Hola Bonita!

Okay okay, so basically I have no idea where I am. And neither does my companion. Haha.

So fun story real quick.

Way back when I was in Odessa, I was supposed to be training a new sister. But then some complications happened with another sister's companion suddenly going home and so she took my trainee and I stayed with Sister Nakamatsu instead. Well, my "almost-trainee" was Sister Ray. Who is now my companion. Isn't that great?

Also, we're whitewashing (opening up an area that neither of us have ever been in before) somewhere down between Fort Meyers and Naples in a wonderful land called Bonita Springs. One minute I'm pretty much in Mexico and the next I'm in Haiti, so that's pretty exciting. The Ward is totally INCREDIBLE, there haven't been sisters here for 10 years so they're pretty excited about us. Plus it's absolutely beautiful around here, so I'm pretty stoked.

So right now, who knows what's going on. But that's definitely part of the fun because this is seriously an adventure for sure.

That's basically what's going on right now. LOTS of biking, LOTS of talking to everyone, and LOTS of praying. This is going to be really good, I can feel it.

Something I'm learning through all of this is humility. Heavenly Father seems to know that I obviously need to be reminded of this attribute often, and that's why I keep finding myself in these situations. 

When faced with a challenge, we have two options.

1. We can try and try to do things on our own, and limit ourselves,

2. Or we can rely on the Lord, and allow miracles to happen. 

The choice is ours.

New address:

25498 Cockleshell Dr. #406

Bonita Springs, FL.

34315

Love y'all and have the best week!

Sister Trebotich

Hang loose Sarasota!

Our goodbye lunch (chicken and waffles oh yeaaaah)

Ignore the fact that I had been biking for hours, but LOOK AT THIS TURTLE.

Our miracle, Nicole. It was so hard to say goodbye.

My companion is a foot taller than me, no big deal.

Life is good.

It's already Monday??

Time is very different to a missionary.

Everything we do requires a tight schedule. I'm constantly checking my watch (i even sleep with it on) and we talk about time for appointments, meals, and finding frequently. 

Yet, with all of the stress on time, it passes so quickly. And then it's Pday again and I have no idea how I got here and I don't even know what has happened in the last 7 days.

The days are slow, the weeks are a little faster, and the months disappear without me even realizing it. But let's put a heavy emphasis on the slowwwww days lately.

But at least it's only been in the low 80s, so that's been nice haha.

So, I can't really tell you what all happened this last week because I can't even tell myself. We currently don't have many people to teach, so we spend our days walking and talking to everyone everywhere. 

Sign wavers on the corners? Sure.

People pumping gas? Okay.

Crossing guards? Might as well.

Mail men? Why not?

Sketchy people at night? I guess so!

It's times like these that we REALLY have to look for the good things, otherwise life seems awfully depressing. But when we look for them, they're always there!

Example A: we were having a really rough day and then we got a referral, went to go meet her, and found out she only wanted to meet with us because she is writing a school paper on polygamy. Bear with me, it doesn't sound like a blessing, but it provided enough humor and quotes to get us through that day.

Example B: we got pretty much guilt tripped and freaked out on by our bishop about some new missionary ideas President is having all of us do, but he bought us a full rack of ribs each. Worth it.

Example C: our investigator didn't show up to church today, but you know who did? A random Swedish lady. And she was awesome.

This week was full of walking, bandaging, and eating. So basically, it was great. And I'm ready or another week! Some big crazy miracle will probably happen or something.

I love you all!

Sister Trebotich

Pretty much explains our week. Haha.

Life is good.

Lessons from a missionary

Okay, okay. Can I start off by saying that being a missionary is THE BEST?

I should know, I've been one for a year now. Wait, WHAT? How did that happen?!

There are all sorts of parts of being a missionary, and they're all great (even when they're not).

There's the seeing-the-fruits-of-your-labor part. AKA, the part everyone thinks is a much larger part than it really is.

Sometimes you get to see baptisms. And when you talk to people they actually want to talk to you and are interested in learning more. Sometimes investigators actually show up to church. Sometimes your numbers look reeeeeeal good and match the effort level you put in. Okay, SOMETIMES.

Then there's the awkward part. AKA, the part everyone jokes about but is actually a real life struggle.

Sometimes you have to teach people about commandments that they're definitely not living. Sometimes you have to tell people things that you sure don't want to tell them. Sometimes you have to ride around with ridiculous sweat marks, helmets, and pictures of Jesus that you're trying to talk to people about and they straight ignore you. Sometimes you get asked out and creepy men fall in love with you. All in all, it can be quite uncomfortable.

