Hello, my wonderful friends!
I would like to start off my letter today by acknowledging the fact that it has only been about 5 days since my last preparation day, so I am going to attempt to make the excuse that I don't have too much to write about this week. In other words, I have decided that I am really bad at knowing what to write in my emails to you all.
I guess I will just go for it and hopefully I can properly explain how my week was for ya. Here we go:
Joe Miglino
I love Brother Miglino SO much! He is a less-active member (convert) we have been working with for a couple weeks now. He takes us out for lunch each week at the best (and only) diner I have been to in New York! The burgers are simply amazing there. Brother Miglino has one of the kindest and purest hearts I have ever seen in a person. He always goes out of his way to serve others and to lift their spirits a little. Brother Miglino has been telling us about a friend he has who is atheist and wants absolutely nothing to do with religion. Well, we were over at Brother Miglino's house on Thursday and none other than his atheist friend, Dave, walks into the house! Brother Miglino went into his version of "missionary mode", and starts telling his friend that we were here to save his soul! It was so awesome! Dave was telling us that he used to believe in God, but that his life has really gone downhill to the point where he felt there is no way there could be a God. We (mostly Brother Miglino, who has had some doubts about God himself) testified to Dave that we knew we had a Father in Heaven who truly loved him and gives us challenges to help us learn and grow. We ended up watching a General Conference talk. The spirit was really strong! I am sure that Dave felt something. A lot more happened, but we were able to set up an appointment to go over to Dave's house on Saturday to talk more about the gospel and then we left. Brother Miglino called us after Dave left his house. He was baffled that we were able to set up a visit with Dave. I definitely know that there is no way we would have been able to without help from Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost. I love being able to see the influence of God in others' lives. It is truly remarkable!
New Investigators
Alright! So, not sure if you all remember what I said about the fast Elder McConkie and I did to find new investigators last week. Just in case, I will recap on it. Elder McConkie and I have been getting a little frustrated not being able to find new investigators lately. So, we decided that we should fast for help in finding new investigators. We started our fast on Monday and decided we were going to go hard on knocking and asking for a million and a half referrals from everyone! We saw miracles. Ever since we fasted on Monday, Elder McConkie and I have found a new investigator every day this week. It has been incredible to experience how Heavenly Father guides us to find those He has been preparing. I LOVE being apart of His work!
That is something that I have been learning a lot about this week. Heavenly Father's work isn't just to get people baptized and made a member of His church. "For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." God's work is all about bringing to pass His children's eternal life. Eternal life is gained through personal progression in the gospel and becoming like our Savior, Jesus Christ. In General Conference, President Eyring said that God's work is us. Our personal progression is the sole purpose of our Heavenly Father's work. Pretty awesome! Anything God does (not matter how strange it may seem) is for our benefit. Heavenly Father is amazing!
Mr. McKee
Well, I guess missionary work just wouldn't be missionary work without running into a few of those odd balls. We ran into Mr. McKee (he wouldn't give us his first name) while knocking doors one evening. He came out of his house and on to the front porch and just started telling us off. He said stuff like "Your generation is illiterate and dumb, but you're all too stupid to realize it". He has zero belief in God, but is a very intelligent man! We started asking him what he likes to do. He labeled himself as being a "polymath" and as having an IQ of 200. We had a "decent" conversation about astronomy before Mr. McKee decided he was cold and told us to come inside his house. We stepped inside, and he proceeded to show us all the books that we need to read in order to educate ourselves and which order we were to read them in. The whole time he was showing us his book collection, we were asking him questions about God and testifying to him that God really does love us and has a perfect plan for us. He was caught of guard each time we brought up the subject of religion. Mr. McKee called us fools for believing is such a nonsensical thing and that we should spend our time reading. We told him that we DO spend time reading...the Book of Mormon. Mr. McKee said that he would never read such a book, but I am certain that he felt the spirit (even slightly) as we testified to him of the Savior. I hope and pray that he will find and read the Book of Mormon and Restoration pamphlet we left on his shelf.
Missionary Fireside
So, yesterday (Sunday) we had a stake-wide missionary fireside! It was SUPER cool! Here is basically how it worked. The focal point of the fireside were a few recent converts who were asked to give little talks about their conversion to the gospel and how they developed their testimonies. It was really cool to be able to listen to some of the recent converts I know and feel the spirit as they testified of the reality of the Savior and our Father in Heaven. President and Sister Reynolds also spoke at the fireside. I love being able to listen to those two speaks to the members of the stake. They are such spiritual powerhouses! The reason it was called a "missionary fireside" is because there was a musical number performed by missionaries in the stake in between each of the speakers. I was asked to sing with Sister Staker and Sister Gourley as well as direct a Zone Musical number. The two sisters and I (with Elder McConkie on the piano) sang "I Feel My Savior's Love" and my zone (Elder McConkie on the piano again) sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer". The spirit was SO strong during all the musical numbers done by a bunch of different missionaries. It was truly incredible to be apart of the fireside. I could definitely feel the love our Father in Heaven and our Savior have for each and every one of us. They truly do know us on a personal and individual level beyond our comprehension! I am so grateful for the love They have for me and for everyone. I feel a sliver of that love each and every day. What a beautiful thing it is!
Well, that's it for this week! I love you all and wish you the best!
Well, that's it for this week! I love you all and wish you the best!
Elder Snell
Picture Palooza!
1) Lunch at TABY'S with Brother Miglino!
2) Nice sunset!
3) Neat view!
4) Sister Irma's celery flavored soda!
5) GLOW STICK PARTY!
6) I spy with my little -- it's a tree.
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