Yes, "The Future is as bright as your faith". I read this this morning, and i realized that this week my future wasn't looking all that bright because my faith wasn't asll that great.  This quote is from Elder Nelson, and i think that it is interesting because usually  people just say "the future is bright" but he is just being really honest here and he says to us, well actually its bright if you make it bright and if you have the faith that it will be bright through the savior.  So have faith!  and the future will be great!I assumed that alot of you felt prompltings of the spirit to write me and buoy me up!  you guys are great!  I got some great emails which i will promptly print off and try to write back to!  (especially kate because i already wrote you one i just haven't sent it.....and i will write again! so you will get two soon!)So we have this family who is inactive and we are trying to reactivate them and she asked me to do her a favor and so its kinda mom- you doing me a favor. she is looking for a couple that served here about 8 years ago named Jodie and Rodie England.....she says they are form Utah. Don't know how you can get ahold of them but could you try?and WISH LIST!  i need you to send a picture of all of you that if someone was making something that looked like you you would be happy it was from that picture ok?  and for that i will need my birthday money on my card early....if thats ok :) haha it will be worth it i promise!    and will you send a pack of UNO cards? Ok.....now as for me. Im good.  I am been letting myself stress out this week and giving myself ulcers which is negative.  just freakin out about my accountabiltyness and my inability to speak russian and my not large enough faith or obedience and how i look like a bad missionary compared to the Preach my Gospel missionaries from the training videos we are doing....but i have realized, as i realized ten million times in my life, that freaking out does no good. its just makes me worse and makes my companion freak out too!  I just need to stop thinking about myself and give it all to the Lord.   But thats harder than we all make it sound when everyone tells the story about Pres Hinckley's dad saying that to him!  But  when i have been able to do that i have noticed the real work coming in, the success and the spirit and the miralces that happen when i step out of the way of the Lord. so we showed up at this families house to do family night last night and it was so great because they were all so excited likt they had some sort of secret! haha and they said, "we did all the work and we have a spiritual thought and a game!" haha how legit is that!?  this is an inactive family that we have been working with and it was just incredible! the light in their eyes as they did the lesson and as they taught us!  it was so incredible!  it is a mom, Tanya, two girls ariana (14) and anya (10) and boy (3ish)  they are so cute and fun!  We played a game with chocolate, a fork and a knife - a shopka (big russian hat), mittiens and a scarf and dice.  You roll the dice and if you get doubles its your turn to put on all the stuff while trying to cut up the candybar piece by piece and eat it until the next persons rolls doubles! its a crazy game but so much fun!  today we are going to the zoo!  supposedly the 3rd best in russia! see how that goes i guess! So as i was studying i was looking out our really great huge window into our very great view of novosibirsk! and my attention was caught by an eagle.   the sun was just rising and he was just soaring in the sky seeming as though he had no cares in the whole world.  It was so beautiful andi wished that i was him, just soaring, seeing everything from that high with a huge perspective!  and then i thought of those awful pigeon (whom i dislike very greatly)  all over the city.  THey are dirty and gross and they just walk around in the garbage and poke around for scraps on the floor.  and if they use their wings it is to fly to another spot of ground or to a very low ledge of something else (mostly like dirty)  and i thought what a waste! they have wings too!  But when was the last time you saw a pigeon soaring in the wind or into the sunset, NEVER but whenever you see eagles they are on the top most branches of a tree, or soaring above the clouds in to the beautiful sunset. and you can guess where this is all going i am sure, but in short, don't be a pigeon, BE AN EAGLE!  Use your wings (aka knowledge, talents, abilities, covenants) reach your potential! you have the capacity to be so much! you have so much potential.  You are a daughter or son of God.  Think of your potential!  all that we have enables us to soar above the world and sometimes we don't even realize it!  But we have that!  so use what you have and what you know.  Be an eagle!  well that was my crazy rant and i don't even have time to mention anything to anyone that wrote :) sorry about that.  if you have time read mosiah 15 (especially 7-12 and compare to mosiah5) i had a big old spiritual thought for you all but the eagly thing took too much time haha but ya :)  I love you all so much! The church is true! Love, Sister Trottier

Aug 10

Somehow, we only received the first part of Heather's letter.  So try not to be sad when you reach the incomplete thought at the end! 

