Sister Inman Letter - November 28, 2016

#LighttheWorld

Hello hello hello!

Sorry, I just cut the tip of my finger like an hour ago, so I put gauze and a band aid over it, but it makes it very awkward and inconvenient to type with haha. So if there are any random Z's or S's or other letters, or if it my email isn't as long, sorry! It's because I am missing the use of my ring finger! You don't know what you've got till you can't use it anymore! Haha.

Well, Thanksgiving was good! We actually resorted to just one Thanksgiving dinner, but it was very good, and though I felt very full afterwards, I didn't go into a food coma, nor did I completely stuff my face and I am not as worried about the extra pounds that I gained last year during the Holidays. One holiday down, Two to Go! Haha :) Trying to resist the urge to try every flavor of pie. Speaking of which, last night for dinner, our new Ward Mission Leader had us over for dinner and we had homemade Chicken Pot Pie! Man, was it good! Flaky Crust, all the fillings, it was the best. :)

So this week was yet another unique experience! 

Monday night, we felt that we should try this one family in the ward. Then when we got there, we didn't feel right about it. Those moments are the best.... but then we prayed to know where to go, and Sister McCombie was reminded of a potential investigator that she had found a few months ago. We felt good about it, so we went. The TV was on and pretty loud, but we knocked on the screen door. No response and it was pretty quiet, because I didn't want to sound like I was trying to break down the door. They didn't have a doorbell, (Who'da thunk that you'd miss door bells?) But we tried everything. The window, the wind chimes, everything. I was determined to get this door opened. And then we heard someone say, "Someone is knocking!" And they came to the door and opened it. There she was! Vicki! She was friendly to us, and we asked her if we could come back and share a message about Jesus Christ that would bring strength and happiness and peace to her life. She said "Yes!" We asked her how she thought that it would bless her family to strengthen her relationship with Christ, and she said, "Well, it would really help our family. We are going through a really hard time right now, with my daughter's illness [not for blog: she has cancer]." She invited us back, and we look forward to meeting with her again! New investigator on a Monday!

Then on Wednesday, we met Neila. Neila is an investigator that was previously in the Vail Elders' area, but due to the ward split/boundary changes, she is now in our ward! :) Sorry for them, but awesome for us! She is amazing! So some background on Neila, I wish I could tell you everything, but there is only so much I am allowed to share over email. She is from Northern Africa, [not for blog: A place called Tunisia, look it up on the map] and she is very committed to the faith that they practice there. She came to America and fell in love with the Christians. She loves the Mormons in particular. She came to America, and said, "this country has God!" Really, we don't realize how good we have it in the United States. We get to practice and believe what we so choose! Another thing to be grateful for! :)

Well, that's all the time I have, but I wanted to introduce you to the Christmas video! #LighttheWorld !

There is an Advent Calendar that starts December 1st, and goes till Christmas! There will be a new video coming out every DAY. Watch the kickoff video at: https://www.mormon.org/?cid=HP_FR_25-11-2016_dMIS_fmorg_xLIDyL1-A_

The Christmas season is about service. Christ served every day of His life. Every day in December, go to the website to find a way to serve... just like the Savior did. 25 ways, in 25 days. We are so excited! I look forward to hearing your experiences!!!

Anyway, the Church is true, the Gospel is Perfect, Christ is our Savior. I love each and every one of you.

Have a great week!

Happy birthday Dom! Love you!

Love,

Sister Inman

Dinner with some members from Thatcher!

Ugh, the quickest way to start a fight at a Thanksgiving party. 

Thanksgiving with the Leach's!

Sister Inman Letter - November 21, 2016

3 sacrament Meetings, Miracles, and Experiences, Oh My!

Wow, what a week!

Unfortunately, I don't have as much time as I'd like to share all of my experiences with you, though. :(

This week, we were super productive, and filled our time with as much finding and teaching as possible! We just felt an extra push and boost of motivation to try as many people as we can, contact and talk to everyone, and just be the best we could be. Lots of good things resulted from it, and we felt successful at the end of each day. You know those days when you get to the end and are like, "YEAH! I FEEL SO ACCOMPLISHED! *Fist pound to the air*" ? Yep, it's a good feeling. Even though a few of our appointments fell through.

Diane is still absolutely amazing. She is prepared. She is so solid. She is continuing to progress towards baptism!

