Christmas Greeting

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New Grandson

Welcome Benjamin to Our Family

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New Baby

Well we have a new baby. Kamarie, my daughter and Husband Jon just had their 1st boy after 4 girls. We are so thrilled. I can hardly wait to hold him. Now I have to get an afghan made and his lullaby done. What a life. I love it.

Christian or Not?

A week ago I read an article about a couple in South Carolina who were turned down as scout leaders for a pack that was sponsored by another church because they were Mormon and Mormon's aren't Christians. This is what they claimed anyway. Now I think that it was within their right as a church to have who they want to be scout leaders, but it is "They aren't Christians" that I take issue with.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,(notice the name Church of Jesus Christ) we certainly do believe in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We believe he was the literal Son of God and Mary was his mortal mother. We believe his mission was to come to this earth to be crucified and die for all of the sins of mankind. We also believe that he overcame death and is a resurrected man. We believe that all mankind will be resurrected because he sacrificed himself for us. Now if that is not being a Christian I don't know what is. Sure we differ with other churches on the subject of the Trinity and we do not accept the man made doctrines of the Nicean Creed, but we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray to our Father in Heaven through Him, the Son.

Here is the difference between what we believe and others believe. We know that the priesthood, Aaronic and Melchizedek, which are in the old testament, were lost when the apostles of Jesus Christ were killed. We believe that His original doctrine and teachings had been changed and distorted. We believe that the fullness of His gospel has been restored in these Latter Days. The Priesthood is back on the earth. Families can be sealed together forever. We look forward to the Savior's Second Coming when we will meet him and fall at His feet and worship Him.
Have a Great Day.

Changes

I suppose I will have to change the title of our blog now that we are home from our mission. It is a big adjustment for me. I would rather be protected by that bubble we were in than be back in the world, but I know I must live in the world so I will do my best. I understand why couples keep going on missions. Serving the Lord is really rewarding and the world seems to just go away. I like that. More later.

Scott Rawlinson and Boys

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Going Home

Well, our mission is over and we will be heading home on Monday.
It has been such a great experience. My Testimony of the truthfulness
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has increased by leaps and bounds.
There is a living prophet on the earth today. His name is Thomas S. Monson.
The Savior of the world leads and guides His church in these latter-days.
I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love Jesus Christ my Savior and Redeemer.
See you all soon.

Memories

As I was traveling out of Nauvoo to run an errand, I began thinking about leaving this peaceful little place on the bend of the Mississippi. On a map it barely shows up, but it is here. There I was driving down Highway 96 looking at the trees that lined both sides of the highway. It was these trees that were so colorful this fall, so bleak this winter, so alive this spring, and now vibrant in their green colors. As I drove down the road, there were places where there were no trees, and I could see the mighty Mississippi River. I began to reflect on the things I will miss when we leave Nauvoo.

It made me realize that our time here is growing short. I have so much more to learn and so much more to do. I hope that I am a better person from serving this mission. I am afraid of coming home and not having anything to do. I am afraid to come home to a place where I may not be needed. I am afraid of having to face the world again with its problems. BUT, I will look forward to seeing our children and grandchildren. Attending birthday parties, piano recitals, sports contests,etc. I will trust in the Lord that he will know what we are to do next.

Spiritual Feast

It has been such a long time since I have written. I apologize to you all. We are now down to the 2 month mark and time is going fast, way too fast. I think we will be ready to come home even though it will be hard to leave. We live in a little bubble here, protected from the outside world and all its problems. It will be different to come back to the world.

This last 2 weeks we have had a spiritual feast. Two weeks ago we were privileged to host the Young Ambassadors from Brigham Young University. They are a performing group of 20 performers and 16 band and Tech members. We took them to various places outside of Nauvoo where they performed and shared their talents with others for free. What a choice group of young people. In that one week we grew to love them very much. The second week, another couple hosted them, but we were still able to keep in touch. At the end of their program every night they sang "I Am a Child of God". Their spirits have touched our souls in ways that cannot be expressed.

Sunday, Elder and Sister Black were two of our speakers. They told some powerful stories. I will relate Sister Black's to you and then Elder Black's tomorrow.
Sister Black's sister was expecting her 5th child. They found out before the baby was born that he would not be able to speak, that he would be mentally handicapped and most likely be in a wheel chair. Her husband left her and the children. When the baby was born, Elder Black gave him his name and a blessing. He was named Dillon and Elder Black blessed him that he would go on a mission and that he would love books.
Elder Black wondered about this and what it meant because it seemed impossible.

