Last e-mail home, thanks for all your letters and support for the past two years, I love you all to death!

Hey everybody!!

     Well its very sad to say that this will be my last email home from mexico in the mission field . . . its not that real to me yet, but im really excited to see you all again. 

      This week it was raining all week, but we still worked our butts off haha my companion had to go to a doctors office because his feet were wet all week and his toes had some problems, but it was worth it because we found alot more people to teach, one of which will be getting baptized the following week. 

      This week we have been teaching a 35 year old lady named Andrea, she´s a lady that's been investigating the church for a long time but hasn't gotten all that excited about getting baptized yet, we have been pushing baptism with her for about a month now, she finally accepted to be baptized next week, i wont be there :( but on friday when we went to teach her, we were right about to finish the lesson when she says "Elder Snow, can i ask you a favor?" i said yes, and then she said "take off your shoes" . . . i was like . . . no haha but then she got serious, "take off your shoes Elder Snow". I didn't know what to say, so i did what she told me, i took off my shoes (the ones i´ve used my whole mission so they are kinda beat up) and then she goes in her room and comes out with a brand new pair of really nice shoes and then told me to put them on! This family is a really humble family, but this is how the mexican members of the church are, if they see someone with a need, they don't think twice about helping you with whatever it is, and especially for the missionaries. 

      I am so humbled to have been able to serve my mission here in Veracruz, i cannot express how much i have loved it here, if the Lord asked me to do it again i would without a second thought to it.

      Hey mom, tell Peyton that i have a two hour layover in Salt Lake, and that i want to see them there! :) i dont know what time exactly i will get there, i think it will be around 6 or 7, but tell them i will be going out to look for them, thanks 

      Well i will see you all soon, thanks for all your letters and support for the past two years, i love you all to death! 

nos veremos pronto, les quiero,

     Elder Snow

I'm so happy I got to serve here in Veracruz!

HELLO FAMILY WHO I WILL SEE NXT WEEK!!!

       Hey im way happy to hear that everything went well with steffi´s wedding, i wish i could have been there with all of you. This week for us went really well, we have been finding alot more people to teach, here in San Andres Tuxtla there are alot of people who love to hear a message about God and Jesus Christ with their family in their house so we have been teaching alot right now, but there are very few that end up coming to church with us on sunday, thats the tough part, getting them actually converted. 

       We had a really spiritual week though, we had Zone Conferences this week with President Treviño. In all the Zone Conferences they show a video about the Elders that are about to leave for home, they have a video of us getting to the airport for the first time in mexico and stuff like that, and then we had the chance to bear our testimonies for the last time in a zone conference, it got to be so spiritual in there for me, im so happy i got to serve here in Veracruz, the hardest and most challenging moments of my life i´ve had here, but also the best and happiest moments i´ve had in my entire life have happened to me out here too, and thats why its so hard to leave, i really do love it here. 

       Today i had my 2nd to last p day, and you will never guess what we did for a zone activity . . . we took them hiking up a hill that looks out over San Andres haha the view was great, if you guys are still thinking about coming down here when i get back, i will take you on this hike.

       Thanks for sending me chases letter this week, reading his letters makes me want to work super hard until the finish line.

Love, Elder Snow

Jonny - "I find myself in my prayers giving thanks more and more for the opportunity to put on this plaque(nametag) every day, i love this work."

Hola mama,

     Hey im way excited for stefi, tell her that im way excited to see those pictures of her by the temple next week! That was an awesome letter from chases new companion! i knew chase would be an excellente missionary, Elder Torrie sounds like an awesome trainer too :) 

     These weeks keep getting shorter and shorter, we blink and then its sunday again, I got to go on divisions a few diferente times this week with the Elders in our zone, we went about 2 hours south to a city named Isla on tuesday and then on friday we went to a little town about a half hour east named Santiago Tuxtla, it was really a blessing for me to work over there because two of my old companions, Elder Areneda and Elder Franco, two elders that i helped train, are working in those two places, seeing them and working with them again was awesome, they have grown a ton since the last time we worked together.

     Right now we are working with a lady named Andrea that has been investigating the church for about 3 months now, little by little she´s been growing her testimony, she even pays her tithing even though shes not a member, but taking the next step of being baptized is a tough decision she says, we are praying she gets baptized at the end of this month.

