Sister Torie Inman: Sister Inman Letter

8 Week Transfer? Wahoo!

Well hello family!

This week has been quite the turn of events. Wednesday evening, we got a call from President Passey, and he told us that we would be having an early transfer. "Not an emergency transfer, but an early transfer. These changes were already going to happen in a couple of weeks, but instead of waiting till then, we're just going to switch it now. Sister McCombie will be leaving to Casas Adobes to be a Sister Training Leader (STL), and Sister Inman will be getting Sister Spencer. You'll be switching Friday morning before the Leadership Meeting."

What????!!!!! Well okay..... Neither of us expected to receive this call so early, as transfers are in 2 weeks! But I immediately felt peace, knowing that Sister Spencer was going to be my companion. I served in the Northwest Zone with her, and I LOVE her!!! So, needless to say, I was excited for that, but I didn't expect the change to happen so fast! But I know Sister McCombie will do great wherever she goes and especially in that area! :)

So my new companion, Sister Spencer, is from Indiana, and she's been out for about 6 months. I was there when she first came out :) I am so excited and grateful to be her companion, and she has already strengthened and helped and taught me so much. She is a musician, just like me, and I finally have a companion that is just as crazy and stoked about music as me!!! She is a singer, and I'm an instrumental performer, and so when you put the two together, it's a beautiful duo. At least this one is. Haha. :)

So Thursday was mainly spent saying goodbye to people, and also serving as much as possible! We worked at the food bank, and we also helped a widow in our ward set up and decorate her Christmas Tree. It always feels good to serve, expecially during Christmas! How have you served someone this month so far? How is the #LighttheWorld challenge going so far?

Here's pictures from before the transfer:

Look what I found!!!!! Hahahahaha

District picture! I love our district!

Working at the food bank, getting rid of what we call "science experiments" haha.

Food bank, pt. 2

Decorating the Christmas tree!

Thursday night, saying goodbye to the Leach's

Last companionship picture.

And then I'll just start from Friday on, because that's where most of the juice is! It has really been a wonderful past few days. Lots of tender mercies and miracles to offset the stress of an early transfer.

Every single lesson that Sister Spencer and I have taught and been a part of has been incredible. The Spirit has been SO strong, and SO powerful, and there are just a few specific times on my mission where the Spirit has borne witness that strongly and where both my companion and I were able to be on the same wavelength and just speak boldly and testify of Christ. Wow, it feels great to be a missionary! I just feel so lifted and empowered and excited.

Our first lesson was with Diane. We went over the baptismal questions with her, and she nailed it. She is so prepared, and I just love her. She's a miracle. She is one of the reasons that I was assigned to this mission, and why I came to Vail. She is that one person whose life I was supposed to touch. And what a privilege it has been to be the Lord's instrument in helping her come unto Him. Please pray for her this week, as Satan has already been trying so hard to stop her! Keep going strong, Diane!!! :) December 10th!!!

Then we met with Nathaniel. This was super powerful. This was when we felt the Spirit super strong. We were talking about what his vision for himself is, and where he sees these lessons going, etc. We asked him to compare himself from the times that he first started meeting with missionaries to now. He said that there is a big difference. He comes to church almost every Sunday now, and he feels the Spirit when he comes. He prays. He is already in Jarom of the Book of Mormon. (He calls him Jarome haha). But we talked about our last lesson on the Plan of Salvation, and how this life is the time to prepare to meet God, and how we will choose where we will go, depending on our actions. He had answered that he wanted to go to the Celestial Kingdom, but he guesses he'll go wherever God puts him. I had an interesting prompting, which led the conversation in kind of a different direction than any of us expected. Here's how it went:

Me: Nathaniel, you can decide where you want to go! You can choose to keep the commandments, and repent, and follow Jesus Christ. And if you do these things, you won't have to wait until Judgement Day to know where you're going to go. What are you worried about? Where do you think you're going to go?

Nathaniel: I just feel like I'm going to Hell.

Me: Why do you think you're going to Hell? (There it is. That's what my prompting was. Ask him why he feels like he's going to Hell. Because he has told us that before, but if he truly believes that, there is a deeper concern).

Both Sister Leach and Sister Spencer just raised their eyebrows and their jaws dropped. Did I really just ask that? Nathaniel paused and just looked at me for a second, and then he thought about it.

Nathaniel: I've just done too many really bad things in my life. I will never be able to take that back.

Me: Do you believe that God can forgive us of our sins?

Nathaniel: Yes,but it doesn't matter how many times I say sorry, it's not going to get rid of what I've done in my life. There's a limit to how many times you can say sorry for something. Saying sorry doesn't make up for anything that I did.

Me: Nathaniel, I testify that you can be forgiven of your sins. Just a few moments ago, you told us of the changes that you had made, even just since you started meeting with missionaries 8 months ago. You have been able to feel the Spirit, finally, when you come to church! You are making changes in your life that show your Heavenly Father that you want to change. And that is the whole reason Jesus Christ came down to earth, to pay the price for your sins, so you can change, and be forgiven. Even if you were the only person on the earth, Jesus Christ would have come down to Atone for your sins alone. It would have been worth it to Him.

After this, my companion testified of the Atonement, and was reminded of a scripture in the Book of Mormon that shows us His infinite mercy, and it was just perfect. She then testified of the forgiveness that comes when we repent. That "as oft as we repent we will be forgiven". If we are truly sincere, we will be forgiven. The Spirit bore powerful witness to all of us that these things were true, and afterward, Sister Spencer said she didn't even remember what she said, but that the Spirit gave her the words. She didn't know Nathaniel. This was her first day. And yet the Holy Ghost gave her the words to speak, which ended up being exactly what he needed to hear. The Spirit is such a sweet thing. It has been so wonderful to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost, in particular the last couple of days. I think this will be a great transfer. :)

Anyway, I know that this is true. That's all the time I have, but I am so excited to be a missionary. I just feel good about God's plan for me. He has sent my companion and I so many tender mercies and has reminded us that He is very aware of us. I love the Lord. I love this Gospel. I love my mission.

I hope you have a wonderful week, I love you so much!

Sister Inman