There are angels among us, and they have cookies.

Illinois Sunset

Some Awesome Members of Our Ward

Familia y amigos,

Thursday night we didn't get much sleep, and by 4 pm Friday we were
dragging our feet. An inspired and wonderful worker at the food pantry
gave us 10 homemade chocolate chip cookies, and they literally saved
us! The sugar gave us just the boost we needed to get through the day.
Your prayers of protection and strength are being answered, in the
form of delicious treats. :) 

We decided to set our iPads to Spanish to help us practice, and it is
much easier than I thought it would be. I guess I actually am
learning! 

 This has been another week of miracles! Last week I mentioned that our
English students were coming to a Noche de Hogar (family home evening)
at the bishop's house Monday night. That went far better than we ever
could have planned! Not only did Irene and Ricardo come on time, but
they brought their 4 kids and Irene's parents that are here visiting
from Mexico! The bishop invited some ward members, and we grilled
hamburgers and just sat outside on the back patio, talking and
laughing. Everyone got along really well. Hmna Buehner and I shared a
message about eternal families and temples. The spirit was strong and
everyone (especially Irene's parents) were involved and paying
attention. Bishop piped in at the end and shared his testimony that
Irene's parents will be able to live with their children again who
have passed away. Other members shared their testimonies of eternal
families and temples. It was so awesome!!! It was a missionary's dream
FHE. The spirit teaches so much better than we can!

 A miracle I forgot to mention last week- we had 2 investigators at
church! Ana and Andres, a brother and sister. Ana is very dedicated to
her church and doesn't like the idea of reading anything except the
bible. But they both agreed to come to church and they seemed to enjoy
themselves. Andres is definitely more interested than her, but they
both participated a lot in Gospel Principles. When one of the elders
asked "who was the prophet of the restoration?" Andres answered "José
Smith!!" We were so proud! 

 This week we also had an inactive part member family come to church!
The Rodriguez family is so awesome. We were driving by their house and
Hermana Buehner felt inspired to stop because she recognized the
grandmother who was in her front yard. We've met with them twice, and
they came to church and the Father's Day activity! They are amazing
and want us to come over and do a noche de hogar with them. Guadeloupe
(the grandmother) and Berta (the daughter) really want to start coming
to church regularly and be a good example for their kids (who are not
baptized).

 Life is good here! Keep working hard and loving God!

 Hermana Hokanson

Banana Boats

Molcajete Salsa

Wait, it's Monday?‏

This week was so fast and so busy!

This was a week of miracles! It's hard to explain what this week has
been like. Many of our miracles were tender mercies, things I can't
even remember now, but in the moment meant the world to us. One big
miracle is that our English students Irene and Ricardo, who have had
no prior contact to the church, are coming to a noche de hogar tonight
at the Bishop's house!! We've never taught them religion, but we have
taught them English for almost 2 months now and they trust and love
us. We invited them as their friends, not missionaries or teachers.
And they are coming! We are teaching a lesson on eternal families and
temples, and we pray it will touch their hearts and make them want to
learn more.

Something that I never thought would be a problem: I have a Utah
accent! Teaching English class has made me very aware of this. I have
had to practice saying every 't' in every word I say. MounTain. LighT.
EvenTually. I'm really bad at it. :)

We have a New dress code for missionaries! We can now wear
professional hats and sun glasses, and long skirts during mosquito
season. No pants though (I'm ok with that, it's too hot for that
here). I got asked on a date for the first time, that was exciting! He
was much older than me though. We explained that we don't do that as
missionaries, and after inviting Hmna Buehner to come along too, and
saying he would buy the first pitcher of beer, he gave up. The mission
life is the most awkward thing I've ever done!

We had a Zone training this week. It was very spiritual and power
packed! We talked about how to better plan for our investigators and
members, and avoid pride. It was great!

The Monnreal family fed us this week, and we had quite the surprise.
There is an infamous food in the Spanish speaking Mission world called
Chicharrón. It is basically raw pork fat in a sauce. It definitely
wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I did feel sick for a
while afterwards.

