Week 103: Once in a Lifetime!

Ozzie's Baptism

Hey everyone!

For my last week, things went pretty great. Lots of the regular things, but some pretty epic things too. August really does cool off in UT and this week has been stunningly gorgeous.

Ozzie passed his baptismal interview, but I'm glad we booked out a lot of time for it because we knew it would take a while. It was fun though because I got to chill with my homie Elder Albritton. His comp was doing the interview so we just hung out on the doorstep for a while. At first we just talked about movies and stuff, but after I got tired of that I abruptly asked, "So what have you been reading in the scriptures lately?" Then we just talked about the Book of Mormon for the next 45 minutes or so. On my mission, something I've grown to treasure is talking about the gospel and sharing and hearing insights with people. It's how I've built my strongest friendships on the mission. Im to the point now where I'm like, "If you're not talking about the gospel, what are you even talking about?" If you want to really get to know someone better or develop a deeper relationship with them, read and discuss the scriptures with them and bear your testimony to each other. It's one of the big reasons I'm so grateful we have the Book of Mormon and love being a member of the Church. 

Juan Carlos got confirmed on Sunday as well. He thanked Elder Petersen and I a lot for all that we've done for him, when I really feel like I was just doing my job and Juan Carlos was there for it. We described our experience with Juan Carlos to a member family in another stake we cover and the dad summarized it in a way I really liked. He said, "You were a tool in the Lord's toolbox, and you were ready to be used when He needed you." 

We had Ozzie's baptism on Sunday at the Alpine Tabernacle here in American Fork, and it was just so right for Ozzie honestly haha. We got there about an hour early to help set things up in the basement where the font is, and once that was done I asked the guy that unlocked the building for us if he could unlock the assembly hall and if I could play the organ. He was like "Hm I don't know if my key opens that but why don't we go try," and then when his key worked he was like "Hey well whaddya know." That was a pretty once-in-a-lifetime thing to play that organ because it is amazing. I had Elder Petersen take a video of the whole thing haha.

Ozzie's baptism went great too. I remember when I told him that he was going to be betting baptized on my last Sunday as a missionary and he said, "Well I'm honored!" There were lots of friends and family there, and he invited a lot of his music professors from BYU. Not gonna lie that was definitely on my mind when I played the prelude and the songs and stuff haha. Ozzie is going to be such a great member of the Church. He will contribute so much to the kingdom of God. His wife is pregnant too so he'll be a father for the first time in about 6 months, and he's really excited to raise a family in the gospel and teach his new daughter the things he's learned. He's very inquisitive and has all kinds of amazing insights about the gospel. After people get baptized there's still lots of new-member lessons to teach, and more steps to take. Baptism is just a beginning. After Ozzie's baptism we told him that he wouldn't be "graduating" from the missionaries just because he's a member now, and he said, "Oh of course! Now is where the fun begins!"  

Today on my last pday I had my exit interview with President Evanson. Exit interviews are also a pretty once-in-a-lifetime thing, so I knew I 'd really need to pay attention. He had some very profound but very simple advice for me. It was so great to have one last time to sit down and talk with him. I will really miss working with him and being taught by him so frequently. He's an amazing example of service and devotion to the Lord and to His kingdom. 

The mission is a pretty once-in-a-lifetime thing in general. My mission has taught me so much. They always say a mission is to help others and invite others to Christ, but I really feel the biggest change in someone's life that was made on my mission was in my own. The mission is just as much as it is for you as it is for the people you will serve. I owe everything to my mission. My life is completely different now than it was before. I'm so much happier with who I am now than who I ever was. I see everything different now than I did before. It's changed my life completely. I never thought a mission was for that or could do that, but that's probably how serving a mission was able to change me so much. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord's kingdom on earth, not just another church. It is the way our loving Heavenly Father has provided for His children to make covenants with Him and receive all that He has. The Church is airtight. There is no way it isn't true. Joseph Smith was a prophet and continues to hold the keys of this dispensation. He is an amazing man and my testimony would not be what it is without his example. The Book of Mormon is a blessing to this world. It can arm us with spiritual power and protection against the contentious world we live in. It is the word of God and a life-changing book. Reading it can teach us that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord's kingdom on earth, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, but most importantly, that Jesus Christ is the Savior. He was sent by our Father in Heaven to redeem us all from sin. It is only through Him that we can repent and become all that we are meant to be. The more that we turn from sin and follow Him, the more we are changed by His Atonement. We can become better people than we can even imagine if we repent and follow Him. His teachings are the only way to enduring and indescribable joy.

