Old Friends and the Beginning of Spring

Hey everybody!

It's been a great week over here in Kutztown and hope all of you are
having or have had a great Spring Break over in the desert. But I'm
excited to talk about my week because it was a unique on for sure!

Monday, we taught a woman named Heather, who lives with Jenny and
Corbin. She was telling us how she really doesn't have a desire to
pray or read from the Book of Mormon because she has stopped being
religious. But as we testified of the power of prayer and that God
does answer prayers. The spirit was so strong in that lesson and you
could tell she was not doubting anything we were teaching her.

Wednesday was was so great because we had Zone Conference up in
Nazareth. We drove through Allentown, Whitehall, and Nazareth, it took
almost two hours, but the drive was worth it! I got to see Elder Froc
again and I saw Elder Maynard for the first time in 6 months. It was
so great to catch up with him and see how he is doing in Lehighton.
But the conference itself was great! President Anderson and the
Assistants gave great trainings and introduced a great Easter
Initiative that testifies of Christ and His resurrection. We also
taught a guy from Mexico named Eliud. He wants to help people more and
it was perfect we knocked on his door. After we said a prayer with
him, he told us he felt so good right after. He even gave us a snack,
baked ants! It wasn't my favorite, I'm just glad I only ate one. Elder
Thielen ate handfuls! It was crazy. But overall, a great day!

The next day, we drove to Reading for District Meeting and did some
service for an elderly woman named Eleanor. We were taking down some
old playground stuff she had for her grandkids and talked to her about
the Book of Mormon. She had been reading it which is a plus! Now we
just got to get her to church! For dinner, we had dinner at a older
couple named the Kirklands. Now, I don't know if I have ever talked
about brother Kirkland at all before, but he is my favorite member
hands down. He loves the Elders and has the best stories. We later
taught a woman named Michelle, who we haven't seen in like a month,
but it was a great visit! Brother Kirkland backed up everything we
were saying, which is the best to have a member like that. We taught
the Plan of Salvation, which she had never heard of before in the
terms we were talking to her about it. But she thought it was great!

The big thing on Friday was I was able to talk our Relief Society
President into sharing the Gospel with telemarketers during our dinner
appointment with her and her husband. It was so funny, the O's are the
best.

On Saturday, we dropped off some cookies for our old investigator
Katie, she texted us at the end of the night tells how grateful she
was for that because she just had surgery. Doing that kind of service,
something so small,made us feel so good! We also read with Jenny and
Corbin in the Book of Mormon and they are committing to reading every
night which we are really excited for!

To end the week, we had the Easter Initiative come out and we shared
the videos to everybody we talked to. One of the people we shared it
with became a new investigator! We also met with a guy who wanted to
just prove us wrong with the Bible. Those kind of experiences can be
annoying, and it was with this guy. But my testimony grew after that
experience. It really hasn't after those kind of experiences, but this
time it did. I was just so grateful with what I know, and what I'm
blessed with.

But to end, I just want to say how grateful I am to be on my mission.
I have always been grateful, but I really am seeing the growth in my
own life and with the lives of those I teach. I hope and pray all of
you get something out of what I write. This mission has become a part
of me, and I'm grateful for it everyday.

Have a great week everybody and enjoy the weather. It's starting to
feel like Spring over here!



Elder Cortes

Kutztown, PA

Priesthood Restoration Site

Hey everybody!

I can't believe it's so close to Halloween. It feels like yesterday I

left four days after the Fourth of July. But that's how the mission

goes! So fast.

I know I usually focus on my week, but I wanted to focus on an

important part of my week for my email. This past Tuesday, I went to

the Priesthood Restoration site. It was in this area, Joseph Smith and

Oliver Cowdery received the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist

and the Melchizedek Priesthood from the apostles Peter, James, and

John. It is also where 70% of the Book of Mormon was translated.

This Restoration site has been open for about 2 months and we had the

privilege to go and see it as a mission. It was so great seeing many

friends I have made over the course of my mission. As well as two of

my trainers, Elder Foster and Elder Froc. Even though we left at four

in the morning to travel four hours, it was worth it. I loved the

spirit I felt from walking those sacred grounds. And to be addressed

by President Anderson on how special, this place really was, I was

touched. It made me reflect on my own receiving of the Priesthood and

how important that truly is to me. It also gave me a chance to renew

my testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and how dedicated he was to

this work of the Lord, along with his trusted companion, Emma. I pray

as I go and do all the Lord asks me to do, I may do it with honor to

my Savior, Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith did that to the very end of his

life. May we all appreciate the love and appreciate from this great

prophet and the work he has done in order for us to understand the

truth of the Master and our perfect Father in Heaven.

                     (Leo & his 1st Zone Leader, Elder Riley)

September 14, 2015

Hey everyone!

How has it been going for all of you? I hope you all had a great week,

because you all deserve to have one! It was a pretty busy week for us,

but so many miracles happened. It was great!

It all started on Tuesday, we were picking names to go visit and tract

around those neighborhoods. Elder Foster and Elder Froc had an

impression to go visit a woman named Shelia in Delanco (5 minutes from

where we live). We stopped by the house and asked a woman, named

Carmen, if Shelia still lived there. She said no, but invited us in.

It was great! We were about to teach her and her husband, Rodrigo, the

Restoration and Carmen said "Wait here, let me get my brother and her

girlfriend. They definitely need to hear this". So we also taught

Angela and Emmanuel. By the end of the lesson, they told they felt so

much peace and knew we were messengers of God. We taught them again on

Saturday the Plan of Salvation and committed them (except Rodrigo, who

speaks Spanish) to be baptized on November 8th! It was a miracle, all

because we stopped by an investigator who moved. But that wasn't the

only miracle we saw in the week.

