Back To McCall!!!!

Hello everyone!

A lot has happened this past week! First, I have now been out for ONE WHOLE YEAR!!!!! This has been the craziest, hardest, funnest, best year of my life! It is crazy to think I only have 6 months left! It is going to flyyyyyy by.

We were able to have the first lesson with the new girl we are teaching, Hannah. She is awesome! She is so ready to learn more about the gospel and her friends are super supportive and helping her through all the lessons. We are super excited about her!

This past weekend, I also got to go back up to MCCALL!!!!!!!! A girl I was teaching up there, Sam, turned 18 this past month and was finally able to get baptized and our Mission President let us go to the baptism!!!!! It was the BEST day ever! Sister Taylor and Sister Robertson went up with us because Sister Taylor also served in McCall and taught Sam after I was there. We got to do a roadtrip up there and back with them and it was soooo fun. It was also my first time seeing McCall not covered in 1854047383 feet of snow! It was so pretty! Snow is pretty though too ;)) The baptism was soooo good. Sam's family cried when they saw me, which made me cry juuuuuuust a little bit too! The spirit was so strong, I'm so proud of Sam for getting baptized. She is the sweetest girl. It was also so fun to be able to reconnect with so many members I served with there, and to see them all remember me made my heart sooo happy!!! Being a missionary is an experience unlike any other. 

We also got transfer news Saturday night, and, after a long good run of almost 6 months in Kuna, I have to say a very sad goodbye :(( This Thursday I will be transferred out to Ontario, Oregon with my new companion, Sister Thatcher. I am so, so sad to be leaving my district and all the missionaries around here. They are my best friends in the whole world! I am also so sad to be leaving my wards and members here, I have come to know them soooo well. Kuna holds a very special place in my heart :,)

I love you all, have a good week! Talk to you next week from Oregon!!

Hermana Rawlins

Pictures:

1. Me, Sam, and her little sister Bri at the baptism :))

2. Me and my girls Sam and Bri again

3. Me and Sister Pearson

4. Polaroid of our cute little car group on one of our last rides :((

5. Me and Sister Taylor back in our McCall house!

6. Scandalous picture of us at the store this morning

7. Us getting lunch in McCall

8. Pretty McCall :,) 

LoHAH- Land of Holiness And Hoarders

*Disclaimer: The subject line this week comes from Elder Gifford. I could not think of anything good for this week's email hahaha

Hi friends! 

I've missed a couple weeks of sending out an email! But all is well here! I can't believe we are already in October! This year has just been flying by! Countdown: 3 days until I hit my YEAR MARK!!!

This past Saturday, my companion, Sister Pearson, went through the temple for the first time and I got to go with her!! It was such a great day. It was such an amazing experience to be back at the temple after so long of them being closed. The spirit was so strong and I really needed it. I also got to meet Sister Pearson's whole family- they are soo nice! They took us to lunch after at Tucano's. Which, if you haven't eaten there, I 17492793/10 recommend. It was delicious. 

We have been working really hard with an inactive family in one of our wards. We have gone over quite a bit with the Elders to give them the sacrament and have church with them. We also set up every Friday night to have a family game night with them so we can bring the spirit and the Priesthood into their home and be a good influence on the kids. It has been so fun! Another fact about them: they are hoarders :// The last time we were there, I had a prompting to ask if we could come and help clean up their house and make it a bit brighter so that the spirit would be able to have a constant place in their home . They gladly accepted! I really didn't know what I was getting us into though... We went and cleaned for 4 hours the other day and only got the kitchen done. It was spotless! Then we went back 3 days later and found it right back at square 1. So, please pray for us that we can clean (and keep clean) this house! Hahaha!

Our wards have started going back to church every Sunday!! Yay!! We got to attend 2 of our 3 wards yesterday and it was awesome! It was so fun to be able to see so many families. 

Alsoooo MIRACLES FROM THIS WEEK: WE FOUND 3 NEW PEOPLE TO TEACH!!! After long months of waiting and desperately trying to find new people to teach, we found 3!!! We are so so excited. We hope to set up some lessons with them this week and to see their progression. I will keep you all updated ;))

My spiritual thought this week starts with a question: How do you know that God loves you? There are soooo many blessings and feelings in this life that testify to us that we have a loving Heavenly Father. He has an infinite and individual love for each of His children. It's easy to remember and feel of that love when things are going good. However, when we begin to suffer through trials and hardships, we can be so quick to ask, "Why is this happening to me? Does God even really love me?" I came across this quote from Elder Holland this week in my personal study. He is explaining the instance when Christ, after having died on the cross, came and showed his resurrected body to some of his disciples. He talks about the wounds in his hands, feet, and side and refers to them as "signs," "Signs, if you will, that painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect. Signs, if you will, that pain in this world is not evidence that God doesn't love you." It is such a universally accepted truth that God loved His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. And yet, no human on Earth would ever have to suffer as much as Christ did. Yet we know, that no matter what, God never stopped loving His Son. The same applies to us. We may go through hard things, but just as God never stopped loving Christ, He has never and will never stop loving us. I  promise that, no matter what you are going through, He has not forgotten about you. Look closely, and at the end of the day, ask yourself, "How did I feel God's love for me today?" I promise, you felt it. It was there.

I love you all!! Send me an email or something ;))

Hermana Rawlins

Address:

1742 N Madderlake Ave

Apt. #3

Kuna, ID 83634

Pictures:

1. Me and Sister Pearson

2. Me, Sister Pearson, Elder Gifford, and Elder Hambrick on our way to heart attack the door of a less active family in one of our wards.

3. Me and Elders Gifford and Hambrick at Melba Swings a couple weeks ago. 

4. Me, Sister Pearson, and one of the members in our ward at the Boise Temple!!

5. Some of our district at Melba Swings again

6. Us and 2 sisters that live with us in front of the Boise Temple!!