9/19/13 letter

Miracles

Hello to all the Lovely people who get to read my letters  :)

     Where to start... This week has been so incredible. Hard, and rewarding. We take so many people around the square and some people just want to argue and make-fun, but we do get our little miracles. We took around so many interesting people this last week and Sister Chen and I could feel the spirit so strong! It is so fantastic to get those moments. 

     So first of all we took around this group of women monks from Taiwan. So cool. They were here just to learn more about what we believe in and understand the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a little better. They were so respectful and had such great questions. They really grew to love us and we grew to love them. I didn't understand much of what was going on, but I know the spirit was there. They were so sweet and gave Sister Chen and I cute little charms from their own bags so we could have them with us. It was so cute. They were so real and genuine. 

     Another really great group was a Chinese family who came here from Beijing. The guy who came and ask us specifically to give them a tour was so cool! He had been here a year ago and remembered the spirit that he had felt. He had also received a Book of Mormon the last time and had read the whole thing! He asked us to bring one with us so we could give it to his father. The guy brought his whole family with him! His wife and son, and his parents, and his wife's parents! They all seemed way cool! He also asked us to give him the address to a church building before they went back to Beijing so they could go to church. So golden! They are so ready and prepared. I love seeing people like that. 

     I really do love the Chinese people, they are so ready to hear the gospel. So we were on our way to our Assembly Hall assignment and some sisters called us over because they saw Sister Chen. They told us that there was a group of three Chinese people who wanted a tour, they had been waiting for a while and were ready to leave. So the sisters covered our assignment and we took the tour! They had already been taken around the conference center with a senior couple and they wanted more. So we first took them to the temple model, then they asked how the church got started and wanted to see the Joseph Smith statue, then wanted to see the Christus. They didn't care about the building or the historical facts, they wanted to learn about the gospel and what we believe in and such. It was so amazing and they had such amazing questions. They all also spoke English pretty well, so I could talk with them too. It was just so amazing! Oh and they are here for another week and a half and they all wanted to come back and see us again. They all also got a Book of Mormon (one of them had started reading it in the hotel!!) and gave us their info and wanted us to find them a church near them!! So amazing! The church is so true!!

     Have I mentioned anything about Scott? Well I will again if I have, but it is so amazing. Scott Walker is a 14 year old boy from China. He has Cerebral Palsy and was adopted by a family here in Utah from China a few months ago. This family loves him so so so so so much!!! It is incredible to see all the love that they have for each other, even though there is a language barrier. But they want to be sealed to him because he really is their son and brother! But he has to be baptized first. So Sister Chen and I have actually gotten special permission from our mission president to go to his house to teach him with the elders so that Sister Chen can translate!! It is so amazing to see the change in him and he understands repentance (on an eight year old level, but still!! amazing!!) and eternal families. You can see the love for his family in his eyes and how much he knows he belongs with them and wants to be with them forever, same goes for his parents and sibling wanting to be with him! He is such an inspiration, and although he has only been here for a few months, he understands so much English! It is truly a miracle! Well we actually have his baptismal interview tonight, so if all goes well (which we have faith it will) his baptism will be on Saturday!!! Woot!! So exciting to help a family receive the full blessing of this true gospel of Jesus Christ!!

     Well those are some of the bigger miracles that have happened this past week. We also see little miracles happen everyday. It is so beautiful so see how God prepares His people to hear and learn about the gospel. I love being a helper of this work. I know that it is only through the help of Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father that I am able to do this work. Without them I would be nothing! It is so important to bring others unto Christ. I love this gospel and Know it is true. I hope you all can share your testimony with someone this week. May you be blessed in all that you do and keep Christ in your thoughts always. I love you all so much!!!

Love always,

     Sister Sara Snow

Picture is of Sister Chen and Myself :)

MTC PICTURES

Sadly, Sister Snow misplaced her camera somewhere between the MTC and her new home near Temple Square, thus losing all the wonderful pictures she had taken at the MTC. Finally, one of her wonderful friends from the MTC who had taken similar pictures e-mailed them to her. Here they are:

Pictures  

August 20, 2013

Sisters deCastro, Fonoifua, Bahr, and Snow at Welfare Square

                                

Sister Fofo teaching how to be gangster

Back to normal, angelic, innocent self

The Lord Prepares Those We Teach  

August 20, 2013

Hello Everyone!!

