Remember to click on the pics to see them better!

Please notice what Ryan's doing....eatin a bag of chips ahoy cookies! haha...he says "I've got no freakin clue but all I know is those chips ahoy were da shiz"

Ryan's last district

Temple day! He's lookin good in his glasses!

Ryan says: "My Valentine's Day outfit. Can't really get too creative as a missionary."

Ryan: "This was the sisters in my district's last night so we decided to get burritos larger than our faces. At 6 months left I'll start my diet."

Here he is working on my Valentine's Day present! It's a picture of the temple with this special paper that he had to put together piece by piece. Pretty sweet!

He's back!!!

Hey all!
So cheesem crow poop dang trash… Last week was frustrating email wise. So if you were wondering where my email was last week…you can blame it on 10 year old turds…kids I mean. But yeah the stupid library security man (didn’t even know a library needed one of those… I guess that goes to show you how ghetto it is down here haha) kicked us off so the school kids could come in and just play solitaire or something dumb like that but eh…what cha gonna do I guess…the library security man met business. So other than that how has everyone’s week been!? I hear it’s cold and snowy in Missouri…I’m sorry haha here I’ll tell you a joke to warm you up (get it? Haha) ok so some Mexican told me this joke a few days ago since I’m from Missouri it was pretty funny actually so let me see if I can remember it…. Ok so a city slicker came upon two country folk balancing a long piece of lumber vertically on the ground, while a third fellow with a measuring tape climbed up on the lumber. “What are you doing?”, asked the urbanite. “We are trying to measure this piece of wood,” replied the country cousin. “Why not lay it down and measure it?,” asked the city fellow. Nope,” replied the country boy. “That won’t do it! We want the height, not the length!” haha pretty funny huh? So I told him a Mexican joke but he didn’t think that my joke was to funny though haha I told him I was Mexican too but he didn’t believe me haha.
So just a little update let’s see last week was transfers and oh how I needed that to come around… let’s just say last transfer was really hard, frustrating, difficult, akl;sghdfjhasdl;fjksdfhfjkghk;ajsdkl;ghj…. Yeah that’s how bad it was but I got a new companion, his name is Elder Hernandez… this is his 2nd transfer so I’m follow-up training him um he’s from Canada too which is neat. So he’s a really good guy all around, kind of a big goof but he’s my goof for at least 6 weeks so I love him. He’s good though, I think that we’ll do just fine this transfer. We made a commitment I guess you could say to each other and the commitment is he’s gonna teach me Spanish and I’m gonna teach him how to be a missionary so we’ve got a lot of learning to do from each other but it’s gonna be really good in the end. I’m just ready to get Spanish down… it’s still kickin increasingly large rear but I can definitely see a difference so at least it’s progressing… hopefully I’ll get it before July 2011. Keep me in your prayers!
So time is short so I think I’ll do my spiritual thought and get a move on and I want to kind of focus it on the Scriptures particularly the Book of Mormon. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Book of Mormon it is a volume of scripture that was written here in the Americas by Prophets of God, just like the Bible was written in the Holy Land by Prophets of God and it speaks of the dealings of the people here in the Americas and the Lord’s church here in America. It’s a book that is another witness that Jesus is the Christ our Lord and Redeemer and it contains the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ along with the Bible. It is a companion to the Bible, not a replacement and it is another witness for the truths taught in the Bible. It also restores "plain and precious" truths that have been lost from the Bible through errors in translation or "taken away" in attempts to "pervert the right ways of the Lord." It’s been something that has been a comfort in my life and a guide as well and that’s what it all comes down to. The Book of Mormon was written for us in these last days because the Lord knew what times we would go through and what struggles we would face. Everywhere you look in the world it’s just horrible; violence, drugs, sex, natural disasters, it’s just a terrible world to live in and I personally think that’s why the Book of Mormon was written and was preserved for us in these Latter Days… To give us light in a dark world and comfort in our difficult lives. I have an unchangeable testimony in the Book of Mormon that it’s true. I’ve seen it time and again change people’s lives by bringing them closer to Christ as it has done the same to mine. Concerning the Book of Mormon the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” That’s the promise that Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit that the Book of Mormon is true “will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah.” I would not be here on my mission if I didn’t know for a fact that it was true and I want everyone to know that. That’s why I’m here, to show others the comfort and guiding light of the Book of Mormon and the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.” And I want my testimony to stand by that. The Book of Mormon as well as I invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. I know that it’s true and I’m so happy to have such an anchor in my life through the stormy world that we live in and I want all to have that same joy and happiness.
I love all of you so very much and I pray for you ALWAYS and hope that you have an awesome week this week! Stay safe and keep on going!
All my love,
Elder Ryan Lawter

