The Best Of Times And The Worst Of Times

Hola amigas! The subject of this email speaks for itself... this week was rough. Let me give you the run down- it starts on a good note! Last friday we had a special devotional where we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Bowen from the quorum of the seventy (for those of you who don't know that is a general authority/leader of the church) and his wife. We were all very excited, especially because it meant we got to get out of afternoon class like an hour and a half earlier so that we could all eat dinner and get to the devotional on time, and afternoon class drags ON so we were thriving. The devotional was really good, but the best part was right after it. we had an hour of study time in the classroom, which means our district all goes to the classroom and everyone studies individually, but we are all there together, with no teacher. Anyway, instead of personal study, we decided that we would sit in a circle as a district and share the thoughts and feelings we had during the devotional. I can't explain to you how strongly the spirit was felt as we, just a small group of 18 and 19 year olds, with no teacher or leader even there to keep us on track, went around and shared the different things we each liked from the devotional. As we went around I realized how much love I have for these young men and women in my district. I am amazed at their strength and their testimonies. After we shared, we had a few minutes of silence just reflecting and writing down thoughts, then one of the elders, Elder Murdock, asked if we could all sing a hymn. So we sat there and sang "how firm a foundation" together. I have only known these kids for 2 weeks, and I am just starting to learn more about what they like to do, their talents, their families, etc. but yet, i get to know them in a different way. I already know them more than most people will get to. I know their hearts and their spirits and how much they love the lord. I love my district, it was by divine inspiration that we were put together. That night we were all brought SO much closer than we were before and it was something I will remember forever. 

The next morning was the first of many lows this week. One of the elders in our district, Elder Salisbury, who was actually our district leader, didn't show up to breakfast, and we soon found out that he had gone home, back to the United States. We were HEART BROKEN. The hermanas in my district were crying, and as we were in class, the spirit was there, but it was such a sad, quiet spirit. Elder Murdock told us that he wasn't sure what happened with him or what made him go home, and as he talked about Salisbury, he cried, and then our 2 morning maestros (teachers) cried as well. Just the night before we shared a moment that bonded us closer than ever, just to have one of us gone the next morning. He wrote us each a letter before he left that we then received, and it is something I hope I will always have. I hope Elder Salisbury can find peace in his decision and in his life as he continues on his journey back at home. We miss him and pray for him everyday. 

With our district leader gone, me and hermana oliveros (mi compañera) had to take over the position until they called a new one for our district, since we are the sister training leaders. 

We were very overwhelmed because we had no idea what to do and what all the responsibilities were of the district leader. But we figured it out for the most part. This week I've also been sick with different things. A couple days ago I was in the computer lab with my district and I just fainted randomly, like totally passed out (just for a couple seconds). My companion helped me and as we were walking back to our casa to get my water I passed out a second time! I don't know what happened, we think I was dehydrated or hadn't been getting enough iron or something, but nothing has happened since then. The elders in my district were very concerned about me though and making sure I was okay- so cute, made me feel very loved. Anyways, I woke up with a cold a few days later though so I'm dealing with that now :(

Finally, the last round of bad news came just yesterday when we found out that one of our maestros in our morning class is getting transferred to be the teacher for a new district. Hermano Aceves is one of the best people I have ever met in my whole life. The love that he has for this gospel, for the Savior and for our Heavenly Father, and for life has inspired me everyday since I have been here. He connected with us instantly on day one. He makes learning fun because he knows it's hard and he knows that we are frustrated and stressed out. He would play games with us and joke around with us, but all while always keeping the spirit present. He taught about missionary work, the gospel, and the book of mormon with such passion and love. Seriously, I can't explain how amazing of a person Hermano Aceves is. It was a hard day for everyone as he told us he was leaving. He cried and said this is the first time he didn't actually want to receive a new district, because we were like family now. I am so grateful for the time I had with him and the inspiration that he was, and will always be, to me. He showed me the kind of missionary I want to be- I only hope I can do it justice. 

