How is my beloved family? I'm thinking pretty great because YOU HAVE TWO MISSIONARIES IN THE FIELD ONCE MORE!!! Wow, I can't tell you how happy I am. I am so full of joy! Elder Snyder is going to get those baptisms going like crazy in Japan. He's going to be so great. New and improved. Wow!
On Saturday we baptized Francisco! Whoooooooooo! It was a beautiful baptism. We arrived and Hna. Maricela and her husband were there cleaning the church. They are spectacular. They are ex-Jehovah's Witnesses but now they're just about the best Mormons you have ever seen! Hna. Maricela (mamá Mari) goes with us every week to appointments and is willing to help us with anything, anytime. It is so amazing to have a member like her. And when we got to the church, we went to the kitchen and discovered that she had cooked a meal for after the baptism. A MEAL for everyone! Seriously, she makes me realize that we shouldn't have to be asked to do beautiful things for people... we should just do it! Needless to say, the baptism was beautiful! Hna. Bustos and I sang and some people cried and Francisco gave a sweet little testimony and it was just so great. I am so happy to be a missionary. Even though it is dang hard sometimes, when I see the light of the Gospel in the eyes of Francisco or any of these other sweet people, it's worth it times 500.
Last night something awesome happened! We had a Ward Family Home Evening and so we decided to go knock doors and invite people 15 minutes beforehand (which works out great for us because out of the 3 companionships in the ward, the chapel is in our area:). I went with a family of new converts and we went a-knocking. The hermana had the idea to go invite an old lady that they always say "hi" to in the street but don't really know, so we went to find her house. She wasn't home, but beside her house there were two little girls riding their bikes and their dad there watching them. We decided to invite them, so they called down mom for the final decision (mom always has the final say:) and she said yes! But they didn't want to go with us to the church in the moment, so they said they would see us there. As a missionary, I immediately took that as a not-so-good sign, but we decided to have hope and headed back to the church. While Hna. Bustos and I were teaching the message, they came! It was so beautiful! We taught of the importance of the family and watched the video "The Things that Matter Most." They participated and we played games and it was great! A new family!
I was able to give a talk yesterday in church and I was grateful for that opportunity. This might be an interesting thing to say, but right now, I am working on getting the ward to love us. Haha. This case study that I am going to attach really has made a mark on me. I am testing out some of the ideas and let me just say that I think it works pretty dang well. Right now, we have like 6 prospects for baptism that are all references or have connections in the church. GIVE THE MISSIONARIES REFERENCES!!!
Basically family, I just want to tell you how much I love you. You are my favorite people ever. This is going to sound dumb, but I don't remember which day is Father's Day in the US, so I want to tell you Dad how much you mean to me! I love you with all of my heart! You have always been an example to me of good, hard work, integrity, knowledge, patience, friendliness, and love. You are half of the reason I am who I am (Mom is the other half:) and for that I am so grateful. How I got so blessed to have you as a dad I don't know. But in allllll of the countries I have visited and alllllll of the great priesthood men that I have met, you are the best. I love you so much!!!
Have the best week ever, my beloved family! I love yinz!
Hna. Snyder
Pancho's Baptism
Our little setup with Hermana Maricela
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