He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands

Hey, Everyone! :)

Sorry for getting this out so late and for it being super super not very detailed at all! I will try harder next week. Promise.

Anyway, this week was really great! We had exchanges with the zone leaders and I got to be companions with Elder McConkie again! It was really neat to see how he has changed since the beginning of last year when we were companions in Plainview. The Lord really molds and shapes us if we let Him!

We had our district activity today! We all went to Flushing Meadows Park to take pictures at the Unisphere and then ran around at the park. It was tons of fun! I love my district so much!!!! 

So, on Tuesday, we had a lesson scheduled with our investigator, Jessica, right after district meeting at the church. Well, Jessica decided to be a little bit early and came to the church while we were still in district meeting. So, we invited Jessica to sit in with us until we finished! She gladly came in and participated in my workshop that I gave on connecting our investigators to the scriptures by helping them have meaningful and spiritual experiences through them. It was really fun! We had such and amazing lesson with her right after district meeting as well and she accepted a baptismal date! I am so excited for her!

On Sunday night, we had the opportunity to help some young men over in Utah prepare for their missions! We were asked if they could FaceTime into one of our lessons and teach our investigator the Plan of Salvation. So, Dustyn and Matt from Alpine, Utah taught the Vasquez family about God’s Plan of Happiness! It was so fun to listen to them teach and testify of the Savior based off of what they have learned in Mission Prep class. Super fun!

I love you all and hope to hear from ya next week! :) Have a phenomenal week and make someone smile!!! 

Elder Snell

This is our church building! It is amazing! :)

Super amazing day at the park with the best district in the Church! ;)

 

Year of the Dog continued

2.19.18

MORE PHOTOS and VIDEOS FROM THE PARADE IN FLUSHING NY

Year of the Dog

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!! :)

I took some pictures and videos this week, so I will let them speak for themselves.

Highlights of the week include:

 - A bunch of missionaries from my mission got to march/walk in the Chinese New Year Parade here in Flushing! It was such a blast! I got to do the lion dance throughout the entirety of the parade route. My legs are SUPER sore!!!! It was tons of fun though!

 - We had MegaZone Conference this week. I love being able to learn from President and Sister Reynolds :) it was a great day!

 - We had a miracle Investigator come to church yesterday! Elder Rice and I prayed that we could have at least one investigator make it to church, and Chrissy came right at the start of Sunday School!!!! God is good :)

 - I had another amazing week here in Flushing!!!!!!

Well, I guess I don’t have a lot of things to say today. So you get a break this week! Hahaha 

Enjoy the videos :) I love you all!!!!! Have a phenomenal week!

Elder Snell

 

🇨🇳 Welcome to China 🇨🇳

Hello, Friends! :)

I just barely got back from the TEMPLE!!!!! So I don’t have a whole lot of time to write today. Here comes a speed summary of my past week!

So, to start off, I would like to express that this past week has probably been one of the greatest weeks on my mission! No joke! It has been phenomenal! I wish I could explain half of the amazing things that happened last week. I will try my best :)

• Transfers were last week! I was transferred back to QUEENS! YES! So now I am in Flushing with Elder Rice. OH MY GOODNESS, I love it here! We live right in the heart of basically China hahaha It is the greatest thing of my life! There are sooooo many people that live here in Flushing and it is awesome! With Queens being the most diverse place on the planet (that’s a fact), comes the blessing of having missionaries serve here who speak different languages. There are two districts here in Flushing, the Chinese district and my district which consists of an English companionship, a Spanish companionship, and two Korean companionships. We have decided to call ourselves the ‘Spengleans’! I LOVE my district so much!!!!! 
• The branch here is pretty small. It is combined Spanish and English, so I am now working on learning a little bit more Spanish so I can communicate with the other half of my ward! The mission is definitely keeping me on my toes
• Elder Rice is a champ! He is from California near San Diego and has been on his mission for 7.5 months. I love him lots!
• This week was FILLED with miracles!!!! I don’t have time to go super into specifics about them, so I will give a vaguely general summary of them haha. Our teaching pool needs a lot of growth, so Elder Rice and I have been doing a lot of finding :) it has been amazing! We found 6 super solid new investigators this week where the ways we found them were 100% led by God. Remind me to tell you more about them next week! Let’s just say I know God lives and really does put us in the path of His children who are ready for the gospel! Jessica, Sylvia, Lucy, Jenny, Brian, and Jeffrey are miracles!!!
• Elder Randall K. Bennett visited our mission on Friday! Wow, was that amazing! I love being able to learn from the experiences and wisdom of general authorities! The things he shared were definitely an answer to some of my prayers :)

There is so so so much more I need to tell you, but I will have to leave it at that. I love you all so much!

