nov 18th

I apologize that I am so behind in posting these. Daniel has been transferred to the city, is a zone leader, and is now training a Japanese companion. He is doing great and would still LOVE to hear from you. Especially with the holidays coming up. I will forward all comments left here as letters to him and his address is on the left. Here's the latest letter:
one pic is of me in a sick helicopter and the other one is me doing some extreme science stuff!
so the heading is its snowing!!! its been a very cold cold week!!!
but lots of fun!!!
well after emailing last week i had a very sereal experience! i went to costco!!!! the members took us over to the costco and it was like i was back working in the food kitchen! we got lots of goods! like root beer real chocolate, muffins, cookies all the good stuff!!
this week unfortunitly did have some lows. my companion has been getting down a lot lately. i took time sat down with him a resolved his concerns but he was still a little out of it. thats when i prayed for a miracle, i put god to the test. i prayed through out the day very hard that we could find someone who had been prepared by the lord and could get baptized quickly. the lord passed the test. we had a lesson with a guy on saturday named sugiyama, we set a date for the fist week of december and he is looking very very good!!!!! it was a big big relief!! after things got much better!
on monday we had interviews and president daniels was very helpful and appreciative of my work. he said elder williams and i are the two best leaders in the mission and told me personally that i would have many leadership positions in the future no matter what i do..
i do feel very confident with my ablity to keep cool and normal while under pressure.
today was really fun!!! we went to a science museum it was actually way fun!!!! im was upset this was the first time in 2 transfers! speaking of which they are next week, but the chances that anything changes with me or my companion are about 98% stay the same so not really worried. things are going really good over here, our investigators are good, our 2 young part member kids are looking like they need a little more time but i am very confident that they will be able to get baptized before i leave here! im really excited for them.
so we decided we want to save money for splits today so elder williams and i are going to be riding our bikes for 2 hours in the snow!!!!! we get to ride through the heart of sapporo though so we are really excited!

august 12

this is a picture of elder danielsan enjoying his birthday package.

here is the latest picture (new companion on the left) and the latest letter:
ok this time i am making sure to copy my email as i type because i will not fall victim to the blasted computer again!!!

so first i will make responses to your email.
sounds like the lawler family is doing very well!! i am glad to hear everything is good, sounds like we are all making progress in our own individual ways. i think writing hard copy letters is a great idea, as well as emails(lots of mail never hurt anyone) i too did think about the hump day just a little, it was pretty scary. the return day is august 6th if i remember correctly. and yes every returning missionary i have talked to says the last year goes by really fast. i can see how it can be true, finally get the language down, start getting more responsibilities, time is more consumed always busy, and then it just runs out. but i am glad to say i dont think about going home in an overly anxious way. i am completely alive in the moment with eyes wide open! im loving everything. sounds like the red sox are being the red sox.
okay so now i will catch you up on me!
so things with me and my companion are going great!! we are getting along very well, we know a couple of the same people from before. our personalities are very similar and we definitely enjoy working together!! its amazing what having a talkative companion you like can make such an astronomical difference, i have someone i love trust and enjoy by my side and that makes everything fun! i have really felt like my skill sets are improving as i learn to seek the lord more, and rely on the spirit. in particular i have been getting very good at making friends with people and setting up appointments to meet with them again. right now the mission average for new appointments is 9, im making about 20 a week! the other stuff is slowly coming along as well, we are starting to have more lessons as well, and there are several very solid investigators. noumu(the women i talked about last week) called me last friday asking me a question about the house of israel(she has lots of hard questions) when i asked her where it was she said first nephi chapter 10, i was a little thrown of because two days before she was in 3rd nephi, she than replied oh yea i finished the book of mormon and thought i would start over again so i could understand a little better this time!! she is going to be a very strong member!! right now her baptismal date is for the 30th of august but the problem is she works at a hospital and it looks like she has to work a lot of sundays so she could get baptized but than to get confirmed would be difficult. so the date might get pushed back to september but i know for sure she will get baptized!!
I have really been feeling the guidance of the spirit lately. it starts in the mourning when i have mourning prayer and unless i do something stupid it stays with me for the rest of the day. just monday we felt that guidance. it was about 7 at night and we hadnt eaten dinner so we decided last minute to go to the store, but when we went i felt like we should look for some former investigator houses. we went on our search and after about 20 minutes couldnt find anything but as i saw this one apartment i felt like something, like someone was in there that we needed to find. i kind of put it off but as we circled around again i stopped. then a front light came on with no one outside. i thought it was a little odd, then i saw a couple come out, but they looked a little rough, women had multiple ear earrings, man was wearing a tank top so i kind of pulled a little further away. just as i did i heard my companion say with a loud voice "do you know where fumizono is?" then i turned around and went joined with him, they were nice and pointed us in the right direction, we were just about to leave when i thought to my self `did you invite them unto christ? well no.` so i did, i showed them a little flyer and asked if they had interest in any questions, they looked at it for a while, looked at each other and then replied well yes, why are there so many religions, and teachings. from there i gave them a brief message about the restoration and asked them if they would like to hear more, they replied yes. i gave them my phone number and asked for theirs but then they looked hesitant and said we dont have our phone on us right now(people do that all the time as a way to blow us off) then she said hold on and ran back to the apartment up the stairs grabbed her phone came down and said okay now i do.
its experiences like these that provide the evidence to our faith. is there a chance they could turn out to not really have interest, yes. but the fact is that the lord gave us the evidence of our collective faith that there are people here in kushiro will accept us!! this week i had about 5 or 6 experiences just like that. as it continues i feel as though my faith is now just turning into hope, because i know and see the lord putting those who are prepared in our path, its just a matter of if they are ready to act or not.
I am really just consumed in love right now!!! i feel love from everywhere!!!!! thank you all so much for your prayers, letters, and love! its what keeps me going!
Love you all so much,
Elder daniel henry lawler

