Crazy, but not memorable week

Hey everyone!

I hope that yall had a fantastic week this week and that everything was just awesome. Yall are all an example to me in one way or another. Hahah

But let's see. This week was crazy but I really don't remember much of what happened. We really just kinda went from appointments to appointments all week. And business is good. But busyness is not Holyness haha good old Elder Bednard. But we had Zone Conference this week and that was simply awesome. It started out super strong and powerful and inspiring and then at the middle, it becmae a roast and then at the end it was super fun! All in all, it was a  super fun day and I loved it. It also was a very long day because it started at 10 am and ended at about 5 pm. It was very long. I learned a lot from that day though. It was an amazing experience. President Bingham is a great mission president.

We also started teaching an English class on Tuesday. It was super fun! Here, a lot of people either don't speak or speak very little English. So, we are trying to change that! It's also a really good tool we thought of to try and get people to bring their friends to church and meet other church members. It should be an awesome thing this week.

One of our investigators, Roberto, is also probably one of my favorite people. He is probably about in his 40s or so but he is so interested in learning more and increasing his faith and he is awesome. He is so humble and he really wants to just draw closer to christ. He has told us a lot of things from his life and he is a trooper for sticking through them all. He also has been coming to church! It's awesome!

Also last p day, we went on a downtown adventure! We went and saw the Trump Tower (insert Trump impression) and some other really cool things. Ill attach some photos from it.

But things are going well here. It's a constant struggle against my sworn enemy, the Cold. It's super cold here some days and other days it's like 40. It's super weird here. But I love it. I love yall and your love and support is always the best to hear about. If yall want to contact me, hit me up at seth.tracy@myldsmail.net
Or you can send letters to
800 Waukegan Rd Ste 203
Glenview IL 60025

As always,

Elder Tracy

PHOTOS
A photo of our downtown adventure entitled "Candid Thoughts of a Missionary"
A picture of my tower
My. HOMIES at zone conference. ELDERS BRANCHING, MOSER, TRACY AND OSORIO

Oh yeah, we baptized someone

Hola y buenas días mis amigos y miembros de mi familia! Espero que esteis muy bien todo el tiempo.

PERO this week was kinda busy but also not a whole lot interesting happened.

We went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders this week and that was super fun. I was with Elder Koceja and he is a homie we had an awesome time. We ended up going downtown for a doctor's appointment he had and I got to go to a part of town I had never been! The Brown Line of the Chicago Train System is probably the coolest line ever. It like weaves its way through these houses and buildings and its just so cool. Elder Koceja and I, I think had a pretty good time. I learned a lot from him and how I can improve and just be better.

Also, later,  we got this referral from the Assistants to the President and so we went and this guy Noé is super solid and wants to learn more. I am blown away they found him. Although, we almost didn't find him. We get an address from the APs and so we make our way over there and it's a big house with a hair salon in the front room. And so we are just like OK... So there's a back door around the side and we go knock on that, and we then realize that that door goes to about 5 other doors because this was a apartment building we realized. So we go around the front, and there is another door that we hadn't seen before. (Miracle 1) and so we go up this super long flight of stairs to the second story, and we knock on the door there. No one answers. We are about to leave, and then I notice this other staircase kinda hidden away that's leads up even more and I feel like we should go up it. (Miracle 2) and so we go up and we find another door. So we knock and to our suprize, two little girls answer the door. Confused, they just stand there. Elder Osorio asks them if we could speak to their father or mother and then this guy comes around the corner and comes out the door and is like I've been waiting a like hour, come on in! (Miracle 3) we found him and taught him. God has a role in our lives and a plan even if we don't know where or how to do things.

We also, as the title insinuates, had a baptism! We got Camila ready and baptized within a month or so. (Well I mean we could only do so much, the rest falls on her and the Holy Ghost) but it was a beautiful service and what made it ever more awesome was that her older brother got to baptize her. She was confirmed yesterday and she is now officially, a full fledged member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a lot or prayers and hopes and dreams answered for but us and her family. It was an awesome experience.

Well, that's really all I have for yall this week. It was kinda a regular ish week. I hope all is well with you all and that everyone is surviving this random weather we have been having. Love yall!

Elder Tracy

Also we got a new prophet for all of those who didn't know. See more at www.lds.org

PHOTOS
Elder Osorio, Camila her brother and Me.
Their whole family. Homies.

