Christina, Sister Huang (I think) and I am not sure of the other sister's name.  Thanks to the sender of the email Sister Arrington.

Hello!!!

Oh man, what a crazy week it has been for this girl!! Monday was full of last minute errands to get Sister Pead ready, and Tuesday we sent her off. It was definitely a hard one! Man, that girl is one heck of a missionary....and I guess a normal person now. ;) We had sort of a rocky start, but she is definitely one of my best friends! Holy China, we had way too much fun. :) Miracles were everywhere! I spent Tuesday with the STL's in Med. Lake, then Wednesday came. Because I was getting a new missionary as my companion, I had to be at the mission home early for a meeting, then Sister Kirkman (one of my good friends serving in the area next to mine) and I worked for a few hours before coming back to meet our new companions! Talk about nerve wracking! We made it though, and (drumrole) I met Sister Dumas! She is a great missionary already! She is from S. California, so she has never seen this much snow in her life....or had to scrape off a car before! Haha it has been lots of fun. She is adjusting to missionary life well. I got rather sick Friday and Saturday, so we keep joking that she is the one who has to take care of me!! In that regard, I am pretty sure I got food poisoning, and then a bad cold combination. Basically my body is just starting to give out after 16 months! Haha gotta love it. :) Anyways, that was my crazy week! P-day feels great :)

To respond to your letter: Haha don't feel bad for me in the cold. Strangely enough, I think I am turning into a true Minnesotan! The cold is not bothering me much at all! Much different from last year ;) Granted it was only 35 below yesterday....still 30 degrees warmer than last year! We haven't had much moisture here either....we don't have to worry about it a ton seeing how we live in the land of 10,000 lakes, but I sure hope that the snow that you need comes! And Amen to what you said regarding a division in the church. It is not enough just to be a member, to come on Sundays and go through the motions. In order to survive in this crazy world, we need to be truly Converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is absolutely crucial. Sometimes that means that we need to stand up for what we know to be true, even if that means standing up to other members or friends. I read a wonderful talk this morning about the Book of Mormon by President Benson. It was talking about how we will be held accountable at the last day for how we treated the Book of Mormon. For how we studied and used it. Man, that Book sure changed my life, and continues to do so! I know that it can make a difference in the life of anyone who seriously studies it, and tries their best to live by the principles taught in it! I loved that you mentioned finishing the Book of Mormon! You are right, that has been a long work in progress, but it has been so worth it. And sorry that I definitely didn't have a great attitude about reading it. Do you remember that time that you and dad said we only had to read a short chapter if I could talk about that chapter for 10 minutes? Haha good times. In case you can't remember, I talked about if for the full 10 ;) It is such a worthwhile effort though! And the Lord does bless us, and our homes!! I have seen it over and over again :)

Holy Moly, it sounds like everyone has lots going on! I'm glad that dad got his stiches out....hopefully he can wait for a while before going back to the hospital ;) And I hope Jackie has fun! keep her out of trouble ;) Haha oh Matthew. He would fit in so well up in Northern Minnesota! Good that the kids are doing relatively well..... Miracles happen. Oh man, that would be so neat to go on a trip to deliver the kits. Remind me, where are they going again? Just wait until I get home and take me, okay? :)

Yeah, I swear everyone is going home! Both here in the mission, and friends at home. I can't believe how fast time has gone! Craziness. 

Hello!!

It's good to hear from you all. So.......transfers. I am staying here in Shingle Creek, and I have a new sister coming here. She is brand new, so I won't know who she is until wednesday until I pick her up. Tuesday I will drop off Sister Pead, and then pick-up my companion on wed. What a crazy week this is going to be!! Holy Moly.

Yes it is a cold one here. I think it got up to 6 degrees this morning, and the snow is coming down! Haha a nice welcome to my new companion. I am quite jealous of the warmth....Sister Pead keeps reminding me that it is going to be a 80 degree temperature difference! I'm counting my blessings though that it is substantially warmer than last year! I can't believe that it is warm enough to do yard work around there! Crazy crazy. Enjoy it for me though.

Holy Moly, that is a substantial project! That's a lot of packets, I'm glad that you were able get them all done. And glad that school is going well for everyone. My companion laughed when I told her that Kaycee is just like me, then she agreed that I am still like that sometimes! Haha it is good to have a strong personality though. My companion and I have talked a lot lately about this. There are a lot of people that we see both missionaries and others who base their opinions and even their personalities off who they are with. It is rather unhealthy....and annoying sometimes! We all know Kaycee and I will never have that problem!

That is good Brennan is doing well in the MTC. That's a good place, though quite different then being out in the field! Haha How long does he have in the MTC?

