One Last Time!

Helloooo 

I know I have been so bad at writing. This past transfer has been insane. I have never been so tired in my life but I wouldn't want to go out any other way. I love this assignment that I have. 

I was able to go with two of my previous companions this week. Elder Gloschat who I was companions a year ago and Elder Wraught who I just finished training last transfer. It was great to be with both of them. I love them a lot and I'm thankful for their diligent service to the Lord. 

Words cannot begin to express how much I have loved my mission. The past two years I have been converted to the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel. I love Him and I know He lives. I have seen miracles. I have experienced things that leave no question in my mind that God is there and that He loves His children. Some of those experiences are too sacred to share. 

I love Ohio. Because this is where I learned to love the Lord. I am going to be sad to leave here next Wednesday but I trust that the Lord will take care of me wherever I go. I know He is watching out for me. 

God lives and Jesus is the Christ. I know that. 

Here's to one more week. I'm gonna leave it all out on the field. 

For one last time,

Elder Collier 

Road Trips!

Hello! This week was the first week of training visits for Elder Bennett and I. It was quite the adventure! I have never been so tired in my life but I have seen the Lord's hand in each day. He is looking out for me and strengthening me! 

Tuesday: We had Mission Leadership Council. My last MLC of my mission. I shed a tear or two when we sang the mission song at the end. Words can't express how much I love my mission. Elder Bennett and I gave a training and it went really well. We are witnessing a huge culture change in this mission and it is a great sight to see. The Lord has raised the bar and He is going to bless us like crazy. We just need to step up. After MLC all the training specialists and President and Sister Stratford went to the temple. That was a great experience and exactly what I needed to begin this assignment. 

Wednesday: We were in Canal Winchester with Elder Schreiter and Elder Hammond. I went with Elder Hammond for the day! We spent most of the day in Circleville and went finding. We got let in by this awesome couple named Sue and Jim. It was cool to be in their home and teach them. Elder Hammond is a great young missionary and I am excited for him to continue to grow. 

Thursday: We were in Reynoldsburg with Elder Miskin and Elder Whitcomb. I was with Elder Miskin for the day! He is a stud. It was such a great day. We found some awesome people to teach including this man named Lee. He was on the phone when we talked to him but as soon as we told him what we were doing he hung up the phone and listened. He has been struggling with his faith and it wasn't a coincidence that we talked with him! He was so excited to hear about the Book of Mormon and how it can help him grow closer to Christ! It was such a great experience. 

Friday: We were with the Reynoldsburg Nepali speaking Elders. They are a trio, Elder Garner, Elder Nye and Elder Pakwal. I was with Elder Nye and Elder Pakwal for the day. I don't speak any Nepali but it was a great day! It was so cool to hear them speak and testify of Christ and even though I couldn't understand what they were saying the Spirit still testified that it was true. They are great missionaries. 

Saturday: We were in New Albany with Elder Michels and Elder Vaughn! I was with Elder Michels for the day. It was good to be back with him. I have served around him when I was in Youngstown. This day was one of the best of my whole mission. We talked to lots of Swahili speaking people. Elder Michels knows a little bit of Swahili but we needed to use translators a lot of the time. We ended up finding 10 new people to teach including 2 families! It was amazing. The Lord led us to the right people. It was a really great day. It felt like I was serving in a different country but it was so cool. 

I love my new assignment. I love my mission. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I am exhausted but He is lifting me on His shoulders. 

WOW!!

That is the only word I can think of when I think about this week. 

When you serve on a college campus you don't get too much variety. But this week we had some of that! 

We got to do two service projects which was great. We helped these people move on Thursday and we got to do some yard work on Saturday. The move was something else. The home hadn't been cleaned in 30 years... so you can imagine how that went. 

But the best part of the week was meeting with Niki after church on Sunday. That was the most powerful experience of my mission. She is taking amazing leaps of faith to join the church. She is sacrificing so much because she knows this is true. She told us the first time she met with us that she would never feel the feelings that we described to her. But she has completely changed, the Lord has manifested the truth to her through the power of the Holy Ghost. She has felt the Spirit so powerfully. I have seen first hand the Lord performing His work. I am so thankful for this experience. Words can't describe this experience. I lived the scriptures yesterday. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. No doubt about it. 

