I'm Home!

Morgan flew in to the SLC Airport on 4/14 at 7:20 am!!  She had to be to the Boise Airport by 5 am so it was a VERY early morning for her. 

Pic 1: our family finally all reunited 

Pic 2: everyone who came to the airport to welcome Morgan home

Pic 3:  the sign that Macey made

Pic 4: everyone waiting in the freezing parking structure waiting for Morgan to come out

Pic 5: coming out of the airport 

Pic: 11: First request: In n Out

Pics 12-13: Welcome Home Party treats

Pic 15: After her Homecoming talk in church 4/18

A Final Goodbye :')

Hi everyone!!

It is sooooo bittersweet as this is my LAST weekly email as a set apart, full time missionary. I have absolutely loved these last 18 months I have spent here in the Idaho Boise Mission. The people I have met have changed my life completely, and I have grown in every way possible. I am grateful to all of you for your thoughts, love, and prayers during this past year and a half! It has meant more to me than you know! It would be impossible for me to sum up these past 18 months in just a few sentences, so I would like to share with you all my simple testimony of the things I know to be true.

I know that God loves His children- that is each of us. He loves us unconditionally, perfectly, and eternally. That is an unchanging truth. I know that He manifested that love for us when He sent His son, Jesus Christ, to be our Redeemer. I know that, through Jesus Christ, all things are possible. He is a healer, a peace maker, our example, a friend, and our Savior. Because of him, I, and each of us, can repent and overcome our mistakes and sins. We can return to live with our Heavenly Father and with our families forever. I know that Christ's church was restored upon the earth by the prophet Joseph Smith. I know that through the power of God, Joseph translated the Book of Mormon and that it is true. I know it's the word of God and contains the answers to all of life's questions. I know that by reading it, we can have more peace in our lives. I know there is joy in living the gospel. I know it changes lives. I know that Heavenly Father has a beautiful, perfect, uniquely individual plan for each of us. I KNOW He loves us, and I love Him and my Savior, Jesus Christ.

I love you all!! See you all this week ;))

For the last time,

Hermana Rawlins 

Welcome To Huntington :))

Holaaaaaa

This week was pretty busy! We had lots of service opportunities this week! Tuesday we were helping some people in the ward move. On Wednesday we were helping the neighbors of a lady in our ward unload their storage unit into some uhaul trucks. After we helped them with that, they took us out to lunch at this cute little diner here in Ontario. It was SO CUTE and nice of them!! :') Thursday we did service at the local food bank, which is always fun. Then Saturday our whole district got to go help some people in our ward!! They are preparing their yard for goats so we had to help them put up a fence and pick, and burn, all the weeds in their yard. It was a TON of work, but it was SO FUN.

On Friday this week we made a trip out to Huntington. It's about an hour and a half away, and in a whole different time zone, but still in our ward boundaries. Crazy. We got to visit with a family out there before they move away. They were showing us their baby chicks and I got to hold one :')) Chicks are about 1749372x cuter and less scary than full grown chickens. It's very unfortunate they have to grow up. Sorry to all the chicken lovers out there ://

General Conference is this upcoming weekend and I am SO EXCITED! This is a chance we have, twice a year, to hear the words and council from the leaders of our church. It will be broadcast on BYUtv, lds.org, or youtube, and I would encourage and invite everyone to go listen, even for just a little bit! It's a chance to be uplifted and empowered by messages of our Savior- especially perfect for Easter time ;)) 

Te quieroooo

Hermana Rawlins

Let's Go To The Movies

Hiiiiiiiiiii

This past week has been good! We're slowly getting busier, which is always the best as a missionary. I had my very last zone conference this past week, and I got to give my departing testimony. Very bittersweet. Also, it's slowly but surely becoming SPRING around here! I'm so excited it's getting warmer, and things are starting to grow again. Ontario is finally starting to look a little prettier as it gets more green- it's mostly just all marijuana plants, but its still prettier nonetheless ;))

We were able to find another new person to teach this week! Her name is Julianna and she is another foster girl that just moved in with the other 3 girls we have been teaching! The Lord just keeps giving me all these families of little girls to teach, it's like I never even left home.

