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)

40-Degree Weather and First Week Training

Hey everybody! How are you doing??? It's been a little crazy and all

the time busy, but that's a good thing! There's nothing better for

missionaries than work.

So to start off, I had a pretty good last day with Elder Foster on

Monday. We ate food, said goodbye to members and investigators, and

got him packed to go to his new area (Which is Honesdale in the

Scranton Zone).

Tuesday was pretty early for us. We woke up at around 4:30 a.m. and

left at around 5:30 to go to transfers and pick up some missionaries

in Camden along the way. I needed to be there at around 7:45 to get a

trained on...well training. It was good, I learned a lot and got so

pumped to train after transfers. Transfers were so fun, I got to see

so many Elders and Sisters I came out with. 3 other missionaries I

came out with are also training and it was crazy to just look back and

see how all of us have progressed since we came out. But transfers

were unpredictable, like always. I am in another trio again! (I pretty

much came to the conclusion I'll just be in trios my entire

mission).The Elder I'm training is Elder Harris. He just turned 18

last month and is from Orderville, Utah. He's a big hunter. But he's

excited to work. My other companion is Elder Thomas, he is from Provo

Utah and a big music person. He has 5 weeks left, so I'm killing

another missionary, which is pretty rough because I hate saying

goodbyes. But I'm grateful for his knowledge, he's such a great Elder

and we talk so much about music, band, songs. It's so great! I'm

grateful for both of my companions, they have so much to contribute

and really are going to be essential in moving the work forward. Right

after we got home, we went and knocked on doors in our home town,

Riverside. It was great for Elder Harris to just get the real life

experience.

Thursday, I conducted my first District Meeting. It went really well

and there was a great discussion on the Book of Mormon. I was just so

glad the Lord blessed me in leading out an effective discussion. I was

so happy by the end of it. We also did service for Brother Lopata (the

member who will die if he quits smoking). He told us he appreciated

the work we did for him so much, he told us he would go to church the

first week of November. I was so glad by the end of moving furniture,

paperwork, and boxed for four hours to hear him say that. It truly was

a tender mercy.

Friday I conducted my first two baptismal interviews. It was to a mom

and her 13-year old daughter. It is so amazing to see these people who

are ready to make changes in their lives. The spirit truly was felt as

I asked them the baptismal interview questions and they answered

honestly and openly. The best thing was when they bore their testimony

and it was so powerful to see daughters of God who are completely

committed to the gospel. After that, I got a text from a sister

missionary in Medford who requested a blessing from us. I had the

special privilege to give this Sister a blessing and I was just so

grateful for the Lord to bless me with this chance to be over a

district and not only teach and learn from them, but to help them in

any way I could.

Elder Harris invited his first person to be baptized on Saturday! I

was so proud of him. He is just trying his hardest and I couldn't be

happier about it. Everything he does in teaching, inviting, and

studying reminds me when I first started in the field 3 months ago.

He's progressing very well and I know he will be a great missionary.

We also had the fall festival where it was pretty much a get to know

you for Elder Thomas and Elder Harris with the ward.

Carmen and Spencer are both doing well and are progressing toward

their baptisms in November! I'm excited for them and their spouses as

they strive for baptism. Also, we are going to Susquehanna to see the

Priesthood Restoration Site tomorrow! We only have a few hours for

P-Day today, but tomorrow is our real P-Day for this week. So I will

respond to individual letters tomorrow. Thanks everyone for your

thoughts and prayers. I pray you all have a great week!

Elder Cortes

                       (Leo & Elder Harris)

                        (Elder Thomas playing his Ukelele)

   (Elder Thomas teaching Leo to play Piano)

From Trainee to Trainer

Wow, it's been a crazy past few days everybody. I hope you all are

alright and are doing well, I'm doing great here and had a great last

week of being a golden! I'll get to the exciting stuff later, but to

just say right now, I have been called to be a District Leader and a

Trainer!

