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
Thursday, April 12, 2012
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
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Miracles!!!!!
Kia Ora Family!!!
Wonderful to hear from you all again!!! This past week was really exciting for me and my companion!!! We had a great miracle happen!!!!
I'll first begin by saying that the mission is going so great, and i am learning, maturing, and growing so much each day!!! I am really loving the people and really love teaching the restored Gospel!!!
So on Thursday I conducted a tradeoff with the Tongan missionaries in my district. I went into their area, while one of them went into my area with my companion. The tradeoff i had with Elder Pohahou was good, we had some good things happen that day, but the real miracle occurred with my companion and Elder Kilihahapi. They were on the street and decided to approach a woman on the street coming towards them. As they approached they introduced themselves and the woman was really nice. So they did the usual thing and the woman was smiling and they talked a little bit. Eventually the woman said to my companion, "you might get me baptized". When my companion was really shocked when she said this my companion was really excited and set up a return appointment with her the next day.
That night our tradeoff ended and my companion told me how their day went and how they met this keen woman. I didnt really think much of it myself, but was like ok thats cool. The next day comes and we go to see her for the appointment, and i meet her. We go in the house introduce ourselves, and talk for a little bit. Oh ya, the woman's name is Hazel, and she is a Maouri. Anyway so we are talking and talking doing what we missionaries call "how to begin teaching" which is just building a good relationship and telling her what our purpose is and all. So we then ask her what she wants to hear from us or what she expects from our visits. She then answered us by saying, "Well i'm just curious how i get baptzied, what do i need to do to do that?". My companion and i were shocked when she said this!!! We turned and looked at each other both thinking, what the heck!!!! So we happily answered her question by explaining that that is our whole purpose as missionaries and all. We then just talked and found out why she wanted to be baptized and all.
It turned out that she was actually raised with our beliefs because her father was a member but not really active but did take them to church now and then. She also said how she was never actually baptized into our church but was raised in it until about 8 years old, but was never baptized. Later on she actually married a man who is a member but LA well pretty much inactive. The missionaries started to teach her and her husband back in 2005. She really loved the church and wanted to be baptzied, but certain things would always get in the way and it was never able to happen. This happened off and on up until we met her. Her husband right now is currently in prison and it sounds like he was a great hinderment to her joining the church.
So we got all these details, and even more details just to see where she was coming from. We asked her what would hold her back from baptism and she said nothing!!! So we got more details and found out that she actually qualified for this weekend!!! She met all the qualificatons for baptism this weekend!!! So we set her for Saturday and she said yes!!!!! it was a miracle and me and elder dorosan were just in shock the whole rest of the day about what happened. That night we were just really unsure about the whole thing still and if she was truly honest and ready. So we prayed about it that night, and both received an answer that she was being honest and is ready!!! So we proceded forth and she was interviewed the next day(friday) and passed!!!
Thats not only the other miracle we had this week either!!! We were also able to have a little boy named Alex get baptized!!! His mother is a member, but stepfather is not. We have been working with them a really long time, and recently the mother and boys have been coming to church. Alex is so so smart!!! He picks up everything we teach him so fast, he's only 10 years old!!! Anyways, we set him for baptism last saturday and worked with him the whole week to prepare. He was a little nervous about being baptized that week, but we invited him to pray about it. Guess what, he got answer!!! He said he felt that he was ready for this weekend!!!
So the plan for the weekend was to have both alex and Hazel be baptized saturday night at 7:00.
Saturday night comes and its time for the baptism. Alex and the family show up right at 7:00 but Hazel hasn't showed up yet. We remember Hazel telling us how she had to attend an 80 birthday that evening but would be able to make it at 7:00 to the baptism, but she still wasnt there!!!! We tried callling her and everything but her phone would go straight to voicemail!! So our Zone leader went out to try and find her while we proceded forth with the baptism. The baptism went great and Alex was baptized but unfortuantely Hazel never showed up and the zone leaders never could find her!!! Me and Elder dorosan were so sad, and i was really upset also. but we were also so happy for alex because it really was a great service for him. Both his parents really loved it and even cried after he was baptized. It was just such a mix of emotions, i thought i was going to explode!!!!!!!!!!
After the baptism, we decided to drop by her place to see if she was home, but no one was there. We just left a little note on the door and went back to our flat. We decided that we would wake up Sunday morning and go back to see if she was home before we went to church that morning at nine.
We went over to her home and she was there!!!! We talked and found out that she couldnt get anyone to drop her off at the chapel and she couldnt walk there becuase the weather was bad that night, and her phone wasnt working either. She then asked us if she could still be baptized that day and we said yes you can!!!! So we got everything organzed for the baptism, and we had a little service at 8:30 that morning before church, and she was baptized!!!! It was such a miracle! The little service we had in the bishops office was really great. The Bishop said some really great things to her and when we had the baptism i could just feel the spirit.
