Where do I begin? Tuesday we drove halfway to O'fallon, Missouri to meet up with our Sister Training Leaders to do exchanges. Sister Smith went with Sister Woodward back to O'fallon and Sister Patchet came back to our area with me. It was really fun to knock doors and walk around campus talking to people with Sister Patchet. She said working on a campus is really weird and that she had a lot of fun trying to talk to people her own age. It's definitely different but she did wonderful and complimented how I relate to people when talking to them. We taught Crystal and she is was not happy about Sister Smith being gone but it was a good lesson. She has been reading and praying and is trying really hard to get work off. 

Sister Patchet and I went to an Indian restaurant that I love for dinner. It was really fun to get to know her better and serve with her for a day. We had some member lessons as well. Then the next day just after she left, Crystal called and left a message saying how she got work off for the second of February and how happy she was that God answered her prayers! It was a cool moment. I know God hears and answers prayers. 

Sister Smith said that she had a lot of fun on exchanges in another area. 

When she came back we decided to try and find a less-active girl that lives pretty far from us. We knew it would be cold, so we bundled up as best we could and headed out into the cold. We took the bus to where we thought was close to her house but it really wasn't. So we had to walk along a very busy street for a couple of miles. It was about 14 degrees outside and -10 with the windchill. We were laughing and quizzing each other on Book of Mormon doctrine when a car honked and a whole group of guys in it flipped us off. Sister Smith and I laughed and  were pretty excited because that was the first time it had happened to either one of us! The Elders get it way worse than us and so we felt like it was just part of being missionaries. 

We made it to her house and she wasn't home so we left her a plate of cookies. Then we walked to the closest bus stop and were excited to be out of the wind... but the bus wouldn't come. We stood there for a looong time and seriously contemplated the symptoms for hypothermia and frostbite as the wind kept blowing. About 30 minutes or so passed and this black car pulls up, two Elders pop out and hand us some hand-warmers and then left. We were soooo happy!! We thought our finders were going to fall off! So we warmed up our hand as best we could and then tried to call someone. Everyone was busy.. To make a long story short, the bus eventually came waaay later than it was supposed to and we made it home okay. I spent most of my evening with the heat of my blow-drier warming up my cold feet and hands. I am so grateful for heat! 

Friday was Sister Smith's birthday! She said it was the best birthday she has ever had! It started out with me decorating the apartment with leftover things from my birthday haha and then we went to a members house for a delicious gluten-free breakfast! She opened the present I got her, which was a mustache calendar and some stickers. She really likes mustaches. Then we went to the institute for a meeting with a member who is preparing for his mission. 

Crystal was our next appointment and we taught her the Word of Wisdom. She is so awesome she doesn't have to make very many life changes in order to live it. She is going strong and is excited to come to church next week! 

Then we met with a guy named Geoff who was referred to us by some members in another ward. We were really excited to meet him and he expressed interest in the Book of Mormon. He didn't have very much time to meet but he got to hear our testimonies as well as the testimony of a member. He said he would read it and then call us if he wants to learn more. We were SO close to getting a new investigator! But that's okay. If he reads it and prays about it, I'm sure he will call us. 

Sister Smith and I then went downtown and tried talking to people before her birthday dinner. A lady with a microphone and a camera guy asked us if we would be willing to answer some questions about the safety of Columbia. When we looked confused she said, "I'm sure you know about the stabbing and shooting that happened last weekend." The whaaat?? We explained that we don't watch the news and she told us that someone was killed on Hitt and Broadway last weekend.... which is basically where we live. We told her we couldn't be on TV because we're missionaries but that we could give her a card for a website! :D We wished her luck and went on our way. Apparently we live in a more dangerous place than we thought. But don't worry mom, we are almost never out at night and my companion is a third degree black belt and could seriously injure anyone that tries to mess with us.

We had an awesome dinner at Shotgun Pete's BBQ and Sister Smith really enjoyed the ribs. That night the other sisters made her a gluten-free cake and we sang to her and all that jazz. It was a great day for her. 

Saturday we did a lot of service at the food pantry and that night we had dinner at a members house. She's a sister in the branch who served her mission in Russia! While there we got transfer calls and found out that all four of us are staying another transfer! We were all relieved and happy. Sunday was awesome and we had a couple of non-members come again. Hopefully they will want to learn more! I'm out of time! But the Church is true and I love all of you!!!!!!

I've been learning this lesson about how the Lord does his work. This week I came to realize how God calls us to serve in different capacities no matter what we may think we are called to do. I'm the kind of person that likes to see results. As an artist I love to work hard and then step back and look at what came of the time and energy out into my work. Sometimes when we step back we see that the painting didn't turn out the way you thought it would. I've been learning how to be okay with the outcome. 

