Letter #27 Let Us Not Despair

ellloooooonossa i cant believe dane is already two he will turn three right when i get home next year! crazy! okay so after i emailed you i got three packages i got the sees candy with the shirts and the brownie mix one too so am i call caught up? ummm random is arnold swartchinater our govener still hahah people ask me alot surprisingly. as for me im doing great today was a sisters pday! all the sisters got to go to the mission home and have lunch and make little booklits and learn how to be pretty as a missionary hahah its funny but i loved it i love sister parrella we call her mãe sometimes cause she litterally is our mother figure in the mission were always dealing with elders. sister harris will leave on monday and sister ward leaves in three weeks and then well get two more sisters so it will stay at ten for the mission. well i dont have too much time this week to write due to the sister pday but this week was full of ups and downs.. naturally in a missionaries life. for my six months mark me and my comp treated ourselves to a big bowl of açaí.. the US needs to have this fruit i dont think people realize what they are missing. on saturday was rough.. we went from having 7 progessive investigators to nothing in about 2 hours. its super hard when you put all this faith love and heart into a person and in one minute they can break it. you feel for one moment that all your hard work was wasted.. were there other people we missed because we were working with these people who realy didnt care? were we doing our best to teach with the spirit so they could make the right choice? all these things rush into your head at once and you wonder if your living your full potential in the lords work but then i had to stop and pull myself together and my comp and look at the challenge as a gift as chance to start over a chance to take this lesson and learn... and i did i learned patience, humility, learned that sometimes you have to realize that people have thier own livre abritiro free choice learned about trusting in the lord that his plan isnt always ours my comp and i experienced .000000000001% of what the savior went through. i cant even imagine people not believing that he wasnt the son of god to his face, talking bad about his father, always living through this pain. later that night we taught a few more lessons with our heads held high knowing the lord would replace the ones we lost. she read a quote that night that i loved " let us not despair for the work in which we are engaged is the work of the lord" . mom im reading in mosiah right now tooo i love that part with abinadi he is sooo legit!!! and alma was the only one that listened and ran away and taught the gospel... love it. im in mosiah 18..got to go but i love this work and im learning more and more everyday! vamos pra frentelove sister corbin

Letter #26 The Word of God In Our Backpacks

Hi, ahhhhh there is always so much to say... i got your letter about the beehives they are so cute! i wonder where my comps from the mtc in provo are if they ever made it to brazil. were supposed to get 17 new missionaries in march so were all praying they get their visas. two sisters are leaving in march and two are coming so well have a solid 10 sisters right now in the mission hopefully.

Well this week was great! the other day we discovered that we have monkeys in the trees outside our apartment building haha they are so cute little baby ones that jump all over the place i dont know how i missed them before. and this week i will make 6 months!!! what i cant believe it. 1/3 of my mission is over. i think about it sometimes and i just got here! as for the language its coming. im always praying for the gift of tongues. I can almost understand everything now just a few words here and there or if they have a different accent. I look back on the days when i could barely say my name and how much the lord has blessed me to speak this language to spread the work. this week i want to share a story about a lady we met on the street On Saturday my companion and I were walking on the street we stopped to open up a candy we just bought when I heard someone call us. I looked over and saw this lady so we went over to her. She asked us if we could share a message with her. She told us that she knew that we had the word of God in our backpacks and that we were sent down that street to share something with her. I asked her if we could go inside so she let us in. Her name is Valdireni and she is a mother of seven boys. She quickly felt the spirit as we talked with her. She loves the story of Joseph Smith and the next night she decided to do as he did and pray about what direction she should take. Last night as we were there she told us "Joseph prayed under some trees but I prayed in my room. The surrounding was different but the answer was the same." She described how she felt the Holy Ghost surround her in a blanket of love. She described it in the most beautiful way I´ve ever heard. Yesterday morning she was at the park with a friend who is struggling in life. She said that the park reminded her of the trees that surrounded Joseph Smith so she decided to share his story with this friend. She said "Have you heard of the story of Joseph Smith? He was a boy who prayed when he had problems and then God helped him. When we have problems and need help we need to do as Joseph Smith and pray for help too." As she got up from the bench to leave she looked back at him and told him "Don´t you forget about Joseph Smith and to pray." I love this lady!! She told us that she had never heard of this story before but now feels the urge to share it with anyone and everyone.Yesterday we gave her the Book of Mormon and before we could even explain it she quickly took it and said that she´d read it. She has a baptism date set for the beginning of March. :) its just like you said mom the field is white and ready to harvest we never know who is ready to hear the gospel in vals case she was so ready she had to yell our names across the street to get our attention. the lord is truly putting people in our path that are being prepared. this past monday we had zone conference i loved it, it was all about obedience to the lord and to have true faith in his guidance. i love this quote i read this morning from good old Gordon B, " its not as bad as you think it is. it will all work out. i say this to myself every morning. everything will all work out. put your trust in god and go forward with faith and confidence in the future. he will not abandon you". this quote cant be more true. its never as bad as we think it is. just trust in the lord that it will all work out in the end thats our trial of faith during the trial so when we look back we can say we did it with joy in our hearts and faith in the lord. a little advice from president kimball- this life is not a race we're here to learn and grow, reach our fullest potential so one day we can have the possibility of godhood. im loving the work, staying strong despite the heat and finding those that the lord has prepared. i love you all!

