Howdy everyone!
So…Sorry this email is coming a day late but all of the libraries in San Diego are starting to close now on Mondays..kinda lame but I don’t know really the cause of why they’re all shutting down on Mondays but whatev so I guess we’ll have to kind of settle on Tuesdays unless we can find some other way because this is the closest library within miles of us and we don’t have a car so it makes it kind of hard but anywhoo that’s what’s going on email wise.. So how’s everybody doing!? Let’s see recap of last week..A-MAZING as I told you last week Elder Holland came to dedicate the Mormon Battalion Center along with Elder Hinkley and Elder Jensen! It was so crazy to shake an Apostle of the Lord’s hand and to talk with him face to face…really words can’t explain the feeling and the power, and the spirit that those men literally radiate! We had a conference for about 3 hours and after it was all said and done I had a headache for an hour or so…. Just the power in Elder Holland’s words is just overtaking really…. I just kept thinking to myself the whole time…you know this is an Apostle of the Lord…just think about how it’s gonna be when we actually stand before God himself and His Son Jesus Christ…. I’m gonna need like 50 ibuprofens if just an Apostle gives me a headache for an hour ha. But really it was just an amazing experience to listen from all three of those men and to talk with them face-to-face…. I’d like to add that Elder Jensen told me that I looked really sharp in my suit and tie….yea I was pretty much flauntin it that day for those guys….maybe they’ll give me a shout-out in conference this weekend…. “I’d like to tell a story of the sharpest looking missionary I think that I’ve ever seen…..” naa but hey it could happen…. It was really neat because after all the missionaries went up and shook Elder Holland’s hand and Elder Hinkley and Jensen’s too Elder Holland spoke and said that when we went up there and shook his hand he said he looked each of us in the eyes and interviewed us right there on the spot…scared the crap out of me when he said that but he said that of all the missions that he’s traveled to in the world throughout his years as a general authority, he said that this was the most obedient and best looking group that he’s ever seen… so I guess that means we passed ha! But it’s so interesting…those men can just see right through people and discern their needs and everything…. Another interesting thing that I saw was before Elder Holland got up to speak, the whole time he had his hands in his face kind of rocking back and forth just receiving revelation out the wazooo and literally just wrestling with the spirit…it was intense…I took a bunch of notes but dang it I forgot them at the house so I’ll have to include some of the things he said next week in my email. So yea that was pretty much my week this past week and then tomorrow we have transfers, then this weekend we’ll have General Conference (stoked for dat), then in a few weeks it’s my compleanos!, then a few weeks after that it’s call home day well more importantly it’s mother’s day but still…excited to call home!!! So there’s a lot of stuff going on in the next bit then before too long we’ll be past the count up to a year and to the countdown to the next July…it’s certainly goin by fast but it’s been so good! I’m so blessed and happy to be out here serving God’s children and helping them make the journey back to Him, something interesting that Elder Holland said was that “Salvation does not come cheap,” and that the road to Salvation always goes through the Garden at one point or another. He knows exactly what we’ve been through, what we’re going through, and what we will go through so always remember that and keep Him in yours prayers for His help and support always and He WILL help you through!
Like always I love you all so much and hope that you have a happy and safe week!
Much Love…One Love,
Elder Ryan Lawter
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
RIBS!
One of Ryan's favorite foods is....can you guess?
RIBS!
He was so excited he ate them the other day that he had to take pictures!
Ma and Pa Lawter...I'm not sure your "fattie" package really worked.....hehe
Monday, March 22, 2010
It's spring!
