Legacy to be Left

  Ah, I am truly sad to be leaving the area of Reston. I have
absolutely loved to serve here! Definitely one of my favorites! From
the amazing people I have met to all the flippin' awesome bike trails.
This Area had been through ups and downs for sure. Haha! And I have
been here for about 5 1/2 months to see it. The first day I arrived in
Reston, I was a little down hearted because I looked at how many
lessons they were teaching and how many investigators they had. ZERO.
Nada. zip. Zilch. NOTHING. Not a single progressing investigator.
Then, I realized something. Just because it appeared that way for the
first reporting week of our key indicators (if you don't know what
that is, I might suggest reading chapter 8 of Preach My Gospel) didn't
mean that it would be the same for the next few weeks. The first week
I was here, we checked up on every potential investigator there was in
the area book. Soon enough, we were able to find one person to teach!
Through prayer, fasting, and reading the scriptures, we accessed the
things God in store for Reston!

     If there is anything that I have learned here in Reston, it is
what is found at the beginning of the fourth verse of hymn #27: Praise
to the Man. "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven;" If you
are in need of some blessings straight from heaven, there needs to be
a sacrifice given. We have put in as much as we can to help Reston
have more converts. This ward hasn't had a baptism in over a year and
a half!!! When I heard this, my mentality changed from "there's no way
we can do this" to "this changes NOW!" I am pleased to tell you that
the next baptism for the Reston ward will be on May 17th for a
fantastic guy named Adam. This is just the next one. As of right now,
the Reston district (one of the smallest in the mission) has not 5.
Not 8. Not 11, but 12 people that have set a solid date for their
baptism! The Zone average for people with a baptism date is 11, just
to give you a comparison to look at. This testifies that when we give
up what we want and take hold of what God wants, he will provide for
us and give us success!

     Brothers and Sisters, I strongly exhort you to lay claim on those
blessings that await you in heaven. Our Heavenly Father is just
waiting to give them to us!
     "prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not
open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that
there shall not be room enough to receive it."(Malachi 3:10) I know
this scripture may be associated with tithing, but isn't paying
Tithing a sacrifice? Doubt not The Lord nor his goodness. He will
bless you. I know it!

Stay true, guys. Love you all!
     ~ Elder Zac Snell :)

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Move 'In - 100.7

 Oh, where to begin?! There has been so much that has happened this week. It was just Super full of surprises. Well, let's just start off with this...

     Monday! That was preparation day! We loaded up in a car and headed over to DC to check out the cherry blossoms and stuff like that! It was way cool! A bit of walking, but I am ok with walking. I do it all the time! We saw about half of the mission there and a whole bunch of members. If you want to see stuff, check out my DropBox folder.

     Tuesday! We got a text from the Office Elders telling us that our lease was up and it was time for us to move. Ok. That's fine. They told us that they could help us move on Wednesday next week. Serendipitously, The other Elder's across the street got the a text that they were moving too! They talked to the Office Elders more and scheduled to move on Saturday (a couple days ago). We didn't understand why they would want to just move one companionship at a time, but we didn't question it. So that was great!

     Wednesday! We didn't do anything super awesome. Just us teaching everyone we come into contact with. We teach members the missionary discussions to get them more excited to do missionary work for their selves. oh! JK! I was on an exchange with Elder Holtby (District Leader). We had a great time. He is giving me Leadership training because he says that I am going to end up being a District Leader this next Transfer and I have to get ready for it. It is really funny because all of the missionaries in my district are thoroughly convinced that I am going to end up being an Assistant to the President.

     Thursday! We did service for Brother Merritt! He is one of the coolest members EVER! He is building this super house with epic floor plans! We went and helped him at his property for that. He said that when it is finished I can come back and stay a night there! That will be way cool! After our service for Brother Merritt, we went to a potential investigators house and had dinner with him and ended up staying over there till the end of the night. He is super cool and Loves the Gospel (sadly, he is Catholic and is not changing any time soon). He became a new investigator that night. His name is Robert Tershak. Please pray for him.

     "It's Friday!!!!"(Red) We did a Blitz! It was way awesome! We had the Zone Leaders and Elder Holtby and Coates come over to a neighborhood in our area and tract it out with us! That, my friends is called a Blitz. Personally, Elder Coates and I didn't have much success. Just a whole bunch of no answers and no's.... oh well. The others had more success. we have a return appointment set up for Tuesday and two super solid potentials. Huzzah for Blitzing!

     Saturday! We helped the other Elders move and were also wondering when we would be moving.... We decided to call the Office Elders and ask them when we are moving. "Today. Move as much as you can and then we can help you on Wednesday with the rest that you didn't move." They didn't even tell us before hand that we were moving today, so we had to pack like crazy and get out of there! We spent the night at the new apartment which was maintained by a senior couple, so it was in great condition. We are now room mates with the other Elders. Fun story, right?

     Sunday! Adam (our miracle investigator from last week) beat us to church! He said that he would meet us at the corner by his house at 7:45 so we could walk to church. We got to the corner and he wasn't there, so I called him and asked him where he was. "I am at the church, are you guys inside?" He was so excited for church that he just jumped the gun and walked by himself to church! He is loving it! Please pray for him, though. His dog isn't doing well and he loves that dog. We also died Easter Eggs. I will attach a picture of them so you can see them!

     Well, that's about it. you don't have to read it all if you don't want, but It was a pretty crazy week. Keeping being the stellar people that you are! Love you guys!

-=iii=<{ Elder Zac Snell

Elder Snell at The White House 2014

Elder Snell and Elder Ogilvie April 2014

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Oh, won't you be my neighbor! Haha! Just had that old television show pop into my head. Don't know why.... Mr. Rogers wasn't even my favorite show to watch as a little kid. Blue's Clues had it beat by a long shot, just saying. Well, just like on the show Mr. Rogers, nothing really happened this week. I find it getting harder and harder to find something to write about, but I am sure with my creative brain, I can figure out something to write about!

Ok... Creative juices flowing now....... Ah, BINGO! We actually didn't play bingo, but I know what to talk about! This week, we had a lesson with Valentina! It has been ages since we talked to her last. Not this week, but last week, we finally got into contact with her again! We walked about 30 minutes (Elder Ogilvie's speed) to get halfway there just for a member to pull over and give is a ride to her house. We happily hopped into his car and we started moving (much faster now. Haha). He dropped us off at her house and we knocked on Valentina's door, waited a minute or three. She answered! We then quickly proceeded to set up an appointment when we could go over with Brother Hall. Well, that appointment turned out to be the best Wednesday! This very Wednesday just happened to be this past Wednesday! Our lesson with her went great! She didn't remember much from when we met last, and I don't blame her. The last time we met with her was in December. We basically reran through the first lesson and ended up talking about prophets and apostles. She had no idea that there is a living prophet on the earth today! So we invited her to conference on Sunday at the Hall's house. She is no longer on date for baptism, but is still willing to be baptized when she has some of her questions answered. Her main concern is about the nature of evil. I guess why things happen and what not? We promised that if she prayed before Conference and had a question she wanted answered, it would be answered by the end of conference! She really liked Elder Bednar's and President Uchtdorf's talk. I hope she will act on the promptings she receives through the spirit.

Alrighty! Sounds Bueno! I can't wait till next general conference! Till next time!

-=iii=<{

~ Elder Zac Snell
Live Life To The Fullest!

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