The Subject Line is Hard...

Hey Mom! 

Thank you for sending the pants! I am excited to get them. It sounds like you have had a good week. I am glad to hear that Rushmore is still a doofus. I wouldn't want him any other way. I am excited to hear how State goes! That's so crazy that Jonny is done with his first semester of college and that He is getting married soon! Can you believe that I am 9 months into my mission? Avery hits her halfway mark tomorrow. Time flies. I get along great with Elder Johnson! He is a great missionary. 

Oh and sorry about the Facebook live music devotional, it got cancelled. I told you about it and then the next day they told me it was cancelled and I forgot to tell you last week. I don't know if it is getting rescheduled or not. I'm sorry about that! I was excited to do it. 

This week has been pretty good!  

On Thursday we had district meeting and then we helped Elder Dooley and Elder Watkins move. They moved into a different apartment. That was some fun times. It is insane the stuff that is left in missionary apartments. So many old things that you don't need. There were pamphlets from the 90's still there. We had a lesson that day that went pretty well. A priest in the ward came out with us named Brennan. He is way cool. 

On Friday we had a good day as well! We taught Ash and that went well. She has been reading the Book of Mormon and told us her favorite verse so far. It's been great teaching her so far. 

Saturday we met some interesting people walking around main street Johnstown. We went to the church to take down chairs after an activity days event happened. Elder Johnson and I took a picture in front of the rose background and it is a pretty good picture.

Sunday was good as always. We got to help out in a youth Sunday school class. A bunch of people joined the ward that are here for the summer as salesman. We had dinner with some of them. They are way cool. It felt like serving on campus again because they are around our age. That evening we had a quad stake missionary fireside. Our zone sang as a missionary choir. It was a great fireside! Two invrstigators that are getting baptized this upcoming saturday bore their testimonies. That was really cool to hear. President Stratford spoke and so did President Birch the stake President of the Columbus East stake. President Birch is one of the nicest people I have ever met. You can feel pure Christlike love whenever you talk to that man. It is incredible. After the fireside I talked with the senior missionary couple that is serving in Cambridge Ohio right now. They are from Salem, Oregon! Turns out they served in the temple for 12 years and know Grandma and Grandpa! That was really cool to connect with them that way. They love Grandma and Grandpa. Who doesn't? Their names are Elder and Sister Gray. Elder Gray is actually serving as the branch President in Cambridge right now!

Monday was good. We did a lot of service. We posted on a Johnstown Facebook group offering service and people took us up on the offer, it was pretty great! We also met a really cool guy tracting that evening. He told us all about how he built his porch. It was impressive. 

Yesterday was good as well. Nothing too exciting happened but sometimes that's how days go! Overall it was a good week. 

I love you mom! Thank you for all that you do for me. Good luck with state! 

Your son,

Elder Collier

The Winter That Will Never End!

Hey Mom! 

I will miss that van that's for sure. Tell Dad that I am sorry I didn't take better care of my things. Haha! I didn't know dad was that good at bargaining. Super impressive!

Yeah they made changes in the ward this past week. It should be great! The Elders Quorum is now huge! 

This week was pretty good! We had transfers yesterday. I am staying in Johnstown! My new companion is Elder Johnson. He came out a transfer after me. He is from Taylorsville Idaho. Really close to Idaho Falls. He doesn't know any Andruses though haha! He is really awesome. 

Last Thursday we had exchanges and it was quite the day! Both companionships came to Johnstown so that was great. We found 5 new investigators in one day. That was a lot of fun. I was with Elder Dooley. We taught a Mom and her daughter that night. It was a great lesson. The daughter was so excited to read the Book of Mormon and she said the message was comforting. She totally felt the spirit and it was so cool. The mom is a little more skeptical but I know that as she reads the Book of Mormon  she will know it is true! Also earlier that day we met the nicest lady ever. We talked with this one lady outside of the Hartford Library and she wasn't interested at all. She walked back in the library and we walked past the library. Then this other lady comes out of the library and calls for us. I thought to myself "dang, we are gonna get yelled at for talking to the other lady" (that was a terrible attitude to have but I thought it) but then she invites us in the library and starts handing us a bunch of bread! Panera bread and kroger comes and gives them bread so they can give to the community and they had a ton extra so she just started handing us bread and would not take no for an answer! She was so nice! She also was telling us that they have a bunch of school supplies for kids in the community to have. We talked for a bit and then we left and put all the stuff in our car. Then we turned around and saw her walking towards us with a big box of donuts! We talked to her for a but longer. Her name is Faith and she is so nice. She told us that her great nephew is actually serving a mission right now in Florida so that's why she recognized us and wanted to help us out. She said that she wants us to come back and we are gonna go back every once in awhile to help her st the library. She is seriously one of the nicest ladies I have ever met. She shows pure Christlike love to the community. 

