Another Week in the "Pines"!

Well this has been a crazy week for us here. First off we had Transfers. Sadly, the other American in my apartment (Elder Hatch) was sent to a different area. He's such a funny and awesome kid, and hopefully we will both be able to hook up after the mish at Utah State! He's way tight. Anyways after he left, his comp became a trainer and is now training Elder Gutierrez. I am officially the only white guy in Gubat now...not counting the way fat, rich German guy we see riding on a scooter all the time. He's in the other Elder's area, and appartently he speaks terrible English and no Tagalog. I have no idea how he lives here haha. So last week we lost 5 investigators due to baptism, but we worked really hard this week and found 10 new investigators! It was way awesome. One of them was living in an Iglesia ni Cristo community and who was Catholic...the only Catholic in that area. All of the Iglesia ni Cristos pretty much hate us, appartently they are a break off of our church. We were really guided to her! It was awesome. In another part of our area the kids always ask me to do the "Rocketship". They hold their arms out and make me lift them up and make them fly for a second. It gets tiring after awhile haha. Then I give them all Knuckle Sandwhiches after haha, they all run around and try to give each other them now. Also this week I witnessed my first Cock Fight. Although they didn't have blades on them, it was still pretty hairy. Those Roosters can kick like 5 times every time they jump up in the air! Its crazy to watch. My comp loves to watch it, he always tells me he wishes he could raise one but his Mom won't let him haha. He's obsessed with it. And like 10 minutes after watching that, we were walking down the road and these two guys come out of the jungle. One was carrying a bloody itak (machete) and a "barked out" animal of some sort, and the other had its cape. Then I saw the last guy holding a bloody dog head in his other hand...it was pretty messed up. Made me think of Duke back at home haha and if me and some of my buddies might end up doing that. Haha lets hope not! Well thats about it for this week. I love you all and I'm grateful for all of you. And know that no matter the roadblocks in the way, the work continues to go on!

Elder Akins

First Baptisms!!!

We finally did it!!! Me and Elder Yu finally dunked some people! Last Saturday was awesome! I can't describe the feelings I have for those kids. They are so awesome! Elder Yu baptized both of the families (3 Jarabejo kids and the 2 Pimentel kids), but it was still amazing to see some fruits of our labors. Haha there was only one bad thing that happened. The Pimentel family has these 2 crazy wild boys that are like 6 and 8, and they kinda just run around and do what they want haha. Their father is deaf so he really doesn't have any idea whats going on ever and their mother is extremelly shy (so shy we had to drag her to the baptisms basically haha). During the ordinances they ran up to the tub and were like cheering kinda haha and just runnin around the room. Nobody really is bother by it here haha I guess its just normal. Anyways it was still spiritual, regardless of kids slamming doors every once in while. Last week I also had Trainers/Trainees Workshop all the way in Legaspi. Its like a 3 hour drive from Gubat to there, so we had to wake up at like 4. We took a van and we had to fit 10 Elders and Sisters into it, plus 3 other passengers. It was pretty packed, especially for me because Filipinos don't have long legs, so they make the seats closer together. I was fine on the way up because I sat in the front row and I also sat by my old comp from the MTC, Elder Haymond. I felt a little queasy but was ok. We got there, listened to President Guanzon for awhile, did some different workshops and stuff, and then got to go to the mall. It was kinda weird being there haha. President fed us and then we went home. But instead of having some ok leg room like on the way up, I had to sit in the very back corner, and I did not feel good. I stuck my head out the tiny window for awhile, fell asleep with it hanging out the window haha then fell asleep again with my head in my lap. I don't think I would've made it if I hadn't been totally exhausted haha. They dropped us off in Sorsogon, like 45 minutes from Gubat so we took a Jeepney. I was sitting on top and it start pouring. Not just raining, but literal buckets! It might have been the biggest rain drops of my life. I couldn't see, and I even had glasses on! Needles to say my clothes were drenched. Haha it was pretty bad. The good news though is that we all bought airsoft guns the other day. I've been taking care of all of the neighborhood animals that stray into our yard. This way I'll be ready for Deer season when I get home. Aren't missions great! Haha gotta love it. The sad news though is that this week is Transfers, and Elder Hatch (the other 'Cano in my apartment) is moving somewhere up north. Elder Pascual is going to train some Greenie, that means I won't be new anymore! Thats good, I hated being new. Well I love you guys and am so grateful for all of you! You are all such a blessing in my life. Thanks for all of your prayers and concerns! I pray for you guys every day.

