First day in Tempe, Arizona

Dear Brother and Sister Collins,

We wanted to let you know that your wonderful daughter arrived safely and looks great.  Attached you will find two pictures that we thought you might enjoy having: one is your missionary, and the other one is group of missionaries she arrived with to the Arizona Tempe Mission.

Her address to send her mail and packages to is: 

825 E. Elgin Street, Gilbert, AZ 85295

We are so pleased to have Sister Collins serving in this wonderful mission.  If you have any questions or if there is anything we can assist you with, please feel free to contact us anytime at this email address. 

Sis. Collins - 1st Day in Tempe, Arizona

Pres. and Sis. Howes -- and all 18 Elders with Sis. Collins

Hello from the MTC Week Two! (Tues. 11-20-12)

Hi All!

I'm not sick anymore! YAY! But, now everyone else is sick or has been sick....oops.

So this past week has been crazy busy. Well, ever since I stepped into the MTC it's been crazy busy. You asked what my schedule is like? I'll send you my MTC schedule after I get out since I only have 30 minutes to write. :)

My district has gotten really close that I feel like we'll all be life-time friends. I'm kinda worried that since I've had such a great MTC district and companion that my good luck will run out in the field. But, it's all what you make of it. So I will keep that in mind. Also, I just want to thank you Mom and Dad for being awesome parents. Having that work ethic and knowledge of the gospel has really helped me. I already have a strong foundation and it has really helped me.Thank you, thank you, thank you. Even though sometimes I really, REALLY didn't want to work every weekend or whichever, I really appreciate it now.

The teaching is going well! My companion, Sister Holyoak, and I are an awesome team. We compliment each other and we use that in our lessons. We've had some great experiences with our "investigators" this week. It's amazing how much the First Vision builds people's testimonies. My testimony has been strengthened reciting the First Vision. It was amazing how when we prepared all that we could and then asked the Lord to make up the rest, things start to happen. The Lord truly used us as his mouth pieces. The spirit was so strong in all of our lessons. I've grown so much as a person, teacher, and just everything. I've changed. Conversion happens everyday to me. I am not the same person and I hope to never be the same person that I was before I came out on a mission- for the better. So we've had these amazing experiences and our teachers, Brother Richmond and Sister Knudsen, both have said how amazing we are. Well I can tell you it's not us, it's the Lord. It's scary to rely on the Lord 100 percent to have Him tell you what to say. Preparation is everything. So for Sacrament Meeting we each have to write a 3-5 minute talk about one of the Doctrines of Christ and we just go down the list every Sunday. Last week's was Faith and this week's was Repentance. And you don't know who's going to speak. They just announce it. So I'm leading the music thinking that I'm in the clear and after the sacrament, Brother Pierce (the second counselor of the Branch) said and we would be pleased to hear from Sister Collins and Elder Strong. My heart literally dropped to my feet. Good thing that I was prepared. I honestly don't remember everything that I said, but it was like some of the words weren't even my own. Afterwards President Gluber, thanked me for my talk and said, "Now you're ready". It was a neat experience that I'll never forget. The Holy Ghost is a powerful thing. So are the scriptures. I've been like on a spiritual high and I love it.

We get to go to the temple on P-day, we we went last week and we're going again tonight. What a great experience, especially with going with our zone. I'm going to miss the MTC and it's crazy to think that by this time next week I'll be in Tempe, AZ. The things that people say are just hilarious. We now share a story from our lives at meal times to get to know each other better and get a little bit of a break. I can't wait to hear from everyone as they go off in the mission field.

I love you all!!

Sister Collins

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Dear Family,

Thank you so much for your DearElders.com!  I love getting them every day.  I know that I sent you an email, but 30 minutes is hardly anything.   My branch President is Pres. Gubler.  He works for the church.  He is an excellent teacher and always so happy.  The spirit is so strong.

