Elder McCade Tracy

October 28, 2013

I've quickly learned that here in Owensboro, they proclaim to be the capital of quite a lot of things, but no I haven't had any BBQ pulled pork, I'll have to see what the members fix us in this upcoming week, it's really cool that the members actually feed us and they really want to help move the work forward because this place is so close to becoming a small ward, yesterday we were at 116 on the attendance and to be a ward we've got to hit 125 consistantly for 3 months, I know that it's about to happen!

Yeah, I'm really lucky to be in a car and to actually get to drive if I want to :) Yes, Elder Stoddart and I are getting along just great, we each are covering each others weaknesses and we've been working really well together and it started from day one of the companionship, that's the great thing that I love about being able to teach with just about everyone no matter how long or how short we've been teaching or paired up together. We've been pretty busy, we've been working a lot with the LA in the branch trying to get the families back to church, but it's all just a matter of time before it all happens, at this point not a whole lot, they're keeping the reading committment but they haven't been coming to church, hopefully that will change with all the great people who we've met just in the last few days and I really feel that we'll be able to get a couple baptisms in this transfer and it all relies on the work that we do as missionaries and how we handle the situation that the Lord has put us in during this companionship.

High - Getting the chance to help someone move, and they're moving to Utah with a very active member family to go to the Sundance festival in Park City, the guy that we helped move is not a member but I don't doubt that he'll become a member sometime.

Low - Just not having anyone who committed to church come.

I learned that I can be bold and loving with people to get a point across to those who we're teaching, and in doing so I bear my testimony because I can relate to a lot of things that our investigators are going through and what they're struggling with. This is also the spiritual experience from this week.

I think that everything that I experience and learn is the most important thing because I am continuing to learn new things, and with each one I become a better missionary, person, son of God and a better representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. So my mission, so far, is the most important thing that I've learned. I've learned so much about myself that I've really become a different person because of it, and I wouldn't trade this experience and this challange for anything in the world.

November 4, 2013

We're still in the mid to upper 60's here in Kentucky :) I would love to have at least some snow, maybe not to shovel off a parking lot but I do miss the Utah snow in early November, yeah, and I really do miss that good old Utah weather every now and again but we'll just have to wait and see with this Kentucky weather in a few weeks.

Yes, the car is now fixed after we biked in the rain for three days, but it was really good and we'll be biking a whole lot more, to save miles as well as have the opportunity to contact a lot of people tht we don't have the chance to do in a car as we drive past a whole lot of people every single day. They got rear-ended a couple weeks before the transfer ended, this last week was a good one, as we were waiting for the car, or more specifically on Halloween we hung out with the bike Elders at about 6 (from 6 on it was non-proceliting) we knew that there was a storm headed our way so at about 8:30we left and just as we got down by Moreland Park the Tornado siren went off, and trying to be hard-headed I told myself that we were just gonna keep going, but another part of my mind said "stop, turn around and talk to your Companion." As I turned around Elder Stoddards eyes were as big as plates, and he said we're going back to the bikers apartment. As we were riding along I said a small prayer asking if this was something that is either keeping us safe for another reason or something that I needed to experiance to help me know that there are many dangers out there, as I did that the feeling came over me that yes, in an answer to both questions, and the talk "Behind Enemy lines" by President Packer came to my mind and this experiance will never leave me. We did end up making it home safely, and there was a small tornado that did touch down in Newburg for a little while.

