Week 30: Pollo, Pollo, Pollooooooo!

Service photo

What's up everyone

Awesome week this week. We started off with interviews with our mission president which are always a blast to get together with the whole zone and goof off and learn a ton. President confirmed that I'm leaving Copán but no hints as to where I will be going so that's a bummer but next time y'all hear from me I'll probably be in a much hotter part of Honduras.

Wednesday we went on exchanges and I got to serve with the one and only Elder Evanson. Twas a blast to the past to be his companion and was super fun and incredible to see the progress we have made since our relatively quiet practice lessons in the CCM.

The rest of the week we honestly just worked our butts off and tried our best to help bring others unto Christ. In this process we found a 15 year-old named José who works on a chicken farm. He showed us his farm and I don't think I have ever seen 7000 chickens in such a small area. Might be one of my favorite things I have seen in Honduras (I have seen a lot😅). 

Other things:

---A member posted a picture of Elder Evanson and I shoveling dirt as we did some service for her and it got reposted on some big missionary account so now the world is seeing a very sweaty Elder Snyder who was completely not ready for a photo. Love that.

---The way people sell stuff in the street is by walking by with 100lbs of their product on their neck and just screaming the name of the thing they're selling. This week I enjoyed listening to "POLLO POLLO POLLOOOOO" during my studies. Honestly, twas lit.

---Met a woman from the states who went to BYU. Why she is living in Copàn I do not know, but I do know she wants absolutely nothing to do with us.

---Elder Evanson fell down a hill and I laughed really hard and then asked if he was okay. That's how you know you're a real friend of mine.

I walked Carmencita to church for the last time yesterday and it was pouring rain. I loved every second of it. And so did she. She will forever be an example to me of faith, thinking celestial, and knowing true happiness. May we all be a little more humble and the amount of blessings we recognize will begin to outweigh any inconvenience. Also, may we all recognize that there is no excuse to skip church haha.

As I have been washing clothes for hours on end this week, I have been thinking a lot about how we become converted. How we can have the desire to get up Sunday morning and go to church. How we can be hungry to read the scriptures. How we can be motivated to follow Christ. Countless times in the scriptures we can read that conversion comes from the power of the Holy Ghost. So, we must seek experiences with the Holy Ghost. As we feel the Spirit (and recognize it) our testimony strengthens. It becomes easier and easier to yield ourselves to the will of God and we truly can find happiness and purpose in this life. Learn how you can feel the Spirit and then seek that feeling every day. Answers, comfort, patience, love, and joy will fill your life.

With much love and signing out from Copán,

Élder Snyder

Carmencita

Pollo #1

Noche de Papusas

Pollo #2 through #7001

Going away gifts

The heart and soul of Copan

La Escuela de La Entrada

Week 29: I am really really happy!

Hello Guacamaya!

Ok time for this week's email. First of all thank you to everyone who has written to me these past few weeks! Your thoughts have helped so much.

This week was honestly incredible. Not a ton of crazy incredible things happened but I am just so dang happy. 

We went to the ruins last pday with the zone which is always a party and then we did exchanges with our zone leaders in the night and the next day and WOW I learned so much. He helped me realize that every time we talk with someone, we should be focused on their personal progression in the gospel of Jesus Christ. By doing so, we can be much more direct and help them make changes in their lives. As I have put that into practice this week we have seen sooo many miracles. 

My favorite miracle of the week was a man named Hector. He was a Facebook referral and normally the referrals we get don’t really go anywhere, but not Hector. After our first phone call with him, he texted US and asked when we were gonna talk with him again. We met with him in his home a couple of days later and he has no electricity so we taught him in the light of our flashlights. Turns out, he used to go to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2005 with his aunt but then she passed away and he stopped going. He felt a need for something more in his life and remembered the church and then saw an ad on Facebook for meetings with the missionaries. Under the light of our little lamps we talked about faith and how he can change his life through faith. We asked him if he knew how to pray and he said no. He immediately grabbed a notebook and asked to use my pen and then proceeded to write down every step we told him. I almost started crying watching a 35 year-old man, living in a small home in the countryside with no electricity, choosing to have the humility of a child to learn how he can grow closer to Christ. Hector genuinely changed my life.

We also found two kids a couple weeks ago and they are sooo smart. They are doing everything we invite them to do and are always so excited and ready for our lessons. They are reading the Book of Mormon and told us they want to be baptized but they are just scared of going to church alone and don't think their parents will want to take them. We have tried to talk with their parents every time but they have always been “busy”. However, they gave us permission to teach their children so there is still hope.

