A week full of transfers!

This week has been full of transfers. There were some last minute changes that we to make to finish our planning. This made for a busy week.

You don't realize how much planning goes into transfers until you are apart of it. For example we have to make sure there are enough vans going from point to point to pick up the missionaries. We have to put all of this on paper. Then we have to update everything on the computer. I am so grateful for the computer skills I learned in high school. If I didn't have these, it would have taken a lot longer for me to do some of these things.

Then Transfer day happened and it went really smoothly. Once we got everyone put in the correct place and shipped off back to their areas, we were with the missionaries that were going home. Two of my good mission buddies went home this transfer, but it was fun to spend their last day in the mission field with them.

It was really weird because one of the missionaries I came out with went home this transfer for football. We were talking about how we were sleeping on the same beds as we were the night we came into the mission. We then had to wake up at 3:30 in the morning the next day and take them to the airport and get them on their airplane. I am so glad that transfer week is over because it takes us away from the missionary work.

Along with transfers we have had a really good week. One of our investigators Sari Crowder is getting baptized this upcoming Sunday. We have had her interview and she is ready. She is from a part member family that is getting back active.

Then another one of our investigators, Chase, was supposed to get baptized this upcoming Saturday. But when he asked his mom about it, she was pretty against it. So he is waiting right now. It was really tough to have that happen. He was so close, plus his Uncle and Grandma tried to anti him.

But there is a cool story about that. We set a goal one day to find 2 new investigators. We tracted and of course it was the last door that we found one new investigator. After that lesson we went over to Chase's to help his mom with her garden. We finished that and asked if we could have a lesson with them. We sat down and just asked if they had any concerns about what we were teaching. Then Chase told us his Uncle told him that true Christians believe only in the Bible. Then before we could respond, his Mom had our back and told him that that wasn't true. We then taught her and gave her a Book of Mormon, and invited her to read. She then invited us to come over on Mother's Day to eat with them. We did that and read a few scriptures in Alma 7 with her. The Spirit was super strong and at the end she was like, what do you want me to read by the time you come by next. The Spirit can and will soften hearts. It is amazing to see it. I miss you and hope to hear from y'all!!

Love Elder Corbett

Oh Babylon, I bid thee farewell

What's up everyone?!

I hope everyone has had a good week and are starting to enjoy the warm weather. I know I am!

This has been a crazy busy week again. It has been packed with exchanges, important calls and me moving areas.

Last Monday after emailing, we went and played sports of all kinds. We played football, a form of baseball, and even soccer. We were out in the sun for probably 3 hours and I loved it so much.

Then on Tuesday I went on an exchange with Elder Baird and Elder Gordon. It was a lot of fun, we worked hard. Also on that exchange Elder Baird needed a bike box so we stopped at a bike store, and got him one. While we were there, there was a tandem bicycle that we got to ride. It was a lot of fun and we even made their Facebook page. If you want to check it out, the page is called Indian cycle fitness and outdoors.

Then on Wednesday we had an exchange with the AP's. I had so much fun I went with Elder Sillitoe. We did a lot of work and even found a family that we set to be baptized. After that we got back and had a lot of appointments in our area, plus one of the district leaders was having a baptism that week. We could not do both unless we went on exchanges. I was guessing I was leaving the area, so I got to drive to Brookhaven and go do the interview while Elder Lakis stayed and worked in Jackson. The interview went really well and the girl got baptized on Sunday!!

Then on Friday our mission president came and planned with us in the morning. That was very spiritual and we planned really well that day. Right as our mission president left, Elder Lakis looked at me and told me that I was going to be the next AP... I was like no way. I had just emailed President the Monday before asking to have no responsibility the rest of the mission. I just wanted to be a regular missionary. Little did I know, that night President Olson was going to call to invite me to come be the next AP. I was honestly shocked, but I said yes. I am super excited for it because it is going to keep me very busy and I will also finish my mission strong as well.

