Leaving Woodstown on a Good Note

Hey everybody!

It's been such a busy week to end the transfer, but like always, it's
a pleasure to be in the service to the Lord. Like the title of this
week's update says, I am leaving Woodstown which was pretty shocking
for me. But you know, I went out of New Jersey with a bang which I'm
so thankful for.

It was really busy Tuesday as we had a few lessons, had coordination
meeting, and had a baptismal interview for Debra! It was a blast
because we had dinner with our ward mission leader and the Zone
Leaders which was such a fun time. After that, my Zone Leader, Elder
Uriostegui, interviewed Debra at the church and she passed! So we were
excited to get everything ready for her baptism.

Wednesday, we taught Krista, who we hadn't seen in a week, but it was
just between me being sick and her with a work schedule thing. But it
was so great this week, we taught her 3 times this week on the first 3
discussions and she is understanding it all very clearly. She is also
keeping commitments on reading and prayer. She's been marking in the
Book of Mormon, so you can just tell she is set on having the Gospel
being a part of her life. She has a date for the 28th and is
progressing very well towards that. We also had dinner at the
Whitfield home which was a blast. Debra made pork chops and red velvet
cake for all of us and Brother and Sister Whitfield. It was definitely
a fun time as we kept preparing her for her baptism.

Thursday was a pretty crazy. At Zone Training we were doing trainings
in preparation for using Facebook as missionaries. It was pretty much
how to keep your purpose in mind as you always use Facebook. It has a
lot of really cool safeguards on following the spirit, being
disciplined, being united as a companionship, and always keeping the
missionary purpose in your heart. There are actually a lot of really
great ideas in using Facebook. The best part is that you know how to
use it effectively, especially in missionary work. Back home, it was
easy for me to just mindlessly scroll through my news feed, now I'm
going to be productive on it, especially in missionary work, which is
so exciting. It'll be cool to see when I get back home how my use of
social media will change compared to when I used it before my mission.
After Zone Training, we went on an exchange with Vineland because I
needed to do a baptismal interview for them the following morning. It
was a blast being with Elder Beach again in Vineland. We found a
pretty good amount of new investigators and taught pretty powerful
lessons in unity. That's the best when you just click with members of
your District and the Spirit and the message we share don't skip a
beat. It was the best exchange of the transfer I have to say because
Elder Beach and I had some pretty heartfelt moments and it was just
great. He's actually going to be the District Leader over here which
I'm pretty excited for him and the District in general. All of us have
been working hard here in the Cherry Hill South Zone which is awesome.

Friday, I conducted a baptismal interview for the Vineland's
investigator Kevin and he passed! Later on we swapped back and taught
Debra! We were also looking for baptismal clothes and usually you wear
the thin jumpsuit, but they didn't have any of those kind of
jumpsuits. So Debra wore for her baptism a thicker material. But it
was fun we got her program all set and the baptismal clothes as well.

Saturday was pretty standard until the end of the night. After we
taught Debra and a few less actives, we went home and waited for
transfer calls. It was strange because we didn't get them until 10:15
at night but when we got them, we found out Elder Brewer was staying
in Woodstown and I was leaving which was the surprise for the Zone.
Mostly everyone stayed, it was just two other Elders leaving.

So with that in mind, we went to church and let everyone know I was
leaving. It was pretty tough because I have made such great friends
here in Woodstown. Yesterday was so bittersweet. It had to be the most
bittersweet day of my mission. It was a pretty powerful testimony
meeting and the baptism was fantastic. I'm grateful I was there that
Sunday because Sister Whitfield bore her testimony for the first time
ever being a member of the church for 4 years. Her and Brother can
Whitfield bore their testimony and were just saying how much they
loved Debra and she was sitting next to us and was crying because the
Spirit pretty much got her so strong. At the end of the meeting, the
three of them hugged and it was probably the strongest feeling of love
I have seen with that family. Brother and Sister Whitfield are
currently trying to be reactivated, quit smoking, and be sealed in the
temple in October. So to see the progress with all three of them is
amazing. At the baptism. it was so special. So many people came and
such heartfelt talks were given for Debra. Brother Whitfield gave his
testimony and a prayer and he couldn't stop crying. It was amazing
because Brother Whitfield is a big tough guy who grew up on the
streets. But for him seeing his sister baptized just touched his heart
so strong, it really showed me in person another witness of the
truthfulness of the Gospel. It was great, I baptized Debra and I
didn't mess up with it being my first person I baptized. Later that
night, she said she felt a lot better when she went out of the water.
It was a great service. We found out from our Bishop it was the
first baptism Woodstown had in 2 years! So it was a great day for the
Whitfields, the ward, and just everyone pretty much. To end the night,
I got a call from President Randall and he asked if I would accept the
assignment of being a Zone Leader! So I'm pretty excited with good
things to come working with a new Zone. I'm very grateful for the Lord
and what great miracles I saw in Woodstown. It's hard to say goodbye
to this area, an area that a few missionaries considered to be "dead".
I'm just grateful for the gems I found here, I know that this has
prepared me for my next area and my next assignment. What's comforting
is that no matter what, the Gospel is still true wherever I go. I
can't wait for tomorrow with my new companion and new area! I hope all
of you have a great week!


