Busy Busy Busy

Kia Ora Family!!!

Well I guess you already got the news!!! I've been called not just as a trainer but a District leader too!!! Funny how fast news flies!! I am now more busy than i've ever been in my life haha.

It was lovely to hear from you all once again! Dad, i hoped you enjoyed your vacation haha, at least the Lord gave you one lol. You will do a great job!

So Brittany is deciding to go on a mission!! Wow! That was surprising news, but good news!! Maybe she will come to NZ somehow! Keep me updated on that!

For myself the last week has been pretty crazy. So much happened and it seems like it was long, yet i look back and it seems like yesterday i was emaling you! The week was crazy though. Elder Jolliffe left on Tuesday back to England and it was back to me and Elder Jibas for two days. We found out tuesday night that he would be leaving and i would be staying here in Otahuhu. We had a pretty good last 2 days together. He mainly said goodbye to a lot of the members that he'd come close too.

On Thursdays transfers came!!! I had no idea going in who my trainee was going to be. All the new trainers just lined up in the foyer and as the new missionaries came in, they found us and let us know they were our companions! It was cool, I was so nervous that day, stepping into leadership and also being a trainer. Lets just say i felt really inaduquete. But i met my new companion! His name is Elder Dorosan! He is from the Phillipines!!! He is the man. A really humble and nice kid. He wants to work hard and serve the Lord. We've taught some lessons by now and i must say he is awesome. I was nervous my new companion would be scared to teach, and not know the doctrinal points but elder dorosan is the man, he knows his stuff pretty good for being new and is not really that scared to teach. The Lord blessed me with the best trainee lol!!

So its been a crazy past few days being a new district leader and trainer. I'm still just trying to adjust to all the new responsiblility. There is heaps of it now. But honestly i love all the responsiblility. It keeps me really busy and 100% focused on the work, always thinking about missionary work. Its tough, but good. I feel blessed to have this privaledge. I reallly loved what you said mom and the beginning of your email, because at first i felt really inadequate to do this, but i know that the lord knows me and trusts me and put me in this position to learn and grow. It will be a great opportunity for me to learn heaps, stretch, grow, and come out of my comfort zone, and also to come closer to the lord.

Our district is on fire though! The Samoan sisters that i am over have a huge family of 9 and 5 others set for baptism this month!!! They are doing an awesome job. Actually the zone i am in leads the mission in baptisms. Its an awesome zone! Full of polynesians! In fact we had stake conference yesterday. It was packed! I think me, one of my zone leaders, and two other missionaries were the only two white people in the meeting lol. It was a chapel and gym full of islanders! It was a cool experiance! The conference was awesome and President Lekias actually spoke at it. He gave a great talk on missionary work and how our Church is the true chruch and what seperates it from others.

So the work is starting to pick up again in my area. i am ready to kick it in gear this month and save some souls! We are working with some good people. With my awesome companion i know we will have great success. We are teaching a girl named Susan who is from kiterpas( a small island somewhere). She is doing good, has some concerns just like anyone else, but is progressing. Prince, another man we are teaching from Nigeria is doing pretty well. We have committed him to read from the BofM and pray about Joseph Smith. We are going to see him tonight, and see if he's done that. One thing i've learned as a missionary is that everyone we teach has concerns of some sort and you can't avoid them. Ya just have to face em and resolve their concerns. I feel like last transfer thats what we did, is we would teach people and then when concerns would come up we would just try to avoid them and pretend they weren't there. Thats not going to happen anymore. Everybody has a issue of some sort, and its our job as missionaries to help resovle that and invite the person to repent.

Well I look forward to my first full week with my new companion!! Its gonna be good! Until next week! Love you all and talk to you next monday!!

Oh ya, and i have not got the package yet, i'm sure i'll get it soon. Remember how long the last one took? i'm sure its just taking forever. Anyway i think i would love to have some gatorade powder sent, and also somemore garments. More garment bottoms is what i need. Anyway, thats all i can think of for now. Candy is always nice, just send snickers and reeses lol. All right, talk to you in a week!!

Love you heaps,
Elder Rawlinson



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Some crazy news

Kia Ora Family!!!

It was wonderful to hear from you all again!!! I can't believe that its 60 degrees overthere! Sounds wonderful! The weather over here is pretty good actually just humid

Well mom its good to hear that your doing surviving through the mazzio's choas! I remember nights like that, where the dishes would be piled up and heaps of people were there. Good to hear you are getting tough and use to some ridiculous people that eat there lol. Oh and mom i do love your letters, they do cheer me up heaps so keep em coming haha. Thanks for the update on Jake, thats cool he's just going to rsu and is back in town. I did send him a letter a few weeks ago, i wonder if he ever got it. Let me know when blake gets his call! Maybe i'll shoot him a letter today and give him some pre mission advice!

So this past week was pretty good. I felt like we were able to accomplish a lot of great things were as in the past we have just been kind of stalemating. or something. We were able to set three people for baptism in february. The trick now is to just see them as much as possible and help them come closer to the Savior.

