Sister Inman Letter - October 10, 2016

Wow oh wow! Has it been a year? Happy Birthdayyyy!!!!!

Hello family!!!!

Wow, thank you sooooooo much for all of your emails this week! I truly felt the love coming my way. And it was perfect timing because I am about to hit my year mark this week! It is so crazy, and time has gone by so fast since I have come on my mission. Yesterday, I was pondering a lot about who I have become since I've come on my mission. I contemplated about the lessons I've learned, and the experiences I've had, and the perspective that I have gained. I didn't truly realize before just how much I have changed. And I am so grateful to have had these past 12 months to grow and stretch and learn and progress in many ways.

Get ready to read! So I discovered that when I speak into the voice recognition thing, that it makes emailing a lot faster because I don't actually have to type it out. I unfortunately can't do that at the library considering as it would be embarrassing for me haha. But today is your lucky day! But please forgive me if there's any grammar issues in here, it's not my fault aha.

So anyways,

I feel like my perspective on life has changed, in that I have been able to focus on more important things, rather than those things that really don't matter in the eternal scheme of things. I feel like I had become closer to the Savior. And I have come to realize just how important it is to understand the restored gospel, and how crucial it is to follow it in order to gain "peace in this life and eternal life in the life to come". I have come to realize how vital daily scripture study and prayer is to our spiritual well-being and survival. I've come to learn things about myself that I would not have otherwise learned had I not come on a mission. I have learned what it means to work hard and to keep trying and have faith in the Lord's timing. I have learned how to pray sincerely and fervently for not only other people but for myself. I have felt just a taste of what the Savior feels when we refused to except his gospel and keep his commandments.

I have learned that nothing is worth the spiritual damage that comes from Satan, and that by submitting our will to his, we receive the promise of much greater blessings and we could ever imagine. I have learned obedience is not a burden, but it is rather a blessing and an opportunity to exercise my agency righteously. Through my turning my will to God, I have witnessed miracles that have happened that would not have otherwise happened had I not listen to the promptings of the Spirit. I have learned how crucial it is to not do anything that would disrupt or hinder the spirits guidance and influence in my life. I have learned that obedience to the simple things could to foundation
that allows us to make the greater decisions later in life.

I have learned that family is everything. I have seen destroyed homes, destroyed marriages and relationships, and ruined lives, and depressed souls. These are those of the gospel can heal our hearts and give peace to our minds and souls.

I have learned the true happiness comes in the Gospel, and that there is no equal replacement. One of Satan's greatest tricks is to present us with a cheap alternative and impersonation and imitation. But what he offers us will never ever be anything compared to the glory and grandeur and await us from following the council of our Savior Jesus Christ. The Scriptures are the key to happiness. The book of Mormon is the word of God, Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and through him Jesus Christ restored the very same church that he created when he came down personally upon the earth.

God speaks to his prophets today. God hears our prayers. He is merciful, he is loving, but his judgments are just. He will never take away our agency, only we can do that. Satan will try to convince us that Preston dating the day of our repentance is the way to go, but it is not. I have found joy through repentance, and life is so much easier when you don't have that burden of sin on your shoulders.

Since I have come on my mission, I have come to realize my own individual worth in the sight of God. I have begun to see this as I have seen others who don't understand this truth. I have been able to help people realize their divine nature and individual worth it in the sight of God, you're sharing the doctrine of God being our loving heavenly father. That is the first The doctor and we teach as missionaries, and it is for reason. Nothing else matters unless that is true. If God did not love us, we would not be here and this life would not happen, nor would we ever have the chance to become like him. We would not have agency, Nor would we have joy. Families would not be together forever. There would be no Savior, for if God did not love us he would not have sent his Son. But he does love us. And because he loves loves us, he has reached out to his children in love over and over again since the time that mankind began. He gives us modern day prophets who revealed to us God's will for us in order to receive joy and strength and peace.

Because he loves us, he inspired many men to write down their spiritual experiences, their history, there are prophecies, and other things that are they esteemed of great worth, not for themselves, for they had already experienced it; but as Moroni tells us, these things are written for our benefit that we might come to know the Savior, and know that we are not cast off forever, but that through the Savior, we might have eternal life.

Because God loves us, he has given us his organized church through which we can receive eternally binding ordinances and make covenants with God that last forever. We have temples in which we receive peace, and power, and protection, and guidance. And because he loves us he allows all of these promises to me made to the living and the dead. How great the love of our heavenly father!

Sorry, the actual report will be a little short haha.

