Baptism!!

Hello!

This week has been one of the best weeks of my mission. Things are going really great! 

First off, Tyler and Amanda were baptized on Saturday! It was such a great day. Amanda asked me to baptize her. Brother Clark, a member in the ward, baptized Tyler. The spirit was so strong there and the joy in Tyler and Amanda's faces is something I will never forget. It was such a great day. The following day they were both confirmed as members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints and received the Holy Ghost. Elder McInnes was able to confirm Tyler and Bishop Carl confirmed Amanda. The primary program was the same day as the confirmation and Abriana (their 7 year old) participated! She had two speaking parts and sang along with all the kids! I was so happy to witness that. I would be lying if I said that I didn't tear up a little bit. The fact that Tyler and Amanda's two daughters get to grow up in the church and experience the same family joys that I experienced makes me so happy. I love the Thomas family so much.

We met this guy named Robert this week and he is such a good guy. We taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ it was one of the most powerful lessons of my mission. He is an honest seeker of truth. In fact, I brought that up to him! I told him "you seem like a seeker of truth" and then he said "actually it says thst on my card" and he pulled out a business card with his name on it and that "truth seeker". Yes, that actually happened. I'm not making that up haha! I love that guy. I am excited to see where things go with him. 

So this week is transfer week... which means the trio is being split up. Thankfully, Elder McInnes and I are staying in Youngstown and Elder John is just going back to Ashtabula so we will still be in the same zone and district! But it will be sad not having Elder John around with us all the time. I love that guy, already one of my best friends. In other transfer news: we are getting sister missionaries in our ward! That will be way better because our boundaries are HUGE. They will take the Pennsylvania side and we will take the Ohio side. I am excited to be able to be more organized and able to follow up with all the people we talk to and not be spread super thin. 

I am excited to stay in this ward and keep working here. 

I love you Mom! Thanks for everything!

Your son,

Elder Collier 

Trio Life!

Lake Erie! Stand on the Rock!

Hello from Ashtabula Ohio! Right on the lake and about an hour away from Youngstown. 

The Trio

I have been in a trio all week and we will be in a trio all of next week as well. Elder John has been added to Elder McInnes and I. It has been a blast. I love both of them. I have nothing but good things to say about them both. Elder John is from Springville, Utah. All 3 of us are going to be in Utah County after the mission so we are pretty pumped about that. You make the best friends ever out here on a mission. 

There have been lots of crazy experiences this week. Covering two areas that are an hour away is interesting. It takes careful planning. We spent from Thursday to Monday evening in Youngstown and then after dinner on Monday we traveled to Ashtabula and worked in the tiny towns at the very bottom of Ashtabula county on our way up. That was pretty fun. We are here until tomorrow morning and we will head back down for district council and for Tyler and Amanda's baptismal interview! They are doing great and are so excited to be baptized on Saturday. 

The trio

We had a great week. Friday we had to take an unexpected trip to Kirtland to bring President Stratford something he forgot at the Youngstown building. That is an hour and a half drive. We drove up there, dropped it off, ate some Taco Bell, drove past the Kirtland Temple and headed back to Youngstown. It was a fun road trip with the trio. It was the first time I had been to Kirtland! I was only there for a few minutes and I only saw the temple from the window but I can say that it is a special place. I know that the Savior appeared in the Kirtland Temple on multiple occasions. It is a special place. 

Lake Erie

On Sunday evening there was a sacred music festival at the stake center. Five church choirs came and performed including the Youngstown Stake choir. It was awesome! Lots of gospel choirs. It was a blast. So many people were there. It was a great experience for everyone involved. 

Spending time up in Ashtabula has been really great! It is right on Lake Erie. Let me just say, Lake Erie is HUGE. It looks like we are on the ocean. So cool. We had a great day working here yesterday. We met this guy named Harvey who let us right in and we got to teach him about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He said that he used to live in Moses Lake, Washington and his son went to our church over there a few times. He was really excited to have us back over next Tuesday and said that he will make sure his son is there too. Working two areas makes scheduling return appointments a little difficult because we are only going to be in Ashtabula on Tuesday next week so we had to plan them all for that day. Harvey is a great guy and I am excited to see him again. 

This week has been great. Lots of crazy times. I love this trio! And I love this gospel. I am so excited for Tyler and Amanda's baptism on saturday. Their 7 year old daughter drew a picture of me this week! I will be sure to include it when I send my pictures. 

picture that a 7 year old drew of him!
Pretty spot on!

Oh and by the way, we were told by our Mission President that our P days are getting moved back to Mondays. Starting November 19th we will have monday P days. 

I love you mom! Thank you for all you do!

Your son,

Elder Collier