Sorry All,

This is all we get for this week. Bummer! RyRy's time was cut way short at the library.

*****

Hi all,
Here we are again another week down. Today has been just a gorgeous day! It’s been in the high 70’s and today I think it got up to 82 so the weather is just awesome and that makes for a happy boy here! Let’s see news…news…. We’ll tomorrow is transfers, it seems like this transfer has just blown by and I think it’s gonna be like that for the rest of my mission… time is really starting to pick up…which is awesome! I guess I will be home one of these days. But with transfers, I’m not quite sure but I think that I’ll be staying down here in Barrio Logan for another transfer but for my companion, that’s a different story but I’m not totally sure but I guess I’ll find out tomorrow!

Tons of pictures!

Beautiful view!

Pushing the limits!

(click on the picture to make it bigger)

Fun day on the beach

Entrance to his 'church' building...aka an elementary school

Ryan's branch in Logan. If you click on the picture and make it bigger, you can see Ryan sitting on the "stand'...last one on the right!

lookin' good Slick! lookin' goooood!

Ryan wrote on the back of this picture-"I only sent this picture cuz I look good....try not to drool too much!"

officially the biggest pizza in the world

During the San Diego rainstorms

With one of their investigators who is "the funniest man ever."

Ryan said..."Doin the curls to get the girls."

Ryan and his buddy Ulrich on Ulrich's last day

Burning his 6 month tie

He shaved his head...and missed a couple places

Morales and Lawter on the beach! Look at that California hang ten!

eyyyy Chancho!

Beautiful Christmas hike

Christmas Eve baptism

A member gave him this trashbag for a poncho and this is what it turned into....the member said, "here ya go Batman!" and Ryan rode like this all the way home. He said "I got a couple honks out of it..ha!"

Happy Early Valentines Day!!!!

Well Hello Hello,
So it’s once again P-day! Everyone’s favorite day of the week!..... Well for missionaries at least but how’s everyone doing? I don’t know why I ask that question every time because there’s no way for any of you to answer haha but I hope that everything is going swell in everyone’s lives! I hope that your days are easy and the good moments pass slow. That’s what we live for is those good moments. So let the good times roll man! So this past week was kind of a slow week… don’t really have any sweet stories besides the fact that I was quarantined in my apartment for most of the week…. Our whole apartment got the stupid stomach bug! First it started with one, then it got passed to another, then I was so fortunate to get it too! Hurray…… yea I don’t recommend it to anyone….. So I was “sleeping handsome” pretty much for most of the week but I’m better now and it’s good too because it’s sunny and 63 today in B.E.A.UTIFUL San Diego!!! Heh heh… most of you reading this probably are snowy and 23 haha. Ah but it’s ok though summer will come for you…. In a few months. Ok now you all hate me, now let’s see if there anything going on down here.You know lately I feel like I don’t have any just AMAZING missionary stories to tell but the more I think of it the more and more I feel that everyday I have amazing experiences but they’ve just become natural and an everyday thing and I think that Grandma and Grandpa Lawter can testify of that but I think too that we all can testify of that. About a month well probably two months ago Whitney wrote me and was telling me just about everything in life that we take for granted and all the truly amazing things that are given to us and happen to us each and everyday and it was touching to me because she said that once she truly recognized those little things…. She gained a greater appreciation for them and they turn a seemingly rotten day… into an amazing one and that’s what it’s about… looking for the good in our everyday lives and also staying on the sunny side. If we do… then those rain clouds stay far from us but if we permit them to take over our day and rain on our parade then they’ll be there to stay until we allow the sun to brighten up our day and the days to come. It’s all up to us… we need to choose this day to do and recognize the sunshine in our lives… whether that’s though; family, friends, an acquaintance, the Lord, a stranger, or just seeing the beauty in our everyday world because it’s all around us. Choose this day… and I can promise you that it will be perfect, if we allow it to be!Welp time is short peeps and I’ve gotta run but I hope you all choose this day and have a wonderful day and week until next week…same time same place.Love you all so much!
Elder Lawter
Keep goin to keep growing

