Seeing Old Friends and Saying Goodbye to Great Leaders

Hey everybody!

It's been a very crazy week and it will be even crazier until the
transfer is over next week. But there have been a lot of blessings and
tender mercies that have come our way which is great!

Tuesday, we met this man named Jack Auwetter. He is 85 and lost touch
with the missionaries, but he gave us a call last week and invited us
for an appointment. He's a very kind man and really wanted to start to
continue discussions with the Elders, which we are hoping will really
turn into something very promising. He's very interested in the
Philadelphia temple so we are hoping the open house and our visits
will really help him reach the goal of baptism!

Wednesday had to be the most spiritual event of the week. We had Zone
Conference which was a lot of fun. It was great driving back to Cherry
Hill to the stake center where I used to go for District Meetings and
Zone Trainings when I was in Moorestown. I saw many good friends and
past companions like Elder Maughan and Elder Maynard! There was also a
part of the conference where missionaries were selected to speak on
converted missionaries and I happened to be one that was picked out of
the group. I don't know why, but I guess I felt nervous going up
there, even though I talk to people everyday. But I was going through
my notes and saying a prayer in my heart when the Assistant who I was
sitting next to, Elder Weisler, looked at me and gave me a fist bump.
Right then I was asked to speak and it was like the Spirit took over
and it felt so great to just testify of missionary work and
consecration. But the best part of the Zone Conference had to be
President and Sister Anderson's farewell testimonies. To say the room
was filled with the Spirit doesn't even begin to describe the
tenderness and love both of them expressed to each of us. President
Anderson closed his testimony by telling us he understood what the
Savior meant by saying "you are mine". Because we are their
missionaries as well as the Lord's. Needless to say, tears were shed
throughout the congregation of missionaries. I couldn't even keep it
together when we sang our mission song because President and Sister
Anderson just had tears through it all. That's when it really hit me
that they were both really going home in a few weeks... But it was
great, each missionary got a little time with each of them on the way
out. I was just so thankful for them throughout the rest of the day.
Definitely a day to remember in the field!

Thursday we met with this former investigator the Elders were teaching
before I came here. Howard is very religious but is still searching to
know if the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It was great because
Brother Coates, our main member missionary, set up the appointment
with him and everything and even invited him to church for this coming
Sunday! It was a great appointment and we also met with Wayne Hoglund,
who is such a sincere and loving guy. He reminds me a lot of my friend
in my first area, David Garduno. During one point in the lesson, he
asked if he could be forgiven or if there was a point that God would
stop forgiving. We testified to him that God will always forgive and
that He always loves him. We also testified of the power of the
Atonement and repentance which really gave him a lot of relief. It was
such a great lesson!

Friday was strange, but overall it went very well! We started the day
of by going to Philly to do a safety and emission testing at pep boys,
which took a good amount of the morning. But we were able to also meet
with Matt, who is doing very well in reading daily to know if the Book
of Mormon is true and if God truly does exist. We had a good talk
about personal application with the Book of Mormon which he really
thought was what he needed, so that was great to hear.

We also met with the Whitfields throughout the week and committed
Deborah Whitfield, Brother Whitfield's sister, to a date in late July.
So we are really going to make sure that we will be able to make that
happen. It's been a great transfer so far and there's so much to do
this final week. Elder Yeates goes to the temple, exchanges with the
district and zone leaders, and transfer calls! It'll be pretty
exciting to see what will happen this week! I hope all of you are
doing well and are enjoying the summer!

Elder Cortes

Woodstown, NJ

A Strong Close to a Cold Transfer

Hey everybody!

I just want to update you with everything that is going on over here
in Kutztown. It has been great over here as of late. The Lord truly is
blessing us as we continue to serve diligently.

Throughout the week, we have been meeting with members of the ward who
we want to prepare to go to the temple. One of these people is sister
Donio. She is a great lady who teaches primary.

