February 09, 2010

This week we had a couple of really cool experiences...
1. was when we went on splits to a place in sapporo called moiwa. I got to go on splits with elder williams, the big tongan elder i was Zone Leader with in atsubetsu. it was way fun to catch up and to work together. We were at an apartment complex and not a lot was going on no one coming to doors not a lot of interest. so we decided to head to the church early. we were on our way and when we got close to the church we saw a kid walking towards us.. i looked at him and said to elder williams that guy is going to be golden. we stoped him and i just felt like i should ask him for 20 minutes and go talk in the church. so i did and he said yea sure, is it the white church just over there? so we went over and sat down in the church and started to teach him, elder williams decided to watch this one church introduction video we have but i was kind of skeptikal about using because japanese people dont really like it. but i decided to just go with it and trust in elder williams. we watched the short 5 minute video and at the end asked senda about it.. he took a pause and said i think about the stuff in that video all the time! i think that stuff is really important and i have a lot of interest in that.. we than taught him and decided to invite him to be baptized. he said yes, but can i get baptized quicker than that!!! he taught a month was a little too long to wait!! we than took him that night to a musical concert at a ward and he loved it!! it was amazing to see how we were sent to him right than. i have been noticing that we are in the right place at the right time A LOT!! looking back trying to figure out why now and not before i came to the conclusion that i proved myself. I talk to everyone, i dont let anyone go by and when i talk i try very hard to teach. the Lord can rely on me because if i am any where close to them i will contact them and teach a lesson on the spot. the people we have found through it are amazing!!!!
2. transfers. so with transfers coming this next week we had a meeting to decide where everyone goes and who with. it was pretty cool i had never done it before but at the end president daniels said, well i have never had it go that smooth before. it was incredible. so we use a computer and put up a map of the mission with all the missionaries in the mission in their areas. than we move the pictures of the missionaries to the top of the screen and put them in their new areas with their new companions. i would compare it to a big puzzel. all the pieces were scattered and then they all came togther at once and pretty fast too. within 20 minutes just about all of the transfer stuff was done. it was cool for one of them. i looked at the area and said to myself this elder should go there. i didnt know if it was my place to shout that out, so i waited. then before i knew it president said im thinking this elder should go there. it was the exact one i was thinking! that happend about 2 or 3 times. than the puzzel was complete it was beautiful.
I feel like i can really tell the difference between promptings now. its like i know the voice/feeling. i love it. makes everything really easy.
SO i got big news if you have not already looked on line... I GOT ACCEPTED TO BYU HAWAII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i couldnt believe it!!!!!!!!!!! im so excited!!!
So whats new with the family?? getting ready for the baby stuff? did jamey ever get back from china??
the mission is going crazy right now, everything has like doubled we average as a mission around 10 baptisms a month and we are scheduled to have upwards of 25 in febuary!! President daniels said the spirituality of this mission has taken a 180. usually in the weekly pres. letters people write about funny stories or personal study stuff but recently its all been about miracles and working through the spirit.
OH i forgot!!!!! we have been having some way cool experiences with visiting members recently!!! its been way good.
I felt like we should focus on the balance of member and missionary work and that we can do that through effective member visits. so i made this plan and it has been way good.
1. BRT(build relationship trust) dont talk about stupid stuff like your girlfriend or car. you tell them who you were before your mission and why you gave it all up to come out and serve(pretty much your testimony) talk about the sacrifices you made.
2.message i go with alma 29:9-almas real joy was missionary work. talk about who alma was all the thing he did(cheif judge, father, ect.)but in all that it was missionary work that was the best. talk about how i am the same, use to have fun and be happy but thats way different from my joy now. than read verse 14 his joy was not in his success alone but in his brothers. tie in is that this is what happens with members when they get involved, team up in lessons befriend someone, referrals ect.
3.Referral. i dont just ask for a referral all blunt i do a special way i thought of. so here it is(feel free to participate as though you were the member) close your eyes. think of someone, a friend or family, they are not a member. picture what they look like, face, body, ect. now imagine them with you talking to the missionaries. they have a book of mormon. they read and pray. they are excited to learn. they feel joy. you testify of truth and feel the spirit. now its sunday, its sacarament meeting. look to the seat next to you.. its your friend. now your friend is dressed in all white. its their baptism. they enter the water. its now a year later, you are in the most holy place on earth you look to the seat next to you. your friend is there recieving eternal endowments. open your eyes. what do you feel.(at this point most all the women are crying) ask about their feelings. than i go for the referral, but not a no name one. I get out a piece of paper, have them write the name. then write their hobbies. what they like who they are. now with that written what would be the best way to introduce them to the gospel.(they like basketball, have a b ball activity, cooking, english, ect.) you dont go for name just than. next is take a commitment. everyday from now till sunday will you pray for your friend, and ask to know how to introduce them to the gospel. on sunday we will together make a plan. Now go for the name. is it okay if we pray for your friend too?? (yes) what is their name.
4. Dont go empty handed. i bring a funny photo frame it(costs a dollar 50) than write your names on the frame and call if you ever need anything with your number at the bottom. they always see it remember you, anyone who goes in the house will see it and ask about you.
We have don that 3 times now and everytime it has been amazing!!!!!!! cant describe it, the spirit is strong the members are excited and the referrals come!!
i love this work and i never want to stop
love you all thanks for the prayers and support!!!!!!
Love elder Daniel Henry Lawler