Elder Cortes

Woodstown, NJ

Miracles and Sicknesses

Hey friends and family!

I hope all of you have been doing well. It's been a slow week to be
honest. I came down with a pretty bad cold that left me in bed for 3
days. Good stuff happened though! And great stuff is going to happen
this week as well.

Tuesday was just full of miracles left and right. We were walking in
Pennsville (city right next to the Delaware River) and it was a pretty
hot day. So what happened was a lady pulled up in front of us to help
out her neighbor whose electric scooter pretty much died in some park.
So we walked to this park and put the scooter in her truck and she
gave us a giant cooler of waterbottles in her front yard (she had to
run errands). So we drank a few of those which was really refreshing.
Then when we were walking again, Elder Brewer started to feel pretty
bad from the heat and so we stop in front of some abandoned store and
a registered nurse comes walking around the corner and tells us she
had the impression to stop and go to the corner. So she checks out
Elder Brewer to make sure he's okay and gives him some water before
she leaves. It was a definite witness to me that God does look out for
His missionaries. It was really comforting to me personally.

Thursday we had our final District Meeting of the transfer which went
really well! After that, I went on an exchange in Vineland with Elder
Dean. He's been out 3 months longer than me and he's got a good heart.
It's pretty funny, we actually got caught in a rainstorm while we were
walking. It just came out of nowhere and we were drenched by the time
we came back to the apartment. So after a few showers and a change of
clothes later, we went back out in the storm (with umbrellas) and
travelled throughout Vineland visiting a few people. But by the end of
the night, that's when the cold started to hit and I just shut down.

The next few days were tough, we swapped back Friday and I was in bed
for the next few days. It  drove me crazy I couldn't go out and work,
but I was just praying so hard to just get pass this sickness. It's
been good because I have gotten better little by little up to now.
It'll be a good week to bounce back to though! It's the last week of
the transfer and we have a baptism lined up for this Sunday for
Deborah! We can't wait for Sunday! I apologize I didn't write a lot,
it happens when you're out of commission for a few days. I hope you
all have a great week!

Elder Cortes

Woodstown, NJ

Temple Open House = History in the Making

Hey everybody!

It's been such a fun week being able to have a lot of really neat
experience and to close it out with the temple open house. It was
definitely one of my best weeks in the mission for sure.

It all started when I went to in another Spanish area with my Zone
Leader, Elder Morgan, over in Vineland. It's really neat because Elder
Morgan was a French Horn major at BYU so we were able to click pretty
quickly. It was great because we taught a Spanglish lesson with this
woman named Rosario. We committed her to baptism which was great!
There was also a lot of Spanish and I could actually understand a good
amount I just couldn't speak it well. It was pretty neat because Elder
Morgan said my understanding was actually pretty good which was a
shock for me. But overall, it was a blast.

Thursday we went on another exchange with the English Vineland Elders
and Elder Beach came to Woodstown with me. It was great because we
were teaching lessons and having such a fun time together. We had a
miracle find with a couple from Chicago named Bobby and Ammie? At
first the Ammie didn't seem too interested, but then by the end of the
lesson she broke down in tears. It was such a spiritual experience. I
loved it so much. Elder Beach is such a great Elder.

Probably the biggest highlight was the temple open house. We went with
a member couple named the Coates and we picked up Deborah. Our
investigator Elizabeth couldn't make it but Stacey and Jeremy met us
up there! It was amazing, the Stake Center, the Temple, and the
Visitor's center were great. Being inside the celestial room felt like
absolute peace from the Lord. That had to be my favorite part of the
temple. But the baptistery looked great and the sealing room was on
the fourth floor of the temple which just looked absolutely pure
inside both. Deborah and Stacey both loved it. I can't describe all
the love and joy I felt being at the temple. I saw so many old
companions and missionaries I served around. It felt like an absolute
blessing to be there. The only thing that was missing was my family.
If they were there it would have felt like heaven on earth. I am so
thankful to be here in my mission at such a special time. I'm grateful
always to be here. It's an exciting time as August rolls along!

I hope all of you may feel the peace of the temple as I did. Truly,
that is how all of us may feel the fullness of God's love. I hope all
of you have a great week with the temple in mind!


Elder Cortes

Woodstown, NJ