Ballin' in South Youngstown

Hello!

This week has been pretty good! Things are going very well here in Youngstown, I hope I never leave. Elder McInnes and I are having so much fun being companions! In interviews with President Stratford yesterday, I told him that I would not mind being here for 6 months and being companions with Elder McInnes for 3 transfers. That's how much I love this place!

On Thursday, we had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the Assistants. I had the great opportunity to go with Elder Winland. He is a fantastic missionary and I had a great time. The highlight of the day was when we were in South Youngstown which is a pretty sketchy part of town. We started talking to this group of guys that were walking around. We taught part of the Plan of Salvation to this guy named Jonny and he really enjoyed it. He told us that this part of town needs better influences. After we were done teaching him we balled up with him and his Squad. It was a lot of fun and Elder Winland is very good at basketball. After we played with them they told us that we have a g pass, and that they will make sure no one messes with us in South Youngstown. I have never received a g pass before so I feel pretty accomplished.

Tyler and Amanda are doing very well! They are getting baptized next Friday evening and we are very excited for them and they are very excited as well. They have sacrificed a lot to keep God's Commandments and it is very awesome to see the change that is taking place in them. They used to be confused and lost but now you can see a light in them and they are filled with hope that comes from Jesus Christ. It is very cool to see and I love them very much.

Yesterday Elder McInnes and I got to tour some apartments that the mission is considering placing new missionaries in. We are very excited that there will be another set of missionaries in our area next transfer! We have been scrambling to teach all the people in this huge area so another set will be very helpful. They will cover the Pennsylvania side of our area most likely.

I love this area, I love these people, I love this work, and I love this gospel! Things are going great.

I love you Mom! 

Your son, 

Elder Collier 

Lives Are Changing

Helloooo

This week has been such a good one. I was able to go on two exchanges this week. I went with Elder Reed on Thursday and Elder Oettli on Monday. It was good to see Elder Oettli again. We were in the MTC together and he served in both Marysville and Johnstown. So that was a lot of fun to be able to talk about those places. He is a great missionary and a great district leader in this zone. I'm very happy he is here. 

Saturday was a really big day! PAUL GOT BAPTIZED!! I got to video call in and "attend" the service. I was able to talk with Paul and he is so happy. I miss that man a lot. He is the reason why I served in Marysville. I'm so happy for him.

Tyler and Amanda are doing amazing. Meeting with them is my favorite. They are so excited to be sealed together as a family after they are baptized. It was such a wonderful experience for me to testify of how I have been blessed because I am sealed to my family. They attended church on Sunday and loved it! Their two little daughters loved it as well. Every time I see them running around I smile. I love this family with all my heart. There is a trunk or treat and chili cook off at the church this evening and they are all going to attend. It's gonna be a lot of fun. 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives. Through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ people can find hope and peace in this world that is increasingly hopeless and chaotic. I am a witness to the miracle of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I have a front row seat right now and I am loving it.

I love you Mom! Thank you for all that you do. You're the best. Thank you for raising me and teaching me to have faith in our Savior. 

Your son, 

Elder Collier

The Book Of Mormon Is True!

Hello!

So first of all, transfers were in Thursday. I said goodbye to Elder Dixon and hello to Elder McInnes. To answer your question, yes we are both Zone Leaders. It is a lot of fun! Elder McInnes and I are very similar. He is from Twin Falls Idaho. He likes all the same music that I like. He's a huge twenty one pilots fan, and a huge Hamilton fan. Needless to say we are getting along super well. 

This week has been so good! General Conference was absolutely wonderful. I know that President Nelson is a prophet of the Lord. This conference really solidified that testimony for me. Did you see how fast he got out of his seat when he first spoke? A 94 year old man should not be able to do that! It's amazing! I really loved his talk about the name of the church. To be completely honest I was a little hesitant when they first announced the emphasis on the true name of the church. But I was called to repentance and I realized how important it really is. We should NEVER take the Savior's name our of His church. I have already had awesome opportunities the past couple of days to explain the importance of the name of the church to people that have called us Mormons. I know as we follow the counsel of the Prophet then miracles will occur. 

We met with Tyler and his wife Amanda on Saturday in between sessions of conference. It was such an amazing lesson. They accepted the invitation to be baptized on November 3rd. I am so excited for them. On Sunday we texted Tyler in between sessions of conference and he told us what his favorite parts were from the first session and he also let us know that he was reading the Book of Mormon out loud to his wife and two daughters. That made me happier than I can explain. This man was having family scripture study in between sessions of conference! This family is the absolute best. I love them a lot. We are meeting with them again tonight. 

Elder McInnes and I councilled this week about what our focus should be this transfer for the Zone. After prayer and discussion we came to the conclusion that we need to emphasize the Book of Mormon as a zone. Specifically finding people to teach using the Book of Mormon. This revelation we received was confirmed when Elder Bowen gave his talk about the Book of Mormon and its purpose to gather scattered Israel. We implemented this focus on Monday and miracles are happening here. I had the opportunity to go on an exchange with Elder Michels yesterday and we made sure that in all of our contacts we taught about the Book of Mormon and how it testifies of Jesus Christ. We handed out all of the copies that we brought with us and found 3 new people to teach. It was a miracle of a day. I know that as we follow the counsel of the leaders of the church and on personal revelation we receive from the Holy Ghost then miracles will happen in our own lives. It happens in missionary work and I know it can happen in our personal lives. 