Sunday was one of the happiest days of my life. Seeing them both recieve the Holy Ghost, and to just experience such wonderful miracles!!!!
That was a really long story but it was just so amazing the whole thing!!! It really really built my faith and i am a stronger person now.
I just want to tell you even more that has happened!!! I feel now know what the prophets mean when they say in the BofM how not even a hundreth part can be written on the many things they went through. Its very similar now as i type you my experiences.
Well I love you all so much!! I hope you love the pic i sent of Alex's baptism!! What do you think of my outfit??? Hahaha, what i'm wearing is called an Ie fai Taga. Its what samonas wear. Well all polynesians usually wear them a lot haha. One of the members in our ward gave it to me!!!
Oh tell blake thank you for the package he sent me and the letters from him and Kevin!!!!! Tell them i will write them back as soon as i can!!!! Oh and i also got my garments!!!! We are actually going to the temple this wednesday!!!! I'm pretty excited to go to the NZ temple and to just go to the temple haha!!!!
Well love you all so much!!!!! Keep livin the Gospel!!!!! Talk to you all next week!!!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Rawlinson
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wonderful to hear from you all again!!! This past week was really exciting for me and my companion!!! We had a great miracle happen!!!!
I'll first begin by saying that the mission is going so great, and i am learning, maturing, and growing so much each day!!! I am really loving the people and really love teaching the restored Gospel!!!
So on Thursday I conducted a tradeoff with the Tongan missionaries in my district. I went into their area, while one of them went into my area with my companion. The tradeoff i had with Elder Pohahou was good, we had some good things happen that day, but the real miracle occurred with my companion and Elder Kilihahapi. They were on the street and decided to approach a woman on the street coming towards them. As they approached they introduced themselves and the woman was really nice. So they did the usual thing and the woman was smiling and they talked a little bit. Eventually the woman said to my companion, "you might get me baptized". When my companion was really shocked when she said this my companion was really excited and set up a return appointment with her the next day.
That night our tradeoff ended and my companion told me how their day went and how they met this keen woman. I didnt really think much of it myself, but was like ok thats cool. The next day comes and we go to see her for the appointment, and i meet her. We go in the house introduce ourselves, and talk for a little bit. Oh ya, the woman's name is Hazel, and she is a Maouri. Anyway so we are talking and talking doing what we missionaries call "how to begin teaching" which is just building a good relationship and telling her what our purpose is and all. So we then ask her what she wants to hear from us or what she expects from our visits. She then answered us by saying, "Well i'm just curious how i get baptzied, what do i need to do to do that?". My companion and i were shocked when she said this!!! We turned and looked at each other both thinking, what the heck!!!! So we happily answered her question by explaining that that is our whole purpose as missionaries and all. We then just talked and found out why she wanted to be baptized and all.
It turned out that she was actually raised with our beliefs because her father was a member but not really active but did take them to church now and then. She also said how she was never actually baptized into our church but was raised in it until about 8 years old, but was never baptized. Later on she actually married a man who is a member but LA well pretty much inactive. The missionaries started to teach her and her husband back in 2005. She really loved the church and wanted to be baptzied, but certain things would always get in the way and it was never able to happen. This happened off and on up until we met her. Her husband right now is currently in prison and it sounds like he was a great hinderment to her joining the church.
So we got all these details, and even more details just to see where she was coming from. We asked her what would hold her back from baptism and she said nothing!!! So we got more details and found out that she actually qualified for this weekend!!! She met all the qualificatons for baptism this weekend!!! So we set her for Saturday and she said yes!!!!! it was a miracle and me and elder dorosan were just in shock the whole rest of the day about what happened. That night we were just really unsure about the whole thing still and if she was truly honest and ready. So we prayed about it that night, and both received an answer that she was being honest and is ready!!! So we proceded forth and she was interviewed the next day(friday) and passed!!!
Thats not only the other miracle we had this week either!!! We were also able to have a little boy named Alex get baptized!!! His mother is a member, but stepfather is not. We have been working with them a really long time, and recently the mother and boys have been coming to church. Alex is so so smart!!! He picks up everything we teach him so fast, he's only 10 years old!!! Anyways, we set him for baptism last saturday and worked with him the whole week to prepare. He was a little nervous about being baptized that week, but we invited him to pray about it. Guess what, he got answer!!! He said he felt that he was ready for this weekend!!!
So the plan for the weekend was to have both alex and Hazel be baptized saturday night at 7:00.
