Tijuana Temple

Outside of the Tijuana Temple 

Dear All,

Another week. This week felt like it lasted FOREVER. Like I really have no idea what I wrote last week. I know it's right there and I can just read it but eh flojera.

This week was pretty chill. We started Operation: TJ giving away as many cards as we could. I went on exchanges with one of our District Leaders and we gave away 450 in two hours. So that was pretty dope. Also we had a lesson that day with a man who was an expert in using swear words. And without asking he began to teach me some. You learn something new every day haha.

So last Monday we decided to start work early. We took a couple of hours in the morning to go look for Less Active members and stuff cause we have a list of about 500 names and that's just from Relief Society. So yeah. There we are, walking down the street, we weren't finding anyone, and all of the sudden we see a little alleyway that we hadn't gone into before. We go through, and come out close to some other investigator's house. Right in front of us was a little apartment complex. We felt like we needed to go in, so we checked for dogs, and, finding none, went in. We knocked the first door where it seemed like a person might be home, and as we knocked, a man came out from the next door. We contact him. He tells us that he came here to Tijuana from Monterrey to "get away from it all". We keep talking. He tell us that his wife died 10 months ago and he's been thinking about how to kill himself for a week now. He goes on to say that he had been praying in that moment for God to send him someone that would help him. BOOM. Holy cow. I love the Lord so much. I am so glad to be part of this great work. There is no doubt in my mind that I am His servant, one of many here on this Earth. It wasn't coincidence that we went into that alley, that day, at that exact hour. He hears our prayers, and he answers them. There is nothing He can't do. This is His church, His work, we are His children.

So that was a great way to start the week. We saw several other miracles, and a few really funny things. One of which I'm not sure if I dare share it but what the heck I alreay led you on too much here it goes.

So. We go to visit an investigator. She's supposed to be getting baptized soon, but I still didn't know her because every time we had an appointment with her we went on exchanges. So my companion told me to pay close attention to the Spirit when we went to her house because he had been feeling like there was something off there.

So we get to the house, and we go in, and she sits on one couch, and on the other are two people sitting down. At first glance, it was a youngish man, like 30ish, with his girlfiend. The young man was drunk. We come in and shake their hands, and all is normal. The drunk tells us he wants to be a Mormon, so that was cool but remembered that we don't drink and decides not to. THEN IT HAPPENED. Up to that point the "girlfriend" hadn't said a word. Then it spoke. IT WAS NOT A GIRLFRIEND. I was left speechless. WHAT THE HECK. This freaking world is so messed up. Like dang. I think maybe I should have put that spiritual experience at the end. 

While we were in the lesson with the girl/boyfriend, apparently the Naval base in San Diego shot up an experimental missile and I kid you not this whole freaking city thought it was the second coming. We didn't see it, but from what we heard it looked like a giant firework that went up way higher than a firework should, and then exploded really big. And the explosion just stayed there for a while, like a giant bright light in the sky. It was nuts apparently. 

BUT the best part of this week came at approximately 1:30 pm on Sunday. We were heading out of the church, when we get a call from the APs. My companion answered, and they start talking and he goes "No! En serio?! Es verdad?!"

Background: Starting last Saturday, special VIP tours of the temple have been happening, like the ArchBishop of Tijuana and all the government and stuff, accompanied by the Area Presidency of Mexico.

Back to the story: Turns out the Area Presidency decided that the people giving tours needed more practice or something, and so they decided to invite all the missionaries, with their investigators, to have a special tour of the temple. WHAAAT. So yeah. We went. We took investigators. They're getting baptized.

But guys. Let me just tell you. The temples that I have been to so far rank in this order of beauty (personally): 1.San Diego 2. Manti 3: Atlanta 4: Provo. Tijuana blew them all away. This temple is AMAZING. It is not big, it's smaller than it looks, but the details and the finished and the woodwork and everything. Holy cow. It's amazing. I might be biased but whatever. And we went at night. The temple at night is stunning. There just aren't words to describe it. It's amazing. Wonderful. Breathtaking. Gorgeous. I am so excited!! This open house is going to be incredible for this city and for missionary work. People are going to alreay know exaclty what the end goal of all this is: exaltation. It isn't about baptisms, it isn't about numbers, its about making eternal families. Its about helping people get home with their Heavenly Father. 

This church is so true.

