Week 10- Letter #11

Mon, Apr 23, 2012 at 3:55 PM Buenas! Sounds like everyone is doing pretty good. That sounds pretty cool- a Cinco day Mayo party. Apparently in Mexico they don't do anything for Cinco day Mayo. My companion is from Mexico City and said that they usually don't do anything. Maybe its just an American thing. But yes, I love the food here, it's very spicy. The pizzas here even come with little hot sauce packets just in case you want hot sauce on your pizza. Haha. Thats awesome to hear that Brett has a job at DQ! Sounds like a pretty fun job. Does he get free ice cream and shakes?!? Thats cool as well to hear about his Eagle and that he is in the Priest presidency with Riley. Im sure that they both do great jobs in their positions, and have great unity. So DaeNeese is progressing with her papers then? Thats pretty cool. It will be cool to see where she winds up going. Conner tried out for philharmonics? Did he make it? That's cool that he goes and plays in the after school games. Sounds like Eliza is doing well too. Yeah, Family devotional has definately helped me. It has given me the day by day spirit to help me in the long run to have the spirit with me. Do you still have family counsel with the N.'s? So are you enjoying the calling to the Stake? I only talked to the man with the hurt knee once (Jacobo is his name), because we had splits this week on the one day that we had an appointment with him. But we asked him to be baptised this coming Saturday and he said he will pray about it. We will see what happens with that. We walk a pretty good amount each day. Im not sure how much exactly though. Every day is pretty hot though. I put on sun screen most days, but sometimes I forget. that's no good to hear that Sis. B had to have surgery. I sleep well every night. I actually haven't made anything besides cereal haha. We usually eat at members houses. We have a couple stores nearby equivalent to a half of one maceys grocery store. We walk everywhere. I actually took a taxi the first day but that was because I had suitcases. We havent really seen any sights yet though. I have been pretty healthy. I have enough garlic to take one every week so I have been doing that. I will go look at the store though to see if they have more. I also eat my vitamins every morning. It was good to hear from you. I hope all continues to go well for you guys. It sounds like life is pretty exciting with everything going on. Les amo, Elder Corbin

Week 9- Letters # 10

Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 7:53 PM Hola! My address is Ernesto Berde #301 Col. Amp. Los Ángeles Torreón Coahuila CP. 27148. My companions name is Elder Camarillo, and he is awesome. My apartment is awesome. We actually just switched after the first week! Pretty funny. But yeah Ill be sending the card w/pictures of it probably next month. My mission president is awesome but I have only seen him like 4 times. not much. His wife is pretty cool too. Everything is awesome. The food is really different than the mexican food there, and at times it is tough because I am so full and I cant eat any more but I have to eat it. Lots of walking too. Love you guys! ALSO... Mon, Apr 16, 2012 at 8:18 PM Hola again! It is awesome to hear from you guys!! Sounds like everything is going awesome!! So did I call you guys on Spring break? That's awesome to hear that Dana is engaged!! Muy Chevere!! Disneyland huh?!?! Sounds like a blast! Thats cool that you got to see the Turner's too. I actually don´t have my camera with me but I will send it next month if thats okay, when its full. Or if you want I will bring it next week. That's awesome to hear about your calling mom!! You'll do great! That's good to hear that Conner has a job, and that Brett is in the search. That's cool to hear about Eliza too with her growing tall. Pretty cool. Yeah I will try to send cards but if all Preparation days are like today I'm not sure if I will be able too. But if you could wish Ashlyn and DaeNeese a happy birthday from me that would be awesome. Sounds like everything is just very awesome down there. Thats good. But yeah I love the food down here. Very Spicy. There is so much work to be done here. We only have 17 active members in our ward out of 35. We actually already have 3 baptism dates just from this week though. I can see the spirit's hand in helping us out in finding these people. On saturday we were knocking doors when we came accross a man who kind of interested but not sure. He said that he would think about going to church the next day when we invited him. He later told us that his knee was hurting him and that he was not able to walk much. We offered to give him a blessing and he accepted. The next day at church we are just hoping that one of our investigators would come in but no one was coming. With about 10 minutes in I looked at the entrance and he was standing there looking for a seat. We welcomed him and sat by him. He later told us that after the blessing his knee began to be much better and he WALKED to church! What a miracle!! There are so many awesome things like that here and they continue to happen. I know that this is the true church and that we can all receive eternal life if we are righteous. Love you guys!! Elder Corbin

