Hello hello! How's everyone doing? Shoutout to my sweet brother, Happy Birthday yesterday! Also happy birthday to my sweet companion yesterday! Members had us over for an exciting meal last night and we ate cow tongue. Hahaha. To be honest, it was actually pretty good!
This next week we have transfers. We get transfer emails tomorrow evening, so we'll see what happens! Tomorrow morning Hermana Clark that we live with is fixin to report back to the mission home and returns home on Wednesday! We are so sad! We all watched the moon together last night
and celebrated Sister Storms' birthday and it was so fun. So we get to be with her companion for the next few days in our area and in the Spanish area. It will be fun, but we're so sad for her to leave!
We had a wonderful week! We got to give a training at district meeting, we had some good lessons, and we saw some incredible miracles! Here are a few of my thoughts from our training, from our lessons and miracles, we saw, and from the General Women's session on Saturday. This is going to be a long one, but there is just too much good stuff to not share it!
This next week we have transfers. We get transfer emails tomorrow evening, so we'll see what happens! Tomorrow morning Hermana Clark that we live with is fixin to report back to the mission home and returns home on Wednesday! We are so sad! We all watched the moon together last night
and celebrated Sister Storms' birthday and it was so fun. So we get to be with her companion for the next few days in our area and in the Spanish area. It will be fun, but we're so sad for her to leave!
We had a wonderful week! We got to give a training at district meeting, we had some good lessons, and we saw some incredible miracles! Here are a few of my thoughts from our training, from our lessons and miracles, we saw, and from the General Women's session on Saturday. This is going to be a long one, but there is just too much good stuff to not share it!
I love the expectation that is set for us in our mission, and for our lives, to know who we are and act accordingly. To me, that encompasses all parts of the gospel and tells me that if I recognize who I really am in the eternal scheme of things, I will choose every day to follow and live the gospel and Jesus Christ. If I recognize that I am a daughter of God, that I have a divine purpose, that I am of the house of Israel, and that I have much to accomplish, then every day I will choose to act accordingly. This past week, Sister Storms and I had the opportunity to give a training together at our district meeting about being dignified. We felt that first talking about who we are and being all in was important, because when we know who we are, we will be dignified and do all things how God wants us to. We started by reading from Doctrine and Covenants 133:
5 Go ye out from Babylon. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.
8 Send forth the elders of my church unto the nations which are afar off; unto the islands of the sea; send forth unto foreign lands; call upon all nations, first upon the Gentiles, and then upon the Jews.
9 And behold, and lo, this shall be their cry, and the voice of the Lord unto all people: Go ye forth unto the land of Zion, that the borders of my people may be enlarged, and that her stakes may be strengthened, and that Zion may go forth unto the regions round about.
14 Go ye out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon.
15 But verily, thus saith the Lord, let not your flight be in haste, but let all things be prepared before you; and he that goeth, let him not look back lest sudden destruction shall come upon him.
5 Go ye out from Babylon. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.
8 Send forth the elders of my church unto the nations which are afar off; unto the islands of the sea; send forth unto foreign lands; call upon all nations, first upon the Gentiles, and then upon the Jews.
9 And behold, and lo, this shall be their cry, and the voice of the Lord unto all people: Go ye forth unto the land of Zion, that the borders of my people may be enlarged, and that her stakes may be strengthened, and that Zion may go forth unto the regions round about.
14 Go ye out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon.
15 But verily, thus saith the Lord, let not your flight be in haste, but let all things be prepared before you; and he that goeth, let him not look back lest sudden destruction shall come upon him.
I am so grateful that I have made the decision to leave Babylon. To walk away, to run away, into Zion. It is the best decision I have made. Because not only have I made the decision to leave Babylon, but I have made the decision to go to Zion, not looking back. There is nothing there for me. There is nothing in Babylon that could ever bring more happiness than what is found in Zion. Knowing that I have made that decision and that I fully intend to stay in Zion for eternity helps me to know who I am and act accordingly.
Our biggest miracle this week happened on Tuesday and we were guided to the exact place we needed to be. There is a young man named Tyler that we had met at a restaurant who has been attending the ward after ours with his friends. We have seen him around a few times since, and he told us that he has been enjoying church. His friends are incredible member missionaries. On Tuesday we were driving on the road where our church is located, and we saw Tyler riding his bike down the road. We saw him disappear into the church parking lot, so we flipped around and pulled into the church. He had gone there hoping to get a copy of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants. He told us that he has truly felt something different at our church and that he was ready to begin reading. He has talked to the elders in that ward and wants to take it slow, but he wants to read and is willing to act on what he knows. He said that if he knew it was all true, he would want to serve a mission too. We were amazed and so glad that we were there to give him what he needed and talk to him!
Something that we've been focusing on for the past few days has been helping people find answers to their questions through the Book of Mormon. In Preach My Gospel chapter 5 there is a whole section about the questions of the soul that are answered in the Book of Mormon. We have been printing these out and sharing them with people, and we had an incredible lesson with Rachel and Alyssa the other evening. We read a chapter with them to answer their question, and they picked up on what it meant so quickly! it was amazing. The questions and answers straight from PMG are these:
Is there a God? (Alma 22)
What does Jesus Christ expect of me? (2 Nephi 9)
How can a belief in Jesus Christ help me? (Alma 36)
Is there life after death? (Alma 40)
What is the purpose of life? (Alma 34)
Does my infant need to be baptized? (Moroni 8)
Does God know me? (Alma 5:38, 58)
Does God answer prayers? (Enos 1)
How can I find peace and joy? (Mosiah 2, 4)
How can my family be happier and more united? (Mosiah 2)
How can I balance my family and career? (3 Nephi 13)
How can I strengthen my relationship with my spouse? (3 Nephi 14)
How can I avoid the evils that threaten my family? (Alma 39)
How can I avoid sin? (Helaman 5)
Studying these has helped me SO much!!
The last thing I'll mention is the General Women's session that was on Saturday. First of all, it makes me so thrilled for this next weekend of General Conference!! I can't even believe it's here again! Here are some of my favorite things that I got out of it:
-Life is a gift, and God does have a plan for each one of us.
-Because we are His children, we not only need Him, but He needs us as well.
-We must be so careful, sisters. We cannot play with Satan's fiery darts and expect not to be burned.
-The reward is so great, everlasting, eternal, and joyful that we may say to our Father, "Is that all that was required?" We will do anything to return to live with Them when we realize their love for us. What will they mean when the trials are the very things that qualify us for eternal life?
-We each have a glorious work to do. I this cause, we are all valued, we are all needed. The righteous cause we serve is of Jesus Christ, it is the work of salvation. His cause is the good news. It is His sacrifice. Our Savior has marked the path and led the way. If we choose to serve the Lord, we will stand pure before Him at the last day.
-In this work, we may know the pure love of God and obtain true joy.
-Faith turns our whole lives around. Faith led to hope. Faith and hope gave me confidence that one day things would work out. Because of the Savior, everything will be made right.
Faith in the Savior taught me that no matter what happened in the past, my story could have a happy ending.
-Now is part of eternity. We can be happy now.
-May faith fortify every footstep along your way.
I am grateful for the simple truths of the gospel and the changes that take place in each of us as we more fully strive to live them. It is such a blessing to witness people making that change every single day. There is no other way to be happy, truly, truly happy, than by living the loving principles of the gospel.
"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." (2 Nephi 31:20)
I love y'all and hope you have an incredible week!
Love,
Sister Snyder
Here's a picture of us with Fong this week :)
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