Sister Inman Letter - April 10, 2017

"A little over 18 months"

Hello Family and Friends! Top of the Mormon to ya! 

So it has been another fabulous week as a missionary, and boy do I have the experiences to share with you! They keep on coming! I have truly seen the miracles coming faster and more frequently lately, and I think it has a lot to do with our attitudes, faith, diligence, and obedience. We have been trying to really focus on the work and helping others come unto Christ. When you read that, it sounds like a given, but really, it doesn't just come without significant effort on your part. But all in all, I have seen the blessings of doing our very best, and striving to work as a team with the Spirit on our side!

Saint David is a blessed place. I have truly come to love it and the wonderful people here. has been so good to me, and I am well taken care of.

I have a testimony that God works through us, and that His timing is perfect. I know that He knows His sheep, and what they need. He sends aid to us and answers our prayers. If we follow the promptings of the Spirit, we will be the workers and witnesses of miracles.

To begin. Earlier this week, on Tuesday evening, we had planned to finish some weekly planning that we hadn't had the chance to finish the previous week. (I know, I'm slacking...) but we had planned to do that after we had made a few visits. So we finished the set lessons and visits we had, and were going to go home from there. So we went home to continue planning. But then we both felt like we needed to stop by one more person. We looked through our Area Book to see who we should see. Nobody seemed to stick out. Then a woman named Alice popped into my head. She was a less active woman, but she was the only other thought in my head. So we said okay, let's do it! 

When we got to the address, we drove past this shed, and onto this nicer house. We knocked and knocked. Nope. No answer. So we began to leave, trying to understand why we had been led there, and talked about where we should go next. Then suddenly the porch light of the house flicked on. A woman came out, named Kaylee. She was just about to get into the shower, but stopped to answer the door. After briefly talking with her, we realized that Alice didn't even live there. So we asked if we could come back, and then left to go back to the truck. Once again, when we were about to leave, guess who comes and pulls right in front of the shed. Who else but the very woman we were looking for? Alice! The shed was remodeled inside and it is very beautiful! That's where she lives. We talked to her for a little while, and it was a good experience! She invited us to come back! :) We needed the slight delay, so we could catch Alice right as she was getting home. 

Next stop. We tried an older lady named Naomi. It was about 7:30 or so. She was kind, but we caught her right as she was going to bed. So she invited us to come back the next night.  So we left. As we were driving back, I went a little too far to safely turn left onto the street I would have turned onto, but instead kept going straight. We drove past a house with the lights on in the main room. I noticed 2 people inside. My first thought was, "They need the gospel.' I said, "There are two people in that house..." We talked about whether or not we should go try them, as they were in the other Sisters' area, and I wasn't feeling super urgent about it, but as we talked and prayed about it, and felt that we really needed to go talk to them, and about families and temples. We got to the house, and there was a sign on the door that said "Please no visitors. Roland is resting". We literally stood there for a solid couple minutes just staring at the sign, not sure what to do. Do we ignore the sign to follow a prompting? Do we leave and respect the sign?

Just as we were unsure what to do, a big truck comes to pull up into the driveway and a lady rolled down her window to talk to us. Roland was her Uncle, she said. He was on hospice and about to pass away any time so now probably wouldn't be good for a visit.  We thanked her, and left.

The following night, we were driving to a lesson that was scheduled at 7. We got the impression we should go and visit those people even though it would mean missing our lesson with a potential investigator. When we arrived once again, the sign was down and there were many people. "Come in, ladies!" Someone called, and we went in through the gate. It turned out that the family were members in the Patton ward (bordering area). Roland had passed away just shortly after we had stopped by the first time. All the people there were there to support and comfort them- we even saw some members from the wards we cover. We talked to Roland'a wife, and listened to her feelings as she unloaded everything. We told her how we had ended up coming to her house at this specific time, and expressed to her how much God loves her and is aware of her. She said that many other people had had the same impression without knowing that Roland had passed. She said that her niece felt bad for turning us away, because it was obviously a prompting! But she said that she had felt so much love from her Heavenly Father through other people. He passed away a few days earlier than expected, and yet her Heavenly Father was very much aware of her and her needs.

We didn't know she was a member. We didn't know he was dying. We didn't even know why we should teach about temples and families. But Heavenly Father knew. And it was such a testimony builder to me to see that He truly loves His children.

Well, I don't have much time left. Wow. I meant for emailing, but I guess for my mission too. This week I hit my 18 month mark. I love my mission. I cherish it, it is precious to me. And I am forever grateful to my Heavenly Father for calling me here.

