Welcome to the bible belt week 35

Hello family and Friends,
I am so excited to say that transfer calls were yesterday and Sister Hymas and I are staying here for another transfer! I have been in the OBX for what feels like my entire mission. Just 5 months, but this place has become my favorite place in the whole world and my home. The ward has grown quickly to become my family. I have been so blessed to serve in an area that makes me feel comfortable and that takes care of the missionaries. There have been so many amazing experiences that have happened this week that I am trying to remember as I am typing this email! The days all seem like a blur.
I still have not gotten a new camera yet. I'm working on it. Preparation days have been hectic lately and I haven't had time to get to Walmart.
We had the chance to go to a trainer/trainee follow up meeting with President and Sister Baker and the APs. We split up into groups of trainers and trainees and talked about how we can over come struggles we are facing in our companionship. Honestly sister Hymas and I are getting along very well, so some of the concerns brought up were a little humorous.
Sue has fallen of the face of the earth. We saw her last week and had a very interesting experience with her, so this week we planned to stop by and see how she was doing. Alex who was our first investigator here moved out last week, and we are suspecting that he is in jail. A lot is going on right now! Haha but Sue wasn't home, so as we were driving away I felt impressed to turn around and leave a finding faith in Christ DVD on her porch. We are praying that she will find comfort and strength through Christ, even though she wont talk to us anymore, hopefully she will come around.
We taught a new woman this week who is very religious and is a missionary for one of the baptist churches in Nags Head. One of the baptist churches... there are so many different churches here it is mind blowing. Annnnnyways, she was a referral from a member who lives in the area next to us, and she instructed us very very specifically that we needed to teach her about the plan of salvation with an emphasis on the spirit world. so we got into Jeanne;s house and she started talking to us about her beliefs and doubts about her religion and the things she liked about the LDS religion and sister Hymas and I both felt so strongly that we needed to teach the restoration. here is a wonderful example of what not to do: we ignored the continuous prompting and went on to teach the plan of salvation with an emphasis on the spirit world. This was probably the worst lesson I have ever been in. we flat out ignored the promptings of the spirit and the lesson we taught was all over the place. I definitely gained a stronger testimony of why the spirit is ESSENTIAL. Hahaha leave it to me to be a wonderful example of how to be a bad missionary.... But it okay, repentance is real.  Thank goodness for this infinite gift our loving heavenly father has given us through our Savior Jesus Christ. :)
Luckily Jeanne let us set up a return apt with her.

We set Kyle for baptism on November 9. It was definitely one of the highlights of the week.  Kyle is very nervous and he said he has a lot of things he needs to get sorted out before he gets baptized, but he is willing to work hard and keep the commitments we extend to him to help him be prepared to make this sacred covenant. Sister Hymas invited him to be baptized!! She is doing so well, you wouldn't even be able to tell she is so new.
On Friday I got super sick. Again. This time it was a very strong head cold thingy. I don't think I have ever had such a bad cold before in my life. I was completely miserable.  We went to district meeting and then rushed home to teach Carol. A member came with us and Carol went on to tell us that she talked to her " significant other" about meeting with us and he said no. He gave her some anti-Mormon info and Carol told us that God told her this is not the path for her. I have never heard of such a thing. I was so mad. I was shocked at how upset I was. I had to fight back tears as she continued to tell us how she fasted, prayed, and tried to read, and that every single time she picked up the Book of Mormon it would just fall out of her hands, and then she would try it again and it would fall. then the last time she tried to read it the cover ripped off. She told us God was telling her not to read it and she got the hint. Then she told us that the bible is the only correct book. Sister Bradley who was with us addressed this concern and as Sister Bradley was talking Carol stopped her and said, " My neck is getting a sharp pain. It's a sign from god that you need to stop talking. " we were silent. I was shocked. I wanted to read to her the that wicked and adulterous people seeketh for a sign but I controlled myself. Basically to sum up this experience, we boldly testified to carol that the Book of Mormon is true and that she needs to have an open mind and real intent in order to recognize the answers from God. She is not going to act unless her boyfriend would. It was heart breaking to see. She told us that we weren't allowed to get transferred and that she would be praying that we stay. She said we had taught her a lot and that we have a light that shines from our souls that she is envious of. We invited her to continue to read the Book of Mormon, and to watch general conference next week and she agreed. We are going to drop by in a couple of weeks for sure.
So that was Carol.
On Saturday morning we had a ward activity that started at 7 am. then we went home and studied then taught a lesson. I was so so sick this day. I wouldn't let myself rest. So during the lesson when I couldn't remember the word Lamanite, I realized I should probably go home and rest. I called Lamanites Lehites. Oops.
I woke up Sunday morning feeling much better! We reset Luke for baptism on October 26.  When we invited him for the first time he laughed in our faces and said no. Then we kept talking and invited him again and he said he is struggling a bit with the word of wisdom. Then we invited him again and he said he will work for that date. I am confident that the Lord will help him as he prepares to be baptized and confirmed.
I am happy and life is going great! Thank you family for your wonderful example and your strength to me. I have been so blessed with a supportive family, ward, and group of friends. I love you all so much!
Have an amazing week and enjoy general conference!!!! I will be watching it at the church, and hopefully lots of investigators wanting to be baptized :)
LOVE Y'ALLLLLL
Sister Snow

