Fleece Navi dog!

Feliz Navidad, mis mejores amigos y familiares! Como estais? Espero que vuestra navidad fuera perfecto.

Well, our Christmas season and this week was awesome. We had some good times and experiences as we went about doing our thing. But an awesome experience we had though was while we were doing some street contacting, we stopped this lady who liked like a nice person. We stopped her and we began talking to her and soon she told us about how she's kinda  had a hard life recently, and then Elder Osorio began to testify. He started telling her about how God is always here and always aware of our suffering and pains. But that was why God sent Jesus Christ to help us with these problems. As he was doing this, this woman began to cry and it was super touching for me. So we made a lady cry this week. But good cry.

Also fun thing happened this week, it was Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, we went and did service as a zone and it was super fun we got to pack food for those in need. It was super fun to help people out and see what we can do for them. We then came outside and it was Snowing it was awesome the 8 elders we had together we had a snowball fight in the parking lot and it was awesome. And then we were super late to church and that was a little awkward but it was super good. And then we ate some super good food with some members throughout the day and we had tacos de Lengua and it was interesting. We had to cut the tongue ourselves it was kinda nasty. And on Christmas itself we did a bunch of stop bys and it was super good. We knocked on this super less actives door and he let us in and we had a really good conversation with him and his son it was a blessing from God. We have been trying to meet him for a long time and we have stopped by a lot and it was the first time. #quebendicion

But I think the icing on the cake was getting to talk to talk to my family for about 40 minutes. It was easily the fastest 40 minutes of my life. But it was really wonderful to talk to them and see how they are doing and how they the best people ever. I love them. Also, the greatest thing about this time is the opportunity we have to remember Jesus Christ and how wonderful he is and all that he has done for us. I love Jesus Christ and I am so happy to be a representative of him and of his church. I love the gospel and I love my lord and savior.

As always,

Elder Tracy

Here is me cutting some lengua 

We made some snow angels

Snow

I forgot to mention that we went to the temple and it was a super great time and I love the temple so much. 

We might have broken a commandment

De cierto, de cierto os digo, que aconteció que esta semana era super bien

But really this week was awesome. I loved it so much it was glorious haha. But so many wonderful things happened. First off, Elder Osorio and I are staying together another transfer! We didn't get a transfer call last night os that means we are chilling for another 7 weeks in Chi 2 super pumped. Another awesome thing was that this week, we got a lot of good work done. We found so many people with really good potential and I'm super excited to see where this takes us! But we found a bunch of really cool people who have a bunch of potential. Also, Elder Osorio have been working super well together this week. During planning, and companionship study, we are just doing well and I'm feeling the spirit so much more and stronger and it's awesome. I love it.

One of our homies in the ward Armando, he took the elders out to burger King and he had these coupons that got us so much good food and it was amazing. We each eat like three burgers and we had food to spare! It was awesome. We took a picture and Elder Morse looked really funny in it and so we then took a photo to make fun of it and it was probably one of the greatest things ever. Later in the week we were riding through this town square of a place and they had a bunch of Christmas lights up. And it was super cool so we stopped and got some wonderful photos of them hahaha Also my boy Elder English got in a bike incident and he may or may not be low-key dying haha but these last couple of days he has been a little out of it and it's super funny to see what he is saying from time to time.

 By now you may be wondering what the subject line means. Well you see, our investigator, Betty, invited us over on the 12th on Tuesday. She told us that her family was gonna be there and that she would give us food. So we said OK. We get there and we sit down and talk with some of her friends for a minute or so and then everyone else comes into the room. And we are just like oh no somethings gonna happen. And then they turn to this giant photo of the virgin Guadalupe and then they started praying in Spanish as the catholics do. And then 45 minutes later, they ended and Elder Osorio and I,  being the little mormon boys we are, were super confused. So we ate some dank tamales and then we spilt.  So that's the story of how we low key worshiped idols and thus broke one of the ten commandments.

Also, I just found out recently that my grandpa, who has been suffering with ALS, or Lou Gherigs Disease, for a considerable amount of time, finally passed away this weekend. This isn't coming as a suprise to us, but it's something hard regardless. But I have taken comfort and solace in the fact that he really is in a better place. He was able to leave his disease ridden body and move one step closer to the perfected body he will inherit in the next life. I know I'll see my grandpa again. I know ill be able to talk to him again. I know he is happier than he could have ever been in this life. The plan of salvation is important and it has never played a bigger part in my life than right now. I am so glad that I have always had this knowledge of life after death. I love all of you. I hope that this letter finds you well, and if you've made it this far in my email, that yall are happy. Have a good week. Remember the reason for the season.

As always,

Elder Tracy

PHOTOS
Here we are at burger King with Armando
The after photo of Elder Morses beauty
Here we are at Betty's house where she gave us these Buñelos which is like a funnel cake that is as thin as a piece of paper. It's a giant frosted flake haha

I found this giant ice blob on the side of a house and it was super cool to me so here you are. 

Here are some Christmas lights we found

It's Cold, yall.

Hello my friends and family and all the rest of you who receive these emails!

I sincerely hope that you have had a good week and that everything has been good for you out and about in the real world and stuff.