There is an LDS produced musical? concert? I don't exactly know what to call it, but it's called, "The Lamb of God," and they recently released a taping of it in some select movie theaters. Our mission president and wife were super excited about this film and encouraged all missionaries to go see it! So we got to drive down to Eagle and go to the MOVIE THEATER (one of my fav places in the whole world) and see it! It was SO fun, and the movie was amazing. The way they told the story of our Savior through music made for a super spiritual experience. 10/10 recommend :)) 

I love you all! Have a good week!

Hermana Rawlins

17 Months Down, 1 To Go :')

Hellooooooo

Today is my 17TH MONTH MARK!! I cannot believe that I only have one month left out here in the mission field. I am so excited for what is to come in these next 30 days :))

This week we found out COVID is spreading through the mission again, meaning, more restrictions :(( We will no longer be allowed to see or be with other missionaries, which was pretty much the only thing that had been opened back up to us, hahaha. Kind of sad, but we're pro's at handling covid restrictions by now :)) 

We had lots of member lessons this week. It's always fun getting to meet more members from our wards. We also got to meet a baby cow and she was so cute :') Her name is "Baby Chonk" hahaha, beautiful.

WE FOUND A NEW PERSON TO TEACH THIS WEEK!! His name is Lucian and he is the 11 year old grandson of one of our bishops. We just had our first lesson with him last night and it went GREAT! He already knew a LOT, you can tell Grandpa Bishop has been workin hard teachin him everything. We are super excited to continue teaching him!!

I want to share a little bit about how Heavenly Father answers prayers, not always in the way we are expecting or wanting. When I had first gotten to Ontario, nearly 6 months ago, I was serving in a Young Single Adult ward and a Spanish branch that had about 6 attending members. I liked my wards, but I was so discouraged because I felt I had so much more influence in family wards, teaching families and their children. It made me so bitter about being here in Ontario. I prayed and prayed to Heavenly Father that I would get transferred to a different area in the mission, one where I would be able to be around families and teach little kids again. Instead, He kept me in Ontario, and inspired my Mission President give me an English companion (by mistake), resulting in our wards being switched around. I was no longer serving Spanish, but I now had a family ward to cover. Since that time, I've been in Ontario for about 6 months, and have been teaching 10 LITTLE GIRLS from different families, and now adding Lucian to make 11 KIDS TOTAL, 3 of which have gotten baptized since :') The solution I wanted to my problem was to be moved somewhere else. I couldn't see it happening any other way. Heavenly Father heard and new of my desires, but He had a different plan, and a different way of answering. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father, who hears and answers our prayers in His own timing, the way He needs things to be done, but with our deepest desires in His mind and His heart. I promise He knows you and He hears you. Look and see how His hand is working in your life.

Love you all

Hermana Rawlins

Round 4 In Ontario

Hiiiiiiii everyone :))

This week has been good! I am officially entering my LAST transfer, or the last 6 weeks, of my mission! It is crazy to think it has gone this fast! We got news a few nights ago that I will be finishing my mission here in Ontario with my same companion, Sister Dixon!! Yay!!!

Last monday was Sister Dixon's birthday, AND some of our restrictions lifted and we are now able to get together with other missionaries for P-day activities, so it was fun we all got to celebrate with her :)) Other than that, this week we've been meeting with a lot of members and sharing messages with them. Trying hard to find new people to start teaching!!

This week we also got to go on exchanges with another set of sisters, and I got to be with MY OLD COMPANION SISTER SMITH FOR A DAY!!! It was SO fun, just like the good old days back in Kuna :'))) We got to have some member lessons and help a lady clean and paint her house!! It was super fun!! Glad I got that time to be with Sister Smith again before she goes home this WEEK! Crazy.

