Gaining Momentum In Gainesville

Feb 16, 2015 

Hey, everybody! Let's talk about stuff going down in Gainesville! So get this, I check my emails from President Riggs today and I see that he sent me two, (dos) emails. I was a little confused, because he usually just replies to mine, but it was different this time. The first was a reply to my email last week, and that was good. I then check the bottom which was the second email from him. In it, he said that our area was highly likely to be closed... LAME! There are two sets of missionaries in out ward and the other ones are the sister training leaders, so president wouldn't close theirs. But yeah, I might be transferred to somewhere else. I am pretty disappointed, but you know... Heavenly Father has a major plan for each of us, so I will trust it. :)

     So, Pat, our most solid investigator, keeps bringing up baptism! He is pretty funny. We show up at his apartment and he wants to cook us food and then talk about baptism. His date is for the 20th, but he won't reach that because he has only been to church once. He really wants to quit smoking p, so we will help him with that. Joe is doing his best to quit smoking as well. I am not a fan of this smoking thing... It is so addictive! Really ridiculous if you ask me. Over all, our investigators are progressing well.

     Valentine's Day was probably as good as it gets on a mission. Haha! Brother Andreasen took us out to dinner to chili's. It was super tasty! After dinner,  the weather turned for worst. I would probably classify it as a blizzard. I haven't ever been in a blizzard before, but I would guess that it was just like what we went through. We couldn't see the road! Holy cow, it was crazy! Thankfully, we were in a car with four wheel drive, so we made it home ok. I received a package from my family, and that made me really happy! It had a trumpet shirt in it! I don't have a picture of me wearing it right now, but I will take on for you soon. Thanks family and Trumpets!!!

     Elder Rowley came on an exchange with me on Saturday. His companion and Elder Black went to a baptism while we chilled in my area. Since Elder Rowley goes home on Friday, I am his last exchange. :)It was fun to serve with him again. I also went on an exchange with Elder Miles, he is a zone leader. I learned great ways to ask for referrals when I was with him. Exchanges are way fun.

     Alright! Thanks for reading! Be sure to subscribe before you hit that small red x button in he top right hand corner of your computer screen. I will let you know if I do get transferred. Love you all!

     ~ Elder Zac Snell :)

Feb 18, 2015

Sorry for the late notice, but I have been transferred to the Alexandria 2nd Ward. I am serving with Elder Nielson from Herriman, Utah. More on that on Monday. :) 

Thanks for your patience!

Zac was called as a ZONE leader. He is REALLY excited for this opportunity. 

Look what I found!

This Wind Really Blows:P

Feb 9, 2015  

Hey, everyone! Let's first talk about the weather! You know, weather happens whether you like it or not. So his past week has had some interesting weather. It was cold to begin with, then the next day comes and it is snowing. Next day, warm and sunny, around 50 degrees. Then the next day, SUPER windy. Next day, freezing cold with ice cold wind. Sunday was the nicest by far, 65 degrees! It stayed warm throughout the entire day too! Now, a story about the windy day.

     'Twas a Thursday and we were biking over to have a lesson at Joe's house. He lives in the corner of our area, so it was a long bike ride. As we kicked off this trek, the wind started to blow a small amount. Nothing to serious, but enough to to have it feel like it was pushing us sideways. We eventually turn a corner and follow that road all the way to Joe's with the wind pushing us a little. Our visit at Joe's was really great! He just had back surgery, so he is stuck at home right now, but he is getting pretty bad cabin fever. We were over there for a bit and at the end, he mentioned that he didn't smoke once! He usually has to step outside with us so he can smoke 3 or 4 cigarettes every ten minutes or so. This time he didn't smoke once!!! Huzzah! On our way back from Joe's, the wind had gotten very fast. Mostly up hill, but I usually bank off of a large downhill portion to help my momentum get going, but as we headed down this hill, the wind picked up and literally stopped us on a pretty good decline. Great... Now I have to build my own momentum, not only did I have a huge hill to climb up, but I also had an opposing force. I honestly believe that missionaries didi something to the wind to make it so angry at us because every time we have somewhere to be, there is ALWAYS a head wind... EVERY TIME! Anyways, so we keep trekking up this hill and eventually we get to the top, out of breath, and then turn towards our apartment. The wind didn't show us any mercy, so we had to bike on our sides a little bit to counteract the wind's force. Talk about a fun bike ride! It is times like these where I wish I could go grab my bed sheets and play on the wind.

     I went on two exchanges this week. One with Elder Greenall, and one with Elder Westover, one of the APs. Elder Greenall was fun to be with. I helped him a little with understanding our purpose and how to tell if you are a successful missionary. He liked it. On my exchange with Elder Westover, we had tons of fun doing work! We found this guy for the YSA ward. He is pretty cool. He said that he felt like God sent us to him. Way cool experience.

