FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Hello Family and friends. Wowey it's been a week. The days felt so long but here we are --  another P-day! (Preparation Day)

Tuesday February 18

We spent a lot of the day doing service! We went up the the Senior Center and helped served lunch and then we also went to CAPPED and helped out there! We were able to get some goodbyes in for Sister Huffaker! (She was transferred to another area.)   After all that fun stuff, we stopped by people's houses and went to say goodbye and drop off notes and such! It was a very chill day. We had a fun dinner with a family! The parents have both served mission before and it was fun talking with them, and they also cut Sister Huffaker's hair after dinner! 

Wednesday February 19

This day is pretty identical to Tuesday, just without all the service! We said goodbye to some people for Sister Huffaker and then we made our way to Las Cruces! #transferday Once we got into town, we stopped at Jimmy John's for lunch and I also brought two loafs of day old bread for $1! We got to the transfer site and unloaded Sister Huffaker and I got the keys to 'Karen', the Toyota Corolla. It's the oldest car in the mission. I was really hoping that we would be able to get a new car this transfer but it looks like Karen loves us too much! 

I got my greenie! We got her all loaded into the car and we headed off for Alamogordo! It was a long day but a fun day! We settled in and got unpacked! 

Thursday February 20

We did some service at the Senior Center! That day they were having Green Chile Curry, the salad bar was very popular that day hahaha.

We did our studies and then headed off to dinner with a super fun family! They are actually from Sedalia, Missouri! Crazy! After dinner we went over to a lesson at the library and then that closed our day!

Friday February 21

District Council!

We got to know all the new faces in our district and set new goals for ourselves! We also went out to lunch with the Nielsen's at Whataburger. I got the green chile burger and it was actually pretty good! We had dinner at Pizza 9,  a new restaurant here in Alamogordo! It's actually pretty good! After dinner we had a lesson and taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ! It was a great day!

Saturday February 22

We spent a lot of time contacting and finding today.  It's like Alamogordo hates us! We found no one. Every single door we knocked on, no one was interested or no one answered. It was actually kind of discouraging! Especially for my greenie, I felt bad that she hasn't had a good experience with finding/contacting yet. But thank goodness for successful dinners! They really make our day and brighten us up! Hopefully the work will start picking up here!

Sunday February 23

We actually went up to the Cloudcroft Branch for church! It was so fun! They meet in the public library for church! We set up all the chairs, pulled out an electric piano and had a Sacrament Meeting! Afterwards, we had a potluck. It was fun getting to know everyone in the branch and to hopefully start working with them a little more!

Scripture of the week 

2 Nephi 7:9

For the Lord God will help me. And all they who shall condemn me, behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, and the moth shall eat them up.

I really like this verse. I especially like the first part. The Lord really will help us in our trials and our hardships. We need to trust in Him and His timing! When we fall, we can get up and He will help us brush off the dirt from our knees! We were not sent here on earth to fail! We were sent to learn and to grow! We need to have faith and hope! He trusts us, we just need to trust him! 

Have the greatest week ever! 

Love, Sister Susanna Tracy 🤠

1 & 2 Sister Parkinson, my greenie (new sister missionary).

3. My greenie's desk we decorated for her!

FEBRUARY 17, 2020 -- I AM GETTING A GREENIE

Hello Everyone! 

How did a transfer (six weeks) come and go already. I think my mission just keeps going faster and faster.

Tuesday February 11

Dentist appointment! Oh how I love the dentist. It actually wasn't terrible! I don't hate nor am I scared of the dentist! We also did some service at the Senior Center in town! I don't know if I have talked about what we do. We just put the food on the trays and make it look beautiful! From this experience, I have decided I do not want to be a lunch lady.

Wednesday February 12 

We did the normal day to day missionary stuff. After all that, we did some Service at CAPPED.  We counted tiles.  And let me tell you, it was not the most fun thing we have ever done! Later, we went to church and the priest activity and they were doing a "Girl Appreciation".  They were learning to do make up and they needed us as a canvas.  But luckily they had enough women from the ward to help!  We also made cute "Valentine's in a bag/heart attack in a bag" we made cute rice crispies in the shape of a heart with pink M&Ms and little pink sprinkles! It was so cute. We also put little candies and cut hearts out and wrote cute things on them. We went to the Air Force base and gave/left them for the families on base! It was so fun!

