WEEK 19: GREAT UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

   So the best part of the week was being able to skype my family. That was so amazing and refreshing to see them. It was nice to see their face talking in real time and not just pictures. Pictures are great but skype is even better. so glad I found a computer shop with a camera. 

   Anyways here in the Philippines many people go door to door for Christmas to get money.  There's even whole bands of 20 people with trumpets, drums, etc and its so loud but so funny.  Some members gave me unripe mango to eat, that was so sour.  I didn't even like it, but i'm excited for when mango season arrives for the sweet delicious mangos.  

   On Tuesday we had Christmas conference. It was so cool to gather as missionaries and have a fun relaxing day.  There was delicious food and a full pig that was carved. It was cool. I think the piece I got was from the rear of the pig, it tasted so good. I also got to see my last companion which was cool.  I also saw a random American with his girlfriend who was so out of place, he was a member too.  He was so out of place because he just got to the Philippines and it was blowing his mind because we saw him as we were traveling home and it was the heart of the city which is so crazy.  We taught this man named Aldwin. He is such a good person and has so many basic questions. It makes me realize how much people need the gospel. he has so many basic questions that kids learn in primary that we can sometimes take for granted. It was so cool to be able to answer and testify of their truthfulness.  

   On Wednesday we had a similar experience as we taught this tatay. He loved the plan of salvation, it made so much sense to  him and he just ate it up. it was so cool to see understanding come into his eyes. Also as we were going to another investigator there was a riot in the alleyway so we turned around and got out as fast as possible and then found another way through the maze of alleys and eventually found the investigator. I was happy we were able to find the way. Chumba chumba lang. 

    On Thursday we had a pretty normal day teaching and finding.  The Lord really helps us and the filipinos are so nice and let you in, not all of them do, but enough,  its awesome. theyre are so catholic so we have that to work around but the Spirit helps. 

    On Friday this member family got in an accident. They're one of my favorite families. They are really poor and have 9 kids.  We were teaching at a house close to them and heard the news and went to help with the people we were teaching because the people we were teaching were their friends too. It was so sad to see them in a crash and so stressed out. we did all we could and then they left with the bike (motorbike) to the police station. then we went with some of their kids to the Chrismtas party and we had lots of investigators come to the ward christmas party which was awesome.  the kids loved it because there was tons of food and we sent tons of food home with them. 

   On Saturday we visited mimiz family again to see how they were. They were so happy to come home to tons of food because they had none. I really understood the Christmas spirit, and the Lord used us as instruments to help them. He put us in the right place at the right time because they got off from the crash without having to pay extra fines or anything. They said it was because we showed up and helped and the police were impressed.  So cool to be a servant and help because it wasn't us. It was the Lord using the missionaries. like I said I really understood the christmas spirit. I saw a  random guy carrying a bowl with a hogs head in it, it was funny.  

    Christmas day was awesome.  I picked up a package from the zone leaders in the morning and they had pancakes and bacon and so we ate one really fast.  Church was so great and we were able to bless the sacrament.  We visited members and investigators during the day.  The members want the missionaries to visit and they gave us so much food. I was so full and we just had to keep walking to the next house.   A typhoon was coming and was going to maybe partially hit us, so some other elders came to our apartment to stay the night because if it rained hard their apartment might flood.  So we had a happy jolly Christmas and I opened some packages.  It was so cool.   The food at members was all some variation of macoroni salad.  Every single place was macoroni salad but all a little different. 

   On monday morning we had to stay inside because of the storm and then we got the clear and we had a great day.  We worked hard. It was a good week. I miss and love you all. 

Thanks for the support. The Lord is guiding us and he has a plan for all of us even if we don't see it.  We need to do our part to follow that plan by following the gospel of Jesus Christ. Kaya ninyo. Mahal ko kayo

Elder Snyder

Let the feast begin

Christmas Pig

Eating lots of Rice

Christmas Time

Break from walking

Great to see & talk with family

WEEK 18 : LOST IN AN ALLEY ?