     So yesterday, Elder Black's bike broke, so we were only left with one other mode of transportation, UNICYCLES!!! We rode them over to a place that reminded me of station park in Farmington. It even had an It's Sugar, just like the one back home. I thought that it was only a Utah company, but I guess not. Elder Black did some sweet tricks there and got some people's attention, so we shared the gospel with them. Way fun way to break the ice. I have been getting better at unicycling too! Nothing too insane, just good fun.

     I believe that is all for this week! Thanks for all he emails that I received! I love reading them! Happy Valentine's Day on the 14th,

~ Elder Zac Snell :P

Sent from my iPad

Well...That Was Alarming

Sent on Feb 2, 2015

To all those who can focus upon this computer screen to read this note:

     Thank you for your time and generosity for reading this! I am so stoked to tell you how this week went for me. To start off, let's start by talking about Monday!! Preparation day and Elder Cline's birthday! We had an excellent birthday dinner. Some members in the Haymarket award took us out to a place called Musashi's. It's exactly like Tepanyaki. I had some delicious salmon and rice! It was super super delicious! Elder Cline had an excellent birthday! So that was on Monday.

     On Tuesday, we had a district leader training meeting! I am always looking forward to receive instruction as to how I can be a better district leader. We talked about how to conduct a baptismal interviews, having good accountability in district meetings, and making sure the district catches the vision that President Riggs has set forth for the mission! That went really well. I am super glad that we had that meeting!

     So some members are huge into CrossFit. I don't know if you've ever heard of it but it's some of the most intense workouts you can do without taking a break. I had the opportunity to go to do that, and goodness, am I sore! After going to the arduous work out, we ate dinner at their house! They made my favorite, French toast! They also made chicken, so of course, I had to make a French toast chicken sandwich! I am now a huge fan of French toast and chicken! You really need to try it. Especially with some syrup on it. As backpack says on door the explorer, "Yum, yum, yum yum, yum! Delecioso!" After that delicious meal, we headed back to the church for our exchange. Here's the sad part… Our exchange canceled on us, so we had to walk in the freezing cold wind back to our apartment! That was a really, really cold walk! Since it was so cold, nobody was out talk to… We did our best with what we had.

     Gainesville had a baptism!!! The sisters had been teaching her for about three years! She finally decided to be baptized. When we found out, she asked me if I would sing at her baptism, so I gladly said yes. Sr. Martindale and I did a lovely duet, singing How Great Thou Art. I will send a recording of it to you probably via email. It sounded good to me… Hahaha! I will let you be the judge of that.

     So last thing… On Tuesday night, I was slightly awakened by the deafening sound of the fire alarm! The clock read 02:15. I just sat there in bed and thought, "Ah, it's just the fire alarm… I will just chill here in bed for a while. So I just lay there half conscious, but quickly jumped out of it when Elders Cline and Greenall come into our apartment and into he room. I gained complete consciousness as soon as the lights were flipped on. Elder Black was passed out! Sleeping through the piercing noise of the fire alarm. We later learned that there was no fire, just a broken sprinkler. I will include more details on a voice recording because it's a long email...

     Thanks for sitting and staring at this computer/iPhone/iPad screen! Hope you enjoy your week as much as I do!!

     ~ Elder Zac Snell :)

Sent from my iPad

35lbs Of The Word Of God

I just had to laugh at the usage of a word from Elder Snell. I was tempted to change it to a correct word but then I had enjoyed the laugh so I left it in. :) Enjoy! -Wendi

 Hey guys how are you!? First off, HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY, MOMMY!!!!! Ok. Now back to the scheduled program... Well, it's a new week and I can't wait to tell you about it! Not a whole lot has happened but it's always exciting! You never know what's going to happen when you're on your mission. Alright, let's begin!

     So let's begin from the first day of the week. Monday!!! So this day was pretty sweet not only was it preparation day, (Elder Black calls it personality day) he went to the temple while I chilled here with Elder Hopkins. We went shopping and went to a member in the Haymarket ward's house, the Turnbals.  Since zone conference was the next day, Elder Cline and Elder Greenall had to get their car washed so that they wouldn't lose that car!  So we hung out there for a little, while I shot some pool and totally destroyed! We have a billiards table on the main floor at this hotel looking place we live at. It also doubles as an old person home! Old people are so nice!  Anyways so that was my Monday.

