of Chastity to a 10 year old, awkward!, and then to a 19 year old who has "problems" with it, more awkward! Today we also got to play Ultimate Frisbee with our teacher, Hermana Callejes. It was so fun!

Tuesday - 10/22/13

Today, Hermana Callejes brought us a special Mexican treat to try, Grasshoppers! It was so weird! The taste wasn´t honestly that bad but my problem was that I couldn´t get the legs to go down :) We also got the opportunity to do REAL contacting today. There were some workers, who aren´t LDS, working on the fence and Hna. Callejes had us practice contacting them and try to get their address and give a Book of Mormon. The guy my group talked to was way nice but made it clear that he had no interest in our church and had just agreed to listen to help us with our Spanish. It is so sad to know what an incredible, life changing message you have and have someone not want to listen at all! We played Volleyball with some Latinos. One of the Elders tried to give me a high five after I scored. I gave him a handshake instead (that is all we are allowed to do) and he said No and tried to give me a high five again. I told him, "No pudeo, No permite" so he tried a fist bump instead and I had to tell him no again. Then, he just threw up his hands and walked away! Tonight we had a live devotional with Elder Johnson of the 4th Quorum of the 70. It was really good! We learned about how important it is to work well with the ward we are assigned to because they are the people who will be taking care of our converts when we leave.

Wednesday - 10/23/13

We taught our last lesson with Itsvana today. We talked about 2 Nephi 2 which we had asked her to read and then talked about the importance of reading the scriptures and going to Church. We also said goodbye to Hna. Callejes today because she won´t be here on Saturday. It was so sad! She shared these scriptures with us that I loved: 2 Nephi 22:2, Alma 39:15-16, and D&C 6:8. We played Ultimate Frisbee for the last time as a Zone. I can´t believe that it is almost time for us to leave here, I am so excited and so nervous!

Thursday - 10/24/13

P-Day! Last P-Day in the CCM, crazy! The Temple was incredible, so peaceful and wonderful. They have this store there called La Tienda Zarahemla and I got a real Mexican scripture case! Lunch was awesome today. Carne Asada AND Chicken Enchilada Mole. If you haven´t tried Mole, do! It is chocolate, bananas, chili, and peanuts, weird but good!

Thank you all so incredibly much for your love and support! I feel your prayer and strength every minute! I know that this is so hard but this has been an incredible week! I have felt comforted and just plain joyous over the work I have to do! Yo sé que este Evangelio es la manera que podemos volver a Dios. Jesucristo es nuestro Salvador. Él vive y nos ayuda con todas cosas. Nosotros bendicimos muchos porque tenemos la verdad y muy animada compartir este conocimiento con la gente de Chicago! I love you all so much & miss you like crazy!!!! Thank you for everything! Have a great week and I will talk to you all next P-Day from Chicago!!!

PS- The official dates of my mission are September 18, 2013 - March 16, 2015!!!

A picture of La Tienda at the CCM

La Basilica de Guadalupe

Mi Compañera y Yo

My District with our teacher Hermana Callejes

My family at the Mexico City Temple!

Our District Today

Selfie at the Temple today

Post-P-Day Postal Posting!

Tayson: Say that one five times fast!

Here's the letter from Allyse this week, it sounds like she's doing great, and we've been so excited to hear from her.

There is just so much to say and write, I don´t even know where to being.  First of all, thank you all so much for the love, support, and prayers!  I feel them constantly and am so grateful for them! I am going to try and go day by day and see how that works.

Thursday - 10/10/13
It was so amazing to read everyone´s emails! Thank you so much!  Also, that night, I don´t know how you guys did it, but we had hamburgers for the first time here!  After talking with you guys about how much I was craving a good burger, you somehow got the CCM to serve them! Thanks! (posters note, while chatting with Allyse last week we asked her if there was anything she wanted us to send her... she asked if we could send her a good old American Hamburger.  We told her that we would get enough double doubles from In-n-Out for her whole zone and ship them to her.  How awesome that the very evening of our email chat with her, the CCM had hamburgers for them to eat...)

