let's talk about the weather

Hey Everyone!

This week was a great and super hectic week! So many super fun things happened!

To start. On last monday, we went to Raising Caines!!! It was my  favorite day ever. I love that place. We went with the homies (Elder Moser and Elder Jimenez) and none of them know how to save their monies and so they were al broke, but since my dad taught me well, I save my money like none other and I had plenty of money to hook the homies up. Then at Elder Lewis's request, we went to a mall there and wandered around for like 20 minutes (it was... well yeah)

On Tuesday we had a bomb lesson with a guy we are teaching Ron and he really understood the apostasy of the original Christian church and when we explained the restoration of the Gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith, he just kinda sat there thinking about it and had some awesome questions.

On Wednesday we had a wild wild time. Elder Moser came up here after District Council and we dropped in on missionary work. We talked with all the homies, got to draw the plan of salvation with two awesome kids we are teaching, and many other things. Then Elder Moder was supposed to take a test for college on Thursday and then the college called and canceled on him and he was way sad. So we exchanged back and then like 45 mins later, we get a call back and we are exchanging again because Elder Moser can actually take the test and then we exchanged back again.

So then I spend Thursday with Elder Jimenez in Joliet (AND I GOT TO SPEAK SPANISH) (OH HOW I LOVE THAT LANGUAGE) It was awesome. we had a great time, we met with a legend named Lucia, we built a trampoline, we ate some great popsicle things and ate so much food and taught os many wonderful people.

This Saturday it snowed.

This weekend was also Stake Conference and it was aweomse. It was all centered around my favorite topic: missionary work! I had a really powerful experience throughout the whole session. It was wonderful. They just talked about the importance of sharing what we have and how utterly vital it is for us to help Heavenly Fathers children come home and keep them progressing toward their celestial home. It was honestly just fantastic to be there. This is the one and only true work. Christ's Kingdom has been established here on the earth and it is found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Book of Mormon is more of the word of God as revealed to his Prophets of old in the ancient americas. We have Prophets today who lead us and guide us back to our Heavenly home who point us to christ. The only way to know all these wonderful truths is to ask, and it shall be opened unto you.

As always,

Elder Tracy

PHOTOS
The snow
The trampoline (it took  like 30 minutes)
LUCIA
the Plan of salvation
Caines!!!!!!

EASTER WAS AWESOME

Hey all and one!

It's been a good week this week! We were able to see some awesome things happen!

To start, we found a Nigerian family!! NFor those of you not familiar with sharing the gospel, we found a potential gold mine. These people are the people - super religious, love talking about Christ, they love being social, especially with other Nigerians! And we have a Nigerian family in our ward congregation! So we knocked thier door on Friday and he was like ah I'm busy come back tomorrow! And there are a lot of people who tell us that and so we usually write it down and go back the next day and they aren't there. But we went back on Saturday and THEY WERE ALL THERE. We taught them the restoration and they really seemed to like it! We already are in contact with the other family in our ward and they are super excited too because they are from the same part of Nigeria! We will keep yall updated on what happens.

This week I also got to play the cello! There is a family full of homies out here named the Hansen Family and thier son plays the cello and they found out I play as well and they pulled it out on Friday out of the blue and let me play it! I played a duet with their son as he played the bassoon! It was a super great time and I was super duper happy to be able to play the cello once more. It made my heart very very happy.

We also had the week for funny quotes. There were so many great quotes from this week, but I have decided to tell you all of three of them.
scene 1
Elder Lewis: *knocks door*
Old Lady : Hello how may I help you?
Elder Lewis : we are missionaries from th-
Old Lady : *cuts him off* I'm too old to talk go away *closes door*

scene 2
(in a lesson with two girls we are working with and their parents)
*the girls got super off topic as usual and we are now talking about sin*
Lexi : * says somethings way out in left field is a sin*
Her mom: no, Lexi, sin is doing something that God has tod us not to do. Like lying, stealing, not honoring your parents...
Her step dad from the kitchen : That's why God gave us a strong hand
(ps this was a funny one for us idk about yall)

scene 3
(at a members house eating dinner with them and their 5 kids)
Dad: Oliver (7 y/o kid) you're almost 8 years old. What happens when you turn 8?
Oliver: I can use knives??
(Ps this was my favorite one this week)

But this week was also Easter and we got to talk a lot with people about the Easter season and what Christ means to them. There was a video that the Chuchput out and it's called "#becauseofhim An Easter Message of Hope and Triumph" and it's aweosme. We tried our best to share it with people while knocking doors but we were su prized when 99% of the people who answered expressed a faith and belief and devotion to Christ, but were not even willing to watch a 1 minute video about their Lord and Savior in the Easter season. I was honestly shocked. But it really made me think about it. "With their lips they de honor me, but their hearts are far from me" manna for thy thoughts. But this week was awesome because it really made me appreciate Christ and all he has done for me. I'm so incredibly grateful for the Bible and the Book of Mormon and for their two witnesses of the resurrected Lord. Reading both og those accounts makes me so happy to know that HE LIVES. And because he lives, we can all start over and find happiness.

As always,

Elder Tracy

photos
okay so this is the only one. we didn't really take any picture this week, so we took a selfie last night and called it good

April showers, I mean snow storms?

Hello everyone!

This was a great week! We were able to have some awesome things happen this week! For example we were able to get some work done!!