Well things here are been pretty good. This week was actually super eventful! Which is a good change and a good thing for a missionary. We had zone conference this week and I was blown away by President Bingham. That man is a wizard with the scriptures. He knows them better than himself. It's amazing to be in the presence of that man. But he showed us this slideshow of all the baptisms we had through the past month. It was amazing and after the show ended, he asked if we had counted them, and we responded obviously not we wanted to see how happy these people were for making this change in their lives. He said that if we were counting, then we would have gotten 23. Our goal for that past month was 22 and the all time record we had had as a mission in the past years was 21. So we blew that record out of the water and I think that it's awesome that we were able to do so much of the Lords work in one month.

Elder English and I went on exchanges in the Cicero area of our ward and it was awesome. Let me just say my goodness it was the greatest 24 hours of my life. We are such good friends and I low key hope that we get to be companions someday in the future. Some of our highlights include having the best companionship study ever, playing basketball with a bunch of 13 year old niños, and hitting up Walmart for some milk and McDonald's for dinner. It was the greatest time ever. We also had to bike over Satans Bridge 6 times. It was the worst. But it was a jam.

It's also been super heckin cold. It snowed the other day. SNOW IN THE SKY SNOW ON THE GROUND. I WAS NOT LISTO FOR THIS. But it was awesome I haven't seen snow for a fat minute and it was glorious. We also bought bus passes and let me tell you, bussing is the greatest. You stand on the sidewalk by some random pole and then this giant rectangular thing stops in front of you. You then enter the rectangle and it takes you places. You then exit the rectangle and then you are where you want to be. It was awesome. But it's cold so standing on the sidewalk is hardest part.

Funny story. Elder English, my homie, was trying to do this thing called a fixie slide where you lock your back tire and then you slide. But it was a little snowy then and this man eat it and it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. He was on his bike and then he was laying on the ground face down. It was awesome haha

But yeas everyone who has made it this far, I'm proud of you. I appreciate you. I hope you have a wonderful week and that you all try to #lighttheworld this season!

As always,

Elder Tracy

PHOTOS
I found this cool view of downtown one day
Elder English and I chilling in a meeting
Here's some snow!
Our district took pictures and here's just a little hint

The Light at the End

Buenos días mis amigos y familiares! Como han estado?

Well, I am Elder Tracy and I like to speak Spanish (but it's low key hard sometimes but it's awesome I love it.)

Anyway, I'm sure yall are wondering about how my week went and I'm here to tell ya how it went. Well it started out wonderful actually. We had a really good lesson with a former investigator named Roberto and it was awesome. He told us a lot about his life and how he wanted to increase his faith in Christ. Elder Osorio and I told him that we can help him with that haha We also had new missionary training on Thursday which was awesome. We went to the new Clark Street Building in Downtown and it was amazing. I highly recommend yall look this building up on Google it is impressive to behold. But President Bingham told us a lot of awesome things and we had a bunch of awesome insights. But one thing the trainers were told (I'm a trainer incase yall didn't know) was that God put us here to train. He trusts us with our new missionaries to do the best we can. And that was super comforting to me.

But the rest of this week was not the greatest. We had three investigator lessons cancel at the last minute and several of the Less Active Families we had made appointments with either canceled or simply weren't home. So we didn't have much success there. And since it's getting colder, fewer people are outside and so we have been doing some door knocking. A lot of it actually. And we knocked doors and very few people even opened their door. Let alone were interested in what we had to say. But despite all these hard times we are having, there is always hope. A hope for a better day and a better week. In the Book of Mormon, there's a scripture that talks about how we should handle hard times. In Alma, Chapter 34, verse 41, we read, But that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions. How wonderful is that? How peaceful is that? We will receive rest from our afflictions and hard times one day. But we must first have that hope, and that faith, that everything will be better. But it's important to remember what the Prophet Moroni tells us in Ether 12, wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith. We can receive that rest and that peace that we seek, and the success too, but only after the trial of our faith. We must first act on the faith we have. Then, and only then, will we receive what we seek. I know that while we had one rough week, that the next week will be better and I will find what success I'm looking for. I have the faith and the hope of such things. I want to leave yall with my short testimony of what I know. While I may be young and I don't know everything, but I do know one thing: I know that what I have to share with the people here is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and came through a called, living Prophet named Joseph Smith. I also know that Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. That by him and through him, we may be saved and find the peace and abilities we need. I also know that our families can be together forever, that regardless of what happens to me or my family, I know that I will be able to live with them after this life and always be happy.

Sorry this email wasn't super entertaining to read but I just want to express how happy I truly am. I love being here, teaching the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ to all those who will listen. I love it. I am happy and I'm glad I made this choice to come here. I love all of you and I thank you for your prayers and your Christmas cards and wishes! Yall are homies!

As always,

Elder Tracy

PHOTOS
So this week I got a hair cut from my boy Elder English and he hooked me up. I think it looks great so there's a before and after and a also got one with my boy Elder Inglés
Since it's Christmas, we left sad without a tree so I made a tree is thing out of cardboard to help with the Christmas spirit.
I also found this bad boy at our church building. I'll just leave it there...
Elder Seth Tracy
800 Waukegan Rd Ste 203
Glenview,  IL 60025

A Week of Thanksgiving

Hey My Friends and family! How yall doing? I am super grateful for all yall and reading my emails hopefully haha

But this week was crazy. So many crazy things happened.