     Tuesday was zone conference! It was really awesome. We talked a lot about inviting powerfully and how to begin teaching. Of course we practice taught it was pretty fun.we had to practice teach the law chastity and invite them to live it. So here's the kicker, we had to record ourselves while we were teaching. So now I have this awesome video of me teaching the law chastity to a sister missionary that has been out for a total of two weeks. I would send it to you but it sort of long… Ha ha Ha ha ha! Oh well, it's always awesome to see President Riggs. Oh, something super awesome: Elder Rowley and Sister Miley Johnson are in my zone! Crazy Huh!? 

     The rest of the week was pretty good. I went on an exchange with Elder Cline! It was pretty sweet being his companion again. After the exchange I came back to Gainesville and partied it up with Elder Black! Speaking of Elder Cline, it's his birthday today! So be sure to wish him a happy birthday! I believe it was on Saturday, Elder Black and I went to Chick-fil-A and we found someone new to teach!  He saw us praying over our food, and asked if he could join in the prayer. He just came from Egypt and he wanted us to pray so that he will be cured from cancer. So I had the privilege of saying that pray. We give them a book of Mormon and he said he would like to read it. So we got his information so that we can give him an Arabic book of Mormon. His name is Paula. What could be better than eating a delicious deluxe spicy chicken sandwich and talking to some stranger about the Gospel? Gotta love being a missionary!

     Now for the cool part! Yesterday Elder Black and I were at church and he introduced me to someone who has every single book of Mormon in every language possible. So we set up an appointment to go over to his house to see them! We got over there and he started teaching at math and it was super sweet! He then proceeded to show us the rest of his house and then showed us his collection of copies of the book of Mormon. He told us to say a language, so I said Cantonese. He then proceeded to scandal labeled copies of the book of Mormon and pulled out the Cantonese book of Mormon! I was appalled. Not sure what appalled means but I was definitely that. And if that wasn't cool enough he showed us this giant box in the corner of his room. And you would never guess what was in that box. He had a braille copy of the book of Mormon! My mind was totally blown by that point! You would never guess how much it cost him to get it………… $3.50!!! He just called and asked for it. So cool! It comes in eight volumes! The thing probably wait about 35 pounds. So he let me pull the first volume out and start reading it! I think he was just testing me to see if I really could read braille, but I can! (I can also Speak it.) and thus ends the story of how my mind was blown!

     Well that's about it for this week! Tune in next time for when Elder Snell does a quadruple, knee-high, death-defying, super Turbo, sit up! Thanks for reading this! I love you all.

With much appall,

     ~ Elder Zac Snell :)

This note has been dictated by Siri.

Sent from my iPad

From Out Of The Blue

Jan 19, 2015    

 Oh goodness, a new week! These weeks go by so fast! It's quite ridiculous. You blink for half a second and the next thing that you know, you're at 16 Months! For my friends/family on their missions right now, make the Most of it! It goes by too fast sometimes...

     Well, Gainesville is pretty much one of the best missionary oriented wards I have served in. We have had an exchange set up for every single night this past week! The best part was that we don't have to be out in the freezing cold. This humid cold stuff is starting to really get to me. It cuts through all the layers you are wearing and straight to the bone. You know that feeling when your outer body feels warm, but you still feel cold on he inside? It's not because I am a really bad person with a cold heart, it's just the fact that your insides don't hear up as quick. Maybe I am totally wrong, but this is what I have found. I am pretty sure that someone that has been to rush a or something like that is now reading this and is thinking, “Elder Snell, please... You have no idea..." Yeah.. I know. I have thin skin, ok? Haha! ;) When we are out side, we are unicycling. Hahaha! It's super funny because people honk at us and try to get us to fall. Others stop us and ask if they can try it out. It's funny to watch their attempts and fall over. Haha. We have to find our entertainment somehow. 

     So we are teaching an older guy named Pat. His wife just died and now he is getting kicked out of his apartment because he can't afford it anymore. We try to call him, but it rings twice and then goes to voicemail. We try our best to get a hold of him, but he is never home. Yesterday, we get a call from him out of the blue and ask how he is doing. Elder Black said he sounds like he is doing better, but he has been in the hospital for the past five days! Well that explains why we couldn't get a hold of him for so long. He is doing better, but he had a terrible allergic reaction to some medication he was on and he was down for the count. Poor guy. He is scheduled for baptism on February 20th. Not looking too promising, but it is still good for him to have a goal to work towards. It was a crazy experience for us, trust me.

     Other than that, nothing much more exciting happened. Slowly gaining momentum and giving it all I've got! Thanks for being stellar! I love you all!

In the attitude of being all in,

~ Elder Zac Snell :)

Oh My Dinkles!!!!!

