Hola,
Sorry I wasn't able to write yesterday. We went to our usual place to email and it was closed for the Holidays so we had to find another place to email. It was a fun preparation day though. The whole district got together and we played volleyball at the church and then we watched a home-made movie by Elder Krahenbuhl's family, which was hilarious! I have been so blessed to be in a district where all of the missionaries get along and we can do things like that together. The preparation day before that Brother Boliver, our Ward Mission Leader, took us out to hike a hill with a bunch of ancient writing on it, probably from just after Christ's Death. Guess who was on this continent about that time :-)
We are looking forward to another great week of missionary work. It was so great to call home, or Skype, and talk to our families and now we are even more motivated to be incredible missionaries. This may end up being a trying week as well though. It feels like because we have been blessed with so much success Satan is trying hard to slow us down and we are having some very unexpected let downs. But just like Joseph Smith said, the most tribulation will come when we are accomplishing the most good, and there is a lot of good happening in Belen right now. So I suppose I should take those trials to mean that we are doing what we are supposed to, and we should feel it a type of compliment.
Have an amazing New Years celebration, and remember all the hard working missionaries when you are thinking of your resolutions. We could always use the extra help finding those who are prepared to meet with us :-)
Love,
Elder Inman
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Merry...
...Christmas!!
Christmas in Belen New Mexico is going to be great as a missionary :-) There are probably very few times that are better for sharing the gospel, we get lots of great food (which will not help with how out of shape I am), and I get to Skype with my parents and siblings. It will be fun for Elder Krahenbuhl and I to spend our first Christmas away from home in such great circumstances. Thank you to everyone that has sent me Christmas cards as well!
Roy and Creta were baptized on Saturday and then were confirmed yesterday! I wish you all could have been there, but it was great as it was. We showed up early with the ward mission leader, Brother Boliver, to fill the font and get the chairs set up and were surprised to find a musical production going on in the room. Turns out there was a scheduling conflict and they would finish right as the baptism was supposed to start. We were really stressed out but decided to just move the baptism talks into another room and then get up and move rooms for the actual ordinance. We were really blessed and everything came together perfectly for a beautiful baptism. Both Creta and Roy were happy and excited and despite their many physical problems they comfortably were submerged into the water without any problems. I wish pictures could convey how happy all of us were. And what added to it was that just a couple days before the baptism we had given Roy a priesthood blessing and healed him of his dreams caused by PTSD. Now we get to spend Christmas Eve with them :-)
One more fun thing to share before I sign off for today. It is a big focus in our mission, and I am pretty sure in every mission, to become better teachers. They have pointed out that most of us know the doctrine well but are not able to share it effectively. As they traveled the missions world wide they said that most missionaries rank a 2 (on a scale of 1-6) when it comes to teaching ability. They produced some amazing videos and study materials to train us and help us improve as a result. The videos are supposed to be used in each district meeting, but not to much outside of that. President Miller has felt inspired and received guidence to see what would happen if missionaries were exposed to the videos more often, and my district has been selected to be the first to test it out. We now each have a TV/DVD player in our apartment with the videos running every minute that we are home, and in 2-3 weeks he will see how much we have improved as teachers. From the sounds of it we are expected to become the best teachers in the mission. I will let you all know how it goes and what I learn. I am confident that his promise is inspired and feel very blessed to have such an amazing opportunity!
I love you all and am enjoying my mission completely,
Elder Inman
Christmas in Belen New Mexico is going to be great as a missionary :-) There are probably very few times that are better for sharing the gospel, we get lots of great food (which will not help with how out of shape I am), and I get to Skype with my parents and siblings. It will be fun for Elder Krahenbuhl and I to spend our first Christmas away from home in such great circumstances. Thank you to everyone that has sent me Christmas cards as well!
Roy and Creta were baptized on Saturday and then were confirmed yesterday! I wish you all could have been there, but it was great as it was. We showed up early with the ward mission leader, Brother Boliver, to fill the font and get the chairs set up and were surprised to find a musical production going on in the room. Turns out there was a scheduling conflict and they would finish right as the baptism was supposed to start. We were really stressed out but decided to just move the baptism talks into another room and then get up and move rooms for the actual ordinance. We were really blessed and everything came together perfectly for a beautiful baptism. Both Creta and Roy were happy and excited and despite their many physical problems they comfortably were submerged into the water without any problems. I wish pictures could convey how happy all of us were. And what added to it was that just a couple days before the baptism we had given Roy a priesthood blessing and healed him of his dreams caused by PTSD. Now we get to spend Christmas Eve with them :-)
One more fun thing to share before I sign off for today. It is a big focus in our mission, and I am pretty sure in every mission, to become better teachers. They have pointed out that most of us know the doctrine well but are not able to share it effectively. As they traveled the missions world wide they said that most missionaries rank a 2 (on a scale of 1-6) when it comes to teaching ability. They produced some amazing videos and study materials to train us and help us improve as a result. The videos are supposed to be used in each district meeting, but not to much outside of that. President Miller has felt inspired and received guidence to see what would happen if missionaries were exposed to the videos more often, and my district has been selected to be the first to test it out. We now each have a TV/DVD player in our apartment with the videos running every minute that we are home, and in 2-3 weeks he will see how much we have improved as teachers. From the sounds of it we are expected to become the best teachers in the mission. I will let you all know how it goes and what I learn. I am confident that his promise is inspired and feel very blessed to have such an amazing opportunity!
I love you all and am enjoying my mission completely,
Elder Inman
Saturday, December 11, 2010
um...some catching up!
So between David's sparse letters and my inability to get them on his blog we are making up for a few weeks now...sorry!
The most recent is at the end...
From November 22
From November 29th
These are just some fun pics :-)
My district and I went hiking on the Mesa last Preparation day. One of the missionaries, Elder Ehlen, was sick and when we got to the top said he couldn't walk anymore. I ended up having to carry him on my back for the mile hike down, and by the end I could barely walk myself, which is why I look so worn out in the pic by the truck. No one else could carry him. Great work out though :-)
Sorry I missed last week, I just didn't have the time I needed. This past week has been so eventful, and I still don't have the time to tell you everything that has been going on, but I will try to hit on a couple big ones.
K and A got baptized on Saturday( I don't want to put children's names on here...). If I remember I will try to put the pictures on here so you can see who they are. We have been working with K for a couple weeks now and he was completely ready for making that covenant. He said that he spent 2 hours shining his shoes the night before, even though they were brand new and had never been worn. His uncle came down and was able to baptize him, and a lot of family were able to attend. A is a 9 year old girl from Los Lunas who was also being baptized at the same time, so we combined the baptisms. I was actually the person who baptized her, which is why I am in white in the pictures. Something you may have noticed by now is that I have never baptized anyone on my mission. That is because my trainer taught me that it is far better for either family or someone from the ward to do that so they have that connection with someone who won't be transferred out, thus helping them remain active. It is selfish for a missionary to baptize their converts. Each time someone has asked me to perform the baptism I explain this to them and ask them to pray about someone in the ward to do it instead, and they have always done so and received an answer. With A I was the one who interviewed her for baptism, and afterwards she asked her grandparents and the missionaries in her area if I could perform her baptism. When I was asked I explained it to her as well and asked her to pray about someone else to do it, and then she came back and said she still felt that she wanted me to do it. I am not sure why I was supposed to perform it, but it was a wonderful experience and I will be sure to visit her when I travel back through the mission later on.
I get so confused about who I have told you about, but I hope I have mentioned Roy enough for you to know who I am talking about now. Roy had given up smoking to be baptized and lost all urges to smoke, just as we had promised. It was a miracle, and he and his mom (60 and 80 years old) were both nearing baptism. But even though all of the urges had left he started smoking again because his PTSD dreams got so bad when not smoking that he couldn't sleep. He went through some very horrible things in Vietnam and has never been able to heal from it. We have been fasting and praying for him and finally received the answer for what we needed to do with him, but it was such an amazing answer that it took further prayer to assure us it was really inspired. Yesterday after church we finally sat down with him and after a very powerful lesson we told him what he needed to do. We have asked him to stop smoking right away and to meet with us on a daily basis for the next two weeks. Each day for these two weeks we will be teaching him and giving him a priesthood blessing. We warned him that as he does this his dreams will grow dramatically worse and it will be a very trying period for him, one that he will not enjoy. We then promised him that at the end of the two weeks we will anoint him with oil and heal him of those dreams through the priesthood power. This is even more incredible when you realize that these have been plaguing him for the past 40 years. His mother, who was present, told him that she knows whatever we promise will happen and that the church is true (she has only had the first lesson and has already given up coffee and is very excited for baptism). Through tears he told us that he considers us his sons and trusts us with his life, and that he will do anything we ask of him. He then broke his cigarettes and handed them to us knowing it will be the last one he will ever hold. Please pray for him! I know the promise is real, but this will still be very difficult on him and I hate seeing him depressed after horrible violent dreams that chase any chance of sleep away. He is also threatened with a blood clot breaking loose and killing him very soon, so stress and fear are attacking him around every corner. I care about him so much, and am growing more and more thankful for the blessing of holding the authority of God and being able to command in His name, as well as the atonement that makes all of this possible.
I wish I could tell more, but I am already over on time and have to get going.
I love you,
Elder Inman
PS, we find out transfers this Saturday, and we are a little nervous about it. We both want to stay so badly!
This last week...
Hey everyone,
Transfer news came in and my companion and I are staying together in Belen! Most of my district is staying together too, which is great because we are doing really well together. This next transfer is going to be amazing, and I'm hoping it will even beat last transfer :-)
Roy is still not smoking and we are growing close to the time when he will be healed. He and his mom are both very excited for baptism and both love coming to church. Roy even went out and bought a new suit, shirts, and ties and beamed as he walked into church yesterday wearing them. I love seeing them so happy. We are going out to eat with them tonight and them we are going to go to Creta's house and watch the new Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration DVD. We just got it last week, and we watched it with another investigator and the spirit was almost over whelming. I am not a big fan of crying in front of people but its impossible for me to keep tears from falling during this movie.
Well I am going to go ahead and close this one for the day. Ill be back next week to update on the miracles of my mission!
Love,
Elder Inman
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
My Week
Hey everyone,
This has been an absolutely blessed week, once again. I have to keep it super short though so I will go ahead and do the boring bullit points again. Sorry... I meant to upload some pictures to make up for it but I forgot my camera, so I will try to do that next week.
- Barbara and her great grandson were both baptised and it was one of the greatest experiences of my mission so far! A couple weeks ago I told everyone a little about the dream that she had that basicaly sealed her commitment to be baptised, but I am going to elaborate on it a little more now. We had asked her to be baptised the end of October, which she had agreed to work towards, but then she had a dream that pushed that back. She said that in her dream she was baptised in November by a man in white, but also that there were two people looking down on her and one more man in white at her head, also in the font. Most of the dream made sense so of course we pushed it back to November 6th. As we talked to her about her dream we told her that the man baptising her will be in white, as she will be, and that the two people looking down on her will be the witnessed, my companion and I. But we couldnt figure out who the other person in the font was so we just pushed it aside thinking maybe it was supposed to represent her husband who passed away years ago. The Friday before her baptism we went over with the Ward Mission Leader to discuss the finer details as well as practice what was going to happen in the font. Since she is terrified of water we all decided to have her great grandson go first, and then he would be able to watch from the side of the font. At the baptism it all went as planned until Barbara tried to go under the water and came back up before she was fully submerged and choked on water for a couple minutes. We tried again, and once more she came up short choking on water and looking a little discouraged. I said a short prayer and comforted her and her great grandson moved back into the font, at her head, to tell her she can do it. This time she went under all the way and then left the font with a huge smile on her face. Wow, that answers who the other man in the font was going to be in an amazing way!
They are both now baptised by water and fire and are very happy to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She is already preparing to enter the temple and is also getting ready for her cancer treatment with a new sense of optimism and stregth. The ward has come together to take care of both of them through the treatments and I cant imagine a greater success story. The Gospel really has changed their lives and I have never seen her so happy, even with the approaching surgery and treatments! Miracles like them are why I am out here :-)
I wish I could say so much more, but that took longer to write out them I had anticipated so I better wrap this up now. I want to thank everyone for their prayers and encouragemnt though, because I know those are helping the work progress here. I am growing a greater understanding for what is meant when we are told of the joy that comes from bringing souls unto Christ, and that is making me want to work harder and harder to find more who are prepared. The Lord is working true miracles in this area of his vinyard, and I get to witness them, and even be a part of some of them!!!
I love you all,
Elder David K Inman
This has been an absolutely blessed week, once again. I have to keep it super short though so I will go ahead and do the boring bullit points again. Sorry... I meant to upload some pictures to make up for it but I forgot my camera, so I will try to do that next week.
- Barbara and her great grandson were both baptised and it was one of the greatest experiences of my mission so far! A couple weeks ago I told everyone a little about the dream that she had that basicaly sealed her commitment to be baptised, but I am going to elaborate on it a little more now. We had asked her to be baptised the end of October, which she had agreed to work towards, but then she had a dream that pushed that back. She said that in her dream she was baptised in November by a man in white, but also that there were two people looking down on her and one more man in white at her head, also in the font. Most of the dream made sense so of course we pushed it back to November 6th. As we talked to her about her dream we told her that the man baptising her will be in white, as she will be, and that the two people looking down on her will be the witnessed, my companion and I. But we couldnt figure out who the other person in the font was so we just pushed it aside thinking maybe it was supposed to represent her husband who passed away years ago. The Friday before her baptism we went over with the Ward Mission Leader to discuss the finer details as well as practice what was going to happen in the font. Since she is terrified of water we all decided to have her great grandson go first, and then he would be able to watch from the side of the font. At the baptism it all went as planned until Barbara tried to go under the water and came back up before she was fully submerged and choked on water for a couple minutes. We tried again, and once more she came up short choking on water and looking a little discouraged. I said a short prayer and comforted her and her great grandson moved back into the font, at her head, to tell her she can do it. This time she went under all the way and then left the font with a huge smile on her face. Wow, that answers who the other man in the font was going to be in an amazing way!
