Week 95: Happy Easter

P-day water fight activity

Hola.  

This week we had a pretty great week. First of all it was Semana Santa and here in Mexico it is a vacation week and it is also the week were everyone parties all week long. So there were many drunks and not to many people home, but we were actually able to find a lot of people. I started the week off with exchanges. I went to Huatabampo with Elder Lopez and Elder Nilson went to Etchojoa. I really liked Huatabampo. It is a really strong branch and it is also really big. I would have really liked to have had the oportunity to serve in Huatabampo, but I got as close as you can get :) I also learned alot about Elder Lopez. He is a very dedicated missionary and I admire the courage he has to be out on a mission. He is the only member in his family and his entire family thinks that he is wasting his time and that he should come home. He actually told me that his parents have not written him since he left. I dont know how I would be if I did not have the support of you guys. But he told me that what motivates him is the love that he has for God. And I thought that was really sweet. I hope that someday everything that I do will be motivated by the love that I have for God and for others. I have been studying the words of the apostle Pablo (paul). I just love pablo and I love what he teaches and especially what he says about Charity. I downloaded one of the Bible videos of the church a long while back and I have listened to it so many times that I basically have all of 1 Corinthians 13 memorized in Spanish. That is one of my favorite scriptures.

Our investigator Juan (he is the husband of the recently wedded couple) is so awesome. His goal is to get sealed in the temple with his wife and he knows that he needs to get baptized, so he accepted a baptismal date for may 20th. We are super excited. they did not go to church this week because of the vacation that they had but I know that he is going to progress very well. Actually this sunday we were pretty lonely in church. Not many members went to church. There had to have been less than 30 people there. Alot of the members went to go sell things because sunday was the last day of the fair that they had in town. It is kind of disappointing because the members know better. They should know that not going to work on Sunday will bring them more blessings in their lives than a few extra pesos will. But that was that.

I have started practicing piano on my keyboard again. I made it my goal to wake up at 6 so that I can practice for an hour, but I feel like I am a slow learner.  I want to be able to play the hymns in Sacrament meeting because we have to sing acapella other wise. But i just cant seem to learn the hymns fast enough to be able to play them well on sunday. 

Today we had a really fun Pday because one of the zone leader had his Bday today so we decided to throw a surprise party. Elder Reid (he was in my district in the CCM) planned to fill up a bunch of water balloons and later attack him with the water balloons. So that was what we did. We got to the church and Elder Reid and Elder Tice had already filled up 600 water balloons. They filled all the trash cans in the church with the water balloons. Then when the whole zone was at the church we hid all the trash cans in a room. Then the zone leaders and the sister training leaders arrived. They changed into their sports clothes and we put a cake outside as bait. Then we all hid in the room with the trashcans of water balloons and waited for them to go outside. Then the other zone leader (one of them was in on it with us) came into the room where we were hiding and said to us, "go get them." then we all burst out of the room with a bunch of water balloons and had a massacre. It was super fun it turned into a huge water balloon fight that lasted quite a while. It was a pretty fun day. 

Thanks so much for the package. We have been enjoying the candy all this week. It is hard to believe that in 8 weeks I will be home. The mission really is such an amazing experience. I love it and I love the Savior.  

te amo

Elder Snyder

P.S. I forgot to tell you about this weird tradition that they have here in the northern part of mexico. For the past few weeks there have been people walking around beating their drums with these masks on. They are called Fariseos (Pharisees). And they pretty much walk around town all day beating their drums and on Easter Sunday is when they burn their masks. This is one of the masks that I put on.

Prepping for the water balloon fight

Zone Birthday Celebration

Week 94: Everything but a kitchen sink…literally!!

Hola

I am happy to hear about all of the exciting things that have been happening. That video of Parker playing the piano is amazing. I think I know who my piano teacher will be when I get back home. :)

This week was a pretty good week. We were able to teach a lot of people this week the only sad thing was that many of them did not really want us to come back for a second visit... haha. There are so many people and we really only have time to visit people that really want to learn more. 

So in our house we have to wash our dishes outside because we dont have a kitchen sink. So we washed all the dishes and left them outside to dry but when we brought them back inside we realized that both of our knives were missing. Then we realized that the dish soap was missing also. We think that someone has stolen our stuff so now we have been storing everything inside of the house. 