This week we had a couple of tender mercies happen. Our investigator Diane came to church! Also, we are able to serve at the Bishop storehouse in the cannery, and Rod came!!! We bagged beans and collectively with those other volunteers who came we bagged 2100 pounds of beans. It was a lot of fun, and we had been looking for ways that we could give service. Our investigator Jayda is still going strong and progressing towards her baptism at the end of this month. She is amazing.

Sister McCombie and I gave a training at zone meeting this week about diligence, and it actually went pretty well! This song is pretty spread out, so we don't usually see each other very often. But today we are doing P day at the park, which only happens like once a transfer. It should be fun :)

Here are a couple of quotes/thoughts that I have a learned or heard recently:

"When God speaks and man obeys, man will always be right." -Thomas S. Monson

"The healing of our heart begins when we submit to and worship God. In order to have a healed and faithful heart, we must first allow it to break before the Lord." -Sister Neill F. Marriott

I have recently been studying about the spiritual gift to have faith to be healed. If you would like to study this with me, a couple of talks that I was going to study are: the master healer, the souls sincere desire, repentance: a joyful choice, the great plan of redemption, and yielding our hearts to God. Forgive the capitalization issues.

Also, I wanted to invite you to listen to a song. It is called I Love the Lord by Daniel Beck. It has become one of my favorite songs, and it is beautiful. Very powerful. It is to the tune of Be Still, My Soul, and it is based upon Nephi's psalm in 2 Nephi 4. Let me know what you think!

Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful week, and I love you!!!

You are always in my prayers.

Love,

Sister Inman

Sister Inman Letter - October 3, 2016

What a Fantastic Conference!

Hello family!

Well, I've been sick most of this week. I was doing fine until I randomly became congested and all that nastiness. Ugh it's miserable. And, I also left my journal at home. But luckily I wrote a few notes on my iPad, so here's what I got!

We have been working with this amazing family, the Show's. They are active, but the kids just need some uplifting and spiritual boosts. They are so wonderful, and I have come to love them so much already. They are on Fall Break. Over here they do year-round school, so their breaks are longer. But we have been going over there every morning and reading from the Book of Mormon with the kids. They are so cute. The youngest boy is 6. And he's such a cute kid. :)
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Tuesday we had our daily visit, and they made us muffins.
Wednesday we set a baptismal date with Jayda!!!!!! October 29th :) Her mom said she was so excited for her! :) We are so happy for her, she is amazing. She is living with some members in our ward, the Weitz. 
On Thursday, Rod, our investigator committed to give up coffee for one day!
Sister Leach helped us and gave him the idea to put a picture of Jesus on his coffee pot. :) it made me so proud when he got up and did it. That takes humility. We almost cried.




Friday
Lunch at Freddy's with Billy!!! :) we got lost.... ;( Billy is a super old man who loves the missionaries. He's been baptized for a couple years now, I think, and he just loves all of the missionaries in the world. So he is at every transfer day, and keeps in contact with all of the Sister Missionaries in the mission, and wishes us "Happy Sabbath"s, and will drive all over the place to take each of us out to lunch or for ice cream. He is the sweetest, and I finally got to meet him in person!




Saturday
Morning Session at Stake Center, then afternoon session of conference with Diane!!! Awesome!!! (Future baptismal date? She's so ready!) Also, please pray for her. She has gone through a lot.

Wasn't Conference amazing? I loved it so much.

And then...ROD GAVE US HIS COFFEEEEE!!!! He had gone two whole days without it, and then we asked him to get rid of his remaining coffee, and he gave it to us!!!! We are keeping it as a reminder that God is Good! :)


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Sunday
General Conference with Leach's! Their daughter is on a mission, and she comes out with us to a lot of lessons. She is amazing!


Some thoughts:SHARE THE GOSPEL! Do not be hesitant to testify of the Restoration or of Joseph Smith.
Read, "Make the exercise of faith your first priority" footnote 6. Incredible promises about the Book of Mormon and Prayer and FHE and Temple Attendance!

REACH OUT to less active's/NONMEMBERS who are meeting with missionaries, especially when they come to church! 

-pray for missionaries in the ward, then pray for guidance to know how YOU can help them, and then be WILLING to act! Invite them to take discussions in your home. 

-fellowship new members and love them to death! Constant support! 