On Saturday, we went on exchanges, and so I went to another area for the day with another missionary, Sister Barker, who just finished being trained, and she is SOLID! As part of our day, we went tracting for about 1.5 hours. I actually feel pretty confident now! Whereas before, I'd be pretty scared and my anxiety would go up, and everything else. But it was a neat experience, because we switched every other door that opened who would start. So each of us got about 45 minutes of tracting where we were the ones doing the talking! It was really good! I got to the point where I could bear testimony of the message we share sincerely, and offer it as something of a gift. People were a little nicer when we presented it as something that we have experienced joy from, that we wanted to share with everybody. Of course the one house that I felt I had the best door approach happened to be the only member of the church that lived on that block, haha. Good practice, I suppose! But it was good! my testimony of the Book of Mormon and the message of the Restoration increased significantly through bearing witness of the joy we experienced from it!

This week, with various experiences, I have gained a greater confidence in my ability to let things roll off my shoulder, not allow things to get to me, and keep pushing forward in faith, trying my very best every day. And even if I wasn't as great as I was the day before in one aspect, if I know I have been trying my best for that day, and the Lord knows that, I have a greater ability and motivation to try harder and do better. As a result, I have felt the peace and presence of the Holy Ghost so much more lately! I also prepared well for the sacrament on Saturday, and because of that, I had a wonderful experience, and could actually feel the cleansing and sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost as I pondered during and partook of the Sacrament. It was a wonderful, Spirit-filled day!

I look forward to continuing to see the miracles happen in this area, as we continue to exercise our faith. We have been striving to ask everybody for referrals, especially after sharing a message with them that allows the Spirit to be there. So far, it's been miraculous, that's for sure! Last night, we felt inspired to share the Restoration for our dinner message anyway, even though the nonmember family they invited to join us ended up having to cancel. As we did this, the Spirit was SO strong, and before we shared the message, we invited them to listen to the feelings they had as we spoke, and think of who is ready to receive the message we have to share. It was quite possibly one of the most powerful times I have taught the Restoration, and I'm positive that everyone who was in tune felt the Spirit super strong. We walked out of there with 5 referrals. :)

Here are a couple of thoughts that I gained/had from my studies/church this week:

-Because of his decreased strength, the prophet ONLY says what is most important. Pay attention to what he says when he speaks to us!

-Imagine this life as a construction business. You are the worker. A man says to you, I want you to build me a mansion. I will give you a huge reward to build this house. Spare no expense, use the finest materials, hire the best workers etc. Say that you begin to work on it, and only think about the big reward you'll gain, but don't take the time or care to put the work in to equal the reward. After a while, you start to slack off, use flimsy materials, don't lay a firm foundation, use flimsy nails, walls, hire inexperienced workers, etc, etc. At the end of this job, the man comes back to you, and hands you the keys to this mansion, as his reward and gift for you. How would you feel after having not worked hard or diligently, or sincerely, or in full faith? In other words, What mansion are you building? What do you want Heavenly Father to give you the keys to? Will you work out and earn your reward? Just a thought. God is preparing us a mansion, but if you think about it, we have a say in what we get! 

I love being the Lord's missionary in this part of His vineyard!

Have a great week! I love you!

Sister Inman

Sister Inman Letter - November 14, 2016

Well, I've learned a lot. And God is still the best.

Well this week was basically super awesome. We tried our best to just have a super productive day every single day. If someone wasn't home, we'd try their neighbors, or someone close. If an appointment fell through, we'd try someone that the Ward Council asked us to go visit. We'd schedule return appointments, we'd visit struggling members, we'd ask for referrals, we'd do as much as we could. And we had a solid week. It was great!

First off, on Thursday we had an AMAZING Zone Conference. The spirit was so strong. At the end, for the last hour and a half or so, the elders and sisters did breakouts with President or Sister Passey. So all of the Sisters went with Sister Passey. We discussed a talk, "You Were Born to Lead, You Were Born for Glory" by Sheri Dew. It's amazing. I think it was a BYU devotional. GO AND READ IT. But basically we just opened a discussion, as sisters, where we talked about our individual struggles and thoughts about the talk, missionary life, etc. Basically, most of us who had been out on our missions for awhile were bawling by the end, and it was very meaningful for each of us. There was so much love and trust and empathy for each of these sisters in the room, and it was very powerful. Just what I think a lot of us needed. 