"We aren't obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see" Week 34

HELLOOOOOOO

I say the same thing at the beginning of every week probably. I am shocked at how fast this week has flown by. It blows my mind continually. Not really any big news to report on this week. Sister Hymas and I got a brief 24 hour flu thing on Wednesday/Thursday but we pushed through it and kept working hard. We have been going going going this whole transfer and I LOVE it. We have been working so hard we rarely take time to eat lunch! Don't worry momma, we still eat. 

This week was full of helping people move, cleaning out pools, covering pools with tarps for hurricane season, visiting with lots of less active and recent converts, and little miracles every day. That sounded so cheesy. Haha, really though every single day we see some sort of miracle. We know it is because we make it our priority to be obedient to the mission standards and the commandments of the Lord. sometimes it seems like the weeks have themes. Some weeks it's the importance of the Holy Ghost. Other weeks it is the importance of hard work, or personal prayers, or the Book of Mormon. This week it was obedience. My testimony of obedience has grown so much. As latter day saints a lot is expected of us, and we can not afford to not be obedient. If we aren't obedient we can't have the spirit. We can not succeed in life.  We need to be obedient so we can receive all the blessings that Heavenly Father has is store for us and for his children that we can influence when we are doing what is right.

We found some new investigators this week which has been a miracle in its self :) We have been struggling with a lot of our investigators lately. Luke and Kyle are the only ones who are truly progressing towards baptism. So we have set a goal this week to find many new investigators. We are determined and confident that the Lord has prepared specific children here that we need to find. It is going to be a fun week! I am expecting miracles :)

Remember last week when I told y'all about Carol? Well we had another lesson with her..... ready?????

okay. She told us that she prayed again about the Book of Mormon and she couldn't read it. She said every time she started to read someone would call, she would fall asleep, or she'd get bored. She said it was God telling her not to read it. Actually, his name is Satan and he's the worst EVER.  Anyways.. we taught her the restoration and explained the role of Joseph Smith and went into a lot of detail about the great apostasy, and it clicked with her!! She told us she gets it, and that she would try AGAIN to read the Book of Mormon. That she was planning on going to the beach on Saturday to mediate and that she would know by then what "God wants her to do." Every single time we teach, she starts with an opinion made, we bare our testimony and teach her, and then she recommits herself to read again. She then went on to tell us that we aren't allowed to leave, (transfer calls are this sunday) and that we need to convert her boyfriend Eugene.  Hahaha she told us that "we could convert a jew to become christian." Weirdest lesson ever. Teaching Carol is literally like riding a shaky roller coster. We start out super rocky, she says mean comments, we teach with love, then the spirit is there super strong and it's one of the best lessons I have ever been in, then she makes a comment about her views of gospel doctrines such as adam and eve, and the spirit is GONE. It is very interesting...

but I am excited to hear about her prayer experience!