Our district has slowly fallen apart this week as we lost an elder and a teacher, and we actually are in the process of losing another elder in the week to come because of his lack of trying and wanting to be here :( but we are hanging in there and we are clinging to each other. This work is HARD, but I wouldn't want to be doing anything else. I love this scripture that Elder Bowen shared in our devotional. It is Doctrine & Covenants 121:34 and it says, "many are called, but few are chosen." He then invited us to change "chosen" to "obedient." "many are caller, few are obedient." I will be obedient in my call to serve the Lord. I will be obedient in my call to serve and teach the people of idaho. I will be obedient in my call to stand as a representative and disciple of christ in these Latter-Days. 

I love you all and miss you all. Please email me, it makes my day everytime I get an email and get to hear from someone! Talk to yall again soon <3

Hermana Rawlins

Pictures: 

Mi y mi compañera

The hermanas in our dormitorio

All the hermanas in our branch, latinas y gringas
The hermanas in our district, we are all bffs

A picture of the CCM while it was raining, so pretty :) 

Elders are crazy bro... straight out of high school for sure...

First Week At The MTC, Done!!

Hola everyone!! Finally it´s my P-day which means I don´t have any classes or anything alllllll day. I can just email and do laundry and play sports and stuff. We have been waiting for this day forEVER oh my goodness it is just go go go here all day long, everyday. BUT, I am having so much fun here, I seriously love it! Mi compañera (my companion) es Hermana Oliveros and omg I love her. She is so similar to me, we have so much fun together. She is from Texas and she doesn´t know any spanish, so she is constantly having to ask me what things mean and what people are saying, even though I feel like I hardly know anything as well! It´s crazy because EVERYTHING is spanish here. There is no english, not even in class. We are learning really fast but, you know how sometimes people will say their brain hurts after trying to understand or learn something complicated? I can truly say that my brain HURTS at the end of the day after trying my hardest to understand spanish all. day. long. But, like I said, we are learning really fast and have seen so much improvement in only a week. 

I love my district. We are finally starting to get comfortable together and talking and hanging out more and they are all so fun. In my district there are 6 élderes (elders or boys) y 4 hermanas (sisters or girls), so we are lucky because normally there are only 2 girls.I love meal times because then we really get to just all talk together and get to know each other more. We are in class all day together as well, but there isn´t much time to talk then. A typical day at the MTC is like this: wake up at 6:30, get ready, and study. Breakfast at 8. Then in class from 8:30-12:15. Then we have lunch. After lunch we have gym time from 1-2, and for that we can basically do whatever (play sports, run, walk, work out in the gym, play like ping pong or whatever) and it´s nice because we are in just comfy clothes instead of church clothes. After gym time we get ready again in our church clothes and are back in class from 2:30-7:15. Let me tell you that is a long, painful stretch. We all really struggle in our afternoon class. 7:15 is dinner, then from 7:45-8:30 we have personal study, 8:30-9 companionship study, then at 9 we return back to our casas and get ready for bed. 9:45 we have house devotional, then 10-10:30 we have personal study and journal time. FINALLY, 10:30 is time for bed. Bed time is the best because we are literally exhausted, except I don´t know what the people down in Mexico are doing but they are blasting music and gunshots alllllllll through the night. It´s crazy. 

