Kia Ora Family!
This past week was awesome! What a great week it was! We had some totally awesome miracles happen and some really great things coming up this weekend! First and foremost, thank you all for the emails! Wonderful to hear Mom and Dad that you had a wonderful vacation together. Even though you didnt get to go to utah, it sounds like you had a lovely time together!
As for my week it was pretty awesome! We are starting to have some great success here in Otahuhu! Whats crazy is there is only about a week and a half left of the transfer! I am just dumbstruck at how fast this transfer has gone!
Anyways, time for the miracle. So Terrei and Lisa, the couple we've been teaching are still set for this weekend to be baptized. I believe i already told you that last week, but we have some more exciting news also about them. Well i'm not sure if i told you that they have three kids and are unmarried and are living together, so in order for them to be baptized they need to be married. Elder Dorosan and I knew that we had to address this concern as soon as possible. Tuesday night we had a lesson set with them and decided we would do so then. So we went in and finished teaching the plan of Salvation and then moved in to the topic of marriage. It was perfect because we had just finished touching on how we can live in the celestial kingdom with our families forever. It was a perfect transition for marriage. It was i must say pretty tough to bring the topic up but we did it, and it turned out great! Terrei told us that he knew marriage was important and that he know knows that it is time for them to be married. Lisa on the other hand didnt say no, but was a little hesitant because of the time frame. So we just committed her to sincerely pray about it and we would return tomorrow night and talk more about it.
So we came back the next night to follow up about the whole thing and brought Bishop with us. Immediately as we started the lesson Lisa told us that she had prayed about it and felt really good about being married and baptized as soon as possible and on the date we had set for them, the 28th! It was great, we didnt have to do any persuasion or anything! The Lord answered her prayers and did all the work haha! So that night we discussed all the arrangements and how bishop would be more than happy to do the marriage. They agreed and all was well!! We continued to meet with them throughout the week and all is still well for this saturday!! They are going to be married and baptized this weekend!!! Its so awesome! I can't explain the joy i have for this family! Just to see how the lord has come into their lives and how much they have changed! Its so great! So along with being a missionary, i am a wedding planner at the moment haha! Its pretty crazy how much we have to get together, but the bishop is in it with us 100% and with his help the ward is too. We are getting great support from the relief society to do some decorations and bring heaps of food. Its going to be a great day! We are going to be doing the marriage and baptism in the same service. They will get married and proceed to baptism. Yesterday we also taught their oldest daughter Ariana who is 10 and asked if she wanted to be baptized with her parents and she said yes! What an incredible week its been! I have so much gratitude to the Lord for being and instrument in his hands to bring this family to the Gospel. Its really amazing to just witness how when people really do pray about what we teach, read the book of mormon, and come to the church, they really will receive and answer and continuous answers from Heavenly Father! They have just expressed that since we've been coming to share the gospel in their homes, there has been so much more peace within the home. They do not get so upset with each other and really feel Heavenly Father's love. It was so wonderful to hear them say that.
I believe we told you about Josie the girl who was supposed to be baptized this past weekend. Well sadly it didnt happen. We are still holding the faith though. Her dad keeps saying she is to young to make that decision. What we've decided to do for the situation is have Josie write a letter to her father, telling her testimony and why she wants to be baptized. I really think this could work. We are praying hard out that is heart will be softened!
Well i'm not too sure what else to write about. We've just been really busy helping Terrei and Lisa. We have got a lot of work to do for this Saturday. I just want everything to go somthly and for there to be no problems. I know that it will all work out fine though in the end.
In the front of Preach My Gospel in the intro from the First Presidency, in there it says "more happiness awaits you than you've ever experienced as you labor in the lord's vineyard." Thats not the exact words but its something like that. All i can say is that i testify that that is true. There have been such joyous moments this past week and weeks before as i have served. I am so glad that i'm out here doing this work, and even though it is very difficult at times. i love it and love sharing the gospel with everyone even if they say no, or curse at me or are rude to me, i dont care, at least i gave that person a chance.
Well thats pretty much it! Keep me in your prayers! Pray everything will go smoothly this week for Terrei and Lisa's wedding and baptism! Oh before i go, i haven gotten the package yet! I 'm sure i'll get it after transfers, i believe thats the next time the Zone leader will go and get mail. Anyways, love you all so much!!! Talk to you next week!
Love,
Elder Rawlinson
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Friday, April 27, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
We moved to another flat
Kia Ora Family!
It was wonderful to hear from you all again! I'm glad you are all safe and ok! I sure don't miss the crazy tornado weather you are all experiencing right now! The weather here is pretty much the same old same old. Its warm during the days and gets cold at night. Everyone around here is saying that the weather is acting really weird. I guess the summer wasn't all that bad this year and this time of year its supposed to be cooler but its actually pretty warm. Anyway, i am just glad that your all safe!
It was another pretty good week this past week! The weeks are just rolling and rolling by! We are already done with half of the transfer! This transfer has flown by its scary to think how fast its gone.
This week we had some great things happen. Terrie and his wife Lisa are just doing so great! We taught them throughout the week and actually invited them to be baptized and set them for the 28th of this month!!! Terrie is just the man! He is really loving everything, he doesnt say a whole lot, but i can already see how much he's changed since we've been meeting with him. He was able to pray at the end of one of our lessons, and his prayer was just awesome. The spirit was so strong as he just simply talked to God, it was such an amazing moment! Lisa is also great too, she's really funny and is doing her best to start living the gospel! They, and their two young girls were able to come to church this Sunday and really loved it. We also had a missionary fireside the same night and Terrie was able to come. It was a really awesome fireside. Gary Wilkinson, who plays for the NZ breakers a bball team, came and spoke. He gave a really great talk about how he converted to the church and how much the lord has blessed him and his testimony of the gospel. It was really great!
We havent really been able to catch up with Tai and Tisha this past week. They've been busy with family and their baby. We are still not giving up on them though. Hopefully this week we will be able to see them and see whats going on with them.