Saturday night comes and its time for the baptism. Alex and the family show up right at 7:00 but Hazel hasn't showed up yet. We remember Hazel telling us how she had to attend an 80 birthday that evening but would be able to make it at 7:00 to the baptism, but she still wasnt there!!!! We tried callling her and everything but her phone would go straight to voicemail!! So our Zone leader went out to try and find her while we proceded forth with the baptism. The baptism went great and Alex was baptized but unfortuantely Hazel never showed up and the zone leaders never could find her!!! Me and Elder dorosan were so sad, and i was really upset also. but we were also so happy for alex because it really was a great service for him. Both his parents really loved it and even cried after he was baptized. It was just such a mix of emotions, i thought i was going to explode!!!!!!!!!!
After the baptism, we decided to drop by her place to see if she was home, but no one was there. We just left a little note on the door and went back to our flat. We decided that we would wake up Sunday morning and go back to see if she was home before we went to church that morning at nine.
We went over to her home and she was there!!!! We talked and found out that she couldnt get anyone to drop her off at the chapel and she couldnt walk there becuase the weather was bad that night, and her phone wasnt working either. She then asked us if she could still be baptized that day and we said yes you can!!!! So we got everything organzed for the baptism, and we had a little service at 8:30 that morning before church, and she was baptized!!!! It was such a miracle! The little service we had in the bishops office was really great. The Bishop said some really great things to her and when we had the baptism i could just feel the spirit.
Sunday was one of the happiest days of my life. Seeing them both recieve the Holy Ghost, and to just experience such wonderful miracles!!!!
That was a really long story but it was just so amazing the whole thing!!! It really really built my faith and i am a stronger person now.
I just want to tell you even more that has happened!!! I feel now know what the prophets mean when they say in the BofM how not even a hundreth part can be written on the many things they went through. Its very similar now as i type you my experiences.
Well I love you all so much!! I hope you love the pic i sent of Alex's baptism!! What do you think of my outfit??? Hahaha, what i'm wearing is called an Ie fai Taga. Its what samonas wear. Well all polynesians usually wear them a lot haha. One of the members in our ward gave it to me!!!
Oh tell blake thank you for the package he sent me and the letters from him and Kevin!!!!! Tell them i will write them back as soon as i can!!!! Oh and i also got my garments!!!! We are actually going to the temple this wednesday!!!! I'm pretty excited to go to the NZ temple and to just go to the temple haha!!!!
Well love you all so much!!!!! Keep livin the Gospel!!!!! Talk to you all next week!!!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Rawlinson
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Forgot about St.Paddy's Day!
Kia Ora Family!!!
Well this past week flew by just as usual!! In fact this is the last week of the transfer!!! This transfer went by so fast its scary!!! I'm 90% sure that me and my companion will remain her in Otahuhu for another transfer.
Brittany i'm so glad to hear you did so awesome on your watercolor paintings!!! Wow, amazing how you just discovered a hidden talent!!! I wonder what else you can do that you don't know about haha! I bet Heavenly Father gifts us all with such wonderful talents and we don't even realize we have them until we discover it! I hope you do well in the contest!!
Glad to hear the weather is awesome back home!! Its fall here in NZ! Winter should be right around the corner!
Thanks for sending another package mom!!! My companion is really happy you sent him something! Your the best mom!!!
As for my week, it went well. I and Elder Dorosan are working really hard and i believe thats why the time is just flying by. I've been sick for the past week. Just the season change is causing it. I've been coughing and sneezing a lot, and i can feel my ashma coming back, if it gets worse i'll probably go to the doctor, but actually yesterday and today i've been feeling a lot better, so i think i should be fine in a few days.
This past week we finally got hold of this girl that we've been trying to get hold of for awhile and she's a miracle!!! Her names Angel and she's golden lol! So friday we went over to her home knocked and she answered the door! We were astonished because no one had been answering everytime we went over there. We were going to give up on her, but my companion had a prompting to go and see her. The spirit truly is the key element in this work. Anyway we set up a lesson with her the next day. So we went and saw her and had a great lesson. She just told us that her and her partner (whose a LA member but still likes the church) have been out of town for the past few weeks. We were talking with her and were asking her some questions and stuff, and i can't really remember what we asked but i just remember that out of nowhere she just told us that she wants to be baptized really really bad and join the church and to be married. When me and my companion heard this we were so excited and wanted to jump out of our chairs!!! So we told her that thats what we are here for lol!! We talked and set up a date for her to be married and baptized in April!!! It was such a miracle, the whole thing!!! She just really loves her partners family. She see's how they are just happy all the time, and never fight. She told us that she wants a family like that, a family that is just happy and peaceful and she knows its that way because of the Gospel. We are just so excited for her! Heavenly Father is so mindful of all his children and just leads us to those who are ready to follow Him and His Son. I just love it!!!
