Elder Inman Letter July 28, 2014

One of the busiest weeks of my mission

Hello! It was quite the week this week. And unfortunately, we didn't see as many people this week as we typically do. Between Zone Conference and Interviews twice this week, we didn't spend as much time in our area as I would have liked. But it was a good week nonetheless :)

Monday it rained on and off, but then got super hot and sticky. Elder Braden and I played Tennis and Frisbee while the rain lasted and then it got to humid for comfort. That evening we met with the Greenwald's as usual and we showed President Uchtdorf's talk, "Come, Join with Us" followed by priesthood blessings given to both of them. They know they need to come back and I think they are very close! Please pray for them. Afterwards we tracted a little bit and found, "Shakespeare in the Park"  where there were lots of people in one location...we called on the rain from heaven so they would all scatter and it happened! (It was going to rain anyway...we just prayed that it would come sooner) haha. 

Tuesday was our Zone Conference in Worland, WY. We discussed incorporating Temples and Family History Work into our teaching and finding. I gave a discussion on that and enjoyed it quite a bit. President Mecham made us promises and blessed us acquire a SURE knowledge of why we are here by virtue of the Holy Spirit of Promise unto the Sanctification of our souls. He told us that we are the elect and and made us promises pertaining to the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. Pretty cool stuff :) That evening I started on an exchange with Elder Slade from Cody while Elder Braden exchanged with the Elders in Thermopolis.

We spent half the day in Cody Wednesday. President told us the night before that he wanted to do interviews with all the missionaries in the Cody District. As a Zone Leader, he asks us to do pre-interviews. I mainly asked about finding ideas and how each missionary is doing. I enjoy interviews but they can be draining. I also had an interview with President that went really well.

Thursday I returned Elder Slade to Cody in Exchange for Elder Swisher (District Leader). Elder Swisher has lost his iPad so spent about a half hour looking for it. While doing this I also came to discover one of our missionaries decided to buy a skateboard...and he told his companion that I gave him permission to have it...I know myself a heck of a lot better than that!!!! Made me so mad. Waiting to Elder Braden gets back to confront him about it. That evening we did a lot of walking but no one was home. We later realized it was because everyone was at the Powell fair.

It wouldn't be a Wyoming experience without washing Dairy Cows in preparation for the fair! Brother George (our Ward Mission Leader) asked if we could help wash his cows that were going to be shown in the fair that morning. We did and it was pretty gross but awesome. Those are some big animals. He offered to let us show them in the fair but we went to Lovell to do more interviews there. We didn't get home till about 3 and then had some really good lessons with a new Less-Active family (the Lopez's) and found some new people as well.

Saturday was really fun! Not very productive though. It was the last day of the Powell fair and EVERYONE in this small town goes. We spent the whole day there trying to talk to people but no one was interested. Go figure. BUT we did see a few Less-Actives and even an investigator there so we got to talk to them for a little bit which was good. Also, we got a lot of free food including free funnel cake and Hawg Heaven. The last fair event was the Demolition Derby. I've never been to one so it was fun! Basically a lot of Junker cars get into a ring and crash into each otehr until their engines stop running or they lose tires haha. Way fun.

Yesterday was good. Elder Braden is still in Thermopolis, so Elder Swisher is still with me. We had a really good visit with Bill and Nora Winters, a Part-member family who got back from Nauvoo not to long ago. We testified of the Book of Mormon and discussed why the Saints were willing to travel thousands of miles because of their testimony of the Restoration of the Gospel. We are going back Wednesday to have a MOOSE Steak dinner and are watching 17 miracles with them. Then we went to a Less-active family to find out why they still didn't come to church.

Well that was our week. Not all that exciting, but some new experiences for sure! In answer to your question dad, from what I understand I will be home January 17th. 10 days after Alex gets home. The reason for that is because I came into the mission on a 5 week transfer, and there will be another 5 week transfer due to transfer day falling on Christmas Eve. And, missionaries used to go home a week after a transfer happened and now they go home the last week of a transfer. So I get pushed forward 3 weeks! It'already almost August. Yikes.

Elder Inman Letter July 21, 2014

Less Than 6 Months Left ...

