Dear Snow Family!!
Great to here from you again. I´m impressed that you had so many great new things to say after writing only a couple days ago, seems like you had a busy/exciting weekend.
This weekend has been really busy for Elder Bazán and I as well. We´ve been working really hard to find new people and have really seen the blessings from our hard work.
On Saturday, we saw a couple of really great blessings of the Lord. We had been working really hard all day Saturday, but weren´t having too much luck. It was a little rough because Saturdays are usually really successful days because the majority of people are home.
But we kept working very hard and eventually at night we started to see some of the blessings. We were blessed to find a great family. They are living in the home of a couple of investigators we had been visiting before. We had stopped visiting the old investigators a little while ago. During the day Saturday, I felt like we should go give them a visit, so we headed on over to their house. There were a couple young girls that answered the door who I hadn´t met and so I asked them if Favio and Beatriz (the old investigators) were there. The girls told me that they moved and that recently their family had moved there. So we asked their parents names and decided to try again another time. So then later on Saturday I felt that we should go back to that house again and try to meet the parents. So we headed on back and clapped the door (I don´t know if I´ve ever told you, but they clap instead of knock here, it´s awesome). The parents, Alejandra and Fidel answered and invited us in before we could even say anything. We started talking with them and from the very beginning we could tell that they were very sincere, nice people. They had the question why the name Mormon, so we explained the Book of Mormon a little bit. The lesson all went very well. They have about 6 daughters that live there and they all sat and listened super reverantly, I was really impressed because I know that whenever the missionaries would come to our house I was always super annoying haha. They weren´t able to attend church yesterday because they had a committment, but they are really excited to be able to go next week. They are really great and we´re very excited to work with them.
That was kind of a long story, I don´t know if I explained it well haha, but just know it was a cool spiritual experience that and that they´re awesome peeps.
Yesterday in church, it was my turn to give a talk and my topic was tithing. I focused a lot of the part about commandments and receiving the blessings. Elder Bazán also talked a little bit and introduced himself. He also talked a little about blessings from keeping commandments. I am really grateful for Elder Bazán and his great testimony. He´s an awesome missionary.
We have been working with a couple named Hernán and Sandra lately who have really been a great blessing. They are so humble and already believe that the church is true by the examples of missionaries and members, now they are just working on receiving that testimony from our Heavenly Father. I know that they will continue progressing. They weren´t able to attend church this week because Hernán`s brother recently had a motorcycle accident and so they went to Ciudad del Este to help take care of him. But they are excited to go next week! Sandra knows tons of people and wants all of her friends to be able to hear our message as well so she is introducing us to all of her friends. It was such a miracle to find Sandra and Hernán, they are so prepared!
To answer some questions...
So do they celebrate Valentine’s Day in Paraguay?Yeah, I think so. Just another day for the elders, though. Haha I actually didn´t realize it until I read your email. So happy Valentine´s day to you too!
Guazu doesn’t sound like a Spanish word, is it?
Haha Guazu is a Guaraní word. It means big. I know a few select Guaraní words that I use to my advantage to make people laugh. The one that usually gets people rolling is chivivi, which means diahrrea.
You are looking pretty tan these days. I’ll bet you are feeling pretty fit as well with all the walking you are doing. Is walking your main form of transportation?Don´t be fooled, I´m tan on my face and on my forearms where the sun gets me. I have a farmer´s tan that could blind you.
Yeah I take pride in my power walk as well. I have a sweet fanny pack, I don´t know if you have seen it in any of my pictures. Just know that I´m working it Paul McMullin style.
Walking is our only form of transportation. I had some sweet blisters before, but I´ve just got calluses (no idea how to spell that) now so I´m good.
Well, that´s about it for this week I think, I love you lots and lots. I know that the church is true! I know that God answers prayers! So many times since coming on the mission I have received new witnesses that the Book of Mormon is true. I love it! I love you all!
Elder Snow
Elder Zachary Snow
Monday, February 14, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
It's Beautiful to See! - February 10, 2011
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| Elder Snow sends Elder Woodruff home... |
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| ...and welcomes new companion, Elder Bazan, to Santa Rita. |
Long time, no talk! It´s so great to hear from all of you, thanks for an awesome email!
This has been a crazy week! I spent a couple days in other areas for divisions, Elder Woodruff had to go to Asuncion for a leadership meeting, then we had this awesome Bautismo Guazu (big baptism) where a bunch of people got baptized in the Ciudad del Este Stake. I´ll try to send some pictures.
Then I went back to Ciudad Del Este again on Tuesday to put Elder Woodruff on a bus to Asuncion. He´ll be flying home today. I´ll miss him lots, he is a great missionary. My new companion is .... drumroll.... Elder Bazán! He is from Perú and I´m really pumped to be with him. I have one change more in total than him because I was in the MTC longer, but we got here to Paraguay at the same time so I had briefly met him before. Elder Bazán was in the Buenos Aires MTC, he speaks fluent Spanish and I´ll help him some with English. I will have the opportunity to be serving as a senior companion. It will be really fun. I will be in an apartment with 3 Latin missionaries so my Spanish hopefully will get better. I´m super excited!