     I would like to start this letter off with a picture and a story, so here you go :)

   

Front row kneeling left to right: Vargas (Mexico/Texas), Thalussidass (India), Muli (American Samoa/Tonga), Fonoifua (Cali/Tonga), Bardin (Arkansas).

Back row: Sister Creer, me, Pres. Gillette, Bardin (D.C./Northern Virginia), Ben, Elder Frost. 

Sister frost is on the far right and in front of her is Sister Ogata (Japan), behind Ogata is Hvistendahl (Denmark/Greenland), To the left of ogata from our view is Sister Luki (New Zealand) then kinda hidden behind Luki is Sister Osorio (Texas/Columbia), Finally kinda hunched down in Sister de Castro (Brazil)

The black guy in the the middle is Ben. He is from the Dominican Republic. Sister Bahr and Sister de Castro (The sister on the right of him and on the left leaning down) ran into him at the food court in City Creek Mall. He notice Sister de Castro's Brazilian flag and started speaking Portuguese to her. The conversation soon led to him telling them that he wanted to be baptized before he left SLC so they asked him when he left, he said Sunday (they met him on Thursday)! So they said they would see what they could do and set up a time to meet with him the next day. They talked to Pres. Gillette and well they taught Ben all four lessons on Friday, he was interviewed by Elder Frost (husband in one of the senior couples here) and was then baptized on Saturday!! He is the first baptism straight from our mission that no other mission can count that the Temple Square mission has seen in 11 years!! How cool is that! Miracles do happen and the Lord really does prepare those we need to teach, we just need to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost to be able to find those people. It is so amazing!

     So some other miracles that I have seen this past week came from chat. So we are some of the missionaries that talk to people who go onto the chat feature through mormon.org. It is really neat. Sometimes we get get antis, and pranksters, but we also do get people who are really interested in learning more about the gospel. So one day we had this guy come on, his name is James. He is living in Thailand, but is from London. He talked to me a little about how he knew someone name Boyd K. Packer and asked if I knew who that was. So I told him, Yeah!! He is one of the 12 apostles! How he kinda knew him was that his dad was the car mechanic for the missionaries and the church leaders who came through that area in London!  So great! He likes to talk to the Elders in his area, but doesn't see them very often on the Island that he lives on, and he said that we tend to give better answers than the Elders. Haha. So I got his contact information and will be emailing him and maybe calling him to teach him more. Its so incredible the people we meet and how they have heard about the gospel.

     So actually at the same time that chat was going on, I met Shannon. She is from Portland Oregon! She came on asking what a YSA ward was. She has been going to church for a couple of months and hasn't met with the missionaries. She know that it is true and just didn't know what to do next. So I told her what a YSA ward was and we continued on talking. Toward the last part of the conversation we were really feeling the spirit! (yes it happens over chat!) The way the conversation was going was great and I gave her the baptismal commitment and she accepted!! All we need to do now is stay in touch and keep teaching her and get her meeting with the local missionaries! It is so amazing! She really is so so prepared!! I am so excited for her and know she is destined for great things! 

     So we had something really cool happen this morning. We had a guest speaker come to talk to us really early in the morning. It was okay that it was early because it was someone super cool and you should all be jealous. lol jk, but really. It was none other that the apostle Jeffery R. Holland!!!!!!!!!! Yeah!!!!!!!! He didn't have time to shake all of our hands today because he had to leave for a meeting with the 12! But he said he will be coming back so that he will be able to shake all of our hands!!! He is so great! He is such a powerful loving speaker and you feel the love radiating from him as soon as he walks in the room. He talked mostly about how we are always missionaries. We are called and when we go home, we aren't really going home. We are to be FOREVER changed and never go back to what we were before our missions!! It was so inspiring. I really love what he said about us. He said, "Don't you ever, ever, ever, underestimate the gift you have to give!  He is so amazing and I love all the apostles we have.Our prophet is the one we need for our days right now. All of those men are called of God and speak God's words. They are so incredible and we should aspire to be like them, but more importantly, we should aspire to be like the Savior. He came to earth to atone for our sins, he died and was resurrected so that we may obtain eternal life. This is the true church restored again on the Earth never to leave. I love my Savior and my Heavenly Father and I know they love me. And they love and care for each and every one of you! You are all great! Write to you next week! Love you!!

