January 27

Hello Family! It has been another great week in the MTC. The last two weeks my district set a goal to only speak German. It has been awesome because I am learning so much faster, I starting to understand the grammar more as I speak it. I'd say i'm like.... a four year old German now with my understanding =) I was actually way surprised, I got that letter from Kaylea, translated by Tatjana, and I understood all of it except for like one sentence, so it was pretty awesome. I'll write back in German... eventually =P

So, I only have 11 more days in the MTC and then I am off to Deutschland, I am so excited! I really hope i can understand like a third of what they're saying, but I probably won't, so i'll just speak what I think is German with a smile on a face and hope they understand me!

Basically nothing has changed in the MTC, i basically wake up, study for an hour, eat, study for 4 hours, eat, go to gym for an hour, have a teacher, eat, have a teacher and then go to bed. That's my schedule every day. I can't wait to go to Germany so I can speak to real people, not that the people here are fake.... but it's like role play stuff, and actually have legit investigators. I get to wait for 11 more days though, and study as much as I can so I can be as prepared as possible when I get there.

My companion has still been totally random; sometimes he's super happy, other times he's mad at the world. I end up having around 3 pc's with him a week so I can find out what's bugging him so we can accomplish our goals, and it always surprises me what bugs him. The other night he was super mad at me because we had a scripture planned to share to an "investigator" but I felt prompted to share a different one, so I did, and he thought that I chose that scripture over the other one because I thought his was insignificant, or something silly like that, so he lectured me on how when I correct him I need to show him more love after because he hates to be corrected and it hurts his feelings... I didn't really know what to say; I didn't correct him, I followed the spirit and read a different scripture which lead to me asking the "investigator" to be baptized and he said yes and it really was an amazing lesson. I can definately tell Satan is working on my companion, and it all started since I became District Leader. So, it seems like a daily thing for me to try to resolve my companions' concerns which is always directed towards me, and then once it's resolved everything is awesome, I just wish my companion could start choosing to be positive and choose to not be offended, because he really has no reason to be offended every time. Other than my companion, everything is going awesome. I can definately tell I am groing closer to my Father in Heaven, I teach with the spirit more, I understand a ton more german than before and I am happy. =)

I had the opportunity to be a traffic control person on Wednesday, so I stood in the middle of the road for 3 hours while all of the new missionaries came and told the cars to keep moving, it was pretty boring haha, but, I saw Dalton Allen, I would have loved to go and talk to him, but, I had to stay in the road and tell the cars to keep moving, so I couldn't. Hopefully I'll see him again before I leave, give him some advice and tell him to stay away from the OJ and Eggrolls.

Jessica and Chris, thanks for all of the ties! Some of them are awesome! Some of them are... even more awesome! I'll send you a normal letter today to express my full gratitude, so it will get there like... Monday, or Tuesday... eventually =)

I just ordered a TON of pictures, so as soon as i get them I will send them off to you, some of them are weird.... but, we get bored in the MTC sometimes and have to do some strange stuff for fun. Maybe I just won't send the weird ones so I can keep my honor haha.

Thanks for all of the letters, they are so fun to read, i'm glad to hear everyone is happy and safe. I'm happy and safe here also, so don't worry about a thing!

Tschüs!

Elder Collings

Chocolatey nose....Like a nosebleed with chocolate.

Hello Family!

So, things have been awesome in the MTC; I can't believe I only have 17 more days before I got to Germany! I just got my arrival plan in the mail and I found out I will be street contacting the first day for about an hour, and then doing a whole bunch of random learning stuff. I also found out I need $50 more for a bike, so thanks for the new debit card haha.