But aside from that, I wanted to share a few things I learned from Zone Conference!

• Each month, our mission has a goal to have at least 30 convert baptisms and at least 40 reactivations. Well, for the past two months, being our #FTF #FaithtoFind #FilltheFont Challenge of every companionship having One baptismand one reactivation in their areas, there was a tremendous increase of faith in our mission:
• In September, Our mission had 31 convert baptisms, and 82 reactivations. HOW AWESOME IS THAT? Then in October, we had 41 convert baptisms, and 81 reactivations. Wow. That is fantastic. When we focus our faith to accomplish our goals, miracles happen. When we exercise our faith, NO effort is wasted!
• These challenges (and other challenges in life) are given to us so that we can know what is possible for us to accomplish with the Lord's help! "When we put ourselves in the game, the Lord will pass us the ball!" -Sister Passey
• Our work does not always equal our success. We do not have to be perfect to be effective. We simply have to have a desire and determination to be and work hard every day to accomplish our goals.
• If we focus on our goals, not necessarily a specific outcome that will infringe on other people's agency, GOD WILL PROVIDE THE WAY. (i.e. we pray for a baptism, and though we wish it would be a specific person, the Lord may have someone else who is better prepared.)
• We learned about Teaching Prayer Effectively, through 1. Getting the Head of Household to Pray, 2. Setting the expectation for prayer through our example, and 3. Showing investigators how to pray. When people understand HOW to pray, specifically to receive answers to their prayers, they will progress in the gospel more quickly. Prayer is an ESSENTIAL part of conversion! We can't be converted to a God we don't know or talk to!
• We learned about asking inspired questions (Listen up, all of you teachers!) Asking inspired questions allows us to : 1. Determine the needs of those we teach, 2. Teach PEOPLE, not lessons, 3.Help them answer questions in a way that they can actually teach themselves, 4. Help them express faith and act, through acknowledging their belief or knowledge about something, and 5. It invites the Spirit to teach everyone.
• Asking inspired questions and then listening to the Spirit allows us to become powerful teachers.
• Tender Mercies are unmistakable blessings that are a special acknowledgement from God that he LOVES you and KNOWS you. They are given to us according to our faith!
• Don't allow your past efforts and failures or trials determine what successes and growth you can achieve now!
• "Be Ye Perfect" means "Learn to love as Heavenly Father loves." - Sister Passey
• We become a chosen vessel of the Lord, a chosen son or daughter of God, when WE choose God, and choose to follow His Son.

Anyway, those were a few things I learned! Amazing conference. I learned a lot more, but the Spirit taught me those things. But one thing I can say is that I truly felt each of the fruits of the Spirit. Heck, I had a whole fruit basket that day! love, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, patience, faith, joy..... I felt incredible! 

DIANE SET A BAPTISMAL DATE!!!! DECEMBER 10TH!!!!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!! 

Zone Picture:

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Lots of new faces! (And familiar ones!)

I feel like I have learned and understood more about the most important things this week, than most other weeks.   

Friday, we met with a woman named Sister Rubcic (Pronounced Roo-bik) and she is quite possibly the classiest 80 year olds I have ever met. She has the cutest smile and laugh, and we just adore her. Here's a couple pictures that Sister McCombie secretly snapped of her hahaha

 

She is seriously SO FUNNY. We love her so much!!!

Sunday was fantastic! Sister McCombie and I accidentally were twinsies, which was fun. The talks were incredible. All three. About Purity, the Word of Wisdom, and Chastity again (specifically  guidelines and stay away from pornography, etc.) really great talks.

Both Nathaniel and Rod came to sacrament! They both stayed for second hour, and then Diane came for third hour, and loved Relief Society. The lesson was absolutely perfect for her. The Spirit hit strong. And Gospel Principles was about the Plan of Salvation. Both Rod and Nathaniel needed that lesson. In fact, when talking about the Spirit world where we again have the chance to accept the Gospel, and that each of us will have the chance to change and accept the truth, Nathaniel turned to Sister McCombie and said, "I want to change. I want to keep the commandments." What? Yay!!!!

Yesterday, we went to a special meeting where they announced the realignment of the Stake Boundaries, and the creation of a new ward. We were afraid that we would lose some of our dearest friends to another ward, but God blessed us to where the new ward was just sandwiched between our two existing wards, still in our area. So now we cover THREE wards :) Here we go! 

