First sick day on the Mission

Hello Family!

Well, many bits of news this week! First off.....(drumroll)..... I have bronchitis!!!! Haha, whooooo! It came very recently. Earlier this week, me and Elder Díaz had a little bit of a cough, but nothing bad. It got a little worse this weekend, so we went to the doctor today, and its official! I will be at home for the next day or so, and taking an antibiotic. Haha, great stuff! Also, another new thing. I have a new companion! Elder Díaz left to go to a little town called Cuenca, and I am now with Elder Peña. He is also from Peru, but is a lot less American. ;) He doesn´t speak too much English, so we will be getting by in Spanish. This is the first time time that I have a native speaking companion, so I am hoping that my Spanish improves even more!

Thank you so much for sending the videos. Haha, the one of Devin getting attacked by Lucy is hillarious! It looks sooooo beautiful out there!!!! I actually miss the snow. You guys know that winter is my least favorite season, but I have grown to miss the beauty of the snow. Because, usually here, it is just cold, and there is no snow. But! Guess what! Elder Díaz and I were up packing, and we look out the window to find the big white stuff falling out the window! I will try and attach a picture! It has all pretty much melted off by now, but it was great to just see it falling!

Well, there ya go! That is pretty much my week for you. It was difficult, but I am very excited to work with Elder Peña out here. I love all of you so much!

Elder Rawlinson

PS A couple of favors.

Could you send me Alex´s email address? It turns out that I don´t have it.

Also, this week I found a painting that I really love. It is called The Saints Embark in Liverpool, or something like that, and it is by Ken Baxter. Could you email be the best quality one you can find on the internet? I would like to print it out and keep it. 

Oh, that reminds me. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about family history. If you could, can you maybe get some stories of how our ancestors came to know the gospel. That would be great!

Living a fairy tale - TOLEDO!!!

Well folks. Today, I fulfilled one of my lifelong dreams. Well, not really lifelong, but since I got my mission call. (But, oh boy... That sure feels like a lifetime ago. Yet, yesterday at the same time.) We took a journey to Toledo. This medieval city was the capital of the kingdom here in Spain until the early 1500s. Where, after much moving, it ended up in Madrid. It is gorgeous! Before the mission, I drempt of going to its winding streets. Seeing its cathedrals. And just being there! And, it finally happened today! Just wanted to send y'all(sorry, my companion is from the south. (: ) some pictures of this very epic day!

I want to let all of you know that I am doing well. Even though I am one of those missionaries who is not very good at writing, I wanted to thank you for all of the support you give. For the prayers that are given on my behalf. The mission is rough! And I am so grateful for the energy and strength that I receive from each one of you back home! This church is true. The gospel changes lives. And, our Father in heaven only wants us to be happy.

Awkward week after Christmas

Well, here we are! In the awkward week after Christmas. Haha, it is very interesting for us missionaries, especially as we are going to be having an extra awkward week until Three Kings Day. But, we are doing the best we can. :)

It was great to be able to see you on Christmas! You guys look like you are doing great! Since then, there hasn´t been too much new stuff. We did have a Christmas party on Saturday. It went very well! We were able to bring some investigators, and have a great time! We met some new people that we could be teaching soon! Including, one woman from the Philipines. I´ll keep you updated on that! 

Well, that´s about all of the time that I have for today. :) I love you all! So very much! keep pushing forward! I pray for you all of the time!

Elder Rawlinson

Thanksgiving was great

Dear Family, 

Well, thanksgiving is not a huge thing out here in Spain, so we actually didn´t have a big feast. But, I did actually have a very cool Thanksgiving experience. As a mission, about two months ago, President Jackson asked us to start reading the Book of Mormon, so that we finish by December 23. So, last week, I was reading in Helaman, and I came to Helaman 12. One of my favorite things about the Book of Mormon, is that I can read a chapter, and just get a specific feeling about the message of that chapter. I know that it comes from the Spirit, and it always helps my testimony to grow so much. While I was reading Helaman 12, I just got the distinct feeling of gratefulness. It was so amazing! In this chapter, it proceeds to explain something that I like to call "The Book of Mormon Syndrome" The Nephites are always falling into iniquity, just years after they were converted. Why!?!?! It is because they aren´t suficiently grateful. If we feel true gratitude, and give thanks to God in every moment, he blesses us, and we will always remember his hand in our lives. We will avoid falling into the Nephite Cycle, and continually grow in humility and faith.

