Last e-mail from Russia

Well Hello :)  

Well i guess this is the last email from Russia that you will all get from me.  Everyone keeps asking me how i feel and i just say "I don't know, Good".  Because to be honest, it doesn't really feel yet like i am going home.  Today is just another pday....but i guess its not haha. So i guess i will start by saying all the stuff i am supposed to say although they don't seem real :)

Thanks everyone for writing me all of the time. and for the love and support that you have given me. Your letters, emails, and packages mean alot and helped me remember why i am out here.  For all of you!  Well, first of all for the Lord, but also for my family and friends.  I couldn't have done it with out the help of the Lord that came because of all of your faith and prayers.  Thanks so much. 

This week was pretty much a normal week except for the packing and saying goodbye. It was actually a really productive one.  We had some great great meetings and contacts and studies.  It was a miracle actually.  I decided to ask our investigator Nina again to be baptized.  She ALWAYS  gets a little frustrated when i ask. but I just felt that i had to. I was hesitant but as my companion says "Don't argue with the Spirit"  so i asked her.  and you know what?! she said yes! haha we were shocked into silence!  after how many times meeting with her and asking her EVERYTIME to be baptized! i almost decided to not ask her this one time because i didn't want to get her mad and then have to say good bye but the Holy Ghost told me. Heavenly Father knew she was ready.  Think about it!? what if i hadn't asked!?  that is why President tells us to ask every time. you just never know when they will be ready.  

We met with our new member Larissa. She is incredible. I love her so so much.  We just had a great discussion about our Heavenly Father. Who He is and our Potential to become like Him.  The spirit was so strong. The branch council is already started on getting her a calling and assignments and teachers and stuff.  She is so great! She even got up the guts to ask someone to switch work with her this Sunday so she could come to church.  She told us all about her experiences that she has already had with the Holy Ghost since she has received that gift.  If we all used and appreciated the Gift of the Holy Ghost that we have been given as she does the world would be a much better place. We could get a lot alot done.  She also said that she has the desire to serve. She knows that is what she covenanted to do and she has been trying to consciously keep that covenant!  I told her that i wanted to be her friend for ever and ever. haha she said she does too.  

I have been trying hard to keep working this week and i think it has been pretty successful.  I just knew that the last week is what i would remember. I wanted to be able to remember that I worked till the end, not just a trunky missionary. So we have been just talking to everyone. its been great. I love the people here in Russia.  

There is a girl that we teach English to. her name is Alexcandra. have i told you about her? she has become my best friend haha! i love her so so much. She asked if she could take us in her car to the bus station. So nice!  so her and her husband came. They helped us with our bags and just chatted the whole time. She even gave me a cute little Russian present.  Just a great couple. The sisters are going to start teaching them and i hope that they can come to know its true.  She is so great. 

Church was so good. Its weird to think that its the last Russian meeting i will be on. it will be weird for everything to be in English. it was sad to say goodbye to everyone.  They have become my family.  I definitely want to come back and visit.  I could just stay in tomsk for a whole week and just hang out with everyone haha!  

We are now in Novo and having pday with the sisters.  Set up a meeting tonight with my "mom" in Novo. Vera. I am so happy and excited to see her before i leave. I called her last night and she knew me by my voice!  haha it was nice.  Also called my "sister" her in Novo Marina, we are going to meet her tomorrow i think. cool that i get to do some work here in Novo before i leave.  Did some contacting today in Novo.  I miss the people in tomsk haha but maybe i just have to find the happy ones haha. 

Welp......Mom- if there is any problems with me flying home alone i will call you. no worries. haha i don't think they are that strict. I will ask president, but i am sure there won't be any problems. 

one of the elders wrote to me in our year book type thing and said some like "The Lord sends us on missions to prepare us for a greater work in our lives. I believe that He has prepared a greater work for you to fulfill, keep on working and serving and you will fulfill it."  Another elder said "You have been improving and perfecting yourself for the last 18 months, don't stop or go back. Keep going and you will continue to be a servant in the Lords hands". and Mom sent me a quote from elder Packer - "The release is just as inspired as the calling". I believe that.  I feel pretty peaceful.  I am sure i will cry a bunch haha but that's because it is sad to leave all the people i love behind. But i know that just as the Lord had a purpose and reason for sending me on a mission, He also has a purpose and plan for me after the mission. Just the next calling and time of life. I am nervous because i don't know what will come, but that is life. I am excited to start the next part of my adventure.  I know that as the Lord led and guided me here, He will lead and guide me after my mission.

This time has changed me for the better.  and i will try to continue to keep changing and improving

  I love my mission.  I love the Gospel. I love my Savior.  and i love you all. See you soon!

Sister Trottier

What did you wear in the wintertime to stay warm?  - i wore thermal garments but only the bottoms.  think leggings and running pants and more thick tights.  scarves thick wool sweater haha and wool socks. 

Do you have an iron? yes

The packet from the church says that if you wear a size 10, you should buy your boots here- is that accurate? yes accurate!!! its possible but hard.  but the best and warmest have fur and i don't know where to find those there

Do you eat a lot of meat? if you want to.  don't have to.

Have you liked the shoes you took or would you have chosen differently? differently. i dislike greatly those "comfy" ones that are not cute. i wear my flats more than those.  bring fall boots

What things are unavailable there that she should take with her?  not much.  floss is expensive.


Wow! that was alot of emails! haha took about 45 minutes! haha thanks so much!   Its like I'm coming home soon and everyone remembered that they love me! :) haha just kidding! but it was really nice

I have alot alot to write and not alot of time to write it! 

we went to Novosibirsk for a conference with the WHOLE MISSION! it was incredible! it was so so great. to have all those missionaries all together. it was like having my family. don't worry, but second family, but stil. i love them so much.  We had testimony meeting and i of course cried haha.  All I got out was "i know the gospel is true"  and then that was about it for a while and then i got through a little bit more haha.  and at the end we always sing "God be with you till we meet again" and i told myself i wouldn't cry hahga but that lasted about five seconds.  and then i just had to shake all my "brothers" hands good bye and give hugs to all my "sisters".  its crazy how much i love everyone here.  Missionaries, members, non members etc.  I have already started saying bye to people here in Tomsk and its hard every time. 

so i know you are all just DYING to know.... LARISSA GOT BAPTIZED!!!! Yepers!  On Sunday she was baptized!  I knew Tomsk was going to be a miracle city.  I love Larissa so much. we have become close friends already. I wish i could tell you the whole story but its long. i will tell you in person ok? it was incredible. her husband baptized her and the spirit was so strong. They are one step closer to having an eternal family.  It was a beautiful service.  The days before her baptism she kept asking how she would feel when and after she was baptized  and so after it all i asked her and she said "I feel reverence." what a great answer.  It impacted me alot that answer and today i studied reverence. I think that we could all probably be a little more reverent in our lives.  we are actually told to be reverent in all things. Satan uses irreverence in the world to distract us from that which is spiritual (True to the Faith).  Heavenly Father heard my prayers, her prayers and the prayers of her husband. what a miracle.

sick of hearing from me yet?

