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

PICTURES

In traditional clothes with Galina who made them

Add captionme and sister margolies in from of a tram  this is the outfit i wore most of my 3rd transfer..... :) but normally with a black shirt under

Kolya and Natasha

me and sister Galina

all of the sisters and dasha

me and dasha on a boat

Me and Natalia and her daughter Milla

me and sister schwab- "we love omsk"

Road block with a person door....so you can still walk through

hey hey hey! Another week has gone by.  It’s crazy how they go by and it seems like I just wrote but at the same time I feel like it has been weeks and weeks. And life keeps changing at home too which makes it strange also. But I hope all is well and everyone is alive.  from the one email a week I get from my immediate family I assume no disaster has occurred, but I mean I guess I don't really know if Jake or Audrey or mom or dad are all ok because I haven't heard from them in 2 weeks....mom has a good excuse cause she is in a different country and maybe doesn't have internet but the rest of you.....hmmmm.....:)  But its ok I love you all anyways so don’t worry!

So as for my studies, which for some reason have become a must for me to write about every week...hope that’s ok :)  my favorite was all about Reconciliation.  Yes.  It is 2 Nephi 10:24 which is all about reconciling yourself to God. and I thought....what does that exactly mean?  and so I decided to study it! and I looked in the TG and the BD and it mentioned other words like: love help good restore forgive submission and God’s will.  When I think of the word reconcile I guess I would say that you fix a relationship with someone right?  So talking to them, serving them, coming to love them and fix whatever was separating you.  So the same is with our Heavenly Father.  We need to do all the things above.  and more, we also need to change our will to match His. This is harder than it sounds, we have to be humble, realize we don't have all knowledge; we can't do it by ourselves and recognize we are nothing without Him. (Ephesians 5:21) this is hard and not fun sometimes, but it is necessary (Romans 10:1)/ but the great thing is that it is possible through the atonement!  (Jacob 4:11). 
As I was thinking about that I also was reading from conference elder Perry’s talk about the Sabbath day.  It is a great talk and it and other experiences brought to light something that I had not thought of in this way before. But it says that we need to come to the sacrament table for self inspection.  and President Rolfe talked about this too. And whatever we find inside ourselves that is separating us from God or from having the Holy Ghost we need to put it on the table.  It’s just the simple things. As we talked to our young investigator about repentance she asked with disbelief what I would have to repent of. But I realized that we are all on different plains, maybe I don't do huge things that I need to repent of but, because of where I am the calling and knowledge I have, the sins and mistakes I make take me a step away from God just as everyone else’s.  For example, maybe she feels bad and needs to repent because she drank at her last party when we challenged her not to, and I feel bad because I didn't follow a prompting of the spirit and I gave myself 10 minutes instead of giving every minute to the Lord. Both are things we can bring to the sacrament table, receive forgiveness for and become better and strengthened by the Lord. It’s all about the keep progressing every day tithing. so great right?

Oh man, I ramble too much! 
There were two baptisms this week!!! Remember Natalia?  My old investigator with the two daughters and son in law and grandchild?  Ya she got baptized! It was incredible and I was so happy!  We got there and she was so worried that I wouldn't show up and she was freaking out a little and ran to me and hugged me and hugged me haha she was so nervous but so so happy!  She wouldn't let go of my hand and had me come down to the font with her etc etc and she said she asked the elders specifically to make it warm because the baptism she came to watch it was cold and she said "I won't do it if it’s cold!" haha so especially for her they made it warm! and her son in law baptized her and it was so happy! Another Family heading off into eternity together!  The other baptism was Elena, I only taught her one lesson before I got transferred but she is great great great! Her family didn't come to the baptism unfortunately but they are not against the church so all is well! She is great

you know Dasha?  She is the new member who is like 20?  Well she left on a mini mission this week! Just for one transfer but she is so excited and it is such a great opportunity for her!  To grow her testimony and to help others find the joy she found.  I don't know if you know but when we have an uneven amount of missionaries for a time they call mini missionaries from one city to serve indifferent cites in the mission. It’s great! But hard kinda...

Remember Dennis? Our star investigator? ya well he passed the sacrament on Sunday! and he said he was so nervous! The week before he talked in very serious tones about how he knows now of his great responsibility. It reminded me of a talk in conference priesthood session that I read that was great. And I don't remember who it was by it talked about a little deacon’s quorum president. I hope every little boy can read this story and knows of the power and great privilege they have. Dennis felt this and he says he will strive to do all he can to live worthy of it!  Wow!

