I’ve Decided. I Need to Come Home. 

October 20, 2014

Hi mom. okay sorry but i dont have much time to write but this is what ive decided.  after i talked to you guys and heard especially what you mom told me about what was going on..i knew what i needed to do.  so i prayed and ive decided that i need to come home.  i talked with the president about my decision and he respects it.  hes going to help me as much as possible. He said hes going to try talking with the mission department sometime today and we will see from there.  right now i feel at peace with my decision. im happy and i know all is going to be well...but now that i know that i need to come home..im a little anxious to see all of you.  i just really hope that everything will work our fast and i can come home as soon as possible cuz thats what i want.  i dont know if you should tell stake president that this is what ive decided. but i think the mission department will be talking with him about all this.  

Please pray that everything will work out and that i can come home. I know its all of course in the lords timing when i come and what will happen....just im a little anxious..but this is what is happening.  thank you for the email. i really appreciate it. i loved talking to you all in skype it was so fun to see you all.  Im really trying my hardest to focus now and really do my best.  i dont know how fast this process will go but we will see.  but this is what ive decided and i hope you guys understand.  I really appreciate all your help but i know this is what i need to do :)  

I love you guys soo soo soo much.  please tell josh to pray for me cuz i really need his prayers.  I will talk to you later when i can.  i dont know when that will be but LOVE YOUUUU!!!!

Hermana Pukahi

This Week Was Full Of Emotions...A Miracle Happend!

October 13, 2014

Dear Family & Friends,

This week was full of emotions.  It's been hard, but a miracle happened, and I had my first baptism!!!!  This is a picture of little Ezequiel. His sisters are all members of the church, but his parents are not.  We've been teaching him for a long time. Every time we talk about baptism, he runs away or says no, no, no!! He's been to church many times and to the activities, but every time we asked him to be baptized, he would say, NO WAY.  

On Wednesday, the assistants came, and we talked as a zone about the goals we want for our areas--about baptism and our purpose here as missionaries. They really got us excited and pumped up.

So... later walking down the street, we ran into one of the sisters of Ezekiel.  We said, "Hey, Mica! Are you excited for the baptism of Ezekiel this weekend?"  We don't know where it came from, but we had confidence and faith that he'd be baptized.  Mica, of course, has been wanting him to be baptized for awhile and said, "This weekend??" And we said, "Yeah!" and of course, she got super excited.  Later that night, we ran over to their house and Mica said, "Hey, Ezekiel are you ready for your baptism this weekend?" Ezekiel looked at us super confused, and we just said, "Yeah, Ezekiel, we have everything ready for you! The clothes, the cake, don't worry.  Do you wanna be baptized this weekend?" and then he said, "Okay!"  ha, ha! awww! It was the best!!

It was a special day...not easy...but a wonderful experience to be apart of.  It made me so so happy! :)  I love this family very much and I am so proud of little Ezekiel and his decision to be baptized. 

This week was a really hard week for me, but I can see through miracles like this that Heavenly Father truly loves me.  He truly loves his children and is always there.  Thank you all for the support of me and especially for the prayers of my family.  I love you!!

Love,

Hermana Pukahi

Little Ezekiel

Ezequiel Y Alberto

Ezequiel's family at his baptism.

Well...I'm Tired. I'm Happy!

September 29, 2014

Dear Family & Friends,

Hola! Well...I'm tired. I'M HAPPY! :)  But, I'm tired.  I don't know if I'm getting sick or what, but every night this week I came home with my voice almost gone. Basically in the night, I sound like a man. ha,ha!  We also live 45 minutes away from our area so we are walking a ton.  I LOVE coming home every night exhausted because that means we are really working hard. (Also, the members are wonderful so they ALWAYS feed us...so we eat a lot. Sooo the walking helps!  :)

This week was, of course, different.  Always with a new companion, it takes some time to adjust.  My new companion, Hermana Nuñez, is from Peru.  She's super nice, understanding, and smart. The two of us are similar in many ways, but for the most part we are very different.  It was funny. We were asking each other questions -- getting to know one another -- and we came to realize that the answers she said were almost opposite from mine. I'll be honest; sometimes it's kind of hard.  BUT, I think we work really well together.  We balance each other out. ha,ha 

Yesterday, we were supposed to have a baptism -- My first.  Working hard this week our investigator finally said YES! I was so so excited, but a lot of things happened where it became difficult.  My companion and I were worried. We fasted and prayed that things would work out.  In the end, she decided not to be baptized yesterday. Everything was happening all at once for her, and it all was very stressful. It was stressful for Hermana Nuñez and I, but after she came to the conclusion, we were honestly at peace. We were happy.  We knew that it would all be okay and that yesterday just wasn’t the time.  She knows that this gospel and the Church are true! She wants to be baptized :) so we are planning for this week! ahhh!! 