July 22, 2009

Here is the latest EXCITING letter from Elder Lawler. It's amazing the changes that take place when we focus on the Savior and the Atonement at the center of our lives. I'm so grateful for the insight we get from Dan-o's letters each week. They are inspiring me to be a better person and I hope they have the same effect for you. There are two letters this week:

yo yo yo big news on transfers and kushiro!!!!! this week was one of the best weeks of my life!! so real quick here is what happened with transfers, i got a call from president on monday(which is unusual) he said do you want to hear the good news or the best news, i said well first the good news, he said okay you are staying in kushiro.. i said awesome, than he said the best news is your going to be training, and you're the new district leader!! i was so so shocked! and excited, and just floored. at first i was kind of scared but i have never been so excited for anything in my whole life!! kushiro right now is taking off!! we made two more baptismal dates this week (grand total 3) had 4 investigators to church! and had 6 new investigator!! i feel like im on fire! the work is alive, people are listening and making commitments. there is a spirit that has filled me that i cant explain. it would be what pmg page 94 or so about praying to be filled with the spirit and a new light will come into you.. it has happened, i also have had another thing that has started more desire, i study the atonement 30 minutes everyday.. it fills me up with love for everyone!! i dont have anytime to talk because the training meeting starts in like ten minutes but you can forward this to everyone.. tell elder patterson i love him, and he should write me back!! sent him to letters for ever ago!! well i love you all and am so grateful to be in this work and serve the lord, and see the lord bless us all!!!
talk to you next week!!
love elder lawler

okay i had a little more time to email so here is a second one coming your way... so i just found out my companion, elder robinson! i am super excited, he seems really good! perfect match, as soon as i saw him i knew he was going to be my companion. i dont know a lot about him but i know he is from riverside utah...i think. he went to byu for 2 years.. i will be able to fill you in on more next week. but this week there were some major highlights i had so i want to share them with you
nomu- the one who reads the book of mormon a lot. this week was a big step for her... we finally got her to come to church.. she has been talking with a member on texts and she said she wanted to come to church and she came for all three hours and loved it! then after we were able to set a date with her to be baptized on the 30th of august.
Hirata yukinari- our other baptismal date. three years ago he got all the discusions and was going to get baptized but never did. yesterday we met with him for the second time. he had a lot of questions why all churches were similar, why there were so many churches that were formed from the bible. and then it happened. i received the gift of teaching. all of these ideas came to mind, i thought of multiple examples, i used the white board and drew out many simple things, such as why the book of mormon is necessary, the apostasy, the restoration, EVERYTHING. not only was he amazed, but the team up, and my companion said they had never understood it all that well. i really get it, i finally get it, all the times i met before it never made sense like it did today, is what he said.the spirit was felt in abundance, i took time to recognize what he was feeling, wrote it down, read from the scriptures what the fruit of the spirit was.. it was amazing, i knew i was speaking through the power of the holy ghost because i myself was learning from what i said. then through feeling the spirit, him recognizing its feelings, i gave him a commitment, looked him straight in the eyes and did some sugar coating, then asking him will you follow the saviors example and be baptized. for the next 30 minutes we heard all his worries about baptism why he didn't receive it before, it was a 2 hour lesson, one of the best of my life. The promise was truly fulfilled "for it shall be given you in the very hour, yea in the very moment, what ye shall say."
this last week the spirit and the lords hand has been in abundance. and i cant wait to take my new greenie and reap the harvest that awaits.
Love you so very much,

