FINDING FURY

     Welcome to the awesome dictation of Elder Snell's email! This week was pretty cool. I don't know if I have a whole bunch of stories but I think I will do my best to tell you what happened. OK let's start!

     So the first thing that pops on mind is about the finding best! It was actually called the finding fury because we wanted to get an awesome alliteration that was totally non-cliché! Elder Jones's idea. Here's what happened, we took the entire zone and we split them into different areas and different companions, so I went with Elder Snow to Vint Hill.  Knocked on these HUGE houses and people sometimes answer the door, but I think that we did a really good job. That is his Asian man who talked us for a little bit but politely told us to go away but you could understanding is really trying to get out. There's just a ton of tracting. We went finding for about nine hours straight! The only thing that made this bearable was the fact that we were switching companions and areas every two or so hours. Our goal as a zone was to collect 188 return appointments. We did OK. We ended up with about 73. I thought of Caden when I heard that number. Haha! That was fun. Oh! I was also able to use some Twi!! We found some Ghanaian in this Hispanic neighborhood and it made my day!

     Another really cool thing that happened was on Sunday. There were five kids being baptized and one of them has a less active father who doesn't hold the priesthood yet, so he would not be able to baptize his daughter. So I get a call from Sister Suarez informing me that her daughter asked if I would baptize her on Sunday. I was shocked and humbled at their request, so I accepted the invitation. That was an awesome experience. Her name is Mia. She remembered us from a couple weeks ago when we came to teach her about baptism and the story goes from there. The baptism went very smoothly and the chapel was packed to the brim for those five kids. Definitely a day to remember. :)

     Not much else happened this week, but I hope you enjoyed the stories that came from this week's adventure! I love you all and thank you for all the support I receive. I promise it doesn't go unappreciated.

     One final thing.......... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEXIE!!! I hope you had a stellar one! I will give you a big birthday hug soon! Love you!

~ Elder Zac Snell :)

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Mia & Elder Snell

God's Sense of Humor

Aug, 17th, 2015

 Well, this email will probably not be as long as usual. Just FYI.

     Hector was baptized! Whoot! It was really good. Tons and tons of people showed up and we were stoked about it! Elder Hall, King, and I decided that we needed to do a musical number so we sang Nearer my God To Thee in A'Capella it was sweet! Is really funny, because we went and push the first note Elder King started 3 1/2 steps above what our starting note was. We would've gotten away with it, but he was the starting soloist. Other than the screwup in the musical number, it was pretty good. Other King was asked to baptize Hector, so that was cool. He did a good job. Hector then asked me to confirm him the next day and some of his friends showed up to that so that was cool. And that's about it Hector.

     

     Dad, mom, you'll be so happy for me! I cook delicious chicken with the help of Elder Hall! We got it for Costco for about 12 bucks and it fed us for three or five meals! The chicken was super super delicious, so yeah!

     So, I taught district meetings this week! It was EPIC! We mainly talked about goalsetting and then set a big goals! We are going to 100 member lessons! Whoot!! So far on track we have six weeks to meet this goal. This week we had 22 member lessons all together as a district. Last week we had seven. It's awesome because we improve! So that was fun.

     Oh! I totally forgot! Elder Hall and I were in this sketchy neighborhood and we go down this trail. I turn to Elder Hall and tell him, "we are totally going to get mugged." Haha! We did... By six year old kids with their semi auto nerf guns. God surely has a sense of humor, haha!

     So I'm not sure what else to talk about, so I'm going to count to five and see if I remember anything. One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Yup... Nothing. Let me know if you have any questions for what's going on over here! I would be happy to address your questions and or comment. Love you people!

     ~Elder Zac Snell :)

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Downpour

August 24th, 2015

Hola! Not much that happened this week to report about. Elder Hall is keeping us busy. He is an awesome missionary! I went in an exchange for the night with a Zone Leader and he did very well leading out the area! He is going to do very well throughout his mission. I am really sad that I will not be here to watch him progress. Hopefully he will email me. :) oh! The Downpour!