On Friday, we were visiting a family in the branch.  We got to meet their daughter who is very less active.  We all had fun and enjoyed ourselves.  The next day, the family told me that their daughter felt like she got along really well with me. She said that I had a light and spirit about me. That she was impressed. She looked at me and felt like there was something more.  Because of that she wanted to come to the conference.  (We had a conference this weekend as a district with our president) AND she came! When I heard that she had said that about me, it made me so happy -- I wanted to cry!  She also brought her friend, and now we are teaching her, too!! 

This week was full of all kinds of emotions, but this experience reminded me of that time we sang the "We can be a light" (Hope of America) song for the Young Women's program. When we acted it all out with flashlights! ha, ha so cheesy...but seriously, it really reminds me of how we can truly be a light to others. This experience made me so happy and I know it's true.  I know that each of you can be a light to others, because you have the light of Christ.  You have the knowledge of the gospel. The gospel is THE light, and the truth.  Honestly, I have been kind of discouraged.  I haven't had a baptism, and because of that, it can be hard, hard to feel like I am making a difference.  But now I know that hey -- I'm doing my best. And I am helping others because I'm sharing this light each day.  Woot woot! I really love being here.  I'm learning so much. :)  I love each of you! Thank you for all you do for me! 

CON MUCHO AMOR!!

Hermana Pukahi

Ahhhh, I'm 20!!

September 22, 2014

Ahhhh, I'm 20!! I can't believe it's my birthday. I feel soo old...ha, ha!!  AND I'm now 4 months in the mission...AND I'm starting my 4th transfer today here in Argentina.  Lots and lots of changes! I now have a new compañera, Hermana Nuñez, from Peru.  She's my fifth companion already!  wut, wut!

I had to say goodbye to Hermana Valenzuela yesterday.  :(  We were only together for 3 weeks, but it felt like we had been friends for years.  And now she's done with her mission and heading home!  With the help of the branch and the elders, we threw her a surprise farewell party this week.  Let me say...throwing a SURPRISE party for your companion is super hard--because she of course, she was always with me!  But I had a lot of help and it worked. She was totally surprised.

The Branch here is AWESOME! I love every single member.  They have really helped me to feel loved and feel like Necochea really is like my home.  Yesterday I gave a talk in Sacrament. I got up and said, "Hermanos y Hermanas...ALOHA!"  Only a few people that I previously told before hand to repeat after me, said "Aloha" back. At first I think that the members thought it was super weird. But I explained to them how at home I felt here and how much true "aloha" I have felt from them.  Afterwards, ALL day yesterday, everybody kept saying..."Hermana Pukahi, ALOHHAA!!" and then they started hula dancing! Ha, ha!!

My talk was on the Restoration. Giving it made me realize how important it is to understand the restoration.  It is everything we believe. Because of the restoration...because of Joseph Smith...we have the gospel.  We have the light and the truth with us today. I am so grateful to have this knowledge of the gospel.  AND to be preaching it here in Argentina.  I love all of you!!! MUCHAS GRACIAS for all the birthday wishes!! I wish you all a great week!!

Con Amor,

Hermana Pukahi

Another Week Has Already Passed

September 15, 2014

Dear Family & Friends,

Hola!! Another week has already passed. They seem to go faster and faster... crazy!  Well, this week was a lot of fun.  Monday after I wrote to ya´ll, we went to the beach. We got to see the sea lions again and this time in the light! (We also got to smell them....ha, ha.) I took a ton of pictures. I hope I will eventually get them sent to be put on the blog.

I love Necochea. It is so pretty here, and I'm starting to find my way around. The only problem is the wind here...which is a problem with skirts..ha ha! But it's okay because I got to change into my sweats on Saturday for a service project - woot, woot! It was one of the "Mormon helping hands" things.  Well, the whole district got together in a town near Necochea, and we worked on a school for little kids.  We cleaned up the school and the garden behind.  It was so much fun and a cool sight to see.  All of these members--members from the Rama (branch) that I knew, as well as others--with all of these missionaries--and we were all painting, digging, and weeding.  It was great!!

This week for zone conference, my companion and I sang the "How can I be?" song (the one from my farewell). It’s funny how much I’ve sang that song already. It’s really cool and honestly a really special song for me.  I want to be like each of those prophets that the song talks about. I want to be like Nephi, and Moroni.  I mean, how cool will that be?  But truly I'm so grateful for them and their examples. I'm so grateful for the Book of Mormon, and this gospel that I have. 

Yesterday, we were at a member's house. We were talking with her about being a member and what a blessing the gospel is in our lives. As we were talking, I realized how much of a blessing this knowledge is in my life now and every day.  I don't think I truly understood this great blessing that I had before being here on my mission.  I get the opportunity to see how it changes lives.  Not only the people around me, but how it's changing me.  I love being a missionary and serving the Lord and I'm happy--It's not easy--but I'm so happy! :)      

Love you all so much!!

