Semana 7 - CHICAGO

Hello my beloved friends and family. I thank you all so much for your support and love. Thank you for taking time out of your hectic days to read my emails!

So, I AM IN CHICAGO! How crazy is that? It's so weird for me really.

But things here are actually pretty great. On monday, after a bus ride, a train ride, a tram ride, a lot of walking, a plane ride, even more walking, I have finally arrived in the wonderful city of Chicago! The first night we went and saw the BEAN, some other cool things, I met this crazy guy on the train (I will tell in a minute) and we got fed,  interviewed by President Bingham, andnthen whisked away to the Assistant to the Presidents' aparemtnet and tucked into bed for a good night's rest. Long day it was.

On Tuesday, we got our assignments for areas and Companions. I am in the Midway ward of Chicago. Its nicknamed the Celestial Kingdom and I didn't find out why until about a few days ago. Its because the members around here are literally saints. They care so much for the missionaries and each other and It's so great to see that in such a big place. My companion is Elder Garcia. He is from Mexico and really only speaks Spanish to me. He can speak English and will if I have no clue what's going on (which is often) but he really rocks. He is the District Leader for our District of about 8 missionaries. Allison, Elder Agre is in my district! We are also in a biking area... so that means a lot or biking around these hot and humid streets, dodging cars and crazy people. Sst first it was kinda crazy and scary but now its awesome. I am also borrowing a bike from an elder who has a car right nkw. Bht i need to biy a bike. Its pretty fun.

These last couple of days have been ful, of service and work. We have been trying to contact people and see if people are interested in being happy forever, but so far no one is super interested. It can be a little discouraging but it doesn't matter really. I'll be happy regardless. My Spanish is coming along. I can speak to people and have them understand me, but i cant understand people. They talk to fast and quietly and It's hard. I'm learning though. I can now understand most of the things people say. I think...

So some funny stories.
On the train  back from the BEAN, one of the elders sitting next to me, Elder Butler, was making conversation with a lady next to him. There's this guy across from me who is super intently watching the, talk. He then turns to me and asks me something that I couldn't hear. I asked him to repeat and he asked what church he belonged to. I sat up and leaned forward and began to respond and he suddenly yells WHAT. CHURCH. DO. YOU. BELONG. TO? To which I responded the Mormon church and asked if he had heard of it. He said no that he was orthodox and was proud of how long they had been around. I asked him where he was from and he said that if he had to explain it to me that it would go something like this, he was from the planet Sigma Seven, which is about 27.2 billion light years from earth. I asked him what it was like there. He responded that it was the best place ever. That every species lived there from the smallest dwarf to the largest Ork and that he had also been to middle earth. So I was like ok this guys either crazy or seeing how long he can pull this off. So I asked what he does for a job. He said that he travels around and sees how places are doing. He then said that he had visited over 15 cosmic galaxies. So this guys officially crazy. And then he randomly gets up and walks to the other side of the car. Weirdest minute of my life. And also there was this time when we had an appointment with a member family, and elder Garcia said that he had forgotten which house it was. That was fine I didn't care. As we walk along this street, this guy in really beat up clothes approaches us and he ignores elder Garcia and comes up to me and says oh señor, I have all these things like books and shampoo for only a dollar. I politely tell him I'm not interested and that I have no money. He says ok. That I can have things for 50 cents. I repeat my statement and try to leave. He then grabs my bike and tells me tk wait. He then asks if i am a police and then takes my name tag and i repsond that no i am a missoknary for my church. He keeps walking around me and i soon realize that he is taking stuff out of my bag and is pocketing the stuff. I tell hime rather sternly to give me my tbings back. He refuses and keeps trying to sell me his and my things back. After a whi,e of this, I'm getting mad and I'm about to start beating this guy for my stuff. He eventually turns to me and says, Elder, Bienvenidos al barrrio. Welcome to the ward. It was the member and they had pranked me. I thought it was pretty funny really (after a few minutes)

But all's well that ends well. I love all of you and y'all are the best. If you want to keep in contact with me, shoot me an email about your life and I'll try to respond. If you want to send my mail or a package, send it to,
800 Waukegan Rd Ste 203
Glenview IL 60025
United States
This is the mission office and they will get it to me!

My prayers and love go out to all of you affected my the hurricane in Houston. I pray for you and your safety. I love all of you so much.

