Snow--Utah vs. Tennessee

Yep! It really snowed just like Utah! (Well...uh...not quite :) All I can say is that I am very happy to have experience driving in the snow. :) But it's so fun! We have thrown snowballs, made snow angels and simply danced in the snow! It's been a blast :)

The biggest news of the week was that Tori was baptized!! Of course, things didn't go perfectly, but that's to be expected. The power went out during the opening song (luckily it flickered back on a few seconds later) but we kept singing through it! Then the font leaked.... It started to drain as we were doing the opening part of the service, so by the time she was baptized, she had to sit on the floor and just lean back. She was already nervous that she would have to do it twice, so we felt bad. :( But that doesn't change the sacred covenant that she made that day. She was so excited for Sunday when she could partake of the sacrament "for real." She related it to playing a game - every week you watch everyone else play, but now you finally get to join. There were so many members involved (that's the key!) and it made for a great baptism.

Jon wasn't able to be baptized this week; however, we have been able to see that that is all part of God's plan. He is moving to Provo, Utah tomorrow for work, so he won't be baptized here. But now his brother-in-law is going to fly out there and baptize him. His sister and her family are active members, so that support will be good for him. Also, we hope that the ward there will welcome him and fellowship him, and that he will make connections there as that is where he will be living.

Tree-Climbin' Missionaries!

An excerpt from an e-mail from Aunt Ruth:

Monday, P-Day, was freezing cold. Literally. Flurries. But Sisters Trommlitz and Tomlinson, as well as 2 elders got in my van and went with me to Sycamore Shoals State Park. When we got down along the river, their gloves came off and they skipped stones until their hands were as cold as the rocks they skipped. Some of them even washed their muddy hands in the icy river.; Smiling the whole time, of course. On the way back from the river, we headed for the reconstructed Fort Watauga. As we approached, Sister Tomlinson climbed up a tree in a manner that showed it wasn't her first time. The senior elder stood there trying to remember what the handbook said about climbing trees. Then up went Sister Trommlitz into another tree. The elder was saying, "Please be careful. I don't want to have to...." Up went the other elder. Finally, the one responsible climbed up, too!  What fun!

Conversions--The Best Valentine's Day Gift for a Missionary!

Jon is preparing to be baptized on February 14th! He has had some trouble coming to church due to being out of town, but he came for the first time Sunday and really enjoyed it. His sister is a member and the company he works for is based out of Provo, so many of his coworkers are also members which was what got him originally interested. He was already reading the Book of Mormon when the sisters first met him and he has been progressing ever since. He always makes sure he understands the concepts that we teach, but he accepts them and commits to live by the commandments. He has big changes that he has and will continue to make, but that's part of the whole process. It's a process that we all do throughout our whole lives as a part of enduring to the end.

Tori is also being baptized on Valentine's day! This week she was introduced to some anti-Mormon literature which we had to take the time to clear up. She is doing really well now though. Her preacher at home was like a father figure to her and he is not happy about the decision she is making. She hopes her mom won't side with him, but the lack of support from her family has been hard on her. The other day she told us how she feels like everything is going wrong right now - the first time she has put such a priority on religion. She got in a car accident, strained muscles in her knee and is now on crutches, in the middle of the hardest semester of her life and other small things that add to her stress. She asks, "Why is it so hard now that I am putting Him first?" That's a hard question to answer, but one that seems to be asked by a lot of investigators. Satan hates the decisions that they are making and provides that opposition to the wonderful thing they are taking part in. I know that the Lord blesses us through His tender mercies that he gives us when we makes sacrifices, but patience is also a quality that is going to be tested, tried and eventually developed. Tori knows that this gospel is Jesus Christ's and that it is true. She is going to be a strong member.

We have been focusing on part-member families since I have been here and we had a great success last Tuesday. We met with the Street family and had a lesson on the apostasy and then watched the 20 min. restoration film. The father of the family who is not a member was the first to comment after the video saying, "I guess I need to read to Book of Mormon." It was so spiritual. He then went on to talk about how he knew that he needed to do it with a sincere heart and real intent and then eventually, everyone needed to find out for themselves. We didn't even have to guide him to recognize that, but the spirit taught him and that's always the best way.

I love being a missionary! This area is doing so well and we are seeing a lot of success. This church is so exciting and I love having the opportunity to share the hope that Jesus Christ can bring.

Love you all!!

Cousins Abound!

So domestic!

Aunt Ruth e-mailed some comments from the Johnson City Ward where Rachel is serving with her cousin Joseph on Ken's side and his family:

Joseph Knight: She has Eleanor's hair!!!! (Eleanor is his sister who lives in Washington state and has long, brown curly hair JUST like Rachel!)

Mandy Taylor in the JC Ward: Sis. Trommlitz is a very happy and fun person. I met her the very first day she came to our ward and she seems so happy and that she is eagerly engaged in the Lord's work. Hopefully, we will all put our best foot forward, especially for her!

A woman in the JC Ward that I don't know: Are you reLATed?..Welcome.... (I think she thought Sister Trommlitz brought me out of inactivity :)

Ann Carver in our ward, sitting on the couch in the lobby watching Sister Trommlitz meeting her cousins: Now THIS is fun. Who would have thought?