That is an incredibly weird thought! I don't know if you know this, but my mission will be three weeks short due to two 5 week (instead of 6 week transfers) and the date missionaries return home (last week of a transfer instead of the beginning of the following one). So I will actually more than likely be home January 17th! Which is crazy to think about. But it is still plenty of time to work and I am not going to let that thought distract me.

Well it was another eventful week full of travelling. Tuesday we had District Meeting but our District Leader's companion was really sick so Elder Braden and I had to lead out and conduct the meeting. It went ok I guess. From there we went home and packed for Billings, and were gone by 6pm! This week was MLC (Mission Leadership Council) held in Helena, so we drive to Billings the night before, stay the night in the Mission home, and leave 430AM the next morning for Helena! It is always fun to see missionaries from around the mission. Many that are currently in leadership are from my District in the MTC so we got to reunite for a few days! Mission Leadership Council mainly discusses mission policies and needs for the mission as a whole and we take that information back to our zones. While there President asked me to do a search on Divine Investiture of Authority for him (which is fun), so I enjoyed that. There is a document the church put out in 1916 called "The Father and the Son" that discusses how Christ is both the Father and the Son yet separate beings. Definitely worth studying!

Thursday I got to attend the Temple again! Had one of the best experiences there than I have in a long time. I realized so many more things and was overwhelmed by the spirit in the Celestial Room. Afterward we ate at Red Robin, stopped at Walmart, and came home. That evening we had a really good discussion with a new Less-Active couple and ended the evening by visiting the Spomers.

Friday we planned till like 430PM (Over 4 hours!). The Lord always provides when we are obedient though because we found a another new Less-Active. She is a Nurse Practitioner and actually got to to be a nurse to President Benson, Howard W. Hunter, and Gordon B. Hinckley. She talked about how sometimes she was called down simply because President Hunter wanted someone to pray with him and she say words can't describe the way those men pray. How do you go less-active after that?! I was so jealous.

We had a cool experience this weekend. Saturday morning we felt prompted to go see the Whitmore's who are less-active and we gave up on months ago. But we felt called there regardless. They weren't home,. so we knocked the houses nearby. A neighbor informed us that there was an ambulance outside the Whitmore's home earlier that morning. We walked over to the hospital and I think we were the first (friends and family alike) to visit them. We read him from the Epistle of James where it discusses Priesthood Blessings (James 5:14-15) and told him that the blessing would be according to the  faith of all those currently present. When we finished, both were in tears (he and his wife). He was home the next morning. When we went to third ward the Davis' approached us as well as Sister Davis' 95 year old mother who shook our hand and thaked us for visiting her Brother-in-Law in the hospital the day before. She said we were angels called to that responsibility and we acted on the promptings of the Spirit. I did not know they were related. There is something about the Davis's family that ties to mine. We helped reactivate the Davis', are teaching her sister the Greenwalds, gave her other sister a blessing a while ago, and recently gave blessing to her mother's brother-in-law. The Lord has very important plans for that family!

Well that is all for this week! Sounds like Torie, Lacey and Mom have a fun week planned! And Dad and Jesse got to go to a movie haha. I hope you all have a great week! 

Pictures of Candy Town in Billings...it's changed a bit :) Jesse would never leave that place.

Elder Inman Letter July 14, 2014

Begin Transfer #13 ...

Busy transfer week! Starting Monday, Elder Rasmusson packed a bit and we started visiting members that he wanted to say bye too. We actually had dinner with the Greenwald's who are doing fantastic! They both started reading the Book of Mormon and are about halfway through 1 Nephi already. Afterwards we visited the Davis', President and Sister Hopkin, and the See's (who just got married). Lots of tears from the members! Elder Rasmusson was here for a while...

Tuesday Elder Rasmusson left along with about half our zone! We spent the day visiting more people and taking lots of pictures. Since my new companion hadn't come yet, I was with Elder Salvador again who was also waiting for his companion. We visited a family with a last name of Rackley and talked to one of the less-active sons quite a bit. We committed him to pray every evening and we would play basketball with him today as a reward! i guess he's been doing it because we remind him every night haha.

