Hello Family

I don't know if every transfer week is this crazy and this hard but if it is i will dread everyone!  The whole day on friday was huge stress cause everyone knew that president would call that night.  Sister sologub recieved a transfer to Novosibirsk and I am staying here in Omsk with Sister Margolies.  i am excited to serve with her! she reminds me alot of Sami to be honest and i know we will get along. But i am so sad that i am not serving with Sister Cologub anymore. She has served here in omsk for a long time so this week was full of telephone calls, crying, visits to members and investigators and it was all very sad and stressful. She is my "mom" and not gonna lie its hard! its like moving away from home like i have to grow up and be a missionary on my own.  Sister Margolies is American and from all over because her family moves around a bunch. She is on her fourth transfer here and doesn't speak much more Russian than i do....it is going to be very very interesting. HAHA im kinda freaking out a little bit because I don't know what we will do when we can't understand or speak to our investigators...i was talking to one of the elders and he told me that the same thing happened to him his second transfer and they started out with a whole bunch of investigators and lost all of them!  It was a very inspiring story and i thanked him profusely for it........ anyways...

 

Remember our new investigator that is beyond golden? Well we have had two meetings with him and it was so great! i was going to bring my journal and write to you my feelings from that night but i forgot.....anyways. He studies the BOM and comes with questions and really thinks about what we say.  And his prayers blow us a way! the Lord truly does prepare people! Unfortunately, we have to give him to the Elders because he is young and single and a few moments became awkward but i am very sad about it. But i think i will still be here for his baptism but it is unforunate to not be able to fi nish teaching him and to help....oh well

 

If you are keeping track i fell four times this week....just sayin.  Now that it is getting warmer it is even more dangerous and slippery beceause it is melting and so much water and ice that is crazy beyond belief! but no worries- its all good.  another thing, since all of these huge  ice mounds are melting things that have been frozen for like ever are being revealed.  We were just walking along and we saw a frozen cat!!! yep!  just sticking out in the air from this frozen mound!  it really does happen here! it was crazy! but no i didn't take pictures. I was too sad about it.

 

We had family home evening with a member family and our investigator Andre. With sister luba- the one that makes good food. and this time she made fish. it is a realy good thing that i can't eat it and it is against the rules but i know that i would have lost it!  She just put all of the fish whole in the oven and when they were done she just took them in her hands and broke them into pieces with her hands bones and all! whew!  gross.   Andre has been investigating forever and knows the whole gospel, he is just scared and when we asked him about it he just mumbles for like five minutes and says he has to go......i don't know how to help him or fix that. 

 

On friday two very excting things happened- first i shrunk one of my sweaters! i know- i didn't read the tag and i wasn't suppoesed to wash it. i was very sad but it was very funny!  and don't worry mom it was one of the ones from Ross.  and the second was we were just chillin doing our morning work out and all of a sudden on our efy mix cd came a Country Song!  you can just imagine my joy! i almost started crying! it was so beautiful!  it was "when you dream, dream big"  I guess someone decided it was churchy enough. I always said that country music was about life and was as spiritual as any EFY music! haha i made sister cologub listen to it like 4 times! it was so great

 

On sunday the elders had a baptism for a lady named Valentina and a man named Henry. He is african American, speaks english and is here for the army or something.  It was a beautiful baptism!  I never knew that i could feel such joy and happiness for people who have found the gospel! and they aren't even my investigators!  Valentina came up out of the water and right after she said "zdorava!"  "wonderful!".  She is so strong and will be such a great influence for this branch! 

 

The people here are so wonderful! They feel the gospel way deep down inside of them!  we visit with this one member quite frequently, her name is Sister larissa and she just loves the missionaries and she loves talkinga bout the gospel. She always feeds us really good food and tea of course and she says it is because right now we don't have parents so she is our mom right now. She always says "my dear little girls" -well actually it doesn't translate very well but she is amazing.  She loves the Lord and feels so strongly about the church. Right now i am trying to explain to you how much these people love the gospel and their enthusiasm for life but i can't explain it in words...im sorry.  But when sister Larissa talks about Heavenly Father she says "on maladiets" which directly translated means "He is a good Jobber"> In russian this word is a commonly used compliemtn that you are amazing and you do great things! it reminds me of how mom would tell us to be "good doobies".  One THing i have learned so far from these people is to think of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as your dear dear friends and to strive to have a true real relationship with them.  It has helped me so much to just at night get down on my knees and just talk to Heavenly Father, He is our home and our comfort. He knows all and can be everything for us.

