Just a weekly reminder that missionary work is the best

On Saturday my good friend Eden was baptised. It was such a good day. The water heater is still broken but they were good about it. When we told Brother Portwood who was to Baptize him about the cold water he wasn't too excited and he was telling us about his busy day and he was just a little bit stressed. But when they got in that water to Baptize Eden he got super emotional and the spirit was so strong and all his concerns just flew out the window. I have noticed that this week. Becsuse we have had a SUCH A BUSY WEEK. but when you have the spirit with you you are able to relax and just be at peace. God will make sure everything that needs to happen will. We shouldnt let satan get in our heads and make us think being busy is what makes a successful. 

He was confirmed the next day and the blessing he got had us all in tears! Oh my goodness I just don't know how we got so lucky to be able to teach him. I LOVE them so much.

About 10000000000 other things happened this week. But that would take all day. As for transfers, Sister Jagielski is leaving me for the people of Elgin. My new companion will be coming to me right off the plane #straightfromtheMTC 

And I just wanted to leave you with this quote

 “I am ready to bear my testimony … at any time, or at any place, or in whatsoever circumstances I may be placed. … I am ready to go through thick and thin for this cause in which I am engaged” - Joseph F Smith

-love you all,

Sister Hannah Corbett

Miracles!

So on Good Friday our ward put on this amazing event called walk with christ. They went through the events of the last week of Christ's life and acted them out. You walked from one room to the other and watched them act it out. This woman named Holly saw it advertised in the paper and invited her friends who are related to our ward mission leader to come with her. She isn't a member but she should be. She's been to 3 temple open houses and listen to conference talks and oh my goodness she's golden. But she told us she had family living in my last area Freeport and how she's drives up there all the time. This was the biggest tender mercy becuase I was looking for a ride to Freeport on the 22nd and she would be going up there anyway!!!!! Oh my goodness it was crazy. But her schedule ended up changing and she wouldn't be able to take us. But now we know who she is and we will start teaching her and soon she'll be baptized. Haha 

But the Lord still provided a way for us to get to freeport. I don't know if any of you remember me talking about Dea. I sent a picture and said how she is such a dry Mormon and that she will be getting baptized someday and she did. On saturday!!!! It was the biggest blessing to be able  to go. We missed some people as we were there and it wasn't a full Freeport reunion but I am so happy for Dea and her decision to be baptized. I love her and her family so so so so much. I can't even tell you. It was so nice to be back in Freeport too. That area has my heart. I felt like I was home again. 

God loves us so much. He gives us exactly what we need. He knew I needed to be in Freeport when I was there. When i was in freeport im not gunna lie. It was kinda hard. At times i felt like i was running in place getting no where. BUT There are Elders there now and the work is exploding. Almost everyone we taught is now on date. Including MICHAEL. It's so great to see how the Lord knows what we need and who we need to come closer to him. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. I LOVE ILLINOIS.

God bless,

Sister Hannah Corbett 

Pictures from last Monday! I'll send the Freeport pictures once I get them ♡

Easter!

Well I don't have long because sister Jagielski's tablet is still broken so we are sharing mine in the meantime. But here are some pictures! We don't have the ones we took today yet but we were able to go fishing with the strunks! I caught a fish!!! But I am super grateful for this time I have to serve here in Bourbonnais in the beautiful spring. I love it here and I am having the time of my life. I am grateful For this Easter season where we have time to reflect on the ressurection. I know that Christ lives today and that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints his church. I am so grateful for him and what he has done for me. It's crazy because I feel like I bare my testimony so many times as a missionary. And I say almost those exact same words again and again and again. But Everytime I do I feel the spirit and I know that I'm not just saying something to feel the silence or because it's what everyone else wants me to do but I really do know these things and there is power in that. 

Love you all!

-Sister corbett

I litterally just copied and pasted sister Jagielski's weekly...

Basically sister Jagielski and I are so Unified we have the same thoughts so you can just hear it from her! Haha love you all. She's a talker sorry it's long. Good luck! This was our week.