Dad had asked a little bit about investigators. The people that are progressing most right now are Isaias, Mirta and Mariela. Isaias and Mirta are a couple, he is 19 and she is about 23. They have an awesome baby boy named Emerson, he´s always smiling, so funny. Mariela is the younger sister of Mirta, she´s about 11. They are all so awesome and so prepared. They are reading lots in the Book of Mormon and understand it really well! They recently read Alma 32 on faith and loved it! They have a baptismal date for the 19th of February, we´re still working with them to help them gain stronger testimonies. They are doing really great though.
We are also working with an awesome couple named Hernán and Sandra. We found them about a week ago and they are really progressing a lot. Hernán has a brother who recently had a motorcycle accident and isn´t doing so well. We talked to them about finding more peace through Heavenly Father. They really enjoyed listening and we kept teaching them. They went to church this last week and loved it! They have a baptism date for the 26th of February. After talking with them, Sandra really liked how she felt when she talked with us so she told her friends (who are also having tough times) about how we helped her to feel better. So she introduced us to her friends and they are progressing really well now also. It´s just such a testimony to see how the Lord is preparing people to receive the gospel. It just makes all the rough hours so worth it when we are led to someone who is just so humble and so prepared. I love the people here. Many have very little, but they are the ones who have the greatest happiness. It´s beautiful to see.
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| Bautismo Gauzu |
Last Saturday we had a Baptism Guazu! It was so awesome. About 16 people were baptized in the stake. President Callan came out to Ciudad Del Este and gave a great talk. It was a very spiritual experience and we had a couple
of investigators that were able to make it there as well. They loved to see the big beautiful chapel since here in Santa Rita we are renting a small place for church. It really put in perspective the growth of the church here in Paraguay. I love that vision that one day the church will be so strong here and it motivates me to work hard.
Thanks to Mom for sharing your running experiences. Needless to say, I´m very impressed. I don´t think I could run a fifth of a mile let alone 5 miles right now. But I can walk like 12 miles a day. Slow and steady wins the race, digo yo (digo yo is a favorite catch phrase of Elder Woodruff, it´s worn off on me).
Thanks to Dad for sharing that sweet spiritual experience. I really love the example you used with Nephi and the importance of showing the works as part of our faith. I love the scripture in James 2 that faith without works is death. We always need to have faith in the Lord, faith carries us to actions. Show the Lord rather than just say it! Another example I love that talks about that is the story of the Brother of Jared. When he goes to the Lord with the problem of the light in the barges, the Lord says to him: what would you have me do? Then the Brother of Jared shows his faith and thinks (acts) for himself. It´s so important to go to the Lord, but it´s so much more important to have the attitude that we are going to do something, that we are going to make some sort of change to receive His help, His blessings. Thanks for sharing that Dad, I love to hear the spiritual experiences that you have. I feel very grateful to have such awesome parents, an awesome family. Keep up the good work!
Hopefully this email is as good as the one you sent me. I love you all lots and lots! I´ll write more Monday
Love,
Elder Snow
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
What Happened to January? - January 31, 2011
Dear Fam,
It´s crazy that Monday is already here again, time really flies sometimes. What happened to January, this change has gone by way too fast. I really enjoyed reading your letter, especially the recap of Sacrament meeting that you gave. Thanks for sharing the topics with me, sounds like it was a really great meeting with a lot of emphasis on the youth. I think that has been a really important topic lately and will always will be. Especially in the last couple of conferences in the Sunday afternoon sessions there has been a great focus on parenting and on the youth. This morning I was reading a talk from May 2010. I think it was a talk from Elder Ballard. He talks about the relationships between Mothers and Daughters and the importance of example. I was able to apply it to myself here in the mission field in thinking about the importance of always being a good example and living my life in a gospel sharing way. I love applying the conference talks to myself and always find that they become more meaningful to me in that way. It´s truly amazing to think that we can find a way to relate each one to ourselves. I know that the words the General Authorities give us are inspired and meant for each one of us individually. Prime example: Elder Snow finding a way to apply the mother/daughter talk to himself (I know Kim has to be laughing at that one he he he, love ya Kim).
I mentioned a little bit last week about our focus of working with the members to become temple worthy. We have also been using the General Conference addresses to help the members develop stronger testimonies of the Prophet, President Monson. His talks in Conference are amazing. We have been reading these talks with members and there is always a great spirit that helps them strengthen their testimonies. The members here are doing great and are continuing to progress. Also while talking about the temple preparation, yesteday we had a great sacrament meeting as well. The 1st and 2nd Counselors of the Stake Presidency came and President Gonzales (the 2nd Counselor) gave a message on the importance of temple prep and the blessing we receive from the temple. It was very awesome and applicable to the members as well as the investigators that were visiting yesterday. President Gonzales bore a powerful testimony about how he came to know Joseph Smith was a Prophet that was amazing for a family of investigators that was visiting. Their names are Isaias and Mirta. Mirta also has a younger sister named Mariela who wasn´t able to make it. All of them are progressing very well towards baptism and I have faith that they´ll be baptized very soon!
Now going back to the temple thing, I think it was dad who asked about how the members make it to the temple. None of the members are endowed yet, some of them made it to the temple a couple of month ago to do baptisms. They did a temple trip where the mission paid for the transportation. We are trying to organize another temple trip where every member can go and do baptisms, it´s gonna be really cool! The mission is usually willing to pay for things like that.
Mom had some questions too...
Second, I would love to know more about the “I’ve read the Book of Mormon” activity you mentioned.