After the call I packed, and then the next day I had like 2 hours to say goodbye to everyone. That is the worst part for me. I don't cry but it hurts to leave people that have been a part of my life almost every day, for the past 4 months. With my new assignment now, we have a lot on our plates. We have a President of the Seventy coming to our mission May 18th, and then the mission merger. It is going to be hectic but that's what makes everything fun right? haha

Saturday and Sunday I have been in Brandon Mississippi. This city is about 20 minutes from Jackson, 30 from Clinton and 20 from Madison. I was literally called to the Jackson Mississippi mission as I have stayed here for most of my mission. I am excited for all the wonderful experiences I am going to have for the last 2 transfers of my mission. I hope all is well for everyone!!

Love Elder Corbett

From the Indian Cycle Fitness & Outdoor Facebook Page

May 2 at 5:37pm

Elder Corbett from Utah and Elder Baird from Idaho are in the metro area as part of their missionary work with The Church of Latter Day Saints. Here they enjoy a test ride on one of Indian Cycle's tandems. For years Indian Cycle has served hundreds of missionaries like Elder Corbett and Elder Baird as they fulfill their rotations through our area. Bikes are the primary transportation mode for the missionaries and Indian Cycle is pleased to be of service to them.

Gladys Knight

What's up everyone?

I hope all is going well for you. This week has been crazy busy. I don't think I have ever been so busy in my entire life haha.

So to start off we had zone conference on Monday where we taught for about 2 hours. Then we had p-day on Tuesday with an exchange that night that went until Wednesday. Wednesday we did 3 hours of service at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, and then worked for the rest of the day. Thursday we had the Gladys knight fireside.

This was such an amazing day. It started at 12:30 in the afternoon and the day ended for us around 1 am. To describe the day - I was over all of the missionaries that were helping with the event. So I was the supervisor pretty much haha. We learned what we needed to do and went to work. We started greeting everyone around 4:00 and handing out brochures to the event. In the brochure there is a card you can fill out where you put down your name, number, and address, and then you will receive a gift from Gladys. This gift consists of a sampler CD of 3 songs they sing, a Book of Mormon, and the restoration video. 247 people filled them out and turned them in!! This is amazing. That's 247 people who are expecting us to come over and teach them about the restoration!!

We have had such great success this week from it. Our area received about 50 of those referrals and we found 15 new investigators from it. We still have a lot more to contact. This has been an amazing thing to get the branch and other units to gain a missionary mindset!! I am excited to see all of the success that will come from it.

Also during the event there is a part at the very end where they sing a song called smile and the missionaries come in from the side and dance and sing along. We all know that I am not a dancer, but I danced in front of about 1500 people hahaha. One of the people who is part of the SUV, was talking with us after, and he was like who was the big tall kid that danced with no rhythm. He was talking about another elder, and not me luckily haha.

But I had a lot of fun getting to talk with so many people. This event wasn't anything I excepted. I sort of wish we had the fun up-beat gospel music to sing at church every week. It would definitely make the 3 hours go by a lot faster.

Then Elder Scoresby went on exchanges with me on Sunday because an unit that doesn't have missionaries received a lot of referrals. We met up with the missionaries that cover the unit, but they live 2 hours away from it, and their main priority is another unit. I had so much fun we had a 2 hour drive up to this area. Luckily Elder Scoresby and I are good friends so we talked the whole time. We also taught 2 amazing people. One was the branch presidents sister and the other was a lady who recited the restoration video to us haha. They both are excited to read the Book of Mormon. That's the amazing thing about the event, she didn't really testify about Joseph Smith or the restoration, but a lot of people want to read the Book of Mormon which is amazing. That's about it from me!

Love Elder Corbett

Zone Conference

What’s up everyone?

This week was pretty good, we had a lot of work to do. We had to plan out and teach zone conference. It went really well. We taught three ways that we can help our investigators that have baptismal dates progress, and also about being safe with our new phones. I had a lot of fun teaching it.

This week was just a normal missionary week, so not a whole lot to say. We continue to teach a lot of people. Elder Lakis and I cover the entire city of Jackson! Its nuts because that is about 200,000 people for just 2 of us. We have really been relying on the spirit to guide us to those who are prepared, because its like finding a needle in a hay stack haha.

To give an update on John, he has been going through a lot. He doesn't have a whole lot of family support. We gave him a blessing because he had a bunch of problems. Yesterday he went to the doctor and they are all gone!

