Week 32: Its been a Green Week

 

Picking up Elder Phelps

How was everyone

This was a solid week. We really are out here doing what can. Elder Carlin and I picked up our greenies on Wednesday, hence, the subject line. 

First things first, my (very) new companion is Elder Phelps from Portland, Oregon. We are the same ages in school, and he actually did 3 semesters at BYU so he did the whole COVID thing at BYU which did not sound fun. He's originally called to Peru, so I have only had reassigned companions so far. Elder Carlin is also training and his trainee is Elder Haywood from Victorville, CA and is also originally assigned to Peru. They're coming in at a great time in the mission though because we are being showered with cookies from people now that we can accept food. 

In that regard, there was one time where this one mom was going to bring us dinner, and legit that day I was like, "bruh I kinda just want a salad low key," and then for dinner she brought us a Costco pizza and a Costco salad!! It was delicious.

Elder Phelps is taking to mission life great though. He is really good at just talking to people and is really eager to learn. I seriously have been blessed with all the companions I've had so far. 

The greenies have had some good food this week though. On their first day after unpacking we went to In-n-Out and somebody offered to pay for us. Then Friday was Elder Phelps' birthday so we got lunch at The Habit and a lady who happened to be from Westlake Village offered to pay for us too (I don't remember her name though hehe). Then Bishop Rollins and his family took us out to dinner that night at a Peruvian place for Elder Phelps' birthday and got us ice cream too. Then today at Cafe Rio we got paid for again. I guess there's more free places here than I thought joke langgggg. 

An interesing thing that happened this week is that one of the sisters in my district left for Chile on our transfer day last Wednesday, and now the new sister that came in to the district and her companion (who was already in the district) are BOTH going to their original assignments in Brazil on the 16th! So I guess they're gonna whitewash their area when they both leave for Brazil in like 2.5 weeks. My guess, very wishfully thinking, is that they might just combine our area with theirs when they leave because our area borders their's and we actually live in their area too. And even more wishfully thinking, they could potentially give us their car too. I'm not getting my hopes up, but that would be a real game-changer. 

Speaking of original assignments, Elder Dieker got the call that he is going to Chile this morning! He's leaving on the 22nd! Our plan was to go to Chili's for dinner on the day he got the call, but I guess he'll just have to go with his new companion.....

Our pday today was bomb too. We got to see the Lamb of God concert film which was really really good. If you live here in Utah, I would highly encourage you to go see it. We got to see it at the Megaplax theater at Thanksgiving Point with like 4 other zones of missionaries so it was basically a zone conference too. 

Last bit of news is that all the missionaries in the UOM are getting the COVID vaccine!! We're getting the first dose next pday, one week from today, and then obviously the second one a couple weeks after that. I'm really looking forward to it because I've never had COVID and if I don't get it this week then someday 20 years down the road and COVID inevitably comes up in a conversation I can say, "ya know I actually never had COVID." 

I love you all! Please keep praying for the Philippines! 

Elder Snyder 

Posterity picture! Saw Elder Petersen at the Lamb of God movie so he got to meet his mission grandson

The new district (I'm actually not the tallest because Elder Fawson is 6'6")

Us at Red Fuego (And if I'm being honest, Peruvian food is kinda aight)

They say not to pet the dogs in the mission, but Gus is the nicest dog in the world.

Ran into the sisters at the best store in the world (if you're a missionary. haha!)

Mine and Elder Dieker's score against "Big Donna"

Week 31: I done called it tho

Skylar's Baptism

Kamusta kamo?!?

What a week this was. Nothing INSANELY mind-blowing or anything, but it was good. If you're just here to hear about food places or transfers, then you might just have to read my letter hehe....