They are both now baptised by water and fire and are very happy to be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She is already preparing to enter the temple and is also getting ready for her cancer treatment with a new sense of optimism and stregth. The ward has come together to take care of both of them through the treatments and I cant imagine a greater success story. The Gospel really has changed their lives and I have never seen her so happy, even with the approaching surgery and treatments! Miracles like them are why I am out here :-)
I wish I could say so much more, but that took longer to write out them I had anticipated so I better wrap this up now. I want to thank everyone for their prayers and encouragemnt though, because I know those are helping the work progress here. I am growing a greater understanding for what is meant when we are told of the joy that comes from bringing souls unto Christ, and that is making me want to work harder and harder to find more who are prepared. The Lord is working true miracles in this area of his vinyard, and I get to witness them, and even be a part of some of them!!!
I love you all,
Elder David K Inman
Monday, November 1, 2010
2 weeks in one
Note from mom:
Sorry I did not get his last week's letter up! During the week Bill and I received 2 letters from President Miller (David's mission president). One of them stated that he is being made a trainer and one said he is being made a district leader.
Letter from today;
Hey everyone,
It has been another great week in the mission field :-) Last Tuesday I picked up my new companion, Elder Krahenbuhl (Sounds like Cranbule), and we got strait to work. Much of this last week was spent doing physical service so we literally had to roll up our sleeves to get it done. I am guessing we spent 20 hours or more moving people last week, and my body ached to prove it. But we both had a lot of fun and my companion said that he is happy to see missionary work isn't just knocking doors all day. We also had the baptism of a 9 year old boy on Saturday, and we are scheduled to have Barbara and her great grandson baptised this coming Saturday. Barbara just found out that she has cancer and has to start treatments soon, but she said she will do her best to have those treatment stalled until after the baptism because she understands how important it is for her and her great grandson to make that sacred covenant. It is so amazing to see the change that has taken place in her. When I got here I was told not to bring up baptism with her because it might scare her away, and now she is pushing back cancer treatments so that she can be baptised as soon as possible. Wow :-)
The ward's excitement here continues to grow for missionary work as well, which I know will have an incredible affect on how many people will be brought to conversion in the Belen area. On Sunday Elder Krahenbuhl and I gave the 5th Sunday lesson to Relief Society and Priesthood about missionary work. I was sick so I sounded horrible the whole time, but my companion did a great job of stepping up in his new ward. The lesson went great and I hope that we were able to ease a lot of the fears many of the members had about missionary work. After we finished teaching, the ward mission leader introduced the 40 day fast to everyone. It is designed so that for 40 days strait, leading up to the 23rd of December, there will be at least one ward member fasting on each of the separate days. Everyone in the room rose their hand when asked if they support it, which means that starting next week we will have someone fasting every single day for 40 days for missionary work specifically. I am so excited to see what miracles are going to come from it!
Well we have to bring the truck in to get some work done on it so I better close this now.
I love you all,
Elder Inman
Letter from last Wednesday;
This week is going incredible. My new companion is amazing and is very excited about the work here. I dont have much time but I just wanted to let you know that we are being extremely blessed. Yesterday I brought him to meet the ward mission leader and the spirit was very strong and we all know that now is the time for the missionary work to explode in this area. I cant really think of anything I would want any other way :-) I would tell you his name but its really hard to spell and I can barely remember it right now so I will have to get back to you on that next Monday. Oh, and this weekend we have our first baptism in this area, pics later, so that just adds to the excitement.
Well I gotta get going, I just noticed that the person I am sitting next to is looking at a page with Gordon B. Hinkley on it and they dont appear to be LDS so this might be a good chance to spark up a conversation, even if it is anti she is looking up, lol.
Letter from last Monday;
Hola,
The news came on Saturday that I will be staying and Elder Thatcher will be leaving and going to Los Crusus tomorrow. I still don't know who my new companion is and won't find out until tomorrow morning. Both Elder Thatcher and I were pretty sad about him leaving but we are sure it is the Lords will so we are both excited for what ever comes next for us. He had a great good-bye from the ward and whoever comes into the area should be really happy about what they are coming into. During transfer calls I had quite a few missionary friends call me telling me that word has spread about the success in Belen and they were hoping to get sent here. Its amazing to see the change from last transfer to this one. I have been so blessed to have served here with Elder Thatcher and know that the coming transfer will continue the momentum that we were a part of building.
I had to keep this email short because Elder Thatcher has not finished packing yet. I am pretty sure I'm sounding like a broken record with how many times I say that I have to keep it short but it feels like we are always busy or running behind, which I guess is a blessing compared to the alternative. This one is just extra short :-) But I will probably be emailing tomorrow as well because my companion has not been able to email yet so hopefully I will be able to get on and give a little update of the area and of my new companion.
I love you all!!
Elder Inman
Sorry I did not get his last week's letter up! During the week Bill and I received 2 letters from President Miller (David's mission president). One of them stated that he is being made a trainer and one said he is being made a district leader.
Letter from today;
Hey everyone,
It has been another great week in the mission field :-) Last Tuesday I picked up my new companion, Elder Krahenbuhl (Sounds like Cranbule), and we got strait to work. Much of this last week was spent doing physical service so we literally had to roll up our sleeves to get it done. I am guessing we spent 20 hours or more moving people last week, and my body ached to prove it. But we both had a lot of fun and my companion said that he is happy to see missionary work isn't just knocking doors all day. We also had the baptism of a 9 year old boy on Saturday, and we are scheduled to have Barbara and her great grandson baptised this coming Saturday. Barbara just found out that she has cancer and has to start treatments soon, but she said she will do her best to have those treatment stalled until after the baptism because she understands how important it is for her and her great grandson to make that sacred covenant. It is so amazing to see the change that has taken place in her. When I got here I was told not to bring up baptism with her because it might scare her away, and now she is pushing back cancer treatments so that she can be baptised as soon as possible. Wow :-)
The ward's excitement here continues to grow for missionary work as well, which I know will have an incredible affect on how many people will be brought to conversion in the Belen area. On Sunday Elder Krahenbuhl and I gave the 5th Sunday lesson to Relief Society and Priesthood about missionary work. I was sick so I sounded horrible the whole time, but my companion did a great job of stepping up in his new ward. The lesson went great and I hope that we were able to ease a lot of the fears many of the members had about missionary work. After we finished teaching, the ward mission leader introduced the 40 day fast to everyone. It is designed so that for 40 days strait, leading up to the 23rd of December, there will be at least one ward member fasting on each of the separate days. Everyone in the room rose their hand when asked if they support it, which means that starting next week we will have someone fasting every single day for 40 days for missionary work specifically. I am so excited to see what miracles are going to come from it!
Well we have to bring the truck in to get some work done on it so I better close this now.
I love you all,
Elder Inman
Letter from last Wednesday;
This week is going incredible. My new companion is amazing and is very excited about the work here. I dont have much time but I just wanted to let you know that we are being extremely blessed. Yesterday I brought him to meet the ward mission leader and the spirit was very strong and we all know that now is the time for the missionary work to explode in this area. I cant really think of anything I would want any other way :-) I would tell you his name but its really hard to spell and I can barely remember it right now so I will have to get back to you on that next Monday. Oh, and this weekend we have our first baptism in this area, pics later, so that just adds to the excitement.
Well I gotta get going, I just noticed that the person I am sitting next to is looking at a page with Gordon B. Hinkley on it and they dont appear to be LDS so this might be a good chance to spark up a conversation, even if it is anti she is looking up, lol.
Letter from last Monday;
Hola,
The news came on Saturday that I will be staying and Elder Thatcher will be leaving and going to Los Crusus tomorrow. I still don't know who my new companion is and won't find out until tomorrow morning. Both Elder Thatcher and I were pretty sad about him leaving but we are sure it is the Lords will so we are both excited for what ever comes next for us. He had a great good-bye from the ward and whoever comes into the area should be really happy about what they are coming into. During transfer calls I had quite a few missionary friends call me telling me that word has spread about the success in Belen and they were hoping to get sent here. Its amazing to see the change from last transfer to this one. I have been so blessed to have served here with Elder Thatcher and know that the coming transfer will continue the momentum that we were a part of building.
I had to keep this email short because Elder Thatcher has not finished packing yet. I am pretty sure I'm sounding like a broken record with how many times I say that I have to keep it short but it feels like we are always busy or running behind, which I guess is a blessing compared to the alternative. This one is just extra short :-) But I will probably be emailing tomorrow as well because my companion has not been able to email yet so hopefully I will be able to get on and give a little update of the area and of my new companion.
I love you all!!
Elder Inman
Monday, October 18, 2010
Week 6
Hey everyone,
This is week six of transfers which means this Saturday we find out if we are getting transferred or not... Ahhhhh, this is always such a week of butterflies as we wait to find out where we will be for the next six weeks, and who we will be serving with. I am pretty positive both Elder Thatcher and I will be staying here, but of course it is never for sure until we get the call letting us know. I am very much hoping we are right in thinking we are staying! Well I'm going to go ahead and get started with how our week has been in Belen :-)
- In our Zone Conference a couple weeks ago, when Elder Zivick spoke (the attached picture), he recommended each missionary getting a blessing from the bishop of the ward in which he is serving to help the work progress. This is something I am wanting to continue for the rest of my mission. Elder Thatcher and I got our blessings from Bishop Hanchett here yesterday after church and it was a great experience. The blessings spoke of the unity in our companionship as well as the unity and excitement that is forming in the ward regarding missionary work. After we were done with the blessings the bishop shook our hands and said that the missionary work is going better now then it has since the ward began, and most certainly since he became bishop, and that he is very excited to see the miracles that come of it. I cant take credit for the success, or future success, here though because the ward's faith and work is the reason for it, and I'm just happy to be a part of it.
- Barbara and her great grandson came to church this Sunday and both are very excited for their approaching baptismal dates. She got two calls from ward members and a visit from the bishop encouraging her to go to church so they are definitely being embraced by the ward.
- I love it here. Its great going from an area where we were happy with a 5 lesson week, 9 lessons being our highest and the highest in the last 9 months, to an area where we are now averaging 15 lessons and we need more then one hand to count the people who are progressing and moving towards baptism. My excitement for missionary work continues to grow and the time keeps passing faster. Preparation days come and feel like an inconvenience now because I am not out teaching or talking to as many people about Christ and his gospel. Suddenly I am looking back wondering where the past few months have gone and I want to be sure the months coming are even better.
Sorry this letter is so short and uninspiring. We have another busy day ahead of us and I am super worn out so my brain is running a little more slowly then usual (hoping for a short nap today, lol). I love you and am praying for you though!
Love,
Elder Inman
This is week six of transfers which means this Saturday we find out if we are getting transferred or not... Ahhhhh, this is always such a week of butterflies as we wait to find out where we will be for the next six weeks, and who we will be serving with. I am pretty positive both Elder Thatcher and I will be staying here, but of course it is never for sure until we get the call letting us know. I am very much hoping we are right in thinking we are staying! Well I'm going to go ahead and get started with how our week has been in Belen :-)
- In our Zone Conference a couple weeks ago, when Elder Zivick spoke (the attached picture), he recommended each missionary getting a blessing from the bishop of the ward in which he is serving to help the work progress. This is something I am wanting to continue for the rest of my mission. Elder Thatcher and I got our blessings from Bishop Hanchett here yesterday after church and it was a great experience. The blessings spoke of the unity in our companionship as well as the unity and excitement that is forming in the ward regarding missionary work. After we were done with the blessings the bishop shook our hands and said that the missionary work is going better now then it has since the ward began, and most certainly since he became bishop, and that he is very excited to see the miracles that come of it. I cant take credit for the success, or future success, here though because the ward's faith and work is the reason for it, and I'm just happy to be a part of it.
- Barbara and her great grandson came to church this Sunday and both are very excited for their approaching baptismal dates. She got two calls from ward members and a visit from the bishop encouraging her to go to church so they are definitely being embraced by the ward.
- I love it here. Its great going from an area where we were happy with a 5 lesson week, 9 lessons being our highest and the highest in the last 9 months, to an area where we are now averaging 15 lessons and we need more then one hand to count the people who are progressing and moving towards baptism. My excitement for missionary work continues to grow and the time keeps passing faster. Preparation days come and feel like an inconvenience now because I am not out teaching or talking to as many people about Christ and his gospel. Suddenly I am looking back wondering where the past few months have gone and I want to be sure the months coming are even better.
Sorry this letter is so short and uninspiring. We have another busy day ahead of us and I am super worn out so my brain is running a little more slowly then usual (hoping for a short nap today, lol). I love you and am praying for you though!
Love,
Elder Inman
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Just Great
Hey Everyone,
This week has been another great one to add to the list (I would say diary but sadly I am still horrible at writing in it). I am loving my mission more and more each day, and now it is beginning to feel like it is slipping away to quickly. 8 months already?! Our apartment is finally clean, we have our area organized, and we are being extremely blessed with the people we have to teach. It is nothing short of a miracle with how well this area is doing and my companion and I are already talking about how we better not get transferred out. Just a real quick example of how the Lord is sending people to us to be taught- Last week Brother Chavez came to church. This is amazing because he is not a member and has not been to church for 32 years (or something like that). Most of his family are members, and he had taken the lessons at one time but never attended an actual meeting. Yesterday at church he said that he went out that morning to shoe his horses and as he was going over everything he had to do that day he suddenly thought 'wait, I need to go to church'. We will be meeting with him later this week to see if he is ready to take the lessons again.
This area really is white and already to harvest, and we are being so blessed for what work we have been able to do so far. I have seen faster and more exciting progress here then either of my other areas, and other missionaries who hear about it are thrown back with surprise. Barbara and her grandson are preparing for baptism on the 6th of November (she said a dream she had told her it needed to be in November), Keith (who we found tracting a couple weeks ago) is preparing to be baptised on the 20th of November, and last week we began teaching an 11 year old in a part-member family who said he wants to be baptised on the 30th of October. We also have begun teaching a lady who asked for our help moving her couch last week, and her neighbors, who are members, said they want us to teach their grandchild because he wants to be baptised. On that same street we tracted into a lady who said she wants to read the Book of Mormon and we have our first appointment with her this Wednesday. And Leon, the guy who knocked on our door during interviews with President Miller, came to church on Sunday and we should be meeting with him tonight for his first missionary lesson. We also visited a former investigator who said she just decided to start attending a church with her daughter and that since we were there it might as well be our church, and that she would like us to teach them. And to top it all off we received a promising referral this morning :-)
Wow, I have so much I want to write about, but I have to get going so I'm going to bullet point real fast. My paragraph structures in this are pretty sad anyways so I don't think anyone will mind the change to bullet points to much:
- We had Zone Conference this week and a General Authority, Elder Zivick (spelling may be off), spoke at it. It was incredible and the way he taught made me want to be a much stronger teacher.
