WEEK 32 : I'M IN SAN FRANCISCO

   Hello everyone. I've had a good week and I hope you all did too.  My new area is called San Francisco and its on Mindoro.  It's so different than the city, its like a whole new mission.  It's awesome though.  
   Last Tuesday I just prepared to travel, washed clothes and stuff and then I had to travel to the mission office.   When I got there they let us know that we could only take 1 bag to Mindoro, that was rough because I have three bags and so I prioritized and rearranged stuff and took only one bag.  I forgot a lot of stuff but just small things, it will work out.            Then Wednesday we woke up at 3 and went back to the mission office (we slept at an apartment of elders close by) and the AP's picked up a sister missionary and then we traveled at 530.  We drove for a few hours to the port and then took a boat to the island. It was so cool.  It felt like I was entering the movie Jurassic Park, it's so pretty here.  It's crazy.   It was sunny for the first part of the trip and then started raining so hard.  We got soaked and so did our one bag haha.   It's alright though, nothing was ruined.  

   So the area is so new, it's called San Francisco but we focus on Mamburao.  That's where our president wants us to focus.  It's basically the front lines.   The people there have never seen missionaries and literally everyone is looking at me because I'm white. I'm not exaggerating, literally everyone.  It's so weird but it helps for getting in houses because it blows their mind when I speak Tagalog and then they tell us to come in before we even introduce ourselves.  The biggest challenge is the travel.  It's so far away from the apartment and so we travel a lot.   It's hard but we're working on figuring out something better.   It's the newest of new in the mission.  The heat here is a new kind of heat, it's so hot.  We are trying to establish a group which is one smaller than a branch.  I didn't even know that existed until I got here.  Our apartment has no running water,  we just pump it when we want water, good times. 

   On Friday we were looking for this guy and we needed to catch a trike and so we caught a trike and I started talking to the driver and he said he was a Mormon. It was a huge tender mercy. It's usually hard sometimes to talk to the trike driver because of the wind but I talked to him and he said he's a Mormon and we can come teach his family who aren't members.  Our area is huge, so we only go to where he lives like once a week.  Everything is spread out here and then we also found the person we were looking for and we taught them.   We were right by the ocean, I mean it was right there.  It was so cool.  The Tagalog is a little different here, it's more pure,  but I'm still understanding.  The Lord is helping me.      When we got home it was a brownout (the electricity was out) and so we were using a flashlight and a snake slithered right by my feet.  My companion hates snakes and so I killed it for him and then we walk inside and there on the wall is a spider even bigger than the last one I took a picture of.  It was so freaky.  My companion is fine with spiders so he killed it.  We make a good team, it was intense.  

   On Saturday we had to wait a long time for the van we travel in. It's just this van that goes up and down the island, it's hard but we were able to find some new investigators and teach some good people.  It's so different here.             Sunday was so cool.  We had 3 sacraments.  One at the branch building and then the couple missionaries drove us and the leaders of the branch to this hut where we did another one for some members and then we drove again and did one more for members. It was very cool.  I had to give the spiritual thought and my companion and I blessed the sacrament.   The work is different here but I'll get used to it and i'm excited.  I know the Lord has a plan and this is where I am needed.  The Lord has tender mercies everywhere, we just need to always look for them.  

