Week 30 - Flor's Baptism and another 6 weeks in Libertad, Los Mochis

Flor's Baptism

Hola 

Well today we had transfers! And this time my companion Elder Salomon left for Obregon and I stayed here in Libertad and recieved my new companion Elder Tellez. Elder Tellez is from Monterey Mexico also. But today I pretty much spent all my time at the bus station waiting for my companion to arrive. On the day of transfers, everyone goes to the bus station to change companions so I got to see all the missionaries that are leaving, the missionaries that are staying, and all the missionaries that are arriving from Obregon. I realized in this last transfer that I was one of the few people from my generation that was in Mochis because today a bunch of people from my generation arrived from Obregon. 

Also Flor got baptized!!!!!!! yay!!! Flor finally got baptized after all of our time in Libertad. But the day of the Baptism there were so many problems with the font. So on the morning of a baptism day, we always go to the church to clean the font (because it is always a little dirty). So we borrowed the keys from our ward mission leader and opened the church, then when we opened the font, we saw that there was still water in the font, along with a dead cucaracha, that had been there since the last baptism of another ward about three weeks ago. :( So we went to turn on the pump, but the keys we had didnt work to access the hallway where the pump was. So after a few phone calls and waiting for about 45 minutes, our bishop arrived with the keys. Then we went to turn on the pump, but nothing happened. So we spent 15 minutes trying to figure out why the pump was not working, and then when that didnt work, we ended up calling church maintenance. Then after waiting for about a half hour maintenance arrived to fix the pump. Then as they were working to fix the pump, I said a quick little prayer that they could find the problem really quickly and that we could begin cleaning and filling the font. Then before I could even say the word "Amen" in my head, they got the pump working. 

Then we pumped out all the nasty water that was in the font, got rid of the cucaracha that was floating in the water, and began cleaning the font. Then we filled the font and after that  everything went real smooth. 

We returned at 4 for the baptism of Flor. It was really awesome. We asked the mom of Flor to speak (because she had just been baptized about 2 months ago and, we thought it would be a great opportunity). She did a really good job, she mostly just shared her testimony, but it was really powerful. She just said that she was so grateful for the missionaries that had taught her and her family and that she hopes that Flor´s brothers can follow her example. Then she got baptized and after that, we went to work and every single one of our appointments fell through. But thats okay :)

Then the next day I got to confirm Flor a member of the church. It was really cool because she is the first person that I have every confirmed. 

Also this week we had intercambios with the zone leaders. And this time it was my turn to stay in Mochis and for Elder Salomon to leave. (I was kind of happy that I didnt leave because I found out after that the zone leaders shower with a bucket and cold water). I was with Elder Williams, un gringo. But it didnt go too well because we had about 18 people in our plans to visit and all of them fell through. So it was kind of sad, but sometimes those things happen. 

But that is pretty much it for this week. Thanks for all the pictures that you sent. I hope that everyone is happy and enjoying their time in school. The mission is awesome. We plan to contact alot this week, so pray for us that we can find the people that the Lord is preparing to receive this gospel. Love you all so much.

Les quiero

Elder Snyder

Flor with her mom  

At the bus station where everyone meets up for transfers…got to see Elder Ochoa again.

Goodbye Elder Salomon

Week 29: An exchange to Ahome and El Chapo in Los Mochis!

Hola

Well this week a lot happened so you won't be bored. First of all they captured EL CHAPO!!!! El Chapo is the leader of the drug cartel here in Sinaloa and is one of the most wanted criminals in the world. He has escaped from prison like 6 times because he has a lot of control over people. But it is just so crazy because they captured him in Los Mochis!! In our area, Libertad!!!! But on friday in the morning, we were excercising and we could hear a helicopter. Now this is very weird because I have not seen or heard a helicopter my whole time in the mission. But we were like, "What the heck! Why does this helicopter keep flying over our house." Then we went outside and saw that it was a helicopter from the marines. There were like 6 guys sitting in the helicopter... all with huge guns. Then we recieved a message from the hermana that lives below us and she told us that there had been some sort of shoot out in a colonia that is very ghetto and poor. So we didnt really think twice after she told us that. But then we later heard on the radio that they had captured El Chapo and that was when we put two and two together. But now that is all the people are talking about here, "El Chapo was here, in los Mochis!!!!" 

