Sister Inman Letter - July 18, 2016

HUMP DAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

Howdy Hey! I just passed my Hump Day! (My halfway point) Wow. In some ways, I feel new to this. I still feel like I don't quite know how things work. But in other ways, I feel like I have actually had quite a bit of experience. In the mission field, I have reached the status of being a "seasoned" missionary. I have learned so much. I am more confident. I am starting to figure things out. Not everything, but some things. I am starting to feel sure that the effort that I am making is acceptable to the Lord. And maybe it's because I have started to give an acceptable offering lately! I have definitely been able to see how the Lord has strengthened my ability to serve a mission, and to devote as much of my time, talents, and efforts to serving the Lord as possible.

This week was rough physically, but glory hallelujah was it a great week to be a missionary!!! Our hard work is finally starting to show itself. God definitely helped us this week. (He does every week, but I think we gave Him more to work with this week as we tried even harder to make it happen.)

I am reminded of a scripture, Alma 26:

 1 And now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus: My brothers and my brethren,behold I say unto you, how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we started from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?

 2 And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?

 3 Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the Lamanites, were in darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.

 5 Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted.

 8 Blessed be the name of our God; let us sing to his praise,yea, let us give thanks to his holy name, for he doth work righteousness forever.

 10 And it came to pass that when Ammon had said these words, his brother Aaron rebuked him, saying: Ammon, I fear that thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting.

 11 But Ammon said unto him: I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.

 12 Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea,behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.

 13 Behold, how many thousands of our brethren has he loosed from the pains of hell; and they are brought to sing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us, therefore have we not great reason to rejoice?

 14 Yea, we have reason to praise him forever, for he is the Most High God, and has loosed our brethren from the chains of hell.

 16 Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.

I love those scriptures, and didn't expect I would feel the way he does! But it is true, I know for sure that it wasn't anything that I did by myself that allowed us great success, but Heavenly Father who blesses us as we try our hardest.

For Hump Day, we went to a Gelato Shoppe in Tucson, called Frost. It is SO GOOD. Totally worth it. We went with our Sister Training Leaders and they each said 3 things they loved about me, and Sister Hunt said 3, making 9 altogether. I got a package in the mail from Mom, Which was AWESOME!!!! Perfect timing, too! :D I got some super cute, much needed, comfy new shoes, and homemade strawberry jam that I have been CRAVING for weeks!!! :)

I was really sore from the trampoline place, but nothing good get me down that day. Even though we had some disappointments that day. To quote my journal, "I was just in a good mood today. Nothing could get me down. I'm happy. I've had a good mission. I'm doing the Lord's work. How could you be sad on hump day?" :) 

Wednesday we had district meeting, and the Brinkerhoff's invited us to their district lunch that they made! SUPER good food. I love them. We had a lesson with Bob, the 80yr old man, and discovered that we need to start from scratch with him. He doesn't seem to understand who God is, much less his relationship with Him. He is quite influenced by the world's view of things...

Thursday was awesome! We had 3 solid lessons, got a new investigator, had a member present lesson, and a lesson with a recent convert, named Adrienna! And we mentioned baptism in every one. (Our zone has a goal to mention or invite someone to baptism at every teaching appointment. We have accepted the challenge, and it has been pretty powerful and neat to feel the Spirit increase each time!). We did service at the State Park, and the Sisters landscaped the front entrance median, cleaned up and weeded the rocks, etc. and the Elders took out the picnic tables from the picnic area and replaced them all with new ones.

Our new investigator's name is Megan, who just got married to a less active who seems to still be strong in the faith, and has had an incredible, good influence on her, and her children since they have been together. he taught them how to pray, and he has been helping introduce them to the scriptures and the church. She is in her mid-20s and is totally awesome! She is so ready to learn and to completely embrace the Gospel. I am so excited to work with her, and I know that she is going to be one of those goldens. I can just tell. Woo! I love those!

Friday we met with Spryte again, and had a great, powerful lesson on prayer and scripture study!