CrAzY tALk

Hey errrybody…
I think I’m gonna just holla at cha in ebonics dis email because dats all I
get from my homies errday on da street…you know whaa I’m sayin…word
Naaa I’m just kidding… It is pretty funny though to hear all the dialects
down here… you’ve got your Spanish gangster talk, black gangster talk,
Spanish people who butcher English (bless their little hearts … I know how
they feel) and there’s a bunch more but it’s truly a different world down
here but it’s really fun talking to people here because they sure do have
some crazy stories. Oh which speaking of Mexicans… what do you call 2
Mexicans playing basketball………… Juan on Juan pahaha! I about peed my pants
when I heard that one… That’s some good stuff but anyways.. how’s everyone’s week been… Things are going good here. Just a lotta lotta things to do so it’s getting pretty insane… We have a lot of investigators right now that we’re teaching so things are going pretty good here… Random thought be we actually had an earthquake here this morning… My very 1st earthquake…that I know of. It wasn’t too big of an earthquake only a 4.4 so you could feel it but it didn’t do any damage or anything serious.
Another cool thing that happened this past week was the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center re-opened this past week. There was a festival and a parade that some of the missionaries here were able to dress up and march in and there was just a lot of cool stuff going on. It was a really good weekend and just really cool to see the church use some high tech stuff in the visitors center…. So if you’re ever in San Diego… 1st call me up and then 2nd head over to the Mormon Battalion Visitors Center… It’s really worth the trip.
So other than that there hasn’t been a lot of huge news… just the same ol’ same ol’ head to work at 11 shift ends at 9, bed at 10:30, up at 6:30, and back at it. Sounds kind of boring and lame when I put it like that but it really is the best! It’s the Lord’s work that we’re talking about here… how can you not be happy in the service of our Lord? It’s just amazing to see the hand of our Savior in this divine work. There’s just really no experience like it and I’m just so grateful to be out here right now, preaching something that I know to be true and teaching something that I know will bless the lives of other immensely. I’ve gained such a greater appreciation of pretty much everything here on my mission; my family (everyone included), the gospel, the sacrifice of our Savior, the power of prayer and the scriptures, being home, being with family and friends, just anything and everything you can think of…. I’ve gained a greater appreciation for and that also includes trials and adversity…something that I’ve been really familiar with the past few weeks. It sounds silly to say but trials are necessary for our eternal growth and that’s exactly what they make us do is grow. Trials and adversity are all a part of Heavenly Father's plan of redemption, all people experience adversity during their lifetime. Trials, disappointments, sadness, sickness, and heartache are a difficult part of life, but with the help of the Lord they can lead to spiritual growth, refinement, and progress. The Prophet Alma taught in the Book of Mormon that “whosoever shall put their atrust in God shall be supported in their btrials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.” Amazing counsel from a Prophet of the Lord. I just want to encourage everyone to keep going to keep growing. I think that’s been a key phrase for me these past few weeks…”keep going to keep growing.” That’s what it’s all about… it’s a journey of growing and a journey of faith. So whatever the circumstances of your life may be…. “keep going to keep growing.” And that’s when the Lord will intervene and help you out with all that goes on in your life. Everything WILL be taken care of when the Lord is at the realm.
Welp I better head but you all have an awesome week this up coming week and stay safe!!
Love you all and will talk at cha next week!!!
With much love,
Elder Ryan Lawter
Keep going to keep growing!!!