     So this week has been crazy with the rain. On Thursday, I had Elder Ramos over from the Manassas second ward to be on an exchange in my area. It was really fun to get to know Elder Ramos! He is from Mexico and his family are pretty recent converts. Anyways. We are biking home and all of a sudden he wind gets really cold. Well! Time to head back to the apartment, there is going to be one crazy storm ahead! We booked it back on our bikes back home. As soon as we walked inside, it just dumped buckets of rain on us. Thankfully, we had Brother Nanto to take us around places for the night. On the contrary, Elder Hall and Elder Medina were in Manassas on bikes. Elder Hall showed me a video of what it was like during the storm there and how soaked they were. Haha! I felt so bad for them, but it is the first of many rainy days for the both of them. I will attach a video with the email about it. 

     Well, other that that, not much happened. We are always busy and I have realized that when we are where Heavenly Father needs us to be, then he will provide us what to do and say. I have found that from the past few days and has strengthened my testimony about finding that one person who needs the Gospel. He really is aware of where we are and what we need at all times. It blows my mind to think about how many people on this world and the individual needs of each specific Person. We have been able to be in the right place, at the right time for His children. I LOVE being a missionary and wouldn't change or trade it for the world!

~ Elder Zac Snell :)

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I was sent this pic from members Bob and Sheri Walter. She said that Elder Hall and Snell are filled with the spirit and they love being with them. She said thanks for sharing him. (Wendi)

The Fourth Movement

AUG 10, 2015 

Good morning everybody! How is everyone? Good answer! I guess you're wondering how my week went, so I guess I'll have to tell you. Let's go!

     On Monday, we played football. It was sort of fun, it was cool because I threw touchdown! That was a first, because I usually throw interceptions. That was about the coolest part of the day. Anyways... On to more interesting stuff!

     So, on Monday night, I received a call from Elder White and he informed me that I will be a district leader and I will be training. Whoot! So yeah. That's fun! Elder King is going to be Finish training. Transfers came up really fast and I am now with my new companion. His name is Elder Hall. He is from Rigby Idaho and loved to play rugby. Yup! So that is super sweet! Yes, he is taller than me, I will attach a picture of us at the Baseball game! Oh yeah! I have to tell you about that! The baseball game was epic! There were so many missionaries there. Washington DC north and Washington DC South Mission were both there. I met President cook of the North Mission. He's nice. We got really far away from the game, but what else would you expect. I have this awesome picture of all the missionary sitting in the stands. It's a section filled with white whites and ties. We even got on the Jumbotron! No picture of that, it came really fast and left really fast. I saw a whole bunch of friends there! Mission friends that is. A whole bunch of my friends went home this past transfer on Thursday. Anyways, the metro was really really crowded, but no metro dominos this week. On the way home we took the wrong bus, so we had to go back to Ballston from McLean and then to West Falls Church. Then get on the metro at West Falls Church and head over to Vienna where the Zone Leaders were waiting for us. I promise my goal is to get home by 22:30, but the game ended at 22:30. Thus making my plan I dream that was destined to not come true. We wound up getting home around 01:00. Now get this, here's the best part. Since I am the district leader, I have to wait for my entire district to send me a text telling me they got home safely, thus pushing back my bedtime about 30 minutes. I was so dead tired and many of you know how I get when I'm tired… Let's leave it at that… well that's the adventure of the metro place. Turns out that the train derailed couple nights ago, so that caused a whole bunch of confusion. Have been out of happened we would've been home safely and a lot sooner. 

     Well, thus begins the fourth and final movement! It's time to be epic and Go Forth baptizing everybody! NOBODY CAN STOP US!!! As the song says, "ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no river wide enough, ain't no valley Low enough, to keep me from getting to you babe!" WHOOOOOO!!!! BRING IT ON!!!