Kyle is progressing very well. We committed him to repent this week. We literally told him to confess his sins to God. It was the BEST. We met with him twice this week and on Saturday we followed up on his commitment. He told us that he spent some time praying to God. He continued on and asked us very sincere questions on repentance, and expressed that he has the desire to be baptized. We are working with him on setting a date. He hasn't made the commitment yet but its coming!!!

Patrick went to the temple saturday. He and Brother Kelly submitted 40 family names to be baptized. He also got a calling yesterday-family history consultant!

Robert is doing well. He is on a spiritual high and is trying to figure out how to get his girlfriend Amy to come to church. She has a lot of potential!!!!

The Farrenkopfs are slowly progressing. We are working on helping them to stay all 3 hours of church.

I love this work. It is the most rewarding, exciting, tiring thing I have ever done in  my entire life. The gospel is so true. We are so blessed to be able to have it in our lives! Following the commandments and being obedient is worth the struggles that sometimes arrive. This gospel isn't something that we just follow on Sundays. Its not something we automatically master. We have to work on ourselves every single day to be able to be the best people, to be able to be the people Heavenly Father wants us to be. I promise I am working my hardest out here to help God's children learn of the truth. To help them come unto to Christ and to partake of the same blessings we have been fortunate to receive in our own lives!!!!!

Have an amazing week! Can you believe I am at 8 months already????? whatttt

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

xoxoxox

Sister Snow

sunrise, Sunsets,Ocean baptism, Week 34

May the Force be with you, or don't mess with this missionary!

Country Girl

Bodie Lighthouse, Outer Banks

Roberts Baptism at Sunrise

Sunrise

Sister H and I

Roberts Baptism

Sunrise on the Sabbath, Nags Head, NC

Hello Fam Bam!
Once again I am shocked at the fact that I am sitting at this computer again, emailing about another week. It went by SOOO fast. Missionary time is the weirdest thing! Sometimes the days feel so slow, but the weeks just fly by. I cant explain it!
On Monday we got the chance to explore the Bodie Island Lighthouse, so that was cool. Google it. It's sweet! I promise.
Tuesday we had exchanges with the Sister trainer leaders. Sister Wylie and Sister Tarwater came to the OBX to work with us for the day. Sister Hymas was a little nervous about being with a new companion for the day. I was with Sister Wylie on and Sister Hymas was with Sister Tarwater. Sister Tarwater is super sweet. She is from Arizona.