We have a little sheet of paper that has little boxes of every chapter of the Book of Mormon. As the members read, they check off the little boxes and go all around this loopy de doop thing until they finish the Book of Mormon. We are helping all of the members to do it.
Well this change is winding down. It´s the last P day I´ll have with Elder Woodruff, he is heading home next week. The change has gone by way too fast and I´ll miss Elder Woodruff a lot. I´ve really learned lots from him and we´ve become really good friends ( at least I think we have, he could hate me for all I know.. hah just kidding). I´m grateful for the example he´s set for me and for all the help as well. He´s a great missionary!
I love you all lots. Thanks for always writing and sharing your great testimonies, keep it up! I´m doing grrrreat here and having a good time. I feel my love strengthening each day and I´m so grateful for the Savior.
Love you all lots,
Elder Zach Snow
It´s crazy that Monday is already here again, time really flies sometimes. What happened to January, this change has gone by way too fast. I really enjoyed reading your letter, especially the recap of Sacrament meeting that you gave. Thanks for sharing the topics with me, sounds like it was a really great meeting with a lot of emphasis on the youth. I think that has been a really important topic lately and will always will be. Especially in the last couple of conferences in the Sunday afternoon sessions there has been a great focus on parenting and on the youth. This morning I was reading a talk from May 2010. I think it was a talk from Elder Ballard. He talks about the relationships between Mothers and Daughters and the importance of example. I was able to apply it to myself here in the mission field in thinking about the importance of always being a good example and living my life in a gospel sharing way. I love applying the conference talks to myself and always find that they become more meaningful to me in that way. It´s truly amazing to think that we can find a way to relate each one to ourselves. I know that the words the General Authorities give us are inspired and meant for each one of us individually. Prime example: Elder Snow finding a way to apply the mother/daughter talk to himself (I know Kim has to be laughing at that one he he he, love ya Kim).
I mentioned a little bit last week about our focus of working with the members to become temple worthy. We have also been using the General Conference addresses to help the members develop stronger testimonies of the Prophet, President Monson. His talks in Conference are amazing. We have been reading these talks with members and there is always a great spirit that helps them strengthen their testimonies. The members here are doing great and are continuing to progress. Also while talking about the temple preparation, yesteday we had a great sacrament meeting as well. The 1st and 2nd Counselors of the Stake Presidency came and President Gonzales (the 2nd Counselor) gave a message on the importance of temple prep and the blessing we receive from the temple. It was very awesome and applicable to the members as well as the investigators that were visiting yesterday. President Gonzales bore a powerful testimony about how he came to know Joseph Smith was a Prophet that was amazing for a family of investigators that was visiting. Their names are Isaias and Mirta. Mirta also has a younger sister named Mariela who wasn´t able to make it. All of them are progressing very well towards baptism and I have faith that they´ll be baptized very soon!
Now going back to the temple thing, I think it was dad who asked about how the members make it to the temple. None of the members are endowed yet, some of them made it to the temple a couple of month ago to do baptisms. They did a temple trip where the mission paid for the transportation. We are trying to organize another temple trip where every member can go and do baptisms, it´s gonna be really cool! The mission is usually willing to pay for things like that.
Mom had some questions too...
Second, I would love to know more about the “I’ve read the Book of Mormon” activity you mentioned.
We have a little sheet of paper that has little boxes of every chapter of the Book of Mormon. As the members read, they check off the little boxes and go all around this loopy de doop thing until they finish the Book of Mormon. We are helping all of the members to do it.
Well this change is winding down. It´s the last P day I´ll have with Elder Woodruff, he is heading home next week. The change has gone by way too fast and I´ll miss Elder Woodruff a lot. I´ve really learned lots from him and we´ve become really good friends ( at least I think we have, he could hate me for all I know.. hah just kidding). I´m grateful for the example he´s set for me and for all the help as well. He´s a great missionary!
I love you all lots. Thanks for always writing and sharing your great testimonies, keep it up! I´m doing grrrreat here and having a good time. I feel my love strengthening each day and I´m so grateful for the Savior.
Love you all lots,
Elder Zach Snow
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Awesome Faith of Santa Rita Members - January 24, 2011
Dear Family!
Thanks for your letter full of updates, love, and the Spirit! Sounds like you had another great week and that all is going well in the Snow home.
It´s been another great week here in Santa Rita, Paraguay! We have really been seeing lots of awesome blessings here recently. I can feel my love for the people growing and I´m very grateful for that.
One thing that we´ve been working on a lot lately is member work. It´s very neat to be here in an area where it´s pretty much all new members. It gives us the opportunity to help them out early on in the gospel and help them follow a good gospel path. Their faith is so awesome, they´ll always stay on that path! One focus we´ve had here recently is to help all of the members be temple worthy. Yesterday we talked with one recent convert family about the commandments and temple requirements. Their name is the Souza Family. We reviewed all of the commandments and it was a real testimony to see the willingness of them to fulfill the commandments of the Lord. Sister Souza also gave a talk in church yesterday about her reading of the Book of Mormon. We´re trying to help each member read the Book of Mormon daily with an ¨I´ve read the Book of Mormon´´ activity. As a family, the Souzas have been reading for almost 5 months and are in Alma 6! She gave a testimony about how she always feels the Spirit when she reads and how it has helped her to know that this is the true church. The Souzas are very willing to keep the commandments. Brother Souza had left his job about a week and a half ago and they don´t have a lot of money. The first thing they did after was that they paid their tithing. It was a great testimony to me that they have so much confidence in the Lord.
