2/4/2016 Homecoming~
Sister Mackenzie Rawlings returned from her Montreal Canada Mission. She arrived in the Salt Lake City Airport with three other sisters. Family and friends greeted her. When asked where she wanted to go, "to get some Mexican food and to tour the Provo Tabernacle Temple". Disneyland was no where in the answer.

2/1/2016
My Dear Family and Friends!

Where has the time gone! As I am reminiscing on the past 18 months of my mission there has been a phrase that keeps coming back to my mind... Je Me Souviens. 

This is one of the first phrases that I learned in French on my mission. Everywhere in Quebec you see it, predominately on every Quebec Licence plate. The direct translations is "I me remember" or "I remember." Looking back on my mission and seeing familiar faces of missionaries, members-I feel like I'm saying a lot of, "Je Me Souviens" 

Looking back on the past 18 months it has been quite an adventure. Filled with excitement, faith overcoming fear, challenges, laughing so hard until your crying, feeling the Spirit guide you and seeing and helping peoples life change. I'm not gonna sugar coat it, its been one of the hardest and growing times of my life but looking back

Last District Meeting.

​I wouldn't change it for anything. I have such a testimony that the Lord has guided me in my mission and that he gave me the experiences to help me become who I am supposed to be and even more he allowed me to play a small sliver in helping others in recognizing and going towards their true potential as children of God.  

Though this one chapter of my life is ending, this is just another chapter of the beautiful story of life..... and on to another adventure!

Love Sister Rawlings

P.S.  And of course  I have to thank you all-it wouldn't have  been the same without all of your faithful examples, letters, emails, and encouragement! So thank you!

1/25/2016

Hi Everyone! 

It was an extremely busy week! Between an exchange, preparing for a zone training for a Zone Conference and a Missionary Broadcast it was very busy! It was really amazing though because Wednesday night we were trying to put together the last of our training and about 15 minutes before we were to go to sleep we decided that we shouldn't use the power-point or the object lesson that we had prepared. It was a little stressful because the next morning we had to than re-prepare it the next morning. But by the time we got to Zone Conference, we were sure that it was what the Spirit wanted. That is a main thing that I learned this week-there comes a point when you just have get out of the way so the Spirit can do its job, and just be the vessel or the instrument in the Lord's hand.

The Metro

Exchanges with Sister Ferell

St. Joseph's Cathedral in the background

Sisters in the Zone- Sister' Dexter, Tehemetai, Schuerch, Me, shelly, carpenter, Sheehy, Dorado, Ferell

I saw this while on an exchange in Montreal with Sister Ferell. We were on buses and Metros all day and on one bus we started talking about the gospel to this woman named Elizabeth. We then bore our testimony about the gospel and then she said something that was just a confirmation that we truly are just instruments in the hands of the Lord. She said, "Funny I should meet you today because just a few days ago I bought a Book of Mormon at a Salvation Army Thrift store. I've been very curious about your religion." We then both had to get off the bus to connect to the metro but before parting ways she expressed to us her desire to know what is after this life.

​We were able to briefly explain what happens next, bear testimony and give her the Plan of Salvation Pamphlet. It was such a testimony to me that she had been placed in the path and prepared by the Lord to receive his message.

I love you all!

Sister Rawlings

1/11/2016

Salut a tous!

      Looking back at the last week, I don't even know where to begin! So much has happened!  We had training, exchanges, finding-O MY!  We've been working with our amazing investigator Glorie, who is getting baptized on Saturday!

      This week, something I have really come to notice is the importance of trials. Yes, I said it! I am grateful for trials, I may not like them but I am grateful for them. Yes, they are hard and exhausting but that is why we are on earth-to experience. And to be honest when all is said and done my trials have brought me much closer to God than I would of been without them. Through the sad, discouraging and exhausting days I have come to develop a much stronger relationship with him because I had to rely on him. So at the end of the day, yes they may be hard but if my trials are the price that I must pay to know, and I mean truly know God. Is it really too much to pay? 

        I love you a lot! I hope you have a wonderful week! 

Love,

 Sister Rawlings

Just catching up on some sleep! :-)

Haitian New years soup! Made by our Investigator Glorie! So Good!

