It's Always a Party In Johnstown!

Hey Mom!

That sounds like such a fun trip! That is so crazy that Jonny is engaged and has a car and all that. He's so old! I'm glad you had fun and I'm glad Harrison got to know that I remembered his birthday!

This week has been pretty good. The work here is tough. But we keep chugging along. "It's always a party in Johnstown" is our motto. And Elder Madsen and I make sure it really is a party. We have a blast together. He's hilarious. 

Alrighty, here's my week! 

On Thursday we had district meeting which is always really fun. And then we pretty much tracted all day. A lot of people were not interested but we had an amazing experience with this one lady. We showed her the Prince of Peace video and she started crying. The spirit was so strong and she totally felt it. Those moments make the long tracting sessions all worth it. We also had another experience like that with another guy later in the day. It was awesome. 

Friday we did service in the morning at the thrift store. That's always fun and then we had weekly planning. We went tracting after that and We actually knocked on the door of a lady that volunteers at the food pantry with us and she said "you can come in but I don't want to hear what you have to say" I thought that was really funny. We couldn't go inside though because there wasn't a third male but it was nice of her to offer. She loves us, but I think it's funny that she still didn't want to listen to us. Pretty sad actually. We had a lesson thay evening that went well. Good day overall. 

Saturday there was a baptism! The sisters serving in the ward had an investigator be baptized. His name is Herschel, he is really awesome. Elder Seely (one of the zone leaders) and I sang a duet for the baptism. We sang "You Raise Me Up". It went pretty well! Then we did service at the Lawson's. They actually moved here in November from Everett, Washington! So that's pretty cool. Brother Lawson grew up in Moses Lake. They are so awesome. Then we knocked doors the rest of the night. Fun stuff!

Sunday was a beautiful day! I didn't even need a coat. Church was great. Herschel was confirmed so me and Elder Madsen got to stand in the circle. That was a really cool experience. The spirit was so strong and I am so happy for Herschel! The rest of the day on Sunday we stopped by some people and knocked some doors. A few people were interested so that's good! 

Monday was a day. We did service at the food pantry and one of the ladies there was talking to us a lot about our missions and we explained whay we do and she was so surprised about all the stuff we have to give up! It was cool that she has been asking questions, i feel like slowly she will ask more about what we believe and we will be able to have some teaching opportunities. We have been praying for teaching opportunities during service and it is cool to see the Lord softening her heart and preparing her for that.  We were supposed to have a lesson in the evening and when we got there the lady said that she talked to her pastor at her old church and decided that she doesn't want to listen to us anymore. That was really hard. She was so solid. We tracted the rest of the night in her neighborhood and no one was interested. One door we knocked on Elder Madsen said "how are you doing?" And the guy said "why do you want to know? Where is your solicitor's license?" And we explained that we weren't soliciting anything and he asked for it again so Elder Madsen pulled out his solicitors license! (Multiple people have called the police on missionaries in Johnstown so the city has given us free solicitors licenses even though they know we aren't soliciting anything. They just gave them to us so people wouldn't call the police or if they did we could show the police and it makes it easier.) And then the guy just said "oh, I guess you're legitamite" and slammed the door. It was pretty funny. 

Tuesday was another day full of knocking. Another lesson cancelled so we had to knock. It's not the most effective way of finding people to teach but sometimes you just need to do it. We are trying to come up with more creative ideas. In the evening I had a very distinct prompting from the Holy ghost to knock on this one specific house that we weren't planning on knocking so we went up and knocked on the door and she was initially not interested but we kept talking and eventually she accepted a Book of Mormon! She still didn't want to meet with us but I know that she needed that at this moment for a reason. I wouldn't have been prompted to do that if it wasn't important. Earlier in the day we did Facebook proselyting in the library and this guy came up to us and told us he has always wanted missionaries to knock on his door because he was curious in what we believe. We were able to talk about the Book of Mormon and why it is important and we taught the restoration pretty fast and he accepted a Book of Mormon and said he would read it! He didn't want to meet with us again but he has the Book of Mormon now and I am confident that he will feel the spirit as he reads that book because it is the word of God. 

Today we had a district activity at Bishop Kyees' house. He is the bishop of the YSA 1st ward so it was good to see him again! He has a basketball court in his house. So we played basketball and volleyball. Pretty fun! 

I love you so much mom! Thank you fornthe package it was great! I will send you a picture of me wearing the tie and socks! I love you!

Your son, 

Elder Collier

Snow in March?

Hey Mom! 

I'll be looking forward to getting that package with the tie and socks! Could you possibly send me another pair of pants? My tan ones are falling apart. 

