Week 101: Thank You, Honduras

It is a very bittersweet moment writing what will be my last email as a full-time missionary for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I have absolutely loved my mission and I will miss it everyday. The last 2 years have changed my life forever and I will forever praise God for having been so merciful to send me to the wonderful and happy people of Honduras. I will forever serve God for having been so loving to cut me down and then make me whole through the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ. There is still so much more to learn, but that's what the rest of life is for!

This week, I enjoyed mine and President McClellan's last multizona, many very sweet goodbye visits, knocking doors and talking to people in the street, and a beautiful last Sacrament Meeting in Honduras.

I have learned a lot of lessons over the course of the last 2 years. It is impossible to put into words everything that has happened, however, I will make an attempt. I hope to show everything that I have learned through my actions for the rest of my life.

Copan Ruinas (8/17/23 - 2/1/24): True happiness is found in giving everything to the Lord and knowing that you are keeping the commandments and doing the right thing. The Lord compares me with old me and only focuses on my efforts to improve and what I can control. The best kind of faith is blind faith.

Campana (2/1/24 - 3/14/24, 1/9/25 - 3/26/25): Love everyone. Love is the key to success and to helping others feel more faith and trust in God. Gratitude is a key to happiness and humility that simply gives us everything we need. God is in the details of everyone's life and works over the course of years to orchestrate beautiful blessings. Temple work is missionary work.

Jardines (3/14/24 - 7/16/24): The Gospel is real. It's tangible. The priesthood is real, miracles are real, it is all real– not just an idea or a belief. God does literally all of the work in His work and He loves effort. We are simply bystanders to the many marvelous works He does.

Cofradía (7/16/24 - 8/26/24): The Book of Mormon is the key to conversion and to solving all of life's problems. Exact obedience to the commandments brings about undeniably discernible miracles. Communication is key to any good relationship and contention is not and never will be of God.

Primavera (8/26/24 - 1/9/25): The Lord qualifies whom He calls. Scripture study is necessary to feel peace and resist temptation. Confidence in your worthiness allows you to have confidence that you are living in personal revelation. Follow the impressions of the Spirit immediately to watch more miracles unfold. The Lord keeps His promises. It's worth it to take the time to slow down and rejoice in the little things.

Mochito (3/26/25 - 6/18/25): God answers prayers, especially prayers accompanied by fasting. We need the ordinances of the Gospel. God wants us to be happy, and that God-like happiness comes from doing everything you can to serve, not necessarily the fruits of your labors. One day, we will see the complete extent of the fruits of our labors, but the Lord wants us to be patient, because He will work many more miracles and multiply our harvest in His own time. 

Shoutouts to my companions Elder Evanson, Elder Perry, Elder Abarca, Elder Best, Elder Cano, Elder Dávila, Elder Mercado, Elder Reanda, Elder Prior, and Elder Rosales for helping me become who I am and for being so patient with me.

I thank all of you who have read these emails as I have tried to express the true joy I have experienced on this journey. On Wednesday, I will fly home to Los Angeles, California and on Sunday, June 29th, I will be speaking in church about many of the experiences I have had in my second home, Honduras. Write me if you want any details!

The Lord is truly hastening his work at exponential rates. In the last 5 months, the Lord has prepared literally hundreds of more people to receive the Gospel than in years past. I am honestly a little sad to be leaving at this point in the timeline of the Lord's work in Honduras, but I have received a confirmation from the Holy Ghost that the Lord is very pleased and proud of my very imperfect but sincere offering of time and service. I know that my work is not over because His work is not over. I know that Zion has no location and that the Gathering has no end.

“And your whole labor shall be in Zion, with all your soul, from henceforth; yea, you shall ever open your mouth in my cause, not fearing what man can do, for I am with you. Amen.”

Doctrine & Covenants 30:11

Jesus Christ lives. This is His true church. His Atonement is infinite and will carry us in all aspects of life if we are humble. Perfect happiness is found in serving others and focusing on Christ, the source of all that is good and eternal.

