Weeks 14 & 15 - Letters # 15 & 16

Mon, May 28, 2012 at 5:11 PM Como Estan? Sounds like pretty good! It was a huge week for you guys! How awesome. And you have another big week this week. Life is packed. I am so excited for DaeNeese. She will have a great time down there. Those were some pretty cool pictures too. Looks like Brett had a pretty good court of honor and Senior ball. How awesome that Conner and Bronson started a business. That should be pretty cool, and good for Conner. I didn't know that we put some foot cream in with my things. haha. I will use that then. I would like to share with you a miracle that happened this week. We have an investigator that is 12 years old. We asked him to pray about whether the church was true, and he said he would. When we returned he said that he prayed and felt that the church is true. He then said that he wanted to know for sure for sure. He asked that it would rain the next day. It did...I was amazed to hear this. I know that our Savior lives and loves us. I know that he is watching over us and protecting us. I love all you guys and will talk to you next week. Les amo, Elder Corbin ************************************************************************************************************** Mon, May 21, 2012 at 2:57 PM Hola! Yeah I cant wait till I can read Brett's patriarchal blessing. I bet it was an awesome experience. I am really grateful for the opportunity to have my patriarchal blessing to guide me and give my life direction. Ok so I will be sending the memory card to you next week, and I didn't bring everything for my camera to send pictures to you but next week I will. I will prepare to give advice for Christmas time. It does sound like a big week for you all. Lots of big events coming up. So both of those houses across the street are going to be empty then? Pretty crazy. So Brett's liking his work then? That's good. And 3 nights every week isn't too bad. That's cool that they offered him a position when he returns if he wants. Yeah that's a good idea for Brett to work until his mission. That's awesome that Eliza and you are having a good time. That should be fun to go on a camp out together. I remember going on camp outs with dad. Those were always a blast for me! Right now we are working hard to find those people that are "chosen." The people who Heavenly Father has prepared for us and who are ready to be baptized in the church. We don't have any baptismal dates yet but we had the opportunity to take Jacobo to a baptismal service on Saturday and we are hoping this is going to get him excited. It is a pretty slow area, but I know that we are going to find those people that are ready. President Flores is expecting more from us. He wants us to have 30 baptismal dates each week. We are going to try all we can to achieve this goal. I don't have many challenges. Some times I get tired but not for long. I just focus and forget about myself. I am having a BLAST here. I have not been eating much bananas but I will buy some. My letter address is Ernesto Brede #301 Col. Amp. Los Ángeles Torreón Coahuila CP 27148. Packages get sent to a chapel. It is the central chapel for the mission. The address is: Elder Brandon Corbin/Mexico Torreon Mission / Calle Ernesto Breede #301/ Col. Ampliacion Los Angeles/ 27140 Torreon, Coahuila/ Mexico. I know that this is the true gospel and we can all live eternally if we persevere until the end. This includes going to church, praying keeping the commandments and things like this. Les amo, Elder Corbin

Week 13- Letter # 14

Mon, May 14, 2012 at 5:05 PM Hola! How is everyone doing since yesterday [Mother's Day call]!! Haha. Yes it was way good to hear from everyone and how you are all doing. It was good to be able to talk to everyone individually. Everyone seems like life is awesome. About the advice I gave everyone, I know that if you all do these things that you will find yourselves closer to the Savior. So I was wondering if I should send you the memory card with 300 things on it or the one that I took pictures on? I was so grateful as well to the lady that let me use her computer. So any new news from between now and yesterday? Did skype cost anything for you guys? its free right? Whats Brett's work schedule like? When is the Camp for you and Eliza? Saturday we had the opportunity to just search for new investigators. We were able to talk to many people. With each person we had the opportunity to talk to them a little bit about the church and tell them why they would want to listen to us. We also had the opportunity to bear our testimonies. I believe that it is crucial that we bear our testimonies often because this is a great opportunity for the spirit to work on them and soften their hearts. Well I would just like to say that I know that this is the true church. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us more than we can imagine and that he is always there for us whenever we need a little help or we are feeling down or like we are alone. He is there. He answers our prayers. I know that he has restored his church through Joseph Smith, and that if we listen to the counsel of the prophets we can live happier lives. Even though at times it may be hard to follow the prophets counsel, I know that in the end it will all be worth it. All of our efforts to do what is right and to follow the path will be worth it. I am so grateful for you guys and your examples for me. I love all of you sooo much and I pray for all of you every day. Love, Elder Corbin

