For the remainder of his mission —  even while serving in a landlocked region of America’s Heartland — Elder Collins shared with his investigators the dual joys of tackling big waves and living the gospel.

“It was so helpful for the people in my mission — and for myself — to be able to share my story.”

 

Return to the Pacific

 

Much has changed for Collins in the past year.  He concluded his labors in the Missouri Independence Mission and returned home to Southern California. And now he’s a  husband. Collins and Vivian Bush were married last month.

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He’s also back in the water almost every day with a surfboard under his feet.

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“Life is awesome,” said the newlywed. “It’s funny, because I was always that guy that never wanted to go on a mission. And then, I was that guy that never wanted to leave my mission because I was having so much fun. 

“But now I’m having fun integrating all the things I learned on my mission into my everyday life.”

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The Church has sent out plenty of, say, elite football and basketball players into the mission field. Many of them then returned home and continued to excel in their sport.

But what about returning to elite surfing following two years of missionary service in a region almost 2,000 miles away from the Pacific waves?

“There was nothing I could do in my mission to replicate the paddling that I have to do in surfing and other things,” Collins said. “My body was so rusty when I returned. For the first few weeks of surfing, my body was in pain everyday from just reactivating my muscles and getting back into the groove of things.”

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But surfing, he added, is like riding a bike. The muscles remember the technique — albeit reluctantly at first.

“I’ve been home from my mission for about nine months, and I can honestly say that I feel like I’m surfing better now than when I left for my mission.”

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But Collins is quick to add that he is a different person than when he left for his mission. His confidence in the surf has returned in full. But he has also matured. He’s gained perspective. He is a returned missionary and a husband.

“I used to be so competitive,” he said. “If I didn't make the heat I would get angry. I would blow up and splash the water. Now, I try my hardest to make it and play a good heat. I’m still going to compete, but if I don’t make it it’s not my top priority anymore.”

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Serving  a full-time mission far from the surf, added Collins, is proving beneficial to his athletic career. Mission lessons serve him well on the water.

“A mission is a 24-hour-a-day calling. It can be a grind. It’s a routine that you have to prepare for mentally every single day. But on a mission, you also learn you can do extremely hard things. 

“Serving a mission taught me that I can do difficult things, even when they are not in my comfort zone.”

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A child of the surf

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At the age when most toddlers are still trying to master walking upright on terra firma, Little Jordy Collins was already entirely comfortable in the seawater.

His father, Daren Collins, was a skilled surfer.

“My dad would take me out on the tip of his surfboard when I was 2- or 3-years old,” remembered Collins. “I couldn’t do anything by myself, so he would hold me and make  sure I didn’t drown until I was old enough to start surfing on my own.”

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The Pacific’s salty waters were a second home for Collins, a quintessential California kid. 

“Even before I started surfing, my family went to the ocean every day to blow off steam and tire us kids out.”

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By the time he was in first or second grade, Collins knew he wanted to be a pro surfer. His dreams became his reality when he reached his teens.

“Surfing was just something that I fell in love with from a very young age,” he said. “Being in the water was something that always grounded me. I felt like I was connected with God out there. It feels more natural to be out in the water than anywhere else. And I love the angles and challenging aspects that the ocean throws at us.