One Last Adventure in Doylestown

Hey everybody!

There isn't a lot to update on since Friday but I do have exciting news regarding my last transfer. We found out Saturday night Elder Morton will be leaving for Maryland and I will be finishing my mission in Doylestown. What's even more exciting is that I received a call from President Randall last night and he extended the invitation to train for my last transfer!

I am so excited to finish my mission with this opportunity to be with another brand new missionary. I feel so humbled with how much trust the Lord has in me to start this new missionary on the right foot for his mission. 

I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for me these next 6 weeks!

Elder Cortes

Doylestown, PA

PPM Forever

Hey everyone!

It's been such a blast this past week and 5/7's. Miracles have been wrought and the work continues to move forward in the Doylestown area. 

Last week, we found this girl in her mid 20's named Daisy. She's one of the most bubbly people I have ever met. She's very kind and willing to listen. We actually were knocking doors when we found her and she was so willing to hear us out. So we scheduled an appointment with her later in the week and took a member from the Souderton ward to come teaching with us. The reason being is that this member was Aaron Nelson, he left on his mission just this Tuesday and wanted to go out with the Elders so bad (Souderton only has Sisters). We had appointments schedule but then they would fall through, except for Daisy. It was a solid Restoration lesson where Aaron just bore a very tear filled testimony on the truthfulness of the Restoration through the prophet Joseph Smith. It was a tender moment for myself knowing I was in his shoes just almost 2 years ago. 

We have also been working with Skylar very well. We taught her family history and temple Work for her to be prepared as she does baptisms for the first time ever! We are so proud of her and the commitment she has to the Lord, really she is an inspiration.

Meanwhile, Elder Morton and I took our temple trip today. It was such a blessing to go and feel absolute peace and respite from the Lord. What was even more special was that my mtc companion Elder Maynard was also at that session with his companion so it was a blast to be able to enjoy the session together. At the end of the session we sat down together to talk briefly about the mission. We just can't believe how fast time has flown. It just felt so good to talk to someone else who knows where I'm at. It was a really tender time for the both of us in the Holy House of the Lord. We also had time to check out some sights since the city is now part of the Zone. From Reading Terminal Market to the Rocky Steps to Chinatown. We had a blast, we didn't see everything but there will be another opportunity soon enough!

I've really thought about the mission this past week. My buddy Michael finished yesterday and my former companion and dear friend Elder Neilson finishes next week. Then it'll be my turn soon enough. With this transfer coming to a close and my final one just around the corner, it really makes me appreciate how blessed I am to be a missionary of the Lord. Representing His Gospel and Mission here in Philadelphia. I'm grateful for the time I've had to serve and for this next 6 weeks coming up. No doubt I will push myself to the max, all the way until they out me on that plane home. I love this work, there's absolutely nothing like it. I'll be sure to keep you all posted!

Elder Cortes

Doylestown, PA

Skylar

Hey everyone! 

It's been such a great week. This weekend had to have been some of the best days of my mission. There's a lot that can be said, but I want to focus on Skylar, our investigator.

We were privileged to see Skylar baptized on Saturday and confirmed the next day. I can't even tell you how strong the Spirit was in both of those instances. I couldn't stop smiling when she and Elder Morton entered into the font. She was happy the entire weekend, she knew what she was doing was absolutely right. It was a blessing to be the one to confirm her and give her the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I knew in my heart, that we accomplished what the Lord called us to do in this present time of our missions. It's been such an amazing blessing to work with Skylar these past 4 months. Her testimony has grown time and time again and in turn, she was fully prepared to enter into a covenant with the Lord this weekend. We have also seen ourselves grow in the Gospel as we have worked alongside her, we have repented and increased in our faith in Christ that this miracle was able to happen. I'm grateful, that after months of prayers, Skylar, and all of us were able to celebrate this special occasion.

I also had the special opportunity to talk to my family yesterday for Mother's Day! It was my fourth and final call of my mission and it was such a blessing to talk to them about the mission and about life back home. I have to say after the call, I just had gratitude in my heart for my family. I have such loving and supportive parents as well as such great siblings that will always forever be my closest friends. I'm grateful not only for the Gospel, but that I can see so many blessings that come to our family because of it. I don't know what I would do without my family, they mean the world to me. I'm especially grateful for my Mom during this Mother's Day as I am even year and every day. I have learned so much from her example and really started learning the importance Gospel at a young age because it was important to her. She has always been there to love and support me in every aspect of my life. She always knows what is best, even if there have been times here and there I thought I knew what was best. But she is always so willing to keep helping me out. She is the most compassionate person I have met and blessed to have in my life. I can never express enough gratitude to my Father in Heaven for being blessed to be one of my Mom's kids. I can say, like Nephi, I was born of goodly parents.

