13 Months Down, 5 To Go!

Holaaaaa :))

This week has been a little slow since we have just been in quarantine, but it was still good! Our official quarantine from exposure ends TOMORROW (yay!), however, the county of Oregon that I live in has decided to go on a county-wide lockdown, and so that means not much else will change for us these upcoming weeks... We will be able to meet with our investigators in person for lessons though, so we are excited about that! 

I had to get tested for COVID last week because I started showing some symptoms (the test was not the most comfortable thing in the world, but also was not the worst. probably 4/10 recommend) I came back NEGATIVE though so I'm probably just dealing with a mild cold, yay!

We were able to have a lesson over video call with a girl we are teaching, Megan. It went really well! We hope to ask her to baptized soon. Other than that, we have been keeping busy cleaning the house, making facebook videos, painting, playing cards, and dropping off notes and stuff to some less-active members in our wards. Overall, pretty good week :))

I have started reading the Book of Mormon over again from the beginning, this time with the purpose of looking for verses that talk about joy/rejoicing/happiness. There are SO many! While the ancient prophets and people of the Book of Mormon dealt with a LOT of sorrow, trials, persecution, and contention, there are still so many mentions by each of them of the joy that they find in their lives. When we have a knowledge of our Savior and Heavenly Father, we can have joy no matter what is going on around us. The blessings, miracles, and love that come from our Heavenly family NEVER stop, regardless of our situation on Earth, and THAT is a reason to rejoice! Look for those blessings! Focus on them!

Soooo much love,

Hermana Rawlins

Address:

345 NW 7th St.

Ontario, OR 97914

Quarantined Missionary Round 2

Hi friends :)))

This week has been a little crazy! As you could tell from the subject line, I am quarantined yet again, haha! My companion and I were exposed to a member who tested positive for the Corona Virus, landing us in 14 day self-isolation. :// It is definitely not ideal, BUT I have been in isolation before and for a lot longer than 14 days, and so I know we can make it through :)) Sister Thatcher has been having a pretty tough time with it, but we're trying to motivate one another and fill up our schedule as much as possible each day. We've also been setting one goal that we want to accomplish each day, that way each night we can feel successful in our efforts and like we actually accomplished something that day. It's been going well! 6 days down, 8 more to go!

Our Mission President has challenged us this month and next month, to reread the Gospels of the New Testament- Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John- and find words, verses, and phrases of Jesus Christ that change us. I sooo love this commitment because I LOVE the New Testament. A phrase that stood out to me as I began my reading this week was, "and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." (Matthew 1:23) Jesus Christ is not our God, but he was and is our way in knowing and understanding who our Heavenly Father, our God, is. They are one in purpose, and everything Christ did on the Earth, was under the name of the Father. As we study the life of Jesus Christ and who he was, we can know that that directly correlates with the character of our Father in Heaven, and we can know that Christ was acting as our God with us here on Earth. I invite you all this Holiday season to take my Mission President's challenge, and find verses and phrases of Jesus Christ that change you!

I love you all, have a great week!

Hermana Rawlins

Address:

345 NW 7th St.

Ontario, OR 97914

Pictures:

Welcome To Oregon!

Helloooooo friends! Happy Halloween and Feliz Día de Los Muertos :)) I hope you all had a fun weekend! We had a traditional missionary holiday of being home by 6:30 pm, and just kind of hanging out! I got to have a fun girls night though with my NEW COMPANION and so we made it fun by getting pizza and soda and cookies :))

Last Thursday I was transferred out of Kuna and am now in Ontario, Oregon- one of the biggest weed capitals of the state, perfect for 2 little sister missionaries ;)) This area is reaaaaaaaaally different than good ole Kuna and I miss it and my district and friends there so badly, but I know it will be great here too. We cover 2 wards- a YSA (young single adult) ward and a Spanish Branch. I get to use my Spanish again which is soooo fun! The branch is tiny though- at church yesterday there were only 5 people in the congregation... hahaha soo we have a lot of work to do getting the members to come back to church!

My new companion's name is Sister Thatcher and she is from New Mexico! She has been on her mission for 9 months, and she was originally assigned to serve in Chile! She was only there for 1 month though before she got sent home and was reassigned to here. 

We are teaching lots of awesome people! We found a new girl to start teaching the first night I got here named Cassidy, she is a friend of someone in the YSA- she's super nice and we are excited to start working with her. We have another girl in the YSA ward, Edith, that is on date to be baptized November 21st!! She is super awesome and wants to be baptized really bad, but we are having a hard time getting her to come to church. Pray that we can help her reach her goal of being baptized and that she will feel a desire to attend church on Sundays! We also are going to begin having lessons with a lady named Shaya. We will eventually have to pass her off to the Elders that cover the family ward she would be in, but as for right now, she prefers to be taught by sisters so we get to work with her! She is awesome and we are excited to help her increase her faith and grow closer to Jesus Christ.

I am studying the Old Testament right now and have been reading the stories of Samuel. In chapter 3 of 1 Samuel, the Lord calls to him in his sleep, and each time the Lord calls, Samuel readily and anxiously responds, "Here Am I," "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth." I have so much admiration for Samuel and his willingness to respond to the Lord's call and in being so quick to do whatever it was he was going to be asked to do. We all have a call from the Lord- to be His disciples, His followers, examples to those around us. He also always comes to us using the still, small voice of the Spirit, giving us more personal calls and impressions, everyday. May we all be like Samuel, so ready to hear and respond to the voice and call of the Savior. Let us live in our lives in a way that our minds and ears will be open to hearing that still, small voice, that when it comes we may, like Samuel, say, "Speak Lord; for thy servant heareth." 

Soooo much love, have a good week!

Hermana Rawlins

Address:

345 NW 7th St.

Ontario, OR 97914

Pictures:

1. Last pic with Sister Pearson

2. Last pic of me and cutie Sister Taylor

3. Cool pic of me and my best friend Elder Gifford

4. Me and my NEW COMP SISTER THATCHER

5. Last stop to get lunch at Zupa's before I met my new companion :,)

6. Me and Sister Thatcher and our sodas on Halloween :))

7. Me and my bffffff Sister Robertson finally got a cute picture too before I left <33