Elder Akins

 

Week 5

Well all is well. As you have all heard we did have a Super Typhoon hit the Philippines. Luckily our area was ok. We somehow only got hit with about a Class 2 storm. It was still windy and rainy but not much really happened. We just chilled in our apartment the whole day. A few of the members houses got beat up. Not much to clean up. The night before the storm hit we really just helped people move from their homes to the schools and our church. The scary thing is that the storm should have hit our area a lot harder than it did, but for some reason the storm kind of veered away from us so we only got hit with the side of it. Tacloban got hit way hard, there is over 10,000 dead there. So sad, the whole city is just a mess there. I heard that there used to be a cement stadium somewhere in the city, and now its like in rubble. Its crazy. And before all of this there was the earthquake down there too. There are rumors of a Tsunami happening because I guess there was another earthquake during the storm, I have no idea. Its crazy. But for now we are all ok here. The good news is that I'm going to be having my first baptisms on Saturday! The Jarabejo and Pimentel kids! I'm so stoked. They are awesome and are so excited! They both wanted Elder Yu to baptize them, which is understandable because he's been here the longest. I'm so excited though, these kids are so awesome. Something funny that happened to me this week was when me and my comp were walking to a Less Active families house. They live in the middle of this rice field and you have to walk on the path thats like 8 inches wide, which just so happened to be muddy from all of the rain. I slipped and my foot slid off into the muddy water on the side of the path, but as i tried to gain my balance I accidentally kicked some mud on my comps back haha. And that was his last clean shirt. I felt so bad but I laughed for like 5 minutes haha. Well before I end I wanted to share a cool quote I saw this week. Its from Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin: "Those who in faith, leave their nets (or fishing poles, rifles, bats, etc.) and follow the Savior will experience happiness beyond their ability to comprehend." I just thought that was awesome, and remember just because you aren't set apart as a full-time missionary doesn't mean you can't help out in the work. Thanks for all of your prayers, I love all of you guys! Mahal Kita! Ingat Po!

Week 4

Not a lot of time this week so I'll try my best to fill ya in. First off, last P Day I got my first haircut here. The guy cut it good, but left the front the exact same. So I think I'm gonna need to cut it again this week. I also have learned how to cook Chicken Adobo. Thats our basic meal here. We eat that more times than not. Its actually way good. You get the meat from the market in town, cut it up into pieces with the bones still on, throw it into a pan with onions, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar, and the works. So good. I love it. Well I missed Halloween. That stinks. All I could think of the whole day was all the scary movies I'm gonna watch in two years haha. They don't really celebrate Halloween here, instead its called "All Saints/Souls Day". They all go to the graveyards and sleep next to their dead ancestors. Haha and the night of there was a brown out, so all the people were screaming in the graveyards, we could hear them haha. The other day me and Elder Yu were tracting and this dog kept growling and barking at us as it followed us so one time he got to close and I popped on the nose with my foot. Also yesterday we were in the church having a party for one of the members birthday and this beetle flew into the church. This sister who is really funny decided to throw it on me. I didn't know it, but I kept hearing this like hissing sound on my tie. So I reached for the knot and I felt this beetle on my tie. Haha I started freaking out and threw it! I had no idea what was going on! Haha scared me to death. This week we taught the Pimentel family. They have a hard time getting to church because money is so tight. Tati Pimentel prayed extra hard this week that the Lord would provide for him so he could send his kids to church. A couple of days after he was in Gubat when he saw some paper crumpled up on the ground. He picked it up and realized it was a 500 peso bill! Then he opened it up, only to find another bill! He was so excited to tell us that the Lord had answered his prayers. He is so cool, I love him. Well thats it for this week. I love you guys and pray for you constantly.

Elder Akins

My apartment 

 

My tan line 

Me Slayin Monsters (JK It's a fisherman's, I borrowed)

Week 3 in the "Pines"

Well time is flying by for sure! This week just floated by. For starters, the whether here is crazy. Not 5 minutes ago it was sunny and nice, now its dumpin buckets outside. Its crazy. It kinda reminds me Cali because of all the overcast. This week we tried to help those people in our area with Baptismal dates to keep their commitments and not  relapse on some of their problems. We have a Brother who is 18 who used to drink so its hard for him deal with that, and he relapsed on a little bit of alcohol. He was kinda down about that, but we made sure he knew that no one is perfect and that we can always try for the next Saturday. We offered to give him a blessing to help him with his addiction. It was a great experience. After he gave us both hugs. He is such a cool kid and is really trying to learn all he can about the Gospel. I can understand the language for the most part...if an American is speaking. The Filipinos talk so fast its rediculous, I hear one word and think about it and by the time I've tried to piece that sentence together they are already done talking...it sucks. But it'll come one day, I got 2 years haha. The other day we got invited to eat lunch at a members house. They served us crabs, fish, rice, and this adobo with some kind of meat. They said they had already eaten and to go ahead. I didn't really pay attention to the meat as I threw it on my rice and ate it. I tasted it and couldn't help but cringe. Elder Hatch was sitting across from me and he started laughing and said it was chicken liver! Ehhhh! It was so nasty! I didn't like it at all haha. Everything else was good. I also had some of the famous bananas here, way better than ours. Another funny story was when we got done teaching the JarabeJo kids, Jarome caught this baby Gecko played a joke on my by throwing it on me. It was dark and I thought it feel on the ground and ran away so we laughed and started to walk home. About 200 yards down the road I felt something on the collar of my shirt. I jumped onto my neck and I flipped out and tried swatting it off haha I looked like some crazy guy dancing in the street haha. Today is the elections of their Kagawads or Counselors here so we can't proselyte
 tonight. I don't know what we are going to do. Throw a party or something haha. Maybe  we'll have a bonfire with all the banana trees around here. I don't know we will figure something out. Anyways thats all I got for ya this week. I love y'all and can't wait to see ya in 2!

