Let's Hit the Streets!

MAY 15, 2017

Happy Mother's Day (yesterday), Everyone!!

It was really awesome to be able to see my family and some friends yesterday over FaceTime! I love you all!

This week was pretty awesome! I did my usual procrastination thing when it comes writing my mass weekly email, so it will be short this week. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused :)

So, first off, it has rained every day this past week. There was never a dry moment. Elder Imlay and I came home soaked almost every night. It was tons of fun, though! Sadly, Elder Imlay left his umbrella on the bus, so he bought a $4 one from a small convenience store. That one broke that night, so he decided to put a little more money into the next one and bought a $7 umbrella. That one broke within a couple hours! That night, we went to drop off a Bible to someone who requested on through Mormon.org. Elder Imlay didn't have an umbrella, so we attempted to share mine. We both were wet on one side and dry on the other. As we were walking down the street to the man's house, someone gave Elder Imlay an umbrella! Such a kind soul! That one also broke right when we got home, but at least Elder Imlay stayed somewhat dry for the rest of the night!

We went on an exchange with the Zone Leaders on Thursday. It was SO much fun! The Sisters in their district made them a little sign for us to hold. So, we went to the busiest street corner they knew of in Queens, and talked to as many people as we possibly could! We found 4 new investigators for them from doing it for only about 2 hours. It was so much fun having people laughing at us as they walked past, or asking if they could take our picture, or asking us the weirdest questions about what we believe. It was the greatest thing!

Well, that's about all I have time for this week. I hope you all are well!

Love ya!

Elder Snell

Plenty of Pictures!

1-2) Pretty self-explanatory :)

3-4) Talking with my favorite people for Mother's Day!!!! Love you!

5) Sneak Peek of Manhattan from a subway station in Queens

6) Zone Leader Exchange

7-8) Pretty self-explanatory :)

9) Man who stole other people's trash so he can redeem 5 cents for every one of those cans and bottles! Hahaha

10) Our view every day crossing the bridge to and from our apartment!

11) Elder Imlay's $7 umbrella! Hahaha

It's Just Not NYC Without Public Transportation

(Greeting with an exclamation mark and a smiley face)! :)

So, I decided that I am a slight fan of writing my emails in bulleted-list form. It makes it easier for my scattered mind to comprehend what I am actually telling all of you. Here is what I have for you this week:

Ward Party

So, just a little back ground on the ward. The members here are fantastic!!! I really love them and love being part of their ward here in Rego Park. However, the members don't really know each other very well and don't take care of each other. A large focus we are trying to work on with the leadership of the ward is help the ward actually become a ward. Home and Visiting teaching aren't really a thing here, so if the members need help they always just ask the missionaries, not help from people they know in the ward. With that being said, we had a ward party on Friday! Wahoo! We had tons of food, a silent auction to get the young men money for a camp out, and a talent show! It was a ton of fun! It helped a TON with the members getting to know each other as well. It is going to take a lot of effort and a lot of time to get the ward where it needs to be, but they are definitely taking steps in the right direction. A lot of the progress of the ward so far is a result of our ward mission leader, Brother Nunez. A lot of the members really like him and he has some really good ideas on how we can further help the ward. I am excited to see what Heavenly Father has in store for the Rego Park 1st ward! Wow, being a missionary is the coolest!!!

All By Myself...

Funny story for the week: So, we were on our way to a lesson with Joe and we decided to bring Deyshawn (less-active member) with us. We were walking down the subway station and realized that our train had just pulled up down the stairs. We started rushing down the stairs. The train door was only half way open for some reason, so we looked at it for a second thinking about how strange it was. We then remembered we needed to hurry and get on the train. Deyshawn gets on followed by myself. The door closes and Deyshawn looks at me and says, "your companion!" I turn around to see Elder Imlay on the other side of the closed subway door as the train speeds off, leaving my dear companion in the station. Luckily, we were only planning on going a couple stops, so we waited for him to arrive in the next train. Nothing bad happened, so that is good!

Finding On the Bus!