Well, Here's to the greatest week of my mission. I love each of you. Please pray for me that I will stay focused this last week and a couple days, and I look forward to seeing you all again! 

Love,

Sister Torie Inman

For those of you able to attend, my homecoming talk will be on April 23rd, at the Chapel on Verde Vista in Surprise. I'm not sure what time it starts. But I would love to see as many of you there as I can! :)

Sister Inman Letter - April 3, 2017

Standing As a Witness of God

Hey there! (So how's it goin?)

What a Conference! Wow! I can't wait to get those on Gospel library! So many insights and doctrine taught that I needed to hear and understand!

I love when more than one speaker talks about the same topics, or even use the same scriptures! I was able to see over and over again that the prophet and other general leaders and authorities are inspired of God. I loved that we were given TWO challenges to read through and even memorize the Living Christ!

I loved the firm witnesses of Christ and the Gospel that were given this weekend.

Well, this weekend I had kind of an intense experience. A few of scriptures and thoughts came to my mind after this experience:

"He whom shall confess me before men, him shall I confess before the Father." And "Stand as a witness of God, at all times, and in all things, and in all places." and "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ..." and then "You can die for the gospel... but will you live for it?"

We went to go contact a former investigator, Elaine. She lives with a less active member, and we were talking to her for awhile about her history with missionaries, and also about her interests and background. When we began talking with her about prophets and how we can know for ourselves if they are true or not, we saw a man who was coming around in a golf cart, with various keys and such. He was the landlord. We said "Hello, sir!" and he said "Hey Sisters!" So I don't even remember what he said first. We asked Something about us not being Christians, and how the Mormon Jesus is different than the Christian Jesus. He said that we Mormons don't even believe in Jesus Christ. So I said, "Sir, do you know what the actual name of our Church is?" He paused and stared at me. And he said, "Fraud". Me: Actually, it's called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We do believe in Jesus Christ, in fact we wear His name on our name tags. He said, "What's in a name?"

It is His Church, called after His name. Christ is the Center of the Gospel. 

...

(a little while later), after arguing against another false claim we never made.

Have you ever read the Book of Mormon? 

"Yeah- but it's all a fraud. You think that we have to go through Joseph Smith to get to God. He said it himself. I read the discourses, and he said that. True Christians believe and know that it's through Christ that we get to God." 

We believe that too. We do NOT go through Joseph Smith to get to God. Joseph Smith never said that we have to go through him to get to Heaven. That goes against everything that we believe. It is ONLY through Jesus Christ that we can have access to the Father. 

"What do you think a disciple is?"

A disciple is someone who follows Christ and does what He has asked us to do. We strive to be like Him. 

"That's what true Christians are. We follow Jesus Christ."

Sir, we don't want to argue with you. We would love to talk to you about the truths that we believe, but you are obviously not in the right frame of mind to learn truth.

Sister Lund testified boldly, but calmly, that she knew and fully believed in Jesus Christ, and that He  is our advocate with the Father, that He is our Savior and Redeemer, and this is His Church. It shut him up for a few seconds, and I said, "I am sorry that you have had a bad experience." He said it wasn't, but he "found out the truth." 

He continued to try and prove us wrong on everything that we never said. He literally pulled up to us and immediately started bashing us and persecuting us. He shut down every claim that no one has ever made in this Church, especially not us. He accused us of fraud, and kept telling us about these false claims and strange things that He said that Brigham Young had said, of which I have never even heard of before, and I know for a fact that it was not told in its 100% original form, either. 

Me: Brigham Young happens to be my fourth great grandfather. I also know that He was a prophet of God. And I have never heard anything about these things that you claim he said. 

"Read your history, Sister. You don't know your history. It's all there." He kept referring back to Church History, rather than focusing on any of the truths we teach in the Church. We continued to ask him if he had read the Book of Mormon, but he never gave us a specific, straight, or completely honest answer. 

Me: I actually do know a lot about it, and I know that the things that you have told me are false. And if you think that searching the internet and believing everything that you find on there is how you will find truth, then think again. You are searching for truth in all of the wrong places. Why are you trusting sources and information from people who are not even part of the Church or who are against it?

Me: The only way that you will ever know that the things that we are telling you are true is if you sincerely read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. The only way to know of truth is to go to the very source, which is God Himself. Not other people, and not the internet. 

