Week 65: Fall is here

Well what a #blessed week. Isn't every week? I think its because God loves each one of us that life is a blessing.
This week was great. And the leaves are changing colors and it is a delight. I love fall.
We had some really awesome experiences this week.
We stopped by these former investigators at like 8:45 at night and they actually opened the door and let us right in! We taught them about the Book of Mormon and they said that they were interested in meeting with the missionaries and coming to church. It was a nighttime miracle.
Also, we are tracting in this trailer park one day. And there's a guy sitting in his car and so we knock a few more doors and then Sister Snider is like, we really need to talk to that guy. So we approach the car and as we approach, he gets out of the car and tells us that he wants to learn about our religion and that he was afraid he was going to miss his opportunity if he didn't stop us right then. We taught him of the restoration and he told us that we were "healing his mind." It was an incredible experience.
We also had the Fort Collins Temple dedication yesterday. It was amazing. Elder Uchtdorf spoke as did Elder Renlund. It was super incredible and I could feel God's love so strongly. It is such a privilege to be a part of the temple open house and dedication.
One more funny story:
This week we were out walking and it was dark and all the sudden, this dog barks really loud and it scares me to death. So I scream and grab Sister Snider and pull her and me to the ground and she's just standing there like what are you doing?
It was hilarious. maybe it doesn't sound like it but it was, okay?
Anyway, something I loved this week was at the dedication, Elder Uchtdorf quoted George Q. Cannon who said,
“Every foundation stone that is laid for a Temple, and every Temple completed according to the order the Lord has revealed for his holy Priesthood, lessens the power of Satan on the earth, and increases the power of God and Godliness, moves the heavens in mighty power in our behalf, invokes and calls down upon us the blessings of the Eternal Gods, and those who reside in their presence”
I know that there is so much power in heaven and in the temples, we just have to use it and God will help us!
Have a great week, I love you all!
Sister Tracy

Week 64: wandering around confused

OHHHHHHHH man people. This week was probably the most confusing week of all time.
It was also great. We are loving life.
So sadly, I had to leave Parker which was pretty sad but now I'm in this great new area. Its kinda ghetto but also super awesome. We show up in the area and we have no area book, no area map, we finally figure out where our apartment is. Speaking of which, no one has lived in this apartment for quite a while and man was it nasty. But the power of cleaning supplies is great.
So over time, we finally have gotten some more information, but we're still trying to figure everything out so mostly we've just been wandering around, hoping we're in our area haha but we've talked to tons of people and gotten tons of new investigators because of it so I guess wandering around is actually effective haha
People here are great. They are so funny and always do weird things that make our day.
Like the other day, we were just walking around and this really old man pulls up next to us in his car and he's like "I can't open my garage. Will you help me?" And we're like sure why not. So we proceed to try to tell him that yes we will help him for like 5 minutes because he was very hard of hearing. After 5 minutes, he's like "Wait, you're not Carla!" And we're like, no its true, we're not. And so he just drives away and leaves us standing there, very confused. haha
so yeah, me and sister snider are getting along great and loving life. We both love random adventures and talking to everyone so its made for some interesting experiences.
Well this week I've been thinking a lot about the classic scripture, Proverbs 3: 5-6
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths"
I've really been thinking a lot about trusting in God and just in the plan He has for us. It doesn't say trust the Lord with most of your heart, it says, trust with ALL your heart. And that's what I'm trying to do!
Hope y'all have a great week!
Much love,
Sister Tracy

1. standing on a soap box preaching like
2. never stop biking
3. this is the map we finally got. its kind of large
4. first day selfie
5. bye to the best companion in the whole world ♥♥
6. bye to the best jeep in the world

 

Week 63: Transfers are upon us

This is Allison's mother - Allison refers to General Conference, which took place last weekend.  Twice per year, our leaders speak to us over two days, including our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson.  It is a great opportunity to be inspired, to feel the Holy Spirit, to be reminded of our blessings and covenants, and to think about making improvements in our lives.  If you have interest, here is a link to the talks:  https://www.lds.org/general-conference?cid=HP_SU_2-10-2016_dPFD_fGC_xLIDyL1-C_&lang=eng