Have a great week!

Elder Collier 

I'm Still Alive!

Sorry for the lack of emails! Talking on the phone with my family makes me forget to send emails!

Well, to give an update, I am still serving on the campus of Ohio State! Things are going really well here even though it's the summer! It's a lot slower but there's still people to talk to so that's good! Elder Wraught is doing great and I am a proud trainer. He impresses me every day! 

We are teaching this awesome girl named Niki! She loves church and she loves learning more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She says that she feels so peaceful every time she learns. That's what happens when learn of and apply the teachings of Jesus Christ! We are filled with the Spirit of the Lord which brings peace. Niki came to church again this week and she brought one of her friends! She said that she loves what she is learning so much that she wants to share it! She now knows how we feel and why we serve missions. It's great! 

I got to go on exchanges with my buddy Elder Oettli this week who I am going to be rooming with in college. We went down to my favorite place in the Newark area... buckeye lake. It's really interesting town that has a beach town feel even though it's just on a lake. It took me back to my first exchange in Newark almost a year ago... I was with Elder Stephens and we spent all evening in buckeye lake. What a great day! Also, it was 50 cent corn dog day at sonic this week so naturally I ate 7 corn dogs in one sitting. 

I finished the Book of Mormon again last week and I knelt down and asked my Father in Heaven again if it is true. His spirit manifested to me that it is true. That knowledge has changed my life. I know that Jesus Christ truly is my Savior and I am thankful for Him. I began reading the Book of Mormon again and I am determined to finish it by the end of my mission. I have been cruising through it and marking every reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. Through 43 chapters there is 806 references to the Savior. That is about 9 per page. Everything about the Book of Mormon testifies of the reality and divinity of Jesus Christ. Who wouldn't want that? I am so thankful for that book. 

I promise that I am still alive and still on my mission everyone haha! I wouldn't trade my mission for anything. I am so thankful for this experience. 

Elder Collier

OSU Round 2!

Hello! Sorry it has been a little bit since I have written for the blog! This past week or so has been great. 

I had to say goodbye to Dublin on Thursday... but Now I am back on THE Ohio State University. I was not expecting to come back here but I am glad I'm here! I'm training a brand new missionary. His name is Elder Wraught and we already get along well. He is from Caldwell, Idaho. It's been a whirlwind to get doubled into campus but a little over a year ago I got doubled in here with Elder Morse so I've done it before haha! Speaking of Elder Morse... he's on campus too! He's the district leader here. It's so fun to be reunited with him and I'm excited to go on exchanges. And my buddy Elder Brinkerhoff is here too! We are all here and we are all training. It's such a great time. After we are done having a blast on OSU, we'll all have a party in Orem/Provo. Life is good. 

My last week in Dublin was amazing. Mainly because Carlyn was baptized! That was one of the best days if my life. I was so happy for her! She was so happy and it was such a joyful and peaceful service. I had the privilege of baptizing her and it is a life changing experience. By being baptized she made her first covenant with God. The covenants that we make with God bring His power into our lives. He will always keep His promises and when we keep our side of the covenant His blessings far outweigh whatever sacrifices we have to make to keep the covenant. I am so happy for Carlyn to start on the covenant path that leads back to our Heavenly Father. 

She is doing so well! She already has gone out teaching with the sisters and did a great job. Life is good. I was really sad to say goodbye to her and all of the great people I met in Dublin but I know I will see them again! 

That is a very short version of what happened since I last wrote! Missions are crazy and they are the best. I love my Savior and I am so thankful for the joy that comes from living His gospel. Again, life is good. 

Love you!

Your son,

Elder Collier

Popeye's is underrated!

Hello!

Sorry for not writing an email for the blog the past two weeks! The good news is that I am still alive and still loving life. Dublin is a good place and Elder Johnson is a great companion. 

This week was pretty solid. Didn't spend a ton of time in Dublin though!

