Transfers, The Trainee, and The Croucher

Hello y'all!!!

Wowie wow we have had such a busy and good week with transfers and everything! We packed up Sister Reece (not her literally, just her stuff. Although she did make a 5-year-old cry this week by saying that she would pack him in her suitcase take him home with her), we had a wonderful farewell dinner for her at Freddy's with some of our amazing ward members, we taught some good lessons, then it was transfers.

There were only like 6 new missionaries that came in, and only 2 sisters, so as soon as they entered the room I knew who was mine. My wonderful new companion is Sister Scott from Las Vegas. Hoorah. She is such a good missionary and a hard worker! We get along so great and she's very funny and sneaky in a good way and we're going to have a really great transfer!

I really, truly believe that the Lord knows each one of us and our needs, because training a new sister is the best thing I could be doing right now. I feel like that missionary fire within me has started blazing again. And not that it was ever diminishing or anything, but there's just something about the faith and expectations of a new missionary that take you back to the very basics of the gospel and missonary work and obedience and it's just been awesome. I hope at least some of that made sense. Haha.

We taught some awesome lessons this week and we are meeting with the sweetest people around. Palma is just so adorable and we are thrilled to get to see her again tonight. We're hoping to set her with a baptism date. So that's fun!

On Sister Scott's first night we had the funniest experience. We stopped by the house of this potential to see their sons. So we knocked and the dog barked, then stopped. So we rang the doorbell. No answer. So we start to walk away and we glance back and through the open blinds we could see one of the guys holding his dog's mouth shut and crouching down behind his couch. Hahahaha so funny. Such a good first day experience for Sister Scott. Ah man.

Well I sure do love y'all. I was reading through my old study journal this last week at something President Slaughter said and I love it, and it honestly applies to every one, not just missionaries. He said, "We are not here to obey rules. We're here to be faithful to God." Amen. This life is not about checking off the list of things we need to do, or if we went to church or the temple, or what commandments we're keeping because we're supposed to. This is all about being faithful to our Father in Heaven and His Son. What is the true motive behind these things we do? We need to be doing these things because we love them enough and we want to dedicate our lives to building up the kingdom of God on the earth today. We truly are here to be faithful to God, and serve Him out of a sincere desire and out of sincere love. This is definitely something I've been thinking about and working on.

The gospel is true y'all. So, so true, and so, so perfect.

I love y'all tons.

Love always,

Sister Snyder

i never know what to write here.... - April 13

Hello everyone!!! What a beautiful, HUMID, and fun week we have had here in Garden Ridge! We got transfer calls last night. I've been here for 3 transfers, and Sister Reece for 2, so we were kind of feeling that I would go, and then whatever else would happen. So we were waiting and waiting for the call last night, and finally at 8:45 it came, and Sister Reece is leaving and I'm staying and training a new missionary! Wowie wow. So sad to see her go! But also I'm so excited to train again!! I love the new missionaries and training and I feel very blessed to be able to train a new sister. I can't wait to meet her on Thursday!! :)

So we had such a fun and good week! Can I just say again how incredible the members of the ward here are? I love these families so much, and they are so, so good to us!! One of the members, Sister Brinkerhoff, came out to teach with us basically every day and she has such a strong testimony and relates to people so well. So awesome to have her with us.

We had zone meeting this week, and one of the zone leaders gave an incredible training on humility. Definitely something I needed and we talked about how we are truly humble when the Lord's will becomes our will. That right there is humility. When we get to the depths of humility, and repent, show willingness to work and change, and become teachable, that's where the Lord steps in. We cannot and will not do it on our own. We drew a picture on the board of someone in a little pit, and there's a ladder with Christlike attributes on each step. But the ladder only goes up so far, and you can't quite make it to the top. Then the Lord, with all of the love in the world and with his grace, throws us a rope, and pulls us up. We need him to throw the rope, because there is no other way we can get to the top. Such a wonderful image. I've been studying humility for a few minutes every day, and it's made such a difference. Hymn 130, Be Thou Humble, is also full of wonderful promises. I would highly recommend reading it.