Elder Akins

 

First Week in the Philippines

Well shoot, where do I begin. This place is freakin crazy!!! I'll start with when I got off the plane. First step off the humidity hit me...then the smell. I'm used to it now, the smell that is. I don't think I will ever get used to the humidity. And its the dry season...not even the dryer season! Haha anyways so they loaded us up and sent us to this church in Legaspi where we meet our new Trainers and had a meeting with President Guanzon. My companion is Elder Yu from Cebu. He's awesome. He's really patient and kind with me. And he speaks pretty good english. Then we were assigned our areas. Mine is the Gubat 1A area. We then drove for like 4 hours because we had to drop off the other missionaries at their apartments. It should've been like a 2 hour drive though haha. The way people drive here is UNREAL. I have never seen anything like it before. They just pass each other whenever, they drive on the left side of the road, and there is like zero traffic rules. Haha no stoplights too. As we were driving to our apartment I looked off on side of the road and this drunk guy was walking around in pink underwear with a bottle in his hand haha such a ronny. We got to our apartment and I met the other two elders that live there. Elder Pascuel from Cebu and Elder Hatch from Elko? Nevada. They are both way awesome. Then I passed out on my bed which smelled way wierd. The next day I just got settled in and we did a lot of planning and studying. Took my first "shower"...bucket and ladle. Oh and no TP by the way if you catch my drift...the toilets can't handle wet wipes either...soooo ya. We went and met some members the other night. I ate some fish head soup that was actually pretty good. Rice with every meal...I ain't complainin. At the store they sell this like bread with some sweet like jam kinda stuff in the middle and it looks kinda like a danish...anyways I eat like 1 of those a day. I've started to drink lots of water too, I need it. Everyone stares at me everywhere I go. It was cool the first few days, but now its getting kinda wierd and annoying. Oh well. I'll get used to it. There are dogs and cats everywhere. And chickens too. On Sundays there is a big Cockfight competition in one of the villages between Gubat and Sorsagon. Thats some peoples lives here haha but a lot of the men do it for side money. They all have their prized Roosters tied up by their house somewhere.Life here is just like whateves. Way chill. People just like walk in front of jeepneys and trycis all the time. Their houses are way humbling. Although it was told to me that they don't need much of a house because its never cold here, just as long as they have something to cover them from the rain and they're good. I rode on top of a Jeepney the other day haha its so fun. You kinda just chill and let the wind flow through your hair. Conference was legit...again. Although this time I didn't pay attention as well...I thought about the deer hunt and fishing quite a bit. Whoevers got a tag this year and is reading this make sure you email me and tell me how it went...I'm getting depressed about not being there haha jk but seriously. We played ball today. I kinda just rebound everthing and drive it back in because everyones afraid I'm gonna run them over or something haha. Filipinos are good though, they pass alot...like alot. They beat us both times, we played whites against darks. Haha they are way funny too. They all ask who my "Barly" ({Girlfriend} we will say) back home is and they say I have to choose one from our Zone...haha they are so dumb. But I love them so much already! The people are amazing too. All the old ladies let us talk to them. I placed my first Pamphlet the other day! We don't do BOM's because a lot of the time they will just throw them away. Also I shared the scripture Mosiah 24:14-16 with an old lady who is going throw some hard times the other day. Awesome experience. The works going well, I can't really understand anyone except kids because they talk so flippin fast but I am trying my best! I love you guys so much and miss everyone! I loved talking to the FamDamly the other day and I realized that I have the best family in the whole world! Thanks you guys, I'll keep you in my prayers!
Love Elder Akins

Last Email From the MTC

Well, its finally here! We leave for the Philippines on Monday, and I can't wait. The MTC's been great to me, but I'm getting sick of it. I'm ready for real investigators and all those wonderful experiences I'm going to have out there. If you are wondering why I'm emailing on Thursday instead of Saturday, its because on Friday we have "In Field Orientation" and Saturday and Sunday are Conference. Last Sunday we had Fast and Testimony Meeting. My whole District got up and bore their testimonies. It was awesome. After that we walked over to the Main Campus to go see Elder David S. Baxter of the Seventy speak. On the way I could have swore I saw Kim Gubler in a white SUV driving past the BYU baseball stadium. Ask her if it was her Mom. I was so mad because I saw someone from home and I didn't even get to say hi! Then when we got to Main I was sitting on a bench and Elder Graft walked up to me! I was super happy! We sat together at the devotional on the 2nd row! It was so sweet. I saw the pic of Mason with the Alligator! Haha I showed everyone in my District. So funny. I hope I don't have to deal with any Crocs in my mission. So sketchy. Recently I've picked up some dope ties by my mad trading skills. My new favorite is a grayish, silvery background with large red, crimson paisley covering it. So sick. Well my times up, but I want you to look up a scripture. Its Alma 26:37. And I want you to know that I know that no matter where we are, God is mindful of us. Regardless if its me in Philippines, or y'all back home! Know I love you and miss ya!
Love, Elder Akins