Wednesday I spent the day with Elder Salvador and NO ONE was home. It was also incredibly hot. We taught one lesson outside with a teenager by the name of Braden Wilder. It was the first discussion (again) and he committed to be baptized once he received an answer of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon! However, he intends on listening to it online...while playing League of Legends...so we'll see how in tune with the Spirit he'll be. 

I am officially companions with Elder Braden! Who was in the same MTC District with me nearly 18 months ago :D Our first day was interesting as we had to drive to Billings to pick up an Elder's lost luggage and then bring it down through Cody. Took out a large chunk of our day but I love roadtrips! Our first appointment was in the Evening with the Pratt family. We re-taught them the Restoration and Elder Braden felt prompted to ask if either of them wanted a Priesthood blessing. Brother Pratt (who is currently no longer a member of the church) consented and was given a blessing. Both were in tears. Yes! Our next appointment was with the Spomers. We had Dyllun (the 7 year old preparing for baptism) draw out the Plan of Salvation as we described it and it was pretty effective! Our last appointment that evening was with Stephan, his girlfriend Annie, and JT who is Annie's 10 year old son. JT comes to church weekly on his own with the help of a ride from ward members. Stephan is Less-Active and Annie is a non-member. The lesson started off pretty contentious as none of them (other than JT) had any desire to ever do anything. We taught a powerful lesson about prayer and the concerns they had would be answered if they came to church for just sacrament meeting. The challenge was accepted and they will be there next week!

Friday we visited our new investigator Gene. We will probably teach him via movies from now on haha. We also had a good lesson with the Kiers. Right now, Sister Kier does not intend on being baptized but is supportive of David (her 7 year old son) and Jim her husband being active in it. We had a really good lesson about trials and what baptism would mean for her and her family, and we are praying that she will feel the spirit and decide to investigate further! Please pray for her!

Saturday I resisted the temptation to destroy a less-active man in a bash. He joined the church a long time ago for the sole purpose of marrying an LDS girl. He since then has founded much anti material, and pointed his finger quite a few times at me and Elder Braden with a raised voice. It occurred to me that as Elder Braden and I were completely calm and soft with our voices, the only reason he would raise his would be due to his fighting with the Holy Ghost testifying to him what we said was true. It was that thought that convinced me that I did not need to prove anything, as he was already striving to diminish the Holy Ghost in the room. We had a member with us who happens to be a temple sealer and taught this man in school. He gave the closing prayer and it was flat out AWESOME. He poured his soul out to God for this man to once again find the truth and to one day go to the temple. He taught the Apostasy and how all churches have good but we know this is the only true church. Well done Brother Cottrell :) We left and will probably never go back.

Yesterday's Sacrament meeting was pretty good. It was Ward Conference in 3rd ward so we had some really good talks on conversion, temple, and FH work. Only 3% of members in the church actually do FH work and the ordinances being performed are exceeding the number of names being submitted to the temple. The Billings Temple actually RAN out of Sealings to do. Do your family History!

Other than that, things are good here and the weather is warming up. I have been assigned to talk about temples and family history in the upcoming zone conference, so I am getting prepared for that. Sounds like the girls have a fun week planned in California! And Dad and Jesse can just chill haha. How was Torie's experience in DC? Have a great week! Love you all!

Elder Inman Letter July 7, 2014

Happy 4th of July!

Well it finally happened. Elder Rasmusson is getting transferred to Butte, MT! He will remain a ZL there. I am STAYING in Powell for another 6 weeks! My new companion will be Elder BRADEN who was in the MTC with me! I am pretty excited about it. He's really tall, lanky, and doesn't say a lot but is probably the most obedient missionary in this mission. He served in Cody (part of our zone) and will do a great job helping those areas pick up again! I am sad Elder Rasmusson is leaving but he has been here for 7.5 months and I was lucky enough to be his companion for 1/4 of my mission.