So to start, this week was full of door knocking so you already know it was crazy. We knocked on this one door and a man came out from the back and was asked what do you want? And we said that we were missionaries and he immediately cut me off and he said,  while rather aggressively clapping his hands to the side, I'M COOKING and then we walked back inside. Another time we saw a shirtless man yelling some not very nice things at his girlfriend as we passed by. He also was throwing things and swear words so we turned onto another street pretty quickly. Things in Chicago are going pretty good. We just end up with a lot of weird things happening to us haha

On Thursday, the other Elders in our District didn't have a meal appointment for Thanksgiving and neither did we. So, being the elders we are, we scavenged through our houses and put enough food together to make a meal for ourselves. It was awesome. But the ham they had found was low key kinda funky so we didn't really eat much of it hahah and after our feasts we did our weekly planning. And we called one of our investigators who we had been struggling to get in contact with and she answered the phone and we were surprised when she answered and even more surprised wheen she invited us over for dinner. So that was awesome. As we left the church, this homeless man entered the church thinking that we were giving away food. And we had already cleaned up so there was no food. And he was super crazy and was telling us how the Duck Brothers (Duck Dynasty) was really running the country and that the leader of the KKK was black and all this stuff. It was weird. But we eventually got him to leave after he stole my Payday Candy Bar. But we went to our invesigators house and her whole family was there. And after eating and talking with them, her brother and his wife were interested in the Church and what we have to say. So it was a successful day and it's crazy how God works like that.

We also had this super fun Thanksgiving Party on Saturday. The ward brought food and drinks and it was a grand old time! We also invited our investigators and her whole family and they all showed up! So we had brought 6 people to this event haha and side note, but our ward thinks that the Elders never do work because we never bring anyone to church or something. But when we brought those 6 people everyone was just kinda staring at us and were asking us who they were and were surprised when we said investigators hahah. But after eating and talking, the missionaries had put together a representation of Lehi's vision of the tree of life and the iron rod and the various temptations along the way. We had games, dancing and all other kinds of fun things to distract people from finding the tree of Life. It was super cool and super fun.

But things here are awesome. I'm loving the food and the people are awesome. I am beginning to trust more in God and in the whispering of the Spirit and my goodness it's awesome. I also want to say that I am so very grateful for each and everyone of you. Even if you read this or not (if you've gotten this far, you can make it just a little more!) I really do appreciate all the love and support that you send my way every day. I'm thankful for a Loving God and his plan for our happiness and eventual return to live with him again. I'm also grateful for Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross for us. Because by Him, and through Him, we can be forgiven for our sins and errors and also receive the hope and support we need. I'm thankful for my Mom and her prayers and letters and packages because I know that a Missionary Mom prays more than anyone. I'm thankful for you too, Dad. Through your generosity, I'm here in Chicago. I know that yall have been blessed and I can see it. Anyway. I love this Gospel and I love you all so much! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and may God Bless all of you!

As always,

Elder Tracy

PHOTOS
There is this super tiny toilet we found in the building and naturally things happened
I found another super cool Cubs/Sox Garage thing
Here is the feast the Other Elders and I prepared twas awesome.
Also, whoever was the homie who sent my an Apron, you rock, thank you!
Story: So a member gave us this fruit last night. And I thought it was pretty big. Upon arrival at home, I told Elder Osorio that that was the biggest orange I had ever seen. He just looks at me and says it's a freaking grapefruit you idiot and we had a good laugh about that haha

Third Transfer, Third Companion: With A Twist

Hey yall!

It's just your friend Elder Tracy here freezing in Chicago! I hope that yall have been good and happy and well. But things here have been interesting this past week. So here is what'sup

Remember how I said that I would be companions with Elder Case right? Well with the way God works, things can change in a second. In Monday night at 9:45, we received a call from President Bingham and he said that after interviewing all the greenes, he wanted me to train one of them! So after two transfers in the mission, I am training! So on Tuesday, Elder Osorio was born into the mission! He is a stud. He's from California but he is originally from Guatemala so he is fluent in Spanish so I don't even have to train him! He is already such a good missionary and is doing great! So this week has just been training and it's been super fun!

This week it has rained almost everyday and it's been super cold so it's been super fun being a biking missionary and getting to be outside all the time. I bundle up for the cold and then you have to bundle up for the rain too! On Friday it snowed a little bit while we were outside it was super cool.

We also got 2 new investigators and I'm super excited for them! Elder Osorio being the paisa he is, clicked with them and they said that we could come back any time in the evening! I'm super excited for them!

Well things here are awesome. I love Chicago so much and I am so glad I made the decision to come out here on my mission. I love getting closer to God and Jesus Christ and increasing my relationship with them! I love the gospel and I know this church is true.

As always,

Elder Tracy

Ps if yall wanna write me sometime here's my email seth.tracy@myldsmail.net

PHOTOS
When I picked up Elder Osorio and we became companions
I found this super cool garage this week
Here's the group photo of all of us

Third Transfer, Third Companion

Hey everyone!

I hope that everything for yall is going awesome wherever you are!

Well, this week was a super short week it felt like. We had a bunch or appointments with some potential investigators of the church, but all of them canceled on us haha so instead of nearly 16 lessons for the week, we ended up with 7. So that was a little disappointing but it gave us more time to do some finding of some people to teach and we found some really great people. So maybe next week all of our lessons will work out! This week was also the last week that Elder Farrer and I had together. President Bingham had told us both that we were not staying together about three weeks ago because he wanted our leadership and abilities elsewhere. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or what really hahaha but it is what it is. So we have been trying to enjoy what time we've got left. Which means photos, dancing randomly, laughing and making terribly dumb jokes, and that's the life I'm living right now haha and it's about the same as before really. So I haven't changed that much

So with this week being transfers, I have a new assignment. I am actually staying in my area of Chicago 2 but I'm getting a different companion! I am receiving Elder Case down here! He's coming from the north side and he's a good guy from what I've heard so I'm really excited to see what we can do together. He came in at the same time as me so I think that we will be able to do some good things down on the South Side. President told me to work him out here and make him work really hard. I think I can make that happen.

