Hello one last time,

Today my ministerial certificate has officially expired which marks
the close of my mission, ending with an amazing baptism and the
highest teaching week this area has ever seen. Who could ask for more?
Earlier this week I conducted the last district meeting of my mission
and it was a very bitter sweet experience as my missionaries bid me
farewell. As I walked into the room where we hold the weekly district
meetings I was surprised to see the lights dimmed with my picture
between two burning candles in the front of the room. Every
missionary, but myself, was wearing black and acting like they were
crying into tissues with solemn music playing in the background. I
turned the lights back on, shut the music off, and tried my best to
conduct an upbeat and spiritual meeting, but tears were shed
regardless and my missionaries took turns telling me why I would be
missed. I knew saying good bye to my investigators and ward members
was going to be difficult for me, but I was not prepared for how hard
it would be to say good bye to the missionaries who I have been
serving for the past few months.

This entire week was amazing, busy, and emotional for me, but the
culmination of it all came Saturday night as Sister Kent was baptized
by her husband. Two days before the scheduled baptismal date we
received a call from them telling us that her dad had just had a heart
attack and they were leaving to take care of him right away. This news
came especially hard because last year when she had wanted to be
baptized Brother Kent's father found out he had cancer and they were
not able to go through with the baptism because of the need to take
care of him. Before they left to attend her father we went over to
give her a blessing and she said something that further showed her
preparation to be baptized. She told me that nothing was going to stop
her from being baptized on Saturday, and her husband jokingly said
they would pull over and do it in the river if they needed to. The
next day we were blessed to find out that her father had not really
had a heart attack, it was some other heart issue that isn't quite as
severe, and they made it back tired but excited for their big night.
The baptism was an absolutely beautiful and powerful experience that
I'm sure no one present will ever forget and tears streamed down many
of our cheeks as she got up and bore her testimony and shared his
excitement about being sealed as a family in the temple one year from
now. They are one more of the amazing reasons I was sent to serve my
mission in Albuquerque New Mexico.

Each time I think about leaving this wonderful place I have to fight
back tears because I have grown to love it here so much. These two
years serving the Lord in New Mexico has completely changed my life
and the lives of so many others, and I am returning to Indiana a much
different person then who I was when I left. My mission means
everything to me now and I am confident I will never make another
major decision for the rest of my life that will not be affected by
what I have learned here. I expected to have fun, change lives, and
grow as an individual but what has taken place is far beyond anything
I could have ever hoped for or imagined. Elder Holland said that no
persons mission has ever meant more to them then his did to him, and
my feelings are exactly the same. Through prayer and a powerful email
from my dad I have finally moved past feeling fear for going home and
am now excited about the next phase of my life, but I will always be
grateful for these incredible two years. My time spent as a full time
missionary has saved my life and God has made so much more of me then
I could have even done on my own.

Love,
Elder David Inman

Whooooo!!

(from 1/3/2012)

Hola,


This week was a little... BORING! My companion, Elder Davenport got
sick Christmas day and has not recovered since then. We went out to
visit an investigator family and ended up getting their child sick so
now we are home bound and are not supposed to leave unless it is
really important. So here is my summery of the entire past week:
Wake-up, workout, shower, eat, study, study, study, workout again,
eat, study, study, study, eat, sleep. I have high hopes that this week
turns out much more eventful! On the bright side though, I am feeling
pretty good after extra workout sessions and after so many hours of
study I have learned some really cool things.

Lova ya!

Elder Inman

(this weeks 1/09/2012)

Hey everyone,

So this week was barely more productive then our last because Elder
Davenport has still been ill. There were a couple times we thought he
was close enough to being better that we would go out and work, but
then the exertion would just push him back into being even more sick
the next day. I think he is almost completely better now though and we
should be able to have an incredible week of work coming up. With so
much time spent at home I have been able to get some great study
sessions in and despite my companions illness have still been blessed
with some powerful spiritual experiences and fun insights into the
gospel of Christ. The Lord must really want me to learn the scriptures
because looking back on my mission this is the third companion that
has been sick or injured which has given me weeks of extra study.
Maybe if I learned the doctrines faster my companions would be
healthier :-)

During some of the little time that we did have to go out and work we
were blessed with an awesome miracle that still makes me want to jump
and shout with joy, which I have already done a couple of times.
During my few months in Rivers Edge I have grown very close to the
Kent family. Bro Kent grew up a member of the church but because of
different circumstances, and lately family illnesses and emergencies,
he has not been able to attend church as often as he would like. His
wife loves the church and has taken the lessons several times but has
never had a good opportunity to be baptized. Their family is very
active and loves sports so we had a difficult time getting a hold of
them when I first got here. An opportunity to sit down with them and
get to know them finally presented itself in the form of a high school
football game, which I certainly didn't mind attending, and since then
we have become really good friends.

Just the other day we went over and helped them set up a new ping pong
table that Santa Clause dropped of on Christmas and I had another
opportunity to win a couple games and pretend I know what I'm doing.
Saturday morning we went to watch their kids basketball game and on
the way out Sister Kent mentioned how she wanted to be sealed as a
family by their next years marriage anniversary, which means she needs
to be baptized within the next couple months. She wanted to do it
before I go home so she is being baptized the 28th, my very last
weekend as a missionary, by her husband who is receiving the
priesthood this next Sunday!!!! They have been attending church every
Sunday for the past 4 weeks, the ward loves them, and they are so
ready for this! Ahhhhh, I'm so absolutely excited. I can think of no
better way to finish my mission then to be part of her baptism and
know that they are on their way to becoming an eternal family, which I
hope and pray I will be able to travel down to be a part of a year
from now :D

I have been so blessed!

Elder David Inman