Hey there family,

 I can't believe Jet is gone! I'm really sad I didn't say goodbye to him! Nancie's cat got ran over as well this week. Seeing any animal in pain is not a fun thing. I liked how Dad compared the situation to when our Heavenly Father sees us in pain. He is sad when we are hurting, and especially when we are hurting because of a decision we made (like being disobedient). I know our Heavenly Father really loves us and that's why he has given us so much! He wants us to be happy and to be able to "run around". And he tells us what we must do to be happy! " And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." - Mosiah 2: 41. It's so comforting to know where we can find NEVER-ENDING HAPPINESS!! We just have to be faithful and keep the commandments! It sounds so easy and it is! But it does take constant action, we can't give up!

Well at least this week will be happy with Conner and Kimball's Birthdays!!!! Happy Birthday to both of you!!!!!! I love you both so much and am sad I'm missing this day with you but I know that you will have an AWESOME day!! Conner, I can't believe you are 16!!!!! That is so crazy, remember to drive safely :) And I need to approve all girls that you date :) Haha Kimball, you are getting so old as well! Don't grow up too fast! I want you to still be my little brother when I get home :) Let me know how both of your days go!

So this week we can definetly see fall! The leaves are starting to change colors, and their have been some pretty great rain storms here as well! It's getting a little bit chilly, and I'm wishing I would have been a little more prepared :) I guess that is what happens sometimes in life. We don't prepare as well as we need to and then we later regret it and wish we could go back. It reminds of the 10 virgins. The 5 that were not prepared with their oil, had to hurry and go get some, and they missed the bridegroom. In the gospel, with our testimonies, we need to be preparing them now! We can't procrastinate because when the time comes we want to be ready, with a strong and firm testimony of the gospel!! We have to prepare everyday by the things that you are doing now. Like studying scriptures, praying, attending our church meeting, serving, and Loving everyone. We add oil to our lamps everytime we try to be more like Christ!

So our ward mission leader had set a date to have found someone who accepted the missionary discussions for August 30th. And he really did! So on Saturday night we went over to their house to teach them. It was a pretty interesting night. The man is one of his coworkers and then his wife was coming as well. They were 3 hours late though. So we were crunched on time. The lesson didn't go as smoothly as we would have hoped. Anytime someone testified of the truth, the spirit was SO strong!!! However I did notice that our ward mission leader was so excited to tell him EVERYTHING, that things were a little scattered and all over the place. I've come to realize that when we share the gospel, we don't and can't share everything all at once. It's like this example of cake when we share the gospel. If I had a giant cake that was frosted all beautifully, I wouldn't need to explain the molecular structure of the cake for you to enjoy it, right? Sometimes when we share the gospel, we need to just give the very basics or the things that are going to matter most to them. We just need to make sure we are displaying it well and making the "cake" look good (by living what believe and being good examples) and then letting them taste it for themselves (by reading The Book of Mormon and by coming to church.) All of those little details, we have been learning our whole lives! And we can't expect to teach them in so little time! So now go give people some cake :)

This week we had a neat experience! We had stopped by a few houses but no one was home, so we decided to stop by at some members homes. On our way over we felt like we should stop and tract this specific street. So we knocked on a few doors but no one was interested. As we started walking back to our car, we saw this young man walking towards us. We stopped and talked to him and shared our message with him. His mom had just passed away in May and we told him of the comfort that he can find in our gospel and throughout the Book of Mormon. At first, it seemed like everything was going wrong but Heavenly Father led us to this specific street to meet this boy. When we are doing the things we know we should be doing, and putting our faith and trust in the Lord, he will lead us to where we need to be! And often times we get discouraged because it is not what we THINK should be happening, but what our Heavenly Father KNOWS should be happening. I just love experiences like these, they are really humbling. I guess I really don't know everything :)

I love you lots!! Hope school and work is going well! Glad to know football season going pretty good! I pray for you all everyday! That's a whole 2 months of prayers :) 

Love you, Sister Tracy

P.S. Conner and Kimball I sent a package last Wednesday so you should be gettting it soon! 