Well, this week has just been more of the same really whether wise. Except it did happen to snow for the first time on Friday. Which was an amazing and interesting experience. It was weird and only lasted a day before melting off, but it was snow none the less. So we will be getting bus money here soon so we don't have to ride our bikes in the real snow and deathly cold. Super pumped for that. Also it gets dark here at about 5:15 - 5:30 so that's a new experience. And we can do stuff after dark, but it's not the safest idea really, you just have to be smart about where and when you go places here. So we were riding home from a dinner appointment one day, and we were climbing a hill and all the sudden, the right cuff of my pants got stuck in the sprocket of my bike. I soon heard a good loud rip and I slammed on my brakes and I looked down and I saw that I had a ripped a good 8 - 10 inch in my pants and so I tried to sew it but I'm going to just see if a member can fix them. There is a seamstress in the ward so I hope she will help me out like she has other elders. So that was a fun project. And event.

But things here are awesome. I am loving Chicago and the people and all the awesome expiercnes I have had here already. I love this gospel and I have seen God's hand in my life everyday and I am so glad for that. I love all of you and I hope this email finds you all well. If you are interested, yall can send me stuff at seth.tracy@myldsmail.net I'd love to hear from you. Again, I love yall and this gospel that I have the opportunity to share with the people here. Stay in touch!

As always.,

Elder Tracy

PHOTOS
The Elders in my ward and these members that feed us every week
Elder Farrer and I saying goodbye to our grandpa in the ward. Hermano Gallardo sad day haha

Baptisms and tricks (not treats)

Hola mis amores!

Well this week was actually kind of crazy. A lot of great things happened So it was a rollercoaster.

First off, we had Zone Conference this Tuesday, and it also happened to be Halloween that day. (Who knew?) So Zone Conference was amazing. We got some amazing insight from President Bingham on how we can be good missionaries and continue onward and upward! We also had a super strong and spirit packed breakaway session with the Spanish Zone. So the Chicago Zone (my zone)has this super bad reputation of being super disobedient. And this was a reputation set by elders from years ago. And it has perpetuated up until present day. Now this zone is amazing and we are all really obedient and its a stark difference. And it's kinda discouraging to hear other missionaries, who have never served in this zone, talking bad about our zone and the South Side in general. We as a zone had a frank and powerful discussion on how we can change this reputation and it's going to be awesome. I'm excited to see what we can do and change this reputation. And since it was Halloween and this is the South Side of Chicago, we had to be inside by 6 pm. So that did and Elder Farrer and I got caught up on a lot of things we hadn't had the time for. So it was kinda awesome haha

Also this week, I had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder English in the Cicero area of our ward. Let me just say, it was probably some of the greatest times I've had this transfer. We had a lot of fun talking between houses tracting, talking to people and a bunch of other things. We actually knocked on this one door and this older english Lady opened the door and we introduced ourselves as missionaries and she said "oh, let me get my husband!" So we waited on the doorstep for a second and this old guy come to the door and exclaims "Oh, Thank the Lord! Thank you for sending me some Men of God!" After which we were invited in and had a really awesome conversastion with this man and his wife. They weren't super interested in the church or anything, but they were happy to talk to two young "Jesus Boys." And they were honestly some of the nicest people I've ever met in my life. He made us take some 9 pistachios and a banana with us as we left. Great times.

The Family that Elder García and I found about two months ago had an exciting event. Adam, the dad of the family, was baptised this Saturday!! So I got to go and see his take this next step toward his salvation and it was so amazing to see him come out of the water just beaming with the pure love of Christ in his eyes. He is an amazing example to not only the rest of his family, but also the world of what a righteous man should be. I was blessed with the opportunity to also play the mandolin in a duet with his wife, Lilia. She and I played the primary song "I'm trying to be like Jesus" it was amazing and so touching for me to be able to contribute my talents in such a simple yet meaningful way.

One funny experience. On Saturday, Elder Farrer and I were out tracting and we were walking away from a door when it opened and a man came out and walked down the stairs. He greeted us in English and we began talking to him in English. When we introduced ourselves as missionaries, he suddenly said "Oh, Yo no speak la ingles good" Elder Farrer said, in Spanish, that's wonderful because we speak Spanish. Scrambling for a way out, he told us to talk to the woman inside. He then proceeded to run to his car and peel out. Good times.

But everyone, Good Ole Elder Tracy is going well. I'm getting actually pretty good at Spanish and I can understand people a lot of the time and it's pretty awesome. I have a strong testimony that who the Lord calls, he qualifies. I know He is helping me through my difficulties. The church is true and the Book is blue. If y'all want to email me go for at
seth.tracy@myldsmail.net
or you can send letters (and packages haha) to
800 Waukegan Rd
Ste 203
Glenview IL 60025

As always,

Elder Tracy

PHOTOS
Adam and his Family at the baptism! What a day.
There is a lot of cool graffiti here haha
Elder Farrer and I on our tandem bike after Zone Conference
Zone Selfie

Flipping Frio

Buenos días mis amigos y Familia!

