Hi family!
This week was pretty good!
Man, was conference awesome or what? I absolutely loved every talk that was given.
Anyway,so this was my week!
I already told you about last Monday, and we went there again today. We left a lot later, and chilled for a while, then they wanted to go on a hike, like we had originally planned, but I was not breathing very well and was already tired. So I typed out my email while I was waiting for them to get back.... We don't even know where they went aha.
But yeah, Monday night we had a lesson with Sylvia and her husband Craig. He gave us a crash course on cars, because I said I knew nothing about what goes on under the hood of the car. (He is a mechanic of sorts, he works on cars) and he showed me the very basics, like where to check the oil levels for everything, where the battery, transmission, radiator, and engine are, where the different fluids are and how to know if they are low or need a change, how the parts work together, etc. He also taught us how to jump a car using jumper cables. Pretty useful information, as I didn't even know the basics.
Tuesday I was kind of frustrated and not able to focus very well. But we went to Peggy's lesson, and just read from the Book of Mormon, because she hadn't read it yet. And she said "Well that wasn't that hard to read!" She had grown up and gotten married and had never learned how to read until her husband taught her. Pretty cool! Now that she knows how, she can't stop reading books. She said she likes the Book of Mormon so far!
Then we went to Shawnee's house, a less active, and read the Book of Mormon with her too. She has a very very hard time reading, and sounds out every syllable of every word, and can't follow along very well. BUT, I just had a feeling that confirmed to me that if she continues to read from the Book of Mormon out loud, her reading will drastically improve. So far, she has shown improvements already! She recognizes some words that are repeated a lot, and it is so exciting when she can read a few words correctly at a time. :)
Wednesday was a good day for the most part! We got up a little after 6:30 (huge improvement!) exercised (even better!) and we left for a zone meeting with President Passey. It was super good! It was a follow up meeting about the March Challenge, as well as other inspired things. We talked about how the challenge went, what we have learned from it, skills we have developed, how it has impacted your companionship, etc. then we role-played it with our new-found confidence and skills, and it was a LOT better than it was in February! We counted up approximately how many times we taught the Restoration, and just as the Gila Valley Zone. I think we came to a total of about 337 times in the month of March? (And then however many else we did the last couple days of the month) leaving us to an average of 28 times per companionship. Multiply that by every zone in the mission.... Think about how many people were able to hear the message of the Restoration in Southeastern Arizona and Southeastern New Mexico! God loves His children! :)March? (And then however many else we did the last couple days of the month) leaving us to an average of 28 times per companionship. Multiply that by every zone in the mission.... Think about how many people were able to hear the message of the Restoration in Southeastern Arizona and Southeastern New Mexico! Minus the last two days of the month, we came to a grand total of 2,998 First Lessons. And plus the last two days, we are over 3,000 times. God loves His children! :)
Wednesday was a good day for the most part! We got up a little after 6:30 (huge improvement!) exercised (even better!) and we left for a zone meeting with President Passey. It was super good! It was a follow up meeting about the March Challenge, as well as other inspired things. We talked about how the challenge went, what we have learned from it, skills we have developed, how it has impacted your companionship, etc. then we role-played it with our new-found confidence and skills, and it was a LOT better than it was in February! We counted up approximately how many times we taught the Restoration, and just as the Gila Valley Zone. I think we came to a total of about 337 times in the month of March? (And then however many else we did the last couple days of the month) leaving us to an average of 28 times per companionship. Multiply that by every zone in the mission.... Think about how many people were able to hear the message of the Restoration in Southeastern Arizona and Southeastern New Mexico! God loves His children! :)March? (And then however many else we did the last couple days of the month) leaving us to an average of 28 times per companionship. Multiply that by every zone in the mission.... Think about how many people were able to hear the message of the Restoration in Southeastern Arizona and Southeastern New Mexico! Minus the last two days of the month, we came to a grand total of 2,998 First Lessons. And plus the last two days, we are over 3,000 times. God loves His children! :)
But we were shown a video by Elder Bednar about spiritually preparing to be taught by an Apostle of the Lord. He said "Are you willing to participate in an experiment? WE determine what an apostle will say, IF you prepare. We can draw out of their mouth the words which they will speak." If we spiritually prepare to receive divine inspiration through apostles and the prophet, we will receive personal counsel, every time. Does our outward expression, appearance, and actions represent your inner commitment and willingness to receive and pull out of an apostle personal, individual revelation? President used the example that Elder Bednar gave in his talk to apply in our mission. He gave us a challenge for the month of April, to be exactly obedient in the morning schedule, and show the Lord by acting upon our faith that we will see miracles. He got a little emotional, but he told us that he was not surprised when he heard of how successful we as missionaries had been. He knew we could do hard things. We didn't know we could, and we didn't know that we would gain the strength to do this challenge until we started, and tried and tried, and eventually gained the skills necessary to teach it 31x better than we did the last 30 times. We as a mission have become more powerful teachers, and more confident missionaries. Our collective faith has increased dramatically. He told us that as we exercised our faith to do this and to earnestly prepare, then we will see miracles in our work, and we will be prepared to receive personal counsel from an Apostle... WHO IS COMING TO OUR MISSION THIS MONTH!!!!!!! :DDDD If we want to receive personal counsel from an apostle in person, we must spiritually prepare our minds by being exactly obedient in this small thing. President hasn't told us the name of the Apostle yet, for suspense purposes, I assume. But the Arizona Tucson Mission has not had an apostle come since the Passey's have been here. SO COOL!