Hello Everyone :)

Happy Labor Day! I'm glad to here you are all doing well! Sounds like Mom and Dad had a super fun trip! Maybe you flew over my head :) Sad to hear about all the games that were lost. Don't these teams know winning is the only important thing in life! :) Just kidding! Is the whole family doing fantasy football again? Let me know who wins :) How's school? work? life? Also tell the ward I love them and miss them :)

So we had some cool things happen this week! We have 3 new investigators and our less-actives are all super close to coming back to church! On Tuesday we had a new missionary training which was really fun to see Everyone from the MTC! I seriously just love them all soo much! We had some really great training from president and from our assistants. After our training we had so much motivation we decided to go trackting. So it's raining and we are having doors slammed in our faces and we are just smiling because it was just such a good day :) Anyways we knock on this door and this man starts talking to us, I started talking about Joseph Smith and he stops me and tells me that is his name! Yeah crazy... We Found Joseph Smith! Haha But we have an appointment with him on Wednesday to teach him more so that's pretty cool :)

On last Sunday we were visiting a member family and after we asked if there was anything we could do for them, she told us she actually just had a speaker at there Youth Standards Night cancel so she asked us to fill in. So on Wednesday we taught the young women about friends and education. It was fun to spend time with the young women, they are so funny. I hope I was not that immature though.....I probably was :)

So this week we ran out of our car miles, so the last 4 days we were kind of sitting ducks. On Thursday we had a few rides to places but we mostly just walked. Nancie told us that she threw away her coffee pot, she said there is no reason to have it in the house, because we are commanded to not drink coffee. She is seriously like the prime investigator ever! We visited Zanaya (the 12 year old girl we met last week). She was asking all sorts of crazy questions and throwing bible versus at us. Who would have thought the hardest investigator we would have would be 12. We just told her that the only way she can know if what we are teaching her is true is to pray and ask God. I love how strong the spirit is when we testify of prayer. Our Heavenly Father really is listening to our prayers, and he always answers us! That night was pretty crazy. So we had gotten a ride with a less active home and guess who left the phone in their car?! Yep, it was me! I guess I really haven't changed that much :) Haha anyways the elders we supposed to be meeting us. They rode their bikes to us, just to give us blessings in the dark. They left their bikes with us, so we wouldn't have to walk and then called to get a ride home. We have the best elders here! It is so neat to see elders who are so selfless and honor their priesthood. I just love them!!

We visited a less active on her birthday and she started crying and told us how we love her more than her very own family. I've really learned so much about love and how much it really means to people! I will forever LOVE this woman with all my heart!! This week will be week 6 which means transfers are next Tuesday. I really just love this area so much, so I'm guessing I will stay :) There are only 3 sisters coming out (one of them being Sister Graham!!) I want to go to transfers just to see her :)

On Friday Night we got a call from Nancie and she was in tears. She told us she was going to be cancelling the baptism but wouldn't tell us why. We got a ride over there and it got pretty intense. Her husband, who has been pretty supportive for the last 2 months, all of a sudden told her he doesn't want her to get baptized, that if she gets baptized she won't even be his wife. We were just standing in the middle of them, while they were yelling at each other and we weren't quite sure what to say or do. He finally just grabbed some beer and left for a walk. We asked if she wanted a blessing and I've never seen so much fear in someone's eyes. We were scared to leave her alone. We just prayed all night for her safety. It makes me so sad for the women, who are scared of their husbands. She has such a strong testimony and we are still planning for her baptism to be this Saturday at 10 am. But we can't put her in danger either, so that's been kind of tricky. Please keep her in your prayers. She really is truly amazing!!

Riding bikes this week was lots of fun!! The looks we got were priceless :) Also skirts and bikes are not meant to join together.... So one of the highlights of our week could have been being pulled over by a cop on our bikes :) Haha we had seen a member from our ward and he had pulled over to talk to us. The cop came, with back up, just to make sure we were alright. It was pretty funny "Why were you talking to that man?" "How do you know him?" Anyways just know the cops are looking out for us :)

We studied a lot about gratitude this week! When we stop and look at what the Lord gives us everyday, we realize we have SOOO Much! The important thing is to express our gratitude to our Heavenly Father! Everything we have is from our Heavenly Father and he asks us to thank him! In the story of the 10 lepers, let us be the ones who go back and thank our savior for healing us. He is always healing us and giving us strength and it is so important we thank him every single day!!! Look at your blessings, look at the specific details of your life, be grateful for what you have, and stop complaining, Because you are Blessed! Now go express your gratitude to your Heavenly Father!!

I Love you all so much! Study the scriptures, they bring happiness and help in times of trial! Pray always, heavenly father wants to hear from you and he gives us strength. Be grateful and serve always! We are so blessed and we need to be serving others :) Thank you for all you have done for me! I know I would not be where I am without all of you! I pray for you and thank Heavenly Father for blessing me with such amazingfamily and friends!