Last Monday we had an interesting opportunity. We wanted to go to downtown Minneapolis so that Sister Pead could get souvenirs for her family, and so I could go to my 2nd favorite sandwich shop. It is only about 20 minutes away from where we live, but because of area boundaries and such, we couldn't drive ourselves there. There is a bus system though that stops right by our house that we decided to take. We took bus #5 to downtown, went shopping, and had lunch, then came back home. We saw a lot of unique people and interesting situations on that bus ride, making me more grateful than ever that I have the gospel in my life! We are really a lot happier when we are able to rely on Jesus Christ, when we trust that He knows best and that He is in control of our lives. This doesn't mean that trials won't come, far from it. It means that they will come, and instead of bringing us down, they will teach us crucial lessons we need to learn in this life.

Speaking of the who....have you gotten my trunky papers yet? AKA papers detailing my flight plan? I was talking to my mtc companion yesterday, and she said that she was going home in April instead of May. As far as I know I am still set for May, but I thought I better check and find out for sure! If I am going home in May you probably haven't heard anything yet. They usually send out the information two months or so before. We were able to go to a fireside in Bloomington yesterday, so we saw a lot of old missionary friends! I saw Sister Amis, Callister, Nelson, and a few other people that I've come to know really well. It is crazy that three of my companions are going home wednesday. It has come way tooooo soon!!! Anyways, It will all work out I'm sure. At least I will be able to hear from them soon.

In other news, this week we were able to go to the temple. It was a great experience as always. I love being able to go and leave my worries and concerns at the door. To go and feel the spirit so strongly for a few hours! I would highly recommend going as often as you can. It is such a blessing to have so many temples so close to us. Truly one of the greatest blessings of living at this time on the earth! It is great :) Other than that, we were busy getting Sister Pead ready to go home!

Oh! One more thing that was rather exciting!!!!! On Saturday we had the opportunity to see the Gilmers get baptised!!! It was a wonderful experience. I was able to see the Andover ward, and be there for their baptism. It is super neat :)

Well, I would love some pictures, and I will still be here. Thank you for wishing me luck, I might need it!!!!

*if this is more "choppy" than usual it is because I cut out some personal stuff.  She is doing great though!

Hello!!!

Holy Moly, it does sound like a hectic week for you! I feel the same way, this week was crazy, busy, and I can't believe that it is Monday already!!

I am glad that dad is doing okay, that is crazy! I hope you get a nap sometime today to compensate for the lack of sleep.

. You know, this remindes me...I had a friend this week email me talking about the song " Where can I turn for Peace". What a great song. It is one reading through again. For truly the Savior is the only one who can give us the peace we are searching for. He loves us and wants us to be happy and feel peace, we just need to turn to Him. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way perfect in this aspect, it is something that I need to do a lot better at, but it is a truth. That I know. The Savior, the Atonement changes lives. It has and continues to change mine.

Good for Matthew, I am glad he made it! What good lessons learned. It is like me swimming freshman year....I am quite sure I didn't win a race, but learned a lot. We were talking about Ezra Taft Benson this morning, one of the common themes of lessons learned in his life definitely is the value of hard work. Smart, but hard work is a crucial skill to learn! Haha and I'm glad I was able to prepare you for his teenage emotions! ;) Speaking on that note....I have learned that a lack of sleep greatly contributes to rollercoaster emotions! My companion and I haven't slept well for the past 4 days, and we have been all over the place! Gratefully not very grumpy or anything.....just crazy, then dead. Haha gotta love it!

I love the reminder of the worth of one soul. That is something that was talked about last night at a meeting we had the opportunity of attending. The one soul. Whether that be our own soul, or someone else, is so important. God loves us all, and wants us to come unto Him. Also, thanks for the comment about David, and the battles that the Lord fights for us. I have been on an old testament kick lately, and have come to the same conclusion. The Lord wants to fight our battles for us, but He always knows what is best for us, and will give us that thing....even if it is a trial (in the case of the Israelites it was often bondage) or a challenge. He also gives us the Tender Mercies that help us along though. On Saturday we were having a rough day, purely due to the lack of sleep and craziness that has been happening. We went to visit a sweet old sister who we see pretty consistantly. She had a huge box of jewlery that we was given for her grandaughters. We started to organize it for her, and she fell asleep! We were able to organize and just recover for an hour. (Don't worry....we chalked it up to service ;) ) It was a great blessing to us though! The rest of the night, and Sunday was much more productive! 

Speaking of Sunday, and another Blessing. I was asked to play the piano as a musical number about a month ago. The week before, I smashed my finger....so we postponed it until yesterday. I didn't have time to practice more than run through it a few times on Saturday, and my finger still isn't 100%, but by some miracle I was able to play O divine Redeemer yesterday. It wasn't quite perfect, but good enough that I don't think anyone noticed. The Lord blesses us!