This week was a mess. Pretty much everything that could go wrong, did lol. Anyways. Our phone broke & we were off the grid for a few days & it was bad because no one knew how to get ahold of us & pretty much every appointment fell through because of it. Shows how crucial communication is! Also the water heater broke so Josh & Tyler were baptized in ICE water lol. It was good though! Oh, also....my tablet randomly blew up so I have been without one all week. I guess they said the motherboard exploded so my tablet is toast. I have no idea why it did that...but It's actually been really nice to just get back to basics ( paper resources & notes )

We were contacting this former & the address we were at was no longer this woman, but it turned out being another woman named Kim! She was so excited that we were there teaching her about the Book of Mormon because she said she is very close to God & she had the impression that she knew there was more scripture from Him out there & like 3 days before, she had prayed to ask God to help her find it. Then we showed up at her door & she was seriously in shock! We got talking with her & she just looked up & said, "Okay God. If this is your answer, let me know!" & we read a scripture with her & the spirit was so strong! She was so cute, she asked us for our number & invited us to come back Monday (today)! When we were about to leave, we asked her to leave her with a prayer in her home & she stomped all over & called everyone in the house to come say a prayer with us. Then we all held hands & we said a prayer in a circle. I have noticed that is something people do around here when they pray, they like to hold hands. It's pretty neat. I like the unity that it brings to the room. You know if you're feeling the spirit, they have to be aswell. Being a missionary is the best! 

We got to help at our assisted living place with their easter party! I love the residents there so so much. Earlier in the week we got to color Easter eggs! Then we got to conduct the hunt! It was a party!

As I mentioned before, the water heater broke & Sister Corbett & I were FRANTIC! We felt SOOO bad that it wouldn't warm up that we started filling buckets with boiling water & running them back & forth to fill it up...as you can imagine, running around like headless chickens trying to make this day good for them. As I was on the verge of a mental breakdown, Sister Lynette swooped in & saved the day. She brought us lunch & made us take a break from the stress & just breathe for a minute. She said a prayer with us & I was just immediately overcome with the spirit & felt peace in whatever happens will be okay. & it was! Sometimes we feel stressed by everything going on in our lives, but when we take a moment & recognize all the things the Lord does for us, our lives are so blessed! We just need those little reminders sometimes. 

 Also, I love the Strunk family so so much. Like wow. This week was such a tender moment for them. A few weeks ago, Sister Strunk was telling us about her baptism almost a year & a half ago & how it was a polar plunge because the water heater broke & we PROMISED the boys it wouldn't happen this time....we have learned our lesson on making promises we can't actually guarantee...I guess it was just meant to be a family tradition! They were good sports about it! 

They are preparing to go through the temple to be sealed together & they have invited us to go with them. I hope so badly that our President allows us to go....my heart just aches with love for them. They were a part member family & their mom was baptized almost a year ago & we had the honor to teach the boys. Wow I love them so much. They're amazing. 

This baby is sister Corbett nephew & this picture literally is what got me through the week sane. Pretty much lol. 

There is this woman named Elyse who just got baptized in the Chicago Heights ward (in the other Chicago mission) & moved into our ward, so we were going to teach her one of her new member lessons & as we were coming around the corner of her apartment, her door was open & it sounded like there was a party going on but we just went & knocked & they let us come in & share a message with them all! We got talking & one of the guys in the room asked a question & we got to talking with him & he was dating a member, but had no idea what we believe. We taught him as a group about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ & the Book of Mormon. Then we had him read a scripture & he was totally overcome with the spirit he got choked up & told us how when he went to the baptism he was so overcome with this feeling that he felt like he was on fire & wanted to cry. He said he felt that again & it was an amazing feeling, but he didn't know why he felt it. We explained to him it was the Holy Ghost & invited him to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it! We will be seeing him again this coming week! 

Even in the midst of the tumult, there were so many amazing things that happen every day. It has been such a blessing to be able to take a little bit of time & recognize the miracles. 

Love,

 Sister Jagielski

Can you see what I see?

Another week has come and gone. This week I was a little saddened because Juan has gone missing and no one has seen or heard from him since we invited him to be baptized. 

But the work still moves on! Everything is in place for Josh and Tyler to be baptized this weekend.

