Called to serve

family and friends..

IS THIS REAL LIFE?!?!?! 

I can not believe i am actually writing my LAST email home. this is crazy. This week has been the toughest week ever. a part of me is so excited for the next chapter of my life, and another part is completely heart broken my time as a full time missionary is over. The future is bright, and i have learned so many lifelong lessons as i have served the Lord.

This week we were so blessed. It was one of the best weeks number wise we have had in a long time. We taught a lot of lessons, found new investigators, prepared people to come close to be baptized, and we lived our purpose everyday. 

we were blessed to see a family we have been teaching come to church, and they enjoyed it very much! 

I look back on this week with no regrets. I used all the time i was blessed with to work my hardest and to be bold in all situations. There is no greater happiness than that of bearing testimony and teaching people about their savior. 

That is what it is all about. That is why i work by hardest every single day. That is why i keep going, even when we get screamed at or made fun of. That is why i am obedient. Jesus Christ really did come to the earth and preform the atonement for US. The atonement is REAL and it heals us, gives us strength, and changes us. I am not who i was 18 months ago. Thank goodness! I know that because of the savior i can keep progressing. My time as a missionary is not over, it is just beginning!! 

Because of my service as a missionary, i honestly can say that i love myself. 

Because of my service as a missionary, more importantly i love other people. I have learned how to work hard, how to find joy, and how to trust Heavenly Father.

I know this will continue to grow. 

Alma 26:11-16, 35-37 has given me so much comfort today. God IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! he does have all power... this is HIS work and he will strengthen us to be able to do hard things. 

i love you all. Thank you for the prayers, letters, and love. 

SEE YOU TOMORROW!!! 

xoxoxo

sister snow

Our times are in His hands.

Wow I am in shock right now... I literally feel like I was just at the computer 3 hours ago emailing about my week.. but that was a whole week ago. the closer the end is coming the quicker time is going by!
This week was great. Alot of ups and downs, but hey thats life. We spent a lot of time out of our area this week for exchanges and interviews, but we made the most out of the time we were blessed with.
We worked SO hard this week to involve the members in every single teaching appointment we had. We saw miracles because of it. I am seeing more and more every day how missionary work truly helps both parties involved. The teachers and the teachees. We set an investigator scott for baptism on September 2... hes had a date before but this time i feel it will happen. He is doing great!
We went down to nagshead for exchanges with the hermanas. they have been having some serious struggles and i am definitely learning alot about how important it is to rely on the spirit in every situation, and that every moment can and should be a teaching opportunity. I am learning so much every single day.
We had interviews with president baker this saturday and it was one of the sweetest experiences of my life. It was the last interview with him in the mission field. except my exit interview...it was very emotional. I was fine all week until i walked into president bakers office and he said such a kind prayer to start the interview. its been downhill ever sense. i cry a lot. im such a girl. President baker said that we couldnt talk about the fact that im going home because he would get weepy. he said when missionaries like me leave he thinks to himself, how can the mission go on... but then it does. He said the changes i have made and the work i have done is remarkable. I do not say these things to brag.. frankly i still do not see them as remarkable, but as evidence of what the atonement of Jesus Christ can do in our individual lives. We all can become stronger and learn to love ourselves as the Savior does. We have so much potential, we just need to be obedient to him and let him mold us unto the people he knows we can become. I have a long way to go, but im grateful for the start my mission has provided me.
I am out of time. My goal for this week is to be the boldest i have ever been... hahhah watch out virginia!!!!!
I am having so much fun out here, and finally i am at peace with the changes that are taking place. I know heavenly Father is proud of the work his missionaries are doing, and i know he will be with me everystep of the way this week and forever.
i will not lose sight of him. i will finish strong.
talk to you next week.....
xoxox
Sister Snow

" there is One other than Walmart who saves"

My email title is from a church bilboard. love it. The south is so great with all its little churches everywhere. Everyone here looooooves Jesus. I am loving every second i have left here, every day is filled with so many opportunities to bear my testimony and to have mine strengthened.

This week was one of the toughest ones yet. But on the bright side... i loved everysingle day :) I had an inspired goal in weekly planning last week to focus on having a postive attitude always. i didnt know why at the time, but i do now! We had almost all of our investigators drop us this week. So sad. all the people who were set for baptism now are not, i got a call from a member here telling me that one of my favorite people inthe world passed away. it was brutal. Brothe spencer from nagshead passed away after a long battle with his health.I just wanted to cry and take a break, but we kept working and like i always say.. teaching cures all wounds. I am so grateful for the plan of salvation and the knowledge we have that families can be together forever. Brother Spencer was sealed to his wife for time and all eternity, and he lived his life in the service of others. I called him Grandpa spencer, and i cant wait to see him again someday. he changed my life.

we worked SOOO hard this week and saw little fruit from it numbers wise, but that is not what a mission is about. it is about doing what the Lord asks of us, forgetting ourselves and getting to work. It is about doing what the savior would do and helping his children come unto christ. We definately fulfilled our purpose this week. We got sooo many rejections, doors slammed in our faces, but i couldnt stop smiling! I am a representative of Jesus christ, how could i NOT smile?

