Evelin and Danae got baptized on Saturday! It was awesome.

6-25-2012
Familia,

This week has been ridiculous. Mostly because of the heat. but I'm some how surviving it. I'm not really sure how. . . But so far so good. But if you don't hear from me next week, its because I've melted. Just a heads up.

Things are going well with the new comp. Her name is Hermana Rachel Milliron, and she is from Portland. She learned Spanish in school, and was in the advanced program at the MTC, so she already speaks a good deal. :) Its kind of a relief that I don't have to have someone that has no idea whats going on again. She can actually like participate in lessons. Which is kind of difficult now that I'm so used to teaching solo. :P But we're all adjusting. She definitely has that greenie fire, and it helps me get my butt in gear. In the training meeting pres kept going on about how he chose us to train because he knows we'll help the new missionaries get a good start blah blah blah, but really I know he chooses the missionaries that are super worn out to be trainers so that the greenies can make them work. :P

Evelin and Danae got baptized on Saturday! It was awesome. I'm not a cryer, but I ALMOST teared up during their baptism, and their confirmations. I can't explain why, just that the spirit was super strong. These girls are the best. You have to meet them. And you will, because this is a family that I am going to be in contact with for the rest of my life.

Surprisingly enough the baptism went off without a hitch. We had hot water, it filled in time, the drain was plugged, and all of the speakers showed up. :) After they were baptized I put in a movie for people to watch while they changed, and then I went out to wait for them to get out of the bathroom. When they came out and saw me the first thing they did was book it down the hall and gave me a big hug. They were so excited and happy. And then Sunday they got confirmed. I was playing the piano in sacrament meeting, so I was sitting up on the stand when it happened and could really see their faces. They were so sososososo excited. And the spirit was amazing. In Evelin's confirmation it talked about her serving a mission. :) After wards I asked them how it was, and they said to me, "I felt something hot in my chest, what was that? Was that the holy ghost? I felt that when they told me to receive the holy ghost." BAM. AMAZING. Love them. haha also- they had only been official members for like 5 hours when they started asking me deep doctrine questions. "who is god's parents? who does god pray to? when we're resurrected are we all resurrected, good and bad? when does that happen? Where did god come from?" They are 11 and 9. I'm pretty sure when I was that age all I ever asked was when I could get a puppy.

Besides the baptism this week has been focused on finding people, considering we just baptized basically our whole teaching pool. Luckily with the greenie fire, we were able to talk to a lot of people, and I got some old referrals contacted that really seem to have interest. One of them is named Graciela, and she is a 7th Day Adventist, but we had a super legit lesson with her and she told us a little bit about herself and she definitely has a lot of faith, knows how to pray, and how to get answers. And wants to read the Book of Mormon and know if its true. She's legit. I'm excited for her.

Also- on Hna Milliron's first day, she talked to a lady at the grocery store (GO GREENIES!) and we actually ended up getting her phone number, and gave her a call and we have an appointment with her tonight. Hna Milliron is super excited, considering it was her first contact and everything.

Okay, no more time. We're going downtown to go bowling, and I gotta go meet the elders.

Love you all!

Les quiero,

Shaelyn

fotos:

momma brown and baby milliron

baptism!

me and carla

me and my girl's!

I am getting a greenie tomorrow. Straight from the MTC.

6-18-2012
Familia,

Another transfer ending. Its kind of bizarre how fast time is going. Only four more left. I hope that I can die here in Melrose Park. I do not want to be transferred again. At all.

But, it looks like I'll be here for at least another transfer. I am getting a greenie tomorrow. Straight from the MTC. So that should be interesting. Hopefully she has tons of greenie fire and is stoked to go finding, cos as of this Saturday I will have baptized all of the investigators that I found when I first got put in here. . .

Speaking of baptisms. .  Imelda got baptized on Saturday! Over all it went really well. She is awesome. She invited her nonmember sister, niece, and daughter in law too. So that was really cool. The only thing that went wrong with this baptism is that the drain didn't get plugged all the way, so all through the service you could here it slowly sucking he water out. But there was still plenty for when she got baptized!