On Wednesday we were supposed to be meeting with our investigator Nick but maybe Juan has been talking to him because he didn't show up either. Sometimes it is hard when you work so hard for these people and love them and do all you can to help them and they don't even recognize it. I am starting to know even a fraction of how God feels when working with me. But we had a really good conversation with our bishop that night. And maybe nick didn't show just so we could talk with Bishop.

We had noticed that this recent convert we had been meeting with had very little. Not even a pillow. We mentioned this to bishop and he told us about how he just got this huge order of pillows that they couldn't even sell and that the young women just so happened to have tied an extra blanket that was just sitting in the closet. He said how this is part of our calling to see some of the poor living situations of others but it is also part of our calling and his calling to see people as Christ would see them. I was so touched as tears ran down  his face and I could feel how much he truly cares for the Bourbonnais ward.

The people here are so wonderful. I love them with all my heart. That truly is the biggest blessing and opportunity as a missionary to see these people as Christ sees them. And let me tell you, he loves the Bourbonnais ward so much.

-Sista Corbett

That awkward moment when you accidently send your weekly from the area email...... woops sorry 

families can be together FOREVER

Well we havn't seen or heard from Juan in over a week and we are doing all we can to just remain calm and keep the faith!

In the meantime God is still blessing us. Those two kids I mentioned about a transfer ago are finally on date for April 8th! We love them and their family. It is so great to see how they have all grown closer together and stronger as they have had the temple and and baptism as their goals. And as they stick to it, no matter what gets in the way!

We are also teaching this man named Eden who is currently on date for April 29th. He went to culinary school and he cooks for us every week and oh my goodness I've never had better food. He is dating this member and her kids are pretty adorable! We taught them the thimble game.

These families are so beautiful  and I love being able to get to know them and learn and grow with them.  I just love them so so much.  

-Sister Corbett

6 months as a missionary!

This past week I hit my 6 month mark. It is hard to belive I have already been out on my mission for 6 months. It has by far been the best experience of my entire life! I am so grateful I get this opportunity to serve. Realizing it was my 6 month mark and looking back on my mission I felt a little disappointed in myself. I see things I wish I would have done differently and times I wish I had worked harder or done something different. This time is so precious that we have here to do this work and I don't want to waste any of it. 

Yesterday as we were reading the book of Mormon with a recent convert we were reading mosiah chapter 4. I dont know exactly what kind benjamin was saying as he wrote this, but as i read the spirit taught me that even though I don't have all the qualities I see in other missionaries and desire. I need to be satisfied with the qualities and talents and gifts that the Lord has blessed me with. To say that I don't have anything to offer these people would be wrong because the Lord has blessed me in so many ways and I can and will be successful. I shouldn't covet even the different qualities and attributes of others but use what the Lord has blessed me with specifically because that is what these people need right now. They don't need anyone else but I have been called to this area of all people and the Lord will qualify me for this work. 

I love the book of Mormon. And so does this recent convert. Everytime we read it with her tears run down her face and the spirit fills the room. I love being a missionary!

ALSO Sister Jagielski and I get to stay companions for another 6 weeks here in Bourbonnais! We are so happy! I love sister Jagielski! she has taught me so much and we have so much fun together and we work so hard. What more could you ask for? Life is good!

-Sister Corbett 

Daylight savings - it's a killer.

So on Wednesday Juan didn't show up to our lesson and my heart almost broke. And then on Friday we were going to have an English class and almost 20 minutes passed and he wasn't showing up. We stopped by his house and it seemed like maybe he was avoiding us and then my heart actually broke. 

But the he showed up. And we had an amazing English class and had a lot of fun!

And that pretty much describes my week. Life as a missionary is so up and down and you never know what's going to happen next. On sunday a member told us that someone had called the church and asked for information  from Joseph Smith saying that they hadn't been acquainted with the church for a long time but they were a member. So all we had was a name and an address and when we get there we realize we are at a mental hospital. But we find this woman  and we got to talk with her some. She gave us one of the poems she wrote and she told us about her baptism. She said she saw jesus in the water when she got baptised. But it turns out our investigator Sheila who just got baptised works here and we saw her and it was so sweet to see her interact with these people because she loves them so much. Sheila is so Christlike. 