Elder Imlay and I were on our way home for the night yesterday. We had meetings ALL day and were dead tired. We decided that we were going to find at least two people to share the Book of Mormon with that night. We talked to a bunch of people all night, but no one was really open to talking with us. It was time to go home, so we went to the bus stop. We were the first ones there, so we waited while the line continued to grow in size. After trying to talk with the people standing next to us for 10 minutes, the bus finally came. Since Elder Imlay and I were going to be the first people on the bus, we decided that in order to find our two people we needed to divide and conquer. I sat down in the center of the bus, while Elder Imlay made his way to the back. Once I sat down, I started praying that Heavenly Father would have someone sit next to me who I could have a conversation with. The bus filled up quickly as the HUGE line made its way into the bus. No one would sit by me. They would take a look at my name tag and turn away. I then decided to not make people feel awkward and just stare out the window of the bus. The seat next to mine was the last available seat on the bus until a woman sat there and immediately started scrolling on Facebook. The bus started to move, so after a minute I decided to talk to her. She turned out to be one of the kindest people I have met out here! Her name is Julietta and she is from Albania. As we started talking about where she worked and about her family, she put her phone in her purse and started asking me questions about what I do and about my family. I saw this as a wonderful opportunity to testify to her about the Book of Mormon and the powerful difference it has made in my life. I then offered her a copy and she said that she was actually going to ask me for it but didn't want to be rude! I gave her the Book of Mormon, and she said she can't wait to start reading it with her family. She also said she would love to have her family talk more with us about it and about God and Jesus Christ. She had to get off the bus before we could set an actual appointment, but we did get her phone number! I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for answering my prayers and putting me in the path of someone who He has been preparing to receive the Gospel!

There was so much more that happened this week, but time is running short. So, I will just leave it at that. I hope you all know that I love you and that I have a testimony of the gospel and of Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven. Thanks for everything! Love you all!

Elder Snell

Picture Parade!

1-5) Our new apartment!

6) My studly companion!

7) The view from the church building

8-10) The only way it was possible to get that couch out of the Elder's basement apartment.

April Showers & Moving For Hours

Letter from May 1, 2017

Hi, Friends!

This week just seemed to fall right through my fingers! I can't believe it is already May! Sometimes, I wish time would just slow down a little. Anyway, here is a quick overview of the things that may or may not have actually happened this week:

Weather Changes

The weather got really nice this past week: overcast and raining every day! I love the rain! My umbrella has been getting a really good workout. However, on Saturday the weather decided to play a trick on everyone. It spiked up to the upper 80s and was super humid! It was pretty exciting, and just sucks the energy right out of you! It cooled right back down yesterday and this morning, though.

Chris & Nadia's Baptism!

Yup, that's right! After meeting with missionaries for over 4 years, the Kellers finally entered the waters of baptism last week! I was able to work with them in Plainview for the past 9 months. Words cannot even being to express how happy I am for them! I am super sad that I wasn't able to be there for it, but I am unbelievably happy for them :) I will put a picture of them at their baptism at the end of my email.

Moving, Moving, Moving, and.........you guessed it, more Moving.

So, the elders quorum president, Brother Inagaki, was asked to gather a group of people together to help move a family in the ward out of their apartment. So, he called us and asked if we would be willing to help out. We were happy to help along with some of the other members of the elders quorum. The Reeds, the family we helped move, lived on the 18 floor of their apartment building. It was a party fitting their sofa and kitchen table in the small apartment complex elevators to get them down to the dumpster! Right after we finished helping the Reeds move, we got a text from Bishop Lindstrom saying there are some other member who also needed help moving that day. No one else was able to help out, so we headed down to the southern part of our area, and helped them move some furniture and boxes into their moving trailer. This one didn't long at all :) When we got home that night (Friday), we got a call from a non-member friend of a member of the ward. The non-member, Kathy, had some friends who were moving and needed help with their stuff. So, on Saturday night, Brother Nunez (our ward mission leader) came with us to Bob & Marie's apartment to help them pack up and move out. When we got home Saturday night, we got a call from the Johnson's. They are the Senior couple missionaries in charge of housing for the mission. They informed us that the lease for our current apartment expired and that they just got us a new apartment. So, we are going to be moving all of our furniture and belongings to our new apartment tomorrow! Wahoo! I have been super exhausted this weekend. However, I haven't slept this well in a long time! :)

Adrian Gonzalez

We had another amazing lesson with Adrian this week! We taught him the first half of the Plan of Salvation and talked a bit about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The entire time during the lesson Adrian would say, "Ah, that makes so much sense!" It was a really neat experience to see his questions being answered and feeling the spirit. Part of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Adrian loved that after you are baptized, you are given the gift of having the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. We invited Adrian to be baptized and was super excited to say YES! He is now on date for baptism on May 27th. I am so excited to continue to watch his progression in the gospel and feel Heavenly Father's love for him!

Family Home Evening

Sister Panoussi and Sister Persinger had a wonderful idea that we should get some our investigators and recent converts together with some members at the church Sunday night and have family home evening with everyone all together. It was super neat! We had about 10-11 people there. We did a little getting to know you game and then the Sisters taught the lesson. They did an amazing job teaching about Obedience and the blessings that come from doing what Heavenly Father asks of us. The spirit was super strong as we all read scriptures together, shared insights, and testified of Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father to each other. Charles, one of our investigators, said that he wasn't going to come, but something within him pushed him out the door and over to the church. He was talking with me afterward and said that he was really grateful that he came. He felt that he had no one in his life--no friends to lean on and have support from--and that coming to family home evening really helped him feel the love of God and feel loved by others in the ward. It as really incredible! 

