Boston Temple

Email Mondays do not make me the most patient mom, especially when the email never comes.  Luckily, a local member who is also part of the Missionary Momma's Facebook group sent me a picture she took on Sunday as she and her family were headed in to Sacrament Meeting.

Sister Morgan and Sister Collins

April 27, 2014

I finally received an email from her Tuesday afternoon.  She and her companion were able to do a session at the Boston Temple and that changed there schedule for the week.  The email was short.  Her birthday is coming soon and I had asked her what she needed or would like us to send.  Most of her email was a reply to that request.

"Sorry, I only have a few minutes to write because I went to the temple today!  I will send you a letter soon.  For my bday I would like more cds.  There is a CD by Kalai called A Pauper's Hymnal, a CD called Nearer that sounds the same as Kalai's and has one song by him on it, and any other CDs that sound like that.  I don't need any EFY songs because have all of them.  And I would like a watch like Chel's.  It doesn't have to be as hi-tech as long as it can be charged by plugging it into the wall.  I just can't stand the ticking that comes from my watch.  :)  Also, quick, easy, cheap recipes that make enough for leftovers.  I will write more in my letter.

Love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. My hair straightens fine, I just liked the change and the curls.  ( I had asked about the humidity since we have only seen pics with her curly hair)

 

  Sister's Conference

Joseph Smith Birthplace

April 23, 2014

 Beautiful farm country!  Whitney's favorite.

So excited to be at the Boston Temple!

April 29, 2014

She keeps promising letters, but we haven't seen one since the note she sent us from the MTC.  I am thinking of sending her stationary, envelopes and more stamps for her birthday.

If you would like to send her a birthday letter or card, her birthday is on May 20th.  Letters and cards can be sent to the Mission home which is only 10 minutes away from where she is currently living.

Sister Whitney Collins

New Hampshire Manchester Mission

2 Bedford Farms STE 208

Bedford, NH 03113-6532

Easter Sunday and random Whitney ramblings. . . :)

Whitney didn't have much time on the computers at the library today so her email was shorter than usual.  Glad she attached pictures to make up for it.

"So I forgot to tell you about transfer meeting.  Sister Stoker spoke and shared the scripture about through mall and simple things shall great things come to pass.  Then she started talking about how young we are and then pointed to me and said, "And you, you're just a tiny thing, how tall did you say you were? 5'2"?" And everyone started laughing.

The exterminator was able to get rid of all the bed bugs! He put four heaters that were as tall as me in each room and heated our apartment up to 130 degrees for six hours!  Luckily we had district meeting so we didn't even have to find something to do during that time.  After he was through he pretty much told us to never go anywhere and to always sit on wood/metal chairs.

So for my talk, I didn't really have time to prepare it so I winged it with the Spirit.  And guess who came to the ward that day. . . President Stoker.

Later we went to a member's house to have dinner.  There were some other ward members there too and they made an Easter egg hunt for us.  It was really sweet of them. :)

So weird thing, but a lot of the people I meet out here I feel like I know them from somewhere but I know that I've never met them.  It's kind of crazy. . . 
Um, well that's all for now.  I will send you a letter :)

Love you!!!!!!
Whit

Oh, and according to Sister Morgan I look like a Russion doll..... and her mom is probably going to call you"

I sent her an email right after I got this one saying her letter better be a long one and asking if she got her Easter package.  She hadn't logged off yet and had a couple more minutes so she sent the following. . . (it is sooo Whitney!)

"Yes, I got the package :).  Sorry, I am at the library and there is a time limit but I just got a few extra minutes and also I can't really think of much that happened this week :D
So this is what is typical for a lot of my area:

• they don't use their front doors like ever
• they love cats and pretty much everyone has one 
• Most of them are single and living with their cats
• Most of them are hermits and never move or go outside of New England or outside of their homes
• Which also means that most of them have never talked to their neighbors who have lived next to them for years
• In the area I am in right now it is fill with many refugees
• Sometimes we call it Manch-Vegas (Manchester)
• Being Catholic is a blood type (not a bad thing, just very common and mentioned quickly)
• Once you actually get a New Englander to let you an and start talking they can talk and talk and talk oh and talk for hours...
• Oh, and New England cats have thumbs
• The Grass is pretty much fertilized with cigarettes (Gross)"

We sure miss her and are grateful for technology that allows us to communicate with her each week and receive pictures of her sweet face.  The pictures show how happy she really is. 

Until next week. . . 

 Leaving the MTC

 MTC Companions

 with Sister Morgan

 Sister Collins and Sister Morgan

 Whitney's dream house!!!

Two words: BED BUGS!!!

Whitney is excited to be serving in her first area, Manchester, New Hampshire.  Her companion/trainer is Sister Morgan from Salt Lake City.  I was so excited to get her email today.

"Two words: BED BUGS!!!!!!!!!!!! >:( 

Yep we found bed bugs in our apartment. GROSS!! We caught one in a bag and gave in to our landlord and now the exterminators are coming out on Thursday to get rid of them. Just be grateful that we don't have to pay for them.