    So it was a shorter week between p days because of the awesome temple trip.  I am so grateful that we have a temple here in our mission, its such a blessing. Its a blessing for the missionaries but even more for recent converts so they can go do baptisms which helps them stay active.  It's awesome.      Thursday I had exchanges with elder Espana, he's our district leader. It was a great day. We taught a ton and my Tagalog felt better. its definetly the gift of tonuges.  I feel myself learning the language even if it is slower than i would like.  It's very hard but it is coming, I notice a difference.  We also had two really cool tender mercies.  We were finding and we must have been guided by the spirit because theres no other way.  We decided to stop at a gate.  Sometimes its hard to tell whats a door to a home, but we stopped anyway. and then like 30 seconds later this lady got back to where we were standing.  It was her house and she said she had been taught everything a while back and almost baptized but then she moved and hadn't seen the missionaries.  It was so cool and she wants to continue listening because she was almost baptized.   It was so cool and then later in the day we were walking and we heard someone yell "Elders" and so we stopped and turned around not knowing who said it and this lady walked up to us and said she had been baptized when she was a kid but went to catholic because her dad was catholic.  She wanted to know where the chapel was and so we were able to help her, she going to start visiting or getting a member to go help her because she doesn't remember anything about the church.  she's basically an investigator. it was really cool. right place right time because of the spirit. I've noticed things like that happening way too often for it to be coincidence.  it actually happened again on Saturday, but I'll get there. 
    Friday we were teaching this tatay and he basically bore his testimony to us which was so cool. he's a cool tatay and loves to talk to us  because he has no one else. he just sits around all day.  He literally just sits all day, his house is so small that I have to bend over and crouch.  Friday we had to wash clothes because we ran out.  We had to wash them by hand after we got home and we also got a referral from a member.  It's her pamumpkin or niece and she wants to be baptized and wants us to come everyday.  My companion and I looked at each other amazed because she was so eager.  It was awesome. 
    Saturday we walked a ton.  Appointments fell through and  we were so tired.   I felt the gift of tongues because my Tagalog felt rough but my companion said it was better so I don't know what they heard. 
     Sunday we taught a members daughter.  We showed up and her baby had just died so we taught a spiritual lesson about the celestial kingdom and small children.  I felt so sad but happy we could share the plan of happiness with her.
   We walked out of an alley a little lost and there was a member right there.  We just happened to run into each other and he was able to show us the way.  It was awesome.  Sunday was good too and hard. We went around in the morning to get investigators to church and most weren't home.   There are so many people going home to their province for Christmas.  We taught an investigator at a members home and this tatay thats a member knows a lot of hymns on his 3 stringed homemade guitar so we sung some hymns which was so cool while he played.  We had an investigator that had read the whole book of mormon in Tagalog but she didn't understand because the Tagalog is so deep.   It was so cool that she read the whole thing, it blew my mind. theres so many people here that go to church at this huge catholic church. We happened to be walking by when mass ended and there was so many people, it was crazy.  Something that's kind of funny that happens is that when we teach about prophets a lot of people ask if we are prophets haha and so we explain that we're just missionaries and a prophet is different. the people here are awesome. It's hard work but a good work. love and miss you all. 

the picture is the difference between a filipino eating Mcdonalds and an American.  He had rice and chicken and I had a big mac.  we only eat Micky D's  every once in a while if we can afford it.  It's so good

