Hermana Inman Letter June 24, 2013

Hola Chulas.

So they're keeping me here in the Carlsbad Mission! I'm happy about that! And as far as I know I'll be staying here for another transfer with Hermana Moffitt.

 

I'm doing alright.  I still love being a missionary and I love the work! 

 

Did you all watch the broadcast last night? I thought it was SO GOOD! I loved it. There's so much members can do to help move this work forward. Please find people for the missionaries to teach so they don't have to knock on doors! I thought the video clips were perfect- they showed the simple ways that members can do missionary work. Can you believe that there are over 70,000 missionaries serving right now?! That's nuts! I'm glad to hear that Dom is doing well and loving the MTC :).

 

I'm glad Torie had fun at EFY and that Jesse had fun at Scout Camp! Mom you said he passed everything- does that mean he got all the merit badges he wanted? He'll have to write me a letter and tell me all about it. I hope you all have fun at the family reunion this week! Only half of our family will be there!  I wish I could come. I know Jake does, too. How's Torie getting along with her roommate at band camp? That's cool that she remembers Jake from school! And yay for Jake for getting his first baptism! Is Jake the Assistant to the President? From all of his "duties" it sounds like he is.

 

Adolfo is doing pretty good. Something about Hispanics is they believe strongly in their dreams, and that each one of them mean something significant (most of the people I've talked to anyway). Adolfo has strange dreams on the nights that he doesn't read the Book of Mormon, and these dreams make him think that he is going in the wrong direction, or choosing the wrong path. After the end of each of our lessons, though, he realizes that it's just the adversary and that he needs to read the scriptures before bed.  He told us that he has never prayed so hard for something in his entire life as he is right now. :) that was pretty neat, to see that he has a true desire to know. 

 

We finally had a lesson with Carmen this morning! We had to cancel her baptismal date because her husband and mom are very against her getting baptized.  They are all very strong Catholics, and it makes it really difficult for Carmen because not only was her family raised that way religiously, but it's also a big deal culturally. She wants to be baptized so bad but her husband is having some issues, so we'll have to postpone her baptism until later. She's so golden!  She already knows that everything we teach is true, so she'll be baptized in due time :).

 

We picked up 3 investigators this week! I'll tell you more about them as we get to know them better and teach more.

 

Something interesting to think about: one of my teachers in the MTC told us to pay attention to each time the Book of Mormon mentions "wilderness" and apply it to the "wilderness" in our lives. Wilderness being a time of trial or testing or refining. It's really neat and gives you a cool perspective of the teachings in 1st Nephi.

 

I love and miss you all and hope you have a great week at all of your different camps and the family reunion! Be safe traveling!

 

Love,

Hermana Inman

This email came today since we have our mission conference tomorrow.

 

Hermana Inman Letter June 18, 2013

This week.

Hey!

 

I didn't have any super crazy experiences this week. This week was actually pretty hard, but this new week is off to a much better start.

 

I found strength in the scriptures and in the words of Joseph Smith this week. After Joseph's vision, he was troubled by all of the persecution and unkind things that people were saying and doing to him. I felt like I could relate to him this past week. People were saying such rude and unkind things to me (just directed at me, not my companion) and I couldn't understand why it was that way when all I am trying to do is what the Lord has commanded me, and when I have done nothing wrong. It became such a regular occurance that it really weighed down on me, to the point of tears a few times. Then I read this in Joseph Smith-History, vs. 20 which says, "It seems as though the ^cadversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me? Why the ^dopposition and persecution that arose against me, almost in my infancy?" That gave me such strength, and even appeared to me as a challenge from the adversary. As a missionary I am destined to be a disturber and annoyer of Satan's kingdom, and I plan to do it well.

 

Also, look up under the Index in the book of mormon under "sacrifice" and what Joseph Smith has to say about it. It might just be in the Spanish version, but I'm not sure.