Well I'm getting transferred. :( I'm so sad to leave the best area and the best companion. It's going to be different but I'm headed back to the same zone I was born in but a different ward. We're sweeping in so we will see how that goes.
Me and Sister Kastner had a great week.
We had sisters' p day on monday. We also got to help our recent convert paint her house so that was fun. We got to go help out at a food drive at a grocery store so that was good.
Also Kyle got his answer that the Book of Mormon is true which was such a blessing! He is doing so great and is seeing so many blessings come from his obedience to the commandments of God.
I also ate pheasant this week. That was interesting.
And best of all of course was general conference. That was the best thing that has ever happened to the world.
Overall, I would say my favorite line of all of conference was:
"God needs brave sons and daughters." He really does. Sometimes He asks us to do hard things and we have to just trust in him and do it.
I hope y'all have a great week!
Much love,
Sister Tracy

Wwek 62: too blessed to be stressed

Happy fall y'all! Its really beginning to be fall here in Colorado. The weather is cooling down and the leaves are changing colors. I'm so happy about that. It is such a blessing to be in such a beautiful place. We had a really busy but awesome week!
We started out the week with 2 dinners in a row since we got ourselves into a sticky situation hahaa but we just kept eating and somehow, God provided a way to make my stomach be able to handle it! #blessed
So the awesome man, Kyle that we taught last week who was interested because of the Fort Collins temple open house, we got him on baptismal date for October 8th! When we asked him if he would be baptized, he said "definitely!" and we were so happy!! He is progressing so well, what a tender mercy.ew
I hit my 14 month mark this week. How crazy is that? I can't believe how fast time is going.
Another cool experience this week, we went on lots of exchanges with the sisters. So I went to one of the sisters' area with her and I've gone to her area before and we haven't had much success. But when we were nightly planning, she asked me if I thought we could find 3 new investigators the next day together. I said, YES and just started praying from that moment on that we would actually be able to do it because I told this sister we would, so we had to, obviously haha so we worked really hard and literally ran after people and by a miracle of God, we got 3 new investigators! It truly showed me that when we do our part, God will help us. This is His work. It reminds me of 2 sentences in Preach My Gospel which are in the same paragraph which proves how important it is: "As you do all you can under the guidance of the Holy Ghost to find people to teach, the Lord will place such people in your path. You need to do all you can to be placed in the path of those who are being prepared." Do your part and God will take care of the rest!
All right, one last thought. I hope y'all got a chance to watch the women's session of general conference this weekend. It was the greatest thing of ever. There was a talk that I love by Sister Carole M. Stephens. In it, she says,
"The Master Healer can comfort and sustain us as we experience painful “realities of mortality,” such as disaster, mental illness, disease, chronic pain, and even death. … I testify that you don’t have to experience the painful realities of mortality—alone. … “[He] would do anything to take this from you.” In fact, “[He] already has.”
Remember that and remember to watch general conference this weekend! Love you all!
Sister Tracy

1. colorado is so beautiful
2. exchanges with the lovely Sister Dennis!
3. Pray always :)
4. artsy bike pictures
5. don't i have the cutest companion?
6. when we got 3 new investigators and met our goals! #blessed

Week 61: what a blessed week

Well this week was great, as per usual.
We had some really awesome experiences. We were being super bold in our finding approaches this week.
We knocked on this man's car window when it was parked in a parking lot. So he rolls it down and we start talking to him and he is the SWEETEST man in the whole world. We proceed to teach him, he's in his 40s and he's super super interested. He said that he usually isn't super open with anyone but he felt like he could be with us and that this is what he needed to be doing with his life. He loves the church and it is super great! We met with him 3 times in 3 days. It was incredible. Doing crazy things to find people to teach pays off people.
Also, we've been doing tons of finding and its been great. But we had the greatest tender mercy this week. A less active calls us and asks us to start teaching her nonmember boyfriend. So we go and teach them and he just said that he was kind of antagonistic against the church but then he went to the Fort Collins Temple open house and he just felt more peace than he's ever felt before in his life and he knew that this is what he needed to do with his life. So we go to teach him and have the most incredible lesson and he just says that he knows this is what he needs to do. It was one of those lessons where the Spirit was so strong, it even strengthened my own testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. What a blessed experience.
I was reading a letter from my dear mother the other day and she sent me something that has changed my perspective. She says,
"I don't think life was meant to be easy, but it was meant to bring joy and happiness. We just need to work through the bad to really enjoy the  good. We'll all get there."  -Mom Tracy
Doesn't she sound like a general authority? haha but really, its so true. There are always hard times in each of our lives but when we approach them with a good attitude, they can all be good experiences and experiences where we learn and draw closer to our Heavenly Father.
Hope y'all have a great week!
Much love,
Sister Tracy