After preparation day ended last week we felt prompted to go to this part of town called New Dublin. It is where all the rich folk go to drink and to have fancy dinners and such. I don't typically like contacting there because people aren't always the nicest but we were obedient to the Spirit and went anyway! I'm thankful we listened to the prompting because the first person we talked to was so cool! His name is Rich and he was super interested and down for us to stop by. The one problem was that he lives in Kentucky. But when we told him missionaries are there he was super excited and gave us all his contact info and we sent the referral to the Kentucky missionaries! It was really cool to see the Lord place us in the right place at the right time for someone that is prepared to receive the Gospel even though he is from Kentucky!

On Wednesday we went up to Delaware (the town not the state) and went to my buddy Elder Oettli's district council. He did a great job. He is probably as good at giving district councils as Donovan Mitchell is at basketball (I know you're reading this Elder Oettli). After the meeting I got to go on an exchange with Elder Dwyer! He is a great missionary. I enjoyed it a lot. In the evening we went up to Marion to help those Elders out a little bit. But before that we got Popeye's for dinner. Let me tell you, Popeye's is underrated. We split a 30 dollar box between the four of us and there was plenty of food to go around. 16 pieces of chicken, 8 biscuits and 3 sides. You can't beat that. Good stuff. Anyway, after we scarfed down our food we went to work. The goal was to set as many appointments for the Marion Elders as possible. Elder Oettli and Elder Johnson dropped Elder Dwyer and me off in some place in Marion (where neither of us had ever been before) and we went to work. Marion is a great place. Super sketchy but it's great. We talked to so many people. We met this awesome lady named Christa and we taught her and her son about the divine mission of Jesus Christ. It was powerful as we bore simple testimony of our Savior that a 6 year old could understand. They were both really excited to learn more and they met with the Marion Elders on Saturday. I'm so excited for that family. 

On Friday I got to go to Polaris and be reunited with my previous companion, Elder Colt Johnson! It was so great! I've missed that guy. It was nice to work together again and reminisce on the good times in Johnstown and all the lessons we learned. We had a great day and we talked to some great people. The next morning we went and played soccer with some members of the Polaris ward and their friends! It was so fun and it was just like Elder Johnson and I playing soccer with the New Albany 2nd ward gang every Saturday when we were in Johnstown! Good times. Later on in the day on Saturday I was reunited with my current companion Elder Johnson (too many Elder Johnsons haha) and we went to work in Dublin. We went contacting at the park and we played basketball with some guys and played football with some guys in our shirts and ties. Good stuff. 

Yesterday was so great! I love church and feeling the spirit there. The girl that we are teaching named Carlyn bore her testimony in church! It was simple but so powerful. And she told the congregation that she is gonna be baptized this month. It was so cool. She is so courageous and it is inspiring. Also that day we went and talked to lots of people and we met this lady and got to meet her Springer Spaniel! Not as cute as Rushmore though. 

So that was my week! It was a great one. I am thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the hope that it brings. I'm thankful for the infinite number of second chances that our Savior gives to us because I sure need a lot of them. Even though I'm imperfect He still loves me perfectly. I'm so thankful for that. 

Have a great week! Thanks for all you do, Mom! I love you! 

Your son, 

Elder Collier 

No Emails for 2 weeks!!

Hey everyone! Since the change 2 weeks ago, we have been able to video chat with Elder Collier instead of having to email. So as a result, there haven't been any emails the last 2 weeks. But we did want to share 2 experiences that Elder Collier shared with us and wrote out for us.

Sammy’s Journal entries from Johnstown, Ohio

He had been out on his mission for about 7 months…

“I was reading some of my past journal entries this evening and I found something very interesting. Here are some excerpts from an entry on March 26th 2018 when I was serving in Johnstown: "Rough day to be honest... We went to our lesson with Penny and she dropped us... We tracted for about 2 hours and literally no one was interested. It is hard to stay positive. This is a difficult area. (What he doesn’t say here, is that he was also going through a tough time personally. He was about as low as he could be and some things that he thought were going to be in his future, had been totally changed, but he trusted in the Lord and continued to be faithful) But we are going to have the faith to turn it around." In another excerpt I said this: "I guess now is the time to learn how to more fully rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ." 

