Week 60 - 61: No Comfort In the Growth Zone

Baptisms

What's uppppp

This email is coming in on a Saturday because my president gave me a different assignment and now my pday is today! I got transferred from Cofradía just after 5 weeks and now I'm back in San Pedro Sula in an area called La Primavera! It is a literal mountain and we are just straight up hiking to visit all of our friends so my legs are getting absolutely wrecked but hey, gains right. I'm also back to being companions with Elder Dávila!! Soooo hyped for that, he is such a beast and teaches me sooo much every day.

This last week was transfers and Elder Dávila and I had to organize everything. How each missionary would get to the office, how they would get back, how they could do the phone switches, and so much more. Like 1 hour after that we got to receive 21 new missionaries that Salt Lake shipped out here and it was so fun talking with them and helping them learn more about the mission and the joy and miracles they will see. We then had a meeting with all of them the next day to give them some more training and assign them their trainers. I got to do a 15 minute presentation and I focused it on how we shall “reap the rewards of our faith”. It was a really cool experience and I am excited to see how these young missionaries grow and how my translating skills continue to improve.

In these transfers, I had to say goodbye to some of my best friends in the mission. It'll be very different not having them here in Honduras but we are running it up at BYU after the mission. I miss you Elder Peterson :,(

It has been an absolutely exhausting week just learning all of the new things of the office as well as having to attend to the needs of many missionaries but it has been very fulfilling. There's not enough time to do everything I need to do but it is really helping me to use every minute efficiently.

Other things:

● Just did some service at the temple for the overflow parking lots for the open house that starts in 10 DAYS!

● President took us to Chili's because we successfully carried out the largest transfer in his time as a mission president.

● We had to organize 2 emergency transfers in my first two days here 😀

● I'm back living in the same house as my dad, Elder Perry, a keyboard DJ master, and it is wayyy too fun.

● I saw the most beautiful lightning storm of my life way off in the distance as we taught someone on top of the mountain we work on. It was one of those moments where you just know that only God could have created this beautiful world.

● I got some weird skin infection on my arm and face but it's chill.

In my first few days here, I had the privilege to work with Elder Gailey who finished his mission on Tuesday. He worked with the faith of a child and truly just had a hunger to find, teach, and baptize people. It was a great help to me to really find that extra fire and need for missionary work in my life. Time is flying and I am excited to see how the Lord continues to stretch me in these coming months. Please pray for Mirian Girón and Jimena Gutierrez who will be getting baptized in the coming weeks!

With much love,

Élder Snyder

Cleanin up President's kitchen

La Primavera

Chili's

Los chikis

One of many hospital runs

Dope new members

Hikes

Temple

Daniel

Week 59: Let the Holy Spirit Guide

Guillermo

Alberto

Yooo

I hope everyone is gooooood.

Guillermo and Alberto were able to get baptized and confirmed this week and everything went scarily smooth. Normally there is always some sort of opposition but I think because of the strength of the faith of these men, Satan had no power to get in the way of the plan of God. Guillermo bore his testimony afterward thanking Elder Reanda and me for teaching him and it was just a very special moment to be a missionary. As we taught Guillermo, he repeatedly expressed his desire to feel the Holy Ghost when he got baptized and afterwards he told us that he had never felt happier or more free in his life. He shared how much he needed baptism by the proper authority. I never want this to end. 

Had interviews with President McClellan at our house yand as always it was an incredible experience. He gave me so much advice about how I can improve as a missionary and how to find more and more joy/satisfaction in the work. If we can help people feel more hopeful for their future and more hopeful in themselves, we're doing a good job.

Working in the two areas has been tiring but really awesome because I have learned so much and also gotten to trust in the Spirit a lot more instead of my own knowledge. One cool experience happened yesterday when we had a lesson planned with a woman but after expressing the trials that are currently happening in her life, we knew we had to change our plan. I told Elder Holt to trust in the spirit for what he should teach and right in this moment, Moroni 7 came to my mind. I looked to Elder Reanda to see if he was going to say something and then back at Elder Holt with his scriptures open to Moroni 7. I know the Spirit guided us to help that worried woman calm down and have more hope for the future. 

Other stuff:

● We explored many new terrains this week and found ourselves crossing rivers (wet and dry) and hiking in weeds taller than me multiple times.

● Visited a member who had a multicolored light bulb with a speaker built into it and they started blasting some bangers from their light bulb such as “I am a child of God” and “Keep the Commandments” and it was a vibe and a half.

● Saw a horse race in the street and it just further strengthened my belief that I live in the Wild West and I love it.

This week we ended up talking with a lot of people who told us about trials that are happening in their lives. Oftentimes as a missionary, I find myself getting into a robot mode of teaching lessons instead of people. However this week, I really wanted to try changing. There were many opportunities when just listening to the people and talking to them about their lives created spiritual environments that helped these people grow their faith. We focused a lot on covenants and baptism and how they can always provide calm and hope in the storm. We may be in the biggest tempests, tests, or realities of mortality, but our covenants, if kept with all of our heart, will always bless us and everything will be okay. D&C 35:24-26.

With much love,

Élder Snyder

Week 58: Old

Hi

A long, very tiring week once again. I'm starting to get repetitive, I know. But I learned a lot but also don't remember much of what happened and I just played fútbol for 3 hours and got absolutely cooked by the sun (and the latinos) so we'll see how this goes.

Please keep Guillermo and Alberto in your prayers because their baptisms are this week!!

