What an incredible opportunity it is to be a Missionary!! We have had a crazy week, but things are going very well. As many of you have heard, there has been a TON of rain here lately. I have some good rain stories to tell, but before I talk about that, I wanted to share with you a little about my new companion. Elder Allman is just that, the “Man!” Training a new missionary has opened my eyes and built my faith in incredible ways. God really does know us personally and provides the exact opportunities that we need to continue to learn and grow. This week there have been a constant stream of “fist bumps” as things have fallen into place and we have been lifted to a higher and higher plain through Jesus Christ. 

I wanted to share a brief spiritual thought before I get into some stories from the past week. A week ago Sunday, I experienced a wonderful spiritual experience at church. We were sitting in our elders quorum class learning about the Book of Mormon and its importance in our lives. As I was listening to the gospel discussion, a thought came to my mind that is found in the “introduction” page of the Book of Mormon. The quote is this: 

Concerning this record, the Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” 

As I was pondering these words, all of a sudden something hit me like a ton of bricks. The way we draw closer to God through the Book of Mormon is not just by reading the words, it is by abiding by its precepts, or in other words, living by its teachings. Now many of you might be thinking, "Elder Collins has been out on his mission for this long and is just barely understanding this simple doctrine?" I definitely knew the doctrine behind likening the scriptures to my personal life, but I don''t think I truly understood that concept “spiritually,” until last Sunday! How incredible is the word of God? I have learned now more than ever before, that it’s not just reading the scriptures that brings us nearer to God but “acting” on what we read. When is the last time you applied something specific from the scriptures into your life? If it has been awhile, I would invite you to try it out. I can add my witness to that of the Prophet Joseph Smith… I know we can truly draw closer to God if we follow the precepts found in the Book of Mormon. I know this because I have been trying it out for myself. To close this part of my email, I would like to share one more scripture. It’s Alma 31:5 in the Book of Mormon: 

“And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.” 

The word of God is more powerful than the sword! 

As I mentioned in my e-mail last week, we have been doing TONS AND TONS of finding, and it has been incredible. My faith and testimony of the Savior and the power of God has been strengthened so much in just the last two weeks. I am so grateful for the opportunity to preach the gospel wherever and whenever we can. Because of the insane weather that has been going on, I want to start off by telling a few “rain” stories. 

This past Tuesday, we were out walking the streets of Altus looking for people to share the gospel with. It had been a pretty incredible day so far and it had been raining on and off all day. We had just finished sharing the Book of Mormon with a man on his doorstep when, without saying a word to each other, Elder Allman and I walked directly across the street to a small brown house. We knocked on the door and a woman named Ruth answered. After some small talk, we told her who we were and she answered that she had met with missionaries before. Just about then, it started to rain. So, in the rain, on her doorstep, we taught Ruth about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I think the most powerful moment was when my companion shared why we were at her door that day. He explained to Ruth that as missionaries we pray to be led to those who are ready to be taught. He testified to her that as he had looked at her house, he had felt very impressed to knock on her door. Ruth began to cry a little and told us that the night before, she had been praying to God to show her that He was still there and involved in her life. She told us that we were an answer to that prayer. By this time we were pretty wet and our pamphlet was a little soggy, but the Spirit was present and very strong. We invited her to read and pray about the things that we had taught and are going over to see her this afternoon. 

On Saturday, we were out and about again and the rain was dumping. Some of the streets had 7 inches of water on them, and there we we were, wading through the water trying to find someone to teach. Our appointment had fallen through and so we decided to try and find someone else. We walked over to the home of a less-active member but they weren’t home, so on their doorstep, we offered a prayer. We asked that, according to our faith, we would be led to someone who needed to hear from us that evening. Then we went to work. We knocked on door after door with hardly any success. We talked to maybe 2 people in 1 hour. Even though things didn''t seem like they were going very well, Elder Allman and I just felt excited to have the opportunity to share our message with the world. It was priceless to see the faces of these people when we knocked on their door. It was getting a little dark, and so we decided to start making our way back home. As we were walking down the street, we saw a couple of people outside cooking barbeque under their porch, so we approached them. They welcomed the prayer we offered, and then we sat and talked with two brothers, Mike and Daren, for the next 45 minutes or so. We were able to talk about what we do as missionaries and why we do it. Daren told us that he was a wrestling coach in Texas and that he knew a couple members of the Church. The fact that he knew some members personally made such a difference in our interactions with him. It was awesome! Towards the end of our conversation, we spoke with them about our unique message to the world. We shared a copy of the Book of Mormon with them and, with a huge lightning storm playing out in front of us, shared our testimonies with these two men. We invited Daren to read Moroni 10:3-5 but he couldn''t see it very well, so Mike, who had been listening intently, piped up and said that he would read it. As we read and prayed with them, I believe their hearts were softened towards us and our message. Mike accepted an invitation for us to come back and teach his family more about what we shared and we are going over to see him tonight. I know that God answered our prayers that night. We returned to the apartment wet and exhausted, but with a fire in our hearts, because we had done all that we could. That is an incredible feeling that I desire to have with any calling or assignment I am ever given. 

I will close off with a funny story that happened earlier in the day on Saturday. We received a notice that there was a flash flood warning for the entire day and the other elders had the truck for the day. As I have mentioned before, I love doing missionary work in crazy weather. It is so much fun. We had just finished teaching a family and were walking down the street. It started to rain a little so we pulled out our umbrellas and BAM, a wall of rain just smacked us in the face. The rain was coming down so hard it reminded me of a video my sister showed me of the rain in Indonesia. As we were running down the street, we noticed a couple people gathered on the porch of a home. We ran up to them and ducked under their porch. We told them who we were and then noticed that one of the people on the porch was a police officer..... She looked at us and said, "This is probably not a good time." To which I answered, "Okay, we are going to go back out in the rain now." So off we went into what seemed like a monsoon:) It was a pretty funny experience. Gotta love those awkward missionary moments. 

Well friends and family, I love you and I love missionary work. I have truly gained a love for the people here in Oklahoma and Texas, as well. I know our message is true. I know that because of the way I feel in my heart when I am sharing it. I know that through Christ we can accomplish whatever He asks of us. I hope you all have a great week!