Thank you all for sticking with me to the end! I'll be giving a talk about my mission in my home ward this Sunday, August 14th, at 10:30am at 3645 N Moorpark Rd, Thousand Oaks, CA. 

Love you all!

Elder Snyder

Playing the Alpine Tabernacle organ

Week 102: Let the Lasts Begin...

Juan Carlos' Baptism

Hey everyone!

Last week was so busy. We almost didn't have any time to knock doors because we were so busy teaching lessons haha. 

First I wanna shout out the Snyder tousins for writing me lots of awesome cards at the family reunion! I loved reading through them. You guys are the best!

Tuesday after weekly planning we taught Nathan. He's the one who's mom came up to us at the ward party and asked if we could teach her son so he could get baptized. He's actually super cool. I've taught a lot of kids on my mission, and Nathan is the kind that's fun to teach haha. Super talkative and engaged. His mom is really cool too so we're excited to work with that family more. 

Wednesday was my last zone conference and it was really really good. President Evanson just taught about the gospel and doctrine of Jesus Christ, and that they actually are different things. We talked a lot about serving for the right reasons and how working and being obedient because you love Jesus Christ is much more fulfilling than doing those things out of duty or because it's expected. That really hit home because I've really had to sort through things like that on my mission. I made sure to get pictures with all my friends from the mission that are still here haha. I didn't get to play our mission song one last time, but I've played it at countless other zone conferences and MLCs. I did get to do the musical number which was fun, and share my departing testimony. I mostly talked about how a mission is meant to make you into something better just as much as it is to bring others to Christ. The more you let go of, the more He can do with you, and the better the person you can become by following Him.   

Matthew 16: 24-25 says it all:

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

After zone conference we had dinner with a family that had already invited over Ozzie and his wife for dinner. It was fun to hang out with them. Ozzie and his wife are actually both super cool. We wanted to teach Ozzie more about the temple before his baptism, so we watched the video where E. Stevenson and E. Renlund give a tour of the Washington DC temple. Then we talked about it for a while. Ozzie is really philosophical and just very big brain. We got to meet with him again on Sunday to finalize some details for his baptism. We're having it at the Alpine Tabernacle, which is this super cool old building on Main St. It seats like 1,000 people or so and has this super epic pipe organ, and there's a baptismal font in the basement! We taught him more about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith that evening as well. 

Friday we got to visit Marianne this week for the last time before she moved. She still really wants to get baptized, so hopefully I'll be able to stay in touch with her after the mission and maybe even go to her baptism. I'll miss her though. She's a really sweet old lady. She always says, "Thank you kindly." When we went to the care center on Sunday for church there was this old man that rolled himself right up to us and said, "Hey missionaries! I'm Gary. I'm not LDS, but I'm a believer for sure. I wanna keep coming to church here too." It never ends at that care center haha. 

Juan Carlos passed his interview on Friday, and all day I was texting people left and right to fill up the program for everything that needed to get done. We had to double up with a few people but it worked out. Juan Carlos wanted his friend Moises to baptize him, and they've known each other for like 20 years. They went to college together back in Peru and now they both live here in Utah Valley. Moises was so excited and said he'd been waiting for this for about 20 years. Then Saturday morning Moises called us and said he wouldn't be able to make it, so Juan Carlos ended up asking me to baptize him. It was pretty sad that Moises couldn't make it, but it was really special getting to baptize him. Juan Carlos has an immense amount of faith. The missionaries weren't teaching him before I got transferred here, and I met him for the first time about 3 weeks ago, and then I got to baptized him after we'd taught him everything. He was so ready to join the Church and live the gospel when we met him. We just happened to be the ones here to be a part of it. 