Sorry there is not a whole lot else to talk about. This next week there will be a ton because we have the Gladys Knight event and we are going to be crazy busy. (Plus as I am ending my mission, there is a lot more to do on p-day than email haha) sorry!!

I love y'all!

Elder Corbett

The bathtub pic is so you can see the water as it is filling it up - haha. That’s why we drink bottle water in Jackson.

A week of miracles.

What's up everyone!!!

This week has been a week of miracles. It seems like God keeps blessing us more and more each day! This week we found 7 new people to teach, and a lot of potentials. It's crazy a few weeks ago I was so discouraged, because nothing was working for us, and we have been working so hard. Now we barely have anytime during the week because we are teaching people like crazy.

Tuesday we went on exchanges and I went with Elder Isaacson and he is the model missionary! He is such a good guy. I don't think he does anything wrong. I had a ton of fun with him. We got on our bikes and rode about 10 miles total. My last exchange with him we knocked doors for 2 hours and had 0 success, but this time it was the 3rd door and we found a family of 2 to teach! So I am very grateful for that!

We then taught John. We finally taught him the restoration. It went well he didn't grasp it all the way, but we have taught him a few times this week and he totally understands why we need a restoration. It was funny. He was asking about the trinity vs the Godhead and we gave one example of Jesus praying to God and he was on board haha. We got teaching the next lesson and he was bashing on everyone who believes in the trinity. I was laughing!

We also have been passing out a ton of Gladys Knight cards and sadly people are like yeah I want to come, but no one calls for tickets. Hopefully the members come through! That's how it is supposed to work.

This week we did a challenge with the zone to invite every investigator to church each day because we have been lacking in it. It went well and the zone had a lot more people at church. We had 14 people give us a, I'll be there no matter what, and 4 that we talked to Sunday morning and they told us they were on their way, But guess what? They didn't show up. But the people we didn't invite but have taught before, showed up! How crazy is that.

This describes the culture of Jackson. When it doesn't require them to do anything they are fine with it, but the second it requires commitment they don't come through. I think it's because the government has given them so much for free that they don't want to work, because they still get a check. It's like they are fine living in poverty. The Book of Mormon prophets would describe them as a people full of idleness. Haha, I just read that in my studies this week and thought of this. I wish some of these people would understand self reliance. It's amazing to see how the Book of Mormon is written for our day and how we can apply it in our lives! I love reading and studying it.

I hope everyone has had a good week!!

Love Elder Corbett

Four years!!

Good Morning Everyone! I just want to start off by giving my brother, Landon, a shout out for getting his call to Peru! He is going to kill it down there, if he can learn to like the food haha! The sad thing is, that he is going to be leaving July 18th and I get home July 27th. So we literally are going to be missing each other for 4 years. Luckily, I got to go to high school and play football with him, but it's a hard thing to grasp right now. The cool thing is, that this is a sacrifice, and when we sacrifice then the blessings of heaven pour out upon us.

This week has been interesting. On Monday when we were playing basketball, Elder Lakis sprained his ankle pretty bad. So this week has been a slower one. But we have witnessed miracles because Elder Lakis has been a trooper and gone out and still worked.

We currently have dropped a lot of our investigators because they have been flakey on us. Like they want us to come teach them because they feel good around us, but when we leave it's like they forget everything and never make changes. We decided to put some of them on the back burner and focus on the ones that keep their commitments and come to church.

Right now we are teaching an ex-navy seal named John. He is such a good guy and has a heart full of gratitude. He loves a ton and it has been really cool to teach him. When we first contacted him he told us that he only believes in the Bible, and that Mormons don't believe in the bible and I got angry. I whipped out a Bible and was like oh yeah, what is this then haha. We gave him our card and then that's when he asked us to come move that couch. We have seen him a lot lately and yesterday we were able to introduce the Book of Mormon to him. He was hesitant at first but we told him to try it and to ask God. It has been cool to see the miracles he has witnessed in his life.

This week we had MLC and that was a lot of fun! I got to see some of my mission friends and talk with them. Also it was a really good learning experience, and it was also very spiritual. Our mission has been struggling with baptizing people, so we had a great discussion on how we can encourage them.

