Monday, April 29, 2013

Mon., April 29, 2013
 
Don't worry you will be fine, I know you will. :) Yes i got the Backpack and all in it. Thank you so much! it was useful but i was uber over weight so i think that i will end up getting a carry on. being in the field is great minus the fact that i have been sick since thurs. . see dad's email. . my comps are great, one is almost done, she is my trainer and the other i knew from the Mtc.
By the way im in Blackfoot in Hna Clarks stake but we found out that she got sent out to Mesa the day i got here! super exciting.
 
[Answers to my 20 questions...]
1. Yes i got the backpack.
2. the bus ride was fine and yes i was asleep for most of it.
3. my comp i mention.
4. one is from Bolivia and the other is from oregon.
5. top
6. first day we got an orientation at the mission home and dinner of a potato bar, it was good to have potatoes again.
7. yes p-day is monday
8. 1246 N. Yellowstone Ave. Ste F3
Pocatello, Id 83201-4374
9. I don't know about accidentally running into you but i'm guessing not. .
10. I 'm not sure about that it may be up to the pres. . but since i'm not in that area i dont' know
11. same thing since i'm not in that area.
12. I hope so but i don't know.. love the pix though
13. no don't worry about the silver.
14. I'm thinking if you find them send them, there are not really a lot of shopping options here besides walmart.
15. since i have been sick, sleep has not so much been better. . which is crap but hopefully it will get better.
16. the cd came with an activity book they gave us, one of the Many books we got, you can look at it if you want, but i just didn't want to deal with it.
17. yea i loved all the pix and thanks for the quotes. thanks for the comment about the camera, i will probably be looking for a new one. and i found a robe.
18. the board is great and i love the pic of me. :)
19. yea i think it does, it covers W Yellowstone.
20. Yes, they are super nice and caring, and praying that i get better quickly.
That is so exciting to hear about Chace. . yea go figure he would be going to Italy. but its okay, i will visit someday and it will be fine.
of course that comment is out of love, [re:I write as much as I talk] it makes me laugh and smile when i get letters from you. i love to hear all that is going on. btw you can still send dear elders it just takes a bit longer to get them than in the mtc.
good to hear that you got the picture of me and the mission pres and his wife. :)
One more thing, are you printing out all the emails in my inbox? if you are would mind deleting them after? i was going to start but didn't know what you wanted to do with that.
It was good to hear from you , and glad things are going good, and you are being watched over, dad told me the story of how you almost got in an accident . glad you didn't. oh and apparently todd and lisa contacted my zone leaders and they sent us a text saying that my aunt and uncle from sugar city say hello and that they are thinking of me. so i guess if you communicate with them, which i am guessing you are, you could get some of your questions answered.
Well until next week. Bueno Suerte y Te Amo!
Mucho Amor,
Hermana Snow
 
[Brad's email]
Okay, it was good to hear from you guys. I am in Blackfoot South, and loving it. my mission pres is President Brinkerhoff and his wife sister Brinkerhoff. they are super nice and friendly. It was exciting to finally get out in the field and start working. I got into Blackfoot on wed morning, at like 8 30 or so, i had with me the backpack and shoulder bag, which was good cuz they buried my luggage and i had come back to the transfer site at 11 to pick it up. anyway, after i got my luggage i was able to unpack and get situated and then we went to work. We visited a couple people, had dinner with members, taught a lesson and gave a church tour to a young couple, the wife, 22, got baptized on sat and confirmed sun both by her husband who recently became active and just received the priesthood so that he could baptize and confirm her, (sadly i had to miss it cuz i got sick thurs night) Thursday we had weekly planning that took forever! then we visited a couple people and went shopping so i could have food, had dinner with a member , then taught a lesson to a grandmother, her daughter and two kids, but the child that we were going to teach wasn't actually there. but we taught them the 10 commandments using our fingers, it was a fun lesson. then we gave another church tour to an investigator, Robert, (and his wife Sandra) who is so ready for baptism but he cannot forgive himself for a few things and cannot stop fighting these demons inside him. So we are trying to work with him and have him do his part to forgive himself, cuz we can tell that he will be an amazing member. He is a large redneck man with shoulder length hair and a fantastic mustache that goes to his chin. haha it was an amazing tour and i think we did a lot of good. but we shall see. but like i mentioned before. .Thursday i got sick and have been out ever since, resting. Friday started good, but by 11 I was freezing in layers, so my comp called the DL's and they came and gave me a blessing and went to bed until our meeting we had in IF for all the new missionaries. but after that it just went all down hill. Sore throat, chills, headache, nausea, ache body, yea it has been awesome. . not so much.

my comp is sister Gorriti, from Bolivia and she only has a couple more months left. and my other comp is Sister Froerer who is from Oregon,and i actually know her from the MTC, she left a week before i did. we live in a basement apartment that is fully furnished and have a Subaru Legacy. its super nice cuz everything is so spread out here. I don't know how the ward is since i have not been yet. . and as far as money yes i have either a monthly allowance of a transfer-ly allowance, not exactly sure. .
That is cool about Todd and Paula, and what a cool conversion story. They will do great!
And HOlY Cow!! Your story was crazy scary, and i am glad you guys are okay!! Yea, definitely blessings are coming from me serving. way to listen to those promptings.
we haven't been contacting yet cuz there is so much work going on. the members are great and loving and willing to help when they can. the stake i am in has one spanish ward, but i missed out on the Spanish lesson last night cuz i am on bed rest, per doctors orders.

thanks for the quote! I hope things are going well, I think that between this email and mom's i will cover everything, so if i missed something in yours look to mom;s.
Bueno suerte! Te Amo!!
Hermana Snow

1st Email in the field

I haven't included our emails to Hermana Snow as I know you'd prefer hearing what's going on with her life. But Brad's email to her was so good I felt I should include it...
 