Hey family,
So be warned this email might a little short I've got a lot to do today with such little time, we've got a very very important person coming to our mission on friday so I've got to cut my hair, dry-clean my suits and ties, polish my shoes, clean my apartment, and probably repent for even killing a fly today... yea that's how legit it's gonna be friday.. I'm not really suppose to say who's coming but let's just say.....it's Jeffrey R. Holland!!! Welp so much for that secret...yea Elder Holland's coming on Friday to dedicate the Mormon Battalion Center then he's going to speak to the Mission so we're all way stoked!!! Oh and also at the end of April Gladys Knight's coming to perform a fireside concert for investigators and the only way that you can get in is with a ticket and the only way that you can get a ticket is bring an investigator...so our mission is planning to receive around 5,000 referrals from this ol' deal...pretty exciting huh? Just a lot of sweet things happening right now and also Elder Hernandez and I are probably going to have a baptism during conference weekend.. it's a husband and wife that are probably the sweetest investigators that I've ever had... just so prepared and so accepting of the gospel; they even went to the temple grounds with out us even talking about the temple, I actually think that that's the first thing that got them interested was the temple here in San Diego. The temple is set-up perfectly here, it sits right beside Interstate 5 so there's a lot of people that wander on to the grounds just out of curiosity and I think that's what happened with Aldo and his wife Carmen. It's such a blessing to have temples on the earth today that are so close to access for us and what a blessing they are for families to be sealed together for time and all eternity, they're really where families become together forever. It's truly a heaven on earth and a blessing for all members of the church, we just need to take full advantage of it. I'm so grateful for this gospel and to have the opportunity to spread this message to all those in need. I'm also grateful for you all and for the love you all send this way. I pray for you and love you all and hope that you have a great week! Take care and God bless!
Love,
Elder Ryan Lawter
So be warned this email might a little short I've got a lot to do today with such little time, we've got a very very important person coming to our mission on friday so I've got to cut my hair, dry-clean my suits and ties, polish my shoes, clean my apartment, and probably repent for even killing a fly today... yea that's how legit it's gonna be friday.. I'm not really suppose to say who's coming but let's just say.....it's Jeffrey R. Holland!!! Welp so much for that secret...yea Elder Holland's coming on Friday to dedicate the Mormon Battalion Center then he's going to speak to the Mission so we're all way stoked!!! Oh and also at the end of April Gladys Knight's coming to perform a fireside concert for investigators and the only way that you can get in is with a ticket and the only way that you can get a ticket is bring an investigator...so our mission is planning to receive around 5,000 referrals from this ol' deal...pretty exciting huh? Just a lot of sweet things happening right now and also Elder Hernandez and I are probably going to have a baptism during conference weekend.. it's a husband and wife that are probably the sweetest investigators that I've ever had... just so prepared and so accepting of the gospel; they even went to the temple grounds with out us even talking about the temple, I actually think that that's the first thing that got them interested was the temple here in San Diego. The temple is set-up perfectly here, it sits right beside Interstate 5 so there's a lot of people that wander on to the grounds just out of curiosity and I think that's what happened with Aldo and his wife Carmen. It's such a blessing to have temples on the earth today that are so close to access for us and what a blessing they are for families to be sealed together for time and all eternity, they're really where families become together forever. It's truly a heaven on earth and a blessing for all members of the church, we just need to take full advantage of it. I'm so grateful for this gospel and to have the opportunity to spread this message to all those in need. I'm also grateful for you all and for the love you all send this way. I pray for you and love you all and hope that you have a great week! Take care and God bless!
Love,
Elder Ryan Lawter
Monday, March 15, 2010
Be of good cheer!