Me: This Book was written by prophets, who speak the words of God. This is how you will gain a testimony that these things are true. In fact, the very last chapter in the Book of Mormon it gives us an invitation. To read it with a sincere heart and real intent. And if you have a sincere heart, and pray to know that it is true, then you will know. Our purpose is to help others to come to understand and strengthen their relationship with God and Jesus Christ, and that is all that we are trying to do. We want you to find out for yourself.

Him: I already know that it is all false, and there is no way that you can say you know it's true, because it's all a lie.

Me: Sir, I want you to know that I know that these things are true. I KNOW, one HUNDRED percent. I KNOW that this Gospel that we are preaching is true. I have prayed about it, and I know without a doubt that it is right. I would die for it. 

I don't remember everything that I said, but I do remember the intense feeling that I experienced as I testified as a witness of God and defended His Gospel. My heart was filled with courage and faith, and I could feel the power of the Spirit testify through me. I began to tear up.

And after a pause, he said, "That's very unfortunate. Because your salvation is at stake." How rude, man. He said some dumb thing about him trying to help us, but everything was VERY contentious coming from him. There was more to the conversation, but he continued to tear us down, and despite us saying things like, "We don't want to argue with you," and "Have a good day, sir", he persisted in attacking us. 

Finally, Elaine, our former investigator said, "I don't think that a loving God would punish us for not knowing the truth. And I also don't think that a true Christian would attack another person who is trying to build their faith in Christ."

We finally ended the conversation, but man, I was so upset. It took me an hour to calm down and feel okay again. We went to the church and sat in the chapel. It felt like walking into the temple. I just sat in there and cried and prayed. I looked around and stared at the pulpit. Suddenly I got this overwhelming prompting in my head, in my own voice, "It is true. It has to be." In prayer, I declared to God that I knew that this church was true, and I believed it with all my heart. I told Him that I would defend His name and church, and that I would try my best. I felt the confirmation that He was proud of me, and that He loved me.

After awhile, I went up to the piano and played some primary songs that gave me such peace, such as, "I feel my Savior's love", and "He Sent His Son". I sang the lyrics in my head and felt this warmth. It brought HAPPY tears to my eyes. And received confirmation that I would be okay.

My dear family and friends, this gospel and church is true. No matter how hard Satan blows to try and shake your faith and uproot your testimony, if you are firmly and deeply rooted with faith in the Savior, "ye shall not fall." I experienced this this week. I know even more surely now that this is all true. The Book of Mormon is true. The prophets are true. We have a living prophet today. God's priesthood resides on earth and is possessed by permission by President Thomas S. Monson. I love him. I love my Savior. I know my family will be forever, because He has told me so and I believe Him.

Strengthen your faith, and never let it shake! I love you, have a great week!

Sister Inman

Also, CONGRATS ON GETTING YOUR EAGLE SCOUT, JESSE!!!!!! I got your invitation and I am SO STINKING PROUD OF YOU! You deserve it, buddy, you've worked hard your whole life for this moment. I love you!

Also, look at this email that I got from my investigator in Oro Valley!!!!! This is the best thing to receive on a mission! :') Yayyy!!!!!!

"Dear Sister Inman,

I am overjoyed to tell you that I will be baptized on Saturday, April 15th at the Coronado Ward. It would mean so much to me if you could attend and perform my opening prayer. Your lessons with Sister Hunt at my apartment in Oro Valley helped guide me along my spiritual journey. 

Sincerely,

Your-soon-to-be-Sister Kristina H."

Wahooooo! Kristina is one of those incredible miracles. And is evident that even the most scientific of people can be faithful saints. I think, if I remember right, she had a Master's Degree in something like stem cell research or microbiology or endocrinology or something. Needless to say, she is a genius. And was part of a huge corporation that was doing cancer research, and was super busy... But she STILL made time to pray, read from the scriptures, attend church, and learn about and live the gospel. WE CAN TOO! 

Sister Inman Letter - March 27, 2017

Are you SO STOKED for Conference?!?!

Hello hello hello!

Another wonderful week in the life of Sister Inman!

This week we had some wonderful lessons, I went on an exchange in the Pomerene and Patton wards, we got a couple new investigators, and I gave two talks in church on Sunday! So this week has been good, God has still been so good to us.

We have been trying very hard to continue to fulfill our purpose every day, act faithfully and immediately on promptings, as well as find and teach by the Spirit. So far, our performance and successes in those goals have been wonderful! Miraculous! Almost too good to be true, you know?