This past week we also had interviews with President Callan. We have interviews every two changes and so this was the first one I´d had since about my second week in Paraguay. It was great to be able to meet with him and to receive his support and counsel. One thing we talked a little about was the importance of goals. As a mission we have set goals for this upcoming year. I know that as we work towards the goals we will see the blessing and be able to help people to be baptized. It was a very uplifting experience. I also talked to Sister Callan a little bit. It was actually kind of funny, she surprised me by telling me that she reads the blog you´ve set up for me, haha. She said that she can tell that you as a family write me great letters. Sister Callan is great, her and President both have a great spirit. That made me think a little bit and really appreciate the awesome support that I receive from home each week. Thanks so much!
You also had some questions, so I´ll go ahead and answer those:
That baptismal font looks very interesting. Where did you get that?
It´s from the mission. Before they were baptizing in a river. It turns out we might have to go back to the river because the owner of the place where we rent the Church is really mad that it´s there. Right now, it´s just in a lot thing right behind the church. I don´t think you can see the church in the picture though, that´s another building.
Where is it located, in a vacant lot or something?
In a lot behind the church
You mentioned in your last letter that most of the people speak Portuguese in your new area. So are you learning Portuguese?
Ehh, not really, just a few things. Basically what happens is they speak Portuguese, we understand it. Then we speak back in Spanish and they understand us.
Does your companion speak Portuguese?
Haha, not too much either, just a couple of things.
Do Rosa and Gunter speak Spanish or Portuguese?
They speak both. We speak in Spanish with them. One really incredible thing about Paraguayans is that they know lots of languages. They learn Spanish, Portuguese, and Guarani really easily, it´s pretty impressive.
Thanks again for everything you do for me. I love you all so much and am really loving life down here. Always keep positive and doing awesome things. I can feel a great spirit in your letters, thanks for writing great things. I know that Jesus Christ lives! Dad has always loved to study the Atonement. I have been doing that a little bit lately and have really felt the Savior´s love as a result of it. You should read in Helaman 14 a little about when Samuel talks about the Atonement. I read that this morning and it really stuck out to me. I know that Christ lives and that He makes it possible for us to return to our Father in Heaven.
Love,
Elder Snow
P.s. Could you send me Jake Adams´ address in Colombia, I was thinking of dropping him a line.
P.p.s. Mom if or when you send a package, without exaggeration, if you could send about 50 little packets of Kool-Aid, that stuff´s amazing. Oh and also ranch dressing. Just a heads up
Thanks for your letter full of updates, love, and the Spirit! Sounds like you had another great week and that all is going well in the Snow home.
It´s been another great week here in Santa Rita, Paraguay! We have really been seeing lots of awesome blessings here recently. I can feel my love for the people growing and I´m very grateful for that.
One thing that we´ve been working on a lot lately is member work. It´s very neat to be here in an area where it´s pretty much all new members. It gives us the opportunity to help them out early on in the gospel and help them follow a good gospel path. Their faith is so awesome, they´ll always stay on that path! One focus we´ve had here recently is to help all of the members be temple worthy. Yesterday we talked with one recent convert family about the commandments and temple requirements. Their name is the Souza Family. We reviewed all of the commandments and it was a real testimony to see the willingness of them to fulfill the commandments of the Lord. Sister Souza also gave a talk in church yesterday about her reading of the Book of Mormon. We´re trying to help each member read the Book of Mormon daily with an ¨I´ve read the Book of Mormon´´ activity. As a family, the Souzas have been reading for almost 5 months and are in Alma 6! She gave a testimony about how she always feels the Spirit when she reads and how it has helped her to know that this is the true church. The Souzas are very willing to keep the commandments. Brother Souza had left his job about a week and a half ago and they don´t have a lot of money. The first thing they did after was that they paid their tithing. It was a great testimony to me that they have so much confidence in the Lord.
This past week we also had interviews with President Callan. We have interviews every two changes and so this was the first one I´d had since about my second week in Paraguay. It was great to be able to meet with him and to receive his support and counsel. One thing we talked a little about was the importance of goals. As a mission we have set goals for this upcoming year. I know that as we work towards the goals we will see the blessing and be able to help people to be baptized. It was a very uplifting experience. I also talked to Sister Callan a little bit. It was actually kind of funny, she surprised me by telling me that she reads the blog you´ve set up for me, haha. She said that she can tell that you as a family write me great letters. Sister Callan is great, her and President both have a great spirit. That made me think a little bit and really appreciate the awesome support that I receive from home each week. Thanks so much!
You also had some questions, so I´ll go ahead and answer those:
That baptismal font looks very interesting. Where did you get that?
It´s from the mission. Before they were baptizing in a river. It turns out we might have to go back to the river because the owner of the place where we rent the Church is really mad that it´s there. Right now, it´s just in a lot thing right behind the church. I don´t think you can see the church in the picture though, that´s another building.
Where is it located, in a vacant lot or something?
In a lot behind the church
You mentioned in your last letter that most of the people speak Portuguese in your new area. So are you learning Portuguese?
Ehh, not really, just a few things. Basically what happens is they speak Portuguese, we understand it. Then we speak back in Spanish and they understand us.
Does your companion speak Portuguese?
Haha, not too much either, just a couple of things.
