Empanada Eating Champions - June 27, 2011

Elder Geary and Elder Snow



 Dear Family,
It sure was great to hear from you this week. Sounds like it`s been a nice, busy week and that you`ve all enjoyed it. I`m glad to hear you`re doing well.

That`s funny that you`ll be driving through Burley next week. Elder Geary says that you`ll have to stop by his house and eat some lunch with his family. That would be fun, huh. You should eat empanadas in honor of Elder Geary and I, because we are empanada eating champions.

Haha, that`s crazy that Elder Durrant`s pops is gonna be a mission president, huh? I`ve known for a little while now. Elder Woodruff told me about it back in like December. When Elder Durrant called home for Christmas, his parents were like, "Hey we got some news for you." Elder Woodruff told me that Elder Durrant was pretty surprised haha. Speaking of Elder Durrant, he`s doing pretty well I think. He just got called to be a zone leader this change. Tomorrow we have another capacitation for leaders so I`ll be seeing him. I haven`t seen Elder Durrant since like December so I`m excited to see him and several other missionary friends as well like Elder Bazàn (Elder Bazan is training right now, he has an American nuevito companion so I`m sure he is learning lots of English).

Asuncion Paraguay Temple

So this last week has been really great. I loved the trip to the temple. I had forgotten a little bit about the incredible peace that there is in the temple. It really was amazing. Inside it`s just so great. I had forgotten how much easier it is to receive revelation there. You just have to go with a question and and open mind and the Lord is willing to help. It really is the house of the Lord. Then after, when we had to leave, it was like stepping back into the real world. It was super loud outside and I immediately missed the special Spirit that there is inside the temple.

Yesterday was a really good day also. I think I still haven`t written about some of the investigators here so I`ll go ahead and do that.

One awesome person we are visiting right now is Nelson. He`s a single dad and the missionaries had been visiting him for a couple of weeks already. He really has desires to change and start a new life. He has some problems with alcohol. He was planning to go to church on Sunday but on Saturday night he was drinking with his "friends" so Sunday morning he wasn`t really in the state to go to church. We visited him last night and he was really repentent. He knows that he has some problems with alcohol and he really wants to change. He told us that he feels weak but wants to become strong and asked us how it is that he can turn weakness into strength. So we shared Ether 12:27 and he really enjoyed it. The spirit was suuuuper strong. He said "It seems like this scripture was written for me." I love the Book of Mormon and using it in teaching. The Book of Mormon really has a special spirit. It was written for our day. Nelson accepted a baptismal date for the 16th of July and is really determined to be baptized that day. I think he will do it.

We also have a young man that is progressing really well. His name is Adolfo. His younger brother got baptized a couple of weeks ago and Adolfo hadn`t realy shown interest before, but know he is noticing a change in his brother and he wants to experience that change as well. Now he has the desires to be baptized and he is progressing really well and reading the Book of Mormon.

Another family we are working with is the Mesa Family. They have already attended church several times and have really enjoyed it. The wife is ready to be baptized and really wants to. We are waiting a little bit on Brother Mesa. He has some problems with the Word of Wisdom so we are working with him on that. But he also has the desires to quit smoking and drinking. They really are a special family and want the best for their children.

Well I`m about out of time. But I love you all so much! I know that this is the work of the Lord. I love the Spirit and I know that the Lord is helping me each and every day.

Have a great week!
Elder Snow


P.S. From Elder Snow's mom - See June 24, 2011 blog entry for pictures of Santa Rita families.

Transfer to Puerto Pabla - June 24, 2011

Dear Family!!

Whew what a crazy week it has been. First I have to apologize for not writing earlier. So we were going to have our P Day on Monday, but the zone leaders called on Sunday night and told us that we wouldn`t have Pday Monday because we would be going to the temple Friday (Today)! So Pday this week is today and we will be going to the temple a little bit later. I`m super excited, I haven`t been to the temple since November so I definitely miss the Spirit that is found at the temple. I`m really excited to receive the personal revelation that I need and the revelation for our area. Speaking of my new area! I am in Puerto Pabla! Wow I`m really excited. I`m back in Zone 2, which is where I started. My first area, Ybatè is like 10 minutes away, in the same zone. It is in the same city of Lambarè. I`ll be serving as the district leader here and I`m really excited, because that means that I`ll probably be able to do divisions with the zone leaders in Ybatè and go back to my first area to see some of the awesome people there. I`ve already run into some of the members from Ybatè that come to Puerto Pabla on Wednesdays to play fùtbol. It was really neat to see them. I can actually understand what they`re saying now! haha

