WEEK 24: BAPTISMS IN OUR NEW CHAPEL!

  

Last Monday we taught some lessons and had a great day.  On Tuesday I got some birthday packages and a package from the young women in my home ward, shout out to cascade 7th for being the best. thank you so much. Also shout out to my mom for sending delicious treats. 

    Tuesday we were so busy and taught a lot. it was so great. we had great lessons and teaching is awesome.  It makes the time go by so fast.  also we found out that president would be going to each apartment to do interviews. there's 200 missionaries here, that's a lot of apartments. and some of us are on a different island. 

    Wednesday we were teaching and this lady was saying the closing prayer and then she just went silent. I honestly thought she fell asleep, a few minutes later she ended with an amen. haha I have no idea what happened. maybe she just switched to a personal prayer.  We taught a tatay who has some really hard trials right now and so we shared Alma 38: 3-5 and when we had him replace his name in verse 5 he started crying and the spirit was so strong.  It was such a good experience, hard to describe. I really felt a true love more for that tatay, he's a good guy.  He's a funny tatay too. He has to get a headlamp to read the book of mormon so its bright enough haha.  

   Good news! our chapel is finally open and we went to church there and baptized  pero darating ako diyan. (i'll get there)

   Thursday we had zone conference which was so awesome. There was a missionary broadcast and I learned so much, it was a great experience. We also got new changes to our schedule and key indicators so that's pretty cool.  My mission president and his wife are great people, I'm so thankful for them.  On the way home from zone conference we were in serious traffic on a cramped jeep and it was a million degrees, we had to travel kind of far to the conference.  It was horrible but we eventually arrived home and had time to teach one lesson.

    On Friday I was thinking about the temple and how grateful I am to have a temple in my mission so we can go there and help people progress in going to the temple. we teach for the temple. The temple is amazing and should be the focus of everyone.  We also taught a guy that day that just went off on us, he all of a sudden got so mad. I understood his Tagalog but I still don't understand why he was mad and neither does my companion but we stayed calm and finished .  I  think we were able to handle it pretty well by the spirit and we surprisingly were able to get a return appointment. We'll see how it goes. 

   On Saturday we had two more baptisms!!!!!!!!! They were the first baptisms at the new chapel. The chapel is so nice and amazing.  The baptism went so much smoother this time.  I was able to baptize our investigator named Christine and we had a ward member baptize Roberto. Roberto was an OYM I had on my fourth day in the field and now I am so happy to have seen him enter the waters of baptism. It was so amazing.  He has grown so much over the past 4 months. It has taught me a lot about perseverance  and never to give up on anybody. 

    Sunday we had our first sacrament at the new chapel. During sacrament meeting a parade went by, it was a "fiesta". People painted themselves and were dancing and drunk and carrying their shrines around. It was pretty loud and crazy.  The confirmations were very spiritual, they were smiling as they received the gift of the holy ghost. I'm so happy for them.  Now we just need to get them to the temple.  

   I had an awkward experience happened last night on the jeep. I got on and sat down and looked across from me and there's this lady breast feeding with no cover.  It was very awkward and surprising. haha . Philippines is different than America because no one else acted like it was out of the ordinary.  

    We have a basketball challenge later. If we win then we get to teach them.  I'll go read some war chapters in the book of Mormon to get pumped for the mighty battle that will commence later. love you all. 

Elder Snyder

Our new church building

Hey look, a member brought us Balut

WEEK 23: BAPTISM , COCKROACH, I DUNKED!!

