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

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

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

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

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

Phenomenal!

Hola,


It has been such a PHENOMENAL week! There are so many great things that happened this week, so I will do my best to write them all down. Here it goes:

- We had the baptism of Rick and his son Jace this week on Thursday, and it was one of the most uplifting and exciting experiences of my mission so far. It started out with the Healys showing up with all of Sister Healys family, and all of them looked really excited and happy. Sister Healys dad is the one that was asked to perform the baptism, and the whole time he was on the verge of tears because he was so excited about it. He told me that he was a convert as well and never had the opportunity to baptise any of his kids so this felt like he Finlay got that chance. Then, a couple minutes before the baptism began Carson, their daughter, came up to me and said that when she walked in she knew that she needed to get baptised, and that she wanted to be baptised with her dad. I told her that we would not be able to get her ready for that in 10 minutes but that we will prepare her and then in a couple weeks her dad would be able to be the one to baptise her. She was a little disappointed at first but then got really happy with the thought of her dad baptising her. Then the baptism went incredible, with the whole family on the verge of tears the whole time, and the spirit flooded the entire room.

Last night we went and visited with the Healys again for the first time after the baptism and they are on fire with the gospel. Turns out they went and visited with Ricks mom, who hates the church and thinks its a cult, and she told Carson to never get baptised because our church isn't christian and we worship seagulls, which was new to me. Carson had always sided with her during discussions like this but they said this time she handed her grandma a Book of Mormon and said that she is getting baptised because she knows this church is true, and then explained that we really do worship Christ. In this same conversation we had with them last night we found out that 9 years ago Rick had kicked the missionaries out of their house and told Holly that he never wants anything to do with our church for the rest of his life. The spirit again flooded the room as Rick bore his testimony of the truthfulness of the restored gospel and said that since his baptism he has felt a sense of peace and happiness that he hadn't known was possible. Each of them has had the change of heart spoken of so many times in the scriptures, and being a part of that has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. They are happier now then they have ever been, and they are continuing to grow stronger and stronger as a family.

One last things about the Healys that is more funny then uplifting, because if made me feel really loved by them. On Saturday night we got our transfer news. and of course I get to stay here in Ventana Ranch, which I had told the Healys I would be staying a couple days before. Some how as news spread by word of mouth it got to Hollys parents that I was getting transferred to their ward, when it is actually Elder Cochran, another missionary in my district, who is getting sent up their.Yesterday the Healys were at their house for Fathers day when they head that I was getting transferred. Rick said that she started crying and arguing with them saying that they are wrong because I already told them I was staying. She went on to them about what a big blessing I have been to their family and that I cant get transferred yet. She was very happy to find out that I'm staying, lol. This is a family that I hope to stay friends with for the rest of my life, because they have been an equally great blessing in my life.

- We had Stake Conference yesterday, and the Stake President said some things that I wanted to share with as many people as I can. After he spoke the presiding General Authority, Elder Roberts, stood up and told us that the words which were spoken were heaven sent and if there was any disputing with them we are arguing with Heavenly Fathers council. The Stake President spoke of families, and the spiritual roots that need to grow if we are to be eternal families. He said that nothing should ever take priority over the gospel, and if we are then those roots will not grow and families will not survive beyond the grave. He listed a couple things to see if we as families really place the gospel first in our homes: Do we move FHE day to another day besides Monday so that kids can attend other activities? Do we have family scripture study every day despite hectic schedules? Do we allow children to get involved in activities that pull them away from any seminary or youth nights? Is more free time spent outside the home then inside it? Does anything get in the way of activities designated by the prophet? If any of us answer YES to any of these questions then we are putting the things of the world ahead of the gospel, which means we are allowing the things of the world to stop us from being an eternal family. He said that for a while he would hold family nights on Sunday instead of Mondays because his daughter was involved in a school activity that wouldn't allow her to attend FHE. It was an activity that was good and would help her further her Resume for college, and he didn't see any problem with simply moving FHE to a different day. He then said that he has repented of that since but still sufferers from some of the consequences of ignoring the prophets council. I grew more and more thankful for my parents and family the more he spoke, and said a short prayer thanking Heavenly Father that I was blessed with parents that wouldn't give in when we as kids would try our best to convince them that it was alright to miss seminary of FHE for sports or other school events. There is nothing more important then making sure our families become eternal, so why would we let insignificant things get in our way of that goal?

