It's Hot!!

Hello! 

To begin and reguarding the "subject" of this email, I will repeat, IT'S HOT. And it's humid. Way more humid than you can imagine. Thus, I pretty much am sweating at any given moment. So that's super fun! But, it could be worse. We could have snow... HAHAHA oh Berlin, Pennsylvania. Good luck with that! 

Boy, oh boy, where to start with this week?! It's been great! Our companionship is doing very well and we are happy! This week we taught 40 lessons and found 14 new investigators, so we are happy about that! And, something SO GREAT happened yesterday! I'd like to tell you the story of Juan and Valentina.

Juan and Valentina are the parents of 2 teenagers who were baptized less than a year ago. They have been investigating the Church for a long time, especially Valentina, but she can not be baptized because they are not married and Juan has not wanted to get married any time soon. A month ago, when we divided Huauchinango with Elders, we inherited this family as our own. From what we had heard, the situation was pretty much impossible because Juan couldn't progress because he didn't want to get married, and thus Valentina couldn't progress either. Thanks to the help of the Elders, the whole family came to church yesterday! Later, we went to their house to have a lesson and what happened really was amazing. We taught the law of chastity, but in such a beautiful way that everything changed. President Egbert had taught us of doctrines, principles, and applications in the Christmas devotional in December, and ever since then I have tried to apply his teachings, especially with the law of chastity. Long story short, we are planning their wedding! Juan is so excited for all this and I've really seen a change in him. Valentina cried thinking of all the times she has wanted to get married and have an eternal family and he has refused. I feel so blessed that after all this time, all these missionaries, I get to witness this incredible conversion. I AM SO HAPPY AND YOU BETTER BELIEVE I'M COMING BACK TO MEXICO FOR THEIR TEMPLE SEALING :D

In other news, Raul is doing great! He came to church on Sunday and really enjoyed it. The Sunday School lesson was on the organization of the Priesthood and I really think it served him well. It's just so logical! Also, I spoke in church on the Character of Christ (thank you, Elder Bednar, for changing my life with that talk).

Speaking of Elder Bednar... I have some news.

President called me last week. Here's the dialog:

P: Hello, Hermana Snyder, do have a minute?

M: Yes, President, what's up?

P: Hermana, on May 18th, we're going to have a special devotional with the whole mission. I'd like to ask you to play the piano.

M: Sure, no problem, President!

P: Great. The hymns will be 171 and 169, okay?

M: Sounds good! No hay problema.

P: And Hermana... Elder Bednar is coming.

M: ¿¡Qué?! En serio?????      *I guess I talk Spanish when I get really excited*

P: Yes, Hermana. En serio.

M: Wow! We've already met once but I'm pretty sure he doesn't remember me!

P: Well, you'll get to meet him again.

M: Wow!!!! Thank you so much, President!

P: No thank you, Hermana. Talk to you soon. Bye.

So, yeah! Elder Bednar is coming to the mission and I get to play the piano! :D Thanks, Mom, for all those years of lessons! I'm pumped. Pretty sure he isn't going to remember me but maybe my fellow Bednars can remind him of who I am so I don't feel like too much of a loser! Haha. Who's excited? I AM!

That's just about all she wrote! I am so happy to be a missionary! I love Huauchinango and the people here. We have lots of work to do, but we are doing our best. I love the Savior and am trying to be like Jesus. :) 

Have the best week ever and talk to you soon! Literally! Yay for Mother's Day phone calls!!

Loooooooooooooooooooooooove,

Hna. Snyder

  I got very sunburned this day because we literally walked up this MOUNTAIN 

and I almost died from heat stroke!

 Haircut!!

 We threw a surprise birthday party for Elder Ferguson and he loved it! 

Hopefully he is feeling a little more at home. :)

 This is Francisco, a member who helps us out with teaching appointments! 

He is so funny... this is his signature move!

Another cutie!

Helllllllllllo!

This week has gone super fast, right? And it's so crazy that on Wednesday I finished 6 months in the mission! Where has the time gone? One-third of my mission has already come and gone... So weird. 