Do Rosa and Gunter speak Spanish or Portuguese?
They speak both. We speak in Spanish with them. One really incredible thing about Paraguayans is that they know lots of languages. They learn Spanish, Portuguese, and Guarani really easily, it´s pretty impressive.
Thanks again for everything you do for me. I love you all so much and am really loving life down here. Always keep positive and doing awesome things. I can feel a great spirit in your letters, thanks for writing great things. I know that Jesus Christ lives! Dad has always loved to study the Atonement. I have been doing that a little bit lately and have really felt the Savior´s love as a result of it. You should read in Helaman 14 a little about when Samuel talks about the Atonement. I read that this morning and it really stuck out to me. I know that Christ lives and that He makes it possible for us to return to our Father in Heaven.
Love,
Elder Snow
P.s. Could you send me Jake Adams´ address in Colombia, I was thinking of dropping him a line.
P.p.s. Mom if or when you send a package, without exaggeration, if you could send about 50 little packets of Kool-Aid, that stuff´s amazing. Oh and also ranch dressing. Just a heads up
Monday, January 17, 2011
Baptism in Santa Rita & New Use For Hymn Book - January 17, 2011
Dear Familia!
Wow, thanks so much for the awesome letter that you sent. I feel like such a slacker because you are writing me these great emails and I´m not leaving enough time to write you very much back. But at least I´m sending some pictures this week! Woohoo!.
Sounds like you all had an awesome week. Congrats to Dad on getting an Eagle. I´m impressed, still a feat that I am yet to accomplish.
Thanks for the updates on all the stake meetings. It sounds like they were all very uplifting and I am impressed that you were able to take so many positives out of it, thanks for sharing!
Sounds like you had a couple nice temple experiences. What a great place! It´s always great to feel the spirit of the temple.
This week we had an awesome baptism for Gunter! I was blessed to be able to baptize him. Everything went well and we had a great turnout! There were some 30 people I think, and a bunch of investigators. The people here are so amazing and the members so dedicated. I felt so much love towards Gunter and his mom, Rosa. Rosa was baptized by Elder Durrant about a week before I came to Santa Rita, so she is a new convert as well. She is setting an amazing example for her family and Gunter is a great kid as well. We were blessed to hear Rosa´s testimony, which was very powerful.
There were a couple funny moments from this week as well. One was at the baptism of Gunter. There is a recent convert family that was there, but it was just the mom and the kids. One of the kids was kinda getting out of hand and knocked over a chair. Then his mom went up and hit him right in the head with a hymn book. It made a super loud noise right during Rosa´s testimony and everyone looked awkwardly over, then just laughed a little bit.
Also at church, we asked Rosa to give a talk about her experience thus far in reading the Book of Mormon. We are trying to help all the members read the Book of Mormon and she is doing a great job so we asked her to share. She read this super random scripture for a couple minutes about Nephi and his brothers returning to get wives in Jerusalem, then asked Elder Woodruff to interpret it. I made a joke after that it could have been a lot more awkward if she had read a quote about circumcision or something then asked him to interpret it. But all in all, Rosa did a great job
We have been very blessed this week to find some awesome new people. I love that there are so many families here in Santa Rita and that families are very important to the people. I´ll write some more about investigators next time.
Dad had asked about the language. With Spanish, I´m doing fine now. I can understand about 100 % and respond easily so that´s not too much of a problem. Now I´ve got to worry about Portuguese though, hah. The majority of people here speak Portuguese and that´s harder for me to understand. Sometimes I feel like I´m back in week one, just smiling and nodding, but usually I´m alright.
Thanks for all of your support. I love you all very much!
Elder Snow
P.S. Last week I got a package from Sister Baldwin for Christmas. I just about died when I opened it. I saw home made chocolates and let out a big "Yes!!" So delicious, thank you Heidi!
Also, today I got the Christmas card you sent, mom. Very funny! You never cease to amaze with your Christmas letters. Elder Woodruff got a kick out if it as well. Thanks for that.
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| Rosa, Elder Snow, Gunter & Elder Woodruff |
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| Members & Investigators at Gunter's Baptism in Santa Rita January 15, 2011 |
Dear Familia!
Wow, thanks so much for the awesome letter that you sent. I feel like such a slacker because you are writing me these great emails and I´m not leaving enough time to write you very much back. But at least I´m sending some pictures this week! Woohoo!.
Sounds like you all had an awesome week. Congrats to Dad on getting an Eagle. I´m impressed, still a feat that I am yet to accomplish.
Thanks for the updates on all the stake meetings. It sounds like they were all very uplifting and I am impressed that you were able to take so many positives out of it, thanks for sharing!
Sounds like you had a couple nice temple experiences. What a great place! It´s always great to feel the spirit of the temple.
This week we had an awesome baptism for Gunter! I was blessed to be able to baptize him. Everything went well and we had a great turnout! There were some 30 people I think, and a bunch of investigators. The people here are so amazing and the members so dedicated. I felt so much love towards Gunter and his mom, Rosa. Rosa was baptized by Elder Durrant about a week before I came to Santa Rita, so she is a new convert as well. She is setting an amazing example for her family and Gunter is a great kid as well. We were blessed to hear Rosa´s testimony, which was very powerful.