- Our ward is moving forward with missionary work faster and stronger then I had imagined or even prayed for. The success here so far is largely due to the faith and hard work of the members in the area, and they seem as excited as we are.
- Lately I have noticed I am more in tune with the spirit and more able to follow His promptings then any other time in my life so far. I have seen so many miracles as a result of following very small promptings that at the time didn't seem important. A couple weeks ago we were working with someone who told us he wants to be active again, and he asked us for a priesthood blessing. This happens all the time, and of course we give them a blessing as asked, but this time I told him that we will give it to him the next time we come by. I wasn't sure why I said that, or even that I was following a prompting, but Yesterday I saw the result of it. We had a member of the stake presidency visit and in one of our meetings he mentioned that he knew him and wanted us to go with him to visit him. Turns out they were both baptised into the church at about the same time and were very close, but had lost touch with eachother through the years. It was a beautiful reunion and he gave the blessing that we were asked to give a week earlier and the spirit filled the room and touched the heart of everyone there. It sounds like a small thing, but miracles like that are happening on an almost daily basis. I love it!
- My companion loves the package we received from my family, and of course I love it as well.
Well this is really long and we have to go continue with our day.
I love you all!
Elder Inman
PS, thank you for all you do Batman Family!
This week has been another great one to add to the list (I would say diary but sadly I am still horrible at writing in it). I am loving my mission more and more each day, and now it is beginning to feel like it is slipping away to quickly. 8 months already?! Our apartment is finally clean, we have our area organized, and we are being extremely blessed with the people we have to teach. It is nothing short of a miracle with how well this area is doing and my companion and I are already talking about how we better not get transferred out. Just a real quick example of how the Lord is sending people to us to be taught- Last week Brother Chavez came to church. This is amazing because he is not a member and has not been to church for 32 years (or something like that). Most of his family are members, and he had taken the lessons at one time but never attended an actual meeting. Yesterday at church he said that he went out that morning to shoe his horses and as he was going over everything he had to do that day he suddenly thought 'wait, I need to go to church'. We will be meeting with him later this week to see if he is ready to take the lessons again.
This area really is white and already to harvest, and we are being so blessed for what work we have been able to do so far. I have seen faster and more exciting progress here then either of my other areas, and other missionaries who hear about it are thrown back with surprise. Barbara and her grandson are preparing for baptism on the 6th of November (she said a dream she had told her it needed to be in November), Keith (who we found tracting a couple weeks ago) is preparing to be baptised on the 20th of November, and last week we began teaching an 11 year old in a part-member family who said he wants to be baptised on the 30th of October. We also have begun teaching a lady who asked for our help moving her couch last week, and her neighbors, who are members, said they want us to teach their grandchild because he wants to be baptised. On that same street we tracted into a lady who said she wants to read the Book of Mormon and we have our first appointment with her this Wednesday. And Leon, the guy who knocked on our door during interviews with President Miller, came to church on Sunday and we should be meeting with him tonight for his first missionary lesson. We also visited a former investigator who said she just decided to start attending a church with her daughter and that since we were there it might as well be our church, and that she would like us to teach them. And to top it all off we received a promising referral this morning :-)
Wow, I have so much I want to write about, but I have to get going so I'm going to bullet point real fast. My paragraph structures in this are pretty sad anyways so I don't think anyone will mind the change to bullet points to much:
- We had Zone Conference this week and a General Authority, Elder Zivick (spelling may be off), spoke at it. It was incredible and the way he taught made me want to be a much stronger teacher.
- Our ward is moving forward with missionary work faster and stronger then I had imagined or even prayed for. The success here so far is largely due to the faith and hard work of the members in the area, and they seem as excited as we are.
- Lately I have noticed I am more in tune with the spirit and more able to follow His promptings then any other time in my life so far. I have seen so many miracles as a result of following very small promptings that at the time didn't seem important. A couple weeks ago we were working with someone who told us he wants to be active again, and he asked us for a priesthood blessing. This happens all the time, and of course we give them a blessing as asked, but this time I told him that we will give it to him the next time we come by. I wasn't sure why I said that, or even that I was following a prompting, but Yesterday I saw the result of it. We had a member of the stake presidency visit and in one of our meetings he mentioned that he knew him and wanted us to go with him to visit him. Turns out they were both baptised into the church at about the same time and were very close, but had lost touch with eachother through the years. It was a beautiful reunion and he gave the blessing that we were asked to give a week earlier and the spirit filled the room and touched the heart of everyone there. It sounds like a small thing, but miracles like that are happening on an almost daily basis. I love it!
- My companion loves the package we received from my family, and of course I love it as well.
Well this is really long and we have to go continue with our day.
I love you all!
Elder Inman
PS, thank you for all you do Batman Family!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Conference weekend
Hey Everyone,
This has been a beautiful week and one that I am very grateful for! I don't know how its possible to end one's week with inspired talks from prophets and not look back on the week with joy. There was so much said in the talks that felt like they were written for me, or for the people I am working with in this area. Plus, as a great added bonus, two of our investigators came to church for the first time and had the opportunity to hear the Prophet Thomas S. Monson speak! There is so much I want to talk about, especially concerning conference weekend, but like always have a very limited amount of time and have to be selective. One that I felt prompted to share, probably out of gratitude for such inspired parents, was by Larry R. Lawrence ( I might have the name wrong because I don't have my notebook with me, and I might get what I write a little off, lol). He spoke a lot on the need to brave and inspired parents in these latter days. There are, according to him, five big things that if applied can strengthen children and families. 1- Have a curfew and wait up for the kids to help enforce it and show your love when they return home, 2- Sleep-overs are dangerous and should be prayerfully considered before allowing them to occur, 3- If one parent feels uncomfortable about something then the other parent needs to support them, 4- Parents should hold private interviews with the children periodically, 5- Family dinner and FHE should never be scheduled over. And then in another talk, by Thomas S. Monson, it was mentioned that sports are not to be played on the Sabbath.
The reason I wanted to mention those is because as I wrote them and looked over my notes I was thrown back by the revelation my parents must have been receiving through my childhood since those are guidelines I have grown up with. So many times I have been told by friends, or companions on the mission, that my parents were being over bearing by not allowing me to miss seminary because of sports, or FHE for a friends party, or stay at a friend's house over night. I learned a while ago that I personally agree and am thankful for all of those family rules, but now a General Authority has come out in General Conference and voiced his agreement as well. Joseph Smith taught that no religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things does not, and will never, be able to build the faith necessary to enter the Celestial Kingdom. WOW right? Those guidelines that my parents had me grow up with have shown me repeatedly that nothing should come before God or my family and I have been required to sacrifice what I thought of as 'good' for what is 'best'. In a world that asks us to be away from our families so much it is wonderful to hear assurance that it is still possible to follow that timeless council. Last week I was told that my brother, Harrison, chose of his own free will to miss one of his soccer tournaments so that he could make the Saturday conference sessions. When I read that I broke down in tears knowing that my siblings are growing up in righteousness and I can be certain of their happiness and safety as well as our eternal relationship. My siblings are growing up to be better then I am, and I look forward to reading letters from Harrison as he serves his mission and tells me of the miracles worked through him. Is there anything greater then being eternal with your family in the presence of our loving Heavenly Father?
This weekend we received needed council from servants of the lord that if followed will keep up on the strait and narrow and out of the mine field of misguided worldly distractions. Carnal pleasure is and always will be bitterness, so I have decided to follow the prophet and receive peace, the promised gift of the spirit. I have not been able to write much about my week or the many miracles I have been witness to but I have loved it and look forward even more to this coming week. I am so grateful for my family, friends, mission, church leaders, Belen and the ward here, my companion, and so much more!
I love you,
Elder Inman
This has been a beautiful week and one that I am very grateful for! I don't know how its possible to end one's week with inspired talks from prophets and not look back on the week with joy. There was so much said in the talks that felt like they were written for me, or for the people I am working with in this area. Plus, as a great added bonus, two of our investigators came to church for the first time and had the opportunity to hear the Prophet Thomas S. Monson speak! There is so much I want to talk about, especially concerning conference weekend, but like always have a very limited amount of time and have to be selective. One that I felt prompted to share, probably out of gratitude for such inspired parents, was by Larry R. Lawrence ( I might have the name wrong because I don't have my notebook with me, and I might get what I write a little off, lol). He spoke a lot on the need to brave and inspired parents in these latter days. There are, according to him, five big things that if applied can strengthen children and families. 1- Have a curfew and wait up for the kids to help enforce it and show your love when they return home, 2- Sleep-overs are dangerous and should be prayerfully considered before allowing them to occur, 3- If one parent feels uncomfortable about something then the other parent needs to support them, 4- Parents should hold private interviews with the children periodically, 5- Family dinner and FHE should never be scheduled over. And then in another talk, by Thomas S. Monson, it was mentioned that sports are not to be played on the Sabbath.
The reason I wanted to mention those is because as I wrote them and looked over my notes I was thrown back by the revelation my parents must have been receiving through my childhood since those are guidelines I have grown up with. So many times I have been told by friends, or companions on the mission, that my parents were being over bearing by not allowing me to miss seminary because of sports, or FHE for a friends party, or stay at a friend's house over night. I learned a while ago that I personally agree and am thankful for all of those family rules, but now a General Authority has come out in General Conference and voiced his agreement as well. Joseph Smith taught that no religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things does not, and will never, be able to build the faith necessary to enter the Celestial Kingdom. WOW right? Those guidelines that my parents had me grow up with have shown me repeatedly that nothing should come before God or my family and I have been required to sacrifice what I thought of as 'good' for what is 'best'. In a world that asks us to be away from our families so much it is wonderful to hear assurance that it is still possible to follow that timeless council. Last week I was told that my brother, Harrison, chose of his own free will to miss one of his soccer tournaments so that he could make the Saturday conference sessions. When I read that I broke down in tears knowing that my siblings are growing up in righteousness and I can be certain of their happiness and safety as well as our eternal relationship. My siblings are growing up to be better then I am, and I look forward to reading letters from Harrison as he serves his mission and tells me of the miracles worked through him. Is there anything greater then being eternal with your family in the presence of our loving Heavenly Father?
This weekend we received needed council from servants of the lord that if followed will keep up on the strait and narrow and out of the mine field of misguided worldly distractions. Carnal pleasure is and always will be bitterness, so I have decided to follow the prophet and receive peace, the promised gift of the spirit. I have not been able to write much about my week or the many miracles I have been witness to but I have loved it and look forward even more to this coming week. I am so grateful for my family, friends, mission, church leaders, Belen and the ward here, my companion, and so much more!
I love you,
Elder Inman
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
First- I took so many pictures to finaly catch lightning. Completely worth it though :-)
Second- The breakfast I made for Elder Thatcher last week on his B-day
Third- My desk right now. Not bad for a missionary huh
Us having some fun in front of our truck on Pday :-) Today actualy
I know, I know, technically supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is not really a word but it sounded like it fit this week pretty well. This is one of the most enjoyable weeks of my mission, and I wish I had a much longer amount of time to tell you all that happened, but I don't so I will go ahead and cheat with my tabs instead of paragraphs. Here it goes :-)
- The ward is incredible here! So far anytime we have needed someone to accompany us to an appointment there have been several people available. Plus they are actually willing to work on the missionary work in the ward, which is great relief after leaving my last area. After we reported on our progress for the week in P.E.C, which is a meeting for much of the leadership in the ward, they were excited and were willing to help in ANY ways we will need it this coming week. It is such a great feeling to be working in a ward that enjoys missionary work, is proactive, and shows love for their missionaries, probably more then we deserve. Yesterday a member of the bishopric came up to Elder Thatcher and I and told us how happy he is that we are in the ward, that we are showing him what should be expected of missionaries in the future, and then put his arm around an 8 year old boy and told him that he needs to be missionaries like us someday. That is one of the greatest compliments I have received on my mission so far!
- The work is progressing at a good rate, at least for our first full week here. We have a massive list of less-active members, part-member families, and former investigators that we are trying to get in contact with, and this week we only reached a small portion of that list. From this weeks work we were able to clean up a part of this list quite a bit, and we have several more people who are willing to meet with us to build there faith and work towards re-activity, and a couple new investigators to the church. I don't feel we are doing anything special in our work, but the Lord is very richly blessing us for the work we are doing. There is still a lot to be done before this area is booming with success, but I feel very blessed with the success we have already seen.
- We were able to attend the temple last Monday and received some great blessings as a result of the spirit that exists there. There were two people who I had been praying about a lot concerning how to help them progress towards baptism, and felt I was hitting a brick wall so I asked in prayer that I would receive the answers while going through the temple. I left the temple having received revelation of what we needed to do :-) Because of that revelation one of the investigators has made it her goal to be worthy of entering the temple herself after a very powerful lesson about temples accompanied by the testimonies and teachings of a couple in the ward. We will see the result of the other one this coming week, which both my companion are extremely excited about. It is great to see the miracles the Lord expects of us happening.
- We came up with the idea of bringing dog treats around with us so that we can get to more doors without being attacked. I tried it on a tiny chiwawa yesterday and its worked perfect, so we will see what happens with a doberman, lol.
I love you all,
Elder Inman
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Hmmmmmmmmmm
Hola,
I have hardly any time, so I will make this really short and sweet. I love my area, my companion is awesome, and I know completely that this is where I am supposed to be at this time. I have felt so happy the past couple days that its getting close to ridiculous, lol. Belen is a small town of cowboys basically, but we cover quite a few small towns right now. Our area is about 20x35 miles, which is quite a change from the little 2x2 that I am used to in the city. It throws me back to memories of growing up in Rye all the time, and I am meshing really well with the people here. One of the families we are working with told me that the other missionaries didn't know who I was but they thought I would be a little city boy that couldn't help at all on the Ranch for service, but when they saw me they got excited and said they think I could out lift both of the missionaries combined and that I will fit right in. Good thing I have a strong handshake because around here that is how a lot of people measure us :-) Its a good change to be around good, honest country people who tend to be a little more hospitable at the doors, that is after we chase off the goats to even reach the door. The hard part is turning down going to rodeos or riding there horses around the ranges of hills.