Friday - 10/11/13
For breakfast we had something really good that I hand´t thought of before.  It was really chunky mashed potatoes with green peppers and ham, and it was super good! You will have to try it! Funny Story for the week - We were teaching one of our practice Progressing Investigators today, Itsvana.  It was a Friday, but P-Day was yesterday, so to me, it felt like the weekend had just ended.  So, as we sat down and started talking with her, I asked how her weekend had been.  She had a really confused look so I repeated the question.  It wasn´t until she was answering that I realized, it was Friday, not Monday! Luckily, her and my companion just let it go, but it was a funny oops! We went into that lesson planning on teaching about the Restoration. Instead, she said that she wasn´t sure about our Church because she had prayed and thought in her mind that this was a church of men´s words and not God´s. She said she is already super close to God and doesn´t think she needs a church to do that.  She also went to the temple with a member friend and couldn´t understand why a Church of God, wouldn´t let people into a building where they become closer to God, so it must not be of God.  We were able to have a 20 minute lesson on her questions and doubts without any planning, and in Spanish.  It was great, I really felt the Spirit and felt that it went well!

Saturday - 10/12/13
Spiritual Story for the week, even though every second here is very spiritual:  We were practicing finding the needs of each other as missionaries.  Our teacher gave us 10 minutes to find a scripture to help the person we were working with.  I decided to try the thing you always here about people doing, opening the scriptures and finding exactly what they need.  I prayed asking to be led to the right scripture.  I opened my scriptures and my fingers landed on Alma 10:5-6 & Alma 18:34-35.  These scriptures applied directly to the situations of the two missionaries I was working with!!! I knew that Heavenly Father blessed me with that so that I could see He really is there and watching out for me! Also, today it was fish for lunch and dinner.  For lunch, I got an Empanada because the other choice was fish and I didn´t think they would only have fish to choose from.  I took a bite and found out it was a shrimp empanada!  I almost threw up :)  I held it down though.  For dinner it was tuna salad, I was able to eat it and it was pretty good.

Sunday - 10/13/13
Sundays are always great days here in the CCM!  It is super extra spiritual and I always learn so much! In Relief Society we had a great lesson on Agency and how we get to go and share the knowledge of this amazing fit with others.  Our class with the MTC presidency was about the strength we can have through the grace of the Atonement and it was really good.  We had tostadas for lunch and they were really good!  We also have a ton of study time on Sundays so I loved that! Our devotional was really good.  It was one of Elder Christofferson at the Provo MTC. He talked a lot about how all that I am called to do and go through can be swallowed up by my joy in Christ.  For dinner we had real tamales. They were wrapped in HUGE, like 2´ by 2´´, banana leaves!  We then watched "How Rare a Possession"  It is an older, not the best made movie, but it has an INCREDIBLE story! You all need to see if you can watch it.  It gave me such an immense appreciation and love for the Book of Mormon and helped me see what an invaluable tool it will be on my mission!

Monday - 10/14/13
Today was a super good day! After all of the spiritual re-energizing yesterday, I felt happy and excited, more than usual :)  We had another lesson with one of Progressing Investigators, Itsvana.  We reviewed Moroni 10 which we had asked her to read last time.  She had read it and we had read it together with her in mind and we had a discussion on some of the verses that jumped out at us.  She said she had read 3-5 and had prayed and believed it was true.  Towards the end, I used verse 19 to segway into Joseph Smith and the First Vision.  I then explained the way we come closer to God and Jesus Christ is through Baptism.  I then asked her is she would be baptized, and she said yes!!! Even though it is pretend, it was the most incredible feeling!  The Elders in our District call it a "DUNK" so Hermana Woolf and I walked back into class and said dunk!  We played Ultimate Frisbee with our entire Zone today for gym time. It was a lot of fun.  For dinner, we had jumbo hot dogs and waffle fries, they are on some kind of American food kick this week.  Tonight I started to read the Book of Mormon from the beginning in Spanish.  There is a promise from President Monson that if we do that, and understand what we read, we will find ourselves able to speak and understand better.  So I am reading the Book of Mormon out loud so I can practice pronunciation too and I am already understanding quite a bit!

