I'm glad that the two goons are doing XC! It's good to do a sport, and that one is a good one. I hope they both enjoy it. I need to start running again, one of the 1000 things to do ;) I can't believe Matthew is in HS....that is so crazy! I swear he will always be 13 in my mind! It sounds like things are crazy helping dad and such, I hope it is a positive experience though! Good for Jackie being able to do the drawers and hardware, hinges were always my favorite part! I felt like I was accomplishing something, and they seemed to go fairly quickly. That with the awesome music, you can't go wrong :) Haha I am going to have to send you all some Jolly Ranchers :)

Oh Tessa, I pray for that girl all the time, and for all of you., One of my biggest trials on my mission is learning to trust that what I am doing out here is more important than what I could do at home. It's a hard one sometimes.

Haha Matthew got a puppy, I didn't think that one would happen for a while, good for him though. I hope it's a good experience for all of you! Does the dog get along with the other two? I have decided that we live at an ideal location for having a dog, they have plenty of room to run and such!

I wish I would have gotten to know the Gordon's more, you know me, to prideful ;) They did seem like neat people. Haha Genesis 9:3-4 is a good scripture...vegetarian here I come! I did have a glass of milk last night at dinner with Sister Register, I knew you would be so proud ;)
So do you remember last week you asked me something about the role of women? Well, this week I had a miracle. I have been struggling with that question since I first got into YW. Well this week, I found the answer. We talked to Sister Register a little bit, and she said something about why Women don't hold the priesthood, and she mentioned Eve. This got me thinking and I had the best 2 hour study about it! I read the story of Adam and Eve in Moses, and paid particular attention to the role of Eve, and Adam. And the role of Eve before eating of the fruit, and the the role after she ate of the fruit. It taught me a lot about who I am, and why I have some of the challenges I do. I wish that I could go to the temple right now, but unfortnately I love to far away :( Anywho, read that...it might help give you some ideas. We all know that men and women have different roles, I was able to understand more fully not only what roles I have, but why I have those roles. It truly is a blessing for us to have the role that we do. I hope that makes some sense, I have a bajillion thoughts about it, hopefully you can understand some of them!

I was told something by one of my Sister Training Leaders three transfers ago that has hit me a lot this week. She gave me a quote that said "Everyone in this life will disappoint us, it's a matter of finding those worth suffering for. " I like to take that a little further and add that everyone will disappoint us, except for the Savior. Everyone else will leave us at one point or another, they will disappoint and hurts us, no human is perfect. (and it seems to me that the closest ones to you can hurt you the most) However the Savior never ever will. He is always there for us. Even if we just need a little comfort. He can give us perfect advice, even if that advice is to just be patient and wait for the answer. Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need at what time we need it. He loves us, and sometimes that means that he is going to give us hard things so that we can grow and learn critical lessons in this brief mortality. As hard as it may seem in the moment, Heavenly Fathers plan is perfect. We each have individual plans, and they are perfect. The timing is perfect, the trials are perfect, and the tender mercies are perfect. It's a matter of us being able to align our will with His, and to realize and trust that it is perfect. I know, sometimes that is easier said than done, but somehow someday it all works out perfectly. I think we are going to get to heaven and look back on our lives and realize even more than we do, that His timing was perfect for us. That everyone we meet in our lives we were suppose to meet, we needed each and every one of them. That's my thought at least, take out of it what you will.

I had a neat experience yesterday. It was fast and testimony meeting. Out of the 7 fast sundays I have been out, I have shared my testimony I believe 6 times. I was planning on doing it again this sunday, but hadn't gotten up yet. Halfway through the meeting, one of my friends, Serious came over and gave me a note saying that it was from Ajulu, she wanted me to read it in front of everyone. Ajulu is one of our investigators, she is planning on being baptised in 2 weeks. She is an amazing woman, so filled with faith, she knows that the gospel is true. Ajulu is from Ethiopia, and speaks no english at all. So we teach through a translator (aka: her daughter) She had written down a note telling the ward thanks for all their prayers regarding her recent surgery. She has an amazing testimony of the power of prayer. I got up and shared her note, then added my testimony that I know prayer is real. That the Savior wants to heal us if we just let Him in. He wants to help us physically as well as spiritually and emotionally. Faith is a very strong power. It was a neat experience to feel of her faith. She comes faithfully to church every week even though a lot of the time she doesn't understand a word of what is being spoken. She comes for the amazing spirit that is felt there that is felt no where else. Sacrament meeting is important.

Well, I hope that you all have a great week. You are all in my prayers. I love and miss you lots!!!

Love,

Sister Christina Trickler

Hello!!

