Humbled

Hi from Las Cruces,

This has been a very eventful week, starting with
last Preparation Day when we went mountain bike riding. We showed up to A Mountain and
read the sign at the entrance saying that the bike trails were not suitable for beginners and grew
even more excited about our coming adventure. It was so rocky and steep that we
were not even able to bike up most of it and had to carry the bikes on our backs
for the majority of the incline of the mountain. When we finally reached the top
we celebrated, took pictures, prayed, and prepared for our descent back down the
mountain. Most of the missionaries at that time decided they were not up for the
ride down and took a side road instead so they did not have to mess with the
rocky trails. Since I used to mountain bike I assumed, for some odd reason, that
I would still be good at it and didn't think twice about going the easy way.


I pridefully began riding down with the only two other Elders that
agreed to take on the trails and very shortly hit a good sized rock going way to
fast and flew over my handle bars. I slid a couple feet after hitting the ground
and then collided head first with another large rock, immediately very thankful
for the helmet rule. My head whipped sideways pretty hard and two of my teeth
were hit and chipped in the accident. We continued our ride after I got myself
together again and after our return home I nursed my wounds, cleaned myself up,
and we went out ready to work. Thankfully there is a member chiropractor and
dentist near our area so I am all fixed up now with a crazy story to carry with
me :-)

We also had a very successful week with missionary work. Our trust with the
members in the area has continued to build and is now resulting in quite a few
member referrals and new investigators. It is really excited to have our days
filled with meeting new people, teaching appointments, and supporting and
training the other missionaries in our zone. This past week we were referred to
a college student who after talking with us decided that we truly are sent from
God to help him and agreed to come to church and continue with the lessons. Even
though much of our ward was gone with spring break he loved being there and
wants to continue learning more. I wish I could write about all the people we
are teaching right now and the miracles that are happening, but we are spending
the majority of our preparation day helping another referral dig trenches for
her pecan trees and we need to get over there soon.

I love you all and
am so thankful for the support I have as a missionary!

Elder Inman

Another crazy one

Hey everyone,

This is going to be another super fast and short email
because I am getting my haircut today and then going biking again, but this time
with the zone, so my time is short. Im sorry my emails have been so pitiful
lately, but it seems like the longer I am out the less time I have to get
everything done in a day. Each day of the week seems to be growing shorter and
the list of things to get done continues to grow larger. Somehow it always ends
up working out great though :-) So here goes my highlight reel:

- We went
to Catholic Mass yesterday with one of our investigators in the University ward.
When we invited her to our church she asked if we would be willing to go to
her's as well to see what it is like, which of course we were OK with. So last
night from 7:30-8:30 I sat in my fist Mass. The Spirit was very noticeably different there, and with
all of the ceremonial procedures that they do I was not able to ponder about
Christ very much at all, but it was still a good experience to meet new people,
and I think many of those close to us felt the spirit we carried. During the
session the Father even took the time to come down and personally and shake our
hands, which our investigator said has never happened to her. Then afterwards
we(our investigator and us) were invited by some girls we met at a recent
University activity about religion to take a tour and they mentioned how cool it
is to be around Mormons :-) They were way fun to talk to and we decided we are
going to try to organize a LDS/Catholic activity some time soon, which has to be
some kind of anomaly.

- We had an incredible spiritual experience this
week that made me even more thankful for the companionship of the Holy Ghost, and my calling as a missionary. A couple
nights ago after dinner I felt a little sick to my stomach and we thought it
would be best to call it a night early and get some rest considering how
non-stop we had been going all day. As we neared our home I felt like we needed
to go visit a potential investigator that we have not been able to contact for a
while, so we turned around and drove out to her house instead. We walked up to
her door in the dark and she was standing outside waiting for us already. She
told us she did not have much time to talk but asked if we could give her a
blessing(we still don't know how she knows about those). We brought a chair over
and gave her a very powerful blessing in her front yard and then afterward with
tears streaming she said that she couldn't believe we actually came. She had
prayed us to her home! Over and over she kept saying how amazing it was that we
showed up and asked if we could continue working with her.

Miracles
continue to happen and I wish I had enough time to tell about the many more that
I have witnessed just this last week. Being a missionary is so
incredible!!!!

I love you all,

Elder Inman

Super Short

Hola,

This letter is going to be a super short overview of my week
because we are going mountain biking with some guys from the singles ward to
relieve some stress from the past week and we need to get going. So here is what
happened:

- I was able to stop and see Creta and Roy in Belen with a few
other missionaries we were driving and it was incredible. They told me that they
are doing great, and they are both going to the temple for baptisms this coming Tuesday! They both still
have our framed pictures of the temple and and them in white standing with us
before their baptism hanging in their living rooms for a constant reminder. They
still call me 'Son number 1' and they now have son number 4 teaching them. It
will be so fun to visit them after the mission and sit down with son number 19
:-) I wonder how long they will continue that naming system for missionaries.


