Happy Mother's Day! - May 14, 2012

Dear Snow Fam,

 

Happy Mother´s Day!! I hope you had a great Mother´s day, Mom. I don´t know if I remembered to wish you a happy Mother´s Day when we talked on Saturday, sorry about that. I love you a lot and appreciate everything that you have done for me as my mother, including the extra two weeks of pregnancy that you never let me forget about :P haha

It was really great to talk to you all. I was really surprised to see how much Melanie has grown up. Is she almost as tall as Kim now? After I finished talking with the fam, Elder Ramos asked me if Melanie goes to BYU because of her BYU sweatshirt that she was wearing. I think he thought she looked a little older than 15 haha.

Mother's Day Skype

It was great to see Zach and talk to him!

I was able to talk to Dan for a few minutes as well. It was really neat to see London, she is a cute little niece. At one point Dan held her up close to the computer screen so that I could see her a little better and right in that moment she spit up and it got all over his keyboard. Haha, it was really funny. Dan said that she is a spit up monster.

This week has been really great. On Monday night we traveled through the night to get to Encarnación for zone conference on Tuesday Morning. It is like a 6 hour trip if you can get the connecting colectivo(bus) fast. So we were a little tired by the time conference was over, but I left really spiritually fed. In the conference we talked a lot about the missionary purpose, how to find new investigators, and how to teach the commandments.

President Callan talked a lot about the personal conversion of a missionary and the importance of understanding the why of the Gospel and Doctrine of Christ. The Spirit was very strong.

Tuesday afternoon we traveled back to Pilar, but didn´t get so lucky with the busses. We got home at about 11:30 PM. The rest of the week we worked hard with Pedro and Felisa. We´ve been trying to visit them with members but haven´t been able to schedule it well yet. They are progressing a lot. Before they went to church last week, Felisa didn´t really want to share too much. She would kind of wander off while we came to teach Pedro. But this week she has opened up a lot more and is really enjoying our visits. We visited them Monday with the Suarez family and talked about the first principles of the Gospel: Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. Pedro wants to be really convinced in order to be baptized. He is reading a lot in the Book of Mormon and really enjoys it.

We saw a lot of progress this week with Victor, the neighbor of the Servín family. We were able to speak with his mom a few times. We taught them one day this week with the entire Servín family there. The mom is traditionally Catholic and a little self-conscious because she doesn´t speak Spanish very well. But we talked about the Doctrine of Christ and explained the blessings of baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost. She said that she thinks it is ok for Victor to be baptized but wants to talk with his dad first to make sure. Victor´s dad works far away and only comes about once a month to visit. So we are praying a lot so that everything goes well. Victor really wants to be baptized. It´s great because he has seen the positive example of Eider Servín, the oldest of the Servín kids and has been really positively influenced.

Today is Paraguay´s Independence Day. I remember last year while I was in Santa Rita (wowwww, it is crazy to think that that was an entire year ago) it was the 200th anniversary of Paraguay´s Independence. It´s pretty neat the have a parade and everything where all of the school kids march in the streets and have some type of talent (marching drums, twirly baton thing called ¨chirolera,¨ etc.) I think we will head over there in a little bit to take some pictures of the parade. It´s funny that they always have the parade on the street called 14 de Mayo (the day of Independence) because there is a street by that name in just about EVERY city in Paraguay.

I´m also attaching the fotos of when I ate la pata de vaca. Or as Kim said ¨cow hoof.¨ They served it with little corn ball things called ¨locro¨ and with beans. The actual soup part tasted pretty good but the foot was really gross. It was like all ligaments and fat. I was being really tentative trying to cut it and the brother that gave it to us told me, ¨Here, elder, this is how you eat it.¨ He grabbed the hoof off my plate and starting going to town on it with his hands like I would eat ribs when I was a little kid, haha.

La pata de vaca (or cow's foot)

Elder Snow enjoying la pata de vaca.  Yum!

