Hellooo everyone
I have Pday on Monday today because on Saturday we were traveling and doing training for other missionaries all day (but more on that later).
Had a good week this week and it just does not feel like it's Christmas time. This week we ran it back with more trips visiting other parts of the mission to train the mission on certain aspects of the work.
I got to do exchanges with the elders of Choloma and it was such a special day. We raced all around the city because they are covering two areas at the moment but we just felt the Spirit all day. We had a lesson focused all on the love of Christ and how he gives us his doctrine because he loves us. We invited the young woman to be baptized and she tearfully said yes.
We got to travel all the way out to Santa Rosa about 5.5 hours away from San Pedro and it was awesome. There are some incredible missionaries out there holding up the fort. I got to go on mini exchanges with Elder Porter for about an hour and it was so awesome. He is just such a good example to me of positivity. It was also so COLD in Santa Rosa. I know I know, "cold" is not a word heard very often in Honduras but trust me I was shivering all night and that was without air conditioning.
Elder Cano and I had the privilege of taking a public bus back to San Pedro and it was an experience. Due to the constant and super heavy rain that we have had for about 3 weeks, there was a mudslide that took out like half of the freeway between San Pedro and the countryside. And one fun thing about Honduras is that there are no alternate routes. One road. So we hit some traffic. It took us almost 8 hours to get home but we did it but it really was a great experience. In fact, a pivotal moment in my life.
My whole life, I have always pushed myself to my limits to try to excel in whatever it is that I may be doing. In my time in the office, I have done the same, but just like any human, I fall short basically every day. Perfectionism has always been one of my biggest struggles and I sadly feel much more weight of it in the assignment I am in. I often feel like I have all eyes on me and my example needs to be better. It often causes me to beat myself up pretty bad sometimes... As Elder Cano and I sat on that bus we were a little frustrated because we were not able to visit any of our friends to invite them to church, there was no cell service, and our bus was basically empty so there weren't people to talk with. For a couple days, I had been feeling like I was constantly falling short and this was a moment where I felt it again and could only look out the window. I had the chance to notice the beauty of the world. The powerful rivers, the green mountains, and the thousands of priceless souls going about their unique and special lives. I realized that God truly wants to bless us and wants us to be happy. I realized that He will never use his Gospel against us. He will never try to teach us a lesson through guilt, pain, frustration, etc. He will only teach us through love, patience, encouragement, and miracles. Every time we receive a prompting to improve, to work harder, or to make a change from bad to good, the Lord is not speaking to us because he is disappointed or frustrated. He is telling us that there is a miracle just ahead of us and he is guiding us directly to it. He loves us.
I learned a lot about the nature of God when I took a step back and took a few minutes to open my eyes beyond the window, beyond the numbers, beyond the ticking time, beyond my imperfections. I feel much happier and much more grateful for my mission. It's okay to take time for the details.
With so much love,
Élder Snyder
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