Transfers...again.

I'm out of Daraga already, its only been 1 Transfer haha so there must be good/difficult things in store. It was super unexpected, I really thought I was gonna be here for awhile too. But the Lord's always got other plans for you, especially if you're getting into your comfort zone...which I totally was! I'm gonna miss Daraga 1st Ward! Best Ward in the Mission! Giving my Goodbye Testimony was kinda weird because it was the 2nd time in 6 weeks haha its like I was already gone! Its all good though, I'll go where the Lord wants me to go ha. I figure its always best not to murmur, just do what needs to be done. This past week was super legit! Me and Elder Pasadillo got to go to Batan Island for Exchanges this week! Its the ghettoist part of our Mission! And we had a blast. The 2 hour boatride was nice, we just chilled up on top of the boat and slept and took in the sun. I got my Farmers Tan on, gonna look like I've been workin hard in the fields in the dead of summer when I get back...cuz I have, just the Lord's Fields thats all. The island is super beautiful, the water is clear blue, and the beaches are white! A lot of people were checking me out because white people just don't go there that often. The day after we got back from Batan we were just super beat. We attended a District Meeting first, then got to the apartment and took showers after 2 1/2 days haha ya we attend the meeting as we were. Felt like Heaven! But Satan was really tryin to tempt us to sleep and make it a no work day or something, but we ended up just getting to work like we should've. And that night we saw the Lord's Hand and His Blessings for us. We had a few hours to work, so we tried hitting some unplanned appointments (rarely is there ever planned appointments in the Philippines). We got the boot 3 times. By then we were running down and wondering what to do, like well should we just go back or what kinda thing. But the wierdest thing happened. We had both expressed feelings of wanting to go back home and just finish the day, but it was like something was just pushing us, we both kinda just kept walking without thinking. We got to our last appointment, to a Less-Active young man, ended up teaching him and finding out some of his concerns with why he wasn't coming to Church. We even expressed to him how the Lord had lead us to him that night, it was a great spiritual lesson we had. These are some of the Miracles that happen on the Mission, thats why I love it so much! Well my times almost up here. Guess we'll see whats gonna be happening for the rest of my Mission tomorrow at Transfer Point, wish me luck!
Love Elder Akins
PS Happy Birthday Ally!

A White Valentines

So it wasn't a White Valentines just because me and Elder O'Connor (my housemate) are the only white guys in the neighborhood and I took him out on a date like you're thinking...you'll have to wait till the end of the email to find out why. But I'll just say it was an amazing and inspiring week for me! So first off I've been inspired to fix my tennis shoes. I've worn holes into the fronts of them cuz we ball to hard here. I've been hunting for Duck Tape but no success yet, guess I'll just endure the blood blisters till I find some. Me and O'Connor went on Exchanges again this week, had some fun and crazy experiences happen, like the one guy I used to teach who told us he'd be fine living in the Terrestrial Kingdom...uhhh ya I guess, whatever you're into. We told him that he needed to pray about it first, so he said he'd text when I figured his life out. Also that day I got my BDay/Valentines Package! Thanks Momma! But for cereal...don't send anymore. I especially enjoyed Grandma Brown's Card that she sent haha the pics cracked me up. Oh and on that day I got Elder O'Connor to wear an American Flag tie with me...he's Aussie. I watched 3 mice play around on a ladies countertop during a lesson for a bit. It's really sad what people have to live through here. Our District Meeting on Receiving Prayer Through Revelation was legit. Elder O'Connor gives great workshops. I was really inspired to make my prayers even more meaningful through Elder Tevaga's conversion story/testimony on prayer during that meeting. He's such an inspiration to me. Saturday was the real Highlight of the week though. It was Valentines, but not just an ordinary Valentines. Brother Conrad was finally baptized into the Church! And I've never attended such an amazing Baptism. It was an honor to be one of the missionaries to have taught, given blessings to, and finally baptize this man. I've never seen or heard of such an amazing Conversion Story and such a strong Testimony from a Recent Convert. He is an amazing man. After he came up out of the water he bowed his head and gave a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord. He really understands the importance of Baptism...unlike our Part-Member Ronny of a kid who was lost the entire day of his baptism...so he didn't get dunked like we'd hoped haha he's super crazy and just kinda does what he wants so we kinda saw it coming. I felt bad for his Mom because she really was excited for him to be baptized...oh well theres always next saturday! Conrad shared his favorite scripture that my comp E. Mallabo shared with him when I was there to us during his testimony: Moroni 10:20-23. It really gave him hope and faith when he needed it. I don't cry really ever (guess thats my Akins side), but that man made me tear up for sure. Its been a blessing to have been apart of this man's life, and I can't wait to see him again after this life! Miracles do happen!!!
Love you all and hope you had a Happy Valentines.
PS Its my little Squishters BDay this week, shout out!!!
Love Elder Akins

Its Gonna Be a White Valentines!