Thursday February 13 

Weekly Planning and also some more heart attacks in a bag to make and to hand out! What a fun day! Also, we got a call from President, and I found out that I will be training! I will be a mission mom! I am excited to get a greenie (brand new sister missionary)! 

Friday February 14

Valentine's Day and Jonathan's Birthday! 

We had district council and the sisters made cute valentine's for everyone! We made and gave them some of the rice crispy hearts! And Elder Carson brought a cake for all of us to share  He is a funny dude. After wards, Sister Huffaker and I went out to lunch with the Nielsen's at Dion's! It was very fun! I am glad they were our valentines! 

After we got home, we had dinner with two older women and they were so funny! Afterwards, we delivered our Valentines and everyone we gave them too, felt bad that they didn't have something for us. So we ended up with a lot of apples, oranges, goldfish, and cookies. Just a lot of left over valentine's or anything they could grab! It was super fun! 

Saturday February 15

Cloudcroft!

We had a hoot up there visiting members and people in Cloudcroft. It was a muddy mess. Everyone has dogs and the dogs jumped up on us a few times, we had muddy skirts. 🥴 not my favorite thing in the world but what can you do. I actually gave some dogs animal crackers to distract them. Wowey it was a long day!

Sunday February 16

Sister Huffaker is leaving me for El Paso! We said goodbye to ward members and others! We had a chill night filled with spanish and packing! 

Scripture of the week

1 John 4:8

"... God is Love." 

In honor of Valentine's day, this scripture is very fitting! When we love others, we love God! 

Keep on loving and choosing the right!

Love, 

Sister Susanna Tracy 

FEBRUARY 10, 2020 -- HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY JONATHAN! & MY SIX MONTH MARK!!

Hello Everyone! Another week has come and gone! This upcoming week I will be hitting my six month mark on my brother Jon's birthday! February 14! It's crazy to think that I only have ONE year left! It has gone by fast and I'm sure it will be going by even faster! 

Tuesday February 4

Zone Conference!

We woke up at 5 am, left Alamogordo at 6 am, and got to Las Cruses around 7 am! I always enjoy zone conference. I love seeing all of my mission friends and meeting new people! 

At zone conference, we went over and discussed the new Missionary handbook. There are a lot of new things and still a lot of things that are the same. One of the Elders in the meeting asked if naps were okay. What I have been told is that if you need a nap you can take a twenty minute power nap. But President said no naps. I am not implying I took lots of naps, but when you need a nap I say go for it. But it was a funny question and a lot of funny responses!

After zone conference we ended up going on exchanges. I stayed in my area and Hermana Humble came with me! Zone conference went over as usual. And we still had an hour drive ahead of us. We ended up having dinner at 7:30 pm! At dinner, I was wearing my white Roolee dress (the one all my sisters love and want) and I went to go open up a bottle of jalapeno sauce, and it explodes all over my WHITE dress. I was mortified. But luckily, I was blessed with an awesome member dinner that night. She gave me one of her dresses to wear and she washed and took care of the stains on my dress! #looksgoodasnew!

Wednesday February 5

When we woke up in the morning to go workout. We opened the door to four inches of snow. Holy moly! It was a Christmas miracle! The first snowfall of the winter! I loved it! Of course most of the snow was gone before the day was over! #desertlife 

We had a great rest of our exchange. We went and served a local shop in town and had a lesson with a cute old man. Hermana Humble helped the Nielsen's and I learn a little bit of Spanish as well! The only thing I can say is that we are trying our best to learn!

 

For dinner we ate with the Nielsen's the Senior couple here in Alamogordo and our recent convert Steve! It was super fun and Steve is super great at the guitar and played a lot of his songs for us. It was like a mini concert! 

Thursday, February 6

Weekly Planning our absolute favorite! Everything kinda didn't go as planned this day beside weekly planning! Our dinner canceled on us and we delivered us Pizza to make up for it! I love pizza but I am getting tired of all the heavy foods! 

Friday, February 7 

CLOUDCROFT 

What a long day, let me tell you! Cloudcroft is so cute and really fun! They have a little strip with lots of cute shops and little hole in the wall bakery and restaurants! We went up with the Nielsen's and visited a lot of people! We are still trying to build trust with the members of that Branch and help out in the ways we can! Hopefully we won't get transferred and we will be able to get to know the area better and get more work finished!

For dinner, we ate with a family that has eight kids and the ninth is on the way! It was fun being with lots of kids. The only difference was that they only have one girl, and the new little baby is another boy! They are a fun family!