  Hello  everyone! So the definite highlight of this week was the baptism of Donna Costoya.  I've been teaching her since my first transfer here, it was so amazing to see her baptized. So we picked her up and all went on the jeepney together to the chapel which is still far away.  Even though the new chapel was dedicated we are still waiting for the occupancy permit to attend church there.  So we arrived at the chapel with Donna and her friends Nanay and tatay bulawit. when we got there, there was supposed to be a key to open the font but there was a miscommunication so it took a while to finally track down a key.  When we opened the font there was cockroach in it and the water wasn't very clean, so  we had to wait while it drained. While we were waiting we had our two other baptismal candidates get interviewed by our district leader. they will be baptized on January 28th.  We started filling it up and then all of a sudden the water stopped.  We finally figured out that someone had shut off the water to the chapel.  We eventually got it figured out and got the water turned back on,  but the water was a dirty brown  so we had to drain again and then start filling again, then the water was clean enough to baptize. We got it filled enough and so we started the baptismal program.  Donna wanted tatay bulawit to baptize her so they entered the font. Tatay is so funny, he had a cheat sheet on his arm but still struggled to say the  prayer.  He tried 4 times to baptize and each time didn't put her all the way under,  we were prepared and had my companion bring baptismal clothes so my companion baptized her. Even though it was a process  she did get baptized and her testimony after was so amazing.  It was awesome to see the change in her.  The other baptismal candidates, Roberto and Kristine are awesome, its so amazing to see the change that has happened in their lives and I'm glad I could be a part of it. 

  Funny story, this tatay we met tried to convince us that he was a warlock and the leader of all the warlocks in the Philippines, it was so funny. that tatay is crazy haha.  I dunked this week, but it was on a small hoop so it doesn't really count but it really impressed the kids haha. 

love you all. 

Elder Snyder

Notice the cheat sheet on his forearm

The court where the dunk took place

Kids like flashing their signs

WEEK 22: A LOT OF TEACHING. GREAT BIRTHDAY LUNCH

    On Monday I bought a pizza burger from this street burger place. it seemed like a good idea and it was. It was delicious even though it was simple. It was so cheap too.  We also taught a new investigator.  We taught him with his extended family who are members. The members are active but its hard to teach with them because they ask these really deep doctrinal questions in the middle of the lesson and it interrupts the spirit and distracts and confuses our investigator. we are visiting him later tonight again. but the member does cook us delicious food and there's always a lot of rice.
   On Tuesday it felt like a hard day, but I looked back and realized how blessed we are each day, even with just small tender mercies, it rained so hard on Tuesday walking through the alleys was hard. there were mini lakes and rivers and waterfalls falling from the rooftops. there was just water everywhere and somehow my socks still stayed dry which was pretty cool. Its the small things that count. We taught another tatay who is really interested.  I have really felt the gift of tongues as I've started understanding more and more and being able to teach. There was this one lesson where I understood every single word and it was amazing. I saw a frog as big as a plate. 
  I got grandma and grandpa Horne's  letter and a package from grandma and grandpa Snyder, It was great to get those. a lot more happened but I don't have a lot of time so i'll be brief.
   On Wednesday the church was dedicated but we're still waiting for the occupancy permit to be able to attend church there.
   Thursday we taught a lot and it was great. there was this tractor on a lake on a barge and was digging up trash. he would stick the claw thing into the water and tip to like a 30 degree angle but wouldn't tip. he was brave. it was funny and he paddled using the claw thing.
   On Thursday we taught this investigator and as we showed up he was reading the Book of Mormon and he told us the night before when he prayed he was scared an angel would appear like what happened to Joseph Smith.  I also saw a man walking his goat like a dog and the fish market sells still alive fish that are just flopping around on the table.
   Friday was my birthday so I bought some McDonald's and it was delicious.  We have this tatay that's hard to understand because he has no teeth haha.  We had a very spiritual lesson at Hernandez, he has some problems and we pulled a verse out of the Book of Mormon to help him. it was great. It's so cool to see people understand and come to love the Book of Mormon. It's just hard to get them to come to church but our new church is almost ready, i'm so excited.
   On Saturday we contacted a referral and she has real potential.  she was amazed when we could find all the answers in her very own bible.  We taught at a members house to a family of 11 and then they invited some friends to listen so there were 18 of us in a house as big as my bedroom back home. It was crazy. it was a great lesson though.
    On Sunday there was a fiesta for the birthday of sto. nino. i still don't understand why there was a party or who sto nino is but the people partied. there was dancing, fire breathing and the usual stuff. we have a baptism on Saturday which I'm so excited about. I've been working with this investigator for all three transfers and she will finally will be baptized. I'm so excited and she is so ready to be baptized.  Missionary work is awesome and fun and hard and rewarding. love you all.  

