Working with Brother Kirkland

Hey everybody!

It was a pretty good week for us. We had a few miracles happen and
were able to learn a lot. Like what the title says this week, we had
Brother Kirkland's with a good number of lessons and we were able to
give him some service this week as well.

It all started with Tuesday when Brother Kirkland drove us to Kutztown
where we taught a college girl named Debbie. She was really quirky,
but she was willing to listen to us and our message. She seemed pretty
interested in what we taught and we were able to give her a Book of
Mormon. She told us she didn't know if we'd be able to meet again
because of finals, but it seemed like she had a lot of real intent.

On Wednesday, we taught Sarah and with her going home soon, we were
able to talk a lot about the temple. We are trying to help her go
before school is over, but if not, we will at least help her with
family names to take to the temple when she comes back to Kutztown in
August.

Thursday, we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders. Elder Jewkes came
with me to Kutztown which was a lot of fun. We taught a less active
named Porsha who is starting to come back to church after not going
for a year or so. Brother Kirkland came with us and he related to a
lot of experiences she's had in her life, which was great! We also
taught her husband, who is not a member and seems very interested! We
also did a good amount of finding and Elder Jewkes did so well just
talking to people. I learned so much from him. We have been in the
same zone for three transfers, and it's just so much fun to be around
Elders you have grown close with. Elder Jewkes and I had such a great
time.

Friday was a really special experience. For the first time in weeks,
we visited Corbin and Jenny and it was a really spiritual lesson.
Corbin still wants to be baptized and Jenny's son Christian, wants to
be baptized as well. So we are planning on both of them being baptized
at the end of May or the end of June! Jenny was in tears by the end of
it all. It was such a powerful moment in my mission just seeing Jenny,
Corbin, and the whole family just be happy.

On Saturday, we were able to repay Brother Kirkland and his
willingness to come out by doing some yard work for him for a few
hours. Like always, never a dull moment with Brother Kirkland. At the
end of the night, we saw Jenny and Corbin again and they had some new
neighbor over to introduce himself. When he saw that we were
missionaries, he grabbed his bible from his out to pretty much bash
about how The Book of Mormon is false and Joseph Smith was a false
prophet. Now, usually, when we find people like this, we back off from
the situation, simply bear testimony, and walk away. But with a recent
convert and an investigator with a date in the room, we needed to
address this guy and his arguments. After listening to numerous Bible
verses he tried to use to disprove the Book of Mormon, we shared with
him how the Bible does explain the Book of Mormon to be true and
explained the necessity of the Book of Mormon. After we asked him if
he ever read the Book of Mormon, he admitted that he had not. That's
where we both bore powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon and if he
reads and pray about it, God will reveal to him, the Book of Mormon is
true. You could tell he felt the sprit because he went quiet. It was
pretty neat. We just hoped, Jenny and Corbin weren't phased by the
conversation we had. But we talked about it at church the next day and
they apologized to us for their neighbor and wanted us over the next
day.

That's part of the reason Sunday went so well! Corbin and Jenny came
to church and we visited with them after church was over. We also
committed a few investigators to come to church next week. And a few
members are planning on inviting their friends to visit with us. We
are really excited for the week to come! It's been a great few weeks
and we are planning on good weeks to come! To close, I just want to
really reflect on how much firm I am on what I believe. At the
beginning of my mission, it was discouraging to have people just tell
you that you are wrong and the restoration of the gospel of Jesus
Christ is false. But now, as I have learned and gained strength from
the Lord, I know what I teach and testify is true. The Holy Spirit of
the Lord has confirmed for me personally that the Book of Mormon is
true and that this is the true church of Jesus Christ on the earth
today. I'm thankful for the Lord and I am grateful for what the Gospel
has taught and shown me. That is why I'm out here, so that others can
taste of the good fruit that I know to be pure and right. It is my
prayer that we will never be discouraged and that we will stand firm
in what we know to be true. I know we will as we rely on the Lord for
counsel and guidance. This I know independent of any other person. I
hope all of you are well and that you have a great week!

Elder Cortes

Kutztown, PA