Hey family!

So i talked to you just a few hours ago, but my companion needed to
send an email to her family so I'm hear :) writing you again :)

Funny that when we talk over skype and stuff we really don't have much
to say huh? i think its because we already know whats going on with
each other and then we just stare at each other haha we strange kinda.
haha but that's ok. sorry i always freeze and don't know what to say.
But i was just floating on a cloud the whole time we went shopping and
stuff. Don't worry i will work really really super hard these last two
weeks cause i know its how i finish is what i will remember, but i am
also so excited to give you all big huge hugs and not have to wait 6
months to talk to you. and you know what? i forgot for the second time
on my mission to say HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! haha what a horrible daughter.
That was the point of the whole call and i didn't even say it. I'm
sorry mom :) i love you! i said that! that's what matters most right?
if you want small martroshka dolls they are like 15 dollars or so
which isn't bad. we went to look at prices today and i found one for
mom that was so so funny and i had to buy it :)

as with Larissa, we are praying hard and alot for her. I think that
everything will work out, and she will be baptized. Just maybe not
while i am here. But i am trying to keep in mind that its not about me
:) its about her and the Lords timing haha. but its hard to remember
that. But she is so great. I love having meetings with her because its
like we just get to take the topic and dissect and discuss it and
really get deep down into what it means in our lives.  its incredible.
   and Tamara that also wants to get baptized just is so close. She is
so great and close to the spirit and has a HUGE DESIRE but the smoking
thing is just holding her back. But it will be ok.

i will tell you about another day that we had this week that was
great. I'm just going to rewrite what i wrote in my journal so you can
get the emotion of it or whatever.

Today was one of those days that just makes you know that Heavenly
Father is watching out for us. That he sees the work that we do and
wants us to know that he appreciates us and will eventually reward us
in His own time and his own way..... we had district meeting which was
always great and we didn't have any meetings set up until 6 so we had
a few hours to do some finding.  We had earlier decided to go drop by
some old old investigators that we found in the area book that had no
numbers and only addresses. I was praying really hard and trying to
have faith and a good attitude about contacting and dropping by
randomly to people (not usually effective. we only had 3 addresses and
the first two no one was home. I was frustrated. We had prayed really
hard and we had felt that this was what Heavenly Father had wanted us
to do today and i was starting to ask "why?".....gotta admit i was
murmuring.  we got to the third address and rang the domophone and
they just opened the door for us....strange. so we went up and knocked
on the door. a nice young girl said that her parents weren't home. She
remembered us "missionaries" and said that we could come in and she
would call her parents. They had been walking the dog, but they came
back to meet with us. Their names are Georgi and oksana. She used to
come to church alot alot and knows alot about our doctrine. he is
really great, never came to our church but is taking bible school
online or something- just for fun. So we just began talking and
teaching. I don't know how but i knew all the bible verses he was going
to use before he even said them. I knew where they were, who the
apostle was talking to and the background info.  it was crazy.  I
guess my study of the bible last year paid off- the holy ghost really
can reach back into our memory and pull out old info.  it was a great
conversation and lesson. They both just want to know truth.  We asked
if they wanted to pray with us at the end and they were both just so
excited! they jumped on their knees and we asked him to give the
prayer. he gave a great sincere prayer.

Now- I'm guessing that you are thinking how great and normal that
lesson was right?  well don't worry- theres more. we are in Russia of
course. So in the middle of our discussion she said that she wanted to
give us something to drink. we said no tea or coffee and she said she
knew that- she wanted to give us Birch tree juice.  huh
uh....ya....straight from a birch tree and then they add some stuff
and also raisins and its turns into this thick slime...haha and then
she wanted to feed us a spoonful of something "very healthy" and she
gave me some and she asked how it was "i told her i felt like i was
eating a tree" haha she laughed and said it was crushed pine cones or
something like that.  haha just so funny because we are having a great
spiritual discussion on which i am trying to concentrate while eating
a tree.

and it doesn't end after that. we also went by a lady who told the
elders she wanted to meet us. This old lady is a saint. her name is
Hadeshjda (Hope).  she is so great and just held the Book of Mormon
like it was her most precious possession.  it was great. I have been
praying really hard to leave my companion with some great new
investigators and we have been blessed.

well- that's the story.  i will try to find some more sleds for jake-
and i thought of a funny gift for the boys that is even more modern
Russian than old boxes. haha i will buy a few and you all can pick
what you want and then we can gift them to other people.

The church is true.  the Holy Ghost is our guide and needs to be our
greatest desire, just as it was for the nephites. If He is with us we
won't go astray.  So ask for His companionship and live worthy of it!

I love you

Sister Trottier

Your package came this week for Easter!  I shared alot of the candy with people here and they thought it was so funny. especially the peeps. The Mongolians were freaking out haha. but then me and my comp ate all the cadbury eggs in one sitting...which is way bad haha but we had fasted the whole day and couldn't stop eating them after! haha don't worry we ate real food first :) 

few random questions-  do we we have greenfield tea in America?  Don't worry, the herbal kind :)  and do you have gingerbread Twix bars?  

Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting.  Fasting Works.  Me and my companion fasted for our 3 main investigators, Tamara, Larissa and Olga in order to help them receive answers to their prayers and for us to know how to help them prepare to be baptized and for our new idea of how to help members do missionary work. (i also prayed separately that i could be nice and happy while fasting because you know i am bad at that, i need my food)  and guess what?!  Heavenly Father helped us out with all of it! Larissa's husband told us (she was at work) that she got an answer and said "I have decided i want to pay tithing and i am ready to be baptized"!!! Woooohooooooooo!!! i am so excited. This woman is incredible. She is so sweet and so sincere and just wants to do whats right. She loves the scriptures and the Lord. I think we could just be friends for ever and always. Maybe we were friends before.  Who knows?  and Tamara said to me "I'm going to get baptized before you leave.  I know i can do it! and i want to while you are here because you have done so much to help me".  She is so sweet and great! and Olga said that she had an answer that she knows our church is inspired of God. She says she isn't ready to be baptized yet, but she will be baptized she says.  And as with the members a whole bunch came up and asked us to meet with them this week!.  :)  Now as with my personal thing, fasting was a lot easier.  It probably helps that i learned how to pray correctly, thanks to the article in the ensign by Elder Bednar.  We need to pray for the enabling power and the capacity and strength to do what we need to do, not just to pray that it will go away or be easy, but that we can grow stronger.  Who knew i was praying wrong my whole life?  

we went to Larissa house and met with her and her husband and when we knocked he asked "who is it?" and i said "si-yos-tri"  (the sisters)  and he said

"zv-yoz-di"  (stars) ? haha he thought that i said that the stars were here! haha he thinks that is really funny and now he calls us his stars, "Larissa, we are so lucky that our little stars came today". He even bore his testimony and called us stars.  