That evening, we had another amazing visit with a woman who has been through a lot in her life. The Elders had been working with her before, but I think that she really needs some female support and love. Her name is Shandra, and she is in her 40's. She has been through some really really rough times in her life, and is ready to embrace the Gospel, and return unto Christ. She just opened up to us, and thanked us over and over again for coming over and bringing the Spirit into her home, and for listening, and for showing her and confirming to her that God is aware of her, that He loves her, and that she can continue to build her faith and foundation upon Jesus Christ. We shared with her Helaman 5:12, and she said she knew it was inspired of God that we were sent here. What a fantastic experience for all of us. :) We have another lesson with her on Tuesday of this week!

Saturday we had another lesson with Megan! We gave her a quad combination (scriptures) and she was super excited about it and said "this is exactly what I need! Now I can follow along with David! (her husband). I'm excited to work with her.

Sunday was great! We had lots of meetings, and were going this way and that between wards, but we got to go to both sacrament meetings, had ward council, coordination, and we taught a little bit in Primary! Good stuff. Then we had another great lesson with Spryte about Obedience, Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, and Taught the first 5 of the 10 commandments, using hand signals to remember them. Awesome lesson, confirmed to me that the Sabbath Day can be a delight, because although it is the Lord's day, it is meant for us!

Anyway, I hope you have a fantastic week, and look for the tender mercies that God has in store for you! I am so grateful to have each of you in my family and I hope that you continue to do what is right, and try your best to be effective, faithful disciples of Christ!

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Inman

Me and Anna :)

Finally! Anna and all of us minus 3 that it took to get her baptized!

Me and Anna, I love her!

 I made my own splint with Q-tips and tape :D It actually worked haha.

 I jammed my finger when catching a football at sports... :/

We played floor hockey for July 4th! Intense, but fun!

We painted bathrooms for service, and it took forever but it was fun!

Got to see Sister Packer again, she is in my first area!

Sister Inman Letter - July 11, 2016

I think something clicked. I feel great!

Wow! Hello family!

Man, I feel like this week I finally got it. I'm starting to feel successful as a missionary, I am feeling satisfaction in my work, I am happier, and I just love being a missionary! Can I have this all of the time?

If you were to strictly look at our key indicators and number statistics for this week, you would probably say, "Wow, sisters, did you do ANYTHING at all this week?" Well yes, we did! And I've learned a valuable lesson about being a successful missionary: It's not all about the numbers.

So to go through my week, focusing primarily on this subject:

Wednesday at zone meeting, Sister Hunt and i were asked to give a training on "Being a Successful Missionary". Both the Sister Training Leaders and Zone Leaders felt that we were the ones that were supposed to give the training, so we did! And it was awesome! We really sought for the Spirit's guidance, because we wanted to attend to everyone's or at least many different people's needs.

Well, the training went SO WELL! Super good! :) The Spirit was there, we had a good discussion, and had good feedback, comments, and participation. People actually took notes! Yeah! The training was a solid 25 minutes or so. But almost everyone approached us afterwards and said how awesome it was, and thanked us for our training, that it was exactly what they needed, and they loved the scriptures we used, etc. I feel like every one of us needed it, really. I know I did. I learned a lot while studying for it. Both older and newer missionaries, etc. And then the rest of the meeting was super awesome too!

Then on Thursday..... Remember in my first area, in Hereford? The older woman we were teaching named Anna who had a few different baptismal dates? ANNA GOT BAPTIZED ON THURSDAY!!!!!!!! And do you know what's almost even cooler? I GOT TO GO!!!! The Brinkerhoff's, the Senior Couple in our zone, took me, Sister Daun, and Sister Quinonez down to Hereford for the baptism at 6pm. And wow, what a powerful event that was. Everyone was crying. As soon as Anna saw me come towards her when we got there, she gasped and started crying. She said, "I thought I would never see you again! I am so happy you came!!" Such a sweet moment. The baptism was performed by the now Ward Mission Leader, in Spanish. That was cool. Before he started, she seemed a little nervous, and he was coaching her and telling her it was okay, and asked if she wanted to do this. (They have been good friends with Anna since she started this journey). She nodded, and he began the prayer. After she came back up out of the water, she froze there, and just started sobbing. Everyone started crying. The Spirit was so strong. She finally did it. And I got to help and be a big part of her journey as well. :) It's an incredible feeling, to know that you were able to help someone on their path to the Savior, even though the fruits of my labors did not come until after I had left the area. We're all in this great work together! (Cue High School Musical)

The next couple of days we just tried a whole bunch of people. We called/texted/knocked as many people as we could, and although pretty much no one answered, we were on top of things. We had things to report to our Ward Mission Leaders, and we were pumped about the work. And we continue forward. We continue to plan. We keep trying. And we CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY! (There's a shocker!)

