Week 101: Don't Count Down Just Yet, Mom!

Don't cha love Utah!

Hey everyone!

We're really getting down to the wire here. It didn't really quite set in till maybe yesterday that it really is all gonna come to an end. I only have 2 full weeks left. The first three weeks of this transfer here in AF actually went by kinda slow, but this last one was really fast, and the next 2 will probably be faster. 

Tuesday we went and visited Marianne. She's moving August 1st! She's off to an assisted living place in Kaysville. We'll be sad to see her go, but it'll really be an upgrade for her. She's currently living in a state-run care center, so like basically a long-term hospital, but now she'll be living in an assisted living facility. She also has a sister that lives in Layton, so she'll be closer to family too. She's getting closer to baptism though. On Sunday we came to the care center for their sacrament meeting and we went and grabbed her from the patio where she was smoking. She told us, "I'm coming to church today, don't worry!" So we said, "It's starting right now though!" So she put out her cigarette right then and said, "Guess we better go!" Later in the meeting she whispered to us, "Thanks for coming to get me." After the meeting she said she hadn't smoked at all yesterday and had only done one and a half today, and that the new place she's moving to might not let her smoke, so she's trying to quit before then. She really has come so far. I don't know if she'll be able to get baptized before she moves, but I'd love to stay in touch with her and go to her baptism up in Kaysville one day soon!

We also had some awesome lessons with Juan Carlos this week. He is pretty much all set for his baptism on Saturday. All that's left is his interview. We were looking for another person in his ward that speaks Spanish to help us with a lesson, but we couldn't find anyone. Then we got a random text from a lady in his ward saying, "I don't know why but I had a prompting to text the missionaries and offer to help with anything and everything." Turns out, she speaks Spanish, and she came to his lesson later in the week! She even invited him to the ward party this week, and he came! Juan Carlos is what we call in our mission "elect," and he's one of the most elect I've ever seen.

We had a great lesson with Fernando this week. His girlfriend was at FSY this week which was actually kinda nice because then I think he was a little more honest with us. We read through President Nelson's talk from Apr '21 about how to build faith, and he really liked it. He's just feeling really conflicted right now. He doesn't know if God is there, if Jesus died for him, or if the Book of Mormon is true, but he really wants to know. He hears a lot of bad things about the Church from his coworkers too, so he really wants to know what's right. He could really use some prayers right now. He said he and his girlfriend might try going to a YSA ward soon though. As much as I like teaching Fernando, YSA would be so good for him. I think that could really help him figure all of this out if he started having more good influences. 

We also had a really good lesson with Irlanda. We finally got to sit down with her mom and talk about Irlanda getting baptized. She really wants to make sure Irlanda, so right in front of us she starts grilling Irlanda with all kinds of questions about the Church haha. Irlanda's mom speaks like no English, but she wants her family to go to church in English, so that's why we're teaching her. We told Irlanda's mom that Irlanda knew the baptismal interview questions pretty well, and she was like, "Really?" So I copied and pasted the baptismal interview questions into Google Translate into Spanish right there in the lesson haha, then texted them to Irlanda's mom. She really appreciated it though. She really wants Irlanda to go to church more, but she's only 9, so when the mom doesn't take her to church on Sundays it's a little frustrating haha.

I also went on exchanges with Elder Albritton this week. I was his zone leader the entire time I was a zone leader, and now he's my zone leader. We've been in the same zone for 8 consecutive transfers haha. He's epic though and it was really fun to chill with him for the day. His area is also a stake in Lindon that goes right up Orem, and it was such a treat to be back in Orem for the evening! We also went to the Purple Turtle, which is a UOM classic, and I'd never been until this week. 

Saturday evening we went to a ward block party cuz Juan Carlos was gonna be there, and while we were there a lady walked up to us and started telling us about her 9 yr old son who wants to get baptized, and invited us over on Tuesday night to start teaching him! She also said they want to do the baptism before August 20th, and she said either the 18th or the 19th or August would probably be the day. So we put someone on date and all we did was show up to a ward party haha. 

Sunday was epic because it was Pioneer Day! I think this was one of the first times in my life I looked forward to Pioneer Day haha. Elder Petersen and I spoke in one of our wards, and we spoke on the blessings of missionary service. I tied it into pioneers because I remember on trek I learned that the decisions we make today affect more than just us, because the good decisions my pioneer ancestors made 175 years ago are still affecting me today. Serving a mission is certainly something that can bless generations.

