"But Behold, I Will Show Unto You a God of Miracles"

I have to say, this week was a pretty special one for me. I always say how great my week has been, and they are, but this week is definitely going to have a special place in my heart. I was reminded time and time again of the power of God and that He is mindful of our situations, that is partly why miracles come to us in our lives, Heavenly Father knows exactly what miracles need to happen and as we are faithful in His power, but also in His timing, we will see mountains move in our lives and the lives of those we love.

It all started Tuesday when we received a text from the Jarrettown sisters. Long story short, one of them got super sick and was quarantined in her apartment for the day but she needed a blessing. So they call us and head right over, now, this is bad timing for this Sister because she's an STL, which means she's in charge of other sisters, is giving trainings at Zone Conference and Zone Training, and planning a good number of exchanges that week with other sisters. So we gave her a blessing and it was amazing, she was feeling at 100% the next morning. Unfortunately, I caught what she did, but what mattered to me at the time was how powerful faith and the Priesthood really are. I've given blessings before and people have been healed, but it was a kind reminder from God how quick He can work

Zone Conference and Zone Training were such a blast. I saw old friends to catch up with as well as receive a lot of instruction from the Lord through President Randall. Hands down one of the most inspired people I met. At the end of Zone Training on Friday, I went on exchanges with Elder Haws (Etheiopian friend) in Doylestown. Honestly, I was so tired and sick I just had no idea how we were going to get work done. But I prayed to God I'd be able to finish till the end of the night. Which we made happen! We made solid contacts, did service for Eugene, and had a really good time. This is where it gets pretty intense.

So Saturday morning, we help Eugene move some large stones for a wall he's trying to build. Now, keep in mind, Eugene is pretty old and has had a back surgery and all this stuff. So he has no business moving any of these stones. So after Elder Haws and I help him and change, we get a call and he tried moving a stone by himself which landed on the side of his foot. Thankfully, no bones were broken, but there were some scrapes here and there. It's worse because he has some sort of blood arthritis in his legs so he has a struggle walking in the first place. So you can probably tell all of us are pretty worried. But we decided to give him a blessing as well. 

I was praying so hard for God to heal Eugene and I just had this feeling keep coming everything would be okay. So Sunday rolls around, and get this, here comes Eugene walking into church as if nothing happened. He had no pain in his leg or foot. It was as if he had no rock fall on him. I was just speechless, I couldn't believe it. The Lord just took it all away, it was gone in less than a day. What was the cherry on top was with the last speaker for Sacrament meeting, Eugene got emotional at the end and it was the first time I have ever seen him cry at church. We all felt the Spirit so strong, I just said a prayer of gratitude in my heart. It couldn't have been more of an answer to our prayers. 

Later that day, we taught Skyler with a member of the bishopric about the purpose of Jesus Christ and the Atonement. The Spirit was so strong, Skylar was understanding everything so clearly, especially with the fact on why He should matter to her. She's definitely growing in her testimony, slowly but surely. It has been such a pleasure to work with her these past few months, she's so brave for trying to find out what is truth for herself. 

I have to say, yesterday was one of the best days of my mission. Of course we don't see amazing powerful healings everyday. But when we do, we are reminded who has our back. I know God will not fail us as we strive to follow Him and do His will. He will provide away, it may not be so apparent right away, but the Lord will be there for us always. That is knowledge I am sure of and know will never be taken from me. May we help other recognize this important truth. God is waiting to help us, sometimes all we have to do is ask and have faith something will happen.

I hope everyone has a fantastic week!

Elder Cortes

Doylestown, PA

It Doesn't Matter How Cold It Gets, the Love of My Redeemer Warms My Heart

Hey everyone!

It's been a pretty adventurous week full of improvised planning throughout the week as well blessings from being in the service of the Lord. All I can really say is that you won't get any special experience like this anywhere else. 

Well, to start, we were snowed in all day Tuesday. It was tough because we couldn't go shovel until later because it was snowing pretty heavily until Tuesday night. So because of that, meetings had to get moved around left and right. For District Meeting, it was my call to determine if I wanted to do District Meeting over Skype or move it to a later time. Well, I thought it would be cool to think outside the box and have District Meeting in the evening. District Meeting usually is at 10:30 in the morning, but we had it at 6:30 that night. Turns out, I was the only District Leader who had their District Meeting later that evening. It was pretty cool, just because it was so different. It was such a great District Meeting, this transfer is turning out to be a pretty great one with such amazing missionaries all around. We have people from Nevada, to Nepal, to Ethiopia. Probably the best part for me this time around being a District Leader is to see how everyone works different, but how it all goes back to their purpose as missionaries to bring others closer to the Savior. 