Happy 6 Months without Seth

Que pato, quack quack?

How is everyone doing? I certainly hope that everything was just awesome for yall this week! Things have been moving for us here in la gran ciudad de Chicago. And this week was certainly interesting.

PERO to start, we had new missionary training this week and that was fantastic. I love new missionary training. You and your trainer are supposed to go your first two transfers, or three months. But since I've been training since I finished being trained, then I've had the awesome chance to attend four transfers in a row and it has been fantastic. This time we talked a bunch about how the Lord has strengthened and helped his servants in times past. Enoch, Moses, Abraham, Ether, Alma all showed and were painfully aware of their weaknesses and often doubted themselves. But every time, the Lord God came back and gave them the ability to overcome what has befallen them. It was super cool because that applies to me because I have MANY weaknesses and I'm beginning to see what the Lord is able to do with a simple white kid from Texas.

We also have been working super hard with our intestigator Camila to get her ready for baptism. We have been working a heck ton to teach her everything she needs. Her family is awesome though. They were less active in the church but they love the elders and they always have fed the elders and are just homies. But they started coming back to church and they are super strong in the gospel right now I love to see how far they have come. We also have been visiting this other less active family and they came to church this week for the first time in forever! It was awesome to see them and the ward was super welcoming to them again and it made my heart happy!

But like the title of this email reads, I hit 6 months in the mission last Friday. That means that you all have gone 6 months without seeing, hearing or being in the awkward presence of me. That's two thirds of a pregnancy we are talking about here. But this also means that I am already a quarter way done with this mission. And that is scary. We always say that we are out for 2 years, and when you start, you can enjoy the fact that youre new and you have a long way to go. But as time moves on, things change. You have to start being responsible and actually the one attending to the needs of those you teach and visit. You become a servant of Christ. You are the one helping them learn. And grow. And love God. It's super easy to get caught up in all the time you have left on your mission. But, once it is past, it's gone. I will never be able to relive the 6 months I've already spent here. And I would give everything to make this next 6 months the best yet.

I love you all so much. I love this Gospel. I love the Lord. I love my mission and I love Chicago. I love and know that what I teach is true. The church is true and the book is blue.

As always,

Elder Tracy

PHOTOS
New Missionary Training with mi hijo
We found an alien in the parking lot so naturally, things happened.
We also decided tk watch a DVD one night that we had in out apartment and this was our little set up because we lit

Blessings and curses

Hola todos como estais vosotros en el día de hoy? Espero que todo os vaya excelente y sin frío ni nieve tampoco.

Well this week was interesting. Very interesting. To start. I got a super bad head cold on Friday I think and I perished this weekend. I got hit Saturday morning and we went out and did some work but I was so out of it it was a struggle. Just my head was super fuzzy.  I literally was thinking of just about everything but yet nothing at the same time. It was a very interesting experience. And that carried right on into Sunday where I perished again. We went to ward council where we had a great time and the people of the ward actually kinda helped us this time so it was good! We then got into sacrament meeting and I was dying through that whole process. Needless to say, we ended up going home after that so I could sleep. We then came back to church a little after it had ended because we had a lesson with an investigator and some of the homie moms in the ward were standing there and they asked us why we were back and why we had left. After filling them in that I was not feeling well, they immediately jumped in to concerned mom mode. They asked me what was wrong and they then told me that I looked like I had a fever (I didn't know you could tell just by looking but I trusted the mom instincts) we had had a lesson with one of the ladies there and her family later. but she said that she thinks it would be better if I just went home and rested. And that she would bring us some food in like an hour. #homie4life but today I'm definitely doing better. I am not dying yet so that's good.

We are teaching this nine year old girl Camila so she can get baptized because her family is all members and she feels like she got skipped. But we have been talking to her mom and her and they both really want her to be baptized. So, we started teaching her this week. We started on Wednesday we had invited her to pray that night. On Thursday, the ward has mutual and the missionaries have a meeting with the ward mission leader and so we were all there. But as we were standing there, Camila comes running up to us and is just super excited. And we are like what's up Camila? And she's like I did what you guys told me to do! We asked what that was. She said that she had been praying the night before, and that as she was, she began to cry and she said she just felt super happy. And Elder Osorio and I were just kinda like my goodness this is awesome! We congratulated her and and we talked a little about it and thanked her for sharing with us. It was just a testimony builder to me to see that God answers all prayers. No matter how young or old, simple or eloquent, always.