~ Elder Zac Snell :)

Sitting On The Bench

August 3, 2015 


   This week was a pretty average week.... Well, I type that and instantly flashes through my mind all the awesome stuff that actually happened. Haha! I will start with Tuesday's rain storm. We were walking over to Brother Wolford's house to return his shovel and we remember to bring an umbrella and jacket for the walk because he clouds look a little grey. Suddenly, we start to feel rain drops. Not two minutes later, it felt like we were walking through a Hurricane. I didn't bring my rain jacket because I had an umbrella, but Elder King had one. Here we were, two missionaries trudging through what felt like a waterfall, with shovels in our hands. He world was only left to question what in tarnation we planned on doing. I was huddled under my umbrella and felt like a boss battling the wind and rain with my trusty semi-water-resistant deflection shield, while Elder King had his epic body suit which quenched the icy blows of the storm. Eventually, after walking a mile or so, a member drove by and insisted on picking us up to take us to the Wolford's house. 

     We had a bunch of lessons at Hector's "House." He always wants to meet at the bench in front of his house. We had some great lessons. It was at the bench when he told us that he was getting kicked out of his house. The lady he is renting from got really mad a him and decided to kick him out. He had until Friday to figure out where to go or else he was sleeping in the streets. One of the saddest phone calls I have ever received was, "well guys, you will find me under the nearest by bridge." My heart about melted. The moment Hector told us this, we knew it was time to fast. So the next day we fasted for him. Fasting has increased! Let me explain why. Come Saturday, we were looking for Hector. We went to his "house" and asked the lady if he knew she knew where he was. She said that he was upstairs napping but she will go wake him up. Was surprising her eyes met him again at the bench. We talk to him and he said that she feel sorry for him and will give him a second chance. Talk about a miracle! No one can tell me the fasting does not work it should be for a righteous cause. We were really relieved! He is scheduled to be baptized on August 15! We cannot wait!

     Transfers of this week, so going to happen! I will see you in the end of this week. This week should be insane! I have a departing Temple interview trip thinking. Since this will be my last transfer I need to go to the temple with all the other missionaries to end soon. Should be fun. Ha ha, I am so excited for this week! You should be excited for the next email.

     Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it. Tune in next time for awesomeness!

     ~ Elder Zac Snell

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Be Careful Who You Entertain

 Oh boy, this week was a wild one. It might take a while to fully describe the adventure of his week. I will give you a couple highlights.

     First thing I want to talk about, is the metro ride home from the Holocaust Museum. The metro is absolutely packed! It was absolutely no sitting room. It was all standing! We were all back to back, pretty much. It was really funny, because when we stepped inside, we did not have anywhere to hold on. So you could see what would happen when the train started to go. Elder King lost his balance and fell onto me causing me to loose my foothold and plunge backwards into Elder Lee. As if that was bad, we continued the domino effect all the way to the back of the train causing people to fall or loose their balance. Haha! It was a mess, let me tell you that. 

     Next, I would like to tell you about interviews with President Huntsman. They were pretty awesome! All except for the fact that he treated me like I was going home really soon. I didn't really understand why. He asked me how my mission has influenced me and what changes I had made while I was out here. I wasn't really prepared to answer them, but that was his strategy. I feel like I answered them well. I would like to tell you them, but I totally forgot what I said. I will put that in a separate email later. So that was good. There was a Chinese family that came in and wanted to know if Bible studies go on here. We told him we could give them a tour. They love the church and would like to start meeting with missionaries! Thankfully, we have Samantha and speaking missionaries.

     OK. Now for the part that sorta drives me crazy. Elder King and I are going to lunch at IHOP. We start walking in and hear somebody say "Hey are you Jehovah's Witness!?" To that, we are imply that we were Mormon missionaries! He then told us about how he had just lost his job and is looking for just $2 for some food. As he said that, I was reminded of Better Off Dead. Man, that guy would not leave us alone! He followed us into IHOP, sat down with us, and then begin to lecture us on giving to the poor and the needy. His main thing that what he wanted us to take away was too, "be careful who you entertain." He started quoting Bible verses and making us feel guilty. So we offered him some of our food, but he rejected. He then continued to make us feel guilty. Even until he walked out of the building, where he waited for us to walk to dollar tree with him. Upon checking out, we talk to the cashier lady who informed us that that man had worked there and had just been fired because of the problems he caused. Wait, what?!?! She then told us that he was a bad man and we should not be around him. When he asked for the $2, he told us he didn't drink or smoke, but I already walked outside to meet him again, He was smoking! I called him out on his lie, and then he went off on me. "If God didn't want us to smoke it, why did he grow it!?" I then testified of free agency and the gift to choose right from wrong and that there must be opposition in all things. He got really mad that that response. We walked into a local Walgreens where I purchased him some milk and cereal. On our way out, the alarms went off because somebody had something in his pocket. The cashier lady told us to keep going and not to worry about it, but I am pretty positive hat this guy shoplifted..... After receiving his items, he thanked us and then walked away. So there is that story. 

