Mon, Mar 14, 2016 1:57 pm "Our message, which is centered in Jesus Christ, is of great value and importance."

                                                   Dear family and friends,

I love my mission. This week, I gained a stronger testimony that literally all we do as missionaries and all we should do as members of God's church upon the earth is centered in Jesus Christ. We are His disciples. We are the light and the example to the world. I have realized this week, that I am so much like Peter in the Bible. President Uchtdorf gave a talk on how Peter is a great example of the missionaries today. Both fearful and fearless. Peter was a fisherman, but was called to the great work of the Lord...he was probably the last one to think that he would be the chief apostle to Jesus Christ. As we read about his life, we see that he had many moments of weakness and being fearful, but as he gained his witness of the resurrected Christ, he was fearless. He shared his testimony and conversion with all until the end of his days. I, like him, have so many weaknesses, like we all do. But we are called to this great work. And as we gain testimonies of Jesus Christ, we cannot help but sharing and testifying boldly to others. This week, as I have walked the streets of Surrey, I have often compared myself to Peter...I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I wear His name on my heart for the whole world to see. I declare His everlasting truth and proclaim my witness. What a sacred and special calling it is to be a representative of Jesus Christ, our Savior. 

PDay Visit to Dentist in White Rock

I want to show you that really everything we do is centered in Jesus Christ. Here in the mission....AND at home. All of these lessons that we learn here, we MUST take home. We MUST live forever. The mission is the time for us to learn these great things that God has given us, and then the life after is when we apply it. We can never forget that. We can never forget who we represent.

Our Stake Pres. in Surrey stake made these shirts for Pres. Burt and us because Pres. Burt always says  we are so good. Our new slogan!

We had the most incredible Zone Conference this week, here in Surrey. President Burt and Sister Burt are truly so inspired. I know that they receive direction straight from Heavenly Father to lead this mission. We talked a lot about our morning studies. Our morning routine and being exactly obedient in the hours of 6:20am to 10:00am. I learned so much, and more importantly I have noticed that what I learned is written on my heart. I have applied it and am living it! We were committed to talk about our studies throughout the entire day with our companions! Well that was good motivation to have amazing studies if we are going to talk about it all day long. Let me tell you, this meeting literally changed my life and the way I do missionary work. As we fill our mornings with the Spirit, the mood for our day is set. We are on the right track and then we have a whole day given from God to apply those things! The Spirit has been so strong with Sister Cendreda and me! We have been so inspired and have been lead countless times by the Spirit!! Also, quick side note, God committed me during this meeting to get out of my comfort zone more. It has been amazing to see my comfort zone grow and grow on my mission, but I realize that if I am so comfortable with teaching and talking to people now, I'm not growing. "There's no growth in the comfort zone, and there's no comfort in the growth zone." This is so true. So I've been stretching so that God can help me grow! I love it! You should all try that as you talk to people about the gospel!

I want to share my favorite miracle with you from this week. So Saturdays are our walking days. It was POURING RAIN! Seriously so much rain. We were walking by Surrey Mall and weren't really feeling it there. We said a prayer and the Spirit told us to go to Bear Creek park which was only like a mile a way..in the pouring rain. Haha so we started walking over there, and miraculously a member picked us up half way and took us to the park. So when we got there....um...there was no one...except for 5 people walking around the running track in the rain. So we are like, "Have you ever contacted people on the track?" We said nope at the same time and started walking toward the track. We decided to walk the opposite way as everyone so we could talk to them. And the first person we meet was Juan. He is 18 years old and has had a hard life so far. He was so cool and we just started explaining what we did as missionaries. He just looked at us and was like, "Why are you here?" meaning "What in the world are you doing here in the rain, in this park, on the track???" We testified to him that God knows him and so he sent us to him because God knew that Juan needed Him. We talked to him a bit longer and we could tell he was so touched that God would send us to him. We left him with our number and invited him to church and then that was it. I wrote in my journal that night, "I love how God is aware of all of His children, and He uses us (his missionaries) to help His children know that." But wait...this miracle gets better. We were passing some potential investigators off to our zone leaders yesterday right before our church started and theirs was ending. They looked at us with huge smiles and asked, "Do you remember Juan that you met yesterday?" Haha!!! Juan showed up at church yesterday! The elders set up a time to meet with him this week! They said he really liked it. My heart is so happy to be an instrument in the hands of God. That was such a special miracle for me.

We sticky noted our less active--she Loves Us!

Our dinner with Alex and Carolyn. We love them!!! 

I wish I had time to tell you about all of the amazing things we get to see here!