So with the Utah spring there often are times where it is warm enough outside and Elder Dieker and I don't have to wear sweaters or anything. So with the classic missionary look, we get a lot more honks and waves from people, and sometimes people will just straight up pull over and talk to us, and sometimes even give us money haha. Anyway, while this one lady that pulled over was talking to us, another car pulled over to talk to us and we were like "Bruh people are literally lining up on the side of the road to talk to us" joke langggggggggg. Anyway, when the first car was done, we turned around and saw the second car and the girl in the passenger seat says, "Hey my friend (*who was the driver*) isn't active in the Church anymore, so can you guys convert him? Just give him some words of wisdom." It ended up being a really cool conversation because this kid was really smart and had a lot of great questions for us actually. I thought we answered them as best we could, but the main thing we ended up talking about was that unless we pray to Heavenly Father for the answers we want, we are only going to be relying on the words of others. We personally have to go to the source of all knowledge when we have questions. We gave him a Book of Mormon too! It was awesome!

Another serious highlight this week was I went back to Eagle Mountain again for Skylar's baptism! Going back to old areas for baptisms is a big thing in this mission because it's so small, and Skylar was a kid I taught when I was there. It was a really great baptism too and it was great to see Skylar's family again. It was so fun to see all the Eagle Mountain homies again too. Always a good day when you get to go to the Promised Land.

Anyway, the moment you've all been waiting for: food places. This week had Mo Bettah's, Summit Pizza, El Mexiquenze, and TEXAS ROADHOUSE. I don't know why, but I always walk out of Texas Roadhouse better than I came in haha. That place is just another level of good.

Anyway, the other stuff that I guess some of you may kinda wanna hear about: transfers. Elder Dieker is going to American Fork, and in regards to the subject line, I'm training!! I'm actually pretty excited about it. It will be fun to have a new guy. Hopefully I can give him a good start. As for the Elders we live with, Elder Thomas is going to Vineyard and Elder Carlin is also training!! We're gonna have 2 trainees in the apartment! Double the fun! 

When they say you learn a lot on the mission, they really mean it. It's almost an understatement. You learn things you never thought you'd learn, or even needed to learn, or even were things to learn. You learn things you never knew you never knew (and if you got that quote, you a real one). The important thing is that we are humble enough to always be open to learning new things, trying new things, and seeeing how we can improve. There is always more to learn, and when we are humble enough, we can always learn more! 

Palangga ta kamo tanan! Halong pirmi!

Elder Snyder

Texas Roadhouse

Ballin' up with the district.

Week 30: Pday in the Promised Land

Me with basically the whole Utah Orem Mission

What is up to all the homies

This was a pretty solid week. I actually hit 7 months this week too. And our landlords had their first baby! She was boutta pop and then we got a text that said "K gonna be gone for the next couple days so take care of the house" and then a few days later we heard a baby screaming haha. 

Kicked off the week with Zone Conference last Tuesday which was fireeee. We actually got to have it in-person too which was awesome. Got to link up with some of the homies from Eagle Mountain, hear some dope trainings from President and Sister Treadway and some of the ZLs, and just kinda have some fun with other missionaries too. I kinda spend ALL of my time with the same 3 people, so it was nice to just kick it with other people for once haha. 

President Treadway gave a really good closing training and he made a big surfing analogy about Laird Hamilton. He asked at the beginning, "Does anyone know who Laird Hamilton is?" and I was the only one out of the 4 zones worth of missionaries to raise their hand. I was pretty surprised needless to say, but I have had a poster of him in my room since I was like 13 haha. Anyway, Laird Hamilton once rode this fatty wave in Tahiti that he had to get towed into by a jet ski, and he was like the first person to ever surf those waves. President Treadway talked about how when he let go of the rope on the jet ski, he was able to do something no one had done before, and like Laird, when we let go of our own ropes, like fear or pride or worry or negativity, we can do things we've never done before. Might sound kinda cheesy now, but it was really motivating!!

One of the great things about the improving weather in Utah is that people are just outside now, and the other day these kids were out playing basketball and one of them was like, "Missionaries!" and then we ended up playing basketball and soccer with them for like 20 minutes haha. 