Signing off from Honduras with so much love,

Élder Snyder

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Week 100: The Best of Times

Just finished my last normal week of just straight missionary work and nothing else and it may have been one of the most impactful weeks of my mission. 

Last week for P-day, we went over to a really pretty lake by our area and it was absolutely beautiful. It was just one of those moments where I could really feel the love of God and admire His beautiful creations. We also met a Christian youth group on a humanitarian trip while there. We had an awesome conversation with some of them just about life and Honduras and then we parted ways. A couple hours later we ran into them again but this time the youth had a bunch of awesome questions about our faith. We started to explain our beliefs and then one of their adult leaders came out of nowhere to immediately start bashing us. The Spirit immediately left and I just felt awful. It was so sad to see such a beautiful moment ruined by contention and hate. This was the first time on my mission that anything like this had happened in English but it was honestly so cool to see Elder Evanson and I just remain calm and try to maintain peace while still declaring the truth of the Restoration and Book of Mormon. It's crazy how much we've grown since MTC haha. The old man stormed off in anger at one point and many of the youth apologized and proceeded to ask us great, curious questions. There was one boy in particular who really caught my attention and I think we caught his attention. As he was ushered off by his leaders, he turned around and asked us “why are all Mormons so nice?” We told him to read the Book of Mormon and he'd find out why. There's always someone that the Lord prepares. Although there may be opposition, God prevails. I have a lot of hope for this young man.

Later that night, we had a lesson with a new convert where the Spirit testified to me on a new level the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the Priesthood Authority– the very same topics the old man had completely bashed a few hours earlier. It was a sensation of joy and love I will never forget.

On Tuesday, one of the most special experiences of my mission occurred. The son of our pensionista has been inactive for many years and has a wonderful young family. He is an extremely buff and tough man who sometimes is very intimidating. We hadn't visited them for a while and at 8:35pm our plans had fallen through and out of nowhere I felt the impression to go to their house. We got there and yelled “buenas” as always and he stepped outside and just stopped dead in his tracks when he saw us. Due to the lighting, we could only see his silhouette but after a couple of seconds of silence he told us to come in. He met us at the gate and immediately began to cry– something I had never expected to see from a man like him. He immediately hugged us both and continued to cry. To make a long story short, he was ready to give up on a lot of things in need of an answer and he received “the fastest answer” he had ever received with us showing up to his door. Yesterday, he and his whole family attended church for the first time in a long time and there is a new spirit of motivation and spiritual momentum in that family. His 8 year old daughter is now preparing to be baptized and this father now knows that God lives and never forgets us. There's a long road ahead for them, but I know that the Holy Spirit truly does guide those who need Him most.

Other awesome things:

- Planted beans Honduras style one morning with the service missionary, Elder Benitez, and it was soooo fun.

- The power has been out for 24 hours and last night we made a makeshift wood powered stove with some members and learned how to make baleadas the real Honduran way. Such a fun night. I truly experienced the phrase “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

- It's hurricane season and we got absolutely DRENCHED one night. So much fun, so much laughing, so much lightning.

- One morning, a pink chick, a blue chick, and a yellow chick showed up in our backyard. Elder Cruz took immediate action.

I have less than 10 days to try and soak everything up and there are just so many things and people to love. The greatest gratitude does not come from what we receive, it comes from what we give. I hope to give it my all these last few days and be evermore grateful for each and every second in Honduras. Thank you for your prayers.

With so much love,

Élder Snyder

Week 99: A Week of Feasting

This week was awesome with a lot of work, a lot of traveling, a lot of food, and a lot of spirit.

We went to the temple as a mission this week and it was so needed. It was awesome to visit with some friends that I haven't seen in a long time but it was even better to visit the Lord in His house. I received a lot of guidance for how I should manage my life and time after my mission.

I also had my last interview with President McClellan before heading back to the offices in a couple of weeks and it was short and sweet. There's not very much time left to invite, teach, and baptize the people of this beautiful part of the vineyard so I gotta take advantage of it! 

