Sister Torie Inman: Sister Inman Letter - February 1, 2016 (posted a week late

Whelp, HERE WE GO!

Man, this week has been something else. Nothing really worked out how we wanted it to, and our goals were completely thrown out the window. But you know, this week was a good week. (weird, huh?)

First off, here are some cool things I learned this week:

I was reading in the New Testament, in 2 Timothy 3:15-17. This is the chapter where Paul is talking about how perilous times shall come, and all of the wickedness that will be in the latter-days.Then, in the last part of the chapter, he talks about the scriptures, and how they can lead man to salvation. If we read the scriptures, and apply their principles and understand their doctrines, we can learn the things we need to learn to gain salvation. The holy scriptures "are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." and then in the JST of verse 16, "And all scripture which is given by inspiration of God, is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."

Then in verse 17, I learned something new that clarified a question that we all have probably wondered about. "...that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." I looked at the footnote for perfect. And along with the word "complete" which we have learned it also means, were the words "suited" and "ready". This life is a probationary state. This life is the time set apart to prepare to meet God. We are here to become such people that can be better "suited" and "ready" for the kingdom of heaven. When Christ asks us to be perfect, substitute the word for suited. I would that ye should be suited, even as I, or your Father in Heaven is suited [for the Kingdom of God]. The people we become in this life can allow us to ready ourselves (perfect ourselves) so that we can be more suited to fit right in to the atmosphere and environment of the Celestial Kingdom. I don't know if that was a light bulb to anyone else, but it was for me!

Anyway, here was my week! (At least the good stuff)

Monday we had an awesome P-day! We had zone sports! (it worked out because we did exchanges that night, so we might as well do P-day together too). So we played a full game of volleyball with 6ish players on each team! It was super fun! Then after we finished the full game of volleyball, we played King of the Court. So there are 3 teams. Two teams on one side of the court, and one on the other. The team who makes a shot or catches the other team's failed shot runs over to the other side of the gym to play that team, and the game keeps going. it's pretty fun! :) I've never really been into sports, because I usually die before I can enjoy them, but it was really fun, I think I might turn out to like sports when I come back! We'll see :)

After emailing, I met this lady in the bathroom. She looked really closely at my name tag, chuckled, then pushed her finger on it. Then she started to walk away. Completely confused and ready to defend myself and the church, I asked "What? What's so funny?" (not rudely, I was seriously wondering what was up with this lady). And she said "I'm from the Reorganized church." We sort of looked at each other for a while, as I'm sure we sort of knew what the other one was thinking. Then it sort of went like this:

I said, "Oh... that's cool..." ----"But we don't go around wearing a name tag."

Me: Well, I am a missionary for the church! We don't all go around with name tags, I just do because I am a missionary. ----"Are you from around here? Local? Or from somewhere else?"

Me: Well I am actually from Arizona, just another part. ----"What part?"

Me: Surprise. ----"Oh, I know where that is. I had a student who served in Salt Lake City, and I said isn't that like giving ice to Eskimo's? But he said no, you'd actually be surprised how many non-members live there."

And blah blah blah. I've never actually met someone from the RLDS church. I've heard of them, but up until now, they were sort of non-existent in my mind . I wanted to ask so many questions, but I figured I shouldn't. Anyway.

Tuesday:

We went to Brother Dixon's house. he is an old old man whose wife just died about a year ago. A total cowboy. But he has possibly the biggest heart I have ever heard of. We met his neighbor who had been struggling pretty bad, but he has been a good friend to her. At the end of our visit, he asked when transfers were/new companion. We said next week, Sister Inman is leaving. He seemed very sad. He just sat very quietly, and looked at the ground. Then he looked up, and said, "well, you know..." and then proceeded to say some of the kindest words to me and about me than I think anyone has ever said to me. He told us that even though he is bad with names, he prays for each of us specifically in his prayers every night. He told me that he can tell what kind of a person I am, and that I am extremely young to have the amount of compassion that I have. he told me that he knew that wherever I went, that I was going to be successful. That I will work hard, and that the Lord will direct me in the work. That He will bless me. He told me that I had a big heart, and that I had a lot of love to give. He told me that he enjoyed my prayers because I "do them right" so he says. He told me that he can tell I am an honest person (I believe that... he can spot a lie before you even tell it. He can see right through your soul and it's the scariest thing in the world). But as he continued to say these wonderful things to me, I just cried. I could just feel the love this man had for us, and I tried to stop crying, but said thank you. He said "See, this young lady right here is like me. Her spirit pours out through her eyes. And those aren't cold tears, they're warm ones. She doesn't cry cold tears." But anyway. he said if I don't work hard on my mission, he will come haunt me. I believe it. He told me to say to myself every day, "Quit horsin' around, and GET IT DONE!" He's a sweet man.

Oh, and Anna dropped us. And probably won't pick us up again.

Wednesday:

Great District meeting today! We were going to talk about Finding through members, but then the Spirit changed everything and Elder Judy felt strongly that we should start off talking about finding through Family History, and also how our ancestors can help us as missionaries. Man. That was awesome. We talked about the Spirit of Elijah. If you want to see a scripture reference of the Spirit of Elijah taking place, go to the Old Testament in 2 Kings 6. Read it for background, then focus on verses 15-17. "And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." In other words, the very hosts of heaven were round about Elisha, protecting them from the hosts of men on the earth. So often we feel alone when battling the horses and chariots of the adversary. And yet, we are not alone at all. If we take the time to do our family history, we can come closer to our ancestors, and even have their power literally round about us to protect us from the powers of men. We, as missionaries, can have the power of our ancestors to come with us and help us with every phase of the work. We simply cannot go through life alone. That is why we have both sides of the veil working together for the benefit of all. The Spirit was so strong when we were talking about these things, and it just made me want to find out more about my family's history. We then went as a district to the Family History Center and printed out our 4-generation pedigree chart, and we talked about how we can use family history as a finding tool, and we all committed to do so.

But anyway, not much else to report, but I am going to to MTC on Wednesday morning! Tomorrow night I will be spending the night at the Mission home, with Sister Passey as my companion. (Crazy!) Then she will take me to the airport bright and early on Wednesday morning. It will be a new experience, that's for sure! I'm super excited, but will probably have just as much of an idea of what's going on as any other new missionary there! It'll be good. Sister Adams will not have a companion while I am gone, so there is a mini-missionary that will be her companion! She has been called to Peru, but meanwhile, she might as well get some 'sperience!

I'm not sure if there will be many pictures emailed home, because of how much of a hassle it is to take them from the camera to the computer. But we will see.

But for now, I will send you some pictures of the last couple weeks!

I have loved this area. I love the people here, I love the BEAUTIFUL atmosphere and tall mountains, and brownish yellow grass, and dead trees, and dirt roads that have infinity potholes and rocks, and the beautiful weather. It is actually SNOWING hardcore today. And it STUCK! I've been praying to have just one snow day. :) God answers prayers. Remember when Jesse prayed for snow in Surprise, and it did for just a little while but didn't even touch the ground? It works!

Anyway, I will miss the missionaries here, but I am so thankful that I will possibly see them around the mission again! I am so happy that I can finish my service here in the Arizona Tucson Mission. God loves each and every one of us, and that is why He has an individual plan for each of us. I know He sent me here, in my OWN STATE, a couple hours away from home, for a reason. So now I can confidently respond to everyone's original joke, YES, I was "Surprised" when I opened my call. But I couldn't be happier.

This Gospel is so true. Have a great week! I love you all!

Sister Inman

We went to say goodbye to the Stacey's and they didn't want to risk texting it to you haha. So here they are!

Caption: We said goodbye to the Stacey's, and she gave us Valentine's attire!