But it's not over yet! The night after his baptism he texted us that he wasnt feeling good, and then he didn't end up getting confirmed on Sunday because he was still really sick. We're planning on doing it this Sunday, but please pray that everything will work out and that it will go through! 

Sorry to leave yall on a cliffhanger! 1 more week to go!

Love you all!

Elder Snyder

Cows

Last Zone Conference

Week 101: Don't Count Down Just Yet, Mom!

Don't cha love Utah!

Hey everyone!

We're really getting down to the wire here. It didn't really quite set in till maybe yesterday that it really is all gonna come to an end. I only have 2 full weeks left. The first three weeks of this transfer here in AF actually went by kinda slow, but this last one was really fast, and the next 2 will probably be faster. 

Tuesday we went and visited Marianne. She's moving August 1st! She's off to an assisted living place in Kaysville. We'll be sad to see her go, but it'll really be an upgrade for her. She's currently living in a state-run care center, so like basically a long-term hospital, but now she'll be living in an assisted living facility. She also has a sister that lives in Layton, so she'll be closer to family too. She's getting closer to baptism though. On Sunday we came to the care center for their sacrament meeting and we went and grabbed her from the patio where she was smoking. She told us, "I'm coming to church today, don't worry!" So we said, "It's starting right now though!" So she put out her cigarette right then and said, "Guess we better go!" Later in the meeting she whispered to us, "Thanks for coming to get me." After the meeting she said she hadn't smoked at all yesterday and had only done one and a half today, and that the new place she's moving to might not let her smoke, so she's trying to quit before then. She really has come so far. I don't know if she'll be able to get baptized before she moves, but I'd love to stay in touch with her and go to her baptism up in Kaysville one day soon!

We also had some awesome lessons with Juan Carlos this week. He is pretty much all set for his baptism on Saturday. All that's left is his interview. We were looking for another person in his ward that speaks Spanish to help us with a lesson, but we couldn't find anyone. Then we got a random text from a lady in his ward saying, "I don't know why but I had a prompting to text the missionaries and offer to help with anything and everything." Turns out, she speaks Spanish, and she came to his lesson later in the week! She even invited him to the ward party this week, and he came! Juan Carlos is what we call in our mission "elect," and he's one of the most elect I've ever seen.

We had a great lesson with Fernando this week. His girlfriend was at FSY this week which was actually kinda nice because then I think he was a little more honest with us. We read through President Nelson's talk from Apr '21 about how to build faith, and he really liked it. He's just feeling really conflicted right now. He doesn't know if God is there, if Jesus died for him, or if the Book of Mormon is true, but he really wants to know. He hears a lot of bad things about the Church from his coworkers too, so he really wants to know what's right. He could really use some prayers right now. He said he and his girlfriend might try going to a YSA ward soon though. As much as I like teaching Fernando, YSA would be so good for him. I think that could really help him figure all of this out if he started having more good influences. 

We also had a really good lesson with Irlanda. We finally got to sit down with her mom and talk about Irlanda getting baptized. She really wants to make sure Irlanda, so right in front of us she starts grilling Irlanda with all kinds of questions about the Church haha. Irlanda's mom speaks like no English, but she wants her family to go to church in English, so that's why we're teaching her. We told Irlanda's mom that Irlanda knew the baptismal interview questions pretty well, and she was like, "Really?" So I copied and pasted the baptismal interview questions into Google Translate into Spanish right there in the lesson haha, then texted them to Irlanda's mom. She really appreciated it though. She really wants Irlanda to go to church more, but she's only 9, so when the mom doesn't take her to church on Sundays it's a little frustrating haha.

