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