Looks just like the rib bones Zach left on the table as a kid!

I really appreciate your letters every week! It is great to hear news from home and have your support. I love you all very much. I am so grateful for the Gospel in our life as a family. What a blessing to be an eternal family. I am really grateful for the blessing of the temple. I am grateful for the opportunity to live the a time where the restored Gospel is on Earth and, even more, to be a missionary teaching it. I know that this is the true Church. I know that God and Christ live.

I hope you all have a great week. Mom, if you could wish a happy mother´s day to Grandma Snow, Grandma Vaccarello, and Great Grandma as well. Thanks

Elder Snow

A Really Good Feeling... - May 7, 2012

Dear Family,

We have had a really great week and have been working really hard.
Yesterday in church we had a couple of new investigators attend
sacrament meeting. Their names are Pedro and Felisia. They are an
older couple that we have been teaching almost two weeks now. Pedro
has been really receptive. Before he attended in various Evangelical
churches for a long period of time but has since left them. He is a
really sincere man that is looking for the truth.

Up until yesterday they hadn´t made it to church. On Saturday we went
by with Brother Servín and his sons, the recent converts from a couple
months ago. We had a really good visit with The Servin´s and Pedro and
his wife. It turned out that they already knew each other and were
somewhat of friends. Visiting investigators with members always makes
it a lot easier for them to make it to church for the first time. When
Pedro and his wife made it to church on Sunday it turned out that they
knew several other members. It´s funny how much the people know each
other in Pilar because it is a small town type setting.

In church on Sunday it was pretty cool because Eider Servin was able
to pass the sacrament for the first time. He was ordained a deacon
just last week and this week was able to pass the sacrament to us. He
did a really good job and it was a really good feeling to be able to
be able to receive the sacrament from a recent convert of mine.
This past Saturday there was a baptism in the second branch of Pilar.
In Pilar, there are 2 companionships, 1 for each of the branches. The
other branch had a baptism for someone that they have been teaching
for a while. We are currently teaching the family of the young woman
that was baptized. It was neat because the family that we are teaching
also made it to the baptismal service.

Tomorrow we will have a zone conference. We will be traveling a little
far, we have to go all the way out to Encarnación, which is like a 6
hour travel. I am really excited for the zone conference, this will be
the last one with President Callan.

Anywho, I´m about out of time. I love you all so much! I hope
everything is going well.
Have a great week.

Elder Snow

Help All to Come Unto Christ - April 30, 2012

Dear Family,

Hey thanks so much for writing another great letter this week. It is always a blessing to hear from you. I especially love hearing about how church is going and how the members are doing.

We have had a really great week again. We are working so hard to find new investigators and to help all to come unto Christ. This week we haven´t been able to find as many people at home as we are used to, but the Lord has blessed us to find some really quality new families to teach and work with.

For an udate with our investigator Zulma. This week we visited her a couple of times and taught about the first principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and also taught the Word of Wisdom. We have been working really hard to take various members to visit her. Yesterday neither Zulma or her daughter made it to church, however. We passed by after church and she said that she isn´t sure if she wants to continue attending. She had been going to another Evangelical church and stopped attending there to attend the Church of Jesus Christ. I think she is receiving some pressure from her friends to go back to the other church. We were able to talk to her a little bit about the importance for her to pray and really know from God what she should do.

After we finished talking with Zulma I felt a little bummed because I had felt like we had done everything right and that we had always taken members, were teaching with the Spirit, doing our part. So Elder Ramos and I shared a couple of scriptures with each other and offered a special prayer for Zulma. I thought a lot about Ether 12:6, one of my favorites. It talks about how we don´t receive a witness until after the trial of our faith. I feel like my faith needs to be tried a little bit more. The Lord knows what is best and has a plan for me to become the person that I need to become. Like Elder Waddell said in conference, the Lord sends us the investigators, companions, everything that we need to become who he wants us to become. This scripture helped me to realize that I need to show more faith in the Lord and that the Lord needs to try our faith sometimes so that we can receive the witness from Him that it is his work that we are in.