I have definitely seen how the power of prayer has helped me as a missionary and in this area. I noticed that much of conference was focused on the simple doctrines and principles of the Gospel, namely: the Gospel of Jesus Christ: (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, Enduring to the End....) As well as service, prayer, the Restoration  and Joseph Smith.(I especially loved those ones) :). And I very much came to understand and deepen my conversion and testimony and desire to share these truths with EVERYBODY. I have to say that the music in this particular conference was very inspiring and I noticed more this time how well the talks were aligned with the music performed. I noticed this association when President Uchtdorf said the hymn would be "Come, Ye Thankful People Come" and then President Eyring's talk was on Gratitude. (I totally guessed it too haha.) 

But Saturday Afternoon's Session was particularly meaningful, especially because it was very much missionary-minded, and missionaries sang, and I cried a lot. Especially because it was, "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go". I really needed the talk that was given about being Ambitious for Christ. And I really pondered upon when he told the story about the poor, sweet missionary in Japan, (Korea?) and he had to be sent home for medical reasons. I just about cried when He said, "Why am I here?" "Why was I called to Japan?" That just struck me to the very center. I had to ask myself that selfsame question. "Why am I here? Why was I called to the Arizona Tucson Mission?" And I really had to think. There has to be a reason why I was kept so close, and why I needed to be here. I am still figuring that out. I still get questions about it all of the time. I still get asked how I felt about being called here. 

I also loved President Uchtdorf's talk about what faith Can do and Cannot do. That really helped me as well!

Anyway, Sorry that was kind of a lame email! All I really have is pictures! I hope you have a wonderful week! I love yo so much!

Love,

Sister Inman

HORNY TOAD!

Look what these little boys did to their sister's room when she is gone! They turned it into a fort with disco lights. No, Jesse, you do not have permission to turn my room into a fort. Rory already stole it. ;) Unless she wants to have a disco party for her birthday... :)

Sister Inman Letter - September 26, 2016

Hello from the middle of Nowhere!!!

Howdy hey! Sorry, I'm distracted today.

Well ladies and gentlemen, here we are. I've been transferred to the grand city of Vail, Arizona. Don't know where that is? That's okay. Essentially it is like a helicopter was flying in the desert in search of life forms, and then the pilot sneezed and dropped a couple neighborhoods and houses sporadically throughout. I like it, though, it reminds me of my first area, but more like Hereford and Palominas than Sierra Vista haha.

But this week has been really good!

I feel like I was sent to this area so that I could apply the tremendous successes I had in my last area to help this area to bloom and flourish! It's quite different from my last area. In many ways!

But I love my companion, Sister McCombie. She is from Chini, Washington, by Spokane, and came out with me when I came back from the MTC. We served right next to each other in the Gila Valley. This is the first time I have been Senior Companion. It's a different experience, that's for sure! And I'm also the Designated Driver!  (Never saw that one coming, huh? Hahaha.)  I'm driving a Nissan Frontier. We definitely need one out here in the Boonies.

Since I came to this area, I have had an increased determination to serve with ALL of my heart, might, mind, and strength. I have consistently followed the morning and night schedule near perfectly this whole week. And I feel that it has helped me feel more capable as a missionary, my studies have become more meaningful, and the Spirit is increasingly more present.

One thing I have been working on lately has been sincere prayer, and calling upon the powers of Heaven through prayer. Since I have been improving my prayers, I feel the Spirit working more through me, and I feel more confident that I can be successful in this area, with my companion, who also works extremely hard every day. I am learning so much from her.

We are praying and working and trying our hardest to find the people that the Lord has prepared. I feel like my Faith to Find has been strengthened already!

Tuesday was probably the most productive transfer day ever! We immediately got to work! We had a lesson with a man named Rod, who became our new investigator this week! He already reads from the Book of Mormon and Bible every day, and has a testimony of prayer. His prayers are so sincere! We invited him to be baptized on October 22nd. We will be working with him a bit. He knows God wants him to be baptized, but said he just has to want to do it. So we invited him to pray for the desire to do God's will and be baptized. Another lesson was with Amara, a freshman, who told us she was going to be baptized into another church on Sunday........ we have tried to help her understand Priesthood authority, but we might need to go over that again. We fasted for her. She wasn't baptized yesterday, and she postponed it for another month. We have time. :)

Well, I have felt and seen the Lord's hand in my life! God is so good to me. He has especially been blessing me to catch onto names and details and directions more quickly than ever. And it has been amazing. I am so grateful.

Women's conference was INCREDIBLE!!! My favorite was President Uchtdorf's talk. "Fourth Floor, Last Door". Missionary work to a T. My prayers and concerns were answered. :) Everyone go back and watch it!

On Sunday I seriously gave 6 prayers in church, including sacrament, because I am the new missionary. I also held a guinea pig last night that peed on my arm and skirt. Check that off the bucket list.