Friday we did service in the morning and helped a member of the ward with yardwork! It was super nice Friday and Saturday. It got up to 70! We also had weekly planning and then we had a great lesson that evening. 

Saturday was great! We got to attend the baptism of Tonya. She is the newest member of our ward! The sisters taught her. And then at the baptism we met Ash. She is a great new investigator. Her favorite YouTuber is a member of the church so she got interested that way and went on mormon.org to request a Book of Mormon. She has been talking to referral missionaries on the phone and we finally met her at the baptism and she loved it! And then we had a great lesson with her later on that day and she wants to be baptized! It was quite the miracle! 

Sunday was a great day as well! Sundays are always good. I don't really remember what happened that day though haha! We tracted a long time in the rain though! 

Monday it started snowing... It is April!! I never thought I would be upset about snow but I now understand why people don't like it. We did service that morning a the food pantry and then Elder Madsen packed up! We went out to a lesson with our Ward Mission Leader brother Peterson. And then after our lesson he said that we past one of his friends house and wanted us to come with him to introduce ourselves! That was so cool that he was willing to introduce us to his friends. I love brother Peterson. He is so great. 

Then Tuesday was transfers! We did service at the thrift store and Elder Madsen said goodbye to Eileen. That was pretty sad but we gave her a Book of Mormon and she really appreciated it! That was super cool. Then we had transfers and I said goodbye to Elder Madsen and got Elder Johnson! We had a lesson that night with a Pastor. He is a really cool guy and knows a lot about our church. He has even met President Hinckley! He said "I am not like most people, I know you aren't a part of a cult." I really appreciated that he said that! 

It has been a good week. I love Johnstown and I am excited to work hard with Elder Johnson! It should be a great transfer. I know that the Book of Mormon is true! It is the word of God. 

I love you Mom! Thank you for everything. Good luck with state coming up. And I am excited for the call on Mother's day! 

Your son,

Elder Collier

Fun Times in Johnstown!

Hey Mom!

I would've loved to see Rushmore running through the mud haha! What a doofus. 

I don't know when we will find out if we are gonna stay in the mission. Probably sometime in June. Also, transfers are next Tuesday! So I will let you know next week if I have been transferred. I think I'll stay here though.

 Well my week was pretty good! I'll tell ya about it! 

Thursday was a really great day. We saw some serious miracles. Wednesday night we were talking about how we haven't seen much success here and why that was and we decided that we needed to strive to be more obedient. We were working really hard and we weren't being disobedient but we decided to go through the white handbook and focus on all the little things that we may have neglected. So we made a list during companion study. Then we hit roads on our bikes! We met this really cool kid named Nathan. He was playing basketball so of course we talked with him and started shooting hoops with him! We ended up giving him a Book of Mormon. It was really cool. That was miracle number 1. Later on we stopped by a guy that  we had been having a hard time getting ahold of. We talked with him and he told us that he had been reading the Book of Mormon and we got setup a return appointment so that was really awesome. Then the coolest miracle happened that night. We stopped by a guy that we had met the week before but he was busy that night and said to come back. We knocked on his door and his son answered and remembered us from the week before! His dad wasn't home yet so we waited outside for a bit and then his dad came back and remembered us and let us right in! We got to talk about the Book of Mormon and his reaction was amazing. He said "you are telling me that the Native Americans knew about Jesus?? Now you got me interested!" It was so cool. We got to teach about the restoration and we are gonna be meeting with him and his son again. That was such a cool experience. The Lord saw that we were willing to do what it took to be successful and He blessed us immediately. I am so thankful for that experience. 

Friday we did service at the thrift store. Always a good time. That evening our Ward Mission Leader came with us to a lesson and it was great! Brother Peterson is the best. He is always willing to help us out and be friends with our investigators. I am so thankful for him. 

The rest of the week was a full of knocking and biking again. Not a lot of success but thanks to the experience on Thursday I know for a fact that there are people in Johnstown ready for us to teach them! I love Johnstown. The members of this ward are great and the people in this area are great as well. 

Oh and Monday was zone conference! It was great! I love President Stratford. Also I got to email Elder Browning (Caleb) serving in Liberia because we found this guy on Facebook that was really interested and really wants to meet with missionaries but the address he gave us mad no sense at all. So we emailed Elder Browning and told him the address and he knew exactly what the guy was talking about and was able to send the referral along! That was cool. 