Los quiero mucho,

Elder Rawlings

Another view of the Tijuana Temple

The best tacos ever

With the Bishop of the ward he is serving in  and another set of missionaries.  (His comp is the Mexican without the glasses)

Dear All,

This week was pretty fun. My area is the whole downtown of Tijuana, so it is therefore also the most sinful place I have been in my life. 

So there are two streets in the mission that we are supposed to avoid if possible, and on those streets there are two blocks that we absolutely 100% cannot cross. They are both in my area. And last monday, that was the freaking first place we went. Not to the blocked zones, but one block away. And in a freaking hotel. It was a reference we got from the offices of the mission. That was weird. I'm not sure exactly how I felt going into a hotel, in an area famous for sketchy hotels, and even more with my companion by my side. Weird impression of mormons we must have given some people. It was a great lesson though, a less active guy who used to live in Ohio who got baptized and has the preisthood and wants to go to the temple and get sealed. The only thing, and poor guy, he told us the sisters that taught him that they promised him that they would come and see his sealing. He took that to mean that they would come get sealed to him. Haha whoops gotta be careful what you say.

The rest of the week was lots and lots of meetings. We had a leadership counsel on wednesday that started at 9 am and was supppsed to end at 2, but surprise we didn't leave there until 5. Woo. It was pretty cool though. I had always thought President Garcia was just a warm and friendly guy, but when it's just the Zone Leaders, and someone screws up, he let's em know. It was pretty fun. 

On Friday we decided to start doing something cool in the zone. We do surprise exchanges. We just show up at the house of a companionship and let them know that we are going to do exchanges that day. So we picked one and showed up, right at the hour that they were supppsed to be studying. Fun fact., Not home. They were at the mall. Que oso. So that was a great way to start out being a ZL, chewing out a missionary for not studying.

But the rest of the day was pretty chill. I got to see "La mona" which is this gigantic statue of a woman that's like hidden in this canyon slum. But when I say gigantic I mean freaking huge. Like easily 50 feet tall. According to the story. some guy just up and decided to make it, like no big deal whatever. Just gonna sculpt a giant woman here on my back porch. Like what the heck.

But the best part about this area are the TACOS. Holy good. Tacos of every kind you could imagine. Pescado, adobada, asada, cabeza, birria, everything. So good. And everywhere. Every corner has its little stand and then there are like 3 taquerias on every block. If we come back, we are going to get some fish tacos that we ate, gigantic and only 13 pesos, less than a dollar. I ate 3 and was super full. It was pretty legit.

The ward is pretty cool, our chapel here is the oldest in Tijuana and I think the second chapel in all of Mexico. It looks like the old chapels that you see in Utah, just not as big. But it's pretty legit. Lots of seasoned memebers, and the Patriarch is in our ward too. That's probably the coolest part. When my companion introduced me to the Partriarch, he looked super familiar. I didn't know why. But then I realized. When Elder Zundel and I went to San Diego to the temple, he was the one who did our session. Cool connection.

This week we are starting operation TJ, meaning that we are going to stand on street corners and just hand out as many temple cards as we possibly can, like the TJ's (Testigos de Jehova). We shall see how that goes.

Los quiero mucho,

Elder Rawlings

View from apartment window

Transferred to Indepencia

Last Sunday in the Gospel Principles class before his transfer

Dear All,

So yeah, I got transferred. I'm still here in Tijuana, but in a different area called Indepencia in the Tijuana Stake. My new comp is named Elder Alegria (Elder Happiness haha) and we are the Zone Leaders here. So that's kinda cool.

But yeah this week went by super fast. And it was probably the best week Elder Priego and I had the whole time we were together. We almost hit 40 lessons, we took a few families to church, and had a ton of fun. It was pretty legit.

The best moments were these:

We visited a less active man, who we have gotten to go to church about three times in a row now, but who still hasn't stopped drinking. So we go to his house. He is PLASTERED but like HAMMERED it was sooo funny. He's an old guy and his wife died a couple years ago, and there was going to be a fancy black tie dinner on Friday in the church to raise money for the cultural event of the temple, and so he was begging us to give him the number of another single sister in the ward. And then he told us he was just going to go to the church and ask her. And then we kept talking and trying to teach and then he tells us he can't go to church on Sunday. I was well aware of the fact that he was not in any way going to remember that lesson, so maybe I did a bad thing. I started to play with him a little bit. I started calling him out on little stuff like that. I was like "No but wait literally about 5 minutes ago you said you were going to church what happened in these last 5 minutes?" and he started saying something about how he had to work, but he was also bragging about how much money he makes, so I said "Wait but you said you make enough money that you only have to work one or two times a week?" and "well you would have more money if you didn't buy beer, you know that right?" Elder Priego was dying. I was having fun. After it all, he didn't go to church. He spent Sunday drunk. So sad.