Week 12- Letter #13

Date: Mon, May 7, 2012 at 4:45 PM

Hola! Como esta? Yeah, its so awesome that you are able to be out of college and be able to choose a career. So you have decided to choose to start a new business for Insurance? That´s awesome. I know that whatever you do you can find success. I have always known you as one who loves to work with people. I'm glad that you are able do choose a job that you like and are going to continue to enjoy. I am so grateful for your example in these things. That´s also pretty awesome that you now have time to do other things too. I enjoyed Chapter nine of Jesus the Christ. What I got out of it is that even though Jesus was of God, he still had his father Joseph on the earth. I liked how it said that even though he was not the literal son of Joseph he still chose to obey him, setting an example for all of us to honor our father and mother. So Basically we wake up at 6:30, exercise and prepare for the day, then at 7:30 we eat breakfast. At 8 we begin our personal study, until nine. Then we begin companion study for 2 hours. After that we have our language study and then it is off to our appointments and contacting. That's cool that you said that you were able to look back in your journal and remember things from your mission. I was just thinking about this the other day that this is going to be something I can read with my family and others and I will have it for all my life. I know that our Savior lives and loves us and that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and am grateful for it. Hope all continues to go well with your business and all else. Le Amo, Elder Corbin Hola! I will be calling you at about 7:00 our time. Im not sure when it is your time though. I will be calling you and having you call me back I don´t really know why but that´s what they said to have you do. The fiesta looked like it was a ton of fun! Even with authentic mexican music and piñatas and all huh? Sounds like it was some pretty good food too. It is a great opportunity I have to study every day for hours and not to mention learning more throughout the day. Yeah the mission is an awesome experience. That´s awesome that DaeNeese is close. My guess (of where she will be called to) is Argentina. Brett's [Eagle is]official then huh? Muy bien! Thats cool that the Geo is running again. Conner's always had the creative mind. I´ll have to hear how he made it [a trailer for his rider mower] on Sunday. I saw all of the pictures that you sent me and they all look pretty awesome. I am not sure who M.S. is right now but it sounds really familiar. I will ask you about this on Sunday too. That´s awesome that she has a new friend though. That´s kind of wierd to think that the Corbins won´t be across the street. That will definitely be different. I can´t wait to hear about Dad´s job, and the details. Thanks for sending me some garlic! I'm sending you a picture of me and Chad. I hope you get it. We have met many people this week who were afflicted and who were in need of a blessing. It was really cool to give them the blessings and to see their faith in action and the change in their lives. It was really awesome to be able to have the authority to help those people who are in need of help in their lives. I really know that this is the true gospel and the way back to heaven and living with our families forever. I know that if we do those things that we are asked to do we can recieve this gift. It was good to hear from you and I will talk to you on Sunday. Les amo, Elder Corbin

Week 11- Letters #12

Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 9:55 AM Hola!! (To dad) QUE EXELENTE!!!!! Sounds like it was an awesome graduation you had dad. Its crazy that you graduated and I know that you will find a lot of different options from graduating from college, and not to mention much success. I am grateful for your example to graduate from college. I really enjoyed the chapter (in Jesus the Christ) too. It was full of awesome facts. I really liked the part that explained when the birth of the Savior was. I really think it was made clear.I liked how it explained the part that said "in the commencement of the year". I am trying to teach through the spirit and trying to have the spirit with me and I think I will be able to do this more as I have more time in my mission and can understand better. It is difficult for [investigators] to go to church especially since we have church at 9 am. My area is pretty big. We hardly use public transportation because of the cost and because we need the exercise. I think my Spanish is coming along pretty good. I enjoyed your testimony too. I know too that this is the true church and that we can repent through the atonement of the Savior. Love, Elder Corbin Hola, Yeah it was weird when I ask him [his comp], "what do you do for the 5 of May/" he said "what is the 5 of may?" But i think it is just the American celebration of a war. But you should definitely still do it. Try Jaimaica. It is a juice. You might like it. I think it's pretty good. It is different though. Yeah, we normally eat pizza like once every other week. Not much. I usually wake up at 6:30 then I eat and get ready. After that I study language and doctrine until 12:00. Then we go teach and find new investigators. We then normally return at like 9 pm and plan for the next day and then go to bed. It was good to hear an update on everyone. Sounds like things are getting challenging, but I know that if anyone would be able to take these challenges, it would be my family. Keep pushing on and I know you will be blessed. Also, the Lord is always there for us. This is one thing that I have learned a little bit about, and am continuing to learn about each day. I feel that [our family] devotionals helped me prepare for my mission by learning to devote time to the Lord. Each day we would spend time that we could have been sleeping to talk about gospel topics, and to learn doctrine and give thanks. So in a summary it taught me to love the Lord and prepared me to spend all my time, 24/7, [devoted] to the Lord. I enjoyed what you said about the scriptures and oh how true it is. The scriptures have every answer you would ever have a question to. We actually aren't teaching any families as of right now, but I will tell you about them when I begin teaching them. There are mostly just individuals that live alone and maybe are dating someone. I am able to exercise a lot and I am trying to eat as much healthy food as I can. That would be awesome if you could send me more garlic. I would definitely take it more, if not every day. I love you all; adios! Elder Corbin

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!!