Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Hello from Bloomingdale

10-29-2012
Familia,

Hello from Bloomingdale. Yep, being back in the Suburbs after 9 months in south sideish Chicago sure is weird. My first day here it was def culture shock to be seeing white people and asians. :P And to go to gas stations with out bullet proof glass? dang that was a change. Haha when I tell people where I just came from they all comment on how feo and ghetto it is. . . I miss it. :)

But, Bloomingdale is good. I'm in a SUPER fancy apartment. I mean at least compared to what I'm used to. . We have our own washer and dryer! and a dishwasher! And the apartment complex has a pool, not that I can use it. . but dangggg I'm living the high life! I feel like I just came out of the projects or something and now am living in the Marriott. :)

It was definitely hard to leave the Westchester ward. When I told people I was leaving they all thought it was a joke. And then cried. Saying goodbye to the Salgado's was definitely the hardest. Oh man. And then coming here I def feel overwhelmed trying to meet people and remember their names, and getting to know the area. But I've met some awesome people, and some legit families. This area has a lot of potential, but needs some help.

There is a woman here that the missionaries have been meeting with for FOREVER, and she has a testimony and everything, but just hasn't been baptized yet cos her husband isn't on board. Her name is Delia, and she is super sweet. When we met with her this week we asked her to set a baptism date as like a step of faith that her husband will come around to it. So she is now on date for Dec 15. :)

Someone else that set a baptism date this week is Nathaly. She is the cousin of a family in the ward, and she has been coming to church for a while, but the missionaries haven't really taught her anything. So we decided to meet with her last night, and as soon as we brought up baptism she told us she had just decided she wanted to be baptized! Her parents aren't too keen on the idea, but she turned 18 today, and has decided she wants to go ahead and do it anyway. We're planning on Nov 17 for her.

There are lots of other people here who seem super prepared for baptism, but they just haven't really been invited- so . . thats what I'm gonna do. Invite them, and we'll see what happens.

The area here is different too because of the diversity. The last 9 months I've been working basically with puros mexicanos. Here there are Colombians, Hondurans, Peruvians, Brasilians, Guatemalans. . .everyone. And man, do they love to make fun of my Mexican accent and my use of Mexican slang.

I'm having a good time with my companion as well. Her name is Hermana Moffat, and she is from Arizona. She has been out just over a year, and we're having a lot of fun. She's a very hard worker and is keeping in me in line.

I hope you are having a wonderful time in Hawaii. I'm super jealous. It sure is starting to get cold over here. . .

My address is 362 Glenwood Dr #306 Bloomingdale, IL 60108. Just in case anyone wants to write me. . . I mean, I understand if you don't. I'm terrible at responding. :)

Love you all!
Les Quiero,
Shaelyn



fotos



Imelda and her nietos, Sescie and Xavier

 
 
Liz
 
 
The Salgado kids
 
 
Hna Salgado
 
 
Benita, (Hna Salgado's daughter)
 
 
Evelin y Marlene
 
 
Danae
 
 
Marlene
 
 
Modesta
 
 
Love...
 
 
La familia Sosa
 
 
My welcome to Bloomingdale dinner. Super fancy. Definitely not in Kansas anymore.
Or Westchester ward. . .
 
 
me and Wendy
 
 
Hna Moffatt and I
 

Monday, October 22, 2012

For my very last transfer I am being moved.


10-22-2012
Familia,

Well, I guess the big news of the week is that I did not survive transfers. Nope. For my very last transfer I am being moved. To serve in the Bloomingdale Spanish branch. I'm not really sure where I'll be serving, if I'll be in Bloomingdale or what, but I guess I'll let you know next week. I'll be serving with Hermana Moffat. I'm going to be completely honest. I really don't want to go. I do not want to be changed for my last 6 weeks. I feel like this is my home ward! I've been here for 9 months, and to get moved to another area for only 6 weeks? I won't even have time to get to know the branch. Its been heart breaking saying goodbye to people. Last night we had like 5 appointments to say goodbye, and today we have 6. On a pday. and because they are farewell appointments that means we get fed. So. . . expect to be rolling me off the airplane. :) Packing is going to be so crazy. I have no idea how I have accumulated so much junk. But I managed to pack up my desk last night, and tonight is going to be everything else. Oh man. . I'm basically probably just going to give anything extra I don't want to send home to Millie, or the other sisters serving in the English ward.