Another: I think I told you guys about Chuy, a guy with mental problems that is a member of the church and who always sees us in the street and steals our pass along cards and pamphlets to give them to "all of his references". So anyway on Sunday we get to church and BOOM there's Chuy in an olive green suit and a Winnie the Pooh tie. Such style. I never, but like never ever, expected him to come to church. And then when he found out I was leaving, he hugged me and almost kissed me and then sat next to me in preisthood and was caressing my leg the whole time. Haha awkward...

ALSO: there is this club here in Tijuana (actually its in my new area) called "Las Pulgas" (The Fleas) which is like the big hot thing to do here. And we have been knocking doors to give out temple open house invitations, and when we knock doors people are like this:

"Que se ofrece?" (What do you want?)

"Disculpe, podriamos regalarle una invitacion?" (Could we please give you an invitation?"

"Para que? Las Pulgas?" (What for? Las Pulgas?)

HAHA holy sin. Even the little viejitas said stuff like that to us. It was pretty funny explaining that no, quite the opposite. Its been legit though, we almost gave out 1,000 invitations, and as a ward I would estimate about 10,000. So it's gonna be straight dope.

So yeah. That's what's up in good ole TJ. There was not even a hint of a hurricane here, don't you worry. They say "El Nino" is coming, but who knows really. It was supposed to hit in August, then September, and then until February. Let's just say Mexicans and the weather doesn't go real well together. They are a wonderful people and I love them, but they never quite get the weather even close to right.

Keep being cool, don't do drugs, and Congrats McKay and Sadie! Ballin' hard. Allie, you too, for pictures and stuff.

Los quiero mucho,

Elder Rawlings

Wonderful visitor to the mission

Jenson pictured with his entire mission.  He is literally in the exact center of the picture.  Dark suit and purple tie

Dear All,

I guess I'll just start right off with the surprise.

Yeah. The guy sitting in the middle there is Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Yeah. THAT Elder Holland. Also Elder Benjamin de Hoyos of the Seventy. That was kinda cool. He totally shook my hand. And he looked me in the eye. And then when he started his talk he said "The cool thing about being an Apostle is that I have some privileges that come with my office. One of those is the Gift of Discernment. In that handshake, I interviewed all of you." That was kinda cool. He talked about lots of things, read some scriptures, and cried a little. It was an amazingly powerful meeting. Something I'll never forget like ever. 

Other than that we had a pretty solid week. We were walking down the street one day and we saw this dude smoking a cigarette who was staring at us. And he calls us over. He looks like a kinda shady dude, but we go over to talk to him. As we walk over he puts out his cigarette. Good sign. Then, humbly, he asks us if we will please give him a Book of Mormon. As my companion took it out and wrote our names and number in it, I started asking him if he was a member of the church or anything. He said no, but a couple weeks ago he was in Utah and went to General Conference, and he was going to go to the fireside that Elder Holland was gonna have with the YSA. Blew us away. That was a moment I probably won't forget. "El Senor no hace acepcion de personas" and neither should we.

Also, this morning we went to IHOP to celebrate the last week of the transfer, and it was way close to the temple, so we decided to walk over and see it (us, the Zone Leaders, and the other District Leader). So we are standing outside and we notice that there are some American guys outside, which usually means that there is someone important there. So we start talking to em. Turns out its the guy in charge of the whole temple construction project, coming to visit and see how things were going. He let us on the grounds and took us on a tour of the outside. We couldn't go inside or take pictures, but oh well. Let's just say this is the prettiest temple I have ever seen. It's breathtaking. I might be biased, but it is something truly, truly special. I'm so pumped for a month when we get to go in for the Open House. 

But yeah this week is the last week of the transfer. So probably, I'm gonna be changed. I'm gonna miss Elder Priego. One of my favorite companions so far. Quiet, but when he talks it's with straight power and he always makes me laugh so hard. He's a stud.

Keep being good, read the scriptures, pray, and go to the temple as much as you can.