Oh, where to begin!? Let's start with transfers. So on the way there, we were talking about where we thought we were going to go / where we wanted to go and they asked if I had received a Zone Leader call, which I hadn't which meant at I was either going to be a District Leader again or just a normal awesome missionary. We got talking and I decided that I was going to go to Gainesville. Hahah so Elder Johnson said, " well, there' style exit to Gainesville. Might as well save you the thirty minute drive and drop you off there. Little did I know hat he totally could have done that. 

     Like I have said in my previous email, I am serving here in Gainesville with Elder Ryan Black. He was Companions with Elder Jensen in Manassas, so there is that cool connection, but one of the coolest connections is e fact hat he unicycles!! He has one. It was the first thing that I saw when I walked into our apartment. He and one of his past companions (not Elder Jensen) unicycled around their area. It got great attention and was super easy to talk about what we are doing in the first place. Great ice breaker! So, here' she scoop. He has a unicycle and found another one for me to use, so that means that we will be unicycling around sharing he Gospel! President loved the idea. :) I knew my unicycling skills weren't developed for nothing!

     I really, really love this ward first Sunday, I meet some amazing people. One of the first guys is brother Mao. He is training to be on American Ninja Warrior! All he has to do is send in a video of his stuff and he should be a shoe in for sure! We go and sit down in our chairs and church starts. Elder Black looks over and sees a guy wearing familiar looking shoes. He said, "Elder Snell, check out those shoes..." I look over and he had DINKLES!!! I make a mental note to talk to him after sacrament meeting. It ended soon, and I got up and asked his name. He told me and I then asked him what instrument he played. "Trumpet :)" ah! Sweet music to my ears! I found a brother! Hahahahaha!!!! His name is Jay. We talk for a while and he goes and gets a friend. He is wearing Dinkles too!! AHHHH!!!! He played the Trombone. Not AS cool, but still cool then he goes and gets his friend and he is wearing Dinkles too!!!!! Life is sooooo good! Hahahahaha!!! Love this ward!

     So, that's my week. I can't wait to serve my heart out! Oh! And the place that I am staying has a billiards table! Game on! Thanks for the support and stuff from everyone! Can't believe I'm  1/24 of the way done. 

     ~ Elder Zac Snell :)

-=iii=<{

Sent from my iPad

Apparently someone gave these Geese to these Silly Missionaries to cook. Elder Snell and Elder Cline. These pictures were from a while ago. 

FYI, these are Dinkles!

New Dawn, New Day, New Year For Me!!!

 And I'm feeling.......... good!!!!!!!!! *Epic Trumpet part* Ah!!! A new year!! If you asked me one year ago if I thought that 2015 would roll around soon, I would have said NO WAY JOSE!! One year ago, I was with Elder Rowley in Reston. I loved that time of my mission. (not that any other part was less exciting, I just enjoyed being his companion and the Reston ward) After that, I was with Elder Ogilvie and I loved that part too! Then, after serving in Reston for 6 months, I was transferred to be with Elder Jensen in Fort Belvoir! I loved that part too! Elder Jensen was then transferred out and Elder McInerny came in, and you guessed it! I loved that part too! After that, I was transferred to McLean where I served with Elder Cline. I loved that too! After he was transferred out, I was assigned to train Elder Rickertsen. I loved that too!!! Goodness gracious! I just love being a missionary. There is no place that I would rather be at this time!!! There is only one sad part to the turning of a year.... well.. actually there are only two. First, it is a good possibility that I am going to be transferred to another area... So that means that you can't send me any packages straight to my apartment for a week. The next sad part is that this is the year that I go home in.... NOOOOOO!!!!!! The time is going way too fast!!! Sad day....

     OK... mourning is over now and it is time to describe my epic week. Since New Years was in this week, we were allowed to watch two movies. Of which were How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Space Jam! HTTYD2 was super epic and I had really wanted to watch that one for a long time! Space Jam was hilarious of course because it is the Looney Tunes with Michael Jordan. Good stuff. The very next day, we had the privilege of directing traffic at the Temple Visitors center! Nothing makes a teenage boy happier than when you hand them a red glowing baton. All of a sudden, they are transformed into trained Jedi Knights. hahaha! The thought definitely crossed my mind, but we didn't have any Light saber battles. We would have definitely broken something. Instead, we shouted out to people to either not park in this parking lot or to come in to this parking lot. The latter was tons easier because nobody likes being told that they can't park in an empty parking lot. All is well now and nobody got in a wreck and no broken batons, so life is good.

     This has been my week. I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays! I know I did. Thanks for all the support and love that I get from everyone. Quick shout out to my home stake. If you don't want to do SOTW, think again.... It is amazing and will change your life. It has changed mine.

Love you all!!!

     ~ Elder Zac Snell :)

-=iii=<{