I HAVE CAMBIOS! I'm Transferring To Matamoros!

Picture of Josh at his baptism with his brother and grandparents.

May 2, 2016

WEEK 26

Dear Family & Friends,

Well, my investigators are awesome! And I can tell you guys stories of them when I get back BUT I have some news. I HAVE CAMBIOS! Transfers!!!! I’m getting transferred tomorrow to Matamoros! It’s another city really, really close to the border of Texas but by the Gulf of Mexico. I’m going to be there with Elder Sigundo, who is from Mexico. I’m now going to be senior companion but I’ve felt like senior companion the whole entire time I’ve been here in Cumbres, so it’s not that big of a difference…lol. But I can tell you guys more about Elder Sigundo WHEN WE SKYPE! So YES, we get to Skype, but I have no idea how that’s going to go down now. I’ll be in a whole new area. We’ll still Skype. I just don’t know at what time.

But about this last week!!! WE HAD A BAPTISM! WOOAAHH! And we are going to have 6 or 7 more this upcoming two weeks, but sadly, I’m not going to be HERE! Everyone tells me once you’re right about to have success, they change you! lol. That would happen to me. But I’m excited to get working in Matamoros and to start building up the area! Wooahh.

We have been blessed these last three weeks and found people who have been prepared from the Lord. I wish I could tell you all everything about these investigators but I just don’t have time but I’ll send photos of the baptism! The kid who we baptized is named JOSHUA! He’s 9 and his grandparents are members of the church, so they were really happy to see him get baptized!

This week I learned that God works in a special way... He sent me in this area and I grew to love EVERYONE. It’s a love I cannot really describe. It was hard saying goodbye to everyone.... but I’m excited to see what God has planned for me! I know that this work is from God and that our church is true!

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! I’m glad you guys got to go for a night up in Salt Lake. And I’m so happy for Paul. That’s awesome that he’s getting married. Give him my wishes!!! and love!

- Elder Pukahi

Here is a picture of the chalkboard we wrote for Josh #ironman!

(Chalkboard drawings are something that is done out in the mission field in most missions today. Because missionaries do not have money, it is their way to decorate or add something personal for their investigator.)

MEXICO Is Pretty Cool! I'm Having Success!

Helping last weekend with a baptism.
We took out all the water in the baptismal font BY HAND...TWICE!
DON'T ASK...

April 25, 2016

WEEK 25

MEXICO is pretty cool! I’m having success! We aren’t having transfers until next week so I’m pretty happy because we are having a BAPTISM this weekend as well as the weekend after that. I’m pretty happy. Finally! My companion and I are having success in this area. I mean I’m not joking. I really don’t want to be transferred just before we start having our baptisms…lol. But we'll see. God has the greater plan in all of this.

In our Zone, we are doing really well. We just had five baptisms this last weekend, so it was really nice watching people taking the steps of baptism. We got our investigators to go to the baptisms which helped them have this excitement to take the same steps! I’m so happy about everything right now.

Well, every day I am learning, working, talking, but in one of our lessons this week, I learned the importance of listening. Our investigator is amazing.  She was living with another guy and she decided for herself to follow Christ. So she moved in with her brother in another house and she is very excited about baptism. But this last week, we were in her new house and we were listening to her tell us how happy she was and everything but for some reason, I knew it wasn’t true. I knew she had doubts about everything. And so I was listening to her and what popped into my head was just to bare my testimony and tell her that her father (who had passed away many years before) was happy that she is taking these steps. And then she started crying. And of course, we didn’t know why. But then she told us that the previous week, she had a dream of her father and he told her that he was happy at what she was doing. She didn’t understand it until I said those exact words and then she told us that she could feel her father. I KNOW that the plan of Salvation is real. And that people on the other side are waiting and wishing for their sons or daughters to take these steps.

The Gospel is true! I love you guys so much!

And YES, Lyndi told me about her mission call. She’ll be amazing!

- Elder Pukahi

I'm King of the selfies! lol

Happy Birthday Elder Adams!

