It's Elder Snyder again! It has been a while and the last 2.5 weeks have been soooooo eventful so I'll get right to it!
I finished online MTC at the end of September, and while I was at home I kinda just did a lot of getting stuff together and packing for when I left. I did get to go through the temple though and that was amazing. The Newport Beach and the San Diego temples opened right before we were going to be leaving, and while we couldn't get a spot in Newport Beach, we got one in San Diego on the 2nd day they were open! We got an 8 am time slot, so we left at 5 that morning to make it on time haha. It was seriously one of the coolest things ever and I can't wait for when we will all be able to go back to the temple someday.
Anyway, I did not get the airport mission drop off experience because I drove with my family to my mission! We decided to make a whole trip out of it so we could watch General Conference with our extended family before dropping me off at the mission home.
So the Tuesday after General Conference was when I started, and it has been so awesome so far. We did some new missionary training that day, then stayed in a hotel with all the other new missionaries that night. The next day we met our trainers and drove to our areas. My companion's name is Elder Petersen and he is seriously the best ever. He is so funny and so patient and so positive all the time. He's from Northern Idaho, and his original mission assignment is to Peru. He actually just finished his training in the mission, which is your first 3 months, so he's pretty new too. I'm excited for our companionship though. Our area is the Eagle Mountain East Stake. We are the only missionaries that cover the 9 wards in this stake, so we are pretty busy! We do a lot of working with members, but there are also lots of nonmembers we are working with too. Things are going great here though!
My first 2 days in the field were awesome. We were talking to lots of people, and meeting lots of awesome families, and riding our bikes around our area in the beautiful Utah fall weather. On Friday though we found out that my little brother tested positive for COVID-19, so our mission president put us in a 7 day quarantine. So yeah, we haven't left our basement apartment since Friday and I'm spending my first PDay inside. But it's okay, neither of us have any symptoms so this is really just out of precaution. And my little brother is doing great now in case you were wondering!
But yesterday we were teaching our 15 minute member lesson to a certain family over Zoom, and neither of us had met them yet, but they were from the Philippines! Not only that, but the dad is from Bacolod AND speaks Hiligaynon!! That about blew my mind and made me soooooo happy. He said he would practice with me too! I know that our Heavenly Father seriously knows each of His children individually, because he sent me to maybe the one place in Utah county where somebody speaks Hiligaynon! You are a child of God! Never forget that! You are infinitely loved by your Heavenly Father, and He wants what is best for you. If you are seeking direction, or feeling confused about anything in your life, you can turn to your Heavenly Father for what to do and He will answer! God hears every single one of His children's prayers and He is always absolutely THRILLED to heard from YOU.
Malipay ako nga nakamisyon sa 2020 kag sa Eagle Mountain! Kabalo ako nga si Jesucristo ang Manluluwas sang kalibutan kag palangga niya kita!!
Palangga GID ta kamo
Elder Snyder
Some highlights from the last few weeks:
 |
| Filipino dinner with Elder Stout from our home ward and their family friends who are from the Phillippines. |
 |
| Jollibee: Filipino fast food in LA |
 |
| The Temple!! |
 |
| President and Sister Treadway |
 |
| Me and Elder Peterson |
Me with the best street sign in our area (My eyes are closed lol!)