Years later, after her sister had remarried, her sister had the opportunity to go to a special ceremony in honor of fallen police officers in Salt Lake City. Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Council of the Twelve Apostles was one of the speakers. As he was speaking, he seemed to be looking at something and then he spotted Dillon and his stepfather. He walked toward them and went up to Dillon and said, "How old are you young man?" Sister Black's sister informed him that Dillon did not speak. Elder Packer told her that her son was on a mission. What impressed the mother of this boy and Sister Black was that an Apostle of the Lord, left the ninety and nine to search out the one. By the way, Dillon does love books. Although he cannot read them, he always carries a book with him.
Blessings come to pass, and prayers are answered in ways we do not always expect.
May we all be faithful and be patient as we wait upon the Lord.

Have a Great Day!
Love,
Elder and Sister Rawlinson, Mom and Ralph, Dad and Linda, Grandpa and Grandma. Ralph and Linda

The Holy Ghost

The Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit and his influence can be felt by many at the same time. When we are Baptized, we are given the right to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost constantly in our lives. However, we have to earn it. We have to be worthy of his companionship. If we are in wrong places or doing wrong things, the Holy Ghost will not stay with us. Then we are left on our own and can be easily influence by Satan and his followers. May we all live and do the things, that will keep the companionship of the Holy Ghost with us.

Our Robin Building Her Nest

This robin is right outside our window building it's nest. Here are some photos also. she laid one egg a day for 3 days.

Mortality Without Soap

The other day at Prep Meeting, Sister Black gave the thought. The theme for the week was "Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I can be cleansed of sin."

We all know that we can buy any kind of cleaning solution in the world for everything that needs to be cleaned. There are cleaning solutions for the wall, floor, sinks, counters, bathrooms,etc. But what if you got your clothes dirty, your hands dirty, your face dirty, and you just kept getting dirtier and dirtier. What if you could never become clean. What if there was not a cleaning solution in the world that would make you clean again. I know I would not be happy. I don't like being dirty, do you? There is no hope to become clean. Then someone comes along to help. Oh not just any someone, but a special person who loves us so much that he comes up with a way to get us clean again by using a new soap. He gets the dirt on himself so that he knows how to get it off of us. He finally is able to offer us the new soap. We have a desire to become clean again and so we use the soap and promise that we will work to stay clean. Oh, sometimes we still get a little dirt on us, but now we know how to become clean again.

This is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This was the reason He came to earth was to help us become clean again. I am so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ and His atonement in my behalf. I can only hope that the drops of blood He shed for me will not be in vain.

Treasures

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

At zone conference Sister Ludwig spoke about treasures. Number 1 on her list was to treasure your good name. Many of us don't realize that what we do reflects back to our family. Our family name has a standard to live up to good or bad. The story is told about GEORGE ALBERT SMITH, who had a dream that his grandfather, GEORGE A. SMITH, came to him in a dream and asked him what he was doing with his name. He replied that he had done nothing in his life that would bring shame to his name. Can we say the same if one of our ancestors came and asked us that question?
Something to ponder isn't it?

Spring has sprung!

I saw new baby calves today. They were cute! I have begun working in the garden 1 day a week also. I was very lucky to get so close to this robin.

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Nauvoo Miracles

Here in Nauvoo we have what we call "Nauvoo Miracles" I dare say every missionary here has some crisis and heartache going on at home. Not all problems are automatically solved just by serving the Lord, however, we learn to trust in Him whose wisdom is far above our own. Sometimes we cannot fix things that depend on the agency of others, but we do observe the little miracles and blessings that are received because it is His will that they happen,
Several Months ago Elder and Sister Mueller's son Mark was diagnosed with a Brain tumor. It was pretty big and they did do surgery, but part of it was still in his brain. Elder and Sister Mueller asked the mission to fast and pray for their son. We did with faith knowing that all was in the hands of our Father in Heaven and it would be his will that would be done. This young man had been inactive in the church. His girlfriend was not a member of our faith. This young man was encouraged by his parents to begin attending church again, which he did. Then a new technique came along. The doctors were able to go in with special equipment and zap the tumor. It was not known how this would all turn out, but this morning in Preparation Meeting, Elder Mueller announced that the MRI that was just done, showed no signs of a tumor or any disease at all. There was some dead tissue left from the zapping. A Nauvoo Miracle? Yes.
In my own life we had a 'Nauvoo Miracle of our own. That was when our son Rob gave his diabetic sister one of his kidneys. When the donation was made, that kidney began to work immediately. Traci now has a new lease on life. We know not how many years she may have left, but we certainly hope enough to raise her boys. Another "Nauvoo Miracle"
Anyone who says miracles do not occur today is wrong. Miracles are performed everyday. The Lord has not forgotten us. He loves us and continues to help us daily.
I just wanted to share this with you. Have a Great Day.
Elder and Sister Rawlinson

