Hello,
That's so exciting and great to hear about everyone's mission calls! This is truly the Lord's work! I'm glad to hear that the Mesa temple won't be closed when the others open :). When will the Gilbert and Phoenix temples open? Do grandma and grandpa know yet if they will be missionaries there? I'm glad you were able to get so much success out of your garden dad! That's awesome! I'm sorry to hear about that story of Torie's band teacher :/ I hope that everything works out and that he apologizes and gets you a new jacket. You do not deserve to be treated like that! I love you Torie! I got your other letter and will reply to it soon. I also got the letters from Mom and Dad, thanks :). I don't know if I am allowed to watch links to youtube videos or not (speaking of the link to Jake & his companion singing a hymn), I'll ask President Cook about it and see. I hope so! I'm excited to hear it! I'm glad you had a great birthday mom :). I'm happy that Jake is doing so well on the mission!
Yep, I'm healthy! I do need some singulair though, please. I was wondering if you could send a few church CD's we have at home? Any of them would be fine, we just listen to a ton of church music so it's nice to listen to different cd's.
What do you think about the 2013 edition of the scriptures? I think it's pretty exciting! If you haven't heard about it or looked into it there's an article about it on lds.org. Torie, there's a link on lds.org just for young women and how they can know when it's their time to serve, you should check it out :).
I read some cool scriptures about missionary work this week: Mormon 9:22, 24, and 31. I like in verse 22 how it says to preach the gospel to every "creature"- meaning teach the gospel to literrally everyone no matter what they look like, smell like, act like, etc. If they're in your path, you teach them. I like verse 24 because it talks about how we won't be hurt if we drink poison haha that's a cool promise. I also like it because it mentions we can "speak with new tongues" aka learn a language, and also it mentions some of the things priesthood holding elders can do, so that's kind of cool. In verse 31 in says that we should learn from the scriptures and the mistakes that people have made in the scriptures so that we may learn to be more wise than they were. The scriptures are for our benefit and guide and direct us today. They give us warnings and upliftment, and help us to know how we may have a better relationship with Christ. The Book of Mormon truly is another testament of of Jesus Christ, and we should share it with everyone we know!
You asked when Hermana Farr goes home; she goes home on April 10.
This week has been hard and frustrating. It seems like the harder we try and the more effort we put in, the less results we see lately. I know that's not the case, but that's how it feels. Our numbers have been so low for over a transfer now and it's really frustrating. It's not that we're not doing our part or that we're not good missionaries, it's just that for whatever reason nobody ever is there when we set appointments or they cancel them or whatever. We get a lot of fake addresses and phone numbers and that's upsetting as well. Why don't you just say you're not interested instead of lying and wasting our time and getting our hopes up, you know? Blah. I know it's not about the numbers, but still, you can't help but think about them and can't help but be really frustrated when you aren't having lessons. These past few weeks, and especially this last week, was frustrating also because for whatever reason, almost every single man that we talked to or passed by said really derrogatory (?) things and look at us so nasty and you know they're thinking vulgar things. Every single day, all day, every single man (minus like, 3). That's a lot. We just feel so violated and it's annoying when we're trying to do the Lord's work, and we're obviously missionaries and they still ask for our number (not because they want to learn about the gospel) and say really innapropriate things. I'm safe though, the Lord watches out for me and protects me. (I don't know if you want to put this on the blog or not, it's not uplifting or inspiring...) ((Dad: I included it just to show that missionary work doesn't always go the way you think it should, and that it shows how they grow through adversity - it's not always rosie. Also so that others can think of them, pray for them and write encouraging words to them.))
Anyway, sorry this email was so depressing. This week was just hard, but I can't expect it to be easy! I know things will get better and this is just a trial of my faith. Regardless of how hard it gets I still love being a missionary and wouldn't trade it for anything. I have no regrets in my decision to serve. I pray for each of you every day and know the Lord is watching out for you. He loves you very much :). Thank you for all that you do and for the sacrifices each of you are making to help Jake and I be missionaries. I love you family! I hope you have a great week and that you're happy!
Love,
Hermana Inman
