Elder Collins Email 2/25/08

THis is Zach and his MTC companion

This is Zach and his group at the MTC THis is how he washes his clothes. Can you tell what he is holding?? (plunger)
Ghana Temple

Here is the email he sent plus some pictures he was able to upload for us.

OK so i had write this huge letter then i lost it so know i got to start all over. OK so its about time they updated the plaques!! and jimmy!! and to the P.S. no not my area but there are areas that are just villages!!(I asked him if it was as 3rd world as we thought) and bout the microwave. this is what my kitchen has in it- a fridge, a toaster, a sink, and a two burners little thing. so no microwave which really stinks big time. and about letters i have only got the first one from u and k... OK some fun stuff... so far since i got in the field i have eaten goat, lamb, cow(duh), and best of all DOG..lol.. its not that bad.then we have gone to the cape coast castle and i got a lot of pictures to it but the computers here r really slow at uploading so i will probably upload my pictures to a CD and then mail the card to ya'll so maybe send me a few CDs if u can.and i got all the stuff for everyone still here b/c i didn't have any money but know i got my pin number so i will send it when ever i get time. but to explain what goes to who. the heads are for the different houses( including Bryan's future one) and the big one is for you and dad. then the other stuff is for your b-day mom.then just funny we were at a restaurant the other day and there was a cat there in it. and before we ate someone took the cat to the back so we don't know what happened to it but i think it was fine i hope. so i don't have a lot of time so i guess next time i will tell you about the people. just to say a little something to make ya'll interested i taught a prophet and we are baptizing a pope...lol so yea its crazy mom i bore my testimony to dad on his e-mail so if you want to see it just ask him.ill talk to ya'll in a week. Love Elder Collins

I KNOW YOU ARE ALL WONDERING WHAT HAS HAPPENED!

This is what happened: I have been meaning to sit down and blog and just haven't taken the time. So tonight Donnie was suppose to take me out to dinner and he just wanted to take a little nap first, no biggie, he was up really early this morning and then had alot to do today. So I was just going to post one thing and he kept sleeping and I kept blogging. The more I post the more things I think about to post! No wonder you guys blog so much, it can be addicting! I read several other bloggers sites and just got all excited to give each of you a little bit to read! Now I am going to wake him up because I am starving!!

VALENTINES DAY AT NORTON ELEMENTARY

I went to Tiffany's school to help her with all the valentine activities. It was wild!!! I decided it was a smart thing I did not become a Kindergarten teacher!! It takes lots of patience. The bottom pic is Kelly, she is in the class room next to Tiff, this is their third year teaching side by side and they have a good time. This year they moved from 2nd grade to K. I think they are crazy but they seem to love it. They have adorable children. We started the day making a valentine mouse, they had to cut, yes cut with scissors, 4 or 5 hearts and glue them at certain places, and then add whiskers, etc.. are you getting the picture!! Some of those mice you wouldn't have recognized!! Then we moved on to decorating heart sugar cookies. Yep, another mess. Best of all was giving out the valentines. THe kids were so excited to give them to their friends they just couldn't stand it. We had to help them because most of them couldn't read the names. To end the day and try to quiet them down a little Tiffany read in a chapter book that they love, I think it is a Juney B. Jones book, anyway, one little guy was glued to her side and she finally told him he needed to sit down because she was getting hot, she kept reading and he decided he would cool her off and got a piece of paper and began to fan her. I busted up laughing, and then she did and then all the kids wanted to fan her. It was so funny. The greatest part of the day was as they were leaving they all hug her bye and then look at me, who they don't know very well and hug me too. Watching them and seeing their innocence and love helps me understand why Jesus loves little children and admonishes us to be "like them."

Here they are! My 5:50 am seminary kids

A year after we moved to Georgia I was asked to teach Seminary. I taught for 5 years before I was asked to do something else. Then two years later they ask me to do it again. I was shocked and nervous. I know what all it requires and that made it hard to say yes, but I did. These are my kids: 1st pic: (L to R) Kelsey, Kelli, Ashley, Steven
2nd pic: Christopher, Amanda, Aubrey, Matt
3rd pic: Mandy, Jeremy, Stephen, Kylie
I was missing: Jonathan, Andres, Josh, Brittanie
We are studying the Old Testament and we start at 5:50 am (they don't all get here then, but several do) It is a sacrifice for them but I promise them all the time that the payoff is fantastic, they just can't see it yet. I still remember my days in seminary and I hope years from now they do to!! Some of my favorite stories that we have done are: David, Esther and Job, so far. Look them up, find all the ways they apply to us today!!

