Sister Inman Letter - February 22, 2016

I'm baaaaaacccckkkkkk!

Hey there! I'm back in the field!

Well, this week has been interesting. I left the MTC on Monday morning, and then spend the night as Sister Orr's companion (she came out with me). Then in the morning, we drove to the Transfer site, and I got my stuff off the trailer, said goodbye to the sisters in my MTC district, then got on the transfer van to the Gila Valley. Long ride there. But I got to see some familiar faces! The departing missionaries, then Elder Dilworth, Deyarmond, Wyman, Garcia, and half of my district in SV! Pretty cool.

So my area covers Pima and Central. We live in Pima.

I am kind of distracted today, so I apologize if this email is kind of lame.  It is kind of weird to be back in the mission. It feels different. I am in a completely new area, new part of the mission, new companion, new district, zone, everything is new. I don't usually do well just being thrown into something completely new unless I catch onto the spirit of things quickly. But I do have a renewed desire to get out there and serve to the fullest. I have a greater determination to be obedient, diligent, and happy. I will be optimistic, I will work hard. I understand my purpose as a missionary SO much better, and with that understanding comes an increase in faith and the extra boost that I need to be successful and to find those whom the Lord has prepared. 

Anyway, so some experiences:

The first day, we met with a lady named Doreen. She is a new investigator, a little older, but she loves her Bible. The lesson started off kind of rough, as she had read the Plan of Salvation Pamphlet, and found some things that she did not agree with. So we went through those, and she complained that we like to reference the Book of Mormon more than the Bible. And that the pamphlet had 5 references to the Book of Mormon and only 4 to the Bible. Seriously. But As we started, I silently prayed for charity for this woman, that I would develop love for her in a way that I would be able to express the thoughts and message that God wanted me to tell her at the time. And I was. The Spirit was definitely present, and I could feel its power on all of our hearts. We were not very prepared for the lesson, as it was transfer day and I had just gotten to the area, but the Lord was merciful to me, and my companion. We seem to teach and work well together, things flow pretty well. But as the lesson went on, we were able to go through the whole Plan of Happiness, explain things clearly, and relate to what she already believes. Turns out she actually believes most of the things we believe, and she even used some phrases like "age of accountability" and agrees with some things that are not standard Christian doctrine. Are you sure you're not a member, lady? Anyway, as we continued to teach by the Spirit, you could physically see her countenance change. Her heart was softened before our very eyes. She was more receptive. And when we asked her what she thought, or if things made sense, she was like "yeah, I believe that. That makes sense." We invited her to pray to know if the things we taught were true, and how the only way we can find truth is by asking the person who knows all truth. The source of all truth, which is God Himself. And she said "Oh, I already know it's true. I already pray. But I will pray and ask Him if everything else is true." We gave her a few things to read, and she said she would read them, and to give her two weeks to study and pray about it. I am always hesitant to allow that much time between visits, but we are praying that the Spirit will continue to work on her.

Later, we had an appointment with a part-member family, and the wife has a baptismal date. But when we were leaving, their son Joseph, who is autistic, went to give each of us a hug. Remember on the movie Snow White, when she kisses each of the dwarves on their heads, and dopey runs to the back of the line to get another kiss on the head? Picture that, and it's essentially how Joseph was. He is dopey. Super innocent, sweet kid. But he gave us each a hug, and first puckered his lips to kiss Sister Charles, but then she's like nooo I'm a missionary! I'm sorry! But then he cam over and gave me a hug, and since he couldn't kiss my face, he found a spot on my arm and kissed my arm haha. That was the first time he had ever met me. And if you understand most autistic kids, they have to get a good vibe from you if you want them to get anywhere close to you. But he must have gotten a good vibe from me or felt the Spirit or something, because he easily warmed up to me on the first visit! Cool!

So my companion is Sister Charles. She and I are crazy similar in a lot of ways. Same likes, dislikes, hobbies and interests, struggles in life, similar way of thinking, thought processes, random, musically inclined, pet peeves, even similar stories of how we got to the point of going on a mission. She is from Kentucky, and is 23. She did 3 years at BYUI, and these are her last two transfers (I will probably be her last companion). She's the oldest of 5 kids. But yeah, that's her! :)

I feel like the Spirit has taught me a lot in the past few days. I feel like I am coming to understand myself more, and realize what the truly important things are in life. And that has helped me to prioritize, which is something I have always struggled with. But I know the Lord watches over me, and knows about every concern, prayer, and effort I make.

I don't have much else to say, but I love every one of you! I keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Inman

P.S. I live next door to a cemetery..... And it is just one family's personal graveyard of about 10 graves. At least they are together now! I try not to think about it too much. They're really friendly. The Rogers' are great :)

Gila Valley Temple

Tucson Temple with Dome

Sister Inman Letter - February 15, 2016

Honey, I'm home!

(We got to speak with Sister Inman on the phone this morning while she was at the airport, leaving the MTC. Was great to hear her voice!)

Hello family and friends!