Sister Smith and I spent a lot of time this week just talking to people. Volunteering at the food pantry and getting to see the people there. We had fun sewing dolls for a children's hospital and I found out how much I like sewing! I think I'm going to take a sewing class when I get back to school. I'm learning a lot about myself and how to be who God wants me to be, instead of what I think I want to be. I love seeing the Lord shape and mold me into something I didn't think of ever being. 

I'm grateful for the opportunity that I've had to live with another set of sister missionaries. It definitely keeps things exciting and has helped me to grow. I know that God places us where we are meant to be and every person he puts in our life is an opportunity to grow. 

Crystal is doing great and we are planning on her getting baptized on the 15th of February. She works at Petsmart and is having a hard time getting work off to go to church. She wants to go to church and is upset the manager won't let her get it off for such a good reason. We're praying she can find another job but it's hard because she wants it to be a job with animals. Hopefully something will come up and she will be able to come to church. She did get to come to the branch lunch that was after church! So she got to meet our branch president and a lot of other people. I hope that she felt welcomed and wants to come again.

Jamie is doing really well and we are hoping to set a date with her tomorrow for baptism. We had a great lesson with her that really answered her questions and the spirit was definitely there. 

We've also been working with a less-active member named Rebeka who is really wanting to change her life around. She has been innactive for four years and finally wants to come back. She's a very sweet girl and we have loved working with her. She said she decided to read her scriptures one day and then the next day she found a new job! And it's her dream job! She had been looking for a job for three months and got one as soon as she read! How cool is that? She actually came to our lesson with Jamie and shared that experience with her. Good stuff. 

I love this gospel and the love that God has for his children. I feel so blessed to be a part of this work and am so grateful for my wonderful family and the support that they give me. I love you all and appreciate your prayers. Have a happy week! 

:)

Love,

Sister Collett

Hello fellow Americans! Time to tell you about my week as a missionary! 

The freezing cold weather decided to leave faster than it came. Now it's sunny and I don't even need a coat! Gotta love Missouri weather! The snow melted quickly and we have been enjoying not trudging through the snow. 

Here's the update on the people we are teaching...

Crystal- we set a baptismal date with her for the February first. She was excited and we were thrilled. Then the other night she texts us and says, "The Mormon isn't for me" and Sister Smith freaked out.. I called Crystal and figured out she just had a bad day. We came over the next day with cookies and made her feel better. She didn't make it to church Sunday because of work so we have to move her date back a week but she said she would do her best to get Sundays off. Hopefully that happens soon. 

Natalie- Yesterday after church we went to go teach her the third lesson with a sister in the branch. Before we got started she said that she had decided to stay Lutheran. She thanked us for our time and said that we helped her come back to where she felt she needed to be. We were devastated. She did ask about the trinity and what we believe about that. We explained how we know that God and Jesus Christ are two separate beings and that they are one in purpose and that the Holy Spirit is a personage of spirit and does not have a body of flesh and bone. How God communicates to us through the Spirit and all that. Then when I asked what her church believed she didn't really have an answer. I was so so heart-broken. She wanted to stay with her faith she was comfortable in but her church doesn't even help her know the nature of God. I wanted her to know the truth so bad. I wanted her to know that she has a loving Heavenly Father who is literally her father and that Christ is the Son of God- her older brother. But people have their agency and we have to respect their ability to choose. 

Allie- We had lunch with Allie and another member of our branch and it went really well, we thought. We had good conversation and invited her to come to church. She said she'd come and that we could come over afterwards for lunch and a discussion. Sunday came and she never showed. We haven't heard from her since. 

Then there were other people that Sister Smith had been teaching before I came here like Chen Xing who we walked all the way to her house to find out she moved back to CHINA! :( haha.. then our other investigator Kaity... well she just made some life decisions that has made it so that she'd probably be in a family ward now. 

But hey, the Church is still true and it always will be! The best part of my week was getting mail every single day! I want to thank everyone who has sent me letters- it made me so happy to see my name on those letters every single time! Thank you thank you thank you!!! 

You are also welcome to email me at alexa.collett@myldsmail.net

Love you all!!!

The best Christmas present ever was getting to see my family and talk to them over Skype! I even got to see a lot of my cousins and aunts and uncles and my grandma and grandpa! Oh how I love my family so much. And I received wonderful gifts in the mail which really made me happy. I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful family. 