Then here are some excerpts from a few months later:

June 14th 2018: "Johnstown is alive!! Things are happening!!" 

June 27th 2018: "this week has been great! We have experienced miracles like crazy. Three people on date in Johnstown now. That's amazing! It is an awesome feeling to have Johnstown be alive. It was so dead for so long."

I learned SO MUCH from serving in Johnstown. That place was as dead as dead could be. At least, that's what I believed. As soon as Elder Madsen and I decided to put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ things started to pick up. Elder Johnson came in with a ton of optimism and faith and helped out a ton. The Lord transformed a "dead area" into one that was flourishing. I can testify to you that no area is a dead area. Every area can baptize. If you are serving in an area that you or other missionaries have labeled "dead" I invite you to ignore that label and put complete faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is a God of miracles and if you follow Him your area will change.

Sammy’s story he shared with us this Monday when we talked to him. 

SWEET MIRACLE

We were out talking to people and we talked to this one lady who was taking groceries in her house. She recognized who we were and told us that her sister in law is a member of the Church and lives in Rushsylvania. Well, I served in the Bellefontaine Branch so I know the only member family that lives in Rushsylvania! The branch president's family that I was really close to! It was great to make that connection and build that relationship of trust. After talking about that and our faith for a little bit she invited us back tonight to meet the rest of her family! It was a miracle! I am the only missionary left in this mission that served in Bellefontaine (Because Bellefontaine is now in the Indianapolis mission)… So I am the only missionary that could have made that connection. Brothers and Sisters, there is a reason why you are serving wherever you are serving! The Lord has placed you there for a reason!!

"I Have A Migraine!"

Hello!

The subject line is an inside joke between Elder Johnson and I that we never want to forget. Y'all probably won't think it's funny. Let's just say that there were no migraines involved and the person that thought they had a migraine simply said they were overreacting. 

So the past few days have been so great! Some of the best of my mission. Elder Johnson is a stud and we have been doing well together. We served in the same district on campus about a year ago so we were already friends and it has been great to companions. 

Here's a few highlights of the week! On Saturday we got to teach a couple that I dearly love. Their names are Gary and Sherry.We had lost contact with them because they have been so busy but when we stopped by they were so excited to see us and let us right in. They are so great and they are willing to learn. A funny thing was that since I'm friends with them on Facebook, Sherry said "I have seen your mom's posts of you on Facebook and let me just say, you are her world. She love you so much and is so proud of you." I thought that was really cool. I am thankful that I have loving and supportive Mom! It's also cool that we have facebook now so people recognize that we are real people that truly care about what we are doing. 

On Sunday I got to sing in church! It was great! I sang an arrangement of "Hark all ye Nations" and "I hope they call me on a mission" some of the young men sung too. It was really awesome. I'm thankful I had the opportunity to do that. 

Also on Sunday night we had an amazing miracle. We had some pretty good plans for the day but then the Lord changed it up on us. Our dinner cancelled and another family had us over so we were in a different place at a different time of the day than we originally planned. We ended up working this one area in the evening that we had originally planned working in the afternoon. We knocked on this door and this lady answered that doesn't speak English at all. But she has an app on her phone that let's you talk into it and then it translates right then so we communicated that way. When we told her that we were missionaries she let us right in! She is from Venezuela and has been here for a little bit. She had to flee her country because of all the terrible things happening there. She was telling us all the terrible things she has had go through and I was blown away. We shared Alma 7:11-13 with her and the spirit touched her heart. She really opened up and she said that right before we knocked on her door she was talking to her family on the phone and telling them all the terrible things and was about to start crying. But we were able to bring her hope to her life. It was amazing! She wants a copy of the Book of Mormon in Spanish so we are gonna bring her that tonight. I'm so glad we were led to her. The Lord's hand is truly in this work and he will always lead us to those that are prepared to receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that the message we share "is the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul" (Jacob 2:8). It definitely healed her wounded soul last night. 

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

Your son, 

Elder Collier 

Bisquit's Babysitter!

Hello!

It's been another good week here in Dublin. I feel a lot better now than I did last week. I was sick for most of the week but I'm fine now! I feel great. 

