Chicago Letter #5

Weekly Updates:

- Strangest thing I ate this week: cactus salad. Not too shabby. It was bland and rubbery.

- Number of times the smoke detector went off: twice. For the record, neither time was my fault...

- Number of times I rode a bike this week: ZERO!!!! It was so strange. Which leads me to the Adventures of SuperBike...

This week brought perilous, dangerous, treacherous events all because SuperBike was locked in the basement!

Newspaper headlines: Catastrophe Strikes Chicago! Where is SuperBike!?!?!?

Early Friday morning, my companion was sucked into a hospital vortex, where a knife ripped through her toe and sanded off a bone spur! She's been immobilzed, confined to a couch for at least a week, per orders of the Evil Dr. Guziac's. If only SuperBike had been able to escape the basement...VillainVicodinVomit attacked my companion for two days. I was on bowl duty. (Side note: I've never been so proud of myself. I hate vomit. And I was a champ!)

Just today, as Hermana Hoer sat innocently writing her dear grandparents, her eyes began to burn and her lungs to constrict. GermanPancakePoison filled the air in smoke form. The toxic substance had hit the oven floor and immediately morphed into smoke, which quickly filled the entire apartment. SuperBike's pre-smoke detector would have been handy. But where is SuperBike???

(The adventures of SuperBike to be continued...)

At one home, we sat in a small, car-sized room, which was an incredibly and undesireably hot temperature - for nearly two hours! I was about to burst out of the room screaming "I can't take this". However, I kept my cool (not physically, obviously, because my whole complaint of this situation is how hot I was - but mentally). I just kept telling myself that self-control must be developed, somehow.

Don't worry. All ended well. They sent us away with a gift: personal sized spam.

Okay, on a more serious note:

An elder called this week to appologize for a comment he had made, in a joking manner. I had thought nothing of his comment, and took it as no more than a joke. He taught me something.

The small things matter a lot if we're listening. But they don't even cross our mind when we're consumed in ourselves. I've thought a lot about humility. There have been times when I am very acutely aware of small things that I need to fix or to change. But, as I focus on me, and making myself look good, I miss opportunities to grow by changing.

Be thou humble. Saying sorry is a good thing. Even for the little things.

Have a good week!

Hermana Hoer

Chicago Letter #4

Highlights (okay, so some are not so high...but they are entertaining):

- We moved!!! We were assisted by other missionaries. Only one piece of furniture perished in the move up three flights of stairs. We took a door off to get our couch out (Dad, you'd be so proud of me - 6 Elders couldn't figure it out - Growing up with you made me look like a genius!) We no longer live on a slant - our old apartment was visibly slanted in the kitchen and bathroom. Water pooled on one corner of the sink it was so slanted. And this apartment doesn't have "surprises", like the surprises left right out our back door from our other landlord's dogs!

- Our new neighbors are students. They are very kind. Though, I've determined that they study more than academics. Our back stairway smells of a substance that is not quite legal...

- We acquired a wheelchair. Our Zone Leaders love to leave little gifts for us. This week just so happened to be a wheelchair. In our shower. They snuck it in as they "helped" us move. Alterior motives? I think so. However, we may just have a use for it. My companion is having a surgery on her foot this week. (We'll have a car for a week or two!)

- Adventures of SuperBike:

SuperBike saved my life this week! HumidHeat decided to leave town. Of course he did, because another EnemyElement showed up: WickedWind, complete with Freeze-your-Face guns. FrigidWind is a distant cousin. They took turns this week destroying my hair, biting my face, and convincing my skirt that it wanted to sit in my lap as I rode my bike. Ladylike, no? WickedWind tryied to make me look bad. I'm one step ahead with shorts and leggings. I may not be a Boyscout, but I am always prepared.

Humid to freezing wind? I've concluded that Chicago suffers from a severe case of Bipolar Weatherism. I am not licensed to diagnose; but, I have a strong hunch. It's uncommon, but not rare, so beware wherever you are.

Saliva was the other attacker of the week. On two different instances, it was propelled at me. Thank goodness for SuperBike - I was faster than the spitting skills of some kids who (I have decided to tell myself) were having a spitting contest. My companion was on a normal bike and her face received a hit. Boy, am I glad my SuperBike chose me as soon as I entered Chicago... However, a cup of pre-chewed sunflower seeds was not detected on my SuperBike radar. (I'm having it installed when we have a car next week). My companion cut off a van, which must have a sunflower seed throwing device. The sunflower seeds came out the window, aimed for my companion. However...WickedWind seized the opportunity to attack! The seeds were blown in my direction and coated my coat.

All ended well. I carry sanitizer.

So, on to the what I learned this week. It is not all that different from last week. I was doing some reading and Charity caught my attention. I've done a lot of studying. If I had my scriptures with me (sorry, they were really heavy to carry both languages...) I would write it down. Somewhere in Corinthians (I think) is my favorite chapter on Charity. Chapter 11 or 13 of 1st or 2nd Corinthinans (goosechase, anyone?)

It talks about all the things that Charity is greater than. Charity endures forever, even after all other things fade or stop. Charity never stops. So, no matter how many talents I have, abilities I have, sacrifices I make, words I say, powers I have (even SuperBike powers), nothing is going to matter if I don't have charity.

That really hit me. I try to develop talents and abilities, serve other people, and do all sorts of things, but none of it is really going to matter if I don't have a foundation built of the love of Christ, which is exactly what charity is.