Sorry it has taken me so long to email today! We went bowling as a district this morning. It was a lot of fun! But it is snowing today so that isn't fun. I thought we were done with that! 

My week was good! 

On Thursday we had exchanges. I went with Elder Brumfield. He is my district leader. That was a lot of fun because he was in my first district back in Bellefontaine. So it's good to be serving around him again. We had a really good lesson that evening. The spirit was really strong when I was reciting the First Vision. I know that that happened. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet. 

Friday was a good day as well. We exchanged back and then had weekly planning! And then we had dinner with the Moarefdousts! That was a ton of fun. They are so awesome. And yes I did get to see Rushmore! He was a big doofus. 

Saturday was St Patrick's day! But I totally forgot about that. I should've wore a green tie but I didn't. We did a lot of tracting that day but to was still good. We had a great lesson that afternoon and this guy we are meeting with has a bunch of old documents from his family and he is super excited about family history. So that is really cool! The stake is having a big family history day in a few weeks that he is gonna go to. That'll be good. 

Sunday was good as always! Church is always a blast. The ward here is so awesome. We went tracting again that evening and that was fun. Not too much else happened. It was also super warm on Sunday! 

Monday was great! We did service at the food pantry which is always a fun time. We had a chapel tour with an investigator that afternoon. The member that came with us really hit it off with him and they built a pretty good friendship so that was really cool to see. We contacted a potential investigator that evening and she let us right in! She was really excited to see us and super happy when we gave her a Book of Mormon! She told us that she is gonna mark all over it and when we come back she is gonna have a lot of questions. That was really awesome to hear! And she said she wants to watch general conference! That will be good. 

Tuesday it started snowing! Ohio weather is so weird. It was super nice sunday and monday and then not at all on tuesday. We did service at the thrift store that gives its profits to the community. The lady that runs it is so nice. We invited her to our easter breakfast in a few weeks and she was sp excited about it.  We had interviews with President Stratford after that. He is so awesome.  And we had another really awesome lesson with our investigator Herb. He is really studying the Book of Mormon and trying to find an answer for himself. The thing I love so much about this Gospel is that you are invited to find the answer for yourself. You aren't just going off of what someone has told you. You study it out and through the power of the Holy Ghost you are able to find the truth for yourself. I know that anyone that reads the Book of Mormon with a sincere heart will find out that it is true! 

I love you Mom! I'm glad you are doing well and I'm glad the concert went well. Thank you for everything you have taught me.

Your son, 

Elder Collier 

Johnstown, Ohio

Hey Mom! 

That's exciting that Jonny is engaged. I am glad that he is super happy. And I would like to see pictures! Am I going to get to be a cardboard cutout groomsmen? 

Also how is Union lacrosse doing?

I have been transferred to Johnstown, Ohio. I am in the New Albany 2nd Ward. My companion is Elder Madsen and he is from Preston, Idaho. This is his first transfer after being trained so I am "greenie breaking" him. Me and him are extremely similar. It's actually really funny. He made a "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared" reference (Jonny and Teilani will know what that is) and a "Homestar Runner" reference (Harrison, Zach and Jonny will know what that is) and we were both like "you are the first person on the mission that has understood that!" It was hilarious. His trainer was Elder Oetli who I was in the MTC with and we know each other pretty well. He is a huge Utah fan so when he moved out of the apartment he put 2 Utah posters right above my bed. He thought that was pretty funny. And he's right, it is pretty funny haha. 

So for my week! Thursday was my last day on campus. Pretty sad but it was good. We took new missionaries out. I took Elder Green out for his first contact. He did such a great job. He is so cool. He is from a town near Boise and he told me that one of his best friends played lacrosse and it turns out that I played his friend's team last year in Boise! It was Mountain View from Idaho. The last team we played that totally destroyed us. So that was pretty funny! Then we said goodbye to Kyle (the investigator that is currently reading the entire Book of Mormon and asked us thread the entire new testament.) He is such a great guy. Then we had transfers! I'm not gonna lie, it was extremely hard saying goodbye to Elder Morse. I love that guy. But Elder Madsen is super great! We had a really good lesson that evening with a family that lived in our apartment complex. They are moving out of our area though so we will refer them to other missionaries. They are really awesome though. 

Friday we did service at this awesome thrift store that donates all of their profits to the community. It was a lot of fun. Then we went tracting. The first time I have knocked on doors in 3 months... that was fun. So weird haha. We had weekly planning which is always fun and then we had a good lesson that evening! 

