Dos Vientos

Mom here, this week we requested a LONG DETAILED letter. We haven't really received a letter from this young lady for about 6 weeks! Just some pictures.

Hahaha Alrighty here is a LONG detailed letter.... :) DOS Vientos has been a completely different experience! I have never seen so many less actives before with so many sad stories! It's incredible what the gospel can do! Our teaching pool is pretty small! We are teaching a German lady! Her name is Heidi! The only problem is that she works at two different hospitals!  So she is ALWAYS busy! But the Lord provides... we have impressions that we should stop by her home, and she has been there EVERY time! What a blessing! We had a great lesson with her this week where we were able to share why the Book of Mormon has been so special to us! And why I KNOW the book of Mormon is true! The spirit was strong! She has met with SO many missionaries, but I think for the VERY first time she is eager to read the book of Mormon! 

We are also teaching THE CUTEST little girl who's name is Hannah! She is 8 years old! Her mother is a single parent and is incredible! My favorite times of the week are when we get to go over there and do service! We have done different things like, scrapbooking and cleaning! And even putting up wall paper! I have so much respect for single mothers, because I see how much work they do and how much they LOVE being a mother, despite the hard struggles! My favorite thing about teaching Hannah is her prayers! She says the MOST sincere prayers, and she prays for the cutest things like the universe, or the stars and the moon. I LOVE THEM! OHHH! And they have a huge dog named Gonzo.... I WILL send pictures of that beautiful beast someday in the NEAR future!!

This week we were able to have president interviews! And President and Sister Felix even took me and Sister D out to dinner!! During the interview I asked president to give me a blessing! And it was incredible! At the end of his blessing he said " I want you to know that God has prompted me to say all these things" after he closed the blessing he said " Wow, I have never said that before in a blessing." The Spirit was so strong, and I felt so energized to face whatever comes my way this next week! I'm so grateful for President Felix, and I know he has put me with sister D for a very special reason! 

I'm thankful for my mission and I walked through a pair of my shoes!!!!! I felt pretty proud they have HUGE holes in the bottom :) I feel pretty accomplished!! :)

Love you ALL!!

love, Sister Kaylea Collings!!

PS CONMAN!! look at what street I knocked the other day!!!!

WE GOT MATCHING NIGHT GOWNS!

When we get home she always wears her PRINCESS TIARA!

New area, Dos Vientos!

This week was one full of HARD work!! :) We just talked to everyone we saw and I really felt the spirit with us in the work! 

Me and my new companion, Sister D!

Dos Vientos is beautiful and I know I am here for a reason! I cannot believe how CRAZY your week was back at home!!! haha I feel like when I don't have enough time to email, that pictures make up for it, right!?!?! :):) 

Well one thing tragic happened... we had dinner at a members and when we were about to give the dinner message, one of the little kids poured water in them... so they were SOAKING WET!!!! :(

I wanted to ask your help with something!!! So before the end of my mission, I want to study the Christ like attributes. So I have picked one for each month for the rest of my mission! This month I am studying faith in Jesus Christ, so if you could help me study that it would be GREAT! Send talks poems quotes or anything you like about that attribute and how I can apply it. I want to know what each of you are studying also!!  Let me know :):)

I sure love you all!!! :):) have a great week!!! :):)

This is my home in Dos Vientos. We live in a guest house at a member's home.

My front yard! CRAZY place!!

Inside our apartment

Picture Frenzy!

LOOK WHAT I GOT IN THE MAIL THIS WEEK!!!!!!!  I must say my new sister-in-law to be is just beautiful!!!!!! I LOVE this picture so so much!!! I wish I could be there!! You'll be in my thoughts :) 

gross kissing...

hahaha This is what I find every night after planning :)

          Our apartment was SOOOOO HOT!! So we got creative :):) Felt nice for about 5 minutes :)

This week has been a good one that's for sure! We were able to have Elder Malm from the 70 come by and inspire us! He is from Sweden! So we have zone conference with him!! This is us all dressed up in our spiffy blazers! 

This is us on our drive home!! It was sooo fun because we were able to see the TERRAZES!!!!!! Yup my mother away from home with he happy healing hugs! It was so much fun :)

We were out tracting and a FROG jumped up my skirt!!! haha!So I got a picture with this cutie :)

OHHH and guess what!?! TRANSFERS HAPPENED!!!!! I AM GETTING TRANSFERRED!!! I will be leaving to Dos Vientos, which is in Newbury Park, and I will be with Sister D. She is hilarious... she doesn't have a finger and she is from Alabama :) I'm so excited!!

Trials

Hello!! 

Wow, I cant believe what happened to Kendal :( That breaks my heart. I will definitely include her in my prayers! But I know God's plan for her is  perfect :) And that everything will work out! it doesn't make it any easier, that's for sure. I had to hold back tears when I saw the pictures Danelle sent me of Kendal :( BUT! Thank you for informing me! 

