To Be, Or Not To Be a Missionary!

Mother's Day Skype

  In my mind and with the experience that I have had while serving
The Lord, this is a no brainer! I have seen miracles and so many
tender mercies as a missionary. On multiple occasions, I have turned
to a quote by President Monson, which says something along these
lines, "When you are on The Lord's errand, you are entitled to His
Help." There have been many rough patches on my mission so far and I
have been out for a little less than Eight Months. I have seen how I
have been helped on my way to becoming the servant that Heavenly
Father wants me to become. I have been, and still am being sent
through the Refiners Fire. If somebody came up to me and said, "Hey,
Zac, I have been thinking of serving a mission, but I can't decide if
I should. Would it be worth it?" To that I would reply, "YES!!!!! OF
COURSE!!!!!! It is worth ever single second spent away from home
serving him who created you!" In the long run, isn't that what we are
here doing in the first place? We left the presence of our Heavenly
Father (our home) and came here to learn for our selves and to help
others on their way back home.

     55 I observed that they were also among the noble and great ones
who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God.

     56 Even before they were born, they, with many others, received
their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come
forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the
salvation of the souls of men.
 (Doctrine & Covenants 138:55-56)

     We are those noble and great ones! We have received our first
lessons in Heaven so that we can come her and be prepared to labor in
His Vineyard. We are not just working to be paid in cash or for any
earthly possession, but for the salvation of the souls of men! There
is no greater work than the one that is before us now! Do we need to
have the title Elder or Full Time Missionary to be one who harvests
souls of men? No! We, as brothers and sisters are entitled to that
calling to serve and save those around you.

     Remember that there are no crown wearers above that we're not
cross bearers below.

     I love and miss you all, but for now, I wish to keep my mind on
my calling: A loved Son of God here to save those who have wandered.

 ~ Elder Zac Snell
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Elder Snell and his Apartment

Missionaries after a Hard Days of work!

Life's a Short Joke

 Transfers! Whoot! Gotta love days when you switch things up a
little bit. Actually.... A lot a bit! I am in unfamiliar territory now
and with a new companion. Am I scared at all? Uh.... Yeah, just a taco
bit, but who isn't nervous for a new transfer. Any ways, we will get
into the good stuff.

     So, Fort Belvoir.... I had heard about it because it is always on
the "Keystone" (weekly letter from the assistants). They are on there
because they have tons of baptisms. We work hard here in Fort Belvoir!
I had thought that it was hard for an area in the United States to get
 a baptism per month, but they is exactly what happens here, so
hopefully, I will be able to find some EPIC success!

     Oh yeah. Heh, just a bit if information for you all: Yeah..... So
his last companion was 6'7'.... Every house that I have gone to has
cracked a short joke.... XD I would like to thank Jake for all those
short jokes preparing me for this transfer. Now I won't go home and
cry
myself to sleep because of all the short jokes I have to put up with.
Hahaha! :D my companion's name is Elder Jensen. He is from South
Jordan, Utah. He loves long boarding and snowboarding. He was also the
DECA president for his school.

     So, we were visiting a less active member named Chris Thompson.
We had an excellent lesson and I soon found out he was from Utah! He
asked what my Dad does for work to try and guess where I was from. I
told him he works for a ski and snowboard shop. He starts going off on
how much he loves skiing and eventually guesses where I am from. I
told him that I worked with my Dad at Utah Ski & Golf. "Oh, I have
been there before" he said. I was totally appalled! Not many people
from Virginia know the ski shop. He said that he went there for skis
and customized ski poles for somebody 6'2" when he was 16. I asked him
if he knows Steve Snell. "Oh yeah. I know him. He was wearing a
beanie. A stockier and bulky guy, right?" Hahaha! "That's my Dad!" Way
to go dad! People remember you as the guy with the beanie! Hahah!  I
am actually curious if you remember him. I bet you would if you saw
his face.

     That' sabot all Folks. Please ignore my incorrect grammar/use of
words/lack of caring to change my autocorrect. I love you guys! Stay
Stellar!

~ Elder Zac Snell :)

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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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Don't Punch...... Our Car.......

