May 20th, 2013 - Mundelein, IL

Hola!

Where to start?!  It's been a crazy week.

We had transfers on Tuesday - Stassforth got shipped off to North Chicago, and I received my "stepmom"...the new trainer. Hmna Deleon is the name and she's from Guatemala. Bless her heart, she's a sweet spirit. This is actually her last transfer and then she's going home! Meannning, I'll be here in Mundelein for a bit longer and I'll be staying in the Chicago Mission, come June when they split.

It's been a hard week though.  I asked Hmna Deleon when I picked her up, if she liked knocking doors, because we do that a lot here. She said that she's not really a fan (because there's a better way...using members!!!! But unfortunately, we don't have a lot of members to use here...), and she usually only does it for 2-3 hours a week.  Yeahhhh, that's less than what we do in an average day. We knocked literally all day, Friday and Saturday. It was awesome though! We found this area...it's essentially a "little Mexico"...Mexican flags hanging everywhere, and everything. Love it. In the 2 days, we contacted and made return appointments with about 25 people. Whaaa? That's crazy.

Side notes. We were finally able to meet with a less-active sister- Hmna Vasquez (Hmna Stassforth and I tried ALL last transfer, and were NEVER able to catch her at home). At the very beginning, while we were walking in and getting settled, Hmna Vasquez told us, (mostly Hmna Deleon...I must've been distracted with something) about how she HATES when the elders would come over, visit with her, ask what they could do to help her, and then never come back to help her. Sooo, with that being said...we're at the end of the lesson, and it comes to me that I should ask her how we can help her.  She looked at me like, are you serious? It was crazy awkward silent for a few seconds. And then she invited us over for dinner today. Weird how that happened.

One more tender mercy, if you will. Saturday we were going thru the records in our area book and came across a lady, something Silvia (member referral), who had been taught once or twice... but life was crazy, and she didn't have time to meet anymore. Anyway, the elders who taught her were silly and didn't write down her address...just the town name. Uh, thank elders. Ha. But they did write down the name of the member-friend and her number. I remember seeing her name before in the area book, but I think Hmna Stassforth just brushed over it, because there was no address. But I felt like I should call the member lady, Hmna Ortega, and talk with her about Silvia. Luckily, Hmna Ortega speaks perfect English, so I gotta chit chat with her. Anyway. She told me how Silvia's a WONDERFUL lady, but has a crazy hard life. Mostly because of her husband who cheated on her a few years ago and her oldest daughter (20yrs old) who's been in and out of jail because of drug related issues. Hmna Ortega didn't have her address, but said she'd call me later with it. Sooo, H.Ortega called me last night with the address and told me that Silvia had called her after I had called Hmna Ortega... crying, because her daughter had stolen her car and her money/jewelry that same day. Hmna Ortega told her that we had found her name, and that we wanted to meet with her and teach her. Ah. Silvia said she's more than happy to meet with us now. Point is, none of this was a coincidence. I know that. We're going to try and meet with her this week.

Yesterday at Stake Conference, one of the speakers told us about this lady he had met while he was living in Lima, Peru (shout out to you, Pops!). She said that while growing up (she was 6 when this happened), she always wanted to have Family Home Evening but her parents weren't interested. One Sunday, she asked her Bishop what she should do. He ask if she had any stuffed animals. Of course she did! He told her that every Monday she should set up her stuffed animals and have FHE with them. She did that all the way up until she was a teenager! She had shared this with the guy (the one speaking at Conference- wish I remembered his name) , and then said how she now has FHE with her loving husband and children every week. The speaker then taught about how we're always blessed according to the righteous desires of our hearts, and that we shouldn't put a time-table on when the Lord should bless us.

I'm most thankful for the many tender mercies I see in my life as I continue to serve. I love you all so very much!

Hmna Mortensen

And in case any of you have forgotten my address....it's 1444 E. Sheila Ln #R107, Mundelein IL 60060

One other thing... I don't recall if I mentioned finishing the Book of Mormon last week. So i started again...but in Spanish this time. But instead of just looking at the words and "reading", I read with my English scriptures next to it with my dictionary - and look up EVERY word I don't know. Woof. One of the pictures is from when I started on Monday, the other is from this morning. Can you see the huge difference? The first day, it probably took me 45 mins to read a whole column. I read 2 chapters this morning. No biggie. 

Churros con abuelita. Yes. Best thing ever. It's essentiallly mexican hot chocolate. Yes it's 80 degrees and I'm sippin on hot cocoa.  #mexicancultureistakingover

Pues. That's it.