What to write, what to write. Josafat and Paola received callings this week! Josafat is 1st counselor in the Sunday School Presidency and Pao is a teacher for Faith in God! So happy for them! They're champions. Victor's so happy and pumped to go to the temple and also share the Gospel, as he's the only member in all of Valle Fenix. He's going to invite his sister to church. :) 

This week has been good! We're teaching Raul (did I already tell you about him?) who is doing well, but he hasn't come to church since the first time two weeks ago. He's such a character. He knows a ton about history and religion - he's read the Bible cover-to-cover nine times and reads four chapters every morning! What is even better is committed to read four chapters of the Book of Mormon every day, too! Yessss. What's a little hard is that he is so detail-oriented that he is hung-up on a few things about the BoM. But we're working on it. He was a pastor/preacher-type-deal in another church for a bunch of years but left because of things he had seen and doctrines that he didn't agree with. Please pray for Raul! And for us! We need all the help we can get to know how to teach him and resolve his doubts. Thank goodness for the Spirit and that He helps us when we have no idea what to say!

One thing that was pretty tough this week is that in weekly planning, we dropped all but eight of our investigators. We realized that we had been planning for the same people over and over again who were not progressing towards baptisms, so we decided to drop them! You know how scary that is? When in the back of your mind you're thinking, "How in the heck am I going to teach 40 lessons this week when we don't have anyone to teach?!" (40 lessons is the standard of excellence). But, ya know, we did it. And it was an act of faith! Since that day, we've found a very promising new investigator every day! It's becoming so clear to me that the Lord requires a show of faith before He works the miracles in our lives. 

I also want to share with you what I wrote the President this morning, a realization that I have had...

 In my companionship with Sister Zenteno, it was always so impressive to me the spirit of my companion. Her spirit is so delicate and sensitive to the Holy Ghost and as a result, the smallest transgressions cause such guilt in her heart, enough to really change her way of living and being. I have always thought of her and her character so spiritual - for me really an example of someone who has changed their nature. 

I remember so clearly a district class where we talked about exact obedience. I thought we were being obedient and had no reason to worry. But after class, Sister Zenteno was obviously sad. We went to a room in the chapel and she said she felt very guilty for not being compliant with the rules of 45 minutes in lessons and one hour in meals. She wanted to repent. Really, in my mind I was thinking that the situation was a little crazy, that no one could fully obey those rules and that we were striving to do our best. But nonetheless, she said a prayer to ask for forgiveness. 

I have thought of that day a lot and the impact it has had on me. It made me really think about my own nature and if I am changing from a natural man into a divine being. When President wrote a letter challenging us to read the Book of Mormon in two months, one thing really called my attention ... Something like "We will pray for the disposition to do good always." From the day I read that part of his letter, I have prayed every time I read the Book of Mormon for that disposition and a change in my nature to be more spiritual than carnal. This week I realized that I can really see that change in my heart. The littlest things have a the hugest impact on my spirit. It hurts my heart when even the smallest rule is broken. I can say that Heavenly Father has answered me by giving me a "disposition to do good always." I owe so many thanks to President for this challenge to read the Book of Mormon with this goal as an end. He is so inspired. I'm so grateful for this change in my nature that has prepared me a little more for the eternities. 

I love you so much! You're the best people in the world!

Love, love, looooooooooove,

Hna. Snyder

Our district represents: Colombia, Honduras, Niceragua, Mexico, and the United States 

(double representation from PA, yessssss:)

Victor is the bayyyst!

Hola familia! It is currently storming, so that's fun! Last night it was really storming, too. I can't lie, I was a little scared! Thunder and lightning and all the works... So we ran into the house of a member to get out of the storm (and taught a very uplifting lesson of course:). But that's Huauchi in a nutshell! 2 hours ago it was blazing hot. You never know what to expect here! 

