1st Week in the Field

February 2, 2015

1st Week In The Field

My companion is awesome! We get along really well! There have been 5 or more people that have told us that we look like sisters (haha get it.... sisters... as in missionaries) but they mean siblings... I kinda see it, but it is just funny.

I am on a bike! And my butt was killing me all week, last week. It's beginning to get used to it, thank goodness. I'm always sore. The area is flat, so I always have to pedal. I can't just sit there and relax while going down a little hill... but  oh well... EXERCISE!!!! We are in a really nice area. No one talks to anyone! Nobody knows their neighbors. Be grateful for the neighbors that you have.. I invited our investigator, Cameron who is 9 to be baptized!! He said yes! February 21st! We've mostly been seeking out potential investigators, and it's kind of been a success. People look out their blinds and then don't open their doors. It's annoying. At least use the peep hole so that we don't see you! All the doors have them, so it's annoying. They don't even give themselves a chance to listen to our message.

We went tracting the other day, and we usually stop by people outside their houses to talk to them. Tracting was a success, for one house! She (Leuanna) opened the door, and we told her that we had a message that could help bless her family, and right then and there she let us teach her. On her porch. We taught her the restoration and gave her a Book of Mormon! She said that we could follow up with her! We are planning on visiting her on Tuesday. The same thing happened with another guy in a trailer park and let me tell you that is a cat hang out. Everyone has cats and their cats have cats. I'll send you a picture where you'll have to count all the cats. (They're only ten)  but still!!! They're like a herd of cats, kind of like guard dogs, but cats... Mom would hate it. ANYWAY back to William, we taught him the restoration. He was a potential investigator, now an investigator. They gave him a Book of Mormon about 4 months ago, but whenever they would go back, his girlfriend would tell them to leave. She gave us the meanest look, but idk why. We are just trying to bring God's children closer to Christ! He also said that we could meet up with him again this week!

I live in a homeshare with a couple in their 50s, Heidi and Scott, they are kinda crazy and very expressive, but they are just awesome. My bed kinda sucks.... we need to flip it sometime. At least I have a bed though! I am being fed very well.... I love food. It is a good thing that we are on bikes... but I still need to control how much I eat.

So, I'm not sure if you connected this, but Sister Pope, Elder Murray (my age from high school and in orchestra, played the viola) and I are all in the same zone. We keep forgetting to take a picture. We actually played ultimate frisbee with our zone this morning! It was lots of fun! And then my companion, Sister Olsen, and Sister Pope and her companion and I all went to Chick-fil-a this morning.... It was delicious. :) Sister Pope and I are actually going to go on exchanges together this next week! I am excited! I love you and miss you! How is the family??

-Sister Cozzens

Sister Cozzens with her trainer, Sister Olsen

Heidi and Scott, the homeshare family who

the Sisters live with

January 28, 2015

California Bound!!

Hey there!!! 

I made it safely to CALI!!! It is so warm here. I hope that all of you are jealous. It is green and humid, and I am so happy that I am serving here. I am in the Eastvale First Ward! Our area touches the border of our mission. My companion is Sister Olsen and she is from Price, Utah! I already love her! She is a bit quiet, but she has a really strong testimony, and she is super cute! 

I was having a weirdish day yesterday, I just wasn't happy. But last night, President Mullen had all of the new missionaries bare their testimonies, and I was asked to say the closing prayer. I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to bare my testimony! I am grateful for my testimony! After praying and baring my testimony, I was overcome with the Spirit. I was just so happy. 

My mission president is awesome and so is my zone and district! We just had a meeting with them! I saw Sister Pope and Elder Murray! We decided that we are going to take a picture with Elder Thompson on Saturday and send it to Miss Thompson (Sarah-Jane our orchestra teacher in high school). It was so awesome to see them! A little weird, because I couldn't hug Elder Murray, but it is okay... :) Sister Pope looks so great!! She seems very happy, and she seemed to be happy about her new companion! 

I will email again on Monday! That is my p-day! I love you all!!

- Sister Cozzens

President and Sister Mullen

Letter from President Mullen:

Dear Brother & Sister Cozzens,

We are so grateful to have Sister Katelyn Cozzens join us here in the California Riverside Mission! It was exciting to meet her at the airport. I had the opportunity to interview your missionary and we were able to hear her testimony after we had dinner together. We have been impressed with her testimony and desire to serve. It has been a privilege to get to know her.

Sister Cozzens is now hard at work in her new area, the Jurupa Zone with her companion Sister Diana Olsen.

Preparation day is Monday; most missionaries choose to email their family on that day. We encourage you to write or email weekly as well. Thank you for keeping your letters positive, uplifting and encouraging your daughter to work hard and take advantage of the time spent here in doing the work of the Lord. 

As we visited with your daughter she expressed gratitude for her family and the wonderful time she had in the MTC.

We look forward to a wonderful experience together with your missionary. Thank you for preparing one worthy to serve. May God continue to bless you.

Sincerely,
John H. Mullen, President

January 26, 2015


I LOVE YOU SO, SO, SO, MUCH!!

(Email from Sister Shivani Sami, Sister Cozzens' roommate in the MTC)

Hello Sister Cozzens,

I always think about you and Sister Roberts every single day. How are you doing? How is the MTC without me? I will always love you. You are my SISTER NOW. And I am so PROUD of that.

I promise you that we will surely meet after our MISSION. OKAY!! I'm gonna get you. GET READY!!! Haha. I MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY.

Some photos that always remind me of you Sister Cozzens.

Hope you will LOVE them.