Love,

     Sister Sara Snow

Sister Snow Sighting!

August 17, 2013

My nephew Jake Taylor and his wife Becca went to dinner for their anniversary tonight. Afterward, they walked around the temple and happened to see Sister Sara Snow as she was heading home for the night. They took took this great picture!  (Doesn't she look great!!)

Families Are Forever

August 13, 2013

Hey Everyone!

     So another week has gone by and I am still doing great! I still love being here. I just love everything about this place. Yeah sometimes people frustrate me, but that happens all over the place, so its all good. 

     I am trying to think of all the things that happened this last week. All the days and all the weeks are now just starting to blend together. Well I really love being in the Beehive House. We really get a chance to talk about families in that home. This last week we had some people go through that were "Guests" and we had the opportunity to talk about families and the importance of the temple and being able to have eternal families. One group had a mother and a daughter in it. There were two family groups and the others were a husband and a wife. The men tend to break the spirit, but while we were talking about having your family forever the mom and daughter got kinda teary eyes and I knew they were feeling the spirit as strong as we were. We gave them a "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" and left them with a message. It was so special and I know that a seed was definitely planted! Then there was another group that we took through. There were two member (they were a husband and wife) and a Lady and her two sons (guests). So we talk about eternal families kinda through the whole thing, just that Brigham Young was such a family man and that family was so important to him, then at the end we really dive into it and try to invite the spirit to really help people. It was cool to watch the members faces as we were doing our missionary work in the Beehive house. We introduced "The Family: A Proclamation to the World". At first I was going to give one to just the mom, but each one of the boys wanted one too. They were only probably late teens. They were so into our message, and it was so exciting! I love the messages that we can leave with people from taking them through just a simple home, but it is so neat. 

     I just love being able to share the gospel through all sorts of different ways. Oh do part of being here we have to "pass off". We give our zone leaders a tour as if they are guests and they tell us how we did and then if i pass then I get to go to the Lion House for dinner! Yeah I totally passed off!!! It was a good experience, just like a normal tour. But it was really cool. My Zone leaders are awesome! Yeah so we have zones and districts here, just like any normal mission. It's pretty neat. Well I don't really know what else to say. So many things happen and I can't remember them all off the top of my head. I put them in my journal so I can look at them....But I don't have that with me right now, so, sorry.

     I love you all and hope you are doing great! Keep up you hard work and your faith. God loves you and is aware of you. He is there to help, you just have to let him in your life. 

Love, 

     Sister Sara Snow

Three Weeks on The Square

Sara's address is:

Sister Sara Suzanne Snow

Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission

50 North West Temple Street

Rm BSVC

Salt Lake City, UT  84150-1891

If you send a package that needs a phone number, use: 801-240-2011

 <sara.snow@myldsmail.net>

Date: Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 2:26

Hey!!

     Wow, I really cannot believe that it is already week three of my first transfer. I only get my trainer for one transfer :( she goes outbound next transfer, but I will see her for a little when she comes back. So in this mission, since we are always on the square, or in the dealing with the square, we get two to three transfer where we get to serve somewhere else in the US. It is pretty cool, we actually get a second mission call. But we only find out where two days before we leave. Kind of crazy, but way cool. 

     Well this week was interesting. The days are really starting to blur together, and I can't really remember what all has happened. Well we are in the Beehive House so that's cool. I am really gaining an appreciation and a testimony of Brigham Young and all his hard work. He really was a great family man and I am coming to know that. He took great care of all of his family. We take a lot of people through his home and you would think that just taking someone through an old house is just a historical tour. With some people it is, but Sister Fonoifua and I have really been trying to make every tour a missionary opportunity. When you seek and ask for those opportunities, they do come. We have had some really great things happen there. We may not get people baptized, but we really are planting seeds and  know that we are doing good. Through the home there are great opportunities to bring up the temple an families, and how those are very important and key things to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is so wonderful to see non-members faces light up when we talk about how families can really be together forever. I love it so much. I love the blessing of the temple and am continually learning at how important they are. 