My new companion is Elder Geary. He is from Burley, Idaho and is pretty young in the mission. He is in his third change, his trainer just left so I`ll be his second companion. He is tall, so I feel like I`m back in my MTC days with Elder Durrant towering over me. Haha, he is really an awesome elder and speaks really good Spanish already. He is super upbeat and really has the awesome desires to do missionary work. I`m sooo happy to have him as a companion.

As for my area, it`s incredible. I didn`t realize how convenient it is having a chapel, and a fully functioning ward. The bishop is awesome and the ward is one of the strongest in the stake. Puerto Pabla is one of the higher baptizing areas and the members are really great here. Oh! side note. You`ll have to ask Kent, Whitney Born`s husband if he served here. Because I found a super old teaching record that says Elder Jarvis, so I bet he was in Puerto Pabla.

All that being said, I was pretty sad to leave Santa Rita. Wow, I was there for a while and really fell in love with the people. A couple of the good byes were pretty tough. Elder Snow may or may not (did) shed a tear or two. I know that the church will be so strong there one day because the members are so strong and really have the vision to make the church a huge part of Santa Rita. There are great things in store for that area.

Santa Rita Members



Santa Rita Members



Jorge, Rosa, Gunter,
Elder Snow and Elder Bazan

Mirta, Izaías, Elder Snow and Mariela

Well, it was great to get a nice long letter from the family this week. Congrats to Mom in the Ragner Relay. I`m really impressed with how far you ran and how fast you did it too. I definitely could not accomplish that. To let you know, I got all the pictures and the pictures from the last couple of weeks too. I`m trying to figure out how to put them on my camera but I`m not very tech savvy I think. I`m trying to send you some pics of the last day in Santa Rita and Elder Geary and I, but this computer is from like 1987 so it`s to no avail, hah.

Well I`m about out of time, sorry.

I know that this church is true and I`m so grateful to be here. I can feel my testimony growing every day. I know that the church is true and that the Atonement of Christ is real because I have really felt a lot of changes in myself. The spiritual things are really important to me now while they weren`t before. I look to be obedient now, while before it was more of a chore. I love serving others and I`m grateful for the opportunity to do that here.

I love you all so much!

Elder Snow

New Meeting Location in Santa Rita - June 13, 2011

Santa Rita members at new meeting location.

Dear Family,

It was great to get a nice letter filled with updates of school ending and Mason´s all star team. It´s always great to hear from you.

The week here has been been kind of crazy. Us 4 missionaries were working hard to get the church ready to move. We had been looking for a while for a new place where we could have the church because we had been having some problems with the owner of the old place. But we found a new one, it´s smaller but it´s really nice and it´s pretty central for the members and investigators, so we like it. So on Friday and part of Saturday we were working hard to get everything situated for Sunday. We got it all nice and clean, told all the members where the new church would be, got investigators all excited. Then Sunday morning came and the first meeting of the church was met by a nice parade right outside, haha. What can you do? I had written that the Independence Day Parade got rained out last month, so they rescheduled it and it turned out to be the same time as church on the street right outside. But the meetings turned out just fine anyway and it wasn´t too loud, so we were able to maintain the reverence. The members are excited to be in a new building and a lot of the members were able to make it. I attached a couple of pictures of the first meeting in the new place. It was a lot better than my first week in Santa Rita in January when we had 7. But we still have a lot of work to do and will continue onward. Yesterday Brother Delvalle made it to church again so it was really great to see him there. He is trying to put in his part and strengthen his testimony back up.

Yesterday in Sacrament meeting we had a theme of missionary work. Brother Wagner, the Brazilian that moved here not to long ago spoke on D & C 4 and the importance of member missionary work. He gave a great testimony about his conversion and some of his feelings from when he was a missionary. After that we had the 4 missionaries bear testimonies because this week we have changes and didn´t know who was going to be transferred.