So to start off, on Tuesday, Elder Foster and I made the goal of

getting 18 lessons in during the week. We have been getting an average

of 12 or 13, which we thought was pretty decent, but President

Andersen told us the mission committed to 18 back before I came into

the mission. So on the way home, we just said to each other "let's get

18 lessons". By that point, we had 6. Now, numbers aren't the main

thing in the mission, but we knew we could do better. Also, we just

wanted to work like it was our last week together and that's exactly

what we did.

Wednesday, it was really tough because we tried contacting about 15

names of less actives and we were only able to touch base with one and

set a return appointment. But Elder Foster and I just kept being

diligent in the work and we were able to make Sister Theurer's night

(The woman I have my first blessing to). It was for about a half hour

and we haven't been able to see her for weeks since she has been in

and out of the hospital. But she told us it was so great to see us

again. She called us the next day in tears just saying it was a

blessing from God heat we came over. I was just so filled with the

Spirit at that point and just got me motivated to work that Thursday.

Thursday, it was a hard day of finding. We did teach a young mom in

about her young 20's, but she told us she wasn't interested. But after

a long day, we were able to get 2 more lessons by the end of the

night. We pretty much had the mindset of getting 18 lessons by the end

of the week.

Friday, is when it got interesting. We taught Carmen and Rodrigo on

keeping the Sabbath Day and we committed them to coming to church. The

members we commonly take with us to their home, the Cluffs, even

volunteered to drive them to church. It was so great! Carmen is

getting closer and closer to baptism, I can feel it. At the end of the

night we got transfer calls ( phone calls letting us know if we would

be leaving our areas or not). We found out Elder Foster would be

leaving Moorestown on Tuesday and I would stay. We were shocked, we

thought we might get 6 more weeks together, but that's not where the

Lord wants Elder Foster to be. By this point, we were just focused on

our goal. We wanted to reach this together for our last week.

The next morning, we both found out we would be district leaders. So

here I am, just blown away because I'm just finishing my training. I'm

still a little surprised by it. It's a good thing we did serviceable

dat Saturday! By this point we had 11 lessons, but we had faith we

would get 18. We prayed and Sunday was an absolute miracle.

Sunday was a great fast testimony meeting. Elder Foster and I bore our

testimonies and so many spiritual testimonies were given. Our Bishop

came for the first time in 3 weeks because he was in a motorcycle

accident. So it was a great day at church. But after, we were getting

lesson after lesson. Some of them weren't even planned. By the end of

the night, we taught 7 lessons! I was thanking Heavenly Father so much

Sunday night and was so happy that we got to this point.

That brings me to today, 3 hours ago, President Andersen called me an

extended the call to train a new missionary! I was floored. I start

training him tomorrow. I'm also going to be driving for the first time

in 3 months. You know you're moving up in the world when you start

driving a minivan. My first drive will be from Broomall Pennsylvania

to Moorestown New Jersey. It'll be something else. I'm grateful for

this opportunity to train and to be a District Leader. It is like what

Elder Stevenson said, "the Lord will qualify who he calls". I just got

done being trained, so I'm a little anxious, but I will keep what

Elder Stevenson said in my heart. I don't know what it's going to be

like the next transfer or two, but I'm ready! I can't wait to get my

4th companion  tomorrow! I pray all of you are well. I invite all of

you to set a goal or two, as you strive for it, you will be blessed.

You may not always reach that goal, but that is okay. The Lord is

waiting to see what you are going to do with your time on this Earth.

Elder Cortes

Meetings and Long, Long Days of Rain

Hey everyone!

Well, I'm really starting to see how cold it is getting here on the

East Coast. Everyday it's been below 60 degrees and the coldest it's

been was 40 degrees plus wind chill. But it's okay! It makes it that

much nicer when people let you in their house.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to meet with anyone we met last week

but it was still a good week nonetheless. On Wednesday I went to my

first Zone Conference! I saw missionaries from North Philadelphia,

Cherry Hill South, and Dover (Maryland Area). It was great to see a

lot of friends and President Andersen. It was for most of the day, but

really, it was worth it. We did all these trainings and practices on

being better with using the Book of Mormon. It was a lot of fun all

around!