As I strive to love as Christ did, Charity will be at the root of all things I do. It will direct my life and actions, words and thoughts. I will not have to wonder if I'm going in the right direction when I am built on Christ's love, because "charity never faileth".

If you'd like to join me, I've decided to focus on developing charity before anything else. I have a hunch: as I develop and focus on charity, I'll find that I am also developing many other things along the way. Let me know how it goes for you!

Love to everybody! Be good! Remember who you are!

Chicago Letter #3

Hi everyone!

Bike adventures of Hermana Hoer have just taken a turn with the arrival of an unexpected guest: HumidHeat, the arch nemesis of mission bikes.

HumidHeat stalks around, awaiting the departure of unsuspecting missionaries. Of course, he comes in the night - he's too ashamed to make his debut in the light of day. His superpowers are definitely super.

A great battle began this morning as I rode over a bridge (even at 8 am, he's out, fighting against good); I was tempted to ride right off the side - bike, skirt, helmet and all. To convey the severity of this desperation, I must inform you that this bridge was over a small, muggy wanna be river. Dirty? Unquestionably, yes. Full of invitations for diseases? Yup. Likelihood of attracting some sort of fungus by entering? I'd say somewhere close to 99%.

Thank goodness my bike is a SuperBike. I may have been in serious trouble this morning.

The Adventures of SuperBike: to be continued...

Here are some more statistics for you (don't worry, these don't have to do with bacteria and dirty water):

-number of times proposed to in one day: 3

My response to the question: are you married? engaged? divorced? is this: I am anxiously engaged in the Lord's work, thanks for asking.

- percentage of homes that give me soda: 99.99%

(Trent, I did such a good job quitting before I left. Now, I'm going to come back and show you up! Watch out, bro!)

Highlight of the week: TALKING TO MY FAMILY!!!! I was able to speak to every member of my immediate family on Mother's Day! It came at perfect timing, when I needed a little push from home and family. It's hard work; and, in addition to that, I came into a pretty tough situation. I'm facing all sorts of things I never expected would be issues on a mission. Some love from home was just the remedy for my weary motivation.

The day after I talked with my family, with my renewed attitude, we went apartment hunting. We found an awesome apartment. The only downside will be carrying my bike up and down three floors. We ended up there at the same time a man was painting and doing some minor repairs. He is not the manager or owner, but he was the one we happened upon. He showed us around and Hermana Maughan got on the phone with the mission office. As she spoke with them, I talked with Ramon. He's from Colombia and doesn't speak English. He asked some questions about missions and our religion, Church and such. I invited him to our English classes and to Church on Sunday. To which he said he wants to go. We ended up teaching him and setting up a time to return to teach him again. He asked if he could invite his roommate too! As we left, he told us it was not a coincidence that we showed up then.

An apartment and a new investigator all at the same time! That's what you call killing two birds with one stone (except there is no intention to be killing anything, and I'm not literally throwing anything).

I've thought a lot about attitude this week. My two favorite examples are from 1 Nephi: Laman and Lemuel and Nephi. They all did the same things. In the end, each did what was asked of them. However, their attitudes compared to Nephi's are dramatically different. The people they became are dramatically different, even though they experienced nearly all the same events.

The other example is in Alma chapter 58. In a war, these people are short on food and supplies for their battles. I'm sure they are tired and hungry and plain worn out. What do they do??? They pray for help. They receive help - but it doesn't come in the form of supplies, food, weapons, or anything like that. They receive motivation, faith, hope and strength from within.

Sometimes answers to prayers in our time of need are as simple as the encouragement to change our attitude, or an increase of internal motivation and optimism. That's how my week went. That's what I really needed, even though I thought I needed something entirely different. I also received opportunities to put those needed changes into action.

Be thankful that God gives us the opportunity to struggle at times and to experience the things we learn. The growth at the end is a blessing, any day. Prayers are answered in all forms - look for your answers.

I love you all. Thanks for letters. They make every day a good day!

Hermana Hoer

Chicago Letter #2

Here's my track record for the week:

- Times hit while riding my bike: 1

(Don't worry, it wasn't a car. It was a fellow biker, in fact! How you run into another biker, I still want to know. I didn't stop to ask since I was trying to cross the intersection).

- Times hit on while riding: I lost track on day one. Nothing flattering to report there.

- Times honked at: again, I lost track

- Times I fell over: 1

(I was not even moving. I was standing next to my bike, in front of an apartment entrance on a busy street. I lost my balance and had nowhere to step, and I just fell over my bike. I nearly landed on an innocent bystander. I'm sure people went home and told their family about me. I would have).

- Number of miles biked most in a single day: 19+

(Makes me sound like a serious biker, no???)


Enough funny business. Though, it was a large part of my week. Another large part of my week was just plain hard. I won't bore you with why. What I am going to say next I think I have shared this with you before, but it's worth sharing again:

It's so easy to think I'm alone when I am discouraged or frustrated. When I try and feel like I get nowhere. When I know my intentions are good and I feel stuck. It is easy to get mad.

Well, that's how I felt, plus a lot of other things, this morning. Then I opened my Preach My Gospel book to a page that I wrote and added my favorite scriptures on the top of a page: 1 Nephi 21:15-16 -- I will "not forget thee...I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands".

Every time I read that, I think of Christ saying, I will not forget thee, Leshelle. I gave everything for you. I know how you feel. Literally.

I'm not alone. Christ doesn't forget me. He never will. It is still hard. My situation didn't change when I read that. But my heart did.

You're not alone. You are not forgotten.