Headed to Mexico!

Today Kelsey is in transit to Mexico!  We got to talk to her while she waited for her flight at the SLC airport.  She sounded great and so excited to get there. We aren't sure, but we think she won't have a chance to email until next week.  We can't wait to hear about her first week in Mexico!

Where in the world is Jacob??

I'm sure you're all wondering why there hasn't been an update from Jake for a few weeks. After much fasting and prayer, Jake decided that he needed to come home from his mission for a while. He feels that it's the right thing to do right now.  His goal is to work hard, keep studying and go back to Japan in a few months. We support him 100% and are so happy to have him home!

Week Four!

Well, another week has come and gone! It's been great. I honestly love the MTC. It's so great here and I am going to treasure my time here forever because of the growth that I've made. I cannot imagine a place that would be any more conducive to learning. It's awesome. With that said, I'm ready to go to Mexico! Not ready to speak and listen to Spanish 24/7... but ready! I'm so excited! 7 days!

So. This week:

I got lots of mail! Thanks to everyone who sent me stuff - Kelly, Cait, Erica, Mom, Megan King. Y'all are the BEST!!! You don't know how it puts a smile on my face. I seriously love you all so much!

SUPER funny story... Ok, my companionship had to pick up some international sisters on Tuesday night and show them around and whatnot. So during the night we had to take them to the international travel office to get some things taken care of. Well, that office is right next to a room where I happened to see earlier that day. I had seen Sister Nally (the MTC president's wife) in there setting up this really fancy dinner table. So, I assumed that it must be the room where they have a nice dinner with the MTC Presidency and the devotional speaker before devotional. Word on the street (which means absolutely nothing at the MTC) was that a general authority was coming. I had specifically heard the names "Bednar" and "Ballard" mentioned by missionaries earlier that day, so I thought I'd try to peek in the room to see if I could catch a glimpse. Well, the door was shut and there were no windows so I decided to put my ear up to the door. Nope, nothing. So, I just went on my merry way continuing to wait for the international sisters. 2 minutes later, this guy in a security uniform comes walking up to me. "Sister, is there a reason that you were snooping around and trying to listen into that room?" ............"Ummmmm, no?" "Okay, well I was just wondering because I just saw you on camera." HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Sooo funny. Oh my gosh. That woulda been a funny way to go home. But you know what, IT WASN'T EVEN A GENERAL AUTHORITY! Not even worth it. 

I got to sing at the welcome devotional for all the new missionaries, which was a cool experience! It went great! Elder Yoo played for me. I got lots of super nice compliments afterward, so I think it was a success!

Somehow, my comps and I got chosen to be these example missionaries in a workshop for new missionaries called "People and My Purpose." It was a neat experience, especially since we got to speak English! Yay! Something cool: The guy who was in charge of telling us what to do and how to act and whatnot was Elder Christiansen from the tv show, The District! Super funny, because he is seriously like a missionary celebrity. We always watch clips from the District in class, so it was pretty awesome to talk to him.

I got my travel plans! Hna. A and I and 3 Elders headed to Pachuca are leaving for the SLC airport at 3:30am on Sunday! Whooo!!! Pretty exciting! I can't believe I'm going to Mexico! 

Man, it's been a good week! I learned a lot. I had some insights yesterday about repentance that I want to share. So here ya go: Brad Wilcox said, "We are not earning heaven, we are learning heaven." By repenting, we are not checking off a task or erasing past mistakes to work our way up to heaven. Rather, through repentance, we learn how to be more like God. Repentance should change us so that we forsake the bad to become more prepared to stand in Their presence. Each time we repent, we become more like Them. We learn more about who They are as we repent and change through the Atonement. 

I love the gift of repentance. I know that I mess up every day, and so I repent every day. And as I do, the Lord blesses me with so much, but most of all with His love. I feel it so abundantly in my life. I know He heals, helps, saves, and loves. He's the reason I'm here.

I love you all so much! 

Hna. Snyder 

Gym selfie:

This is a candid shot that I thought was so funny because we all look so angry:

My mountain of dulces:

Friends from the same hallway:

Week 4 just got owned!

Life is great!

Well. This week has been interesting. It started off pretty rough on Monday, but throughout the week I was blessed with so much peace. 

Doctrine & Covenants 101:13-15

13 And they that have been scattered shall be gathered.
14 And all they who have mourned shall be comforted.
15 And all they who have given their lives for my name shall be crowned.

I honestly believe that everything that I have learned so far in the MTC has helped me to prepare for this very moment in my life.

Nevertheless, life is good, especially as a missionary.

Here at the MTC you can audition to do special musical numbers at different events. I (plus my amazing accompanist Elder Yoo) auditioned and am actually singing for the new missionary devotional on Wednesday! So that's exciting! I'll be singing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" for all the new missionaries and the MTC Presidency! Yippee!:)

I was able to talk to President Davis (my Branch President) yesterday about the things that are going on my life right now, and his words were very comforting. I know that our leaders are called of God. He also called me to be the Music Coordinator for the branch, which I should be a pro at by now! I'm currently 100% for that calling (Somerset, Rexburg, and now MTC)!