We were kinda feeling down on ourselves one day and so we decided to stop by a famiy we are working with and it was apparently the lord himself who had told us to be there. We get there and begin to speak with the mother (who is a member of the church but hasn't been in some time) outside as she had just gotten home from work. And as soon as we began talking she instantly opened up to us about all the problems they are facing and it was not pretty. They are really going though a lot and it can all be traced back to one problem. But we kept telling her about the a toning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the promised blessings of living the gospel and she began to feel better about it all. Shortly there after, her son came up from playing at a local park and we were able to talk with him more. We are actually trying to baptize her son, Drew and comtinue to fix his mother's spiritual situation so that she can jion us again at church!

We also were able to have an awesome experience at our district council this week! Elder Moser had done some digging and was able to locate a golden nugget in the Old testament of how we can consider our ways and really think of how we can better live our lives in harmony with Christ's teachings. It was a great reflecting moment in my life about how I can continue to become better in life.

WE ALSO PLAYED "BUTTON BUTTON WHO HAS THE BUTTON" WITH THE CUTEST FAMILY IN OUR WARD AND I WAS SO HAPPY. For those of you not familiar with the game" Button button who has the button", it is a Tracy Family Tradition,  nay an integral part of the Tracy Family way of life. It is the greatest game ever and it worked so well and we had a fantastic gospel discussion afterward and it made me so happy to see the teaching of my parents coming into use in my life!! (yet another application of Malachi 4:5-6)

also it snowed this week. what the heck. It is April people.

We started teaching this wonderful Muslim woman named Mona and she is the funniest person ever. We met her about two weeks ago and it's been awesome ever since. We were finally able to find her a Book of Mormon in Arabic and she was ecstatic! She exclaimed that she was definately going to start reading it! She opened it up and she was reading through just a couple of lines and she says" Jerusalem?? isn't that where Jesus will come back?" she is super fun! I've also learned a lot about the Islamic faith and it  is really cool to learn about other people and the peace and religions the practice. It is also so wonderful to me that we have the word of God available to us in every language and we are literally completing the scripture found in the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 31:3! It's super cool to see! If you want to see that verse, go to:
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/31?lang=eng

love you all! make it a good week! remember who you are and what you stand for!!

as always,

Elder Tracy

Photos
A fire truck pulled up on us the other day
the snow???!!!

GENERAL CONFERENCE WAS HERE

Hey Everyone!

This week was great honestly! Don't have a ton of time this week to write because we've been busy haha but this week was awesome! We found some awesome people to teach and we have some great Potentials! 

This week we got to ride bikes and it was awesome I convinced Elder Lewis once and we got to do it! It was super fun he almost died haha it was kinda sad. 

We also had general conference and it was awesome! We got to hear from the Prophets and apostles of the lord and it was fun of inspiring messages and I received a lot of personal revelation for myself and h I can be better in life!

Things here are honestly good. The chruch is true! Revelation still flows from the heavens to mankind today! Check it out on churchofjesuschrist.org!

As always 

Elder Tracy

A week of miracles and Gen Conf Prep

Hey Everyone!

This week was yet another great week in Naperville! Sorry, I forgot to send an email last week! But we had a lot of good tuigns happen in these last two weeks!

For one, we had Zone Conference and it was awesome to see the legends all back together again. we were combined with the Naperville Zone so I got to see some of my good friends, Elder Silva, Elder Lytle and Elder Pope and all the other homies in between! We had a great conference talking about a lot of really important things, like scriptures, how to teach and other things Ike that. It was a great great Zone Conference. It's a little ittersweet because we are nearing the end of President Bingham's Presidency term, so he is trying to make sure he is able to unload all he feels like we need to know. He is so inspired.

But this week was good. we did a lot of knocking this week to find all those new people to find. We did the math and we spend usually anywhere From 4-7 hours knocking a week and it's pretty brutal out here in Naperville. The biggest thing is that people are content with life. They have no desire to change or improve in any way. They have their house, family, job and plenty of money and a "church home" most of them and they are completely satisfied with it all. It's made reflect a ot about how blessed I have been in my life with all those things in general. It's frustrating when people are mean to us, or are not the Christians they proclaim to be, but it makes me think of Christ as well. He wasn't accepted but he was still right the whole time. manna for thy thoughts. (shoutout to Elder Tibbitts)

But we were knocking a lot this week and we werent seeing any success which was honestly super sad. But as we kept going we had the determination to keep goin! We had dinner with a family that had fed us forever ago and we left them with a book of mormon to give out. They ended up coming in cutch, giving the Book of Mormon to their childrens friend, inviting her to general conference with her whole family and taught her to pray all without being asked. Crazy. That was an amazing miracle. We also were able this week to have some miracles show up to church because this amazing missionary member of the church invited like four friends to hear her speak this weeek and three of them came!! aand the funny thing is is that we had set a goal to have three people come to church and the three we had planned on coming didnt even come! It was almost is if Heavenly Father knew!! We also were knocking doors and we felt inclined to stop by a member of the church who doesnt live too far from where we were. And wwe had never gotten contact with her or her family before. As we were leaving empty handed, she pulled up to the apartment complex and we were able to talk to her and her two unbaptized children!!! Crazy how the timing of the Lord is perfect like that!!!

We also got to go on exchanged this week with my main man Elder Jimenez. He is quite the legend. We did a bunch of baptismal interviews for the pweople they are tyeaching and one of them got BAPTIZED THIS WEEKEND nothing can stop the work from progressing.

But things are the same old here in Naperville 3. Doing some great work. The best work in the world, the Lords work. The Church has been restored and everything is coming sooner and happening faster and faster! Prepare for GENERAL CONFERENCE IT WILL BE AMAZING SO MUCH GOODNESS WILL COME FORTH. WATCH IT. LEARN IT. LOVE IT.

as always

Elder Tracy

SAULO and Elder Jimenez and me