Well this week has been a crazy one, just trying to get to know the area better. We still get lost sometimes, but I'm getting better.
Let's see, things are kind of slow here too. I'm with Mitchell that it is kind of frustrating sometimes. This past Sunday was a whole new experience for me. On our ward roster we have about 700+ members, and at church less then 50 showed up. It was really small. We didn't have any investigators come, which was new for me cause I have never had a Sunday that we didn't have at least one or two people come. I guess that just means more work for us. There is a ton of potential here though. Last week we were able to find 5 new investigators. Two of them are from Persia. They are pretty cool people. They gave us some Persian candy and it was pretty good. I love candy so I was pretty excited! We also have two people who are getting baptized on August 6th. We are both pretty excited about that. Both Sara and Brandon are excited too. They're biggest hold up is that they are having a hard time getting work off on Sundays. We are praying for them a lot so that their baptism goes through.
Even though I'm no longer in Clovis, Clovis has had an awesome week too!! Conner Harris got baptized last night and LuAnn Todd is getting baptized on Saturday! I get to call both of them and congratulate them so I'm supper excited about that! I'm so proud of both of them for making so many changes in their life to follow the Savior! I love both of them lots!!!
Okay so dad asked a lot of questions so I'll try to answer them now:
1. We are staying at an apartment complex. The complex itself is pretty nice, but we have these little bugs all over the kitchen so that's no Bueno. It's pretty small just one bedroom, one bathroom, but it's good in enough for what we need. I really like the neighborhood too. It's pretty central to a lot of the stuff we need.
2. We cover just one ward and one stake. It's the Amarillo stake and I know that there are four wards plus a Spanish "group" in the city of Amarillo itself, but there are many other wards in the outlying cities. We are in the 2nd ward, which is almost all of the Eastern side of Amarillo. I will try to send you a copy of our mission boundaries so you can see where I've served.
3. We don't really get to go to the temple very often here. If you aren't in Lubbock you can go once every six months if you can find a member to drive you. If you are serving in Lubbock you can go once every transfer. So that's really nice. But I haven't been since that last trip. Which was maybe in April?
4. Our truck is a ford Colorado LT. It's not the biggest Texas truck ever, but I like it! It's cool to be able to drive the truck. Even though my companion and I have been out the same amount of time, I'm the only one assigned to drive it. Just cause they only put so missionaries on the insurance and so they just assign one person to drive all the time.
5. I still have my bike! We actually use them a lot! We will just load them into the back of the truck park in a certain area and just bike all day there. It really helps us save miles on our car, and on top of that we get to talk to more people that way.
6. Lucky for me I haven't really gotten sick. I got sick my second transfer out in Roswell, but since then I've felt great!
7. Yes it is very hot here!! It is averaging 103. But it's more humid so that makes it even harder. But I love the heat so I can't really complain to much. I like it!
Well I think that's about it. If you guys have more questions just ask!!! I hope you know how much I love all of you! I pray for you all the time and hope things are going great! Can't wait to hear back from all of you!
Love Always,
Sister Tracy
Jul 23, 2011
Jul 14, 2011
July 14, 2011 Letter
Okay so crazy changes this week!!! I am no longer in Clovis, New Mexico! I am now in Amarillo, Texas! YAY for Texas!!!! So a lot has happened as you can tell in the last week. It was SO hard to say goodbye to all of the people in Clovis. It's amazing how quickly you can fall in love with people. I think the hardest person to say goodbye to was Dale and LuAnn Todd. LuAnn has a baptismal date for July 23rd. And when I told her that I was leaving she started to cry. So I started to cry, and it was just one big crying mess. I'm going to miss her so much! My heart is so sad to leave, but so happy to see how excited and determined she is to get baptized. There are some amazing things happening in Clovis, New Mexico. Conner Harris is also getting baptized next Wednesday. I get to call him before he gets baptized to wish him luck! There is also a couple, Kody and Tatum who are getting baptized in the next few weeks. Sister Peavler has promised to take lots of pictures for me so as soon as she sends them to me I will mail copies home. I am so thankful for the time that I had to serve in Clovis. I learned so much about myself and things that I want for my future. I learned a lot about families and the importance of them. Clovis will always have a special place in my heart!
