Week 89: His Name is Dee

MLC

Hey everyone!

Very busy week, so I think I'll just get started!

Wednesday was a long day because we had MLC all day which is always exhausting. It's always good to see old friends there too. I've got some friends in the mission that I only see at MLC stuff now. After that though we went to Texas Roadhouse for Elder Cecil's birthday. He's one of the Elders we live with, and someone gave them 2 $25 gift cards so we didn't have to pay which was epic.

Thursday was actually pretty epic. We were doing a companionship study with some Elders in our zone when we got a phone call from some sister missionaries in Cedar City, UT. They said they were teaching a guy that moved into our area that is ready to get baptized! Then they said he lives in Provo and we were like, "Oh, well, you've got the wrong missionaries." TURNS OUT, while he did move to Provo, pretty much his only connection up in this part of Utah is his girlfriend, Kinsley, who attends our Samoan ward with her parents! So he goes to church with them and wants to get baptized into that ward! After we'd figured all that out we had a pass off lessons with the sister missionaries that were teaching him in Cedar City on Zoom.

We got to meet with him in person on Saturday. His name is Dee, and he grew up in Maryland and went to SUU to play basketball. He said he'd been going to church since like last summer, and then has been meeting with the missionaries since January. He's excited to get baptized too, so when we met with him we just went over the baptismal interview questions to just go over all th stuff he's been taught by the Sisters. The only thing they hadn't taught him oddly enough was the law of chastity. Agreeing to live that was not an issue for him though, but afterward we taught it to him he did say, "How come they never taught me that? I feel like that's pretty important!" He's actually been to the Samoan ward a few times before with Kinsley when he's like visited up here I guess, so lots of people in the ward already know him which is great. He's getting baptized next Monday after pday, and we're excited!

We also went on exchanges this week, and I brought Elder Cluff to my area. I asked him if he had any pioneer ancestors, because I've read about several Cluffs in Saints 1 and 2. He said he did actually, and that his first ancestor to join the Church way back when over in England was disowned by his family when he did. His family spelled their last name Clough, but still pronounced like Cluff, so when his family disowned him he changed his last name to Cluff. So he said if you meet anyone with the last name Cluff, he's related to them at least distantly, and they probably have at least have ties to the Church because that spelling of that last name was invented by a member of the Church.

Friday we briefly went to a service project at the Polynesian wards' building just doing some work on the grounds of the church building. I was shoveling mulch into a truck bed and all the old Tongan guys kept clowning me about how I was shoveling. That's how you know they like you though haha. We also started teaching a family in the Samoan ward. They have a son, Jayden, that hasn't gotten baptized yet, but the whole family is pretty inactive so we're trying to help them with that as well. The whole family, including Jayden, want him to get baptized, so it's really just a matter of keeping commitments for them. They're a super chill family and they really liked having us over on Friday.

Saturday we had CDC which was good, and President and Sister Evanson came as well. I shared some thoughts with my zone on using the Book of Mormon to teach, as well as working through members much more. The Book of Mormon is so legit, and it is so amazing that we even have it. When they say "the Book of Mormon was written for our time," they don't just mean that it contains the fulness of the gospel and restores truth and stuff. The Book of Mormon has the power to invite the Spirit into our lives and connect us with our Heavenly Father; 2 things we so desperately need to spiritually survive nowadays. I shared some similar thoughts when I bore my testimony in one of our YSA wards on Sunday. If you want to feel Heavenly Father's love for you, read the Book the Mormon. If you want any kind of qualm of complaint about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints resolved, read the Book of Mormon.

Sunday was a long day because we had 3 sacrament meetings, then Polynesian stake conference in American Fork at the Alpine Tabernacle. It was a super cool meeting because it was actually mostly musical numbers. Everyone there sang really loud for the opening and closing hymns too. The Polynesian wards are so fun. No wonder Dee wants to join that ward!

Love you all!

Elder Snyder