Hey everyone,
I'm sorry this email is going to be so short. This week is transfer planning for President Miller, so my report to him this week was longer then usual. This was an amazing week though! Because of how close my time is to expiring I will just jump right in by telling a great experience, and then as many more as I can fit in the next couple minutes...
We were at the family's home again that I told everyone about a couple weeks ago this Sunday for dinner and a lesson. They are the family that bore testimony of our powerful teaching and spirit during testimony meeting. I don't remember if I said anything about their neighbor though. She had been over for our Easter lesson with them and accepted the invitation to meet with us and read from the Book of Mormon. We are very close to her as well as the family, so meeting again was no big deal for them since they love having us over. This time we all sat around the table and began by reading through the introduction to the Book of Mormon, and taught bits and pieces of the restoration along the way. When we related the first vision we brought out the pamphlet with the picture of it and the spirit entered strongly.
She looked a bit confused after we finished with the vision and asked why it showed two personages standing above Joseph Smith if they are one, referring of course to the false concept of the Trinity. We explained that they are not one in body but in purpose, and I told her a little about my dad and his questioning of that concept growing up, and that he is now an active strong member of the church. At this point she looked like she was going to cry and she grabbed the pamphlet, held it tightly to her chest, and told us that this means more to her then she can explain. She told us she knows why we are meeting with her right now in her life, and that our teaching is answering all of her questions and bringing her greater joy. She excitingly looked back at the Book of Mormon and told us that we need to keep reading because she needs to find out what else it holds. I don't remember ever seeing anyone as excited as she was at that time! Sadly we were already late for cerfew and had to tell her that we needed to pray with her and then leave. She told us that would be fine because she was going to stay there and read it with the family since she was not ready to stop :-)
It is amazing to see how the Spirit prepares people for this message and then testifies so powerfully of its truthfulness. We were also able to teach a very humble man from Central Africa who by the end of the lesson bore testimony to us that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God, and told us how thankful he is for the revelations he received for us. He does not live within our boundaries so we are transferring him to some other elders, but it was great seeing his excitement as well. And earlier in the week we had dinner with some members in the University ward who had a friend come over to meet us. We taught the first part of the restoration and he is wanting to meet with us again on Tuesday to learn more. The Lord has prepared the hearts of so many people, and it is so much fun meeting and teaching them!
Love,
Elder Inman
Monday, May 16, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
2 weeks in one...again
(written May 9th)
Hola Everyone,
This week I was able to Skype home and see my family gathered around our dining room table to talk to me for a few minutes, so I am basically on cloud 9 right now. It was amazing to see all of the changes that have taken place in such a short amount of time, with the girls hair growing out so much, Enoch talking (a little) and counting, Harrison looking more built then ever, and just how grown up everyone seems. I love my mission so much and would not want to be anywhere else, but also look forward to being with my family again. Activities like family movie night, FHE, Chuckie Cheeses with Danni girl, going to the YMCA with dad and mom, scripture study in the morning, jumping on the trampoline while its wet and soapy, celebrating birthdays, taking Tawny and Harrison out with friends, and apple smear are very treasured memories that make me so thankful to have an eternal family. Just imagine the mega group dates that can happen when I get back and Tawny, Harrison, Eve and Aurora are all able to date (plus Cody and Ashley, lol)!
So now that I am done talking about home I guess I can do a little updating on life in the mission :-) Elder Karren and I are absolutely loving working here in Las Cruces, and we both agree that it is one of the best places to be in the mission. We had Mother's day dinner at the Bluth's home and ended up outside cooking marshmallows over a fire and discussing with their mom and neighbor some of the beliefs of Latter Day Saints. Their neighbor accepted a Book of Mormon and promised to read a good amount of it before we come over this coming week to talk about it with her and the the Bluth's mom. They are one of the coolest families I have met on my mission and am so excited for them.
