"If you labor all your days and bring one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy" D&C 18:15

Monday, July 28, 2014

Love the people

Hola Familia!

This week was a great week, and wow it's almost August! That means that school starts again haha! I still get one more year vacation from school, but not really a vacation. I've learned a lot from my mission, and how important missionary work really is. My job is to help other people come unto Christ, and by doing so receive their salvation. Sometimes that can be a lot of work!

Elder Rivera and I have been working hard, because we have baptized all of our investigators! So now we have 3 more baptism dates, 2 with Dilan and Adolfo, they are brothers, ages 19 and 16. It's going to be sweet, because Dilan is planning on getting baptized on the 10th and then 2 weeks later Adolfo will get baptized. This means that Dilan will be able to baptize his brother!

The other baptism we are planning on having is with Fabiola! She is awesome and lives with our ward mission leader Hno Lulo! She works for him as a house maid, and comes from a little village where everyone speaks mam, an ancient language that dates back to the Mayans! She has only been speaking spanish for 2 years, and has a worse gringo accent then I do, because mam uses the same accent as english! It's really difficult to teach her, so we use pictures and videos! But it doesn't matter how hard it is for us to teach her, she understands that she needs to be baptized to receive a remission of her sins, and to be able to follow God! So, that's all that matters! In addition to teaching her she also gives us mam lessons! Like sentay is how are you, echin nej is goodbye, wabj means tortilla, and chinqolbin is to greet someone! haha Now you guys know a little bit of one of the languages from the Lamanites!

One thing that I have to say, is that to truly have success on a mission, you need to enjoy your mission, work as hard as you can, and love the people. If you can really show the people that you love them, that you really care about them, and that you are bringing the truth, (unlike a business man who would rather just sell the gospel) the people will really listen and feel the spirit. Then if they are prepared, they will act on the spirit! I love my mission and the people of Guatemala!

Elder Corbett

Tortilla Total: 1261

Big Mac Count: 26

Elder Corbett and Elder Rivera

Eating pizza with the zone

A trip to the central park with the zone

Monday, July 21, 2014

A covenant between Enos and God

Hola Familia!

Well another change has passed by, and I didn't get called for changes. Neither did anyone else in my zone. I think that President Smith didn't really know who needed changes yet and everything because he is so new! We will still get some new people in the zone, because we have a few missionaries that are going home this change.

This week we worked mostly on preparing our 3 baptisms, and they turned out really well. We had the priests in the ward perform the baptisms. It was super cool, because our investigators and the priests are the same age and are all really good friends. So, this will help them stay active and to eventually serve missions! All three Alan, Brandon, and Michael have said that they want to prepare to serve missions!

Elder Rivera and I have been searching for more investigators, because we only have one more baptism date and that's it! But it will be good. We are planning to work with the members to find these people!

Other than that, nothing much has happened! I did find something pretty cool in the scriptures today. I was reading the book of Enos which is really short. I really admire all that Enos did and the faith and humility that he had to pray for a whole day!! Wow!! I really like a couple of scriptures.

16 And I had faith, and I did cry unto God that he would preserve the records; and he covenanted with me that he would bring them forth unto the Lamanites in his own due time.

17 And I, Enos, knew it would be according to the covenant which he had made; wherefore my soul did rest.

I think it's super neat how God made a covenant that he would bring forth the Book of Mormon to the Lamanites in his own due time. One time when Elder Packer came here to visit the mission he said that this mission had the purest of the Lamanites of any other mission. So being a missionary here in Quetzaltenango, has given me the privelege to help fulfill the promise from the Lord. It really encourages me to share the gospel and especially the Book of Mormon with all of "God's brown skinned children." The church is true!!!!

Elder Corbett

Tortilla Total: 1243

Big Mac Count: 24

Elder Corbett and Hermano Aurelio

Elder Corbett and Elder Rivera with the priests on baptism day

Future Missionaries

Eating some Chinese food

A trip to Walmart

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The temple, a baptism, and my birthday

Hola Familia!

I just want to say thanks for all of the birthday wishes! It definitely was a great birthday for me and I'm still so full. The best part of my birthday was for sure Aurelios's baptism! Also this week we got to go to the temple, and I even saw some members from my very first ward, Las Rosas in Huehuetenango!

The temple experience was super spiritual like it always is! It was really fun going with the whole zone. I think it's crazy how much someone can learn everytime they go to the temple! During my mission, I've really learned how important knowledge is. It's really what we need to become more like God! So I've been taking in everything and trying to learn new things. I have also been memorizing scriptures everyday! But I think the temple can give us knowledge better than anything else we could do, to learn about Gods plan for us! Also, I got to talk to Hermana Alma and Hermana Lara from Las Rosas so that made everything so much better!

I feel pretty old now that I'm 20, but it was super fun having my birthday with all of the members. Everyone invited me over to their house to celebrate my birthday, so I celebrated it like 5 times, and I ate sooo much food! The members here are so great! We had a meeting with the mission president and the stake president on my birthday, and the mission president gave us a ride home. Fifteen minutes after he dropped us off, he called just to tell me happy birthday from him and his wife! They are super nice, and I'm really excited to have them with us!