elder lawler

june 16th

It's pretty amazing to see Dan-o turning into an adult week by week in his letters. Last week he was made a senior companion in Kushiro. He is WISHING he had a little more MAIL so... I was thinking that if everyone who reads this could please post a comment for him (click on where it says comment at the bottom of this entry for those that are new to this). I'll print them off and send them to him. Easy for you and fun for him. Here's the latest letter:

I will get you some pics of the comp next week, I forgot my USB port.. i love the idea of you writing me letters! I have not got a shred of mail in over 2 weeks!!

So week one of the big bad senior week and I am surviving. When the other elder left on Thursday morning the week was looking terrible!!!! had some of the worst numbers i have ever turned out. on top of that i was very nervous about being senior, and on top of that to a elder who has only been out for 1 transfer plus he is japanese, and one of the most shy japanese people i have ever met, he still has not stopped someone on the street. needless to say i felt extremely overwhelmed. as i sat and pondered i thought, what kind of senior am i to be, what kind of leader am i to be.. i felt that i was in a big hole and to get out would be impossible. thats when i decided right then that as senior there are some things that are within my control. however, there are some things that are not. i decided right then that i was going to be spotless, in that i mean everything that falls under my responsibility was going to be done, i would give everything to the lord, and in return i would have the assurance that the lord would keep his promise. 100% obedience, out the door not a minute late, back home not a minute early. this week i have spent a lot of time on my knees(as one should) that is it.. i pray a lot, and i trust 100% in the lord. I had the confidence that i would have the spirit with me, that i would yeild to any prompting, no fear. the lord has been working with us. it has not been easy, but one day after another we gave it our all, it has been amazing. we finished the week with one of my better weeks, and elder hattori`s best. found 4 new investigators, taught 9 lessons, and made 8 new appointments. and we finally have a progressing investigator (we gave her a book of mormon 2 weeks ago and she has read up till jacob! has a couple issues, but i think she is going to be very good) by sunday i was overwhelmed by the tender mercies of the lord and how he provided for the youngest couple in the mission. but my surprise and gratefulness was not over yet. on monday night at 10 oclock i got a phone call from president daniels, i still dont really know why or for what purpose he called other than to congratulate me. he said "elder lawler, congrats on going senior, i see that you have taken over and really done an outstanding job! (listed a couple numbers) asked if we had a progressing investigator, I told him about the women, than he said "keep it up you are doing a great job and i am very grateful to have a great elder like you in the mission" needless to say i was very touched by the phone call. as i thought about why he called one thing came to mind, he has a lot of confidence in me, and so does the lord. these past couple of days have been great we have been trying many new things and its pretty fun being senior. i have become more consintrated and focoused now more than ever, just like pmg says, work, work, work, that is the key. i feel as though i could do this forever, its different from anything i have ever done. with all my might mind heart and soul its a joy that cant be won or bought its beyond description, but it fills my soul. everything is just starting to make sense, for the first time in my life i am living in the now, and i dont want it to go anywhere, i want to stay right here forever, its no wonder the 3 nephites had the same desire.
Thank you so much for you constant support and prayers, everytime i pray at night and think of my parents i can almost hear and see the prayers you say for me as you kneel by the bed side.

with so much love from your missionary son,
elder lawler

pics from kushiro

dano is back in kushiro after hanging out in sapporo for a week or so while his companion received medical attention. here are some pictures.