Little Kiril bore his testimony. he is 9 and was recently baptized. His family and cousins all live together and we have been working with them to get them active. last FHE we talked about service and doing good works and made them a poster to write on the good works that they did this week.  he got up and told everyone that and said "So the next morning we all woke up and specifically (?) or "on purpose"? ( i don't know in English) - started doing good works and i thought "what can i do"". haha it was so cute.  

It rained alot this week.  but it was nice. i of course love the rain.  We also stated running every morning. its great great great!  There is a small track near our house next to a school and we go there. There are a few babushki who run too its great fun.

you know what is good here?  is Meat pie. I know, sound gross and before my mission when i heard about that kinda stuff i was grossed out. but it just means some kind of dough and meat cooked on it or in it. its really good.  i like Russian food. Maybe i will open up a Russian bakery or something. 

Don't worry, i have a list of all the things that i want to do and accomplish and try when i get home. I don't want to waste a minute!  you know i realized here how much you can accomplish in one day. and I'm not saying that its bad to relax and watch a few good films, just saying that if we plan we could do alot more. and if your plan is to watch a movie, color in a coloring book and lay on your bed listening to country music, fine haha that's a great plan!   just plan and try new things. 

what else do i have to say? i don't know....not much.  except our new thing is to talk to all the conductors on the trolley buses. we are pretty much friends with all of them.  Except the ones that don't like us.  now they ignore us....but the majority we are great friends!  we have started taking trolley buses because they are less expensive, cleaner and quieter so we can talk better to people. 

didn't hear anything about where i am going to live this fall this week? haha does that mean the stress is over and we bought an apartment and everything?  that would be nice. :)

Well- i think that's about all that i have.  I love you all so much.  I'm thankful for all that i have and the opportunity to serve the Lord everyday. I hope I am living up to what the Lord expects of me and that I am the type of missionary you all think i am haha.  Everyday i try to live up to that, you all write that you know that i am the best missionary ever. haha that's a lot to live up to but i am trying to do my best just to serve and to love. 

Hope all is going well there.  Say Hi to Jake and Audrey for me.  

Love Sister Trottier

See you on Monday over the Internet!

PS- Sami- whats a tablet?

So i heard that it is mothers day next week HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! haha we found out that we can use the computer at the church building to skype. sorry for the late notice and we can't plan for when i will talk with you but we decided that we would go there Monday morning and call. so i will have a turn at about 9 or 9:30 and if i am counting right that is Sunday night for you at like 8 or 8:30. i know that's kinda late for sami and matt, but it would be cool if they were there :) i don't know how the whole skype thing works but i am sure that i will figure it out.

dad- hey old man :) haha Just kidding.  its a small world huh? Addy french got married!?!  i had no idea!  to that same kid that came to lake powell with us or something like that?  what part of Russian is Alicia going to?

well- sorry i took a long time reading all of your emails :) we found a library to do Internet and it is so quiet and clean and great haha i am just enjoying it and relaxing. its been a good week. its all going by so so fast.

no i am going to paste whati wrote to president and also add some stuff to it.

Its a good week we did well at planning this week and we had all our meetings set up for the whole week almost!  its amazing what a good planning session does! no stress! and we were able to focus on the needs of the people, not just on who we were going to find to meet with.

Our goal as a companionship right now is learning how to better teach together with the Holy Ghost. We have been studying how the Holy Ghost works and trying to learn how to teach the same way, and get out of the way so He can do the actual teaching.

We had a meeting with one of the people that came to the church Open house. Her name is Olga. We met with her at a members house and it was an incredible meeting. The spirit was so strong and we were all just able to discuss how the blessings of the restored gospel are able to bless our individual lives. She described her feelings that the presence of God was so strong that it was tangible. We left that meeting just floating on air. She has a small problem with her mother who is very very against all other religion other than Russian Orthodox but i think that it will all turn out ok. we are praying and planning on going over to do service at her house to soften her heart.

my companion after the meeting asked me where all the perfect Russian came from during the lesson haha.  i have found when i step aside let the spirit speak my Russian is way better too, not only the quality of the lesson. The Spirit is so cool.

We also met with a woman whose husband is a counselor in the branch presidency. Her name is Larissa. She is an incredibly sweet woman. She has been coming to church for quite awhile and loves the Book of Mormon.  She is just a little nervous about the responsibility that being a member has.  But it also was a great meeting led by the spirit. We talked of prayer and i found myself spouting off answers and passages i didn't know. She is so great, you know she already shares the gospel. and at work she said that they used to buy alcohol for everyones birthdays and stuff to celebrate and she asked them why they were wasting their money and they now buy fruit to eat on holidays! haha she is trying to not drink coffee so she says that she just sometimes stands next the machine and smells it and that is enough haha. she was so cute she asked us kinda timidly if it was bad if she marked her scriptures and wrote in them!  of course not!  we were thrilled!

we went to a village this week to meet wtih our new young converts. holy cow- remember last time that i said they had a mean dog? well now they have 3 mean dogs!  and i am talking MEAN they were trying to eat us. seriously! have never been more scared in my whole entire life. the girls came out to hold the dogs back, but they dogs were doing all they could to get free and to attack. one even got my companions coat. oh goodness.

had some great meetings with active and inactive members. its great to visit them and to serve them. Emma is a cute babooshka who always feeds us and takes care of us. the members here are so great. they have become my family.

Saturday all our plans fell through!  but don't worry "the gospels still true" so we had a bunch of time to contact and i will tell you a story. So, i decided it was warm enough to not wear boots-wrong! so we took buses where we were planning instead of walking and you know what? it meant that we were in the right place at the exact right time. it was incredible. i just stopped this young guy (which normally isn't who we go looking to contact- usually turns out not great) and we ended up teaching a lesson right there on the street. it was so cool. He was a great guy  who just "found God" not long ago.  you never know who is ready to hear the gospel. and then we jumped of our bus and i saw a lady with a stroller who was not the way we were planning on going but i grabbed my comps coat and pulled her over.  This lady was so excited to talk to us and already knew who we were and where our church was. her and her husband had been planning to come for awhile now. seriously. i was blown away how happy she was to talk to us. it was like she was a member or something. i was blown away. They are going out of town until June, but hopefully my comp will baptize their whole family! :)

lately we have been meting all sorts of people who know who we are. who have been to our church before or have friends or relatives that are members. Craziest ever. its never been this often before but its like everyone knows who we are. its nice. they already know we are normal and not trying to eat them or something. which i really don't get when people are scared of us....we are pretty normal looking girls.

