Distict Leader....preparing for conference

Dear Family,

A great week out here in Madrid. It has been fairly rainy here as well, but for the first time in my life, I don´t mind a whole ton. This summer has been very hot, and it is a welcome cool down.

Recently, Elder Smith and I have been spending more time out in the street meeting new people! Haha, that gives us quite a few new stories there. Many times we meet people that were born and baptized in the catholic church, but haven´t been in years. Haha, and it´s funny to see that they fall back on that when we talk to them. We introduce ourselves, and they say, "No, gracias, soy católico" Haha, but it is not to hard to break past that barrier. Testimony!!! Haha, talking to people in the street has not been my favorite, but I feel like I am starting to like it a little bit more. That´s one of our responsibilities, and I love when I can get into it, and I feel like no one is going to stop me!

Haha, also, this week we had a zone training, which are always edifying. In this one, we talked about many things, but the best part was that we watched a talk by President Uchtdorf to the new mission presidents. It is called, "Fear Not, I am with thee." He talked all about our personal conversion into disciples of Christ. He shares the history of Christ´s resurection, and talks about Peter´s conversion into a fearless missionary. We really have no reason to fear in this world. We have found the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he will always be there to help us. He finishes quoting the hymn, How Firm a Foundation. That song has been very special for me on the mission, and It was awesome to hear President Uchtdorf quote it. I know that Christ is here with me. That he is there with all of you, and he is active in our lives. 

"Fear not, I am with thee,

Oh, be not dismayed,

For I am thy God

and will still give thee aid

I´ll strengthen thee, help thee,

and cause thee to stand,

Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand."

I love you family. I am always praying for you.

´Till next week!

Elder Rawlinson

Nicholas, Roberto, and German

Dear Family,

A great first week here during this second transfer with Elder Smith! We are setting goals, and working hard, and we have definitley seen the hand of the Lord as we do that. I love seeing that when we recommit to serving the Lord, he blesses us with miracles. For instance, on Tuesday, we were out in the street, when we heard "Elder! Elder!" from behind us. As we turn around, we met Nicolás, an Argentinian member that has been here for three months. He told us that he had been looking for a chapel, and that he hasn´t been to church in about two years. We met with him, and his stepbrother, Roberto. Nicolás is 19, and his brother is 14. His dad got married to Roberto´s mom about a month ago, and they are all living together. Nicolás is the only member, and we were able to teach him and Roberto the restoration, and we are very excited to see them come back, or get to know the Church!

We also met a new investigator named German. He is a brother of another investigator we have, and we talked to him while trying to get a hold of our investigator. He was going through a hard time, and told us, "You guys can´t convince me, I don´t believe in God." We taught him about prayer, and how we don´t convince people, but we help them to find God. But, I didn´t see to much success. When we shared a scripture to help him, he said, "That´s beautiful, let me show you something that I think is beautiful." He then tried to put some Nicolas Cage movie on, and told us that he was very interested in Film. Haha, can´t say I have seen that happen on my mission before! We testified that indeed, yes, God does exist, and set up a time to come back. When we visited a couple of days later, he was completely different. He listened as we talked about the Plan of Salvation, and the importance of this life, and prayed at the end of the lesson. It was one of the most humble and sincere prayers I have heard. We asked him how he felt after, and he said, "Well, a little better." That simple really testified to me the power of sincere prayer. It helps us to know that God exists, and that he is always there to comfort us. There is a quote in the new mormon message, "The Hope of God´s Light" that says, "Spiritual light rarely comes to people who merely sit in darkness, waiting for someone to flip a switch. It takes an act of faith to open our eyes to The Light of Christ." I saw this in that lesson with German. His act of faith was what gave him the calm peacefull feeling after praying. There is still a long way to go with him, but I am very excited to help him, and others grow, and see The Light of Christ. That is our purpose as missionaries, and I am seeing that more than ever lately.

I also had my first district meeting this Wednesday! I hope that it went well! To answer your question, we have 8 missionaries in our district, 6 Élderes, and 2 Hermanas. We talked about General Conference, and how we can get ready personaly, and how we can help our investigators get ready. We focused on Mosiah 2:9, and what King Benjamin askes his people to do as he starts his discourse. I invite you to read it, and think of the ways that you can apply it to General conference in a couple weeks. I am super excited! It seems like just 1 month ago that we had the last conference! Man, time flies out here!

Yes, I did get the package! I love it! I might have eaten the Twix´s already. ;) Thank you so much! Great music, an awesome shirt, and amazing letters! Thank you, Thank you, thank you!!!! 

Until next week,

Sincerley,

Elder Rawlinson

​

Chapel in Madrid, Economy, and Diego

Dear Family,

Sounds like things are going great out there in Utah! Keep on keepin´on! Know that I am always praying for all of you, 

First, I will answer Dad´s question about the Economy. Things are still difficult. I haven´t seen much improvement in my time here. Many of the Latin immigrants that came here in the early 2000s are now going home. If someone has work, it is usually a lot of strict hours, or not enough. One unique thing about here in Madrid. There are quite a few Chinese people! Haha, it is something that I didn´t even think about before coming on the mission, but aparently they are actually a growing demographic. I will need to take some pictures of a neighborhood here in our area called Usera. It is practically a Chinatown! Many don´t speak spanish or english very well, so as missionaries, we don´t have to much success with them.

I´m not sure if I have told you about him, but we have an investigator named Diego. He is from Ecuador, and is about 25 years old. He works in a Military base, so he is only home about 2 or 3 days a week. We had lost contact with him for a few weeks, but found him in the street on Wednesday night. He was sent to Zaragoza, another city here in Spain, for work and had gotten back that day. Since, we have been able to meet with him and set a baptismal date. He is awesome! He has desires to really know if our church is true. We will keep helping him to get ready for October. It´s so amazing to see people that are really prepared to listen to the gospel.