(***Sorry I don't know why the formatting is being dumb!***)
Dear Family,
Whazzz up! Let’s see it’s Monday the 15th here, it’s 12:08 and it’s…..should
I say it… yeah, it’s 77 degrees here! We just got done playing Frisbee and
I’m kinda bummed that we had to come in for an hour to email so you all
better feel pretty stinkin special cuz I’m missin out on some rays…. I know
I know… tough life this kid has right?? It’s so nice outside right now, I
think that we’re gonna go back outside and just stay out the rest of the day
so it should be a good one, but how’s everybody doing? Seems to me like this
week has kind of lagged a bit especially yesterday with daylight savings and
all.. it was funny because we show up at church yesterday around 8:45
because church starts at 9 or somewhere around 9 if you’re going on Mexican
but we get there and literally there is absolutely nobody there, just the
branch president and a few other members and that’s about it! So we get our
classes started and get going, then around 10ish or so…here they start
rollin in. I actually think that the Branch President was expecting it… to
tell you the truth, none of us in the apartment remembered until somebody
called us that night to remind us… so we would of fit it pretty well if that
person didn’t call us… kinda mad that he did yesterday though…that hour is
pretty crucial…didn’t know that hour could make such a difference but it
sure does…it’s not a huge difference for all the oldies though, they get
their nap in at Sacrament regardless so it’s all good. We actually received
a message yesterday night on our phone with some pretty sweet news, it was
the A.P’s telling us that our mission here in San Diego got a total of 20
baptisms I think, 20 or 21 something like that but our mission got 20
baptisms last week and they said that that hasn’t happened in like 70 years
or something like that so that was pretty exciting news! The work is sure
pressing forward and nothing is going to stop it. Just as Joseph Smith said,
“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the
work from progressing; … the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and
independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime,
swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God
shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”
It’s amazing what’s going on right before our very eyes. Last week I had the
privilege of coaching a companionship during our MTE, which I found out, is
the Mission Training Experience btw… in case you were wondering but it was
incredible to me because we were first coached by President Donaldson, who
was coached by Brother Allen (who’s a member of the missionary department),
who was coached by Elder Clayton (Presidency of the Seventy), who was
coached by the Quorum of the Twelve, and list keeps going up until you get
to the number honcho…. This is God’s work and He’s going to direct it in the
manner that He sees fit, so what we’ve been learning from President
Donaldson in our training is truly revelation from the Lord, so if that’s
not amazing enough, it’s more amazing to put all that we learned in the MTE
to practice and to teach and find and help people who are lost inside, find
Christ. I went out with a few Elders in Rancho, which is pretty much El
Cajon, so it was cool to go back but the Elders were English Elders and from
what they’ve said, is that the Rancho area is slow and has been slow for
forever, but we went out, added a bunch of new investigators which is
supposedly impossible and came out of it with a guy who is getting baptized
at the end of the month and who is soooo ready to be baptized… and this is
just after 3 days of being there! It really is incredible! I’m so happy to
be here and to be able to see the Lord’s work and prophecy unfold. I love
it! This truly is the work of the Lord and the work of angels! I honestly
don’t know where my life would be without the gospel…. Not in the direction
it’s heading that’s for sure. So I’m so thankful to have the Atonement and
the Gospel in my life… and to have each and every one of you as well… I love
each and every one of you…. I pray for each and every one of you… and I hope
that you all have a great week!
Much love,
Elder Ryan Lawter
Whazzz up! Let’s see it’s Monday the 15th here, it’s 12:08 and it’s…..should
I say it… yeah, it’s 77 degrees here! We just got done playing Frisbee and
I’m kinda bummed that we had to come in for an hour to email so you all
better feel pretty stinkin special cuz I’m missin out on some rays…. I know
I know… tough life this kid has right?? It’s so nice outside right now, I
think that we’re gonna go back outside and just stay out the rest of the day
so it should be a good one, but how’s everybody doing? Seems to me like this
week has kind of lagged a bit especially yesterday with daylight savings and
all.. it was funny because we show up at church yesterday around 8:45
because church starts at 9 or somewhere around 9 if you’re going on Mexican
but we get there and literally there is absolutely nobody there, just the
branch president and a few other members and that’s about it! So we get our
classes started and get going, then around 10ish or so…here they start