On Sunday we gave talks in the La Cholla Ward, on the Priesthood and what it means to women in the Church. Interesting topic, but I think it went fairly well! Again, many more people came up to us afterwards and said they loved it. Things seem to go a lot better when the Spirit is the one writing the training or talk. He's really good at it. A woman approached us later and gave us a referral, for one of her dear friends, and she cried to us about how concerned she was. It was really tender, and we comforted her and assured her that as soon as we got the address and were able, we would go and visit this woman. She expressed a desire for her to meet Sisters, that perhaps she might be willing to learn more, and if she passes away before then, she will remember us, and hopefully accept it in the next life. How sweet of her, that's so neat to hear from someone about someone else.

Sunday night, we did a zone-wide missionary devotional/blitz/training in the Marana Stake. Several sets of missionaries in the zone went and helped train some young adults in the mission prep class how to do street contacting, and then we each took a couple of them with us to go and do an actual missionary visit! Pretty neat experience, we met this one less active lady, part-member family, and she invited us in. She ended up just opening up to us and telling us her concerns, and by the end of our visit, the two girls we brought with us were sharing personal experiences and thoughts with her that were able to relate to her. The Spirit was strong, and I felt an overwhelming sense of God's love for this woman! Really cool, and she said she would be willing to have missionaries come back. :)

And GUESS WHO I SAW at that activity?! Remember the McKnight's in our ward from a few years ago? Rebecca and Savannah were there. They are all grown up, and Savannah will be a Senior this year. Man. SO CRAZY! They were super shocked to see me there, and even more so that I was a missionary haha. They yelled, "Torie?!?! What are you doing in Tucson?! " I said, "Well I'm a missionary!" Haha. Fun to see them.

Today we went to AZ Air Jump, which is basically like JumpStreet. It was pretty fun! But wow, is it a workout! I was sweating wayyyyy more than usual. But it was cool, because I could still do things I used to be able to do. :) We played dodgeball, too. I love our zone and district more and more as I get to know them!

Last Monday for the Fourth of July, we played floor hockey for Sports, and it was crashed by a family reunion, but they had all of the stuff, so we joined them and had a massive game of floor hockey! Super fun!

But anyway, we are going to be trying to contact as many people on the Ward Council List/Bishop's List, etc. this week! We are planning a coupe of Splits, so we are going to get this ball rolling! Super stoked, bring on the power of being a super sister!

I love you all, I hope you have a fantastic week! The Gospel is true, no matter if people refuse to believe it! If it was once true, it will always be true. Read the Book of Mormon every day. "There is power in the Book of Mormon which will begin to flow into your life the moment you begin a serious study of the book". (I can't remember who said that. But it was an Apostle.) It will protect you from Spiritual danger and temptation. It will bring you joy and peace and comfort. Pray to know it is true!

Keep doing what you know is right, and God will give you the power to bring about much good in your own life!

Have a great week!

Sister Inman

 E. Anderson and Montandon

Look who I saw!
Savannah & Rebecca McKnight with Sister Inman

Savannah & Rebecca McKnight with Sister Inman

Me y Sister Hunt, mi companera

Sister Inman Letter - July 4, 20016

Pink washed, Exhausted

Hellooooooo family! Wow, what a crazy week! I'm exhausted! But it's a new experience, and I'm still getting used to it!

But wow, I am so stoked to work with these wards. I am currently serving in the La Cholla and Coronado wards in Oro Valley and Tucson. It's Northwest Tucson. It's also kind of a weird transition to go back to 2 wards instead of 4, but it is nice! Because we can really focus our efforts and get the work done.

The day we got here, we just dove on in. We had dinner, (fish tacos... You know how much I love fish... They were alright, but I probably wouldn't intentionally or willingly eat it again). Then that night we had our first Ward Coordination meeting with the Ward mission leader of the La Cholla Ward. Both of our Ward mission leaders, Ward missionaries, Ward councils, leaders, Ward members, everybody is just solid. They're on fire! It makes me feel like we have to keep up with them! Which is so awesome! AND, IT'S MONSOON SEASON!!!!! :D It poured down rain, and it made me SO happy.

