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!