     I´ve still got 3 weeks left down here to do some good, i find myself in my prayers giving thanks more and more for the opportunity to put on this plaque every day, i love this work. Thanks for your support mom, your going to do awesome in you new calling :) i love you tons and don't forget to send me pictures of the wedding next week.

    Love,

    Elder Snow

This week was one of the most spiritual weeks

Hola mama como estas

     Hey im way glad to hear that shannon had her baby!! they are going to catch up to you and dad in kids soon haha hey thanks for the pictures! i used the one of me in i think like 2nd grade without a tooth. 

     This week was one of the most spiritual weeks i think i´ve had out here, we got to do a bunch of stuff, we had our first zone class here on tuesday, we went to a leaders council on wednesday in veracruz, we got to see general conference on saturday and sunday, and today i had the amazing opportunity on p day to go back to Catemaco and see some converts, Pedro and Mariana! they are doing great, they have their temple reccomends to go to the temple and get sealed all signed and ready to go. They just haven't been able to go yet because they don't have the money to get all the way up to veracruz right now, but before i leave Veracruz they will get sealed, they just need a few more weeks to save.

     I got my flight plans this week to go home . . . 31 of October . . . i feel wierd, i dont know whether to be happy or sad about it, happy because i know i completed what i needed to do, but sad because its over. 

     This up coming week we are going to be super busy, keep us in your prayer so we can find a soul here in San Andres Tuxtla to teach and baptize before i leave, i told President Treviño he will not take me out of this mission until we find someone to baptize here haha opening an area is a little hard to get started, but we have faith we can do it.

     Elder Snow

We have warm water here!

Hey!!

    Thanks everybody for the birthday letters, on Friday i got to go from San Andres Tuxtla to Veracruz again to have a leadership conference, it was fun to go up there and get together with alot of my companions that i had before and talk with them. This week was crazy let me tell ya, Here in our new area me and elder Conklin are totally new, we don't know the area, the members, and have zero investigator progressing, but its a pretty nice experience to rely on the spirit to tell us what to do. We found a house to rent and moved all our stuff in on wednesday, its a small brick house kinda by our church, and guess what, we have warm water here! i had forgotten what it feels like to shower early in the morning with warm water, its amazing, what a blessing.This week we have to go back to Veracruz for the months zone leaders council on thursday, we are going to have to travel alot in this next month.

       I hope Chase is excited and ready to go, alot of my companions that know that Chase leaves tomorrow are wishing him luck, is he leaving with anyone or going alone?

       Alright well i gotta go, but hey mom, i need a funny picture of me before the mission, The mission president is asking for before and after pictures of us, could you look for a picture of me when i was in high school, i dont know which, just a funny picture that shows how much of a doornob before haha, could you send me like 4 or 5 pictures of me before the mission like tomorrow so i can give them to the mission office, thanks :)

Elder Snow

Happy Birthday Jonnny! 21!!

Jonny - going to Los Tuxtlas, Catemaco in the Mirador Branch to train a new zone leader

     

     I´ve got some pretty crazy news, i just got a call from the mission president about an hour ago telling me that I´ve got transfers, right now in the mission we have 9 zones, Mocambo, Reforma, Villa Rica, Veracruz Mexico, Orizaba, Cordoba, Tierra Blanca, Tuxtepec, and Los Tuxtlas (it's pretty much a zone for every stake) but now we are getting so many new missionaries that it's hard to contain over 220 missionaries in just 9 zones, so they are as of this week splitting the zone of Los Tuxtlas, and they are sending me down there to be the new Zone leader with a brand new zone leader named Elder Conklin to train him.

     Im pretty excited :) honestly I didnt really want to leave, I wanted to end my mission here, but Los Tuxtlas was really fun when I was there before (in Catemaco) its so green there, it's like the jungle zone, so I'm happy to be going back, my new branch I'm going to be at is called Mirador.

     Well I dont have that much time to write this week, its a 3 and a half hour bus ride from here andI've  gotta start packing, I leave tomorrow morning early, but just so you know we are all ok down here, the hurricanes didn't even touch us, it just rained alot haha

      Elder Snow

(oh . . . I hope you like the picture, Elder Smith talked me into doing it high school musical style haha)