We Are Meshing More Every Day!

May 30, 2016

WEEK 30

Dear Family & Friends,

I’m glad to hear that you guys are having more fun without me! lol. jk jk. But I am really happy you guys are getting out and having some fun together!

Me and my companion are meshing more and more every day. Sometimes it is hard but that’s a relationship! jaja lol! It’s true. A companionship is definitely like a relationship—we eat together, live together, go everywhere together!! I am just getting ready for the future..... And I’m NOT ready!

So my week—The truth is that it was a little crappy but also really good! So Tuesday we went to send the offices the baptismal forms and I found out that I have a virus on my SD card... and well…I LOST ALL MY PICTURES! So that stinks—ALL 631 pictures....WAAAHH! But at least I have the pictures that I sent you guys and I can get some other pictures from my other companions. AND I learned a valuable lesson. SAVE EVERYTHING ON MULTIPLE MEMORY DEVICES! lol. So there’s nothing I can do...so why worry.

This week we had A LOT of people yelling at us and A LOT of people telling us that we are from the DEVIL. We also found a woman that is a pastor here from Illinois. That was fun. I’ve been learning a lot about finding the people that God has ready because there is a huge amount of people who just want to fight with us. I mean we can talk with them, fight with them, beat them to a pulp with just using scriptures from the Bible, but their hearts aren’t going to change. I learned this at the very beginning of my mission but God wanted to remind me this week. It is crazy. These people want to fight with us and call us names but I still find a way to love them. It kills me a little bit that I think this way but I guess it’s good.

But the brighter news is that I confirmed Angelica yesterday! SHE’S AWESOME! I wish I could share with you the many miracles that have happened this week, but I don’t have enough time. I will just like to share this little story about our convert, ANGELICA! I mean this week was crazy but we went and visited her. And when we did, we had a pretty spiritual lesson. Our lesson was about the Holy Ghost. When we started to talk about the attributes of the Holy Ghost and what the Spirit does, we could just feel the Spirit start to fill our hearts. She was really nervous about getting baptized, and she still is. But as we started to speak more and more, she ended up telling us everything about her fears. She knows that this GOSPEL IS TRUE. And she has been WAITING FOR US FOR YEARS. She’s scared about the future because her husband is in jail and when he gets out, she doesn’t know what’s going to happen. BUT she told us, with a firmness in her eyes, that she knows this is the true church and nobody is going to take that away from her. I have more stories but you guys are going to have to wait a little longer to hear them—LOL.

l love you guys!!! The gospel is true!

- Elder Pukahi

MARRIAGE! You Think About Marriage A Lot...I'm Just Saying!

Karla and Manuel, both converts.

February 29, 2016

WEEK 17

Dear Family & Friends,

MARRIAGE!  Here in the mission when you understand God’s plan, you think about marriage A LOT…I’m just saying!

And to hear about everyone getting engaged in the last month or so, especially Danielle and Melissa…that is just TOO weird!  But I am so happy at the same time. But really more on the weird side…okay, definitely on the weird side!!

So sorry to hear about our neighbor, Mrs. Cano. I thought she was beating the cancer. My heart and prayers go out to their family. I got tears in my eyes just reading of her passing. It reminded me a lot of when Josh passed away and I’m very thankful for the opportunity that we had to see your son and our brother pass into the Spirit world. I now know how thin that veil is and how it is getting smaller and smaller and closer and closer every day. Every day I realize how much I miss my brother, but I know he’s proud of me and how he wants me to be here doing this.

This week I have a surprise…MY COMPANION IS LEAVING ME! Tears, I know!  Well, I’m sad because I’ve learned so much from him and what’s crazy is that in the first three months when you come into the field, you are what they call "in training." And right now, this upcoming week, will be my last week of training, and so it is very weird. I will have the responsibility to show my new companion the area, our investigators, as well as the members. So this is going to be interesting! My companion is leaving to Río Bravo which is another area in our mission, and I’m getting Elder Adams. I have no idea who he is yet and none of the Elders in my house do either but it is fine. I have faith that everything will be all right!

But I want to share what happened yesterday. We were with one of our investigators who is soooo ready for baptism, and she knows that the church is the true church. BUT her mom is very Catholic and her friends keep putting ideas in her head that she isn’t ready for baptism. She actually has a lot of trials which stinks, but we have been praying this week on how we can help her take the step of baptism.

During our lesson with her, we were talking and she was saying how she wanted to get baptized but that she didn’t know if she could and when. And as my companion was talking to her, I had an impression. So I went to my scriptures. I didn’t really know what I was going to say, but I opened the Book of Mormon and I came to Ether 12:6. I already had it highlighted and everything. I knew that’s what I needed to share. As I shared it, something in her face changed, and as I finished reading it, I asked her what she thought of the scripture and how it pertained to her. And with a smile and sincerity, she said "I feel this scripture is for me". And when she left, she was very happy and we’re planning her baptism.  So hopefully Satan can stop being annoying and just leave her alone so she can be baptized.

But what I want to share about the Holy Ghost is found in 1 Nephi 4:18. It talks about obeying the voice of the Spirit, and I am telling you guys how important it is to follow the Spirit. When we follow the Spirit, only good can come from it. I learned how important that is as I have seen this week that every time we have followed the Spirit, it has led us to people who are ready to accept the Gospel.

I’m learning a lot every day, and I’m going to be learning a lot more this week with my NEW companion. I’ll be able to tell you even more about him next week.

I love you all!

- Elder Pukahi