Also this week we had intercambios!!!! Which are always super fun. And this time it was my turn to leave, so I got to spend a day in Ahome. Ahome is gigantic. It may possibly be one of the biggest areas in all of the mission. It has about 18 different pueblos and they are all so far apart. But I learned that the way the missionaries travel in this area is by hitchhiking. When we need to go to a different pueblo for the comida it is like an hour and a half walk, and buses only pass by once every hour or so. So the only option really is to hitchhike. So, we walk to where the road only leads to the next pueblo, then you stick your thumb up and wait until someone with a pick up truck stops. Then when they pull over you have to go and hop in the bed of their truck. It is kind of funny because all the people are so used to doing that. You always see people getting rides in the back of trucks. But yeah it turns an hour walk into a 10 minute ride. But I can only imagine in the summer, walking would be miserable and impossible. 

Also we went to a colony in where the people are members of the church of Jesus Christ (Not of the latter-day saints). It was super weird. One of the investigatores that the missionaries in Ahome are going to baptize this week was attending at that church. They have a Book of Mormon but it is black. And from what I read, it seams that they believe that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, but they don't believe he was a prophet. They believe that revelation ceased with the death of Jesus Christ.  But this experience really showed me the importance of a living prophet. Their church is almost the same as ours, but they are missing a huge part, which is the modern revelation that the prophets give us. 

But that intercambio, I learned alot from elder Gonzales. He taught me so much about the type of attitude that I need to have. He told me that I need to be happy when I am contacting because if I am not happy then the people I am talking to just want me to finish what I am saying and leave. Or if I feel uncomfortable when I am contacting, then the people I am talking to feel uncomfortable also. He also taught me that there is no such thing as a "dead area". He told me the areas that he has been in on his mission, and he baptized in all of them and right now these areas people either say they are dead or the president has closed them because there were no baptisms. But he taught me that you just need to make the best of everything. Laugh at your companion when he gets rejected in a funny way and have your companion laugh at you when you get rejected. And that if you are really doing all you can... talking with EVERYONE and when there is no one in the street knocking on doors, then there will always be someone that you can find. But all this has helped me alot. I am alot more excited and grateful for the area that I have been given and I know that we can find more people to teach. But it is all true. We have recieved alot more references this week and we have also had alot more lessons this week. All we need are people to progress. haha. We also visited Flor yesterday, and we set her baptismal date for this Saturday. So hopefully it stays…because the cambio ends this Sunday and I know that elder Salomon wants to baptize her because he has been teaching her his entire mission. 

Thank you so much for everything. Everyday I see little things that confirm that this is the true church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church. It has a living prophet through which God continues to show his love for his children by speaking to them through the mouth of the prophet. The Book of Mormon only strengthens the testimony that the Bible gives of Jesus Christ, and shows that he came to the Earth so that we can have the opportunity to be cleansed from sin and live with our Heavenly Father once again. I know that this is the Lords work and I am so happy to be a part of it. 

I love you all so much and I hope that everything goes well this week.

Con Amor

Elder Snyder

Week 28: Happy New Year Everyone!

New Year's Day Zone Meeting

Hola

This week was New Years, but it really didnt feel different than any other day.We visited mostly members and less actives because there are hardly any people in our area. Everyone is on vacation. So we had pretty much the worst numbers in all my time as a missionary.  On New Year's Eve, I thought there were going to be a lot of fire works, but there were hardly any (or I was just fast asleep) because I didnt hear anything.  

This week we helped one of the members clean their backyard. It was kind of gross because there was a bunch of crap from all the chickens that they have but we had fun. Then after she took us all out to breakfast so that was pretty great too. 

We had our first zone meeting on the first day of the year. And luckily we had a member drive us there because there were no buses running that day. Usually there are tons of people when we have to go to central but there was hardly anyone. When we arrived at the zone meeting, the zone leaders asked me if I could conduct the meeting. I really like conducting the meetings, but the only thing was that it was a little weird because I have hardly met anyone in our zone... but it all turned out well. 

