Letter #77 Last Email

 Ingrid was baptized Sunday, she's 10 years old.

 Dead Cockroach, broken dust pan, Ha Ha!

 Ingrid's Family....she is so happy!

LAST LETTER (não acredito)

I can't believe this day came... my last email to the fam...

i think i will be become best freinds with this evelyn johnson hahah i dont even know her but im considering her a best freind already. she can help me understand how to make brasilian food. i will bring home some food, i dont think it will be a problem. you guys need to try this stuff. ill see what ill buy mostly food haha

i had no idea about uncle neff, ill make sure to say a few prayers for him. hahah pshh im not sure what i can contribute to ward council but i can try.

wow i dont think ive ever been nervous to write an email to you all, but right now knowing its my last email is scary. there is so much to say i dont know where to begin.

with out water:

I´ll start with the week. so all the sudden our water stopped in our apartment. we walked outside and apparently the water stopped everywhere. alright we can handle this i wont take a shower today... next day, nothing. alright today i dont need to take a shower... everyones water was back except ours the third day i couldnt handle it anymore i called president and said pres we need water and he let us take a shower at a members house. when we got back we said a prayer to let the water come back to house, when we finished the prayer we heard the drains filling up, blessing and a half ah.

Interview with President:

we got a call from the secretary telling us we had to be at the mission home in two hours it was our hour to be interviewed. He told me it would be my last one. i felt like yesterday i was being interviewed by him for the first time talking in his english and my horrible portugues. he asked how i was feeling and how it was going the last transfer. i told him some of my concerns about going home and he cleared everything up.. i told him that i wasnt sure how to be me he said you are sister aubree corbin without the sister.. the new and approved the old aubree that i knew she is gone. i asked him how i have changed and what has he seen in my differently. he began to tell me that at first i was shy and wasnt sure about my potential to be a leader fast, but was proven wrong when the spirit told him to make me senior. "i never had to worry about you and your obedience i knew that every time you trained that sister would be like you. not everyone can train thier last transfer... unfortunately not everyone is on the mission for the right reasons but i can honestly can say you know, the top 10 missionaries that i have and i am sad to see you go, your love for this people was different you didnt just love the people you liked but it was everyone that felt your love and because of it you were blessed" he said alot of other things. im so grateful to have a president like i did. he was an example to me in everything although it was hard to always be obedient i think it was the lord testing me to see how i would handle it.. i will always remember his service and the way he pushed me to be the best missionary i could be

Ingrids baptism:

10 year old ingrid got baptized this past sunday. she is a neighbor slash relative of a family in our ward. she has been going to church and decided she too wanted to get baptized. her parents arent members and are not married... we started to teach ingrid and her enthusiasm for the gospel always got me excited to teach. Sunday everyone came to support her on her special day. after she got baptized she gave a hug to her mom and she began to cry. her mom asked her why she was crying and she said " because im happy" her mom got emotional and so did i. i remembered the day of my baptism... mom do you remember you asked me the same question. when i was getting dressed to go back to the meeting. i began to cry and you asked why i was crying and i answered the same thing. i remember my baptism as if it was yesterday and the happiness i felt on that day. I am filled with the love of christ when i think about the little part i had in helping these people of brasil have this same happiness of the spirit. every baptism is marked in my mind, every confirmation and every investigator that didnt quite make it to thier special day to take upon them the name of christ. there is no words that can express the joy that comes from saying, "im a representative of christ". my name tag says so much. this past week, my name tag brought a different meaning. will i be ready to take it off? will i be ready to make this change again. when i arrived on the mission i wasnt ready for it, I wasnt sure what to expect, what to learn or who to be, now that im leaving im not ready to leave. the word is CHANGE... this is the only constant in our lives, change. you can count on it. we got to trust the lord and walk with faith.. he wants to teach us, but how can he if were not willing to grow. change is necessary, yes its scary, yes its uncomfortable but its life.

i truly believe that god never fully prepares anyone for anything... because there is no room to show your trust in him or your faith in your part. our part is simple, obey. no one told me the mission would be easy they just said it would be worth it... i believe every word. ive never worked so hard in my life and ive never felt so exhausted but its worth every minute. the same goes for life, so lets make it worth it. never get comfortable, this is what i have learned. My small understanding of the simple gospel plan is growing. Will i fully comprehend, well only god can answer that one but one thing is for sure is that he will be with me through every change i encounter.