Anyway, I love you all and pray for you daily!

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Inman

From last week and this week:

I had to snag your wonderful missionaries for a picture tonight, while I was waiting for my YW to be picked up.

This one family has a ton of dogs and most of them have handicaps. This one's name is Barbie because they spilled pink paint on it.

Found this little creepy critter, as big as my finger!

Selfie a day. Day 1

Day 3

Lovely sign on the door hahaha

Sister Inman

Me and the Brinkerhoff's

Transfer Day!!!

Sister Inman Letter - September 19,2016

Off to a New Adventure!

Well family, it looks like my time is done here in the Northwest. And I'm off in a new direction, headed for the Southeast Zone! And guess what?! I already know and love my new companion! Sister McCombie, from my last area. She came out with me the second time. And this will be the first time I am senior companion! Crazy! But anyway, I am being sent to the Cienega and Corona Wards in Vail, AZ. Another Outskirt! I love it! I have loved Oro Valley, and I have loved these amazing wards here, and the wonderful people, and our ward mission leaders and ward councils, and I have absolutely loved the experiences that I have had with less actives and investigators here. I have witnessed so many people prepared to hear the word of God. I am so going to miss it. And I am very sad to leave this area so soon after getting here. But I think I am handing it a lot better than I have in the past. 

It is funny though, because you remind me that there really is only one Sister Torie Inman. Well when I told people in the ward that I was being transferred, and who was coming in, pretty much all of them said, "Well, she won't be another Sister Inman. You can't replace her." Haha. 

I'm sorry I don't have a ton of time. Unfortunately, I have had my time cut short today, as I have a ton of packing and cleaning to do. I will probably need to send some stuff home. Things I still want, but won't need or use until I get home. I am so sorry this letter is probably going to be lame. I have a lot on my mind. I will probably just do short snippets.

Bob came to church on Sunday AGAIN! And LISA!!! So many tender mercies. Well, this week was pretty good! We had some great experiences! We got a new investigator this week, named Alicia. She had apparently met with missionaries before when she lived in Nevada. She has been going through a terrible time in her life, and she called our Bishop for spiritual help. He referred us to her, and she invited us over this week. We are meeting with her again tonight. She is so sweet, and I could just feel the love that God has for her. We told her that we loved her and gave a simple prayer to bless her and her family and she cried. It seems like nobody has told her or expressed genuine love for her in a long time. We gave her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet, and she read it after we left, called us, and said how much she LOVED it! She said that it gave her such hope and happiness to know that God loves her, and what His Plan is for her life. She said she couldn't even express how much it meant to her. She is truly one who is "hungering and thirsting after righteousness"!

We met with Enrique and Grisel, and Enrique told us, "I'm just going to tell you guys something. I feel like this is true. I have a feeling in my heart that this is what God wants for my family. I just want to know all of the components to what exactly it is that is true about it." WHAT?! Did I hear the word GOLDEN? I am going to miss them. They are SO prepared to hear the gospel. He said he was relieved when he heard that it was a Mormon Temple being built. And in between our appointments, he looked up a talk by a general authority, because he wanted to know what the church's stance on something was. Who actually goes to the right source for answers? What? And he read the first chapter in Alma, and said he really liked it. He even marked his favorite verses in the Book of Mormon! And his comprehension was fantastic. he apologized that he didn't get all the way through the chapter. Are you kidding me? Every missionary's dream right here.

But that's about all of the time I have today! Sorry!

Our mission has been given a mission-wide challenge, #FTF, #Faith to Find #Fill the Font, which is to get at least one baptism and reactivation in EACH companionship and area, before our next Zone Conference in November. BRING IT ON! LET'S DO THIS!!!

Have a great week! I love you! :)

Sister Inman

(A sweet sister in Torie's area snapped this picture and texted it to us. THANKS! Here's what the text said. ) "

I had to snag your wonderful missionaries for a picture tonight, while I was waiting for my YW to be picked up.

Sister Inman Letter - September 12, 2016

Wow, Satan is trying really hard. And yet... I'M HAPPY! Why?! Because the Gospel, that's why.

Hey there, hi there, hoo there!

Howdy doodie, ya'lls?!

Kay, I'm done.

But this week was great! I'm happy, I'm healthy, and I am so grateful to be a missionary! I feel like I have had a change of pace, a new outlook on my life and service as a missionary, and I feel more confident that I am doing the Lord's work, and He is pleased with the efforts I make, even if I am not perfect. When I keep trying my best, the blessings come!