I also went on exchanges with Elder Albritton this week. I was his zone leader the entire time I was a zone leader, and now he's my zone leader. We've been in the same zone for 8 consecutive transfers haha. He's epic though and it was really fun to chill with him for the day. His area is also a stake in Lindon that goes right up Orem, and it was such a treat to be back in Orem for the evening! We also went to the Purple Turtle, which is a UOM classic, and I'd never been until this week. 

Saturday evening we went to a ward block party cuz Juan Carlos was gonna be there, and while we were there a lady walked up to us and started telling us about her 9 yr old son who wants to get baptized, and invited us over on Tuesday night to start teaching him! She also said they want to do the baptism before August 20th, and she said either the 18th or the 19th or August would probably be the day. So we put someone on date and all we did was show up to a ward party haha. 

Sunday was epic because it was Pioneer Day! I think this was one of the first times in my life I looked forward to Pioneer Day haha. Elder Petersen and I spoke in one of our wards, and we spoke on the blessings of missionary service. I tied it into pioneers because I remember on trek I learned that the decisions we make today affect more than just us, because the good decisions my pioneer ancestors made 175 years ago are still affecting me today. Serving a mission is certainly something that can bless generations.

Some of my friends I came in with are going home this Thursday and they wanted me to do it too, but I never wanted to do that, and now I'm so glad I never even considered that because we have so much going on the next 2 weeks. We have zone conference, lots of lessons, Juan Carlos' baptism, and Ozzie's baptism too! These last 2 weeks are gonna be awesome! 

Love you all!

Elder Snyder

A nice dog

On the Town

Wildlife

...more wildlife

Epic rainbow

Finally hit the Purp Turt

Week 100: Kinda liken' AF tho...

Temple photo shoot

Hey everyone!

The days are getting hot. Summer in Utah can make you forget winter ever happened. I'd take heat over snow any day though, especially after what I endured in Draper haha. 

Last pday after I sent my email with met with a guy we're teaching named Ozzie. He lives in the stake that we picked up right when I got transferred here, and he's been planning on getting baptized August 7th for a while. He is super big brain. Like huge. He talks like a philosopher, and he is very insightful. It's cool teaching him because he just perceives everything differently than most people. He is really looking forward to becoming a member of the Church. He really likes how inclusive and transparent the Church is. He understands that he still has a lot to learn about the Church though, so it's really cool just teaching him new things because his whole expression will change and he'll say, "Fascinating!" He also goes to BYU and is majoring in music composition, and plays the piano and the organ really well, so in our first lesson when I found that out I said, "Wow we could get so sidetracked." 

Tuesday we met with Juan Carlos in the afternoon. This was our first real lesson with him. We went over the Restoration and invited him to read the Book of Mormon, and we also invited him to be baptized, and he said yes! He even accepted a date of July 28th! We told him that while 2 weeks might seem like a short amount of time, we can teach him everything he needs to know to be ready by then, to which he said, "Oh thank you!" He's even already letting his friends and family know so he's pretty pumped. We met with him again on Thursday and brought a guy from the ward who speaks Spanish which was helpful. We taught the first half of the plan of salvation, and also went over the Word of Wisdom, which he already lives too. The homie was straight prepared. 

On Thursday I went on exchanges with a young Elder named Elder Baldauf. The kid was born and raised in Kansas and is pretty dang funny. We visited Marianne with President Evanson, and he was able to have a good talk with her. She's been really discouraged lately because she really wants to get baptized but is having a really hard time quitting smoking. She could really use some prayers right now. We also met with Fernando this week too. We went over the plan of salvation with him and he understood it really well. He just needs to recognize that the Spirit already is telling him that it's all true, but he'll get there one day. 

On Friday we finally got to teach Irlanda. Her family was pretty much active before COVID, but because of COVID, she hasn't been able to get baptized. Elder Petersen said that him and his last comp were knocking door around where she lives and that Irlanda came up to them and asked, "Are you the missionaries?" so they said yeah. Then she said, "Okay well I want to get baptized." She's been hard to meet with because her mom is so busy, but she really knows her stuff. We had an awesome lesson with her and her older sister and another homie from the ward that we brought. 