We had such a great lesson on Tuesday about the temple and she is
planning to get the process going for that! It was nice because the
hour before we tracked and so many people had some pretty colorful
this to say about us, so that was a tender mercy in and of itself.
Later that day, we tracted into guy named John and his brother Darrien
who listened to our message on the Restoration. However, we were
interrupted by John's girlfriend who did not want us there. But it was
a tender mercy we were able to teach, even if it was only for 5
minutes.

On Thursday,  we met this less active named Carlos Vargas. He is in
our apartment complex and the ward has no information on him. He
hasn't been to church in 7 years! He has a fiancé and a 5 year old son
who aren't members, so we are really excited to start teaching them.

The other special miracle we saw was that we visited Noel again and
had a great discussion on the Plan of Salvation. At the end of the
lesson, we committed him to be baptized in March! It was so exciting
and such a blessing. He is the first person we have committed to a
date this whole transfer. It's been a blessing this whole week because
even though we have been going through 13 degree weather, rain, and
snow, the Lord opens many doors for us all the time.

I'm sorry this email is going to be short. Elder Maughan is getting
transferred tomorrow so we are taking care of a lot of things here in
Kutztown. Which means I'm getting a new companion! His name is Elder
Thielen. I have no idea who he is, but I will find out tomorrow! We
will see what happens this upcoming week. It's supposed to snow 5-8
inches, so let's hope we can get a lot of work done. Stay warm! I
certainly will try.

Elder Cortes

Kutztown, PA

By Small and Simple Things...

Hey everyone!

I'm really excited to tell you how my week went. It had plenty of ups
and downs, but in the end, the Lord was able to lift me higher than I
could ever imagine. It's so great to have experiences like this on
your mission because it does show that God does hear your prayers and
loves you, no matter where you are at.

On Tuesday, we went tracting in our apartment complex after a few
appointments cancelled on us. We found no luck for about a half hour,
then on the last house we knocked on there was this 19 year old guy
named Noel who answered the door. He told us we could stop by on
Sunday to talk to him. Now, when future appointments are made, I hold
on to them, I just keep having faith we are going to meet with these
people. Many times they cancel, but I keep holding on, especially if
nothing else comes from the day. For the rest of the day, appointments
fell through and no one wanted to talk to us. Julianna, our
progressing investigator, called us out of the blue and told us she
was not interested and did not want to visit anymore. That was
probably the toughest part of the day for both of us because we really
cared about her and thought she was doing so well. Even with all those
hardships, I still kept in mind that young man we visited in the
morning which we will get back to.

Wednesday, we had so much rain and fog it was unbelievable! I honestly
felt a little uneasy driving through because the weather was so bad.
However, we pressed on, we talked to a good number of people and set
another appointment for this week.

We had a great learning experience this past Thursday. We are teaching
this older couple who have a baptismal date this month, and we asked
them how they felt about what we were teaching. They were being taught
even before I came to Kutztown, but they had a few issues regarding
Joseph Smith and baptism. Elder Maughan and I felt the spirit so
strong knowing we need to address their needs better as well as to
push their date. But we set all these great plans and ways we can help
them out this week which we are really excited about.

On Friday, we had a great time teaching a recent convert named Sarah.
She goes to Kutztown University so we teach her in her dorm. It's been
tough for her because she has been sick this past month but I saw her
at church for the first time which was so great! It was pretty funny
because she has a roommate we met who plays trumpet and was in the
college marching band. So it was pretty cool to relate to her and
hopefully talk to her about the gospel a little bit. We also had
dinner with this older couple named the Opparasono's. He is a
counselor in Bishopric and she is the Relief Society President and
they have been in the church for 10 years! It just shows the Lord
qualifies who He calls. It was great to talk to them about their
testimonies and how they knew the church was true. It was a delicious
dinner as well. We had pizza and they got it at a New York style shop
because they are both from Brooklyn. They are great!