Some of my friends I came in with are going home this Thursday and they wanted me to do it too, but I never wanted to do that, and now I'm so glad I never even considered that because we have so much going on the next 2 weeks. We have zone conference, lots of lessons, Juan Carlos' baptism, and Ozzie's baptism too! These last 2 weeks are gonna be awesome! 

Love you all!

Elder Snyder

A nice dog

On the Town

Wildlife

...more wildlife

Epic rainbow

Finally hit the Purp Turt

Week 100: Kinda liken' AF tho...

Temple photo shoot

Hey everyone!

The days are getting hot. Summer in Utah can make you forget winter ever happened. I'd take heat over snow any day though, especially after what I endured in Draper haha. 

Last pday after I sent my email with met with a guy we're teaching named Ozzie. He lives in the stake that we picked up right when I got transferred here, and he's been planning on getting baptized August 7th for a while. He is super big brain. Like huge. He talks like a philosopher, and he is very insightful. It's cool teaching him because he just perceives everything differently than most people. He is really looking forward to becoming a member of the Church. He really likes how inclusive and transparent the Church is. He understands that he still has a lot to learn about the Church though, so it's really cool just teaching him new things because his whole expression will change and he'll say, "Fascinating!" He also goes to BYU and is majoring in music composition, and plays the piano and the organ really well, so in our first lesson when I found that out I said, "Wow we could get so sidetracked." 

Tuesday we met with Juan Carlos in the afternoon. This was our first real lesson with him. We went over the Restoration and invited him to read the Book of Mormon, and we also invited him to be baptized, and he said yes! He even accepted a date of July 28th! We told him that while 2 weeks might seem like a short amount of time, we can teach him everything he needs to know to be ready by then, to which he said, "Oh thank you!" He's even already letting his friends and family know so he's pretty pumped. We met with him again on Thursday and brought a guy from the ward who speaks Spanish which was helpful. We taught the first half of the plan of salvation, and also went over the Word of Wisdom, which he already lives too. The homie was straight prepared. 

On Thursday I went on exchanges with a young Elder named Elder Baldauf. The kid was born and raised in Kansas and is pretty dang funny. We visited Marianne with President Evanson, and he was able to have a good talk with her. She's been really discouraged lately because she really wants to get baptized but is having a really hard time quitting smoking. She could really use some prayers right now. We also met with Fernando this week too. We went over the plan of salvation with him and he understood it really well. He just needs to recognize that the Spirit already is telling him that it's all true, but he'll get there one day. 

On Friday we finally got to teach Irlanda. Her family was pretty much active before COVID, but because of COVID, she hasn't been able to get baptized. Elder Petersen said that him and his last comp were knocking door around where she lives and that Irlanda came up to them and asked, "Are you the missionaries?" so they said yeah. Then she said, "Okay well I want to get baptized." She's been hard to meet with because her mom is so busy, but she really knows her stuff. We had an awesome lesson with her and her older sister and another homie from the ward that we brought. 

Saturday night we met with Ozzie again. In our lesson with him on Monday he mentioned that he hasn't been able to study a lot from or about President Nelson, so we decided to go over my favorite talk of his. We read "Christ Is Risen; Faith in Him Will Move Mountains" from Apr '21 with him, and he really liked it. He said he appreciated the clear and direct instruction from President Nelson, as well as his "sage-like" wisdom, and his complete avoidance of talking about himself. Ozzie was impressed that he stayed focused on teaching the doctrine, and even commented that President Nelson's directness is what he would want in a religious leader. So yeah, Ozzie is very big brain. 

Sunday we went to a meager 6 sacrament meetings, and got to visit some really epic members. There was one family that had lived in the old part of American Fork, and that the house they lived in had been renovated several times, but that it had originally been built in 1893! Another family also told us about this OLD house by the stake center that straight up looks like a haunted mansion. Even though it looks abandoned I know there are people that live there though  cuz I know some missionaries before me had a bad run-in with the residents. Then the guy telling us about it though was saying there are some local legends that it actually is haunted, and then he said it was called the Chipman mansion and I was like, "NO WAAAAAY." 

Nanaka unfortunately didn't end up getting baptized today cuz she ran into a few roadblocks with her family in Japan. She still really wants to get baptized and knows it's the right thing for her though, so she'll get there one day for sure.

