Hey everyone
I forgot to mention last week in my email something cool happened. It was in the morning and we were about to start our studies when we heared this little whimper outside our door. we open the door and we found this puppy. It was very cute and adorable we had a lot of fun feeding it and playing with it once it fell to sleep we resumed our studies. We were seaching for a home for it and the best person we could think of was our investigator justin (who by the way was our babtism this week) and he took it home with him we were so happy to find it a home.
This week was interesting...I dont know how to really describe it but here's what happened. We where outside talking to one of our newest investigators I think i have mentioned him in a past email his name is jymison, but right now he is our favorite investigators he is golden. Anyway we were just passing by and we stopped to talk with him for a few minutes and we got in a really good conversation with him. After talking to him for about 20 minutes he told us to turn around and look at something. Slightly confused we turned around and there was this guy that had a wooden fence pole it was about six feet long and probably 4 inches in diameter, and this pole has barbed wire wrapped around it and it was dragging on the ground. At first the guy was very calm I was hoping that he was just going to throw the pole away but i was wrong. he started screaming at us and saying some very vulgur words at us and about the church. And so a drunk angry man was wanting to kill us. Our investgator jymison had us calmly go up to his apartment with him and i locked the door behind us. We immediatly called the cops and they came and caught the guy. Anyway I feel like we are really supposed to help this guy because that usually doesnt happen ive talked to other missionaries and they have said nothing close to that has ever happened to them. I think satan doesnt want us to get to this guy. And now all i want to do is make him mad. I havent been discourage by what happened if anything it makes me want to go our more. Im doing good, Im loving it our here.
Now to something a little more happy we had a babtism for justin olvera he is a really nice guy the service was wonderful i am glad i could be abart of his life. we could really feel the spirit in that meeting. I am so happy for justin and megan next year they are going to be married in the temple and i think they want us to be there. so excited for the two of them they are great people.
Love you all thanks for the letters and the packages they mean so much to me. Keep writing me. If you need me ill be in gallup fending off people with large poles and barbed wire.
My letter this week is getting out later than usual we had a big temple trip today we drove all the way down to snowflake it took about 2 and a half hours we had to wake up at 5 to get ready for the session that started at 8. It was a wonderful experience as always the temple is beautiful. I came in with some questions and i recieved my answers what a blessing it is to be able to go to the temple. The nice thing is we will be able to go again in 6 months.
Overall this week was a really slow week, I went on my first exchange, I stayed in Lupton, Arizona for one day with my district leader. Lupton is right on the rez and let me tell ya the first person we talked to was flat drunk it was so funny, he talked to us for 2 hours. He was talking about Cain and Garbiel being in the book of mormon he said it was in alma 23: 4 but i couldnt find it. He also talked about how we werent doing our jobs. His reasoning behind this was that he went to Gallup and got drunk on the street and a cop picked him up because he was so intoxicated. He was so intoxicated he made it on the front cover of the local news paper i wish i kept it, and he blamed us for it because he didnt get a ride to church. yet there is someone there every week to pick him up but he is never there, and if he can get to gallup he can make it to church. Anyway that was my first experience out it the rez.
Exciting news we have a babtism this week, we are very excited for justin olvera he is a great guy. He say that he can already feel Satan trying to tempt him to not be batized this is going to be a rough week for him, his family doesnt agree with his dissision thats why he is going through a hard time but, he says he is not backing down nomatter what.
Thank you to all those who sent me a letter or a package they are very well apreciated, I love reading letters from home. Let me know how you are doing.
Well good news my ankles ok, I can walk on it fine, it hurts a little bit but i got used to it. My foot is all purple and blue but it doesnt hurt to touch it. Anyway on to something more possitive.
Whats interesting about the difference between white people and in gallup and indians in gallup is that the indians are much more humble they are more willing to listen to what you have to say. where as the (although not very many gallups population is mostly indian) white people usually dont want to listen to you they dont want to listen to what you have to say. I think the reason is that the indians have had much harder lives growing up and they want something that will bring them comfort.
We met this one guy named Carlos this week his stepmother is a less active member but he is catholic. he stays at home with his one year old daughter and we told him about the restoration. I could feel the spirit so strongly in that room and he was focused on every word we said, half way through the lesson two guys outside started cussing at each other we could hear them because the door was open. They got into a small fight and that was the end of it. We went back to our lesson and when we finished we gave him a book of mormom.
We here out knocking doors one day and this guy was heading back to his apartment while we were talking to someone at there doorstep he paused and looked at us. After the people we were talking to told us they werent interested. The man behind us immediatly invited us in it was kind of strange but we accepted his offer. He asked us if we believed in christ and other questions like that. As we got talking to him he told us he had a really rough childhood. His parents hate him the only person that he has is his uncle. The guy has a drinking problem and uses it to get over his problems. His little boy was begging him to stop drinking. He wants to be a better person but he doesnt know how. He thinks he has done too many horrible things and thinks he cant be forgiven. He said he didnt even know why he let us in he says many missionaries have come but has never invited them in before. He says he has been praying for an answer for help and guidence and i think we are that answer to his prayer. i hope we are. I hope he will accept what we have to say.
Let me know how you are doing i love to read you emails.
Sincerely
Elder Collins
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| September 11, 2013 |
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| September 12, 2013 |
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| September 12, 2013 |
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| September 12, 2013 |
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| September 12, 2013 |
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| September 12, 2013 |
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| September 12, 2013 |
Dear Collins Family,
We are the Deckers, and we live in Gallup, NM. We just had your son and his companion, Elder Pincock, over for dinner this evening. We very much enjoyed having them in our home.