Since it was Sister Wylie and I together on Tuesday, we got to leave the house at 10 o'clock instead of 11, so that was super duper exciting. While we were out walking, I got a phone call from Robert. He told us that President Baker approved his OCEAN SUNRISE baptism. Robert was sooooo happy. He told me that when he heard this news he "started weeping." He told me that he will dedicate his life to being a faithful member, and to not let God down because He let Robert have his wish. Honestly I was super shocked that President approved it.
Sister Wylie and I went to teach Luke, and Patrick came along with us! This was one of my favorite lessons ever for many reasons.
1. The Spirit was SO strong
2. Patrick bore his testimony to Luke about how answers to prayers come in God's own time, and how his leap of faith was one of the best decisions he's made.
3. We set a date for Luke to be baptized on October 5th! wooooooo
4. Luke said a prayer at the end :)
The rest of the day we taught a couple of other lessons, then we got lost and forgot where we parked our car and spent 30 minutes fast walking down the beach road. I stepped on a huge rock and have been limping ever sense.
Wednesday we had the chance to teach Carol, she's very religious and close to God. She's baptist and every time we start teaching her she tells asks if she can make us baptist. HAHA. She also is missing a leg. I love this woman. Really all the people here in the outer banks have my whole entire heart. I love them all so much and they have changed my life. (sorry about my random tangents) So carol told us that she prayed about the book of Mormon and she received a "no, it's not true." I felt so sick inside. I have never ever ever heard an answer like this before! Carol left the room and Sister Hymas looked at me with the look of "what do we do" and in my head I thought "I have no idea."  A very calm feeling came over me and my heart was at peace. I told her it's going to be okay, and that we will follow the spirit and address her concerns. As Carol wheeled herself back into the room, I asked her to share with us what she read and what she prayed about to Heavenly Father, She told us that she said a prayer before she read that the words would speak truth to her. She said that as she started, nothing sunk it, she couldn't get herself to read it, and she kept putting it down. As she kept talking, she told us about her experience with the bible and how she first read it. As we truly LISTENED to her speak, we found out that she had the SAME experience with the bible before! It is amazing how much the Holy ghost can do for us as members of the church. We can just know that something is going to work out without being able to explain it. You just FEEL it.  So as we taught Carol about the Book of Mormon and bore our testimonies of its truth, she told us that she would try it again. As we walked out of that lesson I kept thinking about how much trust I am putting in the Book of Mormon and in heavenly father. I never really thought before this experience how much trust I have had in our heavenly father and in the Book of Mormon. I tell multiple people daily that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that if they ask God with a sincere heart and real intent, that He will answer their prayers and that the holy ghost will tell them that the Book of Mormon is true. I seriously had a little spiritual moment to myself as we were driving, and I came to realization of how much God really does love all of His children. No matter where they are in their lives, He will hear all of our prayers, he wants all of us to come home to him. He is rooting for us all to make the right choices and to come unto Christ.  How amazing is that?!?! The most POWERFUL,  SUPREME, OMNIPOTENT, JUST, and MERCIFUL being of all time and eternity LOVES us so deeply that we cannot even comprehend it. He loves us so much he sent his Son to die for us so that we can be clean. He loves us so much he has called prophets to lead and guide us, and the scriptures to help us learn how to come closer to Christ every single day! He loves us so much he forgives us!  Just think about that for a little while. I still am.... hahaha
 As a missionary I have the responsibility to help EVERYONE learn of this love. To invite everyone to come unto Christ, to be cleansed and purified through faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end.
On Friday we had zone conference. I have been praying about a couple questions I have had, one specifically about how to help investigators recognize revelation through prayer. The second training we received was on revelation through prayer. Once again I felt powerfully how involved Heavenly Father is in every detail of my life.
Saturday Hermana Mendez one of my old companions came down to stay with us for Robert Baptism Sunday morning. It was really good to see her again.
Roberts baptism was amazing. It started at 6am and 30 people showed up to support him. Robert's brother and his wife came, along with Roberts girlfriend, Amy. We had the talks and service in the church and then we drove to the beach access to see the baptism. Paul Kelly baptized Robert. It was his first time in the ocean in over 8 years. The waves were HUGE and he got baptized right as the sun was coming up. He walked out of the ocean so happy, so clean, so ready to start his new life. It was an experience I will never ever forget.
I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is Christ's church restored onto the earth today. I know that the gospel changes lives. I have seen it in myself and in others. I am SO grateful for my amazing family who continues to live the gospel and support me and all the craziness that happens out here in the OBX. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. I am striving to make Him and my family back home proud!!!
LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!
xoxoxoxooxo
Sister Snow