We had a really crazy experience last night. At about 7:45pm we were with this one very humble, very kind family and we had just finished the lesson when it started to DOWNPOUR. Probably one of the heaviest lightning storms I've seen on my mission. I normally don't let the water stop me from working and I was fully planning on getting out of my chair and going to our next appointment but a voice told me to not leave. We decided to listen and to wait out the water and about 2 minutes afterwards we hear a scream from the other room. TONS of water broke through the seal between their makeshift walls and the ground and immediately the house began to flood. My comp and I immediately threw off our shoes, grabbed some brooms, and began to shove all the water out of the house before it could start flooding the other rooms. After about 20 seconds of that the power went out. It was so hectic but also so fun hahaha. We were able to deflood the house, the power came back, and then we just laughed a ton with these amazing people. I just love being on the Lord's errand.

This week, I finished the Book of Mormon with my study completely focused on learning about the nature of Jesus Christ as my brother and God as my Heavenly Father. This was by far the most eye opening and testimony building experience of my life. I know Jesus Christ lives and He is my brother. I echo the words of Joseph Smith with 100% of my heart, mind, and soul that “the Book of Mormon [is] 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.”

God answers prayers. He blesses us endlessly for exact obedience to his words. Jesus Christ suffered what he suffered and overcame every single trial of this mortal life. The joy of the Saints is in sincere repentance and constant “hope for a better world” that is only possible because of Jesus Christ and the saving ordinances of the Restored Gospel.

With so much love,

Élder Snyder

Week 98: What Once Was lost Is Found

It's Monday again and it has been a great and unforgettable week.

We just kept working our butts off and finding satisfaction in the diligence and not so much in the success (lots of rejection this week lol).

This week was unforgettably good because Heydi and Angel (the two people who got baptized about a week ago) got to go to the temple and participate in the vicarious ordinances there. We got to attend with them and they both loved it. 

While at the temple, another one of the recent converts who was there for the first time totally went missing and me and my companion went searching for her and her daughter for like an hour. After our unsuccessful search, we found them both inside the temple, having already participated in the vicarious ordinances 😅 they were in the waiting room a little earlier than the rest of our group and the temple workers must've snagged them haha.

Also while at the temple, one of the youth in the ward willingly ran away. As we made our way over to the bus to leave, he slipped away from the group and left the temple grounds and got into the backseat of an unmarked car that was waiting outside the temple which then drove away. There was communication with him for a few minutes until he turned off his phone. He wouldn't say where he was going or who he was with. His cousin was with us and he is an incredible person. We were all pretty worried about the situation and then we said a prayer together, did everything we could to gather information from temple security, and then made the long and anxious bus ride back home.

While on the bus ride home, I felt the impression to read a talk I listened to a few months ago with my last companion, Elder Prior (shoutout Elder Prior for the fire recommendation). The talk is titled “An High Priest of Good Things to Come” by Elder Holland. While reading this talk I could only think of what this youth must have been feeling in his life in the weeks before the temple trip and the many emotions his loving cousin must've been feeling in this moment. I shared the talk with the cousin and he read it, picked a few lines he loved, and then faithfully sent that quote to the turned-off phone of his lost cousin.

After many many prayers and a sleepless night for many of the members on that temple trip, we have just been informed that contact with the young man has been restored and he is currently on a bus headed back home. As he returns home, I can only help but think about the Prodigal Son. In moments like these, it is very easy to be frustrated or upset with those who have acted without thinking and affected many of those around them. It is easy to focus on the questions of who was he with? What did he do? Why did he do this? However, Christ taught us to love. And not just to love, but to forgive, to forget, to give, to congratulate, to encourage, and to simply care for those in need. We don't know the whole story of the lives and situations of others, but one of the most beautiful things is that we don't need to know to be able to love them perfectly. Most people are already well aware of their mistakes and most people want to improve. The factor that they need to be able to do so is our love and our support.