With these two events with Mother's Day and Skylar's baptism being connected this weekend. It makes me so happy and blessed to have such great people in my life, both on the mission, and back home. It really makes you think how well did we all really know each other before this life? I believe it was so much so, that the Lord put us in paths where we would come across those we love and who have changed our lives, whether that is family, friends, or people we are blessed to meet in the service of the Lord. I'm grateful I don't have to go through this mortal journey alone. I'm grateful for the Supreme Creator, who is God the Father, and His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. They have helped me change to become a better person my 20 years on this earth. I'm thankful for the Holy Ghost and gift it is to have Him as our constant companion. Truly, all of us are blessed with support from both sides of the veil.

Elder Cortes

Doylestown, PA

Wedding #4

Hey everybody!

It's been such an amazing week here in the Lord's service. I can't even describe how it feels to know God just blesses you everyday while you're out on a mission. I'll forever be grateful for this time in the Lord's service. 

We started off the week by going on back to back exchanges Tuesday-Thursday. My first exchange I went with Elder Huber in the north part of Pennypack. It was our fourth exchange together and we had such a blast. We already knew how to work together and everything flowed so smoothly. We helped out one of their Recent Converts who was going through a lot of rough times. After we prayed in faith and shared an inspiring message, it was like her whole attitude changed. That's one of the biggest blessings I have seen in others, their whole attitude just changes into a more positive light. The Gospel certainly has power to calm the troubled storms of life.

The next day I went to the south side of Pennypack with my good friend Elder Libberton. Now, Elder Libberton came out with me, he's also served in Exeter and Moorestown. So, needless to say, we had plenty to talk about. Their area doesn't have a car, so they ride SEPTA, just because everything is so condensed and it's a little dangerous to be driving in the South Pennypack. But it was a pretty great exchange, we walked 10 miles and taught a good number of pretty humble people. One of the people was a woman named Denise who wants to be baptized, quit smoking, change her life around really. She got pretty excited as we taught the Restoration to her, of course it was the Spirit working through the Light of Christ she has. 

So after the exchange we swapped back late in the evening and had a lesson with Skylar to end the night. It was so awesome because we were going to set her with a baptismal date and she wants to be baptized the next Saturday! It was so amazing, Elder Morton and I couldn't believe it. We knew she wanted to be baptized we just got even more excited when she said how soon. So it's been a time of getting her clothes, scheduling the interview, and prep for the program. She asked if Elder Morton could baptize her and I could confirm her. It's going to be such a special time. This is Elder Morton's first baptism he's seen out in the field and I am beyond excited for Skylar. The Lord has blessed us beyond measure with the opportunity to work with such a special daughter of His.

Also on that high note, we went to a wedding for one of our less actives named Sister Bowes. She's been with her boyfriend Paul for 5 years and they tied the knot Saturday. It's pretty neat this is the fourth wedding I've been to on my mission. Apparently it's a lot because the other missionaries I've asked in the past week most say they've never been to a wedding on their mission. But it's always a sweet reminder of the importance of family when I go to a wedding. It makes me so thankful in my heart I have such a loving family now that I wouldn't trade for the world. 

We have a good amount coming up this week. Zone Conference, Skylar's baptism, and my 

last call home. It's going to be such a great week like every week in the service of the Lord. There's nothing like the mission that's for sure!

Elder Cortes

Doylestown, PA

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Hey everyone! 

It's been a pretty good week for us here in Doylestown. I've learned a lot from what we had to endure from an unfortunate setback, but we keep going.

So Elder Morton and I have had to stay in for 2-3 hours a day because Elder Morton has been experiencing some pain in his leg.  So the mission nurse told us we could go out but when it starts to hurt to go back in and rest the leg. It's been humbling for me just in the fact at the beginning I was a little frustrated. Not at Elder Morton, but in the circumstances we were in. But as I studied and prayed to find some sort of counsel from the Lord it just came to me that Elder Morton and I needed to face this together. So it's been good to be able develop patience and faith regarding this situation. Because I don't think I'm an impatient person, but I feel like the Lord helps us develop Christlike attributes in different aspects in life. A medical situation is different than working with someone you may not get along with when developing patience. It's a blessing to really think how the Lord helps us develop in our individual lives.