I made it safely to my mission! What a neat thing. I flew from Salt Lake City to the Tucson Airport. It is so hot here, especially coming from tons of snow and the freezing cold. But in summary of my MTC experience, it was one of the best, spiritually uplifting, and edifying experiences of my life. The Spirit is so strong there, and everyone is friendly, happy, and ready to do the Lord's work.

I have learned so much. I understand my purpose so much more. I have come to understand just how much the Spirit plays a role in our teaching. It's actually quite the contrary. WE are the tools that the Spirit uses. Our whole purpose is to help others to increase their faith in Jesus Christ, whether it is a nonmember, less active, or active member, our job is to help strengthen others' faith in Jesus Christ and to help them receive the Restored Gospel through acting on that faith. I have come to love people more. I have noticed that when I study and prepare, and listen with love, I will be directed to know what to say and do, and the Spirit is more able to teach them, and me.
I have been able to feel genuine love and concern for people whom I just met. I have see Christ's Atonement work in every single life. The Atonement is very real. It can comfort the most depressed of souls, it can heal the deepest of wounds, and turn the nastiest of people into Saints. The Gospel changes lives.

"Don't let the mission change you, let the Savior Jesus Christ change you."

I have come to love my district so much. I already miss them. All of the Elders going to Texas, and the other three Sisters going to Philadelphia.

Last night, we were able to do somewhat of a farewell with our district. The Spirit was so strong...


We ended the night with our testimonies and final words to those of us leaving today, and some very nice things were said to us. We then sang "We'll bring the World His truth" together, and we all cried while singing, and it was such a powerful moment. We then said a heartfelt kneeling prayer together. And then we said our goodbyes and I was sobbing so hard. Like bad. But I got pictures with everyone. We all promised to keep in touch and send each other the pictures we took at the MTC, along with a group email for all of us :)

I have arrived safely to the mission with about 14 other missionaries! I received a warm welcome back from the Passey's. I also contacted two people on the plane, but was moved or they left before I could give them a card or get their information : / darn.

But anyway, thank you all for supporting me in this. I love all of you so much and pray for you often. I hope you have a great week :)

Oh and also, President told me where I was going. I am going to Pima, AZ (I figured I would go to the Gila Valley or Tucson, so I guessed part of it! I will be covering 4 wards.... Yes, four. But yeah! So I will stay the night with a local sister.

Love,
Sister Inman

Sister Inman Letter - February 9, 2016

I LOVE the MTC!!!!! :D

Wow! This week has been such an incredible week. I have learned so much, and I have felt the Spirit more often and more strongly here than most other places. There is just the Spirit everywhere you go. You can tell the Lord has dedicated this campus for a wise purpose. I have the most incredible district ever, and I am so sad because we will only be together for 6 more days, and then we are all going our separate ways. We have three missions in our district. The Texas Fort Worth Mission, the Pennsylvania Philadelphia Mission, and the Arizona Tucson Mission. All of the Elders are going to Fort Worth, (sad) and three sisters going to Philly. (also sad). Then there are two other Sisters who are going to Tucson with me. 

SO, If you serve in Fort Worth, Texas, look out for the best Elders heading your way:

Elder Epperson, Elder Stanley, Elder Herod, and Elder Ball.

If you're serving in PHILLY, look out for these incredible sisters:

Sister Cragun, Sister Jensen, and Sister Prince.

The two that are coming with me are Sister Packer (My companion) and Sister Harrop! I'm super excited for these amazing missionaries to enter the field. I have learned so much here, even after the time I spent in the field already, and just looking at these Elders and Sisters, I am amazed by this rising generation and how much stronger they come out. The Gospel is true. It can change even the toughest of lives.

Some of my experiences this week! Sorry, this email will probably be kind of lame, because I have so many notes and little to report on without going super in depth to these spiritual insights I've been having. (The Spirit is oh so real. I have come to understand things way better than logic could ever teach me.) But here are a couple sentences to describe the week, but I promise, it's better than it seems haha.

Wednesday, Feb 3rd

I spent the night at President and Sister Passey's house, and in the morning, Sister Passey took me to the airport. I got to have Jake pick me up from the airport and take me to the MTC, which was nice, we went to lunch at Cafe Rio, and he dropped me off at the curb! My first day was really good. We had a class? I don't know if that's what you'd call it. Seminar? called People and Your Purpose. Essentially we focus on our purpose (like every class) but we taught an investigator the first night here. There was an investigator that came in and we, as a class, got to know them and tries to discern their needs and questions, etc. We learned how to fulfill our purpose by 1) Demonstrating Love for Them and 2)Inviting and Helping them come closer to Christ. What does so and so need to feel to gain conversion?

Thursday, Feb 4th

Studies in the same room as everybody is kind of distracting. Sometimes we have to find another room. Our district has some really good gospel conversations, but we get distracted pretty easily.