The new bishops (and Bishop Merrill, who was just released) bore their testimonies. And the new bishop over Cienega Ward said something that really stuck out to me. When referencing what people told him about trying to fill Bishop Merrill's shoes, he said, "Somebody told me something that I will always remember. They said, 'Don't worry about filling somebody else's shoes. Fill your own, and then walk the path you need to walk.'" Jesus Christ will strengthen you and be with you every step of the way.

I really loved that, because so often we are trying to be "just as good" as the person before you, and that will not likely be possible. Each of us is called to our callings through revelation and inspiration, and the LORD qualifies whom He calls. We are put where we are because somebody needs you there. :)

Well, I'm about out of time. Here are some pictures! Sorry, some of them are turned and upside down... sorry D:

Hahahaha Sister McCombie was taking a panorama of the room when she was laying on the ground, and I moved, so I ended up looking like this ghost thing hahaha xD

During Dinner, this little kid (probably like 3 years old) came up behind me and put this laundry basket over my head. xD

Guess who I got to see at Zone Conference!!!! Sister Chandler!!!!! She's my favorite and we cried so hard. We haven't seen each other since we'd been companions.

We drove past an airplane graveyard. About 100 planes from the armed forces. (In Central Tucson) It's really a neat sight to see. Wish we could have caught all of them.

Again with my ghost face.

Sister Leach took a secret picture of Brother Leach teaching Rod how to look up conference talks on his phone. It really was one of the sweetest things ever. They're so good to him.

Well anyway, that's all the time I have! Sorry! I love you all and pray for you daily. I hope that God continues to bless you this week! Look for miracles!

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Inman

P.S. Where's my baby? How is Rory? Is she still cute? I can't tell because I don't have nearly enough pictures hahaha SEND ME MORE! ;)

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Sister Inman Letter - November 7, 2016

Happy November!

To the Fam Bam:

This week has been great! I've been able to see miracles, and also witness the Lord's love and hand in my life, I've had greater sensitivity to the Spirit, and God has just been blessing us so much. 

I've definitely learned a lot of spiritual lessons this week. It was a week of refining, that's for sure. 

Lately I have been feeling like I've been focusing so much on trying to be perfect in my behavior and actions as a missionary. I think that because of this, most of my energy and thoughts are spent simply correcting the flaws of the outward missionary, that my spiritual growth and learning and skills are weakening! I have come to better realize that I will never be a perfect missionary, and that I need to try my best, allowing the Savior to change and correct and strengthen me. It is when I realized this that I gained more confidence, effectiveness, and sensitivity to the Spirit.

This week, I have been pondering upon some of the changes I have been making and the improvements that I have been able to accomplish this past transfer. When I prayed about it, I was blessed to realize that I really am doing a lot better than I give myself credit for.

Currently, when pondering on how I have changed spiritually, here are a few of my successes/blessings/results of my efforts to be better!

- I have had more meaningful and Spirit-led studies.

- I have expressed more gratitude, and thus am happier and more in-tune to the Spirit

- I've been more consistent with writing down inspiration and revelation in my study journal

- I've been reading more conference talks, which has been AMAZING! I love it! Overall, feasting upon the word of God. It really does bring joy and direction!

- I have been better about receiving and ACTING upon promptings I receive!

- Choosing more Spirit and purpose-filled music

- I have received help from Heavenly Father to have more confidence in contacting people, and door approaches for tracting.

- I have been trying to focus on serving others and I have been blessed with an increase of love for my fellowmen! 

- God has been blessing me with the ability to remember names. Which has been extremely helpful!!! (I am reminded of Grandpa Ellsworth, who was also good at remembering names, correct?)

- Better follow-through with commitments and invitations, referrals, etc.

God really is amazing. I have been feeling of His love a lot lately! I have been trying to better understand the aspect of faith, and gaining access to the Enabling Power of the Atonement, and my studies have been wonderful! Here are a couple of experiences this week that were particularly meaningful and strengthened my faith!

