So where to even start! This week has been SOOOOO crazy!!! So, Monday was just super crazy with both Sister Kesler and I leaving our area! Packing, running errands, saying goodbyes, and getting the apartment ready for the new sisters! So we go to transfers and here's the news....... I'm in the Ypsi Hill area with Sister Rikard!!!! So it's been SUPER busy! The Hill street area was the sisters that serve on the U of M campus and in the YSA ward, It was Sister Rikard and Sister Weber, our STL's last transfer. And the Ypsi Hill area is in the Ypsilanti ward and they also worked with the YSA at EMU also in the Hill Street Ward. So due to so many missionaries leaving in the next few months... About a third of the mission will be leaving by January..... The Hill Street area and Ypsi Hill area were combined! And yes it has been insanely busy!! :) It's the BEST!!!!! Both areas had weeks filled with appointments, so we've had to cancel many different appointments and figure out how to blend the two wards and areas. God is definitely blessing us though! And I'm sooo Grateful Sister Rikard knew about Hill Street already cause that would have been even more insane!
I LOVE the two wards! It's fun to be in a YSA ward, very different than serving in a family ward, but the ward is on fire!!! We had at least 12 members come out with us to appointments this week! We had a recent convert (Alex) bring his girlfriend to Church!! Then they both came to an appointment with us for an investigator Ryan. We taught about the Book of Mormon and at the end, Alex's girlfriend kept her Book of Mormon it was AWESOME! We had a few other student's bring roommates/coworkers/classmates to church and they are inviting everyone to meet the missionaries! It's Fantastic!! Then in the Ypsi ward, the ward is on fire as well!! Our ward mission leader is FANTASTIC! He's super involved and so are all the members! The ward mission plan is so specific to every individual family and as we've met with the families, Everyone is Doing sooo much missionary work! I feel so blessed to get to serve in these two wards! Then to top it off my companion is practically perfect in every way! She's from Oregon and then went to school at BYU-Hawaii, she got her bachelors, in peace building and business (I think...) She has been a Sister Training Leader since day 1 of her mission and has been out almost a year! I'm learning so much from her! :) I just am so excited to be serving in this area!
We're working with Sooo many amazing people!! We are working with over 40 people (investigators, less-actives, and recent converts) combining the two areas, and I love ALL of them sooo much! I'll tell you about a few...
Van Rice lives in Ypsi, he's from Detroit and met the sisters at a fair, where they set up a booth. He's on date for baptism in January. He is the sweetest man! He loves The Book of Mormon and the priesthood! He told us he could only come maybe once a month to church so we called to invite him again and we find out he was embarrassed to come because he doesn't have a suit. We said "Van, you don't need a suit, God just wants you to be at church and to remember Jesus Christ!" He got sooo excited and it was the sweetest thing! God just loves us all and wants us to come to him, with where we are at right now, I love how much God loves his children!!!
Kelly Williams is a convert from Arizona. She's wonderful and we taught her about family history work. She's Obsessed now :) haha She's caught the spirit of Elijah! She's going to the temple for the first time this week to do her families baptisms!! :) YAY!!!!
Chen Chen is from China going to school here at U of M. He didn't believe in God and now he does! He's read all the way to 2 Nephi! He was asking about how we know Laman and Lemuel were the ones who were wrong and not Nephi. He continued to ask how we know if our answers are right.... he paused and then said.... "Prayer?" The spirit is so powerful and such a great teacher!! We didn't have to say anything, the spirit taught him what he needed to know!
Zola is from Ethiopia. He's only here for about a couple more months. He had soo many questions about the Godhead, so we knew he needed to be taught the Restoration! I love the Restoration sooo much! It just makes so much sense! We know eternal truths like the Godhead being 3 separate beings and the main evidence is the Restoration and how do we know the Restoration to be true? The Book of Mormon! The Book of Mormon is the best super weapon ever! At the end he just said, "I need to read the Book of Mormon." :)
Yusong is also from China. We took him on a church tour and it was quite the experience. So he had never been in a church building before, so we're going around and we wanted to show him the baptismal font at the end.... but we couldn't find it.... haha We walked in circles forever and he just kept saying "Are we lost?" hahaha It was pretty hilarious! We finally found it!! When we invited him to be baptized he said "Baptism is like cutting your arm off... or getting a tattoo... It's permanent." I've never thought of baptism like that, but he understands how important and life changing this decision is. We just need to now help him understand it's a Wonderful change! More like signing up for an endless supply of ice-cream :)
MaRye is a 14 year old girl whose Mom is less-active. She is soooo smart! And she just wants to know if God is there! As I've served I feel like the root of most people comes down to just wanting to feel God's Love! It is soo important and It's a blessing to be a part of helping people find that love that is there for them!
So there are probably like a ton more things to share, but that will probably be good for today :) I Love you all! I Love Michigan and this Mission! I Love most of all may Savior Jesus Christ and our Loving Heavenly Father! They love you too and don't forget that! :)
Love,
Sister Tracy
Sister Tracy
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