The book of mormon is the book of answers. we always ask ourselves questions and also try to find answers to the questions we have and as we are studying together we will be reading and one of us will say, "hey that's our answer"  its incredible.  Read it.

Anyways. I have found a new scripture. don't know if i told you about it last week, but it is Alma 7:23-24. its a great scripture with of the characteristics that i am working towards haha that i am far from reaching.  I am taking the verse apart word by word and trying to discern what each one really means. I studied the word "submissive" today.  I have come up with synonyms i think that match what it means- malleable, willing, adaptable, humble, obedient, responsive, ability to yield, ability to take correction and chastisement, go with the flow, easy to get along with...i didn't bring my notes but those were just a few. 

welp- my time is about out so i gotta go, but i love you all very much! and i will talk to you next week hopefully! 

The church is true. The Book of mormon answers all questions.

Sister Trottier

we are spending alot of time trying to get referrals from members and inactives and also through our own finding! we need new investigators!  but no worries

boring today...sorry :)

Hey hey hey,

right now in my studies when i have "free time"  after i have planned and studied for others, i am studying the "final words" of the prophets in the Book of Mormon.  I really love it.  Just the few verses or chapters that they end when they say something like "I nephi about to go down to my grave...." or something like that.  its great the things that they have to say to us. My favorite is Amaleki (sp?) its at the end of Omni. Sorry don't have it with me now, but you can go and read it. but today i started reading the "last words" of Christ.  who knows what they really were, but i am reading them all from Matt, Mark, Luke and John, and also 3 nephi. its interesting from all the prophets and Christ, their final words go back to a basic doctrine.  Repent, Come unto Christ. Or something like this.  It really is simple, the gospel.  We just have to live it. 

Had service this week at a hospital. Wore jeans for the first time in a year which was weird but sweet! haha  we have a rule that we can't proselyte if we are in service clothes and it felt so weird to not talk to people. I felt so useless and lame to just walk, or sit on a bus haha and not do anything. The hospital------well we aren't in America is what i have to say about that.  :)  we cleaned windows and then went out to help the elders rake leaves. it was way fun! physical labor is the best time for thinking and chatting. 

had some great meetings this week with great people- contacts, investigators, members, inactives and new members.  it was great. I love being a missionary. haha maybe i will just go around to everybody at home with spiritual thoughts too haha i love just seeing a lot of different people everyday, getting to know them and learning about the gospel with them. Its true that the gospel is (should be) our lives.  I think i probably say this like every week but at church i just had to hug everyone (and give all the men hearty handshakes) Because i felt such an overwhelming love for all of them. I haven't served as long here in Tomsk as other places but i already feel even closer to these members here. 

We had an open house at the branch and the members are so incredible the building was spotless and decorated with banners and posters and flowers and they prepared presentations on different topics and questions of the soul. as i listened to each of them i was inspired and got alot of help and thoughts about how i can improve my teaching. one lady that came was so intense. she just sat through the whole thing very in awe and just loved it all. We are going to meet with her this week. i will let you know how it goes of course :). 

There is this one lady that we meet with , she is so great and so funny and has a story for EVERYTHING haha and she can talk for 3 hours with out a breath probably haha but its mostly on topic..... :) anyways we were just with her and she was telling a story when all of a sudden she breaks into opera singing!  haah for her its normal but it was so funny haha we both couldn't help but laugh because she scared us both so bad that we jumped a foot out of our chairs haha. her name is Nina. 

met a young mom named Katya. She is really nice but has led a hard life. worse than that, her "husband" is scary. She is scared of him and he came home when we were there and we had to leave. To be honest i had no idea what he said and my comp said it was because it was all bad words.  We have been praying to know how to help her and serve her.

A different Nina we met with has been an investigator forever haha the same one that i argued with about prophets (i think i told that story...)  anyways we were going with the intention of dropping her and we get there and she just starts whipping out all this stuff she read from the Book of Mormon, how she has been praying and how she wants to come to church on Sunday! we were shocked! so we went to pick her up and she came and loved it! got to know all the babushki and just had a ball.  Hope she continues

had FHE with branch president and his family.   They have two grandmas (both named Galina) who are interesting in meeting with us! one was there. it was cool!  

had a meeting with a new lady Nina (ya lots of Nina's)  which was good. has a bunch of kids and wants to find truth for her family. 

we contacting a whole bunch of contacts and this guy agreed to meet with us, so we grabbed the elders and he came. Turns out he is from Uzbekistan and doesn't speak Russian well- haha he just knew we asked him to meet. haha but it was ok.  He was way nice but we couldn't communicate anything. But what we got across i think is that we are all children of God and He loves us. So that is positive :)

well---this is a lame email this time i think. sorry :)  but i don't know what to say either..... found a new grocery store that is new new new and everything is clean and i felt like i was in America. not to mention it is like a 2 minute walk!  AND it was cheaper! we bought a whole ton of fruits and veggies and alot of food and it was cheaper than normal. it was great. probably going to a museum today with the elders.  i bought a Russian rug.  maybe going to buy a Russian scarf today. haven't bought martroshki dolls yet or wood boxes but i will.  donut know what else to buy. might buy traditional Russian dishes.

its snowed this week. it was like winter! craziness. and today its a little bit warmer. 

Well.  The church is true.  The key to success in life is love and charity. To our Heavenly Father and to Others.  two greatest commandments....now i just have to apply it :) 

I love you so so much!

Sister Trottier

well....

Just another day, started out like any other....