Good news, WE BAPTIZED VICTOR!!!!!!! Whoooooo! I am so happy. He is the best. The bayyyyyyst. His conversion has been a little long and little rocky, but we made it! And he is so happy. As you know, the story of how we found Victor is a miracle. One night, we found him with 3 friends in the street, talking and listening to music. We took down their addresses but Victor's was pretty vague and we didn't really have toooo many intentions of going to search for him. One day, a week or 2 later, we decided to go discover a new colony that we had never gone to - Valle Fenix. We didn't knock any doors, except for one. A rough-looking old guy opened up and told us we was not interested. Okay. We were about to leave, but Hermana Zenteno saw someone on the 3rd floor washing his dishes - Victor. She asked the old guy if we could talk to him and he basically said, "Sure, he's my nephew... Have at it." And thus began the story of Victor! We began teaching him and quickly realized that he is so special. He has the noblest of hearts and the purest of intentions. We could feel the Spirit in every lesson and he was keeping all of his committments. But with time, we began to run into some stumbling blocks. Turns out he had a girlfriend that was married with 5 kids. And for a while he lost all desires to go to church and read the Book of Mormon. It seems that Satan was really working in his life. We thought about and prayed for him, and Hermana Sosa had pretty much given up on him. But I couldn't let him go! I have always felt that there was something different about him, and that the Lord has many blessings in store for him, and so I was stubborn and wouldn't let him go! So we kept on visiting him, and with time, he began to change. He started to read the Book of Mormon every day and totally dropped his girlfriend. He began to go to church every Sunday and accepted everything we taught with complete faith. In one lesson, he began to cry... He said, "Thank you for never leaving. I know that I haven't always been the person that I know I should have been or done everything that you asked me to do, and so I thank you for never leaving. You really believed in me. I want to be part of your family; you are different." And now, Victor is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! I am so happy!!! And what is even better is that HE is so happy! I just know that the Lord has been waiting to shower him with blessings from on High! :)

So that's the big news this week. I don't even know what else to write! Victor's baptism was definitely the highlight. I had exchanges with Sister Training Leader Hermana Riding this week. She's super cute. Actually, she's the mama of Hermana Sosa (her trainer)! That's pretty crazy! It's a small missionary world! 

This week I feel like I have learned a lot. I am learning more about my companion every day and how strong she has had to be in her conversion. None of her family is active in the church. Her mom and some of her siblings and super less-active and her dad isn't a member. In fact, her parents aren't even married; her mom got baptized while they were separated for a little bit. I guess I never realized the huge affect that her childhood and youth have had on her personality and emotions. This week, for different reasons, I really realized that I have been faltering in many aspects of this companionship. My sweet little companion needs a lot of love and support, and I don't think that I have been giving her enough of either. I feel like this week in the mission has changed my life - it has shown me many of my flaws and the ways in which I must change. Although sometimes it is painful, it is necessary, and really I am grateful. I am thankful for this companionship and all that I am learning with Hermana Sosa.

Well, that's all I got in this ol' head of mine! I love you and so happy to be a missionary! Thanks for all your prayers and support and love. You're my faves!!! 

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Snyder

Awesome new area!

¡Hola familia!

Let me start out by saying that Huauchinango has had some stinking hot days this week!!! Huauchi is one of the hottest areas in the mission, and she's really shown her colors this week. Aaaaaaaand it's only April. This summer, I am pretty sure I am going to die. But it's all good! 

The new area is AWESOME. We redivided Huauchi and we inherited some pretty awesome land. We stole a little colony from the Elders and received a few of their investigators and some great members. Yesss! That's how you do missionary work! And we are discovering some new colonies where I am pretty sure the other Sisters NEVER went, so there have to be some of the Lord's chosen there! Whoo! We're doing a lot of walking and I am pretty sure I am sweating off some of those taquitos, so that's good!  

Ahhh, what has even happened this week? We are doing a lot of work with the initiative Because He Lives, and I just love it so much. The other day, we found a new investigator by using the initiative, taught the Restoration, and she accepted a baptismal date by saying, "I would love to!" Yesssssssssss! I have never heard anyone answer so enthusiastically, so it made me so happy. :) Also, Victor is gearing up for his baptism and is so excited! AHHHHHH I AM SO HAPPY FOR HIM. He came to conference on Sunday and everything is just so great. He said that he just wants the day to come already! I love him so much. He is so humble and I just know that the Lord has tons of blessings awaiting him. 