Saturday night we met with Ozzie again. In our lesson with him on Monday he mentioned that he hasn't been able to study a lot from or about President Nelson, so we decided to go over my favorite talk of his. We read "Christ Is Risen; Faith in Him Will Move Mountains" from Apr '21 with him, and he really liked it. He said he appreciated the clear and direct instruction from President Nelson, as well as his "sage-like" wisdom, and his complete avoidance of talking about himself. Ozzie was impressed that he stayed focused on teaching the doctrine, and even commented that President Nelson's directness is what he would want in a religious leader. So yeah, Ozzie is very big brain. 

Sunday we went to a meager 6 sacrament meetings, and got to visit some really epic members. There was one family that had lived in the old part of American Fork, and that the house they lived in had been renovated several times, but that it had originally been built in 1893! Another family also told us about this OLD house by the stake center that straight up looks like a haunted mansion. Even though it looks abandoned I know there are people that live there though  cuz I know some missionaries before me had a bad run-in with the residents. Then the guy telling us about it though was saying there are some local legends that it actually is haunted, and then he said it was called the Chipman mansion and I was like, "NO WAAAAAY." 

Nanaka unfortunately didn't end up getting baptized today cuz she ran into a few roadblocks with her family in Japan. She still really wants to get baptized and knows it's the right thing for her though, so she'll get there one day for sure.

But yeah, this area kinda has it all. Good food, endless work, tons of people to teach, tons of homie members, and a rich and coloful history. Kinda reminds me of Vineyard haha. Sometimes I wish I could stay here for longer, but what're ya gonna do. 

Love you all!

Elder Snyder

Visited Gramps

At the hospital...to give a blessing.

President Interviews

Week 99: Not Enough Time...

Me and Elder Toro at the Temple

Hey everyone!

This was another crazy week. Every night when I write in my journal and think over the day I think, "Wow, that all happened today?" 

On Tuesday, I was finally able to return to Don Joaquin's. Back in like February, President Evanson made a rule of no getting food outside your zone, so since then certain zones have had monopolies on some of the best places in the mission. My old zone in Orem, the Cherry Hill zone, had Leatherby's on lock. I'm now in the Pleasant Grove zone, so we have the Lindon Don Joaquin's. Pretty epic. 

We visited Marianne a lot this week. She's doing much better. She is the sweetest old lady. We told her that once she hasn't smoked for 2 weeks she can get baptized, and she took it really well. We shared 2 Nephi 26: 24 & 33 with her and she thought it was beautiful. That's because it really is. Our Savior denying none that come unto him is a beautiful teaching, and that all are accepted and improved when we follow him. She came to church on Sunday too, and as we were pushing her back to her room in her wheelchair, she was looking at all the other residents at the care center in their rooms as we passed by and said, "All these people that don't go to church. I love church!" 

I went on exchanges with E. Toro this week! It was so fun to be comps with him again. He's still his hilarious self, but I was so impressed with the missionary he has become. I was training him around this time a year ago, and he has come so far. He used to be really quiet around other people, but now he's so much more comfortable talking to people. He's really improved with teaching people, and he's really good at inviting the Spirit with his teaching. It was so cool to see. It was a proud dad moment for sure. 

On the exchange E. Toro and I met with a guy named Fernando. He just got passed off to us because we're whitewashing a stake right now too, so we were both meeting him for the first time. He's kinda the same situation as Ryan who I was teaching in my last area. He's been dating a girl named Shantel for like 2 years, then she invited him to meet with the missionaries, which started only a few weeks ago. He really wants to know if the Book of Mormon is true, and he and Shantel read it together every night, and he goes to church with her like every Sunday. He's really got a lot of potential. We always meet with him at the park by the temple too so that's cool. 