Saturday, February 8

We did a lot of things on Saturday! We helped serve at a Catholic thrift store. We were trying to find one of our investigators who works there and we ended up doing two hours of service! We never got to see him -- so that was a bust, but still super fun to help out! Then we went out to the boonies of our area! We visited a lot of people that were not home! That's always fun. But it was an over all successful day! 

Sunday, February 9

Church was great, we didn't have any investigators come to the White Sands Ward, but we did have an investigator go to the Cloudcroft Branch! That was super awesome! We had dinner with a family that has ten children! It was fun! They weren't too interested in knowing I was from a large family as well, but hey they were still fun! Later in the evening we spoke at BYD! (Bishop Youth Discussion) we talked about missionary work and did our best to get the youth excited!

This week we have done a lot! I can't even remember half of the things we have accomplished! So I apologize for the long email but also be glad it's not even longer!

Scripture of the week

Alma 31:34-35

34 O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ.

35 Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee.

Here in Alamogordo, the work is slowly moving along. We don't find the most interested people and it's hard to find those that are truly ready for the gospel. We just keep trying and keep searching! These scriptures are super applicable to where me and my companion are right now. We just need to have faith in Jesus Christ and in His timing. Not everything is going to happen when we want it! I have definitely learned a lot of faith this week! D&C 6:36 is one of my favorite scriptures as well! I invite you all to Look unto Jesus Christ no matter what your situation or problem! He is always here to love and support us!

Love, Sister Susanna Tracy 🤠

1. Snow with Hermana Humble!

2. Chalk art

3. This was taken in El Paso at my last apartment before I was transferred up to Alamogordo!

FEBRUARY 3, 2020 -- SISTER TRACY NOW TRACTS IN SPACE

Hello family and friends! 

What a crazy week it has been! Honestly, I can't remember what happened. 

I traveled down to El Paso Saturday, and I was able to see some great families! I wish I would have had more time to say hello to more people, but duty calls. 

Tuesday January 28 

We went up to Cloudcroft, New Mexico! Here in Alamogordo, we don't have snow but thirty minutes north there was snow! We made snowballs and had fun! It was the first snow that I have seen all winter. Also it was the first time I had to wear my coat! 

Wednesday January 29

Today was pretty normal! We did a lot of service! We helped clean up batting cages and paint lines and clean up a sand volleyball pit. It was hard work! 

Thursday January 30 

Weekly Planning! The same old same old. We also had dinner at Chili's. Hi, welcome to Chili's. (If you know you know)

Friday January 31

We taught Seminary! 1 Nephi 18! Then we had District Council! We traveled down to Las Cruses and had our missionary meeting! We also went to Jimmy John's later that day, and oh how I miss that place. 

Saturday February 1

I got to travel down to El Paso for one of my investigators baptisms! It was so awesome! Afterwords, I had lunch with the Barmores and I was able to visit with the Gilmores, Jesters, Crawfords and a couple of other awesome Families! I love and miss El Paso so much! Our Senior couple, the Nielsen's drove us down and after visiting with the families we were able to go to Costco. We bought new pillows and tried them out on the way home!  

Sunday February 2

Super Bowl Sunday!

We were able to have one investigator come to church! It was awesome to have her. Later that day I had three different ward members texting me and updating us on the score because of the Chiefs and me being from the Kansas City area! It was so fun! We had our own "Super Bowl Party" with the Nielsen's. We had spinach artichoke dip and Girl Scout cookies! 

This month I will hit my six month mark! It's crazy that it has already been that long! It's going by so fast! 

Scripture of the week

1 Nephi 16:16

And we did follow the directions of the ball, which led us in the more fertile parts of the wilderness.

I really like this scripture because as we are obedient to the Lord's commandments and faithful, He will lead us to the more fruitful parts of life. I also like to think that He will lead us to the more fruitful parts of our trials. He won't take the trial away from us, but He will help us see the positive in it! I love that He still gives us the opportunity to learn and grow. 

Keep trying and keep looking for the positive in all things! 

Love, 

Sister Susanna Tracy 🤠

1.The Mechams! 

2.The Jesters!

3.Snow in Cloudcroft!

4. The Gilmore Girls

5. Sister Huffaker and me!

6. Sisters Erickson, Willson, Luis and Sister Huffaker and me!

7. Sister Huffaker and me at the Space Museum. You're welcome.

8. The Barmores!