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
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