Companion Loss Grief Syndrome

This week has been up and down and kinda all over the place. Saying goodbye to Hermana Zapata was hard and I miss her a ton! I'm officially in a trio. Hnas Buno and Stradling have been really nice about it so it's honestly not as bad as I was expecting. But it is more difficult to coordinate 3 people's wants and needs and ideas than 2 for sure. But it's good! Teaching is easier mostly because you have an extra person to stare at until they start talking when you run out of things to say!

In Relief Society each week we have a guest speaker so no we don't use the manual, and yes the devotional from Elder Oaks was broadcast to all the MTC's in the world! Yes I'm in choir for each one cause it's the best and you just show up to practice, and actually apparently they panned across me singing during the Elder Oaks devotional so Jason in Mexico might have seen me. 

There’s not a point where we're not allowed to speak English but our teachers are telling us we need to speak if more because the hardest part is forcing yourself to use it when English just comes out so much easier.

We're officially moving tomorrow! Which means I have to pack everything today, yay. We're all pretty excited for a change of scenery though! I checked today and they said mail sent to my current address will forward so whatever.

I have a new found testimony of gym-time (yes I just said that). One of the days this week was just so hard and hna stradling and I were so frustrated and overwhelmed so we sprinted on ellipticals next to each other and ranted and it felt soo good. I really like her, she's the hermana here I can be the most 'real' with, if that makes sense. 

Also this week was our first week in the TRC (teaching resource center) which was AMAZING!!! We shared a message about God's love to people (who were being themselves, not investigators) and like everyone started crying basically and the spirit was so strong. So that was awesome and then during music and the spoken word they were going across the aisle of men in the choir singing and we were like WAIT that's the man we taught!!! hahaha so we taught a lesson to a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir! in which he cried. Not that that's the ultimate goal, but still. :)

love you all a ton!!! Also sorry this letter isn't very spiritual, we've had some amazing talks and experiences I promise!! This is definitely Christ's church on the earth and I can see His hand in it everyday.

lots of love,

Hermana Rawlins

me and hermana zapata before she left!

new companionship!!

me and my mole day package!! let's not talk about how chubby i look the mtc diet is killer

My outfit when hermana buno told me i could totally pull off being at hogwarts - probably the best compliment I've gotten in my whole life :)

me and hna sparacino from efy (especially for youth)

In the Swing of Things

It's so good to hear from all of you!

I'm doing well here!! I've gotten more into the swing of things and am still loving it! The worst thing right now is that Hermana Zapata is leaving early tomorrow morning so I have to say goodbye to her and get put in a trio. We're really really going to miss each other and so it's hard saying goodbye because she's just the best. It's crazy how much you can love someone after only 12 days (It's really only been 12 days?!?!)

Elder Oaks was the speaker for the devotional on Tuesday and the best part was feeling a rush of the Spirit as soon as he walked into the room. The Spirit here is just so so incredible. 

It's official that we're moving to another MTC campus, I think next week. Apparently there are some pros and cons to the different campus so it'll be interesting to see how it is! One of the cons being that 12 girls are in the same apartment sharing 2 bathrooms. But I'm happy here and loving it so it's all good! It doesn't sound like my address will change but I'm not sure.

This week we start teaching 2 new 'investigators' and that's still the most stressful thing for me with Spanish so that should be interesting! Also the past couple days I've been nicely reminded that almost all of the Elders here are 18. And I don't necessarily like the way they go about doing some things. But then I was like "wait, compared to all of the other 18 guys on the planet it's really really amazing that they're here". Mostly just working with people in general is hard sometimes cause I like my way and I think it's a good way hahaha :) *but I do have to include an exception to that about the Elders in my district because they're all super mature and amazing and we hermanas are really spoiled having them around.

No word on visas yet! Sounds like I'm in pretty good shape with mine though because two missionaries in my district haven't even mailed theirs in yet (what?!). So yeah I'm not too worried about that.

Have you guys watched the new Mormon message God's greatest creation? It's my favorite thing ever. Watch it!! Also we watched President Uchtdorf's quote about creation and talked about how the more we rely on the Spirit, the greater our capacity to create things. Not necessarily crafts and stuff, but like smiles and good relationships and testimonies. Creativity is the capacity to change-- Creation is improvement. And so as we let the Gospel work in our lives, we are improving and creating better versions of ourselves.