I love you Mom! Thank you for everything. I'm glad you had a fun spring break. Good luck getting ready for state! 

Your son,

Elder Collier

Conference Was Amazing!!

Hey Mom! 

It sounds like you have been having a relaxing spring break! I'm glad. And I'm glad that Jonny was able to get a job! That will be good. I am excited for him and Emily. Conference was so great. I loved it all. My favorite talk was either Elder Wakalo's (I think I spelled that right) or Elder Uchtdorf's. I really loved the phrase "Behold the Man." Sometimes we learn about the Savior without really beholding Him. We need to come to know the Savior and not just know about Him. It is something that I still have to get better at but I know I have changed a lot so far! 

This week has been exhausting. Lots of work and sadly, not too much to show for it. I love this area though. The members are so great and it's so fun. It's very tough though. 

Thursday was a fun day! We had district meeting which is always great. My district is so awesome. We have 2 sets of Elders that are speaking Nepali. It's crazy. There's a lot of Nepali people in the New Albany, Ohio area. We ended up biking all day. In the pouring rain! It was a blast. We were really low on miles for the end of the month so we had to bike. It was the first time using my bike on my mission! Crazy right? It is a great bike though. I'm glad I finally got to use my 16th birthday present hahaha! We had a lesson that we biked to but he didn't answer the door so we knocked a lot. Lots of nice people but no one was interested. Then we biked back to town and met with Brother McNamer. He is a less active member but he has been coming to church lately! He is so awesome. He definitely has a testimony and it was a great discussion with him. We also did some Facebook proselyting. We have been finding success that way. Not with people in Johnstown sadly but with other people around the world. We have been able to send referrals to other missionaries which has been cool! Later that evening we knocked on more doors. Most people weren't interested except for this one guy! So we are visiting him again tomorrow. 

Friday it wasn't raining so that's good! We did service at the thrift store. The lady that runs it is named Eileen and she is so nice. She is awesome. She is actually on a family trip right now in Washington! She was asking me about it. Her son lives near Seattle. She has also been asking a lot more questions about the church lately and it has been really cool. The rest of the day we did weekly planning and knocked some more! We are determined to find people. We played basketball with these kids Friday night. I loved basketball contacting. It's so much fun. We got to show them the Prince of peace video afterwards and give them some pass along cards. They now know that the Mormons are cool (I hope) haha! 

Saturday was a great day. We helped with the ward Easter breakfast in the morning. And Eileen and her husband came! That was really cool to see her there and she became friends with some members. We served the food. Then we watched conference. It was a special experience to sustain President Nelson as the prophet. I know he has been called of God. I also know that Elder Gong and Elder Soares have been called of God. We watched the Priesthood session at the Smith's house! Brother Smith is really awesome. It was a great session. I know that we all need to rise up! Rise Up O Men of God! 

Sunday was a great Easter. We watched conference at the Lawsons. That was a lot of fun. They are such a great family. Again, conference was great. I always feel an increased desire to serve God and come closer to Christ each conference. I really loved President Nelson's invitation to seek for more personal revelation. That is something that I will try to apply in my missionary work for sure!  

Monday we woke up with snow on the ground! It's April! We did service at the food pantry and then we had a lesson with our investigator Charlie. He is really cool. He is searching for truth and reading the Book of Mormon. We knocked on some more doors and then tried a new contacting technique. We tried contacting in the Kroger parking lot because there is always a lot of people. We got rejected a bunch but we saw some members there and talked to them and they invited us over for dinner! So that was a tender mercy. They are a great family as well and are always willing to introduce us to friends. They promised to let us know about community activities that we can go to to meet their friends. I'm excited for that. I know thay the work here will progress as we start to work with members more closely. We have been trying to do that. 

Tuesday was good. More knocking! Can you see a pattern? Haha! We met this really nice guy that was interested but we were able to talk about family history and his wife is really interested in that so we got to tell him about the family history center we have and familysearch.org. There was a tornado warning in the evening so we had to stay inside for most of the evening. We got some good Facebook finding in though! We messaged this one guy that told us that he wants to join the church but just didn't know how! So that was awesome. The tornado never touched down. We went out and visited our most progressing investigator and he dropped us. 

So that was my week! Hoping and praying that things will start to pick up soon. It's tough but I am loving it here. Hopefully next week will be more exciting haha! 

Love you mom! Thank you for the love and support and prayers!

Your son,

Elder Collier