Week 4: Hacky Sack For Life

Merrill Hall Reunion

Aaaaaaaaand we're back! Another week done here at the CCM and it's still a blast and we're still hacky sacking 24/7. Right after I sent my email last week we went to the Mexico City temple and it was so amazing. Mexico City is quite a busy and crowded city and it was so cool to be in this sanctuary of peace and beauty right in the center of it all. 

Spanish is coming along! On Monday, there was a solid 3 hours where Spanish just clicked for me and I could say whatever I wanted. Twas lit. The next day, I found myself speaking in the normal beginner Spanish I have... BUT now I know it's possible to speak Spanish, so the grind continues. In all honesty though, I love learning Spanish. It has been so fun to me because of the challenge it is. Seeing little progress every day keeps me motivated and I can't wait to someday be able to express how much I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Honduras.

This week, Elder Evanson and I got called to be Zone Leaders. This means we are in charge of making sure all of the missionaries in our zone (about 60 right now) are doing what they need to be doing and caring for their wellbeing. We have had the best Zone Leaders ever so we have some big shoes to fill, but I am so excited to take on this challenge and just serve the missionaries in our zone as much as I physically can. 

We taught our first "Helping Others" lesson this week! This is a lesson we do with a member from Mexico City (who doesn't speak any English) who role plays as a nonmember. However, this week's topic was a little different. We were teaching youth from Mexico City about missions and why missionary work is so important. We taught a 13 year old girl named Ashley and although mine and Elder Evanson's Spanish was definitely sub-par, we could feel the Spirit so strongly. And although we could not really understand what Ashley was saying when we asked her questions, the one thing I know I understood was when she said she wanted to serve a mission so she could help people be happy. Hearing this filled me with so much joy that I can't even describe and I immediately knew that she would do just that in just a few years. 

This week, we talked a lot about faith at the CCM. We talked about how our faith needs to be in Jesus Christ. In our devotional with the CCM President, he said something that really hit me. He told us to think "Jesus Christ was in the garden and felt all the pains, sorrows, and sins of the world for ____" and fill in your name there. I invite everyone reading this to do that and to sit quietly and think about that indescribable thought. We need to have faith in Jesus Christ because He is all the difference. He is peace. He is love. He is eternal joy. We need to CHOOSE to believe in Jesus every day and by doing so he will pour out blessings to us for our faith.

Choosing to believe in Jesus and to serve a mission has been the best decision of my life. In the past 3 weeks, I have felt more joy and felt the presence of the Savior in my life stronger than ever and I know that He lives. I know I am where I am supposed to be right now. It's crazy to think I will be in Honduras in less than 3 weeks but I am so excited. so excited.

Love you all so much!

Elder Snyder

The Temple 

Temple Bus Ride

Taught a local

Elder Evanson's biggest strength

Another strength

Love the colors

Week 3: Death By Red Chicken

Hola mis amigos!! 

Another week done here at the CCM and it is lit to say the least. Everyday we wake up at 6:30, get ready, eat, study, go to class, eat some more, exercise, study more, go to more class, eat again, more class and then sleep. Pretty boring right? Wrong!! I am actually having so much fun, learning soooo much about Jesus Christ and Spanish, and laughing harder than ever with the missionaries in my district and my teachers. 

Had my first Sunday at the CCM last week and it was so good. Every week, each missionary has to prepare a 5 minute talk to say in church entirely in Spanish. But the twist is... the bishopric assigns who is speaking that day approximately 10 seconds before they have to go up and speak. So in my classic fashion, Sunday morning about 1 hour before church I started writing a talk that I wasn't sure was ever going to be read. They said one person from each district would give a talk but no one from my district was called last week so I think we're basically all screwed for this week.

Spanish is coming along but it is also pretty hard. My vocabulary is getting good but I really just want to start forming sentences and start having basic conversations. I know I gotta be patient though. One really cool thing I learned this week in a workshop by the one and only Benjamin Castanada (the GOAT of all workshop teachers) is that I am not learning this language for myself. If I try learning this language for myself, I will get frustrated and progress slowly. I am learning this language for the people of Honduras. I am learning this language so they can hear of the joy and peace they can feel through the gospel of Jesus Christ. That being said, me and Elder Evanson have been grinding on our Spanish studies and we have seen a lot of improvement.

This week, the cafeteria food gained its first (and hopefully last) victory over me. I'm still alive though so is it really a loss?

We did some practice teaching this week with the missionaries in our district but the ones who were assigned to be investigators were also told to come up with their own character who would make it difficult for us to teach. Elder Cushing took the honor of pretending to be Dolly Parton. I don't know if any of us really know who she is but whatever Elder Cushing did might be my favorite teaching experience for the next 2 years. Long story short, he (or should I say she) ended up singing a personalized song that was made up on the spot where I was basically being hit on. Needless to say, I broke character and died laughing at the sheer creativity and hidden talent of Elder Cushing pretending to be a southern female singer.

Highlights:

-I feel the Spirit so much and it is so amazing to share experiences with others where the Spirit is so strong.

-Elder Cushing. That's it. I love that guy so much.

-I ate 9 steak tacos yesterday. Fire.

