Week 92

Well this last week was crazy!!!

Our investigator Ehtsham who had a baptismal date for the 21 of January got up and just moved to Pakistan!!?  We were like what on earth happened.. Now we cant even get in with him... So we have Keri and Tony and their family, but they just all of a sudden stopped talking to us.  Their member friend invited them over for dinner and then they called an hour before and cancelled on the member friend.. What in the world, that was on new years.  We haven't been able to have contact since... As well we found an investigator from russia,  She is russian orthodox,  She made us some delicious russian food and it was awesome,  We mentioned baptism and invited her to be baptized and with such a strong language barrier, she definatley took it the wrong way and told us she will never convert haha, but will all this crazyness, there is bound for something awesome to happen,  We met 2 wonderful part member families this week and they have soo many awesome questions!!!  I love it!!!  There are so many doubts they have and really they all stem from the mis understanding who god is.  We got a lot of questions on why god would permit people to be gay and go through such a big challenge in this life...As i thought about the doctrine behind the answer, the spirit said, they do not understand the god head.  Then as we listened, they listed so many doubts they had had about why their are so many churches as well as and pretty much why does god allow bad things to happen to good people.  The first lesson in preach my gospel is the restoration and that addresses all those concernes, but really the most important thing a person can do is ask god if he is really there, then when and i say when because he will answer, all the other doubts seem to just be resolved on their own.  As members of the church, we take for granted that we believe that god has a body of flesh and bone, but there are soo many people that don't know and all they have to do is ask, but they are scared for the answer.  I am so convinced that if we ask and are willing to keep his comandments, he is so ready to respond to us.  I am grateful for my savior Jesus Christ and all he has done to make this jourrney so much easier.  Hope you have a great week!

Elder Cornejo

Week 91

Picking up the new missionaries and dropping off the departing missionaries with President and Sister Christiansen!!

Week 90

Merry Christmas!!

Viri was baptized!!! As well we had the Christmas Conference.  These are all the missionaries in our mission.  It was a crazy day.  We helped organize the whole mission playing minute to win it as well as each zone was in charge of doing a skit.  I will have to send you some of my favorites next week.  There were some very powerful skits.  One was a shadow light show which showed the plan of salvation and it was so amazing everyone was in tears!  As well Viri was baptized the 24 of December.  It was perfect.  It was the first time i had the opportunity to baptize someone.  President Christiansen said that the Area Seventy changed the rule so the missionary could baptize one person on their mission.  After working with Carlos and Viri since June of 2015, when she asked me to baptize her, I was so excited.  She has made so much progress and we have seen them change so much. It has been such a great week.  It was an amazing way to remember the true meaning of christmas which should be focused on our savior jesus christ.  I hope you all had a wonderful christmas.  

Elder Cornejo

Week 89

Jasmine Morales was baptized!!! So she is from Mexico, her mom still lives in Mexico and they are going through a hard time.  Last night we were able to go to there house and we asked Jasmine to share her testimony of why she got baptized.  She started telling us about all the times she had felt the spirit and how she wanted to change her life.  IT was so awesome to see the gospel truly change her.  Afterwards, she said and when i was skyping with my mom tonight, it was the first conversation we had where we didn't fight... her mom, not being a member of the church said...there is something different about you, you look as though you are glowing!  And she did, she really did, and that is such a testimony to me that the gift of the holy ghost really changes those who allow themselves to be changed.  She texted us and said, Elders I am soo happy.  Thank you sooo much for teaching me these things...It was sooo awesome!!!!!!!  

Her baptism almost didn't happen,  IT snowed that morning, and we had to push it back and hour and a half so people could get there.  Never the less it was awesome!!

As well we had the most amazing experiences with Viri and Carlos this past week.. Well Wednesday, we took elder Southwick to the temple, that was amazing and Thursday we slept and went to an appointment.  As we finished the appointment we decided to drive to our next appointment we had on the plans.  As we are on the way, the spirit says turn around, you can call them... go to your next appointment... as we are on the way to the next appointment the spirit tells me, go stop by Carlos and Viri!  So we do.  She is in the middle of watching a documentary on Mormons from the history channel ironically.... We start talking and as i sit down, I sit on the book of Mormon and the bible... What!! they were out?  Were your reading them we asked?  She said yes!  Remember the crazy lesson we had with them last Sunday night.. well she was actually reading one verse from the bible and the book of Mormon a day!!  Elder Ashby promised her that if she did that she would receive an answer. That night she had a dream and in the dream, she heard a voice that told her to have more faith.  But she didn't know if it was from god, because she had had 1 other dream like that but she felt the holy ghost so strong and this time she didn't feel it... Well we talked to her and shared a couple of things, bore our testimony and it was the most spiritual lesson ever!!!!  We left and on the way to Jasmine's we are driving down the freeway...