Friday wasthe first day of raincoats and umbrellas and sweaters and

anything you can think of to stay warm. We went finding for 3-4 hours

in the pouring rain, just making sure our Books of Mormon wouldn't get

wet in the process. Now even though it was 45 degrees with wind chill,

I was okay. I never thought about going in or not knocking on doors. I

was just grateful the Lord gave me that blessing of not wanting to go

in and  just never really feeling cold. It probably was first in my

life, hopefully it's the same way in the snow.... Probably not! We

were also getting our investigators ready for General Conference! We

have an investigator named Spencer, who's getting baptized on November

1st. So we sat down with him and his fiancé, Rebecca, who is a member

and talked about General Conference and how conference really can

speak to you personally. They were so interested and excited when we

said if you have a question, you can get an answer to it through

conference. I'm excited for Spencer and to see him get baptized. He's

been taught for a year so he knows his stuff. They're also getting

married on Halloween so that's great! He'll be ready to go for the

next day. It was also the first day of raincoats and umbrellas and

sweaters and anything you can think of to stay warm. We went finding

for 3-4 hours in the pouring rain, just making sure our Books of

Mormon wouldn't get wet in the process. Now even though it was 45

degrees with wind chill, I was okay. I never thought about going in or

not knocking on doors. I was just grateful the Lord gave me that

blessing of not wanting to go in and  just never really feeling cold.

It probably was first in my life, hopefully it's the same way in the

snow.... Probably not!

Saturday and Sunday, of course, were General Conference. This was

probably the most spiritual conference I have had in my life. Every

talk, hymn, and testimony of the new apostles, was excellent. From

Elder Holland's talk on Mothers, to Elder Oaks' on the atonement, to

President Monson's powerful testimony yesterday, I felt the spirit. We

watched all of conference at the church, something I have never done.

I usually watched on my laptop back home or on the kitchen t.v. with

my Mom. But really, there was a different feeling watching it at the

chapel. It would usually be us and Brother and Sister Cleveland, and

one other family maybe. But to hear the Lord's servants talk was just

excellent. I'm grateful for the new apostles and their testimonies. I

already have a great love for them and can see how much they love the

Lord.

I know there wasn't a lot to talk about this week, but really my mind

has been focused on Conference. I invite all of you to watch the talks

again. Or to watch it as soon as you can if you haven't already. I

learn so much from watching a talk 2 or 3 times over. As long as your

heart is open, you will be able to feel the spirit hearing these men

and women talk. I testify President Monson is the true living prophet

of God. He is my friend, and I love and sustain him with all my heart.

Although I have not met him (and probably never will) I feel like I

know him so well. He is a great man, he showed that yesterday with the

incredible amount of courage he had to bear his testimony. May we all

follow the prophet and his counsel, along with his apostles and anyone

who speaks at General Conference. They are the mouthpiece of the Lord.

I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Cortes

  (Leo & Elder Foster with Bro. Dunn who translates Gen. Conference in 

                      Burmese with his wife below, every session)

The Windows of Heaven Unlocked

My dear family and friends,

As always, it's a pleasure to be writing to you all again. It's so

great to just have this chance to share all my experiences. Let me

just say, there's never a dull day in the mission. There's always

something I learn, it's just so great!

We started the week pretty strong teaching Brother Kpalie (who has

come to church for 3 weeks in a row!) and Brother Zayzay (Brother

Kpalie's roommate who is also less active. He is planning to come back

to church in October). We taught on the atonement and it was so great

to hear their personal testimonies on Christ's ultimate sacrifice to

us. That's probably the best thing about teaching less actives, they

have a knowledge of these things. As we fellowship and help them with

their struggles, they start to make incredible changes in their lives.

Tuesday and Wednesday however, were very difficult. We were only able

to schedule lessons around nighttime, so for two days,  we did heavy

finding....for many hours. Both of those days we weren't able to set

any return appointments, or find anyone interested for that matter. It

was a lot of door slams and "no thanks, we're good". We also found out

Elder Scott had passed away Tuesday (which was very sad for me, I have

a great love for Elder Scott). By the end of the second night, I was a

little discouraged, Elder Foster was frustrated, and we were both

exhausted. But we knew better. We knew the Lord would bless us for our

efforts. And He did.

