Week 101: Thank You, Honduras

It is a very bittersweet moment writing what will be my last email as a full-time missionary for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I have absolutely loved my mission and I will miss it everyday. The last 2 years have changed my life forever and I will forever praise God for having been so merciful to send me to the wonderful and happy people of Honduras. I will forever serve God for having been so loving to cut me down and then make me whole through the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ. There is still so much more to learn, but that's what the rest of life is for!

This week, I enjoyed mine and President McClellan's last multizona, many very sweet goodbye visits, knocking doors and talking to people in the street, and a beautiful last Sacrament Meeting in Honduras.

I have learned a lot of lessons over the course of the last 2 years. It is impossible to put into words everything that has happened, however, I will make an attempt. I hope to show everything that I have learned through my actions for the rest of my life.

Copan Ruinas (8/17/23 - 2/1/24): True happiness is found in giving everything to the Lord and knowing that you are keeping the commandments and doing the right thing. The Lord compares me with old me and only focuses on my efforts to improve and what I can control. The best kind of faith is blind faith.

Campana (2/1/24 - 3/14/24, 1/9/25 - 3/26/25): Love everyone. Love is the key to success and to helping others feel more faith and trust in God. Gratitude is a key to happiness and humility that simply gives us everything we need. God is in the details of everyone's life and works over the course of years to orchestrate beautiful blessings. Temple work is missionary work.

Jardines (3/14/24 - 7/16/24): The Gospel is real. It's tangible. The priesthood is real, miracles are real, it is all real– not just an idea or a belief. God does literally all of the work in His work and He loves effort. We are simply bystanders to the many marvelous works He does.

Cofradía (7/16/24 - 8/26/24): The Book of Mormon is the key to conversion and to solving all of life's problems. Exact obedience to the commandments brings about undeniably discernible miracles. Communication is key to any good relationship and contention is not and never will be of God.

Primavera (8/26/24 - 1/9/25): The Lord qualifies whom He calls. Scripture study is necessary to feel peace and resist temptation. Confidence in your worthiness allows you to have confidence that you are living in personal revelation. Follow the impressions of the Spirit immediately to watch more miracles unfold. The Lord keeps His promises. It's worth it to take the time to slow down and rejoice in the little things.

Mochito (3/26/25 - 6/18/25): God answers prayers, especially prayers accompanied by fasting. We need the ordinances of the Gospel. God wants us to be happy, and that God-like happiness comes from doing everything you can to serve, not necessarily the fruits of your labors. One day, we will see the complete extent of the fruits of our labors, but the Lord wants us to be patient, because He will work many more miracles and multiply our harvest in His own time. 

Shoutouts to my companions Elder Evanson, Elder Perry, Elder Abarca, Elder Best, Elder Cano, Elder Dávila, Elder Mercado, Elder Reanda, Elder Prior, and Elder Rosales for helping me become who I am and for being so patient with me.

I thank all of you who have read these emails as I have tried to express the true joy I have experienced on this journey. On Wednesday, I will fly home to Los Angeles, California and on Sunday, June 29th, I will be speaking in church about many of the experiences I have had in my second home, Honduras. Write me if you want any details!

The Lord is truly hastening his work at exponential rates. In the last 5 months, the Lord has prepared literally hundreds of more people to receive the Gospel than in years past. I am honestly a little sad to be leaving at this point in the timeline of the Lord's work in Honduras, but I have received a confirmation from the Holy Ghost that the Lord is very pleased and proud of my very imperfect but sincere offering of time and service. I know that my work is not over because His work is not over. I know that Zion has no location and that the Gathering has no end.

“And your whole labor shall be in Zion, with all your soul, from henceforth; yea, you shall ever open your mouth in my cause, not fearing what man can do, for I am with you. Amen.”

Doctrine & Covenants 30:11

Jesus Christ lives. This is His true church. His Atonement is infinite and will carry us in all aspects of life if we are humble. Perfect happiness is found in serving others and focusing on Christ, the source of all that is good and eternal.

Signing off from Honduras with so much love,

Élder Snyder

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Week 100: The Best of Times

Just finished my last normal week of just straight missionary work and nothing else and it may have been one of the most impactful weeks of my mission. 