Also this sunday we were able to have a miracle. First of all I played the piano in sacrament meeting. Wooooooh!!!! And it was not perfect, but it turned out okay. I played nearer my god to thee and sweet hour of prayer. During sweet hour of prayer i was kind of nervous and I kind of forgot to breath while I was playing so I think that contributed to my errors, but I later remembered to breath and it got a little better :p But besides that we were able to have a new investigator at church. They recently moved to etchojoa and her husband is not a member. They also got married like 2 weeks ago. He seems like he is really interesed in the church and we have an appointment with him in the afternoon so hopefully everything goes well. 

We also gave service one morning. There is a really humble member in the branch and one day we came by in the afternoon and saw that he was starting to build his house so we offered to come the next day and help him build. It was pretty fun and I got to learn how to mix concrete and build a house :)

One of the greatest things that happened this week was that I got to meet Elder Evans. We had a district conference for priesthood holders in the district and president Myers came to speak. But along with him came this Elder. I had never seen him before and from the moment I first saw him I knew that he was different. After the meeting, I started to talk with him because I could see that he was standing all alone. I supposed that he did not know how to speak spanish that well and that was why he wasnt talking with anyone. So I got to know him a little better. He did not speak spanish that well and he had just gotten into his second transfer. Then he told me with disappointment in his eyes and said that tomorrow he was going home. That he had some emotional problems and had to return home. I felt really sad and in that moment I sat right next to him and put my arm around his shoulder and told him that everything was going to be alright. That he had every intension to serve the Lord and that he did what he was commanded and now the Lord has a new mission planned for him. He then put his head on my shoulder and said very sadly, "I know." I was able to give him a few more words of encouragement but while i was talking with him the voice of the spirit whispered something to me. I could feel the spirit say, "he deserves to be here." I in that moment knew that this missionary was called to serve in this mission and that the Lord knew that he was going to go home early, but that it was necesary that he came. When it was time for him to leave I gave him a great big hug. And I was happy to hear him say, "thank you elder Snyder for being a great example to me." I am never going to forget that. 

Today was also pretty fun because we went to Navojoa with all the other Elders and played soccer in the morning. The sisters were also there, but they were playing volleyball. but when we were all resting in the shade after playing a round, those sneaky sisters had gone to the store and bought water balloons and filled them up in the bathroom. Then when we were all resting they attacked us with their water balloons. it was pretty funny. Then after that, we helped fill up the rest of the balloons and had a big water fight at the end. it was a pretty great day.

Love you all so much

Elder Snyder

Week 93: Conference!

"Tall and handsome"  haha! What can I say?

Hola

I hope you all loved conference. It was really awesome. I had to listen to it all in spanish, but I could understand everything that they were saying. It is crazy to believe that my first conference I did not understand any of the talks and now I can understand all of them. 

We had a pretty great week this week. Starting off, we were able to find many new investigators this week. We also were able to have our first Branch FHE. It was really great. Most of the branch members were able to come and we were able to teach them about the importance of a prophet and how they can take full advantage of the conference talks. Also one of our investigators went to conference and really liked it. We hope that he can continue to progress. 

Of all the conference talks, the one that I liked the most was by Elder Rasband when he talked about obeying the first prompting of the Holy Ghost. I think that listening to the Holy Ghost is the most important thing that we can do in our life because the Holy Ghost will always guide us to make the right choice. It can also be one of the hardest things to do because it involves lining up our will with the will of God. I know that the only way that we can respond to the first prompting is by being obedient to the commandments and having a complete desire to do what it right. I also know that we will be happier if we live in this way. Our Heavenly Father desires us to be happy and if we do what we wants us to do we will be blessed. 

We are also planning a branch mission activity. What we want to do is some sort of "meet the mormons" type thing, but we want to do it here in Etchojoa. The town is kind of small so everyone kind of knows everyone. So we want to have an activity were we show all the different members of the church and what they do in their everyday lives. We still have not planned out all the details but when we do, I will be sure to let you all know. 

Today for our PDay we went to Alamos, which is a little town that is like an hour away from Navojoa. It was really cool. We went to see the catholic church (I know…it seems like we go and see catholic churches a lot, but there are a lot of them here), and we were also able to climb up one of the hills that is in the middle of Alamos and see the entire town. Also something interesting happened up top. One of the Zone leaders got to the top and then had an asthma attack and did not have his inhaler. So we brought him a plastic bag so he could breath in and out. Then when he had calmed down a little bit, he asked me to give him a priesthood blessing. So we went to a place where it would not call the attention of all the rest of the people and i was able to give him a blessing. And in that moment a miracle occurred. Like a minute after I had given him the blessing, his companion, out of nowhere, pulls his inhaler out of his backpack! His companion was like, "what the heck is this doing here?!?!" It was truly a miracle because he was able to receive instant relief. But it was a really fun activity. I will send you more pictures when I can get everyone else to send the ones that they took. 

