Week 22: Birthday Miracles

So there were a few miracles that happened this week that I wanted to share, I know they were some birthday gifts from my Father in Heaven.

So Friday night we had dinner with the two other missionaries that we live with and it was at a members house from our Adelanto ward. We didn't know this until we got there but it was actually her birthday so I got an early birthday cake and some free homemade soap. So thank you Sister White!

After dinner, Elder Kunz and I go to a referral that we had gotten and she is a very solid investigator, she has already accepted baptism and the whole reason that she wanted to meet with us is because she is going through a tough time and she has seen in some family members, how the gospel has blessed them.

On Saturday (my birthday) I was on exchanges with one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Richins. So around lunch time we discover that there is very little to eat at their apartment so we decide to go to the new Café Rio that opened the day before. So we get there and the line isn't too long and there is a worker at the tail of the line inviting people to download the Café Rio app so they can get $5 free. She asks us if we've gotten it and we inform her that our only phone is not able to download apps (cause it's an ancient slide phone). So then she asks us if it's because we're on missions and we find out that she's actually talked to missionaries before and her experience with the church. While we're talking with this worker, one of the customers comes up to us and hands us some money to pay for our meal and almost before we can thank him, he's out the door. So now we have some money for our meal and we get our orders all finished up. We get to the register and they're getting our drink cups and asking us if it's for here or to go and once that's all finished they tell us that we're all good to go so we pull out the money and wait for the total to come up... a few seconds pass and we're all just standing there. Then they tell us again that we're all good and to have a nice day. So we slowly walk away and towards the drinks. So not only did we get money for our meal but then we didn't even have to pay! (I'm assuming one of the higher ups was there to oversee the new restaurant and was a member). So fast forward a little bit in the day and we're over at a Tongan less-active house and he is related by law to a Tongan family that I knew back home in Washington. Then his sister comes in and hands us some more money to get us something to eat and drink and no matter how much we told her that we already were taken care of she wouldn't take the money back. (Samoans and Tongans believe that they will be blessed a lot if they help servants of God so trying to reject food or money is like trying to take away their blessings). Sooooo fast forward again to dinner. The person signed up to feed us was the Tongan Bishop and when we get there he is all decked out in a suit and told us he's on his way to the dance and hands us some money for dinner. (Again we try to explain that we have money to buy food but he won't take no for an answer.) So then we get to the good-ol In-n-Out. We order our double-doubles and right before we go to pay a member that was just passing through pays for our dinner! We talk to him for just a little bit and apparently he lived in Chino Hills which is another part of our mission. Then as we're eating the person next to us starts to talk to us and tells us that her son was baptized in 2000 and wanted to talk with the missionaries again and then also gave us her information so we got two referrals by just sitting there.

On Sunday a member of the ward came up to us and asked us if our recent convert, Diane, has a car. We informed her that she didn't (we've been struggling for weeks/months to find members close enough to give her rides to and from church). And then this sweet member said that she could be Diane's ride for us.

Again on Sunday, there were a TON of less-actives at church. Almost everyone that the Bishop has us go see was there and it was awesome! AND there was a non-member family there (that we didn't even notice because there were so many people there) and the Bishop from the Samoan ward got their information for us to send into the referral system.

Also on Sunday, the mother of the birthday girl from Friday's dinner brought her boyfriend who was visiting from the LA area and then we set up an appointment with him for this week.

All of these miracles were a reminder to me of the greatness of God and also the power of prayer, fasting, fast-offerings and sacrifice. I hope you all had as much of an amazing week as I did. I want to challenge you guys to remember the miracles from each day and thank God for them. As you do so you will be more grateful and you'll receive even more blessings!

A few weeks ago I said that I tried to guess the titles of the talks from General Conference, this is the results for some of the close ones:

Name, my guess, actual title

Uchtdorf, Our Journey Home, "A Yearning For Home"

Christofferson, The Bread of Life, "The Living Bread Which Came Down From Heaven"

Stevenson, Spiritual Eclipse, "Spiritual Eclipse"  Actually got one!

Cook, Sit Down Be Humble, "The Eternal Everyday"

Rasband, Divine Design, "By Divine Design" Sooo close

Maynes, Gaining God's Trust, "Earning The Trust Of The Lord And Your Family"

Eyring, Faith In The Lord's Servants, "The Lord Leads His Church"

Eyring, We Need Not Fear, "Fear Not To Do Good"

Ballard, The Trek Continues, "The Trek Continues" Another one

Koch, Be One, "Apart, But Still One"

Stanly, The Faith To Trust Him, "Do We Trust Him? Hard Is Good"

Anderson, The Lord's Prophets, "The Voice Of The Lord"

I hope y'all have a good week and continue sharing the gospel, praying, reading, being friends and living life to the fullest!

Love,

Elder Puzey

 Celebrating  birthdays with Sister White

 Blowing out candles

 Maybe someones home??

Found the HQ of the Crips