Sisters Roberts, Sami, and Cozzens

We love our roommate Sister Sami!

January 21, 2015

Week 1, The MTC Experience

Hello everyone!! Sorry it is kind of a novel.... BUT, I want to share EVERYTHING. 

The MTC has been surreal, there are too many words to describe this event in my life. I have grown so much closer to Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. I have come to realize that it is the most important thing you need to focus on in your life. Without it, and without being here, I wouldn't have come to this realization, but anyway the church is true!!!!! I am so happy here and the Spirit here is so amazing. 

My companion's name is Sister Roberts! She is from Atlanta, Georgia! And we get along really well! She actually borrowed my cardigan the other day!! Sometimes, when we are teaching an investigator, I have no idea what to say and so I look at her and she jumps in and it's always perfect! We always build off of one another!

My roommates left this morning, and we are waiting for the new missionaries to come!! But our old roommates are going to Temple Square! Their names are Sister Sami (from Fiji) and Sister Lysy. They didn't get along very well, which is sad, but it also helped me see that I am so grateful for my companion!

My district is awesome. I call them my family here at the MTC (no offense my real familia :)) There are 5 of us total, which I didn't know was small, when I first got here, but apparently it is unheard of... I am totally okay with it! Their names are Elder Okojie (okojay from Nigeria), Elder Tremea (from West Point, UT), and Elder Cardinal (from Alberta, Canada). The district I have is rare to come by, most districts get really distracted and goof around a lot. But we are really good at staying on task. Just like my companion, we build off of each other's testimonies. I NEVER share in classes, and some of you know that. I always kept my answers to myself in class and in religion classes. But here I share all the time. I feel like 'a know it all' but I'm not.... I just feel prompted to share my insights a lot.... which is good right?? I'm listening to the Holy Ghost and obeying it!! Friday was REALLY hard for my district. Satan was really trying hard to discourage us, and it was working. None of us could  concentrate and some of us were asking themselves why they were here. I was crying (of course) which was really embarrassing, because I hate crying in front of people. So, to fix my problem, I went to the bathroom and got on my knees and just prayed. I prayed that I wouldn't be discouraged and that I would feel comforted. When I ended my prayer, I felt so good, and I knew that Heavenly Father answered my prayer. The rest of my district was having a hard time still. One of my teachers (Bro. Whiting) told me, "You are better than you think you are." I love that he also says quite often "God is so good." He walked into class the other day and said "I am so great!! The gospel is true!" He has made my experience at the MTC so much better. I look forward to going to class everyday, because I am learning so much. ANYWAY, back to my district being discouraged. In our afternoon class my other teacher (Bro. Meteer) gave us the idea to kneel in a circle and pray as a district. That experience was so awesome, and we were all overcome with the Spirit. We really had to rely on the Lord to get through that week. Everyone says, "Just make it to Sunday," and it's true. Only through Jesus Christ and putting our trust in Him, could we have gotten through that. 

We have had several other experiences where we have nightly discussions about our testimonies, experiences we've had in our lives and in the MTC, and everything that we have heard. I know that we were blessed with this district, because I know I wouldn't be able to learn ANYTHING if I were with another one. 

Everyone here is so incredibly nice! My first day, I had to wear a bright orange sticker on my name tag, and everyone said "Welcome to the MTC!!" It was kind of annoying, but it made me feel welcome! And now today, there are a lot of new missionaries and so my companion and I say "Welcome to the MTC!!" They keep walking saying "thanks..." and then I laugh afterward, because literally EVERYONE tells you that. No joke.

A great thing I have come to realize is that you can get so much done if you wake up at 6 every morning AND go to bed at 10:30. It is crazy how much you can do. I think that that was one of the hardest things for me to get used to, always doing something. I'm used to it now, though, and it's awesome.

THANKS MOM AND DAD FOR THE PACKAGES AND EMAILS. I LOVE MY GLASSES AND I AM ACTUALLY WEARING THEM RIGHT NOW. 

I LOVE YOU ALL AND I HOPE YOU HAD JUST AS HARD OF A WEEK AS ME, BECAUSE WHEN WE HAVE STRUGGLES AND TRIALS, WE NEED TO RELY ON JESUS CHRIST. And we need to have trials in our life for that purpose. It truly is amazing, this gospel.

The Atonement is real and Heavenly Father sent His son so that we may be able to live with Him again. Joseph Smith did translate The Book of Mormon, and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ did appear to him. I love this gospel so much, so, so, much. God is so good, and I encourage you all to think of everything that God has blessed you with and thank Him. He deserves to be thanked. 

My purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I actually memorized that. You should all be proud!!

Peace out, until probably a week and half, because I fly ALL BY MYSELF WITH NO PARENTS to CALIFORNIA next Tuesday. So, until whenever I email you again,

-Sister Cozzens

Love you all!!

Note to family: So I will be able to call you at the airport (don't come visit me ) on Tuesday (January 27th) between 5-8 a.m. My flight is at 8:30, but I have to be at the travel office here at the MTC at 3:35 a.m...how stupid is that ...haha. We land in Ontario, CA. So just beware! Sit by the phone and don't let Dylan go to school until I have called. Love you!! Thanks for everything you've done! The gospel is true my beloved familia. Do everything that you can to keep the spirit with you. I remember what it was like when I didn't have it with me all the time. It is AWESOME having it with me. 
xoxo
-Sister Cozzens

 It's official!!!

"I love my companion, Sister Roberts!"

Sister Cozzens with her district

MTC district with their teacher, Brother Whiting

Brother Meteer, MTC teacher

The California Riverside Mission is the best!!