Week 10: MEGAPACA

Wow what a week. For those who are wondering, I am feeling back to normal again and I am so so blessed for my health. Thank you all for the prayers!

This week we had multizone conference where about 70 missionaries all gather together and learn from our mission president. My biggest take-away from what was taught is that we need to believe miracles can happen in our own lives. Sometimes life can seem pretty hopeless, but even just believing gives us hope. So why not?

At multizone I finally got my hands on some Guatemalan ties that I have been wanting since I got the call to Honduras so that is super lit. Also… Megapaca. Megapaca is a thrift store here where everything is from America and I kid you not, it is a goldmine of vintage shirts and pants because no one here knows what's good and what isn't because they can't read english. And because of the conversion rate, each thing costs about $1. So basically, when I go home, my suitcase will be more than the 50lb weight limit– by a lot.

On the way home from the zone conference we were in a bus that seated maybe 20 small people and the ceiling was about 5 feet high. There were not 20 people on this bus. Maybe an easy 35. So imagine four 6ft gringos hopping onto this already packed bus that does not abide any traffic laws. Honestly, twas a lit 1.5 hours.

Taught some really good lessons this week and I can see my Spanish and my courage increasing each day. Most people here listen to us but don't actually care about our message and it kinda sucks. But this week we had some legit legit lessons and found some people who actually had questions and actually want to learn more. Please pray they continue to have this desire!

Tons of tender mercies this week. My stomach was struggling and I had no strength and then a taxi pulls up and offers to take us home for free. For 2 days, all of the meals made for us by our pensionista did not contain beans or eggs (extremely rare here and also the thought of those foods made me nauseous at the time). Exact answers to my personal questions were answered in my front-to-back reading of the Book of Mormon. Many many more I can't remember, but most importantly– God is in the details when we trust Him. Every detail. And then we need to thank Him. This is where the true joy of blessings is rooted.

I studied the word "trust" this week. By definition, trust means "assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something." So what does it really mean to trust Christ? As a missionary, I have to trust Him a lot. I am in a 3rd world country trying to teach my beliefs in a language I don't know. Meanwhile, I could be having the time of my life back in college with all of my family and friends. But no. I'm here, and I've honestly never been truly happier. Difficult things become blessings when we trust Christ and trust His perfect plan. His plan includes our trials so we can become perfected in Him. We trust Him when we act. Study, pray, put Him first. In this world, it's hard to do this, but it's worth it. We can have so much lasting joy and hope in this life when we prioritize Christ because we can overcome our weaknesses, we can know what is really important in this life, and we can experience real a change of heart– a change in our desires to always turn to Christ. Love Him. It's worth it.

Sorry that was so long, but I have experienced so much change in my heart in my time as a missionary and now I truly know that this gospel is true. There is nothing more important in this life than giving everything we can to Jesus Christ. No matter who you are, no matter what you have done, He loves you and will help you. All you have to do is trust Him.

Love you all so much! And you're a real one for reading these haha

Élder Snyder