Then there's the hard part. AKA, the part that probably definitely takes up the majority of the time.

Sometimes you get companions you don't jive with very well. Sometimes you're in a ward that just doesn't want to do missionary work so your area is completely dead, and sometimes your Ward just doesn't even like YOU. Sometimes you have days where you just walk and bike trying to find someone to teach for 9 hours. Sometimes you go days and days and days without teaching when others around you are baptizing. Sometimes you have to drop those you love because they're not progressing, or EVEN WORSE, they drop YOU when they are so close to getting it. Sometimes your faith is tested, hard. I didn't understand what 'hard' was before my mission. 

Then there's the fun part. AKA the part everyone tells you about before your mission to get you all excited.

Sometimes you meet your absolute best friends. Sometimes the most ridiculous things happen to you and you get the best stories out of them. Sometimes you get completely soaked riding bikes in garbage bags and being complete dorks because there really is no avoiding that one. It's just FUN.

Then there's the miracle part. AKA the part that makes it all worth it.

Sometimes you see people literally changing their lives to be more like Jesus Christ. Sometimes you meet people who are LOOKING a for the truth, and you get to help them find it. Sometimes you meet people who you KNOW were placed in your path for a reason. Sometimes (all the time) Heavenly Father blesses you in the most unexpected ways.

And finally, there's the learning part. AKA the part that sticks with you for all eternity.

I am not who I was before, and I am never going to be her again.

I've learned more about myself and about my Savior in the last year than I have my ENTIRE life. I've never relied on Him more and I've never understood His love so much. Jesus Christ is truly my best friend.

This last year has been the best, most rewarding, hardest, awkward, most life-changing year of my life. And I'm grateful for every minute of it, even when I don't feel that way at the time. The tag I wear has become who I am, and I am so proud to represent the Lord. 

Love you all, have the best week!

Sister Trebotich

God bless America.

1 year celebration pie!

I still have a ridiculous green flower stained on me. Face painting with the young women.

Josh (my newest little brother)

Rain, rain rain, bike, bike bike!!

A few years ago, Elder Eyring gave a talk in general conference called "Mountains to Climb". I remember being at that conference session when he to,d us hat once he prayed for more mountains to climb, or more trials to learn from. And then Heavenly Father hit him with some of the hardest times of his life. Well, I read that talk recently and thought it would be a good idea to do as he did. Ha. I'll get back to this a little later on in the email.

We had the coolest miracle happen this week. Seriously.

His name is Lile.

So... Back story:

We had gone over to a members house to meet them and leave them with a prayer. Then we asked if anyone they knew could use one and they gave us their neighbors address. Then we went on exchanges, and sister day and Hermana Mathis went by that neighbor because she only speaks Spanish. Then that lady became the Hermanas new investigator. So they went back 2 days ago to teach her and on their way home they street contacted Lile and gave him a pass along card. Then Lile CALLED the headquarters number on the card and requested missionaries. Then we met with him and it was amazing.

We showed him "The Hope of God's Light" Mormon message and afterward he was quiet for what seemed like forever and then he said, "So... There's hope for me?" It was so powerful and so heartbreaking because this man had been living without hope for 25 years. But the best part of being a missionary is the testimony in which I am called to bear. I said, "Yes, Lile. I can promise you there is hope." And the tears came.

After biking 400 miles in the last 2 weeks, after all the rain, after all the rejection, after all the being yelled at, after all the hard times with Sister Day, and after all the times I just about gave up trying, Heavenly Father was still there. And He always will be. Miracles truly DO happen.

We met a super cool couple at church who both had served missions and let me just say, I'm so excited to be that couple. Also, everything that COULD have gone wrong this week pretty much did. So many people bashed us, so many holes in Sister Day's bike tires, so many lessons didn't work out, and so much rain poured on us as we biked. But you know what? Being a missionary is THE BEST. I wouldn't trade this for the world.

This week we invited to church a catholic priest who knows dallin h oaks, a Mennonite minister, several homeless people, a Haitian voodoo worshipper, and a deaf person. Along with countless others, of course, but those were the funny ones.

And to go along with that humor, I would like to refer back to the beginning paragraph ofis email and close with the last lesson we had with our "miracle" Lile. See photograph below.