Okay so Amarillo! I got the call on Saturday night to tell me where I was going. I was called as senior companion and told who my companion was going to be. Guess who it is...Sister Hamaker!! My MTC companion!!! Crazy right?! Well we were both shocked to be serving with each other again so soon, but I know that it will be awesome! We are white-washing into the Amarillo 2nd ward. White-washing just means that we go in without another missionary who has already been in the area. So we pretty much have to start from scratch trying to figure out the area and getting to know all the members and investigators. It will be good though. I think we have a lot of potential here, so I'm excited for the next few weeks. Also big new, I get to drive now!! And...I got a truck! It's pretty sweet. I mean really though it's Texas. You can't serve in Texas without a truck! Ha Ha Navigation has been rough the last few days, but the Zone Leaders lent us their GPS so that's helped a lot. I might have to eventually invest in my own. I don't know how I will be able to figure out the area without it.
Well that's about all the big news that I have as of right now. I guess just some random things about Amarillo. It's Humid! Really Humid. Ha but it's okay cause in a weird way I really like it! Um, yep that's about all that I know. Ha Ha I've only been here two days so hopefully next week I will know more about this place. Well I hope things are going super great back home! From the sounds of it they are going great. Make sure you send letters to my new address:
2700 W. 16th Ave.. #143
Amarillo, TX 79102
Well I love you all and hope to hear from you soon! Stay safe!
Love Always,
Sister Tracy
Okay so Amarillo! I got the call on Saturday night to tell me where I was going. I was called as senior companion and told who my companion was going to be. Guess who it is...Sister Hamaker!! My MTC companion!!! Crazy right?! Well we were both shocked to be serving with each other again so soon, but I know that it will be awesome! We are white-washing into the Amarillo 2nd ward. White-washing just means that we go in without another missionary who has already been in the area. So we pretty much have to start from scratch trying to figure out the area and getting to know all the members and investigators. It will be good though. I think we have a lot of potential here, so I'm excited for the next few weeks. Also big new, I get to drive now!! And...I got a truck! It's pretty sweet. I mean really though it's Texas. You can't serve in Texas without a truck! Ha Ha Navigation has been rough the last few days, but the Zone Leaders lent us their GPS so that's helped a lot. I might have to eventually invest in my own. I don't know how I will be able to figure out the area without it.
Well that's about all the big news that I have as of right now. I guess just some random things about Amarillo. It's Humid! Really Humid. Ha but it's okay cause in a weird way I really like it! Um, yep that's about all that I know. Ha Ha I've only been here two days so hopefully next week I will know more about this place. Well I hope things are going super great back home! From the sounds of it they are going great. Make sure you send letters to my new address:
2700 W. 16th Ave.. #143
Amarillo, TX 79102
Well I love you all and hope to hear from you soon! Stay safe!
Love Always,
Sister Tracy
Jul 7, 2011
July 7, 2011 Letter
So this last week has been crazy busy! We have had so many miracles this last week or so...
Okay so I'm going to start with Thursday. Every Thursday we go and see the Harris Family! This is such an awesome family! They are all baptized except for their youngest son Conner, who is turning nine in about a month. We have been teaching them each week, and we are hoping that Conner gets baptized really soon. I just had to give them a shout out cause I love them so much!
Then on Saturday Neira, Mimi, and Toby all got baptized in Roswell!!! Woot Woot!!! I was so happy for all of them! I was able to call and talk to Norma (the mom) and congratulate all of them. There whole story is just such a miracle. We first found them in my first week out in the mission field. They ended up being out of town for a while so they weren't able to get baptized until now. But this family is Solid!! They are all just rock stars and I am so happy for them!