This week, our investigator Diane received a healing blessing. And wow, was the Spirit powerful, and her whole countenance changed. She SMILED. She gave a genuine smile! She has had a very rough life, and because of some traumatic experiences earlier this year, it has prevented her from feeling joy and truly embracing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There comes a numbness, so to speak, when we block ourselves off from any feeling, in order to prevent ourselves from being hurt again. We felt inspired to ask her if she wanted a priesthood blessing. We bore our testimonies of them and reassured her that her faith was so strong, and that God wats her to be happy, and wants to bless her! She accepted. So we went over there, and our Ward Mission Leader and another man came over to her house. We taught about the doctrine of the Priesthood, and how the anointing of the sick and afflicted has been done for centuries. (See James 5) One of the men taught very simply and clearly about what the priesthood was, and how it works. We explained that it was the power of God that was given to His children to accomplish His purposes in helping us attain eternal life and joy. She understood very well, and asked a couple of questions. After our discussion, they proceeded to give her a beautiful blessing. After which, we asked her how she felt. She said, "I just feel.... lifted! Like a huge burden was just taken off of my shoulders! Like... this source of energy or something! I could feel the Spirit of Christ when you were speaking." Isn't that amazing? We confirmed to her that what she was feeling was the Holy Ghost, confirming that this sacred power is real, and that this Gospel is true. She said that for the first time, "I felt something... I don't even know what words to use to describe it! Lucky!" And she SMILED! Oh Diane, It was such an incredible experience to be a part of. 

We went tracting this week, on a street that a less active and a potential lived on. We knocked every door. Remember President Uchtdorf's talk, "Fourth Floor, Last Door"? Well, we tracted up and down that street, and we came upon the last door, after having been rejected every time. (Most were nice about it, at least), Well we went to this last door, which was where a potential investigator lived. We knocked on the door, and here was the gist of our conversation:

 

"Are you the Carpet Cleaners?" 

No, we're the Sister Missionaries!

"Oh. I was hoping you were the Carpet Cleaners. We really need our carpets cleaned, but nobody will come out here! And the one I called went out of business!

Oh, we're sorry! We actually know of someone who totally would clean your carpets! In fact, he actually lives in Vail! He just cleaned ours last week. (He just so happens to be the Bishop! heehee)

"Really? That would be great!"

Yeah! Here, we'll get your number and give it to him.

"Okay, great!"

He came outside and told us that the missionaries used to stop by all of the time and speak with his wife, but she was ill that day. We started to talk to him about their visits, and he said he enjoyed them, but he felt that he had done too many bad things to receive forgiveness. He was a Vietnam Veteran, and told us of a couple of experiences that he had had there, and what he had done. NO WONDER he feels bad! Poor man obviously had PTSD. :/ But he asked us some of the most basic questions of the soul:

"-Why do so many evil things happen to such good people? Why does God allow it to happen to one good person, but not the next?

-Why are we even here on earth?

-What is the purpose of life if all we do is suffer and then die?

-Why would God want someone like me?

-How can I possibly be happy in a world like this?"

Well Johnny, these are exactly the questions that we answer as missionaries. We know that it is through our Savior Jesus Christ that we are able to find true happiness and joy, and a forgiveness of our sins. God has a purpose for you here on this earth, and He wants you to be happy.

"Are you happy?"

Yes, absolutely! The Gospel is what makes us happy!

"Probably because you two haven't done anything bad your whole life!"

No, each of us makes mistakes and each of us is guilty of sin. The reason we are happy is because we understand what the Purpose of this life is, and we know we can be forgiven through Jesus Christ. And we know you can experience this joy too. Do you want to be happy, Johnny?

"Yes, I do. But I'm not. I've never been happy."

Well we testify that you CAN be happy..... etc. We gave him a Plan of Salvation Pamphlet and invited him to read it. We promised that a lot of his questions would be answered in that booklet. And we left him with a prayer. It was a pretty successful door contacting experience, I'd say! :)

Another experience was quite interesting....probably the craziest of my mission. I helped save a dog from being eaten alive by a pitbull, and that was fun... not... But anyway, long story short, we contacted this recent convert and less active family who had recently moved in. They were very bitter towards the ward and it's leaders. So we listened to their complaints and accusations of them, and then we hear the dogs barking and squealing outside. The wife leaves, and we were left alone with this man. Umm... not okay... Then we hear her screaming for help. We go outside and she had also been attacked and the ropes tied around her and knocked her down. The pitbull was trying to eat the little dog, and the owner was screaming to try and help but yelled for me to come help grab one of them. So I helped, and pulled the other dog away from the two fighting, and it was all just a fun experience. With death threats to the dog, and contention, and more angry words, all that good stuff. Anyway. The dog was bleeding, the family was not happy. But it was a fun first meeting. We met with them last night and it went a lot better :)

I wanted to share a couple of the talks I read this week!