Part 2 of week 33

Hello again...
So i was writing this amazing super spiritual, long email this week. I was reading over it before i sent it and then i pressed send and i looked and all that got sent was the hello and the ending part. So ill try to quickly tell you about this week!
We had some amazing lessons. the spirit was so strong. We taught Katibeth this week and learned that she believes that before she was placed on this earth that she lived with God before, and she actually chose to be here on earth. Our jaws just dropped to the floor. she just explained the pre-earth life. The spirit flooded the room. Katibeth was quiet, waiting for our response. the spirit prompted my thoughts, i knew i needed to be bold. I looked Katibeth in the eyes and told her that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has all the answers to her questions. that this church is the only true church on the earth and the only way she is going to learn this for herself is if she acts; if she reads the book of Mormon and she prays about it. I was getting emotional as i told her how when we first met her we were compelled to talk to her. Sister Hymas and i were bouncing off of each other, bearing our hearts out to her and testifying to her of the love that Heavenly Father has for her.
I wish i could explain these situations to you better, but this was one of my favorite teaching experiences and i know that Heavenly Father has prepared Katibeth to hear the truth. It was so cool seeing for myself that there really are people here that are prepared. that are truly searching for answers that only the fulness of the gospel can answer.
We also got the chance to see Luke. He is one of our most promising investigators! He doesn't feel like he is ready or worthy to be baptized yet. especially sense after the lesson in gospel principles when an area of the 70 came to our class that we were teaching that day... and asked Luke in front of everybody who he confesses his sins to. We have been helping him to know what he needs to do to get his answer that this church is the true church and that the book of Mormon is true. we have set high goals to get him baptized in the next couple of weeks.
Kyle is doing well. He is working on getting his answer about the Book of Mormon.
Patrick and the Farrenkopfs are still doing great. Patrick bore his testimony to us about the power of the gift of the holy ghost. it was amazing
We taught Tina this week as well. Tina is a woman we met back in may, and when we saw her i felt prompted to start talking about the plan of salvation. it was strange.. but we went for it and found out that her mother passed away and she has serious questions about the purpose of life. Well we in the mean time have given her a book of Mormon and invited her to pray about it. We talked to her this past week about it, and she READ IT!!! ahhhhh. we were so excited! She told us what she enjoyed about it and we set up a return apt to teach her about the restoration of the gospel. Do you want to hear how weird i am? of course you do. so as we were teaching her, I saw in my head Tina standing in front of relief society and bearing her testimony that the church is true. She was telling everyone how she had so many questions that the gospel of Jesus Christ answered. I started tearing up.. I have too much "white vision." I get a little carried away. But really this is such a big part of missionary work! this is the goal! To  help people learn about and receive the fulness of the gospel. There is no greater happiness than this.

Robert is getting baptized this Sunday. Our mission president has banned ocean baptisms and Robert is very sentimental and very upset about his. So he called president Baker up this past week and plead his case to him. President is praying about it, but we will see what the verdict is.
Cant wait to tell you what happens with that!
I know that this church is true and I know that we can come closer to Heavenly Father every single day. We can increase our testimonies every single day. we need to do this! Satan is out there, trying to weaken us. we must be on guard always and the way we can do this is by studying the scriptures daily, praying and keeping the commandments. when we do this we can have the spirit of the Lord with us to warn us, to protect  us, to guide us.

xoxo
Sister Snow

"Wishing will not make it so, the Lord expects our Thinking, he expects our Action, he expects our Labors" Week 33

Hey y'all!!
Funny story of the week... We walked into a drug deal.
not really... we went to a Less actives home and we knocked on the door and heard a come in, so of COURSE we walked in all excited because those words are extremely rare to hear as a missionary. well... we walk in and there's Sister H and her bf/fiancé standing at a counter that is randomly in their living room, and 5 teenage boys standing there with smoke coming out of their mouths. Sister Hymas and I were freaking out and we were plotting our escape. Luckily Sister H's mother who is a temple worker in Raleigh came out of the back and took us into the other room, and sister h joined us. apparently what we walked into was the selling and purchasing of "e ciggs." they are "harmless" because they "don't have any tar." we got educated on the "Science" of eciggs by sister h's bf and he gave us business cards to "pass out." they are currently taped in my journal and the rest are in a pile in the car and soon to be trash can.
I love the crazy life of a missionary, and NATE GOOD LUCK!!! you are a STUD!! the Lord is getting yet another wonderful warrior added to his army this week!
I love you all. thank you for your support, i couldn't do this without yall.
xoxoxo
sister snow
ps i got the pillowcase and sour ballssss! thanks fam!!Raleigh

Greenie! Week 31

Hola fam fam!

happy birthday fatherrr!!! So this week was a great/tough week! we taught some of our last lessons together (sister Hurley and I) and then we said our goodbyes on Thursday morning! She was so lucky, on Wednesday there was an 8 year old baptism that we helped set up, and so all of our favorite ward members were there to say goodbye. It's always so hard to leave an area, especially the first one you serve in. They literally become your family, and the relationships formed are so close. Transfer day was intense. I had to be at a trainers meeting and i got to see sister Mendez! she is training again, and doing super well. President Baker told us how important of a role it is to train and how my new companions entire perspective of missionary life relies on me. no pressure.