Today for P-day we played basketball with some of the young men and the bishop and his wife. So dang fun! I haven't played in so long... It felt good to really be out of breath! Haha! Aaaaaand, I don't want to brag or anything but I beat my District Leader Elder Zeledón in 1-on-1. He's super athletic (before the mission, he was playing on a young guys professional soccer team in Nicaragua) and can definitely play ball, but I beat him. :) Yessssss. Good ol' Berlin dun me good!

And ohhhhhhhhhhh! I have news! Elder Zeledón is training a new missionary who is straight from the Mexico City MTC. Guess where he is from?! Take a wild guess!!! PITTSBURGH. Yes, he's from the Burgh! How wild!!! He is big on baseball and says that PNC Park is his favorite place on earth. What?! What a miracle! It's so great. He's a really good missionary from what I have seen and knows a ton of Spanish already - more than I knew when I arrived! He also went to BYU-I for a semester so we have a lot in common! Crazy small world!

I loved Conference this past weekend and was able to learn so many things. A few talks that I loved - Elder Bednar on fear, Elder Uchtdorf on grace, and Elder Nelson on the Sabbath Day. So great. I think that we should all come out of Conference with things that we know we need to change, and these talks helped me understand what those things are for me. I definitely thought about our family during Elder Nelson's talk and know that if the Sabbath Day is a reflection of the attitude we have towards God, there are things that we can improve. President Monson is so cute and I loved his talk about temples. 3 new temples to be built! How incredible! I am so grateful for a living prophet!

Something pretty sad happened this week - President had to send home 4 missionaries. It becomes more and more evident to me each day that this mission is a battlefield. What's at stake is salvation. The salvation of many souls - missionaries, members, and non-members alike. In the mission field you are on the front lines and there are 2 options, to win or to lose... win or lose your salvation, that is. The person you become on your mission is most likely the person you will be for your life, and the person you are in your life is a good reflection of the person you will be in the eternities. Basically what I am saying is there's no time like the present. Right now, in the stage of life that you are currently in, is the time to change! It's time to grow into your divine potential! The plan of salvation is designed so we can change our natures and win the prize! Why sink when we were designed to swim?

I love you all so much. You inspire me every day. When I think I can't walk another step in the blazing Mexican sun, I think of my family and the missionary that you think I am and expect me to be. 

Love you with all of my heart!

Hermana Snyder

 PITTSBURGH! Elder Ferguson and me. (Pardon the red-facedness. This was right after I beat Elder Zeledón:)

 La familia Caro :)

 It rained and there wasn't a dry inch on our bodies! 

 

This wasn't today... It was Tuesday, I think? But we were about to divide up Huauchinango. Here we are playing for Santa Cruz, a gold mine of investigators and members! Dang it, though! Rafael and I lost!

  

Because He Lives!

Hola familia!!!

Another week has come and gone and... WE HAD A BAPTISM!!! Josafat, the miracle man, was baptized on Saturday! It was so dang awesome. Especially because ALL of the missionaries in the district baptized on Saturday!!! Yep, in Huauchi we had 3 baptisms and the Elders in Xico also had one. SO AWESOME!!! It was such a beautiful baptism. There is a guy in the ward, Hno. Cristhian, that is so awesome and helps us out a ton. He has this little car and drives us around and goes with us to lessons, and on Saturday, he pretty much organized this baptism. He put out all of these pamphlets and pictures of temples and even put together a video to play in the foyer as people were entering. It was so beautiful. And the missionaries all sang my arrangement of "Because I Have Been Given Much"... Ahh so special!!! Josafat chose Rogelio to baptize him, who only has about a year in the church, and it was his first time baptizing. Soooo long story short, it took 5 dunks, but we got 'er done in the end and that's all that really matters! Haha! I feel so grateful to have been able to play even the smallest part in Josafat's story. He is going to be a great leader in the church, I can feel it. 

In other news, we had 4 people in church on Sunday, so we're getting back on the right track! Victor is getting excited for his baptism, so we are so happy for that. It's been a bit of a rocky road with him, and Hermana Sosa said that if I wouldn't have been so stubborn with keeping him, she probably would have dropped him in the beginning. But it's so obvious now that he is one of the Lord's chosen. He needs this Gospel in his life more than anyone and I just love seeing how it lights up his life. He came to the baptism and loved it!!! So exciting. Also, a new investigator - Raul - came to church. He knows a ton about the Bible (he's read it 9 times cover-to-cover!) and is reading the Book of Mormon now. He has so many sincere questions and has so many experiences to share that it's just so cool to know him, let alone teach him the Gospel.