In other news, we recieved transfer information on Saturday, and I´m staying here for 6 more weeks! Haha, that´s not to surprising, as I just got here. But, the bigger surprise is that I found out that I will be district leader this transfer. Ahhhh! I freaked out a little when I got the news! But, I am very excited to serve the district. There are new responsibilities, but a whole new set of blessings! But, just to be sure, keep me in your prayers. ;)

Well, I´m just about out of time, oh, here is a picture of the chapel! 

Love you all!

Élder Rawlinson

PS. Just a kind reminder about the priesthood line of authority. Thanks Dad! ;)

Love the food!!!

Dear Family,

Another great week out here in Madrid! Many good things to report! 

This Saturday, we were invited by investigators of another companionship to eat with them. Haha, that doesn´t happen too often, but missionaries are never people to turn down food. They brought us to a Bolivian restaurant, and I have to say. That was some great food! I had a dish called Silpancho, which was rice and a fried pork with vegetables and potatoes. Woah!!! It was amazing, and I could hardly eat all of it! I have to say, that is one of the most unique things about serving in Spain. We eat food from so many different countries! I have had food from Honduras, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and The Canary Islands(which is different than the rest of Spain.) and even more countries! And then, of course, food from Spain. It is great, but there is one problem, I can´t choose a favorite type of food!

Haha, spiritually, the week was also fantastic. :) We have started teaching a new family, and they are from the Dominican Republic. We met the mom, Benni, last week, and were able to finally meet with her this week. When we got there, we invited everyone else to listen, and her husband, son, and son in law came to listen to the Restoration. It was so awesome! They asked some amazing questions, and were also very funny. When started talking about prophets, Beni´s son, Mariano asked us what were "false prophets". His brother in law immediately said. "When you tell me that you love me, I know that you are lying, and that would make you a false prophet." Haha, it was hillarious to see two full grown men joking around like two 14 year olds! Haha, but that is one thing that I have noticed about Dominicans, they love to take life easy, and have fun while they are at it! 

One thing that I tried to apply in that lesson was some advice that the APs had given us in Zone Conference last week. They said, "Every time you tell someone about the Restoration, make sure that you tell them how it has changed your life." It´s really true, the Restoration has changed all of our lives. As I expressed how I felt, I could really see the grand effect of that first prayer Joseph Smith. Because of one boy´s humble desire to know the nature of Christ´s church, the fulness of the gospel was restored to the Earth. How great is our calling as missionaries!

Also, we were able to bring Rodry to a Family Home Evening with some members last night. It was awesome! It was really cool to see how the members really brought him in. That is what we are focussing on the most with him right now, developing his relationship with the members, so that he doesn´t feel alone as he takes this big step.

Well, that´s about it for this week. Oh, one favor. Dad, do you have our priesthood line of authority? If so, I could definitley use a copy. Thank you so much Mom and Dad! I love you so much!

Élder Rawlinson

PS. Here in Madrid, pretty much everyone lives in Apartments, (A piso here in España) I will try and get a photo of the chapel sometime this week!

Tri-Zone Conference at Manzana del Templo

Dear Family,

I will work on getting the pictures during the next week! I am definitley not in a place that is as naturally beautiful as the islands, but I will work on getting pictures. Also, we are planning on going to Toledo next week, and I will definitley get a ton of pictures when we go over there.

This week has been fantastic! We were able to set a date with Rodry, the investigator that I mentioned last week. We will be working hard to get him ready for the baptism. He is about 35 years old, and he is from Ecuador. He has been putting in his part to be baptized. He has fasted this week, and been studying in order to resolve his doubts, so our job will be to help him realize how ready he is.

We are also teaching a part member family. The dad, who is a member is named Daniel, and he is from Ecuador. His wife(soon to be!) is Fatima, and she is from Honduras. They have been meeting with missionaries for a while, but they are really starting to take coming to church and getting married seriously. I have been seeing them progress, and their joy has really been increasing. On Friday, we met with them, and Daniel shared a very neat experience. We had finished the lesson, and asked them if they needed anything. Daniel then told us about a dream that he had. He said that the dream was an answer to a prayer and a decision that he made, and he wanted a little help understanding it. It included this scripture: D&C 82:10

"I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."

As he shared this divine experience he had, the import of this scriptural phrase really hit me. The Lord WILL bless us when we try our best. He answered the prayer of Daniel, and he will answer our prayers.

This week we had a tri-zone conference at the Manzana del Templo (Temple Square, not Temple Apple.) The APs focused on the section 11 of D&C and talked about desires. They gave a time for everyone to think of examples in the scriptures of people recieving acording to their desires. I immediatly thought of 1 Kings 3. We talked about this story in Seminary in 11th grade. Where Solomon becomes king, and desires help from the Lord to be able to judge righteously. He is given that ability, as it is a righteous desire. The APs also invited us to always remember the day of our mission call. When we could feel our desire. After that meeting, I have really tried to do that. Always remember that amazing feeling I had the day I got my call.

Well, I´m glad to hear that everyone is OK after the thunderstorm! If you could try sending those pictures in a different format, I would love to see them, but I didn´t see them this time. 

Alright, thats about it for this week. I love you! 

Que Dios os bendiga.

Élder Rawlinson

Middle of August

Dear Family,

Well, back to school! Wow, I can hardly believe it! Three siblings in three different schools! Haha, fun stuff. How much you guys are growing up! Haha, keep it up Ethan! I know its hard, but practice is really what you need to learn a language. A lot of the stuff that I learned in the MTC didn´t really make sense until I was practicing out in the field. Keep going!

