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

Monday, October 27, 2014

Flying kites and listening to the Spirit

Hola Familia!

This week Elder Navarro and I have been finding a lot of new investigators which has been great! Of the many we found, Isabel is super positive. She works in a little shop selling shoes. We contacted her and she happily accpeted us. We have been working hard teaching her and we have invited her to be baptized on the 18th of November. Now the real work comes in with the members, as we invite them to invite her to church and activities at her house. If the members will help us, it will for sure be a baptism! She is really nice and I even bought shoes from her. She's getting them handmade for me because they don't make a size big enough! haha!

The weeks go by so fast, I can't even remember them! It's starting to turn into winter here in Guatemala, and so all of the kids have their kites out because of the wind! It's a big thing here. They even make kites that are 2 stories tall! So today for p-day, our zone had a kite flying competition! We went up to this peak on a mountain to where there is a lot of wind and flew kites and enjoyed the view. It was a good p-day.

Other than that, the one thing that I've been focusing on lately is listening and then acting to the promptings of the Spirit. Because if a missionary can do that, wow, he is going to have a lot of success. Plus San Juan is a huge area, and we can't just go up and talk to everyone right?! So when we contact by the Spirit, we contact the people that the Lord has prepared for us. I've noticed the more that I follow the promptings of the Spirit through thoughts that I receive, the more the Lord blesses me with the Spirit! It's great, and we find people who are willing to listen to us! The Church Is True!

Elder Corbett

Tortilla Total: 1475

Working on a bus

Elder Corbett and Elder Navarro making tacos

Elder Navarro flying his kite

Monday, October 20, 2014

Elder Navarro and Serving Others

Hola Familia!

This week I dropped off Elder Reinhold, and picked up my new companion, named Elder Navarro. He is from Peru and has 19 months in the mission. I have the privilege to train him as a new zone leader! It's cool though, because we already know each other. We both started out in the same area, Las Roas in Huehue! So that's pretty awesome.

We have been working very hard to edify the branch, which means to me, to help everyone develop a love for Christ. Instead of just looking for baptisms, we have also been looking for people who need the gospel, which could be anyone from inactive members to active members.

I would definitely have to call this week a success. We brought two families to church, who have been inactive and having many problems in thier lives. To me that is just as important as baptizing, and I know that the Lord looks at it as the same. And really all that those people needed, was service and someone to remind them of the love that Christ has for each and everyone of us. I always think of the scripture in Mosiah 2:17 "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

Serving other people, is like hitting 2 birds with 1 stone: First we are helping other people, and second we are helping God. I think we can all apply this in our lives! How easy is it to help a neighbor, or someone in need with something, or even just saying "hi" to them can help a lot!

I know that if we live by this standard, that the people around us will look up to us as examples, and we will be able to bring so many people back to the truth!

Elder Corbett

Tortilla Total:1453

Elder Corbett and his new companion, Elder Navarro

Sitting in the driver's seat of a chicken bus

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Visiting Eden and Saying Goodbye to Elder Reinhold

Hola Familia!

Wow ..... Honestly I can't even remember what we did last week! The weeks just fly by! We spent a lot of time the last few days saying goodbye to a lot of people because Elder Reinhold leaves to go home tomorrow.

All that I do remember this week is that we went with a companionship to a village in our area, called Eden. It's about a 45 minute drive all up hill! We went to a really cool little house, with flowers and animals. The man living there said that he never needs to leave because he has everything! The bad side to it, was that his dad was a pastor of a church and the other elders wanted to baptize his son, who lived in their area. He had a lot of questions, and hard ones, but we just followed the spirit and he was actually really impressed with us. NOT only did he give his son permission to be baptized, but he also wants his son to serve a mission to be able to preach the gospel. It was a really neat experience, and that's what it means when it says this in D & C 68:4 "And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation." This is definitely one of my favorite scriptures. We have the promise and blessing that if we are obedient, the Lord will help us share the gospel! It's so simple!

Among the people living in this village, we ran into an Amish colony. It was really neat to see other gringos. They even have a bakery and they sell amazing cookies and donuts. I keep seeing them, so I always try to talk to them. Maybe one day they will invite me to their farm, and teach me how to make their cookies!!!

Other than that, I go tomorrow to Xela to pick up my new companion! Wish me luck! Love you guys!

Elder Corbett

Tortilla Total: 1437

A party for Elder Reinhold

Saying goodbye to Elder Reinhold

Eden

Monday, October 6, 2014

Laguna Chikabal and general conference

Hola Familila!

Today for p-day we got to go to the Laguna Chikabal, which is a lake that is located at the very top of a volcano. We took the whole zone with us. It was super fun and beautiful. Other than that, we were very busy this week inviting everyone to general conference.

This was the third session of general conference on my mission! Every time it gets better and better. Saturday we went down to Xela to watch all the sessions in english. This meant we got to go to Burger King for breakfast, McDonlads for lunch,(add one to the big mac count) and then a nice restauraunt for dinner. But wow, the talks were so powerful! I decided to take notes this time and it made the sessions fly by!

Sunday was the day to try and take everyone from the branch in San Juan to a branch in San Mateo to watch general conference. The president got us a bus, but we were in charge of getting everyone on the bus. To help encourage them to stay for both sessions, Elder Reinhold and I made sack lunches, which included a sandwich, juice box, bannana, and some cookies. It definitely helped the branch stay, and as we started the second session we had more people than the other branch!

Wow, was it just me, or were the talks amazing! I liked all of them, but especially Elder David Bednar's talk to the non-members. I think I might just print out a copy of his talks and hand them out to our new investigators and say, "If you guys accept us to come and teach you, this is what you should be expecting haha!" Conference always reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures in the the book of Amos which says, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth His secret unto his servants the prophets." One of the best ways to receive revelation and help from the Lord is through His prophets. There were many talks that even explained the importance of the prophets and their roles. They have the keys to guide the church and receive revelation for the church as a whole. So when we listen to them, really we are listening to Jesus Christ who is the head of the church. I know that the prophets are true servants of God, and that they have all the keys that have been given in this dispensation, and if we listen to them and apply their teachings we will find peace and happiness from all the problems that exist in the world today.

Elder Corbett

Tortilla Total: 1413

A trip to the lake

Laguna Chicabal

Elder Corbett at Laguna Chicabal

Tadpoles

The missionaries from San Juan and San Mateo

A picnic between conference sessions

Elder Corbett with a future missionary