Danae y Evelin are still on track to be baptized this Saturday. They had their interviews yesterday after church. They were SO scared. They knew everything better than probably any other kids out there, but still were terrified. Evelin started crying right before. It was pretty sad. But of course they passed. And now all things are go for the planning. And because they have so many family members that are members, albeit inactive, this thing is going to be a party. Modesta said to expect like 70+ people. . . uhoh, the room with the font def doesn't hold that many. But it makes my part easy, because I don't have to worry about finding anyone to talk or pray! :) I love this family so much. They are the bomb. Danae wants to be the flower girl at my wedding and Evelin wants to hold my train as I walk down the aisle. :P So i guess we'll have to have a ring ceremony as to not disappoint. :)

Umm. I really don't know what else to write. This week has been pretty typical. We had a big zone conference on Wednesday, the last one with President and Sister Doll. It was fun, because half of the mission was there, but also pretty sad to here Pres and Sis Doll's departing testimonies. We all got a hug from each of them before we left.

Then the rest of the week was running from one appointment to the other, and baptism prep. Also lots of eating appointments. Poor Sister Raymond is super ready to not be in the Spanish program anymore I think. :) As for me. .  Yeah, not going to miss the English program that much either.

Sorry its so short this week, I'm sure I'll have more to tell you next time. Love you all. Hope all is well.

Les Quiero,

Shaelyn
 


fotos:

the beach! in pros. . . it wasn't in the plans

after a SUPER hot day in the city

Imelda Avalos, se bautizo el 16 de Junio

She is the first person that I have been able to find, teach, and be there when she is baptized. Like for the whole process. :) She is super prepared. I'm excited for her.

6-11-2012
Familia,

Well. I have successfully survived one week as a zebra. Wow. It was something else. I didn't think only one year of being in the Spanish program would make it so difficult to adjust back to the English world. But it sure did. I feel super super awkward at the English appointments, and don't really know how to pray in English anymore. . . Everything I say just sounds weird. But, only one more week and then back to puros hispanos! Hooray! 

The week was super super busy, because Sister Raymond and I are covering both the English and the Spanish wards. Everyday is basically booked, back to back appointments, and we've had to cancel or move different appointments because we've been double booked. Its been crazy. Every morning is even more difficult than usual to drag myself out of bed.

Soo. .  A recap of the week. Lets see. . .

Monday we went to the zoo. It was a very rushed, but fun time. Then I dropped Hermana Carlson off at the mission office, and Sister Raymond and I were off on our bilingual adventures. To push me right into the english program we had a dinner appointment that night with an old, white couple and ate beef stew and iced herbal tea. We weird. The whole experience. I felt the need to be like super proper. Blah.

And then right after that appointment Sister Raymond got her first taste of the hispanic culture. We went to the Sosa's house for our second dinner appointment (which she's not used to having multiple eating appointments). The Sosa house is trilingual. The Hermana is a member, from Brazil- who served a SLC visitor's center mission and learned English and Spanish. Hermano is not a member, and is from Peru and also speaks English. So that was good for Sister Raymond that they spoke English, but it was still a new experience just with the difference in how they interacted with us, and the food. Sister Raymond is THE pickiest eater in the world. So this week has been torture for her. Hermano Sosa LOVES to joke and play pranks. So when we got there he asks us if we want anything to drink, we said yes, and as soon as he says to me, "I got you the stuff you like" and winked, i knew something was up. He comes back with three beer bottles. Opens them and hands us each one. I took it, and being pretty sure he wouldn't actually give me beer, gave it a smell. Nope- not beer. Ginger Ale. :) So I happily start drinking it while Sister Raymond sits there just looking super super confused. She reads the label no less than 82 times. I said to her. "Its okay, this is okay to drink. Don't worry about it." And she says kind of nervously, "Are you sure? It has an alcohol warning. .. " Me: "Yeah, its fine. don't worry about it." She still just didn't drink it. And was super quiet the whole time. Finally when the meal is getting close to finished, I'm getting worried about her being super mad at me, so I ask in spanish how long we are going to keep this up, and finally the hermano brings out a ginger ale bottle and asks, "can you drink this?" she said yes, and he said, " well thats whats in your bottle." It took her a minute to figure it out and finally she got it. I think more than anything she was just confused and relieved I wasn't actually drinking beer. :P Welcome to the Spanish Program Sister Raymond!!!