rollin in. I actually think that the Branch President was expecting it… to
tell you the truth, none of us in the apartment remembered until somebody
called us that night to remind us… so we would of fit it pretty well if that
person didn’t call us… kinda mad that he did yesterday though…that hour is
pretty crucial…didn’t know that hour could make such a difference but it
sure does…it’s not a huge difference for all the oldies though, they get
their nap in at Sacrament regardless so it’s all good. We actually received
a message yesterday night on our phone with some pretty sweet news, it was
the A.P’s telling us that our mission here in San Diego got a total of 20
baptisms I think, 20 or 21 something like that but our mission got 20
baptisms last week and they said that that hasn’t happened in like 70 years
or something like that so that was pretty exciting news! The work is sure
pressing forward and nothing is going to stop it. Just as Joseph Smith said,
“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the
work from progressing; … the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and
independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime,
swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God
shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”
It’s amazing what’s going on right before our very eyes. Last week I had the
privilege of coaching a companionship during our MTE, which I found out, is
the Mission Training Experience btw… in case you were wondering but it was
incredible to me because we were first coached by President Donaldson, who
was coached by Brother Allen (who’s a member of the missionary department),
who was coached by Elder Clayton (Presidency of the Seventy), who was
coached by the Quorum of the Twelve, and list keeps going up until you get
to the number honcho…. This is God’s work and He’s going to direct it in the
manner that He sees fit, so what we’ve been learning from President
Donaldson in our training is truly revelation from the Lord, so if that’s
not amazing enough, it’s more amazing to put all that we learned in the MTE
to practice and to teach and find and help people who are lost inside, find
Christ. I went out with a few Elders in Rancho, which is pretty much El
Cajon, so it was cool to go back but the Elders were English Elders and from
what they’ve said, is that the Rancho area is slow and has been slow for
forever, but we went out, added a bunch of new investigators which is
supposedly impossible and came out of it with a guy who is getting baptized
at the end of the month and who is soooo ready to be baptized… and this is
just after 3 days of being there! It really is incredible! I’m so happy to
be here and to be able to see the Lord’s work and prophecy unfold. I love
it! This truly is the work of the Lord and the work of angels! I honestly
don’t know where my life would be without the gospel…. Not in the direction
it’s heading that’s for sure. So I’m so thankful to have the Atonement and
the Gospel in my life… and to have each and every one of you as well… I love
each and every one of you…. I pray for each and every one of you… and I hope
that you all have a great week!
Much love,
Elder Ryan Lawter
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Hey what’s goin on everyone!
How’s everyone been doing this past week? It’s been a crazy busy week with the MTE and everything else in-between, I don’t think I’ve ever been this busy and go go go my whole first 19 years combined, missionary life is a crazy life but it’s also been a fun and rewarding one. There have been numerous things that I have learned on my mission and attributes that I have better developed and I honestly don’t think that I could’ve learned them any other place. I’ve been really bad the 1st part of my mission talking about the work that’s been going on so I think that’s something that I’m going to write about just briefly from now on in my emails but the work right now is going good, we added 5 new solid investigators last week who you can tell have been so prepared by the Lord and we’re actually going with 2 of them to the Mormon Battalion Center tonight with them and they are bringing some of their friends so “I guess you could say things are starting to get pretty serious.” But yea our teaching pool is huge right now but it’s also filled with a lot of people who just love us coming over, talking to them, teaching them a little bit, and that’s it, no action on their part so it’s kind of a struggle to let some of those people go but there’s always tons more of Heavenly Father’s children prepared to listen to and accept the gospel, so it’s kind of just a big revolving door with investigators for us but it’s fun at the same time because we get to meet soooo many people…. I hope that all made sense, I don’t know if it did or not… My mind’s going 1,000 miles per minute, I’ve got a lot on my mind, partly because I’m at the retarded library and this guy is yelling at me because I’m on the computer when the kids are suppose to be on… I don’t know and partly because we have so much going on in this area right now… it’s stressful but it’s good at the same time… it’s all a good stress…. If that’s even possible….