Elder Snyder

WEEK 17 : I LOVE TO GO SEE THE TEMPLE

    Last Monday we went to a members house where we teach an investigator and he was about 5 minutes away and so we played simon says with like 15 kids. It was so fun. We played it in Tagalog. The kids here are so funny and so nice.  
     Tuesday we had trainer trainee meeting. I'm almost not a trainee anymore.  That means one more hour of work.  I'm so excited because the time goes faster when we are working.  When we traveled home we took the train and its so packed, you don't even need to use muscles to stand up because its so packed. Its crazy. 
    Wednesday we found out that we had 3 investigators attend church but they attended the wrong ward. haha at least they came and now they know. we told them 11 but they must have misheard us and went at 1.  There's this tatay that has a homemade ukulele and he taught me a hymn on it.  I love him. He was wearing a shirt with a bad word on it but he doesn't even speak Tagalog that well, let alone English. He's from a different part of the Philippines and he speaks Bisaya but my companion is Bisaya so it works out to communicate and I just dive in with the Tagalog. haha its funny.  The tower of babel was definitely here in the Philippines.  
    Friday we found a new investigator who is a barangay official.  He was so nice and knows everyone so I bet he can give lots of referrals and he owns this giant lizard, like 3.5-4 feet long.  It's so big and cool and a little old. 
 On Saturday I felt the gift of tongues. In one lesson that was a referral from our bishop I felt like my teaching was way better and I understood almost everything.  It was amazing and I loved teaching with our bishop because he is so energetic and I love his teaching.  He just gets so into it. 
     Sunday we had stake conference and it was awesome.  Our mission president spoke and the temple president from Manila temple. He emphasized families and the importance of temples.  The temple is so amazing.  It was a great talk.  Families really are forever and it is only through the sacred ordinances within the temple. 
    Monday I got packages which was awesome.  It was so cool.  I was surprised how fast they got here.  We had a good FHE that night and played a really fun game called the chicken game and this one nanay was so funny. haha Filipino's are the best.   We have a really funny tatay that we teach, whenever he arrives his wife yells "hey you're friends are here" and then comes out with no shirt     "ohhhhh hey my friends" and then goes to Tagalog. It's so funny. 
   Tuesday was amazing, we had mission tour with elder Bowen. He's the area president here for the Philippines.   I felt the spirit so strong and a motivation like I've never felt to get out and work.   It changed my perspective and my mission, that's for sure.  I realized the importance of covenants and doing all we can do help the kingdom of God and that we are all children of God and he loves us so much.  One of the best quotes he had was when he was talking about the scripture where it says many are called but few are chosen and he said replace chosen with obedient and to me it made the scripture so powerful as a missionary because obedience is everything and I've already seen the blessings that come from it.   He remembered me from being on TV haha.    Earlier today we got to go to the temple. banal na baka. It was amazing.  My first time in the Manila temple. It's so pretty and I felt the spirit so strong and felt so peaceful.  I encourage everyone to get a temple recommend and go as much as possible.  It's so important to help those that have passed and it can help us in our lives.  It's amazing,  I can't even describe it.  I love you all so much and hope you're doing good. Thank you for all your support.  The time is going to go by fast. mahal ko kayo lahat. ingat kayo lahat  ( love you all, take care always)

Elder Snyder

Yes, that is my companion, not a local deacon

WEEK 16: DEAD DOG IN A BAG?