This week we met with Elizabeth, the girl that just got married to a member. She is doing so well. She has so much real intent, and is striving to discover the truth by "study and also by faith". We went to do a Book of Mormon read with her, and asked her how her prayers had been going, and how her trip to Utah was. She said that they had gone to the SLC Temple Visitor's Center, and learned more about that, as well as the Conference Center, and she really loved that. One ofher nonmember friends head that she was marrying a member, and out of concern for her, she gave her  a CD with a preacher's sermon on it, comparing the beliefs of Mormons to Catholics? I think? Either way, it was his take on what we believe. The tape is about  45 minutes long, and they listened to it during the 12 hour drive home... and didn't even finish it, haha. She said they would stop it every once in a while to talk about what the facts were and to do more research, comparing that to what it says on LDS.org (the official church's website), and with each claim that they weren't sure about, they discovered what the truth actually was. She said she learned a lot and came to realize the difference in how she felt when she read from the Book of Mormon, versus when she listened to the tape. She told us that she felt kind of angry when she listened to it, and when she read from the Book of Mormon, she felt a sense of peace and calm.

As we continued to speak with her about searching for truth, we felt prompted to open up to Alma 32 in the Book of Mormon. This chapter talks about faith, and how we can come to know the truth of all things through planting the seed or principle, and then nourishing it and watching for it to grow. If it brings forth good fruit, then it is a good seed. If it begins to grow and enlighten your mind, bring you joy, and gives you a warm feeling in your heart, you can know it is a good thing; it is from God.

When we shared with her this chapter, she felt the Spirit bring to her remembrance some experiences in her life that were very symbolic. It was through reading these scriptures that she began to make sense of and learn from these past experiences. She understands how she can apply this principle of faith into her marriage and family, and allow it to grow and flourish. She was so excited that she learned so much from the Spirit. Her mind was blown. :)

God has been blessing us to be more effective in bringing in the Spirit into our lessons, and helping our investigators to feel and recognize that. This is so TRUE!!!

We had TWO incredible lessons with our investigator Nikki this week! She is a sophomore in High School living with a member family. Think of Dom, except she actually lives with them. The first lesson this week was on the Plan of Salvation. It was amazing. At the end, we asked her how she felt about it. She said, good... I don't know.... so we asked her, "Do you hope it's true? Or are you mainly just curious?" She paused, and said "I hope it's true..." We testified that she can come to know that it is true. And out of the blue she just said softly, "I feel like it's true..." yes! Yes yes yes!!! We said, "what does that feel like?" She said "I don't know, I just know that I'm
starting to tear up and I don't know why!!! It just feels, like, warm... stop smiling at me!" Haha :) We testified that the feelings she was having were from God, and that it's okay to cry, sometimes the Spirit makes us cry when we feel that something is true.

The other lesson was last night, and we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ, or in other words, the steps that Christ has asked us to take to return to live with Him and Heavenly Father. She felt the Spirit again as we testified of Christ, and she started crying again. It's amazing to see the effect that the spirit has on people. She seems to be really feeling that it is true, and she has grown in her faith so much!  :)

Wasn't women's conference so great?!?! It was amazing! I loved it! The music was beautiful, and I truly felt my Savior's love. I loved the firmness in Linda K. Burton's testimony, and I loved President Eyring's talk. They were all just what I needed, and they addressed just what my questions and concerns were. God is so loving and aware
of our hearts. I love Him :)

A couple other cool things, on Saturday, we helped prepare a plot for planting a garden, so we put manure on the dirt, turned it, and mixed it in, and I used the techniques I learned at the farm and it worked out really well! It felt good to work hard :)

Also, a kind lady made us dinner. Of the things I ate, it was actually really good! Although... she made us fish filet, and tofu for Sister Lund. I ate as much of the little filet I put on my plate, but I could barely handle it... and I tried tofu for the experience. It was quite possibly the nastiest thing I have ever tasted. Woohoo, Mission experiences! :)

Well, I don't have anymore time, but I hope you enjoy GENERAL CONFERENCE and prepare for it well!!! I love you all!!! Have a fantastic week! :)

Love,
Sister Inman

Sister Inman Letter - March 20, 2017

¡Milagros tras milagros tras milagros! "God sends His prepared people to His prepared servants."

Wow oh wow oh wow. How many miracles and blessed days and wonderful things can you fit in a week?! Well, I'll try to fit some of those in this email, though I don't ever have time to write everything I'd like to! But here are some of the most awesome ones!