Sister Corbin

Letter #25 I Rejoice In His Goodness Everyday

OI mãe!Yay im glad you got my letter! whats a snail mail?ha ha... o ok i will think of a pic and you can just choose one of the ones from the last chip i just sent you.. ill think about what scrip and what pic and get back to you next week. we have conference next week so if i get any packages it will be this week i hope so bc i havent gotten any for about a month or so the last one was the rice crispies. im so excited for tucker! he is going to do great.. is ther an mtc in england or is he going to provo?Well this week on monday sister rueckert and i were waiting patiently by the phone all day waiting to see where we were going to go. this is sister ruecks 2nd transfer here. we waited until 9 oclock that night and came to the conclusion that the president was going to call and that we were staying together! ill stay here with sister rueckert another transfer in beautiful pampulha! im excited... i think a big reason is ronald. the man that we baptized two sundays ago he is invited everyone to church and everyone to listen to the sisters every night we go to his house he has a new friend there to listen. he is so passion about the gospel sometimes we have to calm him down if the person doesnt understand the message.. he goes i dont know about you but this is the truth... he is funny, love him.this transfer is also a little shorter so we dont have much time left here. right now we have some investigators but no one really firm well see if well have a baptism this sunday.. this lettter will probably be really random im sorry ha. i just have a lot of stories i want to tell this week. one of them is about this women andrea. she has a hard life. Her husband tried to kill her once so she ran away from him with her 5 children found out later that he burned the book of mormon and few days later.. passed away. coincidence not sure. she is scared of both god and the devil is looking for the truth but doesnt know where to find it. we were teaching her in her house and all the sudden her sister was on the tv getting arrested for drugs... she burst into tears and all we could do was pray for her. i walked away that day from her house never being so grateful for the life that i have the truth and the knowledge that isnt something to fear but someone to love. the gospel is the only thing on this earth that will bring us happiness.. with all the truths. some people just have a few.. we taught a person from the churh of setumus dias i think its like the 7th day in english not sure they go to church on saturday. this lady let us in with the purpose of bashing we figured it out not shortly and after and asked to leave she looked us dead in the eye and said after this life you will remember this conversation and will be sorry. we told her we loved her an hope shell remember it too.everyone just has a little bit of truth but how much will thier happiness be if they knew the fullness of the gospel! i love serving the lord. i love spreading the truth its just hard when people dont want to hear it. i was thinking this past week of my calling as a servant of the lord and why it is so hard. as a missionary our responisibitly is to find those that are looking for the truth, strengthing investigators, help recent converts, cuidado os membros, trust in your comp, build other testimonies through the spirit and at the same time have a firm foundation yourself. its a calling that i strive to fulfill everyday to the best of my ability before the clock strikes 10. my scripture for this week is mosiah 4 9-12. believe in the god that created you that he has all power and wisdom and that we wont comprehend how much he knows but humble yourselves and always remember of his goodness and that we are nothing with out him... i love this because as a missionary even with this huge calling i rejoice in his goodness everyday.. i am happy doing his work, he is the reason i am here.. eu não vou nunca esquecer... i love you all fique firmelove sister corbin

Where's Golden Spoon?