So, I learned today that in order to understand Elder Snell's Title I had to watch Kid History. Caden and Lexie helped me out with the opportunity to watch some of these videos. Wow! I guess I have been missing out. Ha Ha. Anyway. That is the reference to "Don't Punch....Our Car....." and probably many other quotes that I have never understood. . 

Enjoy!!!!!

Of course, we don't have a car for you to punch, but you can try your hardest to do so!

This week we had some great stuff go on! I was on an exchange with Elder Coates and I set a goal for myself to unbind my tongue and talk to everyone! I did just that! The hardest people to talk to is the joggers and runners because they are going pretty fast and we have to block off the entire path for them to stop and talk to us. This one time, there was a lady who went clear around us because she didn't want to talk to us! Hahah! the audacity of some peoples children, right? anyways, there was this jogger guy and I had let the last one pass us, but this time I was going to teach him! He almost got all the way past us, but then I blurted out "Hey, we want to teach you a message about Jesus Christ!" *facepalm* "wrong thing to say," I thought. " actually yeah, I will listen to your message," the beefy buff jogger huffed out, as he was tired from jogging. I started to freak out inside because nobody ever wants to listen to our message! I was talking way to fast form him to listen and he told me to slow down and star over. He was a nice guy! Oh! also, I was bearing testimony of the Book of Mormon and he asked the question that is super rarely asked:

"Can you just give that book to me or do I have to pay for it?"

HAHAH!!!!! Hook Line and Sinker! I thought that was an epic success!

This one time when we were tracting, we walk up to this super nice, expensive house knock the door! It is my turn to speak and I have the Book of Mormon in my hands and Can't wait to give it out! A man opens the door in his bath robes and he asks: "What do you want?" I thought he sounded a little grumyp, but our message is for the grumpy people! "We are representatives of Jesus Christ and....." The man gives us a scowl as soon as I start talking and replys: "No, you're not..." The then slams the door in our face! Isn't that great! He listened to us so well that he picked up the fact that we could have possibly been(actually are) Jesus Christ's servants and representatives! I love people!

Until next time, my lovely civilized people!

~ Elder Zac Snell

Here are some pictures Zac sent. 

Elder Snell and his new companion Elder Ogilvie

The ritual at 6 months burning a tie. 

I asked him which tie he chose and luckily it wasn't any of his but one that had been left behind for months. whew :)

Change; Not the Pocket Kind

So once upon a time, I was sitting at Transfers meeting and we were all having a splendid time, but everything changed when the fire nation attacked. President Riggs got up and announced that the companionships there would be no more! So Elder Rowley is no longer my companion, but in his stead will be Elder Ogilvie! He is from Heber, Utah. He has been on his mission for 21 Months! He is an old guy! ahaha jk. He is 22. I can't really describe his personality. those are really hard to describe, but he is a super cool guy and can't wait to serve with him!

     Oh! I forgot to tell you all! Elder Rowley volunteered me to be the chorister for the transfers meeting, so I got to be the guy who stands at the front of the room and wave his hands around randomly(I actually knew what I was doing :P) so I guess I am the mission Chorister now.

 

     I am sorry that this is a short one, but other than the transfer meeting, this week has been fairly uneventful. I will just have to do something crazy this next week to write about. ah never mind!! I just remembered something that was awesome that happened at transfers meeting as well! So Elder Babb is one of my district buddies in the MTC and he was at a members house and they gave him a cornet, who in turn gave it to me!!! bwahahah!!!! I have a cornet now! I can play it on preparation Days and it is great! Take that Unlucky things, this guy is lucky! :P ok. that was probably the best part of this week. moving on.

 

    I guess I will bear my testimony about Jesus Christ! I know he lives! I have absolutely no doubts. My testimony of him began when I auditioned to be a part of Savior of the World. Through all the rehearsals, songs, and countless hours of preparation, I would have never guessed that my testimony of Him would become as strong as it is now. When you get a chance to, watch the bible videos! they are superbly awesome! I love my savior!

 

 

Keep on the Sunny Side of Life, guys!

~ Elder Zac Snell ^^