Elder Inman Letter December 29, 2014

Happy New Year!

It was SO great to see all of you! I'm happy that Lacey and Eric made it as well as Grandpa and Grandma. We have such a legit family! I enjoyed all the pictures from Little Christmas and from Christmas at home. We have a nice tree as well but not a lot of decorations. Jesse has gotten HUGE! How tall is he now? Is he taller than me? He seriously got so big I feel like I won't even recognize him coming off the airplane. Holy Moly.

Last Monday after emailing we actually did a white elephant gift exchang. I brought this super ugly stuffed troll we found in the apartment haha. Wish I took a picture with it before giving it away. We spent the entire evening tracting trying to show the "He is the Gift" video and we had some pretty good success that night.

Tuesday was sweet as I was able to drive to Sheridan where I was trained. I love that town! Like I told you on Skype, one of the members who was previously Less-Active took us all out to lunch at the Wagon Wheel, which is now owned by the Bishop in Sheridan Ward! So i got to see a lot of familiar faces there.

Christmas Eve we weekly planned...all of our appointments fell through. We kind of expected that though. A little later we practiced teaching the Restoration to the Fairbanks (the family that sent you the picture and let us skype on Christmas). The evening consisted of caroling to about 5 people in the nursing home...I still don't sing!

Christmas was so sweet this year. We had regular studies and then the Williams (who we live with) made some breakfast casserole for us that was so good. From the Williams we went to the Fairbanks home and skyped! I'm glad we got it kind of figured out with Lacey's phone. Better than not at all! After we skyped we played a few games with the Fairbanks. One of them was called "Pandemic." I actually loved the game. Basically it's everyone versus the game. You prevent the human race from dying from disease. We lost.

Around 4PM we went to the dinner with Sister Marshall's parents (the lady who took us out to eat and called about the Baby blessing). It was really cool to meet all of her innactive or non-member family and we really hope to be able to teach them soon. I ate way too much food.

The rest of the evening we played games with the Williams (Monopoly Deal). The day after Christmas was not good though. Elder Mathis got way sick. He was throwing up like crazy. We think he may have caught the norovirus and we had to stay in all day. he slept literally till 4PM and I just read, wrote letters, and slept some myself. Staying inside is tough! I was getting super anxious because I felt useless but we definitely needed to stay in.

Saturday Elder Mathis was still somewhat sick but we went out anyway. Good thing too! We actually gave 4 priesthood blessings. The first two was to a baby in the hospital. Once for healing, and the second one was to give it a name and blessing. The family we did it for is less-active and even part-member. The Great-Grandfather did the actual blessing, we just assisted and anointed. Then we gave the Sisters blessings of healing as they also were really sick.

Yesterday was my birthday! Thank you for the classy tie and tie bar! I got many compliments on them at church! The subway gift card will be super handy because we live far out of town so it saves us a trip home. And thank you Lacey and Eric for the beanie! This week I lost Torie's Beanie that she made for me :( I'm really praying that I find it because I loved it and have worn it my entire mission! So the new beanie came at a great time since today it got down to 0 degrees!

Everyone have a great week! Be safe in the wintry storms of Surprise, AZ! Haha. I love you all!

Elder Inman Letter December 22, 2014

Good Week? I guess? 

Hello everyone and Merry CHRISTmas!!!!!! It has been quite the week. Much to say, but nearly no time to report on. So I'll just give the highlights :) Maybe it will be long anyway.

Monday night we had a really good lesson with a part member family (this is still in Missoula). The wife is not a member and she struggles with joining the church because she feels like her parents would disown her and reject her. She had a few other concerns about the temple that I think we got resolved but wow it was a powerful lesson. The spirit filled the entire room and her husband (the member) bore powerful testimony and said he hasn't felt the spirit that strong in a very long time. We committed them to read the Book of Mormon as a couple and then to pray to know if it is true. I felt so uplifted after that lesson! Tawnya is a great example of showing her faith and following the Spirit even if everyone doesn't agree with her decision. Love you Tawnya, I'm praying for you!