Love you all!

Melanie

 

 

Hey,

 

So normally I start every email by saying that I feel like I just wrote yesterday but today it is the complete opposite! I feel like it has been forever and that everything has changed! And that is because it has!

 

First went to Finland again! It was sweet just like the first time!  Did the temple session in Russian which was really cool! And I understood! Which was even cooler!  Our new group was a lot of fun. A lot of newer elders that are funny but really strong. Unfortunately all the younger missionaries know Russian better than I do already...I thought I was smart haha but Russian has kinda kicked that proud part of me out of there :).   Anyways as we were in the temple housing and the temple there was just this incredible feeling! It’s awesome because we are all a family and everyone knows it! Everyone smiles and greets you and shares everything they have with you and greets you in the language that they think you might understand! haha it’s so great!  I was thinking about languages because there were people there speaking Russian and finish and English. And others I am sure.....but we talked to one Finnish man who didn't know English but knew a little Russian so we could talk to him! And we met another Finnish man who knew Russian and English and we had a good conversation with him where we went back and forth crazily between Russian and English because he didn't know either perfectly.  And another conversation with a woman who knew Finnish and English, a woman who knew just Finnish and a woman who knew all three (Russian fin an eng) and it was a crazy confusing conversation but we all talked and laughed and had a good time! haha cool huh? Oh the strange experiences in different countries!

 

Well I am now in Novosibirsk! It is a lot different here. People are more modernized and one of our branches is very big! With a lot of solid members and young people preparing for missions or just coming home!  We have new member who got baptized on wed and she is awesome she received the Holy Ghost on during sacrament meeting and paid her tithing straight after wards!   My companion is sister djurich and she is just great! haha possibly the most hysterical person I have ever met! and I think that she has a huge huge huge amount of faith because miracles just fall into our laps!  Seriously! Yesterday was possibly the best day of my mission so far!  We had four great meetings 3 of which were with investigators.  I don't know all of our people yet but the ones I have met are amazing people.  We have had members on our lessons that bring the spirit, testify and help strengthen and add their own conversions that make it so the investigators have someone to relate to etc etc.  My companion has only had Russian companions so her language skills are sweet! she is helping me out a lot....although it is a little embarrassing cause I am supposed to know more technically but.....we can all take a little humble pie every once and awhile I guess. :) The metro is great- everything is faster and nice although it is a lot louder and that makes it hard to talk to people. My companion is a very diligent worker and has a strong testimony and we can also have fun together.  We are both striving I think to make big changes this transfer which is good so we can work on them together. hmmm...

 

Our new mission president came!  He is awesome and so is his wife!  He speaks Russian and she can bear testimony in Russian as well. He is an incredible speaker but can also be very personable.  He read the Book of Mormon 7 times before he got here!  7 times in 7 months!  and then I the mtc he read the whole thing in Russian!  I haven't done that!  Anyways he is an amazing president but he is also really cool haha I think he watches Psych!  haha he fist pounded me twice the day that I met him haha and when I told him I was a triplet in my interview with him he did this "whaaaaat.....!!!!" just like Gus! haha pretty funny.  He gave almost a whole talk on one scripture and it seems like a rand

Aug 3

Hey hey hey, 

So I know you are all just DYING to know where I got transferred right!? haha nah you probably forgot that that was coming up eh? haha no worries, but I did get a transfer. I am going to now be serving in Novosibirsk! and my new companion will be sister Djurich...I am not sure actually how to spell it, but she is just one transfer younger than me. She came into the MTC when I had been there 6 weeks.  She is American but I don't remember from what state.  I am pretty sad to leave Omsk after 4 transfers, I feel like it is my home and all my family is here!  I had to say bye to everyone on Sunday and take pictures etc etc and it was sad. I love all of these people! but I still have 10 months so I think that I will most likely be back in Omsk sometime....at least I hope!   I have heard good and bad things about Novo but I am trying to only think about the good things! One good thing I do know of is that I will get mail that comes right when it comes :) not have to wait! That’s a good thing!  