Elder Snyder

WEEK 31 : BAPTISM , MACHETE, TRANSFER

   Lots of stuff happened this week but I'll just start from the beginning and work my way through the week.  On Monday we had a tender mercy.  We found a guy whose son is actually a missionary in South Korea right now.  we asked the guy if he knew what his son was teaching about and he said "no" and that he wants to know. It was so cool. The Lord is truly guiding this work. 
     On Tuesday we taught tatay roy again. He is so smart.  We asked him about prophets and he started listing off book of Mormon prophets, it surprised us because usually people say Moses or Abraham or something like that but he just started saying Alma, Helaman, Mormon, etc. it was so cool.  He is such a funny guy.  I love teaching him and helping him understand the restoration.  Also it was so hot on Tuesday. one of my hottest days here. 
    On Wednesday we were able to find a part member family which will be great.  We can help reactivate the member and teach the husband.
   On Thursday we went to tatay roy's house and he was just standing on his roof and then he just climbed down. He's crazy . He's 74 and he's climbing around.  We were teaching about the priesthood and he had read the whole pamphlet and he read about the melchezidek priesthood and he knew who melchezidek was in the bible.  He gets smarter and smarter every time we visit and blows our minds with how smart he is.  Also when we visited Marie Fe ( the one who was baptized) she was so so so excited for baptism.  It was awesome. when I see investigators happiness and excitement it makes missionary work worth it.
   On Saturday we had a baptism!!! It was awesome.  My companion is the one who baptized Marie Fe.  It was such a good program and so spiritual.   We filled up the font in the morning.  It took forever.  It took like 4 hours.  We left and came back and it still wasn't done.   We were teaching and my companion and I both didn't really know what to say to help this one investigator and I said a quick silent prayer and just said the first thing that came into my mind after that and it worked out and we were able to help them. The power of prayer is real and Heavenly Father really does answer all of our prayers. It was a cool experience. 
    Sunday Marie Fe got confirmed and she is already a part of the choir, so cool.  Our ward mission leader made us dinuguan(dish made from blood) and I tried it for the first time.  It wasn't too bad. haha  
   Monday we did service, we helped Mormon helping hands to unload boxes of school supplies for kids here.  It was so hard and tiring and I've never sweat more but it felt good and satisfying.  Later that night we got a call from the zone leaders and I'm getting transferred to Mindoro!!!  It's the island/wilderness part of my mission. I'm so excited.  It will be awesome.  My new area is one of the farthest away in the mission. straight bukid.(country,farm)  It's going to be awesome.  On the way home last night there was a fight in the streets.   This guy had a machete and was going at someone and this lady had a log and was defending her friend and the guy with the machete was being held back by his friend and there was a crowd gathered.  We were able to wait it out and got home safely. This week has been awesome and I'm so grateful. I encourage everyone to go to the temple as much as possible and to always make your prayers mighty.  Love you all. ​
Elder Snyder

Blood Dinner

Service Project

I guess we do dress alike

WEEK 30: TEACHING A LOT!

  This last week went so fast and it was a great week.  On Tuesday we had zone training which was great. I learned a lot.  One cool thing that happened is we were teaching this tatay and his wife never listened and then we showed up to teach and she had all these questions about the book of Mormon because she saw it sitting there one day and read it and became interested and now shes even more progressing than her husband.  It was so awesome.  
   On Wednesday we had zone conference.  We got to go to the mission home and have workshops and interviews.  It's been a while since my last interview with my mission president and it was awesome.  
   On Thursday we had to travel about an hour to a another chapel to check this thing called a CLS booklet.  There's a booklet that the church gives the filipino missionaries to learn english and because I'm native English speaking they asked me to check it.  It was long and hard but the missionary I checked was so good in English.   We also taught Hanz and Marie Fe who will both  be baptized next week!! 
    On Friday we taught a good amount and visitied Hanz and Marie Fe again. We have really great members here that work with us so we can teach Marie Fe because its not puwede for elders to teach a babae alone.  I can really see the Lord blessing this area. its so cool.
   Saturday we taught so many times and I was so tired but it was a good tired.  We taught 7 times which is a lot in one day.  We had two investigators accept baptismal dates and taught a bunch.  We taught the guy that reads a ton of anti Mormon stuff and with every lesson he gets better and better.  It's so cool.  It seemed like he was a lost cause but I can see him slowly coming around.  He even tried to show us anti mormon stuff after the lesson but we were able to leave.   We found this great couple today.  The nanay came down holding her bible and seemed ready to defend her religion with everything she had. she was like that because she thought Mormon's didn't believe in Jesus Christ but once she found out the true name of our church and that our message is centered on him, she opened right up and is willing to listen. It was awesome.  
   On Sunday hanz and marie fe both passed their interview and will be baptized.  I'm pumped for them.  We had this awesome tatay that's 73 bike to church.  He's so cool.   we had a good week and the Lord is helping us. Remember to always read the Book of Mormon. I've received guidance and strength from reading it. Its amazing.  The book of Mormon is so powerful and never forget it. love you all

