Shaelyn in Chicago: So its been an awesome week. We're seeing some really cool stuff happening in this area, and I'm really glad I get to be here for my last few weeks.

11-12-2012
Familia,

Hello hello. This week has been pretty awesome, but I don't know if I have enough time this week to write about it! I'll try to do my best.

So during the week everything was pretty normal, but the weekend was rockin. First of all, Saturday we got to go the temple with the Esquivel family. They got baptized last October in Aurora. And it was so so awesome to be able to go with them and see them get sealed as a family. I don't know if I can explain how happy I felt sitting in the sealing room watching these people get sealed to each other, to their son, and to a daughter that died for time and all eternity. I've never seen a sealing before, and I'm glad that theirs was my first one. Also, the whole session and the sealing was in Spanish, which was really cool.
I also got to see a lot of members from the Aurora ward, and ex-Hermana Maughan. Which was basically the best thing ever.

Then we had a really great Sunday. We had quite a few people at church again, including a dad and daughter who came the week before after we met them at the Halloween party and invited them to church. Their names are Jose and Cinthia. After church we had our first lesson with them, because we hadn't been able to find a time that worked with them during the week before. But the lesson was awesome. They told us how much they liked our church, that they've been to lots of others, but this is the first they've really liked. They totally understood everything we taught them about the restoration, agreed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and agreed that if they get an answer that it is true they will be baptized December 1! Thats moving really fast, but if we're able to meet with them regularly I have no doubt they will be ready by then. If not, I guess I won't get to see their baptism, but thats okay, as long as it happens. :)

Then, after that lesson we had the most awkward appointment of my life. So when I don't know people, I'm pretty shy. I have a hard time coming out of my shell and just making small talk with strangers. And that is why this appointment was terrible. So usually Sundays after church we have an appointment with an hermana in the ward. so we get to the appointment, and call her to tell her we're outside so she can buzz us in, and she sends her son down. Her son comes out with a tray, and a bag of tamales and says we're going to his brother's apartment. now this guy is SUPER quiet and doesn't talk to us the whole way to the apartment. Which is just on the other side of the apartment complex, but we had to take the longest way possible, looping around different apartments, doing figure eights, etc. We just assumed that the hermana was at the brother's apartment. But we get there, and it turns out that no- the hermana is not there, just a whole lot of people we don't know, having a birthday party. and do they talk to us? no. so we sit on the couch awkwardly trying to make small talk. and then they leave the table and tell us to sit at it and give us tamales, and then leave us to eat the tamales by ourselves. finally the hermana shows up like 10 minutes before we have to leave. and it was just terribly awkward, and hermana Moffat thought it was the funniest thing ever. And I hated it. but thats the funny story of the week.

Anyway, after that we headed over to Nathaly's aunt's house, where we've been teaching her. She's getting baptized THIS saturday! and she is super ready. But we went over there to plan the baptism, and while we were there her nonmember uncle came home and started talking to us. Now, he's been coming to church with his wife for a long time, and meeting with the missionaries for a while, but as been just super resistant. But last week he told us that he did want to be baptized. . . "someday." Technically he is the elders' investigator, so we talked to Wilson (the uncle) and tried to see where he was at, and then passed the info on to the elders. But the elders have had a hard time getting in with him, whereas we see him all the time. So yesterday, we talked to him some more, to see if he really did still want to get baptized, and we set him on date for the 24. :) So yeah, he's the elder's investigator, but we get to teach him and see him baptized, which is good enough for me. :)

So its been an awesome week. We're seeing some really cool stuff happening in this area, and I'm really glad I get to be here for my last few weeks.

Love you all, hope you have a great week!

Les quiero,
Shaelyn

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