Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! It was great to talk to most of you on Skype
yesterday. Glad to see everyone's doing well. So today was temple
Pday, which was great of course. This past week we did exchanges in
three different areas called Urayasu, Matsudo and YACHIYO! They were
all good, but it was great being back in my old home Yachiyo. I was
there for 6 months at the beginning of my mission and left about a
year ago. We were there on Saturday and Sunday, so I got to go to
church on Christmas and see all of the members which was nice. It's
great seeing different areas and working with different elders.

So right now I'm actually standing on a packed train headed out to
another area, Takasaki, which was actually my first area when I came
back out! I was only here for a transfer, but it'll be fun to work
there again.

Well, I hope you all had a great Christmas and put Christ at the
center. Love you all, talk to you next week!

Elder Snyder

Awesome baptism!

Hey everyone! It's been a good few weeks. Things are great here and
it's the Christmas season which makes it even better. As I think you
know, Japan is not a Christian country, but during this Christmas
season it gets them thinking about Christ and why so many of us
celebrate His birth. So it's awesome getting to have conversations
with people on the streets about Christ and why He is so important for
all of us. So in the past few weeks I've been able to work in some
different areas. It's great to get to see different areas and work
with different missionaries, but it's especially great to see the hand
of the Lord working in all of the areas. My testimony has been
strengthened as I've seen how God blesses His missionaries as they
work with diligence and faith.

Another awesome thing happened yesterday! Our investigator Brother
Tsunashima, from Tokyo 2nd ward which I just transferred out, of was
baptized. He asked me to do the confirmation so I was able to go back
and see the baptism, then confirm him in sacrament meeting. It was a
great experience and now he joins his wife and 3 daughters as a member
of the church! They were so happy.

So it's the week of Christmas! That means I'll be skyping home. It
looks like I'll be skyping on Monday morning around 10:00, which will
be Sunday night sometime for you. I hope you are all enjoying the
Christmas season and being proactive in spreading your light.

I'm grateful to be a missionary now, especially during this time of
year. Christ is our Savior and we get to celebrate and help others
celebrate His birth! Love you all, have a great week!

New calling... traveling assistant!

Hey everyone!

Sorry, things have been pretty busy the past few weeks so I haven't
gotten much emailing done, but today should be fine! Last week was
temple p-day. It was great. Elder Nitta and I were able to finish off
our two transfers together strong. This past week we were able to find
some strong new investigators with a lot of potential. Mori, Takumi
and a man named Henry are all looking solid and look like they'll
start progressing soon. We have just about finished up teaching
Tsunashima Kyoudai all of the lessons and he's looking good for his
baptism! So today was transfer calls today and I found out I'll be
leaving Senzokuike/Tokyo 2nd wards. I've been here for 4 transfers,
about 6 months, and it has been awesome. I've really grown to love the
members in both the Japanese and English ward. Definitely one of my
favorite places to be. So Elder Nitta will be staying here and I'm
becoming a traveling assistant. So I still don't know exactly what
that entails but I don't actually have an area! My companion and I
will travel around the mission and do splits with missionaries in
different areas, hoping to help strengthen each area while we're
there. Should be a great experience and I'm sure I'll learn a ton. I
sure will miss all of the people here, members, investigators,
friends. Definitely one of my favorite things about the mission is
building these relationships with people that will will last for a
long time. For all you RMs out there, get in touch with people from
your mission, I'm sure they'd love to here from you!

Speaking of, one of the greatest relationships that I've been able to
make is with an investigator named Hirotsugu Iwagi. He's the
investigator that had the accident and is still recovering, but we
became way tight right from when we started meeting with him. He's not
baptized YET, but I'm sure he will be eventually. I've seen how, even
though he's not baptized yet, just applying principles and following
commandments can change a life so much. Another one is Tsunashima
Kyoudai. His wife is a member and he has 3 active daughters. Since
we've started teaching him, living the gospel of Jesus Christ has
changed him. I know the gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives. I know
this church contains the fulness of His gospel. Remember all, this
Christmas season to live as Jesus Christ and light the world! This is
a great time to help others feel the light of Christ and make steps
towards living His gospel. I invite you to invite! Love you all, have
a great week!