We are sure you must be pleased with the choices your son is making, and we are blessed to have him serving here in Gallup.
Doug and Barb Decker
The Indian people really believe in prayer and blessings. Sometimes when we talk to someone on the street they will ask for a prayer on their behalf because they know we are religious people and they want help with their problems. We have been to the hospital multiple times to give blessings for ward members. We've given blessings for little children to elderly people losing their sight or the ability to walk. Every blessing is special and my heart goes out to each person I bless. Just this morning we gave a blessing to someone that gets a lot of seizures. She even had one before we came there. They say the doctors don’t know how to help her. We gave her a beautiful blessing and I hope she will get better soon. I think we have given 5 to 8 blessings just in the last 2 weeks.
On Saturdays they have an outdoor fair where a lot of jewelry makers come out and display all their stuff that they have to sell. We checked it out during lunch. You can buy everything there. There are a lot of what looks to be stolen power tools, food, and there’s even one guy that’s selling used tires and piles and piles of tires. They have everything there. Imagine the hub from the Hunger Games and that’s what it looks like.
We have been knocking on a lot of doors lately. We don’t have a lot of investigators right now. Gallup has been slow, but we have made contact with about 50 people this week, so we have been staying busy. We think we have a few potentials though, so we have been trying to set up dates with some people.
This morning I was climbing down a steep hill to retrieve a football we lost, as I was going down the hill I slipped and rolled my ankle. I’m OK, it’s just my ankle is the size of a softball right now. After I rolled it we hurried and gave that blessing to the sister that I was talking about that has the seizures all the time. I've taken some pain relievers and I’m wearing an ankle brace. I’m just moving a little bit slow right now. I’m still going to go out and do the Lord's work; nothing’s going to slow me down. Keep me in your prayers. Thanks for all your love and support.
Love,
Elder Collins
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| September 3, 2013 |
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| September 3, 2013 |
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| September 6, 2013 |
Hello,
I got to meet my mission president and spend the night at a member's home. They are very nice. Both me and President Batt have a lot in common. We both weld and he loves to do woodworking. Sister Batt is very nice; she loves to talk to people and cares for every one of us. There were over 25 new missionaries that flew in last week and more to come in 6 weeks.
I have been serving in Gallup, New Mexico. My trainer is Elder Pincock. He has only been out for 3 months, but he knows the area well. The area is moving really slow right now because the elder before us did not like to go tracting so we don't have very many new people, but we are trying to change that. I am living in a two bedroom apartment with another set of elders. They are the zone leaders, Elder Sanchez and Elder Openshaw. Our apartment is very small, but it's all good. Our apartment is close to the train tracks and whenever a train goes by for some reason they have to signal with their horn. After awhile you get used to it, but it's always going back and forth.
I think Gallup is considered one of the drunkest towns in the nation and it's true. I have talked to a lot of drunk people. The worst of it is that everyone gets paid at the end of the month and they go spend theur money on alcohol and they usually don't go back to work for a few days after that. It's actually kind of fun to listen to what they will say. We had one guy that told us he had just gotten out of prison after 10 years for attempted murder. He said that while he was in prison he read the bible but he wants to learn more so we will see what happens.
The Navajo people are very nice for the most part. A lot of them are very open to hearing about different religions. There are a lot of pawn shops and jewelry stores because a lot of the Navajo people will make jewelry in their houses and then go sell it to one of the stores. The culture is so different as well. They have Indian tribal dances in the town square every night for an hour. We went and saw one for five minutes; it's pretty cool. There is also a lot of poverty; a lot of the houses look like they need to be condemned. One place we went to was an old man that has heart problems; he has been a strong member his whole life. We go over there once and awhile because he likes the company and he likes us to read to him. His house is so small I hit my head on the rafters and a part of his house is blocked off because it's collapsed and it's full of trash. It's sad to see, but we try and make people like that feel loved.
Anyway, we are staying busy. We are usually knocking on doors most of the day finding a lot of investigators. We found three new investigators for the sisters out here and they said they have been pretty strong investigators so far. I am so far loving it down here; the people are great. We are getting a lot accomplished.
Sorry I couldn't write more; we don't have very much time.
Also if you want to send me something it has to be sent to the mission office and it has to be done through priority mail or it wont get to me until I go to the mission home and I wont be going there for a long time. If you need the mission address it is posted somewhere on Facebook.
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| August 28, 2013 |
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| August 31, 2013 |
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| September 1, 2013 |
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| September 2, 2013 |
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| September 2, 2013 |
Glad I got to talk to you last week. It was good to hear your voices, the flights went good but it took a long time. I got to meet a member from our ward in Gallup, his name is Brother Hansen. I don't know if he is related to Danny but what I know is that he's in his forties and he has cancer or at least he is recovering from it. He is so spiritually in tune with the spirit he and I had a good conversation and we share the same hobbies. We both like welding machining stuff, you know we have a lot in common. We talked a lot on how each of us would go about this one project that he wants me to help him on. One of the things that he asked me is what your testimony is. I told him why I was here and what I believe is important to me. The reason he asked was because he felt such a great sense of peace when he was talking to me, he thinks I can really make a difference around here. I hope he is right. He was born in California but he served the same mission when he was younger and he married an Indian women and they both live in an Indian reservation together up in the mountains.
Anyway, they are a great family. I hope I get to talk to them more. That was one of the highlights of this week.
By the way I’m going to buy a card for my camera and I will send the old on to you. Remember, if you send me anything it has to be through PRIORITY MAIL or I won’t get it.