But the best part of all for my birthday was Aurelios's baptism. He is very humble, and all he trys to do is to follow Christ as best as he can. After his baptism, he wanted to get up and bear his testimony, and that's when he got his confirmation that what he did was right. His testimonay was awesome. He started crying and said how grateful he is to be able to be clean from all of his sins, and to be able to leave all of his bad habits. He also expressed how grateful he was for Elder Rivera and I. It definitely made me feel great as a missionary. I know that all that I have left behind was worth it, just to be able to help someone like him, to come unto Christ and accept His gospel and to help him be able to be happy. Hermano Aurelio has already received the aaronic priesthood, a temple recommend, and a calling to greet the people who come to church. I think this baptism also helped build unity and faith in the ward. Elder Rivera and I plan to have 3 more baptisms this Saturday, with 3 young man, ages 16 through 17. We plan to have the priests in the ward baptize them, so it will be another great spiritual experience!

Elder Corbett Tortilla Total: 1224 Big Mac Count: 23

Elder Corbett and Elder Etcheto at the Quetzaltenango Temple

At the temple with one of my favorite families

Temple day with the zone

Aurelios's baptism day

Party number one

Party number two

Party number three

A party with the Coyoy family

It was a great birthday!

Monday, July 7, 2014

Earthquake!!

Hola Familia!

Other than being woken up today, at 5 in the morning, by an earthquake, I would have to say that this week has been very successful. Our 4 baptism dates are set for July and now we are already working on August.

But all I have to say, is that it was soooooo annoying to be woken up at 5 in the morning, because yes, I am the same Ryan Corbett who liked to sleep all the time before my mission. So anyone or anything that wakes me up before I need to wake up makes me mad haha! But it was crazy! Everything was shaking and some of the books and things on our desk fell over, but we just ran outside and waited for like a minute and it stopped. But of course I couldn't go back to sleep, because the assitants called to let us know that we needed to make sure that everyone from the zone was okay. One of the companionships of sisters didn't answer, so we went to their area to check on them!

But other than the earthquake, this has been a pretty awesome p-day! We went and played on this huge professional sized futbol field. Our zone vs another zone! After that we went to Subway, and I was definitely happy!

This week we had 12 investigators come to church. The bishop told us on Sunday, that we have reestablished the unity between the ward and the missionaries that has been missing for a long time. Four of the people who came to church have baptism dates for the 12th and the 19th, so that will be fun. Also, we found some positive new investigators that we can work with for August.

I'm excited for this week because our zone gets the opportunity to go to the temple. This opportunity only happens when the zone meets their goal for baptisms, so it will be fun to go with the zone! Yesterday while my companion was sick I had the chance to watch the building of the Salt Lake temple movie. I think it's crazy how it took so long for them to work on it, and all the time and dedication it took for them to build it . . . . .over 40 years. They worked during the rain and snow and at all times. That really shows respect for a sacred building that is to become the house of the Lord. I can't believe how many people don't take advantage of the temples when they live so close to one. After realizing this, I know why it's so important to go, and to go often. When I get home I plan to go every week!!!

Well I hope you guys have another great week. This will be a crazy next week for me, and who knows, maybe I'll get woken up by another earthquake haha! . . . . but hopefully not on HUMP DAY!!! hahaha Les Amo y Les quiero!!

Tortilla Total: 1201

Big Mac Count: 21

Elder Corbett and Elder Etcheto

Playing some futbol

Taking some time to celebrate the Fourth of July

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Stake Activity

Hola Familia

This week was a good week for finding new investigators! It all started with the stake activity. At this time of the year in Guatemala, they have their spring break. So, the stake planned a whole bunch of different activities for the youth, one including missionary work. They asked Elder Rivera and I to plan this activity. So we decided to have a little training session and then split into groups with each missionary and go contact! We got over 125 Books of Mormon and pamplets and everything! It was super fun! All the missionaries from our zone came and helped, and each missionary was in charge of so many missionaries! My Group and I worked hard! We found so many new people to teach! And at the end of the day, we got over 90 references for our zone! It was amazing to see how awesome the youth are here in Guatemala. They are going to be great missionaries. We even had three investigators come and preach the gospel haha!

Also, we found a nice little family, Michael and his mom! The mom has lived a hard life. One of her sons, Michael, has accepted an invitation to be baptized on the 19th of July. It was cool because we taught the plan of salvation and casually asked if they wanted to be baptized, and he was like yes, and we were like really?! His mom was also like, really?! And he was like, yes. His mom said, sounds good, I dont have a problem with it! When he came to church this week, he found out that one of his really good friends is a member! So that was cool!

Also we are still preparing Aorelio for his baptism on the 12th, it's so awesome to see him progress and strengthen his faith!

But this week was cool, because Elder River and I are the youngest zone leaders in the mission, and our zone baptized the most out of any other zones! Because of that, our zone got to play paintball today and next week we are going to the temple as a zone! I learned that it doesn't matter how much time or experience you have, but if you put your confidence and faith in the Lord, and if it's His will, He will bless you and help you complete your goal. It reminds me of the time when Nephi built the boat, when everyone didn't believe in him, but with his faith, he was able to do it!

Les amo y les quiero!

Tortilla Total: 1176

Big Mac Count: 19

Stake Activity

Elder Corbett and Elder Rivera with the New Mission President and his Wife

Going on splits with Elder Etcheto

Preaching the gospel to every living creature

Elder Dickson and Elder Corbett

Volcano