Last week for P-day, we went over to a really pretty lake by our area and it was absolutely beautiful. It was just one of those moments where I could really feel the love of God and admire His beautiful creations. We also met a Christian youth group on a humanitarian trip while there. We had an awesome conversation with some of them just about life and Honduras and then we parted ways. A couple hours later we ran into them again but this time the youth had a bunch of awesome questions about our faith. We started to explain our beliefs and then one of their adult leaders came out of nowhere to immediately start bashing us. The Spirit immediately left and I just felt awful. It was so sad to see such a beautiful moment ruined by contention and hate. This was the first time on my mission that anything like this had happened in English but it was honestly so cool to see Elder Evanson and I just remain calm and try to maintain peace while still declaring the truth of the Restoration and Book of Mormon. It's crazy how much we've grown since MTC haha. The old man stormed off in anger at one point and many of the youth apologized and proceeded to ask us great, curious questions. There was one boy in particular who really caught my attention and I think we caught his attention. As he was ushered off by his leaders, he turned around and asked us “why are all Mormons so nice?” We told him to read the Book of Mormon and he'd find out why. There's always someone that the Lord prepares. Although there may be opposition, God prevails. I have a lot of hope for this young man.

Later that night, we had a lesson with a new convert where the Spirit testified to me on a new level the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the Priesthood Authority– the very same topics the old man had completely bashed a few hours earlier. It was a sensation of joy and love I will never forget.

On Tuesday, one of the most special experiences of my mission occurred. The son of our pensionista has been inactive for many years and has a wonderful young family. He is an extremely buff and tough man who sometimes is very intimidating. We hadn't visited them for a while and at 8:35pm our plans had fallen through and out of nowhere I felt the impression to go to their house. We got there and yelled “buenas” as always and he stepped outside and just stopped dead in his tracks when he saw us. Due to the lighting, we could only see his silhouette but after a couple of seconds of silence he told us to come in. He met us at the gate and immediately began to cry– something I had never expected to see from a man like him. He immediately hugged us both and continued to cry. To make a long story short, he was ready to give up on a lot of things in need of an answer and he received “the fastest answer” he had ever received with us showing up to his door. Yesterday, he and his whole family attended church for the first time in a long time and there is a new spirit of motivation and spiritual momentum in that family. His 8 year old daughter is now preparing to be baptized and this father now knows that God lives and never forgets us. There's a long road ahead for them, but I know that the Holy Spirit truly does guide those who need Him most.

Other awesome things:

- Planted beans Honduras style one morning with the service missionary, Elder Benitez, and it was soooo fun.

- The power has been out for 24 hours and last night we made a makeshift wood powered stove with some members and learned how to make baleadas the real Honduran way. Such a fun night. I truly experienced the phrase “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

- It's hurricane season and we got absolutely DRENCHED one night. So much fun, so much laughing, so much lightning.

- One morning, a pink chick, a blue chick, and a yellow chick showed up in our backyard. Elder Cruz took immediate action.

I have less than 10 days to try and soak everything up and there are just so many things and people to love. The greatest gratitude does not come from what we receive, it comes from what we give. I hope to give it my all these last few days and be evermore grateful for each and every second in Honduras. Thank you for your prayers.

With so much love,

Élder Snyder

Week 99: A Week of Feasting

This week was awesome with a lot of work, a lot of traveling, a lot of food, and a lot of spirit.

We went to the temple as a mission this week and it was so needed. It was awesome to visit with some friends that I haven't seen in a long time but it was even better to visit the Lord in His house. I received a lot of guidance for how I should manage my life and time after my mission.

I also had my last interview with President McClellan before heading back to the offices in a couple of weeks and it was short and sweet. There's not very much time left to invite, teach, and baptize the people of this beautiful part of the vineyard so I gotta take advantage of it! 

We had a really crazy experience last night. At about 7:45pm we were with this one very humble, very kind family and we had just finished the lesson when it started to DOWNPOUR. Probably one of the heaviest lightning storms I've seen on my mission. I normally don't let the water stop me from working and I was fully planning on getting out of my chair and going to our next appointment but a voice told me to not leave. We decided to listen and to wait out the water and about 2 minutes afterwards we hear a scream from the other room. TONS of water broke through the seal between their makeshift walls and the ground and immediately the house began to flood. My comp and I immediately threw off our shoes, grabbed some brooms, and began to shove all the water out of the house before it could start flooding the other rooms. After about 20 seconds of that the power went out. It was so hectic but also so fun hahaha. We were able to deflood the house, the power came back, and then we just laughed a ton with these amazing people. I just love being on the Lord's errand.

This week, I finished the Book of Mormon with my study completely focused on learning about the nature of Jesus Christ as my brother and God as my Heavenly Father. This was by far the most eye opening and testimony building experience of my life. I know Jesus Christ lives and He is my brother. I echo the words of Joseph Smith with 100% of my heart, mind, and soul that “the Book of Mormon [is] the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”

God answers prayers. He blesses us endlessly for exact obedience to his words. Jesus Christ suffered what he suffered and overcame every single trial of this mortal life. The joy of the Saints is in sincere repentance and constant “hope for a better world” that is only possible because of Jesus Christ and the saving ordinances of the Restored Gospel.

With so much love,

Élder Snyder