A very quick spiritual thought today- in the Book of Mormon in Helaman 12:1, it says, "...yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him," Who do you put your trust in? Is it in the hearts of man? Or in the Lord? It tells us even earlier in that verse that the hearts of man can be so false and so unsteady. However, the Lord is constant. He is unchanging. He is sincere and honest and true. Put your trust in the Lord, and see the blessings he will pour out upon you :))

Sooooo much love

Hermana Rawlins

345 NW 7th St.

Ontario, OR 97914

16 Months Down, 2 To Go :))))

Holaaaaaa

These past weeks have been good!! We've been staying busy with lots of member appointments and lessons and things :)) Nothing too exciting has happened, we are just trying our best to find new people to teach! That has been a struggle for us recently

This past week we were able to have Zone Conference IN PERSON!! It was super nice to be able to be around so many other missionaries and to see my Mission President and his wife!

Sister Dixon and I also rescued a lost little puppy this week. She hung out with us for a little while before we were able to get her home. She was SO CUTE!! I miss my dog at home.

I found this quote this week and I absolutely LOVE it. It's from President Howard W. Hunter waaaay back from a 1986 talk he gave, but the message will be true forever, "We need to remember that though we make our friends, God has made our neighbors—everywhere. Love should have no boundary; we should have no narrow loyalties. Christ said, “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?” (Matt. 5:46). When God says to love our neighbor, it is no small task. Every person on this earth is included in that. An easy way to start loving is to start serving, start talking, start focusing on the good. Everyone is a child of God :))

I love you all, have a good week

Hermana Rawlins

345 NW 7th St.

Ontario, OR 97914

Triple Baptism :))

Hiiiiiii my friends

This has been a pretty GOOD 2 WEEKS! So, we've been teaching the three Haner girls for a little while now and we were having a hard time getting them and their parents to accept a date to be baptized. Sister Dixon and I decided that we would present them with a specific date and see if that would work. I prayed, asking what day was right for them, and the answer I got was January 29th. However, before we even presented them with this date we decided to go a different route and give the family some space, and let them come to us when they were ready. A few weeks later, they came to us and asked if the girls could be baptized on JANUARY 29TH!! It was amazing to see that, that truly was the day the Lord had prepared for them. All 3 girls were baptized this past Friday and it was such a special night :')) We love them sooo much

I also found out that I will be staying here in Ontario with Sister Dixon for another 6 weeks! Yaaaay! Other than that, things weren't as great this week hahaha. We got stood up or cancelled on for pretty much all of our lessons. It's hard, but we just keep going and trying :)) 

I was reading this story of Alma and Korihor in the Book of Mormon this week, and I love this particular verse. Alma, a prophet, is trying to teach Korihor about God, and Korihor says if Alma will only show him a sign that God exists, then he will believe. "But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." (Alma 30:44) Everything around us is a sure sign that there is a loving Heavenly Father watching over us. The beauty of the Earth, the science in which everything operates, our families, everything. Nothing is by accident. I invite you all to look for reasons to believe in God this week. Look at the "signs" that He has given you and recognize that He is there.

Sooooo much love

Hermana Rawlins

345 NW 7th St.

Ontario, OR 97914

One Year Older And Wiser Too :))

Helloooooooo everyone!

This past week was pretty good! Not super eventful. BUT, I did turn 21 craaaaazy!! Everyone here just kept telling me that now I can, "finally buy a gun!" Yes, finally, thank goodness. All I've ever wanted.