For the rest of the week we've had many Spanish appointments that Sister Raymond has just kind of had to sit through, I feel bad for her. I can remember when I was green and only understood some Spanish, and how hard it was. And she really doesn't understand hardly at all. Some words here and there. But she is picking up on some stuff pretty fast, and can guess what we are talking about, even if she doesn't know exactly what we are saying- as long as its gospel related.

I've met some interesting people as well. One of the Sister's investigator's is a reverend from Ghana named Brother Mensah. And wow he is something. He is super philosophical and asks weird questions. Like at one point I asked, "Does that make sense?" And he was all, "How am I supposed to answer that?" umm. .  yes or no? so that was a trip. He says he is looking for an "empirical experience" and wants to know for himself blah blah which is good, but he refuses to pray about it. whatever.

As for the people I've been teaching they are doing pretty well. Imelda will be getting baptized this week! She is the first person that I have been able to find, teach, and be there when she is baptized. Like for the whole process. :) She is super prepared. I'm excited for her.

The Rivera's are also doing good. Unfortunately they were unable to make it to church on Sunday because they moved Saturday and were up until 4 am moving, and were exhausted and then Modesta had to be at the apartment all day waiting for the landlord. I called them to see why they weren't there, and Modesta was pretty worried and stressed because if the girls didn't make it to church yesterday that meant they can't be baptized this Saturday, but I told her it was fine, we can just wait a week. It'll be better so then I won't be so stressed planning three baptisms on one day, and she won't be as stressed with the move and the baptism. But the girls are definitely ready. Super ready. :)

Yesterday (Sunday) was pretty intense. 5 hours of church. Yuck. Luckily the first three hours were Spanish, which were terrible for Sister Raymond, but awesome for me, and then the next hour I was waiting with and for Imelda to get her interview, and then we made it English Sacrament. It was my first English Sacrament meeting in over a year. But I survived. Something interesting/funny from yesterday is that for some reason Sis Raymond had written into her planner that we had an appointment with someone named David at 4 pm. Well. .  neither of us had any idea who David was. So we missed that appointment obviously. Still have no idea who he is. . . But we were joking about it, like maybe we were supposed to find a David and thats why she wrote it down. Well, we got out of dinner appointment that night and still had an hour of work time left, so we decided to go find one of my referrals. Guess what? Her husband's name is David. And her son's name? David. So last night I got to teach two David's! And the Hermano wants his family to learn more and to get baptized. He can't come to church cos of work. . but we'll see what we can do about that. :) Thanks Sis. Raymond for telling us to look for David!

Alright. I think thats about all I've got for you this week. Its sure been an interesting one. Can't wait to see how next week goes. . .

Les Quiero Mucho!

Shaelyn

fotos:

Hermana Carlson and I at the ZOO! We found a moose.

Sister Raymond and I with Rodney, a quadriplegic member in the English ward.

The Cubs game was awesome! Surprisingly they won, I guess mormons are a good luck charm.

6-4-2012
Familia,

Well its been quite the week. Super fun, and super exhausting.

Lets start with Tuesday. The Cubs game was awesome! Surprisingly they won, I guess mormons are a good luck charm. Almost the whole mission showed up, so it was an awesome social event, plus a sweet Chicago experience. Then we had quite the adventure trying to get home. First of all, we all piled onto the L with everyone else leaving the game, make it down one stop and then get told the line is closed because of a fire. So the options are take a bus, which is ridiculously crowded and during rush hour, or walk to downtown (5 miles) to bypass the fire and catch the train again. So what do we do? Well obviously about 30 of us missionaries all walk into the city. It was a little missionary parade. And it was hot, and smoky, and super ridiculous. But fun. It took us about 2 hours to get to downtown, and then we had to ride the train back to cicero. Everyone had to cancel their night time apointments. We didn't even get home until 10 pm. But it was a blast.