Aubree loves Golden Spoon Yogurt. She would eat it almost everyday. Well, they are no where in sight. She settled for an ice cream waffle cone on her birthday. She doesn't look too sad about it...Happy B-day Aubs!

Dynamic Trio

Sister Dias (left) from El Salvador went home the end of December. Aubree is with Sister Hunsacker in a two-some. They are in Pampulha. Aubree loves her mission, the people, and her temporary soldier status. You can see the joy on her face!

Farewell to Sister Clement

Sister Clement was Aubree's first companion in the field of Venda Nova, Brazil...She went home 4 weeks later. They became fast friends in such a short amount of time. Sister Clement called us from Utah when she arrived home a few days later to fill us in on how Aubree was doing... it was a nice welcomed phone call.

Letter #24 It's The Truth, Share It.

Familia!!This week was amazing! on Wednesday we visited Ronald. I made him a little chart that said monday 2 cigs tues 1 and wed none.. so wed was a big day to see if he quit.. little was my faith he didnt smoke any that day! when i made this chart i doubted that a man that smoked since the age of 14, 3 packs a day could stop in one week. but i was lead by the spirit without even knowing to write down these numbers that were doable with the hand of god. he said i just read the book of mormon. I think he will be the most elect person i will have on my mission. i have never seen soomeone so prepared to hear the gospel despite all his addictions and hardships he just wants to follow christ. he just eats up all the words we say. when we started talking to him about temple work he wanted to know when he could go so he could baptize his son that passed away two years ago. i love him. everyday he is progressing more and more. it was funny we gave him a pack of gum to help him with cravings and he told us that he had never had gum that lasted this long so instead of throwing it away he put it on the top if his mouth and slept with it hahah (mom i might need more packs of gum for people with smoking problems). it was funny we told him to spit it out before he went to bed i gave him another pack yesterday. on sunday was his baptism at 8 sharp we arrived at his house he had a towel and was ready to go. he was so excited and brought some friends with him. finally after church he couldnt whip the smile of his face. after the baptism everyone was congradulating him with tears in his eyes he was overwhelmed with the spirit. he was truly happy he turned to me and said i am 46 years old and i found it! i found the church its our church now. he truly is great an elect, a gift from god that was given to me and sister rueckert. i will be ever so grateful to be a small part in this mans life. Right now his is firm and is still inviting everyone for next sunday for his baptism of fire (espirito santo). As far as Helbert he made it to church barely intime for his confirmation but none the less he was there! He is still firm and told us last week.. when can i be elder Helbert? we laughed and said soon. some funny stories this week was that for the first time in my mission we got kicked out of a house. we were teaching a young man and his brother came barging in and said i dont like you i dont want you here leave! we werent sure if it was a joke or not but after a few seconds we realized he wasnt joking. not everyone likes to hear the message that will save thier lives ha.. o and amber were teaching this italian girl that looks and acts like you sometimes i want to call her amber she is so cute. she makes me laugh. well transfers are already around the corner so well see where the lord wants me. im so grateful to be a missionary everyday i get to study and teach the reason for being.. i realize that this is the only time in my life that i will be completly focused on the lord and try not to waste a min of it. just like you said mom its all about calling people to repentance and following christ its the doctrine of christ its so simple. our job is to find people like ronald and helbert that are searching for the truth help them prepare and know the plan of our heavenly father. i read my favorite scripture today in mosiah 2: 21-22... if you will serve him who has created you from the beginning..preserving you from day to day, lending you breath.. supporting you from one moment to the next.. you will be unprofitable servants. 22: and all he requires of you is to keep his commandments.. you will forever be indebted unto him. in mosiah 3 it says that the natural man is enemy of god.. as i have seen on my mission more clearly is the little things that drag us down that satan starts with. we need to be careful of the little things and always remember that it is our heavenly father that is lending us our every movement so that we can do our will. i love it. its the gospel. its the truth. share it. I love you all. Sister Aubree Lyn Corbin