I also went on exchanges with my Zone Leader Elder Huber! It was such a blast to catch up from the Reading days. For a good amount of the day, we stopped by a few less actives from a list the bishop gave us. One of the people was a less active lady who was living with her active dad, brother Huber. Turns out, they're related, so we had a good conversation about that. Something Elder Huber is so good at is the ability to just relate to people and just be himself and tie it to the Gospel somehow. Whether it was knocking a few doors, or talking the people on the street, Elder Huber just went with it and played it very naturally. The Lord definitely blessed me to work with Elder Huber again, I have so much to learn from him!

It's been a bit slow trying to find this past week with the fact the streets were all covered in snow and everyone was staying inside and not even willing to open the door. But we did have a miracle happen in the weekend when we stopped by this older couple who the missionaries gave service to a few months ago and they were interested in having us back. It's pretty cool how the Lord always works by faith. Blessings never run out, they keep coming if we believe and expect something to happen eventually. Of course, tough times come to all of us, and it can be disappointing, but we can never let it lead to discouragement. Faith and doubt cannot coexist in the same person, at all times, we just have to fan the flame of faith. On Sunday, our investigator Eugene asked us if we could help shovel two of his neighbors out, one was sick and the other was older. Now, Eugene is a little bit old and has had back surgeries in the past, but he knows how to pack snow away like nobody's business. Not bad for being from California. But it was pretty neat to answer his questions about the church and the Gospel. It is one of the best feelings when you give service while teaching at the same time. You just know in your heart you are doing exactly what the Lord would want you to do. Well, later that day, he called us for like 2 minutes. This is how it went.

Eugene:"So hypothetically, if I got baptized in your church, would I have to wear a tie after I'm baptized ?"

Us: "No, you can dress however you want at church"

Eugene: "Okay, that's all I wanted to know. I'm not saying I'm getting baptized! I'm just saying if I did"

Us: "Okay Eugene, we gotcha"

The Lord is so good. I'm so thankful for all the people I have the privilege to work with. Really it seems I'm teaching investigators, but they also teach me. Just knowing the people I have helped work towards baptism or to the temple, whether they get there while I'm there or not, makes me want to be the best I can be. The Lord works through people all the time to help us along the path, I'm thankful for every single person that's done that for me. I love my Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. I know they love each one of us. No matter where we are at in the path of discipleship, the arm of mercy is extended to us at all times as it says in 3 Nephi 9:14. It really is true for me when I hear the phrase "Oh the joy this sentence gives, I know that my Redeemer lives". I will never let go of my relationship with Jesus Christ, it is my hope that none of us do, even when life is hard. He will pull us through sin and adversity and carry us home back to our Father in Heaven.

 Marching onward here in D-Town!

Elder Cortes

Doylestown, PA

So They're Calling for a Foot of Snow This Week....

Hey everyone! 

I'm glad I'm able to write you this week with a lot that happened to start the transfer off. 

Well, from the subject line, it's been pretty crazy with snow coming and the fact it has been unpredictable to figure out when it comes definitely makes life interesting. For example, on Friday we got about 6 inches of snow which was not in the forecast at all, but it was a pretty special experience for use. We didn't get a call that we needed to stay inside but we didn't think it would be the smartest idea to go use the car. So we decided to do a bit of tracting in the snow and it was actually pretty fun. Probably one of the biggest lessons I have learned on my mission is that you make the most of any situation you are put in. I was just excited to share the Gospel in a pretty unique set of circumstances and it was pretty cool to see people asking what in the world were two young guys going door to door while it was snowing pretty hard. It was definitely one of the best experiences I have had with the snow on my mission for sure. Unfortunately, they're calling for a bigger storm so we might unfortunately be having to stay inside a bit, but hey, this is probably the last experience I'll have with snow on my mission so I better make the most of it!

We also had a really great experience finding a new investigator named Tim through knocking doors, early last week. It was pretty special because we didn't find Tim until we had been finding for a few hours. We were on our last set of apartments right before we went to our dinner appointment and Tim let us right in to let us teach him the message of the Restoration. It really just makes me think of the sons of Mosiah, who didn't have immediate success in their personal ministries. Some of them were imprisoned, beaten, or cast out. But in the end, they were the instruments of bringing thousands of souls unto repentance. It just goes to show, the Lord will always fulfill His promises. It may not be on our timetable, or even the way we want it answered, but it will happen. 

