Week 70: Trudging Through a Winter Wonderland!

Lehi Zone at the Temple

Merry Christmas everyone!

This week was a super busy week. Everyday had something new.

It snowed a TON this week. Like full on FEET of snow in the backyard. Everyone was out snowblowing their driveways throughout the week. We heard about lots of plows getting stuck in the snow!

We went on exchanges twice this week. One time I brought Elder Jenkins to Suncrest, and he's from Alaska so he's used to seeing feet of snow. He's a super chill guy though. Then Friday I went to the Pheasant Pointe stake to go with Elder Hughes, and he's from Arizona so we toughed out the cold together. That area is on bikes, but because of the snow we were just walking. As we were walking along a busy street, and a random lady picked us up and dropped us off at a Jimmy John's that was combined with a gas station where we could get dinner. After we ate we were grabbing some snacks at the gas station, and she came BACK and bought our gas station stuff and some Jimmy John's giftcards, then gave us a ride to our next appointment! Utah is the best place in the world to be a missionary.

On Thursday we went to the temple as a zone, which was really cool. It was still only my third time going, but it keeps getting better. Afterward we went to Original Pancake House as a district. It snowed a ton that night. Elder Parker has been a great coach for driving in the snow. North Carolina gets a little snow, but that's still a lot more snow than I'm used to. We'll just be talking in the car, but whenever I start sliding we'll both just say "Oh?" and then we'll be quiet until I get traction again. It's a little scary, but we're usually some of the only people out on the roads so it's not too bad.

President and Sister Evanson have been doing this thing where each zone gets to do a little Christmas family home evening basically at their house, so our zone went Friday morning. We sang songs, read the scriptures, and President Evanson shared some really cool things about being a missionary during this time of year. We also had some spudnuts, which is a big Evanson family tradition. They're homemade donuts made with potato. They were pretty good. Maybe it's a Canadian thing, I don't know.

It's been hard to meet with people we're teaching lately because it's a busy time of year, but we got to see David for the first time in a while because we just pulled up. He and his wife (the one that got back from China) are both starting new jobs. He used to be so responsive and so down to meet and read the scriptures, but now he's kinda fizzling out and it's sad. Hopefully in the new year he'll be excited to start coming again like he said he was a while ago. We invited him to come to his ward's Christmas program (that I played piano in), but he works on Sundays now. David used to be our top guy, but now that he's kinda phased out we've just found new people who are even more epic honestly haha.

We had dinner with Bostin and Tara last night and it was so awesome to just talk with them for a while. They both are so fascinated by the Church. They wanted to talk about the pioneers settling Utah, and what mission life is like, and just how great God is. They're so awesome, and I think Bostin is really looking forward to Elder Parker and I being off our missions and being back at Provo because he just wants to hang out with us. Turns out Bostin also plays pickleball a lot, and he's been looking for a new group to play with! We told him that we play every Monday morning from 8 - 10:30, and he said he'd come next week!

Pday today was nuts. We played pickleball, then went to Chick-fil-a. Then we went to the mission office and picked up another gazillion packages for our zone. Then we went to Orem to go to the University Mall, but as we drove past Trader Joe's I was talking about how great it is, and Elder Parker said he'd never been, so we made a quick pit stop. As I was buying my orange-peach-mange juice, the cashier asked us where we were from (like people do). I said, "I'm from Southern California so I love this place!" and Elder Parker said, "I'm from North Carolina so I've never been here before." and then she gave us a free tote bag! Then we went to Al's at the mall so Elder Parker could finally buy his very own pickleball paddle. He is now the second comp I've gotten to buy one. Then we naturally had to check out the tie store. Then we hung out with the district, but there were so many holiday shoppers today so it took forever to get anywhere.

The Christmas holiday is all about celebrating the life of Jesus Christ, which was a life full of service and love, so what better way to celebrate the holiday than to do things that He did in His life? This time of year people are kinda reflecting on how their life has been going, and it can be a really hard time for some of them. Serving others is a great way to celebrate the Savior's birth and life, because that's what his life was all about.

I love you all!

Elder Snyder