Love, Elder Snyder

                       Here's some grub I probably never would've even thought about

eating a few years ago... Raw strips of beef mixed with a raw egg and

some sauce. Was actually really tasty. The things Japan will do to

you.. Just got done eating sushi with a member too!

 Me with my man Hirotsugu. Love that guy

Elder Nitta and me eating some ramen with a new investigator Muramatsu.

On the street is a "lion dog".

Christmas lights in Japan!

Receiving guidance

Hey everyone, happy Thanksgiving week! It's nice to have an extra
reason to think about everything we're grateful for. I'm especially
grateful for our Savior and His gospel and the blessings we receive
from them. I'm so grateful for my mission, for all that it has helped
me with and the opportunity that it gives me to help others. Also,
it's gonna be nice to have some good cookin' this year for
Thanksgiving. Being in the English Ward is extra nice for the
holidays! We actually have 2 Thanksgiving meal appointments, one on
Thursday and another on Saturday. I'm excited! Hope you all have a
good time with family this week and share my love!

It's it's been a good week here in Tokyo. This past week we were able
to go to the baptism of an old investigator named Brother Uchiyama. He
was a referral from a member back when Elder Broberg and I were
together. We taught him for a few weeks and then referred him to the
elders in the Ward he lives in. He's an awesome guy and is gonna be
such a great member! I'll send a picture of us with him at his
baptism. I do have some kind of rough news though.. Our investigator
Iwagi kyoudai has had a pretty rough time as of late. He's the one
that was in the accident and just had surgery on his hand, but he has
kind of decided as of late that he doesn't really want to study the
gospel as much right now. His body condition from his injury hasn't
been the best lately and so it's just kind of hurt him motivation wise
in all aspects. He's not completely rejecting it, and he still loves
us and the members, but he says he's going to stop living the gospel
and see if he notices a difference in his life. That has been pretty
darn tough, because I've really grown to love him over the past few
months that we've been teaching him. Sometimes people's agency just
makes you so sad! But that's just part of God's plan, huh. So, we'll
keep praying for him and definitely stay in touch so hopefully he'll
realize how much he needs the gospel.  Other than that, our
investigator Tsunashima Kyoudai is doing so well, he has his baptism
date and is progressing towards it! So lately our mission has started
a new free English teaching program, in which we are helping high
school and college students prepare for big entrance exams here in
Japan called the Eiken and TOIEC. Pretty much all Japanese students
have to take these tests, so by providing these prep courses it's
expected that we'll really increase the foot traffic in the church,
which will of course increase new investigators and baptisms. This is
going to BIG! So recently our days have been consisting of hitting the
streets finding new investigators and new students, teaching lessons
and English, and studying! It's the life.

I want to share an insight on something I've been studying and
learning about. It's about receiving guidance and revelation through
the Holy Ghost. God of course wants to guide us throughout our lives.
But receiving that guidance of course is predicated first upon our
obedience. We all know that one, so lets be obedient! But the
frequency and clarity of promptings kind of depend on a few things.
First, how willing we are to act on promptings and how much we're
actually seeking them. For example, are we praying to find missionary
opportunities but never opening our mouths about the gospel? It also
depends on how prompt we are to act on the guidance that we receive.
It's my challenge to you to always be seeking for the guidance of the
spirit, being willing to act and to act promptly. I have a sure
testimony that God is there and guides us through the Spirit. Love you
all, have a great Thanksgiving week!!

Elder Snyder and Elder Nitta

God answers prayers

Hey everyone!! Things are going pretty well here. I'm just going to
write about one great experience we had last week. So Iwagi Hirotsugu,
our investigator who has been in the hospital just got out on
Saturday, but before that, we had been wondering and praying about how
we can help him. So on Friday, we get a random call from a great
member here in the Japanese ward, and told us that he wanted to go
visit Iwagi Kyoudai in the hospital. So on Thursday night, we went and
visited him and it was great. The member was so kind to him and shared
great testimony and really got to know him. Through it we were able to
really help lift Iwagi Kyoudai 's spirits. It was a great example to
me as 1, how God answers prayers and 2, how important service,
especially from just normal members, helps people so much. I hope we
all look for opportunities to show love to others. Love you!