We are meeting with a guy from college who has not attended church in 3 years, and is now in the hospital not knowing what is causing him immense pain. We have given him a blessing and will be going back today or tomorrow to see how he is doing. We are also working with our down stairs neighbor (who loves to throw some pretty noisy parties), a girl at a nutrition shop close to us, a guy who is dating someone in our ward, a couple who just had a baby (2 nights ago), a guy who is preparing for re-baptism after he left the church 12 years ago, some guys who we met at a member dinner a week ago, a girl who has a brother in Utah that is a member and referred her to us, a guy on the cheerleader team at NMSU, an amazing part-member family who we have grown very close to, two guys working their way back to activity, a members neighbor, and a few other people. The work is going so well and I wish I could sit here for hours and tell you all about each one of them and how incredible they all are! But of course, my time is already out and I have to get going.
Have an amazing week!
Love,
Elder Inman
This week I was able to Skype home and see my family gathered around our dining room table to talk to me for a few minutes, so I am basically on cloud 9 right now. It was amazing to see all of the changes that have taken place in such a short amount of time, with the girls hair growing out so much, Enoch talking (a little) and counting, Harrison looking more built then ever, and just how grown up everyone seems. I love my mission so much and would not want to be anywhere else, but also look forward to being with my family again. Activities like family movie night, FHE, Chuckie Cheeses with Danni girl, going to the YMCA with dad and mom, scripture study in the morning, jumping on the trampoline while its wet and soapy, celebrating birthdays, taking Tawny and Harrison out with friends, and apple smear are very treasured memories that make me so thankful to have an eternal family. Just imagine the mega group dates that can happen when I get back and Tawny, Harrison, Eve and Aurora are all able to date (plus Cody and Ashley, lol)!
So now that I am done talking about home I guess I can do a little updating on life in the mission :-) Elder Karren and I are absolutely loving working here in Las Cruces, and we both agree that it is one of the best places to be in the mission. We had Mother's day dinner at the Bluth's home and ended up outside cooking marshmallows over a fire and discussing with their mom and neighbor some of the beliefs of Latter Day Saints. Their neighbor accepted a Book of Mormon and promised to read a good amount of it before we come over this coming week to talk about it with her and the the Bluth's mom. They are one of the coolest families I have met on my mission and am so excited for them.
We are meeting with a guy from college who has not attended church in 3 years, and is now in the hospital not knowing what is causing him immense pain. We have given him a blessing and will be going back today or tomorrow to see how he is doing. We are also working with our down stairs neighbor (who loves to throw some pretty noisy parties), a girl at a nutrition shop close to us, a guy who is dating someone in our ward, a couple who just had a baby (2 nights ago), a guy who is preparing for re-baptism after he left the church 12 years ago, some guys who we met at a member dinner a week ago, a girl who has a brother in Utah that is a member and referred her to us, a guy on the cheerleader team at NMSU, an amazing part-member family who we have grown very close to, two guys working their way back to activity, a members neighbor, and a few other people. The work is going so well and I wish I could sit here for hours and tell you all about each one of them and how incredible they all are! But of course, my time is already out and I have to get going.
Have an amazing week!
Love,
Elder Inman
Howdy ya'll,
This has been such a wearing and fun week as a missionary! We had the opportunity to do something a little unusual with a recent convert and an investigator this last Saturday. Elder Karren and I went to the college regional finals rodeo :-) It was so much fun, and the recent convert we went to support took 1st in the region for bareback bronc riding, and his brother did the best for the night in bull riding (this is more for mom- a girl rode a 16.07 in barrels to win it). Plus, it gave us a lot of time to talk to his father in law, who we are teaching right now on a consistent basis. We were also able to take time today, preparation day, to go golfing with them. Missionary work is fun in so many ways!
We had an incredible experience this last Sunday as well when a sister bore her testimony. She is a convert to the church, married with 2 kids, and her mom lives with them and is not a member. We go over periodically to have dinner with the family and share a message, and we have been able to build up a really good relationship with the entire family, including her mother. We were at their home for Easter and had an amazing lesson with them, their neighbor, and a good family friend, in which we testified many times of the Book of Mormonand the reality of the Restoration through the prophet Joseph Smith. The spirit bore strong witness and everyone in the room felt the power of our message.