I had a little rough start first getting to the CCM (MTC). One girl that was supposed to go with us from the Mexico airport to the CCM, her flight got delayed. So we all sat in the Mexico Airport, with no air conditioning, and our huge luggage, for almost 2 hours. When we finally got to the CCM around 10pm and I very first checked in, they told me that on a mission, they only allow tetanus shots to be good for 5 years instead of the normal 10, so the first thing I did here was get a tetanus shot in a backroom of the MTC, hahaha! Then, when I finally got to my room, the lock on one of my suitcases got jammed or broken during the flight, and so it wouldn´t open! We tried every possible passcode it could be, tried resetting it, tried prying it open, and nothing would work. I called reception and they said they wouldn´t be able to look at it until the next afternoon, so thank goodness they tell you to bring an extra pair of clothes in your carry-on just in case, otherwise I don´t know what I would have done! The next afternoon I took it to reception and they were able to get it open, they had to just cut the zippers from the lock! Thank goodness I can still use it though, it isn´t too damaged. Finally, when I was walking my suitcase back to my casa, the wheel got caught around the bottom of my dress and ripped a hole in it. :) FUN START to my MTC experience, but I didn´t let it bother me too much, and now everything is great! Yesterday I was actually starting to get sad about how I only have 5 weeks left now because I don´t want to leave, hahaha!!

The food here is actually good, there is always something that I am interested in eating. Mi y mi compañera usually try to stay away from the meat, just to be safe, because we really don't want to get sick, and we haven´t yet! So that´s good. Also, on our first "official" day here, so last Wednesday, me and Hermana Oliveros got called to serve as Sister Training Leaders for our branch! Which is a huge thing! In every district there are like 10-12 people, and in every branch there are 4-6 districts. So we are in charge of all the Sisters in every district of our branch. We are supposed to make sure they are all happy, not too homesick, getting along with their companion, not flirting with the boys (hahaha), and just adjusting well to missionary life. Also, we have the rare privilege of having 2 SPANISH ONLY districts, which means some of the girls that we have to talk to and be a leader for, don´t speak any english at all. Let me tell you, second day here, having to have a conversation and ask someone to teach relief society that doesn´t speak any english while you don´t speak any spanish, is very difficult! Haha! But we got through it and we love our girls so much that it helps us push even harder to learn as much and as quickly as we can. When we got called, they told us that God must have a lot of confidence in us because they hardly ever call first week, let alone first day, missionaries to this calling. We have felt so blessed! 

Sorry this email was so long, just wanted to give a rundown of everything to those of you who might not know what the CCM is like for my first email! My P-days will always be on Wednesdays while I am here for 6 weeks, so please email me when you can and I will always be able to get back to you on Wednesdays! I would LOVE to hear from all of you!!

Miss and love you all!!

Hermana Rawlins

HOLA

Hola familia. this just has to be a quick, i made it to the mtc email but its just going to you guys. 

This is me typing from the mtc!!! Its sooo pretty!! And all the workers are soo nice, except they literally speak only spanish. since the second we got here. so thats kinda stressful. but im excited and its been a good day! i am very excited to go to sleep tonight. 

i havent met my companion yet, we are doing that next. also, bear with me on the typing because this keyboard is in spanish and idk how to get any symbols like the at sign or an apostrophe hahaha. 

also someone read this email to sydney because for some reason all of you guys were already programmed into my contacts except for her and idk how to put the at sign to type in her email manually.

okay well my pday is on wednesday so thats the day ill be able to email, text, and facetime! so, until next wednesday...

I LOVE YOU GUYS AND MISS YOU ALREADY

MTC Day, Final Goodbyes

Mom: "We dropped her off at Ontario airport at 6 am to check in for her flight to the Mexico City MTC."

Night Before Leaving

Mom:

"She was set apart as a missionary by our Stake President Aragon. It was a very touching meeting with lots of thoughts, love and testimonies shared.

After she came back and finished getting her stuff packed. We all hung out in the room with her that night helping and talking, savoring those last moments of all of us being together for a while."

My Farewell Sunday & Open House

Mom: 
"She had lots of close family and friends come listen to her speak. Her little sister Macey and cousin Lucy sang “If the Savior Stood Beside Me.  Brother Brian LeDuc also spoke. Brother LeDuc had been one of Morgan’s teachers for several years in high school. And Morgan babysat for him quite often. That day was also Macey’s 11th birthday, so after church all of our family came back to our house for lunch and a birthday party for Macey before Morgan’s open house."