Hey friends and family!
I hope all of you are doing well as always, it's starting to get
pretty humid in New Jersey....to the point where it really reminds me
when I first came out and started in Moorestown. But aside from that,
the missionary life is never dull and the work moves on!
Tuesday we met with a less active who lives in our neighborhood named
Brother Morgan. He's a member who comes and goes with being active in
the church, but he has such a good heart. We came at the right time
because he was stressed over things at work so we cheered him up by
giving him the Ensign with the conference talks in April which he
really appreciated and was excited to read because his internet was
down, so he didn't have any way to watch/read them.
Wednesday was a really great day. We had a good number of appointments
cancel on us, which was a little disappointing, but we were able to
have a great day nonetheless. So every Wednesday, a member in the ward
named Brother Coates takes the Elders out to go visit whoever they
need to go see or people struggling in the ward. It was neat because
we visited this older couple named the Johnsons who were baptized in
the 50's, and were one of the first people to be part of the Woodstown
branch when it was one in the 60's. They have such strong testimonies
and love the Gospel. It's just hard with Brother Johnson's health, but
they told us they were determined to go to church this Sunday because
they haven't been in a good number of weeks. Later that evening, we
met with a man named Jeremy, who we met at church last Sunday and who
the Bishop wanted us to go visit (they have been good friends for a
long time). Jeremy joined the church when he was a teen and was on and
off with being active as well, but agreed to us coming over. It was
great because he's just trying to find a way back and stay active, his
fiancé is not a member but is really interested to know more about the
church. It was definitely a tender mercy from the Lord to have this
family put in our path for sure. It seems like that has happened
almost every person we have met and have started teaching. It's so
great to be a part of this great work!
Thursday was also very productive as well. We had District Meeting in
Vineland and right after we took off back to our area which was about
an hour and a half of travel (long distance travel is pretty normal in
missionary work) and met with Matt. It went so well because he always
has questions of understanding the Gospel and he always asks for a
personal testimony and a personal view of a certain commandment or a
certain principle of the Gospel. As a missionary, it's so important to
bear personal testimony to whatever you teach, so to have someone
expect it is pretty great because as we do, he really feels the Spirit
because he knows what's coming. He actually wants us to now go over
all the missionary discussions to help him build his testimony as he
reads and prays to know of the truthfulness of what we teach.
On Friday, we visited Brother Morgan again and reviewed with him the
Plan of Salvation. It was pretty great because it really put things
into perspective for him with his trials he goes through. It's also
great being able to teach messages like the Restoration and the Plan
of Salvation over and over because you learn something new every time
you teach it. That's really when you know when you teach by the
Spirit, when the things you say uplift and edify yourself.
Saturday was a bit rough just because we had a lot of finding and it
happened to be the most humid day of the week. We tried talking to as
many people as we could but between Memorial Day Weekend and people
not really answering their door, we had no luck. But we didn't lose
faith in the least! We knew the Lord saw our efforts and knew what we
did was not in vain. We met with a woman who has been taught by the
missionaries on and off for four years, but is good friends with some
members of the ward. It was great because we talked to her about
baptism and committed her to a date in September which she said she
would prepare for and would not push off. It was a blessing for sure
to see this great sister do her best to work towards baptism.
Sunday went very well! We had this really great presentation on the
Philadelphia temple by the project manager, Brother Carr. It was cool
because he had a PowerPoint of all the construction that has been
going on the past three years and gave out free temple rocks that they
used to make the material out of the temple. It just gets everybody
excited to go to the temple, and they will officially finish
construction in 4 weeks! We also saw the Whitfields and talked to Tara
about her baptism. It was a little bit of a challenge because she told
us that she felt like she wasn't ready for baptism and that she didn't
know enough to be baptized. We are hoping she can still be baptized on
the 12th. We have the faith! But we will definitely see as we go. The
things is with missionary work is that there are ups and downs and in
betweens, and I can honestly say I wouldn't trade it for anything.
It's always a great day in the PPM because we are in the Lord's
service. He is with us always and gives us continual peace as He
promises in Matthew 11:28-30 and sends the Holy Spirit to comfort and
guide us as it is written in John 14. It is my hope all of us may have
the Spirit of the Lord be with us in times of adversity (Jacob 7:
5-15) and in times of joy (Alma 27: 16-18). I hope you all have a
great week and stay cool. I certainly will try.
Elder Cortes
Woodstown, NJ
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