Talk: The Atonement Covers All Pain by Kent F. Richards, April 2011 Gen Conf.

-Christ chose to experience pains and afflictions in  order to understand us, rather than just receive it through revelation. Perhaps we also need to experience the depths of mortality in order to understand Him.

Talk: The Sustaining Power of Faith in Times of Uncertainty and Testing, Richard G. Scott

READ IT! Sorry, out of time.

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

Love,

Sister Inman

P.S. The Coyotes out here are obnoxious. They come up pretty close to our house. And they howl ALL NIGHT LONG. I've also noticed that people on this side of the state speak differently. They have their own slang and terms and lack of grammar. It's funny though. :) "I says"

Sister Inman Letter - October 31, .2016

Wow. God. Is. Good

Hello family! Sorry I am emailing late today. We got Mary Kay makeovers this morning, and it took a little longer than anticipated! But I have been thinking about what to email you all day.

 Man, thank you so so much for the emails you sent to me today! Those were probably one of the best emails I have received from home since coming on my mission. It was so wonderful to hear of the miracles you have experienced this week, and of the tender mercies and lessons you have learned. My testimony was definitely strengthened simply by reading those experiences and your testimonies!

And thank you SO much for sending me that hilarious black and white picture of Rory! She's so chubby! And she looks so cute and comfortable and has the same zen as Buddha hahahahaha! My companion and I bust up laughing every time we look at it, so  I set it as my lock screen to get a good laugh every time :) I just LOVE that baby! Is she going to be a pumpkin tonight? She'd make a cute one!

Well, it appears we all had a miraculous week! I have to say this week was one of the best, miracle-filled weeks. Jayda was baptized on Saturday and it was the most incredible baptism. There was not a dry eye in the room,and the Spirit pierced everybody to the soul. It was absolutely perfect. We were crying so much, we were just so filled with joy, and we are so proud of her, and so grateful that both of us were able to see her through her baptism and confirmation. We did the missionary moment, for the time where she was getting changed, and we taught the Restoration. We testified of truth, through our holding back of tears, and it was nothing like what we had practiced, and yet the Spirit definitely said what needed to be said. I know this Church is true, I know the Book of Mormon is true, I know we have a living prophet today, and that he holds all of the priesthood keys in this dispensation.  It is through this priesthood, the same power that God used to create the Universe, that Jayda was able to make these sacred covenants with God and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Here come lots of pictures today, brace yourself! :)

Jayda Baptism

 

Jayda's Family

Sister Inman Letter - October 24, 2016

I'm an Aunt!!!! :')

Wow, what an incredible week. So much joy, and gratitude, and happiness, and tears of all of the above. I am so grateful to have received the beautiful news that sweet Rory was born. i can't imagine the joy you all felt being in her presence, but thank you SO much for sending me pictures and allowing me to see her and feel the sweet spirit all the way over here. I have to admit that I cry just about every time I look at her. She's beautiful. And yes, Mom, I will indeed spoil that baby. :) (Not for blog: Does this make Jesse "Uncle Nana"? Or "Uncle Buddy"? hahaha)

I'm sending a little something your way for her, it's not perfect, but I tried to be creative haha. A lot of love went into it though!

This week was pretty good! There were definitely some obstacles, and heartbreaking, but you know, God is good. And Rory came just in time. :)

A couple of experiences:

This week, two of our investigators dropped us. Marion, who was a new, and we were vey sad about that, because it was a miracle that we found her, and then... Rod. :/ It was like a mutual drop though. We read D&C 20:37 with him, (the requirements for baptism) with him, and asked what he thought he had accomplished so far out of those. He then opened up to us and told us that he didn't want to deceive us, and that it really just came down to the fact that he didn't want to give up his lifestyle and habits. He knows it's true and that God wants him to be baptized, but it is just so hard, and he has been the way he is for this long, and doesn't want to be held accountable for the things he is doing, that he would be if he were baptized. We were very upset about that one, and did not expect it at all. We really felt like he was going to do it. But the weird thing is... He still came to church... and for the first time at the new building... I have to say that was a little awkward. But anyway.