So I hope that everyone’s been doing good lately, in whatever may come your alls way… these past 9 months or so I’ve had a once in a lifetime opportunity to walk down the streets of San Diego and see a lot of people from a lot of walks of life and it’s been really humbling to me to see these people, who are in much much worse situations than we could ever dream of and here we are complaining about maybe the weather, or the satellite reception, or traffic, or cats, whatever the case may be… is it really that bad? Is our lives so bad that we need to get worked up on a lot of things? Some of the happiest people and most humble people that I have ever met; don’t have a car, or a home, or even a family to go to and yet they still go forward with faith and importantly with a smile on. That is where we need to be… that is the people that we need to be…. Not homeless haha no not even close but a person who goes through life through the thick and thin with a smile on each and every day… rainy days come sure but what’s the point of being gloomy along with the day… SO let’s all go forward with faith with a smile on and it will just make everything that much better.
I love and pray for you all and hope you all have a great week!
Much love,
Elder Ryan Lawter
How’s everyone been doing this past week? It’s been a crazy busy week with the MTE and everything else in-between, I don’t think I’ve ever been this busy and go go go my whole first 19 years combined, missionary life is a crazy life but it’s also been a fun and rewarding one. There have been numerous things that I have learned on my mission and attributes that I have better developed and I honestly don’t think that I could’ve learned them any other place. I’ve been really bad the 1st part of my mission talking about the work that’s been going on so I think that’s something that I’m going to write about just briefly from now on in my emails but the work right now is going good, we added 5 new solid investigators last week who you can tell have been so prepared by the Lord and we’re actually going with 2 of them to the Mormon Battalion Center tonight with them and they are bringing some of their friends so “I guess you could say things are starting to get pretty serious.” But yea our teaching pool is huge right now but it’s also filled with a lot of people who just love us coming over, talking to them, teaching them a little bit, and that’s it, no action on their part so it’s kind of a struggle to let some of those people go but there’s always tons more of Heavenly Father’s children prepared to listen to and accept the gospel, so it’s kind of just a big revolving door with investigators for us but it’s fun at the same time because we get to meet soooo many people…. I hope that all made sense, I don’t know if it did or not… My mind’s going 1,000 miles per minute, I’ve got a lot on my mind, partly because I’m at the retarded library and this guy is yelling at me because I’m on the computer when the kids are suppose to be on… I don’t know and partly because we have so much going on in this area right now… it’s stressful but it’s good at the same time… it’s all a good stress…. If that’s even possible….
So I hope that everyone’s been doing good lately, in whatever may come your alls way… these past 9 months or so I’ve had a once in a lifetime opportunity to walk down the streets of San Diego and see a lot of people from a lot of walks of life and it’s been really humbling to me to see these people, who are in much much worse situations than we could ever dream of and here we are complaining about maybe the weather, or the satellite reception, or traffic, or cats, whatever the case may be… is it really that bad? Is our lives so bad that we need to get worked up on a lot of things? Some of the happiest people and most humble people that I have ever met; don’t have a car, or a home, or even a family to go to and yet they still go forward with faith and importantly with a smile on. That is where we need to be… that is the people that we need to be…. Not homeless haha no not even close but a person who goes through life through the thick and thin with a smile on each and every day… rainy days come sure but what’s the point of being gloomy along with the day… SO let’s all go forward with faith with a smile on and it will just make everything that much better.
I love and pray for you all and hope you all have a great week!
Much love,
Elder Ryan Lawter
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Hey all!!!
