Letter #40 Their Choices Here Determine Destiny

Aubree's been out 9 months, she's half way home....Shout out to all the birthdays in may!!!! hannah lillywhite and jordan greer love you!!! of course my other half ashley whose birthday was in the beginning of may! Love you DAD...

i just got an email from abby ivory she is going on a mission!!!!! im so happy for her!!! i support her 100% but bummed bc i wont see her for so long!!! but im so excited to hear all about it. so about me this email will probs be super short.. i have been sick all week! its been miserable its the first time ive been sick de verdade on the mish. i woke up with sore throat thurs and fri it got worse so i went to the doc sat and started taking medicine monday i used up all the salt packets and most of the dayquil i bought at the mtc in provo but im getting better right now its just a lingering cough.. my body just couldnt handle the cold and the not sleeping the past few days.

so update this past week with paula, an investigator that was supposed to get baptized sunday she was doing great was interviewd satuday and was prepped for sunday. sunday morning when sister flora and i passed her house her friend said she was at her "moms" didnt believe her of course so i asked to go inside. we sat there waiting i wanted to look around the house but we had to leave to pick up roseanne a other investigator to take to church.. not sure what to do the baptism didnt happen after church we ran to her house to see what happened. she was there with her ex boyfriend he came back into her life sat night apparently she asked god for a sign to see if she should getbaptized and well he showed up and told her not to get baptized i wanted to say satan heard her prayer too and he sent the sign.. (they were hiding in the other room while we were there wating sunday morning... i knew i should of snooped around ha) it was heart breaking bc in less then 12 hours she changed her mind. she knows its true.. i read alma 46:8 today.. thus we see how quick the children of men do forget the lord thier god. this life is a test a test of mortality.. not all will pass. but its our job to help people realize thier choices here determine destiny! its so simple why dont they understand... who will get the glory of our father? alma 42:27 whoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely, and whosoever will not come is not compelled to come... also moroni is the man. the end. this week we have a baptism for roseanne she has probs with her children not accepting the gospel but we need to help her realize that her example will help her family become united once again.. this work is not easy we are literally servants of our heavenly father and representatives of his son, every act deed and expression. sometimes i question if i am doing what he would do... i try to think of this everyday before we leave the house bc once we put on the take im not mine but his... i love you all stay strong, live the gospel. be simple life is already complicated..love sister corbin

Letter #39 Be Not Faithless But Believing

wow grant goes home tomorrow!!!! his last letter was amazing because i feel the same way... i cant imagine what he is feeling right now the night before he leaves such a wierd feeling to take off the name tag. when you dont have it on you feel different... thats so exciting. soooo i got the easter package finally!!!! thank you im wearing the shirt right now haha and for the charger and the candy! i love packages. i also got the relief socity cards they sent! they were really sweet tell all of them thank you its sad bc i dont know hardly anyone bc we moved right when i left but it was super nice so why was i in the monthly update? when did i write that letter in march or april? id ont remember... have you guys gotten my letters yet for mothers day or dads birhtday they should be there by now.today is may 18 = my half way mark in my mission.. i have 9 months! can you believe it. i cant. i just got here i feel like ihave so much to do still. reading grants letter really touched me becuae i cant imagine taking of the name tag now its been a part of me for 9 months now but seems so much longer but at the same time no time at all. the mission is really unique to everyone you can tell stories and experiences but the only person that really knows everything that you went through is your constant companion jesus christ. this week was maravilhosa. so sunday we had a confirmation of a man that sister rueckert and sister clement taught we woke him up out of bed so he could go to church we watched him carefully so he wouldnt leave bc he needed to be confirmed he made it past the first two hours right before sacrament started he was no where to be found. i grabbed sister flora and started running to the bus stop i turned the corner and there he was i said "running?" haha i helped him and his girlfriend back to sacrament and finally was confirmed. he has a testimony of the church he is just lazy. so that was a blessing. another blessing was a member mangaed to bring paula to church. paula is a women that we met the first week in barbacena she was interested in the gospel but was married and had probs with cigs. a member brought her to church bc she broke up with her boyfriend and wants to change her life. we are working with her right now and her baptism is scheduled for this sunday.. she is great the lord is really blessing us right now..so lately sister flora have been praying for elects!!! we find people but they fall after a week or so or becuase they arent married! sunday night after church we finally knocked doors on this road that i always wanted. it came to the last house and a women opened the door without saying a word told us to come in before i could say we were representantes de jesus cristo she started to cry.. she spilled her life story to us and how her husband just left her and her family and she doesnt know what to do she has been praying for help and wants to find peace and happiness in her home again... she said i was going to go to church but i had a feeling to stay home. right away she knew we were an answer to her prayer.. she accepted a baptism date with out hesitation and was excited about the bom. she already stopped drinking coffee and is reading the bom everyday. she is our elect we have been praying for! im so excited to help her and her family feel normal again. another blessing this week was with lena and edson. lena lives on a street of a member, she wanted to take lessons about 8 months ago but it never worked out. finally she asked if she could hear our message. we taught her alone on saturday and she felt the spirit really strong but was hesitant to except without her husband... on sunday we found out that she has an aunt thats a member so monday we marked with her aunt and her husband. edson(husband) is catholic and talked a ton! im amazed we got to joseph smith finally we told the first vision he was dead silent, he had tears in his eyes and he wasnt sure what to do. lena was ready to accept the moment the invtie was given. they both accepted to be baptized the 29th. the lord is blessing us so much... later bianca told her husband they have till june 7 to get married so she can be baptized before the transfer is over. when there is a will there is a way and that way is our heavenly father. yesterday was zone conf have some news right now we have 12 sisters and we will have 2 more come in the next transfer.. conference was amazing of course but what i want to say is that sister rueckert told me some great news about our baptisms we left. ismone an iranis a couple we found right before transfers were both baptized! i was so happy and she also told me that this guy we were teaching for about a month rogiero decided to get baptized too.. he always went to church with us but he just didnt feel it was right yet he found the sisters in the street and said hey i know aubree and gina the sisters were confused and later they found out it was us, idk why he calls us by our first names and we don't know how he found out but i was so happy that all that hard work wasn't for nothing. they found there way and were baptized!!! with all this happiness there had to be a low.. they said that ronald dissappeared and isnt doing so good my heart broke right after..i know i did my heart but there is something about hearing about the people you baptize fall away i guess i can imagine how heavenly father feels just a little bit when his children decide to delibritely disobey.. i love the scrip in d and c 68:6 be of good cheer and do not fear.. attitude is everything we have to believe also. in john 20:27 be not faithless but believing. love it. well all is well in barbecena getting colder by the min and the blessings are falling. i love you all.sister corbin

