Hey, so the news of the day...Sister Amis is getting transfered. :( Crazy. If there is one thing that is consistant in life it would have to be change, and you know my feelings on change.My new companion is Sister Callister. Haha anywho, to respond to your letter. The rain isn't bad when it is warm, but sometimes it's just straight-up cold. We rode bikes the majority of this past week due to a lack of miles, so that was exciting. It was really nice when it was warm, and wasn't even too bad when it was raining until we stopped to visit someone and we were soaking wet! It's funny being in Minnesota, everyone can tell i'm from Utah when I say thanks for the moisture in my prayers. They have so much water, and don't want any more! I have never seen this much rain in my life, I do quite enjoy the lightning and thunder though. We don't have snow, and everything is starting to get so green! Speaking of the which, my plants are so tall now! I need to plant more flowers today, but I have 6 tomatoe plants....what in the world am I going to do with all of them.

What kind of running shoes? That's super exciting. I love wearing mine :)

Good luck with Mayday...I sure hope it's a more positive experience for you then it was for me a couple  of years ago! You'll have to take pictures, and embarrass Jackie for me!

I hope Soccer continues to go well, and that is great for Jake that he's the Deacon's quorum president! I hope it goes well, i'm sure it will. He's a great kid (except he hasn't written me in ages ;) ) That can be a lot of responsibility, but responsibility isn't always a bad thing.

That is an interesting thought about worthiness. I think a lot of us are a lot harder on ourselves then we need to be. I think we all let the Spirit pass by us more often then we need to.

This week has been busy, we have two people solidly committed for baptism in June, and had 9 people to church on sunday, all who didn't speak English as their first language! It's crazy here in Austin. Sorry for the short email today, we have tons to do, i'll add something in a bit if I have time. I hope you all have a great week!

Love,
Sister Christina Trickler

Hello!!

With the amount of rain we have been getting here, I think that there will be nothing but flowers next month! It is really crazy..I think the grass is greener from all the water than it ever was back at home! It is also very humid....which is a struggle for me, but take what you get, right? :) It sounds like you had an enjoyable trip with Mike and Tricia, I'm glad you were able to go party with them! Haha and I can just see all of you road-trippin in a huge van, that could be quite entertaining! (us girl cousins might have to borrow it when I get home ;) ) And I am slightly jealous that you went to Zions! I seriously need to go there someday, let's take a girls trip so you can make it to the top! Random sidenote: We have an investigator named Serious, and so I think of her every time I say that word!

Good for Jake...he takes after his sister ;) Really though, that sounds like fun! Easter here was sort of...unique. Actually, it's a funny story. So we went to church, then after that we had Easter Lunch with our friend Megan and her non-member parents. It was good, but I wasn't really hungry. I ate way too much anyways due to social pressures ;) Then we went to visit our african friend. She was working on a school assignment, so we helped her then were planning on sharing a scripture about Easter with her. She told us we needed to wait just a minute, then proceeded to make a 8 egg omlet (with the works) on top of a huge plate of fries! She then gave it to Sister Amis and I to share. We were so full that we could barely eat another bite, but it is really offensive to African's when you don't eat there food. So...I said a prayer and got an Easter Miracle! I said, Heavenly Father, I don't know if or how I can do this! That is so much food. Please help us somehow. Just after that, a couple of her kids came over, and they thankfully helped us finish! After that we drove directly to Sister Registers house for Easter dinner. Oh my goodness, I thought I would burst! Her food was really good, but I was really really full! So it was an adventure, I don't think I need to eat for the next week or so! Haha food is one of the funniest things on a mission.

Other than the food though, I really really enjoyed being out here on a mission during the Easter season. IT was sad to me to see how many people had no idea what the real meaning of Easter was. Being able to teach them was a really neat experience. Sister Amis and I had a very neat experience on Thursday night talking to one of our members about her mission, and some amazing miracles she saw, that left me with no doubt in my mind that the Savior does live. That he died and rose again on the third day. I've never known that strongly in my life. It is amazing, I could never deny it. This gospel is so true! Last night we ran into someone on the street who was a highly educated agnostic. He told us that we didn't know what we were talking about, and used science to prove us wrong. It was an interesting experience for me, having thought a lot of those thoughts before, but having found the truth for myself. I felt so lucky to have that chance to stand up and say that faith doesn't make logical sense, but it is real. That I can't prove that God or Jesus Christ exist, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that they exist. I know that I have a purpose, and that I am more than just a collection of cells! I am more than the product of evolution. All in all, it was an Easter I won't forget anytime soon!!

