We Are Sowing, Daily Sowing

Hello Everyone! :)

This week has been amazing! 

On Tuesday, there was an Interfaith Thanksgiving Worship Service hosted by the Temple Chaverim. It is a Jewish temple here in Plainview. It was a really interesting service! There were people of all sorts of faiths and religions. It was really cool to see everyone gathered together to worship and thank our Father in Heaven. We were able to talk to quite a few different people and a bunch of people had questions for us about our church. We talked with a Jewish Rabbi (picture included) and so many more. A pastor from a Lutheran congregation came up to us (4 missionaries) and started asking some questions. Elder Cubas started teaching him the Restoration, so we joined in and testified of the Priesthood. The pastor said he had never been to an LDS worship service, so I gave him the address of our church and invited him to come. He said he would really like to make it there some day! It was legit!

I don't know if I have talked about our investigator, Gary, yet. I think I have.. anyway, his baptism is coming up in a couple of weeks! I am so excited for him! He has come a LONG way :) keep him in your prayers. I love this eternal work! :)

Thanksgiving was fantastic! We had 3 different meals, all of which were completely different. All had turkey, but everything else varied. It was so yummy! The Mansuetto's fed us Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday (picture included), and the Brewer's and Sister Dio Smith fed us dinner on Thursday. Everything was awesome! Everything is AWESOME!!!!  I have so much to be thankful for! I am so thankful for this beautiful gospel. I don't know where I would be without it. Definitely not in New York hahaha. I am so grateful for my wonderful parents and the Christlike examples they are to me :) I am so grateful for all my friends and family who have helped me to become the person I am today! I love you all and thank Heavenly Father for getting to have each of you in my life.

I hope everyone has had an amazing week! Thank you for all your support. Let me know if there is ever anything I can do for you :)

Love you all!

Elder Snell

P.S. I found out that Elder Robison is not a fan of Primary songs. Whenever it gets quiet in the car (so whenever we aren't talking about our investigators) I like to sing Primary songs...somewhat above average volume. Sometimes he sings along hahaha :)

P.P.S. If you haven't had the chance yet, go to Mormon.org and watch the new Christmas Initiative! #LIGHTtheWORLD

Lutheran Pastor with Elder Cubas, Elder Snell, Elder McCleary, Elder Robison

#LIGHTtheWORLD

Mansuetto's Thanksgiving Dinner Table

Long Island Freeways

Did You Think To Pray?

Hello, Friends :)

I LOVE Long Island during this time of year! There are so many trees which equals  SO MANY leaves!!! The colors are so amazing and so are the service opportunities!

On Saturday, we had a stake-wide service project at the Veteran's Hospital in Northport. We picked up about 4 or 5 massive truck loads of leaves. It was a ton of hard work and a ton of fun! So many leaves!

So, we had an exchange with the Zone leaders on Wednesday and Thursday. Elder Pothier and I taught 5 lessons Wednesday night. It was a party. During our study time on Thursday morning, all the fire alarms went off in their apartment building. We all had to go outside and wait for the fire trucks to show up. Turned out to be a false alarm, but it was still pretty exciting hahaha :)

This week was pretty hard investigator-wise. For some reason, it seemed like everyone was either gone for the week or just super busy. We were able to meet with a few of our investigators, and we were so thankful for that. However, we just couldn't seem to get ahold of our most promising investigators. It was pretty hard. On Saturday, we were getting kind of desperate. Elder Robison and I were on our knees a ton this week praying that we would be able to meet with our people. We decided that we were going to go over to the Budget Inn (where 4 of our investigators live) one last time for the week. When we got there, Tamika was outside talking with some of the other residents. She was so happy to see us! We talked with her for a bit and read the Book of Mormon with her. The chapter she was on addressed her needs perfectly! Right when we finished with Tamika, her husband, Darrell, shows up. Tamika had to go, so Darrell sat down with us and we were able to talk with him and read the Book of Mormon with him as well. Right after we finished its Darrell, we walk around the corner and find Nadia outside. She saw us, and ran inside. A couple seconds later, she walks out of her room with her Book of Mormon in her hand :) we sat down with her and she asked if we could read with her. We read from where she left off at, and it addressed her needs perfectly, too! Oh my goodness, Heavenly Father is real and amazing! The rest of that night was extremely successful as well :) 