This week has been awesome! Yesterday was an especially good day. First, I have a little bit of an interesting story to tell. We were at an investigators house after church, and he offered us some juice. That sounded like greatly needed relief to the hot Madrid day. As I took a sip, I imediatley realized that something was wrong. Haha, it was tea! Whooops!!! Oh well, we had no idea, and it turned into a pretty good opporitunity to teach the Word of Wisdom.

Later in the afternoon, we passed by a member´s house that we had found in the ward list. His name is Ángel, and he is 15. We didn´t find any family members, and we were really confused. As we went to knock on the door, his older sister, named Erika, walked out and said, "Oh, you must be looking for my brother." As we got to know the two of them, we found out that he is the only member in his family, and that they had just barely gotten back yesterday from being in Bolivia for the summer. Erika expressed that it has been hard since they got back, and that we should pray for them. Us, being missionaries, thought, "We can do more than just pray." :) We offered to come back and share a message with both of them, and she agreed with enthusiasm! We will be visiting with them this week, and we are very excited!

Oh, another thing! On Tuesday night, the zone leaders called us and said that we would be going to the Temple the next morning. When I found that out, I just about screamed with excitement. The temple!!! It was the first time I had been since the MTC in November, and it was amazing! The temple really is the house of the Lord, and I felt that right when I walked in the doors.

Later that day, we had a farewell for two of the missionaries serving in the ward. Both of them had finished their time out in the mission, left for the mission home on Thursday. One of the missionaries is Elder Anderson. I don´t remember if I said anything about him in up in Avilés, but he was my first district leader. He is from Ogden, but was baptized about a year and a half before his mission. His story reminds me a lot of Austin Fietkau, as he always went to scouts, but never was interested. Elder Anderson is such a great example to me of dedication, and taught so much to me in my first few weeks in the field. It was hard to see him go, but I am really grateful to our Heavenly Father for providing me with such great examples in the mission and in life.

Well, that´s about it! It was an awesome week, and I am very excited for this week! I love you family, and if there is anything you need, I am just an email away.

Love,

Élder Rawlinson.

New Area...and now he is in....

Dear..... Well, Everyone!

Well, I just want to start off apologizing to all of you for how bad I am at writing back. For that, I decided that it would be a good idea to start another group email, and let you all know what´s going on!

So, I just barely arrived about an hour ago in my third area! And I´m finally in Madrid! Our area is called Barrio 3 (The 3rd Ward) in the Madrid West stake! The ward boundaries cover a rather large part of the sourth western part of Madrid. It will be very strange to be in a ward that is more normal sized! But, I am very happy to be back in Madrid. From that first day that I landed here, back in October, I have always liked Madrid. It is very hot, but luckily the islands got me used to that. I will let you know more about the new area next week as I learn more!

As great as it is here, it was indeed dificult to leave Vecindario. I don´t think that I let anyone know last week, but Dominga is getting baptized this saturday! Since Fiorela, her grand daughter, had left to go to EFY in Segovia, she had to be a lot more independent with her scripture study and prayers on her own, and she really got to know her answer. We had a lesson planning on setting a date for the end of August, but she said, "I´m already ready!" We just have to wait for Fiorela to get back!" Haha, that was a very happy moment for me. We actually had the interview a week ago saturday, and we were excited to do it last saturday, but then she asked if we could wait one more week for her daughter´s boyfriend to come into town. I was a little bummed, but family comes first, so I´m excited to see pictures from Elder Gentry. Dominga is such an amazing person, and I have been so happy to be able to teach her. Her faith is astounding, as her greatest fear before baptism was that she would´nt be able to live the comandments. But she really feels ready now. She was sad to see me go, even though I´m sure that I was a lot more sad to leave, but I know I will see her and her family again. 

Farewells were hard, but they really helped me to realize how blessed I was in Vecindario. I had such an amazing time with Elder Gentry, and I am very excited to see him after. I also had to say goodbye to Fabio. He is such an amazing person, and I will miss his amazing testimony. He really defined to me the importance of living the gospel every day. I´m going to miss the Islands, and all of the craziness that goes on there, but I am so thankful for all of the things that God had taught me during my 6 months there.

Anyways! Things are going great here with Elder Smith! We actually knew eachother from our district in the North of Spain. I´m very excited to work with him, and see the hand of the Lord in our lives.

Spiritual thought! Yesterday, I got up in Sacrament meeting to share my testimony one last time in the ward, and I felt prompted to share Moses 7:53 

"And the Lord said: Blessed is he through whose seed Messiah shall come; for he saith—I am Messiah, the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven, which is broad as eternity; whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall; wherefore, blessed are they of whom I have spoken, for they shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy."

Christ really is our Rock. If we enter through baptism, and after climb up by him, we will never fall. The mission can be difficult at times, but I have really seen that as I confide in Christ, I am raised up, and given more power. I then am so happy that I have desires to sing "songs of everlasting joy"

Thank you Family and Friends, for the patience more than anything. I love all of you, and I want you to know that I am having the time of my life out here!

Élder Rawlinson

Kriss is baptized

Well Family, Im sorry, but the email this week is as well going to be short. We went up to the center of the Island today, to the same place we went to back in April, it was a blast, but I sure don´t like rushed Pdays!

This week was a good one! Woah! Already week 6 of the transfer! I can hardly believe it! Time has really flown by here in the islands! We were able on Saturday to see our investigator Kriss take the step of baptism. He is very excited to start this new life, and to serve others here in the ward. We were also able to find some new investigators that we are teaching about the restoration and we are excited to see if any of them progress! Yesterday, we were able to visit some part member families and less active families that had children who went to EFY the last week, and they enjoyed it fully. All of Spain had a joined EFY in Segovia, and we have heard that it was a great experience for the youth. Ethan! Think about going to EFY next year! I know that it will be a great expience for you!