Hermana Snow,
Well, we are hearing a lot of things about you, but nothing from you yet, as I know you haven’t had a pday yet. First, we heard you might be in Shelley, then just recently heard that you might be in Blackfoot. Wow, so close, yet so far. It is really neat to hear from family and friends who are keeping track of you up there. Your picture with your mission president and his wife was a great picture. You look great and happy and now I am excited to hear how the actual missionary work is going. Who is your companion, what is your apartment like, do you walk, ride, drive? How is the ward? And, as far as money goes, do they give you an allowance weekly or monthly for food, etc.? We don’t know how the money is handled now that you are in the mission field. Mom has probably asked you the same questions, so you don’t have to answer them twice. Todd and Paula gave their farewell talk today for their inner city mission and it was very good. Paula talked about her conversion and how her family handled it. She wanted to go to primary with her friends, but her parents wouldn’t allow it, so once she got to the age to attend seminary, she started going without her parents knowing, then when she missed a few times, the teacher called her mom!!! When Paula got home, her mom asked her about it and wasn’t mad and it went from there. Mom probably has more details. I stood in the circle to set apart a new teacher’s quorum presidency today which was neat. That is one of the favorite things of my calling.
Now for a little testimony story of listening to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Mom, McKayla and I were driving home from Indian Hills on Thursday and stopped at the light on 11400 S going home. The light changed and I started to go when I got the feeling that I should look right and slow down. As I did that going through the intersection, a mail truck was barreling down going full speed through a red light traveling north on 1300 ea. If I hadn’t followed that little voice prompting, we would definitely have gotten into an accident. He didn’t even try to stop or slow down until he realized how far he was in the intersection. It was a blessing to us and I believe that because you are serving a mission and I listened, that we are being watched over, that we were able to avoid a crash. So, this is a good lesson to you in searching out those who are waiting for you to teach them, just listen to the still small voice. It is there and speaking to you and all of us. I know there are people up there in your mission who are waiting for you particularly to share your testimony with them. Have you been doing tracting or referrals or street contacting? How are the members to work with? And, are you Spanish speaking specifically or a mix?
McKayla won her soccer game on Saturday, 4-2, with the team playing much better soccer. This week was going to be a hectic one: game Monday, practice Tuesday, game in Logan on Wednesday, practice Thursday, dinner with Wrights Friday, then youth academy, soccer game and Real game on Saturday. Whew! But, we cancelled practice on Tuesday since we have girls with injuries and it would be too much, then our game on Monday needed to be rescheduled. So, now, it will be a little less busy. So, now a quote:
“The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become.”
Heraclitus----Philosopher & Author
535-475 BC
So, be a missionary by thinking like one and acting like one and doing the work. There is no other way than that to be the most successful missionary you can be. You will find people who are truly searching, those who have been contacted previously, but were ready for you to teach them. You’ll never know where seeds have been sown prior to you knocking on a door. But, you will never know what seeds you will sow for someone else to reap. That means that everything you do, as a missionary, following the spirit, will be a success. You’ve probably been told this, but, take the opportunity to share your testimony at every chance. It is what converts.
Well, I’m looking forward to hearing from you in your new location. I hope you are well and getting used to Idaho. Smile and work hard!!
I love you,
Dad

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Missionary Arrival

Fri., April 26, 2013
 
 
 
Your missionary has arrived safely in the Idaho Pocatello Mission. Upon arrival, we had an orientation meeting and personal interviews to get further acquainted.
 
Sister Brinkerhoff and I are pleased to have the opportunity to serve with your missionary and are dedicated to helping her fulfill a successful, honorable mission.
 
We are hopeful you will write or email letters of encouragement to your missionary weekly so she will continue to feel your love and support as she loses herself in the work. We encourage your missionary to do the same, focusing on the positive aspects of the mission.
 
Faithfully yours,
 
Marvin T. Brinkerhoff
Mission President

Hola!

Mon., April 22, 2013
 
Hola!
I am emailing today b/c i won't get to call you from the airport tomorrow. . seeing how i am taking a bus. haha. I can't believe it is finally here! but i can't wait to leave. i am sending a package home today with some stuff and a letter for dad. mom i didn't get to finish yours so i will respond to your dearelders in this email. I hope everything is going well for you all.. I hope shay got her letter and that you finally got the SD card. It was good to hear that you got the pictures from Hna Andreasen. I also saw Elder doxey on our temple walk yesterday and we got a picture, my camera died so hopefully you will be able to see it from his mom, ( i would spell it but i don't know how.)
ok madre here is your response to your dearelders. wow you write as much as you talk . . haha just kidding, .but seriously. it is good to hear everything that is going on. About tara and tasha, yes dad mentioned they came down and i got a letter from tara. it is awesome that they made all that for snowybarn! and speaking of scarves i found one in the giveaway box. . yep i snatched it. it is like a brown, blue, tan, cream, and grey. it is pretty sweet! oh luwana, what are we going to do with her?? always trying to set everone up . .all the tme. it is starting to just get funny rather than hopeful. I did get a letter from shay and it was good to hear it all again. that she got the job, that she gets a fresh start and everything. tell her to tell Kenzie congrats for me. She did mention that you were all planning trips up to visit her. you will have to let me know how all that goes. About the lady from Buenos Aires, that is so cool! I will have to look them up when i get there. i am SO EXCITED
sorry it sent for some reason . anyway, i am SO EXCITED for the food down there! btw, i wasn't so happy that dad mentioned you had tacos and guac. .i was crying on the inside. :(I saw the picture of Baby Dax, him and Ashtyn look so cute!! what a happy little girl. I can just hear her saying "its baby Dax!" It is so cool that Snowybarn is on the move and so quickly!. Can't wait to see it all done and in action.
yes sugar and IF are in my mission. if you log on to missionary.lds.org or someting you can look at my missionary portal page and at the bottom by where it talks about my mission pres and his wife, there is a map option, you can view my boudarties if you click on the interactive link, the very last link of the three. it's pretty cool. yea i still don't know why i am going there but i am super excited to find out. glad to hear you got the pictures. I will hopefully talk to you soon when i get to Pocatelllo
mucho amor!
Hermana Snow
Hermana  White, Hermana Andreasen & Hermana Snow

Hermana  Snow, Elder Afu, Elder Cobb, Elder Mason,
Elder Peterson, Elder Stowell & Hermana Andreasen
 

Finally got the sd card

Hola!
[some Spanish mixed with English]
Finally I was able to read your long email from ese manana. Sounds like you had a great day. Sorry about todos cosas that happened. But sounds like things are taking off con the business & stuff.
Here is the letter with the pictures & explanations...