Tues-  our great miracle Lydia remember? ya she gave back all we gave her.  And she dropped us.  I was really really sad. I was already feeling like a failure that day and i was doing all i could to not just start crying on her couch right then and there. she is scared of change i think.  But it was interesting, she is usually just is embarrassed about me hugging her but this time she just clung to me and said she was sorry.  I think we will visit her in a few weeks to let her know we still love her. she was sad to not see us anymore but at the same time not.,..i don't know...it was weird. 

that day we were sitting in a park area and calling people and a little girl came up and asked me to fix her broken zipper so i did of course and i don't know why but it lifted my spirits so much. she just chatted with me and shyly spoke to me in English a little.  it just was a like a little gift from Heavenly Father showing me that it is all worth it. that are little sweet spirits who need my help. she was so sweet. 

we also went to the branch presidents to teach his mother in law who is a definite Russian Babooshka! haha she is so great! but very stuck in her ways. BUT  the whole little family of 3 kids are members and so so strong!  The little boy that is like 13 and he just is and arguer and he knows WAY to much for his own good but its incredible how strong his testimony is!  When his grandma was asking defensive questions he just was bouncing in his seat haha and raising his hand and he would say to me "sister can i say something PLEASE"  and i would say "only if you say it really really sweetly" haha so he would begin nicely but then they would just argue.  and it sounds really really bad but that's just how they are here.  I feel like its arguing but they just think its "discussing" haha I just had to stop and think about what would happen if i talked to my grandma that way! haha but its how they show their love i guess. but anyways, her questions stemmed from actually who God is and why if He is our loving Heavenly Father He would let bad things happen and evil in the world.  its hard alot because alot of people not only have their religion to argue with us but also if in fact God is God. Its like they have two sides to chuck at us and want us to fix. But in all reality it was one of the best meetings on my whole mission. I just felt that i needed to testify testify and testify some more! and so i did and the spirit was so strong.  She said to me (pointing) "i want to know what you know, and as strongly as you know it".  SO i testified some more and told her that that was what was so great about our message, was that she could  know for herself! Her name is Galina.

So the day was sad at the beginning and ended in a miracle.  

wed-  headed off to Novosibirsk on our bus, but it was good. I brought my new guilty pleasure -  Jesus the Christ by James E Talmage and we had some great doctrine discussions all the way haha.  had a fun sleep over at the sisters as always

Thurs- and me and sister Sanford woke up at 5.30 to start getting ready to go to Finland.   It was so fun of course. Went over to the palace (the big office elders apartment) to meet the 18 elders going with us! haha just a blast and so crazy!  We obviously get alot of attention and its so fun to be together we get so excited! but surprisingly we are able to keep our dignity and good standing. we just look like a really well dressed group of really happy well behaved Americans :)  The first airplane ride was great.  I mean we are all used to studying in the morning so everyone was all sitting close together all studying the scriptures and preach my gospel. It was an incredible airplane ride :) one of the most spiritual ever i would have to say and we were all able to discuss and ponder and share ideas and thoughts about the gospel and being good instruments in the hand of the Lord.  The elders are all so great.  But they all decided to ask me for my "wisdom" because its my last time haha so i tried to give them all that i had learned and hand on all my experiences and then i asked all of them who had had companions who had gone home what i can do in my last transfer to make it the best. 

then we got to Moscow and went to Red Square!  yep! that's right!  We got to go! it was sweet!  haha  but basically we ran over there took pictures and ran back haha but it was worth it!    we then got on an airplane where we were all spread out.  haha possibly the most talkative airplane ride in all of history. you could hear missionaries talking and making friends left and right in Russian and English haha i think we made friends with half the plane. the stewardesses were just thinking it was funny :)  i started talking to my neighbor after the food came and i prayed over my food.  She just looked at me funny and asked if i had just blessed my food. :) i said yes and we began our conversation. it was great.  

Got to Finland, went to the American store and bought oreos and recess peanut butter cups and the lady gave us a whole bunch of chips and marshmallows!  we had a good time walking in the warm spring air to the temple housing and when we got there  made rice crispy treats! haha the Russians thought it was the most interesting thing we could make in the whole world but they LOVED IT!  temple housing is the best place in the whole world besides the temple. everyone loves each other and all the senior couples just become our grandparents! 

Fri-  woke up and ate breakfast with the elders. Apple cinnamon granola with apple cinnamon yogurt-----oh man it was heaven and me and Sister Sanford took a morning stroll and headed to the temple. It was great. I had a great spiritual experience and felt lifted up and prepared for the last stretch.  

went back and headed to eat. Had Chinese food!! it was amazing! not as amazing as The Mandarin, so jealous by the way that you get to have dan dan noodles....oh man!  and then headed back to the airport....haha our last flight i offered the man some Finnish candy haha thats how we got our conversation started. He was nice. Maybe will go to church in Novo he said. 

sat- got to novo and stayed for conference and headed back that night to Tomsk

sun- watched conference with members in Tomsk

Conference was amazing and so was all my studies this weekend! had a lot of studying that i did. I studied Galina's question about bad and evil life in the scriptures and Jesus the Christ and in Conference and got some great answers i hope!  I love conference, i love the scriptures and i love finding answers for other people because i also find them for myself too! for more insight see Moroni 7:12-34 and 2 nephi 2. 

I can't choose a favorite talk.....but they were all great.  My favorite quote was probably from President Holland when he said not to hyperventilate about something that happened at 9 am and it is now 6 am.  I think he was talking to me.  I had a lot of insights i wanted to share but i rambled too much :)  but i also found my commandments for the next week. its great.

studied GRACE this week. The article in the ensign from Bednar. It has changed my life and my prayers and the way i think about the atonement. Read it.  Grace = enabling power.  Pray to be strengthened and given capacity. Not just that your situation can be changed.

i love you all so much!  

Sister Trottier 

Hey family,

I saw my travel plans this week......weird. I think they sent them to you too right?  Well i will be home on the evening of May 30th.  Its a Wednesday. I freaked out when i saw it!  And we were at a members house and she was on the computer and asked to add me on facebook.  and its so different from when i was home!  and my picture with my companion was on it! haha that was funny! after that i had a dream that i came one and it was like that RM movie and you weren't there at the airport! i had to call the bishop (who in my dream was still Bishop Heaps) and he came and picked me up!  haha! you forgot about me!  

Alot happened this week, but i don't have anything to say haha. I have been studying the Plan of Salvation the past couple of weeks and we just teach it to everyone!  seriously everyone!  BUT the cool thing about it is that EVERYONE needs it! and that everyone finds a small part in it for them.  and we can apply it to everyones needs.  The main foundational doctrines that we teach people at the beginning are the most important i have found. and in all reality everything else in the gospel relates back to them. They answer all questions and solve all problems. I have been studying it this week by using Jesus the Christ. oh man i love that book! I have to force myself to put it down so that i can work on something else that i need to do :) also on the same topic i have started a list of clear pure doctrine about the plan of salvation both in the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  In all reality, its all there.  You just have to draw it out and fit together the puzzle pieces. 