This week has been a good one for me, but, my companion is really starting to have some problems with homesickness. He has yelled and slammed doors a bunch of times. It's really wierd because when he does it, it's totally random. The other day our whole district was in a room playing hymns on the piano, just having fun. He apparently didn't feel like he was having as much time on the piano as everyone else, so he yelled and said we were leaving, and then walked out the door. It's been wierd stuff like that all week, and the only reason I can think of is because he didn't get his email off last week. We are only allowed 30 minutes a week, but, he goes over every week for some reason. Normally our Branch President will let him have a couple extra minutes, but him and I both decided my companion had to learn to be obedient to the rules and stay within 30 minutes, he was really mad, yelled a little bit, and even hit the wall... So yeah, that's been fun to deal with, but he's writing a letter now, so, hopefully he finishes in 30 minutes so I don't have to calm him down all week again =/

I can't believe I only have like 16 more days in the MTC, I am SO excited and I just want to leave already. I've been in here too long, so, we have obviously found all of the best ways to have fun. We took some awesome pictures where it looks like we're walking on the walls and flying in the air, and we even have pictures where it looks like we have glowing lightsabers, I even had my first chocolatey nose here in the MTC. I challenged another Elder to see who could eat fudge popsicle in the least amount of bites; he did it in 5. I took a massive bite, which took off a little less than half of the popsicle, it gave me a huge brainfreeze, but I didn't let it show, I only had the look of victory in my eyes. I decided to take the popsicle out in one more bite, which I did, but, as I started to swallow I laughed and a chunk of popsicle went up into my nose and got stuck.... freezing the inside of my nose... and slowly melting for the next 30 minutes... I would not recommend it to anyone, but I won the challenge so i'm happy about that haha.

Well, thanks for all of the letters, I like knowing what's happening, feel free to send me ties haha, I decided to wear that ugly Heritage Tie Adam gave me... I don't think i'll ever wear it again, it smells funny.

Tschüs!

Elder Collings

Lucky January 13th! I got another letter!!!

Hello Family!

So I didn't get to write last week because I was at the Health Clinic with my companion like all day; my companion broke his nose playing basketball. I don't know if I've told you, but my companion is kind of a clutz, he has been hit in the face playing basketball twice which broke his glasses and his nose, and slips on the ice and trips on the strairs daily, so he's gotten beat up quite a bit in the MTC. He just became my Senior companion since we are half way through the MTC experience, and he is struggling to actually take control and lead our meetings and plannings, so I've been trying my hardest to help him remember what his responsibilities are now without being rude in any way. He says it's hard for him because he has never been a leader in any way, but he'll learn quickly =)

So, since the last time I wrote you, we got a new mission President and counselors... I don't know who they are, but I'll tell you when I know haha. I also am the new District Leader which is pretty cool. My district is awesome and they follow the rules really well, so it makes it easy on me. The only thing I have really had to work on with my district is I have 2 Elders that are really uncomfortable with the language. They know a LOT more than me, but they are afraid to make any mistakes and embarrass themselves, so they never speak. I've been trying my hardest to get them to have enough faith that even if what they are saying doesn't really make sense, the spirit will testify of the truth. With my companion, he knows so much German, but he tries too hard to focus on how to say things correctly, so he losses the spirit and is only speaking the words of his mouth, not his heart. I don't know how to really help him with this, we've talked about it a lot, he is just terrified of making mistakes. Last week in one of our lessons he was explaining how Prophets got called, and he decided to use Jesus calling Peter to "Feed his sheep" I thought he was making it extremely difficult to explain, but he said he knew what he was doing, he ended up saying, "And Jesus told Peter to Eat my Sheep" Our "investigator" started laughing hysterically, I was too. That didn't help with the fact that he is so afraid of making mistakes, but, I felt prompted to bear my testimony after he said that, it was so strong, it got us right back where we needed to be. Hopefully my companion took my advice after the lesson to heart, it seemed like he did, but I never know.

For our Tuesday devotional we had Elder Holland come and speak to us. It was amazing, there wasn't a moment of him being in the gym I didn't feel my spirit, and I my District felt the same way, we had a testimony meeting after and almost everyone in the room was crying, so it was super awesome.

The German language is going great, I still don't really make sense when I speak, but I guess I get the message across, because of our 7 "investigators' we have 4 with a 'baptism' date. Our teachers are having me bring other missionaries with my companion to teach to try and get them more involved in the lessons because they are struggling with teaching, I had one of the Elders from my district, Elder Goble, teach with us, and I couldn't get him to participate at all, so at the very end I asked him to bear his testimony, and it was just amazing. The spirit was so strong, the teacher who was acting like the investigator wanted him to come back, when I spoke to the teacher afterward, he said that he was still in character and he really did want Elder Goble back just because of how amazing his testimony was.