Elder Adams, Elder Pukahi, Elder Turner
Happy Birthday to Elder Adams (April 17th)

April 18, 2016

WEEK 24

Dear mi familia y amigos,

Okay, so on Sports day, there was a lot of people—pretty much everyone in the mission that could come. So I saw everyone! Wooah, it was pretty cool. And tell Grandma that Elder Eskeran and I use to see each other a lot but now he got transferred to another place where he can’t come to the offices every Monday. But he’s cool. We talked about Cody for a little bit and we always talk about the good kind grindz in Hawaii. lol.

These are all the Elders that live in the same house.
Elder Cruz, Elder ?, Elder Pukahi, Elder Adams,
Elder Turner, Elder Baker

The priesthood is crazy cool. I never realized how cool it is and HOW MUCH OF A RESPONSIBILITY it is. I feel so inadequate a lot of the time. For example… How can I be PREACHING the gospel? How can I be telling this person to REPENT? But then the Spirit comes into the room and gives me the strength and courage to use it. Dad, thank you for always being there, worthy to have the priesthood. I never realized how much you’ve done for me. Well—both of you. Thank you!

This week was pretty good. We have found some awesome people. Well, they seem to be awesome right now... but I will let you know how they progress. Most of the time, our investigators are awesome at first but then something happens and they become the opposite. But I know this won’t be the case.

There’s something I have realized. And I ask forgiveness to all my teachers who have asked, “does anyone have questions?” and not one of us replies back. Because I have realized that if people are asking questions, they are learning. If they are not…then... We just have to ask them the right questions, so they give us the information we need-- the life of the mission.

Another goofy picture with the birthday boy.

Well, I’m still working on a lot of the things which I could do better. But this week I’ve learned a lot. It’s funny... because during the days I don’t realize necessary that I’ve learned anything. But as I'm sitting here thinking about the week, everything just comes flooding back to my mind, and I realize how much I HAVE learned.

What I learned is... sometimes the person you want to help isn’t the person you NEED to help. And the only way we will know is if we rely on the Spirit, so the Spirit can lead us in the way we must go. This week we had two people to visit at the same hour. And this week we ran out of money on our phone. These investigators live on two opposite points of our area, and we had no idea what to do. We really wanted to go and teach one of our investigators who was progressing really nicely and everything. But we didn’t know for sure if that’s what we should do, so we prayed. We felt that we needed to go with the other person. The other person was just a contact, which means we talked with them and asked them if we could come again another day, and we set up an appointment for another day and hour. But our other investigator was actually more important because they were progressing and we’ve never taught the other guys. But we felt confirmed with what we needed to do. And as we went and knocked on their door, they gladly let us in and we had a very strong lesson. We found out later that night that our other investigator wasn’t even home. If we didn’t go to our now NEW investigators house, they wouldn’t have let us come back again. They came to church this week. So we’ll see how things go!

I love you!! Thank you for everything you do and the blessings you have given me!

Elder Pukahi

Spring Break - This Week Was Awesome!

Me and Elder Adams

April 11, 2016

WEEK 23

Dear Family & Friends,

I’m glad you got some things accomplished during Spring Break. I can just picture everything that you guys did this week like it was yesterday. And Jess, I know you’ll do great this summer in whatever internship you get. You always do! 

I can’t believe to hear some of your news. Emily Peay is GETTING MARRIED—that’s just so weird! And Maddie Brousseau… is GOING ON A MISSION! I’m sooo happy. Jealous ‘cause it’s the Scotland/Ireland mission but so happy for her. I can’t express how awesome it is to see my friends go on missions! It’s one of the best things in the world. And HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TANIA and ADRIAN!

Okay... sadly we still have no idea about which Apostle will come. I will tell you, though, when I get the info! I think it will be when my mission president leaves or right before. OH, YEAH…. Sorry, my mission president leaves in July so I will be getting a new one. Wooah! This will be fun!

Manuel is doing a lot better. Everything went back to normal. The doctor said he had a small weird stroke or something that made it so his circulation of the blood in his body was bad. His wife is still an interesting bugger, the Lord will soften her heart eventually. 