That was the awesome experience we had this past week. Oh and our ward also had Ward Conference this past week! Thats cool we had it at the same time! It was a pretty good ward conference. All the Primary Children were dressed up in these funny little outfits and they sang really well haha! The Bishop and counselor in the Stake Presidency both gave really great talks. The counselor had a great talk about prayer and told a really great story about how he was able to get his visa from tonga to come into NZ. That talk and in my scripture study this week, I really find that the lord wants pretty much everything from us. He wants us to give our lives to serving Him. Though we may be hesitent about doing this and might want to hold on to our wordly things, we will find that when we give our lives to the Savior we will find ourselves and be much happier.
Well thats pretty much it! Hope you enjoyed the email!! Sorry if its not that great! Just know that i do love being on a mission. I am growing so so much as a person. I am learning so many things that could have taken me a long time to learn if i hadnt come on a mission. I find that that i'm out here not only converting others but also myself! Love you all so much! And have a great week!!!!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Rawlinson
Well this past week flew by just as usual!! In fact this is the last week of the transfer!!! This transfer went by so fast its scary!!! I'm 90% sure that me and my companion will remain her in Otahuhu for another transfer.
Brittany i'm so glad to hear you did so awesome on your watercolor paintings!!! Wow, amazing how you just discovered a hidden talent!!! I wonder what else you can do that you don't know about haha! I bet Heavenly Father gifts us all with such wonderful talents and we don't even realize we have them until we discover it! I hope you do well in the contest!!
Glad to hear the weather is awesome back home!! Its fall here in NZ! Winter should be right around the corner!
Thanks for sending another package mom!!! My companion is really happy you sent him something! Your the best mom!!!
As for my week, it went well. I and Elder Dorosan are working really hard and i believe thats why the time is just flying by. I've been sick for the past week. Just the season change is causing it. I've been coughing and sneezing a lot, and i can feel my ashma coming back, if it gets worse i'll probably go to the doctor, but actually yesterday and today i've been feeling a lot better, so i think i should be fine in a few days.
This past week we finally got hold of this girl that we've been trying to get hold of for awhile and she's a miracle!!! Her names Angel and she's golden lol! So friday we went over to her home knocked and she answered the door! We were astonished because no one had been answering everytime we went over there. We were going to give up on her, but my companion had a prompting to go and see her. The spirit truly is the key element in this work. Anyway we set up a lesson with her the next day. So we went and saw her and had a great lesson. She just told us that her and her partner (whose a LA member but still likes the church) have been out of town for the past few weeks. We were talking with her and were asking her some questions and stuff, and i can't really remember what we asked but i just remember that out of nowhere she just told us that she wants to be baptized really really bad and join the church and to be married. When me and my companion heard this we were so excited and wanted to jump out of our chairs!!! So we told her that thats what we are here for lol!! We talked and set up a date for her to be married and baptized in April!!! It was such a miracle, the whole thing!!! She just really loves her partners family. She see's how they are just happy all the time, and never fight. She told us that she wants a family like that, a family that is just happy and peaceful and she knows its that way because of the Gospel. We are just so excited for her! Heavenly Father is so mindful of all his children and just leads us to those who are ready to follow Him and His Son. I just love it!!!
That was the awesome experience we had this past week. Oh and our ward also had Ward Conference this past week! Thats cool we had it at the same time! It was a pretty good ward conference. All the Primary Children were dressed up in these funny little outfits and they sang really well haha! The Bishop and counselor in the Stake Presidency both gave really great talks. The counselor had a great talk about prayer and told a really great story about how he was able to get his visa from tonga to come into NZ. That talk and in my scripture study this week, I really find that the lord wants pretty much everything from us. He wants us to give our lives to serving Him. Though we may be hesitent about doing this and might want to hold on to our wordly things, we will find that when we give our lives to the Savior we will find ourselves and be much happier.
Well thats pretty much it! Hope you enjoyed the email!! Sorry if its not that great! Just know that i do love being on a mission. I am growing so so much as a person. I am learning so many things that could have taken me a long time to learn if i hadnt come on a mission. I find that that i'm out here not only converting others but also myself! Love you all so much! And have a great week!!!!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Rawlinson
Monday, March 19, 2012
Hello Again
Kia Ora Family!!
Wonderful to hear from you all once again. All your emails were great! Sounds like life busy busy busy for you all lol!! Glad to hear you are all feasting upon the words of Christ by reading the book of mormon! What a wonderful book, it truly is the keystone to our religion. Right now as a mission we are actually having a 90 day feast on the book of mormon. Its been great so far to start reading it. I learn something new everytime i read from it.
I was able to get my packages from all of you this past week. I got one from both you mom and dad and also you brandon!!!! Thank you so much!! All the little stuff in them are awesome haha. I really loved the pic you sent brandon and kathleen of portia and morgot! Man they are so cute! What an awesome picture of them both, I have it by my desk and look at it everyday and it always makes me smile haha! Haven't gotten my garments yet, but i'm sure they will come soon.
