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 

3rd Transfer!

Hey mom! 

Thanks for sending the box! I haven't gotten it yet but I am sure it'll come soon! Yes, my companion is Elder Hutchins! He is from salt lake city. It is funny to see the members reactions when he says he's from Utah. It's nice to be from Washington so I am different. 

Well we are emailing from McDonald's instead of the church today because I locked the church keys in the church last night. That was a little frustrating but we will just get them tonight. 

Thursday was transfer day! I said a sad goodbye to Elder Ames. I already miss him a lot. Change is pretty hard. But I'm gonna have to get used to it. The rest of Thursday we just visited some people and introduced Elder Hutchins to them and made goals for the transfer. 

Friday we went all the way out to Jackson center. The northwest most part of our area. We tracted there in the super cold. We tried by a less active but the address we have isn't updated so someone else opened the door. She was struggling with her dog so she couldn't open the door but she said we could come back and we left a restoration pamphlet for her to pick up on the porch. (We went back yesterday and she didn't answer the door and the restoration pamphlet hadn't moved... But that's missionary life)

Saturday we tracted and we actually found some people! It is nice when people are actually interested. It makes you motivated to keep on finding those people that Heavenly Father needs us to find. We had lessons fall through on Saturday so we just tracted. 

Sunday we had church and that was good! Church is always good. People got to meet Elder Hutchins. There was a thunderstorm and a tornado near us Sunday night so we didn't go outside. We just studied did online proselyting at the church. 

Monday was more tracting and we tried by some investigators. We knocked the entire town of Mingo, Ohio! Yeah that only took like 45 minutes haha. But we found two new investigators there. One is names Rick and when we told him who we were he started crying and said he really needs Jesus Christ in his life right now. We are gonna see him tomorrow! I know that our message can bless peoples lives! 

Tuesday we did some more tracting. No one was really interested. We went back to Jackson center and every one we talked to didn't answer the door. But it's all about planting seeds! 

I love you mom thank you for everything! 

I love you!

Your son,

Elder Collier 

Happy Halloween!!!

Hey Mom, Happy Halloween! 

I have no idea when we are gonna get smartphones, we haven't heard anything yet. Also transfers are tomorrow so I won't find out who my new companion is until tomorrow so you'll find out next week I guess! Sorry about that! I am staying in Bellefontaine though! 

Well this week was pretty good! It is sad to say goodbye to Elder Ames but I am excited to meet my new companion tomorrow!

 So last Tuesday was a typical Tuesday. We met with Sister Achor and read with her. She is starting to understand the scriptures more which is great! It is cool to see people's growth. For dinner we went to the Yorgasons and brother Yorgason took our pictures! And I guess Sister Zundel grew up with brother Yorgason! So that is pretty crazy! So I think you might have seen the pictures on Facebook. They turned out pretty good! Then later on we met with the Poindexters. 

Last Wednesday we had district meeting and it was Elder Ames' last one! So we took his "dying" picture. It's pretty cool I will send you that! And then we met with some people and then taught Bryson for the last time! 

Thursday we helped Jeff put in more concrete so that was a lot of fun. And then we helped Sister Stewart with her yard because she has been really sick lately. She was really thankful and I'm glad we could help her out! 

Friday was good! We went to lunch with some guys we did service with that elder Ames wanted to say goodbye to. They are way cool. Then we helped Sister Achor with Christmas stuff again. And we played basketball with Jason! And we brought Mitch with us so they could be friends and they hit it off! They are both super good at basketball so that was fun. Jason said that he has read half of the Book of Mormon already. We aren't sure if he is being serious but we will find out this week when we teach him again! 

Saturday it snowed! It was all gone by 10:00 when we were out the door though. We saw Dawn and we told her that the members are gonna help them with their house! We are gonna help them too! We saw an investigator later in the day and knocked on his door right after Ohio State beat Penn State. He was excited but drunk so we couldn't teach him. Go buckeyes!

Sunday was Elder Ames last Sunday in the field! Crazy! The primary program was that day! That was really fun, it was nice to hear all those primary songs that I loved to sing! Also I am really excited about the Christmas initiative! I'm excited to #lighttheworld! It's gonna be great! I'm excited to serve people like the savior did! 

Monday we met with Sister Achor again and then we just visited people that elder Ames wanted to say goodbye to. There were some tears shed.

Tuesday was Halloween! I was in Westerville all day because Elder Ames went to the temple with the departing missionaries. So I was with Elder Rogers. He is from enumclaw! So that was fun to talk to him about Washington. We biked everywhere and tracted and met with people. We had to be in by 6 because of Halloween but we were just driving back. But Ohio is weird about Halloween. Only some towns trick or treat on Halloween. Bellefontaine had trick or treating last Thursday. It's strange. 

So yeah that was my week! Cassidy sent me the concert! They sound really good! 

I love you mom! 

Your son,

Elder Collier