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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Elder Inman Letter November 25, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!


Gobble Gobble! How is everyone? Things have been pretty busy and freezing up here! It got down to 9 degrees Wednesday with wind. My face was numb. But I am loving every bit of it.

 
President Mecham was in town this week, he was trying to interview everyone before the next transfer. So it was really good to visit with him and to just talk about whatever was on my mind. He gave me some assignments for my District. It has been kind of fun having responsibilities again and being able to assist other missionaries with things they need help with. I love helping people! A little later on Wednesday, we played scrabble with Tim, our 76 year old less-active. I took 2nd place, Elder Denslow won :P We felt like after hammering Tim with so many commitments and teaching him every other day, he just needed a break and needed to laugh. So that's what we did and then shared a message afterward. It was fun!

 
The highlight of the day was visiting the Harris family. Probably the highlight of the week actually. . Brother Harris is very . Sister Harris hasn't been as active, so we have been trying to reach out to her. They just had their first baby 2 weeks ago. We asked Brother Harris what he thought we should teach and he said, we should teach the Commandments. We did Obedience, Praying, Reading the Scriptures, and Sabbath Day attendance. Afterwards, I felt like we needed to show a Mormon message that I had watched earlier that morning called, "Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God." The feeling was beyond words. I had watched this video before, but this time around, it brought me to tears. Mom, I could not help but think of all the things you have done for me. I would not be on a mission, I would not have had any confidence in myself, and I would be a mess. Watching this video got to me, and I shared that with Sister Harris. That Sister Harris was trusted with that particular Spirit that was previously with our father in Heaven only two weeks ago. I testified to her that I was sent to the family I was, because Heavenly Father knew that the parents I would need, are the ones I have right now. The only ones that I could be successful with and raised correctly. It hit home. For all of us in the room. Sister Harris came to church Sunday and now wants to take the lessons over again. It was an incredible experience :)

 
We found a new Less-Active named Patricia who made us snickerdoodles. She was at church as well which was cool. Other events this week, was Zone Leader Training. I was asked to conduct a discussion and role play on the Gospel of Jesus Christ with an emphasis on extending baptismal dates. It was a very long meeting though. Everyone who had not yet received an iPad, was supposed to remain after for provisioning. It was supposed to take 30 minutes, and took 2 hours -__-. Oh well.

 
Bigfork is like no other town in America. Saturday morning, from 8 till about noon, people from all over the community gathered together in Santa hats and decorated the ENTIRE town! Weaved evergreen garland, lights, red bows, new trees, a tree lighting, music, hot chocolate, and a free bowl of chili. It was an awesome opportunity for us since there were so many people we could talk too. And it was fun too and set up decorations! I was freezing though. People from other states, and Canada come up to Bigfork, JUST to do this. After that, we found a part-member family that we got to teach and hang out with.
 
Sunday we gave talks in Sacrament meeting. Missionary smack-down. Tim came to church on a Sunday this time! That's actually a pretty funny story. So we went to Tim's house at about 9AM to get him up and dressed. We knocked on his door and we heard him come to the door, look through the peep hole, and sigh. So we kept knocking and ringing the door bell. We waited quietly for about 3 minutes and he opened the door really slowly. I said, "you thought we were gone didn't ya Tim?" He had a smirk and said, "I don't know." Elder Denslow helped him get ready while I scraped the ice off his car. Funny guy.

I tried a new food yesterday. Deep fried oreo. I was pretty skeptical, but it was actually pretty good. I could only eat one though because of how sweet it was. Who would have thought! Well I hope you have a great Thanksgiving! We will be at the Allen's (recent convert) who was a chef for a living! Prime rib, ham, and turkey :) Score! Love you!









Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Elder Inman Letter November 19, 2013

It's a lil chilly.

Hello family and friends! How is everyone? Things are good here in Bigfork, the work is just a little slow unfortunately. everyone is so spread out and tracting as not been very effective yet. BUT we are keeping good attitudes and working our hardest!