The work here is pretty dead right now, but I am convinced that's just because it hasn't been worked right. There is so much potential here with the ward as well as with tracting. This coming week is going to be incredible for mission work in this area. We have one investigator, Barbara, who has progressed farther in the past week then for months before then, and we found someone else tracting who is showing good potential for moving forward. Even just this morning someone came up asking for money so we started talking to him about his situation and said that we don't have extra cash but would love to teach him how the restored gospel could help ease the burdens of his difficult life. He gave us his address and we are going to take some time out of our pday to go over and teach him.
Well I have to get going... But I love you all and am praying for you!
Elder Inman
PS, while cleaning our duplex we found a lizard and a tarantula, lol. I love it out here!
I have hardly any time, so I will make this really short and sweet. I love my area, my companion is awesome, and I know completely that this is where I am supposed to be at this time. I have felt so happy the past couple days that its getting close to ridiculous, lol. Belen is a small town of cowboys basically, but we cover quite a few small towns right now. Our area is about 20x35 miles, which is quite a change from the little 2x2 that I am used to in the city. It throws me back to memories of growing up in Rye all the time, and I am meshing really well with the people here. One of the families we are working with told me that the other missionaries didn't know who I was but they thought I would be a little city boy that couldn't help at all on the Ranch for service, but when they saw me they got excited and said they think I could out lift both of the missionaries combined and that I will fit right in. Good thing I have a strong handshake because around here that is how a lot of people measure us :-) Its a good change to be around good, honest country people who tend to be a little more hospitable at the doors, that is after we chase off the goats to even reach the door. The hard part is turning down going to rodeos or riding there horses around the ranges of hills.
The work here is pretty dead right now, but I am convinced that's just because it hasn't been worked right. There is so much potential here with the ward as well as with tracting. This coming week is going to be incredible for mission work in this area. We have one investigator, Barbara, who has progressed farther in the past week then for months before then, and we found someone else tracting who is showing good potential for moving forward. Even just this morning someone came up asking for money so we started talking to him about his situation and said that we don't have extra cash but would love to teach him how the restored gospel could help ease the burdens of his difficult life. He gave us his address and we are going to take some time out of our pday to go over and teach him.
Well I have to get going... But I love you all and am praying for you!
Elder Inman
PS, while cleaning our duplex we found a lizard and a tarantula, lol. I love it out here!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Stupefaction
Hey everyone,
I am pretty proud of my word for this week :-) The reason I used it is because we got transfer news a couple days ago and I was really surprised by it. Elder McCarroll and I were completely sure that he was getting transferred out and I was going to stay for a couple more transfers, but it turned out being the opposite. This is what we call a six week bullet in the mission. When I was receiving my transfer news the Elder telling me started off by saying that the area I'm being sent to is in need of good elders and that I will just have to work really hard and pray. Whenever they have to start with an explanation about the area it usually means its not a good thing. He told me that I am being double transferred into Belin because the missionaries who were there had severe disobedience problems and we needed to go in and regain the trust of the members and do our best to get the area up and running. When I told Elder McCarroll where I was going he started laughing out loud and said that it is one of the few areas that is more slow then where I am now. Since that time every other missionary I have told has given me about the same response.
The companion I will be getting is Elder Thatcher... Weird huh? It turns out when we took in some of the Arizona mission during our split we got an Elder Thatcher who happens to be a cousin the the Elder Thatcher I was companions with last transfer. No one knows anything about him, or even how long he has been out so I am excited to meet him. The great thing is that even though the area is considered horrible by most elders, I don't know my companion, and I am going to miss this area I am actually really excited for it. I know all transfers are inspired, but this is one that I feel comfort in the inspiration received and excitement about the work I am about to take part in. It is so incredible to see the hand of the Lord in this work, and the more I notice it the more I love being a part of it, no matter what part it is.
I love you guys,
Elder Inman
PS, from what I hear it is a truck area. That should be kinda cool.
I am pretty proud of my word for this week :-) The reason I used it is because we got transfer news a couple days ago and I was really surprised by it. Elder McCarroll and I were completely sure that he was getting transferred out and I was going to stay for a couple more transfers, but it turned out being the opposite. This is what we call a six week bullet in the mission. When I was receiving my transfer news the Elder telling me started off by saying that the area I'm being sent to is in need of good elders and that I will just have to work really hard and pray. Whenever they have to start with an explanation about the area it usually means its not a good thing. He told me that I am being double transferred into Belin because the missionaries who were there had severe disobedience problems and we needed to go in and regain the trust of the members and do our best to get the area up and running. When I told Elder McCarroll where I was going he started laughing out loud and said that it is one of the few areas that is more slow then where I am now. Since that time every other missionary I have told has given me about the same response.
The companion I will be getting is Elder Thatcher... Weird huh? It turns out when we took in some of the Arizona mission during our split we got an Elder Thatcher who happens to be a cousin the the Elder Thatcher I was companions with last transfer. No one knows anything about him, or even how long he has been out so I am excited to meet him. The great thing is that even though the area is considered horrible by most elders, I don't know my companion, and I am going to miss this area I am actually really excited for it. I know all transfers are inspired, but this is one that I feel comfort in the inspiration received and excitement about the work I am about to take part in. It is so incredible to see the hand of the Lord in this work, and the more I notice it the more I love being a part of it, no matter what part it is.
I love you guys,
Elder Inman
PS, from what I hear it is a truck area. That should be kinda cool.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Abasing
Hey everyone,
I thought I would go ahead and use a word typically found in the scriptures because when I think of my week that is a word that fits perfectly. I have been abased, and am so thankful for it. I was blessed with great success in Ventana Ranch, and I knew that it was a blessing and not solely my own hard work or obedience. However I still attributed some of the success and blessings to myself and how dedicated I thought I was, and I didn't even realize I was thinking that way until this past week when the Lord showed me that he does not need me for any of this work. It is a great blessing to be a part of it, and to be worked through, but if I wasn't here it would still be done. He has called me out here, partially, to learn and grow as a disciple but if there were no missionaries out here he could of course get the work done on his own.
My companion's foot finally healed enough to walk on it last Tuesday so we joyfully went out to work on our bikes. It seemed so fast compared to me pushing him in a wheelchair. The whole day went pretty well and we were able to get a lot accomplished and visit people we haven't been able to reach for some time now. One of the families we visited were pretty sick so we were able to comfort them and give a short lesson. Then later that night Elder McCarroll told me he was feeling a little ill and needed to go to bed early. Now it is a week later and he is still very ill and we have not been able to leave our apartment for more then a couple hours a day. As soon as he was healed from one thing something else happens and now we are going on three weeks of hardly being able to work at all.
This experience has taught me something amazing though. We have not been able to work much and yet the area is still picking up and we can see some success looming in the horizon. I don't know why we have gone through these series of unfortunate events, but I feel one of the reasons was to further teach me that this is the Lords work and not my own. If He wanted to he could do the missionary work here by himself but he is blessing me with the opportunity to be a part of it, and realizing this has helped me grow with great strides as a missionary. I love this work, and look forward to being able to spend all day out doing it. My companion is seeing a doctor soon so hopefully we will be healthy, strong, and ready to work soon.
Love,
Elder Inman
I thought I would go ahead and use a word typically found in the scriptures because when I think of my week that is a word that fits perfectly. I have been abased, and am so thankful for it. I was blessed with great success in Ventana Ranch, and I knew that it was a blessing and not solely my own hard work or obedience. However I still attributed some of the success and blessings to myself and how dedicated I thought I was, and I didn't even realize I was thinking that way until this past week when the Lord showed me that he does not need me for any of this work. It is a great blessing to be a part of it, and to be worked through, but if I wasn't here it would still be done. He has called me out here, partially, to learn and grow as a disciple but if there were no missionaries out here he could of course get the work done on his own.
My companion's foot finally healed enough to walk on it last Tuesday so we joyfully went out to work on our bikes. It seemed so fast compared to me pushing him in a wheelchair. The whole day went pretty well and we were able to get a lot accomplished and visit people we haven't been able to reach for some time now. One of the families we visited were pretty sick so we were able to comfort them and give a short lesson. Then later that night Elder McCarroll told me he was feeling a little ill and needed to go to bed early. Now it is a week later and he is still very ill and we have not been able to leave our apartment for more then a couple hours a day. As soon as he was healed from one thing something else happens and now we are going on three weeks of hardly being able to work at all.
This experience has taught me something amazing though. We have not been able to work much and yet the area is still picking up and we can see some success looming in the horizon. I don't know why we have gone through these series of unfortunate events, but I feel one of the reasons was to further teach me that this is the Lords work and not my own. If He wanted to he could do the missionary work here by himself but he is blessing me with the opportunity to be a part of it, and realizing this has helped me grow with great strides as a missionary. I love this work, and look forward to being able to spend all day out doing it. My companion is seeing a doctor soon so hopefully we will be healthy, strong, and ready to work soon.
Love,
Elder Inman
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Hola
Hey y'all,
My English is getting worse the longer I am out here, lol. Suddenly my "ing's" are starting to disappear. Now instead of sitting and doing emails I am sitt'in and doing emails. I am doing my best to keep from getting to lazy with my English but its hard work. And I found out that for the rest of this transfer at least, maybe longer, these emails will be very short because my companion has very little friends or family that emails him so sitting here while I email is hard on him. Depending on what happens in two weeks with transfers will decide how long these need to be kept short.
I will go ahead and tell all of you some great news though before I get going. Last Sunday Pedro came to church and we got to meet him. He has been an eternal investigator for the past two years but for the past 7-8 months had disappeared and no missionaries have seen him. We met with him last week and talked about his concerns and why he has not been baptised and the spirit was very strong. He knows everything that he has been taught is true, stopped drinking, no longer hangs out with his friends that were bad influences, and enjoys church, but it sounds like he was worried others did not really WANT him to be baptised. After our talk with him he agreed to prepare for baptism on the 18th of next month! It is such a miracle. Not only is it the first baptism is way over a year, but Pedro is finally going to be able to enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and in a year he will be able to receive the blessings of the temple. WOW :-)
Well I need to get going, but I love you all and you are in my prayers,
Love,
Elder Inman
My English is getting worse the longer I am out here, lol. Suddenly my "ing's" are starting to disappear. Now instead of sitting and doing emails I am sitt'in and doing emails. I am doing my best to keep from getting to lazy with my English but its hard work. And I found out that for the rest of this transfer at least, maybe longer, these emails will be very short because my companion has very little friends or family that emails him so sitting here while I email is hard on him. Depending on what happens in two weeks with transfers will decide how long these need to be kept short.
I will go ahead and tell all of you some great news though before I get going. Last Sunday Pedro came to church and we got to meet him. He has been an eternal investigator for the past two years but for the past 7-8 months had disappeared and no missionaries have seen him. We met with him last week and talked about his concerns and why he has not been baptised and the spirit was very strong. He knows everything that he has been taught is true, stopped drinking, no longer hangs out with his friends that were bad influences, and enjoys church, but it sounds like he was worried others did not really WANT him to be baptised. After our talk with him he agreed to prepare for baptism on the 18th of next month! It is such a miracle. Not only is it the first baptism is way over a year, but Pedro is finally going to be able to enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and in a year he will be able to receive the blessings of the temple. WOW :-)
Well I need to get going, but I love you all and you are in my prayers,
Love,
Elder Inman
Monday, August 23, 2010
Amelioration
Cool word this week huh :-)
For those who do not know what amelioration means, since I didn't until I was told, it means to grow or accelerate. The area still has not grown very much but because of some events that have transpired this week I have personally grown about as much as I have any other week of my mission, if not more. It is amazing how trials and tribulations can be such a wonderful thing, and I am beginning to be thankful for them (not that I want too much more or anything). I will go ahead and give a quick run down of last week and then hopefully explain what I mean a little better.
As most of you who read this know, my second transfer with my trainer was spent inside for a large majority of the time because of his ankle injury which resulted in extensive surgery after his return home a couple weeks after. That transfer was not the most productive in the normal missionary sense, however I was blessed to grow in patience and gospel knowledge during this time, and then the following transfer the area exploded and we were blessed with many people who accepted the covenant of baptism. It looks like that may be the case for some of this transfer as well.
On Tuesday of last week my companion was injured. There is no cool story to explain how it happened though, he was just getting ready for the day and hit the ball of his foot on some weights as he was trying to step over them. When I came out a few minutes later he was sitting reclined in a chair and it looked like a golf ball was glued to the bottom of his foot because the swelling had already gotten so bad. He got up to go get a mirror to see it better and as soon as he put pressure on that foot he tumbled and cringed, so he got back on the chair and elevated his foot while he tried to deal with the constant pain. We were sure it was broken so we called some other missionaries over to help with a blessing, and they were positive it was broken as well. The worst part about a broken foot for him is that since he is so close to going home anyway, 21 months, they will just send him home early to have it taken care of and he wouldn't be able to come back.
We gathered around him to perform the blessing and were amazed to be part of a modern day miracle. I performed the blessing and in the middle of it I felt prompted to tell him that he would not be going home because there are still people in this mission who need him. I didn't want to say it though because I knew it was broken and was afraid it was my own mind trying to tell him he would stay and not the spirit, so I continued the blessing trying to get around it. The spirit gave me the same prompting several times though so finally I spoke the words I knew were needed and ended the blessing in the name of Jesus Christ. I didn't know what it meant but we all knew he would not be going home early. When we finally got him to the emergency room both doctors told him it was pretty bad and most likely broken so we were not sure how the blessing was going to come into affect. Then the x-ray came in and it turns out there are no visible breaks or fractures and that he will just need to be in a wheel chair or crutches for 10 days to 3 weeks. Later when we were discussing it we came to the firm belief that his foot had been broken but was healed through the power of the priesthood.