Okay okay, Heavenly Father knows best. Really.

Every morning at 7:59 we have a "mighty prayer" where we kneel and say
a personal prayer for the day normally for those we'll be teaching.
But the other day, I pretty much straight broke down before I even got
on my knees in my closet. And I kept saying, "I can't. I can't. I
can't." And a voice inside my head said, "yes you can. And now I'm
going to show you how." And He did, He showed me how.

There are many kinds of endurance, but this week I learned about two main kinds.
1. Regular endurance.
2. True endurance.

Regular endurance is WAITING.
True endurance is LEARNING.

Regular endurance is a passage of time.
True endurance is a passage of soul.

Regular endurance yields nothing but wasted time.
True endurance yields change within oneself.

No matter our attitude, we're still going to experience the same
experiences. But the outcome completely depends on us. We can choose
to gain something from it or we can choose to suffer it for nothing.

We've started teaching a hoarder, a gang member, and 2 strong southern
baptists. Sometimes we don't realize how hilarious of a situation were
in until we're sitting in it. Like in a hoarder house, or with someone
who could potentially kill us, or with two boys who pretty much just
want to tell us we're wrong. It's times like those that I remember
that I'm definitely a missionary.

But this week was really good. We taught some way cool lessons, did a
lot of service, and we worked out some problems between us. Heavenly
Father never puts us in something He doesn't prepare a way for us to
overcome. Sometimes it happens soon, sometimes it happens after the
longest 6 weeks of your life, but if you trust in Him and endure, it
happens.

We biked ALL day on Wednesday and let me tell you, Florida is hot. I
was legitly dripping in sweat, and I wore the wrong shirt because you
could totally see it all down my back. So embarrassing. Definitely
almost got hit by a car AGAIN (is 'hit me' written on me or
something?), rode over multiple lizards (I'll never get used to that
crunch), and sister day hit a pole. But all in all, it was a good
experience. I'm now 100% positive that I will never live in Florida
again, so that's good to know hah.

College starts this week, so we're going to go and hopefully find us
someone new (and not sketchy) to teach. I'm pretty stoked. Plus, I
just got my slack line and we're about to go do some creative
finding!!

Anyways, I love y'all and hope y'all have a great week!

Sister Trebotich

IM PRETTY MUCH GETTING A FERRET.

And that is how I almost died TWICE...

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be single for time and all eternity. And
being on a mission makes me somewhat okay with that. It seems like
lately, we've been teaching a lot of eternal marriage lessons and have
been asked by a lot of people about it. Hmm, we'll let me speak from
experience... Oh wait. Nevermind. #singlelife.
Quote of the day:
"Wait, you went to BYU I Do?"
"Yeah, for 2 years."
"And you didn't get married?"
"Yeah, definitely didn't get married."
"Oh. That's okay. I'm sure that doesn't mean anything."

Aaaaand there it is. THANK YOU.

We had so many miracles happen this week of walking up to people and
them telling us all about what theyre struggling with in life without
us even asking. It's so cool to see how people can feel our authority
as representatives of Jesus Christ. It still amazes me that people can
feel that we're different, because I feel like I'm normal. But I'm
not. I've been called by a prophet of god to bring this gospel to
complete strangers in Florida.

We had an AWESOME zone conference this week. The spirit slapped me in
the face SO hard. Heavenly Father basically said, "Sister Trebotich,
don't you waste this time. Don't you let this hard companion drag you
down. This is not your mission, this is mine. These are not your
people, these are mine. And you better take care of them the way you
promised with the time I'm giving you."

And then I almost got hit by a car when we were riding our bikes home
night. Legit, it was so close to hitting me. But angels are
protecting me, so we're all good. Near death experience NÚMERO UNO.

Then some pipe in our apartment complex broke and all of our water got
contaminated with some deadly virus, so we had to move in with some
sister missionaries up in Bradenton and we're having a BLAST. But
hopefully we'll be able to move back soon, because it's a little
cramped on the floor in their apartment haha. Unfortunately, pretty
sure I had filled my water bottle up before they notified us that the
water was contaminated. But I'm still kicking, so I think I'm good.
Near death experience NÚMERO DOS.

We also are now over two wards, which is kinda cool. Except the family
ward were over is full of some crazy people. One lady gets up to bear
her testimony and it's straight about pornography. I'm not going to
get into details, but it was SUPER awkward and way inappropriate. Holy
holy. This is going to be a trip. Hahah.