To start off, Sister Lund and I have been trying very hard to follow the Spirit's promptings more promptly, and we both have noticed that we have both been MUCH more in tune with the spirit, and that many of our thoughts and actions, etc. are inspired of God. And because of this, we have seen many things and had many good experiences that helped us to grow as a companionship, or to help the area flourish.

Tuesday night, we had a lesson with a family named the Hodge's, and they have a friend of their daughter's living with them named Nikki. We taught the Restoration, and the family was fantastic at inviting the Spirit and sharing their testimonies! The Spirit was very strong, and we have another lesson with her tonight! She became a new investigator this week and we are soooo happy!

I had a wonderful birthday on Wednesday! Here's part of my journal entry for the day: 

"Today I am just filled with gratitude. What a wonderful day it has been. Truly, there were so many wonderful things that we and I were blessed with, and I have surely felt the love of God today.

"This morning I woke up, and Sister Lund sang Happy birthday to me. She went upstairs and made all of us waffles, scrambled eggs, and strawberry syrup. None of which she could eat, but she did all of that for us. We all ate breakfast together, us two and Brother and Sister Merrill. While breakfast was being made, I was decorating my birthday cake, which was probably the most vibrant, colorful, neon, crazy cake I've ever had for my birthday! Blue frosting, and then white piping around the border, and I made colors green and orange and pink to draw a mermaid and a few goldfish. I put the candles all around the circumference of the cake. It was a circle, double decker. I also put paper boats around the side of the cake haha. I decided it was a little too crazy, but hey, I'm 21, isn't that crazy enough? I made it gluten free, so everyone was able to eat it! The whole cake was eaten! Except one slice, which sister Lund will probably eat later haha. She really liked it. Not quite as good as the cake or decorating that Mom does, but I thought about her when I made and decorated it. :) We had a good district meeting, and I brought sherbet and 7up to make those float things and everyone liked those too.

Here's the cake!! Ignore my face. :)

  
​

Brother and Sister Merrill sang happy birthday to me as well. Then Brother Merrill serenaded me in Spanish with his guitar. He's a pretty good vocalist, haha. :)"

We had a great lesson with Roman in the afternoon, and the Spirit was definitely there, and he has been reading the Book of Mormon!!!! He said it is hard for him to go to church because when he goes, he just feels like out of place, or like he's not supposed to be there or something. He said he doesn't feel worthy to go to church. He and his nephews sang happy birthday to me. :) and MIRACULOUSLY, HE CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY! WITH HIS NEPHEWS!!!!! (seriously, that is miraculous. He hasn't come in forever!!)

Later that evening, our Zone Leaders sent out a text and a challenge to find one new investigator that day. We had gone to Tombstone, which is pretty much dry as far as investigators right now, and there are mostly just less actives there.However, we went there to visit some people, went to dinner, and then it was about 6:30pm. So I said okay, we've got about 3 hours. How are we going to find a new investigator tonight? So we prayed to know, and felt that we should go home, look through our areabook at the potential and former investigators in the area, and prayed earnestly and sincerely that we would find a new investigator. 

So we each separately looked at our list of people, wrote down who stood out to us, then consolidated. We prayed to know if it was right, and it felt right. So off we went! :) We tried a couple people, and couldn't find some people for awhile, because a lot of people in our area either don't have numbers on their house, they're super faded on the mailbox, or the address doesn't describe where they actually live. But we continued to try, having faith that God had sent us to these people for a reason, we finally contacted some people who invited us to come back. :) The first one was a girl named Brittney, who is probably about 14. We had a lesson/taught a truth, and scheduled a return appointment. After getting ONE new investigator, we were super pumped! But we still had time to go out, so we didn't stop there, and guess what?! We found TWO MORE! These were named Rose and Bre, a mother and daughter. They were formers, and we taught about families and temples.

That gave us a total of THREE new investigators in ONE DAY!!! We were filled with gratitude and felt so blessed. Then we checked our phone. An unknown number had called us at about 9:30pm. We decided to call him back, even though it was later than we normally call people. A man answered, and we asked who he was, and how we could help him. He told us that his name was Tyler, and that he was wondering when our church services were. He explained that he travels a lot for work, but one of his coworkers had shared with him the Book of Mormon, and how the Gospel has blessed her life, the peace it had given her, and just how her faith has helped her. He mentioned that she just seemed so confident and her faith seemed so strong, both in the way she expressed her beliefs, and how she shared her faith like it meant something important to her, and how she held herself. And he wanted to have that too.He explained that he had recently, about a year ago, been diagnosed with a disease, and he began to think of life a little differently. He started thinking about God more. The more he talked, the more that the Spirit testified to me that God truly is preparing people for the gospel, and that He has a plan for each of us to come unto Him. We testified of plain truths, and how we help people to receive that same faith and peace in their life, and invited him to learn more. We set up a time to talk to him the next day, and answer a few of his questions, get to know is background, etc. and here we have..... another new investigator. Bringing us to 4 new investigators in ONE night, and FIVE new investigators within the first half of the week. Wow. We couldn't even believe it, we were almost in tears of joy, and we said many prayers of gratitude.

