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

Monday, March 30, 2015

Saying goodbye to San Juan

Hola Familia!

Well all has came to an end, as I finished my last week in San Juan. It's always hard to say goodbye to the members and investigators, especially after being in the area for seven-and-a-half months!

On Thursday the assistants called me and told me that I will be training for the last 2 changes of my mission. The dream of every missionary that goes home! I think it will be funny that my "son" will be the one to "kill" me in the mission haha.

Friday we had a trainers meeting in Xela with President Smith. He told us that being a trainer is the most important calling in the mission and that if he could go back and be a missionary again that he would pick to train. I'm really excited to train again. The first time I trained was right after my own training, so I think Elder Perry and I learned together. But now that I actually have some time in the mission, I'm excited to teach a new missionary everything that I know to help him have success on his mission.

Saturday night, one of the counselors from the branch presidency called and told me that I would be giving a talk my last Sunday in San Juan. He said that I could choose the topic. For me that was the hardest part because there were so many things that I wanted to talk about with the branch.

So on Sunday, I gave my talk and I talked about sharing with others the thing that is most important to us, the gospel of Jesus Christ. I based it on the talk that David A. Bednar gave last October. I shared the story of his kids who were playing outside. One got hurt so his brother took him inside and cleaned his cut and put band-aids on his arm. He felt so much better after his brother fixed his arm, that he took the band-aids outside with him and put them on all of the other little kids. Because really if the gospel is something we cherish in our lives, and if it makes us feel good, it should be the first thing we share with those who need our help.

Today a family from Xela invited our whole zone to a country club that is in one of the areas in our zone. It was actually really cool! I got to play ping pong, something that I haven't played for almost 2 years. After that, we played tennis.....wow that was fun! Well tonight I have plans to say goodbye to a couple more special families in San Juan and tomorrow I'm off!

Elder Corbett

Tortilla Total 1947

Saying goodbye to Hermana Yojana and her family

p
Playing ping pong

Tennis on P-Day

Monday, March 23, 2015

A trip to the temple and stake conference

Hola Familia!

Wow, this last week has been a great week! The highlight was definitely going to the temple! I've learned a lot about the temple as I have been studying the Old Testament, and have been reading about the tabernacle that Moses built. I just love so much, the spirit that can be felt inside the temple!

Also, we had stake conference which was super great! It was so neat to see the church full of faithful saints. We had the blessing of bringing 3 of our investigators to the conference that was held in Xela! They all said they had a great time and asked us why the chapel in Xela was bigger than the chapel in San Juan. I told them that if they become members of the church, and if they help their families also become members, that some day they just might see a chapel the same size in San Juan haha!

As you can see by the pictures, we did eat pretty well this week. It felt good to fuel up on some food from the states.

We also went with the youth from the branch to a cool view up on a mountain. We then cooked steak and ended by playing some soccer!

Well I don't have too much time to write! I hope you guys have a great week!

Elder Corbett

Tortilla Total: 1930

Elder Corbett and Elder Mendoza

A trip to the temple with the zone

Eating at Subway

Burger King

Cooking over a fire

A trip up the mountain with the youth from our branch

Tire swing

A view of my area

Monday, March 16, 2015

Preaching the gospel and attending meetings

Hola Familia!

This week has been a great week preaching the gospel and working with all of my investigators!

Besides preaching the gospel, I spent over 15 hours this week in meetings... So much fun. First we had our monthly leader counsel which is always great and it is fun to go and see all the other missionaries. Later in the week we had a multi-zone conference with 3 other zones and with President Smith.

There are a lot of new missionaries in the mission, and I mean a lot! President Smith said that over 50 percent of the missionaries have been here less than seven months. So during the conference they focused a lot on how to teach the restoration, how to invite everyone to be baptized, and how to work with families. It was good. But the best part was when Sister Smith showed us over half of the new movie Meet the Mormons. Wow, that is such an inspiring movie and it really portrays what it means to be a member of the church and what we truly believe. There's a part in the movie where a family takes there son to the airport to leave on a mission and all the sisters were crying hahaha! I would recommend that movie to anyone and everyone!

Other than that we have been working hard at building up the branch in San Juan. We are expecting some baptisms in the next couple of weeks so that's always exciting! Also this week we get the opportunity to go to the temple as a zone, so we are excited for that! I love section 109 in the Doctrine and Covenants. It talks a lot about the power that we receive when we go to the temple! You should all read it! The Church is true!

Elder Corbett

Tortilla Total: 1905!

A night of friendship for our investigators

Elder Corbett with Blanca and her family

Chuchito

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Working Hard

Hola Familia!

This week my companion and I have been working hard to set an example for our zone. We have continued using our time wisely and inviting everyone to be baptized!

This week 2 of our investigators, Leticia and Yojana, received answers from their prayers to know whether the church was true. They both told us on different occasions that this time in their prayer, when they asked if the church was true, that they felt something different that they hadn't ever felt before. They said that they felt peace and joy, and they told us it was a feeling that they couldn't explain. We both enjoyed testifying to them that that it is the spirit that testifies of truth. We both then asked them if they felt like that the Lord had answered their prayers and they told us that yes, it was the Lord.

One important thing that I learned this week, is that this is the Lord's work. We can work our hardest and be the best teachers in teaching the gospel, but it doesn't matter if the spirit isn't there. I have learned to go out and work my hardest and then rely upon the Lord to answer the prayers and to bring forth a conversion in each and everyone of our investigators. This is the only way to be truly in tune with the spirit and to do the will of the Lord.

Also this week my companion Elder Mendoza completed a year in the mission and to celebrate we ate an entire rotisserie chicken! We also brought 5 investigators to church this week and we have seen a major improvement with the branch San Juan. We are now up to 70 in attendance! The Church is True!

Elder Corbett

Tortilla Total 1888

Elder Corbett wearing a wig

Pescado

Our P-Day lunch

Monday, March 9, 2015

Bringing people to Christ

Hola Familia!

The weeks keep going by faster and faster. My companion and I have worked hard this week, especially with Roxana. She has decided and has been prepared to be baptized on the 14th of March.

This week four of our investigators came to church which is pretty good! One of them was Roxana who has now attended church four times! For the other three that came to church, it was their first time! They loved it and even stayed for all three of the hours. We had previously invited these three to be baptized and all of them said yes, but we didn't set an exact date because they had never came to church before. Now that they have been to church, we plan to invite them to be baptized on the 21st of March!

Elder D Todd Christofferson once said,"It is not our purpose just to participate in discussions about the gospel or to talk to anyone and everyone we can about the Church or merely to set goals and make plans. These things are important, but they are a means to an end, and that end is bringing people to Christ." One thing that I have learned lately is that I can talk with someone about the gospel and it makes me feel good, but to truly be the hands of the Lord, I have to invite them to act on their faith and to come unto Christ which is through baptism. Whether the person says yes or no, it doesn't matter because I have invited them and I know that I did exactly what the Lord would have done! This week we invited 15 people to be baptized and all of them said yes. By inviting everyone to be baptized it helps us to find the elect that the Lord has prepared for us! I know that this is the Lord's work! I'm so grateful for the opportunity that the Lord has given me to be his representative. This is His church and He guides and directs us!

Elder Corbett

Tortilla Total 1867