Spring?

Well we are having the wettest spring I think Illinois has ever seen. It rained all day and all night Friday night and we got about 6 inches in that time. The City of Nauvoo's sewer backed up. It has been a real mess in some places. Missionaries are even dealing with flooding. One of the missionary couples had their basement flood. It had about 10 inches of water in it because the sump pump didn't work. They will fix it tomorrow.

We had our district meeting tonight. We had to find the answers to 3 questions. One of the questions was "Do you really believe that Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ?"
I suppose there a lot of people who wonder about this. For me personally the answer is Yes! I do believe that he did see them. Now you may ask the question "What do you base this on?" Well, I base it on logic and spirit. Here are the reasons I believe it.

1. Knowing 14 year old boys, I don't think any 14 year old boy would make up a story like this just to be ridiculed and persecuted his whole life. I would think he would finally give up.

2. I have read the Book of Mormon. Knowing what I know about Joseph Smith and his level of education, he could not have fabricated the things in that book. There are too many things that he did not know about written in this book.

3. Because I have read the Book of Mormon, the spirit whispers to me that it is true.
I know this book is the word of God.

4. If I know that the Book of Mormon is a true book of scripture then Joseph has to be a prophet. If I know Joseph Smith is a prophet then the Book of Mormon is true.

5. The most important reason is that I have prayed and asked God as Moroni directs in the Book of Mormon. Moroni 10: 4-5. "And when ye have received these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true;; and if ye shall ask with a sincere hear, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. Vs. 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

You too can know if these things are true. What have you got to lose? Get a copy of the Book of Mormon and read it. Then do as Moronit directs and ask God. He will let you know whether it is true or not. Be careful though. You cannot just skim it. You must read it all the way through. Have a great week!

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Ready for summer

Today at our zone conference President Ludwig announced that with the 20 sister missionaries from the Peoria, Illinois Mission, and with 20 or thirty new site missionaries, and with 40 new temple missionaries, our population has now grown to 400 missionaries. Oh I forgot to mention the 50 new Young Performing Missionaries. We will need everyone this summer. We have 3 weeks left before the "Sunset" show begins. We are now practicing 2 nights a week for that and perform 2 nights a week in Rendezvous in Old Nauvoo. I'm tired already!! We are getting excited about Raymond (My brother-in-law) and his wife Beverly coming to be the mission Doctor. We can hardly wait!!!

Another Chance

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I was watching an episode of "Touched by an Angel" while I was ironing one day. It was about a young man who had come home to live with his mom. He had been on drugs and unknown to his mother he was still into drugs. After talking her out of her money he made a drug buy but was buying from undercover agents. Are you on the seat of your chair yet? In the process of trying to catch him his mother was shot. He felt really badly about the whole thing and decided that everyone would be better off without him because he had not only messed up his life but others as well. He was standing in the middle of a train track waiting to be run over by it. Monica, the Angel appears and tries to talk him out of his plan to kill himself. He says to her something like, "Why would God want to give me another chance?" Monica, the Angel then says, "God loves you Tommy. He will give you all the chances you need to change your life." That is something that I need to remember. Everyone needs as many chances as they can get to become what Heavenly Father wants us to become. The trick is to use those chances wisely and not waste them.

This past week has been busy. I served in the John Taylor Home most of the week. What a kind and tenderhearted father he was. He rode all the way back to Nauvoo, at risk to his own life to get a little rocking horse for his little boy who missed it so.

spring, winter, spring, winter

As you can see, we are up and down with Spring and Winter, but the weather is getting somewhat warmer. Today is Easter Sunday. The day we remember the Savior's Atonement and Resurrection. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for me. I hope that I can live worthy of that sacrifice.

We are getting more people coming and have had a lot of visitors that began coming in March for Spring Break. Our Rendezvous cast had to do 3 shows last week. The first show was at 5:45, the 2nd at 7:00 P.M. and the third at 8:15 show. We were tired when we got out. I call this the entertainment mission of the church. We are either performing, rehearsing, or giving tours.

We have had people we know come through here this week. One of my old cub scouts, one of my old 2nd graders, and today a couple came through and we found out the Ralph's Great Great Grandfather converted his Great Great Grandfather in South Africa. Then another family came here from Payson and they knew Ralph's Nephew. Doug Rawlinson. It is definitely a small world.

We are so grateful we are here to serve in this mission. As you can see we have a little Blue Grass Band called the Nauvoo Ramblers. We will be performing this summer during our Sunset productions. I have learned some simple bass chords for our band.

Enjoy the pics
Love, Sister and Elder Rawlinson

Spring

Spring is finally coming to Nauvoo. The Cardinals, Red Winged Black Birds, Blue Birds, and Robins are out. On one of our warmest days, I got some pictures of a squirrel in his tree. We are getting a lot of rain. We have had a lot of visitor's lately. There are people here on Spring Break and for weddings. I have been in the John Taylor's home. He was the 3rd President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was also with the Prophet Joseph Smith when he and his brother Hyrum were murdered. It is so much fun to show his house and talk about his testimony of the Gospel. That is the most rewarding part of the mission, giving people the tours and telling them about the faith and determination of these early saints. When summer hits we will be so busy we will not have time to even eat or breathe. I love sharing the testimony of these people and my own.

The Word of God

Saturday morning, we had our preparation meeting. The subject for the week had been the Book of Mormon. Elder Hurley gave the talk on it and this is what struck me.
He summarized the whole week by listing some important points about the Book of Mormon.

1. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and testifies that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the World.

2. The Book of Mormon was Translated by Joseph
Smith through the gift and power of God.

3. Any one can know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon by doing as Moroni directs in Moroni 10:4-5 which essentially says, read it and then ask God if it is true. God will tell you whether it is true or not.

I had always known these things, but had never listed them in this way. If the Book of Mormon is true then Joseph Smith is a Prophet and has restored the fullness of Christ's true church to the earth for this dispensation. I testify that it is true and Joseph Smith was the Prophet of the restoration.