Back Row: Elder Sessions & Elder Cobb
Middle Row: Elder Peterson, Elder Mason, Elder Stowell & Elder Afu
Front Row: Hermana Snow, Hermana Andreasen, Hermana White & Hermana Clarke

Hermana Andreasen, Hermana Snow, Hermana McDonald Hermana Marsden

Hermana  Snow & Sister Gilly Olsen
(from mission prep class @ Sandy Institute)

Hermana Snow, Hermana Andreasen, Hermana Clarke & Hermana White

Hermana Snow & Hermana Andreasen

Hermana Snow & Hermana Clarke

Elder Peterson & Elder Afu

Elder Cobb, Hermana Snow & Elder Afu
(fyi Elder Afu graduated with Shayla from Alta High)

Hermana Clarke, Elder Whitehead & Elder Lund

Elder Whitehead and Hermana Snow
(fyi the reason the pix looks kinda awkward is cuz when I asked to get the photo,
we both went in for the side hug & then remembered the rule that we can't touch
each other...so he put his hands in front & I am just standing there.)

Hermana Snow & Elder Smith
2 things: we are the only 2 Utes in our zone that we know of so of course we had to get a picture &
this part is for Cyndi b/c the first time I saw Elder Smith I thought it was a friend of ours,
Jack Webster, well him a few years ago at least. [Cyndi will understand & probably think the same thing]

Dani and her quotes...had to throw at least one in.

Hermana Snow & Sis. Prater
(I love this girl just as much as I love my Dani)

Hermana Snow's "Box of Sunshine" from a good friend Cydni Tongish
Was delivered on a perfect "rainy" day!

Hermana Andreasen & her frosty.
Her brother Ricky brought me & her one.
So cool!

Hermana Nelson, Hermana White, Hermana Andreasen & Hermana Snow

Hermana Andreasen, Hermana Snow, Hermana Bench & Hermana White

Hermana Lauricella, Hermana Snow & Hermana Halverson

Hermana's in District 48 A & B
L to R: Hna Halverson, Hna Bench, Hna Lauricella, Hna Andreasen
Hna Snow, Hna Nelson & Hna White

Elder Beutler & Hermana Snow
"He is just as cheesy as I am"

Elder Stowell & Hermana Andreasen
found a way to take a picture hugging without
actually touching each other.
Loved your phone comment...most in my district are missing their iPhones & such...yea me, hasn't really phased me. What I do MISS (besides you all of course) is my music & dancing!! To do it for 9 years & always have music to going cold turkey...yea, it is kinda hard...
Hope you enjoy all the pictures!!

Bueno Suerte todas cosas!! Te amo!
Hermana Snow

REASSIGNMENT!

Wed., April 17, 2013
 
the elders in our district coincidentally checked our mission portals and happened to see our reassignments. . .i will give you three guesses. .haha i am super stoked. you can tell me your guesses tomorrow when i call you to tell you. it is like a whole other mission . .like reopening our calls and everything. same excitement and surrealism. Bahaha!!!!!!!!! Can't contain it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!\
Love you lots!
Hermana Snow

guess what

Wed., April 17, 2013
[we received several emails all in one day]
 
so apparently we can email family and other people while in the field. so if you wanted you could spread the word and start collecting email addresses for me. por favor. that would be grand!
family and friends, shay mckayla dad cyndi brett peeps like that.
Thanks for EVERYTHING! I really really appreciate it all.
Te amo!
Hermana Snow

Life is ExCiTiNg!

Wed., April 17, 2013
 
-wow there is still so much going on! i can't believe that i only have a few days left. it is official, tomorrow we are getting our reassignment. . and surprise i will get to call you to let you know where i am going. so wait for it.
-don't worry i will try my hardest to teach you spanish when i get home.
-I cannot wait to get pictures of the Barn!! it sounds like things are coming along quite well!!
-The binder looks fabulous! you are doing a great job. cannot wait to see the finished product.
-i got the pictures of the shoes and i hope you got the letter with the sd card, if not you will get it today, it has example pictures and explanations of all the pictures on my card. btw i am a size 7 1/2, 8 is too big. I got Shayla's letter but have not gotten the picture letter yet. . . if she sent it monday . .i hope i get it later today.
-tell Eli and everyone at the office that i say Hola!!
-The pictures are great to see. glad to see the disaster is all cleaned up. it looks great!
-That is way sad about Dave. What happened? was it just all the crap he got or what?
-thanks for the heads up on the picture letters, we'll have to see what happens when we really start packing.
-just a heads up i did buy a couple skirts here. and you will be getting a package of things that i won't have room for, don't want and the other things from Cydni's package.
-oh and i have seen both elder doxey and ludlow. both times i didn't have my camera. i haven't seen elder doxey since, and i was hoping to see elder ludlow again before i sent my sd card. but i didn't until yesterday After i sent my sd card. so i borrowed an elder in my zones card reader and attached it. again it is super weird to be here with everyone that graduated with Shay.
Hope you have a great grand and wonderful day! i will be sending a letter to shay and another to you guys later this week. so look out.
Te Amo! Bueno suerte todos cosas.
Hermana snow
 
