Elder McCade Tracy

August 5th
Mama! I'm doing really well! This past week has been a really good one, yeah I'm used to the bike again and I've been able to maintain my weight and as of yesterday I'm now 188.7 lbs! Yes, it is a 4 plex, I'm closer than I was before they split the area. We're continuing to have our teaching pool grow, we're now up to about 17 investigators, this past week we were able to get 8 new investigators from contacting, media referalls and our former investigators from a couple years back. Sister Fitzpatrick is in the other area by about a block and a half. High - Yesterday, I was able to be the answer to someones prayer as their cousin was in a rough situation with an Ex and she needed someone to stop by and kinda start this chain reaction to figure out the best way to get her out of this horrible situation, I wrote it in my journal so I will never forget it. Low - Not being able to do a whole lot of work on Thursday, because we were helping an investigator, for the other area, move and I planned it for about three hours and instead it took about 6 hours to complete a simple move. Yes, we're getting along just fine. The teaching is going really well, we've been able to trade off very nicely while teaching so we're both speaking a fair amount of the time during the lessons. I have tried, I'm very blessed to have that gift and to have all the opportunities to help out those in need, whether they be other missionaries or investigators that we feel prompted to go visit. I look forward to each day, and the challanges that it brings. Because I know that no matter what it will be for my benifit to help me learn and grow into the man that God knows I can become, all I need to do is trust in Him and work as hard as I can each day to make sure that I don't feel like I've failed to fully represent the Saviour at any time of the day. 

August 12th
Mama! This last week has been really good! Even though I got caught out in the rain not once, but twice this week! We have a lot of investigators right now, but the one who is progressing the most right now, his name is Trent Hold, he is an ex-Amish Menonite and before we met with him, he had came to the branch five sundays in a row without us even knowing! We finally met with him this past week and he's already reading everything (BOM, D&C, Pearl of Great Price) and before we could even start teaching the restoration, he told us that he already knows that Joseph Smith is and was a Prophet of God and he knows and believes that Thomas S. Monson is the Prophet of God on the earth today! Elder Gallagher and I were just in complete shock and awe that someone who we just barely met already knows so much about the church and wants to continue learning about it with us! We aren't really sure about when he'll get baptized because of his work schedule (he owns and runs a funeral home so he's always on call) but I know that he'll be a really strong member of the Branch :) High - Meeting Trent and having him tell us that he knows the church is true! Also to be able to teach some amazing people as I'm still in the area for the time being. Low - Only having 1 person to church yesterday, and having a few appointments with some solid investigators fall through The new thing that I learned this week was how to teach little kids, one of our formers is a, now 9 year old girl, and she loves to meet with us. It's going to be interesting to see how this goes. That's awesome to hear about all the great stuff that has been going on at home, I thank you for all the love and support that you give and send me. This last week we taught 18 total lessons for the 3rd week in a row Love you all and Miss you like crazy!
Love your Son and Missionary,
Elder McCade Tracy

 August 19th
Mama! I know! For some reason this week has slowed down just a little bit, we had Elder Nash of the Seventy come and speak to us on Wednesday and that was AMAZING! He's also from Centerville, just the stake right above us and he told me that all the best missionaries come from Centerville, so that was really good to hear. I still cannot believe that the chart is already filled up that much! It doesn't feel like I've been on my mission for that long, but I know that you'll be filling in the R before we know it :) Trent is doing great, he came to church yesterday and we'll have to call President Woodbury about him because he told us that he smokes occasionally, but I know that he's willing to do what it takes to get baptized on the 31st! Breianna is doing better now, she is done working at Wendy's and she starts at the Home of the Innocence today, it's really good because she'll be able to quit smoking while she's working there and she'll definately make her bap date for Sept. 21. We only had Trent at church yesterday. High - Having so many spiritual experiances this week, that on Saturday night I was too mentally, physically and spiritually exhausted to really move! I wrote all of how I felt and what I experianced in my journal and I will never forget how I felt and what I experianced during these past few days. Low - Just having a lot of good appointments fall through and not getting to teach as many people as we wanted to this week. I learned that we have the truth, more than I knew before, I also learned that when I am filled with the Spirit my words have so much power to them and it doesn't really sound like me when I am the one speaking. We did not get caught in the rain this week, transfers will be on Sept.3 I feel like I'll be staying in Shively for at least one more transfer and I'll be able to finish a lot of the work that I was so blessed to start. Just the people in the area, I just love it so much and I know that there are many more people here who are ready to hear the Gospel and want to accept it when they hear it from us. Thank you for all your love and support!
Love you and Miss all y'all!
 Love your Son and Missionary,
Elder McCade Tracy