Tuesday morning we hiked the "M" of the University of Montana. It is shorter than hiking the "Y" at BYU but it was definitely colder. We started the hike around 6AM with Elders Braden, Snell, Burnham, myself, and Sisters Randell and Hoggan. I am SO out of shape! But it was fun and I wanted to make sure I got to do it before leaving Missoula. It was below freezing. :) We packed for a majority of the day and then Elder Burnham and myself went with Elder Braden to dedicate a home of a less-active member. She wasn't living the commandments and was practicing things she should not have been and ran into some pretty bad trouble in her home. After the dedication we told her to start reading the Book of Mormon again and to do things that specifically invite the Holy Ghost into the home.

Wednesday was transfer day in Helena. We drove down in the morning. I actually got depressed a bit realizing that half the people I saw in Helena I would never see again :( It just just kind of hit me, so I said a few goodbyes. Some of the ones I said bye to were Elder Rasmusson, Elder Braden, Elder Burnham, and a few others. Fortunately I can see them in Utah not long from now though! We drove to Butte with the ZL's and I was companions with Elder Perez (a new District Leader) until we both waited for our companions coming the following day.

Thursday was stupid haha. In the midst of the transfer, I had Aunt Peggy's Christmas package with me in the car. Our area was getting a new truck but since the Zone Leaders needed to use it to move luggage the next day, I left my package in there so I didn't have to take it with me to Deer Lodge with Elder Perez. I got a call Thursday Morning from Elder Hill (ZL) that someone had broken the back window of the truck and stole my package sometime overnight in the Stake Center Parking Lot...WHAT THE HECK?!?! Welcome to Butte! The police needed to know how much the package was worth and what was in it so I got permission to call home. It was sweet to hear everyone's voices! It's just too bad it was a sad occasion haha. Jesse's voice sounds so deep! I love how I told Jesse that my package got stolen and the first thing he said was, "That's lame. Someone is getting coal in their stocking." Hahahahaha

Other than that though, I got my new companion, Elder Mathis! He is from St. George, UT and just got out of High School. It's a weird transition going from a Zone Leader the past year and then training but in a way it is kind of refreshing. Elder Mathis is a bit homesick but that is normal. Keep him in your prayers! We found 2 new investigators within the first 2 doors we knocked so thank you for praying for us!

The Elders Quorum President here owns the Dairy Queen. He gives us SIXTY BUCKS A WEEK to eat there. But it's sweet because it helps out financially but also allows us to be seen and talk to people in the store. Hoping to see some fruits and not just fats.

Saturday we had a small miracle. A member gave us $20 for dinner because they could not feed us. We went to "China Garden" thinking it was a buffet all day. We quickly found out it was only a buffet at lunch time. We told the waitress we only had $20 and we could not afford to eat there (it was expensive). She said to order whatever we want and $20 would be enough. :) Blessings!

Yesterday was the Ward's Christmas program and it was so good! Sounds like the one at home was really good too! The talks given were specifically about the birth of the Savior from Mary's perspective, and then from Joseph's perspective. It was SO interesting. I loved it! We sang in the ward choir too haha. We sang, "I saw a New Star Shining," "Guard Him Joseph" and various renditions of Christmas hymns.

I am excited to see you all Thursday! We have permission to arrange skype times before then. What time works best for you? We can do probably anytime between 10 and like 2. We'll check the email around 3 or 330 tomorrow. You can be on if we need to communicate back and forth.

The Temple lights are so sweet! I'll get to see them next year :D I love you and I'll see you Thursday!