Los quiero mucho,

Elder Rawlings

Missionary work in Tijuana

Dear All,

I don't know if I feel like this week went really fast or really slow. It's a weird feeling. It was a really normal week. There wasn't anything too great or too bad or anything. We had meetings with President  Garcia 3 times, once for a Training Control, once because he came to the Stake Center to review the Stake's numbers, and then Interviews. So that was cool. I have a lot of respect for the guy and he loves me. Whenever we are in a Zone Conference or something and he there is any form of a math problem, he yells out "Elder Rawlings! The one that's gonna be an Engineer! What's the answer?" Cause he was an Engineer. So yeah that's kinda funny.

But yeah this week we really tried focusing on having lessons with member present. We were supposed to have 15. We ended with three. That

I counted. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we had 9 Member Presents planned, and all but one cancelled. WOO MEMBERS. But oh well.

We got 800 more temple invitations, and we are gonna give em all out before November. Game on.

Today we went to a Restaurant as a Zone called "Princess Tea Party Family Restaurant and Spa" that was fun. You may ask what a group of missionaries could possible do in such a place, but let the picture that I'm gonna attatch do the talking. So worth it.

In terms of investigators, 

Jose and Gabriela have everything they need, we just have to set a date with the Judge so that they can get married. But the judge isn't answering the phone like ever so that's frustrating. Prayers appreciated.

The family we met in the park is super cool. The kids (ages 6 and 9) are the ones who are reminding their mom about reading the Book of Mormon and going to church and praying and stuff so that is super cool. They're really special.

We are also teaching a whole car wash. That's kind of a funny story. So last monday we were walking past and this girl asked us for something to read during her down time. It was P-day and we were going to get our hair cut, so we didn't have our backpacks, but we set an appointment to come back the next day. So Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we sat at a little table that was there and we would teach whoever wasn't washing a car. It was kind of interesting and kind of fun. They all need to repent a lot, but they're good people. The best part was when one guy (who was blackout don't-know-how-he-was-functioning drunk) started telling us about a video he saw on YouTube of a temple marriage. It was kind of a sticky situation answering his questions because of the whole "Pearls before swine" concept, but it really just made me sad. Satan is good at what he does and things like that are such a huge tool that he can use to make the sacred nature of those things not so much so. It was hard. But oh well. 

So yeah. That was my week. Nothing great, lots and lots of walking. I gained a testimony of the power of fasting, but that's a story for when we get home. This week there is going to be a surprise, but you'll have to read next week to find out what it is. It's a jaw dropper.

You guys are awesome, Go BYU, and always remember to read and pray.

Los quiero mucho,

Elder Rawlings

Ether 12:6

Dear All,

Pretty freaking cool week. The Lord blesses us, but in his due time. I feel like my whole mission to this point has been an Ether 12:6 experience. We get no testimony until AFTER our faith is tried. And with faith comes dilligence, patience, obedience, everything. Two weeks ago just sucked. It was a hard week. This week was awesome. We just had to pass the trial of our faith, humble ourselves, be diligent and patient with people, and the Lord did the rest. 

We had one day this week, I feel like it was Tuesday, where no one was home. That kinda sucked. So we just decided to contact. All day. And when it was getting to be evening time, we saw a park in our area, a park that we pass by almost every day, but we had never gone in because there are always people doing drugs and other stuff there. But this time we felt like we should go in. I was not sure, so I didn't say anything, but then my companion was like "hey why don't we go to the park?" and we are in the point of his training where basically he's in charge, so I followed him. We walk in the gate, and we see a lady who was walking with her family stop, and stare us down. So, following normal missionary instinct, we contacted them. Turns out her friend had called her the other day and told her that she needed to go to church. So she asked us if we would please come and teach her and her family. The whole family was at conference on Saturday. Then we kept walking and saw another family sitting down. We talk to them and recognition floods over us.

Story: There is a guy in our ward with special needs. His name is Chuy. He's hilarious. He never goes to church, but he knows the whole freaking world. So every time he sees us, he asks for 50 passalong cards with our name and number on em. So we spend 10 minutes in the street frantically writing on the backs of these cards, and then we give them to him. Within half an hour he's calling us and asking for more. It's kinda cool. But anyway we were talking with him one day and he all of the sudden yells out "HENRY! VENTE!" (Henry, come here!) (also he has a funny way of calling everyone by the wrong name. He thinks my name is Sammy haha) so we didn't really even look up from writing. But then we notice that a guy is coming towards us. So Chuy introduces him to us, his name is actually Henry, and Chuy tells us he's gonna take us over to Henry's house to teach him. That was like 2 months ago. Chuy never took us to the house. So we contact this family and BAM there is the golden boy. He tells us he has been waiting for us, and asks us if we can't go on Saturday to visit him. We said yes, he lives close to the church where we were gonna watch GC and yeah. So in between the sessions we ran to his house, taught him, gave him a Book of Mormon, and set a quick little baptismal date. Pretty legit.