Love you all. I hope that you all got the best out of conference. It truly is such a blessing that we have living prophets on the earth today that are guided to tell us exactly what we need to do and know. 

Con mucho amor

Elder Snyder

Hiking up the hill in Alamos

Hermana U with her super exaggerated tiredness!

My District

Me with Elder Martinez

Week 92: First Week in Etchajoa

This was waiting for us when we got to our house. A present from the previous Elders. 

Hello

Well Etchojoa is pretty awesome. It was very interesting my first few days here. My zone leader showed me around for 2 days. So I had to days to remember where all the members live and how to get around. But I got it down really quick. It was not that hard to learn where everyone lives. The hard part now is to find people to baptize. We kind of struggled this week in finding new investigators, but we were able work with a member and talk with one of the members of her family who is not a member. She seems really interested in going to church. She was not able to go last sunday but we are going to try and get her to go this week. 

Also the branch seems to be like a typical branch. There is a lot of drama between the members but we hope to be able to fix that. One of the member is super awesome. They own a restaurant that is very close to our house and they told us that the missionaries always eat for free :) They are the Velez family. They are some of the oldest members here in etchojoa and they also have a daughter that is out on a mission. The attendance here is around 34 with a lot of young kids. There seems to be an active primary here. We also have bikes. But my bike is not as good as the bike that I had in Alameda. I have had to invest money into my bike but it will be worth it. It is also kind of funny because this is my companions 2nd area in his mission and his first time with a bike. But Elder Martinez is a hard worker. He is going to help me work hard my last few weeks here. Can't believe I only have 11 more weeks. It sounds so short when I say it like that. 

I also forgot to tell you, but I am also the DL here. My district is really small. It is just us and the Elders and Sister missionaries that are both in the Huatabampo branch. My whole district is branches so it is pretty fun.  

Love you so much

I will try to write more next week

Elder Snyder

Week 91: Transfers! Etchajoa here I come!

So I know that you are all wondering what has happened to me this transfer. Well I have been transferred from alameda. It was kind of sad to say goodbye to everyone but I know that our transfers are inspired and that the Lord has work for me elsewhere. I just really hope that the family that we found gets baptized. They are just so awesome, I have faith that they will. 

Well I have been transferred to Etchajoa, which is a small town that is like 30 minutes from Navajoa. It is another branch, but I have heard a lot of good things about this branch and I imagine that it cannot have as many challenges as Alameda. But the most interesting part of this transfer is that I will be opening the area. President Myers did a white wash here. He took out the old missionaries and put us in. So I will be opening with a missionary that is very new. His name is Elder Martinez and he only has had 3 transfers in the mission. But because none of us know the area, right now I am in intercambios with one of the zone leaders who actually served here in Etchajoa. So he is going to be showing me the basics of where everyone lives and what buses to take. Hopefully I dont get lost :) Sounds like it is going to be quite an adventure here. 

Yesterday we had stake conference. So we got to go to Mochis again :) It was really cool because one of the members of the 70 was present and also the president of the temple in Hermosillo. The name of the 70 was Elder Felix. He is from Oaxaca. He gave really great talks. I was able to go to all of the sesions of conference so I was able to learn alot from him. One of the things that we talked about was that we need to align our desires with God's desires and that when we do that, we will be able to experience true joy. He also talked about D&C 9 and that when we want an answer to one of our prayers we must study the answer out in our minds first and then ask God if what we have decided is right. And when we do that 1 of 3 things will occur. 1st - we will have feelings of comfort and peace that will confirm what we have chosen is correct. 2nd - that we will have a stupor of thought and that we will feel confused or frustrated or worried or feel anxiety and that will tell us that what we have decided is wrong. And the 3rd is that as we pray we will feel neither of these 2 things. That when this happens it is because God trusts us enough to make our own decisions and that we have to trust that he will help us make the right choice. He also said that the majority of answers that come to us will NOT come when we are on our knees but when we go out and act. 