About a month ago, I screamed “buenaaaas” in front of a house in a neighborhood of our area that is known as “dead” because nobody ever wants to listen to the missionaries there. A woman answered the door and let us in. 5 years ago she listened to the missionaries but then moved and lost contact with them. We are now teaching her and her 19 year-old daughter and they have such a strong desire to learn, feel the Spirit, and read the Book of Mormon. Yesterday we had an incredible lesson with them about baptism and they want to be baptized after some more preparation! The hardest thing will be getting them to church due to work but I have so much faith they will make the sacrifices necessary to attend.

Another miracle is that so many inactive members came to church this Sunday. As I directed the music for the Sacrament hymn, one person after another entered the room and by the end of the hymn there were about 10 more people ready to renew their covenants with God. Such a happy moment.

Rapid fire stuff:

---Some random kid in the street gifted me some Cole Haan dress shoes but the catch is they are size 14

---Saw a dude carry an entire refrigerador on his back.

---Hauled more dirt and rocks up the same hill from a couple of weeks ago and ate more pancakes. The perfect morning if you ask me.

---The book “Saints” is incredible.

---The song “How Firm a Foundation” is incredible.

---Spanish has fully clicked and I feel like a genuinely useful missionary.

God is blessing Copán right now and I know soooo many more miracles will unfold in the months to come. Although I will be leaving in 10 days, I am so excited and filled with so much love for the Savior, his gospel, and the opportunity to serve Him in this town and grow closer to Him in the process.

He is joy!

Much love,

Élder Snyder

Ruins

Offering a sacrifice to pay respect to the Mayans

More Ruins

GOATS

Week 28: No Service...What'd I miss?

Sorry for no email last week! Copán lost all cell service after 11am so there was no way to send stuff but here is what I wrote from last week. Another email for what happened this week will be coming soon if we don't lose service again.

This week was so good. So good. Just too many tender mercies and demonstrations of God's love to count. Perspective is everything! 

So this week basically every person we were teaching that was progressing either sent us a breakup text (they don't want to take lessons anymore) or ran away from us after we had made eye contact and said hello. So that was awesome. So we contacted like crazy and found 13 new people to start teaching and also saw many other blessings in the work here. 

One of which, we found Rebeca!! Her half-sister who is a member figured out where she is living now and helped us find the house and we proceeded to have such a powerful lesson about the importance and blessings of having faith in Jesus Christ. She still has the desire to come unto Christ but with little support in the house she is living in, it will be harder for her. It truly was a miracle to find her and a miracle of the decisions she has made in our time away from her. God answers prayers when we don't give up.

There is a youth convert in the ward named Franklin and he has had possibly one of the hardest lives I have heard of. This week he gave his first talk in church and he shared his conversion story, the importance of the gospel, and his desire to serve a mission. The sincerity of his talk touched everyone in the room and helped motivate a lot of the members present to seek the gospel stronger. Something I will never forget.

Other quick things:

---Had dinner with a part member family and it was hands down the best food I have eaten in 6 months. We also gave a couple of blessings to sick members of the family and the Spirit was so strong.

---Got an ingrown toenail but performed a painful operation on it and now I'm pain free and basically qualified to be a surgeon.

---Met a family that lived in Simi Valley (a city 10 minutes away from my house) for 7 years so that was lit.

---I made baleadas (fire Honduran food) for the first time.

---Really felt the love the members here have for the missionaries and it just made all of the hard days worth it.

Recently in the branch, we have seen a lot of people choose not to come to church due to drama and rumors being spread. This honestly breaks my heart and caused me to think about the importance of kindness and faith. Jesus taught us to love our neighbor as ourselves. If everyone did this, imagine how different the world would be. Give people reasons to say “thank you” more often and serve with all the love in your heart. Faith in Jesus Christ is also one of the most important things. If our faith is firmly planted in Him and His gospel, we cannot fail. No drama or un fair treatment can get in the way of our hope and joy because Christ did it all. He felt it all. He heals us today just as he healed the sick, afflicted, and downtrodden 2000 years ago. With faith in Him, we have perspective that spans further than what tomorrow holds and the hope of salvation that lasts the eternities.

Every day I feel so lucky and honored to bear His name as a missionary. My faith is in Him and His gospel is joy.