Tuesday
Today was basically the same as every other day so I don´t have a lot to say, sorry :)  I do talk about the food a lot because it is fun and I know my family likes to here about it.  For breakfast I had this incredible breakfast pizza.  It was ham, cheese, and basil on a toasted hamburger bun.  For lunch I had this really good Mango sauce chicken.  Tonight was special though because were part of a live broadcast devotional from the Provo MTC of Elder Oaks.  It was super good. He talked about how our responsibility as missionaries is to change, achieve and become.  It was really good and spiritually re-energizing!

Wednesday
 I can´t believe it has been a month! On one hand, it has dragged by, and the other, it has soared by!  Today was the same as every other day.  For gym time I played Volleyball and that was fun.  Lunch was super good, verde enchiladas and potato wedges + an Oreo cheesecake thing!  We were talking with one of my teachers today and he said that the first three months are really hard, feelings of wanting to be home are completely normal. But, after three months, he said it was perfect and so incredible.  That helped me feel good.

I can´t thank you all enough for all you are doing for me and my family! This is the hardest thing I have ever done, but it gets better each day!  Thank you for your prayers and love.  I love hearing from you all so much!  I can already feel my testimony growing so much and it is such an incredible feeling to know that I am completely relying on the Atonement!  Yo sé que esta Iglesia es veradera.  El Libro de Mormon es las palabras de Dios y podemos llegar a ser más cerca a Dios con lo.  Yo sé que Jesucristo es nuestro el Salvador y Él tiene mucho ama por nosotros.  Yo sé que todas cosas son posible a través de Jesucristo y Su Expiacion.

Love,
Hermana Meanea

We'll keep you posted on Hermana Meanea's progress... only a week and a half left in the Mexico City CCM until she flies to Chicago!
-TJ Meanea

A "selfie" at the Mexico City MTC

A Mexico City traffic jam on the way to the Mexico City Temple

The plaza area of the CCM in between the buildings

My companion, Sister Woolf, french braided my hair... when I took out the braids, I had awesome beach wave hair!

The Only "Fall" leaves that I can find at the CCM

Return of the P-Day

John: Following is the letter we received from Allyse yesterday (Thursday, October 10th).  She is 1/2 way through her Mexico City CCM (MTC) experience.  Thanks again for your love and support of Hermana Meanea!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Allyse Meanea
Date: Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 1:56 PM
Subject: 3rd Email Home

Wow!  On one hand, this week seems to have gone by so fast, but on the other, it seems to have dragged by so slowly!  It was a good week, still super super hard, but getting better!

Here, we typically teach one of our progressing investigators, we have 2 right now, each day.  We also teach constantly with each other so that we can practice different things.  Saturday and Sunday were 2 of my favorite days here so far.  Conference was amazing!!!!!!!!  I can´t wait to go back and study all of the talks more!!!!  Wasn´t it so neat to hear President Monson talk about the 80,333 missionaries out and know I am One of those!!!  Elder Soares talk really hit me.  I also loved President Uchtdorf saying: "Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith!"  I truly felt love, and peace, and joy, while I listened to Conference this weekend.  By the way, were you able to see the LDS World Report on the Mexico MTC after the morning session on both Saturday and Sunday? If not, you should try to find it because it shows a lot of the stuff about what I am living right now!!!  I also really loved Elder Ballard´s talk: "It is impossible for me to fail when I do my best & am on the Lord´s errand."  The Relief Society Meeting was so great too! We got to watch it Saturday night when the Elders were in Priesthood.  On Sunday the sessions were incredible too!  When we watched Music and the Spoken Word I did start crying because it shows all of the pictures of the West and they were all places I have been with my family!!!  I loved Sister Oscarson´s talk on Conversion and Elder Scott´s.  Elder Vinson´s really hit me hard too!  Sorry this is so scattered, there is just so much to say and I don´t know where to begin!