 

we had another lesson with the mom of the lady in the ward. She wants so much to know that the gospel is true and wants to believe. We set a goal for her to be baptized on may 9th and she is going to work hard to be ready for that.  Families are the best to teach because you know they have a built in support system and they can become a forever family!

 

Yesterday we dropped off sister Sologub at the train station and it was very sad. a whole bunch of people came to say goodbye to her cause she is done so much for this area!  I am now with Sister Margolies and sister Shwab until her new companion gets here on friday. it is super weird to be doing everything with out sister sologub....but such is the life of a missionary, or so i am told!

 

anyways----Michelle asked me about decorations and stuff so decided to look around me some more.  I don't really know how to describe it...some just seems normal. they have pretty small apartments so more like college apartments but they love to decorate- well that is just shoving them all into one category because all are different haha but you get the gist of it....one lady has her walls wallpapered with news paper which is odd, alot of people have rugs on the walls, they like pillows and stuffed animals and creepy pictures of animals and cats.  alot of people hang pictures from magazines on their walls just like a teenagers room.  They LOVE light fixures. everyone has something intersting or a chandier of some kind.  They always offer us the couches if they have them or the bed and alot of them just bring in little stools for themselves to sit on. it reminds me of the stool in our kitchen when we sit on it :)  they also like intersting clocks- one lady has a clock that looks like a sunnyside up egg and another has a HUGE gold watch! but the most important thing to know is that they love little trinkets like little animal things, or stickers or somehting- make sense? 

 

anways- i have had some great studies this week! one verse in Luke 16:15 stuck out to me one day. It is about justification. i always said that i thought that justification should be one of the deadly sins because it is easy to do...."well at least i don't do that..."  you know?  well anyways. I wish i had brought my english scriptures with me because i read some great stuff today! and i have blabbed too much again to write more about my studies. but i read today in Luke when Peter Denied the CHrist and there is a heartwrenching verse that says the cock crew and Peter Looked at Christ and remembered. and I thought that even though i have never denied knowing christ, sometimes my "unactions"  are like denying HIm. When i don't open my mouth, when i don't share with those i love the gospel, or the random lady on the bus. When i don't act like Him, that in a way is denying Him.   In that same chapter wh en we read about Gethsemane it talks about how christ felt great agony, so he prayed more earnestly.  When you are in agony, pray more earnestly.    Today i also read Mosiah 2. WOW what a great chapter! I wish that i had my notes but anyways you can read it :)  haha

 

I am happy to be here and am excited to start a new transfer! its like starting with a new slate. setting new goals etc. I am actually really nervous and scared but i know that i need to have faith and hope. That is what i teach people every day and i need to apply it in my life also.  thanks for all of the emails! i haven't had time to read all of them yet but i wil soon.

 

 

I love you!

 

Love Sister Trottier

Hola

This week was crazy!  we had 5 investigators at church which was awesome but alot of them are not progessing, but church is a huge step!  we have one for sure baptism on April 2 but we want to have 3 others on that day as well...i don't know if that will happen but....maybe.  we had a relief society activity and it reminded me of home! a bunch of women jammed into the kitched trying to prepare the food and then after alot of testifying and crying. one thing that is different though is they are alot more willing to stand up and perform...they recited poetry, did skits and sang etc it was alot of fun!  There sister cologyb gave me something to eat and i asked what it was and she wouldn't tell me and the elders wouldn't either- it looked like orange cream cheese but no! it was fish eggss!!  Grosss! i know!

 

My dreams as always are weird and one night i dreamt that Emily Wagner was going to have a baby, so someone find out if she is and the next day we met with a family (who we are hoping to reactivate the mom and conver the dad so they can be an eternal family)  looked exactly like emily! and she had a boy baby so i am guessinng its a boy! and the other was that kate giles was taking a swimming classs, so maybe she should :)

 

I don't know why but this week i thought alot about and prayed alot about the little Alan Kendall Family!  i hope they are doing well and please send them my love!