Hermana Snow & Elder Ludlow

Some more things:
before i forget, our branch pres told us to start packing up everything this week, and that they recommend that we withdrawal about $200 to keep on us. so just so you know so when i pull it out you don't have a cow. :)
I hope you got my email before, about the letter/card, the reassignment and then the uploaded picture of Elder Ludlow and i. i was glad i found him when i did haha even though it was after i had sent you my card. i ran into him and luckily had my camera on me, i told him that knowing both our moms we better take a picture and send it to you.
so something REALLY cool happened last night at the devotional. . they let us in at 6:30 and we like to sit at the front of one of the sides, and usually on the screens they show who is coming to speak. . well this time they didn't let us know who was coming to speak. We start to notice these security men come in and sit in front of us and by the doors. So we are thinking this has got to be someone big. All of a sudden, everyone stands up when people entered on the opposite side we were on. . you only stand up when General Authorities come to speak. I can see your face as you read this, YES it was a general authority. IT WAS ELDER RICHARD G. SCOTT!! As you can imagine we were beyond excited cuz they usually have gen authorities come speak on tues, but they haven't had any since we have been here so we were getting ansy. His talk was amazing! He spoke on Prayer but the spirit and direction that he had was incredible. He nailed every question that we have had, and after at our little District Devo Review (or DDR as i like to call it) we all felt like he was talking to each of us personally. some fun/inspirational quotes that i loved were, "This decision to serve a mission will bless us for eternity"; "I can assure you that you will never regret this decision." a fun one that i really liked 'Throughout our lives we get "small packets of inspiration along the way." haha love that one. he talked about the three ways answers come 1. As peace comfort and reassurance: He answers yes, proceed with confidence. 2. Can sense an unsettling feeling: He answers no, can be a warning signal. and 3. Feel no response: He withholds an answer, can be an opportunity for you to grow and figure out why you got that answer. Some other things that i loved that he said: "pray when you have no desire to pray, because that is when we need to pray the most." I definitely know that one is true and have used it many times while here at the mtc! At the end of his talk he envoked an Apostalic blessing on all of us, that we will be helped to learn the language, if we are learning a language, a blessing on our companionships, and a blessing of peace and comfort. Yea that doesn't happen very often so its kind of a big deal.. . after the as the sister was coming up to pray Elder Scott literally jumped up and ran back to the pulpit cutting her off and said a few more things: "Remeber He called you. Remember the Lord called you to succeed, Not fail. He will not leave you alone. He will not give us a task beyond our ability. The Lor wants you to discover things about yourself that you never before knew." Pretty amazing! Just think how close you have to be and how in tune you have to be with the Holy Ghost to do that. To jump up before the closing prayer and say those things that were not included in his talk.. Yea pretty incredible. So So So glad we got to hear from him right befor we leave.
Hope everyone is doing good. Say Hola! to EVERYONE!!!
love you tonz and bunches. miss you also!
Hermana Snow
District 48A


Hermana's
 
 
 

 

2 in 1 day

[Referring to Hermana Clark...]

yea, she has to recover from her concussion before she can come back out, so we may be here when she gets back. haha yea we are too, had the meeting this morning, it was like a group interview, the consul went over basic information about the country, about each mission, etc. then he opened it up for questions, i am super excited!! Buenos Aires is majorly italian influence, so i told Hna Andreasen that instead of sending me to Italy, where i would be way too distracted, He is sending me to the next best place. haha you bring up a very good point, but since we did meet with them today, if i get reassigned it will most likely be out of the state.
OK i am out of time! love you all lots and miss you tonz!
much love, Hermana Snow

Scriptures

Wed., April 10, 2013

wow got the pictures. oh just a small disaster. . no big deal. haha keep me updated on that
aren't those scriptures great? haha so yes our family motto is legit.

Updates:
Sunday night: hermana Clark was not doing so good, she is the other sister who got a concussion, her and her comp met up with us after the devotional (with vocal point, the BYU a ccapella group- who are super awesome!!), we decided to go practice our departure song with everyone. she started sitting then ended up laying on the ground cuz her head hurt so bad, and she was starting to cry, so we called it a night. before we left the elders decided to give her a blessing to help her get through the night. we were helping her walk cuz she was super dizzy and not doing good. the building we were in has stairs before you hit the doors to go outside, well at the bottom of the stairs and she started balling and her legs gave out, of course this would be the time that EVERYONE in the building had to all come out at once. they were passing all asking if Hna Clark was alright . we all were like yea she just doesn't feel well, trying to get them to keep moving. we were planning on carrying her to our residence to get her settled and warm, but the EMT in our district is like we need to get her to the main office, something is really wrong. you know how people are dumb, they kept asking the elders if they were going to help or if they could help and they tried not to yell at them, but they were all 'if we could do something we would be doing it now. ' but we got her to a couch by the main desk, laid her down and got the MTC EMT's who took their dear sweet time on coming to check her out. Anyway, as she was laying down she was crying and shaking and saying that it hurt to breathe, so to the ER for a third time she went. Our poor district has gone thru too much between her and Hna Andreasen. Hna's Clark and white got back around one, when we talked to them mon morning, Hna Clark was hooked up to a portable heart monitor that monitored her heart and all this different stuff, that she had to wear for 24 hours, and they said that she had to be under "residence arrest" for a week, no reading/studying, no writing, no nothin. Yesterday she went to get the monitor off and they basically told her to go home to get better, since she has had pre-existing anxiety, depression and stress related stuff happen throughout her life and recently. So she called her parents and they got her about 5:00, we all took pictures in front of the map and as a district, our zone leaders even showed up to see her off, it was tender. :) right before we watched her walk away, since she couldn't hug the elders, we did a 'district hug' where all us hermanas were hugging in the middle and the elders were huddled around the outside of us. it was pretty cool. But now us hermanas are in a trio until we leave. in like two weeks for the now two people going to Mesa and who knows how long for us going to Argentina.

We have the meeting/ interview with the consul this morning at 9. hopefully i can have a chance to email you how it went later.

Yesterday i got a thank you note from Hermana Andreasen's parents saying how thankful and grateful they were that i was there to take care of their daughter and be there for her during this time that she needs to get better and they hope for success on my mission. It was so nice and almost made me cry considering the events that happened yesterday.

well hope everything with you guys and the house is going well. keep me posted on what goes down with everything, por favor.
Not sure if you have sent the package or not. i got the short dear elder that you sent from your phone but haven't seen anything otherwise.
I should figure out how to say our family motto in spanish
Mucho amor!!