Stanley is a worker at the food pantry we volunteer at. He is awesome
and a great friend. We all decided we would wear blue, so we were
matching this week! (Refer to picture in next email) a quote from
Stanley: "Be a blessing, not a lesson" - Stanley from the food pantry
We made Banana boats: bananas with marshmallows and chocolate chips.
So yummy! We ate them while we watched Meet the Mormons during our
dinner hour. Who said Hermanas couldn't have fun? Speaking of fun, we
bought a house plant. (See picture) her name is Platunia. Also
speaking of bananas, did you know if you rub the inside of the peel on
your mosquito bites, it helps with itching? It really works! It has
been a life saver this week with the summer temperatures coming in.
All my love!!!

Hermana Hokanson

What a week!‏

WE DID CHALK ART TO PREACH THE GOSPEL

FUN AT WALMART

Hello! 

 We have a New district and zone after these past transfers. A bunch of
great missionaries! They made it so our district is Spanish only, so
now we hold all district meetings in Spanish and do all communication
within the district in Spanish, even texts and phone calls! 

 Some people from this week: 

Saenz sisters: a woman and her niece live in our ward. That are
amazing, and fed us twice this week. They are so funny and witty and
help me laugh at myself and my broken Spanish. They might move back to
Utah, so keep and eye out! 

Roger: remember Roger? Well he called us one night, and said the only
time he was available for an appointment was the next morning at 10am.
His aunt is not very open to us teaching in her home, so we scrambled
and found a member who was available the next morning so we could
teach in their home. We got everything set up, but he didn't show! We
were a bit frustrated. But we know he came to church for a reason, and
in God's time we will be able to teach him. Prayers! 

Guadelupe: we were referred to visit a house by the English elders.
They didn't give us a name, so we didn't know what to expect.
Guadalupe answered the door, an older and very kind looking woman. She
told us she already had religion, but as we got talking she invited us
into her home and showed us all her birds, pictures of her kids and
grandkids, and warmed up to us very quickly. We said a prayer with Her
and asked God to help her family member that's really sick. She was
very appreciative of that and told us we could come back whenever we
wanted. As we were leaving, she exclaimed "i know why you are here!"
And pointed to the ground by her bushes. There sat a duck. A real life
duck, in her yard, sitting on 11 eggs. It's not her duck, it just
decided a few years ago to make its home here. She says it hasn't
eaten in 22 days. How that is connected to us I could not tell you,
but it was pretty crazy. Are ducks an omen? 

Juan Pablo: we got another meeting with him! Thank goodness. He is
progressing well and might come to a noche de hogar tonight! Fingers
crossed.
Tom: we were walking down the street and a man with no shirt yelled
from his front doorway "hey! Mormons!" I responded instantly with
"como?" He admonished me for speaking Spanish to him, and pointed to
his white skin. We were a bit unsure what to do in this situation, but
he smiled and said "come on over! Let me get a shirt on!" We ended up
talking to Tom for a half hour. He is Roman Catholic, and love the
sister missionaries because he says we are always the most friendly
people. He is a great guy and it was so fun to meet him. 

Armando: a new investigator! He seems very genuine and wants to study
and know for himself the truth. Prayers!
Yeps: a family in our ward that is so amazing. We taught them last
night after dinner, all sitting around a camping stove fire pit in the
back yard, and I felt like I was home again. It was a powerful lesson
and the spirit was there. People like this make being away from home
not so hard. 

Joe: a security guard at the library we go to almost every day. He is
so friendly and nice, and is our new buddy. He is religious and loves
that we are serving missions. 

 Something I saw this week was that no matter who we are talking to,
and if they accept our message or not, they recognize us as servants
of the Lord. It is amazing. We can see it in the way they treat us and
the way they act, they instantly respect us and what we do. What
better testimony that this work is true? 

Love you all, Bauticemos a todos! 

 Hermana Hokanson 

 1319 Butterfield rd ste 522
Downers Grove IL 60515-5515

MY ZONE BEFORE THE "BREAKUP"

DINNER WITH THE YEPS

Transfers, bible bashers, and mosquitos.‏

Hola hola!

I survived my first transfer! I am happy to say I am still in Aurora,
with Hmna Buehner. Thank goodness, we have so much work to do here! A
lot of things are on the verge of happening, and I can tell this will
be a crazy and amazing transfer. We did have our district leader and
one of our zone leaders go home though. That was sad. I've come to
love all these missionaries so much!