Saturday we knocked on doors for most of the day. It was a blast. We talked to this one guy for awhile that is from Macedonia. He has a hard time reading English so we are going to bring him a Croatian Book of Mormon because that's easier for him to read. 

Sunday was great! I already love this ward. It was crazy meeting Sister Moarefdoust. She knows every one that I know. She said that she went to high school with Brother Sork! That was crazy. It's such a small world. We are eating dinner with them on Friday. The rest ofnthe day was good as well!

Monday was a wild day! We definitely saw miracles. Neither of us really felt very good that morning but we kept on going. We did service at a food pantry and that was fun. And then we went tracting but the real miracle was our lesson that evening. It was with this guy named Herb. He is one of the coolest guys that I have ever seen and he is totally searching for truth. He told us that he just doesn't feel like the other churches are complete but he hopes that the Book of Mormon connects it all and then we were able to testify that we have a Prophet on the earth and we invited him to general conference coming up and he was so excited. He said that he thinks that if he gets to hear the prophet he will be able to tell if it is true. And he is exactly right. I know that he will gain a testimony during general conference. And then later that night we got a referral from a member!

Tuesday was a good day too! We had a good lesson that morning and then did service at the thrift store again. We visited the referral that we got from the member and he was super cool and gave us a carton of duck eggs so that was cool. 

I am loving it here in Johnstown. It is always a party in Johnstown! 

I love you mom! Thank you for everything!

Your son,

Elder Collier 

Goodbye OSU :(

Hey Mom! 

Congratulations to all the groups going to State! State is always a blast. I'm so excited for the groups. They are gonna do a great job. How is union lacrosse doing this year?

So we got a call from the assistants a few minutes ago and they told us that we are being doubled out. Pretty sad about it. We got doubled in and were here for 12 weeks and now we are both leaving! And they are only having 4 sets of missionaries on campus this upcoming transfer so we are just splitting up our investigators among the remaining missionaries. Pretty crazy. I definitely wasn't expecting that. We will find out tomorrow where we are getting transferred to. I'm pretty sad that I don't get to teach Mason again. But I trust that this is what the Lord needs at this time. 

Well the week was a pretty good week! 

On Thursday we had district meeting which is always fun. We had a great lesson with Mason. He is doing really well. I am so excited for him. I love Mason. We went contacting the rest of the day which was fun! We met a really awesome person that already has a Book of Mormon. So she was interested in meeting with us. (But I guess it's not gonna be us anymore, it'll be some other missionaries). 

Friday was an interesting day. It was freezing cold this morning and both Elder Morse and I were so tired. After our first contacting session from 11:00 to 1:00 we were so dead. After lunch and comp study we decided to stop by the UDF and both bought a 16 oz. Mountain dew. We chugged them and then went out contacting hahaha. The day really turned around! That day we ended up handing out 6 copies of the book of Mormon. One of the people we talked to we actually taught the entire first lesson about the restoration on our first contact. He is so cool! It was a really successful day. And I know that it wasn't actually the mountain dew that made it successful it was us putting in the effort even though we were tired and the Lord blessed us and strengthened us. But that mountain dew did taste good haha!

Saturday there was a bunch of lacrosse games going on on the fields. I wanted to play so bad.  We contacted a lot of people and then we had a few lessons. We had weekly planning and then we had dinner with a member. It was a delicious vegetable lasagna. 

Sunday was awesome! We had stake conference and Elder Taylor from the seventy spoke. It was amazing. Mason came to stake conference and he got to meet him and he loved it. It was a really cool experience. We had dinner at the Jeffries' house. That was the first time I had eaten in a house in 12 weeks. They had a dog and everything! Crazy! Nothing else too exciting happened the rest of that day.

Monday was a day full of contacting because lessons cancelled. But I love contacting now. It is gonna be so weird to go tracting again... But it should be fun! We met some awesome people and actually got 2 new investigators so that is always fun. Dang I'm gonna miss campus...

Tuesday we had two really good lessons. One with Caitlin and one with mason. We also met this guy that is so solid. He told us that he has actually been looking for a church with his girlfriend and he is so excited to meet with us! I'm sad that I won't be able to see him again but I have faith that whoever ends up teaching him will do a good job. We also talked to a girl from Yakima who has cousins thay go to Prairie High school in Vancouver so that was cool. And we met another guy from Seattle! Two people from Washington! What are the odds of that?

Well, now the rest of the day is gonna be us cleaning and packing and deciding who is gonna teach our investigators. It should be a fun rest of the day. I love you mom! Thank you for everything!

Your son,

Elder Collier