There were a couple funny moments from this week as well. One was at the baptism of Gunter. There is a recent convert family that was there, but it was just the mom and the kids. One of the kids was kinda getting out of hand and knocked over a chair. Then his mom went up and hit him right in the head with a hymn book. It made a super loud noise right during Rosa´s testimony and everyone looked awkwardly over, then just laughed a little bit.
Also at church, we asked Rosa to give a talk about her experience thus far in reading the Book of Mormon. We are trying to help all the members read the Book of Mormon and she is doing a great job so we asked her to share. She read this super random scripture for a couple minutes about Nephi and his brothers returning to get wives in Jerusalem, then asked Elder Woodruff to interpret it. I made a joke after that it could have been a lot more awkward if she had read a quote about circumcision or something then asked him to interpret it. But all in all, Rosa did a great job
We have been very blessed this week to find some awesome new people. I love that there are so many families here in Santa Rita and that families are very important to the people. I´ll write some more about investigators next time.
Dad had asked about the language. With Spanish, I´m doing fine now. I can understand about 100 % and respond easily so that´s not too much of a problem. Now I´ve got to worry about Portuguese though, hah. The majority of people here speak Portuguese and that´s harder for me to understand. Sometimes I feel like I´m back in week one, just smiling and nodding, but usually I´m alright.
Thanks for all of your support. I love you all very much!
Elder Snow
P.S. Last week I got a package from Sister Baldwin for Christmas. I just about died when I opened it. I saw home made chocolates and let out a big "Yes!!" So delicious, thank you Heidi!
Also, today I got the Christmas card you sent, mom. Very funny! You never cease to amaze with your Christmas letters. Elder Woodruff got a kick out if it as well. Thanks for that.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Trials, Rejection, Blessings & Increased Patience - January 10, 2011
¡Querida Familia!
Thank you very much for the awesome letter that you sent me this week. I love reading all the news. One thing I really appreciate and love is that you always have at least a couple spiritual experiences in your letters. It is a testimony to me of your faith that you are experiencing and realizing the spiritual experiences and blessings of the Lord each week. I love to read them, keep it up!
I was very glad to hear about the baptism of Brittany Smith´s friend. Sounds like the Smith family has been having an awesome past couple of weeks!
I also appreciate the funny experiences that you tell! The story about Tate not wanting to get a shot really made me chuckle. But it sounds like he came out of it alright.
So are you teaching some good people that are progressing well?
Yes, we have several very awesome people that we are talking with right now. There is one named Gunter who is preparing to be baptized next Saturday. His mom, Rosa was baptized a couple of weeks ago right before I came here to Santa Rita. She is an amazing women! Just yesterday she was confirmed because she had been out of town for the holidays. We have been teaching her along with Gunter and they are really amazing people. She has such a strong testimony already and always says that she just feels good talking to the missionaries and going to church. She gave a closing prayer in church that was very awesome and the Spirit was very strong. Her and Gunter had to walk an hour to church yesterday because the family that usually gets them in the car was out of time. But they came anyway and it was really great. Gunter is equally as awesome. He will be the first teacher in Santa Rita! He turns 15 next week. I´m very excited to help him progress more this week.
This week we found an awesome lady named Noelia. It was really a miracle that we found her and it is a testimony to me that the Lord will bless us if we are doing what we need to be doing. We were walking by her house, a part of our area we don´t walk very much and she came outside at the exact moment in order to get better service for her phone. She had been praying recently for a new start and a way to ´restore her life´ as she put it. She´s a remarkable women and also came to church yesterday! I have faith that she will also progress towards baptism.
We are talking with a couple other families that are great. I love that Santa Rita is full of families
Have you received anymore mail or anything from anyone?
ehh, not too much
I wonder if it will take a little longer to get things to you, now that you are farther away from the mission office. How do they get your mail to you?
It won´t take too much longer. They send it with a mail company each monday.
Is it still best to send things to the mission office or do you have an address there to send things to?Mission office is the best
So, are you still eating a lot of empanadas?Not as much anymore, we have to budget our money really well.
Are the members feeding you there? No, I haven´t had a member meal yet in almost two weeks. The church is just so young here. We have to buy a lot more food and watch our money really closely.
Sorry I haven´t had much time to write, I also wrote an email to Grandma and Grandpa.
But know that I am doing well. Also that this week we had some trials in appointments falling and some rejection, but learned more patience and have really seen the blessings lately in the forms of wonderful new people that we´ve found and increased patience.
I love you all very much and am grateful for the example that you all are for me. The Book of Mormon has real power, it really has changed my life. I love to share my testimony about it with the people here and try to be an instrument in the Lord´s hands so that they too can feel the power of the Book of Mormon. You´re all awesome.
love,
Elder Snow
Thank you very much for the awesome letter that you sent me this week. I love reading all the news. One thing I really appreciate and love is that you always have at least a couple spiritual experiences in your letters. It is a testimony to me of your faith that you are experiencing and realizing the spiritual experiences and blessings of the Lord each week. I love to read them, keep it up!
I was very glad to hear about the baptism of Brittany Smith´s friend. Sounds like the Smith family has been having an awesome past couple of weeks!
I also appreciate the funny experiences that you tell! The story about Tate not wanting to get a shot really made me chuckle. But it sounds like he came out of it alright.
So are you teaching some good people that are progressing well?