 

The new transfer has been good so far. Although Elder Morton and I stayed together, we did have some pretty neat changes to the Zone. The biggest one I'm excited for is that Elder Huber, who was a District Leader in the Reading Zone, is my new Zone Leader. So it'll be pretty great to catch up and have a great time with him. The work is well, Skylar and Eugene are progressing slowly, but it's definitely getting there. I'm thankful for my mission, and for the Gospel. Serving a mission is the best decision I've ever made in my life and I will always look back and be grateful that I accepted the call to serve. Heavenly Father has blessed me more than I could have ever asked for while being out here. I'm excited to see what He is going to teach me these next four months. The work is good, the Gospel is true, and Jesus is the Christ. Everything else will fall into place. 

Elder Cortes

Doylestown, PA

The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Hey everybody!

It's been a pretty good rest of the week here in Doylestown. I know I talked a good amount from this past week but there were still miracles that occurred for sure. 

It was actually pretty interesting, we had a few dinners with part member couples that usually don't feed the missionaries. But it was pretty cool to talk to them and get to know their stories. Missionaries have worked with these couples for years to get the less actives back to church or the nonmember spouse to take the discussions, so it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out really 

We also had a new investigator at church yesterday. Elder Drake and Elder Morton found him on exchanges which was pretty neat. He actually lived a lot of his life in California working as a professional roller derby skater person. He's an older gentleman so he isn't afraid to tell a story or two. But he was interested to see what the church is like so we pulled some strings and was able to make it. He really enjoyed it, especially since it was fast Sunday with testimony meeting. So we're excited to keep working with him!

Transfer calls came in and we are both staying here in Doylestown. It's interesting, a good amount of the mission moved around but not much for our Zone. But that's no problem! It's definitely a blessing to not see a lot of change with the missionaries you work with. I'm excited for what is ahead! The Lord has great things in store for us this transfer!

Elder Cortes

Doylestown, PA

Determined in Doylestown

Hey everyone! 

It's been such a great week and a half since I last wrote. So much so, that I can't write all that happened (like it says over and over in the Book of Mormon). But I will cover a few highlights that really strengthened my testimony. 

We went on one last exchange with the Zone Leaders for this transfer and I went back to Pennypack to be with my other Zone Leader, Elder Haws. Elder Haws has such a cool story, he's from Ethiopia and immigrated to Idaho 5 years ago. He used to be Muslim but had such a powerful experience with The book of Mormon and knew as he read, that Christ is the Son of God. It was really inspiring for me because it just showed me how much a person can change from the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I mean, I got to be with such a close friend for a day because of it. But our day in Pennypack was so amazing, we prayed consistently that we would find new people to talk to and it was so cool to talk to so many different people with different cultures. We talked to a woman who was Russian and a woman from Ghana, and people from Brooklyn throughout the day. It really was a lot of fun.

We also saw Skyler later in the week and we felt prompted to ask her how she has felt with the discussions so far and it's made such a huge difference for her. She said since we met, she starts to see how the Gospel can apply to her personally. It been such a great transfer to see her conversion process, she is gaining her testimony slowly but surely, it's so amazing.

A testimony builder for me this week was that the Souderton Sisters had a baptism this past week. Now the reason why I bring up their baptism is because both Sisters have been out less than 6 months and they are working so hard in relying on the Lord. It has been so cool to see the fruits of their labors, the baptism being the highlight for them this transfer. It just showed me that this is the Lord's work because there is no way we would be able to see the success we see in the mission unless He was involved. 

As for the work, it has been coming along so well. We have had a few people drop for one reason or another, which is always heartbreaking of course, but we never give up or complain with what happens. We're just thankful for every blessing we have and continue to ask the Lord for more people to teach and it happens. We just find people out of the blue, it's so incredible to see the Lord answer prayers. He really has been with us in Doylestown, as with the rest of my mission. I'm thankful for His love and His willingness to be with us at our side in the work. I couldn't ask for anything better.

We also had the special opportunity to go to the temple just now. It was such a blessing to not only go, but seeing so many members from past areas like Kutztown and Woodstown. It was a sweet reminder for me I am in the right place because my friends are with me. I have learned so much in my time receiving revelation from the Lord in His Holy House. It is such a blessing to be able to have a temple in our mission. Temples truly are a beacon to the world, I know because of the simple fact that I turn to the Lord every time I go. Well, it's the last week of the transfer! We find out what happens with transfers this Saturday, I'm probably staying since I just got to Doylestown but the Lord has proven me otherwise!

 Keep the Faith,

Elder Cortes

Doylestown, PA