Letter #38 Comfort My Soul

hi mommy,
what happened to your foot? how did you hurt it? they eat rice beans and bread great for your health an everything is fried, dad would love it. it was soooo goood to hear everyones voice!!! there's something different about hearing your voices.. emails just don't cut it sometimes. i of course didnt think i would cry i was strong up until the phone rang. i haven't been thinking about the phone call really so i guess i wasn't too prepared to hear my loving family and not cry alittle ha.. it was hard to talk in english in the beginning sorry if you couldn't understand a few things. sister flora was laughing at me to think harder so i wouldn't speak portugese. im glad everyones doing great. loved the pics.. i sent you and dad a card last week so watch out for them this week also i got your card this week with the chip. and it says that i have a package so it should be there. conference is next week sometime and we got two sisters one american and one brasilian. ya ill see what ill do with the tights are you still going to send me skirts?? bc i will give a few away here. i would buy skirts here but they are not the standard most of the members wear the same skirt each week and they all made them by themselves. ya amber wrote me an email about how they were going to visit that should be fun... i saw a commercial at an investigators house about the pirates of the carribena are you making a movie list for me i hope ...i can't make one i don't know what to put on it hahah other then harry potter ha..o okay so'send me some pics of the fam from your computer and i will save them to my chip and print them that way you dont have to send them to me i can just do it here also will you send me mikies weding invitation when is it again?
this week was full of hard work. last week tuesday we found a mom, bianca that has been taking the lessons. she is great. she has a little boy who reminds me of dane, so cute.. she accepted the book of mormon and knows that we were an answer to her prayer. she came to church sunday and loved it.. so we were really excited for her baptism to be this sunday.. last night we started talking about the gospel and what she needs to do to be prepared for baptism.. she opened up to us and said i didn't tell you guys this but monday night late i was praying crying for heavenly father to send me a sign or a message to help me and my family. the next day you guys knocked on my door. she started to say that every time you guys are here i feel different. i don't know what it is but even when i look at you guys i see a difference then other people.. we explained to her about the spirit and how heavenlt father answered her prayer and sent us to her door... then she said but i have to tell you something, im not really married... uh what? she is not married legally! = she cant get baptized = not for along time= my heart is broken. i was so excited to help her recognize the truth and be part of the kingdom but were just at a hold. the process to get married at least in minas is long complicated and expensive and no one wants to do it. she said i don't feel right getting baptized with out being legally married. we told her ya she needs to keep the commandments to be baptized...i know the lord will bless her and her family perhaps in the future other missionaries with knock on her door when she is fully ready but she still wants to come to church and learn more.