To explain the Subject Line, I feel like Satan has been trying every little thing he can to get me down, and especially to get those we work with down. Luckily, I have managed to bounce back pretty well, but not so much with those who haven't strengthened their faith as much. Por ejemplo, this week, I was looking for a temple name to take. He kept shutting down the page when I'd start to find something. Srsly...

Our apartment seems to be falling apart lately. Our sink didn't work for like a month and no one came by to fix it till recently. Our A/C Broke and smoke started coming out of the vent... turns out it's the original motor which has been there for about 40 years or so? when the apartments were first built. Our microwave stopped working, and the plug-ins didn't work. Our kitchen chair broke. All sorts of fun stuff! (Sounds like something similar is happening back home? It must be because you have a missionary out haha. Sorry.)

And then, the NIGHT before I went to the temple, I get a package from some random person I don't know, addressed to me, which had 5 CDs in it. Here's what it looked like:

Yeah, uh huh. "These CDs can help you become a master teacher of the gospel." "Your brother in Christ". "Mr. Mormon"? And each of the CDs were titled with controversial topics. Yeah that's not going to help me with ANYthing. Nice try, bub. Ugh. But needless to say, but I guess not, you can rest assured that I broke one of them and will figure out how to dispose of the rest. Satan's a real jerk, that's for sure, trying to kick me when I'm down.

Lisa and Megan have been struggling a lot. Megan had a death in the family, and got a new job which has been exhausting and taking up a lot of her time. Then Donna has a neighbor that is a creep that wants to butt into her business, and called her former missionaries to tell us that she's not interested and got offended and doesn't want to meet with us again. So frustrating. But we met with her and found out that it was all a lie, and she is progressing nicely. :) Lisa has been having some family give her trouble about her meeting with us and going to church, and her work has been stressing her out beyond belief. I've never heard of work doing this much to a person. BUT, SHE CAME TO CHURCH ALL ON HER OWN!!!! MIRACLE!!!!!!! We were so so happy to see her! :)

Satan cannot win. He's a gimpy loser.

On Thursday, we got to go to the Gila Valley Temple. :) Back to my last area! It felt wonderful to be in the House of the Lord, and Sister Hunt and I did two family names that Grandpa gave us! I learned some new things. And I didn't let anything get me down the whole day, which was wonderful! 

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The other Sister Hunt and I rode in the transfer van with a whole bunch of Elders. Needless to say it was an adventure!

Sorry, I didn't get a serious picture. Those are to come. 

From back to front, L to R: Elders: Taylor, Duncan, Dustin (behind E.Carr's head), Stephenson, Witzel, Carr, and Hansen. Elder Jackson was driving, and Elder Ludlow was in the passenger's seat.

On our way home, we went to "The Thing". It's a museum, but it's mostly bogus. It's a dollar fee, and mainly for kicks and giggles.

  

Here's "The Thing", a totally made up mummy haha.

 

OooooOOOooooOOooOooohh!

Anyway, so enough nonsense. We had some awesome things happen this week! 

Today, in the parking lot of Walmart, we saw an older man that was obviously homeless. And so I said hello, and he asked if he knew us. We said no, and he asked if we were the Jehovah's Witnesses. We said no, we are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And we legitimately talked to him for about half an hour in the parking lot. He seems to not be all there. His name is Gene. But it was just so sad to talk to him, because he doesn't know why he is even here, why he has to live with the body he has, and he just wants to give up. He didn't understand why people were so mean to him and didn't want to help him, but rather just called him crazy and treated him unkindly. He shared an experience where he felt like he was going to be beat up (he was a little guy) and he cried out to God, saying "Jesus, help me!" and the person left him alone. We testified that God was watching out for him. We testified of God's purpose and plan for him, and that God loved him so much. We shared with him a pamphlet of the Plan of Salvation, and tried to give him a Book of Mormon, but he said that he couldn't read. So we invited him to pray for help, to pray to god, and to look at the pictures in the pamphlet, and to think about how he feels. Along with other things. I realized over again the reality of the Plan of Salvation, and how blessed we are to have this knowledge of God's purpose and Plan for us to be happy and receive Eternal Life with our families.

We met with Bob again, and had a good visit. We talked about the doctrine of the Holy Ghost, and he seems to be having a hard time distinguishing the difference between our spirits and the Holy Ghost. But he's still a witty old man, pushing 90. And he came to church on Sunday again! :)

We met with the Bothwell's, the father and grandmother of Spryte and Gaven (remember them?) and talked about enduring to the end, and what their vision for themselves is. We had a VERY spiritually powerful lesson with them, and testified of the Doctrine of Christ.