Week 60: temple blessings

We had a wonderful week this week. I sure do love being a missionary!
We had some cool experiences this week!
One was that we are really coming to realize how much the Lord truly leads us in His work. We had a day where EVERYTHING really happened for a reason! One of the coolest experiences was it was like 8:30 and we weren't sure what to do. So we're riding our bikes around and I felt like we needed to go knock on this random door. So we do and he's atheist and not interested so I was like all right, I wonder what the reason was for us knocking on his door? I felt so prompted to do it. So we keep riding on and then Sister Kastner stops and is like we need to knock on this lady's door. So we stop our bikes and right when we do, the door opens and her dog runs out after us. So the lady has to be outside and we start talking to her and we sit down and share the gospel with her and she said that this is exactly what she needs right now because she is going through a really rough time. So it was awesome that the timing of everything was just perfect so we could run into this sweet sweet lady. This really is His work and it will be done in His way.
We got to be at the temple a bunch this week and it was incredible. We got to go through the tour one last time with President and Sister Mendenhall and it was an amazing experience. I love how strong the Spirit is, even in this temple that is not dedicated yet! It truly is the house of the Lord. I had a chance to talk to a woman at the temple who said that she has been less active most of her life but something drew her to come up to the temple. So she did and afterwards when I was talking to her, she said that she felt very emotional and that she felt like she needed to figure out a way to get back to church. It was such a testimony to me of the power of the temple open house and how it truly can change hearts.
My favorite quote of the week:
"Success isn't owned; it's leased. And rent is due every day."
-J.J Watt

Hope y'all have a great week!
Much love,
Sister Tracy

Week 59: week of miracles

This week was the best ever. Oh my gosh I can't stop saying that but its true. I sure do love being a missionary.
We saw some great miracles this week!
1. We were sitting outside the library, eating Chipotle on monday after emailing. And this guy walks up to us and asks us what church we go to! So we talk to him for a while and he said that he had come to the library to find religious books because he felt like he needed more in his life. So I said, "Oh well we have a book for you!" and gave him a Book of Mormon. He actually came to church on sunday and said he's been reading it! So it was a really cool experience.
2. Another awesome experience was that we decided to go street contacting at this park at like 8:30 at night. So we see this group of teenagers all doing not good things lets just say and so Sister Kastner of course is like, "lets preach at them" so we go and start talking to them. it was super awkward and they weren't interested so we start to walk away and one kid comes up to us as we walk away and is like "what are you sharing? are you christian?" so we proceed to teach him about the restoration and give him a Book of Mormon. It was a tender mercy from a super super awkward experience haha #goodtimes
3. At the Fort Collins Temple open house this week, we got to be the missionaries introducing the temple for the attorney general of colorado and some congressmen. It was super intense and everyone told us we had to be perfect because this was important. We prayed our hearts out for help and it went really well! He really like it a lot and he was very interested. Also we got in some official government pictures so basically famous. keep your eyes out for Sister Tracy and Sister Kastner.

there's this beautiful song i'm in love with at the moment, its called "gentle savior" by daniel beck. you should look it up. but there's this one part that says "Tomorrow is a chasm of uncertainty but I will go there, if you'll go with me." And i feel like that perfectly describes all our lives. We have no idea what tomorrow will bring but the Savior will be there with us, every step of the way, I promise!
Hope y'all have a great week!
Love you,
Sister Tracy

1. we got a bunch of vegetables from a member's garden and she said we should take some "fall pictures" haha
2. we made zucchini bread with this zucchini :)
3. helping people move #ourlives
4. eating chipotle outside the library like