Satan is using every element possible to keep us from teaching. His
most recent tool: mosquitos. Also the wind. Also people mowing their
lawns right by us so we have to practically yell "DESPUES LA MUERTE DE
JESUCRISTO..." As we try to teach The Restoration. All in all, he
isn't winning, nor will he ever. :)

We started teaching Ana and Andre, a brother and sister that live
together. They are stellar, and have been taught before by
missionaries a couple years ago. But they weren't keeping commitments,
so the missionaries stopped visiting. Maybe it's now their time! We
have a return appointment with them next Saturday, so all is well!

I met my first bible basher, that was fun. He actually was a super
nice guy, that very strongly believed the bible is the only word of
God. He was awesome. While we were talking to him, a drunk guy came up
to us and sat right by us, and started talking to him. The bible
basher- his name is Ozzey- started talking to him in as much English
as he could muster about the blessings he could receive if he stopped
drinking and followed Christ. He pulled out his bible and laid down
the law. It was great! Ozzey turned from a bible basher to a protector
as he gave us a look that said " I'm not leaving you here with this
drunk man. Don't worry, you are safe." The drunk man eventually left
(he kissed my hand- it was gross. Beer is gross.) and we got to talk
more with Ozzey. We left him with a Libro de Mormon and he gave us a
flier for his church services. There are good people everywhere you
go!

I had my first encounter with member outside of church! We were
walking store to store, distributing fliers for our English classes to
anywhere that looked Mexican. An elder that just got home from his
mission, and attends our ward, was driving by with his mom and stopped
to say hi. It was great to talk to someone who knows about the church!
This is definitely not Utah, my friends.

We were walking down the street last Sunday and saw a man mowing his
lawn. He started talking to us, asking us about what we do, and even
turned off his mower. We talked for a few minutes and invited him to
church. He said he would come, and we left him with the address on a
pass along card. We hoped he would come, but most of the people we
invite don't end up coming. To our surprise, yesterday during the
opening song of sacrament meeting, someone came up and sat right by
us! We didn't recognize him at first, which was awkward. Then we
realized it was the man mowing his lawn. And that my friends, is how
Roger became our first investigator to attend church in a few weeks.
Pray for Roger please, baptism is in his future. He is so prepared!

We were driving one day and saw a van behind us. Hmna Buehner suddenly
gasped and said "it's Jesus!!" Jesus is an investigator we have been
trying to contact for a few transfers, but he is never home. And we
saw him driving down the highway! We determined it was fate, and plan
to visit him again soon.

We met a Mexican Man with bright, crystal blue eyes. It was really
cool. There are certain parts of Mexico where people are really light
colored, some even red heads or blond. So I guess someday, I could
pass as a Mexican! I already tell everyone I'm Mexican anyways, but
they just laugh at me (I couldn't imagine why). I'm surprised by how
many people here speak Spanish. Aurora has its own mini Mexico! So
many people are here for us to teach, it's wonderful.

On Saturday we decided to drop (stop teaching) a man named Juan Pablo
because we couldn't get in contact with him. The next day (yesterday)
we felt inspired to stop by Marina's house, which is right by his.
Marina wasn't home, but he was standing outside! We walked over to
him, and ended up teaching him the whole Restoration on his porch. It
went really well and the spirit was strong, despite the mosquito army
attacking us. We put him back in the system as being taught, and
thanked God for not giving up on him as quickly as we did.

We've made it our goal to be the favorite missionaries in our ward. So
far, so good. We're being fed nearly every day, and get passed treats
during Sunday school. ;) food is a very important thing here in the
Aurora ward.

I highly suggest you read the talk: What Are You Thinking? By Elder W.
Craig Zwick (Of the Seventy). I came across it in my studies and I
loved it.

Have a wonderful week! Thanks for reading my crazy emails. Love you all!

Hermana Hokanson

1319 Butterfield rd ste 522
Downers Grove IL 60515-5515

YOMO: you only mission once

Our mission president jokingly told us to write baptisms on our cereal

boxes. Well, we are obedient missionaries! ;)

Hello family and friends! This week was very busy, so buckle up.