 

 

Elder Inman Letter December 15, 2014

The Final Transfer

I don't know what to do with myself. I can't believe this is it. I have 7 weeks left to serve the Lord full-time. And the verdict is.... I am being TRANSFERRED to DILLON, MT! I was trained in Sheridan just 30 miles East of there! I even spent some time in Dillon on exchanges. That is THE cowboy town in the mission. Hopefully I can see some people from Sheridan as well. My address (courtesy of Elder Rasmusson) is:

255 Valley View Rd.

Dillon, MT 59725

 

I will actually be training for my final transfer. Nearly our entire MTC District went from being Zone Leaders to training :)

 

It was quite the week indeed. Monday we had all of our appointments fall through so we went to Family Home Evening in the Singles Ward (we cover that ward as well). They had a white elephant gift exchange. We all stood in a circle and had a gift in hand. The girl who planned it read a modified version of the Christmas story and each time she used the word "right", "left", or "across" we would pass in that direction. At the end we opened up our gifts. What we didn't realize, was one of the gift bags had live goldfish in it! And I got that bag...with all the passing going on, one of the 5 goldfish actually died hahahahahahaha. In the bag was real goldfish and pringles. It didn't occur to me till after that it was "fish and chips!" Elder Burnham didn't have a gift at first so he found a partially drank half-gallon of eggnog haha. Gross. He ended up with an electric fly swatter and Elder snell got a toy elf that poops jelly beans.

Tuesday we taught the word of wisdom in 3 different lessons. But they were all really good and powerful!

I don't think I've ever been more frustrated with a service project than I was on Wednesday. After district meeting this lady (who is not a member) wanted the missionaries to help her move. Sounds good right? We showed up with three sets of Elders. Come to find out that this lady expected the Elders to move everything out of her house into a  U-HAUL that WE were expected to buy, DRIVE her to her new home, and unload it all without any effort on her part. What made it worse was she told us it had to be done that day. She had the next day too but didn't tell us so we had to cancel appointments. She was flat out rude and disrespectful without any interest in the church. And her house was disgusting.We had to call two Bishops, find a driver for the UHAUL (that our Bishop bought with his own money), and spend 4 hours moving her to her home 15 miles away.

The next day was far better. We got a call from Sister Marshall in SHERIDAN. There was a less-active family from Twin Bridges (still in the Sheridan Ward that I covered nearly 2 years ago) who had a baby in ICU. Apparently the baby was having brain complications. I was asked to give the blessing to that small baby in a hospital bed. It was a neat experience and I felt the spirit testify to me that this baby was with it's Father in Heaven not too long ago. And that it still had a life to live :) I was able to talk with these members and they brightened up a bit when I was able to talk about some of the people I know from that ward. I hope this experience will help them come back into the gospel.

Friday and Saturday we got to help greet for "Handel's Messiah" put on by the stake! They have been practicing since July of this year and there was a great turnout of non-members and less-actives. There was a complete orchestra and choir. SO GOOD! I'm not really into the opera deal but if you ever want to memorize scriptures about the Savior, listen to that performance just twice haha. The lyrics are all scripture. After the performance Saturday night, we had a non-member lady come up to us and ask if she could set up an appointment with us. Pretty sweet!

THANK YOU Grandpa and Grandpa for the Christmas gift! It came at a needed time :) I love you both and miss you! Grandpa, thank you for your mission stories and memories from your life! They uplift and inspire me.

Hope everyone has a fantastic week! I know that this is the only true church on the face of this earth. A Prophet of God leads this church with Keys that allow the church to function properly by Priesthood power. Joseph Smith saw who he said he saw. God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. This is Their church and we are so blessed to be a part of it! Love you!

Elder Inman Letter December 8, 2014

Christmas Zone Conference...

Hello all! What a busy week. We had all kinds of things going on that it just flew by! I got my new suit Monday (THANK YOU!) and it is SO nice. Even nicer than my first two. It has a more slim fit so it makes me look skinnier than I am haha. i plan on wearing it sparingly, as I want it to still look nice for my homecoming and whatever. All of our appointments fell through Monday night so we went to FHE in the YSA ward (because we cover the YSA ward) and played human fooseball! We (and our companion/partner) would hold a PVC pipe and had to stay stationary till the ball came to us. Pretty fun.