 

On wednessday i contacted a woman that looked EXACTLY like Mims Zimmerman, i saw her and i had to talk to her because she was mims, but she wasn't because she wasn't smiling and she wasn't interested and thats how i knew it wasn't mims :)

that day i also ate something really awful!  well it didn't taste too awful but this member took something out of the fridge that looked like cheese and put it on bread and gave it to me to eat. it wasn't good but i didn't like it at all at all and i asked what it was and didn't know the word (surprise suprise)  and so my companion looked it up and she said "fat, or Lard)......yup  they eat the fat. like cheese. on bread. ew.  ad i could't say anything cause my companion thinks its normal and this is bad but all i could think of was the FRIENDS episode where Ross was go ng to drink the fat because he loved rachel. Well i love the Russian people so i eat the fat for them :)

 

Today sister sologoob and i discussed Faith/belief/seeing/knowledge and what is required in different times of the world and we were talking about the apoltles in the New Testament. THey had to have a different type of Faith in Christ. I don't have time to go into detail, but they saw Christ as a man, he ate, He slept etc.  but they also saw Him do miracles yet in mark 4:41 they asked who is this man with such power and mark 8:1-21 they asked again how to feed the multitude, they had forgotten the miracle just chapters before ad He asks them "HOw do you not understand?"  and mark 9:31-32  they did not understand He would die and rise  again.  I don't know if this is  making anysense but we were just discussing what kind of Faith is needed from different people.   

 

Im sorry this email said alot and nothing at all but i love you! and Have faith! figure out what kid of faith is necessary for you today and how you can use it!

 

Love Sster Trottier

Hi!!!

HI family! 

  

FYI -  I got moms mail on 3/2/11 and it all depends on when someone goes to Novosibirsk or someone visits here etc. that is why mail is crazy and we never know when we will get it!  so ya :)    I sent the letters on 3/3/11 hopefully they get there soon!

 

(ATTENTION HEATHER WRITERS, MY MOM'S LETTER ONLY TOOK ABOUT 3 WEEKS TO GET THERE BUT THEY CAN TAKE LONGER, SO TWO MONTHS IS PROBABLY THE AVERAGE TO GET A LETTER IN HER HANDS BECAUSE THE MISSION IS SO SPREAD OUT)

  

Wed night-  we went to a members house to have FHE with them. The husband is not a member and it was a miracle!  He prayed with us! it was awesome!  It was short and he kinda made it a joke, but it is a step!  and we walked into their house and lo and behold, there were GOATS! in their house! crazy eh?! it was so funny! not in in the living place, but in russia there is an entry way into the house and that is where they were! there was a mama and two babies!  sister sologub was in love! haha dont worry i took pictures

(in order to clarify any confusion, there are two types of houses in russia, well three. the first is apartments which are most common and the second are house outside of the city that are cheaper and older, the goats WERE NOT IN THE APARTMENTS :)  just to clarify.  The third are the really big nice houses that are way outside city center and only for rich people)

 

THursday. we did alot alot of contacting because of our lack of progressive investigators!  tracting is crazy BUT in mission Prep Glen Thomas told us it is al about statistics. If you have rejections it means you are getting closer to someone listening!  I learned this week that that is true!  it is a hard concept and kinda a smelly one, but it is true!  we contacting ALL day long it felt like and people brushed us off or pushed us away.  And we were just about to go home and we stopped a family!  and they were interested! it was a miracle!  although now they won't anser our calls.......but no worries! haha  after trhat  we had a culture night!  we went to a violin competition and i guess it is a big deal and they video taped us because we look weird with all of us there so i might be on the omsk news if you can look that up it was the II yankelvitch international violin competition so...ya :)  the funniest thing about it is that they have these chairs that look like the ones in the captial with velvet and look soft and cushiony but in reality you sit down and OUCH! it is just wood with fabric! haha! that is very common in russia!

 

 

Friday- was district meeting and a few meetingins with non members and inactives and english club! it was my turn to do story time and i told the story of seven brides for seven brothers! they thought that was funny. it is our goal to teach a lesson after every english club and we taught a girl that was interested but unfortuantely not in our area so we gave her to the sisters after that....

 

sat. We had fhe with a family whose dad just got baptized! they are so great with a cute little boy named pasha.  he is like 3 or something. they are so happy and we gave them a present witha picture of them cropped onto the temple :)  they are working to being a eternal family!  its so great! I had a good contacting experience today of course they can tell i can't speak very well but i spoke to this man about the importance of families and he listened intently to my broken russian and was really thankful. I copuld see it in his eyes. that is all that happened, but it made me realized that even if people don't get baptized i can help change their lives and hlep them be happy!

 

sunday- 2 investigators at church!!!  it was so great! church is great! i love the members and sometimes i understand but mostly i just hug and them and they talk to me and i say "da" and horoshow"  (yes and good)   haha they think its funny.  today was a hard and long day and we were just walking alot and i fell flat on my face on the ice!  it was kinda funny and like 5 minutes later sister cologub fell!  haha instead of making us more sad we started laughing hysterically!   we have bruises, but it was funny!   I have now fallen 3 times like full out fallen on my back side or face!  we can keep count! it will be fun!