Funny story of the week: remember that guy we met a couple weeks ago
that was riding his bike? Well, we got a phone call during studies on
Saturday and he wanted to meet with us- right then! We said no to
meeting at Planet Fitness, and he agreed to meet us at the library. We
hurried and stuffed sandwiches in our mouths and ran out the door.
About 5 minutes into teaching him, we realized he was completely
drunk! He repeated everything he read a few times, asked the same
questions over and over, didn't remember anything we were telling him,
acted things out dramatically, and asked us (after we had taught the
entire restoration) if we believed Jesus came to earth (yes, we just
told you that) and if Joseph Smith was Jesus (no, we just explained
that). In the end, we gave him a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet with
the address to the church. We asked him to say the closing prayer.
While he was praying, he was so sincere and genuine, asking to know
the truth and take the right path. But suddenly- and without ending
the prayer- he starts rambling about something and takes our hands,
and says over and over "Dios exisite! Dios existe!" Which means God
exists. Then he starts talking about how only God can grow a tree and
how we can't grow trees, and it pretty much just went downhill from
there. We tried to leave before the inevitable happened, but he went
for the hug and we couldn't escape. Thank goodness it was a double
hug, with all three of us! We promptly left, holding back tears of
laughter. Hopefully he actually made it home riding his bike.

Here is an update on a few of our investigators:
Gabriella- with Gabriella we had the perfect lesson! It was our first
time meeting with her so we taught the restoration. The spirit was so
strong, and she said she would be baptized when she knew it was true!
We are so excited for her. We have had trouble scheduling another
lesson with her though, so we pray for the best. Sidenote: during the
lesson with her, her young son came in holding a gatito! That's a
kitten. It was so cute! She was so stressed about it, haha. The boy
was so excited though.

Gino- he was unable to come to an appointment we had with him, but we
had an awesome lesson over the phone! That doesn't happen very often
so it was really cool. We helped him see the bigger picture more and
understand why we ask him to do things like read and pray. He had a
lot of questions about temples so it was great to talk to him about
that! Temples really draw people in. They are a beacon of hope.
Jesus- needs prayers. He has so much potential but feels like his life
is too busy.

Soyret- needs prayers as well. She is amazing and loves the gospel. We
are having trouble meeting with her though and getting her to church.
We know she will do amazing things and can't wait to help her realize
it for herself!

We taught a Noche de jogar (family home evening) at the home of the
Monrreals, with the Estradas attending as well. It was so fun! We
taught about keeping the sabbath day holy, and used the object lesson
of the rocks in the jar. When you try to put the small rocks in
(unimportant things) before the big rocks (things you need to do on
the sabbath) all the rocks don't fit. But if you put the big rocks in
first, everything falls into place.

I don't know if any of you have seen The District, the recordings that
they made of missionaries in action. We watch it all the time for part
of my orientation studies, and it gets funnier and funnier as my
mission goes on! It is seriously our favorite thing. It's so realistic
and so cheesy. Anyone who has been in any of the situations they show,
would know how funny it is. :)

We met 2 little boys while walking to the house of an investigator one
day. We started talking to them, and I asked them if they wanted a
picture of Jesus. One boy responded with "who's Jesus? I don't know
Jesus." I almost wanted to cry in that moment! Such a sweet, innocent
boy being thrown into his world, without even knowing the name of our
Savior, the only person who will help him find purpose and happiness
in this life. We started explaining to him, but his mom called him in
and we were never able to share this message of joy with him. Please
teach your children, we have a Savior and He lives! People deserve to
know.

I was studying in Preach My Gospel ch 10, about teaching skills. There
is a section that talks about using the scriptures while teaching.
Something really stood out to me:
"Your ability to teach with power from the scriptures comes in large
measure from the time you personally spend studying them. As you daily
feast upon the word, your ability to teach from the scriptures will
improve. In addition, your invitations to study and ponder the
scriptures will be more powerful because you are doing the same thing
in your life.... When people come to believe the scriptures, you will
be better able to help them understand doctrines correctly... You
cannot convert people beyond your own conversion”
This is so true! We must study for ourselves to be able to help others.

Love you all!
Hermana Hokanson

1319 Butterfield rd ste 522
Downers Grove IL 60515-5515

This is our new favorite treat: fresas con crema! It's strawberries
with a yummy Mexican yogurt drink.

We are actually nuns‏

Elotes!

 

An Awesome Rainbow We Saw

 While we were driving one day, I saw some real life, genuine nuns

walking down the street. In my excitement I just yelled "NUNS!" And
Hmna Buehner responded with "IT'S US!!" After laughing for a while, we
realized we seriously are nuns, just with more rules and better
outfits. :)

I now have a Facebook, under the name of Hermana Alyssa Hokanson. It
is for missionary purposes only. I am not allowed to friend people,
but you can friend me- and please do! This will help get the word out,
and I encourage you to share and like the spiritual posts on my wall
to help more people learn about the gospel. Social media is a great
tool and can be used to do so much good. This is just one of many ways
the church is using technology to share the Joyful News of Christ.
Please friend me, and have anyone else who wants to, friend me as
well.