Friday, Feb 5th

A cool experience I had to today came when we were role playing how to invite investigators to pray with us, and receive answers through prayer. So, each of us took turns inviting, and took turns being the investigator. So I was invited, and I prayed as if I was the investigator, and it was different than any other prayer I have given. We played as ourselves, but when I prayed, and addressed Heavenly Father, I felt different. Do I really want to know if this is true? And I felt a very literal connection as I spoke with God. It was a really special, personal experience. When you put yourself in their shoes, things are a whole lot more meaningful. "We are Jesus Christ's investigator."

The MTC: "This is how God trains His missionaries".-President Thomas S. Monson

The Spirit was definitely present today. We sang "We'll Bring the World His Truth" as a district, and the Spirit was super strong.

We taught our new investigator Jordan tonight. we really had to listen to the Spirit. He is an atheist but just started thinking about God after his first son was born. We invited him to pray after we gave powerful testimonies of God's love for us (I started crying pretty bad when I testified that God loves him so much), I could just feel so much love for this man that I just met. 

Saturday:

Rough start, but like usual, we get over it and it turns out to be an incredible day.

Sunday: Mission Conference, Sacrament Meeting, Classes, and then a devotional with Jenny Oaks Baker (Elder Oaks' daughter) and it was really good!

Something she said that her dad, Elder Oaks, said to her: "I believe that true faith can only be in Jesus Christ, that we trust Him and whatever His will is. We cannot say we have faith that God will do what we want Him to do." (in response to "How can we have faith for someone to get better if it is all dependent upon God's will?")

Monday night we had a heart to heart testimony meeting on the fly with our district and the Spirit was so strong. I'm going to miss everyone. 

Some really good quotes from this week that were particularly powerful to me:

"We should not be simply dispensers of information. We must be offerers of salvation. There is a difference."

"MTC can also mean My Time with Christ if you make it that way."

"If we want our investigators to have spiritual experiences and receive answers through the Book of Mormon, we must too."

COOL INSIGHT: God rested on the 7th day. 7 means "Complete, Perfect, Whole, or Fullness" He promises us the fullness of the earth if we keep the Sabbath Day Holy. Therefore, when all was complete, (i.e. the creation or the end of the week), If we rest on this day, AFTER He created all things, He promises us the fullness of the earth and ALL of His creations! :)

"Deliberate: done after careful thought. Are we deliberate with our covenants? Including repentance and partaking of the sacrament?"

"It is not enough to simply help people get testimonies. If you are CONVERTED, I prophesy and promise that you will never fall away."- Elder Bednar

I was able to go to the temple today and do a session. I am so grateful, I missed the temple. It was SUCH a spiritual experience this time, and I had an incredible experience in the Celestial Room today. I learned and gained som much more this time. I love the temple so much, and got to go with my district.

Anyway, my MTC address is 

Sister Torie Camille Inman
FEB15  AZ-TUC
2005 N 900 E Unit  39
Provo UT 84602

(You can do DearElder.com until Friday Morning)

But I will only be here till next Monday morning. I can probably call from the airport, but it will be super early in the morning, probably sometime between 7-8ish.

Anyway, I love you all! I hope you have a wonderful week, and next time I email, I will be in the mission! :)

I also have managed to not gain 15 pounds since I've gotten here. #accomplished ;)

Love,

Sister Inman

Our zone on our Sunday temple walk!

The Map

Map with Sister Packer

My companion and I at the temple!

The Elders in the zone

*shake my head*

The Sisters

Sisters Packer and Inman

Sisters Packer and Inman

Our district! Love them :)

L to R: Top Row, E. Stanley, Epperson, Ball, Herod

Bottom: S. Cragun, Harrop, Packer, me, Prince, and Jensen

Sister Inman Letter - February 1, 2016 (posted a week late - sorry)

Whelp, HERE WE GO!

Man, this week has been something else. Nothing really worked out how we wanted it to, and our goals were completely thrown out the window. But you know, this week was a good week. (weird, huh?)

First off, here are some cool things I learned this week:

I was reading in the New Testament, in 2 Timothy 3:15-17. This is the chapter where Paul is talking about how perilous times shall come, and all of the wickedness that will be in the latter-days.Then, in the last part of the chapter, he talks about the scriptures, and how they can lead man to salvation. If we read the scriptures, and apply their principles and understand their doctrines, we can learn the things we need to learn to gain salvation. The holy scriptures "are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." and then in the JST of verse 16, "And all scripture which is given by inspiration of God, is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."

Then in  verse 17, I learned something new that clarified a question that we all have probably wondered about. "...that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." I looked at the footnote for perfect. And along with the word "complete" which we have learned it also means, were the words "suited" and "ready". This life is a probationary state. This life is the time set apart to prepare to meet God. We are here to become such people that can be better "suited" and "ready" for the kingdom of heaven. When Christ asks us to be perfect, substitute the word for suited. I would that ye should be suited, even as I, or your Father in Heaven is suited [for the Kingdom of God]. The people we become in this life can allow us to ready ourselves (perfect ourselves) so that we can be more suited to fit right in to the atmosphere and environment of the Celestial Kingdom. I don't know if that was a light bulb to anyone else, but it was for me!