THIS WEEK WAS AWESOME. It was a very good week. We had lessons after lessons after lessons. So yeah... it was pretty good. We have a lot of investigators that are progressing so I will keep you updated on what happens. We just have to divorce and marry some people…LOL… so I will let you know how that goes.

But this last month I’ve been thinking A LOT. How can we have success? I was thinking a lot about working smarter, not harder. The first couple months in the area we worked and worked and worked and didn’t really have the success we wanted. And so I was thinking on what we needed to change in order to have success. What can we do smarter to better our results? 

This week I did just that. What I’m going to relay to you is just one of the things I changed. This one was more individual but we found success by doing it. It was CHARITY.

In Moroni 7:46-48 it explains charity really well. It speaks how we need to ask for it from the Lord with all our heart. And if we do so... we will receive something great. So this last week, I’ve prayed and prayed and prayed, asking God to give just a sliver of this great LOVE that our Savior has for us. I don’t know... most of my life I’ve always wanted to show Love instead of Hate. I have never ever wanted someone to think that I hated them. I still don’t want it, but that change that I felt for my investigators even the people I didn’t even know was crazy. I cannot even explain it. It was like the love that I would feel if I could see Josh again. If I could just hug him. It was that kind of love. In the mission, we are helping people change but I’m learning before we can help someone else, WE first have to change. And this week God has allowed me to change, just a tad bit better. 

I hope I can keep this love. This is love for my investigators, for the drunk guys on the street, and most of all for you guys!  I love you so much, you have not even a single idea.

Stay safe!  Talk to you next week!

LOVE!

- Elder Pukahi

HAPPY GENERAL CONFERENCE! GENERAL CONFERENCE WAS PURE GOLD!!

April 4, 2016

WEEK 22

Dear Family & Friends,

I have FIVE MONTHS in the mission. Now that is weird. weird. weird. weird. You are right, mommy. Time is going by sooo fast. Everything is going crazy fast. It’s funny how we both realized the same thing this week. I just realized it in a different way. EVERY SINGLE thing we give can come back except for one thing—TIME.

So it got me thinking of what am I am doing with my time. Am I spending it selfishly? Or am I giving it to the Lord? I find myself, even though I’m on a mission, still being selfish with my time. And what I need to do is give everything to the Lord. In Matthew 10:39 it says, “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake will find it.” To do what the Lord is telling us in this scripture is that we need to give all of our time to the Lord. And I think that is what the Lord has been preparing me to do. He’s prepared me throughout all the trials I’ve gone through and still going through. Especially through the death of Josh, which I now find was a blessing. God works in mysterious ways. 

I ran into my old companion, Elder Mullins

But today we had SPORTS DAY! So that’s pretty cool! We had the missionaries of Reynosa and Rio Bravo at the Mission Office and we played volleyball, ultimate Frisbee, but most of all…SOCCER!  YES!  I love to play my soccer, so that was fun! Other people have pictures of that, so if I can get some pictures from them, I will send you some. 

Sports Day

So this week was pretty good…the reason why...GENERAL CONFERENCE!!

I’ve never ever, ever, ever, ever been so excited for General Conference in my life. I love it! The mission changes you… for the better. But can I just say… that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true and the only true church in the world today. I really never understood that until I came here on the mission. I knew it was true because I had a testimony but as I have learned more, I have learned that this church REALLY is the true church and I guess I NEVER realized how much of a blessing it was to be born into this church. I don’t think a lot of people do.

But let me get back to Conference… I can’t remember right now which talk I was going to talk about BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL SO GOOD! I think every woman needs to go watch the Priesthood session because they literally told us what we need to be doing as priesthood holders and as men. So if your son, your husband, your dad isn’t doing what they ask—PLANCH THEM! (I don’t if Jess knows this word but ask her if she does.... it’s a mission word.) 

I don’t know what else to talk about. Everything has been good. The days are still harder, harder than ever, but the weeks are sweet. I just love you all and I thank God for every moment that I’ve had the opportunity to be with you. ALL I can say is that we are a part of the TRUE CHURCH OF GOD.