I feel like things will go well with Zulma and that if she really has the desires to know, the Lord will answer her. And even if she doesn´t accept the Gospel, I will still feel like a successful missionary because I know we have taught her through the Spirit and that the Spirit has testified to her of the truth of our message.

A really neat moment from yesterday is that two more of my recent converts received the Priesthood. Both Jorge Jara and Eider Servin (the oldest of the Servin children) made it to church on Wednesday despite the pouring rain for their interviews and yesterday after church were ordained in the Priesthood. Such a blessing to see that happen.

Today we are in Asunción for a consejo de líderes. These meetings are always such a blessing to attend. The Spirit is always there so strongly. We spoke a lot about the importance of retaining the recent Converts as well as continuing to baptize through asking for references, working with the members, working with incomplete families. A focus on the eternal family always helps so much.

President Callan shared several thoughts on the importance of always remembering our missionary purpose. We read a talk by Elder Christofferson on the importance of remembering our missionary purpose. If we are constantly focused on our focus of bringing others unto Christ we will be much happier, more successful, and better missionaries for the Lord. I am always drawn to the importance of the Atonement. The Atonement is what drives missionary work. A personal testimony of the Atonement and personal conversion help so much so that a missionary teaches with power. I want to rededicate myself to the work and really strengthen the testimony that I have of the Savior and His church.

I am grateful for this work and for the blessing that I have to be a missionary. I want you all to know that I know this is His true church. I love you all very much. I hope you have a great week!!

Love,

Elder Snow

Fishermen or Fishers of Men? - April 23, 2012

Elder Ramos & Elder Snow prepare to go fishing with the Suarez family

Hermana Suarez catches one

One of the cute Suarez children

Is this a first catch for Elder Ramos?

Elder Ramos shows off his catch!

Dear Snow Family,

Thanks for the great email this week. It was exciting to hear what the whole family is up to.  Especially cool to hear about Dad´s capacitation meeting with Elder Scott and Elder Jensen. Wow! It is so incredible to hear the testimonies of the general authorities, especially the apostles. My jaw dropped a little when dad wrote what Elder Scott said about being entitled to special experiences with Jesus Christ. Wow. I will always remember the experience in the MTC when Elder Holland came to speak. When he entered the room, the Spirit was so strong. It was really amazing how everyone could feel it.

A few months ago I was speaking with another missionary while we were on divisions. We were talking about how just having the presence of the Spirit goes such a long way in helping others come unto the Savior. If we are worthy of the Spirit, and have shown through obedience to God that we are worthy of its companionship, others will be able to feel that presence of the Spirit. Many times it isn´t even the words we say (sometimes nothing needs to be said), what is important is that the Spirit is with us.


I remember in the October 2010 General Conference, President Eyring gave a talk on Serving with the Spirit. He talked about an experience when his dad was sick. One of the visits to him in the hospital was by President Spencer W. Kimball. President Eyring was in the room and was excited at the chance to see a real master at helping people passing through tough times. He said that President Kimball said few words, that he just sat their smiling. After leaving, President Eyring´s dad said that this was the visit that most helped him and lifted his spirits. When we go with the presence of the Spirit and perform our duties, we can work miracles for the Lord.

Anywho, we have had a really great week here in Pilar. We are seeing a lot of progress with Zulma and her daughter, Cintia. They went to church last week and really enjoyed it. Cintia is only 8 and was a little shy at first, but ended up loving it. This past week before Sunday she had her little backpack and notebook all prepared by Saturday to be ready to go to church. They both attended again yesterday and are progressing very well.
On Saturday night we visited Zulma with Jorge, the recent convert from last week. It was really neat to have a recent convert get involved and help us with missionary work. He bore testimony and really helped out a lot in the lesson. Afterwards he told us that he really enjoyed the experience and he wants to continue doing visits with us.