Dad and Moni: Elder and sister Merchison (the mission nurse and her
husband) know Lon and Whitney and Kelsey from when they lived in
California! So cool right? You guys should tell Kelsey to email me and
I can give her the info.

Hermana Estrada is our mission mom. I sent a pic of her last week, but
didn't have time to talk about her. She is a convert of less than 2
years, and knows the name of every missionary that has passed through
the Aurora ward since she first met the missionaries. She is strait
from the Streets of Chicago, and has the guts and sass to show it. Her
husband is an educated landscaper from Mexico. She is a powerhouse and
one of the nicest people alive. I love her to death! She feeds us
every Friday, no matter what. She really helps us not miss the things
of home, and it is wonderful. Our ward is so wonderful!
We had zone conference this week, it was great! President Griffin is
amazing and I admire him and his wife so much. This is a great mission
to be in!

Savanna is a member from the English ward in our area. She is 17 and
has been studying Spanish for 4 years. We ask her all the time how to
say stuff! :) she is far more experienced than us. Wednesday when we
were tracking with Savanna, we heard the icecream truck coming (which
is pretty normal in this area, they pass by a few times each day). But
one of the trucks sells Elotes, or corn with toppings (mayo, butter,
chile powder, etc). We have been wanting to try Elotes for weeks, but
never had the opportunity. As we were writing a note to leave on the
door of an investigator, the truck was getting away and we decided to
chase after it. He stopped for us, we got our Elotes, and the nice
icecream truck man took a picture for us. Missionary life is the best
life! 

We were contacting a less active member one day, and on the way to his
apartment we saw a man grilling meat on a porch of the second story
apartment. We said hola, talked to him for a bit, and found out he had
attended a baptism before! Turns out the missionaries dropped him
because they couldn't get ahold of him. His name is Felix, and he
seems super solid! We set up a return appointment and he wanted to
give us tacos. We said no (even though they smelled really good)
because we were fasting for Gino. We passed by him again on our way
back to the car, and he insisted to give us tacos. So we took them,
and ate them later. People here are the best!

I got super creative today and marinated chicken in coke and
caramelized oranges, and cooked it on a foreman grill with pineapple.
It was super yummy! I promise I'm not this good all the time though,
it was just a fun change from smoothies and bagels.
Oh, we were fasting so that Gino would attend the baptism on
Saturday... But he didn't. He also didn't attend church. Any prayers
for him would be much appreciated. He has a lot of potential and we
are not giving up hope. We can see God's hand working in his life
already, and can't wait for him to see it too.

I never realized before my mission how much the members are involved
in mission work. The members are crucial! Without them, we can barely
do anything. It is so important for them to be involved. Good members
help investigators, support the missionaries, and keep converts-
simply by just being good people! It's so awesome. I would be so lost
without this awesome ward I am in. Thank you a million for your
prayers and your emails, that's all I could ask for! I can feel the
prayers of the members carry me in my weak moments- we really need
them. The work is progressing thanks to thousands of faithful members.
Ledezmas- if you are reading this, email me! I want to find that
family you told me about, that live in Chicago and need the gospel.
(Sorry, my email doesn't let me access my contacts, so unless you've
emailed me I don't have your email.)

Always remember who you are and what you can become. I love you all!
Hermana Hokanson

P.S.

This Is how Hmna Buehner described our experience in ward council this week:

The Ward is very passionate about certain things! During Ward council
we always do a half an hour where it's just dedicated to missionary
work and this Sunday was pretty intense...so to kind of help this all
make sense let me explain. last Sunday Gino came to church and in
priesthood apparently the lesson was on tithing and from what we
heard, it didn't go too well! The elders come up to us afterwards and
tell us "you might want to teach Gino about tithing because all they
did was argue!" Haha so yesterday at Ward council we were talking
about the people we had on our progress record and we didn't put Gino
on it this week because we haven't had any progress with him last
week. Anyway, a member raises his hand up at the end and is like
expressing to us his concern about how we need to put Gino on the
progress record so that we all can really focus on him! We are happy
that this member is really excited about Gino, we think he is like
really stressed or something cause it didn't come out as nice as I'm
sure as he had hoped, but he sure made a point! Haha but the
conversation quickly switched to how Gino probably didn't come to the
baptism, canceled his cita, and isn't coming to church all because of
the tithing lesson last week. Ward council became an all for all brawl
on who's fault it is that priesthood ended up having a terrible class
last week! Us 6 missionaries were just sitting there laughing ( us
hermanas shedding a few tears!). Obispo had to step in and take
control, mainly cause sacrament was supposed to start like 5 minutes
before! Haha it was quite the experience! There are just so many
things you experience here in a Spanish Ward that you miss out in an
English Ward!

