First off, a shout out to my little brother, Camden. He received his mission call this past Saturday! He has been called to serve in the Washington D.C. North Mission and he leaves December 18th. I'm super excited for him!!! The mission is the best, hardest thing you'll ever do. It's amazing how the Lord truly does know each of us individually and He knows where we need to be (even though I was rooting for him to get called to the Arizona Gilbert Mission. How awesome would have that been?!). Camden, you'll be an amazing missionary. I can't wait to hear about all the success you will have.
What a blessing it is to be serving the Lord full time. Just yesterday I gave a talk at our stake's pre-missionary fireside. I was asked to talk about how to best prepare for a mission. My best advice would be to become converted yourself (Alma 17:2-3) and to decide now to be exactly obedient- to the mission rules and more importantly to the Spirit. Obedience brings blessings, there is no substitution. This is the best way we can qualify ourselves for the blessings we desire. We have to be living Celestially in order to receive those Celestial blessings we ask for (D&C 130:20-21). We cannot do this work alone. Two people can do anything as long as one of them is the Lord. I have a firm testimony of this eternal principle. When we trust in the Lord and have faith, He will never leave us by ourselves. Faith produces miracles. We cannot doubt not nor fear not; the Lord only speaks in positives, never negatives. We need to "be not afraid, only believe" (Mark 5:36). Share the Gospel now. Share your testimony frequently. Our testimonies changes people's lives for the eternities. Our testimonies are powerful; therein lies our power. Never forget who you are- we are sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father. We have divine potential. Never let us forget to see ourselves how God sees us.
I'd have to say this week has been one of the hardest, but most rewarding weeks in my entire mission. My testimony has been strengthened. My faith has definitely been strengthened. I know my Savior lives and that He loves me. He loves all of us. I know faith will always overcome doubt, fear, and uncertainty. This week we were able to find a new investigator! His name is Samuel and he's 19. All of his friends are on missions and he's a very deep thinker. He thinks about everything logically. He logically concluded there was a God in High School when before he was agnostic. He's totally prepared. We found him on Thursday night. We had had a lesson with another one of our investigators, Carl, who lives next door to Samuel and his family. After Carl's lesson, we ran to another appointment. We later realized we had lost our phone so we started back-tracking. We went over to Carl's to see if we had left it there and he couldn't find it. We were then looking all of his front yard to see if Sister Huefner had dropped it as she got out of the car. We finally found it in the grass and was just about to get in the car as another pulled up and started to get out. I had this distinct impression we needed to go talk to those two boys. So we stopped getting in the car and went to go talk with them. We ended up teaching a lesson right there on the street and setting up another lesson for the next morning with Samuel. I know faith produces miracles and obedience brings blessings. I know it without a doubt. This area just has so many miracles happening and about to happen. I can feel it and I know the members can as well. The work is hastening. It's exciting to be apart of it right now and in this place. I have the blessing of being able to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who are seeking and searching. What an honor it is.
Love,
Sister Collins
Sis. Collins and Sis. Huefner at the Mesa Temple