So aside from transfers, this week was pretty good. I think. I can't really remember what else happened. . . Regular appointments i guess. Yesterday and today are full of goodbyes, which is really sad. But during those goodbyes last night we were able to set three people on date to be baptized!

Alejandra Armenta, who is part of the Armenta family that we have been visiting forever finally prayed about being baptized. We asked her to pray about being baptized on Nov 17. She did it, and felt good about it. But she is still scared, and was super hesitant to set a date. But I just told her we needed to show God that she trusted him and wanted to be baptized by setting that goal, but that if the day came and she still wasn't sure or ready, she didn't have to be baptized. But she totes will be.

And then we finally got the Luarca kid's mom to give them permission to be baptized on Dec 1. They are such a legit family. The kids are so freaking smart. When we asked them how they felt when they prayed to know if they needed to get baptized, the 12 year old told he he felt "confident." BEST ANSWER EVER. They are awesome.

So yeah. I'm really sad to leave. Its turning out to be the hardest thing ever. My poor little heart is breaking. The worst is going to be saying goodbye to the Salgado's, who are my family now, and to Imelda. I'm the first missionary she ever met, so its gonna be super hard on her, and I just love her to death and thus its gonna kill me.

We have to come back and visit these people. I keep telling people I'll come back, and they all tell me everyone says that but then no one really comes back. We have to. Okay?

Well, Love you. Have fun in Hawaii. I'll let you know how Bloomingdale is next week.

Les Quiero,
Shaelyn


Luarca's
 
my new hair?
 
me and Esmerelda!
 
millie and i :)
 
us and Esmerelda
 
millie, lucero, and i
 
the economy in Melrose Park is still struggling apparently
 
best guitar ever. pink and glittery? yes please.
 
familia Aguirre

familia Aguirre
 
familia Arreguin

familia Arreguin
 
Alejandra Armenta
 
Graciela Nunez
 
Familia Avitia
 
The Westchester 2 Missionaries
 
packing party

packing party

millie and i :)
 
hair dying! 
 
 
 

Saturday, October 20, 2012

"so tell me, where does this book come from?"


10-16-2012

Familia,

Well, this week has been good. We had some pretty good appointments and are seeing some great stuff. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time to write today, so I'll try to sum it up pretty quickly.

We had an appointment with the referral miracle we had from last week. His name is Efrain and he is awesome. I called him the night before our appointment to confirm, and I left message asking him to call us back and let us know if there was going to be a woman at his home, cos if not we needed to bring one. He never called us back, so I was a little worried he was just gonna bail, but we go to his house for the appointment, and he comes right out with his jacket on and everything and was like, "there's only 4 men here, wanna go to the dunkin donuts down the street?" and he was to his car faster than we were! So we met him there, and didn't even have to direct the lesson cos the first thing he says to us when we sit down is, "so tell me, where does this book come from?" talking about the Book of Mormon. He told us he is looking for something. That he feels empty, and that he feels hungry. But not for bread or water. haha After the appointment Millie and I got in the car and just looked at each other like, "did that really just happen?" He seems super legit.

We are also teaching that family from Guatemala I told you about, the Luarcas. The kids LOVE us and are so stoked to get baptized. We're still waiting on permission from the mom unfortunately. But they are reading the Book of Mormon, and love it. They are really smart kids.

Something super cute that happened this week: A granddaughter of a member called us (her mom isn't a member) and asked us to pray for her brother cos he was in the hospital. She's 6, and her brother is 8. So we prayed with her over the phone so her brother would be better. :) it was adorable.

Well, thats about all i've got time for. Hope all is well!

Les Quiero,
Shaelyn

fotos 
 
temple pictures
 
 
 
the salgado kids all decided they wanted to go on a car ride.
 