Elder Snyder and Elder Nitta

Transfer call!

Hey hey everyone! One more week, come and gone. Life in Tokyo is
great! Today was transfer calls! Elder Calhoun, an Elder that I've
lived with for the past 3 transfers is going home! We've become really
good friends so it's sad to see him go, but I've actually learned a
lot from him so I'm grateful for the experience. I'm still with Elder
Nitta, which is great, and also district leader again this transfer.
Looking forward to it!

These past few weeks have been kind of tough. Our investigator Iwagi
Kyoudai got surgery on his injured hand and has had to stay in the
hospital for 2 weeks. We've been able to visit him a few times which
has been good though. Yu is still in Beijing and a couple other
investigators have fallen off the map. We did receive a referral
though named Tsunashima Kyoudai, who is the husband of a member and
father of 3 returned missionaries. He has finally decided that he
wants to get baptized, which is so awesome! We are teaching him now
and it's been going well. We were also able to meet a new investigator
on the street who seems to have good potential, so the Lord is
definitely still blessing us!

This church is the church of the Lord. The miracles, the feelings and
the blessings that we receive are surely undeniable. Christ is at the
head of His church and I know that He is hastening the work of
salvation. Even in the world we live in today, I know that peace and
guidance can be found through holding to the rod and staying on the
path that leads towards eternal life. Love you all, have a great week!

God loves all His children

Hey everyone, another week in the books! The weather here in Tokyo is
finally starting to cool down a bit! It's now in the 50s in the
morning and 60s throughout the day. Prime proselyting weather! The
final week of the transfer has begun. Crazy! Still feels like I just
went and picked up Elder Nitta. But the work is great and I love
working with Elder Nitta. We have a lot of fun working and it's
awesome to experience miracles together. Tomorrow Elder Bednar is
coming to our mission for a conference. I'm pretty excited! It's
always awesome having general authorities come and train us,
especially an apostle of the Lord. (Even better when it's one you
(kinda) have a connection with!) I'm sure it will be a great
opportunity to learn from on high and receive lots of guidance.

So last week our investigator Hirotsugu Iwagi went into the hospital
to have surgery on his hand again. I'm not sure if I've explained his
situation before but he was in a bad work accident about 9 months ago.
So anyway he's going to be in the hospital for about 2 weeks. We went
and visited him the other day and it was pretty cool. I really don't
like hospitals but it was great to be there to talk about the gospel
of Jesus Christ. He's doing well and we're praying for a quick
recovery for him. Please pray if you would like! We also went on
exchanges this past week. I went with another first transfer Elder who
is our district leader Elder Calhoun's companion. It was great. I love
working with young missionaries! So our investigator Yu is still in
Beijing right now. He'll be back at the beginning of November, so
right now the finding game is on! We really want to find new people to
teach who are prepared to hear the restored gospel.

We also have been getting a lot of meal appointments with members here
and have had the opportunity to share messages with them and help them
with their own personal missionary work, because after all it is the
members who need to find investigators! We met with a great older
couple from the second Ward who is really on fire right now with
sharing the gospel. I learned a great lesson from him as he is a great
example of sharing the gospel with all of those around him. He is so
reliant upon the fact that he knows that God will guide him and help
him to find people who are prepared to hear the gospel.

Today, I'd like to share a paragraph from Preach My Gospel. "God loves
you and all His children. He is anxious to support you in your
practical and specific challenges. You have been promised inspiration
to know what to do and have been given the power to do it (see D&C
43:15–16). He will help you as you try to recognize and understand the
Spirit through diligent scripture study. He will guide you to people
who will receive the message of the Restoration. He will give you
power to deliver the message and to testify of Christ and His gospel.
He will shower His blessings upon you through the gift of the Holy
Ghost. He asks that you remain worthy of this gift and that you ask,
seek, and knock (see D&C 4:7; Matthew 7:7–8)." I hope you all are
willing and building up your courage to seek opportunities through the
spirit to open your mouths about the restored gospel to those around
you. It all starts with an example and an eye to see and find
opportunities to share your beliefs with others. Let's all try to be
better missionaries! I know God will help and strengthen us. Love you
all, talk to you next week!

Elder Snyder and Elder Nitta
スナイダー長老と新田長老