One more thing, I know this is getting long, but this week was just super awesome. On Friday was probably the busiest day of my life. And also the most food I have ever eaten. We started off by bussing over to the Hermanas (sister missionaries) area so give a blessing to an investigator at 11. Getting home at 1230, we received a call that there was a member from another ward in the hospital who needed a blessing too and we were the closest elders so we agreed and said we would get there. At 1, we walked to a member lunch appointment and then by 2 we walked over to a bus stop, took a bus and a train to the hospital, and then we arrived at this hotel room at about 245, gave a blessing and some words of encouragement, and then peaced out. Same route home. Arriving in our general area at 4, we went to another member eating appiontment where we also taught Camila. We then headed out and caught a bus at about 540 heading north to another investigator at 6. We taught him. Super good lesson. At 645, we headed out and walked to this restaurant and met some more members to eat there. At that point I was just eating the food to finish it. Shoving it down haha but super busy day. I came home, showered and crashed it was rough. But busy days are the most rewarding definitely.

Well, wow sorry this was kinda long ish. I hope that yall didn't lose interest haha but twas just an interesting week. I hope yall are doing well and that everything just goes fantastic this week. Love you all so super much!

As always,

Elder Tracy

PHOTOS

Elder Osorio and I rode the tandem bike in the snow as a tradition. 

I found this super fire section in the book of mormon and so I added some notes to it 

Elder Osorio fell asleep while we were having a conversation. 

Pro speary anio eh Fleece y dog

MIS QUIRIDOS! TODOS DE VOSOTROS SOIS MIS FAVORITOS

Well this week was super duper cold. My goodness. This was the first time in MY 18 YEARS OF LIFE THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN A NEGATIVE NUMBER IN THE WEATHER App. It's kinda fun though to have it be super cold. A lot of interesting things happen. For instance, sometimes the sidewalks are super slippery and you can watch you companion almost slip and fall a couple times a day and then when you think it's funny, almost slip and have those same 18 years flash before your eyes before catching yourself and being okay to slip another day. It's a good time. We also did some service on Saturday and that was shoveling snow! We just went around and shoveled snow for some people who needed it done! And I have never shoveled snow before so it was a new experience but it was super fun!

This week was also awesome because we got to go over to the Lopez Household and they are the most homie family ever. The dad is away driving trucks for a job right now, so we try to stop by once or twice a week just to see how they are doing and how we can help. This week we talked about the Priesthood with them and it was a super cool experience because the two older boys (17 & 13) had just received the offices of Priest and Deacon and it was super cool to talk about that with them and their mom. She also expressed interest in studying the scriptures more! This is all super good news because as of two months ago, they were super less active in the church and now they come every week! It's awesome how God works.

It was made known to me that maybe I should talk about some of our investigators we have currently. We have 3 solid investigators at the moment. One is Luis and he has a super honest desire to repent and learn more about that. He is so on date for Feb 3rd so we will see where that takes us. Another is Camila and she is 9 and is a member of the Lopez family. We are starting teaching her so she can get ready for baptism on the 20th of January. We also have Roberto who is a solid guy who just wants to learn how to increase his faith in God. We actually have a meeting with him tonight so we will see what happens there too!

One more quick thing, I don't think I've mentioned this before, but this transfer, I am district leader for my district! That means I am responsible for two other sets of missionaries in my area and I report their successes and experiences to the Zone Leaders. I hope that all of you had a a great Christmas Season and New Years too! This year is my white out year, which means that I will spend all of 2018 in Chicago. A whole year dedicated to God. I'm super pumped to see where I'll be in a year from now!

Thank you for making it this far! ¡Espero que tengan una semana fantástica y que todo les vaya bien en este año nuevo que tenemos!

Como siempre,

Elder Tracy

PHOTOS
-This is how I stay warm. I feel like I am wearing a space suit with two pairs of gloves, a beanie, a scarf, my winter jacket, a sweater, a long sleeve shirt, and long Johns. It's awesome.
-These are the two dogs of the Pule Family and they love me and I love them and this was the best photo I could get with them and the excitement
-We found this giant icicle and so naturally, a little bit of my inner Harry Potter came out and also a unicorn.