Has anyone seen the movie "I Am Legend"? Basically it's about the last man on earth and when he walks the streets there are no people and the earth is completely deserted. Sometimes that is how we feel as sister missionaries serving on a university campus when everyone is gone for the holidays. Like the last people on earth. It is the coldest and darkest time of the year and we walk around for hours talking to very few people. Sometimes we'll see a family here or there eating in local restaurants and that's about it. The best part is that school doesn't start up again till the 21st of January... which is basically when the transfer is over. So I have come to grips with the fact that our numbers are the lowest I have ever seen in my mission and we are going to have to get very creative. 

We've decided that trying to do a lot of service is a good way to come in contact with people. The only people that we can serve though aren't even in our branch because the people in our branch are students who are gone. Haha, it's all very humorous really. The good thing though is that we are living with all four of us in an apartment and have a lot of fun together. Last night we made some pretty great music videos. Honestly, it's amazing how happy we are even though we aren't teaching as we wish we were. 

We also try to find the few people that are in the branch who are still in town and try to get them to meet with us so we can get to know them and teach some lessons. We've gotten some referrals from that but can't contact them till they come back into town. Hopefully things will pick up a little bit next week after New Years. 

With the end of 2013 we reflect on all the hard work our mission has put into reaching our goal of 450 baptisms for the year. We were SO CLOSE! Our mission reached 443 baptisms. Man, we were close. We did try though and I know that a lot of lives were changed. This week we will find out what our new goal is for the coming year. 

2013 was a great year for me. A lot happened and I'm really grateful for all the things I have learned and the great people I have met. This next year I am going to be 22 starting on the third of January and am excited for what 2014 holds. Time to look back on the things I've accomplished and look forward to new goals and aspirations I hope to enjoy next year. I'm so grateful for our savior Jesus Christ who allows us to change. Because of him we have the opportunity to keep going when we aren't perfect. To do better next time and strive for perfection. I know this church is true and that Christ is my savior. I love him so much and will forever rejoice in his glorious triumph over death. I love this gospel! 

"41 Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me;

 42 And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost."

Happy New Year!

Love,

Sister Collett

Happy New Year everyone! 

Thank you so much for the letters and notes that were sent to me for Christmas and my birthday. I really appreciate the love and support that my family and friends give me. Thank you all!

So remember how I was talking about our baptismal goal for the year? Check this out, I got this email from President today. He said, "To recap the year for all those who love goals and numbers and those who do not care for numbers. As it turnes out the final year end total for 2013 was 443 people joining the church in the mission. This was 7 short of our goal, however, last year(2012) the goal was 365 and the actual was 372, 7 more than the goal(you can see where i am going with this) You take the additional 7 from last year and add them to this year and you get 450! WE DID IT!"

HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!? God is so awesome! Now it all makes sense! And now with this years goal of 521 baptisms for 2014 we are totally going to make it! Man, the church is SO TRUE! I love being a part of this work! This is just one of those moments when I know that this work is the Lord's work. He is the one in charge and ALL things are possible through God. I'm excited for this new year and all that it brings. 

Oh of those things it will bring is my birthday! I'm now 22 years old and am so grateful for the fun I had on my birthday thanks to my amazing family and friends helping me celebrate. My mom sent me this huge birthday box and it came a little early. I had my companion open it and get out the presents that were wrapped just for fun. The morning of my birthday I woke up to Sisters Smith, Bailey and Firestone all coming into my room with the CD player playing the Taylor Swift song called "22" and dancing and singing. It was hilarious. They brought me my presents and we had lots of fun opening all of them in my bed. I was so happy to get such great things! Thank you so much Mom, Dad, Elliot and Roy, Mason, Zac and of course Camden. I loved all the things you sent! I love you all so much!!!

Then I walked out into the kitchen and it was all decorated in streamers and balloons! The table was even decorated! It was as if my mom came in the night and decorated to surprise me!! My awesome companion is very sneaky and had this all planned out! She then made me my favorite breakfast meal, which is biscuits and gravy with sausage and eggs! It was so awesome! 

That night a member took us out to dinner to an Italian restaurant, just like I wanted and the waitresses sang "Happy Birthday" to me and I got a piece of cake! It was great! 

The best part of the day was the gifts that God gave to me. :) While we were walking downtown trying to talk to people I felt impressed to go up a street we wouldn't normally go down. We went and met a young man outside a coffee shop named Matt who said that he was "looking". We exchanged information when he said he would like to meet with us. Then later that night we got a text from someone in another ward who knew someone who wanted to learn from us! It was so amazing because we hadn't seen much success at all while we've been here. Then on my birthday we are blessed! Thanks Heavenly Father! :) 

Saturday we met with a girl named Allie who is the cutest, happiest girl I have ever seen that wears all black and dark makeup. She's 19 and has a spunky personality. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and she seemed so eager to learn. I loved teaching her and can't wait to meet with her again. 