So along with these hard experiences, God showed us tender mercies.

We have been praying for new investigators this week, as our teaching pool has become a little slim. And once Jayda will be baptized, we will be even slimmer! Jayda is still being baptized this Saturday evening, and we FINALLY found a church building! So many blessings there. But anyway, so after Marion dropped us, we went to go talk to a woman in our ward about our investigator Diane (who is doing wonderfully by the way, and she came to church again and loved the Primary Program), and on the way, we saw her next door neighbor. He has one of those huge blow-up decorations that you put outside for Halloween or Christmas, and it had fallen down. It refused to stand back up. He just came home from work and went to tie the posts down again, and we were like, let's go help him or talk to him. So we did. And we asked if he could help, or if "he was pulling weeds" and he said no, he was just trying to put the thing back up. We offered to come back another time to help him pull weeds. Then we asked if he was religious at all. He said that he wasn't really, but his wife was, and he asked us if we were Jehovah's Witnesses. We said, no, and told him we were from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And asked if we could come back and talk to his wife, if she would be interested. His name was Matt, and he told us we could come back, and what times work best. :) Wow. Awesome!

Then we tried some less-actives who were not home. So we tried a house that missionaries had knocked in the past. We went to follow up with a lady named Lauren who accepted a Book of Mormon. Her husband, a young army man, had also just come home from work and answered the door. He was very nice to us, and said she wasn't home, but that they had actually been thinking about going back to church. He told us to come back when his wife was home, because she might be interested in meeting with us. What? So amazing. God prepares people. We will be praying that these people are prepared and ready to receive the Gospel! :)

Also, a less active who we've been meeting with who has not been to church in forever finally came out of the blue, and has been the past two weeks. We've also been praying for a reactivation this month, as part of the #FTF Challenge, which we have about two more weeks left. (1 baptism and 1 reactivation this transfer/first week of next transfer). And the one we thought it would be ended up not being reactivated, and here comes another woman who we didn't even think would anytime soon. The power of prayer is real!

One more week of the transfer. Can you believe it? I feel like I just got here. Wow... We get transfer calls on Saturday. I'm not sure if Sister McCombie will stay, or what will happen. She's only been here one more transfer than I have. We will see!

Anyway, I love each of you so much, and keep you in my prayers always. Once again I am so grateful to have our newest addition to our family, she gets cuter and cuter with ever picture I see.

I hope you have a fantastic week!

Love,

Sister Inman

Sorry, my pictures aren't as cute as Rory's are hahaha. That baby fits right in. I love her already :)

 

Found this little guy on our front porch!

  

Painting pumpkins for the trunk or treat fall festival! :)

 Found this dress at Goodwill today. $5.00. Yep, I bought it. I figured it said "Sister Missionary" all over it. 

 

 :) xD

 

Ignore my face fat. The chain mail pushed it all out..

Sister Inman Leter - October 17, 2016

Mamma Mia!

Ay ho dee ho! (See Kid History)

So I read through my email last week and was mortified by how many autocorrect fails there were! Sorry about that, I'm usually alright with grammar and spelling. Pero, not this last time I guess. Congratulations to those of you who could actually understand what I was trying to say! Haha.

Well, this week was another week in paradise! (Vail?) 

To give you a lo-down on what sort of people live in Vail, One of the wards pretty much all live in areas similar to what you would see around Grandma and Grandpa's house, except the roads should barely be called roads, and it's a little less organized haha. But there are still some incredible people that live there! The best word to describe the majority of the people in that ward  is "redneck". That was actually given by the bishop, who named all of his children after guns. He's also hilarious, so it makes sense. He dubbed our ward mascot as a deer. But I'd say it's more like a goat.

Well I once again forgot my journal at home. :/ So sorry about that. 

On Tuesday I had a Dr.'s appointment in Tucson, which is actually in my last area! So that was fun to be there. We also got to drive by the temple! And stop in the mission office and see the sweet senior couples, who then took us out to lunch at Kneaders (Which is super good, by the way), which was perfect, because the next day was my year mark :) We got Elder Anderson to take a selfie x)

On our way home, I went too far northeast, and so we went to a Circle K for a pit stop and so I could reroute my way home. While we were there, Sister mcCombie contacted the worker there, who was a cute girl named Breanna. She was extremely nice and talked to us about what was going on in her life, and how God has been her one source of strength. It was amazing, because we invited her to meet with us, or whoever the missionaries are in that area, and gave her our number. How cool!