Week 8- Letter # 9

Mon. Apr 9, 2012 at 4:20 PM Hey! Just letting you know that we are in Torreon now! It's awesome! It's kind of weird to see all the billboards be in Spanish but I will get used to it. Here is a picture of the President and I. Our pday is on Monday too just to let you know. LOVE YA!!

Week 7- Letter 8

Fri, Mar 30, 2012 at 1:15 PM ¡Como estan! What a crazy week it has been. At the beginning of the week I got assigned a new companion who had hurt his ankle named Elder L. His district has all left and he has to stay behind until his ankle heals. How rough is that huh? He is taking it pretty well though. It was weird though because I went to physical therapy with him at the Utah health clinic (the place where I was checked monthly for my ACL). It was weird to be out of the MTC for a little bit. But he is going to be reassigned on Monday to work with the missionaries who work on fb and referrals. Yes, I have seen David Archuleta. It was kinda weird, I was expecting him to be sort of tall but he is only like 5'3, and when I saw him I just thought, "Is that really David Archuleta?". Pretty funny haha. Anyways, I am so pumped for conference!! I can't wait. There are always great messages in conference. I would like to challenge you guys to have a question before going into conference and listen for an answer during it. Just to let you know I am not in the MTC choir so don't try too hard to look for me. There are some people in my district who are in the choir though. Probably the most exciting part of the week though, is yesterday I came into class to find a paper on my desk. I looked at the paper and found out that I am going to Boise on Monday to sign the VISA and I will be leaving on April 9 to Torreon!!!! I am so excited!! I was really shocked to see that my visa is there. Anyways how are you all doing? I will be sending the picture card on Monday and hopefully that should get to you soon. It was good to hear from you! Les Amo, Elder Corbin

Week 6- Letter # 7

Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 2:18 PM Hola, Hows everyone doing? It is good to hear from you. That is crazy that Brett and Conner have their liscences! That's muy chevere! I do remember his project! haha I don't know why but I couldn't think of it last week. So thats good though. Thats cool that he is making progress, and really close to the end. K yeah so I will send the pictures to you guys, and continue in the system. Aparently things get stolen out of mail from Mexico sometimes, so would you like me to continue that in Mexico? You guys got the treadmill huh? Thats cool! Yeah everyone says that they don't understand how I eat so much and be that skinny. And I continue to stay pretty much the same weight. That's pretty cool to hear a little about B. How is his situation with going to church and stuff? I remember that when I left they were trying to be his friend and help him come to church and stuff. Yeah thanks I got the picture. Looks like you guys had a blast! I used the Debit card and it worked. I havent heard anything else about finances though. That's awesome to hear about the lesson for FHE this week. The one for this week is Humility. Just a reminder it is in row from preach my gospel. That was awesome to hear about the Joyfully Read potential!! That is really cool. Especially coming from that guy. How are Josh and Justin doing? Does Blake still hang out with Justin? That was nice of you to help out with the Wilson's wedding. Thats cool that the Neeses got a new dog too. Do they like it? I also wanted to wish Brett a happy Birthday and hope he enjoys it. Oh and thank you for those awesome cookies! they were way good!! If you ever have any extras lying around, don't hesitate to send any to me. ;) I have felt the Savior's love for me and that he cares for me during this MTC expereince, and I have had my testimony strengthened. I love all of you guys and hope all continues to go well. Nos vemos, Elder Corbin