Elder

WEEK 29 : EVERYONE THOUGHT WE WERE BROTHERS

   This week wasn't very unique. We worked hard and talked to a lot of people and sweat a lot. Its getting really hot here and is only going to get hotter. 
   On Tuesday we were punted so hard. No one was home but at night we were in an alleyway and the person we were going to see was drinking so we were going to return another time and before we turned to walk out of the alley I saw one more door at the end and thought maybe we should try it but was tired and pushed the thought aside and then I thought again that door was where we should go.  I told my companion that we needed to stop and I felt like we should try it.  We were both tired and had been rejected all day but we went to the door and said "tao po" which basically means "people" and is how you knock in the Philippines.  This 18 year old kid came out and we taught him and he is so nice and receptive.  It was a great find.  I'm so happy that the Lord helped us find him. Truly a miracle.   Another miracle happened as we left the alley way after teaching we found a less active that had been sealed in the temple.  We were excited because we want to help them come back.  It also helped me realize that no one is ever forgotten. The Lord knows who we are and where we are and has a plan for us. He will not abandon us. 
    On Wednesday I had exchanges with another American elder haha.  Everyone thought we were brothers. It was fun being with another American.  
   On Thursday we taught some key investigators and it was good. We're hoping for 2 baptisms this month.  I'm excited.  My companion also felt really sick so we went home a little early but we still had a good day.  
   On Friday we taught this one lesson and man I got so tongue tied with Tagalog.  I was laughing at myself after we left.  I just couldn't say the word to save my life even though I had said it a million times. I wanted to say "magpakumbaba" and "mapagkumbaba".  they mean different things and so you can see where i would get tongue tied. one means to humble like the verb and the other is humble as in the adjective haha  it was great.  we have some really good investigators and also some crazy ones. like truly crazy.  They're funny.  We don't really go to the crazy ones that much.  We had a great FHE at a members house. 
    On Saturday the Lord provided another miracle and helped us find a guy that had been taught by the missionaries a while ago and is still super receptive, it was awesome.  We also found a Jewish family and man it was hard to teach.  It made me realize that I've been taking for granted that basically everyone believes in Jesus Christ.  It was a different lesson and helped me learn some things. 
    On Sunday we picked up this tatay,  who is the funniest tatay.  He all of a sudden started progressing.  He even went to all 3 hours of church.  He's so smart and cool and loves to talk.  Sometimes its hard to teach because he talks so much.   Our ward mission leader showed us the new first vision video which was pretty cool. It was a good week.  Every time I write these emails I realize how merciful the Lord is.  Take care. mahal ko kayong lahat. 

Elder Snyder

WEEK 28: THE JOY OF MISSIONARY WORK

    Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.  So last week was rough but also very good.  Last Tuesday I got sick with a fever of about 38.5 degrees Celsius (101.3 F) it was really hard. I felt horrible but I pushed through and I'm glad I did.  The joy of missionary work is there even when my body was getting wrecked. I had exchanges with the district leader on Tuesday,  He's a great missionary.         
    Then on Wednesday I was still sick and had horrible stomach pains, it was so hard that my sickness made so I couldn't speak but we still went out and I noticed the Lord strengthening me both days. He helped me have the strength to keep going and to be able to teach. It was great.  We taught these nanay's. haha they are so funny.  Its like these 5 nanay's that are just always chilling outside. that's all they do. We taught with our ward mission leader, hahahaha. The nanay's are so funny. They say the funniest things.  So hard not to laugh when I'm there.  We also have an investigator named marie fe who is really progressing and is awesome. I'm excited for her. 
     On Thursday we made real progress with a long time investigator and he is very close to being baptized. It was a very spiritual lesson we had with him and we were able to help him with some of his problems. I'm realizing now more than ever that the Gospel really does have the answers to every problem.  Sometimes we separate ourselves from the Lord when times get rough but really that's the completly wrong thing to do.  We need to draw closer to him and strive even harder to follow his commandments and that is how he will help us and lift us up again.  We also taught this ex-mormon.  He is totally against the church now and he was teaching us the correct method to pray. It was funny. My companion was confused what was going on.  
     Friday we taught this new investigator. man is he funny.  He is so talkative and so nice and he had a stroke once so we have to explain everything like 3 times but its alright because once he understands he remembers pretty well.  other than that we just taught some good lessons. 
     Saturday we had MTC exchanges.  Wow it showed me how far I have come with the language.  Tagalog is really coming along and I'm so thankful to my Heavenly Father for helping me.  I'm not perfect but its so so so much better.  My companion I got for the exchange was cool.  We taught a great investigator and he actually read the pamphlet we gave him.  What was even better is he read it twice to make sure he understood and he rememebered everything.  I have high hopes for him reading the Book of Mormon.  Also this random old guy gave me a hug. It was awesome.  It shows how nice the filipinos are.  The best part of Saturday was that we had a live broadcast from elder Bednar just for the Philippines. It was a question and answer and I learned a lot. It was so cool and like always their witness of the Savior is awesome, so spiritual. The church is true and we are truly being led by prophets and apostles. 
   On Sunday we had a crazy lesson. My companion said it was the hardest of his mission. This guy believes that this guy is Jesus Christ here on earth and that he will live for 1000 years and the second coming was him.  Its crazy.  I can't even go into all the other stuff he said.  The hardest part is that he reads straight anti Mormon stuff and was telling us we were of the devil and attacking Joseph Smith and the church. It was hard so we just testified and got out.  It was rough.  That's about it that happened last week. Still happy and still working  hard. mahal ko kayong lahat.  We also found a huge spider in our apartment and I found a monkey at a random house that we went to. Its more fun in the Philippines

Elder Snyder

Monkey in the cage

Spider on the lid