 

more fotos
 


more of the temple
 
 
me feeding a kitty treats
 
 
me pretending to be dead while small children revive me  


 

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

This week was pretty good. We started off the week awesome, getting 7 new investigators in 2 days, and then finished off the week the best way possible with general conference.

10-9-2012
Familia,

Hey. Sorry I forgot to tell you I wouldn't be emailing yesterday. I completely forgot. But before I forget, I won't be emailing til next Tuesday again. We have zone meeting on Monday. Also, I'm not really sure at what time we'll be emailing, because we're going to the temple. First time in a year! yayyy.

This week was pretty good. We started off the week awesome, getting 7 new investigators in 2 days, and then finished off the week the best way possible with general conference. lets start off by talking about general conference. Cos that was awesome. First of all, Saturday was a nightmare. Due to a plethora of unfortunate mishaps we were late to both sessions on Saturday. So I missed the announcement from Pres Monson. Oh man when we finally showed up and one of the elders passed me a note telling me that girls could go on missions at 19 and boys at 18 I almost turned around and punched the elders that made us late. I really am interested to see how things change. Unfortunately I probably won't be in the mission when we really get to see the changes. I do know a lot of girls that are suddenly having to do some serious praying about what to do. My favorite favorite talk was Elder Holland's. Of course. Man, that guy is SUCH a baller.

The beginning of the week though was def the highlight. Tuesday we found a family we've been looking for for weeks. The parents are both inactive members, that haven't been to church since they moved here from Guatemala. The hermano's sister is also an inactive member that we've been visiting. Non of these people are in the ward records so its kind of a miracle we even know about them. But anyway, the parents are inactive, and they have three kids, Edgar who is 10, Jenny 8, and Rosemily 4. The hermano is super stoked for us to come and teach them, and wants to come back to church. He just quit his job so he can come on Sundays, but he can't drive. His wife, that can has started to go to a different church and seems a little bit hesitant to have us come over. But the kids are awesome. They have basically no gospel understanding, but they are super eager to learn. We got them some Books of Mormon last time we were there, and asked if they want to get baptized. They really want to, and their dad wants them to. We just have to see if we can get permission from the mom, and then all things go.

Tuesday we were also finally able to get in with another lessactive partmember family we've been looking for for a while, also from Guatemala. We are really working hard at getting the hermano to come back to church. He says he wants to, and that he wants his daughter who we are teaching to get baptized, but he just hasn't really put in the effort necessary. And he daugther, who is 11 has been pretty standoffish towards us, until this last Tuesday. Finally we made some progress with her. We watched the restoration movie and taught her how to pray and she was actually participating and gave us hugs as we left.

Wednesday we had another finding miracle. A few months ago we had a few extra minutes before an appointment , so we parked down the street from where our appointment was so I could make a few phone calls. While I was doing that, Hermana Milliron saw a hispanic woman go into the house we were parked in front of and got super excited. She asked if we could come back and knock the house. I was like, "okay, yeah, whatever." haha and then we went to the appointment. A few weeks later Millie all of a sudden started wanting to try that house every time we had a free minute, so we did. But we didn't find anyone at home. We tried like 3 or 4 times. But then Wednesday we had about 15 minutes before an appointment, so we stopped by this house again. I told her it was all on her to do the door approach, since she was the one that was so intent on knocking the house. A woman answered the door and Millie said, "Hi! We're missionaries and we're here in the area sharing a message with families about Christ." and then instead of saying she was busy or no, like I expected the woman just stood there and looked at us expectantly. Like, "Okay. tell me your message." I had a brought a Book of Mormon up to the door, and decided to try a new approach, that some zone leaders and told us about a while ago- basically teaching truths right there on the door step. So I told her we had new scripture that talked about Christ and his dealings in the Americas, and asked her if we could come in for just 10 minutes and tell her about the Book of Mormon. She said yes, and she totes surprised me. I almost asked if there was another time we could come back, since I was expecting her to say no. So we went in, and met her two daughters, and taught them about the Book of Mormon. They seemed pretty interested and agreed to read it and pray about it. We have another appointment with them this week.