Elder Dorosan and I have also been working with an 11 year old girl named Josie. Her older sisters are converts to the church and Josie herself has been coming to church for a long time but just has never been baptized. The concern with her is her parents. Apparently in the past there was an argument between some of the missionaries and her father. Ever since then missionaries havent been around. But that was a long time ago, so me and Elder Dorosan thought we would give the situation a try. We havent been able to catch up with the dad, but the mom is all good with Josie being baptized. We have her set for this weekend! Just in the past few days we've heard that the parents are saying no though. The sisters usually ask the parents if Josie can be baptzied and they always say no. We are hoping and encouraging Josie to ask them herself and see what happens. She has never actually asked them herself. I know that this is really the only true solution for the problem, Josie must ask them herself. Nobody, us, her sisters, members can ask for her. We had a talk with the bishop and we are all still holding faith for this weekend. We'll see what happens!!!
Other than that Elder Dorosan and I are working hard. Things can get frustrating sometimes though because it seems like we meet people a lot who invite us back for a specific time, we go back and they are never there! This can be a little upsetting at times, but all i do is just keep pushing myself to go and work. I've really been able to learn to keep a positive attitude at all times and never let myself get discouraged.
Oh ya, we moved out of our flat today! We switched flats with the Samona Sisters in the District. I guess the members had really been complaining about how the area the sisters are staying in is not safe for them, ha so they decided to stick us there instead lol! All is good though, the flat is much bigger and better than our other one. It was really weird to move out this morning though because i've been in that flat for 6 months now! Its been my home! Haha oh well part of mission life i guess!
Well i'll wrap this up! I love you all so much! I love hearing about your lives back in the ole US of A. Thats great to hear Romney is doing so well! A mormon in the white house! That would be exciting!
Love you all so much! Keep being active in the Gospel and the Church! Until next week,
Ofa Atu,
Elder Rawlinson
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
It was wonderful to hear from you all again! I'm glad you are all safe and ok! I sure don't miss the crazy tornado weather you are all experiencing right now! The weather here is pretty much the same old same old. Its warm during the days and gets cold at night. Everyone around here is saying that the weather is acting really weird. I guess the summer wasn't all that bad this year and this time of year its supposed to be cooler but its actually pretty warm. Anyway, i am just glad that your all safe!
It was another pretty good week this past week! The weeks are just rolling and rolling by! We are already done with half of the transfer! This transfer has flown by its scary to think how fast its gone.
This week we had some great things happen. Terrie and his wife Lisa are just doing so great! We taught them throughout the week and actually invited them to be baptized and set them for the 28th of this month!!! Terrie is just the man! He is really loving everything, he doesnt say a whole lot, but i can already see how much he's changed since we've been meeting with him. He was able to pray at the end of one of our lessons, and his prayer was just awesome. The spirit was so strong as he just simply talked to God, it was such an amazing moment! Lisa is also great too, she's really funny and is doing her best to start living the gospel! They, and their two young girls were able to come to church this Sunday and really loved it. We also had a missionary fireside the same night and Terrie was able to come. It was a really awesome fireside. Gary Wilkinson, who plays for the NZ breakers a bball team, came and spoke. He gave a really great talk about how he converted to the church and how much the lord has blessed him and his testimony of the gospel. It was really great!
We havent really been able to catch up with Tai and Tisha this past week. They've been busy with family and their baby. We are still not giving up on them though. Hopefully this week we will be able to see them and see whats going on with them.
Elder Dorosan and I have also been working with an 11 year old girl named Josie. Her older sisters are converts to the church and Josie herself has been coming to church for a long time but just has never been baptized. The concern with her is her parents. Apparently in the past there was an argument between some of the missionaries and her father. Ever since then missionaries havent been around. But that was a long time ago, so me and Elder Dorosan thought we would give the situation a try. We havent been able to catch up with the dad, but the mom is all good with Josie being baptized. We have her set for this weekend! Just in the past few days we've heard that the parents are saying no though. The sisters usually ask the parents if Josie can be baptzied and they always say no. We are hoping and encouraging Josie to ask them herself and see what happens. She has never actually asked them herself. I know that this is really the only true solution for the problem, Josie must ask them herself. Nobody, us, her sisters, members can ask for her. We had a talk with the bishop and we are all still holding faith for this weekend. We'll see what happens!!!
Other than that Elder Dorosan and I are working hard. Things can get frustrating sometimes though because it seems like we meet people a lot who invite us back for a specific time, we go back and they are never there! This can be a little upsetting at times, but all i do is just keep pushing myself to go and work. I've really been able to learn to keep a positive attitude at all times and never let myself get discouraged.
Oh ya, we moved out of our flat today! We switched flats with the Samona Sisters in the District. I guess the members had really been complaining about how the area the sisters are staying in is not safe for them, ha so they decided to stick us there instead lol! All is good though, the flat is much bigger and better than our other one. It was really weird to move out this morning though because i've been in that flat for 6 months now! Its been my home! Haha oh well part of mission life i guess!
Well i'll wrap this up! I love you all so much! I love hearing about your lives back in the ole US of A. Thats great to hear Romney is doing so well! A mormon in the white house! That would be exciting!
Love you all so much! Keep being active in the Gospel and the Church! Until next week,
Ofa Atu,
Elder Rawlinson
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Wow what a call!!!!!
Kia Ora Family!!!! Or should i say Hola Familia?
Wow I can't believe brittany got her mission call!!! How wonderful!! Thats so awesome she's going to arizona and going to be SPEAKING SPANISH!!! What an experience it will be for you brittany!! I am so excited for you and can't wait to hear about the experiences you will have! You and Brandon will be able to communicate with one another in spanish! That will be cool!
Well this past week was a pretty dang good week once again! Let me just start out by saying conference was amazing! I realize now how much i took it for granted before! It makes me sad about how foolish i was growing up not to appreciate general conference! It really was so amazing. I just love hearing from all of the leaders of the church and how inspiring their words are! It just confirms to me that this is the true church and those men are really all called of God.