We were in Ward council yesterday morning and shared this experience. Everyone was so excited for us, and the Elders' Quorum President even said, "Wow! God sends His prepared people to His prepared servants.Great job, Sisters!!!" It really made my day. They just expressed how great that miracle was, and it felt so good to be able to return and report back to the ward leaders of the successes that are happening in this area. There was a feeling of optimism in the room afterwards, and we got tons of new ideas flowing and people giving comments of how we could help people in the area, and got several referrals of people to try and how to help/reach them, etc. members and nonmembers. There was so much participation from everyone, and they were all excited about missionary work. Especially because it also helps them in their auxiliaries. Isn't it great when we all work together? It's ONE big work!

On Sunday, we had some less actives come to church that hadn't been in a long time, and Sister Lund gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting. I have to give one in both wards next week, haha.

Anyway, that's all of the time I have for today, I love each of you, thank you for the birthday package and wishes, and I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Sister Inman

Sister Inman Letter - March 13, 2017

17 Months Out, 21 Years Old!

Hellooooo family!!! Long email, watch out!

Wow, this week has been awesome! We've been working hard nonstop, and a lot of great things have been happening. I have a new sense of determination, it feels like!

Before I forget, I finally saw the Tillet's at church yesterday!!! Daniel and his wife :) they look like they're doing so well, they now have two kids, and they're big! He asked how each of you were, and I asked about his family. :)

First off, my new companion's name is Sister Lund! Turns out she is not really from Utah, but is actually from Virginia! This is her second area, and she's been on her mission for about 6 months. Every transfer is a new change and it takes some adjusting to a new area and companion, but this is going to be the best transfer ever.

Second off, I'm sending out a mass call for help: My companion is gluten free AND Vegan. So, no breads, butter, milk or dairy of any kind, no eggs, no cheese,....  and no meat. That's the hardest one, I think.. I gotta have me some MEAT D: My call for help is, WHAT CAN WE EAT?! Would you all mind looking for some ideas that members could use to make us meals? My companion is fine with beans and rice or a potato every night, but... she's used to that... and I seem to feel bloated or fat or sick when I eat a lot of those. But any suggestions from anyone would be very very much appreciated by yours truly. Because I really don't want to have beans and rice or a baked potato or taco salad EVERY night...  any ideas, especially variety, would be FANTASTIC. THANKS ONE BILLION! :) And it would really help out the members.

Well aside from all of that, this week was super PACKED! It was awesome! God has helped me a lot this week, and has enabled me to take over the area with more confidence. So this week we managed to at least meet most of our investigators/ people we've been wanting to work with.

Tuesday morning, we picked up Sister Lund from the Benson Transfer site, but the transfer van wasn't going to be coming back to pick up Sister Freeman until like 1:30 that afternoon... So, we were awkwardly a trio for the first half of the day! Haha. But I did get to see a couple of the missionaries I have served around probably for the last time at the transfer site, as well. That was a real tender mercy. But the morning was pretty productive, we had a lesson together, and we met a lot of people in the area!

Wednesday, we drove down to Sierra Vista for a zone meeting, which was really good! Elders Dustin and Starnes are our Zone Leaders, and our Sister Training Leaders are Sisters McMaster and Bergeson. We were trained on effective companionship study, and how crucial it is that they are focused and spirit led, and especially relevant in preparing us for the people and experiences we will be having that day. The Spirit was strong. Something that was said was, "How much you have changed by the end of your mission is a good indicator of how much you stepped outside yourself." Or in other words, how much you put into helping others progress, rather than just seeking to improve yourself. IT can happen either way, but the greater change happens when we give selfless service. 

Thursday was another awesome, productive, and successful day! We volunteered at commodities, and that was fun! We could just serve and meet the people that came in. I was in charge of organizing and distributing the breads, and I've noticed on my mission especially that I like to organize things! I'm not necessarily organized in other ways, but I do like to organize and categorize things in order to get a flow going. I also go to practice my people skills and just greeting people. It felt good to serve.