The rest of the week went pretty well. We are trying to meet with people more often and have shorter appointments. Its working out pretty well so far. The Armenta's are letting us come by and read with them every couple of days, and we're trying to get in with other families as well to teach them more often.

Oh, another cool story. Last week we made a goal to receive a referral and we didn't really know where it was going to come from, but we set one in faith and hoped for it to happen. And the next day we got a referral from church headquarters! we NEVER get church hq referrals, so that in and of itself was a miracle. We spent all of that week trying to find him. Stopping by his house and different times, and calling, but nothing. Then this week, we were kind of like, okay this is it, last try. And we stopped by in the morning, and no one answered, and then I called and left another message. and within half an hour he called us back. He has family members that are members of the church, and he told me he really wants to meet with us to learn about the Book of Mormon, and learn more than what he already knows. So we have an appointment on Thursday with him. :)

So things are starting to pick up, I really hope they continue this way.

I hope all is going well for you. I hope Morgan starts feeling better!

Love you all.

Les quiero,
Shaelyn


fotos:



city fun
 
 
 
new boots
 
 

service for the Salgados
 

Monday, October 1, 2012

She can barely walk because of her arthritis, but she still does everything she can to come to church and everything. She is the best.

10-1-2012
Familia,

Its fall! It has officially started to get cold here. And the leaves are changing. Also its super dark by like 7 o clock. Which makes working in the evening a little more difficult if we don't have appointments. People don't really want to talk to strangers on their doorstep when they live in a shady part of town and its dark. Luckily we've only been out knocking once after dark so far, and I don't plan on making it a regular thing.

This week was pretty normal. We managed to find some new investigators. Kind of. We refound them really. There is a lady and her daughters that we contacted back in July that we taught once and then lost contact with. The one lesson we had with them was kind of a disaster. We were teaching way over their understanding, cos the hermana really has like no religious background and also is just kind of. . well, slower. But this time we found them, set up another appointment and went over and it went so much better. We were a lot more prepared and taught at a much lower understanding level. Which was good because it really got her little girls involved as well. The hermana can't read, so we are going to start reading the children's Book of Mormon with them.

Other than that we had most of our regular appointments. We have decided to start reading with the Armenta family every couple of days to help them read, because they just can't seem to find the time to do it themselves. So we are just stopping by for 15 minutes every couple of days and reading a chapter. I'm hopeful that this will help them finally get their answer if the Book of Mormon is true.

We had a good lesson with Graciela, our investigator who is a Seventh Day Adventist. We're a little bit stuck with her, and don't know how to continue. She understands what we're saying that the church was restored, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that we have a prophet today. She's reading the Book of Mormon and believes its true. She just is very comfortable in her church. And believes that as long as we are following Christ we will all be okay. Which is true. . . we just need the proper authority to be baptized and all that. So we'll see if we can get her to understand that. She said she wants to come to General Conference this weekend though, and she's excited for it. Pray for her, and for us so that we know how to teach her.

We went to the General Relief Society broadcast on Saturday. It was awesome. We went with Imelda, and she loved it. Its the first conference or anything she's been able to see. They talked a lot about pioneers, so this next week when we visit her we're going to talk a little bit about that. Imelda is so awesome. You guys have no idea. Like I can't wait for you to meet her. Last Friday when we visited her she was asking what else she has to do to be prepared to go through the temple when she has a year as a member. She can barely walk because of her arthritis, but she still does everything she can to come to church and everything. She is the best. She is also trying really hard to help her family and to get them interested in the church because she knows how much it will help them.

This last week we did the new way of planning that Elder Aidukaitis taught us, and it was super intense. We basically are supposed to plan our whole week in advance and fill every blank spot with appointments and stuff. Even if we don't have any appointments set up yet. So we're like planning, and being like. . well. . umm. I hope we can get an appointment with this person at this time. But it was awesome and because we did that those appointments are all falling into place. Tomorrow we have 8 appointments set up and confirmed! Its gonna be a crazy week.

Well, I think thats all I've got for you this week. I hope everything is going well for you!


Les quiero,
Shaelyn