To end the suspense, I just got the news about an hour ago that I am going to be transferred. I still haven´t heard where I´m going or who´ll be my new companion, just that I´m leaving. I´m definitely sad to be leaving Santa Rita. I have been here for almost 6 months but I still feel like there is a lot of work to be done. I will miss the members a lot. Because the area is still really young, we have really been clinging to the members for their support. It is through them that the work here will go onward.

I really love the people here. I will miss them, but I am happy to know that I´ve been able to help some of God´s chosen children to find the truth. I am excited to work hard in a new area and be able to help more of God´s children to find the truth.

I´m sorry, I know this letter is kind of sucky, I haven´t had much time. But I love you all so much. The church is true!

Love,
Elder Snow

Awesome Fast and Testimony Meeting - June 6, 2011

Dear Family!

Hey, before I forget, next week I will have Pday on Monday as usual. The mission changed back to having Pdays on Monday every week, so from now on you don´t have to worry about not getting a letter until Thursday during change week. You can expect a letter every Monday.

It´s been another great week here in Santa Rita. The time is passing by really fast and I can´t believe this change is almost over. Every time as changes approach, I feel a little bit sad at the thought that I might have to leave an area. I´ve been here in Santa Rita for a pretty long time now, but we´ll see.

Dad had asked a little bit about Hernan and Sandra. We had stopped visiting them for a couple of weeks. Hernán started to express a lot of doubts and we tried to help him strengthen his testimony, but he wasn´t willing to do the things he needed to in order to gain that testimony. This past week we visited them for the first time in a long time. Sandra is still reading the Book of Mormon every day and has the desires to get baptized. Hernán said that he has been really busy with his work lately and so he hasn´t been able to read. I think that the toughest part of missionary work is working with someone that has received a testimony and believes that the church is true, then doesn´t really follow that answer. Hernán and Sandra both know that the church is true, there is just something keeping them from taking the step it seems like. They really are so great, they´re incredible people and I know that they be baptized one day. I keep praying for them frequently. I am very grateful that Heavenly Father has helped me to develop a love for them. That is an amazing thing about missionary work, when one thinks and worries about another so much that they develop a strong love for them. I think that has a lot to do with the quote that Dad mentioned from Elder Uchtdorf´s talk. Funny that you mentioned that quote, that was the part of conference that impacted me more than any other. I know that I have received many answers to my personal prayers as a result of serving others. I know it is true. That idea also has a lot to do with a theme that we covered in the last zone conference, the importance of focusing our studies on helping others, on thinking about what others need, on seeking revelation for others. I have tried to put that in practice this last week and have really felt many blessings from it. Instead of thinking what I need help with, I have tried to think what others need help with. By doing that, my love grows for them and, even more, Heavenly Father blesses me on top of that with the answers that I needed personally. This has been a really long paragraph, I feel like starting a new one.

Yesterday in church was so awesome. Whew! I love it. We had our fast and testimony meeting and there were some spectacular testimonies. Rosa, wow what a stud, she always gives great testimonies. She bore her testimony about tithing. We had been working with her on tithing and the importance of it. She bore her testimony that she decided to put her faith to the test and tithe. She told about how after paying her tithing, she ended up finding a better job that paid a little better and had better hours. She challenged the rest of the members to put tithing to the test and seeing the blessings. It was awesome. Then Sister Delvalle gave an awesome testimony about the hope she has for her family to go to the temple. Brother Delvalle made it to church yesterday for the first time in months. We had been working with him for a while. It was really rewarding to see one of Heavenly Father´s children taking a step to return to the fold. He was participating in the gospel doctrine class and really knows the gospel well. I hope he continues exercising his faith and working his way back to being fully active.

Yesterday the Peña family made it to church for the first time in a long time. Brother Peña gave an awesome testimony. He wasn´t able to attend for a long time because of his work, but he knew he needed to come back to church. So he was praying for a long time for a chance to find a work with a different schedule. This last week, the opportunity presented itself and now he has Sunday morning free to be able to come to church. The Peña family is really great, they live in the side of the other elders. With the Peña family, as well as with Brother Delvalle, the members are really the ones who have done the work to get them to come back. It´s been so great to see. Brother Ugarte is a champ.

I love you all so much! Sounds like you had a great Memorial Day Weekend, or whatever Holiday it was. To answer Dad´s question, Elder Merrill and I didn´t talk about wrestling too much. I mentioned that I thought you and Rodney wrestled together, is that right?  Good luck in the last week of school, study hard! Mom, don´t get too jealous of Aunt Shereen now that Jake´s coming home, I´ve still got a lot of time left!

