Elder Conner Tracy: Week 1

Alright, a few things before I tell you about the coolest experience! My companion is Elder Fine! I love the kid and he is super similar to me! The coolest part is it's Lindsey Nielson's cousin! So it's been fun to talk about his experiences in Riverton. Small world right? He is the jokester in our district but we get along so well!!! I LOVE MY DISTRICT!!!! They are becoming like my family and I truly have come to love them with all my heart! They are becoming "my brotheren (and sistern) in the lord." We have four elders going to Washington, four sisters going to Detroit Michigan who remind me a lot of Samantha, which has been so helpful and calming for me. Boy do they have sass!!! It's hilarious though!!! And then four elders going to Orlando Florida! I have seen everyone here at the MTC which is really cool!

So yeah, I made it to the MTC and it is becoming one of my favorite places on earth because of the amazing spirit that I have felt here and the ability to learn and grow in faith in Christ so easily! I think other than the temple, this is the closest I'm going to get to living in the celestial kingdom! All day, everyday is focused on Christ and how to love and teach His gospel! I have already had some of the coolest things happen! I have been able to give a blessing to an Elder and friend for his pain! At about 2:00am I woke up with a bloody nose which like never happens to me, so anyway, I had to get up and go to the bathroom to take care of it. Anyway, one of the other elders in my room saw me get up and then asked a little after I got back to give him a blessing. I had my companion anoint and then gave him a powerful blessing! The pain subsided and he went to bed! Miracles do happen if we are ready and worthy to act. I talked to him about it and He said the moment I put my hands on his head he could feel the power of God! It touched my heart to know Heavenly Father trusts me and can use me to be a tool in His hand! The next day a sister came to me and asked for a blessing of comfort! I started to talk and right away I started saying things I never would have. They weren't my words but it was exactly what this dear sister needed to hear! She stood up with tears in her eyes and told me it was exactly what she needed to hear! I'm a so grateful that Heavenly Father chose to work through me!!! Then yesterday was so cool as well! We taught our first TRC investigators (May or may not be real investigators.) Elder Fine and I kinda struggled through our first few lessons! Which made this stressful for me because this is like the real thing. Anyway, our first investigator was named Reed and he was TOUGH!!! We spent 30 mins trying to explain to him about God and Jesus Christ, he was like "I understand that's what you believe...I just don't." He asked about why the holocaust had to happen or illness, and why people are disabled people if God loved us. It was hard but we were able to speak out of love and we FOLLOWED THE SPIRIT!!! I was prompt to commit him to baptism and he was like NO. He said no to praying with us and kinda reject everything but we just testified to him and he said he would pray to know if it's true! We came out of the lesson SO HAPPY because we fully trusted in Christ and taught by the spirit! Our other investigator Dylan is golden! He knows pretty much all about our church and has such great faith in Christ! We had an amazing lesson about the Holy Ghost and I testified with such power it was amazing and he said he wanted to be baptized he just needs to know if its the right thing to do! It was amazing! If we trust in our Savior I know that He will use us and teach us the things which we need to say.

Okay Last thing... sorry for the long email! There is just so much I love and want to share!!! Okay, so we had our Sunday devotional and we watched the Character of Christ which was given by Elder Bednar several years ago. It was exactly what I needed to hear!!! It taught so many things and I actually took over 10 pages of notes!!! It talked about turning OUTWARD and serving others like Christ would even in our hardest trials! Anyway, the video ended and Elder Bednar himself walks in!!! The spirit was so strong!!!! He spent the next 2 and a half hours answering our questions! It was the coolest experience and I learned so much! I had been hard on myself, thinking I don't know enough or I didn't teach that well or what not... Elder Bednar testified how self centered that was. He was like "do you really think people join the church because of you? Are you kidding? They join the Church because of the way they feel when you are there." I thought of the quote, "Forget yourself and go to work." I have come to understand that I am just a tool in the Lord's hands. I just need to help people feel the holy ghost and feel of Heavenly Father and our Savior's love for them. We need to fully rely on our Savior. When we do He will give us strength and help us do His work!!!

Love you all so very much! Thank you for everything you have done for me!!! Remember that God loves His children and wants us to be happy!

Much Love, Elder Tracy