Hermana Inman Letter October 25, 2012

Hi mom and dad and family!

This week has been good! Sometimes it is still really overwhelming, but it's good. We got to go to the temple again today, which is beautiful. We go early in the morning, and so this morning as our district was walking to the temple it was sprinkling snow but it wasn't sticking to the ground. When we came out from our session it was a blizzard outside and everything was completely white haha so we had to wait for a little while before we could go back to the MTC. That was a fun adventure to walk through the snow in flats. Oh, the tights that we got for me to wear are considered "fishnets" because they have lace on them.... do you think you could send me some cute thick ones that don't have lace on them, and then you can keep the tights we bought before we left (this is for mom)? And maybe could you send a couple of my nailpolishes to me please? They don't sell nail polish here, can you believe that? Oh, and Mom, I never said you could only send me one letter a week! You can send me a letter every day if you want! I just can only check my emails and I am only allowed to reply to letters once a week, but I can get letters every day.

 

I'm glad to hear that the family is doing pretty good! What are your plans for halloween? I'm glad work is at least going okay for you Dad. Congrats Torie on band!! How's seminary and school going mom? How did Jesse's testing go?

 

The other day our residence fire alarms went off at 6am! Just the dorms I'm staying in. Some of the girls were in the showers and had to go outside in their towels and robes haha it was kind of funny. It turns out a dust mite got stuck in the fire sensor and that's what triggered the alarm. The policemen had to come and everything!

 

I have some awesome teachers here. Yesterday my ZRT (zone resource teacher) named Hermano Toone talked to me about the importance of not becoming discouraged and about how important it is for us to open our mouths about the gospel. When Joseph Smith tried to pray for the first time, the one thing Satan tried to do was bind his tongue, so that he couldn't speak. That's all he wanted was to prevent Joseph from speaking because he knew who Joseph was and he knew exactly what he was capable of. The same goes for us as missionaries. Satan tells us we can't learn this language, it's too hard. You're not smart enough. You'll never get it. He tries to gradually bind your tongue so that you cannot speak, because he knows what we are capable of, and exactly what we are going to do as the Lord's missionary, and he can't stand it. So we need to always remember to be diligent and call upon God just like Joseph Smith did at that very second that Satan tried to bind his tongue. I thought that was such a great insight.

 

Oh, guess what?! Before the announcement about the missionary age change, there was typically 700 applications per week. Well just last week there was over 4,000 applications and just over half of them were from sisters!!!! :) How awesome is that?! The missionary applications have increased by 471% in just one week. This is truly the Lord's work.

 

Thank you so much to everybody who has written me a letter. It brightens my day and makes me happy to know that you are thinking about me. Keep them coming! :)

I'm about to get automatically signed off (they have a countdown for my computer time and that's why this is all I can send, sorry!! )

I love you all and miss you!

Love,

Hermana Inman

P.S. pictures coming soon

Hermana Inman Letter October 18, 2013

Hello Mom and Dad and Family :)

I made it through week one!  The first few days were insanely busy, and there were no breaks.  There still are no breaks, but things have calmed down a little bit.  My companion is Hermana McBride.  She is from Colorado, and we get along great!  We have some good laughs, but we can also focus and concentrate when we need to.  She quotes Nacho Libre with me all the time, it's fantastic.  Companionships are truly inspired, and I know this because the Lord must have known that I would have already gone insane if I was paired up with the other sisters in my district.  They're not awful, sometimes we just have conflicting personalities...haha.  My district consists of 4 elders and 4 sisters, which is pretty uncommon.  It's great, though.  We all get along together and feel like a family, like we've known each other for a very long time.  One of the elders in my district was in my ward at BYUI, so that was kind of fun to have someone I recognized in my district. 

I have run into Branden Mayben a few times, and my friend Sarah Valdez, and Sister Zollinger who was the missionary I went on splits with (she's a teacher here).  I also keep running into Tanner Cady, remember him?  Jake's friend when we lived in Peoria?  He's going to Spokane Washington (I think).  On Sunday Sister Linda Burton, the Relief Society General President, was our speaker in Relief society, so that was awesome.  Also, each Tuesday is devotional day, so a general authority comes on those days too. Woop Woop!!  I am singing in the MTC choir, and I love it.  Thank goodness you don't have to try out. 
The Spanish is coming along!  The gift of tongues is so apparent to me here... By the third day we could already say a prayer in Spanish, and on the fourth day, we could bear a testimony in Spanish.  We also taught our first "investigator" on the third day (Saturday).  The first lesson was awful, of course.  Totally embarrassing.  But they get better each time.  OH, and the entire lesson has to be in Spanish, ever since day one.  It's definitely a challenge, but it's amazing that we are somehow able to do it.  We have a TON of work to do, though.  My classroom is the best classroom in the whole MTC because our window directly faces the temple, so we get to look at the temple all day, everyday, for 9 weeks. 

It's true about the MTC food.... it does somethin to ya.  Regardless of what you eat.. haha.
I got lots of free training manuals on my first day, so I will be sending home the ones I brought.  I'll also be sending home some other things I can't wear/use.

Oh, mom, can you please send an email to Cameron LeNguyen and tell him that I really wish I could email him back but that I am not allowed to email anybody but immediate family?  He sent me a dearElder letter and wanted me to email him, but I cannot :(. Nor can I send dearElder notes...

Well I've got to go, we don't have very much time to check our emails, and I need to go get my laundry.  I love you guys and miss you very very much, but I am happy to be here and know that this is where I need to be.  Thanks for all of your support and love.  Have a great week :). 

I love you!!
Love,
Hermana Inman