   Hello everyone. I hope everyone is doing well. I had another good week. We are working hard everyday so I will just give a general recap of the week. We have new families and new investigators and are really working with the ward. The ward here is awesome and I love the members.  Sometimes the work is hard but it is rewarding. 
    Tuesday, we were at the ward mission leaders house and some singers came to the door.  Around Christmas time the other churches here go to peoples houses and sing for donations. The ward mission leaders family thinks its so annoying and because we were there they wanted me to poke my head out and talk to them. I stood up and said hi and started talking and they were surprised to see an American Mormon white boy, haha so they left. It was actually really funny.  We lost water to our apartment. so we didn't have any water to cook, shower, go to the bathroom. we had to shower at the zone leaders apartment.
     Wednesday, we were able to sort out the water thing and get it back on in the afternoon.  I didn't realize how much we depended on it until we didn't have it.  I had Filipino ramen noodles.  It was alright, not amazing but alright.  When we planned for Thursday on Wednesday I thought it was going to be rough but we had a member give us a surprise referral to a household of 8!  Earlier we had found 2 new investigators. it was such a good day. they're all so interested.  
    We were walking down the street with this member and his family is a little richer here so this guy came up to him with a dead dog in a bag and pulled it out and was trying to convince him that he hit it and killed it and should pay him.  It was weird and he was just holding the dead puppy. 
     Friday we had a good day teaching. We taught an investigator in a members tahanan.   This old tatay has this old guitar and he taught me a hymn on it,  its homemade and small,  it was funny. 
     Saturday we had MTC exchanges.  So I got to go with two foreign missionaries. The Lord truly blessed me. My Tagalog somehow got way better and I started understanding. It was the gift of tongues. I was so amazed.  We found and taught this family and i had to teach most of it because one of the missionaries was serving his mission and was going to speak ilongo and the other one was just new so his Tagalog was simple. It was a great experience.
      Sunday, we had two freebies. We got  on a jeep for church and a guy asked us where the LDS church was and then just came with us to church. It was cool and a member brought a referral and so we taught her at the church after church was over.  We also went on splits and I went with this rm that got back a couple weeks ago. He taught me a lot. It was really cool. This morning we got to serve our bishop. He's fixing his house. Filipinos are just like monkeys when it comes to construction. They just climb right up the wall and its crazy. We helped make concrete the Filipino way. It was way cool and we helped our bishop fix his house and then he gave us a referral.  when we were making the concrete there was this very small rock that floated in water so anyone that's seen monty python, can now know that ducks may float but that man was right when he said very small rocks. in the philippines very small rocks float haha
   I'm doing good. Its hard but I'm working hard and doing my best and it feels good even if I'm tired. Love you all and miss you

Elder Snyder

Welcome to my Place

WEEK 15 : BINYAG NA !!! (BAPTISM)

   On monday my flip flop broke so I taped it up. It does the job and is still alive. I'll use it as long as possible. haha it looks so pangit but it gets the job done.  I only need them for the apartment and showers so its ok.  
    The members are going to make me fat here. I get full and then they say kanin pa elder, and they heap some more on. It's hard because they can get offended here so you have to eat but also its tricky sometimes when to call it quits. 
    We are teaching an awesome family of 8. They are so interested and I'm so thankful that the Lord provided them. They are perfect. They all wanted their own book of mormon which was awesome. Hopefully they will keep progessing. I have faith that kaya nila.
     On wednesday leonard passed his baptism interview. He is so ready and has a strong testimony.  Also happy Thanksgiving. I didn't even realize it was Thanksgiving. Its ok. I'll go buy some sisig (pig head) to celebrate. Sizzling sisig is so good.  Friday was the 100th day I have been on my mission, time goes fast when you're busy.  I love the members here, they are so awesome. Filipinos are so funny and makulit. (playful)  
    We were also able to give a blessing which was amazing, so spiritual. This tatay fell down and got surgery and has limited motion in his hand and its hard for him. He's been in a sling for months and hadnt recieved a blessing so we gave him one. It was cool.  Glad we can be here to serve. 
    Saturday was the hightlight. dalawa pang binyag!! We had two investigators get baptized and one member.  The member was the relative of one of the investigator and asked me to baptize.  They all asked me to baptize. It was such an amazing experience again, I'm so thankful. Its so nice seeing people get dressed in white and see the happiness in their eyes. I'm trying to always see people with an eternal potential and it can help with teaching.  The member that was baptized gave the cutest testimony after. I understood all of it which was awesome.  Sunday they were confirmed which was super spiritual. It was amazing. Also we were surprised with the assingment to talk.  We were asked to talk on missionary work. I was a little nervous but then as I put my trust in the Lord I wasn't anymore. It was awesome.   We then were told  to teach the gospel principles class which was another surprise, haha.  We did a lot of talking the first two hours of church.  The spirit helped us teach a pretty good lesson on faith. It was cool. I'm getting better at planning and learning the area even better. We're doing good and working hard. I love you all so much.  I would recommend 3 nephi 11. The book of mormon is truly about Jesus Christ and he is our savior. Sometimes we can take that for granted but its important to always have that in our minds. Until next week. 

Elder Snyder