This week we also did divisions with one of our district leaders, Elder Mower. Haha, he is so great. Last year when I had just been called to be a zone leader in Asunción, Elder Mower was in my zone and was just arriving in the mission. Now he has a year! Crazy how the time flies. We worked hard and talked a lot about the work and how to help build the kingdom here in Paraguay. On Thursday it rained really hard all day but we persevered and taught 7 lessons that day. The Lord really blessed us.

Things are going really great here. I love the opportunity to be in the mission. I am really grateful for my companion, Elder Ramos. He is always full of so much excitement and love. We have a great companionship and are seeing miracles together. I know that this is the true church. I am so grateful to be a member of it. I know that God and Jesus Christ live.

Love,
Elder Snow

P.S. I am including some pictures as well. Last Monday for Preparation Day we went fishing with the Suárez family. Haha it was really fun. I was a little skeptical because I remembered my last fishing experience in Costa Bonita with Elder Love where we hadn´t caught anything! But the Suárez´s are professionals, so they helped us out. We actually caught 3 fish. (Better said, Nelson, Hermana Suárez, and Elder Ramos caught the fish). Brother Suárez and Elder Snow were just getting frustrated and not catching anything. Haha. We had a good time. We also went to the Servin's house for Eider´s Birthday. He turned 12 on Monday. He will be receiving the Priesthood this week. So exciting! For lunch on Monday, we also went to a member´s house. They fed us a duck soup. It was really good! First time I´ve had duck and I definitely liked it. Way better than mondongo, eww.

The Baptism of Jorge - April 15, 2012

Dear Family,

 

We have had a really exciting week here in Pilar. The baptism of Jorge went really well. His progression has been really neat to see. Elder Shaw and I found him really not too long ago. He was baptized I think a month to the day after we first met him. When we first talked with him about baptism, he was willing to be baptized if God answered his prayers, but didn't really want to accept a baptismal date. Through Marcos and Romina's help as well as the desires of Jorge to know the truth, Jorge was able to progress and really know the truth of the Gospel. Last week we went over the questions of the baptismal interview with him and he was able to answer every one fine. He only needed a stronger testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith. By reading and praying, he was able to gain that testimony. A couple of days before his baptism, we were verifying his prayers and asking if he had received his answer. He mentioned that while he doesn't know everything, he felt that he needed to get baptized and that it was what God wanted of him.

Elder Ramos, Jorge and Elder Snow

Romina, Jorge and Marcos

We had the baptism on Saturday afternoon. Marcos (a returned missionary from our branch) is another friend of Jorge and was able to perform the ordinance. Romina gave a talk during the baptismal service and several other members came to the baptism to show their support. Jorge is a really great convert and will be able to do a lot for the church here in Pilar. He has been reading the Book of Mormon like crazy and his faith is growing a lot. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to change lives. I know that the Atonement is real and that our Savior lives.

Things are going really well with Elder Ramos, we get along really well and are both really focused on the work. We will see a lot of miracles together. There really aren´t that many cultural differences, at least while serving as missionaries. The Gospel that we teach together is the same everywhere so we always find lots in common.

Yesterday we were able to bring a couple of new investigators to church as well. Right next to the church (literally like 20 feet away) we are teaching a single mom (Zulma) and her daughter (Cintia). I had taught them one or two times with Elder Shaw and Zulma had seemed really great and we felt that she would progress. After that it was a little difficult to find her and she wasn´t keeping the appointments that we would set so we stopped visiting. Last week Elder Ramos and I decided to pass by again. Yesterday morning we were able to pass by with the Suarez family and that helped to resolve a couple of the doubts that Zulma had about church. So when the afternoon rolled around Zulma and Cintia both made it to church and had a really great time. Cintia was a little nervous at first in the primary but after a while made some friends and all was well. They want to come again next week. We are excited to see some more progress with them.