- We had transfers and our zone is already doing great

- Several
missionaries and us met with President for our monthly council and it went
great! It was a very spiritual experience as we prayed and discussed the
potential of our mission right now.

- We have begun teaching several new
people that ward members have brought to us and I will give that update next
week.

The work is great!!!

Love,

Elder Inman

2 weeks in one: Coats off & Transfers

(This one is from Feb 28th)
Transfers
Hey everyone,

We found out transfer news on Saturday and this is going to be a crazy transfer,
for most people. Our zone is doing great so we requested to have our
missionaries stay together as much as possible, and it happened. Most of the
mission got turned upside down with so many missionaries moving around, but in
our entire zone there was only one missionary who left and he is going to be
serving as a Zone Leader now. I am so excited for the coming transfer and the
work that is going to be done within our zone, and especially in our own
areas.

I ended up being sick for a little while longer but now I feel
great and am looking forward to the coming week. We were able to meet with the
Stake President and our bishopric in one of our wards to discuss the work and we
were so happy with the change that has taken place in the last transfer. Both of
our wards are completely on the ball and know what they are doing, and even more
importantly they are excited for missionary work. It feels so great to look back on a
transfer and know that even though I still fell short many times the Lord was
able to take our work and make it great. There are so many amazing people I am
working with right now and so many miracles happening!

This is a short
Preparation day so I better make this short...

Love,
Elder
Inman

PS, I need to go up to Albuquerque this week for a council and I got permission
to stop by Belen on the way back and do a short visit with Roy and Creta :-)

(From Feb 21st)
Coat's off

Hey everyone,

This week has been so great, and the weather was so nice
that we were even allowed to take off our suit coats several times (meaning it
was over 75). I thought the weather was perfect until I got my weekly email from
Tawny, but I have no room to complain considering the kind of weather home has
received over the past couple of months. The only sad part about this week was
that I spent a good portion of it being sick so I wasn't able to enjoy the great
weather as much as I had hoped.

We had a busy and eventful week full of
more exchanges, appointments, teaching, finding, YSA activities, and giving
talks in the University ward. We were also able to go see Robin in the hospital
again to talk about his recovery. He was out of the ICU and in a very good mood
when we arrived and he told us great news. Turns out that right after our visit
with him the week before a blood
clot broke loose and went to his lungs causing him to stop breathing and
almost die. Because he was in the ICU when this happened he was able to get
immediate attention and they saved his life. If he had been anywhere else when
it broke loose he most likely would be on the other side of the veil right now,
so the timing was a miracle. Then he told us that the doctors are amazed with
how fast his body is healing and were sending him home the next day, just 8 days
after the operation. They told him that the best cascenario was getting out of
the hospital in 3 weeks, and that was only if everything went just right. He
continues to tell us how thankful he is for the blessing we gave him and credits
much of what has taken place to it.

I am still not completely up to par
health wise so my brain is running slightly slower then usual and this email has
taken longer then usual so I better get going. This Saturday we find out transfer news so I will let
everyone know next week how that goes. The possibility of either my companion or
myself moving is very slim though so I'm not real anxious about it, just really
surprised how fast this transfer has gone. My whole mission is going way to
fast!

Love you all!

Elder Inman

tired, very tired

Hola,

This has been a very wearing week, but mostly in great ways. I wish I could sit here for a couple hours telling all of you about everything but I have even less time then usual today so I will try to do some good highlights.

- A member in our ward asked if we could give a friend of his a blessing because he was going in for surgery. We of course agreed and set up a time at the institute to meet, but he was not sure what the surgery was for. We walked in, a couple minutes late, and met Robin who looked excited to see us and had a much larger smile on his face then I was expecting considering he was getting ready for surgery the next day. As we talked we became instant friends and he told us that he is going in for a major surgery, nine hours long, to remove some type of cancer (I can't remember what kind). According to his surgeon he was going to cut him open like a pig and that it makes open heart surgery look like a walk in the park, also meaning there wasn't extremely high chances of success. He had to have his stomach cut to a much smaller size and permanently moved up into his ribs by his lungs and heart.

Robin told us that he had a friend who is a member of the church who asked him if he would like a blessing before going in, and he gladly accepted. As we talked to him about what the blessing was it became clear that he thought it was simply a strong prayer by 'ministers'. We explained to him that we hold the priesthood and that we would not be simply praying but instead speaking the words of God and commanding the elements according to his faith and the Lord's will. He was open to the idea and we went into a room with his wife and friend to give the blessing. My companion was asked to anoint and then I sealed and proceeded to give him a blessing. The spirit filled the room completely and the few words I can remember speaking still amaze me. After we ended he sat there for a good while while I got his wife something to wipe he free flowing tears and then he stood up saying that he felt light headed and incredible. We explained to him that it was the spirit confirming what had just taken place and they left smiling with a firm belief that the blessing was from God and he would be safe through the surgery.