So he is not going home :-) But, our work is still very limited because of his injury since even with me pushing him in a wheelchair there is only so much he can do before the throbbing pain causes him to need a break at our apartment. After a couple days of very little work and being stuck in doors for so long I began to get a little down. Thoughts of 'why' began creeping into my mind. Why do my companions get hurt so often to the point of not being able to work? Why am I usually put with missionaries who are at the end of their mission and enjoy talking about their home plans so much? Why am I stuck in a completely dead area where there have been minimal baptisms since it opened 10 years ago? Why is my family having financial struggles while I am serving as a missionary? Why, why, why so many times over.
Then I was blessed to read exactly what I needed. In my personal study I randomly decided to open up in the bible dictionary and read about King David. There was a small part that told how all his trials in his youth, which dwarf my own trials, prepared him for the throne later in life. When I read this all of the scriptures and talks I have read about trials came flooding into my mind and my heart was changed through this experience. Each of us are preparing for a throne in the Celestial Kingdom which should be our top goal in life, and that is not possible without trials. Joseph Smith said that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things will never build the faith needed to reach exaltation, and he also counselled to be thankful for any trials we are "blessed with". What I am going through now is not only preparing me for the rest of my mission but also for everything after. How can I expect to be a righteous husband, father, and friend when I get back if I do not accept every trial out here with thanks and vigor? According to Bruce R. McConkie we cannot receive exaltation if we are not able to abide by the laws of consecration and sacrifice, so if I shurk any callings I have right now and do not devote myself completely, despite anything else, how can I honestly say I am willing to live those two laws? Realizing all of this and understanding it had a huge impact on me and I feel very grateful that my Father in Heaven has trusted me enough to give me these trials right now, because he will never give me anything I cannot handle. Greater trials means that I am growing and am prepared for greater blessings as well.
Of course there is so much more I want to say but my time is running short and this entry is already really long . Before I get off there is just one quick story I wanted to tell you about the converting power of the Book of Mormon. Our elders quorum president, Brother Hawkins, told this to us yesterday. He said that someone he is working with had some questions about the church so he decided to give him a Book of Mormon to answer those questions (such an incredible member missionary). His friend has been reading it every morning with breakfast for some time now, and has continued to come to him with questions. A couple weeks ago he came up to Brother Hawkins and told him that the Book of Mormon is 'ruining his life, or at least changing it'. He said that since he has been of age he has had a subscription to Playboy, but when it came time to renew it he just couldn't do it and now has a closet full of those magazines he needs to get trash. He also said that he loves going to baseball games and every time he does he grabs a score card and a beer, but this last time he couldn't force himself to buy the beer. He is not a member of the church, and is not even meeting with the missionaries, but the Book of Mormon is changing his life because he continues to study it and pray about it. That can and will happen to anyone who is willing to read from its powerful pages, and I promise it will bring joy to anyone that takes that sacred challenge.
Love,
Elder Inman
For those who do not know what amelioration means, since I didn't until I was told, it means to grow or accelerate. The area still has not grown very much but because of some events that have transpired this week I have personally grown about as much as I have any other week of my mission, if not more. It is amazing how trials and tribulations can be such a wonderful thing, and I am beginning to be thankful for them (not that I want too much more or anything). I will go ahead and give a quick run down of last week and then hopefully explain what I mean a little better.
As most of you who read this know, my second transfer with my trainer was spent inside for a large majority of the time because of his ankle injury which resulted in extensive surgery after his return home a couple weeks after. That transfer was not the most productive in the normal missionary sense, however I was blessed to grow in patience and gospel knowledge during this time, and then the following transfer the area exploded and we were blessed with many people who accepted the covenant of baptism. It looks like that may be the case for some of this transfer as well.
On Tuesday of last week my companion was injured. There is no cool story to explain how it happened though, he was just getting ready for the day and hit the ball of his foot on some weights as he was trying to step over them. When I came out a few minutes later he was sitting reclined in a chair and it looked like a golf ball was glued to the bottom of his foot because the swelling had already gotten so bad. He got up to go get a mirror to see it better and as soon as he put pressure on that foot he tumbled and cringed, so he got back on the chair and elevated his foot while he tried to deal with the constant pain. We were sure it was broken so we called some other missionaries over to help with a blessing, and they were positive it was broken as well. The worst part about a broken foot for him is that since he is so close to going home anyway, 21 months, they will just send him home early to have it taken care of and he wouldn't be able to come back.
We gathered around him to perform the blessing and were amazed to be part of a modern day miracle. I performed the blessing and in the middle of it I felt prompted to tell him that he would not be going home because there are still people in this mission who need him. I didn't want to say it though because I knew it was broken and was afraid it was my own mind trying to tell him he would stay and not the spirit, so I continued the blessing trying to get around it. The spirit gave me the same prompting several times though so finally I spoke the words I knew were needed and ended the blessing in the name of Jesus Christ. I didn't know what it meant but we all knew he would not be going home early. When we finally got him to the emergency room both doctors told him it was pretty bad and most likely broken so we were not sure how the blessing was going to come into affect. Then the x-ray came in and it turns out there are no visible breaks or fractures and that he will just need to be in a wheel chair or crutches for 10 days to 3 weeks. Later when we were discussing it we came to the firm belief that his foot had been broken but was healed through the power of the priesthood.
So he is not going home :-) But, our work is still very limited because of his injury since even with me pushing him in a wheelchair there is only so much he can do before the throbbing pain causes him to need a break at our apartment. After a couple days of very little work and being stuck in doors for so long I began to get a little down. Thoughts of 'why' began creeping into my mind. Why do my companions get hurt so often to the point of not being able to work? Why am I usually put with missionaries who are at the end of their mission and enjoy talking about their home plans so much? Why am I stuck in a completely dead area where there have been minimal baptisms since it opened 10 years ago? Why is my family having financial struggles while I am serving as a missionary? Why, why, why so many times over.
Then I was blessed to read exactly what I needed. In my personal study I randomly decided to open up in the bible dictionary and read about King David. There was a small part that told how all his trials in his youth, which dwarf my own trials, prepared him for the throne later in life. When I read this all of the scriptures and talks I have read about trials came flooding into my mind and my heart was changed through this experience. Each of us are preparing for a throne in the Celestial Kingdom which should be our top goal in life, and that is not possible without trials. Joseph Smith said that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things will never build the faith needed to reach exaltation, and he also counselled to be thankful for any trials we are "blessed with". What I am going through now is not only preparing me for the rest of my mission but also for everything after. How can I expect to be a righteous husband, father, and friend when I get back if I do not accept every trial out here with thanks and vigor? According to Bruce R. McConkie we cannot receive exaltation if we are not able to abide by the laws of consecration and sacrifice, so if I shurk any callings I have right now and do not devote myself completely, despite anything else, how can I honestly say I am willing to live those two laws? Realizing all of this and understanding it had a huge impact on me and I feel very grateful that my Father in Heaven has trusted me enough to give me these trials right now, because he will never give me anything I cannot handle. Greater trials means that I am growing and am prepared for greater blessings as well.
Of course there is so much more I want to say but my time is running short and this entry is already really long . Before I get off there is just one quick story I wanted to tell you about the converting power of the Book of Mormon. Our elders quorum president, Brother Hawkins, told this to us yesterday. He said that someone he is working with had some questions about the church so he decided to give him a Book of Mormon to answer those questions (such an incredible member missionary). His friend has been reading it every morning with breakfast for some time now, and has continued to come to him with questions. A couple weeks ago he came up to Brother Hawkins and told him that the Book of Mormon is 'ruining his life, or at least changing it'. He said that since he has been of age he has had a subscription to Playboy, but when it came time to renew it he just couldn't do it and now has a closet full of those magazines he needs to get trash. He also said that he loves going to baseball games and every time he does he grabs a score card and a beer, but this last time he couldn't force himself to buy the beer. He is not a member of the church, and is not even meeting with the missionaries, but the Book of Mormon is changing his life because he continues to study it and pray about it. That can and will happen to anyone who is willing to read from its powerful pages, and I promise it will bring joy to anyone that takes that sacred challenge.
Love,
Elder Inman
Monday, August 9, 2010
Short
Hola,
I do not have much time to email in my new area because our schedule revolves around the bus, so as long as I am in Eldorado my emails will most likely be much shorter. This has been an interesting first week however, so I hope I can still fit in enough to show what my new area is like.
- My new companion and I are getting along pretty well, just not as well as prior companions and I. When we are not out working, times like lunch and at the end of the day, we get along great. We have already had a lot of really fun conversations and met a couple families in the ward who seem pretty cool, but then for some reason we tend to get a little heated when we are actually out working. I feel he is a little pessimistic much of the time, but he keeps saying that I am overly optimistic and unrealistic because I firmly believe this area can pick up and be very successful while he thinks it has a chance of being shut down soon. But I am learning a lot of patience and also am developing far greater humility since I am having to learn to not argue and just let things slide off my back. I think this is going to be a great transfer, or couple of transfers, and am excited to see how I learn and grow as well as how the area changes. He is going home in 4.5 months so there is a possibility I will end up being with him until that time so I need to just push my pride out of the way and enjoy it.
- The rumors I heard about the area being dead are very true. For a long time now the average amount of lessons per week, mostly to less actives, are 4-5 and as of right now we do not have a single investigator. It is also a very small area full of wealthy people so tracting is even less effective then I am used to, and the ward doesn't even have the ward mission plan up and running yet, which is one of the reasons this area might be closed eventually. However I know we are here for a reason, I am just unsure of the reason right now. We have already begun trying to get the ward more excited though, and we are beginning the program we used in Ventana to get the ward excited about missionary work. I am confident this area will improve, but we could still use all the prayers you would like to give us.
- I am happy to report that being in a biking area is actually pretty fun. To my surprise I am still able to out bike my companion, largely due to me having a much better bike, and it feels great to get so much exercise each day. I am told the excitement of biking wears off, but I love it right now.
Well I am already about out of time so I have to go ahead and sign off. I hope all of you are doing great though and I am still sending many prayers your way.
Love,
Elder Inman
I do not have much time to email in my new area because our schedule revolves around the bus, so as long as I am in Eldorado my emails will most likely be much shorter. This has been an interesting first week however, so I hope I can still fit in enough to show what my new area is like.
- My new companion and I are getting along pretty well, just not as well as prior companions and I. When we are not out working, times like lunch and at the end of the day, we get along great. We have already had a lot of really fun conversations and met a couple families in the ward who seem pretty cool, but then for some reason we tend to get a little heated when we are actually out working. I feel he is a little pessimistic much of the time, but he keeps saying that I am overly optimistic and unrealistic because I firmly believe this area can pick up and be very successful while he thinks it has a chance of being shut down soon. But I am learning a lot of patience and also am developing far greater humility since I am having to learn to not argue and just let things slide off my back. I think this is going to be a great transfer, or couple of transfers, and am excited to see how I learn and grow as well as how the area changes. He is going home in 4.5 months so there is a possibility I will end up being with him until that time so I need to just push my pride out of the way and enjoy it.
- The rumors I heard about the area being dead are very true. For a long time now the average amount of lessons per week, mostly to less actives, are 4-5 and as of right now we do not have a single investigator. It is also a very small area full of wealthy people so tracting is even less effective then I am used to, and the ward doesn't even have the ward mission plan up and running yet, which is one of the reasons this area might be closed eventually. However I know we are here for a reason, I am just unsure of the reason right now. We have already begun trying to get the ward more excited though, and we are beginning the program we used in Ventana to get the ward excited about missionary work. I am confident this area will improve, but we could still use all the prayers you would like to give us.
- I am happy to report that being in a biking area is actually pretty fun. To my surprise I am still able to out bike my companion, largely due to me having a much better bike, and it feels great to get so much exercise each day. I am told the excitement of biking wears off, but I love it right now.
Well I am already about out of time so I have to go ahead and sign off. I hope all of you are doing great though and I am still sending many prayers your way.
Love,
Elder Inman
Monday, August 2, 2010
Transpose
Sam, Elder Inman and Elder Thatcher
The really big group is the surprise going away dinner for me and of Course my comp is in there.
The Reitz and me, one of my fave fams
Group pic is my district this last trans(....I'm really wondering about some of the style choices...)
The Haughts and me, another fave fam
- I am being transferred... We got transfer news on Saturday night, and as we were walking to our apartment my companion jokingly said that I will be sent to Eldorado, which is north east Albuquerque.
So finally we got the call about our transfer news and I am being sent to Eldorado, a biking area, with my new companion Elder McCarroll. I was crushed and decided to splurge with some ice-cream and then went strait to bed after praying for the strength to go into the companionship with excitement and an open mind. The next day, of course, was the Sabbath and during testimony meeting the spirit filled me and it was confirmed that the assignment I had received really is inspired and it will help me grow into a better missionary and there are people who need our companionship to grow closer to Christ. It is so much easier to say I have faith when everything is going great, but my faith has grown so much more through a trial as small as this. I am beginning to understand what Joseph Smith Jr meant when he said to be thankful for trials.
- During testimonies Jeremy and his friends who brought him into the church, Brendan, stood up and bore beautiful testimonies. Jeremy testified of the truthfulness of the gospel and about the trials he has gone through because of the severe opposition coming from his family. Last week his Uncle came up to him and handed him some papers for him to sign saying that he will be re baptized Catholic because of his mistake being baptized LDS. Jeremy took the papers and threw them away in front of his uncle and walked away. He said that he felt fine at the time but then later broke down crying because of the pressure he has been receiving. Please say a prayer for him. I know he will be just fine because of his incredible faith, but of course he could still use some prayers.
- Yesterday was my last day with the Ventana Ranch ward as a whole, and it was incredible. It was announced at the pulpit that I was leaving so right after sacrament meeting I was flooded with people saying goodbye and telling me how much they have loved having me in the ward. I felt so much love it surprised me, and it was extremely difficult so say goodbye to everyone, especially as people were crying and kids were running after our car yelling for me to stay. I love this ward so much! The Chavez family invited us over for dinner so we went over at about 5pm last night, and were surprised because decorations were up all over the place, and several tables were set up. They have a lot of kids but not near as many as the chairs that were set up, so we were a little confused. Then about five minutes later people started pouring in and I realized they had set it all up as a going away dinner for me. I had to hold in the tears as I left there realizing I wont be able to see these people I care about so much for at least a couple years.
