Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Letter #77 Last Email


 Ingrid was baptized Sunday, she's 10 years old.
 Dead Cockroach, broken dust pan, Ha Ha!
 Ingrid's Family....she is so happy!
LAST LETTER (não acredito)

I can't believe this day came... my last email to the fam...

i think i will be become best freinds with this evelyn johnson hahah i dont even know her but im considering her a best freind already. she can help me understand how to make brasilian food. i will bring home some food, i dont think it will be a problem. you guys need to try this stuff. ill see what ill buy mostly food haha
i had no idea about uncle neff, ill make sure to say a few prayers for him. hahah pshh im not sure what i can contribute to ward council but i can try.
wow i dont think ive ever been nervous to write an email to you all, but right now knowing its my last email is scary. there is so much to say i dont know where to begin.
with out water:
I´ll start with the week. so all the sudden our water stopped in our apartment. we walked outside and apparently the water stopped everywhere. alright we can handle this i wont take a shower today... next day, nothing. alright today i dont need to take a shower... everyones water was back except ours the third day i couldnt handle it anymore i called president and said pres we need water and he let us take a shower at a members house. when we got back we said a prayer to let the water come back to house, when we finished the prayer we heard the drains filling up, blessing and a half ah.
Interview with President:
we got a call from the secretary telling us we had to be at the mission home in two hours it was our hour to be interviewed. He told me it would be my last one. i felt like yesterday i was being interviewed by him for the first time talking in his english and my horrible portugues. he asked how i was feeling and how it was going the last transfer. i told him some of my concerns about going home and he cleared everything up.. i told him that i wasnt sure how to be me he said you are sister aubree corbin without the sister.. the new and approved the old aubree that i knew she is gone. i asked him how i have changed and what has he seen in my differently. he began to tell me that at first i was shy and wasnt sure about my potential to be a leader fast, but was proven wrong when the spirit told him to make me senior. "i never had to worry about you and your obedience i knew that every time you trained that sister would be like you. not everyone can train thier last transfer... unfortunately not everyone is on the mission for the right reasons but i can honestly can say you know, the top 10 missionaries that i have and i am sad to see you go, your love for this people was different you didnt just love the people you liked but it was everyone that felt your love and because of it you were blessed" he said alot of other things. im so grateful to have a president like i did. he was an example to me in everything although it was hard to always be obedient i think it was the lord testing me to see how i would handle it.. i will always remember his service and the way he pushed me to be the best missionary i could be
Ingrids baptism:
10 year old ingrid got baptized this past sunday. she is a neighbor slash relative of a family in our ward. she has been going to church and decided she too wanted to get baptized. her parents arent members and are not married... we started to teach ingrid and her enthusiasm for the gospel always got me excited to teach. Sunday everyone came to support her on her special day. after she got baptized she gave a hug to her mom and she began to cry. her mom asked her why she was crying and she said " because im happy" her mom got emotional and so did i. i remembered the day of my baptism... mom do you remember you asked me the same question. when i was getting dressed to go back to the meeting. i began to cry and you asked why i was crying and i answered the same thing. i remember my baptism as if it was yesterday and the happiness i felt on that day. I am filled with the love of christ when i think about the little part i had in helping these people of brasil have this same happiness of the spirit. every baptism is marked in my mind, every confirmation and every investigator that didnt quite make it to thier special day to take upon them the name of christ. there is no words that can express the joy that comes from saying, "im a representative of christ". my name tag says so much. this past week, my name tag brought a different meaning. will i be ready to take it off? will i be ready to make this change again. when i arrived on the mission i wasnt ready for it, I wasnt sure what to expect, what to learn or who to be, now that im leaving im not ready to leave. the word is CHANGE... this is the only constant in our lives, change. you can count on it. we got to trust the lord and walk with faith.. he wants to teach us, but how can he if were not willing to grow. change is necessary, yes its scary, yes its uncomfortable but its life.
i truly believe that god never fully prepares anyone for anything... because there is no room to show your trust in him or your faith in your part. our part is simple, obey. no one told me the mission would be easy they just said it would be worth it... i believe every word. ive never worked so hard in my life and ive never felt so exhausted but its worth every minute. the same goes for life, so lets make it worth it. never get comfortable, this is what i have learned. My small understanding of the simple gospel plan is growing. Will i fully comprehend, well only god can answer that one but one thing is for sure is that he will be with me through every change i encounter.
Uctdorfs TALK:
the last principle he says is " please understand that what you see and experience now is not what forever will be" we studied this talk in a zone conference yesterday and this part stuck out to me the most. i shared my thoughts about it and president told me to stand up and tell everyone how i feel about the mission and how a real missionary gets it done. a little suprised i stood up and bore my testimony of the reality of the fact that everyone will go home and that this time we have with our name tag is short. we got to do everything now and be obedient to the lord and no one else bc in the end its you and him and if you havnt gotten to know your savior, whose fault is it.
well family, " Thats it" as dad would say. its coming to an end. my time is running out and im running with it. the only person that knows exactly what i went through is only one. every person that rejected, every person that accepted, every baptism, every sunday, every fast, every joy, every saddness. he walked with me through it all and its him that i am doing it for. there is no greater joy then the work of the lord. i wont to bear my testimony that these things i have gone through have changed me to what i hope the lord wants me to be, what i hope will help me return to his feet one day and he can say to me "well done my true and faithful servant". i know that this is the true gospel of christ, the reality of the first vision and the restoration of his truths. i know that when we put the lord first, everything works out.
elder joseph wirthlen said " what happens... happens. be happy. the secret is simple: put your trust in the lord, do your best and leave the rest to him"
this is true i lived it and i live it still and hope to continue living this way.
I cant wait to see you all... one week!!! it feels like a dream and im about to wake up.
im excited to close this chapter and open up a new page of life.. well see whats next, i hope the world is nice to me bc i forgot how to live in it..
ate quinta feira, estou animada!!!! eu te amo.. a todos
nunca nunca nunca vou esquecer brasil, por em fim é minha segunda casa
pela ultimia vez
com amor
Sister Aubree Lyn Corbin

