So I wrote out a really great email with exciting funny stories from throughout the week, laden with my usual subtle wit and charm, and put some good work into it. As I was completing the last step of adding the pictures, something happened and I don't know what, but it deleted the entire thing. I was livid. You're all receiving a 2nd draft that will probably not be as good as what it was before it was ruthlessly ripped from my hands.
With that, let's begin.
Tuesday I started feeling really sick. Wednesday we got tested and quarantined. Thursday morning Elder Parker's results come back negative but we still quarantine all day. Thursday night I'm feeling back to normal and the mission nurse tells me we can get back out even though I don't have results yet. Friday we have an epic day of missionary work, then in the evening my results come back positive! Saturday morning we called Sister Evanson and she said that the quarantine is 5 days from showing first symptoms, so I'd actually be out that day. I only felt sick for like 2 days, and my results took so dang long that by the time they came in my quarantine was up.
Wednesday we had a little field trip to Orem. Our car was getting new tires, so we dropped it off at the PepBoys on State St and they told us it'd be ready in about 2 hours. 2 free hours in downtown Orem: endless possibilites!! We walked to a Thai food place and had lunch, walked through a cute little neighborhood to an old-style church building, then walked back to PepBoys. It sounds kinda lame on here but it was fun. Trust me.
Friday we found a new person to teach! His name is Ryan. He and his wife moved to Suncrest from Carlsbad CA, but before that lived in Alaska. His wife Rebecca is actually a member but has never really been active. She has 2 sisters that are active members though. They said in CA and in Alaska they used to have missionaries over all the time. Ryan very much believes in and loves God and Jesus Christ. Rebecca loves spiritual things and feeling the Holy Ghost, so she said we could come by anytime and share messages with them. We're having dinner with them tonight too!
The entire-mission meeting with Elder Christofferson inevitably got moved to Zoom. We connected a phone to a TV in a Relief Society room and to the speakers in the room, so the setup was epic. It was mostly just him and the other general authorities there answering planned questions from the missionaries. It was still a really great meeting. He talked a lot about how our missions can bless our families and our future families. He also said that no effort is wasted in the Lord's cause, which I though was really comforting.
Sunday we were going to have lessons with Alli, and Bostin and Tara. We were really worried about having to miss these because of COVID, but we thankfully were out by Sunday. Alli is actually doing amazing now. She said she's been going to church and reading the Book of Mormon with her new boyfriend who is an active member! Her boyfriend also just moved here to Suncrest which is crazy but also super cool. We even saw her and her boyfriend at church on Sunday which was epic. Alli ended up testing positive for COVID later that day so we had to cancel though, and Bostin and Tara cancelled too. Tragic.
Sunday night was transfer calls and it was whack. They called us and told us that Elder Parker and I would both be leaving Suncrest, staying comps and ZLs of Lehi, and whitewashing 2 stakes in the Thanksgiving area. A set of Elder we were whitewashing out would be whitewashing Suncrest. We both thought all of this was a terrible idea (for lots of reasons that are too difficult to explain hehe). Elder Parker even texted President Evanson to call us about it. When he did, he said that they were already pretty unsure about this decision, and that after talking to the assistants some more and after hearing our reaction to it, they decided to change it! Elder Parker is still doing the same thing just with a new comp. I'm going to UVU YSA instead! I'm going to live in the same apartment I lived in in Vineyard, and my new area covers lots of Orem and Vineyard! I'm super pumped.
I'm grateful for my time in Suncrest though. I've really changed a lot here and it's been awesome. I've made some really great friends here. I love being a missionary and learning so much about the gospel and about myself, meeting such amazing people, and being in such a wonderful place.
Love you all!
Elder Snyder
Pics:
no time for captions....