I'm still waking up early every morning and working out, I haven't gained much more weight, but that's okay because we all know i'm super strong already =) My companion stopped working out in the mornings with me about 2 weeks ago... He has gained 18 pounds, so I think i'm going to force him to wake up from now on. I still haven't printed off any pictures, but, I think i'll order a bunch today, they take about twelve days to come in, so you'll get some pictures in about 2 weeks. I was also wondering how much money I had on my debit card, i'm starting to run out of the Hotel supplies, so i'm going to need to buy some stuff, and i'd like to know how much I can spend.

Anyway, thanks for all of your letters, I love to read them, i'm so jealous Conner and Dad got to go to the BYU game, our gym instructor was telling us about the game I heard Fredette was amazing. Oh, and if you could do me a favor, will you send me Jake Howard's address so I can send him a letter, I forgot what his address was and I've got some advice, and warnings for him about the MTC. Thanks for all of the support, i'm loving it here in the MTC, and I can't wait to go to Germany NEXT MONTH!!!!

December 30

Hello Family!

So my P-Day is on Thursday, so that's when I will be able to E-Mail. We weren't allowed to call on Christmas because there are like 2,000 missionaries here and only 5 phones, so... that wasn't going to happen haha. Thanks for the Christmas presents, the elders in my residence hated the smell of the oysters but it made it feel like home haha.

So I already accomplished one of my goals here in the MTC; I wanted to read the Book of Mormon before I left, and I am done now, so maybe I'll read it again haha. I would love to send pictures that I have taken, but that's not allowed on the computers, so i'll have to mail them... But, I haven't gotten any printed yet... so you'll have to wait longer =)

All is going good in the MTC. I am learning the German language a little at a time, it's kind of funny, they only teach the things that we need to know in order to preach, so, I have no idea how to say any of the colors, which is okay since i'd probably mess them up anyway, and I didn't know how to ask how someone's day was until a couple of days ago, but, I certainly know how to give the first lesson! We give a lesson every single day here, i've been giving lessons since the second day, we have people that volunteer to act as investigators and we teach them the lessons and resolve any concerns that they have. I actually had a pretty funny thing happen, I was having the investigator read a scripture about Jesus, so I found it in my English Book of Mormon first, then I turned to it in the German Book of Mormon. I accidently turned to chapter 7 of 3 Nephi instead of chapter 17, so when I told them to read verse 10, i told them the scripture was about Jesus they read something about a man becoming king of the robbers and the wicked. It was pretty embarrassing, but hilarious to look back on.

Well, all is good here in the MTC, hope you all enjoyed your Christmas, I hope you enjoy your New Year, feel free to send me a tie or two, it's the only thing us missionaries really have to brag about haha; every night TONS of missionaries walk around the Residence halls to trade ties, it's pretty funny.

Tschus!

Elder Collings

(This was in a letter to Conner) I forgot to put this in my letter to the family so you'll have to tell them, for Christmas we had Elder Nelson from the Quorum of the twelve apostles come to the MTC, he spoke to us three different times, it was super awesome.

December 23

So I finally figured out how to get the e-mail thingy to work! I only get 30 minutes a week though... So I have been in the MTC for 2 weeks now, and it is amazing how much I have learned. I can understand a lot of the German language, and I can almost speak as much as the other Elders here who have 5 years worth of learning the language already, I just barely was able to say the First Vision in German today which was pretty awesome.

So things here have been awesome, the food is okay, but, it gives my companion (Elder Anderson) gas, so he is constantly tooting. I have put on 8 pounds so far and i've been waking up early every morning to work out with some of the Elder in my district, for the first time in my life I did 150 pushups =)

Last Sunday, we had a guest speaker, I'm not exactly who he was, but he was in some high position in the MTC. He told us (the German branch) that Satan is attacking this branch more than any other branch. We have already had around 3-4 Elders leave, and there are many more struggling with home sickness, there have also been more sickness and injuries in the German branch than any other branch. He bore an amazing testimony, he said he knew something amazing was going to be happening in Germany for us, and he inspired everyone in the room the to work through any problems that they may be having because the lord needs us.