ps were helping a family get baptized this sunday... pray for them! that everything works out!



Wednesday, February 1, 2012

TWO WEEKS TO GO!!!!

This is the apartment building in Lagoa.

Open Market for groceries.


Aubree's on her way!

Letter #76 It's Better to Look Up


first off i would like to say THANK YOU WARD!!!! i got the poster haha finally in the end of january. there was an elder that found it somewhere and saw my name on it and sent it to my district leader. it was great to read all the notes from everyone. although i dont personally know all of you i want to thank you for your efforts in helping me be the missionary that the lord helped me to be. im excited to meet all of you soon!
mom- i also got your letter with the names you did for ronald. i will give them to the elders in pampulha to give to him next week.
one quote came into my mind this past saturday from pres monson " its better to look up"..we got a few phone calls that we werent prepared for. our elect, newton called and told us that he cant study with us anymore for now bc his wife isnt sure she approves of the church. my heart along with sister chaves was crushed. our future leader slash preisthood holder for this ward fell. the lord knows when he will be ready... another investigator fell as well bc of her husband that is a strong baptist and doesnt want her going to church anymore. before noon we were discouraged with a few blows that werent expected but the quote its better to look up never left my mind. we still had danielle who was interviewd on friday and her baptism was scheduled for sunday... praying all day we did everything possible to make sure danielle too wouldnt fall. i set my alarm for 1 oclock in the morning to call her on her dinner break at work so she wouldnt have any temptations to smoke or whatever else satan was thinking. The lord answerd our prayers and danielle was baptized 4:00 on sunday afternoon. the baptism was sweet, quick and spiritual. a few members came to support and we had a preist baptize for the first time. i read a scirpture in moroni 9:6 that reflects this week to me
"and now my son, not with standing thier hardness, let us labor diligently; for it we should cease to labor we should be brought under condemnation for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay; that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness and rest our souls in the kingdom of god"
we cant ever stop working, even though sometimes you dont always see the fruits of your labors.. example... venda nova is baptizing all of my old investigators= blessing. you never will know the results of the work that you have done, only when the lord lets you have this blessing. this past transfer i have seen a ton, and im grateful for that tender mercy of the lord letting me know that im doing my part.
3 randoms
1- this past week we found ourselves in a middle of a soccer field with weeds all around us, before i knew it we had to cross a bridge with no handles above a river.. how we got to this point im not sure. the bridge was made out of two logs and a few strips of wood inbtwn well made fore sure ha.. sister chaves refused to cross i had to go first so she could hold onto my backpack ha i wish this was filmed...
2- we were chased by chickens out of a house rather then dogs this week, i think this house had at least 20 watch chickens
3- once again i thought i lost my planner. yes i know i loose things. i went into a panic and retraced every step. i was saying probably a million prayers in my head when all the sudden a stil small voice more like firm voice said to me your planner is at home stop worrying. it was a calm feeling almost a surety that i would see my planner on my desk when we i got home.. its been a while i heard that voice firm, litterally speaking. sure enough as i opened the door there was my planner, right where i left it.
the lord uses his spirit for everything but we got to listen to it
i love you all
it wont be long until i can actually tell you instead of just always writting it..
até mais
Sister Corbin
não acredito nos estamos em fevereiro!!!!