 
We had 9 less-active lessons this week which is good! Several of them were with Tim, who is 76 and was baptized a little over a year ago. apparently he thought church was Tuesday and showed up to church three times waiting for someone to unlock it! Poor guy. He lost track o the days. But what is cool about that, is he went! His health has been pretty bad and it has been getting him down a bit. So we promised him that if he made it to church, his health would improve. even though he went to church on a Tuesday, he was in the best health this week! He was able to do more than he usually could, which he acknowledged and was happy about :) I love seeing him and visiting him. We had dinner with elder Stanfill of the Quorum of the 70 Tuesday night! That was a little intimidating, but it was cool to teach a general authority!

 
Wednesday we were sore. All of our appointments fell through, so we thought we would kill time and save miles by walking to dinner...10 miles later, we arrived only 1 minute late! :D It was about 40 degrees out and great exercise. Actually enjoyed it.

 
Thursday we had District meeting. This was the second one I've ran and the Zone Leaders called me later that evening to tell me that i was one of the most inspired District meetings they had attended, and they used the lesson I prepared, in 2 of their discussions later that day. So that made m feel really good! There were some members of my District struggling a bit, who came up to me and said it was exactly what they needed to hear. I'm not saying this out of praise for myself, it was just a well needed compliment that gave me some confidence :) Also got my identity stolen Thursday...someone in Texas decided to buy $800 worth of video games with my personal account. So that was fun, $-84.26 later. Luckily they are refunding it all. Those better be the best video games he's ever played chump!

 
Friday we went in to Kalispell to get a new Debit card, and visited a member our ward in the hospital. Her name is Sister Allen, and if you could pray for her health, that would be much appreciated! Later that day we taught Tim again, the Plan of Salvation. To protect his privacy, I won't give details, but Tim never had the opportunity to have a family. His whole life he has lived alone. We promised him...that if he remains righteous in this life, that he can have an eternal family in the Celestial Kingdom because of the Resurrection. I don't think I've ever seen someone so relived and receive a new sense of hope, as did Tim. The Plan of salvation truly is an amazing thing!

 
Saturday we tracted (knocked doors), for a few hours in the snow. We had some fun with that x) For those of you who don't know, tracting can be really discouraging and boring. But t is definitely what you make it. We laughed the whole time. some people are just strange. One lady asked f we were Jehovah's witnesses. "Nope, we're Latter-day Saints!" we replied. "I'm going to close the door now..." is what she said hahahah. Another lady had the worse excuse i've ever heard. "sorry, i got things in the microwave!" And closes the door! The microwave will beep ad turn off lady! Haha at least blame the oven or something!

 
Sunday was the Primary program, and we got to substitute for Brother McCann! So we were in Primary for a day :) Good times. Yesterday we went to Glacier National Park with the Zone! It is GORGEOUS. Unfortunately, most of it is snowed in, so we couldn't go very far. But we got to see a waterfall, the lake, and a lot of pretty scenery. Loved i! And I got to use my Electric charged boots (which were BEYOND warm), my fleece facemask (I looked like Bane from Batman), and my gloves. Loved it!


Well I hope you all have a great week! Share the gospel with as many people you can. "Regarding one's testimony, remember that one who willingly shares his testimony will keep it...one who selfishly keeps his testimony, will lose it." -Thomas S. Monson (The Prophet of God.) Love ya!


glacier national park mt

glacier national park mt

elders Inman and Denslow
glacier national park mt

glacier national park mt

glacier national park mt

glacier national park mt

glacier national park mt

lake at glacier national park mt

lake/pier at glacier national park mt

glacier national park mt

Monday, November 11, 2013

Elder Inman Letter November 11, 2013

Happy Veteran's Day!

Not in my top 10 of favorite weeks for sure, but we are working hard. We had a lot happen this week not in our favor. But that's just how it goes sometimes.

 
Had my first District Meeting as a DL! That was a little nerve racking but it actually went really well, the spirit was very strong :) I get to assign the discussions and pick the topics, so that is kind of fun :D My district is very small. It is only us, the Kalispell sisters, and the Zone Leaders. But it is fun!
 