The church is true! I know it.

Love,
Elder Snow
P.S. I got a letter from home today that had letters from Vance and Kevin. Could you tell them both thanks for me? It was really great to hear from them. Tell Kevin good luck up at BYU, he´ll love it. And tell Vance that I miss Bob and his laugh. Kee hee hee hee jaja.

Zone & Stake Conferences / "Experimenting" a Change of Heart - May 30, 2011

Dear Family!


It´s been a really great week here in good ole´ Santa Rita. I really enjoyed your letter from this week. Although I was bummed to hear that Mason broke his tooth. Did you take a picture? Did he look anything like Lloyd from Dumb and Dumber? Cause if so, he could make a mean Jim Carey for Halloween. I´m sorry, I´m probably not helping. I hope Mason is doing well.

This past week has been really great! I saw Elder Merrill a couple of times actually. We had our zone conference on Thursday and I met him there. We ate lunch next to each other and talked a little bit. He´s a great elder. Then we had a stake conference on Sunday also so I saw him there too.

Speaking of zone conference, it was so great! On Thursday we woke up nice and early to head on out to Ciudad Del Este for the conference. For me, I think it was the best zone conference yet. The spirit was super strong and I really felt like the Lord was instructing me personally and helping me to know what I can do better. There was a theme of "Me amas más que éstos?" I think in English it´s "Lovest thou me more than these?" We watched a talk that Elder Holland gave in the MTC from January where he talks about the experience of Peter and Jesus after Jesus had resurrected and came to the Apostles while they were fishing. Jesus asked Peter 3 times if he loved him. When Peter said "yes," Jesus said, "feed my sheep." Elder Holland talked about what it takes to serve a mission, the focus we must have, we must love the Lord more than the wordly things that we leave behind.

Elder Holland also talked about the importance of becoming converted ourselves first before hoping for others to be converted. He talked about how Preach My Gospel was brought about because there were many returned missionaries that were falling away from the church and it was designed to help missionaries become further converted themselves.

President Callan talked about the importance of experimenting a change of heart and ensuring that the message really converts us so that it can convert others. At the end of the conference, President Callan asked the missionaries what they would remember from the Conference. I mentioned that I would remember the importance of becoming converted ourselves so that we can convert others. President Callan then shared an experience from his mission while he was serving with a companion that hadn´t quite yet gained a testimony of the Atonement. This missionary worked hard to gain a testimony and one day while teaching a lesson, it was his turn to teach the Atonement. This missionary started to teach the Atonement and an awesome Spirit filled the room. In that moment, both the missionary that was lacking a testimony of the Atonement and the investigator they were teaching received witnesses from the Spirit of the reality of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. From that moment onward, this missionary loved teaching the Atonement and sharing of it with all that he could. When President Callan shared this experience, the Spirit was very strong. It helped me personally gain a stronger testimony of the Atonement and how it blesses us. I too felt the urge to share it with everyone that I could. All in all, it was a great zone conference.

Sunday we had a stake conference in Ciudad Del Este. Once again, we had the joy/hassle of getting the bus all set up and the members there. I was a little worried that not too many people would go because we had to leave at 7:45. But the members here are so great and we had a good attendance. At the stake conference was Elder Bradley Foster of the 2nd quorum of the 70. The theme of the conference was families. It really was so great. The talks were all very awesome. Izaías, Mirta, Rosa, and Gunter were all there and it was really great for them. They really enjoyed the messages.

Another awesome highlight from the stake conference was that Brother Ugarte received the Melchizedek Priesthood! He has been preparing for a while and had a final interview before the conference and all went well. He was ordained as an elder after, so we are all very excited here in Santa Rita.

Brother Ugarte and Wagner keep working hard to help out the other members and the missionaries here. Wagner went out with us on Friday night to teach a few lessons. We are very grateful for their help.