Now, to explain today's subject line, today for pday we returned to the land of my forefathers; the place of my first inheritance in the mission; a land so bountiful that President Treadway himself refers to it as "the promised land:" Eagle Mountain!! Elder Thomas and Elder Dieker have really been wanting to go golfing, and the course out in Eagle Mountain gives a lot of discounts for missionaries, so we spent the morning hitting the links as they say. It was actually really fun. It was mostly Elder Thomas and Elder Dieker golfing, but I hit a couple of the holes and didn't do too bad if I may admit. I drove the cart most of the time too which was fun. There were also a couple other missionaries from Eagle Mountain right behind us on the course, so it was really fun to hang out with them too. Afterward we climbed the hill in my old area because it has a great view of the entire mission, took a quick drive around my old area for nostalgia's sake, and naturally, went to Village Pizza. Probably one of the most fun pdays I've ever had. 

I hope all of you are doing swell. Life really is good. Focus on the things you have done instead of the things you haven't, or you're just going to feel like a loser. This is a plague amongst missionaries to keep us from working, and unfortunately, it works sometimes, but the way to fix it is to keep your thoughts on the things that you know you can do and have done, and continue to work your brains out at those things.

Transfer calls are this Sunday so tune in next week for transfer news (maybe hehe). President Treadway said at zone conference that the incoming group of missionaries has 26 people, which means 26 trainers! 

Palangga ta kamo pirmi 

Elder Snyder     

When in Rome

Golfing in Eagle Mountain for Pday

Week 29: And There Was Bread

Pday lunch at Cafe Rio

Kamusta kamo??

A new era has dawned on the Utah Orem mission this week. Many of you may be thinking, "Wow, serving a mission in Utah, you must be getting fed every night, that must be so nice." Well, you would be INCORRECT. Missionaries in the UOM cannot accept any kind of food from members. Nothing pre-packaged, homemade, store-bought, nothing. If it's food, it's a no. I haven't had a single meal, plate of cookies, thing of jello, or glass of water with or from a member my entire time here. 

But that all changed this week. The fullness of the restored gospel continued to be revealed, and the missionaries of the Utah Orem mission can now accept any and all food from any and all people. That wondrous clipboard, where the members of the Relief Society sign up for a night to feed the missionaries, will once again be passed around. Lol, not quite, because we aren't meeting in-person for 2nd hour church meetings yet, and we still can't eat in homes with families, but dinners can be made and brought to us now haha. What a glorious announcement President Treadway made last Thursday. The four of us Elders were jumping and cheering during the mission-wide Zoom call where that was announced (we were muted don't worry hehe).

Probably the biggest thing to happen this week, and probably one of the biggest things to happen on my mission so far. We can also get rides from people now too! 

Also, spring is spranging here big time. We walked up Big Donna the other day without coats or sweaters, just the classic short-sleeve shirt look, and it was so nice. Big Donna is actually on a pretty busy street (1200 E for all you Utahns) and we usually get a couple honks and waves from people driving by, but that day the honks and waves went up about 200%. Pretty nuts. It was so fun just seeing people outside also enjoying the weather going on walks and such, because it was so fun to just stop and talk to people. 

An old lady we were doing a member-message with on Zoom called us Elder Hieker and Elder Peterson. I have never heard my name mispronounced in such a way. 

There was one night where it was kinda colder and windy and we were about to start our 15-20 minute walk home when we remembered that we could get rides now, so we texted one of our Bishops that we're really tight with and he pulled up to where we were in like 2 minutes to give us a ride home. Not to mention he pulled up in a stOOpid nice Audi, and when we got in the car his wife was there too and she asked, "Have you guys had dinner?" And interestingly enough, we actually had not, so they took us to Cubby's!  

In some other not-so-great news, Maria moved without telling us! We knew she was moving, and we offered to help her move multiple times. She totally said she'd take us up on that offer too, but some other people in the ward offered too and we think her husband didn't think they needed a lot of help and I guess didn't want to make a big deal out of things. Pretty lame, not gonna lie, but it be what it be. We'll keep trying to hit her up about her new address in Spanish Fork and try to get some missionaries at her door again!  

Overall, I'd say things are beginning to look up. The beautiful Utah spring is here, the Philippines is getting vaccinated like crazy, and there is bread. 