Well guys I got some great news for y'all! This Saturday we are gonna be having 3 Baptisms in our Ward, one for each companionship! The Sisters have a single man who is ready, me and my companion have a part member kid who's finally ready haha he's super crazy but passed his interview, and the final candidate is from my old area. If you remember Brother Conrad, the man who has cancer, well he's been cleared by our Mission President for Baptism! And he's asked me to baptize him! So I'm so excited for him! We started teaching him way back at the time we started with the Magallon Family, and now all his stuff with his wife is cleared up so he can be baptized! He's so happy and excited, he came to Church on Sunday and that's all he talked about with me the whole time! His story is really amazing, and I'm so glad that I got to be part of his conversion. He's just one of those people where I've really seen True Conversion happen, just makes me all the more happy that I came on a Mission! Well other than all that good stuff, I turned 20 this past week. The AP's and the Office Elders took us and Elder O'Connor and Elder Mallabo to this super amazing Buffet in Legazpi, its actually inside a 4 star hotel. We joked about how it looks a lot like the Great and Spacious Building, but in the end it sure was good food and we had lots of fun. They pulled a quick one on me and told the waitress it was my BDay, but at least it wasn't as embarrassing as that time we got Sammy Walton to ride the Saddle for his BDay at Texas Roadhouse (Shout out to my Boys, BroHouse when I get back?!). Also this week we went on exchanges in the farthest part of our Zone to a place called Donsol, and also a place called Pilar. Donsol is actually the Whale Shark Capital of the World and its the nicest place I've been so far in the Philippines ha. It took us 2 hours on top of a Jeepney to get there. The beach looked great, it kinda reminded me of my first area. I went with Elder Christofferson (my batch!) and his comp Elder Lonjas. We had a good day of work and I did a Baptismal Interview for one of their investigators. The next day we traveled to Pilar and worked with the Elders there. Me and the Elder I was with found quite a few service opportunities while we were proselyting, like for example we helped an old Nanay carry this big log to her house along the road, then we helped some kids cross the highway and carried their jugs of water for them, and lastly we helped this Investigator dig out some clay behind his house so he can widen his house...white shirts and all. Just another week in the life of a Zone Leader I guess. Love you all, thanks for all the Birthday wishes, you guys are the best!
Love Elder Akins

Busy Busy Busy

We were really busy this week. Ran some errands for the AP's, had 2 sets of Exchanges, and still managed to work our way to the top of the boards! We almost hit the Standard of Excellence in our Mish, its like the Goals for everything, so we were super pumped because we didn't even get to work full out in our area this week! The best part of this week though was getting to go back to my area which is like next door haha. I worked with my Dirty Australian of a pal Elder O'Connor there, and it was legit! We visited Brother Conrad (the guy with Cancer) and the Magallon Family! Brother Conrad was excited to see me ha and we had a great lesson about the Priesthood. We told him that we know if he keeps on the path he is on, one day he'll be able to receive this Sacred Authority from God! He was so pumped up haha. After the lesson we were asking him how he was doing with all the Commandments and such, and then Elder O'Connor asked him about how his Grape Juice was (this member brought him this big jug of Pure Grape Juice from the States as a gift. Its super expensive here) that he had out. It was out on his table, so he grabbed it and handed it to us. Then he said he feels wierd when he drinks it, so he'll only drink like a glass a day or so. We thought that was a little wierd, I opened her up and gave her a good whiff...turns out that stuff fermented REAL good haha! We told him that Grapes ferment after a period of time (like 2 weeks ha) of being left out in the heat. So in the end he decided to toss it hahaha good choice my friend! Don't think you can get baptized if you keep that one up! And our lesson with the Magallons later on that night was legit of course! So good to teach them again. I miss my area :( So ya thats the update for this week. Hope y'all are good back at home! Miss you guys. Heard that the SeaHawks lost...thats what they get for knockin my Cowboys out. Much Love!
Elder Akins