Alberto is a true inspiration to me. On Monday night, he got into an argument with his dad after his girlfriend (a member of the church) broke up with him. The argument escalated to his father disowning him and burning all of Alberto's possessions. After losing quite everything of his 14 year-old life, we found him and just listened as he opened up about everything. He eventually said, “I may have lost everything temporal, but I haven't lost my faith.” We then read from Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8 which reads “My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.” I then gave him a blessing and it may have been one of the most spiritual, calming moments of my mission. May we all be a little more humble and a little more faithful like Alberto.

I turned 20 this week which is not allowed. But shoutout to my awesome parents for sending me an awesome package and shoutout to all the cousins and family who sent me some notes of encouragement in the package!! You're all real ones🤝. My pensionista made a tres leches cake which was fire and the hermanas tried to shoot me with a confetti cannon but failed so it was indeed a great birthday.

We had multizone conference and I was finally in the same group as Elder Evanson so that was lit. President McClellan spoke about exact obedience and it moved me so much and it has been so awesome to look for ways to be more obedient, devoted, and consecrated with my time and then try my best to do these things.

Other stuff:

● Got to see Elder Cano and Elder Abarca today in our soccer game. A great family reunion.

● Cleaned the other Elder's house for like 3 hours one morning and it felt so good to do some service.

● I don't remember what else happened.

This week, I have been reading about Captain Moroni and his time leading the Nephites in battle against the Lamanites. One thing I loved from my study was how Moroni never stopped preparing his people and cities for battle. In each moment and after each victory, he continued to work to ensure the safety of his people. We must work in the same way against the adversary. He doesn't rest. Daily efforts to fortify our souls and bodies against his subtle and satisfying influence save us from all danger. The Lamanites often only saw the cities Moroni had prepared and then fled at the sight. We have that same power being sons and daughters of God.

I have been loving my life although it has been so tiring recently because I hope that I can be relentlessly striving like Moroni.

With so much love,

Élder Snyder

Birthday

My two favorite things

Alberto (Next to me) y Baleadas

Matching with da bridge

Multizonaaa

P-dayyy

Week 57: The Merge

Well this week God decided I wasn't tired enough and decided to switch up the pace.

Here in Cofradía, there is a ward and also a branch that is the same size as the ward. Well Elder Reanda and I are assigned to the ward and there is another set of elders that work in the branch. Sadly, this last week, one of the elders in the branch had some issues with his heart and dengue all at the same time and was sent home to recover and because of that I am now in a trio until the end of the transfer and we are covering the 2 congregations and almost the entirety of the city of Cofradía. More people to teach, more miles to walk, and many more hours in church meetings. Hence the extra tiredness. But being totally honest I'm loving it. Our new companion is Elder Holt who got to Honduras at the same time as me! It's been fun getting to know him better as well as find everything I can to learn from him.

With now only half of the amount of time in each area, every minute counts. We're walking a whole lot faster (I don't know how) and we are trying to work a lot more efficiently. We have seen miracles in this process. 

Yesterday we went to visit a 15 year old named Alberto who is not a member but has been attending the branch for a few months. First off, I felt like I was talking with a 25 year old. This kid is incredible mature and incredible smart. He has been coming to church for a while and wants to get baptized but the elders have never been able to get permission from his parents because they live apart and are never home. Well yesterday as we hiked up to his house, his dad was outside sweeping. A true miracle. We spoke with him and he gave permission. We then had a lesson with Alberto all about the commandments and we just had a really open discussion about repentance and the importance of the commandments. I bore my testimony and shared some experiences I have had and then he looked me in the eyes and told me that he felt something as I spoke and has never had more motivation before to get baptized. 

We then went over to his mom's house. He warned us that she is very evangelical and he doubted that we would get permission but with a prayer in my heart I started talking to her and she reacted very positively. Her brother happened to be there too and he exclaimed very excitedly how Alberto needs to get baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because he was baptized there too! He began to speak extremely highly of the church and Alberto then bore his testimony to his mom. She gave permission and Alberto will be getting baptized on the 16th. Please keep him in your prayers!

Guillermo keeps on blowing my mind with his faith. Every day he tells us of a new anti-mormon comment someone makes to him or video that pops up on his phone and every time he disproves these arguments with his testimony of the Book of Mormon. Reading is key. If you have read the Book of Mormon, you know it is the word of God and there is no denying it. All of the hate it receives is completely false and all it takes to know that these statements are false is reading a few pages. Thank you for your prayers for him and please keep him in your prayers🫶

Other stuff:

● There's a recent convert here who is mute and he got up to bare his testimony yesterday in church and was basically just screaming gibberish into the microphone for 5 minutes. It was sweet because he truly loves the gospel but I was very concerned for the nonmembers present😅

● I held a turtle.

● A bird dropped a bomb on my comp.

● I saw a guy with a Redwood Vikings Middle School tshirt on. Shoutout to all my fellow Vikings and to the unfaithful student who donated their shirt (it very well could have been my shirt).

● Sonia and Samuel got baptized in Jardines on Thursday🥹

● Read Elder Holland's April 2016 talk “Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders Among You”. (This is a command)

This week, the church released a few chapters of “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Russell M. Nelson” and holy it is incredible. I especially loved the chapter about personal revelation. Two quotes I absolutely loved say,

“The Lord expects daily effort, daily improvement, daily repentance. Worthiness brings purity, and purity qualifies us for the Holy Ghost. As we take “the Holy Spirit for [our] guide” (Doctrine and Covenants 45:57), we qualify for personal revelation.”

“Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination of increased purity, exact obedience, earnest seeking, daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon [see 2 Nephi 32:3], and regular time committed to temple and family history work.”

I testify of these words and hope to apply them better in my life each day. There is no better feeling than knowing that the Lord is with you, guiding you, and proud of you. When we feel like this, we can be happy no matter what happens, because the Lord's will is to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life in a joyous way.

With much love,

Élder Snyder