Even though we have had our limitations, the Lord still blesses us with opportunities to teach. So in that Spanish development I was talking about in my last email, we went back and we found this really cool young guy. His name is Chris and he looks like he's in his young 20's. He is a recovering addict and just told us flat out he wants to come closer to Christ. So without hesitation, we taught and personalized the Restoration to his situation. It was really cool to see the sincere desire he has to change. We even had a kneeling prayer with him that he offered! We'll see where it goes from here, but I just felt so full of the Spirit when we were walking back in the car. I can't tell you in words what a blessing it is to teach and bear my personal witness of the Restoration. As I've reflected back on my mission, the Restoration has always been such a huge part of what I teach and experience. From the Book of Mormon to his last great dispensation, I know the words I speak of this message is absolute truth. 

We also started teaching a new convert that we received from the Philly YSA Elders. Long story short, the Assistants would drive from the city to Doylestown once a week to teach Tom Ashton and Tom would go to the YSA ward. But the Assistants got doubled out of the YSA so Zone Leaders took their spot instead. But since they have no car, we were referred to teach Tom. He's such a great guy to work with. He was baptized last month, holds the Aaronic Priesthood, and went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. It's been a great experience for him so we are no doubt excited to be working with him. Teaching people my age has always been pretty fun. 

Skylar has also been doing very well. We are hoping to baptize her by the end of this month so that way she can go to the youth temple trip at the end of May. It's been a great experience going out and getting to work, especially in the Springtime weather. It'll be an exciting week this week as well! Two exchanges in Pennypack and interviews with President Randall. Believe me, you can't find anything else like the mission.

Elder Cortes

Doylestown, PA

Standing Steadfast in the Kingdom of God

Hey everybody!

It's been such a good week here in Doylestown. A lot of blessings came our way this first week of the transfer. It was a reminder for me how mindful God really is with our situations. There's a lot on His plate to be mindful of, but at the same time He is so aware of our current situation. It's such a blessing!

Well, to start of the week, it was pretty slow the first couple of days. After we played soccer on P-day, Elder Morton had some pain in his leg. In fact, it's been around with him the past few weeks but not as aggravating as it was this week. So we talked to the mission nurse and it turns out Elder Morton may have tendinitis. So there have been times we've had to stop or even stay in because the leg was bothering him. But it was a good experience, to really learn from the Lord on the importance of patience. I know I don't have a ton of time left, but if the Lord wants us to be in here and there, I need to accept His will.

But there were still some cool experience we had in the week. For one, we had our first District Meeting with the new District. So the background about this is our Zone combined with another Zone to make a huge Philadelphia Zone. So the Philadelphia North Zone turned into the Doylestown District. So I was asked to be over 4 companionships this transfer, the biggest District I have ever been a part of. But it was pretty fun for a first District Meeting! With 9 missionaries, it's definitely not difficult to have participation going on. I have such incredible missionaries to work with in the District. Needless to say, I'm beyond excited for this transfer to work with this District. 

We also had this cool experience going to this ghetto Hispanic barrio with apartments all over. It was pretty shocking for both of us because Doylestown is a very wealthy area for the most part. So it was pretty neat to find this place of humble circumstances. I was able to use my limited Spanish for the first time in a while, since the good old days in Reading! But it was definitely a lot of fun talking to Hispanics, I haven't typically work with a lot on my mission, but they are such kind people.

The best part of the week was helping out Eugene. We did service for him for a couple hours cleaning up his backyard because he wants to start some sort of garden. So from getting rid of weeds, to moving giant pieces of stone, we got a good start on his backyard. It's always such a blessing to help Eugene. I always feel like Ammon who gave such loving service to King Lamoni when we serve Eugene. He really is doing well. He hasn't gotten to the point committing to baptism yet, but it's so amazing to see how much solid fellowship he's getting from the ward.

We didn't meet with Skylar this week because of conflicts with the families' schedule, but next time we are seeing her we will most likely have a date set for her baptism. It's looking like it's going to be a great transfer ahead!

Elder Cortes

Doylestown, PA

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

Hey everybody!

It's been a miracle of a week to end the transfer. Many blessings have come our way as we have labored with all that we have to give. Without a doubt, this Holy Week will be one I have to remember for a long time. 

It all started with a pretty good Zone Training. A lot was said regarding the Book of Mormon and how we should use it, which is one of my favorite topics to talk about in missionary work. But the part that really stuck out to me was that for a training, our Zone Leaders read our call letter we all received when we got our mission calls. It was a time to really reflect when I got my call during Spring Break two years ago and my whole family dropped what they were doing and we all came together to see where I would go for the next two years. I remember the Spirit just testifying to me this is exactly where I needed to go to serve my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. It was cool because the whole Zone seemed to have a revitalizing Spirit to go out and do the work. Little did we know in Doylestown much was going to come to pass.