This past week was pretty good like always haha. Of course every week has its ups and downs but life as a missionary thus far is going well! We had a baptism this weekend! Teighman, the son of the eve, was baptized!!! It was a really great service! One of our members bore a powerful testimony at the end, it was really awesome. Sadly, eve wasnt able to be baptized because of an ear problem that arose up on thursday. She isnt allowed to get her ears wet at all. Hopefully though she will be ready and able to be baptized this weekend. It was upsetting that she couldnt join her son, but it was ok, and the service was great! Teighman is an awesome kid, really sharp. He'll be a great missionary someday haha!
Besides that miracle, we had a city-wide conference on thrusday morning. The General Young Men's president and General Sunday School president came and spoke to us. Their talks were awesome as usual haha. It was really great though. I'm glad that we are able to hear from such great speakers so often. It always is so inspiring and uplifting and always gives motivation. One of the powerful things the ym's president talked about was making our mission precious. Precious so that 40 years from now, we can look back and hold it very dear to us and see how much of an effect it had on all of our lives.
We've been meeting with one of the most interesting people i've ever met this past week haha. His name is Troy and he is a maouri. He is an interesting fella haha. He's a nice man but is really bold and asks heaps of questions haha. He really gets into us and tires to see if we are really sincere about what we are doing. Its actually been really great meeting with him. He really loves the bible and likes to see what our beliefs are and stuff. The maouri people are really proud people, meaning they are proud of their heritage and so far, it will be fun to be put in an area someday where there are heaps of maouri people, around where i am now there are not so many.
District leader wise, i'm just busy busy busy as usual haha. There is a lot of pressure, but its ok, its been a really good growing experience. A chance for me to learn to be bold and direct with others.
The members in our ward are awesome!! They are really starting to help us in the missionary work. I'm glad to hear the missionaries where you are are doing great and that the ward is an active part in the missionary work.
Right now, are teaching pool is running low, and we dont have anyone set for baptism, besides eve. So its going to be a busy week in finding and helping the people we do have to progress now towards baptism and hopefully set them for a date. All we can do is work work work, and see what happens from there haha.
I am grateful to be on a mission though. Its been such growing experience. I've really been able to come to know the gospel, and so much more than i ever have known. My relationship with Heavenly Father has grown so much, and I really understand so much more the role of Jesus Christ and his Atonement.
Well i love you all so much!! Thank you for the wonderful emails you send each week! And since your sending another package something i could use would be a new watch and a scripture case(black color) with a zipper. The one i have is a clip kinda thing and i would rather have one that just zips up, and some black church socks. Anyway i think thats all i need, i guess anything you want to throw in that you think i need.
Have a great week! And i'll talk to you all soon!!
Aroha,
Elder Rawlinson
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
March already, Fall is here! Winter is coming to NZ
Portia and Margot sound so dang cute! I look forward to seeing them when I come back, but love hearing all the little stories about them every week!
Brittany its great to hear that you are coming closer and closer to getting your papers in! Sounds like life is really hecktic, but if you can find the time, make sure you study preach my gospel lol!
So winter is over eh? Sounds like it was actually a nice winter, and not brutal lol! Its really weird to hear winter is ending for you because here its really strarting to cool down and winter is on the way. Everyday now its about 60 degrees i would say, and gets pretty cool at nights. I imagine the winters here will actually be cold, I better start preping for it haha because i dont have a coat or anything lol.
It was great to hear that Blake got his mission call to Taiwan!!!!! How exciting is that! I'm so glad he got called to a chinese speaking mission, I remember he really wanted that bad. He will love it i'm sure! Give me his address, i would love to write him a letter sometime.
Dad I can't believe you got an ipad 2 lol! Thats really awesome! Haha, those things are amazing i'm sure, our mission preisdent has one and always uses it at conferences and stuff to show us little video clips. I bet it will be really useful for your job.
Mom i loved the quotes! They are awesome, i'm going to print them off and take them to our flat! Keep em coming lol!
As for my side of the world, this past week was awesome! We had a miracle happen yet again!!!!! Our members are really starting to be awesome now and help us out! I say that because we've been teaching this lady, and she has come to church, and she was given to us by a member, and the member is always there at the lessons and there to support her. Anyway, we were able to set this woman and her son for baprtism this weekend!!!! How awesome is that! She was truly a miracle, so prepared by the lord! She says she really loves coming to church and really loves releif society. She is a really great lady. So nice, and kind. Her son also really loves young mens and wants to be baptized. We taught her last wednesday, had an amazing lesson with her on the Restoration, and set her for baptism at the end! Everytime we meet her, she is just so excited about being baptized.