I’ve changed so much in the past 5 days.  The Lord makes up the difference since he is our teacher.  Ok so, more about my district.   Four of the elders are going to Tempe, Arizona.  Elder Pippert, Hoffman, Cook and Law.  Edler Ah Mu and Berensen ar e going to Oakland/San Francisco, CA.  Sis. Wise is also going there.  Sis. Bramwell is going to Riverside, CA and my companion Sis. Holyoak is going to Edmonton, Canada.  So we’re going all over.  I feel so blessed to be loved by the sisters and elders.  I love them – like a Christ-like love.  It’s a common goal that makes us bond.  I guess that bonding so much for English speaking missionaries is uncommon.  At least that is what our coordinating sister said.

I feel fine now and missionary work is easy – like you said Dad.  Focusing on one thing is great.  I’m so happy to hear that things are going well there.  I will send you pictures next week.  Love you so much!

Sister Collins

November 13, 2012 - First week in the MTC

Hi Family!!!

I can't believe that I've only been here since last Wednesday. It feels like I've been here for at least 6 weeks. The first day was a little rough, because the MTC loves to baptize you by fire. Which is good because you definitely learn from your mistakes. After the first night, I prayed that I wouldn't be so overwhelmed, and it's worked! I love the MTC. My companion, Sister Holyoak (yes, she's related to the Holyoaks in our stake) is awesome. We get along so well. We mesh well and we help each other out. I love her. She's from St. Charles, IN but hasn't lived there since she was 17. So crazy that we're both from IL. The other two girls in our room are also amazing- Sister Bramwell and Sister Wise. They're both from around here- Orem and Springville. I love love love my district. Like I said the first day was rough, because I was sick and getting sicker. After I prayed, my mind was cleared and class became a lot better. I love my teachers. I want to apply to be a MTC teacher when I get back. Only BYU students can work here and I think that it would be spiritually uplifting to work here after the mission. The second night our District leader was called, Elder Ah Mu, and I asked for a blessing. One of the Zone Leaders concecrated the oil. The spirit was so strong and it was a sight to open my eyes and see all of the Elders standing in a circle around me. After my blessing, our district was unified. We have become friends in such a short time and I already love the Elders and Sisters. I'm getting better- I went to the doctor and I have a virus so there's not much else to do. Also there are no hangers here so I had to buy hangers and a towel because I forgot a lot. lol Oh, well.

 

The spirit is so strong here. I love going to classes and learning. It makes me miss school, but this is better than school. I realize that people in my district don't feel the same way, but I'm glad that I've been blessed to like the learning. I never realized how hard teaching people is. We have three investigators. Two of them are acted out by our teachers. Chantha and Lacy. And right now we have one TRC (Training Resource Center) investigator, that are actors. We don't know if they're members or are actually investigators. Cool, eh? The spirit is just so tanigble here. I have been able to wake up at 6:30 everyday. We actually wake up earlier so that we can get ready and be in the classroom by 7 for personal study. My day is so packed. I'm so excited for a p-day today so that I can write you guys and I love getting the DearElder everyday instead of having to wait until one day of the week.

 

I'm trying so hard to really pray and listen to the spirit to know what our investigators need. When I'm reading during personal study or companionship study things just pop out at me to what our investigators need. I just thought that everyone had this, but I can tell that I have been blessed to have the spirit of discernment. I guess I didn't really think that being able to read people and pick up people's feelings would help too much, but it really does. We're trying to find the balance between feelings and teaching what we need to. It's amazing to me when I get this inspired thought in my head to ask or say and it seems to reach them. Missionary training can be frustrating, but I just remember our purpose as missionaries and it makes it seem all so much more real. We're really here to bring people unto Christ through teaching them the Doctrines of Christ (2 Nephi 31). We're not the ones that convert, it's the Lord. We're just here to help. I'm excited to learn more and more.

 

I'm striving to be exactly obedient, but it's hard with the time. The time just seems to move so fast here. The MTC time warp.  I love you all and I wish that I could just send you a video of me so you could know everything. Thank you for your support and I miss you.

 

Love,

 

Sister Collins ( so weird to say that and have people call me that)