Tuesday I got a haircut and I talked to the hair stylist about the Gospel. It's the perfect setting because they can't leave! Then I started an exchange with Elder Braden. I miss being his companion! Such a stud. We tracted for about 2 hours and went to the library. i meet someone unique every time I go there. This time a guy walked up to us and asked, "Are you the Missionaries or the FBI?" We told him we were missionaries and he got super serious. He took off his cowboy hat and said, "I'm an adventurer...rumor has it that the Momrons have spaceships and travel to other planets?" I was in silence. He continued, "I'm being serious! I would join your church in a heartbeat if that were true." We told him that was not true. He had a sad puppy dog face and asked if we at least believe in aliens. I replied, "probably not in they way you are thinking, but yes we believe in life on other planets." Oh Missoula!

Wednesday I was still with Elder Braden and we had a few good visits. One was with a less-active returned missionary from under 15 years ago. He now no longer believes in God and prefers Philosophy...hmmmmm. There was no question of ours that he could answer because he knows that for two years of his life he testified that God lives and still speaks today. He told us that he could not deny the feelings he had when praying to know if Joseph Smith was a Prophet. now he believes that religion "creates the problems it tries to fix." No standards, no crime, no sin, no punishment. Hello Korihor.

Wednesday night we had the Kalispell Zone come down and stay the night with missionaries because the next morning we had to leave early for Christmas zone conference. We had Elder Packham and Elder Buntrock (Kalispell ZL's) stay with us for the night.

CHRISTMAS ZONE CONFERENCE WAS SO GOOD! Half the mission was at each one and almost all of my friends were at the one I attended in Helena. Elder Rasmusson, Packham, Holland, Swisher, Braden, Southwick, and several others. We sang three different Christmas songs. It's funny that mom mentioned you (Dad) singing bass. I've actually somewhat learned how to sing parts and was in the bass section of the choir. I attached the recording of the 3 Christmas songs (they are all on one, so wait through the pauses). I thought we sounded pretty good! Thanks for submitting the picture of me as "Elfis" haha. No one knew what I was! I didn't even know what it was until it registered on the slideshow that it was me haha. Good one :) Got lots of laughs! Thank you for the letters as well :)

Friday we actually drove halfway back to Helena because a missionary forgot their truck and house keys there haha. So we met the assistants halfway. We got to go on UoM campus Friday with the YSA sisters to give out free hot chocolate. We can't proselyte so we set up a fake Christmas tree and had people write on a paper ornament what Christmas meant to them. It was a pretty neat activity with actually a lot of success! Our lessons that night were super distracted because they all mainly were children. And it's awkward when the member teaches false doctrine and you have to correct them. Our last appointment of the evening was really good though. We actually showed up in the middle of a pretty bad marital argument. We taught a lesson on patience and the Holy Ghost and it was actually very powerful.

Saturday was our ward Christmas party. We had several non-members and less-actives there. While there, two members of the Seventy were there interviewing Bishops, members of the Stake Presidency, and High Council members to fill the Stake Presidency the following day. They were there for 12 hours! It was Elder Fallabella of the first Quorum of the Seventy and Elder Stanfill, the Area Seventy. We got to shake their hands :) I actually ate with Elder Stanfill in Bigfork over a year ago! Our ward Christmas party was breakfast themed, so there was some good food.

Sunday we had our sweet Stake Conference. The Stake Presidency got reorganized. President Price (former 2nd Counselor in the Stake Presidency) was called to be the new Stake President and he is AWESOME. Super missionary minded. I hope to stay here for my last transfer but President has recently been doubling out (whitewashing) zone leaders when a new Stake President is called. Transfers are next Monday so we will see!

The First Presidency Devotional was sweet! Things have been going well here and the work continues to move forward. Hope everyone has a fantastic week and I love you all!

And this the black suit I'm wearing is the new one :)

These are the assistants Elder Wyatt (Present), Elder Southwick (Elf), and Elder Bishop (Santa). Elders Southwick and Bishop were in the MTC with me. Pictured with Elder Packham, Elder Buntrock, and Elder Burnham

Elder Inman Letter December 1, 2014

Holy Crap it's December!