It was really cool during one of the lessons we had with her. She asked me and my companion how we came to know this chruch was true. When she asked this, i realized that i'd never really thought of this before. I had never truly thought about how i came to know this was all true. And so my companion answered her question with a little story of his own while i sat there and really pondered about my own conversion. While i was pondering, a little scripture came to my head, and that scripture was the very first verse of the book of mormon where Nephi says "I nephi having been born of goodly parents". It was then i knew how i was converted. It was because i, like Nephi, was raised by goodly parents. I then told her how i was raised in the gospel, shared that scripture and said that i was fortunate enough to have parents teach me since i can remember to go to chruch, pray and read the scriptures. I realize that i've always known these things are true because i've been taught it since birth and i've always just had the holy ghost, since i was eight, to let me know its true and i've never questioned it. I've just always known this is true. I am just so thankful for you mom and dad to have raised me in righteousness since i was born, like nephi was. I really love nephi. I have started to read the book of mormon from the begining and have never really realized what an amazing man he was. So humble and willing to submit to the lord, all because Lehi and Sariah raised him well. Dont cry to much from reading this lol, but a big part of who i am today is because of you mom and dad! Thanks for being awesome parents!
Well i'm really excited for this week because we have some great things coming up. I am really excited because now that we got that little boy Denzel baptized, we are going to focus on his parents. We went over and met them last thursday and showed love for them and apprecition for them letting us meet Denzel and teach him, then we let them know we wanted to start focusing on them and teaching them. Whenver we said this, the mother, Sia, had a huge smile come across her face! It showed us that she is ready now! I and my companion are really looking foward to teaching them this week! I believe they could be bapzited by the end of this month!!! I really can just see that family in the temple someday being sealed. I can just really see it in my mind, and now i realize that the lord is trusting me and elder dorosan to teach them the gospel and help make that happen.
Oh something pretty funny happened this past week you won't believe. So since becoming a trainer and distict leader i am more busy than ever before, and i am constantly thinking about what needs to happen next. It came to where friday night we were so busy with appointments and running around seeing people, that i forgot to eat dinner!!!! Can you believe i actually forgot food! Thats how busy i was! So busy, i forgot i was hungry and we didnt even eat dinner until we got home that night! Hahaha, i looked back on this experiance and thought it was funny and thought i would share it with you Oh and dont think the members dont feed us, we are only allowed to eat 4 times a week with members, so friday night was one of those nights we were on our own. But we were so busy, we forgot to eat lol!!!!
Well i love you all so much!!!! I am excited to hear where you end up going brittany!!!! It could be anywhere!!! Just realize that wherever you go, is where you are meant to go because of the people. Its all about Gods children, and nothing about location. The lord sends you to that mission because there are certain people there you need to touch and help recieve the gospel!!! So just remember that!
Once again, love you all! Have a great week!!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Rawlinson
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Brittany its great to hear that you are coming closer and closer to getting your papers in! Sounds like life is really hecktic, but if you can find the time, make sure you study preach my gospel lol!
So winter is over eh? Sounds like it was actually a nice winter, and not brutal lol! Its really weird to hear winter is ending for you because here its really strarting to cool down and winter is on the way. Everyday now its about 60 degrees i would say, and gets pretty cool at nights. I imagine the winters here will actually be cold, I better start preping for it haha because i dont have a coat or anything lol.
It was great to hear that Blake got his mission call to Taiwan!!!!! How exciting is that! I'm so glad he got called to a chinese speaking mission, I remember he really wanted that bad. He will love it i'm sure! Give me his address, i would love to write him a letter sometime.
Dad I can't believe you got an ipad 2 lol! Thats really awesome! Haha, those things are amazing i'm sure, our mission preisdent has one and always uses it at conferences and stuff to show us little video clips. I bet it will be really useful for your job.
Mom i loved the quotes! They are awesome, i'm going to print them off and take them to our flat! Keep em coming lol!
As for my side of the world, this past week was awesome! We had a miracle happen yet again!!!!! Our members are really starting to be awesome now and help us out! I say that because we've been teaching this lady, and she has come to church, and she was given to us by a member, and the member is always there at the lessons and there to support her. Anyway, we were able to set this woman and her son for baprtism this weekend!!!! How awesome is that! She was truly a miracle, so prepared by the lord! She says she really loves coming to church and really loves releif society. She is a really great lady. So nice, and kind. Her son also really loves young mens and wants to be baptized. We taught her last wednesday, had an amazing lesson with her on the Restoration, and set her for baptism at the end! Everytime we meet her, she is just so excited about being baptized.