Uctdorfs TALK:

the last principle he says is " please understand that what you see and experience now is not what forever will be" we studied this talk in a zone conference yesterday and this part stuck out to me the most. i shared my thoughts about it and president told me to stand up and tell everyone how i feel about the mission and how a real missionary gets it done. a little suprised i stood up and bore my testimony of the reality of the fact that everyone will go home and that this time we have with our name tag is short. we got to do everything now and be obedient to the lord and no one else bc in the end its you and him and if you havnt gotten to know your savior, whose fault is it.

well family, " Thats it" as dad would say. its coming to an end. my time is running out and im running with it. the only person that knows exactly what i went through is only one. every person that rejected, every person that accepted, every baptism, every sunday, every fast, every joy, every saddness. he walked with me through it all and its him that i am doing it for. there is no greater joy then the work of the lord. i wont to bear my testimony that these things i have gone through have changed me to what i hope the lord wants me to be, what i hope will help me return to his feet one day and he can say to me "well done my true and faithful servant". i know that this is the true gospel of christ, the reality of the first vision and the restoration of his truths. i know that when we put the lord first, everything works out.

elder joseph wirthlen said " what happens... happens. be happy. the secret is simple: put your trust in the lord, do your best and leave the rest to him"

this is true i lived it and i live it still and hope to continue living this way.

I cant wait to see you all... one week!!! it feels like a dream and im about to wake up.

im excited to close this chapter and open up a new page of life.. well see whats next, i hope the world is nice to me bc i forgot how to live in it..

ate quinta feira, estou animada!!!! eu te amo.. a todos

nunca nunca nunca vou esquecer brasil, por em fim é minha segunda casa

pela ultimia vez

com amor

Sister Aubree Lyn Corbin

ps were helping a family get baptized this sunday... pray for them! that everything works out!

TWO WEEKS TO GO!!!!

This is the apartment building in Lagoa.

Open Market for groceries.

Aubree's on her way!

Letter #76 It's Better to Look Up

first off i would like to say THANK YOU WARD!!!! i got the poster haha finally in the end of january. there was an elder that found it somewhere and saw my name on it and sent it to my district leader. it was great to read all the notes from everyone. although i dont personally know all of you i want to thank you for your efforts in helping me be the missionary that the lord helped me to be. im excited to meet all of you soon!

mom- i also got your letter with the names you did for ronald. i will give them to the elders in pampulha to give to him next week.

one quote came into my mind this past saturday from pres monson " its better to look up"..we got a few phone calls that we werent prepared for. our elect, newton called and told us that he cant study with us anymore for now bc his wife isnt sure she approves of the church. my heart along with sister chaves was crushed. our future leader slash preisthood holder for this ward fell. the lord knows when he will be ready... another investigator fell as well bc of her husband that is a strong baptist and doesnt want her going to church anymore. before noon we were discouraged with a few blows that werent expected but the quote its better to look up never left my mind. we still had danielle who was interviewd on friday and her baptism was scheduled for sunday... praying all day we did everything possible to make sure danielle too wouldnt fall. i set my alarm for 1 oclock in the morning to call her on her dinner break at work so she wouldnt have any temptations to smoke or whatever else satan was thinking. The lord answerd our prayers and danielle was baptized 4:00 on sunday afternoon. the baptism was sweet, quick and spiritual. a few members came to support and we had a preist baptize for the first time. i read a scirpture in moroni 9:6 that reflects this week to me

"and now my son, not with standing thier hardness, let us labor diligently; for it we should cease to labor we should be brought under condemnation for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay; that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness and rest our souls in the kingdom of god"

we cant ever stop working, even though sometimes you dont always see the fruits of your labors.. example... venda nova is baptizing all of my old investigators= blessing. you never will know the results of the work that you have done, only when the lord lets you have this blessing. this past transfer i have seen a ton, and im grateful for that tender mercy of the lord letting me know that im doing my part.

3 randoms

1- this past week we found ourselves in a middle of a soccer field with weeds all around us, before i knew it we had to cross a bridge with no handles above a river.. how we got to this point im not sure. the bridge was made out of two logs and a few strips of wood inbtwn well made fore sure ha.. sister chaves refused to cross i had to go first so she could hold onto my backpack ha i wish this was filmed...

2- we were chased by chickens out of a house rather then dogs this week, i think this house had at least 20 watch chickens

3- once again i thought i lost my planner. yes i know i loose things. i went into a panic and retraced every step. i was saying probably a million prayers in my head when all the sudden a stil small voice more like firm voice said to me your planner is at home stop worrying. it was a calm feeling almost a surety that i would see my planner on my desk when we i got home.. its been a while i heard that voice firm, litterally speaking. sure enough as i opened the door there was my planner, right where i left it.

the lord uses his spirit for everything but we got to listen to it

i love you all

it wont be long until i can actually tell you instead of just always writting it..

até mais

Sister Corbin

não acredito nos estamos em fevereiro!!!!