- Elder Pukahi

WEEK 21 Pictures

March 28, 2016

WEEK 21

Dear mi familia,

That’s awesome to hear about Aunty Jody and Cavin being there and the whole family getting together for Easter and playing games and all that. So happy for you all!

That Easter video that you emailed me, made me wish that we had ipads. I envy the missionaries that have ipads because they really don’t know how good they got it. To show someone this video, it immediately invites the Spirit in the room. It’s crazy. The message that this video brings is so good. What is amazing to me is that I bring this message to people every day—EVERY DAY. I just pray that I can bring it in the way that the people need it.

BUT GUESS WHAT?

We have SEVEN people in the house now! We got a newbie so that was fun. His name is Elder Barrera. He’s fresh from the CCM [Mexico MTC]. He’s the son of the Zone Leaders (Elder Baker and Elder Turner). I’m pretty sure I’ve told you all about the other Elders in the house. But MOM! Thank you for teaching me how to clean up after myself and other things like that. Some mothers did not teach the kids who I live with. I LOVE THEM WITH ALL MY HEART, but they kill me sometimes.

[Okay, up above when Jeremy says that the newbie is the “son” of the Zone leaders, this is mission talk for he is being trained by them. Whoever trains you on the mission is your dad or your mom, like with the sister missionaries. And the relationship continues, like when the trainer’s trainee trains someone, that is now his/her grandson. Or the other missionaries your trainer trains are now your brothers or sisters. Other mission lingo includes when you are close to going home, you are about to “die” and whoever is your last companion “kills” you.]

So this week. It was GRAND. We had a lot of success this week so that was a YES! With a fist pump in the air kind of JOY! But what I truly learned was humility and that God answers prayers. So... humility. I realized how much God is merciful. He has given me everything.

The reason is because Manuel is not doing so well in the health department. So we went over to give him a blessing and everything. And when I held his arm, it felt exactly like the arm of Josh’s when it was in the BAD DAYS. And with just the touch of the arm, every feeling that I have felt for Josh came rushing back…so what I learned is how loving our Father in Heaven is. He has blessed me with life every day, even though I do not deserve it, while greater people than I who deserve to live and grow, do not.

This experience helped this week because yesterday, we went to go with our investigators to church. We went to their house to catch a ride with them to the chapel, but when we got there, their car wouldn’t start. How Satan is so clever! So we called all the members who could have helped us but they were all in a different city. We then decided that we would go and take a taxi but as missionaries WE HAD NO MONEY!  So yeah... we were pretty much stranded with investigators that wanted to go to church with no ride. And so we walked, and as we walked I said a prayer, and what I said in my prayer was this --"Father, you told me when I needed something, I needed to ask. And by your will, you will grant it. Father, I am here with your children who want to come to you, and we have no ride. What I ask of thee is that someone...anyone to pass in front of us that can help us." I kept walking, not knowing what was going to happen. But two minutes later, a family of members pass in front of us, asking if we need a ride. The weird part is that they lived in the opposite direction of where we were. They felt impressed to drive this way instead of the other. So yes, this Gospel is True!

I love you guys and know that the other side is not far! Stay safe and keep smiling!

- Elder Pukahi

Pics:

Elder Adams, Elder Barrera (our newbie), and me.

Here's us, just dorking around...lol.

It Is REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY Hot Here...

"People in my house minus Elder Gomez. 

Me, Elder Cruz, Elder Baker, Elder Turner, and Elder Adams, my companion."

March 21, 2016

WEEK 20

Dear mi familia,

Stop worrying, Mom, about me losing weight. It is just REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY hot here and it’s not even the Caunicula (Spanish word for 40 hottest days of the Summer ). Everyone says that when that two months come, you literally lose EVERY SINGLE fat on your body, so yeah, I’m going to stay skinny!

That’s so awesome that you all were able to attend the temple dedication for the Provo City Center temple. I wish I could go to the temple… BUT we just got word from the mission president that he asked headquarters if we could go to the temple with our converts as well as one of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will come and speak to us. The reason is because last month we were the best baptizing mission in Mexico as well as something else. I don’t really know, I just remember it’s because we had the highest numbers of something. SO yeah…They’re suppose to approve that real soon, so I will tell you when that all happens.