I invite everyone to read that talk and then think about someone who may need a little more love, a little more support. You can then be the means to change someone's life through your kindness. Afterall, the only thing that will really matter in the end is our covenant relationship with God and our efforts to minister to those around us.

With so much love,

Élder Snyder

Week 97: Justice, Love and Mercy

Whats Uuuup? This week went by so fast. Every week goes by fast but this one went by even faster.

Heydi and Angel got baptized!! Thank you all so much for your prayers! It was honestly such a miracle. Last Sunday, Heydi called us and said she was no longer going to get baptized and was done receiving lessons. The only explanation for how she ended up in white in the font and absolutely sure of her decision to do so is that God answers prayers. She prayed and we prayed A LOT, and she received her answer. Angel is the son of a new member and he was always hesitant to commit to a date for baptism but this week he was ready! He is such a good friend and it was so awesome to just be so real while teaching this 16 year-old. One of my favorite things is teaching young people and just trying to apply the Gospel to the life of young people. Because without the Gospel, I don't know how any young person really can navigate this life. Now, these two have the Spirit to guide them and we should be going to the temple with them this Saturday!

Went on exchanges with Evanson and it was soooo lit. Found some elect people and just worked all day.

Now, I want to share two experiences that really touched my heart this week.

First, for the past month or so, a very drunk alcoholic has been coming to church about every other week. None of us know him but he stumbles in a little tipsy with his Book of Mormon in hand every time, ready to listen. Whenever someone in their talk or testimony mentioned “The Book of Mormon” or “Jesus Christ” he would raise up his copy of the Book of Mormon and almost yell “Yes! It's the word of God!” or, “He is my Savior!” 

Most of the congregation in these moments often laughed or cast a few judgmental glares. However, one of our investigators had a much more different, deep outlook on it. She told us on Tuesday that she has now seen this man twice in church and both times she has seen that despite his flaws and weaknesses, he is paying attention to the words being spoken. She asked herself the question, “who am I to judge this man when I often don't pay attention to the speakers because I think I have something more important to think about or to do on my phone?” This got me thinking, who am I to judge? I am guilty of often not paying attention, and often judging others. This man may be a little ways off of the straight and narrow path, but we can all learn from his example and focus more on improving our own weaknesses rather than judging others’ weaknesses and pay the attention that the Lord deserves.

Second, I had the privilege to do a baptismal interview this week for a young teenager that the other Elders are teaching. When discussing the Word of Wisdom, this young man hesitantly admitted to me that he had drunk half a cup of coffee that afternoon. I really wanted to pass him because he really is such a great and honest kid and really felt sorrow for the little mistake he had made. However, in this moment, the Lord taught me a lot about justice, love, and mercy. We had a really special experience as he learned how to repent and did it right then and there. The Spirit that we could feel as he prayed and then pondered what so peaceful. He now understands that there are consequences for his actions but that things will be okay if we repent and try to improve! In a short time, he will be making his first covenant with God and he is even more motivated to do what is right.

I think this is how Christ feels every single day. He wants to “pass” us when we mess up because of his mercy. However, he must be just, so he allows us to suffer the consequences of our actions. But because of his love, he teaches us to be stronger through repentance and blesses us with more opportunities to improve. This allows us to experience the lasting satisfaction and conversion of actually doing what is right (or at least trying our best) rather than getting spoonfed blessings and not changing our behaviors. He is only sad when we decide not to repent and, in turn, delay or maybe even completely miss the blessings that He offers us. But on the other hand, He is so happy to see us repent and is not at all upset because of our mistakes, in fact, He is hopeful for the lifelong conversion that will come through repentance of these mistakes.

If you read all that, I hope it made sense haha

With so much love,

Élder Snyder

Week 96: Mariaaaaaa

Somehow another week has already passed by and it was honestly so good.