As we walked into transfer meeting, we saw 2 rows of the new missionaries sitting in the front row. You could feel the tension and the nerves as soon as we stepped into the chapel. President Baker is super computer savvy and he put together a presentation to show the area we are serving in and the missionary there. Usually we have to get up in front of all of the missionaries and talk about our area and why its the best area in the mission :) but nooooo, instead there was a picture of our area and a picture of our faces. Mom.... remember how you were telling me when I was working on my papers that i should use a good picture?? i wish i listened to you and used a better picture.... my nasty face popped up and all the missionaries in the chapel got the privilege of seeing that beauty.

Ready to hear about the new companion???

Her name is Sister Hymas and she is from Utah! 19 years old and super cool. She is a lot different from all of my companions, a lot more quiet and proper if that's the right word??

Our first night here we were in charge of a scripture study at the cutest old couples home ever, so she got to meet a lot of the amazing members in the area. On Friday she got to meet Robert and his girlfriend, and we worked with some less actives who i have never met before. One didn't speak English at all so that was interesting/hilarious.

Saturday was crazy. Brother Kelly had given sister Hurley and I a referral for a boy named Jeromy. He just got out of jail and he is really seeking for something to belong to. We finally after 2 weeks got to teach him. This was sister Hymas's first real lesson out in the field and she was sooo nervous. I was too. Its amazing how the spirit can help us though. We both were unified and taught our little hearts out. Sister Hymas invited Jeromy to be baptized! his answer wasn't what we hoped for, but he said if he knew that the book of Mormon was true he would "eventually." we have another appointment with him on Tuesday so I'm really excited about it! we both feel really good about him.

RIGHT after we finished saying the prayer, kyle (Patrick's friend who we had an appointment with) shows up and we are all just sitting there all awkward because Jeromy and brother Kelly weren't leaving. So we told them that we were going to teach Kyle, and Jeromy said he didn't have to be at work for another hour and asked if he could stay. hahaa so he got to hear the restoration twice. lucky guy!

The second time we taught was much more clear, so i am having faith that Jeromy needed to be there for the message of the restoration to really sink in :)

On Sunday Sister Hymas got to meet the members of the ward! It was so nice to see everybody so warm and welcoming to the new missionary! We were in charge of teaching gospel principles again because our teacher went to college.... did i tell y'all about a member of the quorum of the 70 coming to church a couple of weeks ago and our teacher didn't show up to class so we had to teach the class last minute, with a general authority there???!?! if i did, sorry i am telling you again. scariest/coolest moment of my life.

Sunday a man named Jerry rolled into church. he literally rolled... he has a scooter chair thing. He told us he decided he wanted to come to church and that he is friends with the Moores. We talked to him before church started about the book of Mormon and about the church services. Then we set up an appointment with him after church at the Moores house. We taught him about the book of Mormon and we are meeting with him next week. so that was exciting!!

Also the mayor of Manteo came to church! he is friends with brother Kelly and wanted to see what church was all about, because Patrick has recently been baptized.

 

speaking of Patrick... yesterday Patrick and Andrew received the priesthood!!!!!!!!!

training is super stressful and I have felt pretty alone and overwhelmed the past couple of days, but i am reminded to turn it to the savior. His atonement and his love can help me through this and He can give me strength. I know that this work is the Lords work and that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is SO TRUE.

love you all!!!

good luck with the last days of summer. have fun at school Channy poo

love,

Sister Snow

Ether 12:6

Best Week of my life! Week 30

Best week of my life. hands down.

