Week 5!!!! One more and we gone!

          Kamusta Pamilia at mga Kaibigan!

(Whats Up Family and Friends)

Life is good! We leave in 1 week! I'm so excited. Our Flight Plans came yesterday! Can't wait! This past week has been the craziest so far. So much has happened. So on Tuesday we moved from the Main Campus over to West Campus. Before we left on Monday we said goodbye to the older Districts that were departing for the Philippines. There were some really cool Elders that I'm gonna miss. Before we left though, we pulled a prank on the Elders upstairs. We stole all of their shower curtains and hid them, and duck taped the shower heads, haha! We got em good. Also before we left, one of my companions cousins came into the MTC named Elder Bunker. I didn't know his real name so I called him Elder Dale Bunker. While he was talking to my companion, I got everyone in our Zone to shake his hand and act like he was some kind of famous person. It was halarious. He had no idea what was going on. Also before I left, I got my first hair cut that wasn't from Mom. The lady did a pretty good job actually. I have also changed my hairstyle for the first time. I kinda like fohawk it a little. Its a pretty good looking. My facial hair is growing at a much faster rate now. I shave like every 3 days instead of a week. I'm convinced that I will be able to grow an amazing mustache when I come back.  So anyways, we moved over to West into an apartment with the other Elders from the District that leaves the same time as us. My companionship has their own room because we have a trio which is nice. We play a lot of PIG at night with our B-Ball hoop hung on our fridge that one of Elders that left gave to us. When I walk over to get the mail with Elder Christofferson, I generally take a peak at the Provo River which is like 20 yards from the fence. I haven't seen any fish yet. Swiss Days sounds good right now, gettin me some of those Navajo Tacos and Twister Lemonades! Man I miss that. Good for Austin! Tell him congrats from me ok Mom. I miss you and love you all! Mahal Kita!

Love, Elder Akins

Week 4! Gettin Close!

'Musta kayo?! How Y'all Doing?! It sure is good to hear from everybody. This week I had my teacher translate some good stuff to say. Nangangaso ng usa, nagmamaneho ng sasakyan! Huntin' Bucks and Drivin' Trucks! Haha good stuff right! This morning me and my District and some other Elders from our zone decided to have Sauna Saturday. We threw a towel over the entrance to the showers and made a sauna. It was nice and relaxing. Last night we had a Zone Flossing Session. It was great, it really brought us closer as a Zone haha. I will send some pics. Our lessons have been getting better as we are progressing with the language. Being a District Leader is fun, but it's kinda hard. I hate to tell people to not do this or to do this better. But I guess someones gotta do it. There are 2 Sisters from St. George, ones from DHills the other from Dixie. I didn't know em but whateves, it was still cool to talk to someone from home. Mom I repped that little Santa Clara postcard in our class for a little while that you sent me. Everyone in my District knows about Santa Clara now! Also I found some sweet talks by Elder Bruce Stucki who grew up in Clara about there. One of his talks was about Prayer and it talked about how he hunted the hills behind Santa Clara with his bow for rabbits! Haha made me miss home a little! Lifes great! I hope everyone is doing well! Oh and no mom I don't need money. I've only spent like 40 bucks so far. Stamps would be nice though. I miss everyone so much! Keep the Faith! Mahal Kita!

Elder Akins

 

Zone flossing session. 

 

Our district with the others who came in at the same time.

3rd Week in the MTC

September 14, 2013, 11:20:34 AM MDT
Hey guys! Hows everyone doing! I miss you all so much. I'm doing great though. Mom please make sure that my friends are all in this. This past week has been kinda rough. Our lessons are supposed to go well, but me and my comps can barely stammer our a few words in Tagalog. It kinda sucks. Our last lesson with our "investigator" Romel went alright. We found that if we say a prayer before we knock on his door that our lessons go better. I managed to bear my testimony to him, but it wasn't as long as I had wanted it to be haha. The new group that came in is pretty cool, although I'm gonna miss the group that left. Especially our Zone Leader, Elder Christenson. I talked to him quite a bit about District Leader stuff and he helped me out a lot as a missionary. But in the new group is an Elder from Ogden. He's a country boy so I've talked to him quite a bit the past few days. He's into huntin and fishin so we talk for like an hour at a time, cuz I seriously havent had anyone to talk to about that stuff haha. Amongst the Greenies are 2 Elders from the Marshall Islands. One of them comes into our room and lays on my bed all the time haha. I gave him so of the leftover jerky from Punts buck that he gave me, and showed him the pic of his deer. He came back into our room like 10 minutes later so I asked him if he wanted some cookies or something. He pulls the pic off of my wall and points to the deer. Haha he doesn't speak good english but I understood what he wanted. He polished it all off haha. Theyre funny kids. I've been doing sit ups and push ups every night before I go to bed, so don't be suprised if I come back riped. I love you guys and love hearing from you all. Mom make sure you send me that address book ASAP. Oh and  I havent gotten those Hep A #2 shots yet, I was told that you don't need them but that was by some Ronny lady at the front desk. What should I do? I love yall!

Love Elder Akins

Week 2 - MTC

WHAT UP Pamilia! The MTC is awesome! I love it here! MOM! Make sure you send all of my emails to all of my friends. Make sure Fausett, Lance 'Daddy' Douglas, and my friends families get these. And grandma. And anyone else you think of. I'm sorry to say this but I havent gotten homesick yet! I hung up some of those pics in my room. Haha thats funny about Grandpa! Is he doing alright? Howd it go? The Spirit is way strong here. I honestly have never felt it like this. The food sucks, flat out. "It aint like mama fixed it." Haha I sing country songs all the time to stay sane. Thank you for all the letters, but you dont have to send me 1 everyday. Oh and you forgot to send me a big buck calender. Please...I love you?! I catch myself thinking about "Huntin Bucks and Drivin Trucks" all the time, but i focus up and get to work haha. All of my district thinks that Im the biggest Redneck because I always say Earl Dibbles Jr. lines and stuff haha. And they all think I have a big accent. Whatever. I love em though. The fridge keeps things cool, but it doesnt freeze stuff. Im ballin it up here. Theres some good players though. And i cant stress it enough, Elder Lawrence is huge. And im the one who has to guard him everytime. Still fun though. Hes way chill. I only saw Elder Cloward once, one he came in. I gave him a big hug and gave him some advice. I wish I would've thought about my camera. Sorry. Hes on the West Campus so i wont get to see him, unless I find him at the Devotionals. Ill take my camera to those. Punt and Berry have come over like every other night the past week. Im convinced the Tongans are crazy. I guess they set up like a barbershop in one of their rooms haha. One of the Elders in my District said something funny about the Sisters yesterday, he said "Its like an all you can eat buffet, but you cant eat any of it!" Haha so true. Im trying to keep my "Missionary Goggles" on but haha...Anyways, I miss everyone tons! I hope you guys are surviving without me. You probably are all going out for Ice Cream like every night now. Ill send another couple of emails with pics. I love you guys! Maha Kita!
Elder Akins