We also started teaching a guy named Juan Carlos. One of our Bishops told us that he'd come to church last Sunday and came up and introduced himself to him. We went by his house to talk to him, and he came to church again! He is from Peru, and he's lived in UT for about 10 years. He said he has lots of friends who are members, but that he grew up Catholic. He has been comparing the Catholic church to our church a lot, and he likes how in our church anyone can speak in church, babies don't get baptized, and kids worship with their families in church. We sat down with him after sacrament meeting and I asked him if he wanted to become a member of the church, and he very affirmatively said, "I think so." We told him we could teach him everything he'd need to know to make that decision. We also told him about Spanish speaking missionaries and Spanish wards and asked if he'd prefer that, and he said, "Well I'm trying to perfect my English, so I think I should do this in English. I don't need to go to church in Spanish, cuz I already speak Spanish!" 

Sunday we had lots of people come to church. We were bouncing around between lots of sacrament meetings so we could try to see everyone and invite more people between the meetings, so we ended up going to 5 sacrament meetings. We were speaking in a 9am ward too haha. 

Pday today was good. Continuing my food review of the Utah Orem mission, next stop is Hruska's Kolaches, on Main St in American Fork. If you don't know what a kolache (cuh-law-chee) is, it's a really yummy food originally from the Czech Republic. It's also very popular in the state of Texas. Elder Barney would rave about kolaches. It's like a ball of bread filled with all sorts of things, and they have sweet and savory kolaches. Things like ham, cheese, bacon, sausage, eggs, but also strawberries, cream, Nutella, and the like. They weren't super cheap, but they're very delicious. The bread is really really good. We met a lady from Texas there and she said Hruska's are better than any she had in Texas. They're only open from 6:30am to 12 noon, but it's worth it. It's so good. We also played pickleball for 3 hours. 

There's so much going on here, and so much to do. Sometimes I feel like there's not enough time and I wish I could be here for longer. But that's the thing about missionary work. It has been going on long before me, and it will continue to push onward long after me. It's the most important work in the world, and I really have had a front-row seat for the last little bit. It's been such a blessing. 

Love you all!

Elder Snyder 

The folks

Hruska's

Cool Pipe Organ

Smoky Sunset

You see the temple everywhere here!

Week 98: The Hidden Gem 💎💎

Da Big Flag

Hey everyone! 

This was a crazy week. So many things happened. Where do I even start?

For starters, my new area in AF is epic. Like super epic. Like top 10 areas in the mission epic. We cover 3 stakes here (28 units), and it's basically the area between the I-15 and the Mt. Timp temple. It's around AF High School too. There's some classic Utah stuff, like old homes and lots of church buildings, but there's also tons of new housing. Like tons. We have like several apartment complexes that are all pretty new, and houses packed in as close as they can be, and tons of stuff still going up that people are moving into like every day. It's like Vineyard, but I had no idea this was even here. It's the hidden gem of the UOM.

There's so many people to talk to, and so many people to teach! We can knock doors all day every day cuz there's so many people, and I showed up here with already so many people being taught. People in all stages of progression, and lots of people close to baptism. We're whitewashing one of the stakes we got, so we inherited a bunch of people to teach from them too. I feel honored to be here for my last 6 weeks. It kinda feels like a 6 week exchange haha. It's also so nice being in family, the default demographic, because there's way more people you can actually teach. As fun as YSA and Polynesian was, it's a very niche thing. 

My final comp's name is Elder Petersen. He was born and raised in South Carolina, and you can tell by the way he talks. He doesn't have an accent, but he's got a really deep voice and says, "Yes ma'am" and "Yessir" all the time. It's pretty epic. He's only been out like 6 months too so he's got a real fresh take on everything. 

The main person we're working with right now is Marianne. She lives in a care center, and she wants to get baptized really bad but can't until she stops smoking and drinking coffee. Her baptism was going to be last Sunday, and when we told her we'd need to push it back she was really disappointed. The next day when we visited her before the care center sacrament meeting, she was about ready to give up on getting baptized. I looked and E. Petersen and he didn't know what to do, I just bore my testimony on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I told Marianne that because of the Atonement, it's never too late. There's always second chances, and there's always more time. I told her just because she didn't get baptized today doesn't mean she can't ever. She's really in a tough spot right now, so please pray for Marianne. I've only met her like three times but she is the sweetest lady and I feel like I've already known her for a long time. 