Como han estado? Well this week was pretty awesome. A lot of awesome things happened. We really haven't gotten to teach a whole bunch of people yet, but the people we have been teaching we have made some headway with them so we are on our way up haha so but another fun thing about Chicago I wasn't mentally prepared for was cold. It's so cold here already and it's only October! This week was in the 30s and 40s and I wasn't flipping ready. The cold, wet, gale force winds off the lake literally pierce my soul and take my breath away. It's wild here. The coldest days in Texas can't even hold a candle to the extremity and depravity of degrees Fahrenheit we will face in the coming weeks.  I have a jacket and stuff so I'm prepared on that front, but it's so cold and we have another like 70 degrees to drop and I'm not ready to meet my maker yet.

Sometimes, my Spanish is super good and some days not so much. And with that comes understanding people. So we were knocking doors and I knocked on this door and this man opened the door. I said buenas tardes amd he said something back amd i didnt hewr him because he was opening the door at the same time so i said mande which is just like repeat yourself please, and elder farrer is like my gosh Tracy amd then he starts talkijg to this dude and i eventually jump in the conversation and it was good. But it turns out that this man had just said buenas tardes back and I immediately yelled back for him to repeat. Haha it was a lot funnier in person sorry y'all

We have this one investigator, Maria, and she is an older lady, but she's super sweet and loves to hear from us. But we have had a couple lessons where we taught her a bunch of material and we felt it was good at the time. But as we thought about it, we realized it might be too much for her. So we just read and talked about the Book of Mormon and explained things and answered questions as she had them. We ended with Moroni 10:3-5 and explained Moronis promise to her and I could tell that it was starting to click for her. We invited her to just read. As much or as little as she can. And for her to then pray, in the name of Christ, to know if these things are true. We promised her that she would recieve something from God if she does what she needs to. I could feel the spirit so strong in her little living room as we testified of it all to her. I could feel gods love for her and for us.

So with that, I want to give a brief summary of what I've learned from my mission about God and his Everlasting Gospel. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and contains the fu illness of the everlasting love of God. With that, I know Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God and he restored the plain and precious truths of God to the Earth. I know that God is infinitely aware of each and everyone of us and is directing our paths everyday. I know the Church is true and contains a all the happiness and joy I will ever find in my life.

Stay happy y'all. I love y'all. If you have questions, send me an email at seth.tracy@myldsmail.net or a message through Facebook because my mission is now allowed to teach people back home so if y'all want to know more let me know!

As always,

Elder Tracy

PHOTOS
Here I am with a nice looking tree with some fall colors!
OUr ward had a talent show and so we helped set up for it and it was super fun!
Finally, at new missionary training last week, I took this photo with some homies from the MTC that we know (from left) Elders Anderson, Moser, English and Tracy all Spanish speaking!

Good times, good times

Buenos días mis amigos y Familia de la Villita!

 So this week was pretty great! Elder Farrer and am have been working really hard to try and continue to find people to teach! And it's working pretty well! This past week, we had met a bunch of cool people knocking doors and as things happen, we had a couple of people invite us back later this week! It was awesome! Only two of the appointments actually followed through, but it was awesome none the less. We have been also trying to contact some less active families and we have gotten in with several of them and simply tried to become friends with them, express our love and gods love for them, and invite them to church again. Something I have found out about missionary work is that it's not a numbers game. Yes numbers are important at the end of the week, but what's more important is finding in yourself that Christ like love for people here. Whether it be after someone tells you off for "recruiting people to create an institution and not a church" or people literally getting up off the park bench and walking away disgusted when you try and greet them, (both of which have happened) we as missionaries and people in society must have love for one another. And as we do, we can see the importance of that great commandment given nearly two thousand years ago.

So here's a fun experience we had this week, on Tuesday, we were out knocking doors in the afternoon after people had gotten home from school and work. And we we were working our way down this street, there were some young kids probably about ages 6 - 10 on the other side of the street. And as we walked past them, they began yelling at us in english and cussing us out and kept being all big and bad as much as a 8 year old kid can. As we continue down the street, we realize they are following us on the other side of the street. Not a big deal they are like 8. But then, they start throwing rocks and glass bottles and other assorted projectiles at us as we are talking to this old guy in his doorway! And so we finish up there and we just turn around and face these kids and just stand there and watch. As we did they, they all kinda ran away except for one kid who was behind a tree on our side of the street. Eventually he peeked out, saw us and ran hahah. But just dumb kids trying to kill us. But thats just our area.

So but this week was filled with meetings. We had new missionary training again because Elder Farrer and I are both still greenies! And it was amazing! President Bingham is literally a wizard with the scriptures. He will start talking about something and then he will stop mid sentence and say turn to Ether or something crazy. He's amazing. I felt the Spirit testifying to me telling me what he was saying was true. We also had Stake Conference. Which was a blast and a half. The talks were so good anni learned so much. Oh and that family that elder Garcia and I found are getting baptised on the 4th of November and Elder Garcia volunteered me to play a duet with Lilia, the mother of the family on the mandolin. So I have some practicing to do. To say the least.

But things are awesome. I have had so many testimony building experiences this week. For one, for those of you who don't know, my grandparents are not doing super well right now. They are getting better little by little. But I do know that families can be together forever and that I will see them again, no matter what happens to them or me in these next two years. I have no fear. God is here and will provide a way for us. I know the church is true. I know we have a prophet, called of God, to lead and guide Gods children here on the earth. I know the book of Mormon is true, and I could never deny it. I love you all.

As always,

Elder Tracy

A Wet and Wild Week

Hello all my dearest friends and family!

This week has been a crazy ride. We have done a lot of work. But it has been raining super hard and cold this week. So it's been super fun!

