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| Pretty Utah! |
This week went by super fast. It's nice being busy and having lots to do, and it certainly makes the time go fast.
The funny thing (or the unfortunate thing) is that we really aren't teaching a ton and still staying busy. Most of the people we were teaching have either ghosted us, moved, or completely vanished, so we're back in the finding phase. Some of them have actually told us they are no longer interested in meeting with us, which is uncommon but is so much more helpful than just disappearing. How we're staying busy is through a very special thing called "member work." How it works is you spend time with the members as much as you can, getting to know people and making connections, and then asking these people about people they know that we can pull up on. And in YSA and Polynesian wards, you can't really tract. Pretty much the only way to find people to teach is through "member work." That's basically how missionary work in Utah works.
For example, Monday nights we always go to Family Home Evening activities, and with 11 YSA wards that all have FHE activities, we just pick the best one to go to. Tuesday night we always go to this really cool class about the temple one of our YSA wards does. Wednesday nights we knock doors with a ward mission leader, and knocking with a member is way more effective and way less intimidating than just us missionaries. Thursday night we also go to an Institute class our YSA stake puts on. Friday we knock with another ward mission leader, and Saturday we'll do that too. Saturday there's usually activities (especially now that we have Polynesian wards), and Sundays there's always Come Follow Me groups we go to. We also do like 3-4 member visits a day where we just share brief messages with members.
The Polynesian wards are legendary though. We cover a Samoan ward and a Tongan ward, and there's so much work to do too, and not just member work haha. There's lots of part-member families in those wards. We've been visiting the ward leaders, and when we visited the Bishop of the Samoan ward, his wife (in her amazing New Zealand accent) said, "Oh we've all got less-active family, and we all know nonmembers too!" Missionaries in Utah hardly ever hear that, so that was pretty awesome! We told that Bishop that our meal calendar is pretty much empty because we cover a YSA stake, and he said, "Oh, well, we'll take care of that hehe." Then he told us about like 5 different activities they have coming up, and he said, "You guys are always welcome to activities, and there will always be a feed."
Like on Saturday, we went to a BBQ a family in the Samoan ward was putting on because their daughter had just gotten back from her mission. There was so much food. It was basically all the food you'd have at Mo Bettah's (or Aloha Plate for the real ones) but like 79587238 times better. After we finished eating, the girl's mom was like, "Elders, make a plate! There's so much food! I even brought tinfoil so please take some home!" We each made another plate and she said, "Make another plate!" Literally everyone that came up to her to congratulate her on her daughter coming home from her mission, she would just say, "Make a plate!" Elder Barney and I rolled out of there with 2 plates each, and the stake high councilor over missionary work said, "Elders, it's 2 plates minimum." He was joking, I think.
The Polynesian wards still meet in English, but the hymns are in Samoan or Tongan which is cool. Thankfully everyone there sings really loud so I can hear all the pronunciation really well haha. Sunday we went to both of those wards, and then 2 YSA sacrament meetings too. We usually go to like 4 sacrament meetings on Sundays. After Amadeus' ward we got to be there when the Bishop gave him the priesthood! But that's not the only thing Amadeus got this week..... He also got a job and a fiance!! He said right after he proposed to the girl that he moved up to Utah for, he had a really good job interview and he got the job! Ever since his baptism, his life is just coming together!
So yeah, we're having a good time. I don't know how we swung this, but Elder Barney and I are just taking it all in and living it up. Not everyone gets to serve in YSA, and even less people serve in Polynesian wards, and somehow Elder Barney and I now cover both. AND in Utah. It's a dream.
Love you all!
Elder Snyder
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| Transfers! |
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| Deer in Vineyard |