I hope you get doing better...being sick is absolutely no fun! And On my goodness....I loved the package!!! I just finished the goldfish :) I haven't done anything with the eggs yet....they have a purpose, I'm just figuring out what that purpose is! :) Thanks again so much. It was fun, because Sister Amis also got a package, so we waited until Friday morning to open them, it felt like Christmas :) We went on a run in the rain, got back, and got to open them while we streched out our old legs! :)

Sounds like life is busy busy busy! Busy is good, but hard. Good luck, I hope there is lots of laughs! Oh man, I want my buddy too lots of times. I get to see you all soon though, that will be so good! :) Thank you thank you for sending shirts, I have a grand total of...2 short sleeve shirts, so things are going to get real interesting here soon ;) That's alright though, I would rather be hot than freeze to death!

I loved your thought on Atonement. Isn't it interesting how it means so much to us at different points in our lifes! It's almost like the meaning changes. It's a really beautiful thing. We are so blessed to have the knowledge we have, I am seeing the importance of sharing that knowledge more and more every day! Don't worry, Sister Amis and I have way too many reasons to laugh every day, I love you lots too and miss you all!

Love,
Sister Christina Trickler

p.s. I didn't tell you the funniest story of all! So this week, we were visiting a less active sister who speaks zero english. She is from Laos. Her daughter was there, and opened the door with a bottle of beer in her hand. We knew it was going to be an adventure! She welcomed us in, and talked and talked and talked. It was about time for us to go, and she asked us if we wanted any soup. We said no thanks, we had just eaten, but she insisted. So rather than offend, we said sure. She gave sister Amis a bowl of soup that was rather large and asked if I wanted some. I said if I could just have a spoon and share with Sister Amis, that would be great. She said sure, and handed me a spoon, and a huge bowl of soup...oh dear, language barrier! Haha it looked good, she said it was completely homemade, it had noodles, pork, and some brown stuff with broth. We started to eat it and it was alright, then Sister Amis made the fatal mistake of asking what the brown stuff was. She thought it was tofu or something, but the sister told us that it was dried pigs blood! WE WERE EATING BLOOD!!!!! oh my goodness, I couldn't do it! That was why my soup was getting browner and browner by the minute, the blood was re-hydrating! Holy Cow, it was a rough one. Luckily she asked us if we wanted to talk some home and we said yes, so I poured my bowl into the container and took it home. I felt like a weird taste was in my mouth the rest of the night! Haha so, yes it was a crazy adventurous food week, I had no room to complain at home! Love you all lots!

It's so good to hear from you, as it usually is :) It sounds like life is crazy, but I hope you are having some fun as well.  I'm glad you got the picture, we were helping our friend Sister Register (who is friends with you on fb) pull up carpet in her parent's house, then we took out all the staples in the floor...it took a long time, but it was very fun :) It reminded me of working at home a little bit! Then on Saturday, we helped an elderly couple grout their floor. They were sanding it, then painting it. I really was missing music while we worked, so Sister Amis and I began a competition of sorts to see what songs we knew, and how many verses! (of hymns of course ;) ) It was really a lot of fun. I'm going to have to introduce you two sometime, you would get along quite well, I am sure! Speaking of that...today, we are making skirts at Sister Register's house. She works all day, but said we were free to use her machine and such any time we wanted! We bought material, zippers and a pattern this morning, so I am very excited! It is the same pattern I used for my white lace skirt, so it should be easy but good. We need another good length of skirt to ride bikes in, so we decided to make some! I'm glad it was warm for a while, it was nice here too...then we woke up this morning to snow :( What do you do though haha.

 I have to say the hardest thing for me about being on a mission is knowing that i'm not there to help...that there really isn't much I can do. It has taught me a lot about relying on the Savior though. Do you remember my friend Lexi? She wrote me a letter and mentioned in it that while we are on missions our family and friends can't be helped much by us, they are in the Savior's hands though. Which reminds me of my favorite scripture that I found again last night....1 Nephi 21:15-16. I love that one so much. (and I really just like most of Isaiah...it's thought provoking!).

You know, it is a really amazing journey being on a mission. It's an experience unlike any I will or have ever had. It is the hardest think I've ever done, and the most  rewarding. It's the happiest and the most miserable. I have never felt so many emotions in my life! And such intensity of emotions. I love the people here so much. Even if I have just met them, I can really feel a little bit of the love that Heavenly Father has for them. It is quite a privilege. I don't know that I have ever had so much fun, or laughed so hard! But at the same time I've never felt this discouraged, or heartbroken because of people's choices. It has been a great eye-opener to not only how other people act and how prevalent satan is in our society, but to who I am and what motivates me. I am learning when to keep my mouth shut...but am still working on that one ;) It's a crazy experience a mission is!