-Bought a hacky sack. Basically pros now (can keep it up for maybe 3 hits).

-I love learning. I love class and study time. It's so incredible to see how much I have learned in such a short time

This week I studied faith a lot and it is so important to have faith! Faith is what gives each of us the ability to work with the power of God! Faith can be hard to find sometimes but in the Book of Mormon we see so many examples of it. In Alma 19: 9 it says,"I have no witness [ ] nevertheless I believe". I. Love. This. It is so important that we have faith even when we don't have a full witness. I promise that God will give you a witness of His love and presence in your life if you have faith and pray!!

Love you all so much!! And sorry again for the long email, most of you know how much I like to talk haha

Elder Snyder

Service

Elder Larkin almost died (not really)

Class with Elder Evanson and Cushing

The Elder Hickman Heist

Another favorite painting

Week 2: Gunshots and Choirs

Hola mis amigos!!!

I am finally here in Mexico City!! On Tuesday morning my parents and I woke up at 4am to go to the airport and after some sad and heartfelt goodbyes, I passed through security only to find my old stake young men's president waiting for me (we saw him earlier in the airport). This was a huge tender mercy for me because he talked with me all the way up until I had to board my plane. I flew to Dallas and while there I was able to meet another 50 or so missionaries on my flight to Mexico City. This was so much fun and I got to meet a few guys from my district as well. We landed in Mexico City and after 4 hours of waiting, a waterfall gushing out of ceiling tiles into baggage claim, and a few unfamiliar scents later, we rolled into the CCM (the MTC in Mexico) dead tired. I can't talk though, shoutout to my companion Elder Evanson who didn't arrive for another 4 hours past midnight due to flight complications.

The first couple of days were overwhelming but I am finally starting to get comfortable with the schedule and the food here. The food reminds me a lot of the Cannon Center at BYU so thankfully it hasn't been too big of an adjustment. 

Some highlights:

-I see sooooo many friends from BYU here and it is so fun and helps it feel more like home. Shoutout Hermana Moody who I see maybe 20 times a day and it is so fun to have such a good friend to talk with.

-My district is amazing and I don't think I have ever laughed harder than during this week. A tired Elder Cushing in night time Spanish class might be one of the most entertaining things.

-I love getting to spend so much time reading the scriptures and learning how to be a better missionary. I can feel the presence of the Holy Ghost all of the time and there is no better feeling than the joy that brings.

-We spend so much time outside and because of this we hear the sounds of Mexico City. There are constantly sirens and a whole lotta "fireworks" (definitely gunshots) sounding through the air but then there are also the sounds of the CCM which include beautiful choir practices, missionaries practicing Spanish, and a ton of laughter. I love it all so much.

Spanish is hard but it is actually coming along. Me and my companion are super motivated to learn and it has been really cool to see little improvement each day with our goals. Shoutout Elder Lewis I am stealing your CCM goal to learn everything there is about Spanish ever. I know that the only way I can learn this language is through hard work and lots and lots of prayers and faith. 

This week I read a lot in Alma and one of my favorite things that I read was the story of Zeezrom. He went from teaching against the prophet and not believing in Christ to becoming an incredible missionary for Christ's church through trusting the Atonement of Jesus Christ and sincerely repenting and finding faith in Christ. No one is too far gone to receive the blessings of Christ's Atonement and to feel peace and relief from their challenges. All we have to do is turn to Him in humility and faith.

I love you all so much and I love being a missionary!

Also sorry for the long email if you read it all. I love you. and I am not allowed to use messenger so email me!!

Dios te ama!!

Elder Snyder

Week 1: Bienvenidos!!

Mi Distrito y Hermana Flores (best teacher ever)

What is up everyone?!

Just finished my first week of missionary training and I could not be happier! For those who aren't familiar with the whole "mission" thing, I start my mission with about 6 weeks of training. This first week was online through Zoom classes and on Tuesday, I fly to Mexico City to finish the rest of my training at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) there. After that, I'm off to Honduras to teach the Gospel that I love so much and to serve the people there. 

This first week has been kinda exhausting being on a screen all day but it has also been so. much. fun. My district (a group of missionaries who go to class and work together) is actually the best district ever. My district is all elders (an uncommon thing) and it is so much fun to mess around with them while also feeling the Spirit and learning so much about Jesus Christ and the Spanish language. My teachers are the best and are so patient with all of our broken Spanish but all of us have already seen so much improvement. Shoutout Elder Evanson (my companion who I study with and will do everything with when we get to Mexico). He is the best and reminds me way too much of my old roommate Caleb who I love more than life. 

I cannot wait to meet my district in person because I already know I will be laughing 24/7. And I'll hopefully get to share much more exciting stories haha.

Anyways, I love being a missionary. I love spending so much time reading the scriptures and studying the word of God. I have grown so much closer to Him and Jesus Christ and I cannot wait to get to Honduras and share this joy with the people there (once my Spanish improves a little bit more lol). The Gospel is so true! If you ever feel alone or confused, pray! Your Heavenly Father is listening and will help you! 

Te amo!!

Elder Snyder

The set up

Last beach sunset with cousins

My new favorite picture