Short and Sweet

 Rita, this week we sang to her. She's 93 and incredible!!

 This is what I see every where I go in my area!

Brother Day, we bought him hot cocoa so he would stop drinking coffee, and it's working!!!

 I was reading in the scriptures and I came across D&C 24:7,12:  "For thou shalt devote all thy service in Zion. In this thou shalt have strength, and at all times and in all places, ye shall open your mouth and declare my gospel as with a voice of a trump. Both day and night. And I will give unto him strength, such as is not known among man."

Wow! This helped me so much! I have been praying for strength this whole week! And there it was right in front of me. That if I just do the work and focus on my mission, then I will find the strength! And I KNOW that to be true! When I felt weak, I just started opening my mouth more and more! And that's when I felt strengthened! 

We are getting more and more investigators! We have seen less actives have a change of heart this week! And we have seen the power of the spirit touch hearts! I Am so happy and blessed I get to be a missionary, and that I am able to grow everyday! 

Sorry so short!! But i love you!!!! And have a great day :)

Sister Collings

When the going gets tough, the tough get going!!

HELLO FAMILY!

When the going gets tough, the tough get going! I have thought that simple phrase over and over this week. All of our investigators dropped us and Sister H and I got sick. Wow. I prayed for a trial to help me and Sister H to grow and become better, I just never thought it would have been THAT! haha! 

I'll be honest, this week my motivation felt low, and I felt down, but I kept going! I have LOVED learning the power of prayer because I know God is aware of me and what I am going through! There's a scripture that REALLY hit me this week! Alma 38:5 " that as much as you shall put your trust in God even so much that ye shall be delivered out of your trials and afflictions ye shall be lifted up at the last day!" Wow. What an incredible promise! I know that I must keep going and I know that I can get strength through my Savior!

I know why I am here, and I know NONE of my effort are wasted! 

Sister H is an incredible missionary! Even though it was a hard week she was still motivated to keep working! She is a dedicated servant of the Lord! We heard that her dad was in town and she could have gotten homesick or distracted but she kept going! Which was an incredible example to me. 

In Tyler's email he said, "There is nothing and I mean NOTHING that can ever get in the way of this divine work and it's progression. I don't care if I go home with bags under my eyes, torn white shirts and ties, or holes in my shoes. I will not and cannot stop doing my absolute best in bringing Heavenly Father's children a knowledge of the restored gospel." THAT hit me SO HARD!!! I'm thankful for his example and how dedicated he is so that when my fuel is on low I can keep going! So I just want to add my testimony to that! I KNOW that I can keep going when things get tough! I am trying everyday to give more of myself, and to be honest I spend most days on my knees.. Because I am weak. I fall short a lot! But how grateful I am for the atonement to carry me. And boy have I been carried this week. There is NO way I could keep going on my mission without my Savior and friend Jesus Christ!

Love you All!

LOVE, Sister Kaylea Collings!

Firework TIPS

HELLO family!!!

Wow that's the best picture EVER!  5 generations!!! :)

OH! And guess what! You know the S family that used to live next to us on Ruben Court? I had dinner with Brother S, here, who is his brother!!! It was so exciting to make that connection!!

OHH and! I got a letter from Sarah :) It was so sweet! She is so cute!!! :)  I'm so excited to have her as my new sister!!! :):)

SOOO! My week was a really good one! Except I have had just the strangest feeling inside of me! Something inside of me just wants to be more devoted to this work! And something inside of me wants to give my Heavenly Father more! I'm not exactly sure what more I can give him, but THAT has been what's on my mind! I feel so blessed that God has let me experience so many miracles, that I just know I need to give him more. If you have any suggestions about that, I'd LOVE them!! Because I'm ready to step up :)


I LOVE working with sister H, because we have so much fun together! AND I love seeing her grow in her teaching skills and following promptings of the Spirit! Its incredible! During lessons while she speaks, I pray and pray for her to learn and grow and to listen to the Spirit, and whenever she speaks, I feel the Spirit! We get along so well! And I decided I'm adopting her as my little sister... we will be filling out the papers today! When we write letters on the beach!  :) 

We have had some amazing spiritual experiences!

#1. Remember Rita who is 93? Well, we taught her the restoration, and it was incredible! She had tears in her eyes and she said that all she wants is to be whisked away back home to God, because her family is already there, and it's not fair that she still has to be alive while they are all in a better place! And the spirit prompted us to tell her that THIS is what she needed before she could be whisked away! And the spirit was SO strong! She said "I think so.." And THEN she told us she was blown away, because she is 93 and she learned something new today! Looking back, I never would have expected that I could promise someone that they could die.... sounds strange, but it was amazing! We had this lesson on her 93rd birthday, so we gave her a gift which was the Book of Mormon! And she was so excited, she was in tears! I LOVE teaching her!!! And I LOVE that she notices the spirit, and is so humble that even at 93 she is willing to change.


#2. We have a new investigator named Tracy (it's a beautiful name if you ask me) Well we went to an apartment, because a less active woman lived there, who, it turns out is very disabled. Her caregiver answered the door, so we prayed with them, and set up a time to come and teach the caregiver, because she showed some interest. Well we met her again, and taught her the restoration, and she was in TEARS! She said when we prayed with her that night, she was so overwhelmed by something, she felt peace and happiness! It's amazing what the power of prayer can do! And I feel privileged that I can pray each time I meet someone, and help THEM feel the spirit. So we are excited to keep teaching her! AND she makes me feel close to home because not only is her name Tracy, but she ALSO has the same job as my mom! She stays overnight with the people the cares for!


#3. We were able to meet our new mission president! HE is AMAZING! He had a heart attack one month before coming out here! He is my kinda guy! He has the spirit, but has the best jokes ever! He said " I was DYING to get here!" haha! But WOW, they are incredible! And I know they were called here for a reason!


We had some fun experiences as well! 

On the 4th of July we had to be home early, because those college kids go crazy! In fact, they even burnt down a HUGE building that day... nuts. BUT! At 9:00 we were planning and we heard fireworks! So we ran to our bedroom, snuggled in our blankets, and watched them! The trick was that it was SUPER cloudy and foggy, so we could hear them, but we could only see the VERY tips of a firework every 2 minutes!  At the end we saw like 5 tips because of the grand finale! BUT it was so much fun! Because we were able to take joy in the small things :) I'm excited for the day I can see ALL the fireworks, and not behind a screen in my apartment! haha! But it was an experience I'll never forget!!


We talked to a man named Tongalonga ...and he went onto an Indian reservation for awhile and got in tune with the "Great Spirit'. Well... He said a prayer for us and told us that he created the earthquakes! The people out here REALLY are one of a kind! Sister H and I always joke that it takes 5 VERY interesting people to get to 1 solid investigator haha!

OHH! and rumor has it that we are going to become a Facebook mission with iPads!! WHHHAAATT!? We will see hahaha! But I like those rumors :)

I LOVE you all! Have a great week!
LOVE, Sister Collings