This was Tuesday...the rest of that day was horrible. I don't think I have ever been so angry than I was Tuesday. We were tracting way out in a super rural and foresty area. We came up to a door and did the typical approach explaining that after Christ was resurrected he visited the Americas and it was recorded in a book by ancient prophets. This man at the door just listened, so we continued to talk about Joseph Smith. He said, "Oh yeah I know about Joseph Smith." We asked what he knew and he said, "that he had a gold book that no one else saw." I kindly corrected him saying that 11 others actually saw them as well. His reply was, "have you seen them?" We help up the paper copy haha. He said, "Do you have any jokes?" Off guard, we simply said, "jokes?" He proceeded to give probably the most disrespectful, mocking, and heart wrenching "joke" about the Savior's sacrifice. We were speechless. I will not repeat it. We left in shock, literally shaking with fury. I felt prompted to return. Elder Denslow and I wanted to make sure it was a prompting and not out of anger though. So we prayed several times and waited about 10 minutes to cool off. I won't lie, it was terrifying walking up to that door a second time. But I realized that Christ gave all for me. He defended me to His death. I wanted to testify to this man of Jesus Christ (I actually wanted to rebuke the crap out of him, but I was going to control myself). I knocked on his door and waited for about 5 seconds. Elder Denslow said, "We need to leave now," so we did... Walking away from the door, I had the most overwhelming peace and comfort. I don't think the prompting was to actually speak with this man that was "past feeling." The prompting was to see if I actually would. On a very smaller scale, that was one of my "Abrahamic challenges." To test my faith and conversion. It was a very profound experience.


 
Wednesday wasn't a lot better. Remember Fletcher? The guy we promised last Sunday he would have an answer? We returned Wednesday night and he invited us in. He said he read 3 Nephi 11 twice, studied, prayed, and he even went over the verses he had concerns with with us. But he felt he couldn't get over the Trinity and only read the Bible. Although I was assured by the spirit that he was honestly searching. Sure, he may have had some set answers prior to praying but he was cross-referencing, asking questions, and even admitted a lot of our doctrine makes absolute sense. But he felt the spirit told him no. It just wasn't the right time, and he even said maybe he'll find out it's true later. But for now, this is what he felt was right. And I'm ok with that.


 
Something good came out of Wednesday though. Anne, the lady we split wood for, gave both of us brand new rain jackets from her gift shop in Bigfork! It's a souvenir shop that she owns, and these jackets are SO nice...with "Bigfork" embroidered on the chest. Very nice of her.


 
NONE of those potential investigators were interested which was frustrating. We taught Tim, one of our Less-Active recent converts twice this week. He is 76 and has a "woe is me" attitude and not wanting to do anything about it. He told us he only has faith in Himself which isn't good. I ended up calling him a Lamanite out of frustration (not directly haha). He brought up how the Lamanites never wanted to be righteous and how the Nephites were righteous but ended up losing in the end. So I asked him, "Which one are you Tim?!" Haha. He just does not want to show any faith. And the missionaries who taught him a year ago didn't teach him half of the Gospel.

 
Saturday we split wood for Anne again. It was a lot harder this time because the logs were soaked due to the snow. It took longer and less got done but I still enjoyed myself :) She lives a ways out there, on the Swan Lake so we spent some time skipping rocks at the lake. It is gorgeous up here.

 
Grandma got a kidney WOOOOO!!!! That is so exciting and incredible! What a blessing. And even greater to hear that it was a good match. How is grandpa's health doing? I miss them both a lot. I always looked forward to going to grandma's on Sundays :) Thank you for the package mom! Those socks make a huge difference in keeping my feet warm! Today I am going to Cabela's to buy work boots...my service shoes are trashed, and my snow boots aren't really meant for service work. In answer to dad's question, I am serving in the Bigfork area and the ward covers the whole Eastern side of Flathead Lake. Kalispell is where the zone leaders are, about 20 miles away.