The other investigators that we had been teaching like Gricelda and her daughters and Yudy and her son didn´t make it to church yesterday. We will have to work a little bit harder with the members to get them to church. The time or two in going to church is always more difficult. But when we can get investigators to church, they feel the Spirit and they know that there is something special there.

Thank you for all of your love and support! Every Monday we get the encomienda with the written mail and it seems as if Elder Snow´s friends have forgotten about him, haha. But I don´t get depressed because I am grateful for a wonderful family that writes me every week and helps me to keep working hard. I love you all very much. I hope that you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Snow

Ahh...So Much Food - April 9, 2012

Dear Family,

 

Before anything else, Happy Birthday this week to Steph!! I hope you have a great one. Love you!!

Wow it has been really great to hear from you all this week!! Haha it was fun to hear that you are keeping the Easter traditions alive. I definitely had a nice hungry feeling when Mom mentioned the Egg McMuffin thing that we would also prepare on Easter Morning. Haha, good times

Well it has been a really crazy week here as well! We have just been working harder than ever and seeing miracles from the Lord´s hand.

This past week was also change week. Elder Shaw and I weren´t really expecting a change, but the Assistants called us on Monday night to tell us that Elder Shaw would be leaving. On Tuesday Elder Shaw said goodbye to a lot of people and on Tuesday night we took off in a bus to Asunción. There I picked up my new companion... drum roll..... Elder Ramos!! He is really great. Elder Ramos is from Lima, Perú. I´m pretty glad, I had gone a while without a Latin companion and my Spanish was getting terrible haah. Elder Ramos has like 14 months in the mission and has been a zone leader for about 3 changes already. I am really excited to be with him, he teaches super well and really relates well to the people. I can tell that this will be a great companionship and that we will see lots of success together. Funny story, Elder Ramos is from the same stake in Perú as Elder Bazán, my companion from last year and they knew each other before the mission. Small world.

So on Wednesday I was on a bus pretty much all day going to Asunción and then heading back to Pilar. Thursday through yesterday, Sunday we worked really hard to make up for the time we lost and the Lord really blessed us so much. The week ended up well. Yesterday we didn´t have as many people in church as we were hoping for, but we still saw progress. Another new investigator made it to church for the first time yesterday. His name is Cesar. It is another reference from a member. He is the boyfriend of Lillian, a recent convert of about 6 months. Cesar and Lillian have been passing a lot of time with the Suarez family and the Suarez´s helped them a lot to make it to church yesterday. Lillian had been going a little less active but now is attending again.

Another great miracle from this week is with Jorge Jara. I had talked a little bit about him last week. He is the reference from the returned missionary named Romina. The members have continued helping a lot to fellowship him. After the conference last week, Romina and a couple other young adults invited him over to watch the Joseph Smith movie and he really liked it. Jorge has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying diligently to know the truth. He says that every time he feels more and more sure of the truth of it and more ready for his baptism. He has a baptismal date for this Saturday, the 14th and we are working really hard with him to help him be really prepared. I love finding sincere people who are looking for the truth. Jorge is a very sincere person that wants to do the Lord´s will. He will be a great leader in the church in the future.

I really enjoyed this past week. This year for the first time I really thought about the Savior a lot during this Easter Season. I am so grateful for the mission, in this time I have learned to really appreciate the sacrifice that He gave for us. I know that He lives and I know that he is our Savior.

Plus there is a lot to enjoy here in Paraguay during Easter. They call it the semana santa. Ahh so much food. The people are all super happy and nice and give us chipa, sopa paraguaya (my favorite) and all sorts of food. All week on the TV stations they play movies of Christ and of other Prophets and everyone spends lots of time with the family. Easter morning (Sunday) isn´t as big here. The biggest days are Thursday and Friday. It´s interesting to notice the difference in the culture.