Besides general conference being a huge highlight of the week me and elder dorosan managed to find two awesome couples this week! Tai and Tisha, from the cook islands, and another couple with kids, Tiarre and Lisa. Both couples are really really keen!!! We taught a lesson to Tai and Tisha last sunday about the Restoration. On tuesday when we returned to see how they were doing we had an awesome follow up with them. When we came in Tisha was like really really excited and talking a lot. In the first lesson with them she hadn't really said a whole lot and was quiet. It turns out she was just so excited about the Book of Mormon. Before we left on Sunday we committed her and Tai to read the title page and intro to the book of mormon. When we followed up with tisha we found out that she had read both of those things, the testimonies of the 3 and 8 witnesses, joseph smith's testimony and even the first two chapters of Nephi!!! When we found this out, Elder Dorosan and i were dumbstruck! And she was just so excited and happy. She said she just really really loved reading all of it and just really felt something everytime she would read! We later explained she was feeling the holy ghost and encouraged her to keep reading. Tai also managed to read the intro but has a little trouble reading the english language so later in the week we got a copy for him in his language. They are just a really great young couple. They are actually only in NZ right now for their recently born baby who almost didnt live past birth. The medical care here in NZ is better than in the Cook islands so that is why they are here, to recieve the medical care they need for their baby. They have been here for 3 months and will probably remain for another 6. I feel really great about this young couple! The only concern with them right now is that they have some family oppostion. I can see that Tisha is a little afraid to go against what her family's religious beliefs are. i'm not too worried though, i know that if she and tai continue to read and pray, their faith will strengthen and they will know what is right.
The other couple we met is also superb!!! Tiarre was a referral from some other elders, and we had first been trying to contact him. We eventually did contact him and set up something, but when we came he was gone. We were going to give up on him, but decided to give him another chance, in fact on we randomly ran into him on the street and set up a time to come on wednesday. We managed to get hold of him again and set up another lesson. So we went around on wednesday for our lesson and he was home. So we went in and had a great lesson with just him about the restoration. Tiarre is a good man, he's a mixture of a few nationalities but more maouri than anything. He doesent say a whole lot, but does take everything in really well. The lesson we had went really great. We gave him a restro pamphlet and book of mormon before we left and said we'd come back and talk more about the book of mormon with him. We came back the next day and his wife lisa was home and wanted to join us in the lesson. Before we started the lesson Tiarre had been sitting at the table reading the pamphlet we left him. He told us he had read it through a few times and it made a lot of sense to him. It was really cool to see him studying the pamphlet! Anyways, we continued on with the lesson and his wife lisa came in eventually and joined us. Lisa is a really great lady. She is so funny and is really bubbly and funny. We had a great lesson with them about the book of mormon and explained to lisa that we would come back tomorrow and teach her about the restro. So we cam back on friday and taught lisa the restoration, tiarre was part of it also. It was also another great lesson. Whenever I shared the first vision she just said she really felt something and almost wanted to cry. We also invited them to general conference and they said they could make it to the last session. oh ya before we started that lesson with them. we also came in and their book of mormons and pamphlets were on the table and they were ready for the lesson. It was really cool to see! They both said they had read a little bit of the first chapter but would continue to read. They are both just so awesome and really really just want to keep learning! Its really amazing to just see they desire they have! I'm just astonished! Rarely do we ever find people like this!
So sunday came around and we manged to get them to the last session of general conference! As we sat and watched the conference i was completely stunned and still am as i type this email. Every single talk in that last session was completely perfect for them!!! Every single one!! L. Tom Perry's talk on the book of mormon. Ballards talk about families and also all the others were just completely perfect! I am just amazed! After the conference they told us they really enjoyed it and had a lot of things to "ponder" about haha. I know they really felt something in there. We are going to be seeing them tommorrow, and i'm so excited to see them and share with them the plan of salvation and how they can be together forver!!! I am just so thankful for the opportunity to teach them!!! Its such a huge miracle we found them! I am still in awe and wonder about how we find these people that are so prepared!
I am so pumped for this week! And the other souls we will also find and teach!!!! I just know this is the only true and living church upon the face of the earth!!!! I know Christ lives and directs this great work! I know we are all Gods children and he loves us all so much and is there for us if we just but reach out to him! I really really really love the book of mormon. Right now, i think i told you this already, but anyway, right now as a mission we are reading the book of mormon in 90 days! I am just falling in love with the book as i have read it! I am just really starting to see how it really is all about coming unto Christ and living his gospel!!! I just really am coming to understand how it is the keystone of our religion, the only evidence we have of the restoration. Without it, Joseph smith would have been nothing and could have been thrown out and rejected as a fraud. But because of the book we know that the restoration did happen. That the heavens are still open and god has revealed, will reveal, and continue to reveal great and marvelous things pertaining to the kingdom of god!!!
Well all of you just keep being awesome examples to others, and love one another. I really feel like that was a big message of the conference, and that is to just simply love one another. Be a true disciple of Christ, not to just be active in the church, but active in the gospel. Well i'll wrap this up! love you all so much! Talk to you next week!!!!
LOVE,
Elder Rawlinson
and Brandon will be able to communicate with one another in spanish! That will be cool!
Well this past week was a pretty dang good week once again! Let me just start out by saying conference was amazing! I realize now how much i took it for granted before! It makes me sad about how foolish i was growing up not to appreciate general conference! It really was so amazing. I just love hearing from all of the leaders of the church and how inspiring their words are! It just confirms to me that this is the true church and those men are really all called of God.