On Monday, we had a zone preparation day and President Hopkin from the Mission Presidency BBQ'd for us! We played kickball and ultimate Frisbee, so it was a blast. Got really sunburned on my shaved head though haha. We had a pretty good lesson with the Sullivan's that evening about prayer. It occurred to me during this lesson that anything bad in life happens because of miscommunication. Someone is either misunderstood or takes offense because there is not a developed relationship with that person (in some cases). It is the same with prayer. The world focuses so much on getting God out of our lives that we wonder where he is when disasters happen. If we are not in constant communication with our Heavenly Father, it becomes to easy to blame him for things we do not understand. A miscommunication of God's Plan of Happiness. That is why it is so essential to pray daily to Him!

Tuesday was pretty unique. As Zone Leaders, we are instructed to help minister to those in other areas who either are, or could be on baptismal date. There was a companionship in Cody who was struggling to teach a specific man and to help him realize that he needs to pick a side and not remain lukewarm. We offered to help and assisted these sister missionaries in teaching Aaron, one of their investigators of 9 months. That was such a weird experience but in the end he accepted a baptismal date of August 23rd :). Blessings for obedience!

Wednesday we visited Ann Hinckley. probably one of the most stubborn people I have ever met. This is the lady that has been investigating for over 60 years, has had a calling for over 50 of them, and has children sealed in the temple. She refuses to even PRAY about being baptized even though she knows it is true. Please pray for her.

I'll skip Thursday and talk about the 4th of July! We spent the entire day in Cody, WY which is the "Rodeo Capital of the World." We went to a ward pancake breakfast, and then watched the Cody Parade which was pretty good! Complete with a billion horses, lots of firetrucks and forest service, Native American's and even a Bat-mobile! The Cody Elders purchased a booth for the after-parade where we could hand out all kinds of things for free. We assisted them and I ended up teaching a guy from Turkey who was Muslim but was interested in Christian ideology. That was interesting. We were allowed to be out till 11PM (woohoo!) and watch fireworks. Someone totally lit their stack of hay on fire or something because across the mountain we saw a huge fire probably over 30 feet high and at least 6 firetrucks heading that direction haha. Gotta love cowboy country.

 Alexis and Misty Pederson accepted a baptismal date finally! After 6 months of teaching them. We will see if they actually get baptized, we have some doubts as to what their real purposes are in getting baptized...but whatever :) Yesterday I officially hit my 17 month mark in the field! Crazy how the time flies. I will be home in less than 7 months. Very weird feeling!

Elder Inman Letter June 30, 2014

Transfers next week ...

Yep, so transfers are next week and we're getting kind of nervous. Elder Rasmusson has been here 7.5 months and I've been here for 6! So our chances continue to get less and less but we're hoping for another one. We realized that if we leave, no one will be able to pick up because the members are not involved (with the exception of a few). We'll be praying to stay!

This week was packed and went by really fast. I am happy to report that I've been working out every morning by running to the park and playing either frisbee or tennis! I've gotten pretty good at frisbee, I'm thinking about starting an intramural team at BYU when I get back. Hope Jack has gotten good haha!

Hmmm... highlights of the week. Well Wednesday we had a super awesome lesson with the Greenwald's who are new Less-Actives. This is sister Davis' sister who was recently reactivated. The goal is to get them to the temple to be sealed to their mom before she passes away! They fed us dinner and have been truly humbled. It is just a matter of committing them to church the rest of their lives. What was so sweet though was that we were sharing the first vision and one of the loudest thunderstorms just started and boomed as we finished the first vision. The Spirit was obviously strong. It shook the house :) 

Friday was pretty funny. We met a new investigator named Gene Anderson. He was in a bad car wreck that caused brain damage so he forgets a lot of things. He's hilarious though. We could only get off two principles because he would get distracted. For example, while mid-conversation he stops and stares at something on the table...he picks up a half eaten burrito and says, "I don't remember eating a burrito..." haha! He lost his ability to smell or taste too which sucks. But quite an interesting guy. He brought out this really small pet frog his son had...and it jumped out of Elder Rasmusson's hands and we had to look for it under the couch. Fun lesson :) 

Saturday we went to Lovell for a meeting. Apparently Lovell has, "Lovell Days" instead of the 4th of July. And there is "Byron Days" a week after...all about competition here with all these small towns. So we caught part of the parade in Lovell.