Anyway, here was my week! (At least the good stuff)

Monday we had an awesome P-day! We had zone sports! (it worked out because we did exchanges that night, so we might as well do P-day together too). So we played a full game of volleyball with 6ish players on each team! It was super fun! Then after we finished the full game of volleyball, we played King of the Court. So there are 3 teams. Two teams on one side of the court, and one on the other. The team who makes a shot or catches the other team's failed shot runs over to the other side of the gym to play that team, and the game keeps going. it's pretty fun! :) I've never really been into sports, because I usually die before I can enjoy them, but it was really fun, I think I might turn out to like sports when I come back! We'll see :)

 After emailing, I met this lady in the bathroom. She looked really closely at my name tag, chuckled, then pushed her finger on it. Then she started to walk away. Completely confused and ready to defend myself and the church, I asked "What? What's so funny?" (not rudely, I was seriously wondering what was up with this lady). And she said "I'm from the Reorganized church." We sort of looked at each other for a while, as I'm sure we sort of knew what the other one was thinking. Then it sort of went like this:

I said, "Oh... that's cool..." ----"But we don't go around wearing a name tag." 

Me: Well, I am a missionary for the church! We don't all go around with name tags, I just do because I am a missionary. ----"Are you from around here? Local? Or from somewhere else?"

Me: Well I am actually from Arizona, just another part. ----"What part?"

Me: Surprise. ----"Oh, I know where that is. I had a student who served in Salt Lake City, and I said isn't that like giving ice to Eskimo's? But he said no, you'd actually be surprised how many non-members live there."

And blah blah blah. I've never actually met someone from the RLDS church. I've heard of them, but up until now, they were sort of non-existent in my mind . I wanted to ask so many questions, but I figured I shouldn't. Anyway.

Tuesday:

We went to Brother Dixon's house. he is an old old man whose wife just died about a year ago. A total cowboy. But he has possibly the biggest heart I have ever heard of. We met his neighbor who had been struggling pretty bad, but he has been a good friend to her. At the end of our visit, he asked when transfers were/new companion. We said next week, Sister Inman is leaving. He seemed very sad. He just sat very quietly, and looked at the ground. Then he looked up, and said, "well, you know..." and then proceeded to say some of the kindest words to me and about me than I think anyone has ever said to me. He told us that even though he is bad with names, he prays for each of us specifically in his prayers every night. He told me that he can tell what kind of a person I am, and that I am extremely young to have the amount of compassion that I have. he told me that he knew that wherever I went, that I was going to be successful. That I will work hard, and that the Lord will direct me in the work. That He will bless me. He told me that I had a big heart, and that I had a lot of love to give. He told me that he enjoyed my prayers because I "do them right" so he says. He told me that he can tell I am an honest person (I believe that... he can spot a lie before you even tell it. He can see right through your soul and it's the scariest thing in the world). But as he continued to say these wonderful things to me, I just cried. I could just feel the love this man had for us, and I tried to stop crying, but said thank you. He said "See, this young lady right here is like me. Her spirit pours out through her eyes. And those aren't cold tears, they're warm ones. She doesn't cry cold tears." But anyway. he said if I don't work hard on my mission, he will come haunt me. I believe it. He told me to say to myself every day, "Quit horsin' around, and GET IT DONE!" He's a sweet man.

Oh, and Anna dropped us. And probably won't pick us up again. 

Wednesday:

Great District meeting today! We were going to talk about Finding through members, but then the Spirit changed everything and Elder Judy felt strongly that we should start off talking about finding through Family History, and also how our ancestors can help us as missionaries. Man. That was awesome. We talked about the Spirit of Elijah. If you want to see a scripture reference of the Spirit of Elijah taking place, go to the Old Testament in 2 Kings 6. Read it for background, then focus on verses 15-17. "And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." In other words, the very hosts of heaven were round about Elisha, protecting them from the hosts of men on the earth. So often we feel alone when battling the horses and chariots of the adversary. And yet, we are not alone at all. If we take the time to do our family history, we can come closer to our ancestors, and even have their power literally round about us to protect us from the powers of men. We, as missionaries, can have the power of our ancestors to come with us and help us with every phase of the work. We simply cannot go through life alone. That is why we have both sides of the veil working together for the benefit of all. The Spirit was so strong when we were talking about these things, and it just made me want to find out more about my family's history. We then went as a district to the Family History Center and printed out our 4-generation pedigree chart, and we talked about how we can use family history as a finding tool, and we all committed to do so.

But anyway, not much else to report, but I am going to to MTC on Wednesday morning! Tomorrow night I will be spending the night at the Mission home, with Sister Passey as my companion. (Crazy!) Then she will take me to the airport bright and early on Wednesday morning. It will be a new experience, that's for sure! I'm super excited, but will probably have just as much of an idea of what's going on as any other new missionary there! It'll be good. Sister Adams will not have a companion while I am gone, so there is a mini-missionary that will be her companion! She has been called to Peru, but meanwhile, she might as well get some 'sperience! 