Wednesday evening we met with one of our newer investigators, Guadeloupe. She is actually from Chihuahua, Mexico which was pretty neat to talk about since my Dad is from Mitchoacan. But her big struggle is she works a real heavy amount, especially on Sunday. We also just gave her a Spanish copy of the Book of Mormon. So it was pretty cool to go a little more in depth on what the Book of Mormon is about. But the best part is that her 17 year old daughter, Jocelyn, came right as we were starting to explain the Book of Mormon. So as we got to know Jocelyn a little bit, she expressed she wanted more faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ. You could tell Guadeloupe really appreciated us taking the time to see where her daughter was at. But they both have copies of the Book of Mormon so we invited them to read the first two chapters and to go from there. It was definitely a miracle how it all came about, we had no member available until the last minute someone got back to us which the Lord made it all happen. It was amazing. 

We also had a special experience giving a blessing this week. We were at a family named the Dalby's for dinner and Brother Dalby has been pretty sick. When I mean pretty sick, like something is wrong with his body. I don't know all the details, but I know his liver has been failing and he has been bedridden for so long, his eyes looked yellow actually. The doctors still have no idea what is wrong with him. Plus, it couldn't have come at a worse time, Brother Dalby just got called to be in the Stake Presidency just before he got sick. So a lot has been going on, and he had already received a blessing. But he said he'd feel great if we, the Elders, gave him one. So I was asked to give it and honestly, I felt a little inadequate. Me, a 20 year old Elder, giving a member of the Stake Presidency a blessing of comfort. But all those thoughts fled my mind as I put my hands on President Dalby's head. It was such a powerful blessing, I just knew it wasn't me giving the blessing, but the Lord. It reminded me that I act as the Lord's representative and He will always speak through me. President Dalby gave me such a big hug after it and I just felt God's love so strong in that moment. We didn't say anything the car ride home, it was such a sacred and special experience for Elder Morton and myself. 

We also met with Skylar Saturday night. Now, after our last lesson with her, we were a little stumped on knowing exactly what we should teach her next. However, through a lot of prayer, planning, and study, we felt that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what she needed next. Boy, I have to tell you, everything went exactly the way it was supposed to. Looking back, you could tell the Lord was guiding the entire lesson. It was one of the best lessons I ever had as a missionary. The peak point of it all was when we read Alma 7:14-16, as Alma testifies of baptism. The Spirit touched her so strongly in verse 15

"Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism."

So at that point, we invited her to be baptized and she accepted!!! I couldn't tell you how much I appreciated the Spirit in that room in that very moment she accepted. Words just can't describe it. But after working so hard with Skylar the past 3 months and seeing such amazing growth with her, it was a testimony to me all that work paid off. We haven't set a specific date yet, she needs to talk to her parents with logistical things, but it'll most likely be this transfer. God is a God of miracles, that is for sure!

So after that, we had Easter the next day and it was such a blessed day. It was a nice 80 degrees, the sun was shining, there was a nice breeze, it was all you would want for a day to remember the Lord's mission. We actually had a miracle finding a family which was amazing! We tracted into this guy named Julio a few days before and he told us to come back Sunday when his wife would be home. So we went back and he, his wife Missy, and their two young daughters were all interested in what we did as missionaries. So we taught parts of the Restoration and gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon and we'll be seeing them in two weeks! It was a miracle finding such an incredible family. On Easter Sunday to make it that much better! Overall, one of the best weeks of my mission. I'm thankful for the Savior and His Atonement. His mission, gives me reason and purpose to live. It is no question in my mind I will live with my family forever, not just in this life. I know with my mistakes and faults, they will be cleansed every time if I come to Jesus with a broken heart and a contrite Spirit. One day, when it's all said and done, I will live with my Father in Heaven again and my Elder Brother, Jesus Christ. All wrongs will be right, Satan's influence will be no more, and there will be nothing but light and happiness that radiates through us all because of the Good Shepard, The Prince of Peace, and to me most importantly, my friend Jesus Christ. I'm thankful for His Gospel and the opportunity and privilege it is to share it with the world. It truly has changed my life for the better for that I will always be grateful.

So now, you might be thinking with transfers coming up, what's happening in Doylestown? Well, we found out, Elder Morton and I are staying together for a third transfer! So by the time our time is done together, we will have spent almost 5 months together as companions. I've never done 3 transfers with a companion, but hey, there's a first time for everything right? I hope you all have a great week in the Springtime! The Gospel is true always.

Elder Cortes

Doylestown, PA