We have an Ensign story in the making it’s called "Chocolate Pastries for Salvation”.....well it could use a little work but still....there is this bakery we go to with a nice girl there who we talk to. A little more each time and last time we gave her a book of Mormon! Who knows! Maybe it will be a miracle!
Well....we had culture night and we went to see a Russian fairy tale! It was funny! I didn't know Russians could be so silly!    And one of the young kid members likes Supernatural!! Ya I know! He has seen every episode! and one of his favorites is the Ghost sickness one too!  He tried to explain to me what happened in the last season but it was completely not understandable in Russian, I don't know the words for it! haha but I kinda got the picture!
Anyways transfer calls this week so I will let you know. I gotta get off because we are trying to save time so I can send pictures from the senior couple’s apartment! Sorry I didn't write back to Grandma and grandma and McKell and Sami but I love you! and I am happy that the Huish kids haven't forgotten me! Thanks Michelle and Tyler for not letting your kids forget about me! I love you so much! 
Church is true

Sister Trottier

July 14

Hey thanks for all the emails! you guys are the best!  SOunds like everyone is having all sorts of fun and having their own adventures too!! thats pretty cool!

 

I had a lot of cool experiences this week! SOme of which involve missionary work and some of which do not. really...but kinda....

 

So there was a wedding this last weekend! so we and a bunch of ladies went to the branch to decorate and cook food!  and It was so great! we got to talk to some less actives and even some non members about religion and their views on marriage etc etc.  The reception was alot of fun and they have a bunch of cool traditions that we don't have but they also have alot of things that are the same!   I have found that Russians Onions are SUPER STRONG! i have never had this problem before, i have cut o nions before but never cried. THese onions are the worst ever seriously i was leaking out of my eyes for like 30 min afterward! it was a waterful!  haha but the food was good so it was alright! The bride and groom were very russian which means alot of eye makeup! huge puffy dress and a tiara etc etc haha its funny! but beautiful in their very Russian way! 

 

I also went to help at my first Datcha which like a second plot of land people have outside of the city where they go on weekends.  They are seriously a huge problem for church attendance but it is fun to be there and do yard work and they are very beautiful! 

 

This SUnday i translated a talk given by Our senior Couple on Sunday!   I have realized how much i DO NOT know russian by how terrible my translating skills are!  I was starting to get really frustrated when he got to his testimony.  He has been practicing and practicing his testimony in Russian and it was incredible when he gave it.   He gave it all he could and he bore pure testimony. I felt the spirit at a million miles an hour.  It helped remind me that no matter my language skills i can't teach with out the spirit. But with the Power of the Holy Ghost I can teach. That is what matters.  My experiences never sound as cool as they actually were when they happened when i try to write them...but maybe they will be better wheni  can talk about them in person....

 

It has been my goal to not have to count how many people i have talked to on the street to be able to get our desired amount, but to just talk to everyone so that i always know i have talked to enough! and i have been getting pretty good at it! whichi s the first step...but thge problem is that we still don't have this much success....so it means that i am doing it wrong kinda...only like 3 out of the 40 people we talk to each day actually stops to listen at all!! and President wrote me and i think  he gave me the answer, he said i have to open my mouth and "visit with people" not just chuch information at them, but get to know them, talk to them and show them that i love them. Because its strange, buti really do love them!  And so i need to do this better. But the russians don't really just talk....but this is my goal for the next week!  i will report back next week!

 

we finally got 3 of our investigators to meet with us!!  interesting enough all three of them are young girls about 20 years old. They are all incredible and really sweet, but i think that it is hard for them to want to or to think it is possibleto change. But I think that if we get all of them to church the same day we can help them to become friends and they can become a support system for each other.  Their names are Sveta, Kristina, and Olya. and you can all pray for them! :) that would be great! 

 

As i said i started the Book of Mormon over and i am loving it even though i have read 1 nephi maybe 30 times! :) i always find something new and great every day!  I have also been reading the talks from Priesthood session and although i do n't have the priesthood, the principles found there can be related to me and they have helped strengthen me and helped me realize how powerful and how incredible the power of the Priesthood really is in our lives.

 

I was thinking today and actually alot this whole week on whether or not i have made a difference here. It is hard to see and to measure the success i have had out here and i have been trying to do so.  and sister schwab read me a quote "When you go home be able to say "im glad that i did...." instead of "i wish that i had..." " So that is another of my new goals. to work each day so thati  can be glad that i did what i did in that day. It is a hard task buta very good one!  Now i can think of a few people whom i think i have helped and have made a difference but i realized that if nothing i have changed. i wouldn't change the last 7 months for anything. I have changed so much and i hope to conti nue to do so. I am so thankful for the hope that our gospel gives us.  the hope to change adn to BE better, the hope to be worthy to live with our Heavenly Father.  With Sveta yesterday we read  Alma 36 and we talked about changing through christ. She has had alot of trials lately and she has been blaming them on the fact that she has been coming to church.  So we read this chapter and in verst 27 it talks about the trials that he goes through, but he has been supported. Now this is AFTER he has changed and gone on to preach and teach and live righteously but HE STILL HAS TRIALS, It helped me to see that even when we do all that we can life is still going to be hard BUT it will be easier if we turn to the Lord.

 

Anyways....

 

Love you all!!!

 

Sister Trottier