Besides general conference being a huge highlight of the week me and elder dorosan managed to find two awesome couples this week! Tai and Tisha, from the cook islands, and another couple with kids, Tiarre and Lisa. Both couples are really really keen!!! We taught a lesson to Tai and Tisha last sunday about the Restoration. On tuesday when we returned to see how they were doing we had an awesome follow up with them. When we came in Tisha was like really really excited and talking a lot. In the first lesson with them she hadn't really said a whole lot and was quiet. It turns out she was just so excited about the Book of Mormon. Before we left on Sunday we committed her and Tai to read the title page and intro to the book of mormon. When we followed up with tisha we found out that she had read both of those things, the testimonies of the 3 and 8 witnesses, joseph smith's testimony and even the first two chapters of Nephi!!! When we found this out, Elder Dorosan and i were dumbstruck! And she was just so excited and happy. She said she just really really loved reading all of it and just really felt something everytime she would read! We later explained she was feeling the holy ghost and encouraged her to keep reading. Tai also managed to read the intro but has a little trouble reading the english language so later in the week we got a copy for him in his language. They are just a really great young couple. They are actually only in NZ right now for their recently born baby who almost didnt live past birth. The medical care here in NZ is better than in the Cook islands so that is why they are here, to recieve the medical care they need for their baby. They have been here for 3 months and will probably remain for another 6. I feel really great about this young couple! The only concern with them right now is that they have some family oppostion. I can see that Tisha is a little afraid to go against what her family's religious beliefs are. i'm not too worried though, i know that if she and tai continue to read and pray, their faith will strengthen and they will know what is right.
The other couple we met is also superb!!! Tiarre was a referral from some other elders, and we had first been trying to contact him. We eventually did contact him and set up something, but when we came he was gone. We were going to give up on him, but decided to give him another chance, in fact on we randomly ran into him on the street and set up a time to come on wednesday. We managed to get hold of him again and set up another lesson. So we went around on wednesday for our lesson and he was home. So we went in and had a great lesson with just him about the restoration. Tiarre is a good man, he's a mixture of a few nationalities but more maouri than anything. He doesent say a whole lot, but does take everything in really well. The lesson we had went really great. We gave him a restro pamphlet and book of mormon before we left and said we'd come back and talk more about the book of mormon with him. We came back the next day and his wife lisa was home and wanted to join us in the lesson. Before we started the lesson Tiarre had been sitting at the table reading the pamphlet we left him. He told us he had read it through a few times and it made a lot of sense to him. It was really cool to see him studying the pamphlet! Anyways, we continued on with the lesson and his wife lisa came in eventually and joined us. Lisa is a really great lady. She is so funny and is really bubbly and funny. We had a great lesson with them about the book of mormon and explained to lisa that we would come back tomorrow and teach her about the restro. So we cam back on friday and taught lisa the restoration, tiarre was part of it also. It was also another great lesson. Whenever I shared the first vision she just said she really felt something and almost wanted to cry. We also invited them to general conference and they said they could make it to the last session. oh ya before we started that lesson with them. we also came in and their book of mormons and pamphlets were on the table and they were ready for the lesson. It was really cool to see! They both said they had read a little bit of the first chapter but would continue to read. They are both just so awesome and really really just want to keep learning! Its really amazing to just see they desire they have! I'm just astonished! Rarely do we ever find people like this!
So sunday came around and we manged to get them to the last session of general conference! As we sat and watched the conference i was completely stunned and still am as i type this email. Every single talk in that last session was completely perfect for them!!! Every single one!! L. Tom Perry's talk on the book of mormon. Ballards talk about families and also all the others were just completely perfect! I am just amazed! After the conference they told us they really enjoyed it and had a lot of things to "ponder" about haha. I know they really felt something in there. We are going to be seeing them tommorrow, and i'm so excited to see them and share with them the plan of salvation and how they can be together forver!!! I am just so thankful for the opportunity to teach them!!! Its such a huge miracle we found them! I am still in awe and wonder about how we find these people that are so prepared!
I am so pumped for this week! And the other souls we will also find and teach!!!! I just know this is the only true and living church upon the face of the earth!!!! I know Christ lives and directs this great work! I know we are all Gods children and he loves us all so much and is there for us if we just but reach out to him! I really really really love the book of mormon. Right now, i think i told you this already, but anyway, right now as a mission we are reading the book of mormon in 90 days! I am just falling in love with the book as i have read it! I am just really starting to see how it really is all about coming unto Christ and living his gospel!!! I just really am coming to understand how it is the keystone of our religion, the only evidence we have of the restoration. Without it, Joseph smith would have been nothing and could have been thrown out and rejected as a fraud. But because of the book we know that the restoration did happen. That the heavens are still open and god has revealed, will reveal, and continue to reveal great and marvelous things pertaining to the kingdom of god!!!
Well all of you just keep being awesome examples to others, and love one another. I really feel like that was a big message of the conference, and that is to just simply love one another. Be a true disciple of Christ, not to just be active in the church, but active in the gospel. Well i'll wrap this up! love you all so much! Talk to you next week!!!!
LOVE,
Elder Rawlinson
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wow I can't believe brittany got her mission call!!! How wonderful!! Thats so awesome she's going to arizona and going to be SPEAKING SPANISH!!! What an experience it will be for you brittany!! I am so excited for you and can't wait to hear about the experiences you will have! You and Brandon will be able to communicate with one another in spanish! That will be cool!
Well this past week was a pretty dang good week once again! Let me just start out by saying conference was amazing! I realize now how much i took it for granted before! It makes me sad about how foolish i was growing up not to appreciate general conference! It really was so amazing. I just love hearing from all of the leaders of the church and how inspiring their words are! It just confirms to me that this is the true church and those men are really all called of God.
Besides general conference being a huge highlight of the week me and elder dorosan managed to find two awesome couples this week! Tai and Tisha, from the cook islands, and another couple with kids, Tiarre and Lisa. Both couples are really really keen!!! We taught a lesson to Tai and Tisha last sunday about the Restoration. On tuesday when we returned to see how they were doing we had an awesome follow up with them. When we came in Tisha was like really really excited and talking a lot. In the first lesson with them she hadn't really said a whole lot and was quiet. It turns out she was just so excited about the Book of Mormon. Before we left on Sunday we committed her and Tai to read the title page and intro to the book of mormon. When we followed up with tisha we found out that she had read both of those things, the testimonies of the 3 and 8 witnesses, joseph smith's testimony and even the first two chapters of Nephi!!! When we found this out, Elder Dorosan and i were dumbstruck! And she was just so excited and happy. She said she just really really loved reading all of it and just really felt something everytime she would read! We later explained she was feeling the holy ghost and encouraged her to keep reading. Tai also managed to read the intro but has a little trouble reading the english language so later in the week we got a copy for him in his language. They are just a really great young couple. They are actually only in NZ right now for their recently born baby who almost didnt live past birth. The medical care here in NZ is better than in the Cook islands so that is why they are here, to recieve the medical care they need for their baby. They have been here for 3 months and will probably remain for another 6. I feel really great about this young couple! The only concern with them right now is that they have some family oppostion. I can see that Tisha is a little afraid to go against what her family's religious beliefs are. i'm not too worried though, i know that if she and tai continue to read and pray, their faith will strengthen and they will know what is right.