But yeah, this area kinda has it all. Good food, endless work, tons of people to teach, tons of homie members, and a rich and coloful history. Kinda reminds me of Vineyard haha. Sometimes I wish I could stay here for longer, but what're ya gonna do. 

Love you all!

Elder Snyder

Visited Gramps

At the hospital...to give a blessing.

President Interviews

Week 99: Not Enough Time...

Me and Elder Toro at the Temple

Hey everyone!

This was another crazy week. Every night when I write in my journal and think over the day I think, "Wow, that all happened today?" 

On Tuesday, I was finally able to return to Don Joaquin's. Back in like February, President Evanson made a rule of no getting food outside your zone, so since then certain zones have had monopolies on some of the best places in the mission. My old zone in Orem, the Cherry Hill zone, had Leatherby's on lock. I'm now in the Pleasant Grove zone, so we have the Lindon Don Joaquin's. Pretty epic. 

We visited Marianne a lot this week. She's doing much better. She is the sweetest old lady. We told her that once she hasn't smoked for 2 weeks she can get baptized, and she took it really well. We shared 2 Nephi 26: 24 & 33 with her and she thought it was beautiful. That's because it really is. Our Savior denying none that come unto him is a beautiful teaching, and that all are accepted and improved when we follow him. She came to church on Sunday too, and as we were pushing her back to her room in her wheelchair, she was looking at all the other residents at the care center in their rooms as we passed by and said, "All these people that don't go to church. I love church!" 

I went on exchanges with E. Toro this week! It was so fun to be comps with him again. He's still his hilarious self, but I was so impressed with the missionary he has become. I was training him around this time a year ago, and he has come so far. He used to be really quiet around other people, but now he's so much more comfortable talking to people. He's really improved with teaching people, and he's really good at inviting the Spirit with his teaching. It was so cool to see. It was a proud dad moment for sure. 

On the exchange E. Toro and I met with a guy named Fernando. He just got passed off to us because we're whitewashing a stake right now too, so we were both meeting him for the first time. He's kinda the same situation as Ryan who I was teaching in my last area. He's been dating a girl named Shantel for like 2 years, then she invited him to meet with the missionaries, which started only a few weeks ago. He really wants to know if the Book of Mormon is true, and he and Shantel read it together every night, and he goes to church with her like every Sunday. He's really got a lot of potential. We always meet with him at the park by the temple too so that's cool. 

We also started teaching a guy named Juan Carlos. One of our Bishops told us that he'd come to church last Sunday and came up and introduced himself to him. We went by his house to talk to him, and he came to church again! He is from Peru, and he's lived in UT for about 10 years. He said he has lots of friends who are members, but that he grew up Catholic. He has been comparing the Catholic church to our church a lot, and he likes how in our church anyone can speak in church, babies don't get baptized, and kids worship with their families in church. We sat down with him after sacrament meeting and I asked him if he wanted to become a member of the church, and he very affirmatively said, "I think so." We told him we could teach him everything he'd need to know to make that decision. We also told him about Spanish speaking missionaries and Spanish wards and asked if he'd prefer that, and he said, "Well I'm trying to perfect my English, so I think I should do this in English. I don't need to go to church in Spanish, cuz I already speak Spanish!" 

Sunday we had lots of people come to church. We were bouncing around between lots of sacrament meetings so we could try to see everyone and invite more people between the meetings, so we ended up going to 5 sacrament meetings. We were speaking in a 9am ward too haha. 

Pday today was good. Continuing my food review of the Utah Orem mission, next stop is Hruska's Kolaches, on Main St in American Fork. If you don't know what a kolache (cuh-law-chee) is, it's a really yummy food originally from the Czech Republic. It's also very popular in the state of Texas. Elder Barney would rave about kolaches. It's like a ball of bread filled with all sorts of things, and they have sweet and savory kolaches. Things like ham, cheese, bacon, sausage, eggs, but also strawberries, cream, Nutella, and the like. They weren't super cheap, but they're very delicious. The bread is really really good. We met a lady from Texas there and she said Hruska's are better than any she had in Texas. They're only open from 6:30am to 12 noon, but it's worth it. It's so good. We also played pickleball for 3 hours. 

There's so much going on here, and so much to do. Sometimes I feel like there's not enough time and I wish I could be here for longer. But that's the thing about missionary work. It has been going on long before me, and it will continue to push onward long after me. It's the most important work in the world, and I really have had a front-row seat for the last little bit. It's been such a blessing. 

