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!!