The other couple we met is also superb!!! Tiarre was a referral from some other elders, and we had first been trying to contact him. We eventually did contact him and set up something, but when we came he was gone. We were going to give up on him, but decided to give him another chance, in fact on we randomly ran into him on the street and set up a time to come on wednesday. We managed to get hold of him again and set up another lesson. So we went around on wednesday for our lesson and he was home. So we went in and had a great lesson with just him about the restoration. Tiarre is a good man, he's a mixture of a few nationalities but more maouri than anything. He doesent say a whole lot, but does take everything in really well. The lesson we had went really great. We gave him a restro pamphlet and book of mormon before we left and said we'd come back and talk more about the book of mormon with him. We came back the next day and his wife lisa was home and wanted to join us in the lesson. Before we started the lesson Tiarre had been sitting at the table reading the pamphlet we left him. He told us he had read it through a few times and it made a lot of sense to him. It was really cool to see him studying the pamphlet! Anyways, we continued on with the lesson and his wife lisa came in eventually and joined us. Lisa is a really great lady. She is so funny and is really bubbly and funny. We had a great lesson with them about the book of mormon and explained to lisa that we would come back tomorrow and teach her about the restro. So we cam back on friday and taught lisa the restoration, tiarre was part of it also. It was also another great lesson. Whenever I shared the first vision she just said she really felt something and almost wanted to cry. We also invited them to general conference and they said they could make it to the last session. oh ya before we started that lesson with them. we also came in and their book of mormons and pamphlets were on the table and they were ready for the lesson. It was really cool to see! They both said they had read a little bit of the first chapter but would continue to read. They are both just so awesome and really really just want to keep learning! Its really amazing to just see they desire they have! I'm just astonished! Rarely do we ever find people like this!
So sunday came around and we manged to get them to the last session of general conference! As we sat and watched the conference i was completely stunned and still am as i type this email. Every single talk in that last session was completely perfect for them!!! Every single one!! L. Tom Perry's talk on the book of mormon. Ballards talk about families and also all the others were just completely perfect! I am just amazed! After the conference they told us they really enjoyed it and had a lot of things to "ponder" about haha. I know they really felt something in there. We are going to be seeing them tommorrow, and i'm so excited to see them and share with them the plan of salvation and how they can be together forver!!! I am just so thankful for the opportunity to teach them!!! Its such a huge miracle we found them! I am still in awe and wonder about how we find these people that are so prepared!
I am so pumped for this week! And the other souls we will also find and teach!!!! I just know this is the only true and living church upon the face of the earth!!!! I know Christ lives and directs this great work! I know we are all Gods children and he loves us all so much and is there for us if we just but reach out to him! I really really really love the book of mormon. Right now, i think i told you this already, but anyway, right now as a mission we are reading the book of mormon in 90 days! I am just falling in love with the book as i have read it! I am just really starting to see how it really is all about coming unto Christ and living his gospel!!! I just really am coming to understand how it is the keystone of our religion, the only evidence we have of the restoration. Without it, Joseph smith would have been nothing and could have been thrown out and rejected as a fraud. But because of the book we know that the restoration did happen. That the heavens are still open and god has revealed, will reveal, and continue to reveal great and marvelous things pertaining to the kingdom of god!!!
Well all of you just keep being awesome examples to others, and love one another. I really feel like that was a big message of the conference, and that is to just simply love one another. Be a true disciple of Christ, not to just be active in the church, but active in the gospel. Well i'll wrap this up! love you all so much! Talk to you next week!!!!
LOVE,
Elder Rawlinson
and Brandon will be able to communicate with one another in spanish! That will be cool!
Well this past week was a pretty dang good week once again! Let me just start out by saying conference was amazing! I realize now how much i took it for granted before! It makes me sad about how foolish i was growing up not to appreciate general conference! It really was so amazing. I just love hearing from all of the leaders of the church and how inspiring their words are! It just confirms to me that this is the true church and those men are really all called of God.
Besides general conference being a huge highlight of the week me and elder dorosan managed to find two awesome couples this week! Tai and Tisha, from the cook islands, and another couple with kids, Tiarre and Lisa. Both couples are really really keen!!! We taught a lesson to Tai and Tisha last sunday about the Restoration. On tuesday when we returned to see how they were doing we had an awesome follow up with them. When we came in Tisha was like really really excited and talking a lot. In the first lesson with them she hadn't really said a whole lot and was quiet. It turns out she was just so excited about the Book of Mormon. Before we left on Sunday we committed her and Tai to read the title page and intro to the book of mormon. When we followed up with tisha we found out that she had read both of those things, the testimonies of the 3 and 8 witnesses, joseph smith's testimony and even the first two chapters of Nephi!!! When we found this out, Elder Dorosan and i were dumbstruck! And she was just so excited and happy. She said she just really really loved reading all of it and just really felt something everytime she would read! We later explained she was feeling the holy ghost and encouraged her to keep reading. Tai also managed to read the intro but has a little trouble reading the english language so later in the week we got a copy for him in his language. They are just a really great young couple. They are actually only in NZ right now for their recently born baby who almost didnt live past birth. The medical care here in NZ is better than in the Cook islands so that is why they are here, to recieve the medical care they need for their baby. They have been here for 3 months and will probably remain for another 6. I feel really great about this young couple! The only concern with them right now is that they have some family oppostion. I can see that Tisha is a little afraid to go against what her family's religious beliefs are. i'm not too worried though, i know that if she and tai continue to read and pray, their faith will strengthen and they will know what is right.