On Wednesday, I went on exchanges with Sister Adams! She is amazing. (Not my trainer, but the other one). She also speaks Spanish. So we got to speak some together, and said all of our prayers in Spanish, too. :) And you know what's miraculous? That Circle K happened to be in those sisters' area. They have been searching hard for people to teach. And whataya know? My mistake of missing a turn, and Sister McCombie's ability to talk to anybody about the Gospel allowed us to meet someone who was prepared to hear the Gospel. We were on our way to try someone else, and I mentioned Bre. So she asked if I wanted to try Bre first, or the other family. I got the feeling to try to see Breanna at Circle K again. So we walked in, and she was there. She had JUST gotten to work, and remembered me from the previous day, and talked to me as though we had been friends before then! I introduced her to Sister Adams, and she gave us her number, and said Monday evenings work best. Hopefully they will meet with her tonight. :) Miracles happen! And God works with our weaknesses. "No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing". The Lord is hastening His work!

On Friday, we helped out with a Cub-O-Ree for the Cub Scouts. We helped teach a class about helping the boys understand and teach the Plan of Salvation. It was so fun to participate. We also got to see a couple of the other activities, like Static Electricity, Articles of Faith, and Etiquette. I learned how to create an electric charge and use it to move things without even touching it! (Almost like the force! Maybe that's how they did it!) And also I learned how to use static electricity to light up a light bulb. Pretty cool, huh?

We also had a lesson with Marion, a new investigator that the Sisters found on exchanges! Her story is miraculous too. Exchanges are inspired! And another lesson with Diane. Please pray for her, she is progressing so well, but Satan is trying so hard on her!

We met with Rod again. Rod has been struggling with the Word of Wisdom. He has been drinking coffee for about 50 years now. He knows he needs to be baptized, but is struggling with gaining a desire to give up coffee and be baptized. This last week, we went to go check up on him, but decided to make it a mini lesson. We sit outside with him. And we just listened with love, and he opened up to us. We asked him again, a couple weeks later, how he felt about giving up coffee and having less of it. In contrast to his last response, that it felt awful and he hated it, he said that he knew it would make him feel better, and he was feeling a little happier and content about it. He said he knew that God would be happy with him, and that he would feel better, and that he wouldn't have that guilty feeling anymore. We read a few scriptures with him about how the Holy Ghost changes our hearts, so that we no longer have a disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. We then asked him how much of his decaffeinated coffee he had left. (He had made the transition from caffeinated to decaffeinated, which is a big step in the process!) He said about 6 cups left. He had previously mentioned that he used to drink Ovaltine, and that it reminded him of his childhood. We asked him if he were to replace coffee with something, once he gave it up, what it would be. And he told us that he would switch to Ovaltine! So we challenged him, that at the end of or before the end of this can of coffee, to completely switch over to Ovaltine, which we would provide the first can. :) He said "Yes." And we were SO excited. He said, "That should be easy!" What? Yayyyy!!!!!

We had two investigators come to church yesterday. Jayda, and Alize, who has not come forever because her mom has "banned her from ever going again" due to one bad day. We brought a member to our lesson with them, and she boldly but lovingly invited her to church, and offered her a ride. Alize was beaming the whole time. :) And our whole day was brightened when we saw her at church.

I need your help! Would you mind praying for these people? Prayers are so powerful for people investigating the church! Thank you!!!

1. Rod- strength and faith to progress towards baptism

2. Diane- answers to her prayers, desire to be baptized

3. Jayda- That we will be able to find an open building and font that we can use for her baptism--Side note: There are approx. 6 baptisms happening for different sets of missionaries on the SAME DAY. And get this: It's the same night as everybody's trunk or treat. Our building does not have a font, her family is all nonmembers and have taken off work to be there at that time, and so many more fun things. It has been the most hectic and stressful baptism planning...

4. Marion- desire to learn about the restored Gospel

Thank you all so much!

I love you and pray for you daily! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Inman

Rod is the old guy. Hahahahahaha

xD

The Show family :) I love them so much. Trey is 6 and he is hilarious.

I didn't take a year-mark picture, but here's a recent one!

Kneaders!

Driving by the temple