Haha Zumba class, yes please! I have been often told by my current companion, that I can't dance. I just have long flailing limbs. I am afraid we have the same problem...but it is so fun! I just follow the saying "Dance like no one's watching!" It makes you feel good :) And hey, don't worry about wearing running shorts, I'm sure you rock them! ;) Haha that sounds like a lot of fun!

Have a great week! I hope all goes well for everyone!!

Love,

Sister Christina Trickler

-don't worry, we are being safe! :)

On Mon, Feb 2, 2015 at 10:33 AM, Christina Trickler <christina.trickler@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Hello!!!

It is great to hear from you!! Haha I am jealous of your spring already! We don't have snow, but it is rather cold.....in the teens. Not that I am complaining of course, I just wouldn't choose to sit outside unless I was in a coat, hat, gloves, the whole nine yards! The sun is out today though which like you said is quite the blessing....I love it!

I like you am glad that Jackie's swimming is over. I'm glad that she did good, but that last race sounds super rough. No bueno. Like she wrote me, one heck of a way to end 8 years of competitive swimming. It sounds like she is doing a little bit better which is good. A break will be good for her. How long does she have until Golf starts? I hope she takes it easy. Man. My prayers are sent that way.

Days for Girls sounds like a serious project, I am glad to hear that it is going well! It is good to keep busy, and there are so many people out there that need our help in different ways. I was struck by that this week. The little things that we do can make the biggest differences. Yesterday we were invited to dinner by one of our favorite members in the ward! She is a sweet sister from Laos. She makes the best homemade ethnic food! It was delicious. :) The neat thing about this dinner though, was that she invited 3 deaf people to eat with us. One sister is a member in our ward, the other is a member of a ward in St. Paul, and one is just a friend of them. They all attend our ward because we have a  couple of sisters who can sign/are learning to sign to interpret. The dear Sister who invited us all over couldn't communicate with them very well at all, but she felt like it was be a good thing if they were able to enjoy a meal together. The spirit was there very strong. It was a simple act of inviting people over for dinner, but one that made a great impression on me, one that was truly an act of love. That is what Jesus Christ did every day of His life. He offered acts of service small and large that changed the world, but more importantly changed lives. 

Parent Teacher Conferences? Say what?!?! Crazy, time is just flying by! Speaking of that, can you believe that it is February already? The worst month is out of the way!!! Haha I have an idea for something the kids could do to keep entertained. Have Jacob or Matthew take pictures, and the kids dress up, or take creative pictures and send them to me! It would make my day! Haha just if you need an idea ;)

I know that the Lord's timing is perfect. This week one day during personal study, I pondered on the timing of everything the past year and a half. Everything is starting to fit together in ways I wouldn't have anticipated. The Lord knows what we need, and even when we don't understand, if we have faith and trust in Him it seems to work out. I remember times the past 15 months where things have happened that were upsetting to say the least. Looking  back all of those things have been blessings. Either the experiences contained lessons that I needed to learn for myself or for others. They all took a lot of trust and faith though to get through. Also this week I have been reading in the book of Joshua. It was interesting to me in the first couple of chapters how much a certain phrase is repeated. "Be strong and of good Courage". How much need of that we have in today's world. It takes courage and strength to stand up for what we know, to be who our Heavenly Father wants us to be. So....Be strong and of good courage!!! That is the goal this week. :)

My companion goes home in two weeks and two days. She has done really well with it all so far! We are blessed to have lots of work right now, so we are very busy. I think that helps a lot. Keeping busy, and focused. We have started to do some packing, and such.....a lot is going to have to happen this next week, but it is going well. :) It is rather strange for me though, three of my companions will be going home at the same time. I am assuming that I will stay here as well, but who knows. There are 15 sisters going home, and 4 coming out I believe so they will have to close areas, and do a lot of switch-ups! I will let you know if anything crazy happens though. Haha I am glad that you are taking the sisters to the banquet, that is actually a really good idea....allow them the opportunity of mingling with the ward more! I always love it when we are able to do that, get to know more people. :) Haha tell them they are in the 2nd best mission in the world....just after the MMM of course!

Holy Moly, indexing is just taking over our house! That is good though, keeps all of us out of trouble! I got the package this week with mascara and such, thanks so much!! Those mints are my favorite thing....I take them with me wherever I go! And of course you can't go wrong with swedish fish, and cherry chapstick! ( I also always have that on me ;) ) Thanks again so much!!

I hope you all have a wonderful week, I love and miss you all!!!!

Love,

Sister Christina Trickler

Also, I forgot to send this! This is one of my favorite quotes, I printed it off, and stuck it on my mirror at home! Sometimes I think we just need a little reminder to believe. As Elder Holland said, Hope is never lost. Even when in despair, there is always hope. That is the miracle of the Atonement :)

Love you all!