Another week in Aurora‏

Our mission mom, Hermana Estrada! 

Family and friends,

Another week down! They seem to be going faster and faster. Today is
my "click" day, meaning I have been out for exactly two months today.
It seems like I just got here, but also like I've never been anywhere
else.

We had fhe with Monrreal family, and Gino attended! We taught them
about faith and repentance, and the family participated a lot. It was
awesome and the spirit was strong.

We have been trying to find Healthy food options since all the meals
other people feed us are crazy unhealthy (but so delicious). We make
smoothies with fruit and spinach every morning, and eat carrots and
granola bars as snacks. Also hot Cheetos. As you can see we aren't
very good at this, so if you have any ideas be sure to tell me! :)

We teach English class every Wednesday night to whoever comes. It's
someone different every time. It is so fun! We do it in an office of a
member of the ward. The people here are so helpful and loving and
willing to learn. I love it.

Double dinner= a really eventful Thursday night! We got double booked,
and ended up eating Chinese food directly followed by stuffed crust
pizza. I was full for 2 days. But just know, we are not going hungry
here!

On Saturday a Naked man answered the door for our appointment with who
I am assuming is his wife. All things considered, we didn't end up
teaching his wife that day. A woman named Angeles flagged us down as
we were driving away from an appointment. She ran across a busy street
to ask us if we were Jehovah Witnesses. We explained we weren't, and
after a weird but good conversation we ended up getting an appointment
with her for this Wednesday! Miracles really do happen.

Speaking of miracles, there was a man who stopped to talk to us while
riding his bike because we said Hola to him. We gave him a card, and
he called us Sunday morning! We are meeting with him this week as
well. The work is progressing!

At the Mother's Day celebration with the ward, the elders hired a
Mariachi band as a surprise. Spanish wards are literally the best
thing ever. Hmna Buehner says I Talk Spanish in my sleep sometimes.
That's a good sign right?

We volunteer at the food pantry every Friday for a few hours. This
Friday I had a very humbling experience. there was a woman there that
was very very overweight, to the point she could barely walk. I
instantly had to fight off judging thoughts and negative words that
came to mind. As I repented to myself for my bad reaction, she
finished getting her food and walked up to us. Hmna Buehner
complimented her dress, and the lady smiled. " is it too short?" She
asked. We told her no. She then said " good, I just lost 300 pounds
and I'm still feeling things out. " .....you guys. She lost 300
pounds! This woman is my new hero. All the things I thought bad about
her were instantly replaced with admiration and I really saw how
beautiful she was. I made sure to tell her she was beautiful, and she
left with her head held high. We can never know what people have gone
through to get to where they are. Love everyone, no matter what!

This is our monthly mission scripture:
1 Nephi 17:13 And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I
will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my
commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye
shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is
by me that ye are led.

I pray for you all! Work hard and love the Lord.
Love, Hermana Hokanson

These are the missionaries for our ward.

Email Alyssa

Reminder:  Alyssa LOVES to get letters, packages and emails!  (She was the #1 best missionary writer to her brother and all her friends so we know how important it is to her)

Email her anytime at

alyssa.hokanson@myldsmail.net

She can read emails as they are sent, but can only respond when she has time on Mondays.

Letters can also be mailed to 

Hermana Hokanson/Chicago West Mission

1319 Btterfield Rd Ste 522

Downers Grove Il, 60515-5515

Hola from Illinois!

With Hermana Buehner

Hola! Como le va?

Here is some technical stuff: 

Contacting me: letters get forwarded to me from this address, and
packages are held for me until zone conferences (or the tech Elders
stop by the office since they are in our zone and can deliver them to
weekly district meetings). Ether way, I get things semi quickly.