As always,
Elder Tracy

Here's some photo. Our white board with our weekly plans, me and president and his wife, me and Elder Garcia and the President and his wife, all the new missionaries and their trainers, and finally, all the new missionaries as soon as we landed

Semana 6 - The Last Days at the MTC

Hey everyone!!

Its your favorite Elder here! Can you all believe that I leave for Chicago on MONDAY??? I cant either. But really I leave the MTC at 3:50 AM on Monday the 21st. Its crazy to think about. I am so excited. I think I am ready to get on with this though. Six weeks here in the MTC were plenty for me. I think that I can speak Spanish well enough. I, like all missionaries, will face trial by fire when I get to Chicago and I will learn Spanish so quickly and I am so very excited about it all. I am also not prepared for the cold because as yall know, I grew up in the south so the cold isnt something I know.

This week was honestly so cool. We had two of the 12 Apostles come here and speak to us and it was really cool. On Sunday, we heard from Elder M Russel Ballard and he talked about the importance of missionary work and staying focused. It was super powerful. On Tuesday, we heard from Elder Neil L. Anderson and he was awesome too. He talked about the inportance of staying faithful and hopeful on our Missions and how that could really help us and it was crazy good too. The Elders in my District blew my mind the other day. They told me a piece of doctrine that I didnt know that I really should have. Apparently every living Apostle has recieved the Second Comforter and this means that they have actually seen to and talked to the Ressurected Jesus Christ and that is how they are Special Witnesses of Jesus Christ. Its because they have literally SEEN JESUS CHRIST IN THE FLESH and as I though about that it was freaking awesome because I cant even imagine being able to meet Christ in the flesh in this life and I am so excited to one day be able to meet him.

So on Wednesday, we recieved the largest influx of Missionaries the MTC has ever seen. We got 762 new missionaries. Seven Hundred. And sixty. Two. Thats so crazy to think about. So as a consequnce there has been SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE MEAL TIMES AND ITS NOT OKAY. But my district got the opportunity to Host the New Missionaries as they were dropped off and it was great. I worked for about 2 and a half hours in the heat and I helped 6 new missionaries get all their stuff, fond thier room and get them off to class and it was awesome. It was crazyt that I was in their shoes only 6 weeks ago. Its been a crazy ride and the most fun I have ever had. I wouldnt trade these experiences for the world.

So one of the Elders in my district one day comes up to me and asks if I have heard of the 1000 calf raise challenge. I responded no. HE said that one must do 1000 calf raises a night and I simply responded bet. and So that night, Elder Butler and I did 100 calf raises on the stairs so we could all the way down and all the way up. So that was fun. But we took a break day and then the next day we did 126, and then the day after 150. After that we did 200 and then 250 and then 100 (because we needed a break) and then we did 300 and then we did 350 last night. We are shooting for 400 tonight. This has been about a week and a half in the making and it has been awesome. We also have garnered a nice following of Elders in the Zone who do them with us and so we can all get ripped together and we usually get about 8 Elders in it with us. If any of you know about the Tracy Family Calves, you know this isnt hard for me but its a fun challenge to complete haha.

Classes and everything ends tonight offically and so thats that. I am essentially done with the MTC. It has been the best of times, and the worst of times. But again, I wouldn't trade any second of it for the entire world. I have grown so much in Faith, Strength and knowledge of the Spanish Language. I love this Gospel and I love the Lord. I love all of you and I love the Spanish Language. I know that everything in this life is possible if we work hand in hand with Jesus Christ.

I would like to quickly bear my testimony to you all of how much God loves all of us. We are literally His spirit Children and he wants the best for us and if we adhere to his commandments and his words, we can do everything in our lives that God wants for us. I am so excited to be able to serve the Lord until July 2019. See yall in TWO YEARS

I again love all of you and I miss you everyday. Keep sending me letters and emails I love to hear about your lives and the fun yall are having.

Always happy and smiling and as always,

Elder Tracy

ps I am typing very fast and I cant spell and so its a disaster so sorry haha

some pictures!

Temple Photos of the District (minus Elders Mcbee and Nicol) and then we got some name tag goals and then finally the "Chicago Crew"

Semana 5 - The Fifth Days at the MTC

HELLO MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY

I have had an amazing week here in the Greatest Place in the entire world. I freaking love it here. The othe missionaries that we get to talk to and communicate with and teach and all this stuff is awesome. 

