ALOHA!!! (In honor of the upcoming cruise!)
How are y'all? It was great to get you message! It sounds like there's a whole lot going on already!!! That makes me so happy! See, I'm smiling!
I don't even know where to start! Okay, got it! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!! HAPPY BIRRRRRRRTHDAY TO JUSTIN...HAPPPPPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUU!!! I hope it was a great birthday, Justin, even if not everything worked out exactly as planned. You're an AWESOME brother, the best in the world! And you're doing...well, awesome!...with everything you've got on your plate right now. Getting ready for college, DJ-ing a dance, going to school, all those video projects you've been doing (which I'm VERY looking forward to seeing!), and just keeping on keepin' on! Thanks for the great example you set for everyone in the family, and the love and care you have for each person. It means a lot to me, and even more just seeing (or I guess, reading) about the direction you're headed in. Justin, you're AWESOME (I hope you could hear me say that over the sound of how awesome you are.) Happy Birthday!
How were the holidays? Sounds like organizing is a lot of fun! Seeing Brad and his family down there must have been great (Weird...not Elder Sherck anymore...). Does he still have a pretty cool accent? Did he have a lot of stories to tell? And now James is an elder! Everyone is just growing up too fast! Is he getting ready to put in his mission papers soon, or does he still have a while? (He still has about a year, right?)
Let's see, what has been going on here...We had an AWESOME day at church yesterday! Saturday, I feel like we really did just about all we could to help people get to church - and even Sunday morning as well. But from what we heard, we might not have had even a single person there. However, when they finished passing the Sacrament, three investigators walked in! And that was cool, but even more so was the experience one of them had. It was her first Sunday that she was able to attend (She had been working on Sundays, but last week she quit her job). At the end, Elder Lyman asked her how she liked it, and what she thought. She had the biggest smile on her face, and she just said, "Bien, mi hermano." I think that was the best part of the meetings - as one of the things that really uplifted me the most.
What else...Well, the assistants came over and talked to us about our area - how, if possible, they could split it and bring in another companionship. It'll be good to have the area divided in more workable parts, and to have another companionship working in there, too. They told us that is what might happen, and I guess we'll find out at transfer meeting on Wednesday.
Oh, now we're in a new apartment! We're not with the other Elders anymore, but it was a great week and a half! I actually don't have the address of the new complex, but someone should be getting a birthday card (we went shopping at the end of p-day last week, so I didn't have too much time to write in there), and the address is written on there. I hope it's readable! I got the address wrong and had to cross it out, so the one that is written above the crossed-out one is it! It's late...but I hope Justin likes it!
We received transfer calls this morning, and Elder Lyman will be moving to a different area. it's definitely been an interesting experience, opening up this area with Elder Lyman. He's a great missionary! We've had our highs-and-lows, but it's been awesome to work with him. He's funny, has a great sense of humor, and really loves people. He'll do a great work wherever he goes! I'll be staying here, and I'll be getting a new missionary. That part hasn't fully sunk in yet, I think. It'll be exciting, but at the same time, those thoughts creep in about, "What if I mess up? What if I don't help him out like he needs? What if we don't get along?" There's a lot going through my head right now, but President said on the phone that he has received confirmation from the Lord that this is what the Lord wants me to do. It's going to be an interesting couple of transfers, but it will be good. I'm excited to meet the new Elder who comes in - He's going to be awesome! And he's coming into the best ward in the entire mission, so that's definitely a plus. Here we go!
Well, time to get going. I LOVE YOU!! And HAPPY BIRTHDAY again, Justin! I hope everything went well!
Con mucho amor,
Elder Devin Collins
Monday, January 9, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
Week 84 - A Week of Changes
Hola!
It's good to be here, and it was great talking to you last week! Time just flew by! It seemed more like 5 minutes instead of 40, but I guess that's just how it goes!
Sounds like things have been pretty interesting over yonder, what with Christmas and New Year's! But a great time. Who won in Allies and Axis? How are things looking for Dave and Christie and their new house?