Sunday was also a great day. As you all know it was fast Sunday this last week. Well one of our investigators, LuAnn, came for the first time to church this last Sunday. That same day a man from the Roswell ward, Brother Kopp, came up to Clovis to celebrate is 41st anniversary of being a member of the church. During testimony meeting Brother Kopp stood up to bear his testimony. He told his story about originally being a member of the Church of Christ, (the same church that LuAnn has been a part of), and how he came to know that the church was true. It was such a powerful testimony. Then at the end he looked right and LuAnn and her husband Dale, pointed at them and said "I want you two to know that this church is true!!" I think everyone in the audience got chills. It was just so spiritual. After Church LuAnn told me that she had prayed about getting baptized on the 23rd and she said that it was already on her calendar! That she loved the feeling that she got at church! It's crazy to see how God will place people right where they need to be. How LuAnn and Dale were able to hear the testimonies that could touch them the most! So anyway...I'm stoked for her baptism! It will be awesome.
Monday was the fourth of July! I LOVE holidays!!!! :) We first went and had a big pancake breakfast over at the church. There was a pretty good turn out and we even had some investigators who came. Then we went home to prepare for "the big day." we had heard lots of rumors about how the huge event of the year was going to be talking place right outside of our apartment. So we gathered together every book of Mormon we could find and loaded our pockets with mormon.org cards and headed out. Well it turned out to be a total bust. Ha Ha Okay total bust wouldn't be the right word, cause we were able to talk to one of the security guys who wants to learn more and we found a less active family who just moved back and wants to start coming to church. So that was great, but really the carnival wasn't really busy. The time when it would be getting busy wouldn't be until after six. so that was no good, cause all missionaries had to be in their apartments at six on the fourth of July. so around four we headed down to Roswell to hang out with the rest of the sisters from our Zone. While I was in Roswell I was able to stop by and see Chery Sales. One of our recent converts. It was so good to see her! I just love her to death. Then we went to my old apartment and played uno all night and then watched the city fireworks. That night we all had a big sleep over with all the sisters. It was a lot of fun, because each of us had at one point served with at least two of the sisters there. We all just shared our mission stories and had a blast! The next morning we all woke up early and headed to Zone Conference to meet our new mission president. President and Sister Augustin seem really nice. It's really weird and different getting a new mission president but i'm excited to see the work continue to progress.
Then yesterday we had the most amazing lesson Ever with a couple named Kody and Tatum! I have never, in my whole life, met anyone who was as prepared to hear the gospel then these two were! We taught about the Plan of Salvation and they just ate it all up! They had so many questions and just couldn't wait to hear more. i think we could have stayed there till midnight just talking about the gospel! I love them so much! I'm so thankful that God prepares his children and then puts us right where they need us. We are meeting with them again on Sunday and I'm sure that lesson will be just as great if not better! Agh!! I just LOVE being a missionary.
So this next week is definitely going to be a crazy one! This is the last week of the transfers and there will be some big changes coming. We are loosing three sisters, and getting in five new ones. Over half of our sister missionaries now have only been out for five months or less. It is going to be super crazy to see what happens. There is a chance that I might not be in Clovis next week. I really hope I don't leave cause I love it here so much. But I also know that God knows what's best and he knows where we are needed the most.
I'm so thankful for this opportunity that I have to serve! I love it so much! I love the gospel so much! I wouldn't trade this opportunity for anything in the world. I want you all to know how much I love and care about each one of you! I really look forward to your letters, they really give me that boost that I need to keep going sometimes. I pray for all of you all the time. I hope everything is going well for each of you! I love you all tons.
Love always,
Sister Tracy
Okay so I'm going to start with Thursday. Every Thursday we go and see the Harris Family! This is such an awesome family! They are all baptized except for their youngest son Conner, who is turning nine in about a month. We have been teaching them each week, and we are hoping that Conner gets baptized really soon. I just had to give them a shout out cause I love them so much!
