Year Mark!

Hey everyone!

I hope all of you have been well and are enjoying the summer vacation
back home. I'm having a blast here in Woodstown. Many special moments
happened this week which I was truly grateful to be a part of.

So to start off, our Fourth of July got rained out pretty hard. We
still had the party inside the church though and we were able to talk
to a few nonmembers which was great! They even set off the fireworks
even though it was pouring so that was neat.

Tuesday was a miracle day for sure. So near the end of the day, we
were walking in Woodstown and we stopped by this guy who we have
talked to numerous times and told us he wasn't interested, but he was
curious about missionaries and what they did. So we had the feeling we
should go over and talk to him. Well, during our conversation, his
step daughter, Samantha (20), came from some errands and was really
interested about the Gospel. She had never grown up religious and
really had a desire to change and be baptized. So she wanted to sit
down and talk with us right then and there. It was such a great lesson
because she didn't know where she really stood with God and as we
taught her the Restoration, you could just tell she was feeling the
Spirit so strong. Her eyes lit up when we talked about Jesus Christ
and who he was and Joseph Smith and other points. She kept saying over
and over she felt so good throughout the whole lesson on everything we
were teaching her. She even committed to baptism on August 21. Now,
half the time she lives in Newark, Delaware and the other half she
lives in Woodstown, New Jersey so we may have to move her records. But
it was such a miracle find! All because the Spirit prompted us to go
talk to a guy who has said so many times he wasn't interested. It was
a great day without a doubt.

Wednesday was pretty busy as well. We taught the Whitfields and read
with Deborah, which always brings the Spirit whenever we do that so
that went pretty well. They decided to all quit smoking cold turkey
this weekend which was great to hear because they were all in
agreement to it. However, I've heard the struggles of quitting just
like that can be a struggle, but I fasted and have faith for all my
investigators that they truly can quit smoking.

Thursday we had a great Zone Training in Vineland. The Spanish Zone
Leaders gave great trainings and Elder Curtis gave a really emotional
dying testimony. He shared DC 136:31 and mentioned how his mission was
the hardest thing he will ever do. But most importantly, that he was
grateful for it all. It really made me think of my trials in one year
on my mission and how I would not have traded any experience away. To
be able to be tried and even chastised is such a tender mercy from the
Lord. Elder Curtis went home Saturday, which was really hard to see
him go. But I was so thankful I was able to know him for 3 weeks,
because he really did change my mission. After Zone Training, I went
on an exchange with a Spanish Elder in my district named Elder DeLand!
Now, Elder DeLand and I go way back. I met him when I was 3 months out
and he was serving in Camden NJ. So I was excited to finally go on an
exchange with him for the first time! We went to my area and we
actually went into an area where there was a good amount of Spanish
people which was really fun for the both of us. We talked to this one
lady on the street and asked if we could bless her home because she
said it was full of evil. So we did, it was a little out of the blue,
but we were glad to do it. Fun times with Elder DeLand!

Friday (year mark) was busy all around. We drove all the way to
Vineland so I could give a baptismal interview for the Vineland
Sisters. It's neat because the Sisters are leaving next week to go
work on the temple open house so I was glad they were able to get a
baptism right before they left.  But the interview itself was great!
It had been so long since I did one and the person that was getting
baptized was a man named Chuck. He's 82 and had parents who grew up in
the church but didn't decide to join until now. It was great to see a
man this far in his life was willing to change for Heavenly Father. We
also had interviews with President Randall for the first time. Mine
went so well! We really clicked and he invited everyone to have a
scripture from the Book of Mormon about the Character of Christ so I
shared 3 Nephi 17: 5-7 because it truly shows the compassion of the
Savior and the reality of His divine love. We had a great talk about
that scripture and as we talked more and more, I felt more of the
Spirit confirming to me how lucky I am to have such a great Mission
President. I know our mission has one of the best leaders any mission
could ever have, which I'm very thankful to Heavenly Father about.

Saturday we met with Samantha again and taught her the Plan of
Salvation and it was cool for her to understand what this plan truly
means to her. When we first started talking, she told us she was
afraid of death, but at the end of the lesson she said she felt a lot
of comfort and peace in the Plan of Salvation. She also brought up
that she smokes and asked if she had to quit in order to be baptized,
which we said she needed to. So we gave her a blessing and also fasted
and prayed for her and continue to pray for her to be ready for
baptism.

Sunday was great! Deborah came to all 3 hours of church for the first
time which was really nice. She enjoyed it and told us later on that
evening she is set on being baptized at the beginning of the month,
which is always great to hear as missionaries. We also got to see our
Stake President, President Sikahema, who I love very much. He's such a
fun guy but pretty spiritual as well.

I'm just so thankful for my mission! This time now is so precious to
me and I can't believe I have less than a year. It doesn't even feel
like I have been out as long as I have. However, I am determined to
keep going strong! I can't wait for this next year. I know the Lord
has a lot planned for me. Well, I hope all of you enjoy your week in
the hot summer, it's perfect over here in New Jersey. May the Lord
bless you in all that you do!

Elder Cortes

Woodstown, NJ