Week 11: "Cheese" They Call It

Interviews

Hola hola

Welcome back. If you're still reading these, I love you.

So this week was mega slow in teaching compared to other weeks, but we still had some awesome lessons and the most fulfilling work keeps on going!

Some highs and lows this week but definitely more highs.

Low #1 (honestly the only low outside of the normal missionary work so this is probably the only low): So there's this cheese here. And calling it "cheese" is generous. So the people think it is like the "american cheese" in the US that we put on burgers because it is the same color. However… it is quite different, and if you're not a fan of the authentic american stuff, my condolences if you ever get to try this biohazard of a delicacy here. This week, a member fed us a traditional food that is normally pretty good but LOADED it with this stuff instead of the normal cheese used in this meal and let's just say I had to play the "I had a parasite last week and am still recovering" card halfway through the meal. The street happily received the food I did eat once we were out of sight (and ear shot) of the members house😀

High #1: President and Hermana McClellan came to Copan for interviews and it was actually the best. President talked about so many things that had been on my mind the days before he arrived and Hermana McClellan is literally my 2nd mom. I am so incredibly blessed to have these two leading me for the next 2 years. Hermana McClellan also gave us homemade brownies and let me tell you, brownies are already my favorite thing, but having one after basically only eating eggs, beans, and tortillas for a month HIT DIFFERENT.

High #2: President and his wife stayed in probably the nicest hotel in Honduras while here and they invited us to breakfast there the next day. It was a buffet. Yes, a buffet. Needless to say, I gained back the weight I've lost on the most delicious food I have had here. President continues to be the goat.

High #3: Got serenaded with Evangelical hymns by a crazy old man for a length of time I will not reveal at this moment. Bro proved it is possible for grown men to sing like a bird. A bird who may have had a beer or two.

High #4: Did splits with the APs (assistants to the president who are some of the most experienced missionaries here) and the one I was with decided to pretend like he didn't know Spanish for the first 20 minutes of our lesson🥳. I was slightly afraid that I was going to ruin this guy's testimony but afterwards the AP said the gift of tongues is real and I said everything that needed to be said despite me not understanding a ton of what the boy opened up to us about. Awesome experience that definitely helped my confidence in the language and trust in God.

High #5: We play soccer every week with the youth in the branch and some of the people we are teaching and it was just super fun this week. Everyone was happy and just having fun. Twas lit.

So as you can see there is just so much more to be happy about in this life than there is to be discouraged, afraid of, or just sad about! I started writing this email thinking this week was one of the worst weeks yet but now I see it wasn't! Be positive! Life is hard, whether you're a missionary or not. But it is all about your perspective. If you look for the bad things, you're going to find them and feel hopeless. If you look for the blessings, you will find them! But you'll feel so happy, full of gratitude, and strong enough to get up the next day and work through the challenges you have. God is real and has blessed every single one of you so so much.

Honduras is surreal. I still can't wrap my head around it sometimes that I'm walking in some little town in the countryside of Central America sharing my beliefs and trying to help others find Christ. There is nothing quite like the mission and nothing I would trade it for. To all my missionaries out there (almost all of you), keep going and look for all of the blessings and it becomes so easy to love the work.

Love you guys! And if you feel inclined shoot me an email!

Élder Snyder