We had culture night this Saturday. we went to a puppet show type thing! haha it was so funny. Elder vargin and sister karacheva said that it was exactly like what they used to go to see when they were kids, so it was legit Russian. it was the type of puppet show that the people put their hands in the sleeves of the puppets and another person moves the head. they are really really good at it and it looks like they are moving for real like real people.  All of us Americans had no idea what was going on! haha Sister Karacheva said it was because it was a mix of Old Russian and Old Russian slang, little kid Russian and modern Russian slang and alot of Russian humor and Russian phrases. But they told us the story and we were able to follow.  In front of us was sitting a guy and his date and heard our weird accents and started talking to me and my companion.  He was really interested and we talked to him a bunch about the gospel and why we are here.  I don't think his date was so excited that he was talking to us so we hit the elders and got them to ask him for his number instead of us.  you just never know when or where you will be able to share the gospel. 

We had a guy contact us this week! that was weird. we were walking close to the university and a guy ran after us to invite us to an Easter concert. we got talking to him and he was a really religious young man with a wife and a baby just three days old.  it was great to have a conversation with him about the gospel.  Today we are dying Easter eggs with the elders!  yes i know that it is after Easter, but Russia celebrates Easter next Sunday so its all good.  Grandma asked out they celebrate it, and they also dye eggs and make lots and lots of traditional Russian food and especially bake some sort of special bread that rises miraculously in the oven or something like that. and they have a greeting thing. Someone comes up to you and they say "Jesus Christ was Resurrected!" and you say "It's true, He is Resurrected!" yep.  and they have some sort of plant that everyone has and carries around. its like a twig with white furry things on it....why? i don't know. whats it called? don't know haha. 

well what else can i say?  i don't know.  had some great meetings this week and some great contacting experiences. I love it here. I love the people, I love the gospel, i love the Savior, and I love my Heavenly Father.  Mom said something this week about daily remembering where our strength comes from. Actually just every moment remembering where our everything came from is so important. i think i already talked about this but we had a lesson/chat in church about just having the gospel be who you are and what you talk about. Most times we just chat about the weather or politics or what ever else we can think of. but if we let the gospel be a part of our every moment we not only can share the gospel, but we can help everyone remember where our strength comes from and we ourselves will remember also. The world would be a much better place if we were always remember the gospel, and our Savior, what he has done for us and our purpose in life of becoming like Him. 

We get to watch conference next week.  I'm excited! i love conference! can't wait! I will try to find my "golden nuggets" of truth as grandma said.  This conference i have decided to search for 3 different things. inspired by a quote i read from Thomas Monson.  He said, "The past is behind, we must learn from it. The future is ahead, we must prepare for it. The present is now, we must live in it."  I want to think about how i can learn from the past (before the mission and on the mission), how i can prepare for the future and how i can live in the present and do the most that i can now.  Is it just me or has one of President Monson's themes been to act today!  live now!  don't wait until "next time"  or tomorrow.   I have been sharing that with alot of people. I am thinking about printing off a bunch on pretty paper with a good quote about that and giving it to everyone haha and making an EXTRA LARGE one for me!  it should be a goal of the world probably. 

My new favorite quote i found is from Emma Smith from "Daughters in my Kingdom"  Great book.  

Emma Smith
First Relief Society General President

“I desire the Spirit of God to know and understand myself, that I might be able to overcome whatever of tradition or nature that would not tend to my exaltation in the eternal worlds. I desire a fruitful, active mind, that I may be able to comprehend the designs of God, when revealed through His servants without doubting.”

great isn't it?  That is the purpose of life.  To get rid of any part of ourselves that would keep us from living in the Celestial kingdom with our families and our Heavenly Father and to be able to understand the gospel and the works of God from His servants, that is what i call sustaining your leaders! 

well what else? haha i said i didn't have much to say but i didn't have a whole ton of emails to write and i think i still have a bit more time :) so now i am rambling and just writing and writing......  we are going to Novosibirsk again this week on Wednesday.  I'm heading off to Finland for my last and final Visa trip!  maybe i will buy some more candy for you all! but i can't promise that it will all be there in a few months haha. but i will be going to the Temple which is the best thing ever! my companion is really jealous AND  i think that we get to go to Red Square!  I told the office elders that i really really really wanted to go and to ask what they could do for me! and one of them is in my group so he wanted to go to so it was all good!  I think...so that will be sweet if yes.  

Remember.  Repentance is just a changing of lifestyle a little bit at a time in order to align our lives with the Savior's life and the Will of our Heavenly Father.  You can do it a little at a time everyday.  Just remember the Savior and make Him apart of everything you do.  

i love you all!!

Sister Trottier 

Hey family!

Here again.  Well. I have alot to write, haha but as always after reading all my emails quickly i don't want to write haha i just want to read them again....haha but don't worry, i will write some.

We went to Novosibirsk again haha ya we make that 4 and half hour bus trip every other week but its ok. Good time to study and ponder and have companion and district bonding time :) we went for leadership conference which was absolutely incredible. I loved it. I wish i could just record all of the conferences we ever had and watch them over and over again. but it probably wouldn't be the same. The spirit is so strong with all of us gathered together. I love learning and studying and picking apart the gospel all together, figuring out how we can help Heavenly Father best in doing His work, or in other words, bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man by helping people perform eternal ordinances.  Sounds epic huh?  well it is! and that is all of our work. What a great privilege. 

I also had a great interview with president. I took notes. :)  We talked about my mission, the future and all about the present. It was great. He said i am at the pinnacle of my mission right now....i will try to live up to that. 

Monday we had a lesson with a member who is Mongolian and her friend. it was so interesting! we read in Russian, they read in Mongolian.  in the past we have just done it in Russian but it was incredible to see the difference when they were about to read the scriptures in their own language. what a blessing to have it translated into so many languages! 

random- i saw a Mormon message this week at conference that was called "Sanctify yourselves"  was Chase Elwood the actor? haha pretty sure ya! i about freaked! He is so cool!

Did i tell you about the awesome couple that we are trying to reactivate?  well they wanted to try American pancakes so we went over to make them! the funny thing was that the oil they bought was from sunflowers so it kinda messed up the taste! but other than that it was pretty good. I felt just like mom making a big pile of pancakes!   PS  could you send me a recipe for syrup? they don't have maple extract i don't think, but maybe a different kind of syrup that is good?  The couple came to church by the way! and all the members welcomed them with hugs and tears and kisses! 

Remember Lydia? who was so excited to hear about the restored gospel?  well we met with her and it was just great! the spirit was so strong and we had a great member present lesson and everything! and Sunday she came!! and she liked it alot! and the members were so nice!  she brought money to pay tithing!  holy cow.  She is the sweetest babooshka and is just like my grandmas at home.  she is from Uzbekistan. She is so happy and smiley and loves to laugh and sing!