We had some good times biking around and suffocating in the humidity this week. Haha. Not really but it's getting pretty humid out there and it's scary. We feel like we're in a jungle.

On Saturday we were so blessed to meet a sweet woman named Palma. She's in her 60s and is so tiny and sweet and she let us right in. We(Sister Reece who was actually tall enough) helped her change a light bulb in her closet and she was thrilled. haha. and then we started teaching her the Restoration and she was so excited to hear that Christ's true church was back on the earth. It was so great! And such a good reminder of how simple the gospel is. It's the same church Christ established, the same priesthood authority, and the same loving sacrifice behind it. We' re so blessed that it was restored and that we are partakers of the living gospel that get to share it with others. I LOVE IT!

So this week will be so fun and sad and exciting and I can't wait to meet my new companion!!

I love you all so much!!!

Love,

Sister Snyder

"We are not casual in our faith." - April 6

HELLO! I hope all is well wherever you may be and I hope you had a fantastic Easter!

We have had a wonderful week here in Garden Ridge and the definite highlight of this week occurred over the past 2 days.

WOW wow wow General Conference was INCREDIBLE, life changing, and full of so much love. I hope everyone had the opportunity to hear the Lord's servants speak to us, because it was too good and so needed. We watched conference at our church building, and there were at most probably 10 people there during each session. We were able to make conference our whole focus as there were no distractions present, and it was amazing. I wish I could share with y'all just how much it meant and everything I learned and re-learned, but that would take forever and I can't correctly convey just how much gratitude and love I feel for everything, but I will share a few of my favorite things!

-I love that as Sister Wixom shared the story about the woman she knew, she said "What I focus on expands inside of me." So, so true. I feel like that's what happened this weekend. As my focus was on hearing the words of God and on our Savior, I could feel it expand within me. The things that I've heard before grew and I came to understand so much more. And what a great principle for all parts of our lives. Our focus grows within us, and that's what we become.

-Saturday afternoon the three Seventies that spoke in a row, ,Elder Andersen, Elder Renlund, and Elder Ringwood gave such good and comforting talks. Those are definitely ones to read again and again. I loved Elder Ringwood's story and how he said that "the service that matters most is usually noticed by God alone". The titles and callings fall away, and God will know if we are true disciples of Christ who serve everyone and love unconditionally.

-The subject line is from Elder Andersen and it says enough.

-The last one I'll share is from Elder Pearson during the Sunday afternoon session. He talked about enduring to the end and how to constantly come unto Christ. He shared a brief story about how when he was called as a mission president it was very unexpected, and the company for which he worked was upset that he was leaving. They questioned when and why he had made this decision. I LOVE his response. He said, "I made that decision when I went to the temple as a nineteen-year-old boy. I built my entire life on those covenants, and I will continue to." That is the purpose of it all. Loving, living, and learning the gospel and building our lives on it every single day. Once the decision is made, stay true to it. That decision will influence every part of our lives.

I love this gospel with everything in me. Jesus Christ is our Savior, and He lives because He and the Father love us. Everything in this life is because He lives. I know it all to be true. And I know that 185 years ago today, Christ's true church was once again established on the earth with the proper authority from God. Our living prophet has that authority and leads us and guides us in these days. And because of all of this, we will live in eternity with our families, our Heavenly Father, and our Savior. There will be nothing greater than that.

I love all of you so very much!

Love,

Sister Snyder

Here are some pictures from dinner last night with the McDaniels! We were watching them shoot some cans in their backyard, then they came at us from behind with confetti eggs! So fun! :)

HI - March 30

Hi y'all!!! zero time again per usual, but a few things i have to tell you.

first, the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and truly is another testament of Jesus Christ. It is the most correct book because it was written and translated by personal witnesses of Christ.

second, prepare for and watch General Conference. Sincerely pray for answers, and enjoy it! Such a blessing to get to hear from our prophet and apostles!

third, watch and share Because He Lives. It is incredible what the Savior has done, and there are people who need to know. The video is incredible and gets me every time. 

fourth, i love all of you so very much. have a wonderful week!!

love, sister snyder