Elder Snyder

My District

Birthday Lunch 

Birthday Twice

WEEK 21 : OPENING CANS WITH A KNIFE , 5 MILLION MOSQUITO'S

    How is everyone? I'm doing great. Missionary work is awesome and everyday I feel I'm progressing.  I'm becoming more Filipino each day. I'm getting better and better at doing the Filipino squat, it hurts a little but I'll get there.  My goal is to be able to squat like a native Filipino by the end of my mission.         
   On Tuesday during lunch my companion caught a pigeon and so we ate that for lunch. haha just kidding but it was pretty crazy that he was able to catch it.  He basically just walked up to it and picked it up in the apartment. The lesson that stood out on Tuesday was to an investigator named Roberto who will be baptized this month. He did slip up with the word of wisdom and he drank alcohol. It made us sad and he felt bad. He was peer pressured by his friends. His friends don't like him listening to us.  Roberto has a strong fellow shipper and really wants to be baptized, he just has some friends influencing him. We shared a good message and it really helped him. I'll explain more of what happened to him later. 
   On Wednesday we had some good tender mercies. We were looking for this lady and this random kid riding a bike asked us where we were going so we told him and he said "I know her" and took us right to the house. It was a huge tender mercy.  Also later that day we were walking and i felt i needed to stop at a house and it was awesome because we found this tatay and he is ready for the gospel, he used to be apart of iglesia ni cristo here (look it up. they cause problems) but he left them and he knows iglesia ni cristo and catholic aren't right and wants to know the truth, he even prays right.  He is so receptive and its so awesome teaching him, such a tender mercy. There were more that day but those were the biggest ones. 
   On Thursday we visited the American again and his Filipino daughter to talk about getting a blessing for her baby.  This American is less active but he has a strong testimony. its hard to explain. When he prayed it was probably 20 seconds but he was crying after and it was powerful.  It feels so weird talking to him in English, the Tagalog keeps coming out.  We also taught these investigators named Ella and Princess, they are part member. their mom is a member and so is their cousin. they are so excited to be baptized and are so smart and understand.  We also taught Roberto again. We prepared a special lesson for him using the Book of Mormon and it was awesome, the spirit was so strong and it strengthened him. His faith has grown so much and he is awesome.  
   On Thursday we helped push a jeepney out of a busy intersection because its engine died. haha that was pretty fun. we got it going pretty fast. we were basically running as we pushed.   I'm getting so good at opening cans with just a knife.  I don't need a can opener. 
   On Friday we taught this tataty, he's iglesia (which means he is a member of iglesia ni cristo) he is always telling us to get married and stuff. then we taught tatay reynaldo again. the tatay that we randomly stopped at that is awesome and ready for the gospel.  His wife made us coffee which we kindly rejected and now they're really interested in why we didn't take the coffee, which was a perfect way to set up the next appointment. 
    On Saturday we taught Ian. We went in with a plan and again changed it according to the spirit. it was such an awesome lesson.  He is starting to believe its true so we shared Alma 32, it was great. he is busy so its hard to get return appointments but we will stick with him.  at an appointment later that night there was like 5 million mosquito's, there was this constant buzzing noise. It was a little scary,  we survived though. I got stung by a bee while teaching, it really hurt. I swear bee stings are worse here. My hand swelled a little but I'm fine now. I had to dig the stinger out with nail clippers and then we kept teaching. We got to ride a boat to a lesson which was cool. 
   On Sunday we were fasting for the chapel to open close to us, it's done but needs to be dedicated and our prayers were answered. The dedication service is on Wednesday. I'm so excited, its really going to help our area. its going to be awesome.  Also this crazy guy started talking to us about how we don't need religion and then a member showed up so elder Almasin went to the member and i was "sacrificed" and had to endure the crazy guy. haha he was weird. that night we taught Roberto again. he is so happy now and we noticed a huge change. he was so excited and as soon as we sat down he said OK lets start and he just began praying. my companion and i just looked at each other and smiled and then bowed our heads,  it was a great lesson. He is so ready to be baptized, its so cool to see the change in his life despite persecution.   We have an investigator named Kristine who has read the whole Book of Mormon in English and Tagalog. so cool.  love you all  and ingat kayo   

  Elder Snyder

WEEK 20: NOT A GREENIE ANYMORE !!!!