I'm not sure if there will be many pictures emailed home, because of how much of a hassle it is to take them from the camera to the computer. But we will see.

But for now, I will send you some pictures of the last couple weeks!

I have loved this area. I love the people here, I love the BEAUTIFUL atmosphere and tall mountains, and brownish yellow grass, and dead trees, and dirt roads that have infinity potholes and rocks, and the beautiful weather. It is actually SNOWING hardcore today. And it STUCK! I've been praying to have just one snow day. :) God answers prayers. Remember when Jesse prayed for snow in Surprise, and it did for just a little while but didn't even touch the ground? It works!

Anyway, I will miss the missionaries here, but I am so thankful that I will possibly see them around the mission again! I am so happy that I can finish my service here in the Arizona Tucson Mission. God loves each and every one of us, and that is why He has an individual plan for each of us. I know He sent me here, in my OWN STATE, a couple hours away from home, for a reason. So now I can confidently respond to everyone's original joke, YES, I was "Surprised" when I opened my call. But I couldn't be happier.

This Gospel is so true. Have a great week! I love you all!

Sister Inman

We went to say goodbye to the Stacey's and they didn't want to risk texting it to you haha. So here they are!

Caption: We said goodbye to the Stacey's, and she gave us Valentine's attire!

Jaden and Me

Part of the game of King of the Court, before I joined

Those mountains are in Mexico. We were 2-3 miles from the border.

Driving through Palominas

Snowing today.

Seriously, I'm going to miss this.

L to R: Jaden, Me, Yvonne, Zoey, and Doc is the dog.

Sister Inman Letter - January 25, 2016

Let's finish with a bang!

Hey there, hi there, who there!

So this week was a little bit challenging for me personally. I was struggling because i just was in a bad mood for some reason. And I knew that, and it bugged me. So it has been a week-long endeavor to get over that. But you know, good things still happen every week, and during the times where good things happened... It was when I had a good attitude and we had unity and the Spirit with us as a companionship. And there were some little and big miracles that have happened this week, and the Lord is still very aware of us, even when we are being stink-pots. :)

So on Monday, we had a Zone P-day (Minus the Douglas and Bisbee missionaries, which will come for next P-day), in Benson/Pomerene. We played games and sports together, and at the end, we played a massive game of free-for-all dodgeball. Essentially, it is you against everybody else, and there are a few balls that anyone can pick up, but if you have a ball you can only take three steps before you have to throw it or "recharge it" against a wall. We were all in the gym and there were about 15 missionaries playing all at once, so it was pretty intense. The Willcox Elders and Sisters are now part of our zone.

We were on exchanges Monday night to Tuesday night, so I went up to Benson with Sister Jones (One of our Sister Training Leaders). Benson has kind of a small, dusty old town feel to it. I mean it was founded in 1941, so it's not too old, but... anyway.

Tuesday:

Got a killer workout this morning- we did a workout video from the Biggest Loser... man. I was sore all day, but felt good afterwards :)

Wednesday:

This morning was the WORLDWIDE Missionary Broadcast, where general authorities and other leaders, i.e. from the Missionary Executive Council speak to and train missionaries across the entire world in one conference. Apparently, we have not had a worldwide devotional/conference broadcasted to all of the missionaries across the world for over a decade. It's SO COOL to be a part of this historic-ish event. And I don't think it will be available to the general public, as you had to have a password to watch it. But it was the BEST training ever. We were taught about the Fundamentals of Preach My Gospel, with each section spoken of in detail by a separate speaker. I've gained such great insight and understanding!

Those who spoke were:
Elder Neil L. Anderson, Conducting

Elder David A. Bednar

Elder Christopher Waddell, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric

Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson

Elder L. Whitney Clayton, Presidency of the Seventy and

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Quorum of the Twelve and also the chairman of the Missionary Executive Council

Here are a few of my favorite things they said:

Elder Neil L. Anderson
Teach Repentance, and Baptize Converts.

We share a responsibility to testify of Christ. We must always have His name on our lips and be prepared as the prompting comes to testify of him.Wherever you are, whenever you are unsure of what to say, speak of the Savior and of his doctrine. Because of the restoration, we know more about the savior than anyone else. No matter how much we speak of him, it is never too much. "Whosoever will confess me before men, him will I confess before the Father." We are charged to defend His name.

Elder David A. Bednar- (super good. It was a training, but it was a previously recorded training with a group of local missionaries and more of an interactive discussion with him.)

The Role of the Holy Ghost in Conversion

You CANNOT put the message into the hearts of the people.We must be worthy vessels unto the Lord to bring it UNTO the hearts of the people, but it must be the Holy Ghost that brings it INTO the hearts of men.
The Holy Ghost is the teacher, not us. It is He who carries into their hearts. We need to invite investigators to prepare to learn. Invite them to act. Most of the time their preparation is more important Than the actual lesson. Our worthiness affects the spirit that is present there. The Holy Ghost is not the tool we use. We are the tool, and the Holy Ghost is the teacher. All the things that we do contribute to the environment and the spirit.

