Roller Coaster of Emotions

Hey Mom! 

That sounds like a crazy week! I hope that Solo and Ensemble goes well. I'm sure it will come together. That snow sounds like it was crazy. I'm glad you are safe! I read that story to Elder Morse and he goes "okay okay, it was a 7th place match" haha. I am still very impressed that he decided to keep the Sabbath day holy over being 7th in the nation. Have I mentioned thay I love Elder Morse? He's great. 

This week has been a rollercoaster. Lots of highs and some very low lows. So here we go!

Thursday we had district meeting.  At district meeting me and Elder Morse made the goal that we were going to reach the mission standards of excellence. President Stratford has been telling us that if we work hard and have faith that we will be able to achieve those goals. Those goals are to have 2 people on date for baptism, 2 people at church and 5 new investigators each week. And as of district meeting we had 1 new investigator for the week. Elder Morse and I were determined to reach our goals this week and we knew that if we had faith it would happen.  After district meeting we found a new investigator! So that was good. We also met with mason which is always a blast. He's great. Progressing very well and I am so excited for him to be baptized. He is excited too. He texted us recently and was super excited to find out that Orson Scott Card is Mormon because he is his favorite author haha! Later on we met with Krystalyn. That was a pretty good lesson! And we contacted the rest of the day. 

Friday was a day full of contacting. 7 hours of contacting. That was exhausting but great at the same time. We found 2 really cool new investigators. It's fun contacting. I am getting a lot better at it. The funniest thing is when you say something like "hey could we ask you a question?" And people look at you and say "yeah" and then stare at your nametag and then say "actually I'm in a hurry" and then walk away from you. It's actually quite hilarious. 

Saturday it rained ALL DAY. Reminded me of home quite a bit. But not the best weather to contact in haha! But we did talk to quite a few people. No one super interested though. We visited a less active member that night though. We got on a bus for 45 minutes or so and got off at a place we had never seen before. Still pouring down rain. And Ohio for some reason hardly has any sidewalks anywhere or street lamps so we were walking in mud and in the dark and in the rain. Quite fun. We finally get to this guy's house and he let's us right in and we have a fantastic talk with him! His name is Loki. He is a super awesome guy and totally has a testimony he just didn't feel like he had any friends in the wars. We invited him to come to church and he said he would. And then he drove us home so that was super nice haha. 

Sunday, it is the last day of the week and we are at 2 people on date, and 4 new investigators. We are nervous about getting people at church because Krystalyn was out of town. It is about 8:57 and no one is there. We call mason and he had just slept in. But that's okay he said he would come to the 1:00 meeting. But we still had no idea who would be our 2nd investigator at church but we had faith that The Lord would provide a miracle for us because we had worked so hard this week. 1:00 session comes around and mason comes and then in walks in... Loki and... He brought his girlfriend!!! We talk to her after the meeting and she was interested in meeting with us! The Lord provided a miracle for us. We were able to reach the standards. It was amazing. I know that the Lord is mindful of us and that He has His hand in this work. What a miracle. I am so excited to start teaching Loki's girlfriend. She is way cool. 

Monday I woke up pretty sick. But we get up and go out and work anyway. It was a beautiful day outside and people were really nice and right away we found 2 new investigators that are super solid. But then the phone vibrates and we have a text... Krystalyn dropped us. That wrecked our universe. Something that we were not expecting at all. She was on date to be baptized on March 17th. We had seen her testimony grow and we had seen her change so much. I am not gonna lie, it really hurt and tears were shed. It was rough. Probably the lowest point of my mission so far. But we kept on going. We talked to this one guy that said that he has talked with missionaries on campus before but has never been to church or met up again because he hasn't gotten a round to it. That gave me an idea. I pulled out my wallet and found one of the round tuits that Dad gave me before I left. He wouldn't give us his number but I gave one to him and a card with our number on it and said "now you got a round tuit" and he thought it was hilarious and told us that he would totally consider calling us now. Thank you Dad! Hopefully he actually does because he is super cool. But yeah we just contacted the rest of the day pretty much and we were in a funk because Krystalyn dropped us but we are going to keep on working because I know that this church is true and that this work is the Lord's work. 

Tuesday, we had 2 super solid lessons and lots of contacting. Not much else to report. 

It was a roller coaster of a week that's for sure. Lots of good things happened this week but also a lot of stuff sucked. But that's a mission. The good ALWAYS outweighs the bad though. That is why I am out here. Because I know that the message we share is true and that it can bless the lives of so many people. It is worth getting rejected over and over again if there is one person that gets to experience the happiness that I have had in my life. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior. 

