Week 58: Old

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