     

     I am learning so much here. I feel like I am learning more than teaching, but I am still teaching so much! I really like when we have square time too and when we get to take tours. We take people to three highlights on the square and talk about them and share basic beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its really great to be able to enlighten people about what we know. And to tell the the truths and inform them of what we really do and what we really believe in rather that the assumptions. I love when people think they know things, but then its wrong and when they find out the truth, they can't say anything bad, its just interesting.

     Well I don't really have much else to say. I love you all and hope that you all keep up your faith. God loves you and want you to be the best you that you can be. 

With Love,

     Sister Sara Snow

"All the Pretty Horses" at the Pioneer Day Parade

"Shara" horses at the Parade 

Pretty Mules in the Parade

The four-legged creatures make any parade worth going to for Sara!

This is the entire zone: Temple Square East 1
They went to a girls camp this week and she said it was really fun.

In the lobby of the LDS Church Office Building (Isn't she cute!)

On top of the Church Office Building (COB)

All the rest are on top of the COB

With Sister Fonoifua on top of COB

The desert blossoming like a rose.

Into the Mission & 3 Investigators

July 30, 2013 - The Last Shall be First and the First Shall be Last

 

Hello Wonderful People,

     What an amazing week here on Temple Square. So many things happened and I don't know if I will be able to write all of the wonderful things!! 

     Wednesday was Pioneer day. We got to watch the parade! It was so fun and great! I saw a lot of horses and that was really fun. So the zone that I am in is working and the Beehive House, so after the parade we were in the Beehive house for a while. Its amazing how many people want to come and see Brigham Young's home and learn about him. I am just intrigued by all of it. I love learning all about it and being able to connect everything within the home to the gospel. It is really strengthening my testimony of Brigham Young. Its so much fun! Every time that we have been in the Beehive House, it has been way busy. We have tour after tour and i got to jump in a little on my first day!! So crazy! 

     After Wednesday all the days kind of meshed together so I'm just gonna share things that happened. Well we were on chat one time (we have special time to be in the Teaching Center where we chat with people from mormon.org and answer phone calls and call our investigators and call referrals) and we were speaking with someone from Ireland! So cool! We came to find out that she was 13, so we needed her parent's permission so that we could continue to talk with her. We called there and she was totally fine with that! How cool! This girl is just interested in our faith and has no intention in converting (we'll see about that). She just want to become closer to God and Christ and likes how we view that. So she became my first investigator!!! So cool!!!

     Another day on chat a guy from the Philippines came on. At first we thought he was an anti because of the questions he was asking us, but then he started talking about how we wants to go to church and meet with the missionaries and he asked us how he could get baptized!! Second investigator!! We found the church closest to him and we called him a little after that and it was Sunday morning where he was and he was at the church waiting to meet with the missionaries! So golden! I am so happy for him. We are going to continue to check up on him to make sure the local missionaries are doing their job! LOL. 

     Yet another time on chat a real anti came on and was trying to convert me to his way of thinking, I just told him the truth and he said that he would never try that with me because I was so solid in my faith. It was great! We continued talking (oh he is from England) and I answered his questions as best I could and when it was time to go I asked if he would like to continue to learn and he said yeah. So we got his info and I have three investigators! And one going from anti to interested! Oh this church is so true and this work is so important! We just have to remember our purpose in our life and know that we are all God's children and he loves all of us the same. We need to show that love to all we come in contact with and always love one another!!

     Now to why the subject title says "The Last Shall Be First, and the First Shall Be Last". Well within the past few days we have taken two different Jewish couples around the Square. It is so amazing how interested they become when they realize the things that we know to be true. I really wish that we could continue to teach them, but one of the couples is moving back to Israel and we can't teach anyone from there. But it really got be to thinking how close the second coming is. The first are the last and they are starting to receive the gospel. It is so amazing and again reminds me of how important this work is and how thankful I am to be a part of this work! Wow, this mission is so great! We really do see miracles every day. 