All is well here. If you could please check the account, I have had to spend a little bit of money, for the window on the car mostly (Unfortunatley, the church doesn´t cover that. ;) ) We will see if I get lucky to stay here for another transfer! It will be really hard to leave the Islands whenever I go, but "I´ll go where he wants me to go"

Love you family! Until next week!

Elder Rawlinson

PS Mom, you are always in my prayers, It is sometimes hard for me too, but the time is flying by. I look forward to the day that we see eachother again. Always sending love your way! 

Breaking a car window

Dear Family,

I want to start off by apologizing for the short email last week. Last Pday was very rushed! Congratulations to Donelle for her wedding! The pictures look great, and I am so glad to hear that she is happy! Those times when all of the family is together are always some of the best ones.

This week was pretty great! I will start off with a story about last Monday. We were going down to the south of the island to work down there, and after we had parked, I accidentaly locked the keys in the car! The feeling that I got when I closed the trunk, and I knew that the keys were inside was one of the worst feelings ever! Haha, we had to take a bus home, and then go back the next morning to get the key out before the meters started in the morning. Locksmiths are very expensive here, the cheapest one we could find was 140 euros, which would be almost 200 dollars. So, with the help of the new senior missionary, Elder Larson, we decided that the best solution would be to break the window. As brutal as that sounds, it ended up being only 65 euros, which was a whole lot better. (especially since I had to pay with my own money) That was one of the strangest incedents that has happened on my mission, and I don´t think that I will ever lock the keys in a car again. :)

Last night, we had a Family Home Evening with a Peruvian family in our ward. Kriss, who I don´t think I have told you about, is getting baptized this Saturday. His story is an interesting one, as he was baptized in Peru, but his record was lost somehow. So, he needs to be baptized again. He has been meeting with the missionaries for a while, but has recently commited to being baptized. Some of his cousins are also members, so we met with all of them last night. One of the aunts, Naty, invited one of their neighboors who is also named Natividad, and is also Peruvian. She is an older lady, who actually has three grandchildren who have served missions, but she doesn´t know too much about the church. She asked us why there are so many churches in the world, and why they all read the Bible in completely different ways. Haha, my companion and I immediatly knew that was the perfect question to teach her about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. She told us that she would like to meet with us more, so we are excited to see her!

The Lord has really blessed me here in the Canary Islands! These are the last two weeks of the transfer, and there is a chance that I could stay here for another one, but it is more than likely that I will be leaving. The things that I have learned here, are things that I couldn´t have learned anywhere else, and it will be a little sad to leave. But I have two weeks left! I will try my best to enjoy these two weeks, and to help as many people as I can!

I love you family! I miss you tons! But, it is crazy how fast time flies here! I have seen it start to speed up, and it scares me a little bit. But, I love the mission, and all of the things that I have learned. I am always praying for you, and I hope that you have an amazing week!

Elder Rawlinson

Monday, July 7

Hey Family!

It was great to hear that your fourth of July week was great! And that your birthdays were fantastic as well! Haha, I´m a little jealous of the bike ride that you got to take on Friday, but I´m so glad that Aubrey has gotten so good at riding her bike! I can´t wait to get back and see that! 

My Fourth of July was also fantastic. Haha, to celebrate, Elder Gentry and I bought popsicles and watermelon for lunch. :) That was definitley fun. That night was the Brazil vs. Columbia game, and to answer your question, the world cup has been very good here! Haha, everyone was a little disapointed that Spain was eliminated so quickly, but there are quite a few immigrants here, so everyone roots for everyone else pretty much. The closer we get to the final, the lower number of people that can meet and are out in the street, so during games, the missionary work gets a little harder. But we definitley saw a miracle on Friday night during the game! We were out contacting, talking to many a drunk person, and not having too much success, when we came upon an older Canarian couple named José and Carmen. They were very nice to us, and they told us that they had talked to missionaries about 10 years ago. They also told us that they are both dealing with sickness right now, and it has been very difficult for them. We testified to them that our message of Christ could really help them. As we finished, José said they needed to be on their way, but as they left, Carmen said, "Give them our address, so they can pass by." Haha, when we heard that, we were elated! We met with them for the first time yesterday, and it was an amazing experience. Carmen answered the door, and imediatley said, "Come in! Sit down, sit down!" José had quite a few questions for us about God´s plan, and we were able to teach them about the plan of salvation, but most importantly, we shared a message about Jesus Christ from Alma 7:11-12. By the end of the lesson, Carmen was crying, and I could really feel the spirit testify to us of the mission of Christ. As we left, Carmen wanted to give us a kiss, but I guess a handshake will have to do.

We also met yesterday for the last time with Damian and Solange. It was a really good lesson where we were able to talk about the goals that they have for when they leave for Argentina. I was actually surprised about how not sad I was, (if that makes sense). I really feel like I will be able to see them again. These past couple of months that we have had with them have been amazing. I really saw how much the gospel has helped them in their lives. Damian was able to quit smoking. Solange was able to forgive her family for an argument they had been in for years. But, more importantly, they were able to gain an eternal perspective on their family. They are very excited to go to Argentina to get married and baptized, and I am very excited to see their progress! The had of the Lord has really had a great impact in their lives, and I am so grateful that I was able to witness that.