I was in the center lane.  There were 3 lanes...  I watch this dodge viper come down off the on ramp entering the freeway.  I am driving and i told my companion, wow that is a nice car.  I'm not sure how expensive but it was pin stripped blue and white.  IT was sweet.  We drive a Nissan Altima 2016, so it was nice too... well the guy decided he wanted to race.. no i didn't race because we have a monitor that monitors our speed Its called tiwi...its the worst.  At this point we are driving about 65 mph down the freeway and as he enters on the road we are are driving parallel, side by side.  He gases it then for some reason drops back so we are neck and neck... Then he gases it again.  Out of the corner of my eye i notice something go wrong.  He loses traction and start's fishtailing!  He over corrects to the left and starts drifting the car and the car is sliding backwards on the freeway right in front of us!!!!! I am literally face to face with this car as he burns out and starts sliding, i hit the breaks and we dodge the car just in time missing him by inches and he flies into the center divider!!!!  We were literally looking face to face for half a second, smoke burning off his tires as they were melted from the friction.  I could not believe what just happened.  We pulled over, the pack of his dodge viper was crumpled in the center divider... He was shaken up but everything was ok. It was a miracle there were no cars around... The fool didn't know how to drive his own car!!!  But we were good.  Not even a scratch on our car.  Someone was watching over us!!  And something didn't like that we are helping so many people!!  The spiritual battle is unreal... 

But it gets better so Friday morning, we get a text from Viri...She says, I received my answer!!  She read a scripture in Acts and felt the spirit sooo strong... She said it was god confirming to her that her dream was true and and that it really was from god.  She told us, Elders, I want to be baptized on the 24 of December!!!  I was like nooo way are you serious!!!!!!  We've been working with them since the very beginning of my mission!!!!  It was such a miracle...  

I am so convinced that this is truly the church of Jesus Christ.  There is no way we would be able to see so many miracles and have the lord's hand in the work like it was with us this last week.  I have never been so close to the veil, but this last week i finally had a taste of how real and important the message that we share with people is.  This is the lord's only and true living church on the earth.  IT was here when Christ was, it was lost, and now it is back again.  I am so grateful to be apart of sharing the same message with people that the lord Jesus Christ himself shared.  That is the reason he came to this world, so that we can have eternal life.  I am grateful to call him my savior especially in the Christmas season when we truly remember the real meaning of Christmas.  IT is so we will have eternal life.  I am grateful eternally,  Merry Christmas

Love,

Elder Cornejo

We went to Baltimore last preparation day!! We picked up Elder Southwick and Felix threw a going away party for him!!  It was awesome!!!! I loved being there with everyone!!!  We took Elder Southwick to the airport Thursday morning.  I can't believe he's done!!

Week 88

Ok this week was crazy!!!

Jasmin is going to be baptized this Saturday!!  I am soo excited for her.  She is extremely happy and you can just see the changes that she has made.  She wants this so bad.  It's so cool to see how the gospel has changed her life..  As well oh man we had so many miracles i dont know were to start...I guess i wont... haha

The overall thing i have learned this week.  The Atonement is so real.  It literally covers everything.  We, myself included have such a little understanding of the atonement...I thought I did, but was humbled really hard.  I've wanted for Carlos and Viri to be baptized.  We have done soo much for them, study, teach invite and they just arent comming to church.. Sadly, I was so frustrated with them.  I was ready to drop them, after a year and a half of contact with them, i was ready to drop them in an instant... Elder Ashby then came in and bore the most sincere testimony that i have ever heard in my life.  He talked about how much he has seen viri grow, how much of a testimony she already has and how well she is doing.. The testimony was the most pure testimony i have ever heard in my life, and it was all by the spirit... What was an almost hostile environment turned into the biggest learning experience of my life.  Our companions are so divinly picked since the foundation of the world.. I am just in aww at how perfect the people that come into our lives are so perfect for us to grow and learn.  This plan is so perfect.  I am grateful for all the experiences i have had and the lessons i have learned.  This life is all about progression.  I hope you have a great week!

Elder Cornejo