The following day, after District Meeting, we doubled in Medford and

did some work in the Medford Sisters' area. The first place we stop

at, was a town called Mt. Holly. While we're walking, a guy about our

age comes out of his house to take his dog for a walk. He asked what

we were doing, and I just knew this was what we were waiting for. His

name was Don Cortes, and we walked with him for about twenty minutes

talking about who we were and the Restoration. He was listening so

intently and was so solid. We gave him Medford's church address and

their number and he said he would definitely talk to them. Immediately

after we were done talking with Don, we stop by a woman named Naomi

who is about to get in her car with her three year old son. We had a

great conversation with her and found out she was looking for a church

for her and her son! We gave her the Medford Sisters' number and she

said she would definitely call them. We find out later that night the

Sisters set up return appointments with both Don and Naomi! I was so

happy, it didn't even matter that I wasn't going to teach them. I was

just so happy I could do this service for them, the sisters, and the

Lord. But it didn't stop there. A few hours later, after we drove back

to Moorestown, we went to go contact a less active at an apartment

complex Bishop Poaletti gave us. No one was home, so we decided " hey,

we are doing pretty well with finding today, let's do some finding

here at these apartments". By the end of it, we had three return

appointments for this week! There was even one woman who opened her

door completely and said I'm ready to listen (which was so hard to

hear, because we wanted to teach her then and there, but there was no

guy in the house). At then end of the night Elder Foster and I just

could not believe all that we had done, in one day. I was just shocked

for the rest of the day. But I went to bed with a huge smile on my

face.

Friday, oh boy. The Zone Leaders came from the Mission Office to our

house to give us a new phone. But they also picked up some special

things from Arizona. Let me say the blessing that came from home was

just so great. What I mean by that is, I received a huge care package

from my Mom. My first package in the field. I also received a very

nice roll of paper and some pleasant cards from the 18th ward. I just

felt so much love, the spirit was there. I was so happy for the rest

of the day, nothing could bring me down. Elder Foster and the Zone

Leaders couldn't believe all the stuff I had, they told me I must be

pretty loved back home. I just couldn't stop smiling. Which brings me

to this point, thank you, to everyone who has wrote, emailed, sent

packaging, prayed, anything and everything. Especially to my Mom and

the 18th ward on Friday. I feel the love so strong. Even though

everyone is so far away, nothing has changed. Thank you for the

endless support while I am out here serving the Lord. It is a great

blessing to have loved ones behind you every step of the way.

Saturday, you would not believe how many people were talking about the

Pope. We did contacting for a few hours on Saturday and there were

people talking about it, had it on t.v., everything. But Elder Foster

and I were determined. By the end of our finding, we were able to get

two more return appointments for this week. I was so glad with how

things were going. There was even a woman who opened her door, said

the Pope was on t.v., and slammed the door. It didn't bother us one

bit. Elder Foster and I looked at each other and smiled, we knew we

were on the Lord's errand, and we have already seen that countless of

times. Even our investigator, Bob Jameson had the Pope on t.v. during

our lesson that night. We were still able to give him a great

spiritual message regardless. All I could really think of when the

Pope was brought up was President Monson, my friend. My brother who I

learn from every time he speaks. He truly is a prophet called of God

called in these Latter Days.

Sunday was a great close to the week. We were able to teach four

lessons in one day. The most we usually get is 2-3. So just having the

opportunity to go and teach so many different people was great. The

best was when we taught Carmen and Rodrigo, they weren't able to make

it to church, but by the end of the lesson, they committed to come

next week. They told us how much they wanted to quit smoking and we

gave them both a blessing. It just felt so calm in their house, it was

such a great way to end the week.

My beloved brothers and sisters, never lose faith in the Lord's plan

for all of us. Never feel He doesn't hear our prayers or the intent of

our hearts. We must remember it is on His time, not ours. Patience and

faith are crucial to receiving these blessings. At it says in Ether

12,  " ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith".