I love you Mom! 

Your son,

Elder Collier 

7 Months!

Hey Mom! 

That is so crazy that you got snow. Yesterday the weather was so nice. 77 degrees and sunny. I got to go out and contact with a short sleeve shirt on. So crazy! It's raining again today but the sun was nice while it lasted. 

That is so crazy that Merit and Chandler are engaged. I'm happy for them! Chandler is definitely welcome in the family. I love that guy. 

So this week was good! Thursday was a day full of miracles. What a day. The Lord truly directs this work and I know that. We were out contacting in the morning and I saw this guy wearing an Ohio State wrestling sweatshirt. I said "do you wrestle?" And to my surprise Elder Morse says "Chase?" And he's like "yeah?" They start talking and it turns out that Elder Morse wrestled him in a national tournament his sophomore year of high school! He now wrestles for Ohio State. They got talking about that and then he ended up being interested in the Book of Mormon! It was wild. Definitely a miracle that we were able to talk to him out of the 60,000 students at OSU. Then we had some really great lessons with investigators. Krystalyn picked a date to be baptized and I am so excited for her! Hopefully I stay here another transfer. It has been so cool to see her progress. 

Friday we had zone conference. It was amazing. The best one so far I think. Everyone cried haha. There was some awesome trainings on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It really put things into perspective for me. I am so thankful for His sacrifice for all of us. It was a great zone conference. The rest of the day was good too!

Saturday was a good day too! We went contacting in the morning and then later in the day we had a lesson with Mason. And we got to have his best friend Skype in who is serving his mission in Brazil to help us teach. That really helped mason understand more things and his friend's testimony was so sincere and helped him a lot. It was a great lesson. 

Sunday was good as always. Church is always good. We went out and contacted for a long time on Sunday night and we met someone that is friends with one of our investigators so that was way cool! 

Monday I went on exchanges with Elder Fowers. That was pretty fun. He's a great missionary and he is way fun to be around. We taught a really good lesson and we contacted most of the day! We handed out lots of bibles and copies of the Book of Mormon. 

Tuesday I was back with Elder Morse which is always great. We had a lesson with Mason and he told me that he found my YouTube channel. He said his favorite one was "Choir trip part 2" where Scotty, Patrick, Woodson and I are in our room on tour. We pretend to go to sleep but we don't. Patrick, Woodson and Scotty are now famous in Ohio. He also enjoyed my music videos with Avery, but let's hope honest, who doesn't enjoy those? Mason is excited to be baptized and we are so excited for him. I love Mason. He's so great. We contacted a lot and it was so fun because it was so warm and tons of people were outside. I have never seen so many hammocks set up in one place in my life. It was crazy. And it's nice when it is warm because people are more willing to talk with you. I talked to this Lax bro yesterday and it was fun to talk about lacrosse with someone but he wasn't interested in the gospel at all. 

Today we got to go to the temple! It was so great. The temple is definitely the House of the Lord. I am thankful for temples. 

I love you mom! Good luck with Solo and Ensemble! 

Your son,

Elder Collier 

Happy Valentine's Day!!

A connection from home

Hey Mom! 

That's really cool that you read that scripture and had that insight this week because so did I! Elder Morse and I have been reading through the new testament and we read that this week and talked about it. That is super cool! Also Elder Morse is really happy that you enjoyed the Haikus. 

 It's been another week on campus that's for sure. Some ups and downs but that's life! 

Thursday we had district meeting and then we had exchanges! I went with the district leader Elder Williams. We had an amazing lesson with Krystalyn. The spirit was so strong and it is so cool to see her faith growing and her questions being answered. It was one lesson I probably won't forget. 

Friday we exchanged back. Not too much happened. Just a lot of contacting. We got a few potentials but no one was too interested. 

At the Temple

Saturday was awesome! In the morning we went to the temple and walked around with Mason! Tanner drove us there (he is the ward mission leader) that was so cool! Mason thought the temple was really cool. We got to go in and sit in the waiting room. It was so peaceful. I love the temple. Then later on we went to lunch with Kyle! Do you remember Kyle? He is the guy we had a super bold lesson with about the Book of Mormon and then he said he would read the entire book in a month. The coolest part about that lesson was at the end we told him that we were only that bold with him because we love him. And he said that he could totally feel that and he loves us too. He's such a great guy. He texted us last week on my birthday and wished me happy birthday so that was super nice haha! And this week he texted us and asked if we wanted to get lunch at Blaze because that's where we met. (So cute I know haha). It was a great lunch and he told us that he is in 2 Nephi right now so it is taking him a little longer than he thought it would. I have full confidence that by the time he is done with the Book of Mormon he will know that it is true. The rest of the day was contacting and weekly planning!