1/4/2015

Hello everyone!
Hope you had a terrific New Year's Eve! While reflecting on the past year I realized that 2015 is the year that I was able to give my life in service to the Lord. It holds a special place in my heart. All in all, I feel like it really helped me BECOME who God wants me to be. It was a year full of learning and progressing. A hard year, but a year filled with so much growth and experience. Tender memories fill this year, like when this week we taught a woman about Christ Suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and her weeping as she realized what that meant for her. Seeing our investigator Glorie share of her first experience of when she knew that God loved her or teaching a new man-Farid, who after looking for peace and truth for over two years has committed to be baptized in March. It's experiences like this that makes 2015 one to always be remembered in me BECOMING who I am today! 

I love you all, and hope you have a fabulous week! 

Love

Soeur Rawlings

Playing in the snow!

12/28/2-15

Joyeux Noël A Tous!

        Hope you all had a great week! We had some really special things happen this week! We had a Mission Christmas Devotional, which was really unique because all the missionaries from our mission were together. There was a very special and powerful spirit that was in the room. I had the privilege of singing in one of the last choirs, after singing the first two verses of Hark the Heralds Angels sing in French, followed by the whole mission gathering and singing. The spirit was so strong as we all sang our praises in celebration of Christ's birth. 

Dressing up for dinner with Jye!

       On Christmas eve we had dinner with a family in our ward whose tradition is to have what they call a Bethlehem dinner. We dressed up a little, and we ate by candles and ate typical food that would have been found at the time of Jesus. It was a very neat experience. 

 Christmas was great! The ward really just encircled us and made us feel very loved!  Our spiritual thought for Christmas really touched me. We talked about the gifts that the wise men brought to baby Jesus, and how they had really brought things of worth. We talked about  how God himself gave us the gift of Christ by sending him to the world to redeem us all. (John 3:16). Truly the best gift to the world. With infinite worth.  I feel like so often during this season we get distracted by the lights, bows and glitter that are so often associated with Christmas that we forget the true meaning of Christmas-Christ. So this year we challenged everyone to give a gift to the Savior- a gift that is of great worth just like the wise men. Perhaps its saying your sorry more, criticizing less,  forgiving, reading your scriptures everyday, going to the temple more often, spending more time with your family. Whatever it might be it is a gift that we can do for the Savior that can show our love and appreciation for the gift that he gave to us.

Blast from the past-part of my MTC District.

        Though Christmas a missionary can be a hard time-being away from your family I feel like I really got to feel and share the spirit of Christmas.  I will share my testimony with you that I Have come to know with out a shadow of a doubt that the true essence of the gospel is love. Everything was done because God loves us and he has our eternal welfare at hand.   I really felt that on Sunday when our investigator Glorie came. The spirit was so thick in the air that we could all feel it. God knows us individually and he wants us to get a step closer to him everyday. Love you all!

12/14/2015

Picture for Mom's Birthday (December too).

Happy Birthday Sister Rawlings!

Mackenzie turned 21 on Sunday (12/13) , Brother and Sister Wong fed her dinner, with a cake and sent pictures!

Video of Birthday Singing!

12/7/2015
Hey everyone!

     

        Where to start! Exchanges, Ward Christmas Party, p-day in Montreal, and so much more.

Before

After

 Monday-We went down to Montreal with four of the sisters in our zone, we went to Old Port. We were hoping to get them their their first taste of Beaver Tails (aka..scone), but it was closed so we decided to all pitch in and go on a Carriage Ride through the old downtown of Montreal. It was absolutely beautiful:)       

We than had exchanges, where I got to go to La Salle and after un-exchanging Sister Schruch, everything started to get a little crazy.

  Exchanges Sister Olsen, Schurch, Me, Ferell

Montreal City Hall

The sisters had accidentally took our phone, it was freezing rain and everybody that we had planned to see was falling through so we started driving when suddenly I got this very strong impression that we needed to knock on this house that we had just passed. I pushed it aside thinking I was crazy, after all it was freezing rain and very wet outside but the impression came again. Knowing that I needed to follow the impression I told Sister Schruch and we turned around, re-found that street and than proceeded to go knock on the house. A teenager answered the door and we introduced ourselves and than started to share a bit of the new, "A Savior is born" initially his mom responded that they were not interested and they shut the door.
We stood there on the sidewalk thinking, okay what now. So we tried the house next to them...not home. When we saw a woman on the other side of the road.We walked up to her and started talking to her, she explained that she would be interested but she was busy walking to get her metro card re-filled. We asked if we could walk with her and she agreed. After explaining more she explained that in her country that she had met missionaries before. We talked about the Savior and than asked her if we could come

share the message with her and than she said, " Wait I think I talked to the elders the other day, this is no coincidence, you keep finding me."
We were able to testify that the Lord was very aware of her and that the message that we had could bless her family so much! 