This week we got the amazing privilege to witness 2 of the most beautiful baptisms ever. Earlier in the week we went on exchanges with the sister training leaders. it was a party. we got to GO TO NORFOLK!!! i teared up going back to my new area because all the amazing memories and friends i left came flooding back to mind. oh man some times its rough being a missionary! you meet the most amazing people, become super close with them and then you leave. but its all worth it. Norfolk was super fun, i went with sister Wylie for the day and we had so much fun. 

Friday was Patrick's baptism. He SHAVED HIS BEARD!!! wow the gospel is true that's all I'm going to say. The baptism was amazing. His dad, brother Kelly gave an amazing talk on the importance of baptism. he was so nervous. Patrick's mother came, who wasn't too eager for this new change. during the talks and musical number i looked back to see Ann Marie crying! The spirit truly had touched her heart. the baptism was beautiful. On Saturday was Andrew's! Nikki, his wife gave an amazing talk and i was in tears the entire time. Not only was this a leap of faith for Andrew, but it was the first step that was needed to be taken so that their family could be sealed in the temple. the inside of his program had a picture of their family that said "families can be together forever." Its so good to know that this is their goal, and that they are preparing to make sacred covenants in the holy temple. Sister Hurley and I sang "I can only imagine" at Andrew's baptism and it was so emotional we destroyed the ending. 

Sunday both Patrick and Andrew were confirmed as members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints and received the gift of the Holy ghost. 

this is what the church is all about. teaching others to learn about our Savior Jesus Christ, teaching them to have faith, to repent, to be baptized so they can receive the gift of the holy ghost. This is my purpose for the next 11 months, and i will not loose focus on this. The church is SO true. I have seen it change so many peoples lives, and this week i got to witness two of my favorite people take part in a sacred ordinance of turning their lives over to Christ. There is truly no greater happiness.

We have been reading the book of Mormon as a mission for the past 6 weeks. I am about to go on a rant and I apologize for my missionary speeches....

I am so blessed that i got to be raised in the church. I never have truly felt the "lost" feeling that i have heard so many people talk about. I have always had my family, my ward family, prayer, and the scriptures to turn to when things got tough. But i didn't take advantage of this. especially the scriptures. I have so much love for the words that are written on our scriptures, especially the book of Mormon. a year ago, if i could have known how powerful the book of Mormon is , i would have never justified not reading my scriptures every day. these words are literally saved for us. They have been prepared by prophets of ancient times for us to read, to study, to ponder, and to apply to our lives. Don't let yourself get into a habit of taking them for granted like i did!!! I know that the book of Mormon is true. I know that it really is another testament of Jesus Christ.every single day my testimony of its truth is strengthened. I want to read it all the time. This book has changed me, and it continues to change me every single day.

Let it change you.

I love y'all so much. thank you for your support and love. I am so grateful for you wonderful examples to me!

Oh! I almost forgot! transfer calls were yesterday....

Sister Hurley is leaving me to go to Moore Head City, apparently its another beach in North Carolina. 4ish hours south.

I am staying here! I am so excited, I know that my work isn't done here in Nags Head. I am going to be training a new sister! 

Love

Sista Snow

I taught the Prez Week 32?

I am probably the best missionary there ever was. and the most humble.
just kidding. real talk this week was really good!! Sister Hymas and I are getting in our groove. She is starting to really love the East Coast, the people here, and missionary life. It has been fun training and seeing that "greenie fire." I have gained such a strong testimony of fundamentals. Whether as a missionary or as pro basketball player, it is so important to focus on the fundamentals. I have been a missionary for 7 1/2 ish months... crazy. but going through the fundamentals again have helped me out so so much. It is amazing how even though all i do every single day is be a missionary, after 7 1/2 months i am still learning so much every single day. I never get bored of teaching people the gospel. It is different every single time! I never get sick of studying. CRAZY huh??? if I heard myself saying that a year ago i would have never believed it. but i seriously look forward to reading the holy word of God every morning. it is the best start to a long day of walking, teaching, crying (just kidding), and baring testimony.
 We are still working hard to get Robert ready to be baptized on the 15 of September. He is still working on quitting smoking. seriously everybody and there dog has issues with smoking.
Andrew and Patrick passed the sacrament on Sunday. i felt like a mother. i was so worried and nervous and excited for them both! I was watching them like a hawk the whole time with the cheesiest smile plastered on my face. There is nothing more joyous than seeing people progress in the gospel and magnify their priesthood!!  the Farrenkopfs are planning a temple trip the end of this month to do baptisms! ahhhhhh