Letter #75 God is Building Me

working it up

helllo familia e amigos

well this week i think will be short not much to catch up on, just missinarying it up until i go back to reality. this week was full of work.. we´re helping three investigators right now and they are all miracles. The enemy has been working against us every sunday. so on saturday we decided to fast to help our investigators go to church. on saturday we went to our elects house (newton). he is hungry to know the truth, we brought a member so we could help him with a few doubts. not to my surprise he wasnt home and he didnt bring his cell with him to call. hmmmmmmmmm saturday he is not home the one day we need to talk to him to help him get to church sunday, sounds about right. trying not to loose faith we prayed none stop all day so we could some how get ahold of him. when we came home saturday night we said a strong prayer that he would call or he would answer the phone. for the first time since 2 oclock he answered! and he was set to go for church sunday. the biggest weight came off my shoulders for about 5 secs and realized that church isnt for 12 hours haha and alot can happen.. we were able to bring 5 investigators to church which 3 of them have a date to get baptized this sunday. the lord is blessing us in every way. i love seeing his hand in the work.

ill keep you posted, pray for them...

so yesterday, we had an appointment with a family that stopped us in the street. as we approached thier door, it was open i began to clap my hands and two dogs turned the corner running and barking. sister chaves is terrified of dogs, she screamed and ran into another door that was open. me not knowing what to do followed her. before i knew it we were in another persons house with the door shut hahah. i tried to get someones attention so they wouldnt think we were trying to steal anything or something. as i tried to leave sister chaves was scared she wouldnt let me open the door ha good thing the person that lived in this house was nice and didnt think anything of it ha but this just another story of us running from dogs in brasil

i cant believe the time is passing so fast... ill be home in three weeks what????. i catch myself getting emotional at times and i dont know why. i dont know if its because my long awaited arrival is coming up or the fact that i have to leave this other life behind.. whatever it is im not prepared

well not much to say this week love you all

até mais

3nephi 9:14

sister corbin

quotes of the week:

"not only am i buliding the kingdom of god but god is building me"

sister Dunford (a sister i met in são paulo)

" when we strive with faith nothing wavering to fulfill the duties appointed to us, when we seek inspiration of the almighty in the performance of our responsibilities we can achieve the miraculous" - Julie B Beck

Letter #74 The Lord is with Me!

familia-,

im so happy that you guys are helping the sisters... we all need members to help with this work its the only way its done right... sounds like brad is an elect for sure. the joy you experience when helping one enter into the fold is indescribable (uh i dont know how to spell anymore) but when they fall this is also a pain you cant descirbe.. but you just got to keep on keeping on.. keep me updated with brad.

 

hmmmmmmmmmm where to begin.. first off i forgot the word and meaning of HOT. last thursday one day to the other changed completely its so hot right now... the rain stopped and its prob 105 degrees everyday.. o ha and my chacos snapped in half hah. i started walking and i felt my foot get wet i looked down and my sandals were slpit open... i bought some super bond today but i dont think it will do much so im using the other shoes i have right now..

we working really hard in this new area and i know the lord is just waiting to give us blessings.. he gave one on thursday when he gave us an elect named nilton. i told nilton (ive noticed im really blunt on the mission) " nilton... you need to go to church sunday to know for yourself what church is true.. what could prevent you from going?" he said nothing i want to go... i wasnt convinced so i said "the enemy knows what church is true he does not want you to go to church so im preparing you right now something will happen i dont know what.. but something will happen for you not to go to church. he began to laugh but i felt that i needed to say that and be way firm...

sunday morning i called his house to make sure he was up.. his wife answered and said nilton had to leave, his mom called him at midnight with some sort of accident and he had to leave.. my heart sank, i knew it. it seems like these past weeks satan is working double hard bc im working as hard as i can. we learn to get up when we fall so i had to brush it off and think of the blessings that would come that day... we had 6 people in church and the lord blessed us in other ways.

basically what i get out of all of this is that the lord wants to teach me major patience.. i dont loose faith. i tell sister chaves everyday when we deserve the blessings of the lord they will come but we have to show him were ready and prepared to teach his elects in order for him to give them to us.. faith over fear.. everything will work out. you can never think otherwise, the timing is his and the blessings we receive are his also. so we just got to wait, wait with patience. were currently helping 3 people towards baptism.i pray so hard i loose sleep sometimes.

i love a quote i read this week from an apostle

" The truth is, those who diligently seek him eventually come to know him. Then looking back in our experience we see that the savior indeed come to be with us. Not all at once but quietly, gently, almost unnoticed"... blessed are they that have not seen but yet believed.

i know with all my heart that the lord hears and answers our prayers literally...

this experience is small but meaningful..