I have noticed my companion has started to struggle a little bit with homesickness. He gets like 3 letters a day from his Mom and aunt, but there was one day where he didn't recieve mail and he was so depressed; I had the hardest time getting him to do anything, everything that came out of his mouth was negative, I finally just bore my testimony to him and told him that something great was going to happen tonight if he changed his attitude, he appologized to me and then we went to gym... He got hit in the face with a basketball and broke his glasses, so he was REALLY mad. I just told him once again that Satan was trying to distract him from the spirit and if he would focus on being positive and listening to the spirit he would have an amazing day. So that night we has a lesson with one of the role play investigators, I was doing most of the talking (in German, which is weird because he is almost fluent) I then looked at him to bear his testimony, he started to bear his testimony and while he did I prayed that he would speak with the spirit. The spirit got so strong right as I started to pray, I thanked God for answering my prayer the second I started haha. At the end of the meeting all my companion said was, "That was amazing."

I am thoroughly enjoying my time here in the MTC, it's amazing how strong the spirit is here and there is no other place I would like to be, even though it's Christmas haha. I am almost out of time (I spent half my internet time trying to get the e-mail to work) so, thanks for the Dearelder letters, I am getting them. Thanks John and Molly for the gift, I can't wait to open it, and Jessica, CONGRATULATIONS! I can't wait to be an uncle!!!

Tschüs!

Elder Collings

Another letter

Hello loving Family!

So things are going good in the MTC. I found out the pilot program I am on is extremely different from any other. We start teaching in German as of day 2. Normally they start at day 42, so it's way hard, but in 2 Nephi 33:1, I learned I can babble stuff (as long as I really mean what I'm babbling) and the investigator will know, or feel, what I am saying through the power of the Holdy Ghost, and I do that a lot ha ha. In one of my lessons, the investigator (a memeber who volunteers their time) was asking tons of questions, my companion can speak pretty good German, and I'm not so good, but, after I said something along the lines of "Holy Ghost good spiritual feeling of Book of Mormon true: the investigator looked right at me and said something I didn't understand. My companion turned to me and said, "He wants to know why whenever you speak he can feel that spiritual feeling (shpiren) even though he can't understand you." So even though I'm not speaking German YET, I am thankfully inviting the spirit to work through me.

Another thing for your info... if you use Dearelder.com and send me a letter before noon, I will receive that letter at 6:00 that same day, just so you know.

Anyway, hope everything is going good at home.

Tschus!

Elder Collings

Our First Letter!!

I was so excited to find a letter from Steve when I went out to the mailbox this morning! Here's what it said.

Dearest Familie,

I have only been in the MTC a day and it is incredible how much I have learned! I have been placed in a pilot program to learn the German language, so basically my district and I are all learning in a completely new way.

Today we were all expected to bear our testimony and pray in the German language. I was unable to do this completely, I am still learning the basics, however, I know as long as I am faithful and do my best I will be able to learn the language.

I have become the senior companion, mein mitarbeitan is a cool guy, he is from Cedar City and we get along great, he tutors me on German because he has around 3 years under his belt.

It has only been a day and I have already seen an Elder from my district walk out. He left his companion at lunch, when we came back to the residence halls all of his belongings had been packed and taken away. Fortunately he returned this evening. I hope he decides to stay.

The spirit is so strong here, I have never felt it so much so often at one time. I can only think of 2 times where I have been so overwhelmed with the spirit that I have had tears come to my eyes, and I have already had it happen once here, and my lip started to quiver a couple of times.

I am loving it here, I am so thankful for this time in my life when I have the opportunity to serve the Lord, and I am even writing in my journal. I can't wait to see how much I will have grown in as little as a week, and I can't think of how much knowledge I will have in a year.

I love you all so much, thanks for being the Best Family in the world.

Elder Collings