      But the story does not end there, while walking with the woman we both saw a young man and had the impression to talk to him. While walking back to the car we saw him at the corner and started to talk to him, he told us that he liked basketball and I had this weird idea to ask him if he knew one of the young men in the ward who we had just had dinner with, who I also knew liked basketball. So I asked him if he knew the young man and Sister Schurch looked at me like, what are you doing? The odds of this young man knowing him in Montreal are extremely small, but after a minute he said, "Actually, yes I do." We were able to talk a little bit and have a wonderful conversation.  And to think that if I wouldn't have listened to the Spirit that would not of happened. We felt so blessed by the Lord for him to place two of his children who were willing to listen to in our paths. 

        It was such a testimony to me that while you may not know what these people need, the Lord does and he will guide you when you are willing to follow. 

        Overall it was a great week! Our ward party went extremely well, they put on the production of the nativity and I would say over 1/4 of the people there were not members! It a very uplifting, Christ-centered evening:) 

I love you all! I hope you all have a fabulous week!

Love Sister Rawlings

11/25/2015

Hey Everyone!

       What an amazing, crazy, busy week! 

Us with Sisters Carpenter and Dexter

       We started off with training in zone training. It went really well. Right after that we headed on splits, and I went with Sister Dexter to Greenfield Park. It was super fun and a great learning experience. 

        This week was also the cultural celebration, followed by the Temple Dedication for the Montreal, Quebec Temple. We went to the first dedication at 9 am-it was beautiful. President Eyring re-dedicated the temple. As he was saying the dedicatory prayer I looked up to the screen and it just seemed like he was glowing with goodness. It was a very special feeling. Something that I loved that was said during the talks were how as we celebrate the re-dedication of the temple we should also re-dedicate ourselves to the covenants we  have made, with a strong desire to make the temple more a part of our lives. 

       

We also had an amazing miracle happen when Sister Schurch stopped to check the mail and we smiled at a woman and just started small talking to her and than we parted ways. The next morning we had went to the church to take out the garbage and we saw  the same woman on the sidewalk. As soon as we smiled at her she just poured out her soul to us, and she told us that we always seemed so happy and she wanted to know why. After explaining to her that as missionaries we teach people, she replied, " Ensena me" which is Spanish for " Teach me". It was such a miracle that God puts people exactly where they need to be. It was a very tender experience for us all. 

Sausage making at its finest!

       On another note, we made sausages with a family:)! Never something I thought I would learn how to do on my mission!  It was such a neat experience for us all:) 

 Love you all!

Soeur Rawlings

11/16/2015

Hello Everyone! 

   The majority of the week was spent at the temple. We were there mostly all Monday to Friday. It was an amazing experience to be able to help. Very exhausting, but very spiritually uplifting.  

    I felt very luck because I had the opportunity to see many people from past areas and to see how they were doing. It was truly inspiring to see people who traveled 12+ hours on bus, people who crossed the country-all to see the temple. It was really inspiring!

   All in all it was difficult for people to express exactly what they felt in the temple, but my favorite thing that people would say was, " I don't know how to explain it, I just felt it." 

The Sisters in the Montreal Mission

  One of my favorite experiences was while opening the doors to the reception tent, I felt impressed to go talk to this man who was by the comment cards. I walked up to him and asked him about his experience in the temple. He replied, "Interesting."  Not sure if that was a negative or positive things I asked him how so, he explained that while he was a spiritual person and had been baptized that he had never been to the temple before that time. As we talked it was truly amazing to see him commit to put his life in order so that he could attend the temple in the coming months. 

Zone Conference-joined with two other zones for our Mission Tour with Elder Goldon. This is not everyone in the mission but it is a big portion.