You just never know what's going to happen! But when  you Follow the spirit it is AMAZING to see how God places you exactly where you need to be. I know that this little town of Bourbonnais Illinois is EXACTLY where I need to be right here with Sister Summer Jagielski and president Griffin as my amazing mission president. I love it here. I know that God doesn't do anything just for no reason. He puts people in our lives for a reason so we have the opportunities we need to have learn and grow and come to know our savior. 

I know God answers our prayers. Jesus Christ died for you and his arms are reaching out for you. Joseph Smith saw him and God the Father and he restored the gospel of jesus christ. I know it! 

-Sister Hannah Corbett  

☆ Our apartment building is 801. We had to take a picture because we are back in the 801!

☆We are 100% made in America! Soy es muy gringo. No hablo español. 

☆my reaction  to the 2 inches of snow we got this morning....

every juan needs the gospel

We taught Juan again he actually showed up early to our appointment. And through God's ultimate wisdom and timing there was an elder who had littlerally just gotten home from Peru right as we were about to teach juan. He was able to join us in the lesson and help us teach. The spirit was so strong. It was an amazing experience because I wasn't focused on what was being said or how anything was going because I couldn't. But I could feel the spirit and it was so strong.

(“There is one language … that is common to each missionary—the language of the Spirit. It is not learned from textbooks written by men of letters, nor is it acquired through reading and memorization. The language of the Spirit comes to him who seeks with all his heart to know God and keep His divine commandments. Proficiency in this language permits one to breach barriers, overcome obstacles, and touch the human heart” - President Monson) <- this is so real

We got a text from the member who returned home the next day. He told us Juan read the book of Mormon and prayed about it and he knows it is true!!! I couldn't believe it. You would think reading and praying about the book of Mormon would be the simplest thing but never on my whole mission have I had the opportunity to teach someone so humble that they so eagerly took Moroni's challenge.

He came to church on sunday! We had a translator there and the  we had our own gospel principles class in spanish. He stayed for all 3 hours and then and hour afterwards for the linger longer!

It has been amazing to see the Lord put us and this return missionary and everyone in the ward exactly where they need to be when they need to be there to help juan. 

So sister Jagielski and I are trying our best to learn Spanish so we can somehow communicate with Juan. 

Being a missionary is just the best thing I've ever done ever. I'm so blessed to be here in Illinois and have this opportunity. The church is true!

Pictures

☆ We ended up having to stay the night in our bishop's basement because of the tornado. It didnt touch in bourbonnais but there were some oretty crazy storms. Pray for the people in Ottawa!

☆We volunteer at this assisted living home and they were decluttering and asked if we could take a bunch of stuff to goodwill or salvation army or something and one of the things they were donating was this old painting that looked half finished so sister Jagielski and I found some paint and finished it off! Watch out dad. It looks pretty good.

☆I LOVE ICECREAM 

Hola!

This week was a lot of finding. After Sheila got baptized our Areabook was empty and people were dropping us left and right. So we started the week with a clean slate and we're ready to go Find some new people to teach.Both sister Jagielski and I fasted that we could have the faith to find and we would be able to have someone to teach, and we ended up finding 3 new investigators.

We saw a lot of miracles this week but I wanted to write about one in particular. So we were tracting around this apartment complex and we see a man getting out of his car so we go over to talk with him and he says. "Hablo Español?" And we say no but try our best to communicate with him putting our high school Spanish classes to the test. We were able to communicate with him enough to know when we could come back and teach him a lesson and we left him a pamphlet in spanish.

So on Wednesday we bring our friend Yesina (who is so cute and is probably one of the bravest people I know. She is my age and she moved up here from texas with one of her friends who is going to college here and didn't know any one doesn't have a car and she just shows up to church one day all by her self. She said how she used to be less-active but now she is committed to come to church every week. I love her.) And yesina translates for us!

It was such a powerful lesson! We had to teach really simply so she could catch what we were saying and translate it. But we shared the book of Mormon with Juan and we ask "how did you feel as you were reading?" He smiled and said "bien!" The spirit was so strong in this lesson! After the lesson we talked with yesina and she is so excited and now she wants to go on a mission!