This week has truly been great. I don't really know how to express it in words. This ward in awesome and I am pretty sure this is the most member referrals I have received! Our landlord is a member and met a guy in a parking lot and invited him to meet with us when he told her that he was looking to get back into church. He has helped her fix her car and when he wouldn't take any form of payment, she said, "well, is there anything specific I can pray for for you? That is the best form of thanks I could offer someone." It was as simple as that. We met him one afternoon and taught him about the Book of Mormon and invited him to church which he agreed to. Saturday night we had a lesson cancel last minute and before we even had time to look at our backup plans, we got a call from him asking if he could get a tour of the church before he came on Sunday. It was so divinely planned. We met him there and he asked, "Could you teach me that lesson you were going to teach on Tuesday right now?" So we sat down and taught him the restoration right then. The next day he came to church and enjoyed it. The sacrament meeting and gospel principles lesson was exactly for him.

We had Zone Conference this past Saturday and as always, it was incredible! This has been a top-10-week of my mission even though this email doesn't reflect that.

Wow!  What a great story!  The Lord's hand is in EVERYTHING!  I hope we never forget that. We are loved.

Aunt Ruth, Here I come!

My last couple days in Oak Ridge were spent saying goodbyes. It was hard for a lot of people to hear that they wouldn't be putting sisters back in the area. we teach a lot of single sisters, so hopefully the ward will step up and be team-ups with the elders. But really, there just haven't been as many sisters coming out recently and because our area is one of the smallest in the mission, they had to close it. Hopefully it is only temporarily closed, but there is no telling as of yet.

I had the opportunity to accompany a special musical number at transfer meeting so that was cool :) But I found out that I am being transferred to JOHNSON CITY!! My companion's name is Sister Arianne Tomlinson. Trommlitz and Tomlinson.... nice.

Ever since day one we have been busy. I really enjoy this area. The ward is incredible! I feel this is where I need to be right now. 

We have an aunt and her son and family who live in Johnson City!  Ken's aunt Ruth and Uncle Gene are there and are excited to have Rachel serving right in their neck of the woods.  What a small world it is in the church :)  

 Tori and Sydney in their dorm room!

We have been teaching Tori who is preparing to be baptized on Valentine's Day! She is 19 years old and attending ETSU. She amazes me. She has a strong testimony of this gospel already and is willing to do whatever is needed in order to be baptized. She was introduced to the gospel through her friend Sydney who was baptized a year ago.

John is another YSA we are teaching. He has a sister who is a member and he works for a security system based out of Provo, so everyone he works with is LDS. He started reading the Book of Mormon and then contacted us to be taught the lessons. He also is working to be baptized on Valentine's day.

There are many people we are working with who have so much potential! I can't wait to see what miracles this transfer holds.

God truly has our best interest in mind. I am so happy to be here. I will only be with my companion for one transfer, but I can already see how much I can learn from her.

This will be her 3rd companion to go home after serving with her.  She is destined to be the one to say goodbye...

It's exciting to be in a new area, great experiences await!  

Why Can't You Trust Atoms?

Because they make up everything! hahahahaha!!! oh... good ol' Oak Ridge joke of the week :)

It sounds like she'll be getting a new companion next week on transfer day.  Constant change in the mission field!  Well, in life too of course!  What a great training ground :)  Here is some news from her New Year's week:

Dixie is a less-active member here, who we were able to get out of the house, which was a huge step! We visited another member of the ward who was (divinely planned!) with other members of the RS. It was so good to get Dixie out and then for her to see her old friends that she doesn't see by not coming to church. It may seem small, but I believe the results are going to be big.

Toe Socks and Straight hair--Wow! 

Leslie is out of the rehab center! We made her a fleece blanket, so we took that to her, and she was soooooo happy. It made us feel so good :) Later in the week we taught her about the apostasy and restoration again. It was a great lesson with the spirit being strong. She thought that the first vision was absolutely beautiful and wanted us to tell it to her again. She said she felt chills running down her back as we told her Joseph Smith's story. Because it's true!! That is the spirit testifying of truth. It was a testimony reaffirmed to me that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that through him, Christ did restore His church on the earth. Strong, simple truths.

Happy New Year everyone! We played Disney Monopoly for New Year's Eve and then just a good ol' missionary day for New Year's Day :) Can't believe it's 2015!!!

I love you all!!!!!!

Con amor, Hermana Trommlitz

Cookie Christmas

Feliz Navidad!!

Leslie is doing so much better and is now in a rehab center. She looks even better than when she was home! She has a lot of down time and the large print Book of Mormon we ordered for her finally came in, so we delivered that and it's not often that we see that much excitement from a person after giving them a Book of Mormon. :) She was thrilled! The rehab center is the perfect place for her to begin reading because she now doesn't have any people to sway her and she won't go to other sources for answers. She has prayer, scriptures and missionaries to answer her questions. Also taking advantage of that excitement to learn and the time she has to do so is going to be a great step in gaining a testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and Christ's restored church.

We shared several Christmas messages with the people we teach and every time we did, my testimony of the Savior was strengthened.

Christmas Eve we decorated cookies, which, as you all know, was a huge treat for me! The Valdez family invited us over for that because we couldn't proselyte that night and then afterwards, we delivered them to families in the ward, investigators and others who just needed a little boost. :)

Christmas was wonderful. We did studies and the planning we needed to, then went to Sister Sammon's home for breakfast. We were then able to Skype home which was the BEST!!! And then I was able to continue our tradition from home of having an ethnic dinner for Christmas and we had homemade Tamales with the Valdez's. yum!! Dianna is a member of the ward who lives in a rehab/nursing home, so we saw her that night so she would have someone to spend Christmas with. It was a great Christmas.

Talk to all ya'll next year! ;)