María got baptized! It was a beautiful baptismal service and she actually showed up before us hahaha. When we were waiting for the rest of her family to show up her 10 year-old sister and her decided they wanted to pay their tithing. It was something I will never forget. Seeing the faith of these children to pay 50%-100% tithes without even realizing it. Afterwards they realized they didn't have to give that much but then just said, “eh, more blessings!” We had many friends present at the baptism and it was a very spiritual experience.

A woman we are teaching was also going to be baptized yesterday. However, the morning of her baptism she called us to tell us she no longer wanted to be baptized. We met with her last night and we are still working with her! Please keep Heydi in your prayers so she can receive answers to her doubts and questions and so that she can feel the love of God in her life!

Elder Evanson's convert from San Pedro came and visited us again so we could celebrate her birthday with her and she took us to this delicious restaurant. She is so awesome.

We taught English Class again and we divided into two groups and I ended up only teaching the service missionary (shoutout Elder Benitez) in our ward how to welcome people to Sacrament Meeting in English and it was lit.

We had some pretty awesome experiences this week. We are teaching a partial-member family and preparing 2 of their kids for baptism and this week, the daughter of the family turned 15. La quinceñera is always a big thing here, but sadly, this family does not have very much. My companion and I decided to buy a cake and surprised them with it and I will never forget her smile as well as the sincerity of her parents as they thanked us. Serving the Lord is so much more than baptizing.

This week, my companion and I had some disagreements and I definitely got my patience tested. However, the hard moments are always the moments when we learn the most. What I learned was the importance of prayer individually and with my companion. The Spirit and humility that we could both feel was so special and I just felt so much more peace, patience, and love. It's always been hard for me to choose humility, but I hope to keep learning.

With so much love,

Élder Snyder

Week 95: Home Stretch

Hola gente

This past week was a grind but we are still going strong. This week, I start my last transfer of my mission and it's hard to wrap my head around but we're just gonna give it everything and see what happens!

I learned a lot this week. A lot about patience, a lot about love, and A LOT about how the Lord still needs me to improve in these things. I learned a lot about patience from the example of my companion. We met with a very inactive, very old man. I was thinking of what we could share to try and get references or get him to church this Sunday but then Elder Rosales wanted to teach him about faith and prayer. Two simple things that this man had forgotten, two simple things that will change his life forever in the long term. I learned from my companion the importance of having patience for the long term needs and to have patience to start with the basics. 

We then proceeded to visit a family that had just recently lost their 5 year-old child. We read Moroni 8 with them and I will never forget the face of the little boy’s uncle. Just a pure, content, and full smile, slightly tears eyes, and pure excitement as he said "We are going to see him again!” This gospel is beautiful and really is the answer.

We taught a super old lady the Word of Wisdom and she immediately stood up, went to the stove, and poured her huge pot of coffee right down the drain. She then proceeded to give us juice which was delicious. However, I saw her go make us more and used water from the tap (not safe) and we politely declined the next glass.

I learned many lessons on love through service. This week, we had the opportunity to do a lot of service and get a lot of blisters and it was just awesome. Being totally honest, I don't consider myself very service-oriented and I often think “we could be contacting new people right now or teaching one of our progressing friends a lesson”. This week, my mindset changed. We helped build a fence for the grandmother of a service missionary in our ward. Recently, burglars have been breaking into her house because her fence was broken. I will never forget the sincerity behind her words of thanks.

The ward that I am serving in currently has a lot of internal problems with drama and gossip and judging and it has been a little difficult at times. This week, I learned and hope to never forget that the best way to show that we really believe in the Atonement of Christ is by forgiving others, doing everything we can to love all and help all progress, and trusting that God will administer a perfect judgment to bless all those who have done their best to forgive and love others. 6 more weeks to try and improve in these things as a missionary. A lifetime more to keep learning and improving.

Hope everyone is doing great and your prayers for Heydi and Maria who will be getting baptized this week will be very much appreciated!!

With so much love,

Élder Snyder

Also, the mission exterminator sprayed down our house this week and "killed" me and Evanson ✊️😌