Merry Christmas!

Hey Mom! 

It was so great to talk to you all on christmas! That was so much fun. The 40 minutes went by fast but I understand why it is only 40 minutes. I feel like if it was longer than that then it would make me homesick! But I am still in missionary mode so I think that was the perfect amount of time. I love you all! It was weird to see Jonny as not a missionary. You all seem like you're doing great! 

 So it is 4 degrees outside today. That's pretty crazy. Very very cold. 

This week has been good! Pretty slow because pretty much everyone is home for Christmas. 

Thursday we had district meeting in the morning which was good! It was weird though because my other district meetings had been with companionships that I would only see once a week. But now since I am on OSU I see my whole district every day haha! It's cool though. I like my district. After that we went on campus and contacted a bit.  We had a lesson with a recent convert and he is super cool! Since we got doubled in to a sisters area investigators and converts are used to sisters and not elders so it is different for them but we seem to be getting along with everyone that the sisters were teaching so that's good! We talked to a lot of people on campus. So it was a good day! 

Friday we were really in a groove in the morning talking to people. You walk up to someone and talk to them while they are walking and then when that conversation is over you find another person. It's a lot different than missionary work in Bellefontaine but it is really fun! We talk to a lot of different people majoring in lots of different things. Fun stuff. We had a lesson with one of the progressing investigators in This area over Facebook! That was really cool. She is awesome and the transition from sisters to elders didn't seem to effect her. She was even asking us questions that she didn't want to ask the sisters so that was a good sign! 

Saturday campus was completely dead. And it was so cold. We had one lesson that day so that was good but the rest of the day we walked around trying to find people and talked to as many people as we could but that was only like 7 people. I'm excited for Christmas break to end so there will be 60,000 people to talk to haha! 

Sunday was Christmas eve! That was a great time. We had church which is always great. We went and talked to some people after church. And then we went to Bishop Keyes house for dinner and games! We played apples to apples as a district and that was so much fun. Apples to apples is such a funny game. 

Monday was Christmas! And I got to Skype you all. That was so much fun! And then after that we we contacted people over Facebook and then went to the Barnhouses' for dinner! We played spot it too! Thanks for that! The Barnhouses used to live in Vancouver! They said they lived in the salmon creek area. 

Tuesday we got back in the swing of things and tried to talk to as many people as possible. But not many people. 

It was a good week! Elder Morse is so much fun as a companion. And it's always nice to be able to talk about the Northwest and he knows the places I am talking about! I hope you all had a great Christmas! I love you!! Thank you for everything!

Your son,

Elder Collier   

Go Buckeyes!!

Hey Mom!

Sammy with the Buckeye

At The Ohio State Stadium

I absolutely love being on The Ohio State University campus! It is a blast. Right now it is Christmas break so there aren't too many people on campus but it is still way fun. It is nice to be talking to people that are my age! There are 3 companionships and one trio here right now. My companion is Elder Morse! It is a blast. He was in my zone in the MTC so we already know each other so it's great! He is from Hillsboro, Oregon! So we really get along. We got doubled in to this area so we are still trying to figure things out. We took the place of a sisters companionship so our apartment smells really good and is all decorated so that's fun. We have 3 investigators that are on date to be baptized here but we haven't met any of them in person yet because of Christmas break! But thankfully we have Facebook so we have been able to communicate with them that way!

The Sister's left us some nice Decor.

So Thursday was a blur. I left Bellefontaine, got to the church where we were transferring, put my bike in storage (because we ride the bus and walk around here), found Elder Morse and then we had to figure out who was driving us back to campus. So once we figured that out we drove there and dropped our stuff off at our apartment and then went to the institute building. Neither of us knew whay was going on or who any of our investigators were and our area book app wasn't loading so we didn't know what the plans for the day were and we got a text from someone that said that she was waiting for us in the library. We were like "oh no, we are late for a lesson" so we ran out and found the library but it turns out it wasn't a lesson it was a service project with a member. So it was okay haha! We have started to figure things out though, we definitely aren't as lost as we were on Thursday.

Sammy's District

Friday was our Christmas conference so that took pretty much all day since our district was picked up by the assistants and we helped set up. That was a really fun conference! Sadly I didn't really take any pictures during it. But just imagine me in a church building eating dinner and having fun! 

Saturday was our real debut at The Ohio State University. We pretty much just walk around campus and talk to people. Having the #LightTheWorld video as a beginning talking point is really nice! Not too many people were interested but it was still a good day!

The Ohio State Campus

Sunday was good! There are two YSA wards so we typically go to 6 hours of church on Sunday but since it is Christmas break they combined the wards into one block. It was really great! We have church in the institute building. It's weird that the YSA wards are bigger than the Bellefontaine Branch haha! But it's so nice to talk to people my age. I actually can relate to people on campus and at church! After church we had a mission Christmas devotional. I sang in the mission choir. That was a lot of fun!