Sunday was great!  alot of the people who we are working with came and were able to partake of the sacrament and to hear great testimonies!   Sometimes testimony meetings are crazy sauce here but miraculously every single one this time was incredible! the spirit was so strong!  Members are great!

My new contacting technique is to look at people with a big smile and say "Hello!  How are you?" haha they automatically know i am a foreigner and they just smile and start talking with me, sometimes with a little bit of probing and a few more questions. I have come to LOVE talking to people wherever i go. The Russian people are incredible!  and i have had some great conversations and opportunities to share the gospel and my testimony!

One crazy story to end the email with :) i was blessed by a Provoslovni gypsy lady....she didn't like my name and said that she would give me a new one. she started doing all these weird hand motions and weird noises and gave me the name of Tania. haha and i don't know if it was more of a curse than a blessing haha! oh goodness.  after we walked away we laughed so hard! haha couldn't stop for anything!.  

Gotta good quote for ya for the week from the doctrine and covenants "To be Spiritually Minded is Life Eternal"!   so keep that in mind (pun intended) . and remember that God is a God of miracles. Always was and always will be. So look for those miracles!  

I love you so much! the gospel is true. it changes lives. 

Love sister Trottier

PS-  We will watch conference in 2 weeks :)

Well, just another week here in the greatest place in the world :)  All my emails from everyone are about me coming home! haha no wonder missionaries get trunky huh?  well don't you worry, i still got 9 more weeks to do alot alot of work and see alot alot of more miracles!  but don't worry I'm not trunky.  Only on pdays but that is to be expected i guess.  And to completely stray away from spiritual things and to think only about vain things, just to let you know, i now officially weigh less than i did in high school! haha its great! but...not that important :) haha but kinda.

alot of great things have been happening here!  My companion is amazing! Tomsk is incredible! The members are angels!  The church is true! haha.....oh goodness....my emails are those emails that people get and they just roll their eyes and hope that the missionary will be somewhat normal later huh?  :) we got all sorts of new contacts this week and new investigators!

its interesting...a few times this week we have just been walking down the street and i have literally felt as though some one was pushing me with two hands on my back towards someone in order to talk to them and before i even know it, my mouth is open and i am speaking!  It happened once with this babushka who was just so sweet.  We pretty much gave her the first lesson on the street and her reaction was this "Do you mean to tell me that you believe in THE restored church!? a restoration of Christ's Church?!  This is what i have been looking for!"    If you didn't know, it is that exact phrase right there that EVERY missionary LOVES to hear!!!  and another lady we stopped and she gave some lame excuse and i handed her pamphlet as she just walked away and she looked at it and stopped. She started talking about two young Americans who 8 years ago befriended her handicapped son and helped him make friends.  My companion asked if they had talked about Joseph Smith (i was worried about that...that question gets alot of bad responses usually) and she said YES!  It is you then!?  we wanted to come but somehow lost touch!  Oh man oh man! and THEN yesterday just some random guy was walking by and i stopped him. He was in hurry and i just told him we had a message about Christ and prophets on the earth. he said he had no time and i said "we know our message is true and that it will bless your life"  and i asked for his number and he laughed kinda, but then gave it to me!  The Holy Ghost is great!  Tells you just what to do at the right moment.! 

Read a great article in a really old ensign, September 2007 called The Power of laughter. Did you know that children laugh about 400 times a day and adults only 15!? ya its pretty bad.  Gotta laugh and play more and be happy. Its the new goal for life! its how you build good relationships and are successful in life. 

I have a Scripture of the Week 1 Nephi 18:21- And it came to pass that i prayed unto the Lord; and after I had prayed the winds did cease and the storm did cease, and there was a great calm. 

example from Old Testament- Jonah!  Jonah 1:6, 14-15: 2:7-10; 3   Here in this part of the scriptures three different times the people turned to the Lord and they were saved from destruction both physical and spiritual. 

example from New Testament Matthew 8:23-37-  Christ calms the sea. 

Ether 12:6, 12  We receive miracles and answers AFTER our faith!  

Ether 6:5,8 - God sends wind and rain and storms and waves to push us onward and forward and upward to the promised land aka eternal life. 

D&C 101:16 "For all flesh is in my hands: Be still and know that I am God"

BD: Prayer - The act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other...to secure for other and ourselves the blessings God is already willing to grant....

D&C 121:7-8 "Peace be unto they Soul thine adversity and afflictions shall be but a small moment...."

:) that was my study of that verse. I loved it!  and its  not just for our huge trials or anything its just for those silly moments when we feel stress.  we can pray to Him for all things. Big and small. our investigator asked us if there was limit on how many times she could pray in the day! we told her she could pray every moment of the day! she was so excited! 

The priesthood singing at our party

it was a great week! we had alot of great meetings! my favorite was with an inactive family. They both got baptized and with in about a year got married!  They are really cool and i just kinda went all crazy on them. but you know why? i will tell you why, because they have EVERY members dream! you got baptized and married a member! but then they went inactive. We talked all about how they were needed to help build our stake, but more importantly they needed to build their own eternal family!  I think it got to them....but i don't know. They both have testimonies and read the book of Mormon, but just don't make the effort. But the spirit was so strong! it was great! 

"Every thing in the fridge pizza"

Another good scripture i found this week "D&C 67:13 continue in patience until you are perfect. its ok that we aren't perfect now. but we just gotta continue patiently. that's all that is asked of us. 

studied the word Procrastination today.  and its meaning through the topical guide. it was intense.  we don't want to be found sleeping when christ comes aka doing NOTHING (Mark 13:32-37) but we want to be found DOING SOMETHING GREAT!  Matthew 24:36, 42  Are you doing something great?  

Well anyways. said alot and not alot all at the same time :) I love you! and I love the Lord. This is His work. Keep on keeping on! :)

Love Sister Trottier 

ps its warm here. Changed to my green coat and I'm loving it! no more giant coats for me! no siree! i feel like a human again!  But it is really wet here and my feet are always wet. i might buy some rain boots. 

This is a member that works in a show repair place. it was so cool we had to take a picture! haha he is sweet!  if you can see there are wood carvings of captain and angel Moroni! His name is Sergei

Just another day is Paradise!

Well this week was good and crazy! 

 

Almost every other night I have an awful dream about going home. I go home and I am an awful person, not nice at all and I realize it and I go and hide and I just cry and cry that my mission made me a worse person and not a better one.  weird dreams huh?  I really don't want that to happen.....

 

Found out that one of the Elders here is really good friends with Evan Perry. HIs name is....Elder Walker :) haha I think his name is Dallin...or Dylan....or something. But it’s a small world in the church!  it was funny to think back about all that. I remember me and whit went to their cabin once! 

