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

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

I woke up this morning and it was snowing again! It is still snowing
and we are supposed to get more snow this weekend. Who knew I would
get a white Christmas out in the dessert of New Mexico. And a couple
nights ago we got transfer news for the last transfer that I am in the
mission field. Any guesses for what happened to me and Elder
Davenport? Drum roll please... Yep, we are both staying! I am so
excited to spend my last six weeks in such an incredible ward with so
many people that I have absolutely fallen in love with over the past
three months.

The Lord used me in an unexpected but awesome way this past week. A
trait I am blessed with, which I have further discovered on my
mission, is the ability to be bold when needed. It is a trait I am
known for throughout the mission. Last week I went on an exchange with
my zone leaders in Panorama Heights, the area I last served in, and we
had lunch with a great man who is on the path to re-activity. He made
some of the best enchiladas I have ever had! During our conversation
he mentioned a desire he had to get a tattoo on his side that said
"Thank You God", but he had not fully made the decision yet.

Immediately I told him not to do it. He looked strait into my eyes and
asked me why he shouldn't since he wanted to show the Lord how
thankful he was. I told him that if he really loved the Lord he would
show it by following his commandments, and that if he got the tattoo
it would serve as a lifetime reminder of his disobedience to God every
time he saw it. A big smile came across his face and he said the
decision with now made and he was not going to get the tattoo. He
praised God vocally and said that he has been struggling with this
decision for a long time now and had asked many people, including
several missionaries, but had not received a clear answer other then
"pray about it". Him and I are now really good friends and we both
know he was one of the reasons I was needed in that area on that
particular day. It is so amazing how perfectly the Lord works for His
children!

Quick subject change...

A while ago Elder Davenport and I felt we needed to read through the
Book of Mormon and mark every single reference to Christ we could
find. We started the day after Thanksgiving with the goal to finish by
Christmas day and we are now in 3rd Nephi and have found over 6000
references to our Savior! I have noticed that while we have been doing
this the scriptures have been filtering through my mind all day and I
have been looking at so many things differently, including something
as simple as tracting. Last night we had 30 minutes until dinner so we
decided to knock doors around our dinner appointment. While knocking
all I could think of was Nephi and other prophets preaching to their
people and how many rejected them. Their rejection of the prophets
led to their entire destruction at the death of Christ and they were
not able to be part of the multitude who felt the prints in His hands
when He visited the Americas, nor will they be able to return to His
presence after this life.

The first door we knocked on a guy came out waving his hands saying he
does not agree with our beliefs and is not interested in our message.
I asked him what beliefs he does not agree with and he admitted he
knew very little of our beliefs and asked what they were. As I began
teaching he saw that our beliefs were not far from his own so he cut
us off and told us that he was happy with his church, Calvary. What I
taught him does not match the doctrine of his church by the way. I
bore testimony to him and told him that I was aware that within his
church they hold many anti classes directly against us and promised
him that what they taught was false and invited him to learn more. He
said no and left us on his door step.

Door after door we were rejected and each time I bore strong testimony
and did everything I could to help them see what they were missing by
turning us away, but still they would not listen to us. We got one
return appointment, which is no less successful then tracting usually
is, but this time I left each door step with tears in my eyes as I
thought of the gift they were turning away.

They said they were Christians already, were happy with their church,
were to busy, or even that the Broncos were playing and the game was
more important. Were the Sadducees not happy with their religion? Even
the apostate Zoramites thought they were a religious and highly
favored people of the Lord before they were destroyed for priest
craft. Imagine what would have happened if Peter, Christ's head
Apostle, had said he was to busy with his work to follow Christ or
listen to His message. I'm willing to bet almost every home we knock
on would say that if they had lived at the time of Moses, Noah, or
Christ they would have followed and not stoned the prophets. Yet in a
time when the gospel of Christ is more readily available then ever
before they choose football over it. I want so badly to lead them to
the tree of life where they can freely partake of greater joy then
they could ever imagine, but many of them will not even let us into
their homes and instead chase of off their door steps. I now know a
little more how Alma or Nephi must have felt, and I have tasted a very
small portion of the pain Christ must feel for His wayward children.

Give someone the best Christmas gift they could ever receive and open
your mouth to tell someone you love that the Church of Christ is again
upon the earth!