Yesterday we had a lesson with a very interesting man named Brian. His friend in Montana who chose to remain nameless thought it would be a funny prank for us to go see him. So we did, and actually had a good visit! It's funny, because every person tells us that they will be our hardest challenge. Please...this guy says he is not religious but "spiritual." He is definitely a family man and has very interesting views on life and how we should treat people. He says he has NEVER heard of ANY church say ANYTHING about telling teenagers to not have children unless they are prepared to be parents. We basically said, "Are you kidding me? That's talked about like EVERY general conference!" So we're going to send him some quotes.

Anyways, sounds like things are busy at home like usual. Lacey with her wedding plans, Mom preparing seminary already, Jesse at Geronimo, Torie going to DC, and Dad at work!  Good luck to Torie in DC this week! That is exciting! I will be in Cody watching a huge parade and I'll be sure to take lots of pictures! We got permission to stay out till 11 woo hoo! Wild and crazy! Love you all!

Elder Inman Letter June 23, 2014

Exchanges

Sounds like quite the week back home! It was a busy one here as well! We finally made it to District meeting this week (which is an accomplishment). I spent half of it auditing everyone's iPad. it's amazing and sad the things you find. Afterwards, I went on exchanges to Burlington which is a town of about 300 people. For those of you who don't know, exchanges are conducted by leaders to help other missionaries in their areas find new people and train them on some things. Nearly everyone in Burlington is a member, so it can be difficult in a town so small to find people.

So, Burlington is actually where Elder Denslow is currently serving, but he came up to Powell to be with Elder Rasmusson while I went down to be with his companion Elder Salvador. We went with a member who took us around to see all his friends from 6:30pm-9PM. We found so many people! And the member that took us works for Keibler (Kellogg's), so he hooked us up with enough snacks for probably 2 months haha. It's nice to know people!

Wednesday I was still in Burlington and we found a few people to teach. One of them was to an investigator. It was incredibly difficult to teach the Restoration while the 2 year old daughter was buck naked and the 4 year old son was already dropping [bad words] ...but I guess eliminating distractions is a teaching skill? Also gave a new Less Active a blessing for night terrors...it would probably help her if she stopped drinking and doing drugs.

Thursday I came back to Powell. After all the weekly planning, we visited the Kier's (part-member family) who are doing great! Brother Kier is reading the Old Testament children stories to their 7 year old son David and he is retaining a lot!

Friday morning, Elder Rasmusson and I sang at a funeral for an inactive man who went on a boating trip with his buddies, got drunk, and drowned. Sad stuff. We sang, "Nearer My God to Thee" in parts. I'm slowly learning to sing! Dinner was at the Davis'. We have officially taught them ALL the lessons! Sister Davis got her Patriarchal blessing yesterday and said it was incredible. For their 50th anniversary they plan on going to the Cardston, Alberta temple. Coming back for that! That evening we visited the Kvia's. Sister Kvia refuses to come to church because of something that happened in the 50's. She's convinced God understands her not renewing covenants because of a member 64 years ago who she admits had good intentions. We said, "yeah GOD understands everything!" But she clearly doesn't understand that the Sacrament is THE way to endure to the end. She's enjoyed a lot of "smooth doctrines" over the years.

Saturday we went to a baby shower we got invited too. That was awkward. We didn't stay long. That night we had a sweet lesson though with some people from Moldova (near Ukraine)! They only speak Russian. And a few weeks ago, we gave Andrew a Russian Book of Mormon. Saturday we brought an ex-communicated member who served a mission in Russia (who still believes the church is true), translate for us. The agreed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon!

Yesterday was a great Sunday! The Pedersons, Kiers, Sees, and several Less-actives were there. 9 investigators total present! It was way cool. We fasted all day for zone baptisms to increase. Haven't seen a lot yet but hope to!