With so much love,

Élder Snyder

Week 27: Dirt and Rocks

New and Fire Restaurant

Cómo estamos compas 

This week was very up and down once again. Something sad that happened is that we have lost all contact with Rebeca. We don't know where she is living right now (she moved out of the house of members she was living in) and she doesn't have a phone. This has been really hard for me because I have seen the Spirit manifest itself in her life, her recognition of this, and her desire to follow Christ. We are still praying for a miracle, but right now may not just be her time.

Apart from that, we have seen an abundance of blessings in the work here in Copán. The 2nd counselor of the branch has returned to the church and is magnifying his calling with 110% effort. An entire family that the other elders found this week came to church. People we are teaching are progressing on God’s perfect timing. Two young men in the branch received the Melchizedek Priesthood yesterday. The little kids are crazy and always keep me laughing. My testimony of the Gospel has never been stronger and continues to grow by the day. These are just a few of the blessings I have seen this week.

Despite every disappointment and setback, there are always so many miracles happening around us.

We played basketball last Pday and it was super awesome to play a sport other than fútbol because I was not being humiliated the entire time haha. Also did some service and hauled about 2000lbs of dirt and rocks up a significantly sized hill but received some pancakes and fruit after so that was super lit. Other than that, we are honestly just working nonstop and sweating a ton.

This week, I had one of my hardest days of the mission when it comes to mental strength. As my time in Copán is coming to a close, it is looking like I will leave this area without a baptism based on the speed of the progression of our friends. I was really discouraged one afternoon because I was caught in the trap of thinking my efforts for the past 5 months have been wasted. Elder Evanson then handed me a notecard with a scripture written on it.

Alma 26:27 “Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."

As I pondered this verse I came to realize that God works through others to comfort us (so please be willing to let others help you) and our ideas of “success” may be different from God's. I always pictured the beginning of my mission to be different than how it has played out so far, however, success is not about my expectations and results. It's about the effort. If we can end each day knowing we gave our all, we can't have regrets and God can't be disappointed. In fact, He is even happier because we are giving it our all with faith that results will come despite the challenge. Faith and patience go hand in hand.

Thank you to all of you reading who are missionaries. Knowing that you are all working and facing struggles but giving it your all was a great strength to me this week.

I love the Gospel and the perspective and guidance it provides in literally ALL circumstances. There is power in praying out loud. Be the one to take the lead and follow the Spirit. You might be exactly what someone needs to remember God loves them perfectly. 

I love you all!

Stay the course!

6-month Festivities!!

Post Service Offerings

Week 26: Minutes Played: 266,400

Cumpleaños of Gabriel

Happy New Years to everybody! New Years here was crazy– like Christmas– and the fireworks were very fun to watch because they were going off about 10 feet in front of our house. One of our neighbors also unloaded his pistol into the sky so that was awesome and just made me love Honduras even more.

This week was crazy. A roller coaster of so many emotions.

We started off the week with a baptismal date for Rebeca. And then we didn't have one. And then we had one again. And now we have to postpone the baptism for an unknown amount of time. Please keep her in your prayers. She was so ready a couple of weeks ago and trying her absolute hardest to keep the commandments, learn more, and grow closer to God. In recent weeks, she has not been able to attend church due to work and it has taken its toll. She has a testimony and knows the Gospel is true, but most of the constants in her life right now are falling apart and the work of the adversary has taken advantage of these vulnerable times. Please please please keep Rebeca Lucero in your prayers. I know with your help and faith, the fire of the joy of the Gospel can be reignited inside her.

Other than that we had a very successful week with really powerful, spirit-filled lessons. We have a lot of people with a lot of potential and I am so excited to help them start their process of conversion in my last month here in Copán.

This week we had a branch activity and at the end, one of the leaders got out a box of toys, soccer balls, bracelets, and more and started giving them out to all of the kids there. All of these gifts were provided by the Church. It was so special to see the relief efforts of the church in effect here so the children of an area where basically every member struggles financially can have a gift this Christmas. 

I am about to complete ¼ of my missionary service in one day and it has already changed my life, perspective, and habits forever. Hands down the greatest decision I have ever made in my  life. As I enter my only year where I will be a missionary 100% of the time, my goal is to do all I can to love. This is how I have seen the most growth in myself in the past 6 months and I know through our efforts to love as our Savior would love, we can all grow and change our own lives and many other lives in the process. 

I love you all and please pray for Rebeca!

Élder Snyder

Lunch with members