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!