There were zone conferences up in the northern zones last week so Elder Smoot and I were in charge of watching President and Sister Stratford's dog Biscuit! We only live 15 minutes away from the mission home so that was our assignment. Since we are the closest zone leaders to the mission home we are basically the assistants to the assistants haha! President and the mission office ask us to run a lot of errands. It's fun though. We stayed the night in the mission home Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night. It was a lot of fun. Friday I got sicker again so it was pretty rough but Biscuit could tell that I wasn't feeling well so she came over to comfort me. It was adorable haha. I still love Rushmore more though!

We had a lot of success over Facebook this week. We were able find this guy on the other side of Columbus. He is so cool. He is from Liberia! We were messaging him and talked to him about the Book of Mormon and he wanted one! The missionaries that are in his area went over to deliver it and turns out he has a best friend still in Liberia that's a member of the Church! He was excited to finally meet missionaries and get a Book of Mormon and he said he wants to be baptized! He had the missionaries take a video of him holding the Book of Mormon and telling his friend from Liberia and he sent it to him. It was definitely a miracle!

Yesterday I was able to attend the YSA ward again. One of the people we are teaching wanted to try out the YSA ward in Columbus. I asked my buddy Mason who I taught when I was there to give all of us a ride down there. It was so good to see him again. First time in almost a year since I've seen him. I love that kid. I got to see a lot of people I knew from campus. And I got to see two of my previous companions that are serving there now! Elder Morse and Elder Madsen. They are studs. Elder Morse and I served on campus together and so it was funny that people saw us there together again.

Well, those are the highlights of the week! I know that living the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings enduring peace and Joy into our lives.

I love you so much Mom! Thanks for the birthday package! 

Your son, 

Elder Collier

Sister Collier's Homecoming!

Hello!

As you can tell from the subject line, I hit my 18 month mark this week. Can you believe that? Who was I 18 months ago? I don't even know. But I am thankful for these past 18 months and I am thankful for 6 more.

This week has been a really good one! We had two exchanges and we got hit by a snow storm that canceled church! I woke up and it was -4 degrees this morning. That is really cold.

On Tuesday I went on an exchange with Elder Brinkerhoff who is one of my best friends in the mission. It was a good time. We spent the day in Powell which is the town just north of us where the mission home is and the mission office. Him and his companion, Elder Hepler, are the Assistants to President Stratford. They do a lot of office work and other stuff. On our exchange we had to stop at the office to pick up a car that they were going to be taking up to the Kirtland Zone the next day. Well, when we got there there was a change of plans! They needed to get the Worthington Elders car to take up to Kirtland and give them the car that they had at the office. That was gonna be a simple fix we would just call the Worthington Elders and have them drive to Powell and do a switcharoo. But when we called them we found out that they were on exchanges and one of them accidentally took the car keys with him to Marysville so the Worthington Elders didn't have access to the car. So Elder Brinkerhoff and I drove 30 minutes to Marysville (even though we were only there for a few minutes it was nice to be back in Marysville!) to pick up the car keys and then 45 minutes to Worthington to give them to the Worthington Elders and then 15 minutes back to Powell! It was quite the drive haha! When we saw the Elders in Marysville we realized that there were 4 Elders talking and all 4 of us were serving in different areas😂 that hardly ever happens! So we had to get a picture haha! Anyway, after that whole ordeal we had to transport the car that was going up to Kirtland to the Powell Elders apartment so they could just wake up the next morning and drive up to Kirtland. So Elder Brinkerhoff and I drove different cars to their apartment! It was the first time in 18 months that I have driven a car alone and I'm not gonna lie, it was super nice. I just prayed out loud the whole drive. It felt good. The rest of the day in Powell was good too! We had some awesome lessons in the evening and I even met the Collier's! They are recent converts in the Powell ward. It was cool to meet them!

Elder Rawson and I went on exchanges together on Wednesday. This is his third transfer out and he is such a stud. Plus he is a lax bro so we get along great haha! We had such a good lesson in the evening with someone we are teaching in Dublin. It finally clicked for him that if he wants to find out if the church is true then he needs to live the commandments! He committed himself to live the Word of Wisdom. It was awesome.