This week is transfers!!! I think back and cannot believe how fast the transfer went. I am actually pretty happy though that i will be out of the threesome. It has been tough with three of us. The one elder finishes tomorrow so it will be back to me and Elder Jibas until Thursday, when the new transfer starts. I also got some crazy news. The mission President called me up last Wednesday night and told me that I would be training this next transfer! I was pretty surprised! I am really nervous but also excited at the same time. I feel like i'm still new myself and now i'm supposed to train? It will be fun though, I really am thankful to my heavnly father for the opportunity. I know it will be a learning experiance. It will be sad to have to leave Elder Jibas, I've really enjoyed serving with him. He's a great missonary and has been a great trainer. He has taught me so much and been a great example. I'm not sure where i'll be serving. I could stay and train here in Otahuhu or be shifted somewhere else. I should find out tonight or tomorrow. So by next week i will be a trainer!! Please keep praying for me lol!

On a side note i also found something crazy out this week. We were talking with the zone leaders and they told us that the government has changed the visa requirements for missionaires. Apparently, the NZ gov, now requires that if you want to be a missionary here in NZ, and you are from the u.s. or canada, you have to prove that you have already done 2 years of missionary service before you can come! They were telling us how like 12 missionaries who were supposed to come here can't now because of the new visa requirements! When i found this out i was like holy cow! I could be one of the last americans to come to this mission!! I'm so lucky that i was able to make it! I guess the chruch is still trying to work something out with the gov but nothing has happened yet. Its pretty interesting to think about though, i'm so thankful i was able to make it in before that new law came about!

Well overall the past week was good! We had a good amount of people show up for chruch this sunday. A family we've been teaching showed up with there kids and really enjoyed it. Also two less active members we met and taught came. Seeing those less actives come back made me just as happy to see investigators. I love my purpose as a missionary, and that is to invite others to come unto christ. Others means everyone else besides me! So my job is to invite everyone i meet, member, nonmember, unto christ! What a great job i have as a missionary. This motivates me to just not waste a single minute of work.

Well thats pretty much my week! I love you all and really enjoy all the emails you send me!!! Hope you all have a great week! Talk to you next week!!

Love you heaps,
Elder Rawlinson




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Mission Photo

Elder Rawlinson is in the back on the top left.

Kia Ora Family!!

 January 29, 2012

Kia Ora Family!!

Well i loved hearing from you all this wonderful day! I really cannot believe how fast this week went!!! It seems like yesterday i was emailing you!! The time is really starting to fly by now!

I mean i think back on the past week and its like a blur lol.

. It has been a tough transfer because we have not really been able to bring souls to Christ through baptism, and i feel really bad we have not been

able to do that this month. Its tough with a companion that is about to go home, its also just tough having a threesome. But even though its tough, its been a good experiance for me. To try

and work out the diffences, and to test my faith. To see if i am going to stand firm and hold steadfast, or give in and be discouraged. I feel that i have been able to be firm and steadfast, and

truly rely on the Lord.

We are teaching a lot of great people but they have some pretty tough concerns we are trying to get over. This boy and this girl named Alana and James are golden. They are awesome. They

read the BofM everyday and pray. They are striving to live the commandments and everthing. But their parents will not let them be baptized. Its really upsettting to me. They are so prepared

and ready to follow the Savior but there parents are hindering their salvation. We are really going to try hard out this week to talk to the parents and resolve that concern.

We also met this man named Jaime who is a really nice guy. He actually lives with a some tongans who are members but are less active. Anyways, this guy jaime is 27 years old but as lived

a rough life. He's been through a lot but has been able to stop doing a lot of stuff and is attempting to improve the quality of his life. There are so many people out there like him. Who didnt

have the privledge to grow up in a good family and have a bright future. Who were not taught good principles and correct ways to live. The family is so important. A lot of people are the way they

are because they did not grow up in a good family. It really hit me then when i met jaime, how lucky i am. How lucky i was to be able to grow up in a good family, where i was taught good princples.

And not only good princples, but lucky enough to be born with the gospel in my life. What a blessing. I really just want to help Jaime find happiness in his life because its something he's never really

had.We are going to see him this week and i just want to help him so bad to change is life and become a good person. Thats the beauty of the Atonement. We can change, we can really change and

become reborn because of the Savior. I love this Gospel. It really is the only way that we will ever find true happiness. So many people are looking for it so they resort to wordly ways like drugs, alchohol,

and other stuff. They think that those things bring happiness but they do not. But you really can't blame them because thats all they know. We are here to show them there is a true way to find true

happiness.

Anyways. I love serving here in Otahuhu because it is a melting pot. I mean there is literally like every religion here in this town. We meet so many Hindu's and muslims everyday. There are heaps

in this area. I never thought i would get to share the gospel with people like that, and to be honest its fun. Its tough but fun. Right down our street there is a buddhist monestary. And then not to far

away on another street is a muslim mosque. Oh and there is also a Sikh(dont think i spelled that right) temple in this town. Not to mention Jehovas Witnesses, Seventh days, catholics, baptists, protestants,

Church of Yaweh, methodists, congregational churches, assemblies of god, and some church called the Chruch of God where they preach about a heavnly mother, and then there's us, the mormons lol.

I bet the saints back in the 1800's never would have though the Gospel would spread to the isles of the see and far reaches of the world. Its pretty amazing. This Gospel is rolling forth "the stone cut without hands"

and nothing is going to stop it!

Well i better wrap this up! I will talk to you all next week! Hope the week goes good!!!

Love you all heaps,

Elder Rawlinson