We have been visiting a Family that lives in the South of the Island. I might have mentioned them already. Sammy is the dad, and he is 45 years old. He has 5 kids, but only one lives with him and his girlfriend. He is half Sweedish, half Egyptian, and he is a performer at the hotels and resorts in the south. He has an amazing voice! His girlfriend is named Ulga, and she is Russian, but speaks Russian, Finish, English, and Spanish. She is an amazing piano player, and her and Sammy are putting together a show to audition in a couple of months. He is a inactive member, but has a very strong testimony. They were able to come to church this week, and we taught Gospel Principles in English, because there was no one else for that class! They are amazing, and I will tell you more about them next week.

Well, thats about it. It is very hot here as well! I have been using the alergy medicine very ocasionaly. But my allergies have honestly been better since I got to Spain. I love you family!

Elder Rawlinson

No Transfer

Dear Family,

Well, we got transfer information on Saturday! And........ I am staying here in Vecindario with Elder Gentry! Haha, I am so happy. :) There were four missionaries here, but the mission is actually loosing missionaries now, so it will just be me and Elder Gentry in the ward now! And, our area is the whole bottom half of the island! I am so glad to be staying here, and be able to see Damian and Solange until they leave for Argentina. They actually invited us over to their house last night for dinner, which was amazing. I really have developed a love for them, and it will be hard to see them go. 

Other than that, we have also been teaching a woman named Dominga. She is from Paraguay, and she is the mother in law of one of the members in our ward. She is so sweet! She accepts everything we teach, and tonight we are going to be trying to set a baptismal date with her for the end of July.

Random funny story from this week! On Friday, we received a call from a man asking us to meet with him on Saturday. It was in very poor Spanish, and he couldn´t understand us when we asked who it was. We were thinking is was a Romanian man that we met in the street about a month ago, so we went over to his house the next day. We called the number who had called us the day before, and it was a woman this time, she asked us, "Don´t you know where I live?" Once again, in broken Spanish, and she gave us an address. We again tried to ask who it was, but she did not understand us. We drove to the address, and as we pulled up, we realized that it was the African pastor of an evangelical church we had visited once about a month ago. We knock on the door and his wife was there. She says "Why didn´t you call before you came over!?" We then explained to her the whole confusion, and she says "You speak Spanish? I thought you were the cable man who had come to fix my TV?" Haha, it was very ridiculous. I guess we speak better Spanish than we thought. :)

Well, that´s about it for this week. It was so good to hear from you! Just so you know, we might be changing apartments to the one the other elders had. It is a little nicer. But, I will let you know for sure next week! I love you Family!

Élder Rawlinson 

Middle of June already

Dear Family,

This past week has been great!  This week right now, we are in the last one of the transfer. I really do not want to leave this transfer, but there is a chance that I might. Ahhhhh! I have grown to love the Canary Islands, and the people of Vecindario. It will be very hard to leave, whenever it happens.

Damian and his family have been progressing very well. We had a Family Home Evening with them and another family in the ward. And we talked about how the Gospel can protect the families. Also, we went over to their home last night to have a lesson, and they let us know that they have bought their tickets to Argentina, and will be leaving on July 8th. We are very excited, but also a little bit sad. We are going to do everything that we can to make sure that they are ready so that they can progress with their goals of marriage and baptism when they get there. The gospel has really blessed their family. Damian was also able to stop smoking, and appears to us much more happy.

That is awesome that you are going to Half Dome! You will love it! Actually, we had a Family Home Evening last night with Fabio's family, and we talked about spiritually uplifting experiences. I shared our hike up half dome, and the letter that I got from you, Mom. I hope that you love that, and I expect to see pictures!

I gave a talk yesterday in Sacrament meeting about the Holy Ghost, and it went really well! It is always so nerve-racking to give talks, especially in Spanish, but I always feel like something takes over me when I get up to the pulpit. 

Love you all family! Hopefully I will be emailing you next week from the islands!

Elder Rawlinson

Dear Family,

A week of miracles! Well, every week there are miracles, I guess it was just easier to see them this week. Things are indeed progressing with Damian and Solange. This week, we talked with them about baptism, and all three of them expressed that they would like to be baptized. :) One of the coolest feelings ever. It will be a little harder for Damian and Solange, as they need to be married before they can get baptized, but Damian´s sister, Nadia can be ready very soon to be baptized. She will be moving to Argentina with her parents in July, but has said that she wants to be baptized before. She has come to church the past two weeks, and it is very cool to see her progress. Well, the whole family in fact! Damian and Solange have a goal to be married as soon as they can, which will probably be in Argentina. They as well want to move back to Argentina sometime this summer, which is something so bittersweet for us, just because we wouldn´t be able to see them get baptized and married. But, that really isn´t important, what is important is that they are growing closer to christ, and will be baptized one day. Teaching them has really helped me to see the importance of Families to God. He really does love our families, and gives us the Gospel to strengthen our families here on Earth, and give us the ability to live with them forever after this earthy experience.

Other than that, we are working on finding quite a bit, like always! This month is the month of invitation here in Spain, and it is cool to see the effort put in by the members to help find people to teach. Elder Gentry spoke in churchyesterday, and I will be speaking this week, so wish me luck!

The birthday was awesome! Haha, he totally surprised me with the cake. He wasn´t able to get the baby picture on it, but it really is the thought that counts. Haha, it was cool to see that you guys were thinking of me as well that day, through a picture of me years ago. :)

Only two weeks left in this transfer, and I really hope that I don´t go! I love being here and serving the people of the canary islands. 

I love you! And I thank you for all that you do for me!

Your son and brother,

Élder Rawlinson

May 18

Dear Family,

I hope that things in Chicago are going great! I would love to see some pictures!

First off, wish a happy birthday to Ethan! Happy birthday E! I hope that everything is going good on your big 15! I can hardly believe that you are already 15, time goes by so fast! Have fun getting your permit, and be careful on the roads!