Week 5- Letter #6

Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 10:11 AM Hola,
How are things going for everyone?? It was good to hear from you. So Brett and Conner will both have their licenses by the end of the month huh? That's pretty cool. That's pretty awesome that Brett has almost completed his Eagle. I can't send pictures because they have the computers highly secured, but if you want me to send you guys the memory card, I would be glad to do that.
That's crazy that Grandma and Grandpa are leaving that soon. So whats the plan for Jeff and Shell? Sounds like you had some pretty fun birthday celebrations. So the Geo battery died? Have they tried to tighten the bolt on top of the battery? Yeah that would be pretty cool if I could get the feedback from Thomas and the loss of his dad. That would be really hard. It sounds like he is placed in a good spot though with his companion being in the same boat with the loss of his dad. But it was Grandma Corbin's birthday? how did that go? Well that's pretty cool mom that you are picking up the piano. That should be awesome. As far as the fasting weekly thing, we were told to not have our family fast more that necessary. So no need to fast every week. Thank you though.
I just wanted to share an experience that we had with teaching a "Progressing Investigator" named Ariel. We taught him a little about prayer and how to pray and then at the end of the lesson we asked him to pray a couple lessons ago and he wouldn't do it. We tried a couple more times asking if he would pray but he kept coming up with excuses of why he couldn't pray. Ending the lesson we just decided to say the prayer. Astonished we thought of what we could do to get him to pray next lesson. We thought the next lesson we would just teach him only about prayer. Cringing, at the end of the lesson we asked him to pray, and with a little bit of hesitation he began to pray. It was an awesome experience.
I would just like to bear my testimony that I know that this is the true gospel and that we are so blessed to have it in our lives. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and that he did restore the gospel to the earth. I love you guys, I pray for you and hope you all are doing well.
Love,
Elder Corbin

Week 4- Letter #5

Fri, Mar 9, 2012 at 10:18 AM Family,
Happy Birthday Mom as of yesterday! How was your birthday? Did you do anything awesome? Did you have parfaits for breakfast?? or belgaim waffles? How are things going for everyone? It was good to hear from you guys. Im glad the room switch is going well. That is not very good news to hear about elder Larson's father. I hope he is doing alright.
So yeah the topic for this week is charity and the one for next week will be virtue. So if you could just maybe look up a little bit about it and share with me that would be awesome. But they are in preach my gospel. That is the order I am going in so you could follow by that.
Mom, I have been taking pictures but I wont be able to send any out until I get out in the field. I will probably send all of them the first day I get out there. To tell you a little more about my companion he was home schooled and has been playing piano since he was seven and is pretty good. He just got accepted to BYU for piano skills. He tries to play whenever he can. But yes I recently got a haircut. I exercise 5 out of 7 days. I got the calling of senior companion. I have only gained 5 pounds I guess because I burn it all off playing basketball.
Dad, that's awesome that you're almost graduated!!!! I'm so excited for you!! That is sooo cool. That's awesome that you have all A's. I hope the job search keeps getting better for you. How did the "Jesus the Christ" reading go this week with chapter 4? I especially liked the part on pg. 33 (at least in my book, I'm not sure if it is the same page in yours) that says "that by the Word, who was with God, and who was God even in the beginning, all things were made," because a lot of the time people get confused about how Jesus and Heavenly Father are separate beings but that explains a little bit of why. It continues on to say that Christ was "God the Creator". Explaining a little more why he is called God sometimes. I really liked how they shared how some of the scripture names are present day names and what they are.
One that I really that was awesome is how Jesus' name is Joshua in current day names. I did not know that. I also really liked the part where they explain the meaning of Jehovah on page 36. It says it is meant to mean "Lord," and also meaning "Self existent One or the Eternal." Just some awesome parts.
Well it was good to hear from you guys. I just want to let you know that I know that Jesus is the Christ and that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet of today and that Joseph Smith did restore the gospel. In the Name of Jesus Christ amen. Until next time. Adios!

Elder Brandon Corbin