     The Church is true! I love my savior! He loves me and he loves you!! Amen!!!

Love,

     Sister Sara Snow

Daddy-daughter date just before we left Texas - end of June.

(I hated to not add a picture. Sara didn't send any.)

Training in the Mission

July 19, 2013 

Hey All!!!

 

    I hope that you all have had a fantastic week! Well for starters our elders left for Colorado Springs on Monday and we have been missing them like crazy! Its amazing how close you can ge to people in such a short amount of time. Then we still had two days of regular class with Sister Clark and Brother Starkie (my teachers). They are so fantastic and just so loving! I have felt so inspired by both of them and they care so much that they have been keeping in touch with us while we do training. Its been fantastic!

    So on our last day in class with Brother Sarkie we asked him to give us blessing because we didn't get one from our elders before the left. They were the most amazing blessings that I have ever heard! He was saying things that I know can only be from God. It was so amazing! Exactly what I needed! So then we went to Temple Square on Wednesday morning and took a tour of things that we will be doing there. It was really cool to just be a guest first. They didn't take us around to too many places because we were pressed for time. So now we just do class time on how to teach in a Visitor's Center. It has been kind of hard because we have so many sisters in our class so we don't really get one on one time. But we are still learning... I think. Ummm... Well tomorrow we go to the Square again, but this time they will be pairing us up with a sister there already and just throwing us into the work! ahhh!! Scary!!! Well I don't have much time because class is starting soon! I love you all and hope to hear back from you! I will hopefully be able to write more next time (i don't know when that will be). Keep up the faith! Remember that God loves you and is there for you always!! Love you tons!!!

 

Love,

    Sister Sara Snow

After dropping Sara at the MTC, we went to Idaho Falls to spend the 4th of July. When everyone else had to get back to work I (Suzanne or Mom) stayed to spend some quality time with my dad. On my way back to Texas, I stopped in SLC at the Family History Center to Sister Exline, a senior missionary from our branch in Texas. We crossed Temple Square and I had to stop to take some pictures and ponder where and how my daughter will be serving.

She will be in the shadow of the temple every day.

All tours meet the sisters
at the flagpole.

View of the Conference Center
from Temple Square

Picturing Sister Snow standing there waiting for a tour.

She will be giving tours of the Tabernacle.

The Gardens on Temple Square.

                                               What a peaceful wonderful place to be every day!

First Words from the MTC  

July 11, 2013 

Dear Family,

   Holy cow this has been such an intense week! Well first off our P-Day is on Thursday. So I am writing today :D They really just throw you into things when you first get here! I found out that we are actually here for three weeks not two. We have two week of like MTC training, then one week of visitors center training, which will actually be at temple square, so we get to train where we will be which is really awesome! 

    So I am in a trio and it is actually really fun! My companions are Sister Pien and Sister Cuevas. Sister Pien is from Montreal, Canada, but originally from Tai Pei, Taiwan! It is so much fun, because i get to speak Chinese with her some. Sister Cuevas is from Chicago and her parents are both from Mexico, so she is 100% Mexican and also speaks Spanish. We are sure an interesting group but we get along really well and I love these two Sisters so much! 

    So going back to the first day, they really do just throw you right into doing things. We were in a big group of missionaries and did like practice lessons with some investigators. So we were all working together to try to teach these people as if we were all each other's companion. It was a really neat experience. My favorite was Jose. He had a really hard life growing up in Guatemala. And he didn't understand that if god was so loving why did he lest such awful things happen. He didn't know that God loved him so much! It was so neat because as he was walking around looking at all of us that were in the room we asked if we believed that God love us. He looked right into my eyes and i knew he was asking me. As I answered him I was feeling so great like my heart would leap out of my chest, I was feeling so much for this man that I had just met! I told him that I KNEW God loved me and I told him how it took me a while to find that out and that it wasn't going to be some huge sign that God sends, but something small and for me its like a blanket of peace covers my heart. He then said that he would be willing to try. It was so amazing, and it really helped me so much!!!