Well I´m getting a little low on time. I love you all very much! Thanks for all of the support and love I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Snow

Like a Kid Waiting For Christmas - April 2, 2012

Dear Family!!

 

Great to hear from you. We have had an incredible week here in Pilar. General Conference this weekend has been a real treat. I always look forward to it. I found myself feeling on Friday evening like a kid waiting for Christmas, haha. I think that General Conference might be the Christmas for missionaries. Anyway, I got a lot from it and we were able to take many investigators so all in all it was a fantastic weekend.

This past week we have been working really hard, especially with the members to get investigators excited to attend church. The past several weeks we had been struggling to get new people to church. We decided that we needed to do more teaching with members, help the members fellowship and be real friends of our investigators. We also set the goal to teach more lessons to investigators in the homes of members. Studies on missionary work have shown that many more people are baptized when they are taught in a member's home. In the end, the hard work paid off and we were able to get a lot of people in church yesterday.

This week we have seen a lot of progress with the family of Gricelda. A couple of weeks ago I went to do a division with the other missionaries in Pilar. They are teaching a young woman and her boyfriend, who is a member. The young woman has been very receptive and we asked her for referrals. She gave us the referral of her mom, who actually lives in the area of Elder Shaw and I. So we contacted her and have taught her several times in the past week and a half. The key was that we had members in every lesson. Gricelda has become very good friends already with Sister Suarez (The Suarez family help us out so much!). So Gricelda and 3 of her other daughters were able to make it to church Sunday afternoon to see General Conference. What a blessing!

We also saw many miracles in working with Jorge Jara. I don´t know if I have written about Jorge yet. He is 30 years old, single, and works a lot. His work is next door to that of Romina. Romina is a returned missionary from the other branch. She has set a really good example for Jorge and frequently answers his questions. So Romina gave us the referral a couple weeks back and we have been teaching Jorge. It has gone really well. He is reading in the Book of Mormon and developing a testimony of it. Up until this weekend we hadn´t been able to get him in church. But he finally broke though and made it to two sessions this weekend! He really enjoyed it as well and is progressing well.

Another great miracle we have seen is with the Servin Family! You will all remember the Servins. The family that got baptized my first change in Pilar. They are doing so well! They have been in church every single week without fail. We have been working so hard with them to share the gospel with some of their friends. Up until this past week we hadn´t seen a lot of success. We were praying really hard for them, because the Servin Family was doing their part. They were inviting, testifying, doing everything. This past week we were finally able to teach one of their neighbours. He is a young man named Victor. He is only 14 or 15 but is really intelligent and polite. We taught him a couple of times and the Servin Family brought him to conference yesterday!! Another great miracle. The Lord has really blessed us as we have worked hard with the members and been obedient. I realize now that we were working hard before, but weren´t working well enough with the members. I think that the Lord had us struggle a little bit because He wanted us to learn how to work more effectively.

Apart from that, 3 other investigators made it to church this weekend. The thing is that every one came with a member and was able to sit with that member in church.

Now about General Conference! Wow, so great. I love to always pick out and note the themes of General Conferences. This time there were many messages on the family, the importance of having the goal of the temple, and much about rescuing the less active and reaching out to those who need the Gospel. I received many personal answers during this conference. Dad mentioned the talk by Elder Evans. That was one of my favorites, for sure. It was really powerful when he mentioned that as the conference went on, the Spirit had brought someone to our minds, some prompting came of a person who we needed to reach out to. He promised that as we followed those promptings with faith that we would be able to change a person and, effectively, generations.

I also loved Elder Holland´s talk. Many spoke of how it´s never too late, or never is a person too far away to come back. Very touching. I am so grateful to the Lord and to Jesus Christ for His sacrifice. I know that through Him we can be saved and make our way back to Him. I know that the Atonement is real. I know that through it we can experience the greatest joy and peace of our lives. I know that this true.

I love you all very much! Please keep going onward, I know that we are in the truth. Have a great week!

Elder Snow