Tomorrow are exchanges and..... I'M STAYING HERE IN HUAUCHI!!! Whoo! I am pretty happy about that. Hna. Sosa and I are staying. Honestly, I had a feeling that I would be staying and so I am so glad that it's true because I didn't say goodbye to anyone yesterday! Thank goodness I'm here for 6 more weeks! BUT, here's the kicker: they're closing one of the areas of Huauchinango! OH MY GOSH. Yep, they're shipping out the other Sisters. You know what that means? It means that we're going to have to divide up the city and our area is about to get a whole lot bigger. A WHOLE LOT! Holy cow... I feel like I am opening an area or something. We're about to inherit a ton a recent converts and investigators, and I can't say I haven't had heart palpitations within the past few minutes just thinking about it. Craziness! Next week's email is going to be interesting, I can feel it. 

But, you know, we can do it. I love so much the new initiative of the church, "Because He Lives". I watched the video for the first time yesterday and felt the Spirit so strongly. I know that He lives. And because He lives, we can do this. We can do whatever He requires of us, because He is always there to give us His power and help us along our way. I made a list of what it means to me that He lives:

• He understands me
• He knows me
• Death is not the end
• I can be forgiven
• He wants to help me
• He gives me strength
• He can heal me

And then I was reading in 3 Nephi 11 and 17 where the Resurrected Christ appears in the Americas and felt so amazing. I wrote my feelings: happiness, light, joy, mercy, grace, goodness, peace, love. All because He lives. And because He lives, we have access to these feelings now. Today. We just have to look for Him. Búscalo. 

I love Jesus Christ and I know this is His church. 

http://www.mormon.org/easter

Love, love, love,

Hermana Snyder

Our District:

I fell!!

Ready for the baptism:

I love the people of Mexico!

Share the gospel!

Hi! In case you're wondering, yes it's still raining. But, whatever, life goes on! It's been a pretty good week. I have been thinking about what to write and it's just not coming to me! What even happened this week?

First of all, yesterday and Saturday was Stake Conference. That means that we had to take the hour-long trip to Tulancingo 4 times, yippee! Luckily, I didn't die. Although we did take a teeny-tiny little car and rode with the Elders, so it was pretty packed. And as you already know, Mexican drivers are crazy, so it was an adventure! First, we went for the Saturday afternoon session and the Huauchi Ward was invited to bring our choir. I played the piano and it was so great! They sounded amazing. :) After the conference, the Stake President asked me if I could play the piano for the stake choir as well as the meeting choir on Sunday. So yesterday we arrived early to practice with them and then I played for the conference. It was great! There aren't too many Mexicans that play the piano, so my skills are on high-demand! Haha. If only I was so popular in the States! 

The Conference was great... Hermana Egbert gave a talk in Spanish!!! It was so cute. She doesn't really speak Spanish, so she just read it, but it was so sweet and sincere. I love her! And President gave a great talk about our willingness to be true disciples of Christ. He is the best. I am sure he is going to be a Seventy or an apostle one day! And, Josafat, Pao and her little girls, and the whole family of Maria took the trip to Tulancingo to go to the conference! Whoo!!! I love these people.

Let's talk about Josafat. His baptism is on Saturday!!! We are so excited. He is seriously the dream investigator. He literally requires no work. We only meet with him once or twice a week, but he always comes to church, reads the Book of Mormon every day, and keeps all of the commandments. Can you say GOLDEN?! I just know that he is going to be a great leader in the church... bishop, stake president, etc. I feel so privileged to be part of his story.