Happy Birthday Dom! I can't believe he's turning 21. I told him he better not do anything crazy. But over there, everyone is crazy at like the age of 12 haha. He said no one understands why it's such a big deal to turn 21. I really can't believe December is already here! November went by far too fast.

It was a pretty fun week here. Lots of random, funny, and spiritual events. Monday night I had a baby bite my finger three times! We were at a recent convert's home teaching the new member discussions and their 2 year old picked up like a month old goldfish off the floor and put it in his mouth. I put my finger in his mouth to try and take it out but he bit me 3 times instead haha. I guess I deserved it!

Tuesday...one of the funniest days ever. Picture this: It is raining outside and the streets are nice and slushy from the snow the day before so it is super slippery on the roads. You are about to pull out from your street turning right onto the neighborhood road (like Verde Vista) and there is a truck coming toward you on your left. A deer prances right into the middle of the road and the truck DESTROYS the deer. It fly's 30 yards and slides across the slush and slams into the back of you car...that is EXACTLY what happened to us hahahahaha. The truck kept going! It didn't even phase him! I got out of the car (I was the passenger) to see this whitetailed doe UNDERNEATH our car with it's head just under our exhaust pipe. Elder Burnham pulled forward and the deer's hind leg was broken at least 4 times over. It couldn't get up so we parked and called for someone to come get it. While we were waiting, a car drives up next to us and asked if we had a knife...we replied that we didn't. She totally wanted to take the deer, skin it, and take it home! We told her we had already called someone and she said she was going to come home and get her van. Lo and behold she comes back with a van. It had been an hour and no one came to get the deer so she put it in her van like right next to where her kids would sit. And she drove home with it...that is disgusting haha.

We did do missionary work that day though. Somehow there was no damage done to the car. We taught the Plan of Salvation to a 9 year old, complete with cutouts and a flow chart for him to color. His name is Bill Bailey and he is getting baptized this month! Afterward we visited the guy that got shot in the face named Mike Aja. We had Bishop with us and we made it very clear to him that he needed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. His wife is really less-active but she really wants to be active. We talked about the temple what he needs to do if he wants an eternal family.

Thanksgiving was good! Not as memorable or as fun as last year in Bigfork. But it was good. We ate dinner with a family by the name of Chapman. Cool enough, it is extended family of our Ward Mission Leader in Billings, Thomas Chapman and he was there for Thanksgiving so I got to see him. The food was really good!  It was a very relaxing day. President told us to proselyte with all our heart, might, mind, and strength every day EXCEPT Thanksgiving which felt odd but I enjoyed relaxing! We had a second dinner with our ward mission leader here and a few of his friends. They are all young families and we all ate at the stake center. We played categories and did some other fun things. I was actually missing Thanksgiving at Peggy's house, they always have the best food!

Friday and Saturday we were trying to get things figured out for a baptism. Robert Mackenzie is a young single adult who we weren't sure was ready to be baptized due to some things he still needed to overcome. We didn't have his interview till Friday and so it was quite stressful trying to get people to his baptism that happened Saturday. Everyone was out of town and it was super last minute. We nearly had to cancel it and had to make all kinds of phone calls. Fortunately a miracle happened and there was about 20 people there! Granted that 10 were missionaries but it was ok :) Another baptism!

This week will be Christmas Zone Conference which I am SUPER stoked for! Half the mission will be on this side. I'm glad you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving and that Torie was able to come home for it. I just wrote her back so it should be there in the next few days. Cool story about the Zoo! Note to self..panthers don't need to be looked in the eyes and they like babies. Have a great week and stay warm in the freezing 70 degree temperatures there in Arizona! Love you!

Pictures: 1412-1413 is the Deer Story, 1383-1384 is the view out of our apartment, 1419 was taken on Thanksgiving (Snell, Burnham, Me, Sister Hoggan, Sister Randall), 1426 is Thanksgiving (check out the tweed!)

Robert's Baptism