 

We found some great new investigators this week! it was great! I have had more investigators just show up randomly than ever before!  my companion sister karacheva is just awesome!  she is training me! haha We went to one lady who is inactive and we talked about taking Christ’s name upon ourselves. Her mother in law was there and loved it all! she knows a lot about the church just because her family are members and she said that she would work to baptism! her name is Ludmila and her daughter said she would work to going to the temple.

 

Our investigator Tamara is great but still having a hard time quitting smoking.  We are praying hard for her and making a plan for her to be able to be baptized at the end of the month.

 

On Saturday all the missionaries from Tomsk got on a bus headed to Novosibirsk. it was great fun! we got a few new elders with us so we got to get to know them. Elders are just so great!  the bus was empty in the back so we had a party in the back telling stories showing pictures and playing games....the Russians in the front probably thought we were crazy. speaking half the time in Russian and half in English! and laughing! haha the nerve we have! :) but it was a lot of fun.  Had my first experience with what my companion calls "extreme Russia" haha it was a public toilet...or in other words a hole in the ground.....oh goodness.  and then we got to Novosibirsk!  it’s about a 4 and half hour bus ride.  we had all the missionaries from Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Barnaul, Kemerovo, and Novokuznetsk there! we were just missing Omsk and Krazniarsk.  We practiced for our missionary choir. It was so fun to be all together!  we were all so excited to see each other our practicing wasn't all that focused...poor sister Webb. But it still sounded good.  You know. there is nothing else in the whole world like a room full of missionaries. Nowhere else do you see so many strong young men. The elders are incredible. They love and support each other. They are still crazy and boys but they have a calling from God and it is seen and felt.

 

Went to the sisters to sleep which is always fun to catch up of course! and the next morning back at the branch to practice again. this time we were all able to concentrate and really practice. there are only 7 women voices haha so we get drowned out but that is ok. for our warm up to practice we sang "Called to Serve"  I had goose bumps (just like Joanie Hewitson always used to say :))  and then we had about an hour to mingle and chat.  President took us with him in his new car to where the conference is being held! haha it’s like a running joke through the mission that President is giving me the old van haha! he tells all the elders that I get it and if they want a ride they have to be on their best behavior. every time I see him he tells me something new about the car and how I need to take care of it and secrets of how to run it and stuff.  why? I don't know but it’s funny.  

 

So the conference. It was BIG all the members from all over came in on Buses or trains for the conference and we rented out the "big" conference room at the Marriott which actually was small and we used every chair they had haha. We organized our one very large Siberian District soon to be Stake! haha we don't know how soon but hopefully soon.  we have enough members and priesthood holders they said, we just have to start acting like a stake!  oh goodness! so exciting!  They started by releasing everyone from all callings and calling all new people! it was crazy!  I got to see all the people I love from Novosibirsk! the Omsk people just watched over internet so I didn't get to see them....I’m sad to think that I won't be able to see them before I go....anyways.  The Conference was great. The spirit was so strong.  President said that it was like we were handing the baton over to the members....COOL!  They are ready!  The missionary choir was pretty chill too. I think they liked it.

 

We got to ride back on the bus with the members to Tomsk! it was a lot of fun! we got to know a lot of the member’s way better and in a completely different way. I just stood up talking to people most of the time, or "went to be a guest" with someone in a different part of the bus. it was great fun.  I love the Russian People, I love Russian and I love Russia! haha 

 

Doctrine and Covenants continues to answer my daily questions. haha so funny, I just open it up and it’s my answer, even when I didn't know it was my question :)

 

Studied all about Salvation and saving ordinances today. it was great. I love studying the gospel.  Well I just rambled a whole bunch like usual. :) but I love you all the church is true!  Thanks for all the support.

 

Sister Trottier

so remember that story i told you about that family that i helped last week at internet?....well here is what happened. they left and we sat down and did internet.  after i had the urge to buy a new journal...almost out. and then after remembered we needed an album and then sister margolies wanted to buy some russian movies cause she is headed out and then ijust felt this weird urgency to go and so we got out and right at the bus stop was the dad of the family!!! i just introduced myself, told him that we had message for him about how his family could be together forever and it would bless his life.  he said "i believe you"! oh man, so we exchanged numbers!  we were nervous because we knew we were leaving soon so we called and went over and dropped by his work on tuesday and gave him a book of mormon and got to know him a bit.  told him he would love to meet us with his family when we got back. they are a muslim family and are really strong. he showed us pictures of his little boy and girl and wife. such a good family.

 

we have a lot of potential and people we want to turn into investigators! hope we can help alot of them!

 

We are all just here in Novosibirsk all five sisters! haha we are trying to be effective and use all of our time as the Lord would want us to do. We have tried to meet with alot of investigators and less actives but have also met with a few members. its been a good week but i am trying just not to worry about my people back in Tomsk. we have called a few to keep them going but we will just jump right in when we get back.  i am a little nervous about my new companion and me being a trainer but it will about be good and i am excited!

 

its crazy having 5 sisters in one apartment...but its also good. we have been going on crazy splits the whole time and i am learning to teach and work with all sorts of different sisters. I have already learned a whole lot just in the few days. no wonder elders have 24 hour exchanges...sad it doesn't really happen with us! you learn so much! 

 

i have loved being back and seeing all the people i love! its great seeing how some people ahve progressed and grown already, but also in just the few weeks i have been gone some have gone backwards which is really sad. 

 

this is a pretty lame email this time...but my excuse is that the picture sending was taking so long so thats why haha sorry!  

 

President Misha, the branch president is sending in an application to work for CES and he had to send in a video of him teaching people in english so he asked us if we could be his students.  we read in 2 kings and studied the stories of Elijah and Elisha and also the stories of Josiah.  I LOVED IT!  oh man im such a big nerd, but it was so good!  its hard to just read through it of course but we just had a panel of missionaries all discussing the symbolism and how we can relate it to our day and the callings of prophets etc etc and faith and obedience and it was legit! i wanna take an old testament class when i get home probably. i don't know it very well...lets me honest i know nothing about the old testament except Noah, Joseph and David and Goliath and Moses and that is all just because there are movies about them haha!   but the thing i learned is that we can make the scriptures come alive when we study them with others and when we just all say what we are thinking because someone can learn from it probably!   its great.

 

Everything is good with me.  all is well.  I keep having dreams about me being home...probably because my comp is going home, but soon that will not be the case so it will probably stop i think. :) i love missionary work! it brings me so much joy! even when we get rejected and things don't work the miracls and the things that do work and the people that do accept make it all worth it.  I love the Gospel! 

 

I love you all so much! i hope you have a good week! 

 

Love Sister Trottier