 
Well Happy Veteran's day! Thank you to all who have served, are serving, or will serve! It is because of you that allows me to practice the religion I love and know to be true. I have so much respect for all of you and know that many prayers are given in your behalf! Have a great week everyone! Good luck Torie at Super State, you will do awesome! I love you all!

 
Flathead Lake (Snow)
Skipping Rocks on Swan Lake




Monday, November 4, 2013

Elder Inman Pictures/Letter November 4, 2013

Hello Bigfork!

Wow what a busy week! How was everyone's Halloween? It was probably the coldest Halloween I've ever experienced haha. But i loved it!


So this week was transfers week. And transfers literally take all week since our mission is enormous. Luckily I love roadtrips!


 
So Tuesday was my last day in Billings. Such a sad day. I spent most of the day packing and cleaning. We went to institute at night and that was SO sad. We ha a great lesson on what true conversion is, using the books of Enos and Omni in the Book of Mormon. Eliza was there and Tannah came as well...when it came time to leave, both were crying :( Eliza was the one I got to work with for 6 months and see her turn her whole life around. Tannah and I got to be really good friends and I got to go to her endowment session. Eliza brought her scriptures that her grandfather gave her before he died and had written in. Eliza asked me if I would write in it as well before I left. That was a truly humbling experience. It's amazing how much love you can develop for people in such a short amount of time.


 
Wednesday was the roadtrip. We were at the mission home at 6:00AM and I ended up being one of the drivers. Wasn't expecting that but it was really fun. Got to drive one of the 2013 Fusions for 3 hours :) I got to see Elder Schramm in Bozeman and he got to ride with me, so that was fun! He's going to Helena to be a District Leader there.


 
Halloween was fun. The ward had their "Trunk or Treat" when we arrived Wednesday. On actual Halloween, we just walked around downtown Bigfork. Super cool town! All the little shops were handing out candy to a ton of dressed up kids from all over town. People asked us if we were actual missionaries. I guess we looked pretty authentic. :)


 
I went tracting for the first time in 6 months. That was weird! BUT, we found FOUR potential investigators and had a less-active lesson with an older man named Tim. He was baptized a little over a year ago but has since then not been real active. Keep him in your prayers please!


 
Saturday. SO FUN. Elder Denslow and I got to split wood for the first time ever! A woman named Anne, who owns the gift-shop in oldtown Bigfork, accepted our offer for service. For 4.5 hours, we split and stacked firewood. Pretty sure I might be a lumberjack someday! And it was an awesome workout.


 
Being Fast Sunday yesterday, we had some pretty sweet and spiritual lessons. One with an investigator named Fletcher. Super nice guy, just with some concerns which is ok. We promised him that if he would read 3 Nephi 11 and pray about it, he would have an answer by the time we showed up this Wednesday. So stoked! We had lots of pretty bold, powerful lessons. It was so sweet.


 
So Bigfork itself has about 4200 people. A relatively small town, South of Kalispell. It is beyond beautiful here. Picture Pinetop or Flagstaff, but with 3x as many trees and they are changing colors. Bigfork is right on the Flathead Lake (biggest freshwater lake West of the Mississippi), and it's all mountains. I LOVE it here! Feels like I'm camping in the Celestial Kingdom! There are a lot of rich people here. Gerry (pronounced Jerry) Molen, who helped produce several movies with Steven Spielberg is in our ward...and a member of the 70 lives in our ward. Crazy stuff! Elder Denslow and I are getting along awesome and we are teaching really well together! It will be a sweet transfer :D


 
Looks like Jesse had fun! I still haven't even been hunting! Congrats Torie on going to Super State! That is so awesome! Can't believe you are already a Senior...weird. And sorry to hear about Ed. Travel safe Mom, it's starting to get icy up here! I love and miss you all!


 
Here's some of the action :)
 
 


 
 
Funniest Costume I've ever seen. Looks like he's doing a handstand!
And check out the couple from the movie UP!




Pictures from Big Fork, Mt