 

monday - this is the funniest story of the week- i think-  so sister sologub loves my hair- i don't know why cause i don't really do it i just do my big 80s hair but she has the straightest hair in the world and i showed her how to rat her hair! haha she thought it was a miracle!  she almost had a heartattack beacuse of the overwhelming joy she had! she kept saying "i have hair"  "look at my hair"(in russian of course) and she asked me to do her hair up in the half up way i do with bobby pins! haha probably the first and last time someone will ever ask me to do their hair ya? 

we had FHE with a family and their 13 year old neighbor girl who loves to read the BOM. we had the first lesson with her and i think she is very interested. She has a hard family life and the church and christ gives her hope and happiniess!

 

tuesday was a big big holiday! it is womans day!  kinda like mothers day.  it was strange because no one was on the streets!  well afew people but not many and after that every man we saw had flowers or presents for their special someone.  the usually conservative russians wwere kissing and holding hands right on the streets! it was strange!  alot of love today!  We even got presents from the elders in our districts- chocolate, banana bread and cookies.  the elders are better at cooking than we are! oh well...  today we went to an investigators home who lives in those very rare big expensive houses!  it was great! almost like america! and because it was a holiday she fed us russian traditional dishes. it was good! the weird thing was this cold soup with meet and green stuff, but not bad.  They have bread and cake stuff here that look like they will be delicious and sweet but instead are good, but not much taste or suger...  she gave us some fruit stuff that is kinda like strawberries but small and brownish. they were good but i don't know what they are..  I have found that russians and ukranians are the most long winded people i know!  they can talk for like ten minutes with outstopping! and i get so lost beceause they talk about random things from one topic to another!  its crazy!  the lesson went good...not the best. she knows alot cause she reads the BOM and the ensign! but she isn't sure about prayer and she thinks we are just little girls...it is a problem. but she is really nice and loves us and is willing to listen.

 

side note-  i didn't think anyone could outwalk chelsea blotter (storrs) but i think that her and sister sologub should have a speed walking contest because she is crazy fast! i have to run everywhere!  which is probably good cause we eat so much chocolate! the elders tease us but we just tell themt hat it is our way to deal with rejection :)

 

i of course have to leave you with a spiritual something or more :)    in this months ensign i LOVED  Uctdorfs message about finding joy in everything. Seeing the cup half full.  Wherever we are in life we get to CHOOSE whethere we are going to find the good things or the bad things with everything!  and i don't know about you but i would rather be happy! and choose to see the good. i need to work on doing that i know!  and how much better will our lives be if we do that!? way way better!

 

and ether 12 - miracles are possible if we have faith!  Pray for miracles in your life, believe they will happen and GO OUT and make them happen! 

 

Matt 23  i read today and i felt like i was one of the hypocrit people. I am teaching people and showing them how to live, but am i really living that way?  am i clean inside and out?  I feel like i am learning along with the people i teach, its great but crazy!

 

Matt 24- verse 42 WATCH for Christ to come 44- BE READY for Him to come 46 DO!   be doing always what you need to be so that when he comes you will be counted as one of of His children!

 

and mostly this week was focused for me on HOPE!  there is hope! there is hope in christ!  Hope in His atonement!  hope to be forever with those we love and hope to live with God.  Hope to become better each day and hope to be happy! we have so much reason to be happy! so BE HAPPY!

 

I know this church is true! i am out of time but I love you all!  and i will try to work to be worthy of my calling and to make you and my Heavenly Father proud!

 

Love, Sister Trottier

Hello!

Week number two here in siberia!  and all is well!   I have so much to say! But i don't even know how to say it or what to say!  haha!  Thank you for all the emails!  And please tell Tammy that it is ok for her to email me but i will just have to write her letters!   I wrote a few letters today (sorry idon't have time to write everone every week) and i will try to send them today or tomorrow. I think i am just going to send them homw to you mom and you can get them to everyone else ok?  haha ok!  thanks! and that if they don't reach america no one gets a letter haha! and i think i forgot my camera cord to hook to a computer which is unfortunate-so do you want me to buy a new one or do you want to send it to me?

 

where to start!  First i wante to say that HOLY COW! SAMI IS GETTING MARRIED TOMORROW!! i can't believe it! and sami! the pictures were so so so beautiful! i started crying in the internet cafe! haha kinda funny!  but they are so amazing!  Good luck tomorrow Sami and Matt!  I love you! 

 

 

It is actually startinto to get warmer here, which is unfortunate since i just bought a nice new hat and coat haha! But it is still cold at night.  I forgot to tell you that every little kid here looks like the little kid on the Christmas story- all puffy and stuff! so funny! and they have strollers here but they also have sleds that have tall handes sothey push they kids on sleds! Very clever ya? 