(Mom here, Kaylea's friend Kendal was serving a mission in Australia and was hit by a car. She is in a coma right now. We're waiting to hear how she's doing. Our prayers are with her and her family.)

I cannot believe that Stevie is getting married! I decorated his wedding day on my calender! It includes cute stick figures of Sarah, Steve, and the temple! haha! I'm so excited to get another sister :)

This week is one that has been full of miracles, and one that was full of hard work! We didn't give up or slow down. The trials didn't cease either. For whatever reason, Satan really worked hard on me this week! A personal attack from the inside! But I have never seen prayer heal me so fast! I prayed all week and finally, not till this morning, did my burden become so light I literally felt as if Heavenly Father took it away from me! We were able to contact less actives that we have been trying so hard to see, and one really special experience we had was a man named Carlos just walked up to us! He asked if we were Jehovah Witnesses, and we then told him who we were and taught him the whole restoration! I have never seen anyone my whole mission listen so intently to our lessons!

We also taught a less active who had become very Anti! This was one of Sister H's first experiences with that. But through that hard lesson where our faith was being tugged... our feet were FIRMLY planted. And my testimony increased in leaps and bounds! We asked him if he was happier now that he found out all that he did, and he honestly told us how miserable he was. I know there is a reason that the gospel brings true happiness! It's because it's TRUE. Although the world may have claimed we left empty handed, I feel as though me and Sister H left with full hearts, and compassion for that man, and sorrow for the path he was now on. And with a firm testimony of Jesus Christ's precious gospel.

Dad always told me that times like these are when Satan is working hard because God has something big planned for me. I don't know what it is, but I have strong faith that if I keep going and following after Christ's example, that I will be able to notice what he does have in store, and witness his hand in my life and in this work. 

How grateful I am for my mission that is beautifully designed for me to fall, only so I can decide to get back up and follow Christ more fully! Thank you so much for all you do!! Thank you for your prayers and your example!

Sister H is on fire! She LOVES this work, and is more and more confident each day! Her desire to be obedient is incredible. She is so humble and always finding ways that she can improve. I sure love her. And I know that she's like a little sister to me :) Only because of age.... In every other aspect of life she much greater than me :) And I am so thankful I have her to help me grow! I know I was put with her for a special reason! 

 Studying in a coat because it's a chilly 70 degrees!

 Built a blanket fort for planning in....

I love you all!! 

Love, Sister Collings!

Lots of Miracles

Dear Family,

My week was interesting! We did a lot of service! 10 hours actually! Full of cleaning, and helping people move! 

Our investigator, Christy, we were finally able to talk about baptism with her, and Sister H was so impressive! Christy is in her 40's and she had a brain condition that really messed her up for about 2 years. She was able to overcome it, and now she wants a family so badly! She said she cries at night because she is all alone, and she wants to know what it's like to have children. Sister H spoke POWERFULLY by the spirit, and said something along the lines of "Christy don't take this the wrong way, but God wants you to become a member of his church, and have a firm foundation before you can have your own family!" The spirit was overwhelming, and she thought a lot about that, and her reply was "maybe so..." But you could see her wheels turning! So I just PRAY she will have a softened heart!  It broke my heart to see her so sad, because let's be honest, who doesn't want a family?! I know that's my only real dream!  I love training Sister H. Seeing her act upon the spirit is inspiring! She even told me after, " Sister Collings, I was fighting with the spirit, and when he told me to tell Christy that, I thought 'NO! I can't do that, she will get offended!'" (she does take offence easily) She fought with the spirit, and it kept telling her to just open her mouth! She even said "Just give that impression to Sister Collings, I don't want to say it!" hahaha Well.... The spirit DID not give it to me, and she trusted Heavenly Father, and listened to his words, and I know she spoke by the spirit because of the overwhelming feeling that was in the room! 

Another miracle we had, was we have an investigator named Mario, and he has been super duper hard to get a hold of. So we decided to text him and plan a time to meet with him. He texted back and said "How about today in 15 minutes!!" haha MIRACLE!!!!!! It was amazing because we have been trying so hard to meet with him, and we had a really great lesson! :) 

Third miracle this week was INCREDIBLE! Susan is the one that is recovering from the flesh eating parasite, and she told us " I look forward to the day I can be baptized into your church, we just need a miracle, and I expect miracles to happen." So we fasted for Susan, that she could have the strength to make it to church and that she could recover! So we will see! We just have to wait for God's precious timing :) 

This week was a great one! We also had zone conference which was in Ventura! And it was incredible!! We were moved by all the talks and all the inspiration! I love the story of Peter in the New Testament. We talked about how he denied Christ 3 times, and then was able to make an amazing recovery. He was able to repent and change and serve him faithfully after that. We listened to Elder Uchtdorf talk about that, and he said in a way we are all like Peter! I love it :) 

PETE, DONICE, AND BROOKE came and took me and Sster H to lunch!! It was so much fun! :) He told me about his baptism and how he came to know the church was true!! I feel so blessed that I was able to teach him :) His WHOLE family is just completely different now!  They are just radiating!! Pete told me he really loves you dad!! I'm thankful that you were able to give them really good advice regarding the temple! :)

Needless to say, it's been a great week :) And I am loving my mission! It's hard, and it kills me to see what people have to go through! But how grateful I am that I get to share the Gospel with them and send some light into their lives :):)

I Love you ALL!!