- And just a real fast side note. This last week I was on an exchange with a brand new missionary, Elder Kamhout. We had a great day of tracting and visiting people on bikes and then right before dinner we had to drive over to an appointment. Since it was his area he drove but he was pretty nervous because he didn't get his license until just 4 months before his mission and he was a pretty bad driver. He glanced into his mirror to change lanes and didn't see the car coming up because it was in his blind stop, then pulled very quickly right into the car. The other person's car was pretty beat up, and ours didn't look great either, but we were blessed because no one was injured. It was a pretty interesting day, and a sad way to break him into the mission life. He is still doing great though.
Well I have to get going so I can say bye to more people and get my packing finished. Its amazing how much STUFF I can accumulate with 6 months in an area. Even though my new area is pretty sad sounding right now I am looking forward to seeing the changes that will take place in it and am already hoping for another 6 month area, at least. I love my mission so much!
Love,
Elder Inman
Monday, July 26, 2010
Vicissitude
(These pictures came with Elder Inman's email last week, I just forgot to post them)
Hey everyone, fun word for this week huh?
This will be a short letter this week because I have a lot to get done today and am sore and not wanting to do much typing anyway. I'll give a fast re-cap on my week and then explain why I used vicissitude as my weekly title.
- The baptism of C.H. was held this Saturday and it was beautiful! Her father, just recently baptized, was the one doing the actual baptism and I think his excitement matched his daughters. Two days before the baptism was held we got a call from him letting us know that he dislocated his left shoulder at work, but still wanted to do the baptism if at all possible. So, he still did the baptism, with the help of his father in law with getting her back up out of the water. They are becoming an eternal family and it is one of the greatest things I have ever been part of. Seeing this incredible family taking steps towards eternity makes me think more and more about how blessed I am to be a part of a family sealed for eternity, knowing that the people I love most will be with me for eternity. I can't imagine being without the joy that comes from the knowledge that my life with my family is perpetuated beyond the grave.
- J.P. came out with Elder Thatcher and I again on Sunday to go door to door and work as a missionary. We took him tracting for about an hour and we all had a lot of fun. The first door we knocked on ended up being a member, which we had a good laugh about, and then from there it was tracting as usual, which of course isn't a bad thing. He helped us teach a couple lessons and did a great job at inviting the spirits into their homes.
- On Sunday we were able to meet A.S. at church. He said that it has been 15 years since he has attended any church, that he grew up catholic, and he is wanting the peace that come from growing closer to God. We stayed with him through all of church explaining everything as we went along and he really seemed to enjoy it. Lots of other members came up and introduced themselves and welcomed him to church, and our dinner on Wednesday even invited him over to dinner with us. I am so excited to get to know him better and help bring the joy of the restored gospel into his life. Its incredible to see that God really is preparing people to receive this message and that as long as we are obedient and in tune with the spirit we will be brought in contact with one another somehow.
- Our program that we have started in this ward with teaching families and building member trust is already starting to bring forth wonderful fruits! We already had quite a bit of member trust in this ward before, but it is being strengthened and the ward is growing even more excited about missionary work. Members are coming up randomly telling us they are trying to talk to neighbors and friends, or telling us stories about their efforts so far. In separate church meetings our efforts are being brought up, and the ward is starting to encourage each other without our promptings. Families are hearing about the family mission plan and thinking ahead of what they will do for it before we even go to their home to present it. Just last week we met with a family to go over it and they told us that they have talked to their neighbor already and they are wanting to meet with the missionaries. We are meeting with them for the first lesson tonight! Its so exciting to see everyone's excitement and enthusiasm for the work, and I know this area will be richly blessed for it, and that many more will be able to enjoy the blessings of the gospel. Soon we may even have to split the ward :-)
- I got some really fun letter from Harrison, Eve, and Aurora up in Alaska! I loved reading them and am so proud of how they are growing up. It helps to have incredible parents, but I like to think I helped a little too, lol.
This is longer then I had anticipated, but as soon as I begin writing I get excited and just keep wanting to say more. So Ill give a quick explanation for the title and then get going. vicissitude means change, and this mission is in the middle of a lot of that because of the mission President change. Lately there have been some major changes that can be a little difficult for us as missionaries to institute, and many missionaries have begun murmuring because of it. When I first heard about the changes I wanted to murmur as well, but decided instead to pray for the strength to follow. Since then I have had several times when I want to complain or question, but because of my decision to follow based on faith I have been very blessed. I look forward to seeing what changes follow, and even more what blessings will come as a result. I am constantly being humbled by the realization that I don't know as much as I like to think I do, and am learning better how to rely on God. My mission continues to become a greater and greater blessing.
Love,
Elder Inman
Monday, July 19, 2010
Debilitated
Good morning everyone,
The title very much matches how I felt much of this week... I had a great birthday but near the end of the day I started feeling a little more tired then usual, and my throat was starting to ache a little. I think it is because I have been eating much healthier lately and then I felt to bad turning down all the cake for my birthday so it shocked my body, yuck. I ended up getting a really bad cold and was not able to go more then 15 minutes at a time without having to blow my nose, so I was bed ridden for a couple days. I still forced myself to get up and look excited for our appointments but was unable to do much more then that for a while. When we did have appointments I was blessed with greater strength, but then as soon as we were done my body would basically shut down. Not to much fun huh. But even with all that gross sickness plaguing me this week ended up being another incredible week as a missionary and I love looking back on it. So here is how it went:
(I was told to not put full names because of privacy, but I'm sure the message will still get across)
- I want to start off talking about Jeremy because I am so excited about his progression and excitement with the gospel. Oops, he will now be J, lol(great start to this whole privacy thing). First off, earlier this week when we were meeting with him he informed me that he found me on Facebook, which led to him looking at my blog and reading all about himself, so it feels weird writing this and knowing that he will probably read it soon. As always the appointment with him went great and the spirit was very strong with him asking great questions and bearing testimony. Then on Saturday he called and asked us if he could go out with us on Sunday and see what its like to be a missionary, and that it would make his day if he could. Of course we readily excepted and let our dinner appointment know that we would have him with us, which they were also excited about. He stayed with us all day as we went to appointments, met up with missed appointments, tried potentials, and talked with random people on the sidewalks. We had some tracting scheduled in as well but more people let us in then expected so we ended up running late to dinner as it was. He will still get to try it though since he wants to come out with us next Sunday as well, and he is also coming along with certain appointments this week.
The day ended perfectly with our last appointments, which was with the Healy's ( Now the HLY's?). We went in and just talked with them for a little while and Jeremy got to know them a little better. They HLY's are already asking about senior missions! Then a little while into it we started the lesson with a prayer and I turned to J and, without prior warning, asked him to teach us about charity and gave his the chapter in PMG to work from. I thought he would do well because of how strong his faith is, but to my surprise he did an incredible job. We all opened up to chapter 7 of Moroni and he read the verse about charity for the first time and then taught by the spirit what it is and how to gain it as a spiritual gift. It was such an uplifting and exciting experience. Not only did J teach like a well prepared missionary, but the HLY's in return bore strong testimony and taught in return. They also conversed about their conversion process, since both are new to the church, and talked about the trial both have of family being very against the church. J with all of his family basically and the HLY's with his mom. Being able to see people come into the gospel and begin teaching with power shortly after, with the expectation of serving missions, is such an incredible blessing!
- There is a new family that moved into the ward, and we had a great lesson with them a couple days ago. The only reason I'm writing about them is because they have kids, 4 and 6, who already have 14 scriptures memorized! I just thought that was incredible...
- I also got some great presents for my birthday this week :-) Getting more Gold Toe socks was great, thank family! Thank you as well for everything else, I am very much enjoying the treats, and sleep even better on my new silk pillow case, but I may like all the pictures the best. Also, Brenna sent me a really fun gift that many missionaries out here have enjoyed so far! Thank you so much to everyone that sent me letters as well! I got great letters from Mom, Danni, Ashley, Grandma Angel, Grandparents all the way up in Alaska, and the Radfords, and lots of fun emails.
There is so much more to say, and this is a pretty sad looking letter, but with all the b-day emails I dont have enough time to write more. Have a great week, and find someone to share a piece of the gospel with!
Love,
Elder Inman
The title very much matches how I felt much of this week... I had a great birthday but near the end of the day I started feeling a little more tired then usual, and my throat was starting to ache a little. I think it is because I have been eating much healthier lately and then I felt to bad turning down all the cake for my birthday so it shocked my body, yuck. I ended up getting a really bad cold and was not able to go more then 15 minutes at a time without having to blow my nose, so I was bed ridden for a couple days. I still forced myself to get up and look excited for our appointments but was unable to do much more then that for a while. When we did have appointments I was blessed with greater strength, but then as soon as we were done my body would basically shut down. Not to much fun huh. But even with all that gross sickness plaguing me this week ended up being another incredible week as a missionary and I love looking back on it. So here is how it went:
(I was told to not put full names because of privacy, but I'm sure the message will still get across)
- I want to start off talking about Jeremy because I am so excited about his progression and excitement with the gospel. Oops, he will now be J, lol(great start to this whole privacy thing). First off, earlier this week when we were meeting with him he informed me that he found me on Facebook, which led to him looking at my blog and reading all about himself, so it feels weird writing this and knowing that he will probably read it soon. As always the appointment with him went great and the spirit was very strong with him asking great questions and bearing testimony. Then on Saturday he called and asked us if he could go out with us on Sunday and see what its like to be a missionary, and that it would make his day if he could. Of course we readily excepted and let our dinner appointment know that we would have him with us, which they were also excited about. He stayed with us all day as we went to appointments, met up with missed appointments, tried potentials, and talked with random people on the sidewalks. We had some tracting scheduled in as well but more people let us in then expected so we ended up running late to dinner as it was. He will still get to try it though since he wants to come out with us next Sunday as well, and he is also coming along with certain appointments this week.
The day ended perfectly with our last appointments, which was with the Healy's ( Now the HLY's?). We went in and just talked with them for a little while and Jeremy got to know them a little better. They HLY's are already asking about senior missions! Then a little while into it we started the lesson with a prayer and I turned to J and, without prior warning, asked him to teach us about charity and gave his the chapter in PMG to work from. I thought he would do well because of how strong his faith is, but to my surprise he did an incredible job. We all opened up to chapter 7 of Moroni and he read the verse about charity for the first time and then taught by the spirit what it is and how to gain it as a spiritual gift. It was such an uplifting and exciting experience. Not only did J teach like a well prepared missionary, but the HLY's in return bore strong testimony and taught in return. They also conversed about their conversion process, since both are new to the church, and talked about the trial both have of family being very against the church. J with all of his family basically and the HLY's with his mom. Being able to see people come into the gospel and begin teaching with power shortly after, with the expectation of serving missions, is such an incredible blessing!
- There is a new family that moved into the ward, and we had a great lesson with them a couple days ago. The only reason I'm writing about them is because they have kids, 4 and 6, who already have 14 scriptures memorized! I just thought that was incredible...
- I also got some great presents for my birthday this week :-) Getting more Gold Toe socks was great, thank family! Thank you as well for everything else, I am very much enjoying the treats, and sleep even better on my new silk pillow case, but I may like all the pictures the best. Also, Brenna sent me a really fun gift that many missionaries out here have enjoyed so far! Thank you so much to everyone that sent me letters as well! I got great letters from Mom, Danni, Ashley, Grandma Angel, Grandparents all the way up in Alaska, and the Radfords, and lots of fun emails.
There is so much more to say, and this is a pretty sad looking letter, but with all the b-day emails I dont have enough time to write more. Have a great week, and find someone to share a piece of the gospel with!
Love,
Elder Inman
Monday, July 12, 2010
Feliz Cumpleaños
Hola everyone,
The title this week is a little self centered but I happen to enjoy my birthdays so I feel just fine having that there. This week has been so great and I have become even more thankful that I am able to be out here on my mission. Here it goes:
- I am told that holidays on the mission are a little bit of a bummer because we always have to be in early and we cant really afford to buy anything special to celebrate with, and that is partially right looking back at the 4th. But, even though I wasn't able to celebrate the normal way I loved sitting on my porch reading the Book of Mormon and hearing fireworks in the distance. It really was a beautiful night and I'm glad I was here for it. I'm pretty sure I am going to love birthdays out here though, especially with how long I have been in this ward and how well everyone knows and likes me. Me and my comp are constantly being taken out for lunch and dinner and there are so many families who are making me cake to celebrate with. I am going to have to work out extra hard this coming week just to make sure I don't blow up like a balloon, but I have felt so much love from the ward. Just the other night I had a dream that I spent all two years of my mission here, and I didn't want to leave. I woke up depressed because I felt like my mission is already going by to quickly and I wanted it to slow down a little.
- Even better news then my birthday is how well the baptism of Jeremy Pescetti went on Saturday! He is such a strong young man and he continually impresses me with his faith and determination to do what is right, considering none of his family supported him and not a single member of his family came to the baptism. Elder Thatcher and I arrived a little over an hour early to set everything up and fill the font and even at that time I felt the spirit strongly so I knew that the baptism was going to be one to remember. By the time the baptism actually started we had to set up more chairs and there was barely walking room because so many people came to support him, including a very large amount of youth his age from other wards that came. The whole baptism was a beautiful experience with Brendan, Jeremy's friend, doing the baptism and other friends from church giving very heart felt talks and testimony. Right after the baptism Brendan's family took the family, Jeremy, and us out to eat at Outback Steakhouse. They handed out at least 10 of our cards for the Book of Mormon and then Jeremy was given free desert because the owner is a member and wanted to congratulate him. That spirit carried over when yesterday both he and brother Healy were confirmed members of the church and given the Holy Ghost.