That afternoon we had a lesson with a girl named Tiffany. She's probably in her mid to late 20's and is recently trying to return to activity in the church. Her gospel knowledge is minimal, but her testimony of God is strong. We taught the Restoration and helped her feel the Spirit, which is what she said she needed!

We had a lesson that night with our investigator Hailey, and we reset her baptismal date for April 8th! She really wants it. We asked how she felt about that date, and she said, "Either I'm not gonna be a Mormon, or I'm gonna be Mormon on the 8th!" Haha. :) She has some struggles, but the Atonement is real and she can change! She struggles with the Word of Wisdom, which a lot of people around here seem to, and Satan keeps hitting her hard with trials. He's been working especially hard on the people in this area, it feels like. probably because he KNOWS something good is about to happen.

Friday morning we had an awesome lesson with Elizabeth, our other investigator, who just got married to a member on Saturday! Our lesson was on eternal marriage and following the prophet. We talked about how the prophets tell us how to be successful in our families, and testified that when we applied the things that the prophet tells us we should do, then our families are strengthened, and we then qualify for all of God's promised blessings, in particular, eternal marriages and families. We shared with her The Family: A Proclamation to the World and she really liked that. She said she and Jared (her fiance at the time) had been talking about how they want the gospel and church to be the center and foundation of their home and their marriage. She shared with us that she has felt that the more she learns about the gospel, and the more she lets her spiritual side show, the better her relationship has been with Jared. Isn't that awesome?! Even before they were married, they already were preparing to have a strong foundation, and they have found that the Gospel has strengthened them individually, and as a couple. She said that it was a testimony builder to her! The next morning, she was married! I am so excited that she is already progressing so well, and that she wants this happiness in her life. I can already tell she is going to be a success story, and I can already picture her in the temple. Next step, Baptism!

Saturday was a little rough at some points, but overall a good day. We did a lot of weekly planning and it went really well. We should be having another super awesome week! :)

But an experience I wanted to share is kind of a disheartening one, but it does have a good learning experience within it.

We called our investigator James, you know the one we though was Golden and randomly showed up to church one Sunday? Well we called to confirm that we were still on for our lesson with him, and ended up having a longer conversation about finding the truth. He said, "I've been thinking about it,... and I think we should stop meeting. I really appreciate you taking the time to come and talk to me about God, and I know you really believe it, but the more homework and research I do, the less convinced I am. I'm really sorry girls. I am finding out more and more, and I just.. I can't. I'm sorry."

Well that's not what we wanted to hear. But I knew I wasn't supposed to give up. That I needed to keep trying, and at least testify of what I know is true. So, I prayed in my head and in my heart to know what to say to this man, and also to have the courage and strength to say it with the Spirit.

I asked him if he had even read out of the Book of Mormon. He said a little bit. 

So I asked him, Well then how are you supposed to know if it is true or not if you haven't even read it? The entire reason we are here, is because we know it is true. It has blessed our lives immensely, and ALL we are asking you to do is to learn more about it and find out for yourself that it is true. We want your life to be blessed by these same truths.

"I know that you both believe it with all your hearts, and I know that you both are wonderful human beings. I just don't know that I can believe all of this. i started reading, and I didn't like what I found."

Me:What did you find?

He said, "I'm just seeing a lot of plagiarism."

Me: Plagiarism? What do you mean?

"So I was searching and found out about this guy named Edgar Smith, who wrote many of the same exact things that Joseph Smith wrote DECADES before the plates were even discovered. And I am even learning that there are missing books out of the Bible. It's been CHANGED. There are things that have been taken out! What if everything that I have ever grown up believing isn't true? Look this guy up. You'll see what I mean."

Me: Unfortunately, we can't look that up. We don't even have access to most of the internet.

"Well that's not very fair to me. What if I showed you what it says and what I found...?"

Me: James, I have searched. I have read the Book of Mormon. I have studied it. I have taken a college course on it. I am reading and studying it again. I have prayed about it. I have learned more and more as I continue to search. But I don't need to look all over the internet to try and prove it wrong, because I know that the only way you will be able to know it is true is if you turn to the Book of Mormon. There are a lot of people and sources out there, especially on the internet that will give you lots of false information and tell you all kinds of things that are not true. The ONLY way you are going to be able to know if everything is true is if you read and study in the Book of Mormon, with a real intention to know if it is true and act upon it, and pray and ask God, who is the source of ALL truth. You can search the internet and find all sorts of untruths, but I know for a fact that if you do not look to the Book of Mormon to find it's truth, you will not ever know.