Yes, we have several very awesome people that we are talking with right now. There is one named Gunter who is preparing to be baptized next Saturday. His mom, Rosa was baptized a couple of weeks ago right before I came here to Santa Rita. She is an amazing women! Just yesterday she was confirmed because she had been out of town for the holidays. We have been teaching her along with Gunter and they are really amazing people. She has such a strong testimony already and always says that she just feels good talking to the missionaries and going to church. She gave a closing prayer in church that was very awesome and the Spirit was very strong. Her and Gunter had to walk an hour to church yesterday because the family that usually gets them in the car was out of time. But they came anyway and it was really great. Gunter is equally as awesome. He will be the first teacher in Santa Rita! He turns 15 next week. I´m very excited to help him progress more this week.
This week we found an awesome lady named Noelia. It was really a miracle that we found her and it is a testimony to me that the Lord will bless us if we are doing what we need to be doing. We were walking by her house, a part of our area we don´t walk very much and she came outside at the exact moment in order to get better service for her phone. She had been praying recently for a new start and a way to ´restore her life´ as she put it. She´s a remarkable women and also came to church yesterday! I have faith that she will also progress towards baptism.
We are talking with a couple other families that are great. I love that Santa Rita is full of families
Have you received anymore mail or anything from anyone?
ehh, not too much
I wonder if it will take a little longer to get things to you, now that you are farther away from the mission office. How do they get your mail to you?
It won´t take too much longer. They send it with a mail company each monday.
Is it still best to send things to the mission office or do you have an address there to send things to?Mission office is the best
So, are you still eating a lot of empanadas?Not as much anymore, we have to budget our money really well.
Are the members feeding you there? No, I haven´t had a member meal yet in almost two weeks. The church is just so young here. We have to buy a lot more food and watch our money really closely.
Sorry I haven´t had much time to write, I also wrote an email to Grandma and Grandpa.
But know that I am doing well. Also that this week we had some trials in appointments falling and some rejection, but learned more patience and have really seen the blessings lately in the forms of wonderful new people that we´ve found and increased patience.
I love you all very much and am grateful for the example that you all are for me. The Book of Mormon has real power, it really has changed my life. I love to share my testimony about it with the people here and try to be an instrument in the Lord´s hands so that they too can feel the power of the Book of Mormon. You´re all awesome.
love,
Elder Snow
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
This Change is Going to be Especial - January 3, 2011
Yo Family,
Happy Birthday Mom!!! Hope you had an awesome birthday. I love you bunches. Congrats on hitting the big 29, but don´t stress it will only get better from there!
Thanks bunches for the awesome letter you sent! Sounds like you all had a really great, fun week and that New Years was awesome! New Years here was pretty good too. I welcomed in the New Year by sleeping, hah! But all of the Santa Ritaños were going crazy for sure. One thing I really love about here is that it´s very family-ish. I don´t know if that´s just because it´s the holidays and everyone is together with their family, but it seems like there are a lot more families here than in my last area. That´s a really nice thing and it´s good for the work because we are always looking for awesome families.
That´s too funny that granda called over and got a hold of the Woodruffs. What a small world! In the email Elder Woodruff got today, he said that Grandpa called while they were writing the email to him so they mentioned it in there as well. Elder Woodruff is awesome. Sounds like grandpa told you he was an AP. That was right before he trained Elder Durrant. I can definitely understand why he was called to be a leader in the mission, his diligence and work ethic is incredible. I am learning to work hard and efficiently with him and I´m really grateful for the time I´ll have to learn from him. You all will have to take a trip over to the chapel on Center street and meet his family the next time you´re up there.
Elder Woodruff told me he knows where Grandma and Grandpa´s cabin is and that it´s not too far from his house.
I really liked what mom had to say about Elder Andersen´s talk on "Never Leave Him." It is very true what Elder Andersen says. I also recently applied this talk to myself and to the work here. Elder Andersen says something about how if we really love the Savior, we won´t try to conform the church to us, but rather conform ourselves to the church. If we love Him, we´ll keep His commandments. I´ve seen a couple of times here that investigators will want to keep all of the commandments except one or two. We can´t make exceptions for ourselves. If we really love the Savior, we´ll keep all of His commandments rather than trying to conform the church to us.
That´s cool that Matt and Tasha are down there! You´ll have to tell them hi for me and that I miss our hearts and scum battles haha.
I think what made me feel most trunky out of everything you wrote about the holidays in your letter would be the food! Oh man, it sounds like you guys are feasting everyday! Not that I´m complaining, but my mind wandered to mom´s spaghetti the other day and I think I started to drool a little bit haha. For now I´ll just have to stick to my empanadas!
Questions:
So you mentioned that there are no ecclesiastical leaders in your new area. So does that mean that it isn’t even a branch yet?
No, it´s still not even a branch yet. It´s suuuuper new. Pretty much everyone is a new convert.
Do the missionaries basically have to conduct and organize the meetings each Sunday?
Yeah, we plan out all the talks, give assignments, plan the meetings, all that good stuff. There is one Melchizedek Priesthood holder and he conducts the meetings a lot I think. He was out of town this week, so Elder Woodruff did it yesterday. On that note, our attendance yesterday was 9, four of those being us missionaries. The holidays kind of gave us a hit. But we´ll be back to normal next week I´m sure! It was kind of a different experience, I always heard stories of missionaries who had served where the church wasn´t developed and attendance was low, but I never realized how weird it is until I experienced it.