This week was interesting and a little rough. We couldn’t get a lot of work done this week, so as a companionship and as a zone, we struggled to have lessons this week. But one of the lessons that we were able to do was super awesome. It was with the wife of our convert, Manuel, in our ward. From the very first time I met her, she always told us without a doubt, that she would never talk to us and never have anything to do with us. And from the very start, I told her that she would become a member of our church. She got angry and left. This was like three months ago. This last month, she’s been talking with us more, a little more softened in the heart, and talking to us about the family problems. Yesterday we had a lesson with her. I mean she isn’t going to baptized real soon, but what I learned from this is that WE LITERALLY ARE THE TRUE CHURCH. People are just drawn to it. They don’t know why, but they can just feel it. With her, she has seen the many changes in her husband as well as Karla, her niece (the same Karla I blessed with the Gift of the Holy Ghost), and she is wanting to know why. Sorry if I am sort of rambling but what I want to say is that during the lesson, I could feel the Spirit so strong. Stronger than I’ve ever felt it so far in the mission. All we taught her was one simple truth, one principle of the Gospel, and I know that is what she needed. I will keep you updated on her. She’s going to take some work but I have the faith.

We also had Stake Conference. It was weird, not having Stake conference in Utah—way weird but it was good. One of the speakers was so powerful. He just bore his testimony and it was like a BOMB SET OFF BY THE SPIRIT in our faces which was awesome for the investigators that were there. There were also some former missionaries that bore their testimonies, and what I realized is if I’m going to spend two years of my life preaching this gospel, why would I ever fall away?

I love you guys. I’m trying to “catch ‘em all” and baptize them...jk but not really. But I’m working really hard and trying my best. I pray for you guys every night, you mean a lot to me. We’ll be talking in like almost a month, just realized that. It is so crazzyyyy how fast time flies by.

THANK YOU GUYS FOR THE PACKAGE! It was awesome. I ate pretty much everything as well as my companions. I LOVE SPAM. I never realized how much I missed my Spam, eggs, and rice.

Well, love you! I wrote so much today...

- Elder Pukahi

Thank You For Your Birthday Wishes!

Elder Pukahi

March 14, 2016

WEEK 19

Thank you for your birthday wishes but no, I didn’t get the package. Stop worrying, Mom. They didn’t go today to pick up packages so I will get it later, maybe this week. My birthday is tomorrow, so I’ll let you guys know what I’m going to be doing for that. But I’ll give you just a little sneak peak.... WORK!! Yup, we’re just always working. But I think a member made me a cake, so I’ll send you pics if things get interesting.

This is from my birthday and this time
they didn't smash my face in it--that was nice!

Side Note: I found out from Coleson that in Mexico
 that is a tradition...to smoosh the birthday
person's face in the cake

First, I just want to say that I’m not training my new companion, I’m just training him in this area that is new to him, introducing him to the ward members, investigators, etc. But he has more time out in the mission than I do. So yeah, maybe I didn’t clarify that in my past email very well. Sorry.

That is so awesome to hear about Adrian and Kris’s wedding. It’s weird but I’m so happy that she is happy. And Yo’anna and Coleson look so happy and tired…lol…but mainly happy. Glad to hear about their baby blessing and to see everyone. You guys have no idea how much I pray for happiness in our home and in the lives of my family. THANK YOU FOR SENDING PICTURES: that was the best part...not going to lie!!

My companion is awesome. He has 15 months in the mission but again... he’s a bigger Jamison. So just imagine what he’s like. And don’t worry, Mom, we are always speaking Spanish. It’s sometimes harder to speak English, especially trying to teach in English which we did this week in one of our lessons. One of our investigators likes to speak in English more so we had the lesson in English but what was funny was that my companion and I kept on switching from English to Spanish in the middle of the sentences. Man... the gift of tongues struggle, am I right?

We still have 6 Elders living in the house. My companion and another Elder are the only new ones. Hopefully I can grab a picture of all of us later.