Wednesday we had zone breakout and district meeting. Half of our zone is sisters! I think three areas were pink-washed, and only 2 companionships did not change. Crazy! They rearranged the districts, so I ended up not being in the same district as my Pima buddy, Elder Phillips, which made me sad. (He's the new district leader). But it's okay, we meet new people and make new friends wherever we go!!! So it'll be good :)

We also had two lessons, one with an 80+yr old man named Bob, and another lesson with a part-member family. We are teaching their daughter Spryte, (Yep, just like the soda) who is 9yr old and she has a baptismal date for August 13th! Woo! Hopefully we will also be getting a couple of reactivation a out of this too! We had a super awesome lesson with the, on the Plan of Salvation, and they all had really good questions, including the less active's, and I could really feel the Spirit. I'm excited for next week's lesson!

We met the Coronado bishop, and also contacted that Ward mission leader, with whom we've been having daily calls, because he is on a business trip! (He still fulfills his calling when he is gone, how cool is that?).

Thursday morning we did service with another district at the Catalina State Park! It was sprinkling rain that morning and it was actually really nice!!! We basically did a mile hike and cleaned up the trail as we went along. Fun stuff! A little nature hike. There is one Elder from New Zealand, named Elder Ikimau, and he just finished being trained. And he is super awesome! I love Polynesians. They are just lovable people. :)

That night we tried a potential/investigator named Megan, and she was super friendly and told her husband about us, and said she was excited for us to come back. Hopefully we can meet with her soon! Excited!

Friday, JULY 1st, ALREADY?! It hardcore monsoon'ed today and it was glorious. Except when we had to drive in it to get to my doctor's appointment. But I just love the rain. Weekly planning day, too. Still adjusting to my new area, companion, situation, district, all of it. Change is hard!

Saturday morning we helped a lady move in to her apartment. That night, we literally spent an entire hour trying to find this one lady's apartment, and the buildings have no order or system to them whatsoever. So we walked around the complex aimlessly until we found it finally at about 8:30. She didn't answer. So we left a note. And then she came to church Sunday and we met her!!! So cool!


Sunday was an awesome day! We had two investigators show up to church,  few less active's that they didn't count on coming for sure, and one of them bore their testimony (Spryte's brother)! We bore our testimonies and introduce ourselves as well. So many people were so excited that they had sisters in their Ward and came up and hugged us and squealed for joy haha. They were like "My prayers have been answered!" "Finally!" "I liked the Elders, but the Sisters...." "*gasp* we have SISTERS in our ward? Oh YAYYYY!!!!!" "WE LOVE SISTERS!!!" So fun :) I also found out that a couple of the guys that were in my EFY company a couple years back live in this stake! One of them just came home from his mission and is in another Ward, but the other one's home Ward is Coronado. How fun! He goes to the Single's stake closer to you all though.

But this week should be super good! There is so much potential in these wards, and I am so ready to contact all of these people, find some new investigators, and bring some souls unto Christ. I'm ready to work, let's do this! :)

My new companion is Sister Heidi Hunt, she is from Sunnyside, UT and has been out about 14 months. So this could be either her last or second-to-last area! She's a hard worker and wants to do the Lord's work. And she loves to cook/bake (and is good at it) and it could be the death of me. I WILL RISE ABOVE IT. Determined.

But anyway, that was my week! I'm still not completely unpacked, but working on it a little bit at a time!

I hope you all have a wonderful week, and Happy Fourth! This morning we went to the ward breakfast, and this afternoon, our zone is going to play sports and games and eat food together. Whoop woop!

Enjoy your day off! Remember why we have it, and say a prayer of gratitude that we have the freedom to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and that we can worship, and all of the other freedoms we enjoy every day. God Bless the U.S.A!!! :)

Love,
Sister Inman

P.S. Happy belated birthday, Eric!! :)

Elder Bernd (from Buckeye)

Elders Arnold and Wyall

Leaving Pima :(

Me and Sister Chandler... We had to say goodbye on Monday night :(

After Service w/ Sister Hunt (Tucson)

 Baby banana, remember, Lacey? :)

Day One in Tucson

RAIN

A better picture of the two of us :)

 Sister Hunt...