kushiro

"it rains a lot"

mission companion

april 14

buon giorno tutti!! dont know if that is right my italian is a little rusty... so here is an update till today of what happened since we last talked. wednesday me and elder weloth went to go play tennis with the daniels but couldnt find a court and ended up driving around for an hour and a half, it was really fun though. they said they really like us because we actually have a personality and are fun and funny.(i think most people get so nervous around them that they are scared to say anything) the next couple of days there were three of us in a companionship- it was a lot of fun! we were in the heart of sapporo talked to a lot of people (some wierd and nice) i think we might have been on the japanese version of PUNKED or something, this really wierd kid kept saying he had interest and wanted to talk to us, but wouldnt give us a reason, then we finally just left and then this camera crew started to talk to him, really strange. we had conference this weekend!! it was amazing!! which reminds me we get all the ensigns but if you could send me the conference issue as soon as it comes out, and do what you did last time, bind it and lameanate it that would be awesome. in between sessions we had dinner and stuff, but i think everyone forgot easter, there was no special event or anything. than on sunday night i got a call from pres. said i would be going back to kushiro on monday mourning, except with a different companion. so now im in kushiro with a different elder from utah while my comp elder ogura will be in sapporo till friday and then come up to kushiro. lots of fun! ha its been crazy neither of us really know the area but we had a really good day yesterday and hope that we will continue to find people. so that brings us up to today.
i did get the easter package and the tape will eli and all the crazy irish people, i do have to say dads accent has improved, and for a large part everyone elses is getting better with the exception of cristina, im not really sure what accent she was using... sounds like you all might be up to my level by the time i get back..
good to hear that dads work is going great!! and that you are all having fun! my bias on moving is that the ward in hillside, the people and everything around alpine is my home to me. it would just be sad if i were to come back and not be there. but what every happens happens. so next week elder bednar is coming to sapporo and having a big mission conference everyone all over the island is coming in for it. and very rapidly approaching is my b-day!! yata i was thinking that i really want to get a new camera, the old sony is big and ugly, and out here in japan they have some really cool nice cameras!! i will  work on getting a tape out to you guys soon! other than that on my end life is pretty good. these last couple of weeks have been a really good time to mature as a missionary and learn to adapt to any situation.
oh by the way did you see in conference the one talk they were playing a video of a preist quorm visiting people and then in a circle praying. anyways tyler haws was one of the kids in the video, thought that was pretty funny.
well love you all very much keep the emails, and everything coming they are very appreciated!!! i have seemed to hear from everyone except for matty!! whats up with that!? hit me up!
love you all
elder lawler!!

march 24th

what it is what it is!! so kushiro is pretty cool! it's almost like i am on a different mission.. ahhaha. the landscape and all that stuff is way different, its really flat. there is not any snow really on the ground but the wind we get is from siberia (aka freeeeezeen cold) so it's fun when we ride bikes. the transition from an american companion to a japanese companion has been quite the journey so far. let's just say it didn't start out so good.. i thought my japanese was pretty good, but it just got opened up into a whole new world!!!!! up until about sunday, things were grim. i was frustrated, lonely, scared, and not very happy. i got rocked. i lost confidence completely. sunday they asked me to give a 5 minute talk. (my first in japan so far) it didn't go so well, i thought it was okay but everyone had blank stares.(felt like the other side of heaven) after that i hit even more of a rock bottom. then i decided that's not the way i wanted things to go, with much reading, and finally a wrestle with mighty prayer i told the lord "i dont know what to do, and i need your help" with no immediate promptings, i went back to my desk and sat for a second, and then went to work. i decided i need the gift of tounges. and if that's what i wanted i needed to exert myself. for the last week i have cracked down on my language study, i now memorize 20 new words a day, read 3 pages of the japanese book of mormon and study the basic japanese grammar book for aboud 30-60 minutes. i'm still struggling but i have felt the difference. the words don't always come to mind when i need them but by the end of this transfer i am determined to be independent and fluent. The last couple days i have really felt me and elder ogura getting closer, we laugh more, have more fun, and recently have been having success. (yesterday we picked up three new investigators) elder ogura is very knowledgable. he has great ability to explain simply gospel principals, i am learning alot. the ward members here are great!! they love the missionaries, and are one of the top wards that give referrals to the missionaries. im really excited for what is yet to come this transfer.
my biggest insight i have got, and time and time again i have seen it recently in my studies. be pacient in our trials and afflictions!! we have not been forgotten or forsaken by the lord. he loves us but we must be tried in all things to be worthy of the glory that awaits us if we endure with faith and an eye single to the glory of god. things don't work according to our time, they work in the lords time. life won't get easier, the trials don't really ever stop, but we can control what we do when the storms come our way.
may we all be humble/pacient enough to oblige with the Lord's will.
with all my love and prayers
Your missionary, elder lawler

This is Dano's last district- the one on the right was his last companion... the bottom picture is of another woman who decided to get baptized right as he was leaving Otaru.