On Wednesday we were tracting for the most part. The last house we

knocked on, a woman named Norma answered and said we could come back

the next day and talk with her. So we stop by on Thursday and taught

her the restoration, and she just got so excited! We invited her to be

baptized on October 11th and she accepted after the first lesson! It

was so great to teach all these new investigators and have them

already be committed to baptism. By the end of our week, we went from

two investigators with a date, to six!

There were a lot of crazy things that happened as well. Thursday, we

had Zone Training. Which is normal, except the Mission President and

his wife came unannounced. It was so different, but at the same time I

loved it. When I see President and Sister Andersen, I just get some

major relief come over me. Anytime I feel overwhelmed, just seeing

them makes things seem easier. It was a great training, but our

companionship had some surprising news. We found out Elder Froc needed

to be emergency transferred to Pottsville, Pennsylvania because a

missionary up there went home. He left the next day, so all we did was

weekly plan, help him pack, and waited for the Assistants to the

President come pick him up. Then did a little tracting at the end of

the night. It was weird saying goodbye to Elder Froc, a week after I

said goodbye to Elder Hendricks. But it's alright! Elder Foster and I

have had a blast and are doing a lot of great work.

I hope you all of you are doing well. That's one of my sincere hopes

while I'm on my mission. I am doing well, it hasn't been easy.  There

are even days where nothing goes our way. But that's okay, we're out

here working and doing all the Lord is asking us to do. Be safe, and

just enjoy life. It's my testimony that God lives, and because of our

Savior Jesus Christ, we can live with Him again. If you know this to

be true, hold dear to that knowledge. If you can't say you know this

to be true, just know there is always time if you desire to have that

knowledge. I promise you. Through the power of the atonement our

natures can be changed, I know this to be true, I know it. Take care,

and know our Father in Heaven loves you personally. That knowledge

alone has changed my life for the better and I see that same change to

those I teach.

Elder Cortes

Week 1 in the Mission Field!

Wow! What a week

Thank you everyone for all the support while I've gone to Philly! It's

been a roller coaster of a week. So where to start.... Probably the

beginning. So I leave the mtc  at 4 in the morning dead tired and flew

out at 9. I got here at 4 in the afternoon and was welcomed by

President Andersen and his wife along with the AP's (assistants). All

of the, treated us very kindly and with so much love. All 29 of us,

two missionaries away from breaking the record of most missionaries

coming into Philly.

Wednesday, unfortunately, I came down with a bad cold. A quarter of

the missionaries were sick and got a few more of us sick when we

stayed over at the mission home. So let's just say driving to the

multi stake center where transfers were happening wasn't exactly easy.

The whole day was tough in a way because of just being sick. But it's

ok! Because I met my companions. That's right, companions! Some of you

thought I had one, but I am in a trio (when does that happen for the

first time right????)

The first is Elder Hendricks, he is from Draper Utah. This is his last

transfer, so he has 6 weeks to go. I'm so grateful to be with a pro

like him but it's weird, I'm his last companion and he's my trainer.

He is also the district leader and really, he is a great teacher. He

is teaching me everything I need to know how to be a missionary with

his almost two year experience.

But I can't forget about THE Elder Froc. Born and raised from

Saskatchewan, Canada. He is also 21. So my first companion is FOREIGN

;) He has been out for 9 months and has killed off 5 missionaries

including Elder Hendricks (that means he was a missionary's last

companion 5 times). He is so intellectual in the gospel and I have

learned so many principles from his insights. But really, he just has

jokes that never end. What a loving companion.

All 3 of us get along perfectly. It's different being in a trio, but

we are working it out just fine. There's never a dull moment and we

just have so many laughs together. I'm so grateful for my companions,

they really are angels sent from God. I love them both so much.

So the work, my first area is the Cherry Hill Zone in New Jersey. The

main towns are Moorestown and Riverside along with Delran, cinamanson,

Mt. Laurel and so many more. For the most part, it's been nothing but

good things. Getting home from transfers, we had a dinner appointment.

But we also ended up teaching the restoration to guests of the members

who had us over for dinner. Apparently that never happens and it's

because I'm working my golden magic according to my companions (golden

means new elder). Thursday we did straight up street contacting. It

was tough to see Elder Hendricks get shot down a lot, but he told me

that's just how missionary work is sometimes. I had a little bit of

that, but for the most part, people were listening to the message I

was bringing. They seemed interested, I was just like whoa! I'm

grateful the Lord is helping me be an instrument in His work.

But the best was Saturday. I invited Bob Jameson to be baptized who

has met with the missionaries for 10 years and loves and feeds the

missionaries all the time. He said our discussion was one of the best

in 10 years and he said if he knew it was true then he would. Talk

about a miracle! I also invited Kevin, a mMuslim and he said the same

thing. Two invitations with no rejections! I know this is the Lord

helping me out. I'm grateful He watches over me.

Sunday I met the ward. It's very small, only 3 active young men and

tiny Sunday schools and priesthood. But the people are so kind and

have fellow shipped me like I have always been in the ward. It's a

tender mercy to have the love of the ward. We get fed every other day

and have the best time with investigators and members. Everyone speaks

their mind, that's for sure. But it's so awesome! I'm still trying to

get over the sickness but I received a blessing and it isn't as bad as

Wednesday.

I love it here, the weather is just so nice and it already feels like

home. I'm grateful to be out here! The spirit is strong always, and I

love it. Best wishes for everyone, let us all be like Christ and serve

each other, never turning anyone away. Because the Lord has been here

for all of us. Thank you all for everything you do for me, it means a

lot.

Elder Cortes