Saturday had a lot of readjustments to our plans. We were going to do
service for this man who lives in Reading, but has a storage unit in
Kutztown. We were going to be there for about two to two and a half
hours helping him move his stuff. However, he cancelled at the last
minute, so our backup plan was to go to a city in our area where it's
just farmland and mountains. So we travelled to New Tripoli and it was
a blessing to go up there. We met a less active family named the
Lawley's (parents, 16 year old son, 14 year old girl, 7 year old
girl). They hadn't had missionaries over to their house in 6 years! We
had dinner and gave the mom and their daughter, McKayla, blessings
because they have been struggling with health problems. It was a great
visit. They even told us they would be at church the next day. Elder
Maughan has never seen them at church the 4 and a half months he has
been in Kutztown. So we were excited to hopefully see them at church.
Later that night we saw Sister Sherman and her daughter, Katie. We
discussed meeting with the bishop to get temple recommends to get
ready to go to the Philadelphia temple. They said they really wanted
to and that they would, which we got really excited about.

Sunday, however, had to be the best day of the whole transfer. Ann and
Don were at church the first time I was here. The Lawley's were at
church for the first time since both of us have been here. Sister
Sherman and Katie came to church and Sister Sherman bore her testimony
for the first time in 9 years. A part member family named the Monroes
came to church and the husband, who is a member, bore his testimony
for the first time since he joined the church at 16. We received two
referrals, one from a member, and one fro

m the Lehighton branch, which
is where my mtc companion Elder Maynard is serving! We had a great
three minute phone call and the referral the Elders sent us was a part
member family, who we set an appointment for this Wednesday! We also
taught Noel, who we met Tuesday and we taught him the restoration. I
was able to invite him to be baptized and he said yes! It was all the
Lord. There's no other way. I fasted so hard to have some sort of turn
around with all the trails we have been facing these past few weeks.
This was His answer. We are really excited for this coming week since
this is the last week of the transfer. It just shows if you sincerely
ask the Lord for help and you are willing to do His will, He will give
you aid. That is a principle I have seen over and over on my mission.
It's incredible. It is my hope and prayer all of you receive the
answers to your prayers. I know you will if you act sincerely to the
answer the Lord gives you. I hope you all have a great week! We are
planning on getting a little snow this week, hopefully not as much as
we did the first time!



Elder Cortes

Kutztown, PA

The Storm Passes and the Work Progresses

Hey everybody!

I hope all of you are doing well. I cannot wait to talk about my week
this week. So much happened with investigators and spiritual
experiences it was amazing!

Tuesday we were on exchanges I was with my Zone Leader Elder Holden
here in Kutztown. It was a little hard to go around and park because
so many spaces and side streets were still blocked by snow. But we
made it work! We actually met with a recent convert named Sarah who
got back into school at Kutztown University 2 weeks ago. We were able
to talk about the temple with her to go do baptisms and it was so
great to hear she already had a plan to go with members of the ward!
I'm so excited for her, especially since she's preparing to go for the
first time. It's so important for new members to go to the temple as
soon as they are able. To feel the power of the temple for the first
time is such an experience. I know it'll be a great time for her when
she goes. But working with Elder Holden was so great! He reminded me
so much of my trainers Elder Hendricks and Elder Foster, so it felt
natural just to teach and tract with him. We even stopped by a college
girl named Katie who ordered a Bible and told us she is looking to
change her life around. Of course, as missionaries, we asked if we
could help out with that. It ended up with us setting up an
appointment tomorrow!

The next day Elder Maughan came back into Moorestown and it was a
rough day all around. All our appointments fell through and no one
really wanted to talk to us. It was hard to really focus because we
really did try to make the day productive. But Heavenly Father
answered our prayers and we met with this woman named Michelle in our
apartment complex. She told us about how she had come to have God in
her life. The spirit was so strong when we taught her the Restoration,
I mean you could just feel it. Elder Maughan invited her to be
baptized and she told us if she sincerely knew this was true, she
would! It was such a blessing to us at the end of the day. Somehow the
Lord always finds a way to lift our spirits when we are discouraged.
It always happens, without a doubt.