January 27, 2010

i am alive!! and back in the mission home...for another hour and then off to the next zone conference. These last two weeks have been amazing!!! i never thought i would be having these kind of experiences on my mission. its a lot more than the traveling from one side of the island to the other in less than 24 hours. its more than the car rides and dinners. Its about ministering like the savior did one by one. As an assistant you are being watched, weighed, measured and just about anything else you can imagine. Many people change, they become someone they are not. they lose personality, character and life. they try to become a machine, a robot. Someone that lives and breathes mission work, someone who knows every rule and calls out someone when they do anything wrong. But i decided a long time ago when i became i leader i would not turn into a robot!! And i haven’t. I love it. I’m the same person i always have been, one who knows when to play and when to work. and when i play i play hard! when i work i work even harder!!! I had an interesting conversation with pres. Daniels in the car the other day. he was talking about what the general authorities want mission presidents to do with their AP's. Elder Holland said "An AP should not be your chauffeur. if you were playing in a golf tournament would you pick tiger woods to be on your team and then make him the caddy? NO! you have him go first tee it up and say hey boys watch this, this is how it is supposed to be done!!! and then have him rip a 400 yard drive" President then turned to me and said even though you just got your license(yea thats right! i took my drivers test and got my license to drive in Japan!!! watch out!) your not going to drive me around much... your my tiger woods! Every time i go out on splits he says to me, get our their and show them how its done. well this week that’s exactly what we did.
Takikawa, its an area in the middle of no where and recently they have been sucking it up! their faith that they could find was just about gone.. they hadn’t taught a lesson in over two weeks, made almost no new appointments and were convinced that you couldnt find anyone out there. Elder senba and i felt like we should go out on splits, but looking at our schedule it seemed pretty tight. but we followed the impression. we didnt plan we just packed and got on the first train to takikawa(about 2 hours away) just before leaving we gave them a call and told them to pick us up at the train station and we are going on splits. i would like to say that i was calm and relaxed on the train but to tell you the truth i was a little nervous. Pres. told us just before we left that he expected to hear a good report. and then their zone leader called us thanking us for going out their and told us that he called them told them we were coming, and if we didnt find a ton of people that he would admit they were right and there was no one in takikawa. the pressure was one. both elder senba and i wasted no time and began to draw our hearts and prayer to the lord for strength and success. when we arrived they were very glad to see us. they were pretty down, but looked to us with hope. from the moment we woke till we left on the train i didnt stop working. During personal and language study instead of studying the gospel i studied the area book and looked for potential investigators, old investigators that could be contacted again and how to teach current investigators. when luch came around i took the junior companion and told him im going to train you to work while you eat, from here on you wont have free time anymore, are you okay with that, he hesitantly agreed. we got on the phone and started calling a list of over 100 names i put together. thats how we spent our breakfast, lunch and dinner. when we stepped out the door i knew we would see success. i felt that confirmation that morning during my personal prayer when i literally urged and begged the lord for success. In a normal week the average companionship will make 9 new appointments to teach a lesson to someone who is not an investigator, find 2 new investigators and teach 6 lessons. and make 1 baptismal date(if their lucky) in that day alone we made 17 appointments, taught 6 lessons, found 6 new investigators, and set 1 baptismal date. The power of God, and the presents of the Holy Ghost was felt by everyone that day. When we met up at the apartment we were all jumping with joy! all anyone could say was takikawa is amazing!!!!! The smiles and hope that they now had was unbelievable! we returned and reported to Pres. Daniels who was thrilled. he looked at us and said what you to did with those elders in takikawa just changed their missions. That will never be forgotten by them. You probably just changed their missions and lives forever. we got a call from them two days later telling us they made 4 appointments in one day, and the junior that i trained to make phone calls picked up 2 people during lunch. the best part is the senior companion that was struggling was my old companion elder hattori.
We have done 4 zone conferences so far and they have been going amazing, most people have either come up to me right after or called me the next day telling me it was the best AP workshop they had ever had. Our workshop was on making a covenant with the lord, and writing down your personal sacrifices that you, and also your companionship will give up to the lord in return for spiritual power, that will lead to an increase in baptisms. It was amazing, i told everyone about my experiences how we made a covenant so we could see a baptism but the whole transfer had nothing, and then 3 days before the transfer she said she wanted to get baptized, and ended up getting baptized the day before transfers. its been a very powerful zone conference. we have already seen a tremendous increase. lessons have doubled and inv. to church have doubled as well, and as a mission we have a record high 40 baptismal dates planned for jan. and feb! miracles!!!!!!!
I love you all thanks for the love and support
Love elder Daniel Henry Lawler