every morning there are some men that wake us up bc they are waiting to take the bus to work.. its rare to sleep in to 630 and i started to become exhausted. i decided to pray to heavenly father to help me sleep until my alarm so i could work for him better during the day.. small and insignificant this prayer was... he answered. the next day i woke up 630 with the alarm. the men outside were talking just as loud but the lord blessed me with this tender mercy..

i know that the lord hears and answers prayers. he knows our needs our feelings our desires and when our desires match up with his, he blesses those that love him.

helaman 10:4-5

The lord is with me, no worries.

one thing i always remember when my comp is down i tell her we got to say " come what may and love it"

its the only way

its the gospel

até mais

te amo

Sister Aubree Corbin

ps so this week almost every lunch we had, had chicken feet and i mustered up the courage to eat one, hey it wasnt that bad it tastes like the skin of the chicken but bc i knew i was eating a chickens foot i couldnt finish ha

Letter #73 My Rock is Firm

BOM DIA

no i havent gotten anything from the ward...but i did get the christmas card! it looks great. i approve of the pic i was nervous ahah. i got ambers xmas card too. so cute the babies... i sent a cd of two transfers yesterday in an envelope i hope it gets to you before feb.. well see let me know how long it takes.

a few questions before i write

the mosquitos dont quit but im not using the net i will leave it here for someone else who needs it.. i use the repelent you bought me everyday seems to work.

wow so what a week.... not knowing the area or anyone we began to work..we ended up finding some investigators (so we thought) and when it came to bringing them to church no one came... we had 12 people to bring and every single one fell. it was a blow especially for sister chaves. i love here, she is so sweet. she tries to keep a smile on her face even though she doesnt know what she is doing and is confused about 95% of the time. We laugh a ton which helps.. we started to sing the primary song popcorn popping on the apricot tree. i sang in english (tried) and she sang in portugues she began to laugh and said it doesnt seem like your singing in english, the next contact we made on the street, this man was convinced that i was from venazuela. i just say that im brasilian ha but no one buys the blonde, blued eyed trick...

despite not having too much success with new investigators we confirmed the family that was baptized the sunday before. they are a family of 5 and they are so special! i want to find a family like them..

i have been thinking alot that becuase i have so much time on the mission i put alot of pressure on myself to always do my best and sometimes my best doesnt show on paper or in numbers but the lord knows how hard me and my comp are working... although the results havent come yet i have no doubt in my mind that the lord is holding our blessings they are just waiting for us...when they will come im not sure thats whats hard about it. i have to be strong for my companion and have faith that everything will work out. (alma 36:3)key word, TRUST. i was reading this morning in helaman 5: 8 and 12 " ye may do these things to lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven which is eternal.. ye must build your foundation who is christ.. when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have NO power over you because of the rock which you have built"

my rock is firm im ready for whats next...

on tuesday morning was a blessing and a half.. we went to venda nova to have our district meeting and i noticed they were filling up the baptismal font and i asked is someone getting baptized today? and the elder that is now in venda nova said "ya, they are getting married in city hall right now and then they are coming here to get married" i paused and said wait who??? he said rafaela i almost screamed... rafaela and leo was a couple sister dunlop and i found in august,, leo was less active and lived with rafaela who never acce´pted the gospel. when we knocked on leo´s door he was smoking.. me and sister dunlop helped them come back to church. when sis dunlop left, sister batista and i baptized their son on conference weekend in october... when i left venda nova i didnt hear a word about it and what had happened with their date to get married...what do you know, the lord put me back into the pampulha stake so on a tues morning i could be present in venda nova for rafaelas baptism and wedding. i immediately called president parrella and told him the good news. he gave me permission to stay and watch this special day in the making for over 6 months. when they arrived they were so surprised to see me, she thought that i already went back home. the members of venda nova were happy to see me too, it was like going home again haha. it was a miracle that i was there, more like it was a small tender mercy of the lord... even when were at our low heavenly father blesses us. gotta love him...

amo voces

fique firme

Sister Aubree Corbin

Returning With Honor

       Aubree's release date is February 16th 2012, we are so excited! Her Homecoming talk is February 19th. I just wanted to thank all of you for your love and support. Returning home from serving the Lord is one of those pivotal moments that is experienced once in a lifetime. In Alma 34:33 Amulek said that mortal life "is given us to prepare for eternity." It is crucial to making correct decisions now. A person's eternity is not defined by what they were born with, but by what they choose to do with it. We know that the Lord loves us. We realize that the Atonement of Jesus Christ allows people's burdens to be lifted, and that you can get through trials by knowing that the Savior is your companion. We are grateful for the journey Aubree has been willing to take as she prepares for her eternity...