At the moment I am still in Omsk, tomorrow morning I leave for my visa trip in Finland again, get back here in Omsk on Saturday morning and then leave on a train for Novosibirsk that morning too!  A lot a lot of traveling, which kinda feels like a waste of time but it is necessary...so what can you do.....not much.

So one day I was thinking about the Russian language. I’m not gonna lie, I still don't know it all that great, but I have realized that what I do know so far is a miracle. I was thinking of the day I got my call, actually the day after. Me and mom were so super excited and stoked that I was going that we had to go and do something! So we went to the distribution center to buy temple stuff and also to buy a Russian Book of Mormon.   I remember that we couldn't even tell which one was Russian!  I remember I sat down on the floor when we found it and I was just staring at the pages.  Wondering how in the world I was ever going to read it or understand it. I couldn’t even say the title!  They weren't real letters! And I remember what mom said to me, she said something to the effect of "Sister Trottier (well she probably said Heather) don’t worry, you will learn Russian.  You will come home in a year and a half and we will come back here to this store and we will remember this moment and we will just laugh at the memory, that you thought you couldn't learn Russian."  or something like that...... :)  and even though I still don't know it perfect, I can speak, I can understand and I can read in the Book of Mormon and know what it is talking about.  IT IS A MIRACLE!!  I have seen so many miracles already on my mission but I would just like to point out this one.  In the scriptures it was prophesied that the Lords people would go out into the world and teach His gospel to different people in their own language.  And He has fulfilled that prophecy.  He makes it possible for young women and young men to learn languages that usually take years to learn and he does it in a small amount of time!  It’s incredible!

Well that was possibly one of my longest tangents....sorry about that. 

One of the members gave a talk in sacrament that I really liked this week. It was about our Heavenly Family.  He talked about how we are all children of God; we are all brothers and sisters.  Which is one of our basic doctrines, but do we live by it?  If we really understood this and we acted according to it our world would be an incredible place! Very true. I need to get better at this.  We have had a lot of miracles this week. One for example was our chance to meet with a family who hasn't met with missionaries in a long time. They are members, a mom and two boys; one is 13 and the other 3 I think.  It was a great meeting and they want to continue meeting with the sisters, the little boy wants to get the priesthood!  We have also had random experiences of running into people who have met with missionaries before, who know who we are and ask if they can come to church!! haha yes we would love that!    I lead English class last night and it was way fun! It was with about 10 people who speak really good Russian and we made our own city, figured out government education etc etc. It’s strange but these people who have been coming to English for forever I have come to love!  These old men who want to know English, young girls who want to move to America etc etc. They are incredible. Just love the Russian people!

I am excited to go to Novosibirsk and meet new people to love. I also think it is good to go to a new place and start over fresh and begin again, change what I want to change etc etc.  I am so thankful for my time here.  Some days I get out on the streets and I think to myself "why in the world am I here?! Why would I put myself through this everyday for a whole year more!?" but then the next moment I remember why.  It’s because of the knowledge that I have, it’s because of the joy I receive from this work. It’s the joy I can help bring into others lives and the hope that I see in their lives. It’s for the lives that can be changed and eternities begun and it’s because of my Love for my Heavenly Father and my Savior.  That’s why. (And a whole lot of other reasons that I could mention but then the email would be too long)

I love you all so much!  

Love sister Trottier

I am glad you got my pictures!  and ya all the sisters I have served with here are pretty short haha and I am one of the tallest which is a strange experience for me