We had another miracle late one night after walking around in the freezing cold. The phone rang and it was a girl named Crystal who wanted us to come over and teach her. We went over that night and she was very receptive to everything we taught. She's 20 and looking for direction in her life. I love helping people to see the light and watch as the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes them. I know this gospel brings happiness!!

Sunday we got snowed in! All of church was cancelled! Not just our ward but all of Columbia. There is a lot of snow and it is so cold that we are not allowed to be outside for more than five minutes because of the "life-threatening wind-chill." I have never been so cold in my life, it's amazing! 

A member came and got us to take us to her house for dinner and it was nice and warm ham and bean soup with homemade cornbread. Mmm! I'm out of time now but I love you all and am so grateful for all of you!!!

Love,

Sister Collett

Happy New Year everyone! 

Thank you so much for the letters and notes that were sent to me for Christmas and my birthday. I really appreciate the love and support that my family and friends give me. Thank you all!

So remember how I was talking about our baptismal goal for the year? Check this out, I got this email from President today. He said, "To recap the year for all those who love goals and numbers and those who do not care for numbers. As it turnes out the final year end total for 2013 was 443 people joining the church in the mission. This was 7 short of our goal, however, last year(2012) the goal was 365 and the actual was 372, 7 more than the goal(you can see where i am going with this) You take the additional 7 from last year and add them to this year and you get 450! WE DID IT!"

HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!? God is so awesome! Now it all makes sense! And now with this years goal of 521 baptisms for 2014 we are totally going to make it! Man, the church is SO TRUE! I love being a part of this work! This is just one of those moments when I know that this work is the Lord's work. He is the one in charge and ALL things are possible through God. I'm excited for this new year and all that it brings. 

Oh of those things it will bring is my birthday! I'm now 22 years old and am so grateful for the fun I had on my birthday thanks to my amazing family and friends helping me celebrate. My mom sent me this huge birthday box and it came a little early. I had my companion open it and get out the presents that were wrapped just for fun. The morning of my birthday I woke up to Sisters Smith, Bailey and Firestone all coming into my room with the CD player playing the Taylor Swift song called "22" and dancing and singing. It was hilarious. They brought me my presents and we had lots of fun opening all of them in my bed. I was so happy to get such great things! Thank you so much Mom, Dad, Elliot and Roy, Mason, Zac and of course Camden. I loved all the things you sent! I love you all so much!!!

Then I walked out into the kitchen and it was all decorated in streamers and balloons! The table was even decorated! It was as if my mom came in the night and decorated to surprise me!! My awesome companion is very sneaky and had this all planned out! She then made me my favorite breakfast meal, which is biscuits and gravy with sausage and eggs! It was so awesome! 

That night a member took us out to dinner to an Italian restaurant, just like I wanted and the waitresses sang "Happy Birthday" to me and I got a piece of cake! It was great! 

The best part of the day was the gifts that God gave to me. :) While we were walking downtown trying to talk to people I felt impressed to go up a street we wouldn't normally go down. We went and met a young man outside a coffee shop named Matt who said that he was "looking". We exchanged information when he said he would like to meet with us. Then later that night we got a text from someone in another ward who knew someone who wanted to learn from us! It was so amazing because we hadn't seen much success at all while we've been here. Then on my birthday we are blessed! Thanks Heavenly Father! :) 

Saturday we met with a girl named Allie who is the cutest, happiest girl I have ever seen that wears all black and dark makeup. She's 19 and has a spunky personality. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and she seemed so eager to learn. I loved teaching her and can't wait to meet with her again. 

We had another miracle late one night after walking around in the freezing cold. The phone rang and it was a girl named Crystal who wanted us to come over and teach her. We went over that night and she was very receptive to everything we taught. She's 20 and looking for direction in her life. I love helping people to see the light and watch as the Gospel of Jesus Christ changes them. I know this gospel brings happiness!!

Sunday we got snowed in! All of church was cancelled! Not just our ward but all of Columbia. There is a lot of snow and it is so cold that we are not allowed to be outside for more than five minutes because of the "life-threatening wind-chill." I have never been so cold in my life, it's amazing! 

A member came and got us to take us to her house for dinner and it was nice and warm ham and bean soup with homemade cornbread. Mmm! I'm out of time now but I love you all and am so grateful for all of you!!!

Love,

Sister Collett