Lets see, what else...Oh, an interesting thought I have had lately. We have interviews with the mission president tomorrow, and he asked us to think of 3 questions to ask him. One doctrinal question, one missionary question, and one personal question. It has been really interesting to think of different questions. What kind of questions would I ask if I could ask the Savior three questions. I have had a lot of unanswerable questions lately which has been really fun. I think questions are so important to who we are. They teach us so much, and really make us think! I never have been the kind of person who could just follow blindly...I always have had questions, and I think it is a good thing! But doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. Questions are good, but we need to make sure that they don't make us turn away from the source of all answers!

Well, I hope and pray you all have a great week! I hope it is sunny and warm, and that you find time to be crazy and dance a little ;) I love and miss you all lots!

Here is Christina's contact info:

christina.trickler@myldsmail.net

Sister Christina Rose Trickler
Minnesota Minneapolis Mission
5931 W 96th St
Bloominton MN 55438-1715

If you send her anything, send it through the US Postal service.  Otherwise it can take a very, very long time to reach her.

It is raining, but finally there is no snow here in lovely Austin Minnesota! It's so wonderful. Hello! I can't believe another week has already passed by! This one really flew. It is crazy time out here on a mission. Crazy stuff! It is sad that there isn't a jamba here, but we have made some mighty fine smoothies lately, so don't worry. I am still getting my smoothie fix!

I absolutely loved conference! It answered some of life's deepest questions ;) No really though, I felt like I received tons of answers! We watched it at the church for three sessions and then in a members home for the last one. It was really neat to know that I was watching at the same time all of you were! It is as neat thing that we are such a united church. Elder Hollands talk was amazing. It was a wonderful way to kick off conference!! I loved his story about the missionaries as well, and how there is a cost of discipleship. I remember back in St. Cloud one day at the beginning of my mission, I was having a rough day. It was super cold, I was struggling with my companion and we kept getting rejected! I remember having the strong thought that I was going through just a tiny bit of what Christ went through. Who am I to think that I am better than Him and that I shouldn't have to go through that! I was feeling rejected and alone, but all along He was with me. I never was alone. That experience has had a huge impact on my mission. I feel privledged to be a representative of Christ and go through a tiny bit of what He went through! This life is hard, and I think the world is going to just get harder, meaning we need to stand stronger, not ever give up! I hope that everyone can here that talk, and really listen to it! I also noticed the direction to have family scripture study and prayer daily, and FHE weekly. I sometimes wish I could go back and change my participation....or lack thereof in those kinds of family things. I know now that daily scripture study and prayer can make all the difference in the world. Think how strong the youth of the church will be if they all do that! So good :) All of conference was so good, but I want to share just a couple more thoughts if that is alright. ;)

-family is so important...but past present and future

-Sometimes it is our jobs to worry, warn and weep as a disciple of Christ, what a precious job we have!!

-Christ-like love is the greatest need we have on the planet, we can help to fulfill that need.

-Stand up even if you stand alone. Stand strong. (I think this applies especially to us in our circle of LDS friends...if that makes sense)

-Eternal life is contingent upon covenants, prepare!!

-Minister grace through compassionate language

-wherever there is truth, there will be a force opposing it.

And my absolute favorite quote of conference- There are not true endings, just everlasting beginnings. AMEN to that one! My perspective is completely changed with that thought.

Oh man, conference was just so good....one of the highlights of my mission so far! And that is saying a lot. It is really neat to have the opportunity to not worry about anything else during conference, and to really have the time to prepare for it. I am so grateful :)

I like your idea for FHE, Discussions always go a lot better then formal lessons in my opinion. Maybe you could let the kids chose topics for discussion too? I know that would have interested me. I always had questions that never seemed to be discussed in Sunday school or such places. Good luck!!

Spring break sounds like it was so much fun!! I can't wait until I can play with all of you again, it will be fun :) Haha Kaycee. She takes after her older sister for sure, we will have to go on lots of hikes once I get home!

Shopping sounds fun....what in the world is a hi lo dress? Of course Jackie would look good in everything she tries on...I swear that girl has a talent!

I have not had a chance to get a haircut yet...I cut my bangs, but haven't had the time to go get a trim. I swear time just flies by...especially on monday. We have so much to do!

Have fun at Grandma T's! It sounds like a blast...and if you by any chance happen to see Brandon, can you tell him to write me back! That goon. ;) Haha I'm excited for the package, and thanks so much for the letters that arrived this week! It is always a highlight of my week to get letters from home! Oh, and I have to say, remember my two african friends? They are super sweet. A week ago on monday we went and visited them and they braided our hair! I told Jackie that she could do whatever she wanted with my hair, and she put it in 5 french braids! Holy Cow, my head hurt so bad afterwards, and Iooked sorta funny, but it was great! I will have to send a picture sometime. Haha the life of a missionary! Oh, and I have two flowers that have sprouted! One of them is about two inches tall already! It is wonderful, I love those things :) Well, I hope all goes well this week, have a good time! I love and miss you all so much!

Love,
Sister Christina Trickler