So, I haven´t gotten the package yet, but I am excited to get it sometime this week! This week has been good out here! We haven´t had the car for the last little while, but we should be getting it sometime this week. Haha, so we have been "real" missionaries for the past couple of weeks. Getting plenty of exercise and sun. Just wanted to tell you real quick about an experience that we had this week. About three weeks ago, we met a guy named Damian in the hair cutter´s. He is 23 years old and from Argentina, he has a daughter named Emily, and he lives with his girlfriend named Solange. When we met, he told us that he had been to our church a couple of times while he was living in Argentina years ago. He was very willing to meet with us, and as we started to teach him, we realized that he had a lot of desires to know God. He didn´t have a huge religous backround, but he has a lot of faith, and is very humble. Before this week, we didn´t see his girlfriend, as she works all day everyday, and he stays home with Emily. Since he is at home all day, we can visit him pretty much any time of the day. On saturday, we were going to visit him just after lunch, but we were invited to a town up in the mountains to eat lunch with a member. That went a little longer than usual, so we decided to pass by Damian a little latter. When we got to his house, Solange there! She had gotten off of work early just for Saturday to be home with Damian, and we got there only a few minutes after her! We were able to teach both of them about Joseph Smith again, and she had a very good experience! She says she has seen a change in Damian, and that she as well interested in the Book of Mormon. We have talked to them about marraige, but it will be very difficult for them. We will be with them as we continue to teach them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.This experience really helped me to see the way that God knows what needs to happen. He knew that we needed to meet with Solange, and provided us with the way to do it. 

Other than that, things are going very good here! I am happy to be out serving the Lord, and very grateful for all of the blessings that he gives me every day. I love all of you, and hope that you are enjoying life back in the States!

Love,

Élder Rawlinson

May 11

Dear Family,

I am so happy that I got a chance to see you yesterday! You all look so great, and I can tell that you are having fun back home. It was also nice to see the new little fuzzy member of the family as well. I am definitely having fun out here! Even more so now with Elder Gentry! He is a little bit of a goofy guy, but, so am I! Haha, we are having a lot of fun.

Hmmm, "uplifting" In Spanish? I´m not really sure that there is a direct translation. You could say, "espiritual" for "spiritual", but I´m not really sure what else it could be.

One interesting experience that we had about a week ago, was something that I did not expect to have on my mission in Spain. We met with a evangelical pastor from Africa, and taught in English. It was very..... difficult. :) Luckily, we got our whole message in, but we got to listen to quite a bit about the bible. The bible is a very good book, and we believe that it is true, "as far as it is translated correctly". This is where the Book of Mormon is so important. It is the most perfect book on the earth, and can help us get closer to Christ so much. That experience definitley strengthened my testimony of the Book of Mormon immensely.

Hey, here is my address:

Calle Zonzama 3#15, 4D

35110, Vecindario

Gran Canaria

España

Thank you so much for everything, and I look forward to talking to you next week.

Love, 

Élder Rawlinson

Happy Birthday Aubrey

Family!

How have you been lately! This was one of the first weeks that I did not recieve an email from you, but that is probably my fault, as I never really write at a consistent time. Things have been very good here lately, and we have been able to find quite a few new investigators. Haha, just the other day, we were walking down the street, and a man in his car stopped in the middle of this narrow spanish street, and asked us if we were Jehovah´s Witnesses (you would be surprised how much we get that here) and we informed him that we weren´t and that we would love to talk to him. He gave us his phone number, and we have an appointment to meet with him tonight. Haha, the miracles that we recieve from the Lord surprise us sometimes. I have really been enjoying working with Élder Gentry, and I look forward to working with him even more over the next while.

So, first off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUBREY! I can´t believe that you are already 8 years old! I hope that your birthday is amazing, and your baptism as well. Also, as this Sunday is Mothers day, we will have an oppritunity to skype home that night. We have set up a time with a member at 8 oclock here, which would be 1 PM back home. I was thinking that would probably be perfect for you right after church. We will just do the same thing as Christmas, and I will call you around that 1 oclock back home. I can´t believe that mothers day is already here! It feels like Christmas was just 2 weeks ago!

That´s about it for this week! Thank you so much Family! Just also wanted to ask you again what your opinion is on the mission flash drive. 

I love you so much, and I can´t wait to see you this Sunday!

Élder Rawlinson

First Baptism in Canaries

My dearest Familia,

Well, I´m not sure if I let you know about it before, but I had my first baptism in the Islas Canarias on Saturday! Haha, it was so awesome! Her name is Laura, and she is the younger sister of a recently activated member named Fabio. Their family is from Portugal, but they have lived in different parts of Spain for the past 8 years or so. He was baptized about that long ago, but lost contact with the church. When they moved to Vecindario 6 months ago, they spent a couple of those months not going to church. In January, Fabio was walking down the street in front of the chapel, and saw the my old companion and his comp walking down the street. He faintly recognized them, and felt like he needed to talk to them. He then started his reactivation, and now is the member that helps the missionaries the most. He is such an amazing person, and so is his sister. She absolutely loved her baptism, and will be such a good member!

Élder Gentry and I are making good progress as well, finding new investigators, and committing others to baptism. We have learned even more the importance of obedience, as we set goals to be better. We can see the blessing that are coming, and we are so happy! I absolutely love working with Elder Gentry, and I look forward to serving even more people with him! 

I am having a great time here, and I am learning soooo much! I can´t even tell you! It sure is difficult, but I love it! It was very weird hitting 6 months a couple weeks ago, and I don´t know about you, but I can see time starting to speed up!