- The work here is doing great. We are having a little trouble keeping a good teaching pool right now because so much of our time is now spent teaching new member lessons, but I guess that is a good problem to have. We are working very hard on following the spirit and working more effectively so we have tried to limit tracting to no more then an hour a day if we can help it. As we were studying we came across a section that talked about having an open house so we have taken that idea and are on a full run ahead now. It is schedule for Aug 29th and we are hoping and praying that we have a good turn out of members with their friends so that we can start getting more member referrals since that is one of the most effective ways of bringing others into the Gospel. We are now starting member lessons where we go into every families home in our ward and give a lesson about missionary work and we help them make a family mission plan, including inviting someone to the open house. We are already seeing good results from this. In fact, after Jeremy's baptism the Stake Presidency took me and my companion into a separate room and asked us why the work is going so well in our area because they want others to catch the fire. He quizzed us for information on how to find and teach more effectively for about 10 minutes and then let us go back to mingle with everyone who was still around after the baptism. I know I am not the reason so many people are coming into the waters of baptism, but I am so thankful that I am worthy to be worked through by a loving Heavenly Father, because being a part of this work has been one of the greatest blessings of my life.
(There is a lot to write about this week)
- A few days ago I got a call from one of the members in my ward letting me know that they had my scripture case and my camera. I was so excited that we drove over there right after our appointment to pick it up, and I thought it was a joke they were playing on me when they handed me it because my scriptures weren't in the case. They said that a friend of theirs found it as they were jogging on day and found it that it was a missionaries because of the pictures, so they gave it to this family because she knew she was a Mormon from work. The weird thing is that the scripture case only had my camera and not the scriptures which is way different then I thought it would turn out. Who takes scriptures and leaves a nice camera? This is still a great blessing to have my camera back, but just a little confusing.
- Our new Mission President has already been making changes in the mission and I am excited to see the effects. One of those changes is that each missionary has to prepare a 10 minute talk weekly with a memorized scripture so that if they ward ever needs to call on us to speak we are ready. Along with this we also have to bear our testimony in front of the ward every fast and testimony meeting, the first being two weeks ago. I felt the spirit strongly during the meeting but didn't think anything special had happened until we were at a members family for dinner, the Williamsons. They are a great family and very strong in the church. She actually didn't join until a couple years after marriage but is now very active. Bro. Williamson has tried to convince her to go on a couples mission once all their kids move out for the past couple years with no success, but she said that as she was listening to my testimony the spirit took over and told her that she needs to go on a mission. She doesn't remember anything I said, but testimony allowed the spirit to speak to her heart and both of them are now excited for their mission, years down the road. Isn't it great to see the spirit work?
Just as a last thing, I had a great experience during personal study this week. Early on I was reading and came across a scripture talking about the sons of Mosiah and the power they had in teaching because they had the spirit of Revelation and Prophesy. It hit me for the first time that I don't really know the difference between those two, besides just a very superficial understanding. I spent the rest of my study time trying to figure it out with no success. For the next couple days I asked everyone I could think of and spent my spare timing studying and praying about it, and it seemed like it just kept getting more confusing to me. Then two days ago I was studying it and came across Alma chapters 8-12 and got sidetracked reading about this incredible missionary and trying to figure out why he was so successful. I began learning so much about him, and then as I was reading the answer came to me regarding revelation and prophesy. Suddenly it seemed so simple, and now as I study and come across those words my understanding of the scripture is so much stronger. Its was a very powerful experience and one that strengthened my testimony in revelation quite a bit. I'm so thankful that I have been raised to recognize the prompting of the spirit and have lived worthy of those miraculous promptings. I am praying for you all and hope that you are doing the same because I am always in need of it.
Love,
Elder Inman
The title this week is a little self centered but I happen to enjoy my birthdays so I feel just fine having that there. This week has been so great and I have become even more thankful that I am able to be out here on my mission. Here it goes:
- I am told that holidays on the mission are a little bit of a bummer because we always have to be in early and we cant really afford to buy anything special to celebrate with, and that is partially right looking back at the 4th. But, even though I wasn't able to celebrate the normal way I loved sitting on my porch reading the Book of Mormon and hearing fireworks in the distance. It really was a beautiful night and I'm glad I was here for it. I'm pretty sure I am going to love birthdays out here though, especially with how long I have been in this ward and how well everyone knows and likes me. Me and my comp are constantly being taken out for lunch and dinner and there are so many families who are making me cake to celebrate with. I am going to have to work out extra hard this coming week just to make sure I don't blow up like a balloon, but I have felt so much love from the ward. Just the other night I had a dream that I spent all two years of my mission here, and I didn't want to leave. I woke up depressed because I felt like my mission is already going by to quickly and I wanted it to slow down a little.
- Even better news then my birthday is how well the baptism of Jeremy Pescetti went on Saturday! He is such a strong young man and he continually impresses me with his faith and determination to do what is right, considering none of his family supported him and not a single member of his family came to the baptism. Elder Thatcher and I arrived a little over an hour early to set everything up and fill the font and even at that time I felt the spirit strongly so I knew that the baptism was going to be one to remember. By the time the baptism actually started we had to set up more chairs and there was barely walking room because so many people came to support him, including a very large amount of youth his age from other wards that came. The whole baptism was a beautiful experience with Brendan, Jeremy's friend, doing the baptism and other friends from church giving very heart felt talks and testimony. Right after the baptism Brendan's family took the family, Jeremy, and us out to eat at Outback Steakhouse. They handed out at least 10 of our cards for the Book of Mormon and then Jeremy was given free desert because the owner is a member and wanted to congratulate him. That spirit carried over when yesterday both he and brother Healy were confirmed members of the church and given the Holy Ghost.
- The work here is doing great. We are having a little trouble keeping a good teaching pool right now because so much of our time is now spent teaching new member lessons, but I guess that is a good problem to have. We are working very hard on following the spirit and working more effectively so we have tried to limit tracting to no more then an hour a day if we can help it. As we were studying we came across a section that talked about having an open house so we have taken that idea and are on a full run ahead now. It is schedule for Aug 29th and we are hoping and praying that we have a good turn out of members with their friends so that we can start getting more member referrals since that is one of the most effective ways of bringing others into the Gospel. We are now starting member lessons where we go into every families home in our ward and give a lesson about missionary work and we help them make a family mission plan, including inviting someone to the open house. We are already seeing good results from this. In fact, after Jeremy's baptism the Stake Presidency took me and my companion into a separate room and asked us why the work is going so well in our area because they want others to catch the fire. He quizzed us for information on how to find and teach more effectively for about 10 minutes and then let us go back to mingle with everyone who was still around after the baptism. I know I am not the reason so many people are coming into the waters of baptism, but I am so thankful that I am worthy to be worked through by a loving Heavenly Father, because being a part of this work has been one of the greatest blessings of my life.
(There is a lot to write about this week)
- A few days ago I got a call from one of the members in my ward letting me know that they had my scripture case and my camera. I was so excited that we drove over there right after our appointment to pick it up, and I thought it was a joke they were playing on me when they handed me it because my scriptures weren't in the case. They said that a friend of theirs found it as they were jogging on day and found it that it was a missionaries because of the pictures, so they gave it to this family because she knew she was a Mormon from work. The weird thing is that the scripture case only had my camera and not the scriptures which is way different then I thought it would turn out. Who takes scriptures and leaves a nice camera? This is still a great blessing to have my camera back, but just a little confusing.
- Our new Mission President has already been making changes in the mission and I am excited to see the effects. One of those changes is that each missionary has to prepare a 10 minute talk weekly with a memorized scripture so that if they ward ever needs to call on us to speak we are ready. Along with this we also have to bear our testimony in front of the ward every fast and testimony meeting, the first being two weeks ago. I felt the spirit strongly during the meeting but didn't think anything special had happened until we were at a members family for dinner, the Williamsons. They are a great family and very strong in the church. She actually didn't join until a couple years after marriage but is now very active. Bro. Williamson has tried to convince her to go on a couples mission once all their kids move out for the past couple years with no success, but she said that as she was listening to my testimony the spirit took over and told her that she needs to go on a mission. She doesn't remember anything I said, but testimony allowed the spirit to speak to her heart and both of them are now excited for their mission, years down the road. Isn't it great to see the spirit work?
Just as a last thing, I had a great experience during personal study this week. Early on I was reading and came across a scripture talking about the sons of Mosiah and the power they had in teaching because they had the spirit of Revelation and Prophesy. It hit me for the first time that I don't really know the difference between those two, besides just a very superficial understanding. I spent the rest of my study time trying to figure it out with no success. For the next couple days I asked everyone I could think of and spent my spare timing studying and praying about it, and it seemed like it just kept getting more confusing to me. Then two days ago I was studying it and came across Alma chapters 8-12 and got sidetracked reading about this incredible missionary and trying to figure out why he was so successful. I began learning so much about him, and then as I was reading the answer came to me regarding revelation and prophesy. Suddenly it seemed so simple, and now as I study and come across those words my understanding of the scripture is so much stronger. Its was a very powerful experience and one that strengthened my testimony in revelation quite a bit. I'm so thankful that I have been raised to recognize the prompting of the spirit and have lived worthy of those miraculous promptings. I am praying for you all and hope that you are doing the same because I am always in need of it.
Love,
Elder Inman
Monday, July 5, 2010
Evanescence
Happy 4th Everyone!
Hope you like my title for the week :-) I used it because I just heard it in conversation and love the sound of it as well as the definition, and it happens to fit my mood right now. Yesterday I had an incredible Sabbath day and the spirit was strong throughout it, and then this morning I had a great personal study of the gospel which has helped my worries and hardships fade away from my mind, evanescence. Alright, now on to my week, but it will probably be a short one today because I am running short on time:
- We held a beautiful baptism Saturday night for Carmen Chavez. One of the most exciting parts of the baptism was that her dad was able to perform the baptism, and he was by far more nervous then she was. We worked with him for a while before the baptism on the words and he had them down perfect, the hardest part being her name. Her full name is Carmen Monet Paeseva Chavez, which is a part Tongan name because of her mom. They both smiles as they walked into the font and he started the blessing, completely forgetting to say her name at first, so I quickly corrected him and he started over. This time he forgot to say "having been" so I had him start over again. This time he forgot to say her last name, so we had him start one more time. This time he got all the wording right and dipped her down into the water, but she came out without her elbow being submerged so I let him know we need to do it again. He misunderstood that we needed to do the whole thing again and instead just dipped her into the water again without saying the blessing. After several more attempts he completed the baptism, and the entire time Carmen was smiling and letting him know that everything was OK. It was so wonderful to see, and the spirit entered with force as she was baptised. The next day he stood up and bore his testimony of the power of baptism and said that the many attempts that were made before he got it right helped him feel the spirit and realize even more that this was a baptism done with the power of God. It was so beautiful to see everything come together like it did.
- Last night we had to come in at 7pm because of it being the 4th of July. It was a little disappointing because so many members were inviting us over to watch fireworks and enjoy a cookout, but I enjoyed the holiday anyway. We had an assignment to study the Holy Ghost from 7 to 9, and I ended up being very uplifted through that study. Then we went out on our porch and watched fireworks in the distance as they exploded all over Albuquerque. Its hard to compete with actually being close to them, but it was still a beautiful view and a great experience. During all of this my mind kept wondering to times with my family playing with fireworks or watching shows, and I started to miss them a little more then usual, which led to me talking about them even more. As my companion laid to go to sleep I started talking about my family and how blessed I have been and he would give occasional comments until after about 40 minutes I noticed that he was actually crying. As we continued to talk I found that he has grown up in a very different family situation. He said that he loves them very much, and they grew up active in the church, but they are not close at all and some of his older siblings wont even talk to his parents. He talked about how badly he wants his family to be more like mine and we started to discuss why ours are so different if we both grew up active, which led to us discovering the difference between being active and being dedicated. He said that they almost never had FHE, they never did family scripture study, and they had very little time spent as a whole family. Its incredible to see the difference those small things make, and how they really are not that small. I never realized how rare my family is with how close we are and am so thankful that my parents were diligent my whole life with making sure we did what the prophet counselled. Being out here and seeing so many broken families has showed me just how blessed I have been, and given me a greater appreciation for my parents closeness to the spirit and a greater resolve to try to be like them.
I am out of time, but I love you all and pray that you grow closer and closer to the spirit. Being a missionary has helped me realize to a much greater extent the joy and protection that comes from following the commandments as well as the misery that follows disobedience.
Love,
Elder Inman
Hope you like my title for the week :-) I used it because I just heard it in conversation and love the sound of it as well as the definition, and it happens to fit my mood right now. Yesterday I had an incredible Sabbath day and the spirit was strong throughout it, and then this morning I had a great personal study of the gospel which has helped my worries and hardships fade away from my mind, evanescence. Alright, now on to my week, but it will probably be a short one today because I am running short on time:
- We held a beautiful baptism Saturday night for Carmen Chavez. One of the most exciting parts of the baptism was that her dad was able to perform the baptism, and he was by far more nervous then she was. We worked with him for a while before the baptism on the words and he had them down perfect, the hardest part being her name. Her full name is Carmen Monet Paeseva Chavez, which is a part Tongan name because of her mom. They both smiles as they walked into the font and he started the blessing, completely forgetting to say her name at first, so I quickly corrected him and he started over. This time he forgot to say "having been" so I had him start over again. This time he forgot to say her last name, so we had him start one more time. This time he got all the wording right and dipped her down into the water, but she came out without her elbow being submerged so I let him know we need to do it again. He misunderstood that we needed to do the whole thing again and instead just dipped her into the water again without saying the blessing. After several more attempts he completed the baptism, and the entire time Carmen was smiling and letting him know that everything was OK. It was so wonderful to see, and the spirit entered with force as she was baptised. The next day he stood up and bore his testimony of the power of baptism and said that the many attempts that were made before he got it right helped him feel the spirit and realize even more that this was a baptism done with the power of God. It was so beautiful to see everything come together like it did.
- Last night we had to come in at 7pm because of it being the 4th of July. It was a little disappointing because so many members were inviting us over to watch fireworks and enjoy a cookout, but I enjoyed the holiday anyway. We had an assignment to study the Holy Ghost from 7 to 9, and I ended up being very uplifted through that study. Then we went out on our porch and watched fireworks in the distance as they exploded all over Albuquerque. Its hard to compete with actually being close to them, but it was still a beautiful view and a great experience. During all of this my mind kept wondering to times with my family playing with fireworks or watching shows, and I started to miss them a little more then usual, which led to me talking about them even more. As my companion laid to go to sleep I started talking about my family and how blessed I have been and he would give occasional comments until after about 40 minutes I noticed that he was actually crying. As we continued to talk I found that he has grown up in a very different family situation. He said that he loves them very much, and they grew up active in the church, but they are not close at all and some of his older siblings wont even talk to his parents. He talked about how badly he wants his family to be more like mine and we started to discuss why ours are so different if we both grew up active, which led to us discovering the difference between being active and being dedicated. He said that they almost never had FHE, they never did family scripture study, and they had very little time spent as a whole family. Its incredible to see the difference those small things make, and how they really are not that small. I never realized how rare my family is with how close we are and am so thankful that my parents were diligent my whole life with making sure we did what the prophet counselled. Being out here and seeing so many broken families has showed me just how blessed I have been, and given me a greater appreciation for my parents closeness to the spirit and a greater resolve to try to be like them.