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!!!

SUNDAY DINNERS

I love them! Almost every Sunday our whole family comes over and we cook and eat together.

It is chaotic at times, loud, crazy, etc.. and I couldn't be happier!! Sure we argue sometimes but I really feel like these dinners hold us together and keep our bond growing. Family is everything to me and all of them being together is my "Favorite Thing"! This particular sunday was a new recipe we tried, it seemed to go over pretty well. You can probably tell we max out the table, it isn't quite as crowded as usual since we are missing Zach. We need a bigger table and dining room! (hint to Donnie) I want my family to know I appreciate the sacrifices they make to be here sometimes, they get out in rain storms, give up valuable study time, sleep time, and money for gas. I know they will be blessed for it!!

I love each of you very much. (note Sarah in the pic, they may not be married yet, soon, but she is part of our family already)

MY FANTASTIC DAUGHTERS!!

Yes, I have the best daughters in the world!! For my birthday they made one of my favorites, Monterey Chicken (we took pictures and I can't find them) they also did my favorite veggie, carrots. They did my next favorite dessert, chocolate chip cookie cake, because my favorite, chocolate layer dessert, we had last week. I just sat and visited with them while they worked. For birthdays in our family I always have their favorite meal and dessert so the girls make sure the same happens for me. I know that Donnie is as grateful for them as I am because he is off the hook! My family went together and got me a camera, of course I was throwing big hints around. It is wonderful, now I can take pictures and download them and blog away, all by myself!! I had a great day!

Our Missionary Son has found the Internet!!!

This is his mission president. (Notice Zach's hair!)
1st "real" email from Zach

I live in a kind of apartment on the outskirts of town it is an ok place there are 4 elders in the place me 2 other Americans and an south African which comes from jo'burg. eating is good I don’t have as big of an appetite here but I think that’s just because I'm not used to the food yet but we eat rice a lot and I like the local dish called fu-fu( we get it at restaurants) and we eat a lot of spaghetti. We only get 100 cedi a month which is about $105 dollars so money is tight. I hand wash all my clothes and we do it an interesting way but you will see in the pictures. My bed is too small for my body and yes I sleep in a mosquito net (I got pictures of all of this). Yes I take my doxy every day and I haven't got malaria yet!! My companion elder Johnson is very nice and is a good missionary. And we walk everywhere!!! We walk an average of about 8-10 miles a day and I now know why I need the hankies (we sweat alot!!!!!) I got to perform the baptism this past Saturday and it was pretty dang cool!! And something I figured out the other day is that most elders are out for 730 days but I got 731 because of leap year...lol.but I’m out of time so send this to everyone and tell them I love them and if there are questions unanswered just ask but ill talk to ya'll next week. Elder Collins!!!!!!
Feb. 18
hey so yea i let a kid in the mtc cut my hair with my little trimmer!!! and i lost 10 pounds in the MTC but now i dont know because we dont eat very healthy out in the field..lol.. but i think im just losing muscle :( but o well. so in my mission it is probably over 50% Americans so i probably will have more american companions. so i did get the first letter from you and Kristi during the week( k's was long..lol) but thats all i got so far but i get mail on Tuesdays . yea i can only e-mail family. we get 1 hour on the internet. I dont know the number of people we are teaching but it's a lot. well in my area we we can't really contact because my area is a university but its all good. church is pretty much the same out here so. tell ryan and austin i said hey.ok so i will do the pictures next week and i will try to remember my pin but idk and my card expires like july of '09.ok so some things that i would like to have.- speghetti and rice sauce/spice packets( thats all we eat)- quacker oatmeal little packets( a lot there isnt really anything good for breakfast here)-power bars-mashed potatoes and gravy packets-pictures- family( have none) and friends ( K!, jenny, liz, etc)-shoe soles( the dr.scholles shoes soles stink i need reg ones.)- if dad could do this i need as much info on these religions as quick as possible- cathelic,presby, muslem-candy-starbursts thats it for now and im out of time so tell everyone i love them and i write some more experiences next week if you dont have any more ? loveelder collins