Monday was a solid day of contacting. It was the day we finally got the hang of things. We got 2 new investigators so that's fun! And a really solid potential. We had a lesson that morning too!

Saying goodbyes at Bellefountaine

Tuesday was also a great day! We had a lesson in the morning and then went out contacting throughout the day. We saw these two guys playing basketball on campus so we decided to play them. When I asked if we could play two on two one of them said yes and then the other was like "no, where are the cameras? These guys are secretly really good. They probably play in college" it was hilarious. They let us play though! We get destroyed haha! But they still wanted to learn more so we taught them the restoration and they are super interested! So they are new investigators! Missionary work on campus is so much different but it is so fun! 

The past week on campus I have already grown so much. The Lord has truly helped me be confident in contacting. I am not terrified of talking to people anymore. I am thankful for the Lord blessing me and giving me the ability to be courageous.

So I am able to Skype any time on Christmas eve or Christmas. So let me know when is the best time for you! I can't wait to talk to you! I love you mom!

Your son,

Elder Collier  

Snow!

Hey Mom! 

This week has been great! I finished the Book of Mormon again this week and it is true! I know it is. And because it is true that means Joseph Smith truly restored Christ's church on the earth and I am so thankful for that! Oh and I am getting transferred, but I will not find out where I am going until tomorrow! I'm sad to leave Bellefontaine, but I am excited for something new! I will definitely miss the branch here and I am hopeful that it will be a ward before I come back home. 4 of the 6 Elders in my district are getting transferred. Elder Henrie is leaving Piqua and Elder Gorze and Elder Jones are both leaving Sidney! Oh and thank you for the boots, they came just in time!

Well here is my week!

Thursday was district meeting and that is always a blast. I'm gonna miss the district. After that we helped the Sidney ward decorate for their ward Christmas party. And then we had to leave early for a lesson. That lesson ended up falling through so we got to tract! It was so cold and snowing but we had faith that we could find someone and we did! And her husband is a member of the church too and we didn't know they lived there and they are excited to meet with us! That was a super cool miracle. Later on we helped and investigator move a dresser and we taught the restoration and invited her to be baptized and she accepted! That was exciting. 

Friday was a good day! We had two investigators tell us that they know the Book of Mormon is true! That was super awesome. I'm glad they habe received t hay witness. It is a wonderful promise that those who read and ask God if it is true will receive an answer that it is! 

Saturday it snowed again! We got to walk around and try by some people in the snow. No one was too interested but we got to talk to someone about Light the world! Later on we shoveled snow at the church so people could come for the Christmas party! That was a fun Christmas party. We were expecting investigators to come, and it would've been great for them to be there but no one came. That's alright though, it was good to fellowship with the branch members. 

Sunday was good as usual! We had one investigator at church. Patrick couldn't make it because his car wasn't working. We would've had someone go pick him up but we didn't find out until later. I had a feeling that I was getting transferred so I talked to President Miller after church and thanked him for his hard work in the Bellefontaine Branch. He is a great branch President and I was very thankful I got to serve with him for 18 weeks. 

Monday was pretty uneventful. Lessons fell through so lots of finding again in the freezing cold. But that's alright, some days are like that and you just gotta keep working hard!

Tuesday was another good day! It snowed a lot. I love the snow it is so much fun! I knocked so many doors in the freezing cold yesterday that my knuckles actually started to bleed! It wasn't bad but I will most likely exaggerate it to my kids when I'm older.  We had two lessons and they both went well. We have been teaching a lot more lessons recently. The Lord has truly blessed us for all of the doors we have knocked this transfer. I am so thankful for that! It is a lot more fun to actually teach people. 

Well that was my week! Have fun with the Christmas concert! I wish I could be there but I'm happy I am here! I love you mom! I am not sure when I will get to call on Christmas  yet but I will Skype!  So just let me know your Skype name and I will Skype you! I can't wait! Love you!

Your son,

Elder Collier 

I agree, the Subject Line is Hard!

Hey Mom!

This week has been pretty good! The deep fried Turkey was really good! It has been extremely cold. But I hasn't snowed yet. Are here warm clothes in those packages that I'm not allowed to open yet? If not, could you send some warm clothes? And my Elvis Christmas CD? 

I hope Skyla and Zach feel better! That is cool that they live in Springville. 

So here is my week:

Thursday was district meeting and that's always a good time. My district is so cool. Transfers are gonna be sad because I love my district. I'll find out next week if I am getting transferred. Our lesson on Thursday fell through. No one answered the door but again that's mission life haha! But we did get to talk to a less active member for awhile and that was good that he finally opened up to us!