So a couple of questions to answer. So I was District Leader for my District. This means that I was the leader of these 10 amazing missionaries and it was great. My duties included things such as starting classes and getting the mail for the district and then also attending Branch Council for an hour on Sunday Mornings and it was a very interesting experience. I loved it a lot. But half way through a District's 6 Week stay here, the DL gets changed out and so I was replaced by Elder Butler, from Orem UT. He is a great guy and he is who I would have wanted to replace me so the Branch President made the right call. I typically get settled down for bed by 10:45 PM and I wake up at 6:30 AM (if not earlier) and thats a good nights sleep. The days are getting so short in my mind. The time just keeps flying by me faster and faster. Today marks exactly one Month ago that I entered the MTC and it really doesnt seem as though it has been that long. It really feels like that I have been here for a solid two weeks. 

ELDER DAVID A BEDNAR CAME TO THE MTC ON SUNDAY AND HE HAD A Q AND A SESSION WITH ALL THE MISSIONARIES AND IT WAS THE COOLEST THING EVER MY GOODNESS SO GLAD IT HAPPENED.

My Spanish is flying along now. I think that I can speak the language pretty well and it is awesome to see how the relationship between having the Spirit with you and the ability to speak the Language play into my life. One day, we had personal study time before one of our lessons and I was reading in the Book of Mormon, and I was reading in Mosiah and I really could understand what I was reading and I could feel the hand of the Lord in my life. I could feel the Spirit burning in my heart and mind. I had a clear mind and everything was great. We then went and Taught a lesson and it was the greatest lesson we had ever taught. Our investigator, Flor, was asking us a bunch of great questions and Elder Moser and I were able to answer her questions in pretty decent Spanish and it was AWESOME. WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD AND GOD BEHIND YOU, ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. But really, I can get to know someone, bear my testimony, invite people to action, share and read the scriptures, explain the Principles in Preach my Gospel and a bunch of other things. I love the Spanish Language. Reading Moses 1:39 in Spanish is an eye opening experience for me. The words just make sense.  Also one time, I was reading 3 Nephi 11 in Spanish one night after a long day and I could read and understand all the words in the chapter and it was a really amazing thing for me.  

Another fun thing, my class got a new class room in the new building of the MTC. We are on the First Floor of T4 East and it is awesome. There are windows and the room is about 4 times bigger and it is awesome. We got a new room because another Pilot Language District came in this week so we got a new class and they got our old one. RIP them. But we also got to talk to these new Elders in this new District. They are pretty cool guys. We then got to go on spilts with them and go out into the "streets" of the MTC and practice contacting people. I got paired with an Elder Klienman. He was really cool and super excited to be here. So he would speak to these people and I would translate into English for him and then the People would respond in english and it was an awesome experience. 

Elder Moser and I are getting along really pretty well still. Some of the Elders in our district disagree with their companions by now, but Elder Moser and I are still going strong. We get along well, we teach well, we speak well, we laugh at eachother and ourselves. Its a great experience for me and I hope him. Elder Moser is the funniest kid ever and he has such a strong testimony of the Church and the peace and comfort that the Church can bring to some one. I have learned so much from him and I think he has learned some stuff from me too. 

We leave the MTC on the 21st of August. That means that I have about 9 days here left. Also we got our travel plans for the flight out to Chicago. I leave the MTC at 3:50 AM on Monday the 21st and then I have about a 3 hour flight to Chicago. I am so pumped for the opportunity to be able to serve God and his People. So pumped. 

So the three Elders who are going to Mexico recieved some water filtration bottle in their first day stuff. So they wanted to try them out. So Elders Butler and Torres filled their water bottles from the big new fountian feature in the courtyard of the new buildings. So this water ended up being like yellow and they were like crap we might die but oh well. So they drank the water and they are still alive and so it was one of the most interesting things that happened this week ngl. 

We also got to go to the temple today and it was awesome to go and see that everything in the Church is the same no matter where you go. I love this Gospel and all the things that are happening in my life right now!!!

I hope you all know how much I love and miss you all. I really appreciate all the letters and packages and emails that you all send. But as always, I would love to hear from you all some time!

And to end off this week, I will bear my testimony in Spanish.