We met with Mirjana, and gave her the Family Proclamation. She was very interested and excited to read it!! 

Other than that, we did mostly finding and contacting people that the bishop and ward council have asked us to see.

We might be getting a new investigator!!! She has met with missionaries in the past, but she contacted Bishop and said she is in desperate need of Spiritual help, and asked if the missionaries could come by and meet with her. We will meet her tomorrow morning. She sounded very distressed and distraught on the phone, and so we pray that we will be inspired to know what the Lord wants her to know, especially of His love for her. Her name is Alicia.

I am sorry, I don't have a ton more to report this week! I've been terrible about writing in my journal :( But not to worry, I really am doing quite well. I can feel the Lord working through me every day. Sister Hunt and I have been working well together. We feel the Spirit in our teaching and planning. I love this work and this Gospel! :)

As missionaries, we learn and teach the Gospel of Christ, the very basis and core of ALL of our practices and beliefs in the Church, which is that Heavenly Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to atone for the sins of the world. When He came down, He taught us the Gospel, and asked us to have Faith in Him, believing that through Him, all of us could be washed clean of our iniquities, and that we can make it back into God's presence again, to stand blameless before Him. With this faith comes a desire to change, to Repent and turn again to those righteous desires to follow Christ. When we truly desire to follow Christ, we covenant with the Father through the ordinance of Baptism, through the Priesthood power and authority of God. He covenants with us that we will have the third member of the Godhead to be with us to sanctify and cleanse us from our sins, and every other gift that comes from the Holy Ghost. Once we have entered into this strait and narrow path, the cycle continues. We increase our faith, we continually repent and renew our covenants. We do all we can to remain worthy of the Spirit, and we continue to make more covenants that draw us closer to our Heavenly Father. This is known as Enduring to the End. 

This Gospel is so amazing. To think that our Loving Heavenly Father sent us down here not to fail, but to succeed and grow and progress, ultimately to become like Him, eternally happy.

Happy early birthday Lacey! You're halfway to middle-aged! ;) So... does that make you... quarter aged? After all, you're a quarter of a century old! Ha HA! Love you! :) 

Today we get to meet with Lisa after dinner. Then the rest of this week we have Megan, Bob, Alicia, Mirjana, and Enrique and Grisel! So excited! Our stake is changing... and two new wards will be created. We are praying that we will not lose those investigators we have developed a good rapport and relationship with. We don't know what will happen. But there will be new missionaries coming in. I want to keep both of our wards.

Also, TRANSFER CALLS are this Saturday night... We have no idea what is happening. Sister Hunt has one transfer left and goes home Nov. 2nd. We both came in at the same time. President isn't opposed to "one and done's", but either of us could leave. Dunno... 

Well, that's all i got for ya. I love you tons, and keep you in my prayers!

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Inman

P.S. Oh and also, we got to be in a hurricane, so that was cool. It passed right over Tucson. And it's also pouring super hard right now.

Here's Temple Pictures!

 

NORTH. WEST. ZONE. *snap*

Sister Inman Letter - September 5, 2016

Happy Birthday Jesse! And Happy Labor Day!

Hey Hey hey, the baby's on the way!!!! I can't wait to meet my niece!!! Daw, she's gonna be so cute :) (so cuuuutee!!! Read it in my voice, the same one I talk to the dogs in) Speaking of which, how are my Chloe and Callie doing? Are they still cute? And happy and healthy? I miss those girls.

But anyway, happy 18th birthday Jesse! You're a legal adult!!!! That's so crazy. He's getting so big. I'm sure he likes to think he is a "man" now, haha. ;)

Well, how are you doing? It sounds like things are exciting back home! How fun that Eric and Lacey and her baby bump get to be home for a while. And Jake and Chauncey are busy and successful and happy together! Yay! And Jesse is so close to officially becoming an Eagle Scout! Wow, what an accomplishment. I'm so proud of him, that is such an amazing thing he has done, and he has worked so hard to get there! Give him a big hug and a huge hi-five for me! You go, buddy!

Sorry, because of the Holiday, I am having to type out my emails on my iPad. I will try to type fast haha.

This week has been crazy busy and so exciting! We met or exceeded 4/5 of the Standards of Excellence  (SoE's) this week! (SoE's are guiding goals to help us to focus our efforts and provide balance to our work, in order to help the work continue forward, and help people progress). For example, this week, we met or exceeded for Member Present Lessons, Less Active/Recent Convert lessons, investigators at Sacrament meeting, Progressing investigators, and Investigators with. Baptismal date. We were so excited.