    So the 4th wasn't too spectacular, but we did get to watch a movie. We watched 17 Miracles! oh so much spirit was in that room and I am so grateful for the faith that the pioneers had. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be where we are right now. We did get to go outside to watch the firework show from the stadium of fire. It was nice, but nothing like Idaho Falls fireworks! 

    They sure keep us busy all day every day! It really is fun though. I kind of feel like I may be having more fun than I should, but I just love being here and learning all theses things so much that it doesn't seem like difficult i guess. Oh but it is so hard! Like the hardest thing ever, but I'm so happy to be here. I am learning so much about the gospel and about people and everything. I know that the Lord is helping me, without Him right now, I know that I wouldn't be able to do all that I am doing. They really try to cram it all in and then throw us into teaching what we learn and that is helpful! 

   So our "investigator" is actually our teacher being an investigator, but it doesn't seem like we are teaching our teacher, he seems so real! Our investigator's name is Alec. His whole family are members and his dad is a stake president. He has always felt like pressured to get baptized, but never felt the need. One big thing that I have learned while teaching him is that we are there to teach him, not the lesson. We always go in there with a planned lesson, then we don't even get to it because the spirit takes over and we mostly just love him and learn about his concerns and share our testimonies with him. I guess we have really gotten through to him because we just committed him to baptism on Saturday!! Ahh it all seems so real! 

    The other day we were supposed to teach a real investigator through TRC, which is like practice, but we don't know if they are real investigators, less actives, or real members just acting. Its scary because its so real. But we went to our appointment and she wasn't there, so hopefully we get to teach her today. 

    Oh on Sunday we took a temple walk and took lots of pictures, I hope I can send some of them. I have such a great district. There are eight elders and us three sister. We have really become a family. Every night after planning we sing a primary song then pray and go to our residence halls. They are so much fun and funny and so spiritual. They are all going to Colorado Spring, Colorado. They leave on Monday and I will be so sad to see them go, but also so excited for them. 

    A big thing that I have learned is that we are here serving missions to help others, not ourselves, but others. Our purpose in to " Invite other to some unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." It is all about others and not about me. Remember that, its about helping others!

    There is so much more that I want to tell, but I don't know how to tell it all!! Oh my teachers are both so fantastic! Sister Clark and Brother Starkie! They really love us and want us to succeed and they show it. They teach us so much! I know the only way that I can be successful is through the Lord, without Him I am nothing, but with Him I am everything! I know this church is true and that what I am doing will help so many come unto Christ! I love you all so much and please write me!!

Love ya!!!!

  Sister Sara Snow :D

Sister Pien, Sister Snow, Sister Cuevas

First P-day - Provo Temple

Getting Sister Snow to the MTC

On August 3, 2013, we met as a family at Kneaders for a yummy French toast breakfast. As you can see from the pictures, there was a lot of laughter and lightmindedness. Afterward we went to see Nicole at her work, since she hadn't been able to come with us for breakfast. Josh had to be at work by noon, and then we went and took pictures across from the MTC (Missionary Training Center) in front of the Provo Temple. At 2:00pm, we dropped her off at the curb of the MTC, where she was met by a sweet sister who would accompany her inside. Sara will be in the MTC for the next three weeks. 

Breakfast at Kneaders

Mom, Sara, Dad

Josh, Nicole, Sara (outside Nicole's work)

Sara & Jared

Sara & Jeremy

This sister met Sara at the curb to take her
& her luggage into the MTC.

And she walked away. . . for 18 months.

Sara's Last Entry for 18 Months

This is Sara for the last time for 18 months. I am excited to go and can't wait to get out there and share my knowledge with whoever I come in contact with. I know this church is true, and I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love all of us. I am thrilled to be able to have the opportunity to share that while on my mission at Temple Square. I know that I am going where the Lord wants me and where I can do my best. I love you all and will see you in a year and a half!

Missionary Photos

Fun photo shoot with Dalton Allen, a good friend of Jeremy.

He did it as a gift for Sara's mission. We love them and are very appreciative.