Well here we are again, Another day another dolla…. So how was everyone’s week this week!? Good…. that’s grand. I don’t know if it was just me or what but this week was the slowest and hardest week definitely on my mission. So to start it off, last Tuesday our zone had what we call a transfer piñata and what we do is put all the name of the people who are leaving in the piñata, break it open and find out who exactly is leaving. Well guess who’s name was in it…..yuppers my name was in there. So that night I stayed up until 12 packing all of my stuff together, which is harder than it sounds….. I don’t know where all the junk that I had to pack came from but when you’re in El Cajon for 5 months you kind of collect things… So then that morning we packed everything up and headed up to transfers. Not gonna lie, it was a weird feeling to leave El Cajon and go to a new area, that’s all I knew on my mission and to be leaving, it was a little weird and sad…but I think I’ll be back one of these days…not like times an issue right now ha. So anyways we got to transfers and the way President does it is he sits all the missionaries in the chapel, does like a spiritual thought, just to make us wait more, I think he does that on purpose, then we find out who we’re getting and where we’re going. The way he does it is he goes zone by zone so zone 1 is San Diego North, zone 2 San Diego, zone 3 Sweetwater, zone 4 Santee, and so on and so forth, so he went through all of zone one then he came to zone 2 and the very first name he read off was Elder Preston…. “Elder Preston stand up, you need a new companion.” “Elder Lawter stand up…. You’re going to be senior companion and the new district leader…Go meet your new companion.”………haha yea that’s exactly what I thought, SC & DL, not to mention, new area, new companion, new ward, everything new! It’s crazy! So that’s why I’m gonna call this transfer the newb transfer for me. But yea so that’s what’s happening…. Oh yea! I almost forgot and I’m serving in the Imperial Branch in BARRIO LOGAN!!! I know that doesn’t really mean anything to anyone but it’s right downtown! It’s sooo sweet! Every morning I wake up, look out the window and see the ocean, Cornado Bridge, down town, huge cargo ships moving… It’s way awesome! It’s the most ghetto place you can serve in but don’t worry mom! I’m safe!!! It is a rough part of town but the cool thing is that people have so much respect for the missionaries around here that no one messes with us…dang right! I mean my first day here we went to this taco shop and the owner just looked like a gang member, I actually think he is but all kinds of tattooed up and everything but when we came in he gave us all fist pounds, loaded up the meat on the burritos, gave us free pop…. Then the next second you turn around he’s doin a drug deal haha. So yea it’s run down and rough but everyone respects us and just let us do what we do best so I love it here! The branch is cool… we actually meet in an Elementary School right across the street from my apartment because we don’t have a building close enough to us.. so that’s different but the members are cool and are just so so nice…. They would literally give the shirt off their backs for anyone so I’m way happy to be here, serving where I’m serving but most importantly serving who I’m serving. Never-the-less it’s been a hard week. I’ve got a lot of responsibility on my shoulders with being senior companion, district leader, and teaching people in a language that I barley know. It’s been tough. My companion, Elder Preston was a switcher too and we’ve been out close to the same time, so our Spanish is equally suckey but we’re doing it. Our lessons are very basic because of our Spanish but we’re doing it. I’m scared to death right now but we’re doing it. I feel like I don’t know any Spanish but….. we’re doing it. It’s been a team effort as of late, as it’s always been on my mission but I’ve been leaning on the power of the Atonement and the help of Christ now more than ever. I read a quote of few days ago by Elder Andersen that hit me pretty hard, he said, “there are days when we feel inadequate and unprepared, when doubt and confusion enter our spirits, when we have difficulty finding our spiritual footing. Part of our victory as disciples of Christ is what we do when these feelings come….. Our spiritual journey is the process of a lifetime. We do not know everything in the beginning or even along the way. Our conversion comes step-by-step, line upon line. We first build a foundation of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We treasure the principles and ordinances of repentance, baptism, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. We include a continuing commitment to prayer, a willingness to be obedient, and an ongoing witness of the Book of Mormon. We then remain steady and patient as we progress through mortality. (And when we feel inadequate and unprepared, when doubt and confusion enter our spirits, when we have difficulty finding our spiritual footing) At times, the Lord’s answer will be, “You don’t know everything, but you know enough”—….. Challenges, difficulties, questions, doubts—these are part of our mortality. But we are not alone. As disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have enormous spiritual reservoirs of light and truth available to us. Fear and faith cannot coexist in our hearts at the same time. In our days of difficulty, we choose the road of faith. Jesus said, “Be not afraid, only believe.” (Mark 5:36)”This work is true. The gospel is true. The Book of Mormon is true. I’m a witness of all of these things and I testify of these things. Christ lives as well as our Father in Heaven and they love us so much! That’s something that I’ve really felt this past week is how much our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to succeed. He’s always there… making up for our weaknesses when we need it the most. I’m so grateful to be where I’m at and what I’m doing, I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t know for a certainty that it’s true and I know that it is.I love you all so much and hope that you all have an awesome possum week this week! Be safe and take care and remember… “Be not afraid, only believe.”Much love always!
Elder Ryan Lawter
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