Hermana Pukahi 

Today Is A Beautiful Day!

September 8, 2014

Dear Family & Friends,

Hollaa!! Today is a beautiful day! Finally we are seeing the sun. yaayy! Which is great because I am so white.  I need a tan. haha It has been raining all week so you know what that means? More blessings! Hermana Nelson told me that when we work in the rain, it brings more blessings for our husbands.  So I guess that's good.  haha Also, people freak out here when it's raining..so which is of course great because they ask...what are you doing out here?? Most of the time they think we are crazy, but allot of other times they are impressed. Which is great cuz then we get to talk to them about the gospel! wut wut.  Most of the streets here in our area are all dirt.  The rains came down and the floods came up..yeah so the streets are all flooded and now its all muddy. Our boots are always getting stuck so now they are super stinky and dirty.  Mom I'm getting the real mission experience! haha

I had some a few special experiences this week.  Friday was a little farewell party for one of the members in the branch leaving on a mission.  With some of the missionaries in our zone, we surprised her with a little song.  We sang ¨the army of Helaman ¨ song, a mixture of Spanish and English, while I played the ukulele.  I thought it went really well.  It was super sweet and awesome to sing this song as a missionary.  Everyday I look at my plaque and get goose bumps. It is wonderful to be able to have these experiences of sharing the gospel. I love it being a missionary!

Yesterday we went and visited the Albarengo Family.  They are investigators and have been investigating for a while now and are known by so many missionaries that pass by their house--because of their love.  Last night we had a little lesson about charity.  The mom bore to us her testimony on love and service and also, about the missionaries and missionary work. It was a special moment and it made me so happy. So grateful that I get the opportunity to meet people like her. 

Afterwards, they were taking us home, but then my companion and I realized we had no idea where we were.  We parked and they told us, do you want to get out and take pictures, we are at the beach! haha we told them that we were sad on Monday cuz we couldn't go and see the sea lions, so they surprised us last night by taking us! It was so fun and so cool! It was dark but you could still see them and for sure hear them.  I hope you can kind of see in the pictures.  Today we are going on another adventure with them! I'm so excited! I'll tell you about it next week! I love you all!!

Have a GREAT week!!! Love you!!!

Hermana Pukahi

An Emergency Transfer...I'm Now in Neocochea

September 1, 2014

Dear Family & Friends,

Hola! It's September!? wwuutt? I cannot believe it! A BIG hug and kiss to Joshua and Carlton for there birthdays tomorrow!! FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS!! :)

Well...an emergency transfer happened and I'm now in a place called Necochea. I had to say goodbye to Balcarce :´(  My new companion, Hermana Valenzuela hadn't had a companion for these 3 weeks of the transfer -- so she was super happy that I arrived. Haha But oh boy -- it was hard to find out that I had to leave what felt like home.  We got the call Thursday night.  I packed through out the night and then Hermana Nelson & I had our last day to work together on Friday.  I had only 3 weeks with Hermana Nelson, BUT we were so close.  We had alot of fun...and sometimes I swear she could read my mind sometimes. Haha 

I said goodbye to as many of my investigators I could.  Hermana Dianne Iannone (one of the members), and the other Hermanas threw me a little farewell party.  Where we ate our sadness away...Haha but don't worry, cuz we then literally ran to our ward activity.  It was a big fiesta for the welcoming of a member back from his mission.  All four of us Hermanas sang the "How Can I Be" song for him.  It turned out real cool cuz we sang it in both Spanish and English...if that makes sense. Haha 

Weelll it was like the sound of music.  We sang the song, I rushed around saying goodbye to everyone, then we booked it on over to the terminal.  The next morning I had to say good-bye to Hermana Nelson and Hermana Tovar.  Oh boy oh boy I hated saying goodbye! Balcarce was truly my home, butt I know that there is a reason I am here in Necochea.  For some reason I'm having all of these different companions, and this new area.  I know it's helping me grow alot. 

Hermana Valenzuela only has 3 weeks left in the mission...(so yep I'll be getting another new companion soon, wowsa.) She only speaks Spanish, including the other Hermanas in the house.  So my Spanish will be top notch, haha.  Just wait, I'll be coming home with an accent! wut wut. Haha She is from Chile and super fun! I know we are gonna work great here and I've loved everything so far. 

I got to see a baptism for the first time here on the mission from the Elders here in our area.  I played with puppies (so you know how happy that made me) and I laughed a ton.  The members here in the branch are very loving.  They welcomed me with open arms and I am so grateful! ALSO, we are right next to the playa...so guess what?? We are going to go see the ocean today!! I'm so excited.  The Hermanas told me that there are sea lions! wuuutttt yaaahhh! 

I love you all so so so much!! Much aloha and mahalos for everything you do for me! 

Con Amor,

Hermana Pukahi