We have just been contacting people really because we don't really have investigators. We have three 'investigators' but they are these super flakey and hard to find. For example, one of them Betty, sells tamales on the weekends in the mornings and we called her and she said that we could come and find here. We said ok and she told us a time and a place. We go there and she is no where to be found. So we call her and she doesn't answer and we stop by her house and no one is home. So. That was good. So we are trying to find people interested in learning about our message! It's really hard because a lot of these people think we are the police and scurry away from us and one lady said she doesn't want to go to a white church, to which we explained that our congregation is almost all Mexican and she said she didn't believe us and walked off. So good week for that. Also the rain makes it easy to knock doors because everyone is inside their house! We we have had some success with that. I don't know exactly. Hopefully next week I can report about how many people we have found.

Adam and Lilia, the people Elder Garcia and I found in the street about 6 weeks ago, have both agreed to be baptized and they are on date for the 28th! I'm so excited for them even though I am no longer in their ward nor area! I'm so glad they are taking that step toward salvation!

Since Elder Farrer and I have only been out for two months now, we are having to just throw ourselves out there and convey our messages as best we can. Our Spanish is actually pretty decent and we can communicate pretty decently with the people here it's pretty awesokme. We are just waiting on people to be a little bit interested!

But things are pretty good here. I'm really loving Chicago and the South Side because it's the place to be. Everyonenhere freaks out whennthey see elder farrer or I speaking spanish and its awesome. Bht everyone thinks we are the police so they are hesitant to talk to us...  but it's all good. I also LOVE the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all the blessingsnthat come along with it. I am so eager to share this message with people here if they listen haha. I love y'all and hope you're doijng okay! Next week I hope to habe more to talk about!

As always

Elder Tracy

PHOTOS
Here are some *quality* photos of me on last p day when we went to the Field Museum and downtown a little! I'll make sure To send some more next week!

So. I. Fell.

Hey y'all!

So this week was pretty eventful to say the least. It was transfer week!

So I received a new companion this week and a new ward assignment! I left Elder Garcia and Midway Ward and im now with Elder Farrer in Chicago Second Ward!  Elder Farrer is super cool and and super fun! He is St. George, Utah and is a hard worker. We arrived in Chicago at the same time. A typical missionary gets 12 weeks of training. We both had 6 weeks of training. So we are like babies released into the wild. We are learning very quickly how to speak and teach haha. We have had some great experiences finding and teaching already. My apartment is pretty awesome. Others say it's the second nice at apartment in the mission. It's super clean and it has this killer kitchen and it's all around awesome. I miss the old apartment, but this one will do. But Chicago Second is a really cool area. There is this one part of our area, called the Villita with little Mexican shops and restaurants. But, yesterday alone, we heard like 14 gun shots and saw a man peeing in an alleyway. So its super lit and awesome here. I love this place. The members are pretty cool and they are willing to feed us sometimes so that's great.

So the on Thursday, we were riding back from the church to our house, and some of the other elders had left some food in our house, so they were riding with us. Our house is a solid two minute ride from the church. So we were hauling and racing to our house and we made the turn onto 31st from Pulaski. And as we are flying through the intersection turning right, the other three elders make it through fine. But I was hauling and I was gonna make this turn. So as I make the turn, I realize that I'm going too fast but it's too late--I went flying through the air. I landed and rolled onto my back and slid on my backpack for about 30 feet. I immediately popped up and got on my bike which was about 20 feet further down the road. In my fall, my bike pedal had taken the majority of the fall. So that left the pedal itself bent. The crankset was fine, but the pedal was bent. And as a result, as i pedaled, I was really unscrewing the pedal from the bike. After we had gotten about half a block down the road and thirty second later, my left pedal gave out as soon as I was pushing down on it. So my foot hit the ground, my handlebar wrenched to the right and I went over the handlebar yet again. I landed and rolled a good little bit. Needless to say, I walked the rest of the way home. It was honestly one of the funniest things I've ever done and Elder Farrer and I didn't stop laughing about it until like 11 o clock that night. It was awesome. We did get my bike all fixed up and I really only scraped up my elbows. So God is watching over me and protecting me. I feel blessed to not to have been hurt worse. My backpack took almost all the slide. And yes, I wore my helmet, like everyday. So #blessed

We have been feed some amazing authentic Mexican food almost everyday. This ranges from simple meals of rice, beans, meat and tortillas, to complex meals such as Chilis Rienos which are Chilis stuffed which cheese and meat and then cooked with a thin bread layer or something. I have eaten some of the most spicy food of my life and I have also been forced to eat far more than I thought physically possible. It's been awesome.

Things here are freaking awesome. I love the people and the Language is coming along. I can speak pretty well. A lot of the people we talk to say that we speak really well and I am really beginning to understand people nearly all the time. (If I try to listen and ask them to repeat...) We found two new investigators this week and we are hoping to find more. It's all a wonderful learning experience and I have grown as a person and as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am so excited to be able to share the gospel with these people. I know the church is true.

Love y'all and hope to hear from you! (Email me at seth.tracy@myldsmail.net)

As always,

Elder Tracy


PHOTOS;
The Crash
Thomas the Tank Engine!

Semana 12 - General Conference and Transfers

Hello hello all my friends and family!

I hope that all is well for you in all of your respective lives and wherever you may be right now! But this week was pretty good. We did a good amount of things so here we go.

On Monday, which was last p day, we went to Burlington and I bought a winter jacket! I'm so excited! I'm getting ready for winter but in the same instant I have no clue what is happening for winter...