Also on the list of cool things I did this week, I gave myself an ingrown tonail surgery using a pair of sharp scissors and some tweezers. Don't worry I dunked em in alcohol to sanitize em. That hurt really bad but it was worth it. I just didn't want to go to the doctor cause they say that the shots they put into your foot to numb it hurt worse than just taking it out, so yeah. Logic. Plus Mexican Medical services are kind of hit or miss. If you doubt it, read one of my emails from april where I mention the lady with the hole in her foot and the pus that leaked out. Que asco.

Anyway yeah this week was chill. The Conference was awesome, I loved Elder Holland's talk. It made me miss you, Mom. You're awesome. Also I totally met Elder Montoya, he came to the stake conference in Ensenada when I was there. That was before he was a real 70.

This church is so true you guys. Yesterday some people tried arguing with us in the street but I was like "I'm not in the mood for this" and so we planched em. My companion was laughing when we walked away and he was like "I've never seen you like that" haha it was kinda fun.

Los quiero mucho,

Elder Rawlings

"You don't sound American anymore"

The street that Jenson lives on.  It was flooded from the rain they had been experiencing

Dear All,

Another week passed and gone. And it was kind of a funny one. Some stories not exactly email appropriate, my companion got peed on by a dog, and we walked a TON. WOO.

So Monday was pretty good, we visited a girl who was supposed to get baptized this week, but wasn't really progressing, and so I was doubting her readiness. So we had a lesson kind of "planchadora" (I'll let you guys hit up the translation there) and so that was kinda fun. Then we went with some recent converts and had the most uncomfortable lesson of my entire mission so far. I can't even express all that happened, so just ask me in a year.

Tuesday we had a Zone Meeting, and then we went to eat with the seafood lady, and thanks to your humble prayers we ate flautas, which are among my favorites. It was a nice relief. The rest of that day was spent visiting person after person that we had appointments with, but that weren't home. Also, we went and visited a member family that's super cool, and they asked me to pray in English. When we finished my companion (who speaks decent English) said to me, "dude you don't sound american anymore" NOOOO that hurt. So I'm gonna dowload a bunch of talks in English so that I can hear a real American accent and get it back. 

Wednesday and Thursday were pretty normal days. Thursday after our Mission Coordination meeting, we took the mission leader to go get hot dogs because there is a hot dog stand next to the church and the lady that owns it wants to read the Book of Mormon. So tips for all missionaries out there: if you need to gain the confidence of your ward mission leader, go grab some hot dogs or tacos or pan dulce or something. It really works.

Friday looked like an amazing day. Apointments every hour on the hour from 11 am to 8 pm, with double appointments at 4 and 5. Plus we had to do a baptismal interview, so we had mini exchanges with the Zone Leaders too. Busy day. But not one of our appointments was home, not even the interviews that we had to do. So that was rough. And it was hot that day too. 

Saturday was pretty much the same, a little bit more success but not much. It was really just a test of dilligence. We had about zero success last week, but for our efforts, the Lord blessed us this morning with a super chosen person. So that was cool. This week is going to be better.

Spiritual experience of the week:

In the mission we have been trying to focus a lot on developing the Gift of Discernment, meaning that we are trying to be able to recognize what people need, their doubts, concerns, questions, everything, without them directly telling us. So we are focusing on teaching the doctrine clearly and simply, making an environment where the spirity can testify, and then trusting that the Lord is going to help us to help his "lost sheep". So we visited a less active family that we reactivated last week, and we both had the feeling that something was wrong. We taught the second half of the Plan of Salvation, the part about where we are going after this life. And as we taught, I began to notice, just from they way they would react to certain words or questions, actually I'm not really sure what it was, but I just knew that they had some problems. And then, all of the sudden, they told us everything. Exactly what we had been thinking. And the lesson that we had taught was exactly what they needed to hear. It was super powerful and it really gave me a testimony even stronger of the love our Father in Heaven has for us. If he lets us, as his imperfect servants, know a little bit of what's going on the hearts of His children, how much more must he know? How much more perfectly will he be able to help us? I love this gospel and everything it teaches us. I testify of its truthfulness.

Los quiero mucho,

Elder Rawlings

We had been bugging Jenson about the lack of pictures he had been sending, so we got a selfie of him writing to us :)