Sometimes a trial of your faith doesn't mean adversity, it can also be

what are you going to with the faith you have. How much of it are you

willing to act upon? When all these blessings came, it was after I had

given so much action to my faith. It felt like after I did everything

in my power to move the work forward, the Lord gave a little here and

a little there. Eventually, the blessings just poured. Elder Holland

said "Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come

until heaven. But as we embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they will

come". I add my witness to this Apostle. That our Father in Heaven,

the Supreme Being of the World, wants all of us to be happy. He wants

us to grow and to become like Him. Sister Andersen told me a week in

the mission to trust in His plan. That's all I have done and I

continue to see the blessings from it. It is my humble prayer you do

the same.

With great love,

Elder Cortes


             (Drawing from 11 year old Sis. Kaufman, 
         where they have dinner every Thursday evening)

Almost the End of September

Wow, it's almost the end of September??? Let me tell you all, that

when everyone says a mission flies by, it is so true. I guess I get so

ingrained in the work, I really don't pay attention to time.

But I'm so glad I get this time to write to you guys! Because you're

all important to me and I really do care how you all are and it's the

same Sent from my iPad

It was a little tough this week, we heard some rough news from a few

of our investigators. Just different things with serious sickness,

death in the family, different things that really do break your heart.

That's what is really tough on me, is that these are people I care

about, not just an investigator. One thing I never really imagined was

the true fellowship I have with the people, the ward and those I

taught. It is such a blessing for me to have so much love for so many

different people, it really does make you think how Christ loves all

of us. Thankfully, they're all doing better and we have been able to

help out. With Norma, she told us how grateful she was we stopped by

twice to see her, even though she was struggling. She told us how she

felt stronger spiritually when we were around, it was just so special

to hear that. It just makes you want to work even more, even though

it's 95 degrees outside, and the sun is in your face. Those things

just go away, the work just seems easier.

One of the things that have really stuck out to me is teaching Carmen.

Angela and Emmanuel moved to North Philadelphia, so it's Rodrigo and

Carmen now. Carmen has told us how much she wants to quit smoking and

how she wants to change for her kids. It's just been great to talk

about the atonement and how she really can change through it. We're

teaching her the Word of Wisdom this week so I'm pretty excited for

that!

We also had an exchange with the Zone Leaders on Wednesday. I stayed

in Moorestown and Elder Riley came from Cherry Hill. I was a little

anxious because this was the first exchange where it was just me

taking over the area (in the trio, two Elders stayed in the area). But

everything worked out perfectly, we taught all three lessons we

planned on and they all went so well, Elder Riley was so great to work

with too. I learned so much from him in one day, it was such a great

experience.

Thursday, we went into Sewell and another part of Cherry Hill to do

some work for the Sisters since we don't do exchanges with them. It

was a long day all around, but it was so great. We were able to give a

sister a blessing after district meeting and I was just so happy to

give that service for her, to use that special Priesthood Power I have

been given.

Saturday, let me tell you, it was pretty busy. We started the day off

by doing a couple hours of yard work for Brother Madueke trimming his

bushes, avoiding bees, just a lot work. Then, we went to Bob and

Joanna's wedding reception (they we're sealed in the Salt Lake Temple

3 weeks ago) and it's so special for me to be received by the ward. I

mean, I'm not afraid to call the Moorestown Ward a second home ward.

I've been here a little over two months and they treat me here like

I've lived here my whole life.

Sunday though,was probably the icing on the cake for me. We started

teaching a less active named David Garduno on Sunday night. David has

lost part of his foot and is extremely diabetic. He asked us last week

if we could bring him the sacrament and we got permission to. Last

night was the first week of us giving him the sacrament, and let me

just say, blessing the sacrament is probably one of my favorite things

to ever do. Everyone in the 18th Ward knows that. But it's been about

3 months since I have blessed it and it was just a comforting feeling.

This might be a little....out of the ordinary. But it felt like there

was a hand on my shoulder. I just felt so much peace and joy in my

heart. Even though I was in a little care center room, it felt as

though I was inside a chapel. It was completely silent, it was

peaceful. It goes to show, anywhere you are, you can feel the Spirit

of the Lord. Just keep your ears and your heart open for it. I promise

it is there, you can receive it if you are willing to let the Lord in.

Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Cortes

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