When she stood up to bare her testimony in sacrament meeting she told everyone that she was going to wait until relief society to do it but realized two people really needed to hear it, and then said those two people were the missionaries. She told everyone about us teaching in their home and testified of how powerful our teaching is, as well as how much they feel our love. She then told everyone that if they have not had us in their homes to teach then they need to change that right away! She also said in her testimony that since our Easter lesson with them her mom has brought us up in all of their conversations, as well as all of her phone calls to other friends and family, and that she keeps asking when we are coming back over. After she finished her testimony three other people bore testimony and talked about how great of missionaries we are, which led to someone coming up to us after the meeting to tell us that she is ready for us to teach her non member sister (who we didn't know before).
Then in the University ward a sister came up to us and said that her boyfriend, who we have shared a couple messages with recently, said that he thinks he wants to become a Mormon and asked to take the lessons.
We had Zone Training this last week and we felt prompted to train on the joy of missionary work, with or without success measured by baptisms. The training went amazing, and I have seen even more how much joy really is part of this great work. The field is white and already to harvest, and we are being blessed so much for thrusting in our sickles!!
Love,
Elder Inman
This has been such a wearing and fun week as a missionary! We had the opportunity to do something a little unusual with a recent convert and an investigator this last Saturday. Elder Karren and I went to the college regional finals rodeo :-) It was so much fun, and the recent convert we went to support took 1st in the region for bareback bronc riding, and his brother did the best for the night in bull riding (this is more for mom- a girl rode a 16.07 in barrels to win it). Plus, it gave us a lot of time to talk to his father in law, who we are teaching right now on a consistent basis. We were also able to take time today, preparation day, to go golfing with them. Missionary work is fun in so many ways!
We had an incredible experience this last Sunday as well when a sister bore her testimony. She is a convert to the church, married with 2 kids, and her mom lives with them and is not a member. We go over periodically to have dinner with the family and share a message, and we have been able to build up a really good relationship with the entire family, including her mother. We were at their home for Easter and had an amazing lesson with them, their neighbor, and a good family friend, in which we testified many times of the Book of Mormonand the reality of the Restoration through the prophet Joseph Smith. The spirit bore strong witness and everyone in the room felt the power of our message.
When she stood up to bare her testimony in sacrament meeting she told everyone that she was going to wait until relief society to do it but realized two people really needed to hear it, and then said those two people were the missionaries. She told everyone about us teaching in their home and testified of how powerful our teaching is, as well as how much they feel our love. She then told everyone that if they have not had us in their homes to teach then they need to change that right away! She also said in her testimony that since our Easter lesson with them her mom has brought us up in all of their conversations, as well as all of her phone calls to other friends and family, and that she keeps asking when we are coming back over. After she finished her testimony three other people bore testimony and talked about how great of missionaries we are, which led to someone coming up to us after the meeting to tell us that she is ready for us to teach her non member sister (who we didn't know before).
Then in the University ward a sister came up to us and said that her boyfriend, who we have shared a couple messages with recently, said that he thinks he wants to become a Mormon and asked to take the lessons.
We had Zone Training this last week and we felt prompted to train on the joy of missionary work, with or without success measured by baptisms. The training went amazing, and I have seen even more how much joy really is part of this great work. The field is white and already to harvest, and we are being blessed so much for thrusting in our sickles!!
Love,
Elder Inman
(For the next couple of posts I'll include Elder Inman's address in case someone wants to send him a birthday wish ((July 13th - he'll be 21!)) he says he doesn't need anything, but he'd a Happy Birthday sentiment!)
Elder David K. Inman
New Mexico Albuquerque Mission
4400 Presidential Dr. NE Ste. E
Albuquerque, NM. 87109
New Mexico Albuquerque Mission
4400 Presidential Dr. NE Ste. E
Albuquerque, NM. 87109
Email: david.inman@myldsmail.net
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