This week, I learned about the power of the Spirit. I am so grateful that we can not only have the Spirit as a Comforter, but also as our protector. I have learned that God truly leads us as His missionaries. God always provides a way!:):)

We had a great lesson with Carolyn and Alex! I really love them so much! Carolyn is so sincere and just wants to follow God! We were able to teach her about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are planning on getting married next year, so I'm excited to come back to BC when she gets baptized! I love the people I have met here in BC. They have changed my life so much! They are so special and have definitely become a part of me!

I hope you all have a great week and really take my commitment to get out of your comfort zone and live the gospel out loud..not so others can see you! But so others can see the goodness that God has blessed you with! I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Hoth

Mon, Mar 7, 2016 1:26 pm We feel so alive.

Dear family and friends,

We feel so alive!!! I am loving every second of serving here in Surrey with Sister Cendreda!! We worked so hard this week, and saw so many miracles come  from it. While everyone else was changing areas and companions, the only thing we were doing was changing our car. It's so sad. We had to change our Chevy Cruze, Estafano, for a Subaro. We are so sad. Haha, but we are living with it and moving on. 

So we got to see Karla again this week, and we had such a powerful lesson with her! We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is simply...faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Karla really wants to change her life, and I feel so blessed to share the very thing that can do that for her. we asked her if she was happy with her life and without a second hesitation she said, "NO!". We testified to her that if she wants to change her life, she has to change herself. She has to change her natures...and we can do that through the gospel and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We can become new people. We have that promise. (Mosiah 5:7-8) Karla told us that she can't be baptized now because she just doesn't feel ready...we told her that the way to feel ready is reading the Book of Mormon and coming to church! SHE CAME TO CHURCH...and she brought her boyfriend, Joel and two of her kids. They left after the first hour because the kids were crazy. But she came, and it was really so neat. All of the testimonies that were shared were about their conversion stories and how grateful they were to be baptized and how they couldn't have made it without the gospel. I think it really touched Karla!

Oh my goodness, Carolyn also came to church yesterday. I mentioned her before, but she is the girlfriend of one of our less active members, Alex. She is seriously the cutest little Filipino I've ever seen, apart from Sister Cendreda. ;) She learned from the missionaries before, but now feels like she really wants to learn. She is pregnant and so she really wants to know about the gospel so she can teach her baby. After church we were able to teach her again. She has read the first part of 1st Nephi and feels like God is telling her to keep learning and keep moving forward. We taught her the plan of salvation and she LOVED it. She feels that it is true. I love her so much and really just want the best for her!! She is so special to God!

We were able to see Rosa this week and spend some time with her. Raul has been so worried about her because she is still pretty weak and has even fainted. We are praying so much for her! The little Emily is doing so good, and is such a little angel. 

So every Saturday is our walking day. So we park the car at home and get to walk everywhere. It's hard sometimes, but usually the members are really good at giving us rides. Well our Bishop and his wife picked us up and took us to their house in Coquitlam to have lunch and to share the gospel. I was so grateful that they were able to pick us up and help us out because I was feeling so sick that day. I was so exhausted and really had no strength. My legs were shaking and all that stuff. Well, I was able to get a blessing from the Bishop. It was so special and I felt better after. I am so grateful for the Chuch of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am so grateful that the gospel and the priesthood have been restored! I know that it has been. I am so incredibly  grateful to share the gospel with these wonderful people in Canada. It is such a blessing! God is truly so good to each and every one of us. His love is so real. Don't forget that! 

Love,

Hermana Hoth

Rosa & baby Emily

Hermana Torrez with Gomez kids

Sister Missionaries: Hemenway, Hoth, Yonk, Cendreda

Cendreda's "going home papers"

Too Cool for Sunday School ;)

Mon, Feb 29, 2016 1:58 pm Working with the Lord.

Hello everyone!

We had such a neat miracle this week! Remember Karla with 5 kids?? She was one of our investigators when I was here before. I have been calling her and calling her trying to get a hold of her. We even dropped by her house multiple times...and nothing. Well we went on exchanges this week, and I felt like I needed to call her again. FINALLY she answered...she told us how she had been in El Salvador and Honduras and how her phone wasn't working. She told us that she had hoped that we would just come by or call her. She had been waiting for us!!!! So we set up a time to meet her and started planning for what we would teach. The missionaries that first taught her didn't really set expectations for the lessons...so that was our focus! Of course we are here to be friends, but more importantly we are here to share the gospel and prepare them to make covenants with God. So after we set expectations, we taught her the Plan of Salvation. It was a powerful lesson and she was so focused the whole time...mostly because she didn't have her 5 kids at home screaming and running around!:) At the end, we said the closing prayer, and after we said amen Sister Cendreda asks, "Karla, would you like to be baptized?" She said that baptism is definitely in her plans! So we will keep working with her!:)

EXCITING NEWS!!! Rosa had her baby!!! Emily is here! She is seriously the cutest little baby I have ever seen. She was born on Friday the 26th. We were able to visit them on Saturday in the hospital. Raul and Rosa are the cutest parents ever. They are all smiles. The Spirit was so strong in that hospital room...so much peace. It was so special to see them and thank Heavenly Father with them for His kindness and His perfect plan!