So this week was frustrating because there were some outside sources that were making teaching and preaching a whole lot harder. One is the rain and the other is something that I’m not going to say. So work this week was a little frustrating but it was good.

I think the hardest thing about the mission is learning to love someone so much just from the first contact, and KNOWING with all your heart the message that you hold can literally change the life of this person, and they look at you with eyes, telling you to help them and their mouth says No. And then they close the door. It’s one of the most frustrating things. But the crazy part is that we all do a degree of this, and Christ he never gets frustrated or mad. He continues to love, which I’m learning how to do.

But without a doubt, I know that God does things for a reason. It’s amazing to me how much he is in our lives. Just hearing the many stories and seeing the pictures of how you guys are doing at home helps me realize how much my Heavenly Father has blessed my life. Every day he blesses me. I think the main principle I’ve learned this week is humility. This week I’ve been thinking of how much God has given me. I see so many people here that have way bigger problems than I ever had in my life and still have. People who don’t have anything. I think one of the greatest blessings that God has given me is to have been born in this gospel. SOOOO many people don’t have the chance to even know the Gospel and understand it and that’s why their lives are the way it is. But me.... God was merciful enough that I could be born into a family that knows this Gospel and can receive the blessing that he has to give. I never understood how great I have it. I now understand and know that I’m sincerely grateful for everything that God has given me—even all the things bad that happened in my life. Because I now know it was for a reason. And now I get to share this knowledge with the people who are ready for it because there are many people in this world but few are ready to understand the truth.

Thank you, family, and thank you, everyone. You all have been one of the greatest blessings in my life and I just want you guys to know that I love you with all my heart and sincerely want you to be happy.

Have a great week!!!

- Elder Pukahi

I Have A New Companion!

March 7, 2016

WEEK 18

ELDER ADAMS! He’s my new companion. He is awesome. He’s from GOOD OLD Loa, Utah—the town out in Narnia. lol. It’s so interesting with him. Our time together is never boring, but he reminds me of Carlton and Jamison. For example, for the first half of the first day we were together (our P-day), we talked about Pokemon, and the second half of the day, we talked about Avatar the Last Airbender. So automatically, you know we get along!

But he’s very interesting. Much like Jamison, he was very jealous that I got the chance to play Destiny... cough cough…JAMISON. So yeah. I love my new companion!  But don’t get me wrong, he may act like an older Jamison but when he talks to people about the gospel, he’s incredible!! He’s one of the people that wears his heart on his sleeve. Man... I’m learning a lot from him. So yeah... that’s my companion.

This week was frustrating. Actually this whole past month has been frustrating. So here’s what’s been happening… We will work hard, find investigators, teach them everything, and then suddenly, SATAN puts his stinking hand in their lives and then they leave us and don’t want anything to do with the gospel anymore. SO yeah.... But with Elder Adams, we are going to be trying things a lot different this month so hopefully we will find success in a new way.

For example, we could work hard and hard and hard and hard and find people to teach but these people aren’t the people that God has been preparing and sometimes it’s in his time. As missionaries, we are trying to think like our Father in Heaven and have him lead us to those certain people that he has prepared…which can be hard. But again, Elder Adams and I are thinking of new ways to effectively find these people.

I just want to bare my testimony of how important the Spirit is in the conversion of our investigators and the gifts of the Spirit. First, the Gift of Tongues is real. I wouldn’t have been able to do everything that I have accomplished so far without this wonderful gift. And I know that it is true and real. Secondly, the Gift of the Holy Ghost is incredible. Yesterday during a lesson, we had the opportunity to teach this awesome guy, Angel. Since it was our first lesson with him, we had no idea what to teach him and everything. We went in and he was there with his friend (who is a member). After we talked a little to get to know them, we prayed and started the lesson. The truth is that every time my companion was teaching or talking, I was just listening and had NO IDEA what to say and EVERY TIME it was my turn when I opened my mouth, it was filled with words that I know we're not mine. Afterwards, my companion and I talked and he told me it was literally the same for him.

The mission is pretty cool, just saying! I love you guys so much. Have a great week and if you need something, just know I’m there in heart!

- Elder Pukahi