Love,
Elder Inman

Merry Christmas

Ho Ho Hola,

I have to make this a very short email. This morning we ended up going
to a play that our investigators son is in, went out to IHOP with
them, and then had to go pick up some other missionaries that do not
have a car. Now we are super behind schedule and having to cut our
emails short. Sorry!!

We had an incredible experience this week that I wanted to share
before we had to leave emails. On Tuesday we went out to work after
our studies and lunch. We had scheduled to go try by several people
and then knock doors for a little while since we did not have any set
appointments. As we were driving to our first person my companion and
I both noticed that something felt different. By the time we arrived
to his house we both knew that the Lord wanted us doing something
different then what we had planned so we turned around and drove home.
When we got home we pulled out the area book, which contains names and
information on everyone the missionaries have worked with since the
area opened, and began looking through the names very prayerfully. We
spent hours doing this.

Then I opened to a family that was taught almost three years ago and
instantly my eyes filled with tears and I knew we had to visit them. I
knew completely that they would still live there(which is rare with
records that old), that we would be able to contact them(also rare),
that they would listen to us, and that I was looking at a name
prepared by the Lord. Before dinner that night we went by their house
and no one was home so I left a note on the door saying "The Lord has
told us that we need to visit you and we will be back tomorrow".
Normally I am not quite that bold, but I was so confident in the
impression I received that I thought they should know.

We stopped by the next day and he was outside by his car in his
garage. I yelled his name, knowing it was him, and we started talking.
If anyone ever thinks God is not watching over them think again! Our
timing with stopping by was so perfect that it actually ended up
taking a good amount of time just to convince him that his mom did not
send us over, who we found out is also a member but not currently
active. The day we stopped by his wife, the only person employed in
the family, lost her job and they were very worried. Amazing isn't
it?! The exact day we stop by is the day they found out that they had
no income going into Christmas. Right away I set them up with the ward
employment specialist, took them to the library and built her a great
looking resume, and suggested places to apply with me as a reference
considering I am friends with the owners. When I shared how we found
them they were both in awe and I was powerfully able to tell them that
we were sent by God because he loves them, and that their lives will
be changed by the message that we are going to share with them.

Ahhhh, I love being a missionary so much!

Love,
Elder Inman

Let it snow...

1st- Our morning workout today consisted of blowing and shoveling snow for the man we live with :-) 2nd- David and I right before the baptism 3rd- Us after the baptism 4th- My district 5th- My district again :-)

Hola, This was an amazing week for us. On Saturday we were able to attend the baptism of one of my close friends David R. I met him a couple months ago when I first came to this area because he was friends with the family we lived with and would come over periodically. Right away my hope was that he would get baptized but I was not sure how open he was to meeting with us to take the lessons. He talked about how he liked to play ping pong and mentioned how he was pretty good at it, so I challenged him to a couple games. Before my mission I was absolutely embarrassing at the ping pong table but after having served in the singles ward in Las Cruces where we had one in the institute, and having one in the basement where we lived, I got pretty good. I won :-) After playing we had some time to talk before I needed to head upstairs and get ready for bed, and we ended up becoming pretty good friends. Not long after this he decided to attend church and that week we taught him the first lesson and asked him to be baptized. He accepted the invitation without hesitation. As we wrapped up the lesson I asked him to say the prayer and suggested that in the prayer he ask if what we taught him was true. He said he would pray but he did not need to ask if what we taught was true because he already knew it. As his date approached we decided it would be better for him to be baptized into the singles ward so we transferred over to that set of elders to finish the lessons. The week of the baptism he called me and asked if I would baptize him. I told him that I could, but asked him to pray and see if there was anyone else the Lord would prefer, which he did. Saturday evening I walked into the water with him and was able to be a part of one of my new and great friends entering into the church. The rest of the week was great and full of miracles too, but I don't have time to write about the rest of those... I wanted to thank the Horowitz family for the letters they sent me and let them know how much they uplifted and strengthened me. My weekly letter from grandma Angel was another great uplift as well. I can feel the affect of the many prayers from home and others and am so thankful for that added support and strength! I love you guys! Elder Inman

fun stuff

1st- Saturday I caught a little bug at training and was not able to make it to our dinner appointment because I didn't want to get their kids sick. We called to let the family know and assured them we were fine, but they still insisted on bringing us some food anyway. They ended up bringing us a gourmet meal in a box :-) Such a cool family! 2nd and 3rd- Elder Davenport, my new companion, and me. He is 6' 4" so I look extra short in these pictures!