I love this gospel SO much! I am so grateful for the things I am learning from Heavenly Father every day. I am truly grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ, for always being there for me when I need Him :)

I love you all! Thanks for all the love and support! Have a beautiful week and party on!

Elder Snell

Presentation of Pictures

1) Elder Imlay, Jim Galloway, and I. Jim Galloway hands out bars of soap at church sometimes! He's the greatest!

2) The Reeds bought us Costco pizza after we helped them move!

3) Brother Nunez, our Ward Mission Leader.

4) Jamal and his pet turtles

5) This is the classic apartment complex out here. You should see then inside...Luxury.

6-7) HUGE cemetery we found the other day!

8) Chris & Nadia Keller's BAPTISM!!!!!!!! Love them so much!!!!

Kings of Queens

Happy Monday!!

This week has been pretty fantastic! I am absolutely loving my new area and new companion. I have been transferred to...........................Rego Park, Queens!!! Yup! I am now in the city and get to use the busses and trains to get everywhere we need to go! It is a lot of fun, and you get to meet SO many people all day every day! Serving in the city is completely different from serving out on Long Island. There are always people walking around outside, tons of noise from the cars and trains, and delicious food carts on every street corner. Such a party! It is SO diverse out here! White people are definitely part of the minority. So far, I have met people from 41 different countries that I remembered to write down. Super cool stuff!!!!

My new companion is Elder Imlay! He is from St. George, Utah. He just finished being trained by Elder Asplund here in Rego Park, so this is the start of his third transfer on his mission. Elder Imlay is such a great missionary! I have already learned tons from him!   The ward here is really awesome! I am still working on getting to know the members, but I was able to meet a bunch of them yesterday at church. Almost every person I talked to is not originally from New York, so it is unbelievably diverse. 

Quick story: On Wednesday, Elder Imlay and I were walking home from the subway station and were passing the church. We starting talking to this girl, Swekchha, who was walking the same direction as us on her way home as well. As we were talking, she asked who we were and seemed pretty excited when we told her we were missionaries. She said that it had been a really long time since she had gone to any kind of church and really wanted to get back into the swing of religion. So, we invited her to come to church with us on Sunday at 1:00. Swekchha said she would try to make it. We then exchanged Facebook information and sent her a friend request once we got home. She messaged us that night and said she was grateful that she was able to talk with us. We kept in contact with her throughout the rest of the week up until Sunday. Guess what!! She actually come to church and sat with us through sacrament meeting! It was super awesome! We introduced Swekchha to the Sisters in our district, Sister Panoussi and Sister Persinger, and now they will be teacher her! On Thursday, Elder Imlay and I were on our way out, and we passed by the church again. A man recognized us as missionaries, flagged us down, and started talking with us. His name is Kazi and he is from Bangladesh. We think that he said he would like to come to church sometime, so we invited him to come to ours at 1:00 on Sunday. It was loud outside and I couldn't understand his accent very well, so I didn't really know what to think about that conversation. On Sunday, we went to Sacrament meeting, Gospel Principles class, then Priesthood meeting. In Priesthood meeting, the man conducting ask for visitors to introduce themselves. In the far back corner, Kazi stands up and introduces himself! We talked to him after church, and he said he is really considering joining the Church! We are going to meet with him at the church on Wednesday, so I will have to let you know about that one next week.

Here is another super cool story: On Tuesday, we get a text from a guy named Adrian saying that he wants to meet with us at the church so he can learn more about the Book of Mormon. We meet with him on Wednesday and it turns out that he has a Mormon friend that he met in the military. His friend introduced him to the Book of Mormon and told him that if he wanted to learn more, just go onto Mormon.org and request to speak with missionaries. So that's exactly what Adrian did! Our lesson with him was super spirit-filled. Adrian said that he is really excited to begin reading the Book of Mormon and changing his life for the better. Later on in the week, we got a text from Adrian saying, "Just wanted to let you guys know that I am reading the Book of Mormon and I am really liking what I am reading!" In two days he had already read up to 1 Nephi 18! He wasn't able to make it to church this week, but I am super excited to meet with him again and see where the gospel takes him!

Funny Story for the Week: We went to the library to print off a few things for Brother Nuñez, our ward mission leader, and this really drunk guy walks in. He saw us as he came into the library and starts yelling, "You can't change me, you Mormons! I'm the devil's child! They're laughin' at me! Don't do that to me, I'm too far gone! Good try, Mormons!" At least he knew who we were, right? Maybe someday he will want to learn that he is actually Heavenly Father's child. There are a lot of very interesting people in the city...and drunk people...and sketchy people. It's such a party!!!! 