Jan 13, 2010

So life goes on, at a very fast pace!!!! so im in the mission home.. its kind of wierd but very cool at the same time. so far we are in the cram stage as they would call it.. just before we go out and tour the whole mission and do zone conferences. right now we are preparing for the big zone leader council. than right after this week we go on tour. its kind of wierd. i never thought i would do this much computer work! holy crap! i mean i never saw in my call packet that i needed a phd in microsoft excel!!!!!!! thats probably so far 90% of what i have been doing! it didnt help that the previous two APs were computer programers! im going to try and talk to president and see if i can get some college credit for this! on the weekdays we are in the office till 6 and we go out from 6-9 and work.. my companion is awesome!! he is way good, we work really well together. its wierd because i have never been companions with someone who was at the same level as me.. i dont mean that to brag but when i was young i couldnt do much, and when i got better my companions got worse and worse. there was always a balance but now there is none! its amazing! my japanese is improving.. because everything is in japanese and its tough japanese. the things i really like so far are obviously working closely with president i have learned a lot and look forward to learning a lot more. i love being able to talk to any missionary i want!! and its a great opportunity to recognize individual efforts and motivate missionaries. one goal i have is to call every companionship and congradulate them on one good thing they did that week. im really excited for zone conference because we get to do a workshop and im going to get everyone to make a covenant like i did in atsubetsu twice. recently president has called everyone and asked them for their transfer baptismal goals. so we are going to get them to write what they will sacrifice and truley commite and then make a covenant with the lord and put him and their faith to the test. i hope it will make all the missionaries really take the leap and commite themselves to the lord. putting of the natural man, and when we do our part the lord is bound!!
so two new missionaries just came in from the mtc here. i got to train them, that was a lot of fun!! they are amazing!! they are way way strong missionaries!! we went out and got to go finding with them. that was special. they were so so excited, they had been waiting for months and months to be able to preach the gospel and they finnaly could do it. i had the privallege to be a part of it all. i got to go out with the elder who i went to efy with. he was so excited. when we talked to people he was litterally holding the book of mormon(at times almost pounding it as if he were at a polepett) in his simple japanese from the bottom of his heart just say, i know this book is true, i know you can become happy!!! it was way cool to be a part of. we taught several lessons and made several appointments.
sounds like everyone is having fun staying busy. i will do my best to get some stuff done on the essay!! but i really am busy. HAPPY B DAY to grandpa and BECCA i am writing letters and will send a little something to them(in due time....)
Love you all thanks for all the love and support
elder daniel henry lawler

Daniel got a big transfer!

Well transfers have come and gone now... so i will fill you in on that. well it all started on sunday when i went to church. as i went to church i could feel that it would be my last. its very easy to tell, how? everything clicks. the sunday when everyone knows your name, thanks you for everything, you have a real conversation because you know everything about them and know what they really have interest in. the kids come up to you tell you they want to be just like you, they ask you for candy because by this point they know you give candy to everyone and they are banking on you giving them some. the love you feel for the members is overflowing and you feel a great bond. then comes the TRANSFERS. so i kind of was expecting a transfer call but it never came. sunday night we went back to the apartment and waited to get the call in reports. elder nelson and elder shurtluff were running a little late. when they came back they opened the door came in but it was wierd because they had a wierd little smile on their face. i then looked to see someone else come through the door. President daniels and the aps! pres. smiled saying good evening how are ya? i must of had the most suprised look on my face!! i couldnt imagine what it was that they wanted, i figured someone must have spread a pretty nasty rumor about me!! then pres. said can i talk to you in your room? i very hesitantly said yes... we went in and said do you know why im here? i said not really.. he said im here to take you back to the mission home.. your going to be my new assitant!!!! all i could say is just wow im way excited! so then he said okay pack your stuff and lets get you to the mission home asap. i said okay and then kind of just went to resume the night and then he said no, we are taking you back right now, as in pack your stuff we leave in 20 minutes. WHAT??!! so i just threw all my stuff in a buch of bags and boxes and we left. just dropped everything and got in the car.
so now im in the mission home serving as the junior assistant!!!! i so so excited. its going to be a lot of work and a lot of pressure but i feel like i can really help a lot of the missionaries. there are some big changes that need to happen and im ready to play a big part in it!!!!! since i have got here there have been some things that were really suprising. one is that pretty much a lot of what we do is computer work. like all they use is excel and make a ton ton of phone calls. im really excited to be here... but im going to need everyones prayers so make sure and pray extra hard. my new companion is elder senba!! he has been the ap for 3 transfers and he was my zone leader for 3 so i know him really well. we are really busy, im way excited we get to go pick up the new missionaries and i went to efy with one of them 3 years ago!! so i cant wait to meet him, then we have the big transfer day were everyone comes in and goes to their new areas so im excited for that to but a little nervous because it all depends on us...
well love you all
talk to you next week
love elder lalwer