Elder Collison Arrived Safe!

Dear Brother and Sister Collison,

President Hill and I were thrilled to meet Elder Collison as he arrived in the Bucuresti airport with his MTC group. He seemed very happy to finally be in the mission field after his weeks in the MTC. President Hill and I had an enjoyable interview where we learned more about this great young man. It is evident that he comes from a very loving, supportive family with a lot of close ties. Thank you very much for sending him to us. We were impressed by his determination to be a great missionary, and by the tenderness with which he spoke of his family.

After our interviews at the office, he began his visa work by going to a simple medical examination. This is a big holiday week in Romania, so the rest of his visa work will have to wait. Because the visa offices were not open, we were able to visit Cismigiu Park, where Elder Russell M. Nelson dedicated the land of Romania for teaching the gospel. I'm attaching a picture of us there.

Then, we had all the incoming missionaries to dinner at the mission home, along with two of our departing missionaries, who bore their testimonies to them and gave them a little advice. Then we sent them off to spend the night with temporary missionary companions.  The next day, they returned to the mission home, where they worked hard to stay awake through our orientation meeting and met their first companions. Elder Collison is now with his initial companion, Elder Cobabe, in Constanta, one of our favorite cities by the Black Sea on the east side of Romania. Elder Cobabe will give him an excellent start, and he will be with a group of very good missionaries. 

Thanks again for sending us such a wonderful young missionary. We could instantly tell he will be a very good, faithful, hard-working missionary. 

With much appreciation,

Sister Hill

Romania/Moldova Mission