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
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