Wednesday we went to a mini birthday party for one of the granddaughters of a recent convert. We went with the elders and we ate dinner (a ton of food) at like 8:30 pm. And Hna Carlson still isn't used to eating as much food as they give us, so when the hermana wasn't looking I took some of her tostadas. And then she poured us giant classes of vitamin d milk, ugh, and i downed mine, and then hna Carlson's as well. Super fast. Needless to say, as soon as we walked out her door I vomited in the street. Yay! And that made Elder Allen puke. Overall it was an awesome night. :P Gotta love the Spanish program.

Thursday night we went to MCM, the meeting we have with the crazy mission leader, and as usual it was ridiculous. But while we were there I got a text from President asking us to call him when we are in for the night. Obviously nothing good can come from needing to call Pres, so I'm pretty stressed. We get home and I call Pres, and of course he doesn't answer. Finally our District Leader calls us to tell us he talked to the English sisters in our district, one of whom is also a visa waiter, to tell us she got her visa. Which means Hermana Carlson got her visa. Finally Pres calls us back and tells us Carlson is leaving on Monday (today!) and that I will be put with the English sister who is also losing her comp. That means that I am now a zebra. We are covering two wards, English and Spanish, and my comp speaks no Spanish. Fetch. I'm going to kill myself. I do not want to be in an English ward. At all. Sorry Americans, but you just aren't as cool as Mexicans.

Saturday we had a baptism! YAY! Everything appeared to be going smoothly, nothing had gone wrong up to the point that we got there to fill the font. And of course I was super nervous, because something ALWAYS goes wrong, right? So I'm thinking something terrible is going to happen because everything has been so easy up that point. Luckily the terrible thing was just that the elders fetchin lost the keys for the font. So we were kind of out of luck for a while until Elder Findlay showed up and broke us in with his credit card. :P Liz showed up an hour early, all of the speakers came, we started boiling pots of water early, so the water was warm. It all went well. And the spirit was SO strong. It was amazing. Hermana Carlson and I went around to the side of the font to wait for Liz to come out, and after she came out of the water she just started bawling. They shut the doors to the font, and Liz came up the stairs and just stood there sopping wet and cried, telling us how good she felt. It was amazing. I can't even explain it. And then afterwards she bore her testimony and told us how the last week has been crazy hard, and she knew it would be because I warned her that Satan always works hard the week before a baptism, and the Bishop did too, but she still couldn't believe how hard it was. But she kept saying, no matter what happens, I WILL be baptized on Saturday. :) and she WAS! And she felt the spirit so strong! And then she got confirmed on Sunday and it was awesome. I love this woman so much.

Sunday was great too. The Rivera family came and Imelda again. They are all on track to be baptized next Saturday! :) We sat with the Rivera's and they drew us pictures again. :) They painted us pictures too between our appointments. Yesterday we went over to teach them and so that Hermana Carlson could say goodbye and they were soooo sad. Marlen, the 7 year old just hugged her and cried and cried and cried. She is such a sweet girl.

Oh and I forgot to tell you last week! Last Friday someone got shot outside of our appointment! We were at the last appointment for the night, and we heard the shot, but just thought it was fireworks, but then we went out side and there was cops EVERYWHERE. and they told everyone to go back inside cos the shooter was still out there somewhere, but instead Carlson and I booked it to the car and sped home. It was super exciting.  :P

Well I think thats about all the news I have for you this week. It was a great week. Next week should be interesting, being with the english sisiter and all. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

Love you love you love you

les quiero,

Shaelyn

mas fotos:

Illinois Chicago Missionaries at the Cubs Game May 29, 2012

Cubs Game

 finally on the train home after the cubs game

matching day

Familia Arreguin

Familia Guerrero

 

Liz Rios, se bautizo el 2 de Junio, 2012

Familia Rios

Giordano's after the baptism

 

Familia Rivera