     My birthday was super entertaining! It included a whole bunch of service, singing to the elderly, silly string fight, and light saber duels! Thanks to all those who wished me a happy birthday! I really really appreciated it! And thank you to those who sent me letters and or packages. They made my day! Can't believe I'm already 20… Wow....

     Thanks for reading this rather long message! I have had an excellent week. Tuning next time for even awesome or week. Love you all! Did you IL

     ~ Elder Zac Snell :)

P.S. Be careful who you entertain ;)

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Glen & Cheryl Knutti sent this picture to me  from Centreville Va. They helped Elder Zac Snell celebrate his birthday. So grateful for amazing ward members in his mission. Their 11 year old son said "he's my FAVORITE!" With Elder King- He wasn't too happy that his hair was messed up from the silly string fight they had before the picture. :)

National Yell At The Missionaries Day

July 20, 2015

Hello everybody! And welcome back to the spectacular reading of
other Snell's letters!! Today we are going to learn many great things!
Let us begin.

     So this week who is super awesome! We had a lot of success and a
lot of trying times. I think that everyone just decided that Friday
was going to be yellow the missionaries day! We didn't really approve
of that that happened anyway. We had so many people yell out of their
cars at us. Many things that were yelled were the nicest things to say
to even regular people. I don't know what we did, but maybe I had a
"yell at me if you think I am awesome" tag on my back, so a lot of
people must think I am really awesome. At least eight or nine people
yelled at us from the cars, and then to end it all, someone at the
doorstep yelled some pretty colorful language us! All we were doing
was checking to see if they were still interested in learning about
the gospel. We took that as a no. He almost sic'd his dog on us! The
poor guy was probably having a rough day. We were sure to include him
in our evening prayers.

     So, on Tuesday, we found somebody new to teach! His name is
Hector. He is from Guatemala and has lived in the states for about 43
years. He was referred to us by a member in the Manassas 1st Ward. The
zone leaders called us and told us to get over to the library ASAP for
a lesson with Hector. We sat next to him on the bench at the library
and we talk to him about the gospel! He absolutely loved it! He speaks
pretty good English, but we still had a Spanish translator just in
case. Ha ha. Just a side note, Elder Kings bike was taken away by the
office because he had a loaner bike. So, that leaves us without a
bike. We are now back on foot!  Ever since that lesson with Hector, he
has called us every morning, asked us excellent questions, and has
come to church!  He absolutely loved it! Thanks to our awesome ward
members, he has tons of friends now. He agreed to be baptized and has
a scheduled date for August 8th! We are so stoked for him!

     We had an awesome lesson with all of the prospective 8 year olds
who are going to be baptized soon. We were asked to come and teach
them and their families about baptism. I ought we would be really cool
and do the Soap and Pepper object lesson. This is when you dump pepper
in a bowl of water and you use soap to clear the pepper out of the
middle of the bowl. Turns out, you need the right kind of soap in
order for it to work. So, when we did it  he kids became super excited
to see it and when we tried, nothing happened..... "Try using more
soap," one of the adults said. I took the soap bottle and dumped soap
in the middle and it still didn't work. Epic failure.... Elder King,
being the funny guy he is, quickly added. "They had the wrong
authority." *facepalm* Good one... Haha! I will include a picture of
what the object lesson looked like. It was a great humbling
experience.

     Well, that's all folks! Thanks for tuning in! Just a heads up, I
will be switching my preparation day next week to Tuesday due to a
zone service project we will be doing. So, I will catch you on
Tuesday! Love you all! Have an epic week!

     ~ Elder Zac Snell :)

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Little Bread

Object lesson failure- Pepper and Soap