Since this was the last week of the transfer, our Zone Leader was frantically trying to get in his exchanges he needed for the transfer. So I was on exchanges for a day wherein a taught elder Basilio how to contact people in the street and in their homes. He was absolutely clueless haha but it was a good time.

So also this weekend was amazing. We had the wonderful opportunity to watch General Conference and to hear from God's called men and women! It was AWESOME. Like my sister says, General Conference is like the Superbowl for missionaries. We all gathered together in the relief society room of the church and everyone brought food and sodas and it was a lot of food. But the main highlight was being spiritually enriched and getting a little spiritual jump start! I absolutely loved General Conference and I am so glad we were able to watch it this weekend.

So this Sunday was the night of Transfer Calls. So the Assistants to the President or the Mission President himself will call us and tell us what's happening fornthe upcoming transfer period of 6 weeks. We got back to our house a little after nine o clock and we began to wait the call out. People we texting us saying were they were off to and we were still waiting. Through al, the texting we figured out what was happening for us. At about midnight we decided that they had forgotten us and went to sleep. But moral of the story. I am leaving the Celestial Kingdom of Midway Ward and heading a little north to Chicago 2nd Ward. I will be leaving Elder Garcia in midway and he will receive 2 new greenies! I will be paired with Elder Farrer who was one of the new elders who came in with me. He and I both have only been put for 6 weeks so we are essentially training ourselves for this transfer haha it's going to be awesome I am super stoked.

One final thing. We have these investigators, Adam and Lilia, and they are amazing. But Elder Garcia told me to invite them to Baptism and Adam said yes! We have a date set up for him on the 28th of October! Lilia needs some more time but its perfectly okay. God is preparing them both, just at different rates.

I want to share my favorite thing from General Conference. Elder Hallstrom of the 70 quoted the prophet Mormon by asking "Have the days of miracles ended?" And I can tell you all that with out one single doubt, that the heavens are open and God is blessing us and giving us miracles everyday. We just need to open our eyes a little wider and look a little harder for the hand of God in our lives. He's there. He wants to help us. He will help us.

As always,

Elder Tracy

PHOTOS:
Exchange Day
New Winter Coat

Semana 11 - Sweating in Spanish

Mis queridos amigos y Familia!

Como están? Espero que ustedes estén bien y felices!

Well this week was pretty stinking awesome. Although, I will admit, that it is so hot here right now. Like we are talking high 90s and good amount of humidity because we live like 4 miles from a large freshwater source called Lake Michigan. I dunno if y'all have heard of it.  So Elder garcia and I literslly sweat frkm when we leave our house at about 1, to when we arrive back again at 9 o clock. But it's been really fun.

So On last PDay, we rode our bikes into Downtown. It was about a good 15 mile ride round trip through traffic and narrow streets and pedestrians. It was super fun! We rode to the BEAN and I got to take some jem photos of me being super sweaty from the ride (since we didn't get to see the BEAN when we came with the Seven Lakes Orchestra in 2016) (my orchestra friends remember the pain we endured) we went to the same mall we went to in 2016, the Water Tower Mall, and did some window shopping and stopped in the Lego store and got to fight with lightsabers (super lit)

We had Zone Conference on Tuesday and it was pouring rain. So Elder garcia and I rode the 20 minutes through the rain and literally got soaked to the bone. My shoes were literally sloshing with every step I took. Needless to say, we didn't wear shoes or socks for this entire meeting. With President Bingham. And sister Bingham. And about some 60 missionaries. It was pretty funny. The Hermanas in our district demanded to take a picture.  Oh yeah to further the fun, our mission is one of 12 missions that is piloting a new idea. Each companionship now has a SMARTPHONE. We have a smart phone so we can use Facebook for online proselyting and it's pretty weird. It's really effective I think. We are able to communicate with our investigators better and more regularly. I think it's defi lately interesting. #twiceapilotprogram

We have been really hard at work I think. We have been out contacting people in the streets and knocking doors and we have had some good times. Like the electricity went out in one neighborhood while we were walking past and everyone was out on the street bedcause it was super hot in their houses (I mean come on, God is helping us out here. If I couldn't see blessings before, I can now) and we got a bunch of contacts and it was amazing. God is really watching out for us, his servants, called to gather his sheep.

My Spanish is really improving day by day. I am beginning to understand the people a little better. I can understand the general idea of what is occurring around me. And I can sometimes respond to a direct question in a coherent and understandable manner the first time! #progress We are getting there.

Oh yeah and this coming weekend is what I'm most excited about! We have the wonderful opportunity to watch General Conference and hear from gods called servants and prophets and apostles! I'm so super excited!

But, friends and family, I love y'all. Truly and sincerely. I miss y'all and hope that everything is going well for you. The Lord is on thy side. I hope that God may bless you and your family.

As always,

Elder Tracy

Photos!
Me and my trusty steed of a bike with the shiny BEAN of a BEAN that is the BEAN.
The shiny BEAN of a BEAN that is the BEAN
On last p day we also walked past this really nice car store so we stopped by and so here is me and my newest bughatti and lambo

Semana 10 - An Apostle and Independence Day

Buenos días mis amigos y Familia!

This week was amazing. So many great things happened and I'll try and tell it briefly because I know that you're all busy in life especially on a Monday!