Anyways, this week the big thing I learned is that we constantly stand
in our own way of progression. Sometimes when Heavenly Father gives us
something super hard, we pray for him to deliver us or we beg him to
help us, and then that's it. That's all we do. That's why it never
works, because we have to put effort into it too! I can't just pray
that Heavenly Father will bless me with love for sister day, I have to
pray for it and the to and serve her or go and compliment her. Or go
and do SOMETHING, otherwise it was an empty prayer. If we're not
willing to do our part, we aren't going to see any changes.

Heavenly Father continues to teach me everyday just how imperfect I
am, but just how much he loves me anyway. I am so grateful to be a
missionary and to be able to have these 18 months focused on Him and
His children. It's the greatest blessing.

There's been a whole lot of crazy this week, but none of it is really
all that important. Haha.  

Sister Treboitch

So Much Has Happened

Hey y'all!

Okay, so let me tell you.

I broke my big right toe. The memory of how it happened is a little foggy, but it happened nonetheless. I still laugh about it every time I think about it. But its great! Nothin' a little tape and prayer won't fix! 

Also, straight MIRACLES happened this week.

So Sister Goodman had gotten a referral back in June for a lady who lives out of our area but in our ward boundaries who had been to the Hudson ward with her friend a few times before they moved. We've tried stopping by many times since then, but she's never home. Her husband was in this terrible car accident that left him without memory of the last 10 years of his life putting him back at an 18 year old mindset. So they had a lot on their plate and so it was understandable that they would be busy a lot. BUT, Heavenly Father is the best and put her name in our heads when we were planning Thursday night. So we went to see her on Friday and knocked on her door with no response. Just as we were leaving they pulled up. We talked with them, left a super cool prayer, and she totally sold him on our church. She wants to be baptized already, but she's waiting for him. It's a little difficult to teach him because not only does her not remember much, but he can't recognize anyone ever. So it's like we're starting over with him every time. But I know that Heavenly Father wants him to have the gospel just as much as any of His other children, so He'll make a way.

We had 5 investigators at church on Sunday. A record high. It was awesome. Also, we got to watch the CES Devotional with Tad R. Callister of the Seventy and it was AMAZING. He talked about how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really is the Lord's same church He had when He was on the earth. We can't wait to print it out and study all of the scriptural references, because we get bashed on pretty hard here and having some biblical backup would help (in a loving and non-bashing way of course :)).

Of course, with all of the great things that happened there has to be a bad thing. All of my pictures got erased on my memory card on my camera. No idea how or when, but they're all gone. I was pretty upset, and unfortunately let that get me down for the rest of that night. That was when I realized how I get hung up on things that, in the grand scheme of things, really don't matter. That is definitely one of my biggest weaknesses. I studied weakness a little bit after and read a quote about how accepting a weakness as "that's just me, it's who I am" is completely denying the power of the Atonement. We learn in the scriptures that God gives us weakness so that we can be humble, and if we are humble He can turn our weaknesses into strengths. According to our faith. That's the key. If we have the faith, He can and will help us overcome anything and everything.

I know that God is so patient and so merciful with all of His children (especially me) as we try and fail and try again to become all He knows we can be in this life. I am so grateful for the Atonement of Christ and knowing that He NEVER breaks His promises.

Keep focusing on the good in life and you'll stop seeing the bad.

I love you all!

Sister Trebotich

What a Wonderful World

Happy New Year!

Sister Goodman and I were in bed, passed out by 10:30 as per usual. Such party animals, we are.

We had such a better week, we actually got to teach a lot, which I totally missed. So, the 12 year old we're teaching is amazing. She's so excited about the gospel and it's really refreshing to see because so many people are not. It's really tough for her though, because her mom doesn't approve of her getting baptized, but her mom's heart has been softening! Slowly but surely, the Lord always does His work. One of my favorite scriptures has become 1 Nephi 3:7; it talks about how the Lord never gives us a commandment "save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." and I know that to be so true. The Lord wants us to fulfill His commandments, so He always makes a way. Always.

Another cool thing is we got to participate in a charity walk with some of the youth. We got together and spray painted mormon.org shirts and all wore them at the race. The elders of course one up-ed us and got some made, but it was a blast anyways. Being a missionary is the best.

I know that the prayers are answered, whether we recognize the answer of not. I love knowing that no matter what, my Father in Heaven is always there for me. And thank goodness He is.

Love you!

Sister Trebotich