We were blessed to see some investigators at church! How glorious!! it is a choice to be discouraged and unhappy.

I am SO grateful for the privlidge i have to be a missionary. sorry this email is SO short... there really is not much to report on for the week other than we worked our tails off, satan will not get us down, there was a hurricane here on friday- the nagshead sisters got evacuated!- we werent allowed to procelyte on july 4th :( OH! on friday at zone meeting i had to bear my "dying testimony" is what they call it... its the last time i will see most of these people- and i cried like a baby and i testified of the savior and how much he loves us. I have learned so many precious sacred lessons here in virginia and north carolina, and i cherish the moments i have to testify to othersof the things i have learned.

I  know we all can change. I know that Christ is our SAvior and we have unlimited potential. I know he heals, strengthens, and loves us. I know the book of mormon is the word of god and man will get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book!!!

I hope everyone had a fab july 4th. this week is going to have sooo many miracles... one of them being for the first time probably ever i am singing in sacrament meeting  this sunday.

wish me luck!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!! CHOOSE CHRIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xoxox

Sister snow

"you recieve no witness until after the trial of your faith" June 30th 2014

hello again!!

i feel like i was just sitting at the computer yesterday... the weeks are cruising by. it is terrifying. these have been the quickest weeks of  my life. I am hanging on to each hour of the day, hoping they last a little longer but they dont.

This week was pretty brutal. All of the appointments that we had set up cancelled for the week, or rescheduled. Nobody was getting back to us. we worked hard everyday dispite the obvious let downs of cancellations. there werent a lot of people outside, or home. We did have an exchange this week with the smithfield sisters. We felt i needed to go there, and sister dalton and i had ablast working hard until we dropped. we found new investigators, taught lots of people, and felt the spirit leading us where to go, what to say, and what to do. I havent seen so many black people sense norfolk-but i do this really embarrassing thing and talk like them.... its bad. i get made fun of. please dont place me in LA when i am home. it will be a terrifying sight and i might get beat up.

We got a horrifying call from our mentaly/emotionally challenged investigator-lee on tuesday night. actually morning. it was 330 am. the call was sent to voicemail and he left a disturbing voicemail on our phone saying the church is just like any religion and its not good and he will destroy the earth with his powers and he is not a human-a fallen star. It was pretty frightning. we called him to tell him we wont be seeing him anymore and he said he didnt mean anything he said, that it was a nervous breakdown and he loves the church and us. We held strong. hes to dangerous.

so that was the end of Lee, or schitzophrenic, multiple personality, and bi-polar friend. I miss him.

We had zone conference this week and we heard great instructions and trainings from president Baker and the assistants. i cried the whole second half. It was depressing.

Sunday is when our week picked up. We were so tired, and trying not to get down from the weeks events. We continued to stay dilligent and hold fast, and then the miracles happened. Suzanne came to church again! She loved it, and her daughter is interested in meeting with us also!

AFter church we practiced the song we are going to sing in sacrament meeting on the 20 for my last sunday (gross) and then we SPRINTED.we worked SO hard. we found 4 new investigators and met some wonderful people. It was such a miracle. 3 of them are family members of a member here in greatbridge that i had met a long time ago. They let us teach them about thebook of mormon and agreed to let us come back and teach them more. They also asked if they could feed us dinner! so kind. I love the south! people here are the kindest.

the other investigator we met was outside, we were contacting someone and saw him outside. i love talking to strangers.

when we got in last night, sister griffin and i were almost in tears at the miracle God had provided for us,. After a whole week of struggling, being humbled and refined we saw the miracles. ether 12:6

I love you all! I know that only through being obediant and dilligent we are entitled to all the blessings heavenly father has in store for us. There is always alittle more we can be doing to come close to the Savior. Just when we feel like giving up, ask heavenly father to give you strength. the atonement is REAL. i feel its aid everysingle day. Isaiah 40:28-29. 31 have become my new favorite scriptures.

hope you all are having a great week! be safe at lake powell please!

and hope your day was special sum sum!! cant believe you are 11!!!!!!!!!

xoxo

sister Snow