Then on Saturday Neira, Mimi, and Toby all got baptized in Roswell!!! Woot Woot!!! I was so happy for all of them! I was able to call and talk to Norma (the mom) and congratulate all of them. There whole story is just such a miracle. We first found them in my first week out in the mission field. They ended up being out of town for a while so they weren't able to get baptized until now. But this family is Solid!! They are all just rock stars and I am so happy for them!
Sunday was also a great day. As you all know it was fast Sunday this last week. Well one of our investigators, LuAnn, came for the first time to church this last Sunday. That same day a man from the Roswell ward, Brother Kopp, came up to Clovis to celebrate is 41st anniversary of being a member of the church. During testimony meeting Brother Kopp stood up to bear his testimony. He told his story about originally being a member of the Church of Christ, (the same church that LuAnn has been a part of), and how he came to know that the church was true. It was such a powerful testimony. Then at the end he looked right and LuAnn and her husband Dale, pointed at them and said "I want you two to know that this church is true!!" I think everyone in the audience got chills. It was just so spiritual. After Church LuAnn told me that she had prayed about getting baptized on the 23rd and she said that it was already on her calendar! That she loved the feeling that she got at church! It's crazy to see how God will place people right where they need to be. How LuAnn and Dale were able to hear the testimonies that could touch them the most! So anyway...I'm stoked for her baptism! It will be awesome.
Monday was the fourth of July! I LOVE holidays!!!! :) We first went and had a big pancake breakfast over at the church. There was a pretty good turn out and we even had some investigators who came. Then we went home to prepare for "the big day." we had heard lots of rumors about how the huge event of the year was going to be talking place right outside of our apartment. So we gathered together every book of Mormon we could find and loaded our pockets with mormon.org cards and headed out. Well it turned out to be a total bust. Ha Ha Okay total bust wouldn't be the right word, cause we were able to talk to one of the security guys who wants to learn more and we found a less active family who just moved back and wants to start coming to church. So that was great, but really the carnival wasn't really busy. The time when it would be getting busy wouldn't be until after six. so that was no good, cause all missionaries had to be in their apartments at six on the fourth of July. so around four we headed down to Roswell to hang out with the rest of the sisters from our Zone. While I was in Roswell I was able to stop by and see Chery Sales. One of our recent converts. It was so good to see her! I just love her to death. Then we went to my old apartment and played uno all night and then watched the city fireworks. That night we all had a big sleep over with all the sisters. It was a lot of fun, because each of us had at one point served with at least two of the sisters there. We all just shared our mission stories and had a blast! The next morning we all woke up early and headed to Zone Conference to meet our new mission president. President and Sister Augustin seem really nice. It's really weird and different getting a new mission president but i'm excited to see the work continue to progress.
Then yesterday we had the most amazing lesson Ever with a couple named Kody and Tatum! I have never, in my whole life, met anyone who was as prepared to hear the gospel then these two were! We taught about the Plan of Salvation and they just ate it all up! They had so many questions and just couldn't wait to hear more. i think we could have stayed there till midnight just talking about the gospel! I love them so much! I'm so thankful that God prepares his children and then puts us right where they need us. We are meeting with them again on Sunday and I'm sure that lesson will be just as great if not better! Agh!! I just LOVE being a missionary.
So this next week is definitely going to be a crazy one! This is the last week of the transfers and there will be some big changes coming. We are loosing three sisters, and getting in five new ones. Over half of our sister missionaries now have only been out for five months or less. It is going to be super crazy to see what happens. There is a chance that I might not be in Clovis next week. I really hope I don't leave cause I love it here so much. But I also know that God knows what's best and he knows where we are needed the most.
I'm so thankful for this opportunity that I have to serve! I love it so much! I love the gospel so much! I wouldn't trade this opportunity for anything in the world. I want you all to know how much I love and care about each one of you! I really look forward to your letters, they really give me that boost that I need to keep going sometimes. I pray for all of you all the time. I hope everything is going well for each of you! I love you all tons.
Love always,
Sister Tracy
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