I'm not sure how much more time I'll have, with moving things into the new apartment (And I don't have the address with me here, so I'll have to send it to you next week). So I'll give you a quick run-down on how things went during this past week:
We started up our 48-hour exchange on Thursday evening. Elder Claunch came to me in Houston 8, and Elder Lyman went with Elder Bunch in Missouri City East. Elder Lyman actually started out his mission in Missiouri City, so as we were driving over there, he was just really enjoying it. Overall, the exchange was good! The first night and beginning of the first day went kind of slow as we got to know each other better, but then things started to pick up. Elder Claunch has only been in the field for 2 transfers (soon to be 3 transfers in this next week), and he's from Pacen, Utah. We talked to some pretty interesting people - some we taught right there in their garage, others completely rejected what we shared, and others just kind of weirded me out (Like the man who told us that we should watch out as we walked along a certain street. That normally wouldn't have even registered in my mind, except this guy looked like he could kill us if he thought hard enough. So we thanked him and kept walking.).
The day before, we had a pretty good Zone Meeting, and learned about a new record-keeping system (called an escalator) that helps us kep track of where investigators are in the path to conversion, and how we can apply that better in our areas. I'm excited to apply it here.
Saturday we changed back in the evening-time. Hopefully one of these days, I'll be able to go on another exchange with Elder Claunch. Sunday went well, and Church was great!! I learned a lot, and got some good direction that I was really looking for. It's going to be interesting, working with the ward here. There is a lot of work to do, and the ward leaders are really getting into it. We have a great ward mission leader who really wantes to get to work, the Bishop is great, the new Elder's Quorum president is working overtime with everything that we need to get done. I'm really excited to be working in Houston 8 at this really important time!
Sorry this is so short, but we have to get things moved into the new apartment. Next week, we should be all settled in, and I'll be able to let you know about how it is, and what the address is. I love y'all so much!!!! Have a wonderful New Year's week!!
Con mucho amor,
Elder Devin Collins
It's good to be here, and it was great talking to you last week! Time just flew by! It seemed more like 5 minutes instead of 40, but I guess that's just how it goes!
Sounds like things have been pretty interesting over yonder, what with Christmas and New Year's! But a great time. Who won in Allies and Axis? How are things looking for Dave and Christie and their new house?
I'm not sure how much more time I'll have, with moving things into the new apartment (And I don't have the address with me here, so I'll have to send it to you next week). So I'll give you a quick run-down on how things went during this past week:
We started up our 48-hour exchange on Thursday evening. Elder Claunch came to me in Houston 8, and Elder Lyman went with Elder Bunch in Missouri City East. Elder Lyman actually started out his mission in Missiouri City, so as we were driving over there, he was just really enjoying it. Overall, the exchange was good! The first night and beginning of the first day went kind of slow as we got to know each other better, but then things started to pick up. Elder Claunch has only been in the field for 2 transfers (soon to be 3 transfers in this next week), and he's from Pacen, Utah. We talked to some pretty interesting people - some we taught right there in their garage, others completely rejected what we shared, and others just kind of weirded me out (Like the man who told us that we should watch out as we walked along a certain street. That normally wouldn't have even registered in my mind, except this guy looked like he could kill us if he thought hard enough. So we thanked him and kept walking.).
The day before, we had a pretty good Zone Meeting, and learned about a new record-keeping system (called an escalator) that helps us kep track of where investigators are in the path to conversion, and how we can apply that better in our areas. I'm excited to apply it here.
Saturday we changed back in the evening-time. Hopefully one of these days, I'll be able to go on another exchange with Elder Claunch. Sunday went well, and Church was great!! I learned a lot, and got some good direction that I was really looking for. It's going to be interesting, working with the ward here. There is a lot of work to do, and the ward leaders are really getting into it. We have a great ward mission leader who really wantes to get to work, the Bishop is great, the new Elder's Quorum president is working overtime with everything that we need to get done. I'm really excited to be working in Houston 8 at this really important time!
Sorry this is so short, but we have to get things moved into the new apartment. Next week, we should be all settled in, and I'll be able to let you know about how it is, and what the address is. I love y'all so much!!!! Have a wonderful New Year's week!!
Con mucho amor,
Elder Devin Collins
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