We had the chance to work with some awesome less actives this week, and today we had a really amazing lesson with Jesse. I don't remember if i had told y'all about her when we first got here. She and her husband were baptized almost a year ago, and she fell away very quickly after. she went down the wrong path and we don't know all the details but she was super lost. hah so anyways today we finally got to teach her! She expressed to us hat she wants to get re baptized now that she is in the "right mindset." She was very adamant about that. We kindly told her that this is not how the gospel works. We need to repent, and when we worthily partake of the sacrament we can be cleansed of our mistakes every week. She was really confrontational about it but the spirit took over and i don't even remember what we both said, but I literally saw her eyes open up and the spirit just hit her. She stopped "Arguing" and she told us about a really spiritual experience she had last night while she was praying. She told us she was praying all night last night and she realized she needs to start coming back to church. that she has made mistakes but she finally feels ready and worthy enough to come back to church. It was so cool to see the total change in demeanor with her. I love what the spirit can do to people :)
We are still teaching Patrick's friend kyle. He is seriously like so many guys from LCC it freaks me out. To be honest Sister Hymas and I were not very enthusiastic about teaching him, but when we met with him this week he kept the commitments we invited him to keep and he was super into it! We will see what happens!
I took Sister Hymas tracting for the first time last week, and one of the people who answered the door was a shirtless old man who apparently was deaf. He told us to come in and talk to his wife. he leads us into his room and we spoke to a morbidly obese woman about the restored gospel. We bore our hearts out to them and in response she asked if we were married. when we said no she asked if we had boyfriends. we quickly left the house hahah then we met a man mowing his lawn and as we were talking to him he asked if we were married. We must have been looking fly that day. We get the weirdest comments and questions, i love it.
On Friday we had district meeting. I had been asked to give a training on revelation through prayer. I was super excited about it because this was a topic I had been doing a lot of reflecting on. As a missionary we pray ALLLL the time. when we wake up, when we eat, when we start personal study, when we start and end companionship study, when we leave our apt when we start a lesson and end a lesson when we get out of our car when we get ready to go on a long drive, when we eat with members, to start and end all meetings, its a lot .I felt strongly this week that i was really getting into a prayer funk. I was becoming repetitious, and my prayers were as much of a spiritual experience as i would like. I think we all have had times in our lives like this. So anyways, Friday morning we get a call from the district meeting saying that President Baker was going to be at district meeting. WHAT. i started freaking out. But all went very well and i think i survived it. Not only did i have to give a training while the mission president was there, but we got put into groups to practice teaching and Sister Hymas and I had to teach president and sister baker. it was the highlight of my week for sure, to be able to teach with the mission president there and to feel his spirit and love for the gospel and missionary work.
I have been reading in the war chapters of Alma, and i wanted to give my momma a shout out! Mom, thank you for raising us in such a loving environment and for always being such a steadfast example of the gospel to me and Chan and Summ. any qualities that i have that are good, i know that they are because of my beautiful mother and my pretty father who have dedicated their lives to raising us. Thank you for not being alcoholics and strippers. literally i have seen far to many families like this and I have never realized how blessed I am to have been brought up in a home surrounded on standards, love, and Christ.
Hope everybody had a wonderful labor day! If you didn't catch on by now, the library was closed yesterday :)
I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and I am so grateful to be serving as a missionary!!!!
I KNOW that Joseph Smith saw what he saw. I know that God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and it contains the fullness of the everlasting gospel.
i love my family and friends. you guys are my rock. You keep me extra motivated and i am doing my best to make you proud!
Chandler, congrats on your ticket. how embarrassing... you are officially as good of a driver as me. wooooooo fake.
Have an amazing week!!
xoxoxoxoxo
Sister Snowwww