Elder Dallin H. Oaks is comin to town.

Hey Family!

Well this week was fantastic! Many things to say but ill make it quick! Well this week we have continued to focus on getting people to church, last week was rough, this week was a blessing. We are teaching a Less Active woman and her Non Member family. They have so much potential, and I can see them in white temple clothes. The sister has been struggling because since she is a long time less active, she has also developed faith for the Jehovahs Witness Church. So with all respect but boldness in our hearts we testified of the blessings of church, and especially eternal families. Although it hit her good, we had no success until we brought a member with us to help. The member was amazing and helped her feel comfortable enough to go to church, with her WHOLE family! Such a blessing to have faithful members like that. And we had two other families come to church also! It was great. We also had a contest in our mission like before with finding new investigators, but this time it was gettung investigators to Sacrament. Which is supposed to be harder. So whatever zone can average the standards of excellence for a whole zone in one week gets to have dinner at the Tyes again. Well our zone got it within 2 weeks:) haha It took alot of work, but it was a big blessing to see President Tyes revelation work, and the Bacoor zone is doing well. 

Funny experience, we had an investigator here who brought his 5 year old son to church, and since they were pretty new to the gospel they still didnt know a lot of things. Well we are sitting in elders quorum and his little boy comes running in and trips a little on the door and just says, " ah Sh**!" haha I kinda laughed a little bit. his dad was a little embarrassed. 

      We were finding one day and we had talked to this guy on the street, he was in his like 50s and just came back from the hospital like a month ago on account of heart and lung problems. But he kindly let us share with him. When we started teaching, he told us that he had heard about a lot of religions but never really went with them, but he's always been searching for truth. He told us maybe this was what he was looking for, he said that he truly believed god had sent us to him. He is very weak but he wants to try when he gains his strength to go to church. We should always picture people in temple clothes because that is everyones potential. Whether in wayward children or old people, everyone has that potential. See them like our Heavenly Father sees them. And to top off the week! Elder Dallin H Oaks is coming to our mission tomorrow and we all get to listen to him and shake his hand! Man im stoked!!

Elder Collins

Same animal, different beast.

Hey FAM!!

Well this week was a great one as usual, no matter how many disappointments happen, it just always seems that we are happy. I love it. We have really been focusing as a mission and zone on getting people to church. like 90% of investigators that go to church get baptized. So of course theres a reward if we get a certain amount of people at church:) But we have a new little process that our mission is doing. That has been one of our biggest struggles in this area,is getting people to church, thats the struggle here in the Philippines! haha All of our disappointments have came from investigators cancelling last minute on Sunday morning. But we got high hopes these coming weeks! 

We had a pretty intense service project that we did for our stake president, we moved big rice bags filled with dirt, cement, and stone from his house to the stake patriarchs house. Man we were dead, I think we moved over 400 bgs! Great work out and we were just covered in sweat and dirt and sand and stuff. Then we just all showered of in the back of his house with a hose thing haha. It was a great memory.

Another spiritual experience this week is Saturday night we were walking down this road and I was walking in front of Elder Christensen and as we were walking I glanced at this lady coming out of her house, I felt this strong prompting to talk to this lady, so I turned around and saw Elder Christensen already doing it! It was a sweet confirmation that it was a prompting from God. Well we taught this lady who was super sweet, and we invited her to church the next morning. Well usually when we invite the first time they dont come. Well we were overjoyed to see her walk in the sacrament hall the next morning. Wearing a dress and everthing, it was so cool to see. Just like Joseph Smith said " When god commands, do it" and you wont regret it. Great week

Love you all,

Elder MC

Service Project

  

Me and my main man...

Hey family!!!!

Well this week has been pretty good! Its been a great learning experience this week for me. Helping Elder Christensen get started as a ZL. And leading in this still broken area. Man I'm so grateful for all the new opportunities I've been given, even though they are challenging I have learned so much. I grow in spirit, testimony and person every week. 

Well being companions with Elder Christensen has been awesome haha! Its great to be with someone that you get along with no matter what and you know each others strengths and weaknesses so you can just work your very best! It is such a blessing, and we can be great friends and be exactly obedient while doing it. We were walking down the street yesterday and we walked past this little girl and she gave us both high fives and then yelled in Tagalog, ( thinking we couldnt understand) " those are my boyfriends!" hahaha it was funny. 

We have had some struggles with this area, but we hope and pray things will pull through for us. we have been focusing hard on church attendance, if we get investigators to church, game over... they will be baptized.

General conference was amazing, just like Christmas haha. I really like Elder Christofersons talk, that guy can convert any one haha. But they were all amazing. I actually really liked a quote from one of the 70 talks. he said " Acknowledge and face your weaknesses, but dont be immobilized by them" So true, im going to apply that as much as I can here, and become better every day. Love the Lord and his work.
 Love, Elder Collins

Handsome Street!!  

Brothers dont shake hands, Brothers gotta hug!

Hey Family!!!!!

 Well I guess ill just start with what you all wanna hear.... TRANSFERS! Well to start Elder Zacarias is leaving me, he got called to be a ZL in Cavite! Im going to miss him, he was awesome and ive learned more from him than anyother comp, ive ever had! And something I found out today, Im going to be Zone Leader 1! I am training a new Zone Leader! I was like what??? But im stoked, whom the lord calls, the lord qualifies right. Well it gets better, youll never guess who im training.....(mom your gonna love this) ELDER CHRISTENSEN! haha I was so suprised, but im stoked! Can't wait to get started with my main man! He is a great missionary and a great friend! haha Well thats probably the biggest news this week. Im also excited for conference too.

 My spiritual experience this week is when we were looking for a potential investigator that we contacted the week before. Well the person wasnt home, but we found this older couple, and the wife has diabetes and had her leg cut off and stuff so she was is rough condition. But kindly invited us in and listened to our message of the plan of salvation. After the message she grabbed a 100 piso bill and tryed to hand it to us. We giggled and kindly told her our work is free and its for god. she said something like this if I translate it, " The money is not for the lesson you taught, but when I saw and heard your message, I knew you were men of god, and I wanted to make sure you had food." Man it touched my heart, well of course we didnt take the money, but I got something better than money from that experience, people notice missionaries who are doing what they are supposed to do, they know we are men and women of god cause they can see and feel a light, I love missionary work.

Elder Collins