Well, here was a lot more that happened this week as well. However, this email is long enough already, so I will cut it off here hahaha. I hope you have all had a wonderful week! Love you all!

Elder Snell

P.S. My apartment is in Rego Park, Queens, but it probably isn't the most safe place to have mail sitting in our mailbox. So, if you so desire to send me a letter or a package, just send it to the Mission Office located less than 2 minutes away from my apartment :) here is the address:

85-69 60th Drive

Elmhurst, NY 11373

Plethora of Pictures!

1-4) My super awesome, fancy, new Polaroid camera a less-active gave me!

5) Our Darth Vader Toaster

6) Warning given by the manager of the La France apartment building in Kew Gardens, Queens.

7-9) Waiting for our train in Jackson Heights!

The Time Has Come

Happy Easter, Friends! :)

Wow. I can't believe the time has come to say goodbye to my home for the past 9 months. This place and the people here have truly changed me for the better, and I am so grateful for it. I have been so blessed to be able to serve in such an amazing ward. I am truly going to miss everyone here in Plainvew. I have really grown to love the people in this ward and consider them all my family. We had our transfer calls this morning, and I was informed that I am "OUT". I definitely saw it coming seeing that I have been here for so long, but I am still extremely sad to have to leave. However, despite all the sadness, I am super excited to see what the future holds for me! I know that the Lord qualifies those whom He has called, which is a good thing because I am definitely not qualified yet for my next assignment. President Reynolds has asked me if I will serve as a District Leader in my next area. Let me just say that the Lord has a LOT of qualifying to do for me! I am super excited to be able to serve the Lord, my new area, and the missionaries in my new district in a different way. I find out where I am going to be transferred to at transfer meetingtomorrow, so I will let you all know where I end up next week. I do, however, know that my next companion just barely got out of training, so I really excited to be able to start working with him! That is really all I know, though.

This week was really good! We have been focusing a lot more on visiting members and talking with them about people they have been able to share the gospel with. So many members in the ward are actively sharing what they know to be true with their friends and coworkers! It is awesome! As a result of us constantly talking to members about people they are sharing with, we have had a total of 12 meal appointments just this week. Crazy! We haven't had dinner at home all week. Helping members share the gospel is amazing! Each member we have talked with about this has listed quite a few people they have been talking with about the gospel. We have had a few members ask us for a few copies of the Book of Mormon, for pass-along cards, for pamphlets, etc. The members have really started having a desire to actively engage in their own missionary work! I have seen a noticeable difference in the faith and spirit of those who are actively sharing the gospel. It is really neat to be able to witness! 

Remember Sister Irma who feeds us every Friday? Remember how she gave a Book of Mormon to her friend, Lateefa? Well, Irma invited Lateefa over for dinner with us and we were able to teach her the Restoration! Two weeks later, she came over to Irma's again while we were there so Elder McConkie and I could write her a note in the front of her Book of Mormon. Turns out that in just two weeks, Lateefa had already read all the way up to 3 Nephi! Wow! We talked a bit more about it with her this week and she said she will come to church one day. Irma is stoked about it! 

Chris and Nadia Keller and getting baptized on Saturday!!! Yay! After visiting them every week for the past 9 months, they are finally taking the plunge! I have seen them progress SO much! I can't believe I am going to have to miss their baptism due to transfers, but I am so happy that they are going to be baptized and enter into a covenant with Heavenly Father. Wow, this gospel is true! 

Easter on the mission is an amazing experience! What better way to celebrate the life, Atonement, and Resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, than making sure everyone you meet knows about it! We had two dinner appointments for Easter. We also went around to a few other members to say goodbye :( I love Easter! I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and what He did for each of us! I know He lives and loves us. Truly, He is Risen!

Have a great week, everyone! Love you!

Elder Snell

Picture Party!

1-2) Last district meeting in Plainview!

3) Pinelli Family

4) Joe Miglino

5) Sister Ní Lochlainn

6) Matthew and Jeffrey Christiansen

7) Brother Margiotta

8) Brother Mills

9-10) Plainview Bishopric (Brother Sorensen, Bishop Bjarnsen, Brother Wilde, Elder Snell, Brother Caldwell)

11) Stroking Brother Margiotta's red felt loafers

12) Our Easter cake

13) Dio Smith and her 94 year old mom

14) Elder Snell, Sister Miller, Sister Ferreira, Brother Legakis, Sister Legakis

15) Our fridge filled with nothing but leftovers from dinner appointments

16) Brother & Sister Mansuetto

17) Brother and Sister Pinelli