So have you had any chance to use your piano playing abilities yet?
haha, about that... I attempted yesterday. It turned out realllly bad. Nobody else knows how to play. So I´ll keep practicing I guess...
But apart from that, the work is going great. I really love the people here. We are talking with many people right now and many of them are progressing towards baptism. I have faith that we will see a lot of success in this area. With Elder Woodruff, I am learning to become a better missionary each day and I really believe that this change is going to be especial.
That´s crazy that President Pace will be released. He is a remarkable man. I always was impressed by his Spirit and the way he was able to express himself when he spoke. That´s cool that maybe you´ll have the chance to meet some general authorities. That would be awesome.
I have a testimony that Christ lives. I know that he is helping me tons in this work. Sometimes it´s tough, but that´s what helps me grow closer to the Savior. I love you all and am grateful for your examples.
Love you all so much
Elder Snow
P.s. Dad had asked if I would like for him to send me box scores of the BYU games. That would be nice, I´d like to see just how much my pal Jimmer is dominating
P.p.s. To Dan: Ya falo muito bien, Portuguese. ¡Eu façe trabajo afol! Haha that´s like 3 languages in one sentence. Be impressed.
Happy Birthday Mom!!! Hope you had an awesome birthday. I love you bunches. Congrats on hitting the big 29, but don´t stress it will only get better from there!
Thanks bunches for the awesome letter you sent! Sounds like you all had a really great, fun week and that New Years was awesome! New Years here was pretty good too. I welcomed in the New Year by sleeping, hah! But all of the Santa Ritaños were going crazy for sure. One thing I really love about here is that it´s very family-ish. I don´t know if that´s just because it´s the holidays and everyone is together with their family, but it seems like there are a lot more families here than in my last area. That´s a really nice thing and it´s good for the work because we are always looking for awesome families.
That´s too funny that granda called over and got a hold of the Woodruffs. What a small world! In the email Elder Woodruff got today, he said that Grandpa called while they were writing the email to him so they mentioned it in there as well. Elder Woodruff is awesome. Sounds like grandpa told you he was an AP. That was right before he trained Elder Durrant. I can definitely understand why he was called to be a leader in the mission, his diligence and work ethic is incredible. I am learning to work hard and efficiently with him and I´m really grateful for the time I´ll have to learn from him. You all will have to take a trip over to the chapel on Center street and meet his family the next time you´re up there.
Elder Woodruff told me he knows where Grandma and Grandpa´s cabin is and that it´s not too far from his house.
I really liked what mom had to say about Elder Andersen´s talk on "Never Leave Him." It is very true what Elder Andersen says. I also recently applied this talk to myself and to the work here. Elder Andersen says something about how if we really love the Savior, we won´t try to conform the church to us, but rather conform ourselves to the church. If we love Him, we´ll keep His commandments. I´ve seen a couple of times here that investigators will want to keep all of the commandments except one or two. We can´t make exceptions for ourselves. If we really love the Savior, we´ll keep all of His commandments rather than trying to conform the church to us.
That´s cool that Matt and Tasha are down there! You´ll have to tell them hi for me and that I miss our hearts and scum battles haha.
I think what made me feel most trunky out of everything you wrote about the holidays in your letter would be the food! Oh man, it sounds like you guys are feasting everyday! Not that I´m complaining, but my mind wandered to mom´s spaghetti the other day and I think I started to drool a little bit haha. For now I´ll just have to stick to my empanadas!
Questions:
So you mentioned that there are no ecclesiastical leaders in your new area. So does that mean that it isn’t even a branch yet?
No, it´s still not even a branch yet. It´s suuuuper new. Pretty much everyone is a new convert.
Do the missionaries basically have to conduct and organize the meetings each Sunday?
Yeah, we plan out all the talks, give assignments, plan the meetings, all that good stuff. There is one Melchizedek Priesthood holder and he conducts the meetings a lot I think. He was out of town this week, so Elder Woodruff did it yesterday. On that note, our attendance yesterday was 9, four of those being us missionaries. The holidays kind of gave us a hit. But we´ll be back to normal next week I´m sure! It was kind of a different experience, I always heard stories of missionaries who had served where the church wasn´t developed and attendance was low, but I never realized how weird it is until I experienced it.
So have you had any chance to use your piano playing abilities yet?
haha, about that... I attempted yesterday. It turned out realllly bad. Nobody else knows how to play. So I´ll keep practicing I guess...
But apart from that, the work is going great. I really love the people here. We are talking with many people right now and many of them are progressing towards baptism. I have faith that we will see a lot of success in this area. With Elder Woodruff, I am learning to become a better missionary each day and I really believe that this change is going to be especial.
That´s crazy that President Pace will be released. He is a remarkable man. I always was impressed by his Spirit and the way he was able to express himself when he spoke. That´s cool that maybe you´ll have the chance to meet some general authorities. That would be awesome.
I have a testimony that Christ lives. I know that he is helping me tons in this work. Sometimes it´s tough, but that´s what helps me grow closer to the Savior. I love you all and am grateful for your examples.
Love you all so much
Elder Snow
P.s. Dad had asked if I would like for him to send me box scores of the BYU games. That would be nice, I´d like to see just how much my pal Jimmer is dominating
P.p.s. To Dan: Ya falo muito bien, Portuguese. ¡Eu façe trabajo afol! Haha that´s like 3 languages in one sentence. Be impressed.
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