Hermana Snow

Letter #4


Sunday, April 7, 2013

Madre, Padre & Hermanas,
In response to your dear elders…from 1st

·        I don’t know if you will still be able to dear elder me in ARG? I will see what I can find out.
·        Yes I have access to the Bookstore. I asked them about stamps/(a book) & they said they were out of them at the moment.
·        Good job on posting the info J yea I hope I get letters. Love all the quotes!
 

2nd dear elder…
·        awesome glad you got that envelope & glad you got to see Cyndi (p.s. Cyndi hasn’t written me yet. That was me sending her a letter).
·        That is so sad about what happened to the basement ceiling, but I’m not going to lie…I was kinda laughing as I read it…so has it been leaking since or before the remodel of your bathroom & I can’t wait to hear of the progress & such on the office basement & see pix!
·        That is cool that dad found silver @ that store, it will make it easier than having to get some from Sandra.
·        That is super sad for Shay, but way exciting for Kenzie. I laughed @ what you wrote about McKayla! Forgetting the drivers ed class after talking so much about it. HaHa. Yea good luck with that one mom.
·        Glad to hear things are going great @ work. Have fun with all those discrepancies! J
·        Got a pix with Melissa. Turns out she is on the same floor as me (not sure if I already told you or not…)
·        Yes I can upload pix, but it will only send 2 or 3 @ a time. So sending the card might be easier. But a card adapter would be wonderfully handy.

Dad:
Thanks for taking over on quotes. It is such a mystery where I get them from…HaHa.
I hope this interview is a good sign as well!
Yes, we realized when we reached our hump day. HaHa. Crazy that it has been that long!! And that we don’t have very long to go!

Mom:
Couple last things: my roommates (the other Hermanas in my district) really like the picture letter you sent with my package. So feel free to send more. And in your email you said you were sending wallet size pictures of the family & such, that’s great but if you could send some regular 5 x 7’s of the fam & friends pictures of my farewell that would be awesome too. The Bookstore has photo albums that hold like 10 – 15 pix that would be ideal to take with me cuz it is not big thick or heavy & would fit quite well in my little black bag and/or backpack.

Things here are going good. Enjoying conference so much! Not much else going on, just class & such. One of our other Hermana’s passed out on Wed. night after class & has a concussion from hitting the ground (that are basically as hard as cement) the EMT’s took her to the ER that night (her & her comp. didn’t get back until around 2 – they left @ 9:30 pm) Apparently she was super dehydrated. So that with her previous health encounters & stress it was just too much.  They keep saying it is my turn to pass out. I said no thank you. I have never passed out & I’m not starting now.  Yea our District is well known @ the front desk. An Elder also sprained his ankle playing Basketball…our District is doing great…so other than that not much has happened.
 
-      New people that I have seen…Elder Doxey…yup. that’s all.
-      Hope all is going well can’t wait to hear how things go & turn out with both basements, games, with Shay, with the new families that just moved in & anything else that I didn’t cover.

Bueno suerte todos cosas, mucho amor!
            Hermana Snow
 
Thought after conference:
·        Pres. Monson – see you in 6 months @ the next conference. The Hermanas & I were talking about where we will be in 6 months when we are watching conference. Then we were saying where we were 6 months ago.
-      I was working on my papers
-      Hermana Andreasen was here @ BYU going to school – thinking about a mission.
-      Hermana White was @ USU @ school not even thinking about a mission.
Crazy Right! 

p.s.s. For Shay – so vocal point came for our Sunday night Devotional they were awesome! as usual. They did a hymn share fireside like they do for Forum…which made me miss going to Forum. There was only a few guys I recognized minus McKay the Director, the rest are new. But it was still super sweet.

Letter #3


Wed., April 3, 2013 

Hola Familia,
Loved getting 3 dear elder’s then realizing as I read they are continuations of the first letter. HaHa. Glad you got my letter(s). Not exactly sure what you mean that I only talk when spoken to. I feel like I talk all the time. But yea I do sometimes internalize things. Sorry. And with your plan of 2 emails, that won’t happen, in the MTC at least with so many people using the computer & such limited time. But lately I have been not sleeping very well & waking up @ like 3:30, 4 & not getting back into a good sleep. Not really sure what is going on. It’s normal for the 1st couple weeks, but it is still happening. I got a blessing last night after the devotional from my D.L. & I teared up a bit during the blessing, (which made me regret not getting one from dad before I left). It helped me sleep, but I still woke up @ 4:00. So I don’t know what’s going on.  Sounds like the game was a blast, glad we beat the Seattle Sounders. 
You guys would golf that much. HaHa. Wow, that’s awesome that you were able to use your new clubs. Way to go Shay…I mean…Bien hecho both of you. Way to go McKayla for being the cart caddie. I bet they did not want to come home.    No Elder Carlson is not in my district or my zone. I haven’t seen him, not that I know what he looks like anyway.  That’s cook to have so many people thinking about me. Give it time & you will adjust & then I’ll be home before you know it.
That is awesome that things are moving along with SnowyBarn.  Sounds like it will be hitting the web big when all is said & done. 
Oh you guys finally got to go eat @ Langes. HaHa I wish I could have seen her face. Paula is so creative! Yes I enjoyed my “throw away” Easter Bag…p.s. you could have left the “throw away” part out…of course they insisted it is tradition.  I was talking to the other Hermana’s about different Easter things & one said that she heard a story about someone’s parents sending the Easter Basket to their child’s companion & have them hide/surprise them with it.  How cool of an idea is that? I thought it was pretty funny. 
I put the dork dot in my journal, but I didn’t take a picture. That’s okay I can see where you are coming from. HaHa. Loved the comment “I’m taking you for as long as I can” it made me happy. Have I been taking pictures? Really, I haven’t changed that much when I fill my card then you will get it with a letter., so you can update the blog. It is funny, but super weird to have them all here & turns out I am the oldest in my district. Hermana Clark was born in like Feb. 1992. It’s a new feeling for me, usually I am one of the youngest. 
The “Dani’s Missionary Binder” is a good idea. Can’t wait to see all that when I get home. 
We had our mtg. to get finger printed yesterday & next week we are getting interviewed with the assistant to the consol.  Then it is a random draw by the consul as to who they give VISA’s to. A friend I went to high school with works in the travel office, he said that if I don’t get my VISA I will get reassigned to Salt Lake, which would be not so great. Being so close to home & going to the U I know people that live in Salt Lake…so I’m hoping I get out of Utah also. 
I have heard from you, dad, Shay & McKayla, Tara, & the package from Cydni Tongish. I sent a reply to Tara & all you. I have sent a letter to Cyndi H. & will be sending Cydni Tongish a very large thank you reply for my box of sunshine.   I didn’t even think about a follow up on the missionary announcement now I am even more excited for conference. Hermana Clark’s grandma sent us – meaning all in our district – a box of conference activities & treats. Best package she has received that wasn’t food. HaHa. 
Super funny about Kaitlyn [Lange], they are going to have such a cute family.  That is a great idea for journal writing. I will have to remember that. 
Thanks for the copy from Katelyn’s [Palmer] email. That was a great story I thought. I may have to use that for an inspirational thought or something.  Yes I got the pictures in my email. He is super cute! [Baby Dax] Can’t wait to hear more about him & their cute family! Is Ashtyn way excited & does she walk around yelling “Baby” & “Baby Dax” like before? cuz I could totally see her doing that. HaHa. oh that little ball of sunshine.
Continue having fun!
Buenos suerte – Mucho Amor!
Hermana Snow