So On Thrusday, we got to go the Chicago Temple! And it was awesome. Usually, President Bingham is super strict for temple attendance. His rule is if you are serving in the Willmette area (where the temple is) and you have a specific reason to go you may request his permission. But since an APOSTLE OF THE QUROUM OF THE 12  was coming this week, he authorized the entire mission to go before he got there! We we went with the Chicago Zone Spanish speaking missionaries. There were about 30 of us. It was amazing though and I don't know when I'll get the opportunity to go again. But I'm super grateful fornthe opportunity to go and visit the Lords House for a day.

And on Friday, Elder Dale Renlund, of the 12, came and spoke to the entire mission! It was amazing. He gave us some really helpful and spiritually charged advice and it was amazing to be in the presence of a living breathing, called apostle of the Lord our God. I got to shake his hand and the three members of the 70 that he had brought with him and their respective wives. But yeah it was pretty cool to meet an APOSTLE up close and personal.

On Tuesday, we visited this family, the Trejos. They are this super nice Elderly Couple and they love missionaries. After lunch, we were sharing a message after we finished, all the sudden, hermano Trejo bursts into song and he makes me stand up and start singing with him. And me, this awkward white kid from Texas, had no clue what was happening. He was trying to teach me the words to this Spanish song (which is apparently the equivalent of Can't Help Falling In love by Elvis but in spanish) called Cielito Lindo. And I had no clue what was happening. It was really funny. He then made me promise to sing this song at the Ward party on Friday. I said maybe. So Friday comes around and Elder Garcia has been coaching the missionaries in the Ward and me and on Friday, we celebrated Mexican Independence Day. There was a ward party with food and music and we all sang Cielito Lindo. I had a solo because I mean let's be real. Everyone afterward was like that white boy can sing-- wow.

Oh yeah and all the members here call me "guerito" which literally translates to little white boy. I love this place and these people.

But yeah everything is awesome. The people are pretty nice, the food is awesome, the work is hard but the blessings are apparent and well, blessings. I love this Gospel and the Lord. I know the Church is true. Hope you all have a great week!

As always,

Elder Tracy


Photos:
Sometimes I like to Chill
Chicago Temple

Semana 9 - Oh Está Todo Bien

Hola mis amigos y querido familia, cómo están?

I'm so very grateful for all the love and support that y'all all send my way. I heart still goes out to all those in Houston affected by the flooding and the rains. Every time someone here asks me where I'm from and I say Houston, their faces change and they always ask me how my friends and family are doing. Everyone here is praying for your safety and well being. I know I am at least!

Well this week was really another awesome week. So much has happened this week and I really can't explain all that has happened so I will just share a couple of highlights with y'all! 

On Monday, we had the opportunity to give priesthood blessings to the four children of this part member family in our ward. They were so appreciative and haply and we were so glad tk be able tk help. I love being able and worthy to hold and use the priesthood authority of God which I hold to bless and help all of God's children. 

On Tuesday, we went tracking and contacting for a solid 5 hours. It was awesome but super hard work. We made some really good contacts and also some bad ones. But it's okay really, we are trying and showing our faith to God. As we were about to finish, this lady in her car calls out to us in English and asks what church we belong to. We respond the Mormon Church and she says she is having doubts about the Catholic church and wanted to stop us to see if we could help her. We got her info so who knows? I also got my first Blister of the mission on my heel! When Elder Garcia saw it the next day he was blown away how I had managed to get one of that magnitude haha.

I also LOVE riding my bike here. I'll admit that the fist week or so it was super scary because cars and 18 wheelers will fly past you about a foot or two away from you and it's a little nerve racking but it's so much fun now. My bike is so awesome and I love riding it's so freeing and efficient here in the city. Whatley Family, you'll be happy to know that the bike light you gave me is in good use and has helped me not die from a car! 

My mom wanted to know about my apartment and so here we go. It's awesome simply put. We have a front room where we have two tables and a couch set up for studies and lounging. We then continue through the home to see the bathroom, and our bedroom and our other room for storage etc. We have a kitchenette with a stove and a sink and some cabinets. We have a dinner table and some chairs as one would expect from an apartment. There's then a back door and there's a small mud room where we put our bikes in. It's a good little place and it also has Wi-Fi so we can use our Gospel Library and LDS.ORG resources. Which is really nice for studies. 

Oh yeah, and do you guys remember that family I told you about that was looking for a church? We taught them the restoration on Friday and Adam, the husband, ate it all up and was super interested and his wife, Lilia was a little apprehensive but interested none the less. So we invited them to church on Sunday, and they showed up! I was actually jumping in the Foyer when I say them pull up! I think Adam really enjoyed his time there and was fascinated at him much we focus on the family. We didn't get to see much of Lilia because she was helping her two special needs sons feel comfortable and safe in primary and then she was in relief society, so we don't know that much... But I'm super excited for them! We have another appointment on Friday so we will see! 

There's a beloved hymn in our church entitled "Come, Come Ye Saints" which has been a great comfort to me in my struggles. And in Spanish, it is entitled, "Oh Está Todo Bien" which translated, means literally, oh, everything is well. And nothing seems more fitting for my life right now. Yeah it's hard work, I miss home sometimes, but I'm more excited to share the happiness of the Gospel with others. I'm here and glad to be here. I love it here and more importantly, I love our God and his plan for us all. That's why I'm here. 

I love all of you and I pray for you all everyday and I hope you're all doing well.

As always, 

Elder Tracy 

Here is our book shelf that I re organized. I think it looks good.

My desk for studies and other stuff!

For all of my Elf fans out there, there is a street a few blocks away from our house and it has a name that's "fun to say"