It's been a crazy week full of blessings and miracles. There was a lot
of driving involved, not a ton of proselyting happened, but all of our
time was filled with cherished memories.
Tuesday was probably the only normal day of the week. We found a part
member family named Gregory and Ashley. It was great because Gregory's
parents were visiting and his whole family are members. They are
Dominican so they spoke some English but they helped out so much. We
taught on the Book of Mormon and everyone testified to Ashley the
truthfulness of it which made her interested to set up a return
appointment. It was a miracle because if Gregory's parents weren't
there, we felt like we would not have made it inside the house. It was
definitely a blessing from the Lord being at the right place at the
right time.
On Wednesday we went to the Temple Open House with a part member
family named the Kuhns. We meet with them once a month because they
live almost 40 minutes away and Sister Kuhn is going through chemo
battling cancer. But it was a really great experience for both of them
and for us. What's really neat is you learn something new or feel
something special every time you go. The Philadelphia Temple is
incredible! Words can't describe the beauty and the majestic glory of
the House of the Lord.
Thursday was my first Zone Training I conducted. We planned for it the
free time we had the few days before but I was a little nervous. It
all went so well when the Lord gave me comfort as I prayed for
strength to be a strong leader for the missionaries in the Zone. It
went so well, the trainings Elder Neilson and I did together were
great and the Zone responded very well to it! After Zone Training, I
went to Lehighton on exchanges with a missionary named Elder Thompson.
It was cool being in one of my old companion's old areas and meet the
people he worked with.
Friday we swapped back and we headed down to the temple one last time
with a less active we are working with named Fabio. It was a struggle
because he had 4 opportunities to go with the branch and he always
dodged it. He always wanted to go with us, so we set it up for the
final day of the Open House! It was crazy because we left at 2:30, and
it took us 4 hours to get there because of traffic. We didn't leave
until 8:30 and got home by 11, which is past our curfew
unfortunately... But we did repent and we hope the Lord understood our
circumstances! But it was so special to go to the open house one more
time. Especially at night. To see the Temple and the city of
Philadelphia was incredible. I'd never seen the city at night, I just
loved it all. I was so grateful to go to the open house four times
with people I cared about. I was so grateful the senior couple, the
DeSpains drove us each times. It was crazy they drove to the temple
almost everyday last week. It was so great to see their dedication and
love for the people here in Hazleton.
Saturday was full of taking care of administration stuff for the next
transfer (talking to District Leaders, the Assistants, etc.). But it
was cool because we saw Ashley and Gregory later that night and taught
the whole Restoration which went so well!
Sunday was a great way to close the week! We had two baptisms with Bob
and Alice. We don't have a font in Hazleton and all the fonts around
the zone weren't working, so we had to ask permission from President
Randall to go out of the mission. Ultimately we had to get permission
from Salt Lake to go to the Pittsburg Mission to use the font in the
Berwick. So I guess you can say I was living life to the extreme at
that point. It was such a great service, I actually got to conduct
which was pretty neat. Bob and Alice enjoyed it all and we were just
so glad with all the progress they made. Baptisms are without a doubt,
one of the favorite parts of my mission. Not because I got a baptism,
but because people are changing and are committing to follow God. I'm
just so glad Elder Neilson and I were able to see a few baptisms
together. Next week is transfers and we don't know if he will leave or
stay, but he's been one of my favorite companions to work with. It's
such a blessing to work with such a great Elder.
I'm so blessed with the temple open house and these baptisms. The Lord
truly is blessing us with special experiences here. This Sunday is the
Philadelphia Temple Dedication which we are all excited about. It's my
first one, which will be pretty special. I'm grateful for the Lord
blessing me with such a great mission. I can't wait for this Sunday!
Hope you all have a great week!
Elder Cortes
Hazleton, PA
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