GOOD NEWS! I FOUND MY CAMERA HALLELUJAH! Thank you for all your prayers! I will be sending home the memory card fairly soon. I've included a few pictures in this email. That's exciting that Lacey already has a wedding dress! Do I get to decide what picture Lacey puts on my card-board cut-out? x) If you get all the colors and buy ties, I want one and can send a picture to match everyone! Pahahaha. Really though. That's crazy Jensen and Shane are ready to go. Those punks NEVER said a word to me yet! Still love them though. Have a great week! I love you all!

Emblem is covered by Burlington. I met 5 of the 10 people there :)

Also bought a watermelon and decided this was the easiest way to eat it! Delicious!

Elder Inman Letter June 16, 2014

What the DIAMOND?!

LACEY IS ENGAGED?!?!?!?!?!?! I'M GOING TO BE A BROTHER IN-LAW?! SOMEDAY I'LL BE AN UNCLE?! Lacey's subject line said READ MINE FIRST haha. So I did! That's so exciting Lacey! I support and approve 100%! I know that if the Lord approves, I definately do! So what's next? How do you even plan for a wedding? We plan all the time as missionaries but not for weddings...actually we're planning a wedding in 2 weeks haha!

 

Well my week seems uninteresting now...I'm not engaged or anything... :) I suppose that is a good thing.

 

Had another successful week! 29 lessons, 4 non-members at church, 3 less-actives at church, and 3 new less-actives to work with! I love this area. Monday we helped Braden move and taught a sweet lesson with the Kiers. We continue to teach them weekly and have an appointment with them tonight! Sister Kier is awesome and is progressing. The whole family came to church!

 

Tuesday we started exchanges with Elder Payne (an Assistant to the President). We took him to see Mariana. She got super mad at us and sent us a rebuking text for trying to teach her the gospel. She just wanted us to be friends. We told her that was not our purpose and Christ taught too everyone, even his crucifiers so we should do likewise. The Young's are doing well, they started doing family home evenings! We also met with the Greenwalds!. Sister Greenwald is SIster Davis' (recently reactivated) sister! She wants to come back to church and we are going to start teaching them the discussions over again. How sweet is that!? Talking to members, all of them are surpised with many of these Less-active's progress because they all said they would never change and just gave up on them. Heck no! Never give up on anybody!

 

Wednesday was Zone Leader Training. I gave a talk defining what a successful missionary is and Elder Rasmusson discussed the blessings of our diligence and faith. Our mission baptized 77 people last Month. When Elder Godoy (member of the 70) came to our mission, he made a Prophecy. Our mission is ranked #1 out of the 22 missions in our region. We find the LEAST amount of people (because therer is noone here) but baptize the MOST. That means we're really good teachers! He read us Alma 26:22 which says there are 4 things needed to baptize thousands: Repentance, Faith, Good Works, and Praying unceasingly. He said we mastered 3 of the 4. The set of missionaries I came out with were known as the "purification group" (which President told me in an interview). We got rid of all bad past traditions, so that is the repentance part. We do good works and we do something called "Purposefull Prayer." Often we pray and say Amen so fast that we don't even wait for an answer! So we pause for roughly 10 seconds after we say Amen to let the spirit communicate with us. He said we just need an added measure of Faith and we would baptize in the thousands. His words were, "If your mission can't baptize a thousand, no other mission can." So President did the math, that is 84 a month. Challenge accepted!

 

I was on exchanges with Byron Elders part of the week. Had some cool experiences there. I taught a recent convert who was part of a Polygamist colony and had to be interviewed by a general authority to get baptized! We actually have lots of Polygamist up here.

 

There's a first for everything. We gave blessing to a lady in the hospital who had been in labor for 24 hours and was having a difficult time giving birth. That was a stressful blessing haha.

 

We have been focusing a lot on family history as a finding tool lately. Some of our history makes it back to the 100's and even before Christ! And lots of Danish Kings!

 

Well that was my week. Elder Rasmusson hit his year mark this week so I bought him ice cream. I only have 7.5 months left. Crazy stuff. What I am going to do with my life is really occupying my mind lately. I truly think I may want to get a doctorate in Religious Education and Teach religion. I love teaching so much!

 

Happy Father's Day Dad! You seriously are an incredible example to me. I don't know how you and mom managed to raise such a righteous and active family. You truly are amazing! Have a great week and stay cool!