DECEMBER 15, 2014

DECEMBER 15, 2014

hey! another good week in the life of elder snow. i'll keep you posted on what's happened in my life the last 2 months or so.

so i got transferred from my 6 month area of parkwood. it was a bittersweet day, but it was awesome getting to my next area, which was the Marble Falls area! it was super sweet! huge country area, i loved it! we had a truck and everything, it was so much fun. elder lawrence was my companion, he had just gotten out of training and we were super tight. we had a great time together. we baptized 1 person named "SA". she was so golden, so awesome. then, something terrible (at the time) happened...i was getting transferred after only 6 weeks in marble falls. i was devastated. it seriously rocked my world. i loved marble falls, and we had like 2 people with a baptismal date when i left, so i was super super sad. but, all is well! that brings us to where i'm at now - the city of Del Rio. yep, it definitely means "of the river." i'm not sure where they get these names from, haha. i got here a few days ago...it's so awesome here. my companion's name is Elder Hutchings. he's been out like...18 months. he is an absolute STUUUUUD. he was like a fireman and paramedic before his mission, played rugby, super sweet super cool guy. we get along great, we're super tight. his spanish is awesome too. we've been having a ton of success together, and a ton of fun. it's just been great. i'm surprisingly more happy here than i was in marble falls, which i didn't think was possible cuz i loved marble falls haha. so sweet, haha. 

so a cool thing that happened this week...it was like my third day in this area. so be aware, my spanish is still awful. elder hutchings and i had a lesson in spanish with this man named "A"..he was a super nice guy from what i could gather, i was only picking up bits and pieces of what was going on. i was pretty dang confused. i was kinda just sitting there juco'in it (aka, not doing or saying anything cuz i was confused) and elder hutchings was doing most of the work cuz he's a stud. i hate just sitting there though, so i was really working hard trying to listen and understand what he was saying...then outta nowhere, i started to understand. i only understood for a few seconds, just enough to get where the conversation was so i could open my mouth...and i spoke, and i was able to speak some coherent spanish. it wasn't great, it wasn't pretty...but i was able to bear simple testimony of the savior and his atonement. then, it was gone. i was back to not understanding much, back to sitting there trying to think of what to say. for a moment there though the Lord blessed me so that i could speak. just for a moment. it was a pretty cool feeling. i'm by no means obtaining the gift of tongues yet...but i'm hoping with time and effort i'll get there.

i love you all! thanks for everything you do, thanks for all your prayers, and thanks for being great! have a great week, cya in 9 months! laters!

Elder Snow 

NOVEMBER 10, 2014

NOVEMBER 10, 2014

howdy! ah man i felt super lame saying that. i kinda just went for it, it didn't feel right. i'm not gonna do that anymore. anyways, another good week for us in the marble falls area! not a whole ton to report, we've been doing a ton of driving and a ton of dropping by people. but we're starting to see a lot of success, that's for sure. this area has so much potential to baptize, like sooooo much potential. i'm just trying to take things a little bit differently, because as far as numbers, lessons taught, and baptisms go, the past year or so has been a struggle. so we're changing up a few things, doing a lot more service and a lot less member visits, and we had the highest numbers this area's had in months this last week! so that was exciting. we were able to get 5 investigators to church, which is pretty dang good. we're excited about that one. we have a baptism for the 22nd of november for a lady named "SA". she's soooooooooo golden. she's super cool. she has 3 little girls, one of which is 9 years old, so she's working on getting baptized too...she'll just get baptized a little after her mom. but "SA" is sweet, she texts us every day, telling us the stuff she's studying and reading and listening to...it's so cool. she listens to general conference talks like..all day. she sends us referrals like every day of her friends and family that we should contact. she's so golden haha, it's so sweet. we're way stoked!

me and elder lawrence are having a great time together out here. it's nice..i kinda dig the country. everything is slowed down a bit. there's not really much to stress about, no worries...you just work and go all day, no worries, no stresses. well, missionary work always has it's stresses and stuff, but people aren't as fast paced out in the country. it's just nice, there's definitely a different feel and spirit to it out here. i enjoy it a lot. 

so good news! two of the young men that i worked with a lot in my last ward got their mission calls! "Y" and "H". they're leaving the same day! "H" is going to the berlin germany mission, and "Y" is going to columbia...bogota? something like that. they both called and emailed me and stuff, super cool. lots of the youth from my last ward are emailing me now, actually...its' super super cool. i feel like i was able to make an impact. that's one of the greatest feelings ever, haha.

other good news! sister "GS" from the parkwood area is getting baptized in december! i'm way stoked. i'm working out a way for me to be able to go down to see the baptism.

that's about it for me this week! hope y'all have a great week! latas!

Elder Snow

OCTOBER 27, 2014

OCTOBER 27, 2014

well, i'm getting transferred! I've spent 6 months in this area. it's bittersweet. I need to be transferred. I need a change of scenery, a new companion, and new people to work with. however, I love this area so much. so much. I love the people here. it's hard to imagine, those who have served missions can definitely relate...but serving in any area, especially one that you've been in for 6 months, you develop so deep of a love for the people that your serving. it doesn't make sense. why would you love these people so much? only seeing others through the eyes of Christ would allow you to do that. all of my investigators, all of my converts, all the members...they're all going to be sorely missed. I love them dearly, and leaving will be difficult. however, it's what the Lord has asked of me, and it's definitely what I need.

we didn't have a baptism this Saturday, but that's okay. "GS" still wants to be baptized, and it's just post-poned a couple weeks. hopefully i'll be able to come back and see the baptism, though! and i'll definitely come back to visit.

I've been blessed to see 8 baptisms in the parkwood area, and 4 in the Alamo 2nd ward (since I've been living in this apartment). I don't know why the Lord has allowed me to see so much success, but I definitely feel blessed for Him allowing me to.

i'm gonna try to get as many pictures of the members and investigators and people I've worked with since I've been here in the upcoming couple days, hopefully i'll get a bunch so I can send them next week!

have a great week!

Elder Snow