Thursday had a rough start, but got better! We did service at the Food Bank, and that's always a party! (We of course get a lot done, we just get to enjoy it while we work hard!)
We got a new investigator today! Her name is Minerva, she lives in Central (YAY! WORK IN CENTRAL!), and she had a ton of friends that were LDS, but they never really talked to her about it. But we taught the first part of the Restoration when her boyfriend came in and started asking us questions. He has been the one that has really encouraged her to read the Bible with him, etc. So that's good. We have a return appointment, and will teach the rest of lesson one: The Great Apostasy, Restoration and First Vision, the Priesthood, and the Book of Mormon. This should be fun. :) They mainly just seemed curious rather than actually interested, but isn't that where it usually starts? After that lesson, we had dinner with a Filipino lady. Her friend actually made the dinner, and it was really good, but we had it at her house. We had Pansit and Rice, and Adobo Chicken. You can ask Eric or Bret what those are, I don't know how to explain it, other than pansit is a thinner kind of noodle with peppers and other stuff, I just know I've had it before. The closest thing I can compare it to is chow mein noodles you get from Panda Express. Except a lot better and you mix it with rice. The adobo chicken was in this sauce that tasted really good, except you basically get all of the innerds of the chicken. I just grabbed the meat, but I'm pretty sure I chewed on a couple bones... It was all really good though :) I also learned that the Cebuano and Bisayan language are the same, but just called different things, because of the origin of the people who speak it. Cool.
Friday I don't really remember, I was super exhausted haha.
Saturday and Sunday were incredible! So much spiritual guidance and amazing talks that spoke to me so individually. I prepared questions. I prepared myself to receive counsel from the Apostles, Prophet, and other inspired leaders, and got so much more out of it. We went to the Stake Center for 3/4 of the sessions. It was cool to see some of my friends from college singing in the choir though!!! They're famous now!
The music was particularly inspiring, for me. They selected my very favorites and sang them in the first session, and then even more of them in next sessions. The Spirit was so strong. But my favorite talks were probably President Uchtdorf's, Bonnie Oscarson's, and Jeffrey R. Holland's. They all spoke plain truths in such a way that was very bold, and so true. They were a little different than the normal talks that these speakers give, in my opinion. (at least Pres. Uchtdorf's and Sister Oscarson's). I learned so much from all of the sessions, and I definitely needed that refill of the Spirit that I felt there. Did you know that on this day, in 1836, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the rest of the keys of the Restoration? Wow... what an amazing event. This past Easter was also unique in all of History, because it matches up on about 4 other calendars around the world as the actual day upon which Christ was Risen from the dead. Really neat. :)
Well, I hope that you all have a fantastic week! We got transfer calls, and Sister Charles and I are staying together, so that means that I will be her last companion and she will go home after this transfer. I feel that President did this, because he knows that we can smooth things out and give this last transfer together all of the umph we have left. I think he can see the wonders we will be able to accomplish, and I agree with him. We have started to figure out just how we work together. We got this. :)
I love you all!
Sister Inman
felt good. :)
Elder Kienitz just finished his mission!
What we did with the jelly beans before we ate them
Abraham Lincoln mountain (if you look closely, it looks like he is laying on his back!)
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