Baby Dax

Wed., April 3, 2013
[fyi, I sent pix of Baby Dax...]
He is adorable! He will be so big when I get home! Is Ashtyn super excited?! Yes i got all your letters, it ended up being three letters. :) that's cool about the wallet sizes, so i can always have them with me, but they have thin photo albums in the book store for pictures that i was going to get when i get them. You are welcome for all the details, sorry it took me so long to get them to you. That is super cool about grandpa tolman, can't wait for the package. [fyi, Grandpa Tolman's article made the Deseret News]

Here are some things that happened this week. .
Sunday: Easter was awesome, it was such a fun day. We had sacrament at 7:30 as usual but instead of taking the sacrament then, they tried something new this year. . we took the sacrament at the beginning of the mission conference. *side note: while we were all waiting in line to get into the devotional, we waited outside
b/c we didn't want a repeat of what happened when we waited inside, the security people were getting mad at us because everyone in line was talking and it was disturbing the spirit that was there. So the group ahead of us started singing, and we all joined in switching back and forth between groups choosing songs. the spirit that was felt having everyone singing (it was a huge line winding around the couple buildings that were there, we sang different hymns, a child's prayer, the EFY medley, come thou fount, and such. Well we were in the middle of the EFY medley again when this kid goes out into the middle of this little courtyard that was there and just starts yelling at us to cease this loud singing, I guess there were two different songs being sung, probably one towards the back and then us towards the front, he said it was causing a spirit of contention and that was of the devil. we all thought it was a joke. . .but he was dead serious, he went off for a good 2-3 minutes and was crying when he got back in line. it was crazy and everyone was silent not knowing what to make of what just happened. after the shock wore off, we started singing again, making sure not to overlap if we heard others singing. Yea i could see where he was coming from with having the songs seem in competition, but to stop everyone and start preaching (like a reverand almost, is how it seemed to us) about how we were killing the spirit was a little much. Cuz everyone in our groups/zone that was singing, you could totally tell they were feeling the spirit, it was so strong to have that many missionaries singing because they want to. i know everyone feels the spirit differently, but you can be happy and feel the spirit, you don't have to be crying. Anyway, back to the sacrament, it was amazing! the sacrament was passed to over 3000 people, in the main auditorium and the overflows, in about 15 min. it was so cool! then we heard from the presiding bishop, Brother Causse. On our sunday walk up by the temple we got pictures of the people in our zone who were up there that left mon/tues. so sad to see them leave but excited for them at the same time, i will explain in more detail when i send my card home, when it is full. it was such a beautiful day for a walk. For the sunday night devo, Sherri Dew came to speak to us. she is always amazing when she speaks, i loved hearing her speak when she came for forums.

Tuesday: Well Elder Cobb (our DL) came back with the mail monday night after dinner he gave me a slip that said that i had a package. i was excited cuz i thought it was the backpack. .oh was i wrong. I went and picked it up tues morning and saw that it was from Cydni Tongish, a great surprise. I couldn't wait to open it later that day. So when i opened it I couldn't stop smiling. She sent me a med/large "Box of Sunshine". EVERYTHING was yellow!! i took pictures of it before and after i unloaded it, you will see them when i send my sd card. but it basically made my day cuz it was raining all morning, when i opened it the sunshine literally came out!

yes, of course i am taking pictures, I haven't changed that much. as much as i love this camera, i miss everything my green one can do. But i am waiting til i fill my card or at least almost fill it before i send it. if that is okay.

last thing, stamps. so sending that envelope used 3 i have 3 left, should i ask you for more or just see if i can get a book here? not really sure what to do with that.