Love, Sister Kaylea Collings 

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

FAMILY!!!!

We were actually teaching a lesson to a less active and he said " I just don't like that the church has TOO many rules!!" And I said " Brother, your wrong. Our church has too many blessings!" I committed him to, instead of saying rules, to say blessings! hahah it was a great perspective change for me!!

This week we had some HUGE miracles!! We have been teaching Susan who is in her 80's and had the flesh eating parasite, and is too sick for church because her body is re-building its organs! Well, at the lesson this week she said  "I went on a walk and I felt more strength than normal! So then God told me, Susie, you're going to church with the sisters this week!" She then told us the outfit she had already picked out! We called Sunday morning, and she wasn't feeling well, and wasn't able to attend YET! But it's incredible that she was able to recognize the spirit, and that she has that desire. The ward is all fasting and praying, so I'm sure by next Sunday she will have enough strength to go to church :)

CHRISTY!!! We attended the Catholic mass, which was a very interesting experience. Though the room was beautiful and the words being spoken were true, I did not feel the same as I do in our church! It was a huge testimony builder for me! I just had an overwhelming feeling of love and gratitude for my parents helping me go to church every week. I love the simplicity of our church. I love it because it shows me God's love for us! He doesn't want us to be confused! He wants us to know our purpose, and how to return back home! I love being a member of the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-Day Saints! While in the mass, I felt insecure at first, and I hid my badge with my hair, because I didn't feel comfortable showing people who I was. Well, after about 5 minutes, I decided that I was PROUD to represent Jesus Christ and his church! So I tied up my hair in a pony tail, and let my badge show to everyone in the room! I never want to be ashamed of who I am and what I stand for ever again! :)

Vicky! We had an amazing lesson with her. We were planning to drop her, but the spirit had other plans for her! He helped us teach her and we invited her to be baptized and set a date for the end of September! I DID not see that one coming! She also attended church with us this Sunday! It's amazing to see what happens when you just trust God and let the Spirit teach.

I had a great week!! And I'm so grateful for it :)
My favorite quote that I read on a member's fridge: "When Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future"   I love this so much :)

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Love, Sister Collings

Ether is a funny name

FAMILY!!

THIS week we were able to be a part of a few special miracles that I am VERY grateful for! Remember Christy that we killed the roaches? Well this week we asked her if she would take the lessons!! And she was VERY not sure... she said we could only do it if we did it in nature, so that way we didn't bring it into her personal space in her home... so we will be having our lessons in a garden haha BUT! I'm so excited; we actually fasted for her! And it Worked! Tonight we will actually be going to a Catholic mass. She said she would come to church with us if we would go to church with her... so THIS will be VERY interesting hahah :):) But I am so excited she has finally accepted the lessons. Serving her will be a little sweeter now :) I never thought I would be thankful for cockroaches!!

We had an amazing lesson about salvation with Brother D, who is a less active of 30 years! The spirit was so strong, and it was so fun to see my companion! She is an amazing missionary. I love how she asks the most inspired questions! She asked Brother D what he felt like he needed to do to live with God again, and it was pretty much what we believe, so it was incredible that she helped him make that connection :):)

This week we also decided to have a car fast!! So we walked ALL day and talked to anyone and everyone that we came in contact with! Well we ended up walking 12 miles!! And talking to LOADS of people! We had a goal of declaring to 20 people! And we were about to have to go home. We had about 1 minute left, and God placed 2 people in our paths! It was incredible, he really is in charge of his work! We also talked to a lot of bikers, biking their way down the California coast, invited numberless people to church (homeless people included) and we were able to make a few return appointments! It was an amazing experience! And when we felt a little less motivated, a member would honk their horn at us and wave, and it lifted out spirits right up!!! :):) The only bad part about that was the end of the night came, and I was absolutely fried!!! I was so sun burnt!! And I actually had a heat stroke.... hahaha But it doesn't really matter, the miracles we saw that day took over, for sure! Although its hilarious because my companion wasn't red at all!!!! hahah Just a tiny bit tanner... gotta love fair skin :) But no worries, I have Aloe Vera!!! :)

We had a lesson with Susan again! And we wanted to read Ether 12 with her... well the lesson was a little rough to start because she wouldn't stop laughing at the name 'Ether'.... I never realized how different the Book of Mormon names were until I saw my investigator's reactions haha! But it ended up being a great lesson! :)

So guess what! Transfers happened, and I will still be with Sister H in Goleta!! Which I'm really happy about! We are going to see SO many miracles!! Whelp...I hope you all have an amazing week!

I love you all :):)

Love Sister Kaylea Collings!! :)
Can you believe I'm on my 8th transfer!?! Only 4 more to go! :)