Elder Christopher Waddell
We invite, they commit, we follow up.

Miracles are wrought about by faith. Conversion is a miracle in itself. They must act upon their faith.
Without the invitation by you to act, they have no commitment or reason to accept the invitation to act on their faith.

Invite them to become an agent to act, not an object to be acted upon.

Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson

Teach people, not lessons.

Seek to obtain the word and treasure up the knowledge. We must put things in your treasure chest for the Holy Ghost to take out what the investigators need.

Elder L. Whitney Clayton
Finding people to teach

This was a training on how better to work with members, less actives, part-member families, etc. Great advice.

Study after study, and statistics from missionaries all over the world show that the most baptisms happen when working with members than by our own finding efforts. More investigators are found through the efforts of the missionaries, but the MOST baptisms happen when the members assist in the work.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks

We must develop the faith and skill to find. Now is the time more members and missionaries to come together. Our most success will come through working with Ward councils, Ward Mission Leaders, and ward members.

We must have the gospel of Jesus Christ engrained in our hearts. (Missionaries)

All missionary work is rooted in the doctrine of Christ.

The doctrine of Christ allows us to be saved in the kingdom of God.

We must understand who we are and what we are called to do. If we understand this, you have the big picture and the basis to understand everything else you need to be a missionary.

Who are you? You are the sons and daughters of God.

What are you called to do? Do not lose yourself in the little things. It is for the interest of the world and all of mankind. You are not called to invite others to a social group, where the rules are made by its members, or to preach what is politically correct or comfortable. We are called to invite others to come into Christ and do what he has asked us to do.

When we understand what the world would be if everyone understood what God's plan is for us, we will understand that this work is the greatest work we could EVER do.

"We salute you and love you as servants of the Lord, and invoke the blessings He has to offer you in the work of the Lord."

This was a super powerful, super helpful and inspiring conference. It was 2 hours long, but I have gained SO MUCH from it.

Thursday: Lesson with Anna, and she bore a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon!

Friday: Miracles today! Milagros!

We finally saw Josie again! Remember her? From my first transfer? It was the first time Sister Adams had even met her. It's been that long. But we both felt like we should just stop by and try to see her instead of keep trying to schedule an appointment. She was surprised, and was touched that we thought of her, and let us in for a little while. We brought up how she started meeting with missionaries, and she related her story about the Elders who helped her move, etc. and she said she had made quite a few discoveries since she started meeting with us and has learned many new things. She said "Not to convert, just to learn". Ha! For now, Josie. And it might take a little while... But eventually it'll happen :) But then it was finally arranged that we could start coming over regularly. Unfortunately she thinks it will be more of a study group for a couple hours... We'll have to figure that one out, but she forewarned us that she will have lots of questions, and we gave her the Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet to read before the next appointment. We're getting back on track!

Anyway so we left Josie's house.And on the way down the dirt road, we hear a little pop, followed by an airy sound which synchronized with the wheels turning.... we slowed down and realized that yes, we had popped the tire. GAH. We watched the tire rapidly deflate. (Sounds familiar doesn't it? Oh Hereford. You and your dirt roads that shouldn't even be called roads.) Long story shorter, some members close by helped us change the tire. The manager/owner of the tire shop happens to be the bishop in one of the wards, so we called him, and we took the truck in, and the workers offered to stay after they closed a little bit to change the tire with a brand new one for us that night. They were very generous and kind throughout the whole thing. Meanwhile, our dinner appointment helped us at the tire shop too, and took us out to dinner (while our truck was at the shop) to a Mexican Restaurant, somewhat like Macayo's, but less decorated, and more of an intimate setting. At this restaurant, there were two Mariachi men who played and sang live music to us while we ate! One with a guitar, and one with an accordion. SO COOL! They sounded like the ones on Nacho Libre and I was really happy about that. They were really good! (Pictures to come)

Friday: None of our plans went as planned, as we had to go back to the tire shop to change our other tire that was pretty bald, but there was like a 2 hour wait, so we did weekly planning while we waited.

Saturday, meh.

Sunday:

End of the week calls tonight with Elder Judy! So guess what?! As a district, 2 companionships hit 5/5 Standards of Excellence (Weekly Goals for Key Indicators) and we were so close with 4/5!!! As a zone we did even better! 4 companionships with 5/5, and 3 with 4/5. We're getting pumped up, and next week we're going to get ALL of them. 5/5. we can do it. I love the support that we all have for one another. It's really encouraging!

Side note: For those of you who do not know, I came out on my mission without going to the MTC. Now that I know I am staying in this mission fro the remainder of the 14 months or so, I will now go to the MTC to receive additional training and preparation to continue and complete my service as a full-time representative of Jesus Christ as a missionary for His Church. It will be a unique experience compared to that of those who have barely entered the mission field, but i still have sooooo much to learn, and I am excited to learn while I am there. I leave for the MTC on February 3rd.