We had some awesome lessons this week!

We met with Donna twice, who seems to really be enjoying learning about the Gospel. She has been very prayerful about the things she is learning, and has been prepared to have those truths she has pondered before confirmed to her heart and Spirit! Love that woman!

We met with Mirjana from Serbia, and talked about the Vision of the Tree of Life. It is so sad, because she seems to be understanding pretty well, and she is practically already living the Gospel! We just need to convince her that the Restored Church is what will truly bring her lasting happiness and bring peace to her home. She seems to enjoy the Book of Mormon so far, though.

We finally got to meet with Kristina! She is an incredible lady, who the Elders had taught before us, but she had to push back her baptismal date because of her new career... Stem cell and Cancer research. She has a Doctorate in Endocrinology........ A.k.a. She is a genius. And she is a researcher. So she soaks us everything the church teaches, takes notes, the whole 9 yards. Plus an extra mile. We went over the Plan of Salvation. :)

We also met with Bob again! Finally! There was a while there where we weren't sure if he was still around..... He is almost 90... And we hadn't heard from him in a while. But we finally met with him, and it seems that our time away has had an effect on him! I think we made a breakthrough! He finally came to recognize in his own life that God is a real person, and that he has received strength from Him in his life before. And at the end of the lesson, we invited him to pray. And I felt like I should ask if he knew how to pray, and he said not really. So we offered to help him. And he gave a simple, yet beautiful prayer to his Father in Heaven. The first time he had truly prayed, probably sincerely and ever, in his 80+ years of life. Bob even came to church this Sunday. :)

We met with Megan, and taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then afterwards, she came to a baptism!!! Finally! Statistics show that 80% of investigators who attend a baptism end up being baptized. :) GO TO AND INVITE PEOPLE TO BAPTISMS!!! :D

Our lesson with Enrique and Grisa went super well! We brought another member with us. Enrique asked some amazing questions, and we had a fantastic discussion about God being our Loving Heavenly Father, and how we can learn truth through acting upon our faith. The member shared Alma 32, Alma's discourse on faith, and read some of it out of the Book of Mormon. We explained that if he did that, and acted upon it, tested it out and felt good about it, and felt the feelings described in those verses, the. He could come to know that the things we teach are true. Enrique loved it. He said, "I've been searching my whole life for answers. And that was the best answer I've ever heard. That's exactly what I'll do." He then asked, "What is the best way to start a study of the Book of Mormon?" We answered that he could start from the beginning, or topically, or we could give him specific sections to read. He said, "Can I start by reading that chapter you shared with me?" Absolutely, Enrique! We were so impressed with his desire to search for truth, and his willingness to experiment upon the word. So he said, "Okay. That's what I'll do. I will read that chapter, and do what it says. That'll be my commitment." Wow. This man
has truly been prepared to receive the word of God.

This Thursday, I get to go to the temple! I am so happy, I need it so much! I love the temple, and the comfort and peace I receive there. I love temple work. I've missed it!

Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic week this week! I love you all so much. Toodle-loo!

Love,
Sister Inman

Sister Inman Letter - August 29, 2016

God is a God of Miracles! Hurrah for Israel!!! :)

Wow, what an incredible week! I don't think I have ever had so much success and results from working hard and setting goals than I have this week. Last night, Sister Hunt and I reviewed over our week, and we were PUMPED. So stoked and happy and we felt accomplished. God has helped us and strengthened us SO much this week, and I can honestly say that I have felt Him bear me up and keep me going every day this week. I have been struggling with some aspects of missionary work lately, and so it has been wonderful to see how God has made up for my weaknesses and has given me success as I earnestly strive to achieve and look for it! 

Wow, where do I begin??? 

First things first! The best ones will take the longest, so this might not be as long of an email. I'll try to stay focused haha. I can't possibly write them all, but here are a few experiences from this week!

We found 3 new investigators this week. That's more than I have ever received in a week, I think throughout my whole mission! We set a baptismal date with Megan! September 24th :) We helped two or three more investigators progress, and we had one come to sacrament meeting! Very rewarding week. 

We had a lesson with the Dukes, the couple working towards the temple, and it was awesome! We went over President Monson's conference talk, Choices, and then finished the Restoration. The Spirit was so strong, and it confirmed to me ever so strongly that the Restoration really did happen, Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Restoration, the priesthood is restored, and this is the true Church of Jesus Christ upon the earth today.

