Elder Ryan Phillip Lawter

Hey everyone,
Sorry this email might be a little short but my mind’s going a thousand miles a minute to say the least and I don’t even know where to begin really. But I hope that everyone had a good week this week and was able to stay dry! Believe it or not we had rain on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday, on Thursday, on Friday, and yup you guessed it…. On Saturday as well! It was a pretty crummy week and I think that it’s suppose to start raining again here tonight too sooooo welp….. when in rome. Not the Sunny San Diego you see in the movies but it was a gorgeous day today… sunny and 65! We got to spend part of the day at the beach throwing the football around and shooting some hoops so it was a good just kind of huhhhh…. Take a big deep breath day, which I needed it terribly. The work here in the branch as compared to the work back in El Cajon is way way different it’s more up paced and it’s the kind of place where if you stop running then you just get ran over. So it’s already been a real stressful start of the New Year but I guess it’s all to be expected…. As you all know I’m not the one to get real stressed out and to wig out on things but being in a Spanish branch that’s growing so rapidly brings you to become just one big ol’ stress ball but….. I love it. It’s the Lord’s Work and it’s prophecy that it’s gonna roll on forward with nothing to stand in its way. We had a guy fly in from Salt Lake aka means mucho importancia, of course the same week I had to give a talk in church too but it all went pretty well. We had a meeting with the branch presidency and the guy from Salt Lake and I think that the Church is going to build a building down here before too long so that we don’t have to meet in a school building anymore, so that was way exciting news to hear! The guy from Salt Lake was very impressed with the branch and is way excited for all the growth that it’s doing. The members here are awesome too! They are all just so very kind and so willing to help us out is so many ways, it’s amazing to see and a great blessing too! We actually have an investigator who is going to be baptized the 31st and the way we found her was through a member. I’ve never seen the importance of member work until I came out here on my mission but it’s so crucial to the work. It’s such a great sight to see when members bring their friends, family, co-workers to church and that was what my talk was about was the importance of teaching those around us and how it will ultimately save their life.
I know this work is true. I know that this gospel is true. I know this with all my heart and I know that Christ lives and directs this work and if we all do a little more then we will be able to be a little better as a whole. “The most important work that we can do, is the work that is within the walls of our own home.” – President Harold B. Lee
I love you all and pray for each and everyone of you!
I hope that you all have a great week and will stand a little taller!
With all my love,
Elder Ryan Lawter