Winter in Nauvoo



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The Parable of the Bear

Hello from snowy Nauvoo. In the last 2 days we have received about 5 inches of snow. The wind is blowing today which also means it will be cold. The trees are so pretty when we have snow, but we are hoping to thaw out soon. Now for The Parable of the Bear.

Sister Mecham told this story in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday.

When she was a child as soon as school was out her family would pack up the truck, the trailer, their little dog Skipper, and head for Yellow Stone for the summer where her father worked. They would stay there all summer and they loved Yellow Stone. As children they played by the river and roamed all over the place. This was at a time when Yellow Stone had lots of bears and you could see them everywhere. Her mother gave them 2 rules to live by when they wanted to explore. The first rule was they were to always take Skipper. The second rule was that if they ever saw a bear they were to immediately run to the house for safety.
One day she and her 4 year old sister were making mud pies outside the house. They were having a great time when Sister Mecham looked over to where her sister had been sitting, and there was a Brown Bear. Her sister had seen the bear coming and ran to the house neglecting to tell Sister Mecham. Sister Mecham sat frozen with fear. The bear was between her and the door to the house. All at once here came Skipper, yapping and nipping at that bear. The bear tried to take a swipe at Skipper, but he couldn't reach him. Skipper just kept yapping and nipping. Finally the bear lumbered off towards the woods with Skipper yapping and nipping at his heels. Sister Mecham ran for the safety of the house. She watched out of the window wondering what had happened to Skipper. Then she looked and here was Skipper coming back from the woods. He was unharmed.
Then she continued by telling us that Skipper had done something for her that day that she could not do for herself. He saved her from certain death. She went on to say that Jesus Christ, our Savior, has done the same thing for us. He not only has saved us from physical death but spiritual death as well. He loves us and wants to give us a path to safety just like Skipper was willing to give his life to clear a path of safety for Sister Mecham. She made some other interesting comments in her talk, but those I will save for another time. I loved this story. She is an awesome lady and we will miss them when they go home in a month.
We love you all. Have a great day.
Love,
The Rawlinsons

Mission Valentine's Dance

I know you are not going to think we do any missionary work here, but we do. This is a special event put on by the single sister missionaries for the couple missionaries. It is really nice of them to do this. The reason you do not see us in the show is because we were doing the music, however, we were holding our own little dance in the back. Enjoy!

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The Captain

I cannot believe it has been 2 weeks or more since we updated this blog. Look for some more slide shows coming soon. Here is a story that was told in our Prep Meeting.

There was a ship out to sea and the radio man received a message that said, "Change your course 10 degrees to the North." The Captain, when he got the message, told the radio man to send the message," You change your course 10 degrees to the south." Again the message came, "Change your course 10 degrees to the north!" The Captain was getting a little upset and so he sent another message that said, "I am a battle ship, change your course 10 degrees to the south!" The Reply came, " I am a Light House and you'd better turn 10 degrees to the North or you will hit the shoal!" Now there is a point to this story and it is that our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the light house and will guide us through the rocky, dangerous times we experience in our lives. We need to listen to Him and follow his guidance.

How Do You Know?

At our district meeting this week we discussed some questions that we are asked of us as a religion. "How do you know that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ?" Well I guess the short answer to that is, that the Holy Ghost, who testifies of all things that are true, testified to me that Joseph saw what he saw. My heart tells me it is true. Also, my mind tells me that no 14 year old boy would endure the persecution that Joseph Smith endured for a lie. 14 year old boys aren't like that now and they weren't like that then. Here's another way that I know. I have read the Book of Mormon. I am convinced it is a true record. I know that no mortal man could have invented all these things in the Book. There is too much doctrine, too much history,etc. If I know that the Book of Mormon is a true record containing the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then I know that Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son. I know these things are true and I am glad to be serving a mission so I can testify of these things to others.