 

We picked up 2 more investigators since last week. Brenda, she's about 17, and Martin, he's probably around 50. We've only had one lesson with each of them so far, but they seem to truly be interested and willing to fulfill commitments. Adolfo is awesome. We had a lesson with him last night (he's the one who is in his 50's who comes to church and activities and is awesome), and I realized one of my very favorite things about being a missionary. As we were teaching Adolfo, he was sharing with us some of his concerns, and as he was speaking, I could feel the love of the Savior so strongly, and I caught a glimpse of just how much the Savior loves Adolfo (and each of us). It's my very favorite thing. Being able to feel the love the Lord has for them, and seeing their divine worth and potencial. It's a beautiful, humbling, uplifting experience. It changes you and the way you interact with people. Carmen is doing great! We set a baptismal date with her for the 6th of July!! :). Tonia y Pancho  don't seem that interested, and I don't think it's because I called Pancho the wrong name! We're working with them and will see what happens! Things are really picking up here. I still don't have any idea what will be happening at transfers next week. We have a mission conference next Tuesday because it is the last week we have with President and Sister Cook, and then the week after that the mission splits and we get a new mission president. So the conference on the 25th will just move the people that are moving into the new mission and will send the finished missionaries home. Then on July 2nd we have normal transfers and we find out new companions and areas and stuff like that. I have a feeling that my companion and I will both stay here since we both just barely got here, but who knows?

 

I'm glad you had a nice father's day dad! :) Did you get the envelope of pictures, too? I wish we could have skyped or called. But I hope you know you are the greatest dad in the world and that I am very grateful for you. The yard looks nice! And I'm glad that you had a backup fridge at home! Nice one, mom haha. The other pictures you tried to send me in the email didn't download for some reason, but I'm sure Jesse's room looks sweet! I'll be praying for him and Torie as they attend their camps.

 

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week and I hope that you are enjoying the summer and staying cool! I keep each of you in my prayers, always. Love you and miss you.

 

Love,

Hermana Inman

Hermana Inman Letter June 11, 2013

Weird Experiences.

This week was exciting! I was on exchanges from Tuesday through Saturday, which means I had a different companion everyday from Tues-Sat and I got to go to their areas. That was fun but exhasting. We picked up 3 new investigators this week- Carmen, Antonia and Francisco (but we call them Tonia y Pancho). Funny story about that- so we were over at their house for the first time, and Antonia said we could call her by her nickname, which is "Tonia" and Francisco said he has about 3 nicknames. He started naming them off: Pancho, Kiko... ( I thought he said "pico"...).. So I said, "ok, great, I'll call you Pico!" And his wife and the sister I was with started busting up laughing, and Francisco looked at me like I was crazy. Then his wife says "esta bien, ella no sabe" which means, "it's alright, she doesn't know." So then after the lesson I asked the sister I was with why they were laughing at me, and she told me, "because you called him pico! do you know what pico means?!" I said "no...?" She tells me, "pico is slang for a male's private part, and that's what you called Francisco!" hahahaha how embarrassing is that?! AH! The joys of learning a new language.

 

That same night we also met the craziest lady I have ever met in my life. We were looking for somebody who gave us "their address" and knocked on the door. This old lady comes to the door, and I kid you not, she is the female version of lord voldemort from Harry Potter. Pasty white and balding, skinny, but she did have a nose. She even spoke in strange languages. She answers the door and says "you just woke me up. welcome to your worst nightmare!" And then she sleeks back the few hairs that she has. Her dog runs out the door and she starts yelling at him "Pedro! Pedro! (then insert the strange unknown language..). Then she turns to us and says, "that's German for 'I love you with all my heart'" (I can promise you that was not german.. and she was not saying I love you...more like I want to eat you...). Then she throws her dog into the other room and tells us how she saved her dog from some cholos in mexico who were illegaly breeding these dogs. Then she proceeds to tell us that she feels like she's 175 today. Then hermana Schwegler (the sister I was with) tells her that she looks great for 175! Then this lady stands up on her tippy-toes, hunches over, starts jumping up and down and starts saying "BUG OFF!! BUG OFF!! BUG OFF!!" over and over again. I was sure she was going to reach out and strangle me like they do in scary movies. Then she goes on to tell us about how she is Methodist, and then lifts up her nightgown and says "look at my legs! Not bad for 175, eh?!" and then she shuts the door.. We weren't sure if we should laugh or scream. But yeah, anyways, that was the weirdest experience that I've had so far.

 

Carmen, the other investigator we picked up is golden. She's been calling us in the daytime to pray with us, it's really neat :). And she's been reading the scriptures and praying on her own! Adolfo came to church and an activity on Sunday, and we'll be seeing him tonight, so that's awesome! Alfredo lives in Vista, so he's not my investigator anymore. No, he's not baptized, his dad forbade him from doing that or talking to the missionaries, I think. That's what the sisters over there told me.