Well, that was my week! I have learned quite a few things, and have had some personal pondering time to figure myself out. I have set plans for myself, I have made myself a mission statement for my time at the MTC, (like President Rolfe encouraged me to do) and I am going to make my last week in the Sierra Vista Zone the best one ever! I am kind of sad to be leaving with two weeks left of the transfer after I leave, and I will especially miss the people and the amazing missionaries that i get to work with here, but here's to a new, exciting adventure! "Adventure is out there!"

This Gospel is so true. If you don't know that for sure, please take the time to find that out for yourself. I believe that there is nothing greater that you can do for yourself than to find out for yourself that God loves you, that He has provided a way, and has an individual plan for your life here, and how you can gain eternal life, and then to do what He asks you to do so He can bless you with all of the blessings that he has to offer. I love each of you and keep you in my prayers.

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Inman

Pictures:

Hna. Adams and I at the Mexican Restaurant

The menu said CHEESE CRISP!!!!!!!!!!! It DOES exist, I knew it! I was very happy when I saw that. Anyway.

The Mariachi men

The Mariachi men singing to us :)

Our beloved tire

Sister Jones and i in Benson. There were a bunch of cows eating together.

Yup

This super weird looking house that looks like it was build on Minecraft... Almost looks like a prison. But yeah, the things you find in Hereford...

Our Zone when we had Zone Temple Day! It was a great day. I love the temple.

Sister Inman Letter - January 19, 2016

Aaaaaaand I'm back!

Hello family and friends!

These past couple of weeks have been pretty crazy, and my journal entries are pretty much useless to me when writing my email today. So, I will try my best to make it interesting. :)

ALRIGHT, So... Last week, (as in January 4th-10th) I was actually able to go home for the week. (I know, right?) Seeing as I was originally called for three months, and I had initially only said goodbye to my family until then, my mission president agreed that it would be good for me to go home, spend some time with my family, go through the temple with my family, (I hadn't before, per instructions from Salt Lake), refresh, restart, and reboot before returning back, this time for 15 more months. I was also still a set apart missionary. (Not released). With that in mind, here's what happened, or at least my favorite parts.

Tuesday, January 5th

Got up at 5am, left at 5:45am to drive all the way to Tucson. It was so foggy and thick and wet and cold outside, pitch black, with very low visibility. Essentially, we were driving through the clouds. We got to the transfer site in Tucson at around 7:45am. I saw a few people I knew! We sorta just hung out there for a couple hours, waiting for companions, etc. President told me that I could hang out with the departing missionaries, so my companion could go back to our area with another sister who would be replacing me for the week.

I met up with the departing missionaries, and they decided to go tracting as their last big "hurrah". So I went with them, with Sister Brown, my first trainer, as my companion :) We knocked into this interesting couple, who immediately invited us in "to see where they do yoga"... Kind of a weird/creepy situation, right? At least we felt that way... But then they talked about how the Elders used to come over, and they had never seen Sister Missionaries before. Anyway, they were some strange faith that I had never heard of before, I won't name it, because I don't want to bash anybody, but apparently it is "just as popular as the Mormon faith". Huh. Well cool. We started with a prayer, we said one, and then they would say one. So after ours, she recited one of her favorite prayers that the founder of their faith had written. We, expecting just a spoken recitation, were... privileged... (and shocked haha) when she started singing. Yeah.So she finished her prayer, and we went from there, discussing beliefs, understandings, etc. Then we hear a knock on the door. Sister Brown and I looked at each other like, Just watch, it'll be other missionaries. IT WAS. Three Elders had knocked on her door, began to introduce themselves, Elder O'shia, Oviedo, and Gilson. Elder O'shia made eye contact with us, and we were like "this is seriously happening right now..." they knocked on a door that already had missionaries in it. HAHAHAHAHA! So she invited all of them in, so we had 5 missionaries in the room at once. We shared a video about why we need a Savior. Pretty funny experience. (Turns out Elder O'shia had previously taught them a long time ago, but it's still funny.)

My parents picked me up at the transfer site. And we drove home. Crazy.

Wednesday, January 6th

Happy 26th Anniversary Mom and Dad!

I had my temple recommend interview, and received some counsel from President Rolfe. It was good :)

Satan has been working on me this week. He knows I'm going to the temple. Grr.

Saturday, January 9th

Temple Day!

Lots of emotions today. Lots of new things. Lots of crying on my part. I was able to have my entire family in the temple with me that day. Lacey and Eric and Jake flew down just for me. My Grandparents were there, and just a couple of other people. I wanted it to be small. There is a special feeling in the temple, especially in the Celestial Room.

Sunday, January 10th

Church was good today, I got some confused people, and that's okay aha. It was good to see familiar faces.

Tuesday, January 12th

Happy 3 Months!

I had to say goodbye to my parents and family again, as they dropped me off. I think I was more ready this time, but it's still a bittersweet time.