Friday was a pretty good day. It is now December so that is really cool! We did service that morning at Habitat for Humanity. And we had weekly planning. A really long process but it is good to do. We had another lesson fall through that evening so we tried by some more potentials and we talked to this one guy for a really long time. He told us that we worship Joseph Smith but we cleared that up. There's so many misconceptions about us so it's nice that we get to clear things up and explain that we truly are Christians and we know that it is only through Christ that we can be saved! 

Saturday was a really good day! We got to go to a baptism of a lady that Elder Hutchins taught in Polaris! That was really cool to see my first baptism as a missionary! Not too much success the rest of the day but that definitely was a highlight!

Sunday was great! Patrick came to church and he loved it! In the middle of testimony meeting he leaned over and asked me if he could bear his testimony, but sadly the meeting ended before he could. He really loved church and that made me really happy! And then we stopped by a referral in the sketchiest Bellefontaine. She hasn't answered the door since so that's sad. We got to watch the Christmas devotional!  That was awesome. I loved all the talks. 

Monday I had an exchange with Elder Henrie! That was a blast. We had a great time and we found two new investigators. I have so much fun with him but we also work hard. The perfect balance. We gave cookies to some people in the neighborhood so that was fun! Light the world is a really cool initiative, I hope you are participating!

Tuesday we exchanged back and we tracted a lot of the afternoon. It was super cold. But we had a lesson with Patrick. That was awesome. He is doing good. It's crazy that there's just a random person in Ohio that I have come to love. I feel like I can see a tiny bit of what Christ sees in him. Obviously not completely what Christ sees but I can see a portion. I know Jesus Christ loves each of us completely. 

And right now we are having a district activity and it's really fun! So yeah this week was good. I love you mom! 

Your son,

Elder Collier 

Deep Fried Turkey

Hey mom! 

My boots did come thank you so much for them! I'm excited to get the Christmas package! It's crazy it's already Christmas time! Have you decorated yet? Are you gonna participate in #LightTheWorld? I am so excited for it! What Christmas songs are you singing for choir?

Thanksgiving was really fun. No Turkey bowl which was sad. But we had district meeting that morning and that's always a good time. My district is so awesome. After district meeting we went to the Yorgasons for dinner! They deep fried their Turkey! It was super good. We didn't get to slaughter it though. They did that a few days before. It was fun to hang out with them for a bit. They are a really awesome family. I was thinking about how thankful I am for so many things. I realized that I have been so blessed in my life. Growing up with the gospel in my life has blessed me so much. I am thankful for the way you and Dad raised us. 

On Friday we had a lesson with Patrick. He played the guitar for us and sang a song he wrote. It was awesome. And then we taught him and he is now on date to be baptized! I am really excited for him. Sadly I might get transferred out of Bellefontaine so I might not be here for it. But I am still really excited for him!  He is so cool. Then we had a lesson with another investigator that night and it went really well! 

We have been extremely low on miles because it's the end of the month so to save miles on Saturday we walked a lot. It was very very cold but it was good. We knocked on a lot of doors and talked to some people on the street. No one was really interested but at least we talked to people! 

Sunday was a little discouraging. No investigators came to church again. That is the hardest thing to get people to do out here because the church is so far away. And you can't drive to everyone's house and get them to come. But next week we are going to go to Patrick's in the morning to make sure he comes. We talked to some potentials that night and they were interested so we are going to teach them so that's really exciting!

Monday was exchanges! I was with Elder Palmer my district leader. He is from Idaho. He is really awesome. And we were able to talk about sports and that was much needed. We knocked doors pretty much all day and we found 3 new investigators! It was a lot of fun and I noticed that I have grown so much already. I am not as scared to talk to people I don't know! I've learned that the trick is that you just have to start talking. It is awkward at first but then you keep talking and it gets better haha! 

Tuesday was pretty good too. We knocked doors in the morning.  We had 3 lessons but 2 of them fell through. We taught Patrick again though! He is excited to be baptized. It's really cool to see his desire! 

Well that was my week! It was pretty good! I love you! 

Your son,

Elder Collier 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hey mom! 

This week was pretty good. We had a member of the seventy come for a mission tour so that was awesome! And we are getting taken care of tomorrow for thanksgiving! The Yorgasons are having us over. The member that grew up with Sister Zundel! That will be really fun because they have their own turkeys so they already slaughtered one for us to eat. It'll be a blast. 

And I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty sad that I wasn't on that choir trip. But I am glad that I am where I am! 

So Thursday was when we had zone conference with Elder Dyches of the seventy! That was a great meeting. He really taught about a lot of the stuff I have been struggling with or had questions about. So it really helped me! He used to be the mission President of the Oregon Portland mission so when he told stories I knew all the places he was talking about so that was really cool! We learned about how to make our prayers more meaningful which I have been trying to work on so the advice that we were given really helped. 