This weekend was pretty crazy with all the snow and the freezing temperatures but it is all good! It is finally winter over here. It makes life interesting haha! 

I'm doing pretty well! I have had a lot of answers to my prayers lately and I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father that listens to us and communicates to us. He is invested in our lives and wants us to be happy! 

Love you Mom! Thanks for everything. You're the best. 

Your son, 

Elder Collier 

We Got Snow!!!

Hello! 

This week was a really busy week. We had exchanges on Tuesday and Wednesday, interviews on Thursday with President Stratford and I conducted 3 baptismal interviews throughout the week too! It was really busy. 

I had a great time up in the Clearfork and Mansfield areas on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Clearfork Elders taught us how to use Facebook more effectively because that is how they found a family that got baptized this weekend. When Elder Smoot and I applied what we learned from them we immediately experienced miracles. One of which was meeting a lady named Angela over Facebook. She lives in the Newark, Ohio area. We were able to talk to her and we found out she was in the hospital. So we sent the Elders in Newark over there to visit her. They were able to comfort her and they taught her about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She was so thankful for the visit and she even said that it was the start of a new beginning for her. It was amazing!

Our exchange with Mansfield Elders was great as well. I got to spend the day with Elder Day who has only been on his mission for 3 weeks. It really doesn't seem like it! All throughout the day I totally forgot that he is brand new. He is such a great missionary. The next day we got up and needed to drive down to Delaware, Ohio for a district council and for interviews with President and to conduct a baptismal interview. When we were ready to leave we started our car and it wouldn't start! So that resulted in us going on a wild search to find someone with jumper cables. We were finally able to jump our car and we were only 30 minutes late to the district council. And the baptismal interview went really well! I was thankful I had the opportunity to interview Martin. He inspires me!

On Saturday we got lots and lots of snow. Finally! It is the first snowfall since November. It was fun to play in the snow a little bit. And even though it was freezing cold we were able to meet a new friend named Gary. He invited us over to his house the next day. So yesterday we were able to teach him and his wife. It was a wonderful experience and I already love both of them a lot. 

This week has been really tough. Probably the hardest week of my mission. I have been sick all week and there's been other challenges that have been thrown at us. But the Lord has blessed us immensely. I am thankful that Jesus Christ loves each of us and is willing to help us along our journey to change and become better. I have a long way to go but I am thankful that He still loves me. 

I love you mom! Thanks for everything. 

Your son, 

Elder Collier 

Happy New Year!

Hello! 

I haven't written an email for the blog since last year! (Those jokes will never get old)

This week we said goodbye to Elder Olsen. On January 2nd we woke up at 5:00 and got ready and dropped him off at the mission home and President and Sister Stratford took him to the airport! It was sad to say goodbye to him but I'm sure he is really happy with his family. Elder Smoot and I have been having a good time with it just being us. He's a good guy. That same day we come back to the mission home at 9:30 for MLC. I really enjoy MLC. Plus I got to see Elder McInnes again! That was good. I've missed that guy. 

On Thursday I got to go on an exchange with Elder Oettli! Yep, he's a district leader in the same zone as me again! It was fun to go on another exchange with him. We were able to deliver a Book of Mormon to this guy that speaks Spanish and refer him to the Spanish Elders. Hopefully it all works out for him to be taught. 

On Saturday we went on another exchange. I went to Polaris with Elder Reed. Elder Smoot got to go with my previous companion Elder Johnson. I was sad I couldn't go with him but I was very happy to see him! I've missed the guy! Elder Reed and I had a great day. We tracted this apartment complex and we weren't having hardly any success. But the last 2 doors we knocked on we were able to teach the message of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the doorstep! It was a really great experience. The Lord blesses us when we put in the effort and show our faith. 

On Sunday night Elder Smoot and I were able to find 3 new people to teach. We talked to sooooooo many people last night and hardly anyone wanted to talk to us. It was really discouraging. But then the Lord blessed us at the very end and we were able to find 3 people that were prepared by the Lord to teach! It was great!

Well that's about it! Next week should be more exciting. We have a really busy one planned so stay tuned! 

I love you Mom! 

Your son, 

Elder Collier