I really liked Dad´s comment when he said that I should always remember to take a moment to listen to the spirit. That is so true, and is great advice. Earlier this week, we were working really hard one day trying to find new investigators to teach. We had been talking with everyone, asking references, really working hard. But all day we were striking out and couldn´t get anything going. It was kind of a moment of frustration because I was thinking, "what more can we do, Lord? We´re trying everything." That´s when I finally got the lesson that I think the Lord was trying to teach me. In getting caught up in finding people and trying to work hard, I really hadn´t been seeking the guide of the Spirit. Finally towards the end of the day I was trying to think back to the impressions that I´d felt. So we went and clapped a house that I had felt like we should clap but later ignored. So the people come out, they were nice, but not the ones we needed to find. Then someone from the house to the left yells "Hey, you´re looking for me!" So we walked over and it was a person that we had contacted and had been looking for, but couldn´t find. So we taught him and the lesson went really great. It turns out he has to move soon though, kind of a bummer. But I feel like I learned the lesson I needed to learn, to confide more in the Spirit.

Anywho, I love you all lots and lots! I hope you´re all doing very well. I know that this church is true. I´m very grateful for the work here and the opportunity that it is to share the gospel every day. I hope that you all strive to follow the Spirit always. Thanks for being so great!

Love,
Elder Snow

Great Results With Help of Members - May 23, 2011

Elder Snow and Elder Bazan with La Expo float.



In deep thought on a Santa Rita road.

 Dear Fam,


I really enjoyed the letter from you this week. It was full of fun updates and what not.

Wow, that´s crazy to think that Dad´s rounding out the big 5-0. I was thinking about that the other day, whew, you´re old, Dad? Haha just kidding. Someone asked me the other day, how old are your parents? I told them "my dad is almost 50, but he still runs faster than me." And it´s true, haha. I´m very impressed with Mom´s 6.3 mile run. Whew, I would die. Thanks for the update on Tyler, I´m positive that he is a phenomenal missionary. I´m excited to talk with him in Spanish when we get back. He´ll probably talk his Peruvian Spanish, "chévere."

I´m glad that Mom is tearing it up reading her conference talks. I still haven´t gotten my edition of the conference talks yet. I´m dying, I want to read it so bad. I´ve read the one from Oct 2010 like 5 times now. It´s still great though.

I was pumped to hear that Aidan got his mission call. What a champ! You´ll have to tell him hi for me.

This week for me has passed really fast! I think it´s because the expo is over, haha. It was a lot easier to find people at home to teach this week, and we were very blessed to find some awesome people. One new investigator that we are working with is named Cristian. He is really awesome. We contacted him a little more than a week ago.  I remember it was my 11th contact. Here in our mission, we have a goal to do 10 contacts each missionary every day. I can´t remember who, but someone told me one time, that the 11th contact is always golden. I think the expression is more an inspiration to go beyond the goals, because I´ve done a couple of 11th contacts that aren´t so friendly, but in the case with Cristian, it held true. We passed by his house, and found out that his wife is actually a member. It´s always a great miracle to find a member here, because there aren´t too many. Her name is Mercedez, she was baptized about 7 years ago in a city near Ciudad del Este called Hernandarias but since has become pretty inactive. So we started visiting them, and they are really super great. They are progressing very well. They went to the church on Wednesday night for the noche de Santa Rita. We watched The Testaments and it went super great. They really liked it. They also made it to church yesterday, so that was awesome. I know that the Lord is really preparing a lot of people here. We had a class yesterday in church about the gathering of the house of Israel, which has a lot to do with missionary work. I felt very strongly the impression that the Lord is always preparing his children. What a blessing to be able to work for Him and help His children to find the truth.

Yesterday in church was also great because we had a really good attendance. The last month or two we´ve been going down a little bit, and some of the recent converts haven´t been attending too much. But us, the missionaries, and 2 of the more active brothers had a great meeting this week on how we can turn things around and really progress towards a branch here. It doesn´t matter how great of a vision a missionary has, if it doesn´t reach the hearts of the members, nothing is going to happen. Brother Wagner from Brazil is looking for a house here and is staying here in Santa Rita to work, so he´s been helping us a ton lately. Brother Ugarte has also been so great. I really love them both. Brother Ugarte is preparing to receive the Melchezidek Priesthood and he and his wife want to go to the temple. Brother Ugarte really has a great vision for Santa Rita. We had a really great experience with him this week. We went to the house of the Delvalles to talk with Brother Delvalle, who hasn´t been attending church too much. Brother Ugarte really bore a great testimony. I was kind of fumbling for words, not exactly sure what to say. Brother Ugarte just chimes in, "Te necesitamos, cherah," whih is basically, "We need you, pal."  It was a very great, spiritual visit. Then in church, we really saw some great results from the help of the members.