It was really cool during one of the lessons we had with her. She asked me and my companion how we came to know this chruch was true. When she asked this, i realized that i'd never really thought of this before. I had never truly thought about how i came to know this was all true. And so my companion answered her question with a little story of his own while i sat there and really pondered about my own conversion. While i was pondering, a little scripture came to my head, and that scripture was the very first verse of the book of mormon where Nephi says "I nephi having been born of goodly parents". It was then i knew how i was converted. It was because i, like Nephi, was raised by goodly parents. I then told her how i was raised in the gospel, shared that scripture and said that i was fortunate enough to have parents teach me since i can remember to go to chruch, pray and read the scriptures. I realize that i've always known these things are true because i've been taught it since birth and i've always just had the holy ghost, since i was eight, to let me know its true and i've never questioned it. I've just always known this is true. I am just so thankful for you mom and dad to have raised me in righteousness since i was born, like nephi was. I really love nephi. I have started to read the book of mormon from the begining and have never really realized what an amazing man he was. So humble and willing to submit to the lord, all because Lehi and Sariah raised him well. Dont cry to much from reading this lol, but a big part of who i am today is because of you mom and dad! Thanks for being awesome parents!
Well i'm really excited for this week because we have some great things coming up. I am really excited because now that we got that little boy Denzel baptized, we are going to focus on his parents. We went over and met them last thursday and showed love for them and apprecition for them letting us meet Denzel and teach him, then we let them know we wanted to start focusing on them and teaching them. Whenver we said this, the mother, Sia, had a huge smile come across her face! It showed us that she is ready now! I and my companion are really looking foward to teaching them this week! I believe they could be bapzited by the end of this month!!! I really can just see that family in the temple someday being sealed. I can just really see it in my mind, and now i realize that the lord is trusting me and elder dorosan to teach them the gospel and help make that happen.
Oh something pretty funny happened this past week you won't believe. So since becoming a trainer and distict leader i am more busy than ever before, and i am constantly thinking about what needs to happen next. It came to where friday night we were so busy with appointments and running around seeing people, that i forgot to eat dinner!!!! Can you believe i actually forgot food! Thats how busy i was! So busy, i forgot i was hungry and we didnt even eat dinner until we got home that night! Hahaha, i looked back on this experiance and thought it was funny and thought i would share it with you Oh and dont think the members dont feed us, we are only allowed to eat 4 times a week with members, so friday night was one of those nights we were on our own. But we were so busy, we forgot to eat lol!!!!
Well i love you all so much!!!! I am excited to hear where you end up going brittany!!!! It could be anywhere!!! Just realize that wherever you go, is where you are meant to go because of the people. Its all about Gods children, and nothing about location. The lord sends you to that mission because there are certain people there you need to touch and help recieve the gospel!!! So just remember that!
Once again, love you all! Have a great week!!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Rawlinson
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, March 1, 2012
February Almost Over...Wow
Kia Ora Family!!!
Well this past week flew by as usual, and now i realize that the month of February is almost over! Holy Cow!!! The past week was pretty good I must say. Some really awesome things happened!
It was really great to hear from you all once again. Thank you so much for the inspiration and updates on daily life back in the States lol. Glad to hear that I will be receiving some more packages this month somtime, so thank you again!!!
This past week we had a miracle baptism!! Yes we finally saved a soul after going through some rough times! We were able to baptize a boy we have been teaching for awhile now. We've been teaching him and his family for about 2 months. The Boy and his little brother always love coming to church and going to primary. They love it to much. Their parents have also come a long way. I remember when we first started meeting with them, i could tell they didnt really like us, but they have really warmed up to us and like our company. They are a somoan family and attend the Seventh day adventist church. They like our church a lot but are still latching on to their chruch for some reason. Ever since we have been teaching them, Denzel has loved it. He even tried to bring his Book of Mormon with him to the Seventh day church one day lol. He always carries it with him, its so cool. Their neighbors are members and are an awesome family. They have been great fellowship for them. They have such strong testimonies of the gospel and have really been able to help (the parents) feel it and come closer and closer to the truth. Its just been a miracle though, because the momwas not going to allow denzel to be baptized at all when we first met her, last week we asked her again, and for some reason she said it was okay. Denzel was so excited! I dont want to give up on The parents though, they are so close also. They have been to church twice now and have had some really awesome expericances there, but are still not quite ready to change yet. This week we are going to help them read the BofM and recieve that witness of its divinity.
Besides the baptism on Saturday, we had another zone conference on friday. It was really amazing. I loved zone conference, and learned so much. Every time i come out of the conferences so spiritually uplifted. We learned a lot about helping people keep commitments and forming the lessons specifically for our investigators needs.
Me and Elder Dorosan are doing really well. I love Elder Dorosan, he's so funny, we get along really well, he is like a phillipino version of blake lol. He's the man though, i'm glad i got such a great companion. We are working hard everyday and having fun doing it.