We had a couple of lessons this week with the little girls we are teaching, which were great! Also, last night, our mission had a "Why I Believe," fireside for the Caldwell/Ontario areas. There were 3 featured speakers and Megan, our recent convert who was just baptized 2 weeks ago, was one of the speakers!! She did AMAZING! It was so cool to see her speak about her conversion story and "why she believes," the spirit was so strong and I was so, so proud of her! I'm so glad I got the opportunity to teach her and grow with her :')

We got to teach seminary this week, and we taught the Plan of Salvation, which is one of the 5 missionary discussions :)) I LOVE teaching this lesson and I love all the scriptures that you can use with it. One of my favorites to use, and one of my favorite verses in the whole Book of Mormon, is 2 Nephi 2:25, "Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy." We were created and came here with the purpose and intent that we would be happy and have joy! However, it doesn't say that we "will" have joy, it says that we "MIGHT" It is a choice we have to make everyday to have that joy. That joy comes from choosing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, following the commandments, good people we choose to surround ourselves with, our families, and repentance. I would invite you all to CHOOSE JOY this week, by choosing Jesus Christ everyday :))

Love you all

Hermana Rawlins

15 Months Down, 3 To Go!

Hiiiiii my friends!!

MEGAN GOT BAPTIZED THIS PAST WEEK! We are so so happy for her. She was so excited and it was really a special day. So many things kept going wrong right before the baptism with people cancelling or just not showing up that were on the program and things like that, BUT it all came together and the spirit was so strong and it was a GOOD DAY! Sister Thatcher, my last companion, also got to come up for the baptism so it was super fun to see her again :')

This week we did some service at a Food Pantry and it was super fun! We also had more lessons with all our cute children that we are teaching! I ALSO made dinner for me and my companion this week, so my mom can be happy that I'm finally learning how to cook on my mission ;)) Also, as of this week I have 3 MONTHS LEFT! Sooo crazy!!

I loved this quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland this week, "God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe." Believe in God. Believe that He is and that He can do all things. Reach out to Him and let Him bless you with all He has in store for you :))

Les amoooo

Hermana Rawlins

Happy New Year!!!!

Hi everyone!

I hope you had a merry christmas and a happy new year :)) It was pretty relaxed here! Me and Sister Dixon spent Christmas Eve with a super nice family from our YSA ward. We played some games, and, due to mission restrictions, we were only allowed to eat in their home if we sat in a different room than them, so that's what we did! Hahaha. A very covid christmas. Christmas was just spent here in our home, as well as New Year's Eve, but we made it fun :))

We are teaching quite a few awesome people. Megan gets baptized THIS SATURDAY and we could not be more excited!! For the 3 little sisters we are teaching, the Haner girls, we are still waiting to set a baptismal date, but they are so ready. We also found and started teaching 2 new little girls this week, Dallas and Zativa. They are super hyper, but super fun and sweet. Sister Dixon and I are having fun trying to make all these fun, cute lessons for all of "our children."

This week, during one of our lessons, we were talking about the love our Heavenly Father has for us. We compared it to how, even though we aren't perfect, our parents still love us no matter what, and it's the same with our Heavenly Father. One of the cute little girls then, SO CUTE, asked, "You said that you guys aren't perfect, but I thought only perfect people could represent the Savior?" I was flattered to think that before we had mentioned that, she had assumed that I was a perfect person. BUT, we loved this question. No one in this world is perfect, not the missionaries, not the prophet of God, no one. Perfect people don't need a Savior. If we never made mistakes, His atoning sacrifice would be lost on us. We wouldn't have to come to know Him and love Him so deeply. If I was a perfect person, I wouldn't able to witness to others the saving grace I have found through him and teach them how they, too, can feel the joy that I find in Christ. It is because we are imperfect, that we can stand as witnesses of Jesus Christ. That's not to say we shouldn't try our best, but we shouldn't try and hide our imperfections and short comings :)) As we all are making goals for this new year, I would ask that you remember that you are not perfect, you might fall short, and that is OKAY. It just gives you another chance to turn to the Lord, find strength in Him, and keep moving forward.

Soooooo much love

Hermana Rawlins

345 NW 7th St.

Ontario, OR 97914