Also, an epic update from E. Barney from my last area: NANAKA IS ON DATE!!! She is planning on getting baptized on the 18th. E. Barney said it was an amazing lesson. E. Barney and I had never really felt prompted to invite her to be baptized, and in some of our earlier lessons she expressed a lot of hesitancy about it. After all, she'd moved to Utah from Japan at the beginning of May and only started meeting with us like 2 weeks later, so a lot of change. E. Barney and I had gone really slow with her to make sure she understood things like the Atonement of Jesus Christ, faith, repentance, and the plan of salvation. She was also praying and reading the BOM every day, and going to church every Sunday. But E. Barney said that this time they finally thought it was the right time, and when they invited her to be baptized on the 18th, she said, "Let me get my calendar to make sure that works!" She also was worried that the missionaries would stop coming after she got baptized! I think once she recognized the Holy Ghost, she figured out that this was something she wanted for a long time. I'm so excited for her. I love that our mission is small so that going back to Vineyard for a baptism is no issue at all haha.  

A lot of the members have recognized that I'm new here, but when I say how long I've been out I'll also say, "So you don't have to remember my name." They usually think that's pretty funny. People don't heckle me about being trunky anymore which is kinda nice. Months 20-22 people were always like, "Almost there!" or "Don't get trunky!" The worst is when they just look at my comp and ask, "Now is he trunky?" But here in month 23 they're just like, "Wow. You did it!" and I'll say, "It aint over it till it's over!" 

Pday today was epic. We played pickleball in the morning for like 2 hours, got food, then checked out the giant flag they hang in the canyon left of the G on the mountain. If you haven't lived in Utah Valley, that description probably didn't make sense, but it was really cool. I'll add pics. They had all 50 state flags leading up the trail to it. Then we played pickleball for another hour. 

Lots to do in American Fork! I'm lowkey disappointed I'm only gonna be here for 6 weeks, because it pops off.  

Love you all!

Elder Snyder

Transfers

Week 97: TrAnSfErReD fOr mY LaSt 6 wEeKs?!?

Group photo with Elder Bednar...Can you find me?

Hey Everyone,

This was actually a really awesome week. Lots of great stuff.

We did a member visit with a YSA dude who is actually an adjunct professor at BYU, teaching a class on the Pearl of Great Price. After we shared a message with him, he asked if we wanted to see some old books he had, which E. Barney and I heartily agreed to. He had an 1870's Pearl of Great Price that he bought from Moon's Rare Books in Provo (an old book collector's store, owner is Reid Moon), and another 19th century Doctrine and Covenants which was really cool. He had several others, and E. Barney and I felt like it was Christmas morning. He hadn't even gotten out the coolest book yet though. *Church nerd moment alert* Then he got out a printed copy of a drafted manuscript of the Pearl of Great Price by Bruce. R. McConkie that was never canonized by the First Presidency. Some of E. McConkie's inclusions in his abridgement of the Pearl of Great Price was every passage of Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, the entire Wentworth letter, and the Articles of Faith with TWO additional verses added by E. McConkie! Since this abridgement was never canonized though, it was never published. 

You might be wondering: How did he get this book? Well, he got it from helping a friend clean out her late father's old book collection. He said he just grabbed a bunch of books from the collection without really looking at them and offered his friend $500 for the box. She agreed because she didn't know how much they were worth and wasn't planning on keeping them anyway. But you might also be wondering: How does this book exist? Well, he said that somehow someone had to have bootlegged the unpublished manuscript, and then had it compiled into this book. The inside of the book said there were only 20 copies ever made, and that his was #9! He said he took it to Church history authenticators, who confirmed it was real. Then he said he took it to Moon's Rare Books and that Moon didn't have one of these and offered to buy it off him on the spot! Then he took it to rare book appraisers and discovered that the book was worth around $3,000!!