I love you Mom! Thank you for everything.

Your son, 

Elder Collier 

Another Transfer in Youngstown!

Hey Mom! 

Tomorrow is transfers and from the subject of this email you are probably assuming that I am staying for another transfer. If that is the case then you are correct. I am staying another transfer. 

Elder Dixon, on the other hand, is not staying another transfer. He is being sent to Hilliard Ohio to be one of the Zone leaders over the Columbus Zone. I'm pretty bummed that I only got one transfer with him but that's the way things go! 

My new companion will be Elder McInnes. I don't know him at all but I hear he is a really good guy so I'm excited to meet him! It should be good. 

This week has been a pretty good one! I'll give you a few updates. 

So Letricia finished the Book of Mormon! It only took her 5 days. She loves it and She knows that it's true. She is the best. She will be baptized pretty soon! We also started teaching some other people that live in her apartment complex. 

Do you remember me talking about a guy named Tyler in my first email since being in Youngstown? Well on the first Sunday of me being here we met this guy named Tyler and taught him about the restoration. He loved it and the spirit was so strong in that lesson. He had been searching for God and was happy that he was finding Him. We set up a time to meet with him that upcoming Thursday. We had been in contact with him over text and he was reading the Book of Mormon but then Thursday came around and we texted him and he blocked our number. So we stopped by anyway for our appointment but no one was home. We were pretty disappointed about that but Elder Dixon and I both had the feeling that he would reach out to us sometime. We tried contacting him here and there throughout the transfer with no luck. But then on Sunday one of the members of the ward asked us if we taught a guy named Tyler! And we said yes! Turns out he had met Tyler and his wife the day before and the subject of religion came up and Brother Clark told him what church he goes to and Tyler asked if he knew the Elders! Brother Clark said yes and Tyler told him that he had met with us and really felt like he finally found the truth but then right after that his phone broke and he lost all his contacts and had been trying to get a hold of us but couldn't figure out how to. And so Brother Clark gave him our number and now we are in contact with him again!! It was a miracle! The Lord led them together so we could get back in contact. We are going to be meeting with him and his wife tomorrow and I am so excited. Great things are happening here in Youngstown. 

We have a few more people we are teaching that are progressing toward baptism. We have also faced some opposition lately with people showing us Anti Mormon things and stuff like that. I was able to bear my testimony very boldly of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and that I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that Jesus Christ called him to do that. The Book of Mormon is true and has brought my closer to my Savior, there isn't anything that someone can say that can convince me otherwise. 

I hope you have a great week! I love you! 

Your son, 

Elder Collier 

JumpShotUSA--Pennsylvania

Helloooo! 

This week has been pretty good. It has flown by like crazy. Again, there's so much stuff that has happened but I'll give you some of the highlights! 

Zone Conference was on Thursday! I had the opportunity to conduct this zone conference. I was a little nervous but it turned out great. It was combined with the Kirtland Zone and Elder Morse is one of the Zone Leaders of that zone so that was fun to lead the conference together. Elder Dixon and I gave a training and it went really well. I am thankful that the Lord has blessed me with courage and the ability to speak in front of people lately. Here is a really strange thing I have learned about myself since being on my mission:  I am the most comfortable teaching when I have a chalkboard or whiteboard that I can write on. Almost all my training as a district leader involved me writing on the chalkboard or whiteboard and this training contained that as well. It's a little weird haha! By far my favorite park of missionary work is teaching. More specifically teaching the Gosepl of Christ right out of the scriptures. The scriptures are the best! 

Anyway, the rest of the week was good as well. We went on exchanges with the Alliance Elders on Friday. I was with Elder Hooper who has only been out for a few weeks. He is a great missionary though. I was super impressed. He is gonna do great on his mission. We spent the day in Sharon, PA. We found a really awesome person to teach that day and we are excited to teach her. And then... the moment you've all be waiting for... I made another jumpshot on this JumpShotUSA tour. Pennsylvania is now checked off the list! For those keeping track back home that is jumpshot #11! Life is good. 

On Sunday we had the opportunity to stop by Letricia. She ordered a bible on Mormon.org. She is the best. She has been studying our beliefs online and knows a lot. She is super smart. She has a really good memory. We were able to teach her about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she loved it and was so excited to read the Book of Mormon. We met with her again on Tuesday. She had already read up to Alma chapter 18. That is almost half of the Book of Mormon! She read that in two days! And she understands it all super well. We were blown away. And she was telling us that she believes it is true! We are meeting with her again on Friday and we are expecting her to be finished with the whole book by then. That was such a sweet miracle. Letricia is the best. 

We have also been spending time on Youngstown State's campus which is a blast. I love being on a campus again. We have met some really great people. Go Penguins!