I truly am so grateful to be a missionary now. Obviously, there are hard weeks, and it honestly is mostly hard weeks, but missions were never meant to be easy. Literally, no one has had an easy mission. But people don't go on missions because they are easy, but because they are hard. We didn't choose to come to Earth before this life because it would be easy, but because it would be hard. It would also have greater joy than we could ever experience without coming here. The Lord has amazing things in store for each of His beloved sons and daughters, and through our faith in Him we can find joy in whatever comes our way. 

Find the joy!

Elder Peterson ;)

Elder Dieker told me this is a picture of us with a truck, but I don't know what he's talking about.

Crumbool!

Yet another photo shoot with the Welcome to Lehi sign.

Week 28: Takin' It As It Comes

Livin the Dream

What is up party people?

This was a pretty average week with a lot of pretty average days. But I'd take an average day over a bad day any day. So pretty much just a lot of random stories from the week.

We had combined district council in-person this week which was cool. It's always nice just to talk to other missionaries. And living with another set of Elders we always get to talk about how it was over lunch right after, so we went to Waffle Love. If you haven't been to Waffle Love, please go to Waffle Love. 

My mom was also in Utah for the weekend for my sister-in-law's baby shower, and she dropped off a huge bag of goodies for us! The best part is that most of it was from Trader Joe's!! A little taste of homeeeee. Also just some of my favorite things like circus animal cookies and a Chick-fil-a gift card. My Oma also added a jar of her homemade jelly from her homegrown current berries which is amazing. Speaking of my sister-in-law, she's having her baby in like a month!! Very exciting! My parents will be grandparents, my brother will be a dad, and I will be an uncle! Too bad I won't actually get to see my nephew until after my mission in like 17 months......

We got to do some service this week and we shoveled this lady's pickleball court in her backyard, and so we played pickleball for pday today! We'll probably be going there a lot from now on haha

We actually got to do service twice this week, and this lady was giving a lot of her stuff to DI so she said we could take whatever we might want. We did not exploit this opportunity mind you, rolling outta there with tons of random stuff we didn't need, but I did find one thing that caught my eye and I did in fact cop. Ya boy got a Ninja blender!!! In case I have failed to mention this, Elder Sherrod got didn't just get me into Kendamas, but also into making protein smoothies, and this was literally the perfect blender. It's one of those single serving smoothie-maker blenders, and it's my new favorite part of my day. I plan on bringing it around with me for the rest of my time in the UOM, and probably post-mish too.

Probably the coolest thing that happened this week was that yesterday we got a personal visit from President Treadway. It was kinda scary not gonna lie because none of knew what it was about, but he just wanted to talk to Elder Dieker for a bit. He said he just felt like he needed to have a conversation with Elder Dieker about how he's been doing, so it was actually really low key. It really showed us how President Treadway is a real person, not just the mission president we always see him as. He isn't as one-sided as mission presidents have to be at times, and he's actually really chill. 

The Utah Orem mission is a very different experience from every other mission in the world. Obviously all missions are unique experiences, but not every missionary gets to serve in a city named after a Book of Mormon prophet gek gek gek. All jokes aside, in times like now where we aren't really teaching anyone, I've been trying to focus on what I can learn from all this. Coming from California and now being a missionary in Utah, I've learned that our Church is not just a group of homies that like the Book of Mormon. We are not just "The Church." We are a group of people that love the Lord, Jesus Christ, and desire to follow Him and become like Him. We are not perfect, and we can't expect people to be either. That's why we depend on Jesus Christ to make up for that. That's why we worship Him; because without Him, we can never be all that we can be. That's why we are "The Church of Jesus Christ."

Please keep praying for the Philippines. 

I love you all!

Elder Snyder 

Elder Dieker and I at President Interviews

Me with the goodies from Mom

Elder Dieker with a Dementor

Some AMAZING Thai food that a member DoorDashed us. One of the best dinners I've had on the Mish.

My Ninja Blender...Cop of the Century