 People felt of the peace, calmness and spirituality of the temple. It was truly a testimony builder to me of how important the temple is and how it can truly bless the  lives of those around us just be visiting for the open house. We have seen so many hearts softened by the temple.It was such a blessing to be there:) 

Love you all!

Sister Rawlings

11/9/2015

Well Hello Everyone!

   What a fabulous week it has been. I've been settling very nicely to Kirkland. It really is a great area filled with so many faithful people.    The week started off with a training for the temple. All I can say is, "whoa!" Elder Richards of the 70s came and spoke to us and took us on a private tour through the temple and than sat all of the sisters in the Instruction Room and taught us- right there in the temple! It was an experience I will never forget!

    This past week we only served for three shifts at the temple but it was so powerful. As soon as you drive into the parking lots, you can feel the difference. While talking to a member in the reception tent we both marveled at how even though the temple isn't dedicated, the Spirit is so strong.

    There is definitely a special Spirit that the temple brings. I have heard and seen  many hearts changed all by the Spirit felt in the temple. Not only do we have the privilege to serve in the reception tent but also in the Video Room before the tour inside the temple. Even though we have seen the video countless times, each time I feel the Spirit and catch the Spirit of the temple so strongly.

   We even have seen people who are not members finish their tour and decide to go through again!

We jumped into a pile of leaves!

   One of my favorite personal stories is teaching a woman who had just visited the temple two days before. She loved it. Her testimony really strengthened me she said, ."People kept telling me go to the temple, go to the temple." Then she got really quiet and than said, "I understand why now. The Spirit really testified to her and she told us that she wanted to be married in the temple! Miracles were prophesied when the temple would be dedicated and we just starting to see a sliver of them!

   The week was pretty busy. We also had the opprogunity to go on splits with the sisters from Chicoutimi, which was a fun expereinces and we are now on splits with Ville Marie sisters:)

   We helped arrange a baptism for a 8 year old after Church and than during sacrament meeting we had a huge miracle-we had a woman walk into chuch who we were able to talk to after sacrament, who is moving to the area and is looking for a Church! We were so excited but wait-it doesn't stop there! Than a woman and her son said that he had been invited to play baskeball at the Church and being fairly new in the county were wanting to meet new people and join a Church and they wanted to learn more about our Church! Truly amazing to see the Lord gathering his sheep!

So blessed to be here in the time and place that I am!

Love you all!

Love Sister Rawlings

11/2/2015
Hello my family and friends:)

Last District Meeting

      I received quite a shock this week, we were told on Wednesday that we would be receiving transfer calls that day in preparation for the temple and moving a week early. This is how that call went......(Sister Cumming and I expecting nothing to change) "Sister Cummings you will be staying in Laval..." and we were like "yep"."and you will be receiving Sister blanc (which is her old companion)" So we were really excited for her but than it hit me-wait that means I'm leaving!  "And Sister Rawlings you will be going to Kirkland, and being a sister training leader with Sister Schuruch." 

Marie-Sophie

    Oh how I wish you could see the video Sister Cummings recorded during this calls, my face was complete shock! So I'm  off to Kirkland...today! My new companion is from Belgium and I will be in the same district that I was in when I was in Cornwall. Which is a tender mercy because during stake conference in two weeks I will get to see many of those who are in Cornwall:)   

      We also had the chance last night to visit the temple with Vanessa and Evelyne, who are both recent converts. Can I just say, woah! I have missed the temple. 

      The day started off a bit rough, We woke up early- forgetting it was daylight savings. Than we were late to ward council thinking it was next week, even though we woke up early...lol..   I was feeling a bit stressed with the unexpected packing I needed to finish, the ward members I needed to say goodbye too and the French testimony I was to be giving in a few hours. And we were having scheduling problems with who was coming  for the temple.  Both Sister Cummings and I  were like, "why is all this advisory coming from!" And then we realized that it was because we were going to temple. 

Driving to the temple.

Only in Canada-Canadian Mounty

    It literally is the house of the literal God. Power comes from that house. It is where we can be lifted above the fog and truly remember why were here. It is a source of strength. Even though it isn't dedicated, there is such a special spirit that is felt there. I am overcome with gratitude to be able to serve here in Canada and in the temple!    

 Love you all! 

Soeur Rawlings

We helped decorate-Halloween Maze!

Church Party!