I just want to end by saying that I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It is the word of God. I know that Jesus Christ is my savior and without Him I could not do this work. Without Him life would be pointless because we would have no way of living with our Father in Heaven again. I am thankful for His Grace and Mercy. He has saved me and continues to save me each day. 

I love you Mom! Have a great week! 

Your son, 

Elder Collier

JumpShot USA--West Virginia

What a week it has been. It has been one to remember for sure. I love this area and Elder Dixon and I get along great. Miracles have occurred this week I know this is the Lord's work. 

Here are a few of the highlights: 

We were able to go to the temple with Mike Spoljaric on Saturday! He was baptized on August 19th (The Saturday before I got here) and it was his first time going to the temple to do baptisms. It was a really awesome experience. We drove 3 hours to Columbus with him and Brother Thibideau. It was a great experience. It's actually the farthest away from home Mike has ever been. He was able to be baptized and confirmed for his father. He was so happy and so were we! 

On Monday we went on exchanges with the Elders in the Lisbon South area. Elder Dixon and I both went down there for the day. I was with Elder Loutzenhiser who is the district leader of the Lisbon district. He's from Idaho and is very similar to me. His first name is even Samuel!  It was a really great day! It was pouring down rain all day and we walked everywhere so we were absolutely soaked but it was so much fun. We spent most of the day in Chester, West Virginia. We found 2 new people to teach who are super awesome and I made a jumpshot in West Virginia!! That's 10 states down... I'm a 5th of the way to my JumpShotUSA goal. I promise that I was more concerned about the people we were talking with that day. But making a jumpshot in West Virginia is pretty darn cool. The day was so great until the end. We got picked up by Elder Dixon and Elder Robinson at the McDonald's in Chester so we could head back to the apartment and we got into the car and then someone backed into us. Broke our taillight and dented our back bumper. It's not terrible but it was just pretty annoying. 

Yesterday we had a really busy day with appointments and doing a bunch of reports. And then the accident report that we had to fill out took a huge chunk of our time too so that was irritating. We didn't have any finding time whatsoever. But then at 9:20 we got a call from Brother Thibideau and he was with his best friend Steve and he had just given him a copy ofnthe Book of Mormon. We were able to talk to Steve a little bit and he told us he wants to be baptized! We set up a time to meet with him. We are so excited. This really is the Lord's work. We cannot do this on our own. There's just way too many things to do and not enough time but the Lord will always provide. Really neat. 

Well, that's all the exciting stuff for the week! Tomorrow we have zone conference so that will be a lot of fun. Thanks for all you do Mom! You're the best! I love you!!!

Your son, 

Elder Collier

No Time To Catch My Breath

Hey Mom! 

This week has been insanely busy. We have had so many teaching appointments, exchanges, administrative stuff and hardly any time to find people to teach. But the Lord has helped us so much in this area! 

So this week has been way too crazy to share every experience but I'll share a few.  

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to have all the missionaries in the Ashtablua district go to the Warren Elders' area in the evening from 6-9 to help them find more people to teach. Some members of the ward got involved as well and we were able to go on splits to cover more ground as well as having the people we find have am immediate fellowshipper. I was able to go with this guy named Isaac who is 20 years old. We took off and went to a oretty sketchy part of their area. We talked to people on the streets, tried by potentials and even knocked an entire street but had no luck. It was time to head back so we started walking back to the car. We passed by this sketchy bar and a car pulled up next to us and this guy asked what we were doing. I explained and asked if he would like to talked to us. He said that he would love to! So he pulled over into the parking lot of the bar and talked with us. We ended up teaching him the message of the restoration and he was so excited to read the Book of Mormon. It was such a sweet miracle to end the evening! 

Friday we had a pretty packed day. We only had time in the morning to go finding. So we went out and started walking around Niles planning on knocking doors in a specific area. We walked down the street and the first person we talked to wanted to have a study with us! So we walked with him to the closest dunkin donuts and taught him about the Book of Mormon and it went well! He is also a rapper but that is a story for another day. In the evening we had the chance to go to the hospital in Sharon, PA to meet with someone thst is being taught by some missionaries in the Pittsburgh Mission. She was admitted into the hospital in our area. We were able to go read the Book of Mormon with hee and give her a blessing. It was a very special experience. She is awesome. 

On Monday we had exchanges with the Assistants. We woke up early Monday morning and drive 3 hours to Powell, Ohio and spent the day there with them. I was with Elder Hepler who is 6' 9". Sadly we didn't get a picture... But I definitely looked extra short next to him. Anyway, we had a great day! The last door we knocked on was at 8:15 at night and the family let us right in and we were able to teach them the message of the restoration. It was a really neat experience and they are so prepared to receive the gospel! The next day we woke up early and drove to different universities in our zone to talk to administrators to get permission to proselyte on campus. Let me just say this: I am extremely impressed with Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA. They were very helpful and respectful and let us know what we could or could not do to teach out to students. And all the employees and students were very kind. Overall, I am very impressed with that college. And then after we got back to our area yesterday we had 3 lessons and then were back home. Life is crazy. 

Well, that was pretty much my week. It was extremely busy. But great! 

I love you mom! Thank you for everything. 

Your son, 

Elder Collier