I love being a missionary! I know that this is an inspired work. Seeing the gospel change lives is one of the most amazing things to witness and be a part of! I know that Heavenly Father answers our prayers and that He will help us when we need him. We just need to ask in faith :) 

I love you all! Have an amazing week. Happy Thanksgiving!

Elder Snell

To the Beach!

What's up, everyone?!?

Another week gone already! Wow, it just flew by.

So, we made a district goal this transfer to get in the habit of
always carrying a Book of Mormon in your hand wherever you go. This
idea has already brought about miracles! We were knocking one night
and finding no success. We knocked on one door and the guy came around
from the back of his house. He looked at the Book of Mormon in our
hands and brought us into his house. He asked if that was a Book of
Mormon we were holding and that he had always wanted to read it. He
told us about some stuff that has happened to him that have brought
him closer to God and is searching for answers :) it was incredible!

We were knocking again the other night and it was super cold outside.
No one wanted to hear our message. We knocked for a solid hour and a
half and again, no one wanted to hear what we had to say. We were
about to go back to the car, but we decided that we should at least
finish the block we were on. We knocked a couple times on a house
until it finally opened up. The guy let us right in and sat us down at
his kitchen table. We was eager to hear what we had to say as we
shared the message of the Restoration. The spirit was so strong as we
testified of the reality of the Priesthood and the love of God. It was
such a tender mercy to be able to find at least one person whom the
Lord has been preparing to receive His gospel :)

Our mission has started a thing called Operation Gold Mine. It's where
we get a list from our Bishop of all the Prospective Elders,
Part-Member Families, and Unbaptized Children 9+. I am so excited to
this. It's going to be TONS of work, though seeing that we have 712ish
less active members in our ward that we need to get in contact with
soon. I know that miracles will come as a result of this plan though!

We just got back from the beach! We went down to Jones Beach on the
shouts shore. It was so much fun! We threw a frisbee and took lots of
pictures.

That's it for this week! I love you all!

Elder Snell

The Lord's Doctors

Email 11/7/2016

Hello, Friends!!

So, this week was pretty interesting. It was sad and stressful and
awesome and exciting and eventful and full of hard work and different
and successful and a lot of other things :)

Halloween night wasn't nearly as much of a party as Elder Jensen
talked it up to be haha. Since transfers were the next day, he spent
the night packing and I spent the night cleaning...a lot... it was
kind of fun though haha

Transfers were on Tuesday. We had to be there at 10:15 for the new
trainers meeting. It was super cool. President and the assistants gave
workshops on how to best help the new missionaries be the best
missionaries they can be.

After the meeting, I met my trainee, Elder Robison! He is super cool!
He is from Cottonwood Heights, Utah. He went to Brighton High School
and loves to run and rock climb. He was called to speak American Sign
Language. He is already 6 weeks into his training, but was shipped out
to Plainview to finish his training with me :) we are going to get
along really well! For language study, he and I watch conference talks
in ASL and don't speak to each other (we only communicate by signing).
I can sometimes understand what he is saying to me, but I'm not too
good at ASL haha I can sign the Missionary Purpose though!

