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

Week 58: BEST WEEK EVER

PEOPLE THIS WAS THE BEST WEEK EVER. NO JOKE
can i just say how much I love being a missionary? it is the best in the whole world.
so first of all, RICHARD AND DIANE GOT BAPTIZED. #blessed
it was the most beautiful baptism ever. weirdest part was that the water was straight up BROWN. you couldn't even see the bottom. apparently they had been flushing fire hydrants in the neighborhood and it lead to the water being brown.
when Diane came up, she was like, "WELL THAT FELT GOOD." it was so cute.
Also, we got to go up to the Fort Collins temple twice and be visitor center missionaries! It was so fun! We got to talk to lots of people and we got to spend time in the visitors center, answering questions. And man do people have weird questions haha one of hte funniest things some nonmember came up to me and said was:
him: "who's that man on top of the temple?"
me: "angel moroni." and i go on to explain who he is.
him: "He's awesome! I want to get a tattoo of him on my arm!"
me: "...okay haha"
it was so funny.
but oh my goodness life is just so great. #blessed.
OH IN OTHER NEWS I GOT TO HOLD A CHICK AND A CHICKEN. the chicken pecked me hahaha hence the hilarious picture. and these huge turkeys. it was so fun.

my favorite quote at the moment:
"Keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow and forever." -Jeffery R. Holland.
How true is that?
Y'all be happy this week!
Love you!
Sister Tracy

1. terror at getting pecked haha
2. baby chicky :)
3. giant turkeys
4. on the way to the temple
5. i have the prettiest companion
6. the baptism!!!
7. yummy water
8. at the visitors center like

Week 57: CAN YOU BELIEVE IT

ME AND SISTER KASTNER ARE STAYING TOGETHER FOR ANOTHER TRANSFER! WE'LL BE TOGETHER FOR 6 MONTHS AND I'LL BE IN THIS AREA FOR ALMOST 8 MONTHS. WHAT IS LIFE. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??? I SURE CAN'T. we're so excited!!!!!!
life is great. this week was great.
first things first, WE GOT TO GO TO THE FORT COLLINS TEMPLE OPEN HOUSE this week! It was AMAZING and we got to take our recent convert. also in other news, WE GET TO BE VISITOR CENTER MISSIONARIES FOR THE FORT COLLINS TEMPLE OPEN HOUSE. how sweet is that?? we love life.
Also, it got SO cold this week. one night we were sitting having a lesson outside and it was raining and it was 46 degrees and I thought I was going to die. we went home and had hot chocolate. in august. what is life.
Richard and Diane came to church this week and they're getting baptized this week! we're so excited and its going to be great.
Cool experience this week: it was really late and we didn't know what we should do because it was raining and dark. So we went out walking in a neighborhood, not sure of what we were doing. and we walked for a while, and then the last house on the street, we stopped and talked to a girl getting out of her car. and she said that she doesn't have a strong relationship in God but that she would love to strengthen it so we're going back this week to talk with her! it was definitely a miracle and super cool!
I am just so aware of how much God loves each and every one of us! Never forget!
I love y'all! have a great week!
Sister Tracy

Week 56: Reflections

#blessed
I've been reading through my old journals every day from 1 year ago to date since I hit my year mark. And as I've been doing so, I've really been reflecting on how much I've grown but also how much I have loved being a missionary right from the start. My entry from a year ago yesterday, August 14, 2015, having been in the mission field for about a week and a half, perfectly describes how I feel about missionary work still today:
"We saw so many miracles today. We felt the Spirit so much today and really just felt God's love. It is such a blessing to be a missionary. Its the happiest kind of happy and I am so blessed each and every day!"
AMEN. #blessed
This week was good. We are loving life and all is well.
We had zone p day this week which was good! We had to plan it last second of course because the elders didn't plan ahead haha but what else is new?
We got to spend a lot of time finding this week which is always great.
We had stake conference and man it was sooo good!
Sorry I really don't have too much to say haha but something I came to realize this week is that we truly are never alone. that really, we always have God on our side and He'll prepare a way to make it all work out! I was reading a talk by President Eyring from the last conference because my lovely sister, Katie #shoutout inspired me to read all the general conference talks before the next conference. But he says: "Our desire to serve others is magnified by our gratitude for what the Savior has done for us. The first thing you must commit to do is to go and serve, knowing that you do not go alone. When you go to comfort and serve anyone for the Savior, He prepares the way before you."
how true is that? He really is watching out for each of us and He will help us as we strive to serve others!
Hope you have a great week! I love y'all!
Sister Tracy

1. in a bus like
2. we found a baby cactus in the middle of the street growing out of a manhole. you don't want to know how much effort taking this picture took
3. animals love me
4. we bike a lot.
5. pretty accurate representation of every day of our lives