Well, the investigators are all going great! Rodry might be getting baptized this weekend, but it looks like he will need just a little more time. Thank you so much for the prayers on my behalf, and on his behalf as well. He has really progressed over the past couple of weeks, we just need to help him overcome a couple more doubts.

Thank you so much for all of the support that you give to me. Just a real quick favor that I could ask. Could you get a couple of emails of teachers that I randomly remembered this week. First, my english teacher in High School, Mrs. Gallagher, and then my Junior High Spanish teacher, Mr. Palmer.(The one that Ethan had in Junior High.) Thank you so much! They were an amazing influence in my life, and I want to let them know what is going on right now! 

I love you, so much! This is the las week of the transfer, so I could be writing you next week from another area! 

Love,

Elder Rawlinson

Futbol

Dear Family,

Well, things are going great! I will just start off with saying that the Atletico game was awesome! I am including some pictures, so you can see me in normal clothes. ;) The Atletico Stadium, El Vicente Calderón, is just barely on the outside of our area, on the other side of the river. The Real Madrid Stadium, El Santiago Bernabeu is on the North side of the city, and we are on the Southwest side. It was a great experience! And, just so you know, they won, 3-1. Also, I am atatching a picture of a little market that is here in our area, it´s called Ethan, and I thought chuck would enjoy it. :)

Well, to answer your other questions, we will start with Rodry. We have set another baptismal date with him for the 5th of December. It is really up for him to do his part, and we will be here ready for him to help him take the step. Like I have been asking recently, if you could keep him, and us, in your prayers, it would be great!

Adam is amazing! We had our first official lesson with him, and he might be one of the most prepared people I have seen! He used to be muslim, but now is really just looking for the truth. He has tried many different churches, and even said that he "tried out Athiesm for a while" The one thing that really impresses him about our church is that we encourage people to find answers for themselves. He said that every other church, or group of people in general, that he has seen has tried to convince him that they were right. It is really such an amazing promise that Moroni gives to us, that if we want to know the truth of anything, we can ask God. So, Adam is doing great! One of the only issues that we are having is that he is verrrrrrry busy, but we will do our best to help him progress!

I don´t want to say that it wasn´t a huge surprise that Simba passed away, but I had a feeling that he probably wasn´t going to make it two years when I left. I will always remember him as a great friend! He will go down in history as the coolest cat on the block. ;) I am also glad that he has someone there to kind of take his place.

To answer your other questions, no, I didn´t know any of the sisters who just went home very well. Also, I am very happy to hear that you are keeping updated on Lexi! We have actually been writing every week since I left, but I am very glad to hear that you are hearing from her.

Well, that´s about it! I love all of you!

Elder Rawlinson

PS If you could, it would be nice to have money on my card from home. There aren´t any big purchases I´m planning on making, but it is always nice to have it there just in case.

November already

Family!!!!!

Well, today was an exciting Pday! We went down to the center of Madrid to go to a restaurant called Tierra Burrito Bar. Haha, it is JUST like Chipotle! There is not too much mexican food out here, but man, the one we went to today was Really good! Haha, it was also in a part of town where there are a lot of American college students, and that restaurant is really popular among them. Haha, walking into the restaurant felt like I was going back to the US. Almost everyone was speaking in English. But, I´m proud to say, that I ordered in Spanish. :) We also went to Sol, in the center of Madrid to explore a little. Fun day!

Well, this week has been a good one! My first week with Elder Weixler, and we are enjoying it. Haha, he is a great guy, and we definitley had a good time this week. It was a little difficult, in the fact that a ton of the lessons we had set up, canceled. But, we still tried to do the best we could with what we had! Sometimes, you just get lots of new investigators, and you think that you can progress with at least some of them, but sometimes, well I guess always, we are out searching for new ones!

We also had our Fiesta de las Naciones on Saturday. It was sooooo cool! Haha, the Americans actually started out the preformance with a rousing rendition of the "cotton eyed joe dance" Haha, then things got a whole lot more serious. :) Peruvians, Ecuatorians, Bolivians, and even a Dominican! And then, we watched tourist videos of a few more countries that are represented in our ward, such as Colombia, Paraguay, and Chile. Oh, of course we can´t forget the Spaniards. It was fantastic to see all of the culture that exists here in Spain. Food, dance, and just a plain old good time. I will send you some pictures!

Well, I think that is about it. As far as Christmas present desires, I feel it apropriate to quote a popular Christmas song, "All I want for Christmas, is you!" Haha, but just a few more months! I don´t need anything special, but scarves and ties never hurt anybody. :) 

I love you all, so much!! Oh, and Ethan, careful with those bones!

Sincerely,

Elder Rawlinson