Hope la vida is Bueno!! Bueno suerte con todos!!
Mucho amor!!!!!!
Hermana Snow

Hey another thing, so i have had the song 'For Good' (like the one from Wicked) in my head for a few days but don't remember all the words, would you mind sending me the lyrics so i know them? por favor. If you could send them via snail mail i would get them faster than in a email. muchos gracias!
Toodles
Hermana Snow

few things
got your dearelder., no i have more than one sd card, so i will get writing that letter explaining the pictures.
in my personal study this morning i was reading in alma and came across a couple scriptures i thought you guys would like. Alma 37:47 and Alma 38:15. when you read them you will figure it out, let me know what you think. [fyi, our family motto is "Be Safe, Be Smart & Brad would add Be Sober]
I will respond to the dearelder in more detail in a letter.
until then, i am reaching a close to my p day! It has been a FANTASTIC day!
ttyl
Hermana Snow

Letter #2


March 29, 2013
 
Hola Family!
Yes, I got the package – thank you so much for everything that was in it…& the Easter. I thought about opening it but decided to wait ‘til Sunday. Yea I want the Backpack. It will definitely help in evenly distributing all the books that I brought & that I got when I arrived.  Judging by all the pictures, you guys have been Busy! 
I know, I know, I know I am not making the Blog easy for you & I am extremely sorry.  I didn’t mean to offend you.  I know you want details, but I don’t have much time to email them…b/c there are SO many. Even on P-Day we have things to do. We literally only have 30 minutes on a computer before it kicks us off – we usually try (being the operative word) to email while waiting for laundry and such – But everyone else doing laundry has the same idea. And there is not much detail I can give in an email, while trying to answer questions, too, in 30 minutes. I will be waiting for the questionnaire - & just a reminder although I can only email once a week, & I am pretty sure only “technically” write letters on Wed, you can send me dearelders whenever your heart desires.  Maybe I can work out a system where I email as many details as I can (pictures with those maybe iffy b/c the computers only take a card w/a card reader – supposedly the cords won’t work & you can only send like 2 pictures at a time) then answer questions & such in a letter.
I miss you all too, going from seeing all of you guys all the time to not at all has been a strange adjustment. I got the thank you’s all written & sent. Thanks for those & the stamps.  I saw Melissa today (3-28-13…P.S. wish Brittany H. a late Happy Birthday from me) on the way to dinner but neither of us had a camera…so another time.
Just a head’s up if you get a package from Queen Creek, AZ don’t be alarmed. Hermana Andreason & I got talking about things we collected & I mentioned my card collection & she – who has been to Africa & a lot of other places [with a guy she doesn’t want to remember] said she would give them to me & just have her parents send them to the house. So just FYI.
Now answering DearElder letter...
That is exciting about the cabin property – but I am still sad you are selling it.     [Insert sad face here]
Yes each day is pretty exhausting. The waking up early isn’t the hard part     anymore, nor is going to bed. It’s the getting to sleep and staying asleep that is  the hard part. It takes me a bit to get to sleep. But more often than not I wake up at 4:30, sometimes 3:45 or just odd times & I can’t get myself back to sleep again (or @ least not a good sleep before the alarm goes off…it is not so Buenos.)
Yea, it is ridiculous! But those are the MTC rules I guess & the MTC EMT didn’t do anything. We brought her outside for air & he just talked to her, didn’t check vitals or anything like that.  When I took her into the doctor on Wed. he came out & found me in the waiting room & told me that she had a major concussion & tore her MCL in her knee or something like that. She tore like 3 ligaments or  something.
Oh that is super exciting about Baby Dax! Can’t wait to hear more about that &   can’t wait to see pictures. And how fun for Lucy & Mickey and Kaitlyn! Can’t wait to hear more about that too!
In response to dad’s p.s.s.
The food is decent but sometimes we are iffy to eat it. They have ice cream        from the BYU Creamery every Sunday & Wednesday. (so it’s a good thing there  are so many stairs to climb). They have a variety of meals, from pastas, to burgers, to pizza on Friday’s that they bring in from Papa Johns. But the other food just isn’t the same. I have definitely missed Sunday Dinners! I usually get a salad either as a meal or a side – but that has made me miss Hires & their ranch.
Classes are great. Our schedule is set until week 6. Not sure I mentioned in first letter or not, but the Friday after we got here we had to teach a 25 min lesson to an “investigator” – in Espanol!!! – a very nerve wrecking, scary, & humbling experience. The first full week we taught ‘Juana’ a few more times. Turns out Juana was really one of our teachers, Hermana Rivera & that the investigators that she pretended to be was actually one of her real investigators on her mission. And earlier in the week we found out that our other teacher would be another ‘investigator’ that we had to teach, also playing the role of one from her mission, which is cool to think about. They are pulling these role plays from real experiences they had on their mission. This past Monday we had a Teaching Resource Center [TRC] where we actually taught Real volunteers who are inactive/less active. Super cool experience that gave us a real insight on pretty much exactly what we will be doing in the field and although I have learned so so much about the gospel & Spanish, I can understand a lot more, but I still can’t speak it very well. Any who here is an outline of our schedule – so you can see our days are pretty full.
Monday:
06:30 am       Wake up
07:00 am       Personal Study in Class
08:10 am       Breakfast
08:40 am       Comp Study
09:45 am       T.A.L.L. [Technology Assisted Language Learning]
10:50 am       Additional Study
11:30 am       Gym
12:20 pm       Prep for next activity
12:50 pm       Lunch
01:40 pm       Additional Study
02:15 pm       Daily Planning
02:45 pm       TRC/Class [Training Resource Center]
05:45 pm       Dinner
06:30 pm       Class [until 9:30 pm]
09:30 pm       Personal Time [until 10:30 pm]
Tuesday:
06:30 am       Wake up
07:00 am       Personal Study
08:10 am       Breakfast
08:40 am       TRC/Class
11:45 am       Comp Study
12:50 pm       Lunch
01:45 pm       Missionary Portal
02:45 pm       Additional Study
03:15 pm       Gym
04:05 pm       Prep
04:45 pm       T.A.L.L.
05:45 pm       Dinner
07:00 pm       Devotional
08:00 pm       District Devotional Review
09:00 pm       Daily Planning
09:30 pm       Residence
Wednesday: P-Day [Preparation]
06:30 am       Wake up
07:00 am       Personal Study
08:40 am       Breakfast
09:00 am       Laundry
11:40 am       Personal Time [until 12:50 pm]
12:50 pm       Lunch
01:30 pm       Temple
04:35 pm       Personal Time
05:45 pm       Dinner
06:30 pm       Class [until 9:30 pm]
The rest of the week is basically the same with some changes…Thursday: Class in the morning and night. Friday: (like Monday) Class @ 2:45 – 5:45 pm, Dinner, then 6:30 – 9:30 pm class. Saturday: like Thursday. But Sunday’s are awesome. Sacrament @ 7:30 am (that’s different) oh and side note: They asked Hermana Andreasen & I to be the music coordinators. She plays, I lead (which is super hard when trying to follow along singing in Spanish). Then the Sisters have music and the spoken word @ 9:30, Relief Society @ 10, Study @ 11 while Elders are @ Priesthood. Lunch then free time until Dinner – then the Sunday night devotional – which aren’t as big as Tuesday but still awesome. So back to the schedule: like I said T.A.L.L. is a computer program that assists us in really learning the language. We can study grammar, tasks, words phrases on the D.M.G. lessons or just go in and study the key points in the lessons. Or there is other work that we can do to help us.  Each subject/thing you study you read an explanation, match words or phrases, multiple choice questions, fill in the blanks, listening etc. there is a different variety of activities depending on what you choose. In class we split the time 1 hour for gospel study then 1 hour language. Last hour teaching the investigator/additional study. Not very exciting event wise. But I do learn a lot and there is an amazing spirit in our tiny little classroom.   I am getting better @ understanding Spanish & I know more words, but still struggling with actually speaking full sentences. I feel a bit better when preparing to teach/actually teaching but there is SO much left to learn. 

