Final Words From Mom

Dear Hermana Rawe,

So I went back to the beginning and read a lot of the first letters Dad and I wrote.  It was a lot of "you can do this" and "trust the Lord" and "be patient" and "focus on loving people" and "give it 100%" ...

Well sunshine, you have done all that and more.  I know you have struggled to feel content with your service and sacrifice to the Lord.  I want you to know that He is well pleased.  You have truly loved every person you came in contact with on your mission as the Savior would have loved them if He were there.  You have been obedient and consecrated to the work.  You have learned how to rely on the Lord and strengthened your testimony into a rock solid foundation for the rest of your life.  You have loved and served your companions and tried to continually build each one of them up.  There is a piece of your heart and soul that will forever live in Guadalajara, Mexico because you left it all on the table.  The Lord could not ask for more than you gave.

I am so proud of you!  Overwhelmingly proud of the missionary you are and will continue to be long after you come home.  There is a light in you that will continue to draw people to you because you simply radiate joy.  I am so excited for you to come home, but I'm not going to lie, I'm a little sad too!  It has gone by so fast .. it almost feels like you're coming home too early!  I'm going to miss those Monday emails and your stories!  About like the people there are going to miss knowing you are no longer in Mexico!

Enjoy the last few days .. soak up all that is beautiful and wonderful about Mexico and its people.  Take a minute and quietly ask the Lord for His final approval of your mission.  He will speak to your heart and let you know just how pleased He is.  

I love you and am incredibly blessed the Lord allowed me the blessing of being your mama!

Love,
Mom

General Women's Meeting -- IN SPANISH!!

My face .. getting ready to watch the Women's Conference .. IN SPANISH! 

Saturday night we had the opportunity to watch the General Women’s Conference!  Let me tell you, I LOVE that all of the women are together now. Absolutely love it!  The Spirit is great because I understood a ton!  All in Spanish!  For those of you that watched, did you see the Mormon version of Up?  Oh my goodness, I was bawling like a baby!  It was the video that started with kids and ended with the grandparents? 

Here's a link to the video:
http://youtu.be/1xADQGfGgvA

I felt so strongly that my Heavenly Father has an incredible plan for my life.  He has blessed me with incredible experiences growing up. He’s given me the opportunity to serve a mission in this beautiful country, with the most incredible people.  Hopefully, I get to be a wife and mom, a teacher for the rest of my life! Heavenly Father trusts me to teach because I teach with love.  The mom in the video was in scrubs and taking care of kids and I almost died.  That’s going to be me!  This is my time to prepare.  This is my time with the Savior to solidify our relationship so that we can be partners for the rest of His plans for my life.  

I couldn't help but think about my mom during the conference .. Just so you know, I think you are awesome!  Seriously, the more I meet people here, the more I come to know the details of their lives, I thank Heavenly Father for our family.  We're are so incredibly blessed.  You and dad did that. You had goals, you stuck to your guns, and you formed an environment where we could grow spiritually and physically. 

Thank you so much for your example.  Thank you for teaching me to be bold, to be convicted.  Thank you for always being one of my best friends. Thank you for teaching me how to love other people and giving me an example of how to be a good mom.  There are so many broken families here.  So many people not married in the temple.  I love you SO MUCH. I hope you never forget it and that I can be someone that you're proud of! Love you more than you know! 

Being women is so great!  I hope that all of the women that read this realize just how important their role is.  We need to lead our families in righteous, to do the hard things like Eve did because we’re pretty dang tough.  Your calling as a woman is great!  Love it!  Fulfill it!  No regrets!

Happy Birthday Mom

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! 

I'll have you know...I make a list before P Day of all of the things I want to tell y'all and your birthday made the list!  

Please enjoy the pics of me with chocolate covered strawberries. I ate them in your honor today! We went to a buffet today and ate our guts out..so good! 

Words of Wisdom -- From Mom

Hola Hermana Rawe!

It is so funny how you leaving on a mission has brought all these thoughts and feelings from my own mission to the surface.  There are times you hold back feelings of discouragement .. It is this whole “Never let them see you sweat” mentality and I have zero idea where that came from!  :)

But I know that you are going to have days as a missionary where you feel discouraged, frustrated, and maybe even hopeless.  I sure did!  I remember being in the MTC and wondering if I was going to be able to pull this off with everything that was happening with my family.  After a lot of prayer, I came to a simple but powerful conclusion … I had to focus on the Savior.  Every time I felt alone or discouraged – Focus on the Savior.  Every time I felt worried or frustrated – Focus on the Savior.  Every time I felt hopeless – Focus on the Savior.  I found a few conference talks that I carried with me during my entire mission and in those moments when I needed to huddle up with the Lord, I relied on one of these talks to get me to focus on the Savior and His love and His mission.  They became a constant source of strength as my mission unfolded.

So, I went on a bit of a scavenger hunt .. and I found some of my most favorite talks on the Savior.  I hope that they bring you comfort and raise you up on those days when you may feel a little low.   I have no doubt that you are going to be one kick butt Hermana .. and I know that you will serve the Lord well.  You are so prepared for this, so don’t let Satan fill your mind or heart with any negative thoughts.  If he tries to creep in, focus on the Savior and allow His light and love to remove the negative thoughts and bring you back to that place where the Spirit can work miracles through you.

Love You Buddy!

Mom

My Mom

I believe I quite possibly had the best mom growing up.  She taught me how to think for myself and be independent.  She taught me how to love other people and have an open heart.  She puts me in line but is also my biggest confidant.  I will definitely miss one of my best friends these next two years but I know she will take care of me.  She is an amazing woman and I hope someday I can become even close to as incredible as she is.