After Conference, we had some Personal Study time.  I was really feeling the desire to have more meaningful study of the Book of Mormon.  I prayed to be able to find the things that Heavenly Father wanted me to read and I started reading where I was at in 1 Nephi 15.  It was incredible! Every verse hit me and the revelation just flowed!!!!!  It was such a testimony to me that Heavenly Father does here our prayers, does love us so much, and does answer us, especially through the Book of Mormon!  That evening, for our Sunday Video we watched The Testaments, which is one of my favorites, and it was the perfect end to such an incredible weekend!

Monday was a pretty normal day.  We taught and studied.  Spanish is coming well.  I am at the point where I can speak and teach an investigator mostly what I want to say.  Now it is just understanding all of the grammar and building up my vocabulary so I can speak correctly and not sound so much like a gringo!!!

Tuesday was one of my hardest days so far!  I was sooooooooo homesick.  All I could think was how much I wanted to be at home with my family.  I was praying all day for the desire to be here and to be doing this work.  I was trying to be perky but I just missed my family.  Tuesday night was such a testimony to me that the Lord is aware of me and wants to help me.  Our Tuesday night devotional was one from Elder Holland from the Provo MTC.  If you think he gets in your face sometimes in Conference, you have no idea!!!!  It was so amazing and exactly what I needed to hear.  The big message was: Don´t you dare come home and not have this change you forever!!!!  This hit me really hard because I have been thinking; once I get through my mission I can get home to my family.  I know I need to change my attitude to think about how amazing this really is. Also he talked about how this is Real Life.  The devotional really impacted me and helped me to understand why I am out here and the next 18 months, I will be useless if i don´t understand why I am here.  It was a big wake up call to all of us!

Wednesday was a better day.  I was feeling strengthened and comforted by the Lord so much.  I know that there is no way I can do this without Him.  I have always understood that we need to trust and rely on the Lord.  But until I got out here,  I have never really needed to rely on Him for all of my strength before.  Now, i am starting to understand.

Today at the Temple was great.  I did it all in Spanish and am surprised at what I am able to pick out.

Here are some random things I have been writing a list that I have wanted to say or ask.....

Did you guys start playing Christmas music & spraying apples and cinnamon stuff on October 1st?

I heard about this movie called Three Amigos, it has Steve Martin in it, that is apparently sooo funny and is about Mexico I think.  It sounds like it might be a fun movie for you guys to find and watch with Clearplay :)

Here is some of the food I have had recently that you should try: Carne Asada (definitely one of my favorites here, it is soooo good!), Chicken Cordon Bleu, Waffle Sandwich (Literally one morning for breakfast we had a waffle with chicken, lettuce and tomato on top of it), and my favorite ice cream is a popsicle that is called Leche de Cajeta.

See if you can find "Holland on Peter" on YouTube.  We watched it and it really gets you thinking.

I love being a missionary! It is just incredible to think that the thing I have been waiting my whole life to be is happening now!!!  I have a for real name tag!  I can´t wait to get out there and invite others to Christ.

It´s time :(  I have loved talking to you guys so incredibly much!!!!  I can feel your love and support so strongly!!!!!  I can´t wait for next Thursday to be able to talk with you more!  I love you and know that the Lord will help us all through this!!!  I love love love love you!!!!!!!

Hermana Meanea

Tayson: This has been another illegal letter-cast from Meanea incorporated!

Thank you all for your support of our missionary!

A really cool painted building in Mexico City

El Comedor (the Cafeteria) at the CCM

Many shops along the street in Mexico City

Me at the computer while I am typing this letter

Mexico Car Wash on the side of the street in Mexico City

My Companion, Sister Woolf, and me as we get ready to watch General Conference

My Selfie at the Mexico City Temple today

Our Classroom at the Mexico City CCM (it is cleaner then it usually is)

A cool thing that they use to move stuff around with

Strawberry Fanta, a small taste of home!