Today was super fun. Last week when we went to play soccer with our district the church was locked, so we called my old zone leaders to see if they were going to come play with us and unlock the church. But they told us they couldn't, but that there is a park very close that has a really cool court. So we went there and found this soccer field. It is a field made of turf that has a wall with fencing that surounds the field. The field is about half the size of a normal field. But last week we all thought "this is too big for only 6 missionaries, we need to invite the zone." So today, we invited all the elders in our zone and my old zone leaders to come play in this field. It turned out to be super fun. Surprisingly everyone in our zone came and in the end we had about 14 people come so it ended up being perfect. 

Sadly, with our investigators, not that much happened this week. Flor is still on vacation until tomorrow...and we need to find more people to teach. Tomorrow we are going to have interviews with the president. And I am kind of excited because I always like to see and talk with the president, but I know he is going to be disappointed with us because these last 2 weeks our numbers have been crap. There really werent any people these past two weeks, but the president always says that he knows that we can do better.

Now to answer a few of your questions. I hardly ever cook anything at night because I normally just want to go to sleep at night. With contacting, our area is kind of big, but we only use about half of it because one half is very rich and there are never people outside, and the people that are outside are usually their gardeners that always live in different areas. But yeah we are basically just contacting and looking for new people to teach. But the problem we are having is that we teach people one time and then we ask if we can come back another day and they always say yes, but when we return they dont want to answer the door. It is really childish. We can see them in the window and then when they see us they go and hide as if they are little children. I don't understand why they cant just tell us that they dont want us to come or something. We are supposed to have intercambios with our DL and ZL at least once every cambio but we have not had one yet. And I dont really feel bad about not being DL anymore because I have a lot less things to worry about which is good, but I do miss calling all the missionaries every night to ask how things are going. But I feel fine. I know that I am where I am supposed to be. So one of the mission rules is that we have to get up at 6:15 instead of 6:30 to read the Book of Mormon. It is my goal to finish the BOM in Spanish and right now I am in heleman 5. And during my study, we are supposed to read "Preach My Gospel" for 30 minutes, so I mostly study that and then I read the BOM more. 

Thanks so much for everything. I love you all so much and it was so awesome to hear what happened with all of you this week. The time really flies here, especially when you can understand spanish. :)

Cuídense 

Elder Snyder

Week 27: Feliz Navidad and the 6 Month Tie Burning! (Dec 21-27)

The Mision Posada

Hola como están todos

This past week was really fun. First of all we had our mision posada. We got together with our zone and my old zone. So I got to see all of my old friends again. We started out with a training from the zone leaders. And there wasnt really anyone who was too excited for the training. But then at the end of the training the zone leaders wanted everyone to do a role play with all the missionaries, and as they were explaning what we were going to do the president walked in the door. Then it was kind of funny because the zone leaders continued explaining what we were going to do and then the president said "um, why dont we start with the activities instead" So we were all very happy with that! :)

Then we played a bunch of games. We were separated into 3 teams for the first activity. They had tied a rope to a tree and a pole and the whole rope was suspended about 5 feet in the air. Then we had to help everyone cross from one side to the other and everyone had to go over the rope with out touching it. So we made a little pyramid to have the first few elders cross. Then later the hermanas all crossed. Then pretty soon it was just me and my companion who had to cross. So I had to lift up my companion and then pass him to the other elders on the other side. Then I was the only person left and I had to try and jump the entire rope. We had everyone else waiting on the other side to catch me as I tried to dive over the rope. It was pretty fun.

Then we played a game of soccer with exercise balls. But what made it fun was that we were tied together with our companion like we were having a 3 legged race. It was super fun. Then we went through the rest of the posada kind of hanging out with all the missionaries and then we ended with a training by our president.

Then on Christmas eve it was really fun because Elder Tice, Elder Rivera, and I had all completed 6 months of our mission. So, to celebrate, we all burned one of our ties. We all got together then we used a can of Axe and a lighter and burned them flame thrower style! Then we were all invited over to the house of a member and we all ate carne asada. :)

Then on Christmas I got to call home! It was so awesome to get to see all of you guys. I was smiling so much and it made me so happy just to see everyone.

But pretty much all this week Libertad has been dead. There was hardly anyone in the streets or in their houses. Most of our investigatores told us to wait until january because they are all on vacation. So we did alot of walking this week. And Flor the girl that we are going to baptize isnt going to return home until the 5th of January. So we have to wait until the 9th to have her baptism.

