Hello, thanks for the email again! It was great :) Haha it really does sound like I am missing out! Well, I don't know....I am in downtown Minneapolis right now at one of the coolest libraries I have ever been in...besides the Library of Congress of course! It is district p-day, and we wanted to come explore the cities, so we got permission from president, and caught a train at 7:40 this morning! We have lots of exciting things planned, so once again I might be short on time! I have realized once again that I could live in a big city for a couple years. I will be a single woman, out there to save the world in my pencil skirt, and heels! That's the dream at least :) It has been really a lot of fun so far though, this is by far my favorite group of missionaries I have ever been with, I'll let you know how the rest of the day goes next week!

This week we had a really strange experience. Last Sunday as we were walking out of an appointment, a 20 year old Liberian man stopped us on the street and asked if we had a few minutes to talk. We said sure, and started to talk with him. He told us that he had met missionaries a couple of times and was confused about some of our doctrine. He said that he just wanted to understand. We had to leave, but he asked if we could set up a return appointment. We did so. Things came up and so we had to reschedule a couple of times, but finally Friday on exchanges we taught him. We brought a super awesome sister in our ward who is very blunt and bold. When we got in there, he started to ask us questions about the doctrine concerning becoming gods in the next life. Oh dear. We told him that as missionaries it wasn't our job to teach people about those deep doctrines. That we needed to start at the beginning, so that we were on the same page. He said that was fine, and started to "prove" to us (using the bible and the doctrine and covenants) that Joseph Smith was not a prophet of God. We again told him that our job as missionaries was to talk to those who really wanted to listen about the church. We are not here to argue, or debate. (no matter how much I wanted to in the moment!) The member was super awesome, and backed up everything we said, having been a sister missionary herself. We told him that if he wanted he could come to church, and ask members those types of questions. We left, and quite honestly did not expect to have him show up on Sunday, but he did. We had almost a repeat of the earlier lessons, again telling him that we didn't have time to waste! I learned/remembered two pretty important things from that though.1st, my purpose. I am here to teach prepared people who want to learn, they are out there! It is just a matter of finding them ;) 2nd, Joseph Smith was a prophet. When he was trying to convince us otherwise, I felt so strongly that he was! He saw God the Father, and His son Jesus Christ. He was called to be a prophet in these the last days! That knowledge didn't always come easy for me, and I still have to continue to study and to learn, but it is something that I cannot, and will not deny! Anyways, that was quite the experience.

To respond to your letter: Haha oh china, you talked about me?! That's a tad bit scary....I hope it went well! As for public speaking, it is something that I use to really really struggle with. I remember in We the People, Mr. Rigby just telling me to talk! I knew what I was talking about, it was just a matter of having the confidence to open my mouth. Once I learned how to do that though, a lot of my fears went away! Now, it isn't even stressful to talk in church. Granted, I have spoken 5 times I believe, but still. It is all about confidence :D

I am glad to hear that you are finally feeling better, Grandma mentioned that you sound like yourself again! It is interesting how sometimes we do get on auto-pilot. That happens to me all the time. I just focus on getting through the next few days rather than really enjoying and learning from them. I inevitably "wake-up" though! Life, it's a roller coaster for sure!

That is so great that you were able to go to the temple open-house with the kids. It is something that I'm sure they will remember. And I'm so excited for Konnor! I can't believe he is that old already though, I remember the first day that he came to our house in Hyde Park. He was so quiet, and loved charlie. I knew that dog was good for something :)

Haha my birthday...oh dear. Could you send me some music? Lamb of God would be great....or Vocal Point Hymns...or anything that is hymns, or classical! I am going to go insane listening to the same 6 cd's that I have over and over ;) That's it though, I don't really need anything else! Thanks much. And yes, a hike or the temple would be quite lovely right now! I think if Sister NElson and I stay companions that we will be able to go to the temple next month!!! I can't even explain how excited I am :)

Well, I hope you all have a lovely week, and that all goes well! We are off to explore minneapolis! (I'll have to send pictures sometime ;) )

Love,

Sister Christina Trickler