Love you all!

Elder Snyder 

The folks

Hruska's

Cool Pipe Organ

Smoky Sunset

You see the temple everywhere here!

Week 98: The Hidden Gem 💎💎

Da Big Flag

Hey everyone! 

This was a crazy week. So many things happened. Where do I even start?

For starters, my new area in AF is epic. Like super epic. Like top 10 areas in the mission epic. We cover 3 stakes here (28 units), and it's basically the area between the I-15 and the Mt. Timp temple. It's around AF High School too. There's some classic Utah stuff, like old homes and lots of church buildings, but there's also tons of new housing. Like tons. We have like several apartment complexes that are all pretty new, and houses packed in as close as they can be, and tons of stuff still going up that people are moving into like every day. It's like Vineyard, but I had no idea this was even here. It's the hidden gem of the UOM.

There's so many people to talk to, and so many people to teach! We can knock doors all day every day cuz there's so many people, and I showed up here with already so many people being taught. People in all stages of progression, and lots of people close to baptism. We're whitewashing one of the stakes we got, so we inherited a bunch of people to teach from them too. I feel honored to be here for my last 6 weeks. It kinda feels like a 6 week exchange haha. It's also so nice being in family, the default demographic, because there's way more people you can actually teach. As fun as YSA and Polynesian was, it's a very niche thing. 

My final comp's name is Elder Petersen. He was born and raised in South Carolina, and you can tell by the way he talks. He doesn't have an accent, but he's got a really deep voice and says, "Yes ma'am" and "Yessir" all the time. It's pretty epic. He's only been out like 6 months too so he's got a real fresh take on everything. 

The main person we're working with right now is Marianne. She lives in a care center, and she wants to get baptized really bad but can't until she stops smoking and drinking coffee. Her baptism was going to be last Sunday, and when we told her we'd need to push it back she was really disappointed. The next day when we visited her before the care center sacrament meeting, she was about ready to give up on getting baptized. I looked and E. Petersen and he didn't know what to do, I just bore my testimony on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I told Marianne that because of the Atonement, it's never too late. There's always second chances, and there's always more time. I told her just because she didn't get baptized today doesn't mean she can't ever. She's really in a tough spot right now, so please pray for Marianne. I've only met her like three times but she is the sweetest lady and I feel like I've already known her for a long time. 

Also, an epic update from E. Barney from my last area: NANAKA IS ON DATE!!! She is planning on getting baptized on the 18th. E. Barney said it was an amazing lesson. E. Barney and I had never really felt prompted to invite her to be baptized, and in some of our earlier lessons she expressed a lot of hesitancy about it. After all, she'd moved to Utah from Japan at the beginning of May and only started meeting with us like 2 weeks later, so a lot of change. E. Barney and I had gone really slow with her to make sure she understood things like the Atonement of Jesus Christ, faith, repentance, and the plan of salvation. She was also praying and reading the BOM every day, and going to church every Sunday. But E. Barney said that this time they finally thought it was the right time, and when they invited her to be baptized on the 18th, she said, "Let me get my calendar to make sure that works!" She also was worried that the missionaries would stop coming after she got baptized! I think once she recognized the Holy Ghost, she figured out that this was something she wanted for a long time. I'm so excited for her. I love that our mission is small so that going back to Vineyard for a baptism is no issue at all haha.  

A lot of the members have recognized that I'm new here, but when I say how long I've been out I'll also say, "So you don't have to remember my name." They usually think that's pretty funny. People don't heckle me about being trunky anymore which is kinda nice. Months 20-22 people were always like, "Almost there!" or "Don't get trunky!" The worst is when they just look at my comp and ask, "Now is he trunky?" But here in month 23 they're just like, "Wow. You did it!" and I'll say, "It aint over it till it's over!" 

Pday today was epic. We played pickleball in the morning for like 2 hours, got food, then checked out the giant flag they hang in the canyon left of the G on the mountain. If you haven't lived in Utah Valley, that description probably didn't make sense, but it was really cool. I'll add pics. They had all 50 state flags leading up the trail to it. Then we played pickleball for another hour. 

Lots to do in American Fork! I'm lowkey disappointed I'm only gonna be here for 6 weeks, because it pops off.  

Love you all!

Elder Snyder

Transfers