We met a couple, Enrique and Grisa, who moved here from Puerto Rico. Enrique speaks fluent English and Spanish, but Grisa speaks mainly Spanish. They were a referral from a man in Sister Hunt's last area in Sahuarita. We met with them, and they are AWESOME! It sounds like Enrique has had many positive experiences with Mormons throughout his life, and he recognizes that we have a glow about us. He mentioned how impressed he was with the missionaries that go out into the field and come back fluent in another language. He said he was told a little bit about the "language school" we go to before we go on our missions, and found that fascinating, haha. He wondered about it, and we told him that we learn by the Spirit with all things, no matter what kind of knowledge, and so when we are going out to do the Lord's work, he gives us the extra help of the Spirit to help us learn the language. Kinda cool, they thought that was interesting!

They both loved how the church has a big focus on families. They love the values we have, and love that we actually live our religion! It's funny, that's not the first time I have heard that from a nonmember! This gospel is not just a fun thing to do on Sundays, it is very much a lifestyle! We have another appointment with them on Saturday! Woo!

Wednesday was our Zone Conference with both the Northwest and Central Zones. It was awesome! We learned about setting inspired goals, effective and Spirit-driven planning, being diligent with our time, recognizing and relying upon the Spirit, etc. It was really good, and I felt the Spirit super strong! There was a beautiful musical number as well. Savior, Redeemer of My Soul, one of my absolute favorites. :)

That night, we had an intense lesson, that totally turned out completely differently than I had ever experienced. We went to go visit a less active lady named Darlene. We taught the Restoration, and we both felt the Spirit fill the room. I then felt an overwhelming prompting to invite her to kneel with us right then and ask God if Joseph Smith truly did see God the Father and Jesus Christ, and if this Gospel really is true. We testified that we can continue to receive further witnesses of the truths we already know when we ask God to strengthen our testimony. She told us that she never had even thought about asking God, but has always just believed, having faith that it was true. And to our complete surprise, she declined, and said that this was a difficult assignment for her to do, as it was against her beliefs. She did not want to disrespect us as servants of God, but felt that we were accusing her of not being strong enough, and causing her to doubt the faith she already had, and felt it was disrespectful to ask God these things. We had no words or ideas for how to respond to this woman, but tried our hardest to ask inspired questions, and carefully respond to her comments and concerns. She then opened up to us why she felt this way, and it all made sense... Wow. It seemed like after everything Sister Hunt or I would say, something else would come up, and we seemed like terrible people for asking her to do such a thing, for coming into her home, and forcing her to think and doubt and wonder if we are truly there to build her up, or to tear her down. It was very rough. She was deep in thought, and cried a little. 

And it just came to the point where I didn't know what to say anymore. Sister Hunt had been silent for a while. And because I didn't say anything, Darlene asked if I was okay. and I said I didn't know. But then I just expressed to her that I was sorry that she took things the way she did and that we made her feel that way, and told her that our true purpose was not to tear her down, but to build her up and help her strengthen her faith. We assured her of our love for her, and God's love for her, and I just cried. I have never been so much at a loss for words, or what to do. I could not understand why, nor deny that the Spirit had given me such a strong prompting to ask her to kneel down and pray to know. We just testified of truth, etc. and then Darlene came over and offered me a hug. And she said it was okay. But we continued to try, and then Sister Hunt bursted into tears as well. I've never had that happen on my mission like that before. But we talked about it later and concluded that yes, we did indeed follow the Spirit, and because of that, we were able to get to the core of her struggles, and have a better understanding of where she is at Spiritually. I now have experienced a time where the Spirit has instructed me to do something that did not turn out as planned, but if we trust in God, that the Spirit will guide us to do right, that everything will work out in the end. We ended on good terms, and the Lord continues to bless us with His Spirit. 

We had a lesson with Maria from Columbia about La Resturacion! I need to brush up on my Spanish...

Another lesson with Mirjana from Serbia, and we read from the Book of Mormon with her. That's all she wants to do, so after some thought, we realized, well, she's reading from the source we get most of our truths from! So this is good!

Another lesson with Donna, and we taught the Restoration! She asked questions and made comments that perfectly lead up to the next points in the lesson. I love when that happens! She is going to pray to know if God and Christ are two separate beings, and if Joseph Smith really had the First Vision. :)

Another awesome Sunday with awesome talks and lessons! Lucky us, we get to go to 5 hours worth of church :) It's good for us though.

Anyway, that's all the time I have, sorry!

I hope you all have a great week!

I am happier, healthier, and safe! I keep you in my prayers!

I love you,

Sister Inman