So sorry it’s been a bit since I’ve wrote but things have been really really busy here which is awesome news! This week our mission has been doing what we call an MTE…which I don’t even what that stands for but alls I know is it’s sweet! Pretty much all it is, is we have another missionary come out with us and coach us and help to be better missionaries…. So although it’s kind of weird to have another missionary coming around with us telling us everything wrong that we’re doing it’s good at the same time so we can become better. It’s been a really good and exhausting week at the same time but I guess what’s new! Anywhooo so how’s everyone holding up!? I hope that everyone is doing good and staying healthy, I’ve had a lot of sweet experiences lately but I think that I’ll just share one due to time’s sake…. So a few days ago we were on a street looking for a former investigator and before we got to the person’s house that we were looking for we saw another lady with her two kids, so we rushed over to talk to her a little bit and to share our message with her. So we raced over there and talked with her and everything and actually set up an appointment for this Friday so we’re way stoked for that… she seems really interested and really nice… so after we were done talking to her we went to the house that we were originally in the area for and come to find out, the house was all boarded up and the gate was chained shut…. Kind of stunk but we realized that we went down there for a reason and that was to talk to Gabriel….. it wasn’t what we planned for but it was what the Lord planned for us. It’s so crazy that so many experiences like that happen to us each and every day and that’s just a huge testament to me that this truly is the Lord’s work and that we need to put our trust in him each and every day, things might happen to us that we don’t plan for or our own personal gates that we are trying to get through are all chained up but the Lord knows the way that we need to go, sometimes the way isn’t what we plan for or the path that we need to take isn’t that really easy to see but it’s there and we just need to put our faith and trust in the Lord that He’ll guide us to where we need to go. I love this work. I love the Lord and I’m so happy to be here right where I’m at… It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life and it’s going to influence every other decision I make in the future, for the better. Life is gooood! I know this email is kind of short but so is my time…. Lots and lots of things to do. But I love each and everyone of you… I pray for you and the mountains that we all have to climb but always remember even if the gate’s closed the Lord always always provides another way around it. Stay safe, laugh a little harder, and love a little more, and always remember to stay close to the Lord and put all your trust and faith in him through the thick and thin… and if we but do that, I know that we can be a happier people. Have an awesome week everyone and I’ll be hollrin at cha later!
One Love,
Elder Ry-dawg Lawter
So sorry it’s been a bit since I’ve wrote but things have been really really busy here which is awesome news! This week our mission has been doing what we call an MTE…which I don’t even what that stands for but alls I know is it’s sweet! Pretty much all it is, is we have another missionary come out with us and coach us and help to be better missionaries…. So although it’s kind of weird to have another missionary coming around with us telling us everything wrong that we’re doing it’s good at the same time so we can become better. It’s been a really good and exhausting week at the same time but I guess what’s new! Anywhooo so how’s everyone holding up!? I hope that everyone is doing good and staying healthy, I’ve had a lot of sweet experiences lately but I think that I’ll just share one due to time’s sake…. So a few days ago we were on a street looking for a former investigator and before we got to the person’s house that we were looking for we saw another lady with her two kids, so we rushed over to talk to her a little bit and to share our message with her. So we raced over there and talked with her and everything and actually set up an appointment for this Friday so we’re way stoked for that… she seems really interested and really nice… so after we were done talking to her we went to the house that we were originally in the area for and come to find out, the house was all boarded up and the gate was chained shut…. Kind of stunk but we realized that we went down there for a reason and that was to talk to Gabriel….. it wasn’t what we planned for but it was what the Lord planned for us. It’s so crazy that so many experiences like that happen to us each and every day and that’s just a huge testament to me that this truly is the Lord’s work and that we need to put our trust in him each and every day, things might happen to us that we don’t plan for or our own personal gates that we are trying to get through are all chained up but the Lord knows the way that we need to go, sometimes the way isn’t what we plan for or the path that we need to take isn’t that really easy to see but it’s there and we just need to put our faith and trust in the Lord that He’ll guide us to where we need to go. I love this work. I love the Lord and I’m so happy to be here right where I’m at… It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life and it’s going to influence every other decision I make in the future, for the better. Life is gooood! I know this email is kind of short but so is my time…. Lots and lots of things to do. But I love each and everyone of you… I pray for you and the mountains that we all have to climb but always remember even if the gate’s closed the Lord always always provides another way around it. Stay safe, laugh a little harder, and love a little more, and always remember to stay close to the Lord and put all your trust and faith in him through the thick and thin… and if we but do that, I know that we can be a happier people. Have an awesome week everyone and I’ll be hollrin at cha later!
One Love,
Elder Ry-dawg Lawter
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