September 1st 2014

Wow Crazy weekend! Okay so first off we had Transfer calls last night! and.......... I am staying again with Elder Casco! He's so amazing, we just work hard together! I am going on Transfer #5 here in Huntington Park. That will be 7 1/2 months in one area! I am so excited to stay here in HP again. There is so much work here and I am really excited for this transfer with all these NEW missionaries coming into the Zone. Almost everyone in our Zone is training, like 8 out of 10 are. So this will literally probably be the FRESHEST Zone in the Mission! I trust all of the trainers here so much though. They really are hard workers.

We saw an awesome miracle as a zone to be able to pass our goal of 8 baptisms for this month and have 10. They are all super solid as well. The Zone is growing.

I am doing well, still trying to get really organized though and figuring some things out. Lately I have really focused on the power of pondering (advice from Elder Kimball). As I read the Book Of Mormon, I have learned so much about what it says the more I ponder about it. Just yesterday reading chapter 9 of 2 Nephi was so good. I almost stopped and pondered about what I was reading at every other verse. There is so much to learn. I love the Book of Mormon.

We had 2 baptisms yesterday for our area and they were beautiful. I was able to see our power of the Priesthood yesterday. Our investigator came to church and after Gospel Principles she came up to us and said "I think I want to go home, I’m not prepared to be baptized" She started walking out of the church and we followed her, We stopped by her car and she just cried and kept telling herself that she can't do it. She felt as something was telling her not to get baptized. We said everything we could say to comfort her and then my companion had an amazing idea and offered a blessing! She said yes, We gave her one and after we were done, she just sat there, tears rolling down, she looked up and said smiling "I want to be baptized" 15 minutes later we took her to get ready, took some pictures, she got baptized with her grandson and it was amazing. She bore her testimony after, also sharing with everyone what happened right before. How the "Enemy" was trying to make her not get baptized but she said it was all because of the blessing. She felt peace after it and she really felt God's love. We went over that night and she just looked SO HAPPY. She will be faithful in the church. I can feel it. I really thank God for helping us with her because it wasn't us. It was just through us.

Everything else is good here in HP. I love you all!

Thanks for all the support.

Love, Elder Puertas

 picture of Mango~adas
and of Some Doritos mixed with chifles, lime, tajin and valentina :) haha to celebrate! :)

August 18th 2014

It was such a great week this week. Elder Kimball, Elder Casco and I decided to work as hard as we can for Elder Kimball's last week and really help our investigators progress. We literally had daily contact with all of our baptismal dates and had a blessing of having 10 Investigators show up to church on Sunday! This other area had 11 another area had 7 and another area had 3!! Just with our ward we had 31 at church. It was so crazy but such an amazing blessing, especially seeing the ward get involved. They were fellowshipping, taking people to classes and everything. They were so on top of it. We were also running everywhere helping out. We love it though. As a Zone we had 47 investigators at church on Sunday!! Seeing that just shows that we are all doing great with the people we have now. 

Okay so quick story. So at church we have a member that is a little off. I don't know what it was or if he was drunk but he walks in and kind of starts talking loud. He's hugging people. (this is during sacrament) He goes and sits in the front and then he goes back to the back. This other Hermano was trying to take him about of the sacrament and the crazy guy just like flips a little and semi swings, wanting to fight, but then some other hermanos came and took him out. Ohhh and this happened literally right in front of the over flow which was full of investigators!!! Ahhh! That’s that. Oh well......................... everyone's invited right?

So it was Elder Kimball's departing missionary fireside last night and it went super great. A lot of people showed up and supported all the missionaries going home. I love Elder Kimball; he is so great and has taught me so much. I admire him because of how hard he worked. Especially right until the end. He is such an amazing example. He truly loves his mission.

Here's a pic of me and some hermanos from an old area at a fireside yesterday.  :)

I love you all!

-Elder Puertas

August 11th 2014

We took the Familia Tamayo to the Visitors Center on Friday (Temple) and they brought their cousins as well they are also being taught by other missionaries. So many people! I love it :)

Another picture with me and an old missionary that used to serve here in L.A.

Gotta love L.A.............. and big families to teach.

August 4th 2014

Don't have much time to write today but this week was full of miracles!

On Tuesday actually we had the chance to go through Temple for some of Elder Kimball's Recent Converts and then on Saturday we went and did a sealing for them as well. It was such an amazing experience. Every time I go in the Temple I learn so many new things, everything just makes sense. So in our companionship there are 3 of us. One is Elder Casco, Elder Kimball and then me. Elder Kimball happens to be 6'5 and Elder Casco happens to be my height. THEREFORE, we have decided to call our companionship, THE LOS ANGELES TEMPLE TRIO! You'll understand why after you see the picture.

All right also our zone is doing so good! We are just blowing up. In our area we had 9 people at church.. No biggie and as a zone we had 37! That’s pretty good in our mission. Everything is coming together though.

The work is hastening!

I love my companions!

They're so fresh!

Love you all!

Elder Puertas

July 28th 2014

Okay this will be a quick email but we baptized Samuel on SUNDAY! So awesome!

Our zone was on fire. We had such a great weekend. Our zone had 6 baptisms and 2 of them were unexpected. It was so amazing to see that. We were able to have a baptism as well this weekend for our area of a man named Samuel Salcedo. We were able to teach him one hour before his interview in the chapel of our church. He was a referral from the 2nd counselor in our bishopric and we have been teaching him for about a month now. Throughout this month he NEVER felt ready to pray in front of us so he never did. So in our last lesson with him before his interview we said a prayer before going in and set a goal to have him pray at the end of the lesson. We taught him simply, clearly and plainly and at the end we invited him to pray. We testified and said how much God wanted to hear from him, he began his prayer and it was such an amazing prayer. It really did come from his heart and he cried at the end because he truly felt God's love from him. He passed his interview right after the lesson and he entered the waters of baptism on Sunday. It was truly a miracle.

P.S It was my companion's birthday yesterday!!!!! Elder Kimball is now 21 ladies and gentlemen!!! He also goes home VERY soon :( but I will stay with Elder Casco! He is soooo tight!

Oh and I got J Dawgs sauce sent out to L.A THANK YOU ANGELA :)

Love, Elder Puertas