Today was Zone Temple Day! I got to go through the temple with my zone, and that was a really neat experience, to see everyone dressed in white, and to see all of these other missionaries in a different light. The Spirit was so strong this time. I gained a lot more out of my second time through, because I'm a pro now. :) But I was overwhelmed with the strong Spirit there, and it was a sweet experience. :) We went out to lunch as a zone, too.

Wednesday, January 13th

BAM. Spirit-packed day. I got up early, and exercised, using the workout that Lacey gave me when she was home. (Thanks Lacey!) 

We were early to zone meeting, and had super awesome trainings by our leaders! We went out to lunch, about half of us to Chipotle. Yum!

Okay, so intense lesson tonight! To introduce my experience, our Sister Training Leaders challenged us to the 5 second challenge. Basically, when you get a prompting, you have 5 seconds to follow it. Kind of scary sometimes! But we have been striving to follow that rule, and have seen TONS of miracles!

Here is one that completely blew my mind. I am not boasting of myself, but have just a stronger testimony of the power of the Spirit, which really is the one that can do these things, and put words into our hearts.

We had a lesson with the Norris family, which was the most intense, spirit-filled lesson I have ever been a part of. The Nelsons, who are the members that have invited us to teach the lessons in their home, gave the most powerful testimonies as well. I remained quiet for most of the lesson, as every second of silence was filled with someone talking, but I was also waiting for the Spirit to direct me what to say.

Last time, they were invited to read from the Book of Mormon, and then pray to know if it was true. There were quite a few disputes from the Norris' about physical evidence, and the minor things that, although can prove that such people existed, cannot give you a witness or strengthen your personal testimony that these things are true.

After many discussions, questions, agreements, disagreements, plus many bold testimonies given by the members and Sister Adams, I had this very strong urge that I needed to speak up. "You need to bear your testimony that this Book is true. You KNOW it is true. You cannot just sit here, with the knowledge that you have, and not speak up. Speak now. (A.K.A. the Holy Ghost)

So amongst the many words which had been spoken, my hand shot up. (What? you ask, Why? I was moved upon by the Spirit. That's why. So I don't ask questions.) So I did. I raised my hand about head height, and said "Can I say something?" Everyone was quiet for a second. They said of course! So here are some of the words that I felt like I should say, and so I did:

"I have been quiet for most of this lesson, but I just need to say something. You said that you want proof. If you want proof that this Book is true, look at those people who live it.Look at the lives of those who have read the Book of Mormon, have prayed about it, and have lived the principles found in its pages. Look at the Nelson's. You said yourself that you can see they have a happy family. They are sealed together for all eternity. They have a happy family, because they live the doctrines and principles of the gospel, found in the Book of Mormon. I didn't know this Book was true until a few years ago. i grew up in the church, but didn't really pray or try to KNOW for myself that it was true until i read it, and found out for myself. i never wanted to be a missionary! [Until I learned that this was true.]"

I continued to bear the most sincere, bold, and powerful testimony that i have ever given in my life. I have never had the Spirit have such a profound, even a physical effect upon me. before i spoke, my heart began to race, and it felt heavier and heavier as if it would continue to weigh me down until I finished/bore my testimony. The Spirit shook just about every ounce of my being, physically and spiritually. I was seriously trembling. That doesn't usually happen on a regular basis. And even though I felt like my voice would crack, I was able to boldly testify clearly. (continuing)

"God wants all of His children to hear His Gospel, not just the sheep in Jerusalem. They didn't understand the scriptures, because they were not spiritually in tune. We can tell if a seed is good if we plant it, nourish it, and allow it to grow. That is all we are asking you to do. We have given you this seed, and we are asking you to plant it, nourish it, and allow it to grow. You have all of the evidence in your very hands, and you have not even read it. No matter how many online sources you read, no matter how many other people you ask, you WILL NOT gain a testimony or know if this Book is true, unless you read it, and pray to know."

And while I bore my testimony, they both actually listened, as I could tell by the expressions on their face. They didn't interrupt. 

And although these situations don't happen all of the time, it was just a firm testimony to me that the Spirit can put words into your mouth. if you are exactly obedient (I had been working on that especially this week) then the lord HAS to bless you with miracles, big or small. And we continue to move forward.

They said that they (primarily brother Norris) don't want to continue to meet, but they kept their copies of the Book of Mormon, and said they would continue to try and read it/study into it, etc.

Thursday, January 14th

Anna has a baptismal date! It's going to happen, we can feel it. It was her decision this time. February 20th. It's kind of far out there, but it gives her enough time to come to church a few times, go over the things we have taught her, etc.

We invited Elder Judy and Wilson to come meet her, as he would be the one to do the interview, to help ease her anxieties. he cannot participate in teaching her, and only stayed for like 10 minutes, but it was good!

This week, I have seen a lot more successes than ever. The Spirit is more likely to help you out when you're obedient! (seems i would have learned that by now...)

Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic week! I love you!

Sister Inman

P.S. I am on exchanges in Benson, AZ and we came across somebody (a potential investigator) who knows Daniel Tillett! We were parked in front of their house too! They are in one of the Benson wards. Small world!

I want one.