Yo sé que Jesucristo vive y yo sé que Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial y somos hijos de Dios . Tambien, a trevés de Jesucristo, podemos volver a Dios un día y viviremos con nuestras familias. Yo sé que José Smith fue un profeta y él traducio el Libro de Mormon. Sé que el Libro de Mormon es verdadero y podemos ver el amor y poder de Dios y Jesucristo en este libro. Hay más cosas, pero no tengo el tiempo a escribirlas. Espero que ustedes lean estas cosas....

I love all of you and I hope you all are doing well in your lives. 

As always, 

Elder Tracy

Here are some photos. In no particular order, We made a chair tower and it was awesome. Elder Butler and Torres filling bottles (elder butler is facing the camera). Here is the entire district in our new room with one of out teachers on his last day with us (Hermano Christiansen) and some pictures of about half the district at the temple.

Semena 4 - The Fourth Days in the MTC

Hello, Everyone!!

I am so glad that you all have been receiving my emails!! I really hope that you are all doing well in your lives. I love all of you and I pray that all of you have the best week ever!!!

So but lets see. These weeks fly by in what seem like days now. It feels just like yesterday that I was emailing you all again. 

But on Sunday, we got to go on a temple walk to the Provo Temple and have a good time as a zone chilling and singing and getting to know people better. We also had a devotional and it was powerful. We watched this talk that Elder Holland had given at one point at the MTC and it changed my life. The chastisement and godly sorrow and spirit that he conveys transcend all the years and multimedia platforms. It was crazy. But it was awesome.

We have just been chugging along with learning Spanish and the teaching skills we will need to teach people in Spanish. I really am impressed by the spirit and the progress we have made with the Lord's Help. Elder Moser and I have been teaching an investigator named Flor. She is from Peru and she is enrolled at BYU for an English learning program. She speaks Spanish so fast and she likes to mumble and it can be really challenging to understand her and her feelings at times. But we have been relying on the Spirit and listening to what the Spirit says she needs and it has been an amazing experience. But we love Flor. She is simply the best. She keeps her commitments and our invitations. But on Thursday, We had our best lesson so far. We taught her the restoration and the First Vision and it was so powerful. I began to tear up as I recounted the First vision of Joseph Smith. She was super receptive and really willing to understand and accept what we were saying to her and it rocked. We also taught her about our Modern day prophet and his 12 Apostles and it was so powerful. It was honestly one of the highlights of my week. 

Our Zone has become more receptive to us and they all like to talk to us and we are becoming really good friends with all the others in our Zone and having a good time learning how to help and lift up the others in need of help. I love this place and all the support we have here. 

Our district had the opportunity to help with the Tours of the MTC that are occurring. So Elder Moser and I got to be starters in the MTC. So that means we get to stand in the Lobby of the MTC and welcome people as they enter and tell them how wonderful this place really is and what they should expect. It was an amazing 4 hours of standing and talking. I really had a blast doing that. We ran into a bunch of people that we knew. For example, I ran into my Sister Allison and her boyfriend, Tanner and that was really awesome!!! IT was awesome to see them! I also got to see Taylor and Jacob High from Texas! It is so cool to see people I know here!!

Also I have ran into a bunch of other missionaries that I know. I have found Elders Bruce, Swingle, McKimmey, Jones, and Baker. I have also run in  to various people from EFY from various years and it has been really cool to see all these people that I know serving the lord too. 

We also got hair cuts this week and that was the freaking BOM.COM. They legit took like ten minutes and it was over and good lookin to so thats that. 

P DAY. We got early to go to the temple again and it was freaking awesome. I love that place so much and the joy and spirit there is awesome. I also love going with my District because its a nice stress relief in the grand scheme of things. Its just nice to enjoy the spirit peacefully. We then went off to play Volleyball with our Zone and it was super fun and cool out and it was super fun.My team lost every time but who is counting and it was super fun though so what does it matter really?? hahaha

But really I have had the time of my life here and it is the best way for me to spend the next two years. I love this gospel and the Lord and Jesus Christ as well. I love everything that has happened here. This is the best experience I have had in my life. 

I love all of you and I hope that you all have the best week ever. If you want to, send me a note about how youre doing!! I would love to stay in touch with yall!!!

As always, 


Elder Tracy

Photos: (in no particular order) Our district, me and Elder Bruce, the TEMPLE AND ME, HAIR CUT DAY CREW