Oh, cool experience! We got to go to the outside world on Tuesday! All the missionaries in the MTC walked over to BYU for devo at the Marriott Center! It was super awesome! It was such a great talk by Elder David F. Evans, entitled "Tenacity." Look it up! 

As for the language... it's going so great. It's a bit overwhelming but I'm seriously being so blessed. The other night, I studied so hard that I thought my head would explode. I was honestly kind of afraid to go to sleep because I didn't want to have forgotten by the time I woke up. Nevertheless, I fell asleep within like 1 minute of hitting the pillow because my studying has tired me out so much! The next day, we had a lesson to teach with Paz (my teacher, Hna. Ferrell) and her husband (another teacher). We had been teaching Paz for a while but this was the first lesson with her husband, Kevin. So we prepped for our lesson. It was kind of weird to prep for because we didn't know exactly what to plan since we had been teaching Paz for a while but were just starting with Kevin. We decided to focus on teaching not any of the "lessons," but about prayer and the nature of God. I believe hat while we planned, the Spirit was definitely helping us out, which resulted in something amazing. Our lesson was so awesome. Words that I've never even thought of before came out of my mouth. We talked about science and God and prayer and faith. It was amazing. The Spirit was there and I know that everyone could feel it. And I know that I was blessed with the Gift of Tongues since I had been studying so diligently. It was amazing. Even though I'm in the MTC, this is so real. And when we bear testimony and are worthy of the Spirit, it is powerful. We walked out of the lesson and Hna. Ferrell came running to us with a huge smile on her face. She was so proud. She said as soon as we walked out of the room, her "husband" just said, "Wow." IT WAS AWESOMEEEE.

This is true. I know it. I feel it every time I testify. Every time! I decided to take Moroni's challenge again last week, and felt another witness of the divinity of the Book of Mormon. If you don't know what "Moroni's promise" is, talk to my parents, the missionaries, go to mormon.org... something! It's the most important thing that could ever happen to you! I'm so serious!

Life is great, and honestly, I love the MTC! I can't believe there are only 2 weeks left! I love you all so much! Families are forever!  I'll close with an awesome quote from devo by Elder Evans:

"If you care enough to go through the process to know God's will, He will care enough to tell you."

Love love loveeeeeeeeee,

Hermana Snyder

1. This is how I feel every night after a hard day's work!

                                              

  2. Hehe he had no idea! Poor Elder Alder and his chronic nap syndrome...

3. The packages I got from Kelly and Grandma (two of my favorite people in the universe)! I loved them soooo much!

4. I forgot to send you our 2-week-anniversary pic, so here it is!

5. 3-week-anniversary pic (obviously I'm a model).

6. Random pic from last week...

7. The zone! One district just got shipped out, so we had to get a group pic before they left!

8. My Elder buddies

"We are not earning heaven, we are learning heaven."

It was a great week at the MTC! The weeks are going by super fast now. I wrote down some things from my journal last night so I could remember what happened this week, because I always get to the computer and can't remember! First, I haven't told you at all about my maestros! My teachers! Hna. Ferrell and Hno. Thompson are the absolute best. They love us so much. I feel the Spirit and get so much out of class every time they teach, because all of it is out of love. They are one of the best parts about the MTC.

The language! I'm learning Spanish pretty darn well. The Lord is blessing me, without a doubt. It takes a lot of faith and constant prayer, but it's working. I know that I am receiving the gift of tongues. I can teach full lessons without too much of a problem. My companions are getting the hang of it, too! Slowly but surely, we are learning to work together and teach by the Spirit. It's pretty awesome. And yesterday I was able to bear my testimony and give the closing prayer in Sacrament meeting pretty easily, so Spanish is going great.

The last two devotionals have been by Rosemary Wixom (the Primary General President) and Wendy W. Nelson (Elder Nelson's wife), and they were awesome. Devo is super great. I'm in the choir!

So the other day, we had a TRC assignment, which is just like a teaching lesson/appointment. It's usually with an "investigator," but this past week, we actually taught members pretending to be... members! Pretty fun. Our lessons were pretty good. 

I also love the opportunity to go to the temple every week. It's the best. This week was kind of hard for me, just because of different things going on and because there's a lot of sickness and injuries in our district that makes me super sad, but the temple today made me feel so much better. I received the calm assurance that no matter what happens, everything is going to be okay. I love the temple. I know it's the Lord's house.

I have a testimony of this Gospel and of this work. I am a soldier in the Lord's battle. It's a battle against a tough and stubborn enemy, Satan, but Christ will always win. I'm on the winning side. This week, my goal is to try to be as obedient and dedicated to this mission as possible. I'm looking forward to the blessings that are in store as I try my hardest to be the best missionary I can be!

I love you all! Study hard, do your best. "We are not earning heaven; we are learning heaven." -Brad Wixom

Love,

Hna. Snyder