- Another just fun thing.. I found out that Ventana Ranch had always been an area that missionaries were disappointed to get called to since it was small, low baptising, and all the houses look the same. I'm so glad that I didn't know this before hand because I'm scared it may have lessened my excitement of being here. Now though, Ventana Ranch was where many missionaries wanted to be called to because it has spread across the mission how great the ward is, and also that the baptisms have gone from below average to more then quadrupling the average for our mission. This is an area and people that I will always love, and hope so much that I get to stay her for a couple more transfers, but I am afraid I might not have many more left here... Every one here has been such a great blessing to me! Oh and I found out that my new comp is Elder. Thatcher. I don't know much about his yet so Ill keep you updated. Its very questionable that he can be better then E. Sumpter though, I have loved this transfer so much!

Well, I didn't get as much written as I had hoped but I need to get going now... I love you guys and hope and pray that all is going well back home!

Love,

Elder Inman

Prodigious

Hola Everyone!


Im not really sure why I used that word as my title, but it sounded fun. This has been another great week as a missionary!

- Ill start off by telling about an event that happened a couple days ago while on an exchange. I was out knocking doors with Elder Cochran trying to get him excited about the work in his area. He has been having a hard time lately, and after our last exchange he was feeling way better so I was hoping for a repeat success with him. We were having a pretty good time and then we got to this road that was particularly difficult with some extremely rude people. We had some angry people close, slam, doors in our faces a couple times but I have gotten much better at controlling my temper out here so I was pretty proud of how well we kept going, without showing our resent at all. Then we knocked on this door when a very angry man came to the door yelling at us that he is catholic and doesn't want our evil practices near his property, but using very colorful language. Then I slipped... For those who know me I sometimes have a hard time just walking away, and this is one of those times. As he walked away I said that its alright because we still love him, and then turned and walked off his door step. It was not a good move because then he stormed back out of his door towards us yelling some extremely profane words and telling us to get off his property, which didn't make sense since we were already walking up the sidewalk. He yelled that he has told us not to knock on his door and that if we do again he will call the cops, and then asked very angrily if we 'understand him'. Again I slipped and instead of just walking away I replied that I don't understand him and would like if he could explain his irrational anger towards two servants of the Lord. This time he got even angrier and grabbed his hose saying that he is calling the cops AND spraying us, and informed us that our 'religion' will never succeed in his town and will die off soon anyway. I smiled and quoted scripture saying that it will cover the entire earth and told him to have a great day and maybe we will see him again some time later. I was half way hoping that he really would call the cops though, because as of yet we had no lessons and I figured that would be an easy way to teach someone, but no one ever showed up so I guess he cooled down or something. I am getting better at controlling my comments to others, I promise, I am just not great at it yet.

- Now with better news. This week was interviews with President Anderson, our last ones since he goes home this transfer. There were so many great things he told me in it, and it further excited me for the rest of my mission. At the end I asked him if it were possible for me to stay for at least one more transfer in Ventana Ranch before I am moved and he surprised me with his answer. I had not actually expected a real answer from him since he doesn't usually let transfer news out yet, and much of the time doesn't know until just a couple days before. He told me that on his transfer board he moved me out of Ventana Ranch and doubled some sisters in instead, which made my heart sink. Then he smiled and said that when he did that the spirit told him that I had to stay so he moved me back and put the sisters elsewhere and said that so far it is looking like I am still needed here. He told me that there is a lot of exciting things happening in my area right now and that I am a major part of that so I need to spend at least one more transfer here, unless the spirit tells him otherwise between now and Saturday. Im so excited to be here :-) My ward is doing so great and I cant help but be proud of them for their hard work. On Sunday the Stake Presidency came up to my companion and I and said that this ward has become the shining light of the stake and that they only have good things to say about it. They even called our ward mission leader and asked him how our ward is succeeding so well with missionary work because they want our fire to catch on to the rest of the stake. Wow!

- We have two baptisms coming up this Thursday! Its Rick Healy and his son Jace, and the whole ward is excited for it. It has been such a blessing to grow so close to this family and see their progress despite major opposition at every step. Even now they are facing financial trouble, and even worse Ricks mom is trying to talk him out of it every day, but they continue to grow stronger and more prepared. He is already saying how excited he is to baptise his younger daughter in a couple months, and then in a year go to the temple and get sealed for eternity with his family. This is especially exciting because just a couple months ago the temple was a concept that scared him and made him second guess our message, but now he has such a strong testimony that I don't think anything could make him second guess. They are a family that I want to be close to for many years to come!

Well this is a long one, and I have to start wrapping things up, and still have to send my weekly letter to President Anderson. Keep the prayers coming, because I know they are helping :-)


Love,

Elder Inman