Thursday, we met with Julianna (the woman we met my first week in
Kutztown). She had to take care of her sick kids the past few weeks
but it was a miracle she got back in touch with us we could come over!
She read in the Book of Mormon and really liked it! She was asking how
the Book of Mormon and the church can bless her family and how she can
raise her 4 sons the best way possible. It was so great to talk about
that and transition to the Plan of Salvation. You could tell she was
feeling the spirit because she said she felt different when we talked
about the purpose of life and where do we go after our time on earth.
It was amazing!

At this point, I was thinking what else is the Lord going to do? What
have we done to have all these blessings in our appointments? But He
just kept going. We met with this couple named Dot and Michael on
Friday.Dot is an investigator and Michael is a less active. The thing
with them is they are living together and are not married. So this
lesson we taught the Law of Chastity, which talks about how couples
need to be married if they are living together to be baptized. We
asked them what they thought about it and they told us it's something
they want to do. They just said "you know, I think it might be time
for us to get married". I was just dying inside. The Lord just works
wonders, if people are prepared, their hearts will be softened. I have
a huge testimony of that.

Saturday we contacted this less active named Paul. Paul and his wife
live with their two autistic grandchildren. At first, he wasn't
interested in talking to us, but as we talked more about his
grandchildren, he became more open. I was so happy I could relate to
him somehow with my sister Annie. It was not a coincidence I happened
to stop there. It happens all the time with missionaries. They find
people who they can invite the spirit into their home somehow, it's so
great!

What really topped it all of was after church, we went finding and
looking up addresses to less actives. We were getting no success and
then, we met this great guy named Tony who lives like 5 minutes away
from the church. He was really open and told us we could stop by later
this week. So we are hoping and praying for new investigators,
investigators with a date, and a continuation to be worthy of these
blessings we have been given. Heavenly Father truly does see the work
we put in and the intent of our heart. That's truly something I have
seen on my mission. The blessings do come if we are submissive to His
will and do what He would want us to do. We are lifted heavenward as
we do so.

I'm excited for this month! Hopefully many good things come out of the
miracles we have seen so far, I pray all of you are doing great and
are happy. I'll talk to you all next week!

Sincerely,
Elder Cortes

Kutztown, PA

A Missionary in the Frozen Tundra

Hey everyone!

I cannot tell you the week that I have had. There was a lot going on
and at the same time, there wasn't. I'll explain what I mean by that
in a little bit.

But to start, I went on an exchange in Reading with my district
leader, Elder Jolley! He has actually been out as long as I have. The
great thing about Elder Jolley is that he is from Mesa! What's even
better is that he went to Mountain View for two years and Mesa High
for the other two. We just talked about how strange it was we never
knew each other in High School and that we had a lot in common. We did
a lot of street contact in Reading talking to many different kinds of
people. Elder Jolley gave me some good tips on finding people and we
had a great time all around.

On Wednesday, we had District Meeting! We usually have it on Thursday,
but we had a special Worldwide Missionary Broadcast on Wednesday as
well that they wanted all the Zones to be together for. It was so
great to learn how to be a better missionary from Elder Anderson,
Elder Bednar, Elder Oaks, and other General Authorities. It was the
first time they had a broadcast like this in over a decade! Needless
to say, a lot of instruction was given.

It was a little tough Thursday. Elder Maughan came down with a really
bad cold so we had to go in sometime in the late afternoon. But it's
okay! It was great to practice patience in these kind of situations.
I'm grateful for Elder Maughan, I was glad he didn't push himself over
his limits.

Friday we had interviews with President Anderson! Interviews are
always great with President. It's so nice to get that one on one time
with him and Sister Anderson. By the time your mission ends, I can
guarantee your mission President and his wife will become some of the
closest people you have in your life. That's exactly how I feel about
them. To hear their support and love for me means so much. We also
heard snow was going to come tonight! But we also had to go in early
as well because President Anderson wanted all the missionaries in by
6. That was when the snow hit....