Friday was pretty good! We were in the middle of personal study and we got a call from some Elders in a different area that said one of their investigators was moving to Bellefontaine! So that was good news! So we helped them move in that morning and she is really interested in the church and really thankful that we helped her move! Later that day we had lessons with some people and it was good! It's always nice when we have lessons because I get to testify of things I know to be true. And when you testify your testimony is strengthened. It's much better than being yelled at for what you believe that's for sure. 

Saturday we had a crazy rainstorm! It flooded a lot of places! The rain sure reminded me of home so that was fun. We were gonna play basketball with Jason but we couldn't because of how rainy it was. That's alright though. Later in the day we went and tried to visit Patrick one of our investigators. His son answered the door and we got to talk to him for quite awhile and he said that his dad has been reading the Book of Mormon and he already sees him changing! Me and Elder Hutchins were so excited! We know that there is power in that book and it brings people closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. 

Sunday was stake conference for the Dayton Ohio East Stake! The stake presidency was reorganized. So two general authorities were there! Elder Clay and Elder Dyches. That was a really powerful meeting. And Elder Clay spoke about how we shouldn't let our questions weaken the testimony we have. If we have questions we should hold on to what we know to be true and have faith t hay our questions will be answered and then they will! I know that that is true. We aren't going to know everything right now but eventually we will have our questions answered. 

Monday was a pretty good day! Just lots of finding again and we had one lesson that night so that was good! The work here is picking up and I am so thankful for that. The Lord wants the Bellefontaine Branch to become a ward I know it. 

Yesterday we had exchanges with the Zone leaders! So we were in Huber heights all day! That was a lot of fun. I went with Elder Madruga. He is really cool and one of the nicest people I have ever met and he went to the same high school as Tyler Haws and a bunch of other BYU basketball players (lucky). We taught a really powerful lesson and we worked really well together while teaching. It was really cool. We taught that lesson over Facebook video chat and after it ended Elder Hutchins and Elder Traughber came in the room told us that Patrick (our investigator) called and said he wants to be a Mormon and asked how he can do that. I almost cried I was so happy. It was the happiest moment so far on my mission. I am so excited to keep working with him and see him progress! 

It was a really good week! I love you mom and I am so thankful for you! Happy thanksgiving! 

Your son,

Elder Collier 

Another Week?? Time Flies!!

Hey mom! 

I can't believe it has been another week already. This transfer is already almost halfway over, I can't believe that! This week was really good and we definitely saw a few miracles. I know that God directs this work and we are just his tools. We definitely couldn't be doing what we are doing without his help. 

Could you send me boots through CTR clothing? That would be nice. And if you could send me some of my under armor and the running pants that I wore when I played lacrosse that would be nice. It is getting extremely cold. And it's only gonna get colder... yay! At least maybe there will be an excuse for people to let us inside (we can hope right? Haha!) And could you send me some sheet music for solos I could sing and also Jonny's ipod that he had on his mission? Thank you!

Well Thursday we had interviews and district meeting. That's always really nice and I love interviews with President Stratford. I only have good things to say about him. He is one of the nicest and most caring people  I have ever met. Sister Stratford is too! After that we had a lesson with a new investigator. That was a powerful lesson. We knocked on his door a few times and he didn't answer and then we walked around Mingo for a bit and felt like we needed to knock again, so we did and he didn't answer again. And we were about to leave and he opened the door! He let us in and we taught him. He said he was asleep but whole he was asleep he heard a scripture in his head. He recited it and I looked it up that night and it was Revelation  3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me." That was powerful. I know that the message we are sharing is important and can change lives. 

Friday was COLD! The coldest day here so far. We did service at Habitat for Humanity in the morning and then had weekly planning and then tried by potentials in the evening. Not too eventful, but most days are like that. One thing I have to remind myself is what a member of the branch presidency in the MTC told us, in a mission you have two or three amazing days, 30 great days, and the rest of them are just tough and full of hard work. 

Saturday was another one of those days, lots of trying to find people with not much success. But that's okay because it's still fun! 

Sunday we had church and that's always good. And we had dinner at the Wahl's. We tracted around their house after that and met some really cool people but none of them are too interested, but it is always nice when you knock on someone's door and they are actually nice! 

Monday was weird because it wasn't P Day! We are still in the adjustment period, but it was good! It was full of knocking doors again. Hopefully by the time I leave Bellefontaine we will have found enough people teach that the next set of missionaries won't habe to knock so many doors haha! 

Tuesday was pretty much the same as the rest of the days. (Exciting, I know) three lessons cancelled on us that day. And we get called some mean names but that's alright because they are super funny stories to tell afterwards haha! 

And today we had a district activity! We went bowling and that was way fun. 

I love you mom, thank you for everything! Keep up the good work with the choir. 

Your son,

Elder Collier