Trust Yourself and Do It!!!

Hello Family!!

Looks like winter is here! Is it still snowing in Utah? It snowed just a little this last week, but then it got warm. There's been lots of storms lately, someone told me there were tornado warnings, but who knows?

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!! I got the package with the coats and boots! THANK YOU!! I felt so special with the package :) Sister fisher says thank you for the Halloween candy you sent her! You are all just awesome!

Dad, Thank you for your letter! I love you lots!!! Glad you had fun on your trip!!

WOW! Crazy thing in the Phillipines! I'm glad the missionaries are safe! I will keep the mission in my prayers! Sis. Fisher has some friends there and told me a lot of crazy things have happened there! I know that the people will be blessed for their work and faith! 

So this week we had a good meeting with President Gerber. We talked about different skills we can have to help us serve better. We are using the pictures from the pamphlets to teach, which is a new way I hadn't thought of. It's pretty cool.  

So the highlight of this week, was probably last night! A couple in our ward had taken our challenge of asking a friend to hear the discussion, they prayed about it and asked many people and finally one accepted! So we had dinner with them last night and a lady he went to school with. She was raised in Albania and then her family moved here to Detroit. She was not able to practice any kind of religion. If someone was found with a Bible it was burned and they were severely punished, maybe even killed. It is a crazy place! So it was very different to start teaching someone who hadn't grown up believing in God or in Jesus Christ. I realized I was greatly blessed with being raised in a wonderful country allowing us to practice religion! I've been lucky enough to have that peace always with me, knowing Heavenly Father loves me!! She was telling me that all of her friends that have religion in her life are able to cope with their trials so much better. She remembers the friends she has met who were members of our church. She told me they are just great wholesome families. She said the men are just great fathers and husbands and everyone seems so happy. She wants that in her life! We taught about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and we gave her some material to study. Even if she does not continue to learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, I am so grateful that she has had great examples around her, showing what the gospel brings! We never know who is watching us so we need to CONSTANTLY be trying to be like our Savior. We never know who we will affect in the future.

This week Sister Fisher and I taught about obedience in Gospel Principles (which I just bought this book, so hopefully I will get it soon, so we don't have to borrow one every time we teach). I shared the story of Jet getting hit by the car. And how we have consequences of our disobedience as well as our obedience. This week I was able to see a small example of disobedience. We had an investigator drink a little bit of tea and they felt sooooo guilty!!!! They knew what the commandment was and just straight up disobeyed. At first I was shocked at how guilty they felt over just a sip of tea, but after we taught how obedience is how we show our love for our Heavenly Father, I could understand their guilt. We should not feel good after we disobey, even if we don't understand the reason behind the commandments. So before you decide to give a little lie or treat others badly, we should remember Obedience is how we show our love! Joseph Smith says this great quote "So I make this my rule, when the Lord commands it, Do it!" I think we could be a lot better and not questioning the things we do, but just Do It!

Last thing as I was reading in Ether, I was reading of my favorite example, The Brother of Jared, I just LOVE him!! I think I've shared this with you before, but repetition is good :) In the first few chapters there is a great example of how the Lord answers our prayers. Sometimes the Lord is with us every step of the way, telling us what we need to do, like in Ether 2: 6. The Lord helps the brother of Jared build barges by "directing him continually". Even when their was no air in the barges, the brother of Jared asked how they were going to breathe. And the Lord told him what he needed to do. But when the brother of Jared asked how they could have light, the Lord said (Ether 2: 23) "What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels?" The brother of Jared then came up with a way to for them to have light by making 16 stones, and then asked for the Lord's help in touching the stones and letting them shine. Most times we want the Lord to just help us do everything and tell us how and what to do. I know as I serve, everyday I just want the people who are ready to accept the gospel to have a giant strobe light above their heads. Wouldn't that be awesome?!! But we see how it is not always that easy. The Lord trusts us and wants us to be able to just go and do, and not if but when we need the Lord's help, he will help us! As a missionary I have been set apart and have the power to be able to find and teach! As members of the church, Heavenly Father trusts us and we need to now just trust ourselves. Heavenly Father won't let us mess up too bad :)

I love you all lots!

Have a great week! 

Love, Sister Tracy :)

Already November!!!

Dear Family,

Good to hear Halloween was FUN!! Kimball and Hope, you both look AWESOME!! And Conner, your pumpkin is pretty sweet too :) My Halloween consisted of driving in the rain for like 9 hours and McDonalds and Preach my Gospel studying! After missionaries have been out for a year, they have a one year temple trip with all of the missionaries they came out with. So Sister Williams went to that on Halloween and we took her companion, so we drove for an hour and a half in traffic to get her, drove back, got yelled at by a less-active to tell us to stop coming back, and then drove back and dropped off her companion, and then drove back home. So I'm getting very good at Driving :) Haha but it was fun!

The work has been a little slow this week. It seems like EVERYONE is sick here! I'm thinking something must be in the water here or in the air... And I'm seeing when it's cold not many people open their doors, and people are not as friendly. I don't know why though! I LOVE THE FALL AND WINTER! I love November and having Thanksgiving! We have so much to be grateful for! And I love Christmas! It makes everyone remember and think about Christ! I hope you are all remembering our Savior and what he has done for us! I've been reading in 3 Nephi when Christ comes to the people in the Americas. My favorite line he says is Come unto me! He wants EVERY SINGLE one of his children to come unto him! He loves us all and wants us to receive the best joy we can possibly have!

We studied a lot about the spirit this week. As a missionary it is impossible to teach without the spirit! I have seen a few times where there might be tension between my companion and I, and we are not able to teach with the spirit until we resolve our conflicts. I know that what I say in lessons is not nearly as important as the spirit that I bring when testifying. In our District Meeting this week we went through questions we get asked often like "Why do I have to get baptized again?" Or "Why do I have to repent if Jesus already died for me?" or even "If Jesus drank wine, why can't I?" and probably the most asked question "Why do you believe in Polygamy?"  I could go on and on about the questions we get asked and some of them are very easy to answer, like "No, we don't believe in polygamy." But others can be more difficult. What I have learned though, is that as missionaries we have to just tell them what is most important. We have to TESTIFY with the SPIRIT! And one of the best ways is to use the Book of Mormon! I know that what the introduction says about praying to ask for ourselves is the ONLY way we can know for ourselves if these things are true. On Sunday one of our members brought their nephew to church for the first time. He had asked for a bible so we gave him one. When I asked if he wanted a Book of Mormon he immediately said he doesn't believe it is true because only the bible can give him answers. I simply testified that I KNEW that the Book of Mormon was true because I have read it and I have prayed and asked Heavenly Father to know if it is true and I know that it is! I told him if he ever wants to know for himself too, we always are willing to give him a free copy. He replied with I'll read my bible to know if the Book of Mormon was true. I could have started arguing saying "No you can't read the bible to know if the Book of Mormon is true, that's like eating pie to see if you like cake?? It just doesn't make sense." But instead I just told him the Book of Mormon has blessed my life and brought me SO MUCH HAPPINESS :) There was a lot of tension and there were a lot of members that saw me get rejected but I felt good because I know the happiness that the Book of Mormon has brought me and I shared my testimony with him. That is all we can do and then it is up to them. So we should always do our part, Testify to everyone we see! So they KNOW that we KNOW these things are true! And the spirit will touch their hearts :)

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!! Thank you for your support and for reading these letters! I hope I don't sound to crazy :) I really do hope you learn something from what I write and that you are all trying to become more like our Savior everyday! Stay safe and warm :)

Love, Sister Samantha Tracy