September 19, 2011

Thanks for emailing me, I really enjoyed reading it. I am sad to here about grandma. Tell her that I love her and I hope she recovers well. I am glad you liked the photos I sent you, it definitely was a great experience. Things are still moving along out here in Rossendale Valley. We have had a great week and a busy one also.

 

So our Sunday night miracle last week has been slow. Andy is his name. We taught him again in his home where his extended family of ten live and they all dislike us and yell at us on the streets. It was kinda awkward when we realized who was living there. So there is a ton of opposition for him. We are having a tough time contacting him too. He will come around when we see him on the street. He is still good though.

 

Pete has come around again, he has been sick the past week. We taught him another lesson but he missed out on church for the third time. If we can just get him to come to church he will turn out brilliantly. We keep praying for him that he will keep commitments and meet with us often.

 

This past week felt long but it went by in a flash. It is just that we got so much done and we had so much going on it felt like it was a long week. But as you know, here it is a brand new week. There has been quite a few good things we had the past week. One is that I got to go on an exchange with Elder Ziegler. He is a tall missionary, 6' '7" and no one can miss him when we walk down the street. He is such a great heart felt missionary and really cares for what he does. One thing I learned from him is that being truly pure in your heart can allow the spirit to work more on the contacts you speak to and those that you teach. I really enjoyed our exchange together.

This upcoming week I am excited for my study topic which I have chosen. The one I picked is titled "thoughts". I think that it is important to always have your thoughts on things that the spirit can work with. The Lord always knows the "thoughts and intents of your heart." (D&C 6:16) So I can't wait to learn more about it and how to yield my thoughts to be wholesome all the time so that the Spirit can be with me at all times.

We also found a good number of new investigators this week, One of which I am truly impressed by. His name is Paul and we had a lesson with him yesterday. He is very loyal to what he says and I feel that he is prepared to make and keep commitments. He doesn't have a true belief in God but he will read the Book of Mormon and I know for sure that he felt the Spirit. We see him again on Wednesday and I can't wait to meet with him.

Well that is all for me, Specialized Trainings zone conference is on Wednesday, I can't wait for that. I hope you have a great week and I'll talk to you next time.

 

Love Elder Tucker Corbin

September 12, 2011 Pictures

Elder Rapata , me , and Brother Sheils (great member)

Elder Smart, Elder Dittmer (Zone Leaders) , Elder Rapata and me

picture at the Liverpool Docks where the saints set sail to america

MTC companions and also our trainers (first time I saw Elder Eliason in three months). Picture taken in the Chatburn chapel where there were early missionaries who converted an entire town aprx 599 persons. All migrated to americas

September 12, 2011

Thank you for writing me it does mean a ton and I really appreciate it. The package is still lasting, but I only have one packet of Kool-Aid left. Everything else has been history. I got a yo yo too and I use that every once in a while. It certainly is a major boost for motivation. The winter months will be cold but I will endure. I got myself a big warm jacket that will keep me warm. Best thing, it was free because I we started going through the leftover pile of old missionary close and I found this great jacket and threw it in the wash. Plus with those boots that mom got me I should do ok. Now just about my hands, ill figure it out.

Yes the Church history tour was great, Ill send you some pictures today. I think about all the faithful saints that came from England and how they helped the church grow, its just amazing to me. I find it funny when people out here tell us to take our "American" church back home when most of the members who supported were from the UK. The day will come when I have to move on from Rossendale but I will show my faith and willingness to serve in this wonderful area and press on till the end.

This week was great, and as each week seems to pass they just keep getting faster and faster. It is a weird feeling. I have had a few great experiences this week. One of which I will share is about my exchange with Elder Dittmer (my zone leader). It was my first exchange that lasted longer than a day. In fact it was nearly forty-eight hours. I really enjoyed it. I learned so much from him and he is such a great missionary. One thing I learned from him, that I have been working on for a while now, is how to teach simply. He is real good at it and I asked him how and he said "because I had to learn the language so all I knew at the beginning of my mission was how to use simple words". He also said to try to personalise the message to them by finding out their interests and hobbies. So I have been using that and it is quite affective.

     I also had a "Sunday night miracle", as Elder Rapata and I called it. Last night about 8:15 we met a man named Andy. He was just strolling along on his BMX bike and we started talking to him. Asked if he would have time just to sit on a near by bench and chat for a while. The lesson we had was great. He has had a few challenges in his life and he is very understanding about why these things happen. Also, because of this he was such a humble person and was accepting to the message, in fact he was so receptive to the spirit he recognised it twice (once in the first vision and also when he said the closing prayer) and described it as a "funny feeling". I could really say that this man has been prepared for the restored gospel. He is willing to make commitments and we are so excited to see him tonight.

Pete seems to have taken a break from us. We tried to contact him but we couldn't get a hold of him. We ran into him yesterday and he said he is still interested. So we decided to invite him to have dinner with us and slowly work it back into shape and get him going in the lessons again. So he seems to be doing ok. Pete and Andy are now our main focus.

     I have also had a bit of my personal study focused on Forgiveness. It is the topic I chose for the week. I noticed the first thing True to the Faith teaches is that we must seek for forgiveness from the Lord and also to forgive. I think that it is important to always seek to repent and also to seek to forgive others. So I will be applying that to my missionary work.

Well I hope your week goes great. I will be enjoying the weather here the next few days now that we have the remnants of that hurricane that hit in New York. 80 mph winds they say. Take care, love you all.

Elder Tucker Corbin

Tucker's Address

If anyone wants to send letters or anything to tucker, this is his address:


Elder Tucker Corbin
England Manchester Mission
Springwood, Suite G5
Booths Park
Knutsford, WA16 8QZ
England, U.K.

September 5, 2011

Thanks for writing me. It means everything to hear from my family. Taylor's got a new place now, that's great. I know things will work out for her. This week has been a great one. The weather, heh. Its been rainy all week and I'll be honest, I am not looking forward to the winter months out here (as far as weather goes). Things have been great though. I got a box of goodies from the Chaparral ward this week. I was so happy to get letters from them. They also sent me Kool-Aid, I'm on fire with it. Everything that was edible was nearly gone the day after I got it. So tell them I say "thank you Chaparral Ward, your awesome!"

 

This week was great, I really enjoyed the Zone Conference. We had a church history tour for the early missionaries in England. I think it was great for me because I had never got a chance to go in the Preston MTC since I was in the MTC in Provo. There truly is so much history here. When we went to each site I could just imagine what was happening when the history had taken place. When we were in Liverpool at the docks I could just see the numbers of converts waiting their turn to get on the ships. When we were in the old stone church buildings I could feel the presence of early missionaries preaching the restored gospel. Such a great spirit was brought along the tour.

Our investigator that we are teaching at the moment is doing well. His name is Pete, I think I mentioned him the last letter. He missed church yesterday which was really disappointing for us but he turned out to have food poisoning and he has been up all night sick in the stomach. We are, however, meeting with him tonight and we will have a great lesson with him this evening. He has been doing real well with understanding the lessons and I am so excited for him to keep progressing.

We also have had great finding efforts this week and I am well pleased. I know the Lord will bless us as we strive each and every day to do his work. I also have a feeling this might be my last transfer here in Rossendale Valley and I don't want it to be. The ward is so great here and I love being in this area. So I will try to embrace as much as I can while I am still here.

 

So that's my week, I hope you have a great week because I know I will. Read the scriptures and Pray often. Love ya.

 

Elder Tucker Corbin