 

Sorry my letters have been short. Yes, I've been getting a lot of emails and I only have 1 hour of email time so it's really hard to get around to everyone. Handwritten letters (even if they're tpyed up) are preferred please :) because I would love to hear from each of you and reply back to your letters, but I just don't have enough time to email everybody. (this excludes family, of course). 

 

We went to the temple today, it was great! :) I always find such peace there.

 

Have a happy father's day dad! I love you and miss you and wish we could skype on your day, too. I sent you a letter in the mail.

 

I'm glad everyone is doing okay! I hope Torie has fun at her camps!

 

I love you and miss you all! Have a great week and wear sunscreen!

 

Love,

Hermana Inman

 

 

I held a snake this week! It was terrifying!

The son of the lady who cut my hair that day kind of threw it at me.

 

Life-sized Cut-out of Jesus in a missionary apartment!

Hermana Inman Letter June 4, 2014

hey fam bam!

Hola amores,

 

Alfredo didn't get baptized this past weekend, apparently he needed more time, (that's what I was told). I don't know why, but hopefully when he is baptized I'll still be able to go. I had permission to go, so that's good. He's golden, so I know he'll be baptized soon :).

 

I have the greatest parents in the world! Thank you for sending my shorts and also some snacks and chocolate in the mail :) that made my week. I always love your letters and pictures. Thanks for the USB/SD drive, I'm going to try and send you some pics today.

 

The area.. we're getting the hang of things around here and can get our way around town now. Also, it turns out that the only map we had of our area was really outdated, as of like, a year, and so our area is a little less than half of what we thought it was. We cover a small portion of San Marcos and a section of Escondido. That was good and bad news to find out- good because it's not such a huge area to cover, bad because we had been doing all of our finding in the other elders' area where all the latinos are! Haha but it's alright. We did find an investigator this past week in our area (and in their area, but we had to hand her over). Our investigator is named Aldolfo, and he's friends with one of the members in our ward. They're all from El Salvador, so they all know each other and hang out, and it turns out they have another mutual friend who has been investigating the church and will hopefully be baptized within the next month. So Aldolfo already has good influences to help him with his investigation of the church, which is great. He's a funny middle aged man. We have a lesson with him tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes. We have an investigator here named Alma, and she's great as well. She has a testimony that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God; she just needs to do something with her testimony and be baptized. Her whole family is Catholic so it's a hard change for people to convert when their culture is so different. She'll come around.

 

My companion is Hermana Moffitt, she's 19, from Farmington Utah. We're different from each other, but the work is the same regardless, and she's a hard worker!

 

I'm going to cut this email short so I can have time to send a few pictures, or try to anyway. I'm glad you all are doing well! I love you and miss you tons! Thanks for everything! Have a great week and keep cool down there in the 107 degrees... it's in the 80's here haha. :)

 

Love,

Hermana Inman

 

 

 

here's hermana moffitt and I. we found mustaches in our apartment.

 

Hermana Inman Letter May 28, 2013

Hello from San Marcos!!

So they've moved me to San Marcos. This area covers all of San Marcos and a little corner of Escondido, and it's HUGE! I whitewashed here and am greenie-breaking again. This was an elder's area but they've switched it out for hermanas now. Whitewashing is stressful! This ward has 12 missionaries in it! Can you imagine that? There's 600 members in this ward but 300 are inactive.. so there's a lot of work to do. Hermana Moffitt is my new companion, she's 19! I won't find out for 5 more weeks which mission I'll be staying in, so you can keep sending all mail to the Carlsbad Mission. It doesn't split until July 1st. Thank you for sending me an SD Card and pictures and letters and meds! :)

 

We're still getting to know this area, but the members are great and willing to help! We're focusing on finding. The other day we were tracting and there was a lady cleaning out her garage. We walked up to her and quickly she said "nope, no, no thank you, I'm already saved." We said, "ok, well can we help you with your project or anything?" and she said no. We walked across the street to knock the next door, and then she calls out to us "wait, ladies, there's something you can do!" So we went back over to her garage and she asked us to help her with a couple small projects. I patched up a hole in one of her blankets and hermana Moffitt put together a shoe box of toys for a kid in Russia (this lady puts together shoeboxes of gifts for children in poor countries and sends them to them at Christmas time!) She was timid and not talkative at first, but as the time passed, she kept asking us to stay and help her with her garage. We did, and she opened up and was friendly, and carried out conversation with us. After about and hour and a half or so, when we had finished organizing the boxes in her garage, she said, "you know, missionaries pass by my house all the time, but not one of them has ever asked if they could help me with anything before. You two were the first. And at first I was thinking no, I know where everything goes and I don't need your help. But as I thought about it more, I thought well why not? Thank you for helping me." She was not interested in our message, but at least she was able to have a good image of the church and maybe someday she'll remember and invite the missionaries into her home! It's a rare and nice experience when people just let us help them or when they'll just talk to us.