Rosa's baby EMILY is here!!

We worked so hard this week and we have seen such a miracle come from it. One day after a lesson with an investigator, we started driving away. We saw a lady and her son that looked latino so I parked the car and Hermana Cendreda jumped out. It turns out Sister Cendreda had met this family before in the mall. They told us that we could come back to visit them  and we did this week! The dad is Robinson, the mom is Angela, and they have two sons...Rodolfo who is married and is a member and Rouder. They told us about their son and how he was baptized in our church like 10 years ago. Robinson basically bore his testimony to us how he saw such a difference in his son. He said "my son was so happy when he was with your church." Well his son now is less active and Robinson just begged us to go visit him and his family. He also told us that when the missionaries were teaching their family that he himself wasn't ready to accept anything because he was so into his catholic religion but that he is more open now. So apart from teaching this awesome family. We went to go see his son! His son has a wife, Alma, and 2 sons. They were so friendly and want us to come back right away to teach them. This was such an incredible miracle for us! 

Rita was finally able to come to sacrament meeting, but she could only stay for the first hour. She is just so depressed all the time and when ever we ask her how she is she just says, "bad". It's so sad, but for this reason, I just want her to accept the gospel! I really feel like the thing she needs is a choice to have faith and to be grateful for what she does have. Of course I don't understand exactly what she is going through. But I know God does...and so she needs to turn to Him!!! 

So this week, I had the most amazing studies in the morning. I was reading in Alma 7 and I got to those famous verses that all the missionaries use to talk about Christ's Atonement. 

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him

the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death 

which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his 

bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know 

according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth 

according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that 

he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

After I read this, I realized that these powerful scriptures that we all use is actually Alma the younger's testimony!! He shared these things because he absolutely knows they are true. My question was...How does someone gain a testimony of Jesus Christ like that? And then I remembered his experience with the Atonement Alma 36 (my favorite chapter). He has this strong testimony because he used the Atonment of Jesus Christ. He had felt it for himself. He knew that Jesus Christ did that so He would know how to "succor" or help His people. Alma truly felt that even though he had made so many mistakes, that his sins had been "blotted out" or erased! I love this and it is my prayer that one day each of us can know, like Alma, that Jesus is the Christ. To receive this testimony, Alma had to go through a lot of pain and sorrow when he realized all of the sins that he committed. We will go through pain and sorrow in this life, but our purpose here is to learn how to always do God's will...so we need to repent. So our purpose in life is to repent! 

I hope that all of you can learn from the scriptures and apply them in your lives. It isn't that hard to share the gospel...especially when it is who you are!:):) I pray that we allow the gospel to become us!

Love, Hermana Hoth

OH! And Sister Cendreda and I get to stay together for her last transfer! YAYA!

Fun time with the Sisters on Pday with Cendreda, Ricks, Hubert, Travers, Hoffman

Cool garage. 

Hermana Hernandez and Jacky

And look mom...I shared my package with Jacky's kids!

Brother & Sister Snarr went home this month.  Love them!

Dear Elders and Sisters,

We are concluding our full-time missionary service this week and heading home to Utah. What an amazing experience it has been to serve in British Columbia, particularly in the Sidney Ward
. We feel so fortunate to have served along side the best of the best! Each of you have impacted our lives for good and we want you to know that. The meetings, discussions, study time, meals, activities, service projects, the laughter and a few tears. We are blessed that we were able to share it with all of you.

We are going home to a busy schedule of visits with children and grandchildren, work, and a remodeling project. All of you, on the other hand, will have a number of important decisions that will not only determine your near future, but your long range future. Don't let that worry you. You are or have faithfully been on the Lord's errand, and He will help direct you on the important paths ahead. We are excited to hear how things unfold. For those of you living or visiting Utah, we would love to hear from you and hopefully make it to some of your missionary homecomings (yes, we know they don't call them that anymore). Then in October 2017, we look forward to President's first mission reunion and it will be wonderful to cross paths again.

Again, we express our love and confidence in each of you. We know this work is true. The Lord lives and His gospel is the sure way of finding happiness in this life and in the life to come.
Be good; be true.
Love,
Elder and Sister Snarr