So, I have a little bit of news. Not sure if it is bad. But, remember a couple of weeks ago when you sent me those tax forms? I put the copies on a flash drive, and sent them to you, but after that, I believe that I have lost the flash drive. I have been a little worried about that, and praying and looking for it all over the place. It has not turned up, so I have a feeling that someone took it. I don´t know if there is anything we can do about that, but I thought that it would be good to let you know. I was a little worried, as those forms have my SSN on them.

Well, on that note, it was good to talk to you guys! I love you all so much, and cant wait to see you in 17 months!

Élder Rawlinson

PS So, in that package that you are sending, along with the CD of the classical MoTab music and that tie, could you also send me a CD with the music from conference on it? I was especially pleased with the music that was performed, so it would be great to have a copy. Thanks Mom and Dad!

April 27, 2014

Hello there Familia! 

Just wanted to let you know that I did get the letter! Thank you so much, and it couldn´t have come at a better time! The day after I completed 6 months! Things are going pretty great here!

Here, they celebrate La Semana Santa (Holy Week) So, all of the kids were off of school. It was pretty much like their spring break, so there were quite a few people out of town. Among trying to find new investigators, as always, we have started to work more with the members in the ward. We have such a good ward here! Just yesterday, we drove out a couple minutes towards the mountains to visit a member named Francisco. He is 80 years old, and him and his wife are members of about 20 years. He is an amazing person that knows so much about.. well, everything! It was great to visit him and talk about the savior with a faithful member of the Church on Easter. 

One concept that I have learned a little bit more of over this Easter Week, is that Christ lives. It is something that I had always heard my whole life, but not really thought about what that really means. Being in a catholic country, there are quite a few people that have their crosses, and we have talked to some that are curious why our church doesn´t have any crosses or images of the death of the Savior. The reason why we don´t, is because we focus on his resurrection. Yes, he died, but more importantly, he was resurrected! This has so many implications for us. Him, being the first to receive this great privilege, then gave it to each and every one of us. Jesus Christ lives. I know that. I know that more right now than I have ever before. I know that he directs this church through revelation to his prophet Thomas S. Monson. I love Him, and I love you.

Thank you so much for everything you do for me.

¡Os quiero! Que Dios os bendiga.

Élder Rawlinson

PS. In the name Lucia, the accent would be on the ci. I hope that she is doing good! I would love to see some more pictures of here!

April 14

Dear family,

We had a crazy Pday, so I don´t have too much time to send a message.

Just wanted to let you know, thank you so much! I got that page, and I will be looking forward to getting that in the mail. We have been having such a good time here with Elder Gentry. He is such a great missionary, and such a good friend. I am so happy to see all of the news from home, and I promise that I will send a longer email next week. I love you! 

Elder Rawlinson

PS If you want to send a package within the next week or two, you can go ahead and send it to my address here in the islands. I should be here for a while. :)

General Conference

Hello All!

I hope that your General conference weekend was fantastic! It definitely was for me. It was very interesting to see how much they focused on the youth this time. We need to stand strong. There will be more and more opposition to the chruch as time progresses, so for this we need to fortalize ourselves. I really enjoyed listening to Elder Packers talk, and seeing him bear strong testimony about the restoration of the gospel. One of my other favorites as well was the talk from Elder Bednar, and the story that he related about the truck. How, sometimes, our loads have to get heavier to have enough spiritual traction. I believe that is what he said. Haha, it is a little different listening to Conference in Spanish.

The past week has been very good! We have been meeting new people to teach, and getting a few investigators ready for baptism. My companion is awesome! His name is Elder Gentry and he is from orange county California! He has been in the mission for about 9 months, and he is such a hard worker. I am already learning so much from him, and I am excited to see the work that we do here in Vecindario.

So, quick question. When you say that you want to come back to Spain after, do you want to wait until after I get home, or still come pick me up? I was just a little confused. Haha, either way, I can´t believe how fast time has gone! I have been out for almost 6 months! Already! Haha, sometimes time goes a little slow, but most of the time, it just flies. Thank you so much for the paper work! I will get that copy to you in a couple of minutes here. When it is accepted, can you email it to me? That would be the best option, but if not, If you could just send it to me as fast as you can by mail. Thanks! I love you all! And have fun with the new dog!

Love,

Élder Rawlinson

March 24, 2014

Hey Family! Looks like there are lots of cool things going on at home! Congrats Dad on the ordination! I know that you and Mom will both do so amazing at your callings. 

The past week has been pretty good out here in the Islands! We are getting ready to have two baptisms on Saturday, and I will let you know how that goes next week. Haha, you are right that I always try to be positive about the mission in the emails. Like you already now, the mission is incredibly difficult, and I guess that it would be helpful to share some difficulties with you as well. Actually, right now, me and my companion are going through some rough times with our investigators, so we are spending some more time out in the street looking for more. This is something that is very hard for me at times. Naturally, I am not a very outgoing person, and speaking in another language that I don´t feel entirely comfortable in makes it a little worse. Slowly by slowly, I am overcoming my difficulty, but it is very hard some days. For me, one thing that gives me comfort are the words of Moroni in Ether 12. God gives us weakness so that we can become strong. If we come unto him he will show us what our weakness is and how we can defeat it. Keep me in your prayers, because at times, I could really use the strength.

Don´t let me get down though!!! Because with all of the hard times, come rewarding results! The mission has made me so happy! And I can hardly believe that it is almost a quarter of the way done. Good luck on the country report Devin! You have picked the best country to talk on! If there is one cultural thing that is prevalent here, it is fútbol! It is the thing that unites and divides people that have never even seen each other before. In fact, the Real Madrid, Barcelona game was on last night, and just let me tell you, people LOVE their team.