The Cool Companions!

Sunday was a good day. I forgot to get a new bus pass though so we swiped my card and it was expired so we had to walk 50 minutes to church. That was fun haha! I got a new bus pass though so we are all good.  Mason came to church so that was good! Krystalyn was home for the weekend so she didn't get to come. But it was a good church meeting. In the YSA 2nd ward one of the speakers was Dustin Welch. Brandon Hatch's cousin! I went up to him and asked if he had any cousins in Vancouver and he said "yeah but their name isn't Welch" and I said "is it Hatch?" And he was so surprised haha! I told him that I grew up with Brandon and Sophie and that his uncle is my bishop haha! It's a small world. 

Monday and Tuesday were both tough days. Full of contacting and no one wanting to listen to us. We just need to keep a positive attitude and have faith to see miracles! I am glad I am with Elder Morse. I love that kid. We did have a good lesson with Mason yesterday though. 

I love you Mom! Thank you for everything you do! You're the best. Happy Valentine's day!

Your son,

Elder Collier 

Facebook Miracle!

Hey Mom! 

Crazy news. One of the sisters serving on OSU right now knows Jon Andrus's kids! She went to high school with them and is friends with them. She is brand new and she said that she was from Idaho Falls I asked if she knew any Andruses. And she said she knew a lot haha! And then I asked if she knew any that jump roped and she knew them! Small world. Her name is Sister Linford if you wanna tell Jon that! 

Oh and last night I found out that Elder Morse knows Bonnie Perez! They used to be in the same ward. Really small world. 

I heard the Eagles won the super bowl! That is pretty exciting. I wish I would've brought my eagles hat because I totally would have worn it today haha! 

So this week was really good! Thursday was my birthday. That was pretty fun. It was also district meeting! And my district leader asked me to give a training... on my birthday! Haha it wasn't that bad it went well. But Elder Morse asked to give a 5 minute training at the end and it was about me. He wrote 2 original haikus and everything. It was hilarious, I love Elder Morse. I'll send you the video of him giving it haha! The rest of the day was good. We had a great lesson with Mason. He's so solid. And we went to Five Guys for burgers that night. Super great. 

Friday was a pretty good day. We had some good lessons. We had such a great lesson that evening. The spirit was so strong. And we had members there that were willing to bear really powerful testimonies. And I was prompted to share 2 Timothy 1:7 and tell the story of me in 2nd grade and the spirit was so strong. It was a lesson that I will remember the rest of my life I think. 

Saturday was a pretty uneventful day. Just a lot of contacting. The senior couple that teaches a few institute classes took me and Elder Morse out for my birthday though! Elder and Sister Byrd. I love them. That was really nice of them. And we had weekly planning.

Sunday was a great day! They always are great. We also planned as a district for a video we are making to post on Facebook. So stay tuned... Hopefully it's good haha! 

Monday morning was pretty fun. We went to our bus and it just never came. We waited there for 40 minutes and it never came. We were talking to this girl at the bus stop and then when we decided to just walk to campus she asked if she could walk with us. We had a really great conversation walking with her and it was a lot of fun. She wasn't interested in meeting with us but we planted a good seed and she knows that missionaries that walk around aren't that weird haha! But yeah it took about 45 minutes to walk to campus so that took all of our morning. The rest of the day was just contacting. 

Tuesday was great! We had 3 really awesome lessons. And Mason picked a date that he wants to be baptized! March 10th. Hopefully I don't get transferred because I really want to be there for it. And then in the evening we had a super awesome Facebook miracle. Me and Elder Morse have been friending people on Facebook with similar interests. I friend lacrosse players and he friends wrestlers. We have had some decent conversations with people but nothing has really come from it. But yesterday we messaged a guy living in Uganda that is on the Ugandan National lacrosse team and we started talking to him about lacrosse and then we started talking about the Book of Mormon and he was super interested! We asked if he wanted to video chat and he said yes! We sent him a link to the restoration pamphlet and he loved it. This morning even thought it was P day we had a great lesson with him over video chat! He is so interested and really wants to get a Book of Mormon but he doesn't know where to get one in Uganda. We are going to figure out how to get missionaries over there to finish teaching him! It was so cool. The Lord truly is hastening His work and the technology we have makes it so much easier to find those that are "only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it" (D&C 123:12)

I know that this church is Christ's true church on the earth! I know the Book of Mormon is true and is the word of God! It has been a great week and I love that I get to do this every day. 

I love you mom! Thank you for everything!

Your son,

Elder Collier