Hey Everyone,

This was another amazing week! I do not have much time to write today though because our zone is getting together for a missionary Turkey Bowl game, which of course is not something I can miss. Early this week we had leadership training, which lasts for two days, so my companion stayed in our area and worked with another brand new missionary whose companion also had to be at training. It was a hard learning experience, made harder by a mistake I made the second day. Halfway through training I reached into my pocket and realized I had forgotten to leave them the keys to their car, and I had no way to fix it. They ended up borrowing bikes and helmets from a member(my companion's helmet was a girl's) and spending the majority of both their days tracting and having little success. They tracted 6 hours their second day and did not find a single promising investigator! I will be the first to admit tracting is not a very effective way of finding, but I have never knocked doors for that long and not found someone and taught a lesson. Its a great experience for a new missionary though :-)

Sunday was our stake conference and I realized a little bit more how much I love being out here and being a missionary. I have served in two wards in this stake and have been on exchanges in many of the other wards, which has given me the opportunity of meeting a lot of members here. I know so many more people, many of which I have grown close to, then I have ever known in any of the stakes I have lived in throughout my life. I look forward to being a normal member at home much less then I had anticipated... In the conference our mission president talked about the 'purple cows' of the church, meaning the parts of our church that stand out and draw attention, and are then spread through regular conversation. Things like temples, FHE, the Book of Mormon, and missionaries. I have grown to love being a 'purple cow' so much that I am not sure what I will do when people don't turn and stare as we walk into stores anymore. The things many missionaries detest like strange stares from people, random yells from people's car windows, crazy questions in Walmart, and knocking on strangers doors to share a message are what I have fallen in love with.

Well, Gotta get going...

Love,
Elder Inman

Transfers

Greetings :-)

Tomorrow is transfers and this time they are doing things a little different then usual. Usually when we get transfer news on Saturday night they tell us where we are going, who our new companion is, and really anything else we want to know. This time all they told us is who is staying and who is leaving, and we will find out all the rest when we get to the transfer site. So right now all we know is that Elder Evans is leaving, which the ward and myself are pretty sad about, and that I am training a new missionary for my last two transfers in Rivers Edge. I am sad that Elder Evans has to leave after only one transfer here, especially considering how much this ward has turned around, but am also excited to train for my last couple months in the mission. I have had some funny scenes from the Best Two Years go through my head since I have found out about transfers, lol.

Well, I need to take my computer time today to transfer pictures with Elder Evens before he is gone so I will share an experience and then call it quits for today.

- This past week we took one of our ward missionaries out to work with us, who happens to be one of the coolest people out here. His name is Oneman and he is half Japanese, half Indian, and he joined the church just over two years ago. We had planned to knock some doors with him and visit some potentials and then we were going to separate so that we could go visit a referral from a member in the ward. For some reason we changed our plans as we were about to separate and instead brought him to visit the referral with us. We spent 20 minutes on her doorstep talking about the church and family but she told us that even if we do represent the one true church she does not want to sit down with us, or read the Book of Mormon, because if she found out that it was true it would pull her away from her family, who are all staunch Catholics. Elder Evans and I testified to her that when she found out this is Christ's church she could then lead her family to it as well and they would become stronger together. We taught about eternal families and promised greater happiness in this life and the next. Again she told us that she was not interested and was done talking. We had done all we could, I thought, so I began to thank her for her time and offer any service if she needed it. All of a sudden Oneman cut me off and began teaching her about the Book of Mormon. As he taught the spirit overcame all of us and I could see him discerning all of her thoughts and feelings. He told her that both of them were Lamanites, as she was also a native, and that they are a stiff necked and stubborn people. He told her that the Book of Mormon was written by their ancestors and that as Lamanites they need to stop dragging their feet and start becoming who they are meant to be. For the next 20 minutes he testified to her in such a powerful way that both of them, and myself, were in tears and she asked us if she could read the book. We prayed with her and walked away feeling like we were floating, and then went to tell the member about our experience. As we related the visit to the member who referred her to us she told us that as we went to visit her friend she called her kids in to pray for us. In her prayer she asked that Oneman would be given the words to speak! This church has to be true!! I love being a missionary and working with such faithful and powerful people :-)

Love,
Elder Inman