She was talking about how this experience was a transformative experience for her and you can tell! Last week at church she was having a hard time and was pretty home sick and such but this week she was talking to everyone and she just had this light about her!

I am so excited to meet with Juan again! The church is so true and it truly does transform us! Missionary work is the best.

So now we just have to figure out how to speak Spanish so we can communicate with our investigator.

-Hermana Corbett

(no subject)

Hello friends and family!

This week was pretty fantastic! We got a new investigator, Shelia got baptized. And we have been blessed with some amazing weather. All good things!

We also got to have a lesson with Madi! It was really great because we texted her asking if we could come and I guess for the whole time sister Jagielski has been here she has never really responded but this week we texted her and she invited us over for dinner! She even told us that she wants to start having us over about once a week. It was great and it was clear that we were in the right place and the right time last week so we could reach out to her.

Sheila's baptism was beautiful. It is so cool to see the light the gospel has brought into her life. She was so HAPPY after the baptism. None of her family was able to make it but as she was leaving she was telling us about her plans to "work on" her daughter. When she was first found she was telling the sisters how lonely she felt. But now she not only has an amazing ward family but she is on her way to be with her family for eternity. My testimony on the importance of eternal families has grown a lot this week.

We also had dinner with the Navas family this week. Brother Navas is From Guatemala and he made us all try a Serrano pepper. I almost died it was so spicy. I have no idea how brother Navas ate at least 5 during dinner.

Our ward had thier primary program this week and one of the kids we are teaching who is part of this part-member family gave a talk on how he is preparing to be baptised. It was such a sweet talk. I went over to tell him a good job afterwards and he was talking to me about how he wanted to include the scripture we shared with him in our lesson but he forgot his book of mormon. Haha so sweet. We are going to ask them to be baptized on March 11th! (happy birthday dad!)

Well I hope you've all had a great week. I sure did. I've never been happier than I've been since I've been on my mission. I love my mission! I've gained a few pounds but it's worth it. Haha!

Pictures!
-we saw the cutest water tower. And don't miss the man pulling his family in his lawn mower down the street. Gotta love Illinois ❤
-We found Dwight...
-Us and one of Madi's babies! She's pretty adorable.

First week in BEARbonais!

I already love Bourbonnais so much! And Sister Jagielski! This week has just been great with her here. Something cool about Bourbonnais is that it's the summer home of the Chicago Bears! It is a lot more developed here than Freeport and there is a lot less poverty. There is about the same amount of people that come to church every week and I am still in a ward. There is so much potential here though. I am so excited. There are about 2-3 hundred less actives in this area.

I am also blessed because they had been teaching this woman named Shiela and I get to slide in and be here for her baptism this Saturday! We are excited!

Something crazy happened this week though. We were out trying to catch this less-active named Madi. She is only 19 (like us) but she has two babies! We really feel we can help her but she feels judged because we are the same age but living two very different lives. But we really felt we should stop by and see her. So we knocked on her door and she wasn't home. We decided to just knock the whole complex and it was actually really cool because we gave away like 5 Book of Mormons and got some solid return appointments too! We walked down to the first floor when we were done and heard some one over by Madi's door. We walked over there and there was a man just there knocking on her door. We talked with him  and he seemed pretty shady, we'll just leave it at that. Walking away from that I knew that we had just stopped him from breaking into her appartment. Later that night however we got a call from a member saying that Madi's appartment still got broken into and we had to give a police report and such.

So prayers of safety and prayers that we can stay in Bourbonnais together would be great. I LOVE this area and I LOVE sister Jagielski. The blessing from all of this is that we were able to talk to Madi and we had just a really good conversation with her and by the end it was just like talking to a friend. She needs help and we just needed her to know that we are here for her no matter what! Because that's what missionaries do! we are here to do work for the savior to lift the brokenhearted and comfort those who stand in need of comfort.

We will see what miracles this transfer will bring! We have already seen so many this week.

I love you all!
-Sister Corbett

PICTURES
-Judy, Daya, Malichi, and Roshae. I miss them all so much already!
-Amber and I 💕