With love,

Your son and brother,

Élder Kaleb Rawlinson 

Hello Everyone! I thought I would make a group message to let you all know that I arrived in my new area. The Canary Islands!!!!!! Crazy right! I am in Vecindario, on the Gran Canaria. It is a fairly large city, and we have a ward here! It is a small ward, and very young as well. The Canary Islands Stake was formed only 6 months ago, and everything in the ward of Vecindario is finally getting settled. My new companion let me know that pretty much every week, we are translating sacrament meeting, as there are some members from Norway that live in the South of the island, and some other people that speak English as well. I had my first experience in translating during sunday school yesterday. It is so exhausting! Haha, but I know that it will improve my Spanish skills. We have quite a few investigators who speak english as well, so I have gotten to teach in English for the first time this week. Haha, so weird! I was so used to doing it in Spanish!

As you might expect, the weather is a little warmer here. Haha, not just a little, a lot. Pretty much every day gets to at least 18 degrees. (Which, I believe is in the high 60s?) The members actually say that it has been rather cold lately, but to me, that is a lot better than the weather in Asturias. I sure do miss Avilés, and especially the people. But, I know that they are in good hands with that awesome branch. 

Well, besides that. Not much else to report. I know why it is called the canary islands, as we can pretty much always here birds chirping. Hmmm, what else is different. Oh, there are cockroaches! Haha, that took a little while to get used to. The first night I was here, I opened a drawer in the bathroom, and saw one just chillin there. Haha, that scared me quite a bit, but I am understanding a little of what my dad experienced in the Philippines on his mission! Uhm, the buses are called guagua´s instead of buses. Haha, and we have a car! It´s a little strange, but I have been able to drive again! (It is a manual, thank goodness.) Since I have been here for less than six months, I can use my US drivers licence. Also, my companion doesn´t really like driving stick, so I get to drive pretty much everywhere!

Well, I think that's about it. I love it here! It is so gorgeous, and me and my companion are already having success with our investigators. 

Until next week!

Élder Rawlinson

Here are a few photos of the past little while:

The first is a picture of the plane from Madrid to The Islands.

The next two are pictures of Vecindario

And then one of me with a cute little cucaracha on my shoe.

And the last three are pictures of a small town called Santa Lucia that is in our area.

Kaleb's first transfer....wait for it...

Hello family!

I don´t have very much time, because I have just arrived in the Islands! From what I can tell, the weather is fantastic, and the work as well. I just wanted to let you know that I have arrived safely in vecindario, on the island Gran Canaria. It has been a very long day of flights and train rides, but I am here and ready to get to work mañana!

Thank you so much for your support! I love you!

Élder Rawlinson

February 9th

Dear Family,

This week, I will have been out for 4 months! Woah! How time flies. What people say about the mission is really true. The weeks are very long, but the months are very short. I will also be finishing my training in the 12 week program after this week, and the new transfer starts next week. It will be interesting to see if anything changes. There is a chance that I could go to another area, but I could also stay here in Avilés. I will find out on Saturday, and then changes happen on next Monday. I am very excited and very nervous at the same time. I don´t want to leave Avilés yet, but mostly I don´t want to leave the people here. A change would be very exciting as well, but we will see what happens!

I can´t believe that Mark is going to be home in a month! It seems like so many crazy things are happening now that I am out here. Speaking of that, how is JB doing? Is he living with his parents now that he is home?

I love Mosiah 3:19. That scripture really sums up our purpose here on earth, to put off the natural man. I love how much the scriptures can help us our own lives. And I really understand why we are always told to read them daily. I read over John 9 this morning in my personal study, which is the story of Christ healing the blind man on the Sabbath. I absolutely love this story, and how we can relate it to our experience on earth. Just like this blind man, we are born with a veil, so that we can´t perceive everything spiritually, that we need to learn for ourselves how to put off the natural man, and become a saint. It is through Christ that we can see again, and I am so grateful for that.

That's about it family! You guys are fantastic! I carry that second photo that you sent me in my bag to show investigators and members, and they absolutely love it. I love you all. I look forward to spending eternity with each of you.

Your son/brother,

Élder Rawlinson

PS. In your next package, could you please send me something? Can you send me a copy of that Mormon tabernacle album that we have in iTunes? The one with the classical music? Thank you!

This is a picture taken above the town of Oviedo, Spain

February 2, 2014

Hello Family!

I did get that money! And when I get a chance, I will exchange it for Euros. That is so cool to hear about Donelle! I´m so glad that she got a job, and that Noah is going to PG! Tell him to say hi to some of my teachers and friends while he is there!

The past week was awesome! We had a Reigonal conference that was presided over by Elder Ballard, and transmitted to all of the members in Spain, Portugal, and Cape Verde. It was awesome! We had to take a bus to Gijon, a larger city about 30 minutes away to watch it in their capilla. All of the members in the district of León were there to watch the conference. It really focused on member missionary work, but we still learned quite a bit there. We had the chance to meet with president Jackson and have interviews. I am so grateful for him and his great example for us.

Today, we went to Covadonga, which is a little pueblo in the mountains of Asturias. It is so gorgeous, I will send pictures next week! To sum up though, we met a pony, and I drank from a fountain seven times to ensure that I will be married soon. I don´t know if it still works if I will be on a mission for the next 20 months. Haha, probably not. :)

I know I say this almost every week, but I am so grateful for this chance that I have to serve a mission. I have learned soooo much about the Gospel, and about myself. It is definitely difficult. But when I remember my family supporting me spiritually at home, it is much easier. Thank you for all you do! 

Love you so much!

Élder Rawlinson

This is Kaleb and his companion, Elder Parkinson, above the mountains in Oviedo in front of the Christo statue