The other couple we met is also superb!!! Tiarre was a referral from some other elders, and we had first been trying to contact him. We eventually did contact him and set up something, but when we came he was gone. We were going to give up on him, but decided to give him another chance, in fact on we randomly ran into him on the street and set up a time to come on wednesday. We managed to get hold of him again and set up another lesson. So we went around on wednesday for our lesson and he was home. So we went in and had a great lesson with just him about the restoration. Tiarre is a good man, he's a mixture of a few nationalities but more maouri than anything. He doesent say a whole lot, but does take everything in really well. The lesson we had went really great. We gave him a restro pamphlet and book of mormon before we left and said we'd come back and talk more about the book of mormon with him. We came back the next day and his wife lisa was home and wanted to join us in the lesson. Before we started the lesson Tiarre had been sitting at the table reading the pamphlet we left him. He told us he had read it through a few times and it made a lot of sense to him. It was really cool to see him studying the pamphlet! Anyways, we continued on with the lesson and his wife lisa came in eventually and joined us. Lisa is a really great lady. She is so funny and is really bubbly and funny. We had a great lesson with them about the book of mormon and explained to lisa that we would come back tomorrow and teach her about the restro. So we cam back on friday and taught lisa the restoration, tiarre was part of it also. It was also another great lesson. Whenever I shared the first vision she just said she really felt something and almost wanted to cry. We also invited them to general conference and they said they could make it to the last session. oh ya before we started that lesson with them. we also came in and their book of mormons and pamphlets were on the table and they were ready for the lesson. It was really cool to see! They both said they had read a little bit of the first chapter but would continue to read. They are both just so awesome and really really just want to keep learning! Its really amazing to just see they desire they have! I'm just astonished! Rarely do we ever find people like this!
So sunday came around and we manged to get them to the last session of general conference! As we sat and watched the conference i was completely stunned and still am as i type this email. Every single talk in that last session was completely perfect for them!!! Every single one!! L. Tom Perry's talk on the book of mormon. Ballards talk about families and also all the others were just completely perfect! I am just amazed! After the conference they told us they really enjoyed it and had a lot of things to "ponder" about haha. I know they really felt something in there. We are going to be seeing them tommorrow, and i'm so excited to see them and share with them the plan of salvation and how they can be together forver!!! I am just so thankful for the opportunity to teach them!!! Its such a huge miracle we found them! I am still in awe and wonder about how we find these people that are so prepared!
I am so pumped for this week! And the other souls we will also find and teach!!!! I just know this is the only true and living church upon the face of the earth!!!! I know Christ lives and directs this great work! I know we are all Gods children and he loves us all so much and is there for us if we just but reach out to him! I really really really love the book of mormon. Right now, i think i told you this already, but anyway, right now as a mission we are reading the book of mormon in 90 days! I am just falling in love with the book as i have read it! I am just really starting to see how it really is all about coming unto Christ and living his gospel!!! I just really am coming to understand how it is the keystone of our religion, the only evidence we have of the restoration. Without it, Joseph smith would have been nothing and could have been thrown out and rejected as a fraud. But because of the book we know that the restoration did happen. That the heavens are still open and god has revealed, will reveal, and continue to reveal great and marvelous things pertaining to the kingdom of god!!!
Well all of you just keep being awesome examples to others, and love one another. I really feel like that was a big message of the conference, and that is to just simply love one another. Be a true disciple of Christ, not to just be active in the church, but active in the gospel. Well i'll wrap this up! love you all so much! Talk to you next week!!!!
LOVE,
Elder Rawlinson
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Lovely emails from all of you
Kia Ora Family!!!
Well thank you all so much for all the wonderful emails!!! Glad to hear you all had a relaxing weekend watching conference and hanging out with each other!!! The story about the babies and Kathleen was pretty wild!! There are just some crazy people out there in the world! Believe me, i meet them everynow and then here in NZ haha!
Well we actually didnt have conference over the weekend here in NZ. We actually have everything this upcoming weekend. I really am so excited to hear from latter-day prophets and apostles!! I've decided that i'm going to invite everyone i meet to the conference this weekend to hear from a prophet and apostles!! It will be fun to see how some people react!
This past week was pretty good in itself!!! As a mission, we had a temple trip this past wednesday! What a great trip it was! We all met up at one of the nearby chapels and bused down there. The drive down to the temple is so beautiful!!! The country here in NZ is just absolutely beautiful. It is so green here in NZ. There are so many hills and pretty trees. If you watch Lord of the Rings, the of the movie where its in the hobbit town, with the rolling hills and green grass, thats much of what the country looks like, in fact those scenes weren't filmed to far outside Hamilton, where the temple is. It truly is a beautiful country.
Anyways, the session was so great!!! I went with a lot of questions for the Lord, and all of them were answered!!! I just love the spirit I felt! The temple is so peaceful and free of stress!! It was really cool to just be in the temple with all of us missionaries. It was pretty cool to be in the celestial room altogether, it just gave me a glimpse of what the celestial kingdom will be like. To be there with our families and everyone else who lived righteous lives.
After the trip, on the way back we stopped at this ice cream place. Oh and by the way the ice cream here in NZ is just incredible. I'm not sure what it is, but the ice cream is truly the best i've ever had. Its just really creamy and rich with flavor, i love it!!! Anyway, the ice cream place we went to was really really good!!!!! I got with five scoops!!! They actually sell a cone you can get with 13 scoops!!!! I think i would have go it but i didn't have enough money! Maybe next time!!
We had a great fast and testimony meeting yesterday! The boy we baptized, Alex, his whole family came. The dad (Paul), who is a nonmember, has actually come to church 3 times now and was being taught by us in the past, but is just really going through some financial difficulties so he works a lot, so we havent been able to meet with him, but anyway he came! Afterwards, he told us that he really really loved it and really felt something from one of the members testimonies. He just said to us "well i really need to read the book of mormon dont I?" I could tell he really felt something. We are going to try and find a time that we can meet with him, i think that it is finally his time.