 1319 Butterfield rd ste 522 

 Downers Grove IL 60515-5515

 I can read emails throughout the week but can only respond Monday's.
(We have iPads) Feel free to email whenever and I'll get back to you
when I can. I also love the pictures you guys send, thanks a ton! :) 

 Now for the fun part!
I'm in the beautiful area of Arora Illinois. We are one of three
companionships in the Spanish ward. (yes it's a ward, not a branch. So
awesome!) we are the only hermanas, and we cover the west side of
Arora. We have two companionships of elders in our ward. I love the
people already and can't wait to work with them and serve them. Even
just being here for one week has improved my Spanish significantly.
My new compañera: Hmna Buehner! (Pronounced Beaner) she is almost 10
months into her mission, and one of the most amazing missionaries
ever. She is very fun, hard working, obedient, and easy to talk to.
She is very confident in the gospel and direct when teaching. Her
Spanish is amazing and she works really well with the people. I hope
to learn a lot from her.

The weather is so back and forth here. When I arrived it was 80, but
it dropped down to 50 real fast. It rained for a couple days which was
super nice. We have our own apartment with a kitchen and washer and
dryer and living room/study spot. We have a 2016 Ford Fusion that we
drive. I feel like we hit the jackpot. Missionary work is booming here
and we have all the means we need to continue it. This has not been as
hard of a transition as I thought it would be from the CCM.

I ended up buying bedding and a pillow, which I'm happy about. We
contacted and taught many people this week. I gave away my first Book
of Mormon to an African American man named Morris. What he lacked in
teeth he made up for in enthusiasm. :) He felt disconnected from the
bible because everything happened so far away in Jerusalem. We took
this opportunity to explain to him that God loves his people in every
nation, and communicated with them just as much as the Jews. We showed
him pictures in the Book of Mormon and explained that he can learn
more about God's dealings on this continent in this book. He seemed
open to reading it, and later we saw him flipping through the pictures
while walking down the street. :)

I had an interesting experience on Saturday. We went to an appointment
with a wonderful Latino woman named Marina. We had run into her Friday
as she was getting home, and she had wanted us to come back later.
When we got there, her nieces answered and let us in. We talked with
Marina for a while (she spoke perfect English and preferred we taught
in English) about religion and families and life. She seemed to really
like our church's focus on becoming good people and teaching good
values in the home. Also she liked the idea of Primary and teaching
children about religion in a way they understand. She suddenly asked
"how old are you?" We told her our ages, and she said " I thought you
guys looked young. why do you guys care so much about your church?
Most kids your age don't care about anything but having fun." This was
a bit of an eye opener for me. I had never been asked this question,
and I didn't realize it was something people would notice. I responded
by saying "Christ has made a difference in our lives, and we want to
share that with others and give them the opportunity to feel that joy
too."

This experience really opened my eyes to how the world will be seeing
me and all other missionaries for the next 18 months. We are
different. We have something that will bless every person, if they let
it. We are eager and ready to share.
My question for you is this: why do you care so much? Why is the
gospel important to you? And what are you going to do about it?

I love you all past the moon, and am so grateful for your prayers and
thoughts. 

Stay awesome!

Love, Hermana Hokanson

Arrival in Chicago!

From Alyssa's Mission:

Dear Parents,

The missionaries have landed safely in Chicago, have met President and Sister Griffin and are headed towards the Mission Home where they will be oriented, treated to Chicago deep dish pizza and spend the night. President Griffin will interview them tonight and decide who their first companion will be. Tomorrow they will meet their trainer, have training from President Griffin, and then head out to their area. It is a very exciting time.  

 Just a reminder that our address is:

 (Your missionary's name)
Illinois Chicago West Mission 

1319 Butterfield Rd. Suite 522 

Downers Grove, IL 60515 

 The address above is where you should send all of your missionary's mail and the address you should give to family and friends. It is easier to send letters to the office so that when he/she is transferred we don't lose mail that is sent to the wrong address. We forward all letters to the correct address. Also, if packages are sent to apartments and the missionaries are not there to receive it, they can be stolen. If they come here we get them out as quickly as we can; although it might take up to three weeks, so please plan ahead for birthdays etc. We take them to meetings or send them out with leaders.

Please make sure that your letters only have paper in them. If you send something else and they are the least bit "puffy" your missionary will be charged as if it is a package. Our Post Office is very particular.

If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me either through email or phone. 
We are so grateful to have these fine young men and women in our mission. Thank you for sharing your missionary with us.  

 Sister Tolman
Mission Secretary