Hello Family!

How are you all? I don't know where to start today.... :) i am offically one month into my mission! Whaaat!?  (said Gus style) its crazy! it feels like i have been here 5 billion years and one week all at the same time!  - i learned today that i need to work on my sarcasm and over exaggeration because they don't really get it in Russia...but i learned the word for "joke" so it will be ok.

ok funny story of the week!  we have to find excitment in everything so it might not be that funny to you haha. We were getting ready for bed and a voice comes over the intercom and saya "Attention Sisters. in five minutes there will be two male security guards on your floor. please be appropriately dressed" after said five minutes we hear it again "Attention Sisters there are NOW two MALE securly guards on your floor, PLEASE DO NOT HURT THEM, i repeat, please DO NOT hurt them!" hahah! yes because that would be our first reaction....haha it was the entertainment for the night. all the sisters were sticking their heads out of the dorrs trying to see what was goin on.  Sister Wright and i immediately got out our new found kick boxing skills and ninja moves! haha love her!

We had a thought, on New years and it came from a mormon message online (have you seen those? - Jeff Hansen hehe)  but it was about looking forward. the scripture was Gen 19:17. It seriously changed my mood that day.  We cant change what has happened in the past but we CAN determine what the future will be.  It is in our hands.  So start this year over with what you want to do and who you want to be and be that person! 

In a fireside we sang "we are as the armies of Helaman"  i love that song anyways but here at the MTC they change the words a little bit, it says "Daily we'll learn, and NOW WE ARE CALLED.......we have been taught in our youth, and we ARE NOW the Lords missionaries" i don't have time to write it all out, but those are the words that are changed.  It took me by surprise and serioulsy brought the Spirit to me very strongly. "Brought alittle tear to my eye ;)"  I loved it.   All however many thousand missionaries we had in that room were strongly singing that We ARE now the Armies of Helaman.  and we HAVE been called.  We ARE the Lords Missionaries.  Im just repeating myself now, but it was just so AWESOME to be here and to hear that about me.  Everytime i look down at my name tag, or i put it on in the morning i remember and realize that this is real...it doesn't really feel like it but i AM a missionary.  The Lord through a prophet called ME!  its just so cool! haha now i sound like a dork.  Now lets be honest, this is the hardest thing that i have ever done. But its not the kind of hard that i thought it would be.  I don't know how to explain it but there are complete highs and complete lows of feelings of inadequecy and ability. BUT I know that what i am doing here is right and that the Lord will helpe me because He has called me to succeed.

 

I played 4 square just because Sami's Matt told me to :) haha and it was actually really fun!  people get way way into it!  and I think that my Buzz lightyear tshirt really helps with my skills!  To infinity and beyond!  and it distracts everyone because they are just so jealous of how cool i am haah! jk jk

FUN FACTS  i found out today that it gets up to 120 degrees in my mission!  I have the best of both worlds! freezing and hot and humid haha!  we like to distract our teachers by asking them questions about their missions and experiences! its crazy to think that i will actually go to Russia ya know?  it kinda feels like after the MTC its over, but its only a 6th of my mission. i still have a lot to go!   

We taught the first lesson in Russian today....pretty sure i almost cried. It was a disaster and I realize that i cannot speak Russian well at all.  But we continued to practice all day yesterday and got somewhat better. Im not gonna lie, i have been pretty frustrated with learning the Language.   I feel like I am the most behind and i just don't get it.  And then i remember that i have only been here a month and it will take time. I know that if i was anywhere else in the world that i would not know as much as i do now because i hae the lord help...did that sentence make sense?  Well anyways, because its me, i have been somewhat ignoring the language because i stress out about it, which is very very negative. And then during one of the lessons we were trying to teach i just decided to open my mouth and say anything Russian that came to mind!  DUH!  Sister Trottier! i thought!   That is what i am supposed to do, i am supposed to learn all that i can and then Open my mouth and He will fill it.  It is evern on the front of my journal that i see every night!  Moes 6:32.  Now i don't know really waht i said or if it made sense and I KNOW that i didn't conjugate everything right because there are about 10 million ways to conjugate every singel word in every single sentence, but I said SOMETHING! and thats important!

Heather