i want to have the faith like alma. his joy is preaching the gospel alma 29:9"that perhaps i may be an instrument in the hands of the lord to bring some soul to repentance and this is my joy"... i read in alma 31 this morning and i think it was exactly what i needed to hear to get my hopes up again to find the elects alma 31:31-38, "o lord, wilt thou comfort my soul and give unto me success...their souls are precious and many of them are our brethren, give unto us power and wisdom that we may bring these our brethren unto thee'' 36 is my fav...'' alma had said these words that he clapped his hands upon them and they were filled with the holy ghost'' i can just imagine the joy they felt right before they seperated..blake remember that story you told me that one day when you and your comp were so excited when you left your appt to go preach? that's what i thought of when i read this scrip and that's what i feel before i leave.. the mission is full of ups and downs but the ups always exceed the dissapointments.. 38 says they left without thought in what they would say, where they would go, what they would eat or drink but having faith in the lord.this was according to the prayer of alma, this because he prayed in faith... im working on this faith.. i hope one day i can achieve a part of the faith alma had as a missionary..love barbacena got a new leader da obra and o i just love giving talks one day in advance :) do what you gotto do. live it up...

sister corbin.

Letter #37 Good vs. Evil

Ya i heard about bin laden yesterday just walking by a news stand... this area is a little poor so not many people have televisions and i havent heard anything just a small pic in a newspaper.. wow i cant believe so where was he hiding? he wasnt? he was in a nice house? then why did it take so long to get him hah sorry for the questions im curious i know nothing out here. but im glad its over so they threw his body in the ocean?..yes last week i got to go to the office i got the package and the face wash thank you! and i got abbys package too her package was amazing!!! had cliff bars and my fav cake mix how did she know o thats right shes my best THANKS ABBY I LOVE YOU! no i didnt get an easter package when did you send it?i prob wont get it for a while but maybe not bc i think this month we have a zone conference so well see. oh and so we stayed in BARBACENA for sure me and flora its her third transfer here. im excited to stay but im also a little worried about the weather its sooooo cold here!!! i dont have anything warm to wear hah so i wear 3 or 4 shirts with a nob leggings underneath my skirt and im good to go hah. im not sure the situation with the other missionaries or how many sisters came in...so this week was full of ups and downs nothing new of course. i asked sister flora why belo doesnt have more baptisms or why the church isnt super strong like the other states, she said that minas is known as the state of catholicism. its always been super strong here. and i think that barb is number one on the list of strong catholics in minas. even after hearing the message, feeling the spirit, the next words that are commonly used are " eu nasci nela eu vou morrer nela"!... ouch okay okay im just trying to get you a mansion in the celestial kingdom, the terrestial kingdom is great but its not where you want. the past couple days ive been viewing the mission like a war of good vs evil.. i think of that pic of the missionaires with battle armor on before they leave for the day. ive been reading our heritage and how legit were the first missionaries. they were so strong. basically Heavenly Father said okay go there alone, poor, with nothing and i will bless you. what a test of faith its similar to what Heavenly Father told the missionaries in the Book of Mormon.. like Alma and the sons of Mosiah. they went against the lamanites alone, giving thier life for the gospel if they had to to spread the word (alma 17:10-13) i love reading Alma as a missionary bc it makes my mission look weak and that i can always do better. Heavenly Father lets us suffer before he blesses us.." yet ye shall be patient in long suffering and afflictions that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me and i will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls". but every missionary trust in the words of D&C 6:32 where two or three are gathered together in my name.. behold there i will be in the midst of them. i trust in this revelatoin, i know it to be true, i lived it, i live it still. he blesses those that follow him but only after thier trial of faith, alot of people forget that part. i always tell my investigators this life is a test Heavenly Father gave the invite.. who wants eternal life with me? who is willing to do everything to have it? the righteous shall prevail the weak shall have their kingdom. Heavnly Father knows what kingdom i want. i love this gospel i know it to be true. im happy knowing that this life is a mystery but can be whatever we make of it. i love you all! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOMMY! I CANT WAIT FOR OUR min and a half conversation this sunday hahah its 40 min again. i will be waiting with sister flora her call is right before mine her parents will call 1 oclock our time. i hope all this makes sense :) i cant believe its the second phone call já.. i love you até domingo me liga ta bom não esquece por que eu não lembro como ligar pra voces
sister corbin

(Sister Corbin turned into a leprecheun-I don't see the pot of gold?)