Love ya!

Elder Snell

P.S. OH OH OH OH OH!!! We are going to be in the Chinese Lunar New Year parade here in Flushing on Saturday! I am pretty sure it will be televised on the news, so try and find it online and you might see all the missionaries dressed in the yellow Mormon Helping Hands vests! See you on TV!

1) Saying goodbye to Jose :( this man changed my life by changing his. It was such an incredible experience to work with Jose :)

2) Saying goodbye to John (recent convert in Midwood)

3)Barclays Center in Brooklyn (had to pass it on my way to the doctors last week)

 

4-5) Cinnamon peanut butter & mint jelly sandwich for lunch! 

  

6-7) Second to last temple trip here in NY! :( :( It was AMAZING to be able to go to the temple again :) I LOVE THAT PLACE!!!!!!!!!!

Moving Out of Midwood

Feb 5, 2015

Hello, Friends! :)

Alright, so I don’t have a whole lot of time this week to do much emailing... lots of stuff I have to accomplish today haha so Elder Lee and I will be running around all day :)

Tomorrow is transfers.... and yeah....I am out... it is super sad because I have only been here in Midwood for 2 transfers. But that is okay, because I know where ever I go is exactly where the Lord needs me! 

So, along with me being moved from Midwood (not sure where I am going yet), after a wonderful 5 transfers I have been released from being a Zone Leader. It was such a privilege and blessing to be able to serve the missionaries I serve with in a different way. I have learned so much from the examples of my peers and from my Heavenly Father. I feel that i have truly learned how to love and care for someone in the way our Savior loved and cared for others (even though it is just a fraction of the love and compassion the Savior felt toward His brothers and sisters here). I was also called to be a District Leader again! I am super stoked about that! Words cannot express how excited I am to continue to serve my fellow missionaries :) :) :) I have 4 transfers left on my mission :( so my next area very well may be my last area here in New York. I guess we will have to see haha

This final week here in Midwood has been a super long one (week 7 of this extended transfer), yet one so full of miracles! Jose is currently on a week long no smoking streak! *knock on wood* This is the first time in his life since the age of 12 that he has gone more than one day in a row without smoking a single cigarette! I am so so so proud of him! It has been such an incredible experience to witness the changes that have happened in his life and in his character. Over the course of just 3-4 months, Jose went from stealing cars, robbing houses, using about every drug imaginable, never smiling, never caring what God thinks of him, etc. to having immense faith in Christ, having utter disgust for his own sins, smiling and laughing and cracking jokes, serving strangers who need some help on the streets, and having genuine love for all people. Jose is the prime example of the changes that are made possible through the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. There is absolutely no way anyone could convince me that the is no God. Jose is a testimony that God lives. Jose along with thousands and thousands of others. What a joy this has been to watch the Savior truly change lives.

I love missionary work so much!! Over the past two transfers, the ward has grown a lot in regards to how missionary work is done here :) It is by no means perfect, but it has been great to be a part of the improvements that have been made! When I arrived here, there was little to no member involvement in missionary work. Right when I got here, we got a new Bishop who understood very well how missionary work should function in a ward. He called new ward missionaries and armed the Ward Mission with some great members! Our Ward Correlation meetings have become amazing over the past transfer! We have had ward missionaries at each meeting who have become key in helping the rest of the members become more excited for the work of salvation. It has been super neat to see the leadership of the ward take charge in missionary work :) Goodness, I love missionary work!!

Well, I guess I wrote a lot more than I thought I would haha  sorry for the long emails each week... If you have any questions about anything, feel free to write me! I love hearing from you all!

Have the most splendid week of your life, then do it again next week! :) 

Love you all!

Elder Snell

Sorry for the lack of pictures this week. At least there is one with me in it, so I have fulfilled the requirements ;) haha 

1) Exchanges with Elder Morency (left) and Elder Bissereth (right, but not all the way. That’s Elder Lee)

2) Video of me on an “exercise machine” in the house of a Guyanese woman we knocked into hahaha