Well I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I love you all so much and it was so awesome to see everyone.

les amo mucho

Elder Snyder

Reunion with Elder Ochoa

Elder Tice, Elder Rivera, Me, and Elder Salomon

The 6 month Tie Burning!

Week 26: 5 Days till Christmas and a baptism!!

Nancy's Baptism

Hola

Well we had a baptism this week. Woohoo! Nancy was baptized this Saturday and it was really great. We were a little scared that not that many people were going to show up because it was the ward temple trip this weekend and there was a big youth conference thing for all the youth that live in the mission. But it all turned out to be okay. Many people came and all was well. It is also really sad because her parents and grandparents are members but they are inactive and they dont really want to reactivate so they dont really help Nancy with much.

And we are going to hopefully have another baptism this week. Woohoo! The daughter of one recent convert. We read Alma 18 with her and explained what the chapter means and after, we challenged her again to be baptized and she accepted. So, hopefuly we will baptize her this saturday also.

This week we had our ward posada or christmas party. They asked us when we arrived if we as missionaries could all sing silent night. But it started really late, so we didnt really have much time to do things there. We just sang our song and then left and we were still a little late getting back to our house. 

We are really struggling to find people to teach here. And after we baptize these two people we are hardly going to have anyone to teach. We are contacting alot of people in the street but we are hardly recieving people to teach. This week we recieved more references for the area of our district leader than for our own area. And in this time of year there is hardly anyone here. Everyone is leaving to go visit their family. We have had so many people tell us that we have to wait to pass by until January because everyone is leaving. So ya we have alot of contacting to do in the new year. 

Also we are all excited because tomorrow is la posada por la misión. So all the missionaries in Los Mochis will be getting together. We are not really sure what this entails because we have heard that we are going to have a bunch of trainings, but we are not really sure. Hopefully it wont be all trainings. 

Today we all played soccer at the church with our district and some of the youth from Libertad. Then we went to Sam's Club and bought a pizza and as we were leaving we saw Elder Ochoa. He says that he has been doing well in Macapule and that they have investigators that are attending church. 

But not to much really happened this week. I am so excited to get to skype with all of you. I think that I am going to try and skype at about 3 pm here more or less. We are going to be in the house of the member that lives below us so we shouldn't have any problems connecting. Just send me your skype username so that I can make an account and call. 

I am super excited to see and talk with you all. Love you so much.

Elder Snyder

At Our Ward Christmas Party

Our apartment - we live in the upstairs of a member's home

My desk

Our kitchen

The dog that always "greets" us whenever we go in and out of our apartment. 

View from our apartment

Week 25: Another Temple Dedication in Mexico - Tijuana Temple

Elder Salomon and I

Bueno!! (that is how everyone answers the phone here)

Thanks for the updates. I totally forgot that back home there is a christmas choir. And I am happy to hear that so many people participated. We also had our christmas choir performance yesterday. The only thing is that I think back home everyone can sing a little better. haha! No, but it was really good. I really love hearing all the different hymns in spanish. Also it was really cool because all the different wards in the stake had their own part. Sadly, we didnt get to participate, but it was cool to see all the different wards participate. There also were not any special musical numbers just choirs from different wards. Also it was really awesome because there were a bunch of people from Macapule that went. They are not in our stake but alot of them went because they have family members that were singing. But is was really awesome to say hi to all the people from my old ward. 

Also this Sunday we had the dedication of the tijuana temple!!! It is so awesome and cool that in my mission I have now seen 2 dedications of temples and both are in mexico. It was really cool because the whole time Elder Uchtdorf was making little jokes. He really is hillarious. And it was funny because all the americans would laugh first because the rest of the people had to wait for the translator. 

One of the things President Uchtdorf said that I really liked. He said that translatores are like the holy ghost if you listen closely you can hear and understand the message that is being taught. Or something like that :) 

Libertad is really awesome. We dont have that many investigators, but we have alot of members and they all want to help, so that is really great. Also I think I forgot to say that Elder Tice, my companion from the CCM is in my ward, so we see each other pretty often. Libertad is also alot bigger than Macapule. I have not seen what our sacrament meeting is like because of the temple dedication, but I will see this week. 