Well our house here in Etchojoa is definitely one of the worst houses that i have had. I like to compare it to the 3 degrees of Glory. When you first enter, you enter into the telestial world. The first 2 rooms dont have a floor, the walls are made of concrete and it is full of trash. The next room is the terrestrial world. It has a crappy floor (but at least it has a floor) it has the fridge and the tiny kitchen and all of our materials. Then the last room is when we enter into the celestial kingdom (it is where we sleep). This room has a nice tile floor, with painted walls and the most important thing…AC! I have heard rumors that the Elders before me had a cat and a dog as pets in the house. I will see if there are any stray animals that come lurking by. But one of the first things that we are going to do is clean up the house. 

I am pretty excited to work here. I also know that I am going to have to work hard because my companion is going to need my help. 

Well that is about it. I will let you know of our adventures here in Navajoa. 

Love you so much

Elder Snyder

12 more weeks

Week 90: Uh...Elder, I ripped my pants.

Hola

Sounds like you all had a super fun week. Tell oma and katie hi for me. I really wish that I could have seen the Lamb of God performance. I hope that some day I will be able to see it. 

Well this week was a lot better than the last. We started off the week with exchanges. I went to Estación Bamoa to work with Elder Mull. We had exchanges for 2 days, so I was able to help out Elder Mull who has kind of felt discouraged in his area and I was able to take a little break from all the problems that have been going on in Alameda. 

But the great news is that the family that we have been working with finally came to church!!! The mother did not come but the dad and his 3 daughters came. We were also able to have another guy that we have been teaching come to church. We were both really happy. They also really enjoyed church. Luckily one of the primary counselors came to church so she was able to teach the primary. I taught Gospel principles and my companion taught Sunday school. the 3rd hour was kind of rough because the elders quorum president did not come to church so one of his counselors gave the lesson. It was terrible because we just read the entire chapter in the Gorden B Hinckley book, but we did not die so that is the good thing. 

The only problem this week is that we dont know how our investigatores are going to attend church this sunday. This sunday we have stake conferance and everyone has to go to Mochis to go see it. idk what we are going to do. 

Also this saturday it was pretty funny because we went to visit this family that lives super far away. It is where we have to cross the suspension bridge to get there. The last time my comp almost fell off his bike so I told him to get off his bike this time. So Elder Sosa started to walk across the bridge with is bike. I was in front and had finished crossing and when he caught up to me he told be that he ripped his pants. So I started to laugh and asked him where they ripped. He then turned to the side and showed me that his entire pant leg had ripped open. It was pretty funny. When we got to the house Elder Sosa sewed his pants up and then we were able to go back to Guasave. 

Today some members invited us to go with them to las glorias to eat. So we got to visit the famous glorias. It was the first time that I had seen a beach in years. It was pretty cool and the food was also super awesome. The only problem is that I dont have the pictures one of the other member has them. So when I get them I will send them to you. 

Well this is the last week of the transfer. Next monday you will know  if I get transfered or not. I honestly have no idea what is going to happen. 

Love you all so much. 

Elder Snyder

Week 89: We are teaching a family!!!

Making Gorditas with Luisa

This week has been a week with much excitement. 

We have been focusing a family that has a lot of potential this week. They are a family of five. Their names are Rigo, Veronica, Brenda, Camila, and Valentina. They are really awesome. They always love it when we come to teach them. On Monday we went to teach them and we had a really great lesson. They also committed to going to church on Sunday. They also went to our branch FHE and they really liked it. Then on Friday they accepted to be baptized on april 8th. Then on sunday we passed by for them in the morning to confirm that they were going to go to church. But sadly they did not arrive. We passed by after church to ask what happened. They said that they had someone working on their house and they still had not finished when it was time to go to church and that they did not want to leave their house alone. But they said that they were going to go to church next sunday. 

Also on tuesday half of my district had to go to a meeting with the president in Los Mochis, so I decided to take the other half of my district out to breakfast. 

This week we have a zone conference with the president so that should be fun. 

And today we had a pretty great Pday. We started off the day by taking our friend Diego out to breakfast. He is one of the returned missionaries in the branch. He has been having a lot of difficulties in his family. (he is also the only active member in his family.) So we wanted to take him out to breakfast so that we could talk and cheer him up. Then in the afternoon we went to another member´s house. Her name is Luisa. She was inactive when we found her but now she is super happy and in love with the church. She also invited us over to teach us how to make gorditas. I made the dough and helped cook them. They ended up being super good. We also made a deal with Luisa. She has been having a hard time giving up tea. So we made a deal that we would not drink Coke, unless the members had already bought it for us, and that she would not drink tea. It is kind of funny. We will see how long it lasts because my companion loves coke :) 

I hope that you have a great week. 

Love you so much

Elder Snyder

Our church building