I'm getting more and more use to being a district leader now. It was stressful at first but i'm glad for the opportunity. We have some big goals for the month and it will be exciting to see how the month goes and what we can accomplish!
The ward now has like turned it on recently! They really love me and elder dorosan, and want to help heaps now. They are giving us people to teach its really great. Before i felt like our relationship with the ward wasnt so great, but its really good now. The Bishop is awesome and loves helping us out. I love the islander people, its so fun being in this area, it will be weird when i have to leave south auckland and go somewhere where its like all white people, that will take some getting use too lol.
Oh ya, i had some more horse again yesterday! And it was really good once again. Out here, the food is like meat, meat, and then some more meat haha. We also eat this one plant called Taro which is pretty good. Its like a root of some sort and they take the leaves and make another thing called Lu out of it which is also good. Everytime we eat at people homes, Taro and lu is usually part of the meal haha.
Thanks for the jump rope dad, its really come in handy in the mornings, i use it everyday, its really great!
One thing i need is some more pants. I dont know if you can send me some more or not. But i was looking for some more the other day, but they are pretty expensive here in NZ. So maybe you could send me a pair or two. My waste size is still a 44 and 34 length i'm sure.
Well that's pretty much it for the week! Love you all so much, and look forward to hearing from you all next week!!! Keep reading the scriptures, saying your prayers, and going to church lol!!! Love you all!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Rawlinson
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Well this past week flew by as usual, and now i realize that the month of February is almost over! Holy Cow!!! The past week was pretty good I must say. Some really awesome things happened!
It was really great to hear from you all once again. Thank you so much for the inspiration and updates on daily life back in the States lol. Glad to hear that I will be receiving some more packages this month somtime, so thank you again!!!
This past week we had a miracle baptism!! Yes we finally saved a soul after going through some rough times! We were able to baptize a boy we have been teaching for awhile now. We've been teaching him and his family for about 2 months. The Boy and his little brother always love coming to church and going to primary. They love it to much. Their parents have also come a long way. I remember when we first started meeting with them, i could tell they didnt really like us, but they have really warmed up to us and like our company. They are a somoan family and attend the Seventh day adventist church. They like our church a lot but are still latching on to their chruch for some reason. Ever since we have been teaching them, Denzel has loved it. He even tried to bring his Book of Mormon with him to the Seventh day church one day lol. He always carries it with him, its so cool. Their neighbors are members and are an awesome family. They have been great fellowship for them. They have such strong testimonies of the gospel and have really been able to help (the parents) feel it and come closer and closer to the truth. Its just been a miracle though, because the momwas not going to allow denzel to be baptized at all when we first met her, last week we asked her again, and for some reason she said it was okay. Denzel was so excited! I dont want to give up on The parents though, they are so close also. They have been to church twice now and have had some really awesome expericances there, but are still not quite ready to change yet. This week we are going to help them read the BofM and recieve that witness of its divinity.
Besides the baptism on Saturday, we had another zone conference on friday. It was really amazing. I loved zone conference, and learned so much. Every time i come out of the conferences so spiritually uplifted. We learned a lot about helping people keep commitments and forming the lessons specifically for our investigators needs.
Me and Elder Dorosan are doing really well. I love Elder Dorosan, he's so funny, we get along really well, he is like a phillipino version of blake lol. He's the man though, i'm glad i got such a great companion. We are working hard everyday and having fun doing it.
I'm getting more and more use to being a district leader now. It was stressful at first but i'm glad for the opportunity. We have some big goals for the month and it will be exciting to see how the month goes and what we can accomplish!
The ward now has like turned it on recently! They really love me and elder dorosan, and want to help heaps now. They are giving us people to teach its really great. Before i felt like our relationship with the ward wasnt so great, but its really good now. The Bishop is awesome and loves helping us out. I love the islander people, its so fun being in this area, it will be weird when i have to leave south auckland and go somewhere where its like all white people, that will take some getting use too lol.
Oh ya, i had some more horse again yesterday! And it was really good once again. Out here, the food is like meat, meat, and then some more meat haha. We also eat this one plant called Taro which is pretty good. Its like a root of some sort and they take the leaves and make another thing called Lu out of it which is also good. Everytime we eat at people homes, Taro and lu is usually part of the meal haha.
Thanks for the jump rope dad, its really come in handy in the mornings, i use it everyday, its really great!
One thing i need is some more pants. I dont know if you can send me some more or not. But i was looking for some more the other day, but they are pretty expensive here in NZ. So maybe you could send me a pair or two. My waste size is still a 44 and 34 length i'm sure.
Well that's pretty much it for the week! Love you all so much, and look forward to hearing from you all next week!!! Keep reading the scriptures, saying your prayers, and going to church lol!!! Love you all!
Ofa Atu,
Elder Rawlinson
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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