 

I have been feeling frustrated with the language (for good reason)  I want to badly to be able to help these peopl, to talk to them to share with them the joy that i know, but i can't even have simple converstation!   Everyone says that it is normal buti don't like it!  Sister sologub tells me that she thinks that the Lord Sent me here for me to learn pateience :) haha she is probably right!  Anyways becaeuse i have realized this i have found that i have been discouraged which is definately not productiveand i get frustrated.  A few scriptures have called me to repentance!  The one that i love the most is Matthew 13:5  "and He did NOT many mighty works because of their unbelief" The whole chapter before and after and the whole new testament is about the miracles of Christ. But here He did not give them miracles beceause they did not have faith. That made me realize that if if don't have faith that i will succeed- Hewill not give me a miracle!  and i need one! so i need to have faith.  Moroni 10:7.  I don't  know how many times i need to learn the same thing! haha but i need to OPEN MY MOUTH!   haha that is all

 

Alma 26 i have decided is my mission- it describes it perfectly.  I was planning on walking you through it and my proccess but i do not have time- so that is your home work! ALL OF YOU! :) haha and "the strange land"  is siberia and the "lamanites" change to the RUssians:)     I love it and it has given me new hope that i can be as successful as these amazing missionaries.

 

Scripture language study is the best with sister cologyb because I read russian and she reads nglish haha! it is really slow but we are getting better each day!  its strange that what is so easy to me is so strange for her and vice versa.

 

at the moment we have a few investigators on the back burner but no progressive investigators.  We have alot alot of finding to do!  Our goal as a mission is to teach 20 lessons a week-  the "perfect"  week would be split evenly 5 with new converts 5 with inactives 5 with members nad 5 with investigators. it is hard but we are striving to do it! 

 

As a mission we are reading the New testament and finishing in july...so if you want to do it with me that would be cool :)

 

After i wrote you last week i was a little Sad, and we went to a members house - sister emily and alexander.  and it was so great! we had FHE with them and they are so sweet and nice. she sat by me and held by hand and spoke slowly and simply so i would understand what was going on. It was such a blessing and i felt that God was telling me that i had people here that love me too!  It was like being at home. 

 

Twice this week sister sologub has been an answer to my prayers. sometimes together we read the teachings of the prophets books together.  There are two really great ones! the frist is by harold b lee ch6 on personal revelation and the second is heber j grant ch 4 i think on persistence! they are both really good if you have time to read them. They helped strengthen me!

 

Today sister sologub was sad for a moment because someone said something bad about the church (i didn't understand so.....i was not affected :))  but she was sad so i started singing songs for her! haha she thinks i am crazy but in a very good way!  She says " sister trottier i love you" with her really great accent all of the time! it is so great!  we laugh and have fun and work!  all the time!   I taught her twinkle twinkle little star the other day and shelovedit!  we looked at the stars and i realized that you all can see the same stars that i see!  its so great!   I started singing in my head "underneath the same big sky song :)"

 

I got a new sweet!  fur hat!  it is blank and made from mink fur.  One elder says i am bringing back to 20s and look like Marilyn Monroe! haha i think its sweet!

 

I have found that alot of people look grumpy but really they are not.  right when i talk to them they smile.  Alot of times it is because they don't understand or they get that i am american,but once you get them talking they don't stop! they like to talk alot!   They are also so giving!  thy LOVE to help you. I think that my new plan will just to ask people how to say words and then start chatting with them. They are so giving and every member we go to gives us a big hug and wants to feed us and give us tea. 

 

did i tell you about tracking last week? I don't remember. But it is super funny!  There are alot of rules about what we can and cant do and one of those rules is that while tracting we have to stand outside and call the numbers and just speak into the intercom.  if some one lets us in we can talk to them but then we have to go back outside and ring more numbers!  we laugh alot and it is funny!  sister sologub says it this way "I think we will have many smiles today"

 

Today we went bowling with the sisters and a companionship of elders!  first we went to subway and then bowling and for a moment i thought i was in america! seriously! i forgot where i was! it was bizarre.

 

as i wrote letters today i decided to end each one with a small testimony and say i knew the church was true and give a different reason for each one how i knew it to be true!  it was such a blessing to me because i realized i know the gospel is true with out a doubt because of so so so many different reasons.  My many blessings, the people in my life, the tender mercies God sends, He answers my prayers, He talks to me through the scriptures, He leads and guides me, He comforts me etc etc!  I love i!  and I love yo!

 

 

Love Sister Trottier