We've also been working hard with this girl named jackie. She has come a long way now and is doing great! Currently the situation with her is just really really crazy! She lives with her boyfriend, who is a member. Afa, her boyfriend, is a really funny guy. He's gotten in a lot of trouble though and is on 24 hour curfew meaning he has to stay home all the time. He's also on trial right now and could go to prison. He's done a lot of dumb things in the past but me and elder dorosan have really helped him to repent, and he has changed a lot. He really wants to start coming back to church but can't because of his situation. His gf jackie is doing really great though. We've been teaching her for awhile now. They both read the book of mormon and pray together almost everyday. At first she just wasn't sure about the whole thing, but the other day we asked her if she'd received that witness of truth yet and she told us yes, that she has and believes the bofm to be true and everything. I just love the gospel!!! Its so great to hear people say those things after they've done there part to read, pray, and come to church!! The biggest thing thats holding her back from baptism right now is that they need to be married or seperated, and some opposition from her family. I know everything is going to work out though and that she will be baptized! Some of our members have been really great in fellowshipping her and she now feels comfortable with coming to church.
I just love this work, and know its true. Its really pretty simple, all we do as missionaries is share the message, and help people find out for themselves. If they would simply do those things of praying, reading the scriptures and coming to church, they would know its true!
Well i guess i'll wrap this up! Love you all so much! And i will talk to you in a weeks time!!!
Love,
Elder Rawlinson
Well we actually didnt have conference over the weekend here in NZ. We actually have everything this upcoming weekend. I really am so excited to hear from latter-day prophets and apostles!! I've decided that i'm going to invite everyone i meet to the conference this weekend to hear from a prophet and apostles!! It will be fun to see how some people react!
This past week was pretty good in itself!!! As a mission, we had a temple trip this past wednesday! What a great trip it was! We all met up at one of the nearby chapels and bused down there. The drive down to the temple is so beautiful!!! The country here in NZ is just absolutely beautiful. It is so green here in NZ. There are so many hills and pretty trees. If you watch Lord of the Rings, the of the movie where its in the hobbit town, with the rolling hills and green grass, thats much of what the country looks like, in fact those scenes weren't filmed to far outside Hamilton, where the temple is. It truly is a beautiful country.
Anyways, the session was so great!!! I went with a lot of questions for the Lord, and all of them were answered!!! I just love the spirit I felt! The temple is so peaceful and free of stress!! It was really cool to just be in the temple with all of us missionaries. It was pretty cool to be in the celestial room altogether, it just gave me a glimpse of what the celestial kingdom will be like. To be there with our families and everyone else who lived righteous lives.
After the trip, on the way back we stopped at this ice cream place. Oh and by the way the ice cream here in NZ is just incredible. I'm not sure what it is, but the ice cream is truly the best i've ever had. Its just really creamy and rich with flavor, i love it!!! Anyway, the ice cream place we went to was really really good!!!!! I got with five scoops!!! They actually sell a cone you can get with 13 scoops!!!! I think i would have go it but i didn't have enough money! Maybe next time!!
We had a great fast and testimony meeting yesterday! The boy we baptized, Alex, his whole family came. The dad (Paul), who is a nonmember, has actually come to church 3 times now and was being taught by us in the past, but is just really going through some financial difficulties so he works a lot, so we havent been able to meet with him, but anyway he came! Afterwards, he told us that he really really loved it and really felt something from one of the members testimonies. He just said to us "well i really need to read the book of mormon dont I?" I could tell he really felt something. We are going to try and find a time that we can meet with him, i think that it is finally his time.
We've also been working hard with this girl named jackie. She has come a long way now and is doing great! Currently the situation with her is just really really crazy! She lives with her boyfriend, who is a member. Afa, her boyfriend, is a really funny guy. He's gotten in a lot of trouble though and is on 24 hour curfew meaning he has to stay home all the time. He's also on trial right now and could go to prison. He's done a lot of dumb things in the past but me and elder dorosan have really helped him to repent, and he has changed a lot. He really wants to start coming back to church but can't because of his situation. His gf jackie is doing really great though. We've been teaching her for awhile now. They both read the book of mormon and pray together almost everyday. At first she just wasn't sure about the whole thing, but the other day we asked her if she'd received that witness of truth yet and she told us yes, that she has and believes the bofm to be true and everything. I just love the gospel!!! Its so great to hear people say those things after they've done there part to read, pray, and come to church!! The biggest thing thats holding her back from baptism right now is that they need to be married or seperated, and some opposition from her family. I know everything is going to work out though and that she will be baptized! Some of our members have been really great in fellowshipping her and she now feels comfortable with coming to church.
I just love this work, and know its true. Its really pretty simple, all we do as missionaries is share the message, and help people find out for themselves. If they would simply do those things of praying, reading the scriptures and coming to church, they would know its true!
Well i guess i'll wrap this up! Love you all so much! And i will talk to you in a weeks time!!!
Love,
Elder Rawlinson
Well thank you all so much for all the wonderful emails!!! Glad to hear you all had a relaxing weekend watching conference and hanging out with each other!!! The story about the babies and Kathleen was pretty wild!! There are just some crazy people out there in the world! Believe me, i meet them everynow and then here in NZ haha!
Well we actually didnt have conference over the weekend here in NZ. We actually have everything this upcoming weekend. I really am so excited to hear from latter-day prophets and apostles!! I've decided that i'm going to invite everyone i meet to the conference this weekend to hear from a prophet and apostles!! It will be fun to see how some people react!
This past week was pretty good in itself!!! As a mission, we had a temple trip this past wednesday! What a great trip it was! We all met up at one of the nearby chapels and bused down there. The drive down to the temple is so beautiful!!! The country here in NZ is just absolutely beautiful. It is so green here in NZ. There are so many hills and pretty trees. If you watch Lord of the Rings, the of the movie where its in the hobbit town, with the rolling hills and green grass, thats much of what the country looks like, in fact those scenes weren't filmed to far outside Hamilton, where the temple is. It truly is a beautiful country.