A short pause. "So you think Satan is trying to stop me from learning the truth?" What the-?

Me: Yes, I do. I know he is. The same thing happened to Joseph Smith before he came to know the truth. And I know that everything we have told you is true. If I did not know 100% that this was true, then I would not be out here right now. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and I know that you can know this too. 

Anyway, he still cancelled on us, because he just needed some time to think. There were a few more things said, but I don't have much more time. 

But yeah, those were some of the experiences I had this week, and I am grateful for them. I am grateful that I was able to feel the powerful witness that the Spirit gave to me as I testified of what I knew to be true and what I believed was true to someone who was about to give up the search. 

I hope you have a wonderful week, I love you all! Thanks for the birthday wishes and prayers!

Love,

Sister Inman

P.S. Tell Dom I said hi, and also tell him to email me. Thanks :)

Sister Inman Letter - March 6, 2017

Last Transfer.... and I can see the Light at the end of the Tunnel!

Good afternoon friends and family, it's Sister Inman here.

Well, I've officially reached that point in my young missionary life
where I only have one transfer, or 6 weeks left. It has been an
incredible experience, and I think I have grown the most during the
second half of my mission.

It's been a fantastic week, and we have had some wonderful things happen!

I am limited on time, as we have a ton to do today (the day before
transfers) but I'll try to share some success stories with you!

We met our investigator James (formerly referred to as Jim), at the
food bank that we volunteer at, and he told us he just didn't believe
the Joseph Smith thing, nor that he was a prophet. And he's like "I
was raised Southern Baptist! Have you ever tried to convert one of
those? You're not going to convert me. I'm not gonna be a Mormon." We
said, "Well, James, we're not the ones that are going to convert you.
If it was up to us to try to convince people to join our church, we
would have absolutely nobody join. I'm not that talented. But we want
to meet with you because we know it has blessed our lives, and because
we know it is true, and we want you to be blessed by it too." After
prompting him a couple of times, he agreed to meet with us one more
time. That lesson went a little interesting, and there is definitely a
long way to go, but he is now interested in meeting with us regularly!

Also, we started the lesson asking him why he thought we wanted to
meet with him again. He started off by saying, "I think you're going
to try this whole time to talk about and try to convince me about
Joseph Smith and that I should believe in that whole thing." Well,
nope, that's not why. We began to talk about our purpose here on this
earth, and agency, etc. and also read from Alma 32 comparing faith to
a seed, and how when we learn something, we should plant and nourish
it and allow it to grow, to see if it is a good fruit. He said "I
really like that, I agree with what Joseph Smith wrote there." Wait...
what? Joseph Smith didn't write that... "He didn't? (utter shock to
him) who did?" Alma! He is a prophet that was on the earth many years
before Christ came. He was completely dumbfounded. That led to a
discussion on the Book of Mormon and where it came from. At the end of
the lesson, he agreed to begin reading from the Book of Mormon.

Never give up on someone after the first try! I'm so glad we didn't,
though we almost did! Satan tries hard, that one. NOT TODAY, SATAN.

This week I finally was able to go out and be a fully functioning
missionary!!! Thank you all so much for your prayers and thoughts and
well wishes! I am back out and we're having some good experiences and
success. I still have some mucus and gross stuff in my sinuses and
throat, but I am so so so much better! Yay!!!!

And transfer cheese, I am staying in Saint David, and am getting
Sister Lund, from Utah. She's been out I think about 6 months...?

I also finally got the official "My Plan", or in other words, the
official church's program for missionaries during their last 6 weeks
to help prepare them for returning home, going back to school, getting
back into the workplace, etc.

Anyway, that's all the time I have for today.

Have a great week!

Love,
Sister Inman

Okay so the story with the policeman so you don't freak out, is that we were taking pictures on the side of the road and had several cars honk or stop to see if we needed help. One happened to be a policeman... and he asked if we were okay. We said yes, and then I said actually... can we take a picture with you? And he hesitated..... but then was like, "Okay, get in the back." So we did and got this awesome picture from the dash cam perspective. haha xD

He was a member. 

Converting the local Policeman

Well, I never thought I'd actually get caught

Only YOU can prevent Wildfires.

The Benson/Pomerene/Saint David District!

Photo shoot in front of the Saint David Sign! We had fun.