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| More Shnow!! |
Hey everyone!
This was a great week. Went by slow, but still great! It actually snowed this week for like 2 days which was really weird, but by pday it was back to sunny. Spring in UT is gorgeous.
Tuesday we found a new person to teach! A few weeks ago we were knocking doors in one of our wards with the ward mission leader just trying to meet people, and we met a guy named Logan who said he had a coworker/friend that he thought would probably be down to meet with missionaries. He legit was like, "Oh let me text him about it right now before I forget." A couple weeks later, we finally met with him over dinner at Logan's place. His name is Conner, and he actually lives at Raintree in Provo haha. He said he moved here to Utah from Florida for a job and really only thought "Mormons were a myth." We actually met with him twice this week, and Logan like "conducted" both meetings which was really cool. He's not terribly interested in joining the Church or changing his life very much, but he's still down to meet with us and learn more. And we'll take it!
We've got a couple more leads like that where people wanna set up a dinner appointment with us and some of their friends. In our YSA stake and our Polynesian wards! I also got called "palangi" a few times this week too. I'm not sure if that's how you spell it, but it's what all the Polynesian people call white people. We had dinner with a Tongan family on Sunday, and we had some AMAZING ribs, and I was using a lot of napkins which is apparently a very palangi thing to do. The dad said he uses lots of napkins too and his wife will say to him, "Are you Tongan or palangi?" There was also some amazing chicken with rice, and some authentic Tongan yams.The dad also said his wife was planning on making horse for us, but when he found out we were both palangi he told her not to make it haha. She said she'll make it next time though.
I also went on my first 24-hour exchange on my mission this week. Those used to be standard protocol before COVID, but throughout my mission the rules for exchanges have changed a lot. There was a time when we couldn't do exchanges at all, then we could do them again but not for 24 hours, then 24-hour ones were allowed but optional. Now they're required. I went to the Orem Park stake with Elder Trosper. He is the purest missionary I've ever met and he is just so funny without trying. Everyone in the mission loves him. I met a lot of awesome people in that area, and it was fun to be back on a bike for a bit. It was after the snow and it was a stunningly beautiful day. The gym at the apartment complex they live at is waayyy nicer than the one at the complex we live at too. One of the other Elders they live with had a kendama out too, so I was able to dust off some of my old tricks and blow some minds.
On Saturday we went to an activity for the seniors in the Samoan ward. The Bishop of that ward actually brought a nonmember friend that is Samoan too! It was really cool meeting a lot of the old folks that remember living back on the island. They were all hilarious too. I love old people. A lot of it was in Samoan though so I couldn't understand most of it haha. They had an authentic Samoan meal and I had to have the old guy next to me tell me pretty much everything that was on my plate. I tried everything, but I didn't finish everything haha. They had this cup of this like white pudding kinda thing, and all the old people started going to town on it and eating that before eating anything else, so Elder Barney and I were like "oh this must be good!" Turns out it was a combination of crawfish, cucumbers, and tomotoes in coconut milk. That was one of the things I didn't finish haha, but the chop sui and the corned beef were AMAZING.
We also met a family in the Samoan ward that's bringing TWO nonmember families to church on Sundays! Sounds like each family has some pretty good potential, and the family was all excited to introduce us to them at church on Easter Sunday. Neither of them came haha. One family was planning on coming but they all got the flu, and the other family went to another ward! We usually go to like 3 or 4 sacrament meetings every Sunday, so it was cool to see a bunch of different Easter programs. There was one musical number in the Samoan ward where these 3 guys sang a song and it straight up sounded like Boyz II Men. I was shook.
Anyways, there was actually quite a build-up to Easter this year because the Area Presidency has been wanting everyone to invite people to come to church this Easter Sunday, so us missionaries have been inviting people to invite people to come to church since long before General Conference. It really was a very special Sunday because we really got to remember what Easter is all about. My mom would always say, "If Easter hadn't happened, we wouldn't celebrate Christmas."
Through Jesus Christ, all that is unfair in life can be made right; all that is difficult can be made easier; all that is despairing can be made hopeful. I recently recorded and posted a video of myself playing an original arrangement of the hymn, "You Can Make the Pathway Bright." The 4th verse has a line that goes, "You can live a happy life, in this world of toil and strife, if there's sunshine in your heart!" Let Jesus be the sunshine in your heart. He can make everything right.
Love you all!
Elder Snyder
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| Me with Elder Trosper |
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| Candids of me eating at the Samoan Senior Activity |
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| Me at Lomito's (Go There!!) |