I am out of time, but I love you all and pray that you grow closer and closer to the spirit. Being a missionary has helped me realize to a much greater extent the joy and protection that comes from following the commandments as well as the misery that follows disobedience.
Love,
Elder Inman
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tumultuous
Hey everyone,
The title this week sounds bad, but it seemed like it worked because this week has been such an up and down ride. Really, this week has been one of my favorite ones missionary wise, but there have been some other events that have kind of tested my patience and diligence. Ill go ahead and start with the harder parts of the week so that I can end on the great parts! Going through this week has helped my testimony grow in the fact that everything that we go through, as long as we are following the spirit, is for our good because Heavenly Father loves us.
- To start the week off I was extremely disappointed with the companion I got. President Anderson had told Elder Sumpter that I might be training this transfer, and I was very excited for that (training is something that I look forward to). He had hinted the same thing in the interview I had with him. And then I got the transfer news that my new companion is Elder Thatcher, which of course meant I wasn't going to be training, and then on top of that I heard so many bad things about him as a missionary and how all he wants is leadership, and how stuck up he is. I tried my best to keep an open mind, but its hard when so much negative things are being thrown at me about him.
- Then as I am putting my shoes on to work out I noticed a huge rip that happens to be in the perfect place for my little toe to hang our very comfortably, the last part of the being sarcasm. That was real exciting to find out about considering I still have 20 months of P-days that they need to be used.
- And now to top off the negatives... We were tracting a couple days ago when I set my scriptures on top of our car, and my scriptures are in the same carrying case that holds my camera so that if I ever need it I have it readily available. We walked away to see someone for a couple minutes and then when we came back my scriptures, and everything with them, were gone. We searched all over the place, and have gone back each day since, but it is now pretty official that my scriptures as well as my camera are gone. Great huh? No camera, no scriptures, and no idea how to fix it.
Now reading through what I just wrote it sounds extremely negative, which was just the affect I was going for so that everyone can see that despite all of this happening my week has been incredible and there is no way I would have skipped it if I had the option. Sometimes I don't understand how God is working, but because of this week I am learning more that if I put my trust in him things will work out how they are supposed to. So lets go into why my week has been so great!
- My companion is awesome! Weird huh? Turns out the Spirit knew what it was doing when President Anderson was told to put Elder Thatcher and I together. All of the arrogance that others saw in him has simply been because he is not confident in himself and doesn't want to show it. Its true that he wants to be in leadership, but that's just because he wants others to look at him and think that he is a good missionary, not because he is full of himself. Since the Spirit has helped me see this I went from being defensive with him to wanting to help him be the best missionary possible. After just 2 days he has told me that I am his favorite companion so far and it feels like I am training him, which was a little embarrassing at first, and he is likewise helping me become a better missionary. Several times a day he asks me how to improve and wants me to teach him how to be confident at door steps and in lessons. I'm amazed at the thought of how different things could have been if I decided to just grin and bear this transfer instead of working with him like I should. Plus, he has been out 15 months and has never had a baptism and now he gets to come into an area where we already have 3 people on date to get baptised. What an incredible blessing for both of us.
- A couple days ago we devoted much of the day to tracting. After two hours he starting making comments about how useless tracting is and that we were wasting our time. I admitted that Ventana Ranch has very little success with going door to door, but that it is still important to do so that we are worthy of greater blessings in other areas of missionary work. We stopped after two hours of little success and went to an appointment we had and discovered that they weren't home, and we had nothing else planned for the two hours we had left until dinner. So to his disappointment, and even mine a little, we went out and tracted another two hours near where dinner would be. Still there was little success until the last part of it, and then the blessings poured out upon us. We were knocking on a door, no one home, when my companion looked over his shoulder and decided to let me know that a very attractive girl was walking by with her dog. Excited to talk to SOMEONE I turned right away and yelled out "Would you like to learn about how you can have an eternal family?", one of my favorite lines that I have come up with to start conversations. She shrugged and said that she was Baptist and started to walk away, so I replied happily that we are Christian as well and began walking with her. Pretty soon we were teaching her the first lesson and now she is excited to learn more and we are giving her a church tour on Wednesday. Then right after this another man walked by getting his mail and I asked if he knew Christ visited the Americas. He said no and that he was very tired and will talk to us later. I noticed he was wearing a fireman shirt and asked if he knew Rick Healy, who is also a fireman and was just baptised. Turns out this guy, Mike, is his boss and we started a conversation which resulted in him asking us to come into his home to tell him more. In the end he told us that it 'just so happends' that he is having a lot of family trouble and was looking for the right church and he accepted the Book of Mormon and is reading and praying about it. We were 10 minutes late for dinner :-)
- Just a couple days ago we went back to the street where my scriptures were lost and decided to look one last time, and did not find anything. So then we decided to go walking around the neighborhood in hopes of finding people outside to talk to. To our surprise there was not a single person the entire time we walked around so we came back to our car ready to leave. As we were about to get in my companion suggested checking the storm drain behind us, and with high hopes we walked over to it, but still found nothing. Then, we had a prompting to walk around the block back to our car instead of just walking backwards, and as we were coming around the last corner we saw a man working on his car. I called out asking if he needed help, and its a good thing he said know because I know almost nothing about engines. So then I asked if he could show us his car and he excitedly accepted the offer. After about 20 minutes of talking he said that he would love to meet with us again and talk about the church. Isn't it funny how the miracles always wait until the last second to happen? Later we were talking to a member who said he had been several houses up and he had watched the whole time, and he said he could tell we were following the spirit as we walked and that he enjoyed seeing us work.
- We met with the Healys again and they are still doing incredible. I guess the anti-Mormon grandma is not giving in at all but the family is handling it very well, and even getting more bold about how they talk to her. The family is now preparing a Book of Mormon with their testimonies written inside to give to her, and they said they are just hoping she doesn't throw it across the room. The interesting thing is that even though she is still very against the church she said that she has felt better in their home recently, but she refuses to admit its because of the spirit.
- Jeremy is getting baptised! I don't know if I have told you about him, but he is a friend of a family in the ward. One night he asked to stay the night and they allowed him to only if he agreed to come to church. He has been to church almost every week since and is now taking the lessons and getting baptised on the 10th. He is one of the most impressive young men I know. He is only 16 and he is already reading Preach my Gospel with the Book of Mormon and said he is excited to serve a mission. Then this last weekend he got kicked out of his home for meeting with us, and still would not give up his desire to be baptised. He stayed with the member family for a little while but finally his dad let him come back. Now his father says he wants nothing to do with the church but has agreed to allow Jeremy 'freedom of religion'. This young man is so in tune with the spirit and already has such a strong testimony that nothing can stop him from progressing!
- Nothing good has come from my ripped basketball shoes, yet, lol
There are so many incredible stories from this week, and so many miracles that have happened but I have to get going. I want to thank all of you for your many prayers in my behalf though, and hope you continue to pray for me and those I am teaching. If anyone needs prayers from my end Ill be happy to give them!
Love,
Elder Inman
The title this week sounds bad, but it seemed like it worked because this week has been such an up and down ride. Really, this week has been one of my favorite ones missionary wise, but there have been some other events that have kind of tested my patience and diligence. Ill go ahead and start with the harder parts of the week so that I can end on the great parts! Going through this week has helped my testimony grow in the fact that everything that we go through, as long as we are following the spirit, is for our good because Heavenly Father loves us.
- To start the week off I was extremely disappointed with the companion I got. President Anderson had told Elder Sumpter that I might be training this transfer, and I was very excited for that (training is something that I look forward to). He had hinted the same thing in the interview I had with him. And then I got the transfer news that my new companion is Elder Thatcher, which of course meant I wasn't going to be training, and then on top of that I heard so many bad things about him as a missionary and how all he wants is leadership, and how stuck up he is. I tried my best to keep an open mind, but its hard when so much negative things are being thrown at me about him.
- Then as I am putting my shoes on to work out I noticed a huge rip that happens to be in the perfect place for my little toe to hang our very comfortably, the last part of the being sarcasm. That was real exciting to find out about considering I still have 20 months of P-days that they need to be used.
- And now to top off the negatives... We were tracting a couple days ago when I set my scriptures on top of our car, and my scriptures are in the same carrying case that holds my camera so that if I ever need it I have it readily available. We walked away to see someone for a couple minutes and then when we came back my scriptures, and everything with them, were gone. We searched all over the place, and have gone back each day since, but it is now pretty official that my scriptures as well as my camera are gone. Great huh? No camera, no scriptures, and no idea how to fix it.
Now reading through what I just wrote it sounds extremely negative, which was just the affect I was going for so that everyone can see that despite all of this happening my week has been incredible and there is no way I would have skipped it if I had the option. Sometimes I don't understand how God is working, but because of this week I am learning more that if I put my trust in him things will work out how they are supposed to. So lets go into why my week has been so great!
- My companion is awesome! Weird huh? Turns out the Spirit knew what it was doing when President Anderson was told to put Elder Thatcher and I together. All of the arrogance that others saw in him has simply been because he is not confident in himself and doesn't want to show it. Its true that he wants to be in leadership, but that's just because he wants others to look at him and think that he is a good missionary, not because he is full of himself. Since the Spirit has helped me see this I went from being defensive with him to wanting to help him be the best missionary possible. After just 2 days he has told me that I am his favorite companion so far and it feels like I am training him, which was a little embarrassing at first, and he is likewise helping me become a better missionary. Several times a day he asks me how to improve and wants me to teach him how to be confident at door steps and in lessons. I'm amazed at the thought of how different things could have been if I decided to just grin and bear this transfer instead of working with him like I should. Plus, he has been out 15 months and has never had a baptism and now he gets to come into an area where we already have 3 people on date to get baptised. What an incredible blessing for both of us.
- A couple days ago we devoted much of the day to tracting. After two hours he starting making comments about how useless tracting is and that we were wasting our time. I admitted that Ventana Ranch has very little success with going door to door, but that it is still important to do so that we are worthy of greater blessings in other areas of missionary work. We stopped after two hours of little success and went to an appointment we had and discovered that they weren't home, and we had nothing else planned for the two hours we had left until dinner. So to his disappointment, and even mine a little, we went out and tracted another two hours near where dinner would be. Still there was little success until the last part of it, and then the blessings poured out upon us. We were knocking on a door, no one home, when my companion looked over his shoulder and decided to let me know that a very attractive girl was walking by with her dog. Excited to talk to SOMEONE I turned right away and yelled out "Would you like to learn about how you can have an eternal family?", one of my favorite lines that I have come up with to start conversations. She shrugged and said that she was Baptist and started to walk away, so I replied happily that we are Christian as well and began walking with her. Pretty soon we were teaching her the first lesson and now she is excited to learn more and we are giving her a church tour on Wednesday. Then right after this another man walked by getting his mail and I asked if he knew Christ visited the Americas. He said no and that he was very tired and will talk to us later. I noticed he was wearing a fireman shirt and asked if he knew Rick Healy, who is also a fireman and was just baptised. Turns out this guy, Mike, is his boss and we started a conversation which resulted in him asking us to come into his home to tell him more. In the end he told us that it 'just so happends' that he is having a lot of family trouble and was looking for the right church and he accepted the Book of Mormon and is reading and praying about it. We were 10 minutes late for dinner :-)
- Just a couple days ago we went back to the street where my scriptures were lost and decided to look one last time, and did not find anything. So then we decided to go walking around the neighborhood in hopes of finding people outside to talk to. To our surprise there was not a single person the entire time we walked around so we came back to our car ready to leave. As we were about to get in my companion suggested checking the storm drain behind us, and with high hopes we walked over to it, but still found nothing. Then, we had a prompting to walk around the block back to our car instead of just walking backwards, and as we were coming around the last corner we saw a man working on his car. I called out asking if he needed help, and its a good thing he said know because I know almost nothing about engines. So then I asked if he could show us his car and he excitedly accepted the offer. After about 20 minutes of talking he said that he would love to meet with us again and talk about the church. Isn't it funny how the miracles always wait until the last second to happen? Later we were talking to a member who said he had been several houses up and he had watched the whole time, and he said he could tell we were following the spirit as we walked and that he enjoyed seeing us work.
- We met with the Healys again and they are still doing incredible. I guess the anti-Mormon grandma is not giving in at all but the family is handling it very well, and even getting more bold about how they talk to her. The family is now preparing a Book of Mormon with their testimonies written inside to give to her, and they said they are just hoping she doesn't throw it across the room. The interesting thing is that even though she is still very against the church she said that she has felt better in their home recently, but she refuses to admit its because of the spirit.
- Jeremy is getting baptised! I don't know if I have told you about him, but he is a friend of a family in the ward. One night he asked to stay the night and they allowed him to only if he agreed to come to church. He has been to church almost every week since and is now taking the lessons and getting baptised on the 10th. He is one of the most impressive young men I know. He is only 16 and he is already reading Preach my Gospel with the Book of Mormon and said he is excited to serve a mission. Then this last weekend he got kicked out of his home for meeting with us, and still would not give up his desire to be baptised. He stayed with the member family for a little while but finally his dad let him come back. Now his father says he wants nothing to do with the church but has agreed to allow Jeremy 'freedom of religion'. This young man is so in tune with the spirit and already has such a strong testimony that nothing can stop him from progressing!
- Nothing good has come from my ripped basketball shoes, yet, lol
There are so many incredible stories from this week, and so many miracles that have happened but I have to get going. I want to thank all of you for your many prayers in my behalf though, and hope you continue to pray for me and those I am teaching. If anyone needs prayers from my end Ill be happy to give them!
Love,
Elder Inman
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