I also saw Maddy Stout at the Orem Chick-fil-a this week (except her last name isn't Stout anymore but I don't know what it is). She's from the home ward. I actually ran into her younger brother Cooper earlier in my mission back when I was in Draper haha. She also asked if I'd gotten a perm haha. 

We had another great lesson with Nanaka this week. We finished teaching the plan of salvation and she loved it. She loves reading the scriptures and and praying and going to church. She's really fitting into Utah quite well haha. We love getting to teach her because it's her first time ever hearing anything like it before. 

Friday morning we had a basically had a mini-ZC. A couple zones got together so we could have a brief devotional about Joseph Smith to commemorate the anniversary of his death, which is actually today. My mission president knows a lot about Joseph Smith. His wife said he owns almost every book ever written about him, good and bad. She said he taught an Institute class about him before too. President Evanson taught us a lot of cool things about Joseph Smith. I honestly love Joseph Smith, but what really helped me develop that connection to him was reading Saints 1. I've read all the Saints books now, but #1 is still the best because it's such an awesome story of good v. evil, and you just are rooting for the underdog Joseph Smith the entire time. You'll love reading it. I promise. 

Sunday we had an awesome lesson with Ryan. We don't get to meet with him very much because he and his girlfriend, Channing, travel a lot. They've been dating for a while, and Channing served a mission in Chile, so Ryan has been able to learn a lot about the Church. He's already lived in Utah for like 6 years and has met with missionaries before. He said he stopped meeting with them because they really wanted him to get baptized, but he didn't then and doesn't now feel ready to join the Church yet. We told him it's great that he understands the commitment, then we asked him if he believes the Book of Mormon is true. He said he didn't know yet, but that he's trying to find out. I asked if he's ever read and prayed about it, and he said, "Well Channing and I read it like every day, and I pray about it like every night, and I go to church every Sunday too." E. Barney and I were floored. We were like, "Well, you're doing everything you need to be doing, so just hold on and that answer will come!" I asked him, "What would it mean for you to know that the Book of Mormon is true?" He said, "That'd be life-changing!" 

Sunday was a very long day. We had a 7:30am meeting with the stake and ward missionary leaders, then 3 sacrament meetingsm, then a munch and mingle, then the lesson with Ryan, then 2 ward prayers, and a ward Come Follow Me. All of that followed by transfer calls! Right as we pulled in back at our apartment, President Evanson called and gave us the news. I am in fact being transferred for my last 6 weeks. I'm going to American Fork! I'm covering 3 stakes out there, and it's my old comp E. Dieker's area. I'm excited actually. I'm pumped to just go hard in an area I know I won't get sick of cuz it's only 6 weeks haha. I knew going into these transfer calls that whatever happened, good or bad, it would only be for 6 weeks. My new comp is a young buck named E. Petersen. Appropriately so because my first comp was named E. Petersen, and now my final comp will share the same name. 

American Fork is actually the land of my forefathers. I have some pioneer ancestors that got their endowments in the Nauvoo temple and then yeeted across the plains that were Chipmans, and my grandma Snyder's maiden name is Chipman. The Chipmans were among the first settlers of American Fork, and a lot of them are buried in the American Fork cemetery. I guess I was destined to serve there haha. I'm also being released as a zone leader, but it feels more like I'm retiring haha. I'll still be a district leader, but I'm looking forward to having a little less responsibility haha. My homie E. Albritton, whom I was a zone leader for the entire time I was a zone leader, is now my zone leader!   

Being a zone leader, and in YSA, and in Poly, has taught me so much. The only area I've ever done more than 3 transfers in was this one, and that 4th transfer made a big difference. The members knew me by name, and I knew them too. I always felt like an honored guest in the Poly wards, and that I was always among friends with them and in YSA. The amazing thing about my mission is that I don't really have to say goodbye. People will always ask me, "Ya gonna come back to visit?" and I'll say, "Ya can't come BACK to visit if ya don't leave!"

Love you all!

Elder Snyder

Me with McConkie's Pearl of Great Price

Article of Faith 14 and 15

Group pic with Elder Schmutz

Exchange Selfie