"It Will All Work Out."

I love that scripture in 2 Timothy. I actually almost picked it as my ponderizing scripture for the week last night! Crazy coincidence, (like coincidences happen!) haha! But I really think that is an amazing scripture. It shows how when the tough times come, and according to President Eyring "They always do," God doesn't give us that feeling of fear. We can really overcome it just by having faith in Jesus Christ and repenting, or making that change to not have fear. Through Jesus Christ, anything is possible. 

Elder Collier

I'm really sad to hear about Zach and Skyla. Tell them I'm praying for them every night. I love them and I hope they are doing okay. Just keep increasing your faith and that fear will go away! We were reading a talk this week at District Meeting called "Lord Increase our Faith," and in it, it talked about how Joseph Smith while on his way to Carthage, could have made the decision to run away. But because he had enough faith that he was doing the Lord's will, and in his words said, "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am calm as a summer's morning;" (D&C 135:4)And in my experience so far I don't know if my faith is that strong yet. But I know that if we continue to grow our faith and perhaps get it to that point, it can just give us peace and confidence and comfort that what is happening is the Lord's will. Please tell me how they are doing! And I know that they will be alright. 

That's cool that you got to go down to Provo to see them though. Isn't Lilo so cute? I'm sorry that happened to your hand. How is Teilani doing? Can you get me his address? And yeah I did write a letter to the Jackson's! They wrote me one while I was in the MTC so I thought I should write them again. They are so awesome. 

Don't worry about the Nesquick, it made an interesting journal entry and I was just laughing the entire time. And the popcorn is almost gone already... haha! Thank you so much for the package. 

Sister Piggott takes soooooo many pictures.... haha. But she is so nice and very funny. She is from Colombia so she doesn't speak English perfectly so it's funny when she mixes up words sometimes. Her husband went to Guatemala on his mission, so he speaks Spanish pretty fluently so sometimes they have conversations in Spanish. I can understand a few things, but my Freshman and Sophomore years of Spanish have almost left me. Her Mom also lives with them and she speaks absolutely no English so I try my best to say basic sentences in Spanish... haha! But they have a son and a daughter on missions right now so I think that's why she sends so may pictures and feeds us so much. They are an awesome family. Brother Piggott is also the first counselor in the Bishopric. 

Eating dinner at a members home!

So miracles this week... At the beginning of the week I was getting really discouraged. We had two people set for a baptismal date and we hadn't met with them in over a week. We still didn't meet with them this week because they've been busy every time that we have called them or stopped by their house. So we don't have any people with baptismal dates any more. And all our other official investigators we hadn't been able to meet with. I was getting to the point where I was wondering what I was doing wrong because we were seeing so much rejection. And a lot of other investigators we had to drop (we ended up dropping about half of them) because they would never talk to us or return our calls or answer the door. But we made it a goal this week to talk to as many people as we could when we saw them! And we also had a lot of time to go tracting so we met a few people that way. But Thursday was when the week started to turn for the better. 

Since Elder Nutter is the District Leader, I go on a lot of exchanges. He goes out with each individual missionary in the district, plus on an exchange with the Zone Leaders. We had our exchange with the Zone Leaders this week. So on Thursday I ended up going up to a place called New Kent which is about an hour Northwest of where I am. They only have a branch up there and everything is very spread out. It takes about 15 minutes to drive to any appointment. I was with one of our Zone leaders named Elder McCleary and he is super cool. He's from Orem Utah, and he's been out for about 14 months. But first thing, one of our appointments fell through (no surprise over here) and we decided to knock on some doors as a back up. The first door we knocked on, a woman answered and she invited us in! We taught her and her 90 year old father about the Restoration and they said that we could come back. We also offered to mow their lawn and she loved that. That exchange was just what I needed for this week. It really gave me the confidence and encouragement to keep going! And Elder McCleary was really supportive and encouraging as well. Plus the next morning I got to run cause he likes running and that was awesome. Elder Nutter doesn't really like running... but I'm working on that! We tried it one time and I had to run to the end of the street and back because I kept getting too far away. I think we have decided that he is going to ride on his bike while I run, and that way we can do it a little easier!

But after that exchange the week went really well. I found out when I got back that Elder Nutter and the other Zone leader Elder Sommer had met a girl named Sara who let them in a they taught the Restoration! And she ended up going to church with us on Sunday and she really liked it. We are going to meet with her this week. Then we taught the man that we met last week and helped him move in his mattresses! That lesson went really well too. He said that he wants to learn more and we're just like, "We can do that!" So I'm really excited for him. He's a really nice guy and very friendly. I feel like I'm becoming pretty good friends with him actually from the few times that we've talked and that's something I haven't felt before with an investigator! So I'm super excited. So after this week I feel energized and ready to work! I know that the Lord is watching over me and he knows me and how to help me keep going. I can see my faith growing every day. 

Oh and on Saturday we were able to help out with the Bishop's storehouse distribution because it was at the Stake Center. That was a super cool experience. 

But that's pretty much how my week went! Can't wait to hear about what happens this week for you. I know that if we are keeping the commandments and doing what's right, then it will all work out. According to Neil F. Marriott, it may not all work out now, but it will all work out. I love you so much and I know that everything will always work out. 

Teaching!

My ponderizing scripture for this week is 3 Nephi 5:13 : "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." At no other time in my life has this scripture meant so much to me. I know that I have been called of a prophet of God to go out and serve Him, and His people. My mission call says I will "Devote all my time" to His service. I'm doing my best. 

I know that this church is true with all my heart. There is no way that I would give up this much time in my life for something that I didn't whole heartedly believe in. The Book of Mormon is true. Read it and share it with others! 

Thank you so much for the support again, I love you so much! 

Talk to you next week, 

Elder Collier