This week has been a lot of hard work! It is a lot more stressful
being a trainer than a trainee! I am learning a TON about myself and
how to become a better missionary, though! My teaching skills have
definitely improved and so has pretty much every aspect of being a
missionary. I have had to rely a lot on the Savior this past week! I
am so grateful for the experiences Heavenly Father is giving me, even
if they aren't necessarily the easiest experiences. However, it is the
hardest experiences that you learn the most from :)

So the coolest thing happened to Elder Robison and I yesterday! Right
after church, Brother Caldwell (2nd councilor in the bishopric) pulled
us aside and told us that someone texted him and asked for the
missionaries to come to the hospital and give a few people some
blessings. Elder Robison and I eagerly volunteered to do it! Turns out
that the woman that requested the missionaries was a recent convert
who lived in Pennsylvania. She is the only member of the church in her
family and her step-dad was hospitalized that morning. We got to the
hospital and there were about 30-40 people there to support the
family. The dad was perfectly normal one day and the next day he is
hooked up to all sorts of machines which were keeping him alive. We
gave him a priesthood blessing as well as his son, who was taking the
situation the hardest. The spirit in that hospital was so strong as we
gave this stranger a blessing in front of his family and friends who
never heard of the gospel but had nowhere else to turn. I am truly
humbled that Heavenly Father chose us to be the ones to go help His
children in such a dire situation. This gospel is incredible! I know
it's true! I know it more and more every day!

That's it for this week! I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Elder Snell

Something Strange is Afoot at the Circle K

Email from Oct 31st, 2016

Happy Halloween!!

This week has been a pretty interesting one!

        Transfers are tomorrow!!! How crazy is that? I am already done with
my training! The Zone Leaders called the zone this morning to inform
everyone who is "in" or "out". Elder Cubas & Elder McCleary are both
IN. Sister Nash is IN and Sister Tarnasky is OUT. Elder Jensen is OUT
(he was just assigned to be a Zone Leader) and I am IN. More fun news:
President called us Saturday Night and asked me to be a Trainer. I am
super excited and a little nervous haha :) I will be finishing the
training of an ASL missionary who served his first 6 weeks in
Brooklyn. I am so stoked! Maybe I will be able to pick up a few things
with ASL. His name is Elder Robison. I am praying that I will be able
to do this and make a difference in his mission and life :) we'll just
have to see haha

        Yesterday was the 5th Sunday of the month. In Plainview, the
missionaries get to speak in sacrament on the 5th Sunday :) Elder
McCleary, Elder Jensen, and I were asked to speak on anything we
wanted from Preach My Gospel. I decided to speak on Chapter 4: How Do
I Recognize and Understand the Spirit. If you want me to send you my
talk, just let me know! :) Also, the organist was late getting to
church, so Bishop asked me to play the organ for the opening and
Sacrament hymn! It was super fun playing the organ in Sacrament
Meeting. They told me they are going to put me into the church
organist rotation :) (I hope you are proud, Lynette Hadley!) :)

        The Plainview Ward Chili Cook-Off & Trunk-or-Treat was on Saturday
night. It was a party! A bunch of the members brought some of their
non-member friends to the party. We talked to a bunch of them, so
hopefully we might be able to get the chance to teach them more about
this wonder Gospel! We (the missionaries) were the judges for the
chili contest. There were some pretty amazing chili's there. Everyone
dressed up in their costumes, too hahaha! It was a lot of fun! I will
include some of the pictures I took :)

        Elder Cubas and I were on an exchange Thursday through Friday. We
planned to go knocking for Prime Time Find. I guess the weather didn't
really want us doing that, because it started pouring. I thought about
grabbing my umbrella, but I forgot to grab it before we left the
apartment. However, we decided we would go ahead and knock despite the
rain. We got soaked! It was hilarious, because we were clearly soaking
wet and at almost every door the person would say "Stay dry". Hahaha.
I thought it was pretty funny. At one of the houses, there was a plate
of cat food sitting on the porch right next to the door. As we
approach the porch, we notice that there is something sitting on the
porch. We get closer and realize that its a raccoon feasting upon the
remains of the cat food. It was interesting :)

        Last night we came to the church to sync our area book and the church
doors were propped open and there were a few random lights on. We got
a super creepy feeling, so we asked Elder Brown and Elder Perry
(Spanish missionaries in Westbury) to come search the building with
us. We split up in two's and turned on every light and opened every
door. It was actually kind of fun haha. Nothing was wrong, so that's
good. When we got home, we looked out our bedroom window at the
parking garage across the street and witnessed a drug deal. There was
a guy on his knees, rummaging through a bag and another guy standing
in front of him holding a flashlight all nervous and frantic-like. It
was sketchy. We were going to yell to them, but they finished before
we could muster up the courage to hahaha. Interesting night...

