2000 - THE NEW MILLENNIUM

Saturday

December 9, 2000

Dear Loved Ones:

There is an invitation from an ancient prophet to “remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men…and ponder it in your hearts.” As I undertook this assignment from Torianne, I opened the letter we sent in May to many of you. As I read that letter and “remember[ed] how merciful” He had been to us then, since then and even now continues to carry all of us in his arms (when we let him), I was overcome with a feeling of peace and gratitude I can not adequately express. With a sure knowledge that he knows us and loves us, I express our love and appreciation to each of you for your examples of faithful perseverance, diligent obedience and caring remembrances.

As last reported, Torianne graduated from college with her Nursing degree. Not long after that she took the state boards and PASSED ON THE FIRST TRY!!!!! You have to know I could smell that golf club membership coming my way. Please, don’t be ugly. I have to put that dig in here somewhere. Tori took a job with our pediatrician the end of August. Work is MUCH better than school. Tori is happy with what she is doing and learning. She is, however, looking for an opportunity to get some additional training that can only come from working in a hospital. We’ll keep you posted on Nurse Tori and her adventures in “General Hospital”.

I know, when I wrote you in May that I said we would write our family letter then, instead of at Christmas time. We have some news we want to share sooner than later, so that’s why I am writing, now. Brian has received his mission call. He has been called to serve in the Paraguay Asuncion North Mission! He went to the Temple on November 25th, spoke in Sacrament Meeting the 26th and went back to work in Kansas City the 28th. He will be returning from KC this morning and will be here until the day after Christmas. He leaves for SLC the day after Christmas and will report to the MTC on the 27th of December. Needless to say he is and we are very excited for this great new opportunity in his life.

Because of Brian’s call, Chase received special permission for us to call him and tell him about the call. We talked with him the end of October. It was, of course, great to hear his voice. He must really be into his mission. He had sent us his phone number so we could call him back when he called us and we had set a time that he would call. The appointed time came and went. We waited about an hour, thinking that perhaps he was late getting back from an appointment or something. Finally we decided to try and call him. When he answered the phone he acted surprised to hear from us. That’s because he was. He had completely forgotten that we were to talk. Chase is doing well and his mission has been extended to the end of March.

Eric, now a sophomore in High School, has nothing but tennis, friends (mostly girls), and the car (“my car” as he refers to it) on his mind. I’m not sure which of the three is his most important priority but I am sure that the car is right at the top of the list. The reason I think that is because he is making a concerted effort to get his Eagle Project done before his birthday in January. It’s a law of the harvest thing. No Eagle, no driver’s license. No driver’s license, no car. I love the law of the harvest (when it works in my favor).

Garrett loves sports, hanging with his friends (Patrick & Brandon) and is doing well in school. He played football this fall for the first time in two years. Oh, I forgot to mention that Garrett is a pretty funny boy, too. Check this out. After his first practice in the heat of the fall in Texas, he came home whining about how tired he was, how he didn’t want to play and that he wanted to quit. We said no (money was involved). He continued to complain for a couple more weeks. Then came game time. He found out that he was not only on a good team, but a great team. They went undefeated, won the league championship, had fun and now he denies he ever wanted to quit. Like I said, he’s a funny boy.

“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” Truer words were never penned. As I look back on 2000, those words would certainly apply to our lives. Something I’ve learned or learned again is that responding positively to the “best of times” can be easier than positively responding to the “worst of times”. Another thing, perhaps a greater thing, that I’ve learned or re-learned is that more often than not and sooner or later, the extent to which we positively respond to the “worst of times” can and will provide a solid foundation and support to making the “best of times” better and the “worst of times” bearable.

We thank you and express our love and appreciation to each of your for your examples of strength, steadfastness, integrity and love of God. May this Holy time of “remembrance” be a source of strength and humble gratitude for all of us.

All our love

The Rawlins Family
Garrett, Eric, Brian, Chase, Tori & Tony