Elder Yardley and I went to the hospital on Saturday to see how he was doing and his wife told us that was the first time Robin perked up and told jokes since his surgery, and that he had been waiting for us to come. As we talked to him he told us that after the blessing he and his wife knew without a doubt that he would be safe. His surgeon told him that he was extremely impressed with how his body handled such an extensive surgery and Robin told him frankly that it was because of the blessing he had received the night before it happened. We will be going back to the ICU this week to see how he is doing and talk more about the miracle that he has been blessed with.

There is so much more that took place this week that I wish I could talk about but I am already running low on time and I still have to email President. I love where I am serving and the people I have been called to bring closer to Christ!

Love,

Elder Inman

Brrrr

Note from mom: We received a letter from David's mission president and he has been made Zone Leader...could explain why he's exhausted:-)

 These are mostly just my comp, Elder Yardely, and I having some fun after we got in for the night and we had no power so we lit a bunch of tealight candles.

 The first is Taylor's Baptism with a few of her friends and the second is a goofy pics my comp took of me :-)

Hola,


We ended up having some really cold weather here last week. Probably nothing compared to what most people were, and are, going through but for Las Cruces New Mexico it was out of the ordinary. In fact it has not been as cold as it was last week since before 1962, and we were not well prepared for it. We left our hot water running all day and our pipes still froze leaving us without running water for several days, and then our power was out for extended amounts of time so our apartment was very chilly, and dark, for a while. The first day it really got cold I was on an exchange with another missionary and was in his area for the day. I didn't know the temperature was going to drop so rapidly so I didn't bring any special winter clothing. I also didn't know we would be biking because their car was gone. We ended up having a great time and getting a lot accomplished anyway, and a lot of people got a good laugh watching us ride to and from appointments as snow accumulated all over us.

This week feels like one of the fastest in my mission so far with all we had to fit into it. We had exchanges, training, Zone Correlation, Stake President Coordination, Stake Conference, Taylor's baptism, and of course finding and teaching like every other week. I enjoyed all of it but the crowning event was definitely the baptism, which was amazing. Even with the bad weather we had all of the chairs filled and quite a few people standing in the back because we couldn't fit more chairs. Taylor felt the Spirit so strong that she had tears rolling down her cheeks for the majority of the time and I am sure everyone else present was uplifted as well. It is so incredible to see people in all stages of life chose to accept the Gospel and, without exception, see the joy that accompanies worthily making such a sacred covenant.

I love my mission! There has never been a time in my life that I have been this consistently happy and filled with love. I wake up every morning excited for the day and then lay down exhausted at the end of the day thankful for where I am and the people I am called to serve. I had no idea how amazing it would feel to be dedicated every day, all day, to the Lord's work and am ever more thankful that I was able to come out here as a full time missionary.

Love,

Elder Inman

Accelerating

Hola,


My mind and body are really tired today so I will probably be sure to keep this entry short. Blessings and miracles are happening here, but only after many hours of difficult labor and right now I really wish I could take some time to just lay down and sleep. The great thing about missionary work is that I know as soon as it is time to go see someone or teach a lesson I will be filled with energy and alertness again, which considering our schedule is a miracle in itself. It is a good feeling to walk up to a door for an appointment with my eyes drooping with fatigue and then suddenly be excited and teaching with enthusiasm just minutes later, not even remembering how tired I had been.

This has been such a great week though! Elder Yardley and I taught one of our most powerful lessons so far with the girl who is getting baptized this Friday. Most of our lessons with her have been strong and filled with the spirit, but this time it was almost tangible and at the end tears filled many eyes and friends were hugging each other because of the joy they felt. After the lesson I couldn't keep tears from filling my own eyes as I walked to our car (van) and pondered on the miracle of conversion and how much joy I see in people who are coming closer to Christ. Through trying to further dedicate myself to the Lord I am growing a deeper love for those I serve, and each day grow more amazed that the Lord is trusting me with so many of his children when I see more and more how I am lacking as his servant. I am just thankful that the Lord is able to work through me regardless of my weakness' and we are being blessed again this weekend by seeing someone make sacred covenants with God.

Another tender mercy we had this week came while teaching, for the first time, a young women who has struggled in the past but wants to come back to church. We had set up an appointment and had a couple YSA from the ward with us to teach but the appointment fell through, so we rescheduled for the next day. Since the people we had with us the first time were in class or at work we asked two other people to come with us and this time the appointment went through. The two we had with us the second time happened to have gone through the same trials this young women is going through and as they bore testimony the Spirit rushed in with force. At the end of the lesson we offered to give her a priesthood blessing, and in the blessing it said that if she continued making correct choices she would help lead her family back to activity as well. Before we left she said she would come to church, which 45 minutes ago was not a possibility according to her. She did come, and she brought her mom and sister with her. When we were talking to them after-wards her mom said they would be back next Sunday and thanked us for teaching her daughter because she has now become their angel to being them back.

Well, much more has happened but I have already written more then expected and my time is running short. Thanks to everyone who is sending prayers our way! The work is continuing to progress and many are being blessed as a result.

Love,

Elder Inman