Anyways, the session was so great!!! I went with a lot of questions for the Lord, and all of them were answered!!! I just love the spirit I felt! The temple is so peaceful and free of stress!! It was really cool to just be in the temple with all of us missionaries. It was pretty cool to be in the celestial room altogether, it just gave me a glimpse of what the celestial kingdom will be like. To be there with our families and everyone else who lived righteous lives.
After the trip, on the way back we stopped at this ice cream place. Oh and by the way the ice cream here in NZ is just incredible. I'm not sure what it is, but the ice cream is truly the best i've ever had. Its just really creamy and rich with flavor, i love it!!! Anyway, the ice cream place we went to was really really good!!!!! I got with five scoops!!! They actually sell a cone you can get with 13 scoops!!!! I think i would have go it but i didn't have enough money! Maybe next time!!
We had a great fast and testimony meeting yesterday! The boy we baptized, Alex, his whole family came. The dad (Paul), who is a nonmember, has actually come to church 3 times now and was being taught by us in the past, but is just really going through some financial difficulties so he works a lot, so we havent been able to meet with him, but anyway he came! Afterwards, he told us that he really really loved it and really felt something from one of the members testimonies. He just said to us "well i really need to read the book of mormon dont I?" I could tell he really felt something. We are going to try and find a time that we can meet with him, i think that it is finally his time.
We've also been working hard with this girl named jackie. She has come a long way now and is doing great! Currently the situation with her is just really really crazy! She lives with her boyfriend, who is a member. Afa, her boyfriend, is a really funny guy. He's gotten in a lot of trouble though and is on 24 hour curfew meaning he has to stay home all the time. He's also on trial right now and could go to prison. He's done a lot of dumb things in the past but me and elder dorosan have really helped him to repent, and he has changed a lot. He really wants to start coming back to church but can't because of his situation. His gf jackie is doing really great though. We've been teaching her for awhile now. They both read the book of mormon and pray together almost everyday. At first she just wasn't sure about the whole thing, but the other day we asked her if she'd received that witness of truth yet and she told us yes, that she has and believes the bofm to be true and everything. I just love the gospel!!! Its so great to hear people say those things after they've done there part to read, pray, and come to church!! The biggest thing thats holding her back from baptism right now is that they need to be married or seperated, and some opposition from her family. I know everything is going to work out though and that she will be baptized! Some of our members have been really great in fellowshipping her and she now feels comfortable with coming to church.
I just love this work, and know its true. Its really pretty simple, all we do as missionaries is share the message, and help people find out for themselves. If they would simply do those things of praying, reading the scriptures and coming to church, they would know its true!
Well i guess i'll wrap this up! Love you all so much! And i will talk to you in a weeks time!!!
Love,
Elder Rawlinson
Well we actually didnt have conference over the weekend here in NZ. We actually have everything this upcoming weekend. I really am so excited to hear from latter-day prophets and apostles!! I've decided that i'm going to invite everyone i meet to the conference this weekend to hear from a prophet and apostles!! It will be fun to see how some people react!
This past week was pretty good in itself!!! As a mission, we had a temple trip this past wednesday! What a great trip it was! We all met up at one of the nearby chapels and bused down there. The drive down to the temple is so beautiful!!! The country here in NZ is just absolutely beautiful. It is so green here in NZ. There are so many hills and pretty trees. If you watch Lord of the Rings, the of the movie where its in the hobbit town, with the rolling hills and green grass, thats much of what the country looks like, in fact those scenes weren't filmed to far outside Hamilton, where the temple is. It truly is a beautiful country.
Anyways, the session was so great!!! I went with a lot of questions for the Lord, and all of them were answered!!! I just love the spirit I felt! The temple is so peaceful and free of stress!! It was really cool to just be in the temple with all of us missionaries. It was pretty cool to be in the celestial room altogether, it just gave me a glimpse of what the celestial kingdom will be like. To be there with our families and everyone else who lived righteous lives.
After the trip, on the way back we stopped at this ice cream place. Oh and by the way the ice cream here in NZ is just incredible. I'm not sure what it is, but the ice cream is truly the best i've ever had. Its just really creamy and rich with flavor, i love it!!! Anyway, the ice cream place we went to was really really good!!!!! I got with five scoops!!! They actually sell a cone you can get with 13 scoops!!!! I think i would have go it but i didn't have enough money! Maybe next time!!
We had a great fast and testimony meeting yesterday! The boy we baptized, Alex, his whole family came. The dad (Paul), who is a nonmember, has actually come to church 3 times now and was being taught by us in the past, but is just really going through some financial difficulties so he works a lot, so we havent been able to meet with him, but anyway he came! Afterwards, he told us that he really really loved it and really felt something from one of the members testimonies. He just said to us "well i really need to read the book of mormon dont I?" I could tell he really felt something. We are going to try and find a time that we can meet with him, i think that it is finally his time.
We've also been working hard with this girl named jackie. She has come a long way now and is doing great! Currently the situation with her is just really really crazy! She lives with her boyfriend, who is a member. Afa, her boyfriend, is a really funny guy. He's gotten in a lot of trouble though and is on 24 hour curfew meaning he has to stay home all the time. He's also on trial right now and could go to prison. He's done a lot of dumb things in the past but me and elder dorosan have really helped him to repent, and he has changed a lot. He really wants to start coming back to church but can't because of his situation. His gf jackie is doing really great though. We've been teaching her for awhile now. They both read the book of mormon and pray together almost everyday. At first she just wasn't sure about the whole thing, but the other day we asked her if she'd received that witness of truth yet and she told us yes, that she has and believes the bofm to be true and everything. I just love the gospel!!! Its so great to hear people say those things after they've done there part to read, pray, and come to church!! The biggest thing thats holding her back from baptism right now is that they need to be married or seperated, and some opposition from her family. I know everything is going to work out though and that she will be baptized! Some of our members have been really great in fellowshipping her and she now feels comfortable with coming to church.
I just love this work, and know its true. Its really pretty simple, all we do as missionaries is share the message, and help people find out for themselves. If they would simply do those things of praying, reading the scriptures and coming to church, they would know its true!
Well i guess i'll wrap this up! Love you all so much! And i will talk to you in a weeks time!!!
Love,
Elder Rawlinson
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