March 31, 2013
Okay, so Saturday I went with Hermana Andreasen to the ER because her head pains were getting worse day by day. We were going to go to the MTC Health Clinic but it and the off campus clinics are all closed on Sat…DUMB! So we were shuttled down to the Utah Valley Hospital where they took a CT scan.  As much as I love the MTC, some of their rules are slightly ridiculous. As we were waiting for the CT, we were in a little room, waiting.  She was wanting to let her family know, or at least someone in her family, what was going on. We asked if they could see if the MTC could contact her brother, who incidentally wasn’t working that day. So the MTC rule is you are not allowed to see/technically talk to family members. So they wouldn’t let me get a hold of him or her sister. I felt really bad but grateful that I was at least there for her, cause she started crying silently while we were waiting for the results that they said would take 15 min to get back, but took about almost 45 min before the doctor came in to explain & discharge her. The final result: she only has a major concussion. Her skull is not fractured & her brain is not bleeding. But he told us to follow up with a concussion specialist on Monday April 1st just to be safe – and we have a follow up apt with doctor here about her knee, but depending on how it is feeling tomorrow (Monday), we may go in then. Any who, we had the receptionist call the MTC for a shuttle to come get us. So we chilled in the waiting room…about 45 min. to an hour later still no ride. The Receptionist came over and told us that she thinks they forgot about us.  She called again & one was there within 10 min. So yes they forgot. We then had to go pick up her prescriptions @ a grocery store…which is where the purchase on my debit card comes in. We had 15 min. to kill so I picked up a few things. I found a 2 oz. spray pump for the Silver, a small pop up hamper that packs quite nicely, some cheap tom knock offs for here (but if you would still look for the others that I mentioned), paper clips because that is the one thing the bookstore does not have, some extra head bands, and some jelly beans to share with our District. So just fyi on that…but it was a different feeling getting to experience the “real” world as missionaries. Kinda strange. Hermana Andreasen & I both thought that it actually felt like a Saturday for one. All the days here (minus Sunday) just all start to run together.  All in all we had a VERY long day of waiting. We left the MTC around 11:30-11:45 didn’t get back ‘til like 4:15 or something & I (technically we) still had class @ 6:30. Super exhausting day. When we returned we tried looking for her sister to tell her, but she ended up leaving a note starting…”when I got back from the ER we tried to find you to give you goldfish…” Needless to say after class (Hermana Clarke stayed back with Hermana Andreasen while Hermana White & I went to class) Hermana White & I went to find her sister and she was not very happy about the note with not so much info. As would anyone. 
I opened the Easter bag today on Easter. Thank you for the bubbles & jelly beans! They made me smile & I can add it to the 5 large boxes of food & treats Hermana Clark’s grandparents have sent her over the last few days. We have our own little pantry going. So because today was Easter & Fast Sunday we had a large mission conference @ 10 – in our 7:30 am Sacrament Mtg we only bore Testimonies because @ this mission conference they said we would be taking the Sacrament which was really neat to experience. They said that this was the 1st time trying this… & it worked! The men passing, in the main bldg. finished in about 15 min. & overall they said that the Sacrament was passed to over 3,000 people!!! Awesome! We are history in the making! After the devotional we were chatting with people in another district in our zone. I was talking to Elder Stowell in my district cuz he mentioned again how he went to Brighton. So I thought why not ask him if he knows Bolerjacks…here’s where it gets a little crazy…he says oh yea, Brody, Nick, Craig… & all them. I was like yep that’s them & told him how they were my cousins. Turns out his family and the Boler’s have been super good friends for a while. How crazy is that. I’m not sure if he knew that they aren’t members because he was almost a little surprised when I told him. So if you get the chance, you should see if they know an Elder Cameron Stowell & maybe you could relay the story on and see what they say. Oh & one more thing the musical # @ our Sunday night devotional, was a sister sang the actual soprano solo arrangement that Reegan added all the parts to for the girls to sing at my farewell…yea I was definitely slightly crying by the end. But the speaker was Sherri Dew – super inspiring!! 
Can’t wait to hear about St. George! along with Everything else that is happening. Hope you are all doing well & things are good (can’t wait to get the pix of the fam @ the Temple and any others you want to send)
Love you all, Miss you all!
Bueno Suerte!
Hermana Snow
P.S. Turns out Hermana Prater is in a res. room on my same floor super close to mine. Saw her tonight & got a picture.