March 17th

yo family, i don't have much time, transfers are going on, and i'm leaving otaru!! i'm going to kushiro!! and getting a japanese companion!! i'm way excited! real quick he is a recent convert, he investigated churches for 4 years, and decided ours was true. president daniels said he is the best teacher in the whole mission!! i'm really excited! great to hear about dad with the weight loss, and miles looks very cute!! hope you all are having fun!
i love you all and pray for you everyday...
love elder lawler

March 3 & 10

March 3rd letter:

well on my end life is still good! the work is moving forward, our investigator pool is strong right now but there are just a few worries we have with them. one lady is having a baby and is leaving in 2 months, meeting with her is hard, and we want to somewhat fast but not over due it. another kid leaves feb19 and we are trying to get a baptismal date he is super solid and talks about joining the church but time is not on our side.  pretty much all of our investigators have time issues, it's been hard deciding where the line is, it's hard not to be selfish and want to see them get baptized while i am still in the area (transfers are in 2 weeks and i will probably move) but i have to allow them to take their time at their pace.
Overall everything is really good, im really happy, im having fun, and progressing eternally everyday.
hope all is well cant wait to hear about the baby!

March 10th letter:

i am particularly excited for our upcoming mission conference with elder bednar! don't know the date of it, but it should be coming soon. transfers still no word, but when i email next week i will know what is happening.. i hope to  go somewhere in sapporo, maybe even have a  japanese companion, but we will see. may is coming up somewhat soon! i will make sure to  make a list of stuff you can get me for my birthday! but some real quick things that i need/want: the  preitsthood book teachings of joseph smith, in english! with easter coming around all i want really is those peanut butter bunnies!! you know the kind.. also if you  could send emails to everyone informing them on the new rule we have, they cracked down, we can only directly email immidiate family. i can still email  friends through you but, aunts uncles, and grandparents i can't directly email anymore. also i never heard back about the ward spotlight they  did  on  me... did  they  do it? if so will you send me a copy..?
 
well other than that this week's been pretty good, we are finding  new people  to  teach which is good. i am learning a lot from just watching  people, i have tried to think and envision more when i talk to people. I am getting a lot out of my personal study, things have taken off when i started getting really writing down what i think of when i study, feelings, all of that, i have found many many insights, and really feel as though i am directly learning through the spirit.
 
today is going to be  fun, we spent  the night  at  the honbu(mission home) in the elders apartment, played basketball with pres. daniels, lots of fun, we  have a big  zone activity, than after going on splits, with a  japanese elder who is a lot  of  fun. so  im excited!
 
love you so much!! i think of our family all the time, i read the scripture in alma 27:17-18 the joy ammon is filled with after his long mission and meets alma. i look at that scripture and have that as a goal  that when i meet my family after my mission i can have worked like ammon and be filled with that joy.
 
love you all so much, give the kearls my love, especially miles!!

Feb 24th

LETTER TO MOM:

well i guess carrie is getting married tommorow... well make sure you take a big picture of me to the wedding and put me in the welcoming line, and make everyone there write a letter to me!
sounds like you are very busy!! are you having fun? hope so! well life out here in the field is good! can't complain, i feel like the japanese is coming along little by little, last week we taught the most lessons in the zone so that was good, the people we taught were all very good except they all want to take things very slow, meet like once a month, stuff like that so it is a little frusturating. but other than that life is great, i spend all my extra time now studying!! i do a combination of japanese, jesus the christ, preach my gospel, new testament, doctrine and convenants, drawing from the powers of heaven, and writing in my study journal, and daily journal. it never seems like there is enough time to do anything, i cant put down anything anymore! i truly am learning alot, but what amazes me is how intertwined they all are, i will read one thing and the next day see the same thing in another book. It's very exciting. well about to go to the wing bay mall!!
Love always your son/missionary,
Elder Lawler 愛しているよ