So we're pumped for that. But today marks the last week of the cycle. How the heck did that happen?! It's forced me to reflect on these 5 weeks that have already passed and evaluate what we have done as a companionship. I can't say I am completely satisfied. We haven't had any baptisms (although we will have one on Saturday) and we have not had one new baptismal date in the whole cycle. I mean, we have placed a bunch but no one has come to church, so none of them count. They're not real. The only people that have come to church in this cycle are Josafat, Victor, and Maria de la Luz - all left over from last cycle with Hna. Zenteno. That makes me really sad. It makes me feel like we haven't really done anything to help the ward progress in these 5 weeks. All I can hope is that we have strengthened the members, our recent converts, and progressing investigators. Also, that of the people to whom we gave Harvesting Blessings in the past week or two, some of them are the Lord's chosen and prepared. I am really hopeful and faithful that that is the case. I felt strongly about many of them and continue to feel the same way. The task at hand is to teach them, get them to read the BoM and come to church, and get them in the baptismal font (and of course endure to the end and go to the temple)! Soooo, yes. Sometimes it's so hard but we can't lose the faith and buen animo!

There are always things that we can improve. More obedience, more diligence, more consecration. So that's the goal to finish up this cycle (and the struggle of the whole mission) - do more. I am working on trying to become the 4th missionary (hopefully you've read the talk and know what I am talking about), to give everything and even a little more.

Love you all so much! Share the Gospel!

Hna. Snyder

Look what Elder Zeledon (DL from Niceragua) and Elder Castillo made us!

More puppies, because you can never have too many.

Dogs of Mexico

Weeeeeeeeee!

P-day meal!

Nothin' like some good ol' fried chicken to remind ya of home!

Rain, rain go away...

So we meet again! I don't know if you've checked the weather for Huauchi lately, but let me just inform you that it has rained every single day this week. So fun. NOT. It's cold rain... rain means no sun, and no sun means that we are gonna have to bundle up and buckle down, because it's darn chilly! My pink rainboots were a very wise purchase. Hermana Snyder says good job, Kelsey!

Also, before I forget, I would like to say that I think that the Steelers are probably the most popular sports team in all of the world. At least here in Huauchinango, they're all the rage! Everyone has Steelers gear - young, old, rich, poor! I gotta say, I feel a little choked up with pride every time I see it. 

It's been a good week! We accomplished just about all of our goals, which is saying something because Huauchi has been tough on us lately! One thing that is really helping is the goals that our zone and district leaders have put in place specifically for us. Sometimes it seems a bit overwhelming, but I am learning that if we really try to be obedient to our leaders, even if we don't see the purpose, we will be blessed.

The zone leaders put a goal in place to do 1 Harvesting Blessing and place a new baptismal date every day. So we did it! And in every single Harvesting Blessing this week, we placed a baptismal date. Every single person that we invited to baptism said yes. YES! Imagine, we knock on their door and 15 minutes later they have a goal for a day to be baptized. IT'S INCREDIBLE! Am I the only person who thinks this is just amazing?! Now I am not saying that it's easy... You think it's a piece of cake to prance into someone's house and invite them to be baptized in your church that you say is the only true one in the whole world? No. It's not. But that just means that it's an incredible act of faith. And you know what happens when we swallow our fears, buckle down, and act in faith? Heavenly Father performs miracles. I am so grateful for the incredible tool that is the Harvesting Blessing. President really is inspired to give us such an amazing gift. 

In other news, I gave a talk on Sunday about consecration. I recently read the talk "Absorbed in the Will of the Father," by Elder Neil A. Maxwell and it inspired me. I invite you all to read it! It is so evident to me now more than ever that just being a good member of the church will not qualify us for the Celestial Kingdom. No, the Celestial Kingdom is for people who have really used this life to perfect themselves and consecrate all they have to the Lord. WE ALL NEED TO DO MORE! Well, I need to do more. And I imagine that "more" is what the Lord expects of all of us.

As for all of our investigators, things are going ok. Josafat is incredible. Rock solid. Victor is struggling with the law of chastity, poor guy - but we're gonna work it out! And we've had to drop a lot of once-very-potential investigators for different reasons. But we're working hard and I am sure we are going to see some miracles very soon.

I love Mexico. I love the mission. I love the Lord. And I love all of you! I am so grateful to be here even though it's the hardest thing ever sometimes. Keep on choosing the right!

LES AMO!!!!

Hna. Spider (Snyder is hard for the Mexicans so I like to compare it to "spider" so it helps them out a little:)