This Pday was the first time that we actually did something really fun. My comp and I, my old zone leaders and the missionaries in my district all met at the church this morning and we all played soccer for a while. It was really fun to play and to just hang out and talk with the other Elders that are serving here. 

That is so awesome that you were able to show the Savior is Born video at the choir performance. We have the video in spanish but it is not as good because the words dont match with what the people are saying. Alot of the Latino missionaries like to see it more in english rather than in spanish. haha. 

Here in Mexico christmas seems the same as it is back home. Everyone has christmas trees a few people have christmas lights and it is awesome because there is a family that has invited us to have carne asada with them this christmas. 

And, Yes, I opened my first gift today, and we put the lights in front of our door. My companion said that we should make an M with the lights above our door. And I was like "Why M? for Missionaries?" and he responded, no "M" for Merry Christmas haha. It was just funny because this whole time we were speaking spanish. 

As for my christmas call, our president has told us that we can talk for 50 minutes and that we can use the computer of a member to call. So I think we are going to call from the house of a member, but as for the time we dont know yet because we are going to do whatever works best for the member.

Well that is about it. I love you all so much and I am so excited to talk to you all on christmas. 

Con mucho amor

Elder Snyder

A blind man who is a recent convert here in Libertad. He came to the Temple dedication with us.

Me and Elder Tice and our companions.

Christmas package arrived safely and all 12 days of Christmas presents were there. :)

Week 24 - Transferred!

Saying Goodbye at the bus station.

Hola

So alot of things happened this week. Hermana Richardson finished her mission and she left for Obregón on friday. And we also recieved our cambios. 

So to answer the big question... Yes! I have been transferred. I am still in los mochis :) but I am in Libertad B with Elder Salomon. A different stake and ward, but I am happy and sad at the same time. I am happy because I get to change areas and I dont have to contact the same people over and over again. But I am sad that I have to leave right before Christmas and I am going to miss all the members that I have come so close to over these past few months. But the crazy thing is that Elder Tice and Elder Reid are in my district. The same people that were in my district in the CCM. 

Elder Salomon is 22 years old and is a recent convert to the church. He's from Monterey, Mexico and he is pretty cool. I am also the senor companion here because Elder Salomon just finished his training. It is very crazy... our district is so young.

But our house is so awesome! I cant wait to take pictures and send them to you. It is so much bigger. haha We live in a house that is right above a member, who also has a daughter that is on a mission. But ya, there is actually space! It is so awesome. I dont really know too much about Libertad, but I am really exited to be here. Elder Ochoa is kind of freaked out that I have been transferred, he says because he doesnt know the area very well, but he knows the area more or less. So when everyone has transfers, we all meet in the bus station because it is the only place that everyone knows. So we went to the bus station, and I found my new companion and we said goodbye to all the missionaries that were leaving. Then we left and went to our house in Libertad because all the missionaries that were in Obregón werent going to arrive for a while. Then while I was unpacking my stuff, we got a call. It was from Elder Ochoa and he was asking me what the name of the street is that we live on. Ahhh! Hopefully he will be alright in Macapule. haha!

I am doing really well. In the beginning, for me the mission was pretty hard. Thankfully, I had an American companion that could understand me and communicate, but still I could not understand anyone when I arrived, and I was always so dang tired. The first month of my mission, I was practically falling asleep in our lessons because I could not understand anything. But I think that happens for everyone who serves a mission in a different language. But now, I am doing really great. I can understand everything that people are saying, and I can pretty much say anything I want in Spanish.  Its not perfect, but I still have a lot of time to perfect my Spanish. :) But truthfully, I am enjoying my mission. Yes, it is really hard, but I am happy and enjoying it.

As missionaries here we are doing everything we can to get the members excited about sharing the church's Christmas video, "A Savior Is Born." So if there is anything that you can do for the missionaries in your ward, I know that they would really appreciate it. 

Well that is about it. Thanks for the pictures, and I am so excited to see you all on christmas! :)

Con mucho amor

Elder Snyder

With Carlos and Lolita. Going to miss these great ward members. 

Got my Christmas Package!

Reunion with my friends from the CCM