  So last Tuesday after I called my family we were walking along the street when this random white guy stopped me. I was first surprised to see another American and then I was even more surprised he was from Utah and then even more surprised when he said he was a member.  He isn't active though. He's been living here in the Philippines for 9 years now with his Filipino wife.  He's not active but he still gives referrals to the missionaries.  We met with him for a little bit and he was just talking politics and we have no idea whats going on in the world so we listened but were always trying to direct the conversation to something else. It was weird in English too.  I forgot how to do small talk. I kept almost saying things in Tagalog. He was talking about all these conspiracies in the government and stuff. That's why he moved here to the Philippines and he also said we need to be prepared for anything and so he showed us his homemade crossbow he made. It was actually pretty cool. He made it from everyday objects around the house. later that night we received a great referral from a member which was to teach at a part member family. it was a great lesson and a great find. Members are so helpful out here. it helps keep people active and helps in finding. then we taught the Hernandez family. they are so awesome. They are honest seekers of truth. They've listened to other religions but we're the only ones where they've felt something different and want to keep listening.  it was so cool as he shared his experience with us and the hard thing is that they work long and late hours. its so hard to get them all there but we can do it. They're such a great family and they live right across from the church so when it opens it will be good.
 On Wednesday we taught a part member family, his wife is a member and he's been taught by the missionaries before a while ago. We had a lesson planned but the lesson we taught was completely different. it was totally by the spirit and when we finished he thanked us and said that he understands better now. it helped me understand the power and the importance of the spirit in missionary work and in touching peoples hearts. it was such a cool experience.  They gave us chili and it was so delicious.  
   I finished my training so I'm officially not a greenie anymore. I'm a regular missionary now and so we go out one hour earlier now which is way better. It's better being out teaching.  We also had a great FHE at a less actives house. they're slowly coming back to the church and its cool to see their progress. 
    Thursday we had a very busy day, we taught a lot and worked with members all day. We had two members work with us the whole day,  it was awesome. we worked with a young man who is finishing his mission papers and a young women who has a call to serve in Peru. It was funny because she doesn't know any Spanish so I taught her a little.  It was weird to speak in Spanish after all this time.  haha.
    We have this one tatay who loves to talk. I think I've mentioned him before. We went off for 10 minutes about how Alma doesn't have a last name. Its funny, but a little frustrating sometimes, he loves tangents.  A lesson later that night we had an investigator who had an allergic reaction and so her tongue swelled up and she had to write her questions on paper,  that was interesting. I've noticed Tagalog comes so much better when I'm focused and inviting and listening to the spirit. It can be hard sometimes because there's a lot of distractions sometimes in a lesson, whether its a bug, heat, little kid or something else.
    Friday it was pretty normal, we visited the American less active again. He says come by anytime even if we just want food, he is so friendly.  We're going to reactivate him and get some referrals from him, he's cool.  He also showed us his homemade spears that he kills rats with. they were pretty cool.
    Saturday we had an early curfew so we went out at 8 A.M and did our studying at night, we had to be in by 5 P.M. because it gets crazy on new years. There was videoke everywhere and fireworks and people were starting to get drunk.  We found a new family as we were in a part of our huge area where we've never been. They want to change their lives and are already interested in baptism, It's so cool. the Lord really guides us because how else would we have randomly gone to that part of our area.  We taught Ian again and he had a really hard question. We tried to answer it and then honestly told him that we would study and on the next visit help him understand.  He really appreciated that because he said the old missionaries used to just keep saying the same thing and he got frustrated. it was a good experience.
   Sunday we had an early curfew as well. We tried to pick up investigators but they were all sleeping in, hungover or busy. frustrating. Also 10 minutes before church we were asked to speak.  I was thinking on what I should speak on and the thought came into my head to speak on prophets, it was pretty good, the Lord helped me. I didn't speak any English. I don't know why I needed to speak on prophets but i did.  Sunday morning at midnight we woke up. We didn't need an alarm there were so many fireworks, it was like a war.  It was constant noise and horns and explosions and lights flashing. It was pretty crazy.  It lasted for about 45 minutes and then it just got quiet. It was cool.

    We didn't have any transfers so I have the same companion.  We're working hard and well together.  We're loving this area. Love you all and miss you. Kaya ninyo. Mahal ko kayo

Elder Snyder

Homemade Crossbow 

Chicken heart I ate

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