 

Alfredo is getting baptized this Saturday and I better be able to go! I have a few phone calls to make, but San Marcos is next door to Vista, so it shouldn't be a problem. It's hotter here since it's farther away from the ocean.

 

I'm happy for Taylynn and Dowlin! Tell them congratulations for me! She wrote me an email and I'm still in the process of writing back. I wish I could have been there to celebrate with them! That's so awesome that Rigdon recognized my picture on the missionary wall!! That makes me so happy! Tell Morgan I say hi, and if you see Brittany tell her I say hi! And Syd! And everyone.. haha. It sounds like everyone has a fun summer planned out! I continue to keep you all in my prayers.

 

Thank you for all of your prayers :) it's been pretty rough lately but I know it's your prayers that make things more bearable! I don't really have any other cool stories or experiences to share today, sorry.

 

Oh, I forgot to tell you the other week that I ate tacos with cow tongue, cow cheek, cow head, and cow intestines! Not too bad... suprisingly enough cow tongue tastes pretty good, but the rest of it was only alright. Annnndddd that's about it. We've been trying to learn "dichos" lately to talk more like a latino. If you know any (be appropriate) send some to me!

 

I love and miss you all tons! Have a great week and stay cool down there in the AZ heat! Thanks for all of your love and support!

 

Love,

Hermana Inman

Hermana Inman Letter May 21, 2013

My Baptism's cool, my baptism's dunkin.

Dominick got baptized!!!!! :) It was a beautiful baptismal service. The events leading up to his baptism were chaotic and things have been stressful, so we can tell Satan did not want this baptism to happen. Dominick has zero support from his family at home, but his dad promised him that he'd take him to his baptism. 25 minutes before the baptism starts, Dominick calls us and tells us that his dad had just taken off with the truck and that he didn't have a ride to his baptism. Dominick lives on the opposite side of Vista from the chapel... So we called our ward mission leader to pick him up, and finally they showed up at 7:15 (the baptism was supposed to start at 7). We started the service at about 7:30, and some of the people who were assigned to give talks didn't show up, so Hermana Eskeets and I, as well as a couple of other sisters put together something on the spot, and it all turned out just fine. The spirit was so strong that night. The next day he received the Holy Ghost and the Priesthood :). His confirmation blessing was so awesome; he was told that he will enter into the temple of the Lord with a righteous young woman and be sealed to her for time and all eternity. Dominick is blessing his family for generations to come and I am so excited for him and for how much this will change his life.

 

Then, we set a firm baptismal date with Alfredo for June 1st!! Alfredo is getting baptized in 2 weeks!! SO STOKED!!! I don't know what it is about the youth these days, but they are the ones who are open to the gospel. They are the ones who are anchors and examples for their friends and families.

 

THEN, Blanca finally came to church on Sunday!!!!!! It was a MIRACLE! Then, what's even more miraculous than that, is that the family who was sitting in front of her at church was one of her family's life long best friends! :) It was so awesome and Blanca was so excited to see that she knew someone at church.

 

Well... it's transfers today, and they're finally kicking me out of Vista. I guess 5 months is long enough to stay in one area... but I'm sad to leave. I love this area and I truly love the people here. We were finally starting to see the fruit of our labors! But, the Lord needs us somewhere else I guess. They're actually whitewashing our area, which means that both Hermana Eskeets and I are moving, and that two new sisters will move in here. It's a rare occassion that this happens, but it's been happening more often as they prepare to split the mission next transfer. I don't know where I'm going yet. I just hope I get permission to come back for Alfredo's and Blanca's baptisms.