Also something that we have been doing with our zone this transfer is that we have been issuing them zone challenges to help them extend their faith. It was really neat to see these miracles that the missionaries would report to us. There was one set of missionaries that were at the library. There was a group that was having an event and one of the missionaries asked the head guy if he could say the opening prayer and bear his testimony after. This was the challenge to see who could bear the most testimonies each day to non members. The idea behind this was to get our missionaries to open their mouths and extend their faith. It's pretty neat what happens when you actually fulfill your calling to preach the gospel. Miracles happen! Something that I say is there is no growth in comfort zone. And when we get out of our comfort zone we grow. I know that's how we can grow our faith and testimonies is to get out of the comfort zone and open our mouths to our friends and families. Sharing the gospel is what brings happiness.

I love y'all and hope that you have a good week! I wouldn't mind hearing from some of you haha!!

Love Elder Corbett

Jackson is home

Hey Y'all,

I am staying in Jackson for another 6 weeks. After I heard, I got on my knees because I have had a little bit of a hard time with some things, and as I did I was overcome with the feeling that I'll be able to get through it. Elder Lakis likes me I think, because he was super happy that we were staying. I think it is because most of the investigators like me a lot and I have the in with them, and they were telling me that they were going to be super sad if I was leaving.

So last week we set a goal to knock for 14 hours. Sadly we didn't achieve that goal, we only got 12 hours in. It was really hard. I had never worked this hard on my mission, doing all that I can to find and teach people. In those 12 hours we found 0 new investigators, again. I was pretty upset because most of my mission, if I put in an hour or two of knocking doors I normally have been able to find someone that is interested in learning. But the past two weeks we knocked a total of 20 hours and nothing. A few people who didn't want to be rude, said that we could come back later.

Monday then rolls along and it's not P-day this week, so we planned to go knock doors at 2 o'clock because that was the only time that we could. Not going to lie I really did not want to go do it. I thought it was pointless and that we would be able to spend our time better doing something else. Also Monday we biked because we are asking our missionaries to bike more and we can't ask them to do something we aren't willing to do. We biked to this area and we knocked 4 doors and then finally in 20 and 1/2 hours we were able to find someone who is willing to use their faith and see if God has truly called a prophet in our day. After we were done with this, the scripture of Alma 26:27 came to mind. It says Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success. I learned a lot. I know that God is not going to let us go through something that we aren't able to handle. There is nothing that is too hard, or too challenging in life. If you are going through something hard, it is because we can do hard things through Christ. Through challenges we grow. We learn and we become a better person once we overcome that trial. So that was pretty cool to learn.

Then when we were doing some finding on Monday, when we ran into an ex navy seal. This dude tried giving us a hard time and was trying to tell me that Mormons don't believe in the Bible. I am at that point of my mission where if someone tries to attack us, I will defend it and shut them down. So when this guy was saying we don't believe in the Bible, I pulled one out of my bag and said, "Why would I carry a King James Bible in my bag if we didn't believe in it?" And I had a pretty sassy tone. He then tried giving me the excuse that we rewrote it. So I told him to read it. He took it and we gave him our number, and told him to call if he needed service or any help. The next morning we got a call and he asked us if we could bring 2 more people to help move a couch. I have never heard of a couch that needs 4 people to move it. We got there and he's like you need more people to move the couch, but we told him we got this. We had to move this couch from a house, across the street into another house. Elder Lakis and I are in our suit pants and we pick it up and move it. This man was surprised! He told us that we must have had the gift of strength just like Sampson. I told him yes we did and just laughed. The couch was heavy but it wasn't that heavy. The hard part about moving any piece of furniture is getting it out the door, but we were able to do it. He then told us that he was super thankful and that he wants us to come teach him Saturday and that he is going to come to church with us.

Another funny story haha, is we met this dude outside smoking so we go up to him and start talking with him. He told us that he has the desire to quit smoking, and we have a program that is 7 days and can help you quit smoking. We offered that and he said he was good, that he just wants to do it on his own. I just laughed. Then we taught him a little bit about how God has called a prophet in our days. This dude then tried calling us Anti-Christ and said that we are leading people away from God and to a prophet. I then asked him a few questions that he could not answer and left him confused, but he was hard-hearted and wouldn't listen to us.

That is pretty much it from me. I hope all is well!!! I love y'all I hope all is well!!

Love Elder Corbett