So anyways.... The trip to get here was crazy! At Salt Lake Airport they didn't have a ticket for Elder Thomas so we almost didn't get on that flight. Then we got to Minneapolis and had to run to the bathroom, get food, then get back on the plane. And the Lady I sat next to works for Maurices in corporate and was heading to New York to start picking out the styles and clothes for next year!!!! Then in New York Languardia airport they sold us tickets to seats that didn't exist. But Elder Cook and Sister Oliphant did have tickets so the Church Travel Services said to send them on ahead. The rest of us had to wait for several hours until the next flight. And because we had to wait they gave us all $600 vouchers to Delta that are nontransferable and expire in a year but we can use to book a flight in advance. After we got off the plane in Manchester, this guy who was on the same flight came and found us and told us that he got back from his mission a few years ago. He got our emails and emailed us this three paged email of advice. CRAZY!!!!!!! Then we got to the mission home, ate food, and went to sleep.

The next morning was transfer meeting. So now I am companions with Sister Morgan in Manchester (Sister Morgan knows Bug!!!). Also I tried spaghetti squash (gross), protein drink blended with bananas (eh), soy milk..., gluten free cupcakes, and some paleo peanut butter and other things. there is a lady in the ward here who eats a paleo diet which means she cooks things that cavemen would eat...

Right now we have seven investigators! I have met and taught four of them. two of them are survivors from a genicide, one is from Peru and is teaching Spanish at a Catholic school, and the other is named Sean. Sean is so ready for the gospel! So far we have taught him two lessons and he came to church on Sunday. One of the recent converts was talking to him and Sean told him that he is getting baptized!!!!!! We haven't even really issued the invite to him yet.

The people here are great!!!! A lot of them are converts. I met pretty much all of them on Sunday. Oh and one of the ladies in the ward does our laundry for us so we don't have to pay for it.

 

So this last Sunday was Fast Sunday and part of being new to the area is that you have to give your testimony first. Well the two elders who got transferred here went before me and they are super tall so of course when it was my turn, they had to lower the pulpit all the way down and I still had to lower the microphone and listen the ward whisper "Awh she's so cute".... And then after church one of the members of the bishopric came and asked me if I would give a talk this next Sunday..... Wish me luck....

Well that's all for right now. Love you!!!!!

-Sister Collins"

Glad I don't have to deal with bed bugs, but I would love someone to do my laundry for me.  We miss her so much, but know she will do great things. 

Sister Whitney Collins has started the adventure of a lifetime.  She has chosen to serve a full time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints.  Her family will be updating her blog with letters, pictures and other information about her Grand Adventure in the New Hampshire Manchester Mission.

Whitney entered the MTC on March 26, 2014.  It was bittersweet to see her go, but we are so excited for her.  We received her first letter soon after.  She said she loved the MTC and had a great district.  It took a while before we got an email.  She didn't have a P-Day until the following Wednesday.  The following is what she wrote:

"So I got your package and shared the cookies with my district and they all think you are awesome.
Elder Thomas said that since we are going to the same mission you should send him some too haha!!!! But Some of them haven't had snickerdoodles before so I kinda think that maybe you should send me another box :D
I am leaving for New Hampshire on MONDAY!!! So soon and we have to be at the travel office at 2:30 am so pretty much I am not going to sleep... But that also means I might not be able to call you but we'll see. I do have two layovers so I might be able to call you then :/ When do you leave for Denver? Oh and I am wearing my love you to the moon... hoodie right now. I talked to my host sister the day I arrived and she was the sister on a trial mission in our area.
So pretty much I have the best district ever!!! We are all kind of weird and crazy and sometimes get kinda distracted but "It's okay". I just feel bad for the teachers who have to put up with us. There is Sister Frame, Sister Blume, Elder Thomas (form England) and Elder Cook, and Elder Davees and Elder Maughn (They're going to Australia)
The MTC is so much fun and so spiritual and is just awesome!!!! I have learned so much and have grown so much already. We have two investigators that we teach (but one is our teacher). On our way to meet our second investigator we met this woman named Carol Lewis and she is such a sweetheart!!!!!! i'll tell you more about her in a letter. Oh and for Sunday Devotional DAVID ARCHELETTA (I don't know how to spell that) came and sang and Richard Elliot the guy who plays the organ for MOTAB played that organ and the piano.
I know this wasn't that long but I will try to send a longer letter later :)"

Now, fast forward to today, April 7th, 2014.  Whitney and her district had to report to the MTC Travel Office at 2:30 am and then head to the SLC International airport for what they thought would be a flight to Boston that would include 2 layovers, one in Minneapolis and one in New York.  I didn't hear from her until she was in NY.  We didn't talk much because she needed me to look up the phone number for the mission office.  Their adventure was beginning. . .

When they arrived in New York, they presented their tickets for their next flight and found out that the seat numbers on their tickets didn't exist.  Delta re-booked them for the next flight that was due to leave after 9:00 PM EST.  This would leave them stranded at the airport for an additional 6 hours!!!  Prayers must have been heard, and the Mission President must have worked some magic because we later learned (after all kinds of posts on facebook) that they were able to get them on a smaller plane that would go directly to Manchester.  When I looked at the flight, it looks like it was delayed by an hour.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.  According to the Flight Tracker, they landed in Manchester at 5:19.  A sweet sister from the Mission Office posted that they had dinner ready and were just awaiting their arrival. 

You would think that the kinks in their travel plans would have caused these new missionaries a little stress.  That wasn't the case at all.  When I spoke with Whitney they were all laughing and excited for their new adventures.

I will post more pictures once I receive them.