 

I'm glad to hear that the family is doing well! I'm happy to hear that Jesse has been interested in the Book of Mormon lately and that he has a desire to learn. I'm also glad to hear that the seminary graduation went well (you always do a great job Mom). That SD USB thumb drive sounds great! You asked if I was wanting any food or clothing.. if you could send me some of my basketball shorts that'd be nice- it's warming up and I'm still wearing my sweats when we run in the mornings. And did I keep my black dress? I can't remember if I gave it away or not, but if it's still in my closet, can you send that to me too? As for food... snacks would be cool. Like granola bars or something. And chocolate haha. But you don't have to rush those things to me, just when you get the chance.

 

The weather here has been pretty warm, and it's so nice! There's always a nice breeze here in Vista because we're pretty close to the beach. How's the weather over there in AZ? Are you baking yet? When does school get out? Are the dogs back in their kiddie pool?

 

I hope you have a great week! I'll let you know next week where they've sent me! This is the last transfer for President and Sister Cook, and the last transfer we have as the original "CA Carlsbad Mission" because they split the mission in July to create the Irvine mission (which I may or may not be moved to...). Exciting times!

 

I love you all and miss you tons!

 

Love,

Hermana Inman

Hermana Inman Letter May 14, 2013

Hello Family!

 

It was so good to see you the other day :) you all look great- healthy and happy! Me hace feliz, eso.

I hope you had a happy mother's day mom! The other day I was watching some cool mothers day videos on lds.org, and they made me get all teary-eyed because I miss you so much! You are the best mother in the world and I love you dearly. Thanks for everything. I'm sure the seminary graduation will go well this Sunday, I know you've worked really hard and put a lot of time and energy and planning into this.

 

Congratulations Torie on getting straight A's! You are so awesome! You are so smart. I'm glad Jesse had fun on his campout.. I know Jesse would camp for the rest of his life if he could. His sweet room will make him think he's camping all the time! That's crazy that Jake is already training!! He is one stellar missionary, no doubt. His little trainee is lucky to have him. It was nice to talk to him the other day :). I'm glad everthing else is going well at home and that you are enjoying the house and making it a "refuge from the world." I told Jake that the only reason you are doing all this cool stuff after we leave is because without Jake and I at home life is boring, so you have to make up for it somehow ;) haha.

 

Mom, you asked how you could share the gospel with the neighbors across the street, and that as you've been praying for them, you keep running into them more and more haha. That is no coincedence! The Lord needs you to be a missionary to them- it's not as intimidating that way like it would be if the full-time missionaries came over. You may have already tried these ideas, but if you haven't, they're worth a shot: invite them to a ward activity/party with you. Go to the park or the pool together for a play date with Jesse and their kids. Invite them over for dinner or a bbq or something. Bring up Jake and I and what we're doing on our missions. You just need to be their friend. Being their friend and an example to them will open up more opportunities for missionary work than just inviting them to church or to listen to the missionaries. Just spend more time with them and get to know them, and then keep praying to have a missionary opportunity with them, and that their hearts and minds can be open to the gospel. The majority of converts I have talked to have told me that they joined the church because they had a friend who introduced them to the gospel.

 

Speaking of the Gospel, Dominick is getting baptized this Saturday the 18th!!!! WWOOOOOOO!! Can I just say that I am STOKED? I am so excited for him! He is a champion! He's been inviting all of his family and friends and is such a great example to them. He's so faithful and a such a strong desire to do what's right. I'll send home pictures. I wish I could email them, but for some reason I can't do that with my camera until I install this special software. But, if you send me the other SD card soon, I'll send home this one here with more recent pictures.

 

This past week has been kind of hard for me- it's been really humbling and that's never enjoyable haha. Nobody likes humble pie. It tastes gross. I've been told a million times this past week and a half that I have really bad Spanish. People make comments about how they knew someone who's spanish "was worse than yours!" and how the other missionaries were better to listen to because they could understand them better, and how I still sound like a gringa... BAH. It's really frustrating. I'm trying! I'm supposed to be fluent by now and sound super cool but that's not how it's working out for me! Nevertheless.... I'm still working on it and hope that someday I will be able to speak better. Everyone felt like they needed to point out my flaws this week too, so that was nice haha. Oh well, I know it's for my benefit and that I need to get rid of my pride. It makes better missionaries, right? AND I STILL LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.

 

I'm catching up on my letter writing, be patient with me! I will write you back!

 

Thanks for all of your support and love. I'm so glad I got to see you guys the other day. I love you and miss you all! Have a great week and remember to share the gospel!

 

Love,

Hermana Inman