Yeah, we've been able to stay busy no matter what we do, we've met so many different people this week. The members have been doing all that they can to help move the work forward, they've been giving us so many referrals that we've contacted 7 and we've got 4 left to contact this week! They really want to become a Ward, so that we can build a new building in the spring :)

 Halloween got moved to Nov. 1 because the storm happened on the 31st, we were at our Branch mission leaders home for "Halloween night in November" and we only had two people come to the door, we were playing apples to apples and we heard the doorbell, so all six missionaries who are in the Branch, 4 Elders and two Spanish sisters, went to the door and scared the crap out of two teenage girls, one of them grabbed her phone and acted like she was getting a phone call! It was a really funny experience :) 

November 12, 2013

We've met a few really interesting people this last week, and probably the best part was Sunday because after church we had a church open house/ church tour, and the missionaries were the tour guides as some of the members were helping to explain some of the things that we do in a few of the rooms that we took them to. Also, we met this guy that's a WWII buff, he's got a whole lot of cool things from WWII, right now he's a member of the Owensboro Catholic Church (one of the mega churches in Owensboro) but we'll be working with him as much as possible and trying to get him aquainted with more members of the Branch.

High- The church tour, as well as getting an investigator to church! Her name is Adrianna, she's a 9 year old granddaughter of one of our investigators named Linda, Linda would have been at church too but she wasn't feeling very well, also we had a few less actives come to church as well, and Cynthia (she's a recent convert) brought her boyfriend named Eric to church and he said that he enjoyed it and would like to come back next week and he's starting to become interested in hearing us out so pretty soon we'll hopefully be teaching him.

Low- getting a small cold, but I did get some mucinex to fight it, so everything is under control.

This week was just like a normal week for me, not anything too big happening.

I learned that I need to be the absolute best missionary I can be, that's how I will have success, I need to work harder than I have been and use my experiances from Louisville to know what to do with the people here.

November 18, 2013

I'm doing really well! Yesterday was pretty interesting as it rained for a good part of the day and then after church we found out that a tornado touched down just west of us, as the day went on the storm seemed to just pass north of us, we were meeting with one of our investigators when a strom siren went off and we looked out the window and we saw clear blue skies behind us so we didn't worry about the supposed strong storm coming our way :) It was really a blessing because it led us to work even harder, and I even mentioned it to Elder Stoddard as I said "God must really want us to work today" in the end we really did see the fruit of being able to work all day, we ended up teaching a full restoration to a couple we met last week, as well as contacting a referral from the sisters and they're pretty interested as well. A lot of really good work is happening here in Owensboro and I feel that we'll break out of this dry spell of no baptisms here very soon and I'm so excited to be a part of it!

Yes, my cold is getting better and I'm feeling a lot better this week, up until yesterday we were having some cold temps. but it wasn't that bad and so far no snow, just A LOT of rain! Yesterday it was about 70 degrees in the middle of November! Super crazy! 

Transfers are on the 26th, and I'm almost positive that I'll be staying here in Owensboro for quite sometime, and I couldn't be happier because of the great things that are happening right now and all the success we're having as we're teaching some part member families as well as some that we're finding through our own efforts.

High - Having the storm pass by us and being able to work for the rest of the day without harm or restriction, as I said before it was a huge blessing to work all day after church, the first thought I had as I looked at the clear blue skies was "there must be a reason why God allowed this to happen, this is our chance to make the most of the day..." it helped us recover from the two days that we didn't really do much (Tuesday - Pday, Wednesday- Zone Conference) it really gave me a boost to move forward as we're going along for this next week and have a lot of things lined up for Wednesday this week with all of our new investigators!

Low- not getting anyone to church, but it wasn't that bad because there were a lot of LA that came to church, and we have a better out look for next week with the Part member families coming to church.

We've been up to a lot this last week, a lot of driving around, we went on exchanges on Saturday and we spent the night up in Tell City, Indiana and we drove back Sat. morning at about 7 am :) That was certainly a fun drive, and I had to drive because our District leader got his driving privilages taken away for the rest of his mission. Other than what I've already explained in the email, not a whole lot more has gone on, I'm just getting ready to tackle this next week and move forward in the work as I approach the 9th month of my mission in a couple weeks!!!! You know as well as I do, that Heavenly Father will bless you through your efforts as you reach out to others and help to bring back those who haven't been at church for a while.

Love your Son and Missionary,

Elder McCade Tracy