        We met some super cool new investigators this week! This email is
already super long, so I will spare you from talking too much about
them. Actually, I will just talk about them next week :)

        Have a wonderful week and a safe Halloween. President asked all of us
to be in our apartments by 6:00 tonight, so I hope you all take
advantage of your freedom ;) hahaha I love being a missionary for our
Lord!

Love you all!

Elder Snell

Brooklyn Bridge (I didn't take this picture haha some other missionary did)

 

Racoon eating food!

Halloween Party!

Brother Rivas took this one.

This is John. He is 91 years old! Super fun, though:)

Brother Borchert

Trophy for the Best Chili

Sunrise

Wow... Powerful.

Email from October 24, 2016

Alright, I'm just going to start right into it :) this week was kind
of bland. Not too many exciting things happened, but that's okay!

First cool story: we had district meeting on Tuesday, but the
Mansuetto's needed some help getting Brother Mansuetto into the car.
So, we decided to have district meeting in their beautiful backyard,
and then do service for them right after our meeting instead of doing
it Wednesday morning. It was going to be a perfect, flawless plan,
until we get a text from Sister Reynolds asking if she and President
can come to our district meeting. Haha. We decided to go through with
our original plans. President and Sister Reynolds came to our district
meeting, and it was awesome! We do a thing called Lightning Rounds and
Role Plays. For Lightning Rounds, we teach a couple points from one of
the Preach My Gospel lessons in two minutes. Role Plays is where you
teach someone acting like one of their own investigators for 4-5
minutes. For Role Plays, Elder Jensen and I got to teach President and
Sister Reynolds. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a ton!

So, we went to the Budget Inn the other day to do our weekly rounds of
investigators who live there. The owner of the Budget Inn told all of
the people living there that they aren't allowed to have guests inside
their rooms anymore, so we have to have our lessons outside at the
picnic tables. I love doing lessons outside! They are even more fun
when they get rained out! We were teaching Darrell & Tamika outside
when the heavens opened and dumped all they had on us. We quickly said
a closing prayer and ran for shelter. 'Twas a party! Hahaha

Last thing: I don't know if I told you this, but we have been teaching
the guy that lives in the Mansuetto's pool house, Michael. Last
Sunday, we taught him the Plan of Salvation. It went alright, but he
had a lot of questions we didn't have time to answer if we wanted to
get home on time. We left him a couple chapters in the Book of Mormon
to read and set up another appointment for Sunday (yesterday). So, for
our lesson yesterday, we decided we would go back to the basics: Who
is God? Michael believes that we don't live in base reality and that
there are super-intelligent beings who created us as an experiment. He
doesn't believe that there is a God rather that we were accidental
genetic mutations. He really enjoys meeting with us and wants to
understand what we are teaching him. We have felt the spirit very
strongly in past lessons and Michael has mentioned that he has felt
it. He just has troubles accepting that a feeling can testify that
what we taught is true. Hopefully he can feel the truth of the Book of
Mormon as he reads it :) Elder Jensen and I have faith that he will
understand some day :)

The subject is just something Elder Jensen and I have been saying all
week hahaha :) it's super funny when used correctly hahaha

That's about it for this week! Thanks for all your support and love! I
love you all!

Have an amazing week!

Elder Snell




Long Island in one picture: Rain, Trees, and Power Lines