Tucson has pretty tall mountains.

Sister Inman Letter - June 27, 2016

Ready or not here I come..... I guess the Lord trusts me! CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

Family! How are you?!

Wow, this week has been crazy... What a spiritually-packed and faith-building week. I will just share a couple of experiences with you. But first, TRANSFER NEWS!!!!! Guess what is happening?!

WELL, I am leaving Pima :'( and I am going to the Northwest Zone in Tucson, and PINK WASHING AN ELDERS' AREA. (That means they take both of the Elders out of the area and put two new Sisters, completely new
to the area.) My new companion will be Sister Heidi Hunt, who was Sister Charles' companion before me! Crazy. But what is fun, is that like half of the Gila Valley is going to Tucson! And I have some friends there :)

But anyway, this week has been a lot better than last week. I feel so much better, I am happier, I have purpose, and I am pumped!!!

This week I learned that the Lord trusts me and has a lot more in store for me than I thought. And that I really can accomplish anything that the Lord asks me to, if I trust in the Lord.

I will just share the highlights, which happened in the second half of the week.

We had interviews with President on Friday, and I walked out feeling like I can do anything. Like the Lord has a plan for me as a missionary. We talked about what I have learned these past 8.5 months of my mission, what I have learned this transfer, what my goals are for the rest of my mission, etc. He gave me a sneak peek at what was going to happen, and told me I was pink washing in NW, but didn't tell me who my companion was. And he just told me some very encouraging things that helped me a lot. And he told me that I looked good, that I
looked happy and confident. And some nice things that had been said about me by the Senior couple in our district.

Then on Saturday we had the best baptism ever! The Spirit was so strong. Race was baptized, and his parents, and nonmember family, and a ton of friends came to support him. When he was being baptized and Brother Weech was saying the prayer, and named the three members of the Godhead, he was looking at Race, and he was just listening really intently and nodded after each one. Such a sweet kid. Sister Chandler and I gave the talks. Then on Sunday it was such a sweet moment when he received the Holy Ghost.

In 2nd Ward, we sang "I'll go where you want me to go". And the Spirit was even more strong. We  messed up a couple of times and squeaked, or were sharp/flat, but the emotion and Spirit was definitely there. It was pretty powerful. And after we finished, the whole room was just filled with this warmth. Lots of people came up to us afterwards and told us that it was beautiful, that we did amazing, and that they really needed that. That they felt the Spirit. :)

And then Sunday night, we went and taught William again. This time.... Was different. Quite a spiritual experience for ME. I needed that. I felt the Spirit so strong, again. We saw that there was a storm coming, and debated whether or not to go out there, because it is in a wash. But we prayed and felt like we really needed to go. I was still hesitant and afraid, but I am so glad we went. We were trying to teach the Restoration, and we each shared our experience about coming to know the Book of Mormon was true. There was the Spirit again. I was trying to find a scripture to read them, but then Phil said, no, don't look for the scripture, open it randomly, and the Spirit will guide it. It will be just what you, or us, or somebody needs. It works every time. I didn't want to, and he said, "Do you have enough faith?" And I finally did. And I opened it. And I read what was on the page at the first paragraph that jumped out at me. And he asked, "that's what you needed, isn't it?" And I said "yep..." And started bawling. It was exactly what I needed. And he even began to cry and get emotional too. And he testified that it works every time, that God always gives you what you need. And it was just a tender moment. Very spiritually
intense. But anyway, it was just what I needed to hear.

I am going to miss Pima so much. The people, my companion, the area, my district and zone,the Gila Valley..... But I am so excited to see how the Lord can strengthen me and sustain me as I accept this challengers Tucson. Here's to a new experience, and a new transfer, and a new challenge! :)

I love you all! Have a great week!
Sister Inman

Food bank

 me and "Grandma", the director
of the food bank and also a member.

Chopped off 4.5inches off my hair, and it was another good day with
Sister Chandler!

The Martinez family!!! (Debbie and Ray)

Me and Joe-Joe, his mom Sylvia is taking the lessons

We matched and didn't even try!!! Me, Sister Chandler, and Hna. Adams

Sister McCombie had a bright idea in district meeting