Happy Memorial Day! I sure hope it is a sunny one out in Utah, it is rather muggy and humid here ;) It is so good to hear from you, and thank you so much for the package! I got it a few days ago :) Haha everything was intact, thank heavens! And the Jam is quite delicious :) We do have several baptisms coming up. We have 4 people who are for sure getting baptised in June, and a possibility of another one. It has been so so so crazy busy! A mother and her 17 year old daughter (as of yesterday, how crazy is that?!) who came to the United States 5 months ago from Ethiopia are planning on being baptized on the 13th of June. A recently divorced 30 yr old man from Casper Wyoming is planning on being baptized on the 14th, and a single 30ish yr old man from Kenya is planning on the 20th! We have a couple of other people who are really close, so we'll see what happens! It is sort of stressful helping people make it to baptism the last couple of weeks because Satan seems to work extra hard on them, but it is such a neat experience to seem them when they are baptized! So yes, it is crazy crazy crazy here in Austin, but it's good. It's good to keep busy, stay out of trouble ;) I hope Jackie had a happy happy birthday! I'll be there for it next year! I actually have another present coming for her, from our friend Jackie that i've talked a little bit about. I got it Monday night, but couldn't send it until today....but I might actually have to wait another week because today is a holiday...dang it! It's on it's way though, ASAP ;) I'm glad that it's so beautiful at home! It has been gorgeous here as well. Minnesota is sooooo green! It's so crazy, but I love it. Just outside the widow by where I study there is a tree that is in bloom. I don't know what kind of tree it is, but it looks just like that song popcorn popping! It is the craziest thing in the world, so beautiful :) I love how the days are so much longer now as well. The sun is up well before we wake up, and it doesn't go down until 8:30 or so! This morning Sister Callister and I went to play tennis for our exercise time, it was so great. Even better is the fact that because we aren't really good, we got a lot of running in! ;) I can't believe the kids are almost done with school! I told Sis Callister the other day that I think my body feels like I should have a summer break too! This is the first year that I won't really have one! It's alright though, i'm just grateful to be warm...it makes knocking doors much more enjoyable :) relatively well, it is sort of weird to remember that everyone is growing and Haha in my mind everyone looks and acts the exact same as when I left...coming home will sure be a crazy adventure!

The faith it takes to have, raise and nurture children. Oh China, what a topic! I think it is a great one, but not going to lie it is probably the one I struggle most with! It is so hard for me, because I would love to have a career, to do something I loved, and to be really good at it! I would love to go into engineering, to be a patent lawyer is one of my dreams, but I feel that if I was ever to have a family that it would be highly unrealistic to have a demanding career like that. We (as young women in the church) are told that we can change the world by raising righteous children, and that being a mother is by far the most important thing we can do, but to be honest, it is hard to believe that sometimes. It is hard to believe that raising a good family is far more important than any change I could make in the world through my career. To be honest it is this topic that frusterated me most about YW's. I felt that as women our only purpose is to have families, and because of mostly pride, I struggle reconciling myself to that fact. There is a super good talk though that you should look at by Elder Christoferson from the October general conference I believe titled the Moral Force of women. In that talk there is a quote that says something like we have enough women of vanity, we need more women of virtue. We have enough women who are tough we need more women who are tender. etc. That talk made a huge impact on me. All in all, good luck!! I will write you with any more thoughts I happen to have on the subject.

This week was truly the week of the Rhubarb!!! We had that delicious plant three times, and I am slightly obsessed! It is the best flavor ever! It is really unique, but hey, we get along well :) Last night Sister Register made and gave us half a pan of rhubarb bars, my companion isn't a huge fan, but I may or may not have eaten half of them....they are soooo good! Anyways, I would highly suggest making some rhubarb dessert, if you have access to some! Lets see what else happened this week....I was quite sick for the first three days, just a really bad head cold, but that is mostly gone!

Oh, I have been learning a lot about pride lately/thinking a lot about it. There is a talk by President Bensen regarding pride, I would highly suggest that everyone read it. Pride is truly the universal sin, it is Satan's source of power. This morning it clicked in my head that the reason that Satan seems to have more and more power in this world is because the people in general are becoming more and more prideful! And as we learn in the Book of Mormon, Pride is so destructive. It is what destroyed the Jaredites and the Nephites. Pride is manifest in so many different ways, a few that stood out to me this morning were, disobedience, and being competitive for the praise of the world. When we are disobedient, or striving to do our will rather than God's we are being prideful. We aren't willing to submit to His will, or to accept that what He wants for us is truly the best. When we are competitive for the praise of the world, we are striving to put ourselves above others, to really put others down. Anywho, I have a lot to work on!! It's funny being on a mission, I think you really are able to see your faults much clearer, they are magnified. It is a blessing though...we are able to see all that we need to change! Well, I hope that you all have a lovely week, enjoy the nice weather, and the summer time!!!!

Love,

Sister Christina Trickler