Love you all more than a vanilla ice cream cone :)

Love, Sister Samantha Tracy

P.S. My ward mission leader was just being funny, so we all took a picture of him :)

Last Week of My 1st Transfer

Hello Everyone :)

Happy Labor Day! I'm glad to hear you are all doing well! Sounds like Mom and Dad had a super fun trip! Maybe you flew over my head :) Sad to hear about all the games that were lost. Don't these teams know winning is the only important thing in life! :) Just kidding! Is the whole family doing fantasy football again? Let me know who wins :) How's school? work? life? Also tell the ward I love them and miss them :) 

So we had some cool things happen this week! We have 3 new investigators and our less-actives are all super close to coming back to church! On Tuesday we had a new missionary training which was really fun to see Everyone from the MTC! I seriously just love them all soo much! We had some really great training from president and from our assistants. After our training we had so much motivation we decided to go trackting. So it's raining and we are having doors slammed in our faces and we are just smiling because it was just such a good day :) Anyways we knock on this door and this man starts talking to us, I started talking about Joseph Smith and he stops me and tells me that is his name! Yeah crazy... We Found Joseph Smith! Haha But we have an appointment with him on Wednesday to teach him more so that's pretty cool :) 

Last Sunday we were visiting a member family and after we asked if there was anything we could do for them, she told us she actually just had a speaker at there Youth Standards Night cancel so she asked us to fill in. So on Wednesday we taught the young women about friends and education. It was fun to spend time with the young women, they are so funny. I hope I was not that immature though.....I probably was :) 

So this week we ran out of our car miles, so the last 4 days we were kind of sitting ducks. On Thursday we had a few rides to places but we mostly just walked. Nancie told us that she threw away her coffee pot, she said there is no reason to have it in the house, because we are commanded to not drink coffee. She is seriously like the prime investigator ever! We visited Zanaya (the 12 year old girl we met last week). She was asking all sorts of crazy questions and throwing bible versus at us. Who would have thought the hardest investigator we would have would be 12. We just told her that the only way she can know if what we are teaching her is true is to pray and ask God. I love how strong the spirit is when we testify of prayer. Our Heavenly Father really is listening to our prayers, and he always answers us! 

That night was pretty crazy. So we had gotten a ride with a less active home and guess who left the phone in their car?! Yep, it was me! I guess I really haven't changed that much :) Haha anyways the elders we supposed to be meeting us. They rode their bikes to us, just to give us blessings in the dark. They left their bikes with us, so we wouldn't have to walk and then called to get a ride home. We have the best elders here! It is so neat to see elders who are so selfless and honor their priesthood. I just love them!! 

We visited a less active on her birthday and she started crying and told us how we love her more than her very own family. I've really learned so much about love and how much it really means to people! I will forever LOVE this woman with all my heart!! This week will be week 6 which means transfers are next Tuesday. I really just love this area so much, so I'm guessing I will stay :) There are only 3 sisters coming out (one of them being Sister Graham!!) I want to go to transfers just to see her :)

On Friday Night we got a call from Nancie and she was in tears. She told us she was going to be cancelling the baptism but wouldn't tell us why. We got a ride over there and it got pretty intense. Her husband, who has been pretty supportive for the last 2 months, all of a sudden told her he doesn't want her to get baptized, that if she gets baptized she won't even be his wife. We were just standing in the middle of them, while they were yelling at each other and we weren't quite sure what to say or do. He finally just grabbed some beer and left for a walk. We asked if she wanted a blessing and I've never seen so much fear in someone's eyes. We were scared to leave her alone. We just prayed all night for her safety. It makes me so sad for the women, who are scared of their husbands. She has such a strong testimony and we are still planning for her baptism to be this Saturday at 10 am. But we can't put her in danger either, so that's been kind of tricky. Please keep her in your prayers. She really is truly amazing!! 

Riding bikes this week was lots of fun!! The looks we got were priceless :) Also skirts and bikes are not meant to join together.... So one of the highlights of our week could have been being pulled over by a cop on our bikes :) Haha we had seen a member from our ward and he had pulled over to talk to us. The cop came, with back up, just to make sure we were alright. It was pretty funny "Why were you talking to that man?" "How do you know him?" Anyways just know the cops are looking out for us :) 

We studied a lot about gratitude this week! When we stop and look at what the Lord gives us everyday, we realize we have SOOO Much! The important thing is to express our gratitude to our Heavenly Father! Everything we have is from our Heavenly Father and he asks us to thank him! In the story of the 10 lepers, let us be the ones who go back and thank our savior for healing us. He is always healing us and giving us strength and it is so important we thank him every single day!!! Look at your blessings, look at the specific details of your life, be grateful for what you have, and stop complaining, Because you are Blessed! Now go express your gratitude to your Heavenly Father!! 

I Love you all so much! Study the scriptures, they bring happiness and help in times of trial! Pray always, Heavenly Father wants to hear from you and He gives us strength. Be grateful and serve always! We are so blessed and we need to be serving others :) Thank you for all you have done for me! I know I would not be where I am without all of you! I pray for you and thank Heavenly Father for blessing me with such amazing family and friends! 

Love you all more than a vanilla ice cream cone :) 

Love, Sister Samantha Tracy

P.S. My ward mission leader was just being funny, so we all took a picture of him :)