Now, I've seen snow before, but I was so shocked throughout Saturday.
Everything was covered in snow and it was so deep! In my mind I was
thinking "how are we going to get out of this". We could not drive our
cars for the rest of the weekend and Elder Maughan was still sick so
we couldn't go outside. So all day Saturday it was pretty much a day
to make phone calls, study, and whatever else we could do to make the
day productive. It was a little different, just not being able to go
outside all day. I really just wanted to go out there and teach people
even though there probably wasn't any hope in getting to anyone. By
the end of the storm, we had found out we had gotten 31 inches of
snow. It was a record for the Kutztown area for the most snow at one
time!

Sunday was pretty much the same thing. The only difference was Elder
Maughan felt a little bit better, so we went to an older member's home
(The Thompsons) and helped shovel their snow. I had never shoveled
snow before. So it was a great to do that for the first time! We also
helped out 4 or 5 of his neighbors with their driveways. But overall,
it was great to experience a snow storm like this. It will be
difficult to go through the streets and icy roads. But we will be very
careful! I'm also hoping to see a lot of the work move forward in this
Winter weather. I hope all of you are nice and warm! It's pretty cold
over here. But you get used to it! I'm thankful the weather hasn't
been a major problem for me. It really helps me focus on doing
missionary work! Well, I hope all of you have a great last week of the
month! I'm definitely going to over here.

Elder Cortes

Kutztown, PA

Kutztown, My New Home

Hey everybody!

Well, needless to say, it has been more busy than usual this week for

me here in the mission. I left on Tuesday Morning to the mission

office to meet my new companion. I found out that I was going to be a

refininer (a refiner is a missionary's companion right after he has

been done being trained) which is pretty important. His name is Elder

Maughan (pronounced "Maun"). He is from Logan, Utah. Like I said

before, he finished his training so he has been out for 3 months. He's

very soft spoken, but a very hard worker. It's...a little hard to find

similarities but that's alright. There really isn't a difference when

we are doing the work.

Regarding the area, it turned into an Elder area a few months ago.

It's very rural. Farmland is all over and the cities in the area are

very spread out. Of course it has been a little tough adjusting

regarding the area, the ward, and other things that came with being

transferred, but I'm adjusting! For the most part, we have

investigators that really don't want to commit to make commitments

(reading the Book of Mormon, going to church, etc.). But we are going

to work through that and hopefully these people will come closer to

Jesus Christ.

We have already have had a lot of great experiences. One is that we

knocked on a woman's door named Juliana and she told us she was Roman

Catholic, but told us we could come back the next day. The next day

she told us she didn't want to be rude and slam the door in our face,

when we came again, she didn't think it might have been a good idea to

talk. But in the end, she let us in and we talked simply about her

family. One of the things she brought up was if we had any advice in

raising her four sons. It was a perfect way to tie it into 1st Nephi

(family with four sons in the wilderness) and give her a copy of the

Book of Mormon. In the end we set a return appointment in 2 weeks! It

was so great to see the spirit work in her heart. She went from "I

don't think this is a good idea" to "give me two weeks to read". It

showed me that the Lord truly does have a way to soften people's

hearts as we teach them.

For the most part, the Elders in the past have knocked on doors. It

hasn't been effective as you'd hope it would, but we will keep trying,

especially for me thinking of new ideas for missionary work. Remember

when I said all those weeks where it has been in the 60's and 70's?

Well, this whole week the highest it has been is mid 30's.... It's

been beanies, gloves, and layers of sweaters and coats every day. But

I'm excited for this next transfer. I'm excited for this year overall.

The Philadelphia Temple open house will be in late July hopefully so

there has been a lot of buzz about that throughout the mission and the

members.

The last thing is that I had the special privilege to bear my

testimony to the ward in Kutztown. It is a different feeling bearing

your testimony to a ward you just came into in less than a week. But I

was so grateful to bear it. It showed myself no matter where I am, the

Lord is with me and I am still who I am, a son of God. It is my hope

with all of you that you recognize that special identity you have

being a son or daughter of the most perfect and glorious being in the

universe. Such knowledge allows us to be strengthened in our lives as

we perform out labors here in mortality.

I hope you all have a great week and that you turn to the Lord in your

times of joy and sorrow. By doing so, your relationship with Him will

grow and never break.

Elder Cortes