In church, Brother Ugarte gave an awesome talk about eternal families, and how he desires to go to the temple with his family. He talked about how before, he didn´t really have the desires to have a family, but then he settled down, started a family and is so much happier now.

Diego Delvalle, such a champ. He´s 10 years old but gives talks in church all the time. He talked about 1 Nephi 1 and how he is grateful to have been born to goodly parents. I felt the Spirit very strong and felt a great appreciation towards the Lord for also having given me goodly parents. I´m grateful for your example mom and dad, I love you lots. I´m very grateful to have grown up in a home with the Priesthood, what a blessing.

I´m about out of time, but I love you all so much. It´s been a great week here. I know that this is the work of the Lord. Have a great week!

Elder Snow

Rain On My Parade - May 16, 2011

Dear Family!

It was really great to talk to you all yesterday. You all sounds pretty much the same. Except Mason actually did sound a little bit older. We won´t talk again for 7 months so I´m sure the next time you will all sound super old. Sorry if I kept saying "What?" like a million times. I couldn´t hear very well during some parts. But no worries, it was good to hear your voices. I think my English is starting to get kind of bad, it was hard to explain a few things haha.


So Grandma and Grandpa are in town! That sounds fun. Tell them hi for me.

So mom asked what "La Expo" is. Haha. The expo is this big fair type thing that is in Santa Rita every year. It´s famous throughout all of Paraguay and people come from really far away to attend. It has like some roller coaster ride type things and a bunch of booths from companies and food and what not. It´s been a little rough this week in Santa Rita because of the expo. Most of our members and investigators have been working there like non stop so it´s been a little bit tough to teach lessons and what not, but this week should be better.

Another fun thing from this week! Saturday, el 14 de Mayo, was Independence day here in Paraguay. It was the bicentennial, the 200th year anniversary of the independence of Paraguay. So it was a big party. Saturday morning we planned to walk out to Rosa, Gunter, and Jorge´s house to visit them a little bit. So we headed out that morning and there was a big parade going down the freeway with kids from all the schools marching and what not. It was cool. We just saw like 2 minutes worth on the way to Rosa´s.  They had this big giant stuffed lion on a giant float. The big lion is still there in centro so I´m going to take a picture with it today haha. But then it started raining and the parade ended. I laughed super hard at the irony "rain on my parade." Hahaha... I chuckle still.

But apart from difficulties with the Expo it really has been a great week. We´ve been working hard and working a lot with the members.

Dad asked about Hernán and Sandra. We tried to visit them last night after the call but couldn´t find them. It´s a little up and down with them but I know that they´ll be baptized one day. They are super prepared but there is just something that is holding them back. They just a need a little boost of faith to take that step to be baptized.

This week I´ve been focusing a lot on the Spirit and how I can follow it better. The Spirit is so important in this work. I love the theme of the Spirit. It´s such a wonderful thing. I love receiving the confirming truth after following the Spirit. It´s always such a testimony builder and those are the moments most special in the mission when I follow a prompting and feel the Spirit confirm to me after that I did the right thing. It´s a blessing that is so prevalent in the mission, one that I really love.

Other news this week. I´ve started reading Jesus the Christ. I´ve got quite the project ahead. Before my mission I couldn´t imagine why anyone would read a book that long that wasn´t Harry Potter. But I started reading it and I know why now. It´s really incredible. I´ve been reading a little less than a week but I can already feel my testimony of the Savior growing so much.

That´s awesome that Elder Merrill is in President Franco! I´ve heard of that area and know some elders that were there.

From what I hear, that´s the area that has some really cool water falls. Haha I´ve also heard that about Ciudad del Este. I hear it´s the biggest black market in South America and 2nd biggest in the world or something like that. It´s a fun place.
Don´t worry though mom, Santa Rita is nice and safe.

I love you all so much and love hearing from you! Thanks for all your support and love!

Elder Snow

Note from Carrie:  Here are some pictues of Mariela's baptism that Zach just sent.  For a few more pics, go to the March 28, 2011 letter from Zach.

Mariela, Elder Bazán & Elder Snow
March 26, 2011

Mariela, Emerson & Mirta