Many Miracles From God This Week!

The baptism group Claudia, Jesus, Karla and Jose

August 15, 2016

WEEK 41

Hola, mi familia y amigos,

This week was awesome! We definitely have had many miracles from God this week!

We found a lot of people to teach, but I want to tell you about Claudia and Jesus who got baptized yesterday. On Friday, Claudia told us they were going to get baptized and then on Saturday, the whole day, we could not find them, so we were really worried. Then she called us and told us that they were not getting baptized. We were disappointed and got even more worried and everything.

So that night, I told Elder Cox that we needed to pray and figure out what was up with her, and so we prayed…for a long time...and we asked God what she needed so that she could get baptized. After the prayer, Elder Cox thought of a scripture. And we decided that we NEEDED to talk to her but we didn’t know how. The reason is because we teach her at her work and SHE LIVES IN NARNIA!! [For those of you unfamiliar with the “Chronicles of Narnia”, he means really far away] so we just left it in the Lord’s hands.

We woke up the next day, prayed for guidance, and then left the house. I thought that we should go and invite our other investigators to go to church and everything. So we went on our way, and as we walked, we passed by the work of Claudia. She wasn’t there, so we just kept on going to visit with our other investigators. We talked with them for a while and then we headed for the chapel. We started walking and then I felt prompted to pass by one more time to Claudia’s work, and SHE WAS THERE!

We started talking, and we really just sat her down and talked. She opened up and told us all of her problems and EVERYTHING! And then she said something and a thought came into my head. I knew God was with us. I started talking and used the scripture that my companion thought of last night. Everything just seemed to mend together, and well.... SHE GOT BAPTIZED! We answered all of her doubts and she trusted in the Lord and took the step of baptism with her son!

THIS STORY IS JUST ONE OF THE MANY MIRACLES that happened this week. This week we baptized FOUR people and each one has a story!

Also, the Mission President called us and congratulated us for the success we had and for the success we are having in our zone. We beat the record for the most baptisms in a week for a zone, which was 20!!! God has been blessing us a lot this week.

I LOVE THE MISSION! I’m seeing more and more of God’s hands in my life!

- Elder Pukahi

Claudia & Jesus (mother & son) baptized

Jose baptized

Karla baptized

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

We Had Three Baptisms!!!

January 18, 2016

Week 11

Hola, mi familia & friends!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM – I forgot to say that in my last email because here in the mission you sort of forget about time and the days—only the work.

Guess what?  GOD IS REAL. I found my wallet!!

[NOTE: We didn’t post on the blog a separate email from Jeremy last week that he had lost his wallet with everything in it. He’s learned his lesson not to carry important cards with him.]

Well... I didn’t find it, and I don’t really have it yet. BUT a bishop from another stake has it. I have no idea HOW, or how it’s possible but IT IS POSSIBLE. He has it and all my cards are in it. It’s crazy! So I lost my wallet Tuesday night, and I prayed and prayed and prayed and checked every area I had been in and couldn’t find it. So I prayed all day for my wallet, but Wednesday I decided, I would stop praying for my wallet and just focus on the work. I prayed that I would find it and just trusted. I had faith that no matter what was going to happen that everything was going to work out. AND IT DID. God is there. He is always waiting for you to talk with him. He is there to comfort you when you are nervous, help you in your time of need but FIRST you have to do your part. "FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD” – It’s truth and I testify of it.

And guess what?  That’s not even the best news!  WE HAD THREE BAPTISMS!

Elder Rodriquez, Karla and Elder Pukahi

The first one is Karla. She is from my current area, and the day when I arrived, we actually taught her that night her second lesson. She’s awesome but says my Spanish is horrible…lol but it’s all good!

Maria, Elder Pukahi and Jose (Maria son)

The second one is Maria! She’s the hermaña who had the dreams. She’s from my old area but she chose me to come and baptize her so that was awesome that I was able to have the privilege. She is literally the next Relief Society President. She is almost perfect. It’s crazy!

Okay, so I didn’t baptize Karla but I confirmed her yesterday in Sacrament meeting and let me tell you...THAT WAS NERVE WRACKING! But I did it. Again, with God anything is possible. The Gift of Tongues is REAL!

The third one is Jose. He is the son of Maria.

Elder Robertshaw, Elder Pukahi, Maria, Jose and Elder Mullins

So yeah, it was an awesome week. This week I truly learned paciente and working with faith.

THANK YOU ALL FOR EVERYTHING! Sorry I put some stress on you guys this week!

Oh, wow! That story you gave about Aji on his mission is crazy. Gave me chills. That’s so awesome. I know Josh is doing some good work. I never know if I can feel him directly or not. I just know it’s the Spirit. It’s actually been a little hard because this month is a little tender for us but in my house, one of the Elders has some talks on his iPod. And we play it throughout the house in the morning. And one of the talks is from the last General Conference I think. But it’s a woman, and she is talking about her family motto. "It will all work out".  And she talks about her daughter passing over to the spirit world and everything. And their family was always telling each other that "it would all work out". And it reminded me of our motto, “It is what it is.” During this week, when times were hard, I would hear mom’s voice saying, "It is what it is" whenever something went wrong. Our appointment fell through, so I would think "it is what it is"—I can’t change it at this moment but it doesn’t mean it’s going to be that way forever.

Our lives have changed so much this last year. And most of the time, things were out of our hands and we couldn’t do anything about it. But it didn’t mean we gave up, we stopped trying. We kept on going and if things were tough, again "it is what it is" but we never stopped working. We never stopped doing the things which we needed to do.

I’ve learned a lot out here on the mission the small time that I have been out here and I have so much more to learn.

I love you guys much! CON TODO MI CORAZON!                                    

- Elder Pukahi