I love you all and I love this work and I pray for you every time I say a prayer! Cause familia is a super easy word to remember :)

Lots of love,

Hermana Rawlins

Learning and Laughing

Hello family!

It sounds like you guys are all doing so well! Elisa asked if I get dear elder's (dearelder.com letters) on the same day. It depends. They're not delivered over the weekends, and I only get mail when my district leader checks it. Which is after lunch & dinner, but dear elders basically only show up in the mailboxes for his dinnertime check. And sometimes he forgets, like I don't think he checked yesterday. So long story short I'll usually get them the night you mail them. I have like zero time to write letters so sorry for lumping all you into a mass letter but I figure it's better than nothing!

Dad, Sunday was the best! The devotional speaker was Brother Heaton, the administrative director of the MTC and he talked all about the Holy Ghost. And choir is the greatest. Yesterday we sang for Elder Oaks!! Hna. Zapata's understands pretty much everything but has a hard time forming sentences like me. But we make a pretty good team because she knows what's going on and I have a better memorized vocab so we help each other out. I love her so much! Teaching together in Spanish is scary but we manage with the Spirit. It's so amazing to see that working. It doesn't make us perfect speakers (darn) but we are given what to say in the moment, enough to get the message across.

The first time we taught I got stuck trying to say "remember how you feel when you pray" and then all of a sudden I was saying "what is in your heart when you pray". So that's how the Spirit's been working for me, breaking things down into simpler ideas. We really like singing to our investigator (she's really our teacher just getting to know us through our teaching), so we've done that a few times & it really brings the Spirit. Music is the best!

The devotional from Elder Oaks was amazing! Sister Oaks spoke first and she said, "It is your time. It is your test, and it will be your triumph." She also said to keep our promises & find the people we promised to find before we came here. Then Elder Oaks spoke & it was actually really interesting what he spoke about. He identified 3 things that make this church the only true & living church on earth. Because Christ has given us:

1. The fullness of His doctrine

2. The power of His priesthood

3. Our unique testimony of Christ.

He said that the declaration from God during the First Vision condemned the creeds of other religions but NOT their faithful seekers. God has given us nothing that should make us arrogant or superior to other churches. But we do have the fullness of Christ’s doctrine, and this church is LIVING because of a prophet who continues to communicate with the Lord. So our invitation is “come & see how we can add to your truth.”

NOOO I just found out that Hna. Zapata got her visa & is leaving on Tues. Estámos muy tristes. It’s amazing how much you can love someone after only knowing them for a week. To do Anne of Green Gables proud, we’re definitely kindred spirits. I’m going to miss her a ton. Today we taught a lesson & she wanted to start with a joke, so she tried & accidentally asked the investigator “Why did you die?” We laughed for like 5 minutes with the investigator before we could finally keep a straight face to say the opening prayer. It feels good to not take yourself too seriously. 

Oh Alli I really hope you’re saving these letters because I want them when I’m back por favor. It’s pretty much write you guys letters or write in my journal so in an effort to keep you updated my journal is lacking. It’s actually really hard to find time to write letters & still be invested in the work, so please be patient with me!

Yes Mom, my schedule is very full! During gym time me & the hermanas like to go out to the field & play fútbol, or when the field’s frozen sand volleyball, which is actually pretty funny when it’s freezing. We also like to go to the indoor gym & play volleyball with the guys in our district. All of the sisters in my district are in the same dorm room, but it’s not too bad crowded-wise. We’re basically never in our room except to sleep. I should ask you guys to pray for things more often, because I’m feeling so much better! íGracias!  I have tons to study so I’m going to go but I love you all mucho! I miss you guys but I know I’m exactly where I need to be and I love it!

Mucho Amor,

Hermana Rawlins

P.S. Pray for me as Hna. Zapata leaves because I really don’t want to be in a trio but I will be. 

In Good Hands

We woke up this morning to a surprise email from Amanda’s Branch President at the MTC. We’re grateful to know she is in good hands! 

Thank you for sharing your daughter with us. She's amazing! We just love her. We'll take good care of her.

Love,

Brother and Sister Price